Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 12.djvu/494

 486

NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. xn. DEC. is, 1915.

Frederik Willem, Baron v. W. v. R., was the son of Arent, Baron van Wassenaer, Lord of Duvenvoorde, Voorschoten, Veur, 't Woud, and Rosande. He was Keeper of the Great Seal of Holland, &c. The last v. W. v. R. in the male line, Baron Jan Dirk, member of the Upper House of the Netherlands and Chamberlain to the Queen, who died in 1913, was my first cousin, and, as I am interested in the family history and know something about it, I am willing to amplify these notes privately, if desired.

The Wassenaers are the only dynastic family of the County of Holland (not to be mistaken for what is wrongly called the Kingdom of Holland) still flourishing ; and they were all through the Middle Ages and after at a par with the Howards, the Talbots, and similar distinguished races in England. AdmiralWassenaer-Opdam (not Opdam- Was- senaer) was a very distant relative of F. W. v. W. v. R. W. DEL COURT.

47, Blenheim Crescent, W.

VISCOUNT NELSON (11 S. xii. 422). The second Baron Nelson of the Nile and of Hilborough was created, 20 Nov., 1805, Viscount Merton of Trafalgar and of Merton, and Earl Nelson of Trafalgar and of Merton. His only son was Horatio Nelson, styled Viscount Trafalgar. Similarly the son and heir of the third Earl, fourth Baron, was Herbert Horatio Nelson, styled Viscount Trafalgar.

The Viscountcy of Nelson of the Nile and of Burnham Thorpe, became extinct at the death of the great admiral. See G. E. C.'s
 * Complete Peerage.'

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

TRAFALGAR BRIDGE (9 S. i. 188; 11 S. xii. 83). I have not yet discovered the authority for the statement that it was proposed to call new London Bridge " Trafalgar Bridge " ; but the name " Victory Bridge " is perhaps one step on the road. In 1800 Messrs. Telford & Douglass submitted to a Select Committee of the House of Commons for Improving the Port of London a design for a three-arched cast-iron bridge, at or near the site of London Bridge, which they proposed to call " Victory Bridge." A statue of George III. was to be placed on one side of the bridge, and a figure of Victory on the other. They proposed to place medallions or busts of four distinguished admirals and naval trophies over the centre of the Abridge. It appears that the erection of a " naval pillar " to commemorate our ^victories at sea was then under consideration,

and the designers of the bridge thought that the object w r ould be much better obtained by their scheme. For further particulars see ' Reports of Committees of the House of Commons, 1793-1802,' vol. xiv, p. 572. Ralph Dodd, who is mentioned on p. 83, ante, was a well-known inventor and civil engineer, who is somewhat inadequately noticed in the ' Dictionary of National Biography.' He submitted designs for the erection of New London Bridge to the Committee, and they are described at pp. 559-62 of the volume above mentioned. The Report is illustrated by a large number of copperplates, one of which depicts another design by Messrs. Telford & Douglass for a single-arch cast-iron bridge of 600 feet span ! The daring nature of this design seems to have taken away the breath of the Com- mittee, and they sought the opinions of many of the most eminent mathematicians and engineers of the day, all of which are fully set out in the Report. The document is one which should be carefully studied by all who are interested in the history of the improvement of the River Thames.

R. B. P.

CHRIST'S -" SEVEN EYES " IN WELSH POETRY (11 S. xii. 420). The third quota- tion at this reference must rather allude to the Apocalypse of St. John v. 6 : " Et vidi Agnum. . . .habentem sept em cornua et oculos septem, qui sunt septem spiritus Dei, missi in omnem terram."

This same lamb with seven eyes is to be found in art ; for instance, in a manuscript of the thirteenth century, a ' Theologia Latina ' in Paris : on a window in the cathedral at Auxerre ; and on another stained glass in the church of Saint l^tienne du Mont, bearing date 1614.

PIERRE TURPIN.

The Bayle, Folkestone.

FLYING TURK (11 S. xii. 338). " Cli- zasthlanes " was no doubt meant for " Kilidj-Arslan." A Seljuk sultan of that name (Rokneddin-Kilidj-Arslan) was the ruler of Iconium from 1257 to 1267. See Hammer, vol. i. pp. 44-47 of the French edition. L. L. K.

" MEDDLE AND MUDDLE " (11 S. xii. 422). The " Rupert of Debate," Lord Derby, speaking in 1864, used these words to characterize Lord Russell's conduct of foreign affairs ; but I have seen the phrase where, I cannot remember in some book written long before Lord Derby's time.

B. B.