Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/164

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NOTES AND QUERIES. en s. ni. FEB. 25, 1011.

it is on record that the magistrates of Barcelona in 1435 issued an ordinance in relation to it. And it may also be noted in English history that Lord Keeper Bacon in opening Queen Elizabeth's first parlia- ment in 1559 used words to this effect : "doth not the wise merchant, in every adventure of danger, give part to have the rest assured ? " It need only be added that treatises on marine insurance (but possibly not of the kind the querist requires) are published by Messrs. Sweet & Maxwell, and also by Mr. Butterworth. Row TAY.

THE BLACK PRINCE'S LANGUAGE (11 S. iii. 7, 116). The words " E lo bort, es mort

pres ?. . . .Noy ay res fait " are in the Limousin dialect of Occitanian, a dialect which has scarcely changed from the days of Bertram de Born to the present day when the " sir vent es " of Prosper Estieu are written in the same vigorous strain. The Black Prince spoke this language, as did our Richard a century and a half before him.

1 may note that " noy " is a contraction of " non i," so that the answer is equivalent to Fr. " [je] n'y ai rien fait."

EDWARD NICHOLSON. Paris.

[MB. ALBAN DORAN also thanked for reply.]

GREAT SNOW IN 1614 (11 S. ii. 508; iii. 13). The late Mr. Andrews in ' Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs,' 1887, p. 12, pro- vides an interesting description of this prolonged frost from Drake's ' Eboracum.' He also names the pamphlet cited by MR. BOLLAND, and says it was reprinted in 1814 in 4to. ALECK ABRAHAMS.

SIR CHARLES CHALMERS, BT. (11 S. iii. 89). Sir Charles Chalmers, Baronet, was a Captain in the Royal Regiment of Artillery, and died unmarried, it is said, at Pondi- cherry, on the Coromandel Coast, November, 1760. He had been recognized at the office of Lord Lyon, King of Arms, as a Baronet of Nova Scotia, and as the heir male of the estate of Cults in the parish of Jar land, co. Aberdeen ; but it is difficult to say when the baronetcy was created for which he was served heir.

The only baronet of the name of Chalmers known to have been created was " Sir James Chalmers, son of Gilbert Chalmers, Laird of Cults in the parish of Jarland, co. Aberdeen," who was created a baronet of Scotland, November 24, 1664, with re- mainder to the heirs male of his body ; and this baronetcy is generally supposed to have

become extinct at the death of the grantee, unmarried, but a succession of four other baronets followed Sir Charles Chalmers, who died in November, 1760, until Oct. 1, 1834 ; but whether the assumption of the title by these gentlemen was justifiable or not it is not now possible to say. Full information will be found in the ' Complete Baronetage,' by G. E. C., vol. iii. pp. 348-9.

F. DE H. L.

The baronetcy inherited by Sir Charles Chalmers was conferred in 1664. He was a grandson of the first .baronet. An account of the family will be found in Anderson's ' Scottish Nation,' i. 618-19. The career of Sir Charles as sketched by Anderson differs somewhat from Major Leslie's account. He is said, for example, to have died at Pondicherry. His successors in the title (there was no estate) are traced down to the early decades of last century. Sir George Chalmers, the son of Sir Charles, was an eminent painter. His son, Sir Robert, a naval commander, died at Port- sea in 1807. The son of Sir Robert was Sir Charles W. Chalmers, an officer in the royal navy. According to Anderson, he " was the last baronet of whom there is any account."

SCOTUS.

[Ms. H. J. B. CLEMENTS also thanked for reply.]

0tt

The Cambridge History of English Literature. Edited by A. W. Ward and A. R. Waller. The Drama to 1642. Vol. V. Part I. Vol. VI. Part II. (Cambridge University Press.)

THIS excellent history of literature is making steady advance, and has already, we think, estab- lished itself with serious scholars as a survey full in detail, and at the same time representing the views of experts chosen from various parts of the world. The editors in these volumes have gone to the learned of Cracow, Wisconsin and Harvard, Belfast and Leeds, besides the two great English foundations. This wide range of contributors, also to be seen in the new edition of ' The Encyclopaedia Britannica ' which is issuing from the Cambridge University Press, shows that scholarship has no boundaries, and is a pleasant contrast to those earlier days when the University Presses were virtually confined to the productions of the local alumni.

As before, we note an admirable arrangement into chapters, which greatly facilitates the work of the student. The first volume before us is concerned with early English drama as mani- fested in its origins, secular influences, religious pieces, tragedy, and comedy. Chapters are devoted to * The Plays of the University Wits,' ' Marlowe and Kyd,' and ' Lesser Elizabethan