Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 12.djvu/367

 iis. xii. NOV. e, 1915.) NOTES AND QUERIES.

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dance ; vance, dance ! " shouted first one, and then all three. Thereafter, whenever in the course of the game one player cried " Vance ! " the others pranced about him, screaming in simple rhythm, " Vance, dance ; vance, dance!" Within a quarter of an hour came a new inspiration, and all four, forgetting momentarily their game, hopped about in the road, chanting their chorus with -an addition :

Vance-vance, Dance in your pants. Vance, dance, Vance, dance !

TJrbana, Illinois.

R, C. W.

THOMAS ELL WOOD : DATE OF DEATH. The date of the death of Thomas Ellwoocl, the <Quaker, and friend of Milton, is variously given in the books of reference, owing, no doubt, to confusion of the Old Style with the New. The ' Diet. Nat. Biog.' states that he died 1 March, 1713/14 ; ' Ency. Brit.' 1 March, 1714 ; and in other books one finds the year given as 1713 or 1714. The correct date appears to be 1 May, 1713 (O.S.).

In the * History of the Life of Thomas Ellwood,' second edition, 1714, it is stated <p. 464) that he died " the 1st of the 3d Month," 1713. By the Quaker mode of reckoning, before the adoption of the New Style in 1752, March was termed the " first month," and therefore, if the editor of the autobiography, or ' History,' is right, Ellwood's death took place on 1 May (the third month).

The point may not be a very important one, but perhaps worth a note in your pages for future guidance. R. NICHOLLS.

MOLIRE : "LA CROLX BLANCHE." The Marquis de Rochegude in a compact volume describing the old houses of Paris refers to paume where Moliere and his troop gave theatrical performances. M. Auguste Vitu in his pamphlet ' Le jeu de paume des Metayers ' has once for all emphatically declared that " La Croix blanche " was never occupied by Moliere, and goes yet further, by stating that it was riot even a tennis- <?ourt, but a skittle alley, and therefore unfit for an impromptu theatre. M. Vitu has fully proved this statement by quoting authentic documents. A handy volume on the same basis as the Marquis de Roche- gude's guide-book, dealing with London, would be a welcome addition to London topography. MAURICE JONAS.
 * ' La Croix blanche " as the ancient jeu de

The Stock Exchange, E.G.

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

FRANCIS MERES AND JOHN FLORIO. In ' Bacon's Nova Resuscitatio,' by the late Rev. "Walter Begley (1905), I find the state- ment that Francis Meres was the brother in- law of John Florio (vol. ii. pp. 75 and 199). As authority Mr. Begley refers to ' Shake- speare's Sonnets ' by C. C. Stopes, p. xl (1904). Can any of your readers kindly tell me what evidence there is for this-- statement ? It is not to be found in the ' Diet. Nat. Biog.' G. G. GREENWOOD.

House of Commons.

BRONZE STATUETTES OF NAPOLEON. For what reason were bronze statuettes of Napoieon bought and used in the early part of last century ? One about five inches high is in my possession. It stood for years on my grandfather's mantelpiece. I think he said it was bought as a charm or mascot, and I once read a paper on the subject con- firming that idea. I have never seen another anywhere. JANE STEEL.

The Croft,' Annan, N.B.

" ANASTATIC PRINTING." What is this ? J. H. Ingiam, in his very readable volume ' Life and Letters of Edgar Allan Poe,' p. 249, says that this

" was also a subject that attracted his [Poe's] attention, and upon which he wrote a short article, replete with idiosyncratic remarks. The invention was one that greatly excited his imagination, and caused him to foresee a palmy future for authors, to anticipate the time when writers would be enabled to publish their works ' without the ex- pensive interference of the type-setter, and the often ruinous intervention of the publisher.' " What was this extraordinary deliverance from the tyranny of compositors and publishers, and had it any vogue ?

J. B. McGovERN.

St. Stephen's Rectory, C.-on-M., Manchester.

[The * New English Dictionary ' has the following under anastatic : "Raised, standing in relief ; spec. applied to the anastatic printing process, in which copies of drawings, engravings, etc. are printed from facsimiles produced in relief on zinc plates. ' The earliest quotation is dated 1849.]

D'ISRAELI : THAMES STREET. In one of D'Israeli's works there is a description of Thames Street. Can anybody tell me in which book this occurs ?

REGINALD JACOBS. 6, Templars' Avenue, Golder's Green, N.W.