Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/153

 ii s. iv. AUG. 19, MIL] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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out their Days in Peace, and run the short Course which Nature hath appointed them, without Interruption. As their Lives have been unnoticed, their Deaths are unregarded ; like a Weed in the Desart, which lives and dies without offending any one with its Stink." The London Magazine, vol. xxi. 1752, Preface.

The Preface of the 1751 volume says : " as the two most formidable Enemies we have ever had, are now extinct," &c. According to a foot-note, these "enemies" were The Magazine of Magazines and The Grand Magazine of Magazines.

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

THE LIGHTNING'S VICTIM : JOHN ROSE- BROOK. On a tall elm by the entrance to a footpath a mile or so from Bishop's Stortford is a memorial engraved on a metal tablet, rapidly becoming indecipherable. It runs

Reader, This plate records the death of

John Rosebrook, which took plac-^ on the 10th day of

August, 1866.

He was struck dead by lightning under this tree. He was in humble life, but

much respected.

Be ye also ready, as

our hope is this our brother was.

J. A. H. C. A. A. H.

The tree does not appear to have been affected by the stroke ; it is now in full vigour, and is probably about 70 or 80 years old. W. B. GERISH.

VIPER AND Cow FOLK-LORE. The follow- ing story is propagated by the issue of The Evening News for 19 July. It throws the responsibility on The Western Daily Mer- cury :

" A cow belonging to Mrs. Heale, of Goldburn, Okehamptpn, which was quite well at the morn- ing's milking, was found in the evening to be suffering from an enormous swelling of the udder.

" It was concluded at once that the animal had been bitten by something, most probably by a viper.

" The cow was milked, and the milk was about to be flung away, when the servant girl interposed, and, speaking from previous experi- ence, said : ' Let it stand, because if the cow has been bitten by a snake it will show up in the milk.'

" The milk was accordingly set aside, and on looking at it some three hours afterwards the form of a snake was distinctly seen in the cream which had collected on the surface.

" There was an exact model of the reptile : the head, with the V mark, the eyes, and the tongue projecting from the mouth perfect throughout to the tail.

" Moreover, by aid of a magnifying glass the scales of the skin could be distinctly seen. All this was seen by Mrs. Heale, her two grown-up daughters, the servant girl, and the boy groom.

" On the following morning the figure was less destroyed the continuity of the tail.
 * distinct. A moth had got into the cream and

" Still, the figure was traceable, and the atten- tion of the veterinary surgeon was called to it. He admitted that the form of a snake was un- doubtedly there. His treatment of the animal from the first was for snake bite."

ST. S WITHIN.

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.

ST. CLEMENT THE POPE AND WYRE- MONGERS.- The Wyremongers of London (a Fellowship founded in 1479 by the union of Chapemakers with Wyredrawers) pre- sented to the Court of Aldermen in 1481 for approval certain articles for the regu- lation of their Fraternity. Among these articles was one to the effect that no one of the craft should work on the day of St. Clement the Pope (23 November), "but that it be kept and halowed as it is kept and halowed among othere crafts of the same citee that in their werk occupie fire and water in eschewyng the hurtes that myght come thereby."

Does this refer to the saint's death, as re- ported by some writers, viz., by being forcibly drowned in the sea with an anchor attached to his neck ? or what is the con- nexion ? REGINALD R. SHARPE. The Guildhall, B.C.

GEORGE III. AND THE DRAGON : M. C. WYATT. Shortly after the statue of George III. was unveiled on 3 August, 1836, a printed report was issued in which it was stated that the King had commissioned M. C. Wyatt to execute a group of St. George and the Dragon, but, his Majesty dying before its completion, this group was transformed into the equestrian statue of the King. Can any one tell me where a copy of this report or any record of it may be found ?

H. M. C.

[An extract from The Times of 1838, comment- ing on this statue of George III., appears ante, p. 55.]

LECKY AND THEORY OF MORALS IN PALL MALL BUDGET.' In The Pall Mall Budget of 12 June, 1869, was a long article headed ' The Morals of Expediency and Intuition,' being a criticism of the views of Lecky in his ' History of European Morals.' I should be glad to be informed who wrote that article. J. F. R.