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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. xn. OCT. 2, 1915.

son of Charles Gordon (1721-86), a Jacobite rebel, who was condemned to death at Southwark in 1746, but reprieved, going to America. When he went there he swung to the other side, and became a Loyalist ; his adventures are told in a novel by Mr. Herbert Baird Stimpson, Chicago, entitled "The Tory Maid' (1898). This Charles was the son of Patrick Gordon, Binhall, Cairnie, Aberdeenshire, who in turn was the second son of John Gordon of Avochie. J. M. BULLOCH.

SWAN SUPERSTITION. A pair of swans nested this year, and four eggs were laid. A boy told me the young birds would not hatch out till there was a thunderstorm. Sure enough there was a thunderstorm, and next day four cygnets were swimming in the pond, and the boy believes in his natural history more firmly than ever. This was in the north of Hampshire.

G. E. P. A.

WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, an order that answers may be sent to them direct.

WEDDING RING AND " LEFT-HANDED '' MARRIAGE. I believe the custom of a married woman wearing her wedding ring on the left hand is confined solely to England. On the Continent the ring is, I believe, always worn on the right hand.

When and how did this custom of wearing the ring on the left hand come into England ? and is there any connexion between this and a " left-handed " marriage ?

EDWARD HUDSON.

COLD HARBOUR AT HACKNEY. Strype's edition of Stow, dated MDCCXX., contains "A New Plan of the City of London, Westminster and Southwark, dedicated to Sir George Thorold, Knight and Baronet, Lord Mayor of London," wherein is marked, on the north side of the thoroughfare now known as the Hackney Road, a house or collection of houses called the Cold Harbour.

As far as I am aware, there were only two places in London of this name. The first and best - known example was in the ward of Dowgate ; and the other stood on the site of the West India Dock basin. This was originally the palace of George, Duke of Clarence, and a c terwards the residence of JMargaret, Duchess of Burgundy, in the

reign of Edward IV. Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, was imprisoned here by Queen Elizabeth.

I shall be glad of any information regarding this Hackney Cold Harbour. It appa- rently was of some importance, since it merits mention on a map where very scant notice is taken of streets and buildings of far greater renown. REGINALD JACOBS. 6, Templars' Avenue, Golder's Green, N.W.

ALICE HOLT FOREST. What is the origin of the name of this forest or wood, near Binsted in Hampshire ? On a seven- teenth-century map it is shown as Alder Holt. J. LANDFEAR LUCAS.

Glendora, Hindhead, Surrey.

GUIDOTT FAMILY. Can any reader help me to the origin of the family of Guidott and its pedigree in Hampshire ? In 1703 the manor of Slackstead, near Winchester (once the property of Thomas Sternhold, the psalm writer), was purchased by one William Guidott, who died in 1743. His widow (vide the ' Victoria History of Hants ') " held it until 1749, when it passed to her kinsman William Woodroffe, who took the name of Guidott and held it until 1772." In 1772 the Rev. Henry Sealey, Vicar of Alresford, Hampshire, from 1736 to 1805, married Anne Woo'droffe, whose brother William Woodroffe assumed the name of Guidott in conformity with his uncle's will. He died unmarried in 1797, and was buried at Basingstoke. A son named Marmaduke was born at Alresford to Anne Woodroffe and Henry Sealey in 1775, and being educated at Winchester School and St. John's College, Oxford, he took holy orders, and became curate in charge of Broughton (Hampshire) in 1799, and there remained for twenty- eight years, when he became curate in charge of Farley Chamberlayne until his death in 1839. In the registers of the latter church is the name of the Rev. Guidott Sealey as the witness to a marriage in 1835, and its singularity caused the search which has resulted in the above particulars. It would be interesting to discover the relation- ship of this cleric to the Rev. Guidott Sealey, Rector of St. Laurence, Winchester, from 1857 to 1867, and probably the donor of the font there in 1860. I should also like to know if the Rev. Benjamin Woodroffe, Canon of Winton and Rector of Houghton from 1721 to 1727, was of kin to Mrs. Anne Sealey and also to Thomas Woodroffe, Vicar of Alton from 1854 to his death in 1874. F. H. SUCKLING.

Highwood, Hants.