Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 10.djvu/120

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. x. AUG. s, 1914.

" CONDAMINE " (11 S. ix. 511 ; x. 32, 57, 74). Charles Marie de la Condamine had no heirs. He married a niece and had no issue. The name appears in the gazetteer from the circumstance that General Darling was in command in Queensland, and had two aides-de-camp on his staff. One morning the general gave orders that the two aides- de-camp should go out, each in a different direction, exploring. Their names were Capt. de la Condamine and Capt. Du- maresque. The general was also to o on his own account.

When they met in the evening each had discovered a river to which each gave his name, and the singular thing was tlrxt the two rivers discovered by the aides-de-camp were tributaries of the Darling.

C. J. DURAND. The Villa, Guernsey.

The family mentioned may have had their seat at Uzes (Gard), where a street was called by their name (now Rue Jacques d'Uzes). Valuable information might be gathered from Madame la Baronne de Charnizay, a Uzes, who has collected many notes concerning Protestant exiles, and who will readily supply every document in her possession. B ON A. F. BOURGEOIS.

52, NEWGATE STREET, E.G. : A SCULP- TURED STONE (US. x. 50). Mr. Deputy W. Hayward Pitman, Chairman of the Bridge House Estate Committee, informs me that the description given of the stone which was affixed to this house, and dis- appeared when it was pulled down in 1868, exactly corresponds to the arms of the Fruiterers' Company. One wonders if the house in question was formerly the property of the Company. Deputy Pitman adds that it was the custom to mark the property of the Royal Hospitals, Bridge House Estates, &c., with metal panels bearing the owners' arms.

J. LANDFEAR LUCAS.

" THE BROAD ARROW " : THE KING'S MARK (11 S. ix. 481 ; x. 17, 52). Whatever other meanings the mark we call the " broad arrow " has or may have, I venture to suggest that as " the King's mark " it is a conventional sign for the gallows, and is the mark referred t ) in a marginal note by Robert Ward on p. 108 of his ' Animad- versions of Warre ' (1639). Against a list of various Ordnance stores this note is printed in the margin, viz. :

" These Tooles ought to be marked with the Gallowes ; he that steales them dyes without .mercy."

It is evident that the broad arrow is meant by " the Gallowes," these having been for- merly constructed in the form of a tripod.

In the heraldic " broad arrow " and " pheon " the centre branch shows the socket for the shaft of the arrow, and the inner edges of the barbs .of the "pheon" are serrated. In this connexion (viz., the gallows) it may be interesting to note that the kind of crane we call a " derrick " is said to have derived its name from the celebrated executioner in the time of Eliza- beth and James I. He served in the Cadiz Expedition under the Earl of Essex, and was one of twenty-four culprits condemned to death for misconduct by Essex, but he was pardoned on condition of hanging his twenty-three comrades. Only about four years later he executed the Earl himself. There is a curious old ballad on the subject (No. LXIX. in the ' Shirburn Ballads,' Clarendon Press, 1907). Derrick is said to have invented the machine which bears his name as a convenient form of gallows for use in his trade or profession (?).

C. S. HARRIS.

GREEK NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN LON- DON (11 S. x. 49). The British Star (O BPETTANIK02 A2THP) commenced publication on 9 July, 1860, and ran for two years. Its object was the dissemi- nation of English ideas in Turkey and Greece, but the Turkish Government con- sidered the paper seditious, and requested the British Government not to allow it to be circulated by the English Post Office in Constantinople. Accordingly, in May, 1862, the proprietor was informed that in future copies would be returned. He requested to be allowed to send the literary and scientific part of the paper, which was separate from the four pages devoted to political views. The request was refused, and the paper ceased publication with the number for 26 June. On 24 July, 1862, a supplement was issued giving the corre- spondence relating to the suppression of tha paper. Papers were moved for in the House of Commons on 20 June, and a heated debate followed, in which John Bright took part. The Times devoted a leading article to the subject next day. The proprietor was Stephanos Xenos, a Greek broker who became naturalized in 1858. He wrote various works in Greek and English, for which see Allibone's ' Critical Dictionary.' The paper was printed by Joseph Clayton, 17, Bouverie Street, Whitefriars, and pub- lished by Charles Bradbury at the office,