Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/295

 ii s. VIIL OCT. 11, 1913.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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him, he, on arriving home, opened the door just wide enough to allow him to throw his hat into the house, tossed it in, and awaited the result.

A hat thrown down is a challenge to fight between man and man. But what are the significance and the origin of a husband throwing his hat into the room where his wife is ? F. H.

SIR JOHN PLATT, KNIGHT. I should be very much obliged if any of your readers would favour me with some particulars of Sir John Platt (a great grandson of Sir Hugh Platt) after the sale of his estate at West- brook, Surrey, in 1683.

Le Neve in 'Pedigrees of Knights,' &c., states that a monument was erected to the memory of Sir John at St. Andrew Under- shaft Church, London. There is, however, no mention of such an erection in the list of monuments there.

The questions I beg to put are : Where did Sir John Platt live after the year 1683 ? when and where did he die ? and what were the names of his children who survived him ? C. BELEY.

3, Tor Gardens, W.

MARY ASTELL. I am told that some fresh particulars have recently been published about Mary Astell, the author of ' The Serious Proposal,' &c., and should be grateful for a reference to these.

REGINALD BLUNT.

12, Carlyle Mansions, Chelsea, S.W.

HELMETS OVER MEMORIAL TABLETS. Could any reader tell me of any article dealing with the history of the helmets that one still finds over memorial tablets in some Sussex churches ? There are examples at Slaugham, Laughton, Broadwater, &c. A. J. MITCHELL, Major

(late) Lancashire Fusiliers. 9, Fourth Avenue, Hove, Sussex.

' LETTERS DEL SIG. GIROLAMO MAGA- GNATI.' In the last few months Messrs. Sotheran, 140, Strand, sold a MS. volume entitled ' Lettere del Sig. Girolamo Maga- gnati a diversi. ' Does any reader of ' N. & Q. ' loiow of its present whereabouts ?

' GALERIE DES ARTS.' I desire to con- sult vol. viii., plate 130, of the * Galerie des Arts,' which appears to be a collection of engravings. It is not in the B.M. Catalogue under ' Paris Periodicals ' or under ' Galerie.' Can any reader give me the full title ?

J. J. FAHIE. Chesham Bois Common, Bucks.

MARTIN NORMAN. I venture to ask if any of your readers can inform me from whom Martin Norman was descended. He wai probably born between 1740 and 1750 (or thereabouts), and was resident in or neai Stogursey, Somerset, in the latter part of that century. He married a Miss Ann Silke. His daughter, Frances Norman, was for many years the mistress of a boarding- school at Stogursey. Martin Norman farmed land in or near Stogursey, and, it is said, was also a schoolmaster. He came from Devonshire. Was he connected with the Normans of Donyatt and Huish Champflower, Somerset, from whom the Bridgwater Nor- mans came ? Both villages are near Devon- shire. A Thomas Norman of Huish Champ- flower married a Frances Sherman. The Rev. John Norman of Bridgwater, according to Charles Stanford, in his ' Life of Joseph Alleine,' and the author of "A Life of Robert Blake, Written by a Gentleman Bred in the Family," married for his second wife a daughter of Humphrey Blake, brother of the famous admiral. T.

SOURCE OF QUOTATION WANTED. " The morals of to-day are the immorals of yester- day and the creed of to-morrow. '*

J. T. F.

ANCIENT WIT AND HUMOUR. Where can one find the subject of wit and humour among the ancients adequately discussed ? What is especially sought is the present- ment of contrasts with modern wit and humour. Foreign as well as English works might be cited. TRINCULO.

MANSIONS GIVEN BY THE CROWN. Some- where about three years ago an article appeared in one of the magazines enumerat- ing and explaining the cases in which the Crown or Parliament had granted or voted a house (query, and estate) in recognition of distinguished naval or military services. Can any reader of ' N. & Q.' oblige me with name and date of the publication ?

DOUGLAS OWEN. Savile Club, W.

HEART-BURIAL IN NICHES IN CHURCH WALLS. In Fordwich Church, Kent, on the east side of, and close to, the south door, hardly a foot from the floor, is a heart- shaped niche now without any signs of covering stone which is said to have been the depository for the heart of a Crusader. A more elaborate niche also called a heart- niche is in Leybourne Church, Kent. N. & Q.' contains many references to heart-