Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/152

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NOTES AND QUERIES. tn s. iv. AUG. 10, 1911.

After tracing the history of the tree till its destruction by fire by a miscreant in April, 1862, Mr. Jeffery said :

" The sorb tree was known in Pitts' time by -the Latin names of Sorbus pyriformis ; later on .as Sorbus domestica ; and for a long time past as Pyrus domestica. The English names of the tree were the sorb or true service tree, or manured ^service tree, the word ' manured ' being used in its primary sense of cultivated. The word sorbus, and the name ' service ' is believed to be -a corruption of the same Latin word. In Wyre Forest itself, and in the counties of Worcester, Salop, Hereford, Radnor, and Wilts, and in the west country, the local name of the mountain ash is the whitty, the word ' whitty ' being usually spelt with an h, but occasionally without. Nash states that the common people not improperly called the old sorb tree the quicken pear tree. Both the words ' whitty ' and ' quicken ' are local names for the mountain ash, and whitty pear tree simply means a mountain ash with pear-like sfruit."
 * sorb ' is an evident Anglicism of the Latin

Mr. Jeffery then dealt with the folk-lore connected with the service tree or mountain ash ; and after discussing the question of the introduction of the sorb tree into Eng- land, he concluded his paper with the in- scription on the post erected that day :

" At this spot stood for some centuries the only specimen in this country growing wild of the Sorb or Whitty Pear Tree (Pyrus domestica) which was burned down by an incendiary in 1862 . This post has been set up by the Worcestershire Naturalists' Club, 25th July, 1911, to mark the site. The Bight Rev. the Lord Bishop of Worces- ter, F.S.A., President. F. T. Spackman, F.G.S., Honorary Secretary."

Q.

SIR WILLIAM WALLACE'S WELSH DESCENT. When writing about the battle of theWey and the Carpenter document, ME. W. SCOTT (ante, p. 77) charges the English chroniclers with error in assuming that Wallace came of a Welsh stock. It is true that in the thirteenth century the whole of Strathclyde the ancient kingdom of the Britons, Cymri, or Welsh had been incorporated in the realm of Scotland, and, from the xeign of David I. downward, much of the land had been granted in fief to Xorman knights. But some of the old Welsh chiefs must have retained their place, among them being the owners of Elderslie, who would naturally be distinguished among their neighbours as Waleys or Welsh. This, at the time when surnames were first becoming fixed, crystallized into the permanent desig- nation of the family as Waleys phonetically written Wallace. The great Scottish patriot, therefore, although of Welsh descent, was as truly a Scotsman as John Scott, Earl of

Eldon, was an Englishman, although Eldon's ancestor must have come from over the Border.

Another great figure in the war of independ- ence was Sir Malcolm Fleming, who was not less a Scotsman by reason of his descent from a Flemish settler. So, for that matter, was Good Sir James of Douglas.

HERBERT MAXWELL.

SHAKESPEARES IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. The following Shakespeare references may be of interest :

" The Commissioners in a Commission of Bankrupt awarded against W T illiam Shakespear, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Chap- man, having made an Assignment of the said Bankrupt's Estate and Effects, to Mr. Lawrence Parker, of the Parish of St. Saviour's, South wark, in the County of Surry, Salter, and Mr. John Beech er, of Watlingstreet, London, Salter : This is to give notice to all Persons indebted to the said William Shakespear, or that have any goods or other Effects of his in their hands, are forthwith to pay and deliver the same to the said Assignees, or they '11 be sued." London Gazette, No. 4975, Thursday, March 6, to Saturday, March 8, 1711/12.

" To be 'Lett, a very Commodious well-known accustom'd Publick House both for Sea and Land, near the Exchange, the Person that keeps it being engag'd in other Business. A further information to be had cf Mr. Benjamin Shake- spear, Painter, at his house in St. Christopher's Church- Yard in Threadneedle Street." Daily Courant, Wednesday, August 6, 1712.

B. L. STEELE.

' PICKWICK ' : EATANSWILL NEWSPAPERS. In the fiftieth chapter of ' Pickwick ' Dickens makes Pott of The Eatanswill Gazette say to Mr. Pickwick :

" The Independent, Sir, is still dragging on a wretched and lingering career, abhorred and despised by even the few who are cognizant of its miserable and disgraceful existence ; stifled by the very filth it so profusely scatters," &c. This was a portion of a " leader " in The Eatanswill Gazette.

As an example of editorial style over eighty years before ' Pickwick,' the follow- ing is perhaps worthy of being dug out of an old magazine :

" To launch out into little spiteful Invectives against our Competitors, or to sit down with the malignant Purpose of depreciating their Labours, and picking out their smallest Faults, is an Em- ployment too despicable and invidious for any one but the meanest Scribbler. It is true, the Enemies which have in general appeared against us, have been such poor, maimed, sickly, and miserable Opponents, that it is ridiculous even to appear in the Field against them ; somewhat like leading out an Army to attack an Hospital : But what Glory can attend the Triumph over Impotence or Imbecillity ? Let them languish