Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/473

 a s. in. JUNE 17, ion.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

467

WE must request corresp9ndents 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.

ROYAL JUBILEES. How did it happen that, whereas George III.'s Jubilee was celebrated on 25 October, 1809, being the day on which his Majesty entered into the 50th year of his reign, that of Queen Vic- toria was celebrated on 21 June, 1887, i.e., at, or rather after, the end of her 50th year ? Why was the former Jubilee date taken to be the 49th anniversary, and that of the latter the 50th ?

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

FORBES-SKELLATER. In the ' Dictionary of National Biography ' it is stated that "John Forbes (1733-1808) of Skellater, usually known as Forbes-SkSsllater, general in the Portuguese service, was the only son of Patrick Forbes of Skellater." I have always understood that General Forbes was a son of George Forbes of Skellater. Perhaps some reader of ' N. & Q.' can state who was the father of General Forbes. J. F. J.

Minneapolis.

ROYAL SOCIETY : ITS RARITIES. In de- scribing the Indian ghi, or boiled butter, Dr. John Fryer ('A New Account of East India and Persia,' Hakluyt Society ed., 1909, vol. i. 296 f.) writes: "On which Dr. N. G. in his account of the Rarities of the Royal Society has sufficiently enlarged." I shall feel obliged if some one who has access to this book will kindly give the exact title, date, and a reference to the passage mentioned by Fryer. W. CROOKE.

CROWN AGENTS. What is the earliest appointment of a London agent to repre- sent a Colonial governor ? Jamaica, Bar- bados, and Virginia seem to have had their agents in London in the seventeenth century. Can any one trace the earliest origin of this system ? The Government Paper C. 3075 of 1881 is not sufficiently detailed to make these points plain, although the Colonial Office List seems to regard it as the great authority on this subject.

C. H. R. PEACH.

HOUSE OP COMMONS PRAYER : SPEAKER YELVERTON. In Mr. Dasent's ' Speakers of the House of Commons ' I see that Yelver- ton is cited as the author of the prayer in daily use in the House of Commons. Some

time ago, however, I remember reading an article on this subject in one of our more important reviews, and I am under the impression that Bishop Cosin was said to be the author of this prayer as well as of that for the High Court of Parliament in the Book of Common Prayer. Will some one kindly correct me, or give me this reference, which I am totally unable to trace now, although it cannot be of more than ten or twelve years ago ?

C. H. R. PEACH.

LAMB'S ' ROSAMUND GRAY.' Is this tale of Charles Lamb's wholly .fictitious ? It was first published in 1798, the scene being laid in Widford. I have heard that it represents an episode in Lamb's life, and that the cottage home of Rosamund existed down to recent times. Perhaps some student of the " gentle Elia " can supply informa- tion on these points. Local inquiries yield nothing. r " ^-

Bishop's Stortford.

W. B. GERISH.

HALFACREE. The curious name Half- acree (pronounced Half'acree' with double stress) is entered four times in the * Oxford City Directory.' The suggestion made by some, that this name is a corruption of Halfacre, is obviously untenable. It looks rather as though it represented half-acre ea, i.e., " the ea [river] by the half-acre" ; "the half -acre stream."

This derives reasonable support from the fact that Guppy, ' Homes of Family Names,' enters Halfacre as a family name (20 per 10,000 : see chap, i.) peculiar to Berkshire, which county contains the southern portion of the city of Oxford. The O.E. ea remains in modern dialect ; see ' N.E.D.,' s.v. ' Ea.'

It would be interesting to know of any other family name with ca for its final ele- ment, and so oddly spelt.

G. FRIEDRICHSEN. Oxford.

ST. PATRICK : ST. GEORGE. What is the earliest date of the legends connecting St. Patrick with the shamrock, and St. George with the dragon ? R. C. HOPE, F.S.A. Florence.

D'TJRFEY AND ALLAN RAMSAY. In the

' Diet, of Nat. Biography,' under the heading of Tom Durfey, the late J. W. Ebsworth says :

"D'Urfey certainly visited Edinburgh, perhaps more than once, and made close acquaintance with Allan Ramsay, early in the eighteenth century, at bis shop in the Lucken booths."