Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 12.djvu/466

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [u s. xn. DEC. n, 1915.

SPURRIERS.

Vol. ii. p. 59, 1540, 31 Henry VIII. Richard

Thomson, spurrier, is mentioned in a lease granted

,to him by Christofer Clarke, citizen and dyer of

York ; John Wilkinson, corderer, of the same,

and another (named).

TAILORS AND MERCHANT TAILORS.

Vol. vii p. 215, mid thirteenth century. .Andrew le Taillur. Norwich.

Vol. vii. p. 219, late thirteenth century. nesses to quit claim. Beppes in Flegg.
 * ' Gregorio, cissore." Mentioned as one of the wit-

Vol. vii. p. 164, 1391. Thomas Taillour. JBurlingham, North.

Vol. ii. p. 333, 31 Aug., 1501. John Skev-
 * yngton, citizen and taylor of London, is mentioned

in a bond.

Vol. ii. p. 231, 1521. Richard Smith, citizen and merchant tailor. London.

TANNERS.

Vol. iv. p. 107, 29 Jan., 1335, 9 Edward III. Adam le Tanner, mentioned in grant. Cicestre "(Chichester).

Vol. ii. p. 63, 1547, 1 Edward VI. Lease to William Wharton, tanner, of York.

WOOL MERCHANTS.

Vol. iii. p. 96, 18 June, 1599. In a letter tearing this date, Edward Newgate, writing to -Sir Thomas Tressom, says : "I bought two years past one Mr. Tirrell's wool, dwelling about Stonye Stratfor, he having two years wool, being much -of it both tarry and rotten, which I knew not until I had bought it." Norwyche.

A. S. WHITFIELD.

FRANCIS MERES AND JOHN FLORIO. As I received no answer to my question in ' N. & Q.' of November 6 last (viz., What evidence is there to support the statement made by Mrs. C. C. Stopes, in her edition of ^vas the brother-in-law of John Florio ?), I wrote to MRS. STOPES, asking her to be so kind as to refer me to the authority upon which she relied. I have now received a reply from her, dated 15 November, saying that she is not able to supply me with the evidence required, and until it is forthcoming I think the statement must be regarded as a>n unproved hypothesis. I regret that I incautiously followed it in my book, * Is thAte a Shakespeare Problem ? '
 * Shakespeare's Sonnets,' that Francis Meres

G. G. GREENWOOD. T ouse of Commons.

GERMAN LIBRARIES AND THE WAR. I take from the American Library Jowrnal for July a few particulars concerning the use of books by the German public since the commencement of hostilities.

As the result of an inquiry made by the Zentralblatt fur Biblioihekswesen it was found that at the time of going to press

with the March number 363 men had been called from library work. The Bavarians, as usual, have had to stant 1 the greatest individual drain. At the first moment of panic in some places the libraries suffered from a sudden withdrawal of subsi- dies, but the Government felt the importance of reading ; the mental life of the nation was such that this policy of economy was given up. During the first months of the war the circulation work of most libraries fell off to a startling extent, and the loss of the male university students (in the University of Berlin alone two-thirds had gone to the front, or were in active training) was keenly felt; but by November, when the bad weather had set in, and the war had become a matter of daily habit, people again turned to the libraries, and here we have an idea that our own authorities might well take advantage of :

" The public libraries in the districts where the labouring classes predominated made particular efforts to reach the wives and mothers, set free from many housekeeping duties by the departure of their men. These women were taught to spend their leisure in the libraries, and instructed how to enjoy books. Afternoon and evening classes Were formed' Where comforts of all kinds were made for the men at the front."

Another good work done by the German libraries has been making them clearing- houses for the thousands of books bought or given and sent to the war zone or to wounded in hospitals. The Royal Library in Berlin had up to January last sent 90,000 books and over 40,000 periodicals. It is also making a collection of all literary material connected with the war ; we hope it includes our old friend Punch. Every effort is being made to preserve the treasures from the ravages of war, some being buried in fire-and bomb-proof cellars. A. N. Q.

" YES, SIR." A lady of my acquaintance believes that her commands were twice so responded to by a waiter (or waiters) at the Langham Hotel. I thought that a prepon- derance of male over female customers might have made the reply automatic ; but I have been reading parts of ' The Girl of the Limberlost,' by Gene Stratton Porter, and have begun to fancy that the Langham ministrants may have learned their English in America. The heroine of the story asks a question of another girl, who " looked at her irrespectively. ' Well, sir, I believe you could,' she answered at last " (p. 89). A boy replies " Yes, siree " (p. 163), to a woman who impresses a request on him , and uses the same form of assent to Elnora