Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/93

 us. in. FEB. 4, mi.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

87

same work, however, the ' Marmion ' passage is correctly given.

Two instances from a reprint of " The Author's Edition" of 'The Talisman' may suffice meanwhile to show how the case stands in the novels. Near the beginning of chap. xxiv. we read of spiritual dignitaries 4< who in those days veiled not their bonnets to created being." Scott must have written the other word. In the song of ' The Bloody Vest,' which Blondel sings in chap, xxvi., this couplet appears :

And say unto my lady, in this dear night-weed

dressed, To the best armed champion I will not veil my

crest.

It is evident what the reading here ought to be. THOMAS BAYNE.

WE must request correspondents 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.

" TEWKE," " TUKE," A KIND OF CLOTH References to this are frequent from c. 1490 to 1553. Rogers, * Agric. and Prices,' has from Oxford, 1494, " 1 piece of Tewke for Tergates," 112 yds. at Is. 3d. ; and from Cambridge, 1496, 12 yds. "Tewke" at Is. Id. A will of 1496 has " gownes lyned with Tuke " ; and Palsgrave, 1530, has " Tewke to make purses of [Fr.] trelis." (Littre explains treillis as " grosse toile dont on fait des sacs.") An inventory of church goods at Stafford, 1552-3, has " one canopy of tewke, ij f rentes of sylke, iij crosse clothes, ij of sarsnet, and the other of tewke."

We should be glad to know if anything has been discovered as to the nature of this cloth, and especially as to the derivation of the name tewke. (Connexion with High German tuch is hardly to be thought of at that date ; the Dutch and Flemish was doec, doek.) J. A. H. MURRAY.

Oxford.

PRICKLY PEAR AND MONREALE CATHEDRAL. Botanists seem to be satisfied that the prickly-pear cactus, now common in southern Mediterranean lands, is not indigenous, and was introduced there from America in, I think, the seventeenth century. In the Cathedral at Monreale, near Palermo, is a well-known series of mosaics, representing Biblical incidents, executed, it is said, in the time of the Normans, by Byzantine artists. When I saw these (now 22 years ago), I thought that I observed several instances

in which the artist had depicted common objects which he saw around him. For example, Esau in quest of venison pursues quail, the wild game in the artist's day (as I supposed), and still, I believe, hunted on the slopes of the neighbouring Monte Pelle- grino. Similarly Adam and Eve, after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, are represented as clothed (rather uncomfortably) with leaves which to my eye were those of the prickly pear.

Possibly this mosaic is not now in its original condition ; or I may have been wrong in thinking that the prickly pear was represented as the substitute for the fig leaves. I cannot pay another visit to Mon- reale to verify my impression, nor can I here consult any description or history of the mosaics. I shall therefore be greatly obliged if any of your readers will give me informa- tion on the subject. THOMAS LANGTON. 80, Beverley Street, Toronto.

HENRY, PRINCE OP WALES : MARK ON HIS NECK. In literature contemporaneous with him I have discovered what appears to be an allusion to Henry, Prince of Wales (son of James I.), who died in 1612. Among other characteristics, the person alluded to is described as having a mole, or some similar mark, on his neck. Had Prince Henry such a mark on his neck ?

If this can be shown to be the case, the allusion will be established, and will prove to be interesting, if not important. P.

Philadelphia.

HERBERT W. STEBBINS. The address is earnestly desired of Herbert W. Stebbins, who made inquiry in The Genealogist of October, 1900, concerning my ancestor Stephens Thomson, Attorney-General of Virginia 1703-14, and his descendants.

(Miss) KATE MASON ROWLAND. C/G Virginia Historical Society,

Richmond, Virginia.

WILLIAM ELMHAM. I am astonished to see that William Elmham, governor of Bayonne, admiral of the English fleet " versus portes boreales " in 1379, a partisan of Richard II., is not mentioned in the ' Dictionary of National Biography.' What more is known of him ?

EDME DE LAURME, Soignies.

' DEATH OF CAPT. COOK/ This piece was performed at Covent Garden in March, 1789. Can any reader oblige me with infor- mation regarding four of the cast, viz., Mr. Blurton, Mr. Cranfield, Mr. Darley, and