Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/492

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NOTES AND QUERIES. m s.m. Ju^,i9ii.

PACK-HORSE BRIDGES. In the article on ' The Rule of the Road ' which appeared at 11 S. ii. 161 reference was made to pack- horse roads. In The Sphere for the 10th of June, under the heading ' In Pre-Motoring Days,' p. 255 is devoted to illustrations of pack-horse bridges still in existence. These had been specially recorded for The Sphere by Mr. C. S. Sargisson, consequent upon the considerable correspondence which bad appeared in The Westminster Gazette con- cerning pack-horse bridges. The following views are given :

A pack-horse bridge in the Goyt Valley, Derbyshire, commonly called " The Roman Bridge." A Warwickshire pack-horse bridge near Harn pton in Arden. A pack-horse bridge near Clitheroe, which dates back to the Roman period. A pack-horse bridge near Hayfield, Derbyshire. A pack-horse bridge in North Lancashire. A pack-horse bridge near Edale, Derbyshire.

A wooden pack-horse bridge in Somerset- shire. Lower Hodder Bridge (the parapet was removed by Oliver Cromwell to get his guns across). * A dilapidated pack-horse bridge near Colne; and another pictur- esque pack-horse bridge near Colne (the bridge is very ancient, and measures only 4- ft. or so in breadth).

JOHN COLLINS FRANCIS.

THE CUCKOO AND ITS CALL. In chap. xiii. of her excellent memoir of Robert Buchanan, Miss Jay writes as follows :

the difference between a cuckoo and a sparrow- hawk ; indeed, he took the first cuckoo he saw for a small hawk, and was only instructed rightly by its cry. With regard to this same .cry of the cuckoo, it has been described in the common English song
 * ; When he first went to Oban he hardly knew

The cuckoo is a pretty bird,

It sings as it flies ;

he then learned that it did nothing of the kind, so he wrote

From rock to rock I saw him fly, Silent in flight, but loud at rest." It is always hazardous to decry the results of observation summarized and embodied in proverb and " the common English song," for these almost certainly represent the accumulated experience and wisdom of many generations. Whoever wrote that the cuckoo " sings as it flies " was justified in his contention, for on lonely moorland, with nothing to disturb the view or impose upon the ear, the present writer has fre- quently noted the fact. One cuckoo, w T ith no other in the vicinity, has been heard distinctly calling three times while com-

pleting a flight of three or four hundred yards. Indeed, this very tendency to shout while on the wing accounts to some extent for the elusive characteristics which prompted Wordsworth's definition of " a wandering voice." As virtually an indoor man, Robert Buchanan may be excused for his limited knowledge of external nature, especially when we find that Christopher North, with all his open-air experience, is in agreement with him in thinking that the cuckoo is silent during flight. Some years ago North's opinion was mentioned in ' N. & Q.'

THOMAS BAYNE.

HENRY FIELDING AND THE CIVIL POWER. The following paragraph, which appeared in The London Morning Penny Post of 4-7 October, 1751, supplies an interesting personal touch concerning Henry Fielding :

" A few Days ago a Gentleman, late a Colonel in the Army, went to the Pay- Office to demand some Money, which was refused him, whereupon he used the Gentleman in the Office with Insol- ence, and threatened to draw his Sword, upon which he was carried before the Worshipful Justice Fielding he disputed [sic], and whose Character, as a Magistrate, he used with Irreverence, but hi.-; Worship, to shew him that the Civil Power was superior to the Military, and that a Breach of Peace was cognizable by him, thought proper, in Spite of Bravadoes and his Appearance, to commit him."

As " Henry Fielding, Esq.," is contem- poraneously being recorded as committing prisoners to Clerkenwell Bridewell, New Prison, and the Gatehouse, there is no doubt as to the identity of " the Worshipful Justice Fielding." ALFRED F. ROBBINS.

" FRANKLIN " : VARIOUS MEANINGS. At 10 S. xii. 107, 270, 370, 492; 11 S. i. 96 a discussion took place as to Lowell's " franklin clean," the present writer main- taining that by " franklin " was meant a Franklin stove. In 1818 John Palmer of King's Lynn, co. Norfolk, published his ' Journal of Travels in the United States,' &c. In this book the word "Franklin" is used in two senses which are worth placing on record. The first extract is under date of 27 May, 1817, and refers to the country near Philadelphia ; the second extract is under date of 20 July, 1817 :

" We called at several houses, every thing, though homely, indicated ease and plenty. The chairs and tables were plainly made, the windows, w r hich are numerous, all sashes (I never saw a casement in the United States), the best room displayed a list carpet of home manufacture ; (very few have figured carpets) the fire-places were all on the hearth, with hand ir. ns to support the wood : in the best room some have an iron fire-place (on the hearth plan) called a Franklin :