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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. XL FEB. 6, ms.

BIBB.

Picture of Parsonstown, containing the History of that Town, from Earliest Period to 1898, with its Description to the Present Day, by T. S. Cooke, plates, 8vo, boards, Dublin, 182b.

Early History of the Town of Birr, or Parsonstown, with the Particulars of Remarkable Events there in More Recent Times, photograph frontis- piece, 8vo, cloth, 1875.

BLACKBOCK (co. DUBLIN).

Hill's Guide, article by G. T. Stokes, Dublin, 1890.

BOOTEBSTOWN.

Brief Sketches of the Parishes of Booterstown, Donnybrook, and Irishtown, with Notes and Annals, by Rev. B. H. Blacker, 4 parts in 3, cloth and boards, Dublin, 1861-74. BBAY (co. WICKLOW).

Handbook of Bray, by G. R. Powell, 1860.

Bray and Environs, by A. L. Doran, 1903.

The Stones of Bray, and the Stories they can tell of Ancient Times in the Barony of Rathdown, by Rev. G. Digby Scott, illustrated, 8vo, cloth, Dublin, 1913.

Illustrated Plan of Bray, by E. Heffernan.

A Hundred Years of Bray and its Neighbourhood, illustrated, cloth.

Documents in the Possession of the Earl oi Meath, Deeds and Records, preserved at Kilruddery, Bray. Not printed, but-excellently scheduled in manuscript.

BUTTEVANT.

JHistorical and Topographical Notes on Butte- vant, &c., by Col. J. Grove White, illustrated from photographs, Cork, 1905-11.

WILLIAM MACARTHUII. 79, Talbot Street, Dublin.

(To be continued.)

OLD MEDICAL BOOKS : THEIR VALUE TO GENEALOGISTS.

IN the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there were few families which did not possess a dog-eared volume of medical lore, to which the good housewife referred when some ob- scure illness suggested the necessity for more stringent remedies than those emanat- ing from the store-cupboard or herb-garden. Such volumes are of little value from a medical point of view, and are seldom con- sulted, except by the student of domestic life of the past. They have, however, an importance which is not generally realized, inasmuch as they contain information of value to the genealogist and to the local historian.

Let us take as an example William Ellis's ' Country Housewife's Family Com- panion,' published in 1750, discarded copies of which are to be found in the libraries of many country houses. The author lived -in Hertfordshire, and his work treats of

domestic economy and the " remedies for Divers Diseases," and contains numerous references to neighbours, mentioned by name, as being noteworthy for some special knowledge of agricultural, culinary, or medical lore.

These personal details are well worthy of being rescued from oblivion. A genealogist might be thankful for the reference to " Mr. Edward Thome, a Butcher, of Great Dealing, living at Little Gaddesden, in Hertford- shire, and who killed all or most of the Duke^of Bridgewater's Beasts for his numerous family," though his only claim to mention by Mr. Ellis is due to the fact that he had an exc3l- lent cure for gout ! If, perchance, a person of the name of Silcock has risen to fame or fortune, he may discover from Mr. Ellis's book that his ancestor was one " James Silcocke, of Hinton, n r Bradford, in Wiltshire," who, " being very much accus- tomed to eat Horse-flesh and Dog-flesh, and other disagreeable Things," undertook -for a wager probably to eat a frog and a mole, and, being given a toad by mistake, " imme- diately died."

The Hertfordshire historian may how the Recorder of St. Albans was of deafness, and how the landlord of Bull Inn " at Redbourne fell ill by pling Punch." Without quoting further examples, it can be seen that the tabulation of these facts would be of real use.

Many other old medical books of seven- teenth-century date are full of references to patients, and to the successful treatment of their various ills. Some even give the place of residence and age of the person referred to, thus affording information that it might be difficult otherwise to obtain. In a subsequent issue I hope to give some further particulars of this source of genealogical and historical information, which, to my knowledge, has not been hitherto recognized. P. D. M.

learn

cured

"The

Tip-

BlRTHPLACE OF ARCHBISHOP BANCROFT

(1544-1610). The 'D.N.B.' gives the birth- place of Archbishop Bancroft as Farnworth, Lancashire, which is generally interpreted as the Farnworth near Bolton, but this is not correct. The Farnworth meant is near Prescot, Widnes, Lancashire. The Parish Registers date back to 1538, and contain the entry, in September, 1544, of the baptism of Richard Bancroft (Archbishop of Canter- bury, 1604-10). He died in 1610, aged 66, and was buried at Lambeth. He founded the famous Library at the Palace there, and bequeathed it to his successors for ever.

ARCHIBALD SPARKE, F.R.S.L.