Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 12.djvu/314

 306

NOTES AND QUERIES. r t ii s. xn. CCT. ie, 1915.

are all associated with times of tribulation. Perhaps the 33rd day in Omer, the period between Passover and Pentecost, might be -called " a lucky day," because marriages are then contracted, I believe but am not quite sure, being a bachelor.

M. L. R. BBESLAB.

SCOTCH COUBT OF SESSION (11 S. xii. 101, 166, 209). Your correspondent E. F. W. will find interesting information about the matter he refers to in an * Enquiry into the Law and Practice in Scottish Peerages,' by John Riddell, p. 628 et seq.

It would be interesting if some further information could be gathered about the arly branches of the Fleming family, the Flemings of Bord, of Boghall, and of Baro- chan, who were acknowledged and included in most of the entails of the Earls of Wigton. Are any of these families still represented ?

J. F. G.

ALICE HOLT FOBEST (US. xii. 258). In the Register of John de Pontissara, Bishop of Winchester from 1282 to 1304, on fo. 114a is a paragraph headed : " Ceo sunt les bundes de la foreste de Asiholt et de Wclve- mere les queus soleent estre en le tens le Rey Johan." The boundaries as given would certainly include the great wood above Bentley which now goes by the name of Alice Holt, and I feel no doubt that the latter is a corruption of the former. There are etymological difficulties in tracing the first element cf this word to ash. Searle in his ' Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum ' gives Asi and A esc as men' s names. The holt may have been on the property of an A si or Aesc. In Saxton's * Atlas ' (1579) -Alisholt Forest" appears on the maps of both Hants and Surrey in the latter, of course, across the Hants border. C. DEEDES.

Ohichester.

PHOSPHOBESCENT BIBDS (US. xii. 213). E have read in Harting's ' Recreations of a Naturalist ' that herons are said to emit light. I wrote a note on the subject in Canary and Cage Bird Life, December, 1906.

E. E. COPE.

JOHN DAVENPOBT (11 S. xii. 241) was a teacher of languages, and published his liano,' &c. 2 vols., London, 8vo, in 1824, and a " Terza edizione," in 3 vols. in 1828. He collaborated in the compilation of this Dictionary with Stefano Egidio Petronj. In 1854 appeared ' A New Dictionary of the Italian and English Languages,' based upon
 * Nuovo Dizion&rio Italiano-Inglese-Ita-

that of Baretti, compiled by J. Davenport and G. Connelati, 2 vols., London. There are other books by Davenport, for which see the British Museum Catalogue of Printed Books. ABCHIBALD SPABKE, F.R.S.L.

SKULL AND IBON NAIL (US. xii. 181). Was there not a story of an English divine who was present when a skull of this kind was discovered, and who by its means brought a murderess to justice ?

J. ABDAGH.

A PHANTOM PARLIAMENT (11 S. xii. 29). The ' k Phantom Parliament " inquired about by MB. PBITCHABD is not connected with a King of Prussia, but must refer to the visions seen by Charles XI. of Sweden. The story is briefly this :

The King was sitting late in his private cabinet. He was gloomy and ill at ease. It may have been owing to the recent death of his Queen, who, it was well known, had not led a happy existence with him. He was advised by his physician, who was present, to retire for the night, but declined. Going to the window, he looked out, and to his surprise noticed that the windows of the great hall situated in the opposite wing of the palace were brilliantly illuminated. Getting no satisfactory reply from his alarmed courtiers, he determined to investi- gate the cause himself. Accompanied by his companions, who endeavoured to dis- suade him, he passed round the corridors until he came to the door of the Great Hall- When the door was opened he was astonished to find the hall filled with a great multitude of people. There were assembled the four orders of the State the nobility, the clergy, the citizens, and the peasants ; while on a raised dais, on a seat usually occupied by the King when addressing his subjects, was a bleeding corpse habited in the robes of royalty. On the right of this awful spectacle stood a child wearing a crown and holding a sceptre in its right hand. Near the throne were several severe and dignified persons robed as judges. None of the spectres appeared to notice the entrance of the King, but just then a young man of noble aspect was led in and beheaded, the head actually rolling to the King's feet, and splashing him with blood.

The King now solemnly adjured one of the spectres to speak. The reply was that the scene now before the King was prophetic, and would be re-enacted in the flesh, when five monarchs should have succeeded him on the throne of Sweden. After this the