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 ii 8. iv. OCT. 14, MIL] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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the world that was impossible. His friend Clan- ranald thought the matter out, and a treaty was drawn up. The treaty was to the effect that none of them for one instant renounced his individual claim to be the senior branch, but that for the good of the clan they agreed to bury the hatchet, and to act in amity with one another. A diffi- culty arose as to what would happen if the three of them turned up at one dinner. Who would take precedence ? He suggested that they should ' toss up,' and in the treaty they would find a clause providing that whoever won would for that night only take precedence of the two others. {Laughter and cheers.) Now that the three had decided to bury the hatchet, he hoped that their view of the matter would not be distasteful to the clan. The treaty would be published in due course, and he thought the clan would find nothing in it that would offend susceptibilities from what- ever point of view."

The settlement of this historic dispute appears to me worthy of record in ' N. & Q.' JAS. CURTIS, F.S.A.

SUNDIAL INSCRIPTION AT SEVENOAKS. Collectors of sundial inscriptions may be glad to note the following, which I recently copied in the garden of an old hotel (" The Royal ") in the town of Sevenoaks, Kent :

As the long hours do pass away, So doth the life of man decay,

1630.

Long liffe ye King Charles. The above is an interesting variation from those given on pp. 49 and 50 in Mrs. Gatty's


 * The Book of Sundials ' (Bell & Sons, 1889).

HENRY TAYLOR. Busthall, Kent.

REV. JOHN M 'BRIDE OF BELFAST. His

in Answer to a Pamphlet called A Sample of True Blue Presbyterian Loyalty,' 4to, Glasgow, 1713, is a curious work on Irish history, written during the period of his banishment from Ireland for refusing to take the Sacramental Test.
 * Sample of Jet Black Prelatic Calumny,

DANIEL HLPWELL.

RICHMOND, YORKSHIRE : MARKET CUS- TOM. It appears to me that the following notice from The Yorkshire Herald of 23 September is worthy of a corner in ' N. & Q.' :

" An Old Custom at Richmond. Keeping up an ancient custom, the Mayor of Richmond {Councillor A. Currie) has presented a bottle of wine to the farmer attending the Richmond Market who brought in the first sample of the produce of the harvest field in a bulk. This has been secured by Mr. James Barker, of Hipswell Hall, who brought in a splendid quantity of wheat."

ST. SWITHIN.

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.

NELSON : " MUSLE." On 9 June, 1805, when Capt. Champain reported to Nelson that on the 6th he had seen the French fleet standing to the northward, past Prince Rupert's Bay (see Nicolas, ' Dispatches,' &c., vi. 452), Nelson turned to his flag captain and said : " Hardy, there 's life in a musle yet." About the reading there is little doubt. Concerning the " mu " there is none ; the " sle " might be " ch," but I do not think it is, and clearly " much " would be nonsense ; only what is "musle " ? Can any one suggest a meaning ? Mussel naturally occurs ; but did any one ever talk of life in a mussel in the implied sense, at least ? J. K. LAUGHTON.

JOHN JAB, vis THE DWARF. James Caul- field in ' Portraits, Memoirs, and Characters of Remarkable Persons from the Reign of Edward III. to the Revolution,' London, 1813, vol. i. p. 8, gives a print of the dwarf John Jarvis, who died 1558 or 1560, and states that it was from the original statue, which was in the possession of George Walker, Winchester Row, Lisson Green. The print was published by Caulfield in 1796, and underneath is written " Walker pinxit 1795." Caulfield says :

" The statue of this dwarf has been for more than 200 years in the family of the present pos- sessor. It is most inimitably carved in oak, and coloured to resemble the life." In a note an anecdote is given showing it was at one time in the possession of Dr. Hugh Kennedy of Hornchurch, Essex. Can any of your readers give me information as to the present whereabouts of this statue ? KARL PEARSON.

Galton Eugenics Laboratory, Gower Street. W.C.

MB. STOCK, BIBLIOPHILE, 1735. In the first volume of Techener's Bulletin du Biblio- phile there are some interesting ' Biblio- giana, ou Anecdotes Bibliographiques,' one of which concerns a " M. Stock, bibliomane anglais."

In 1735 the Recollets of Antwerp decided to get rid of their library, which consisted of about 1,500 volumes, manuscript and printed, which they regarded as " vrais bouquins de nulle valeur." They were