Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/413

 ii s. iv. NOV. is, mi.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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a choice of some a serious matter, for the things had to bear the daily scrutiny of the family for five months of the year. From the time of spring-cleaning no fire was allowed, no matter what the weather, until the fair-day of our Yorkshire town, 11 Octo- ber, when every household had a family gathering and held high festival.

A fire in a bedroom was unheard of, except in case of extreme sickness. The chimney opening was closed by a wooden fire-board, not to keep out the air, but to stop the incoming of blacks, which would soil the whiteness of the summer garniture. Dickens, who noticed everything, used " the deal chimney-board " with comic effect in ' Wat- kins Tottle ' (' Sketches ').

Fire-papers have departed with their kindred the valentines, and have been succeeded by hand-painted screens, vases of real flowers, plants in pots, and ornamental drapery.

Fly-papers may also be mentioned, i.e., nets made of flimsy paper. W. C. B.

<Q writs.

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.

WILLIAM HONE. I have in hand a book on ' William Hone : his Life and Times.' It will not be published till next year, and I should be glad to hear from any of Hone's surviving friends, or from collectors of materials, letters, &c., which would help to perfect the book. The subject has always been a hobby with me. My father was a friend of Hone, and I have rejoiced from early years in the ' E very-Day Book.' Oddly enough, another publisher, Alex- ander Macmillan, also wished to publish a Life of Hone. T. FISHER UN WIN.

Adelphi Terrace, Strand, W.C.

REV. HENRY GREY, 1778-1859. In the obituary of this still-remembered fine old Edinburgh divine, from the pen of his con- nexion George Cupples, author of ' The Green Hand,' appearing under date of 18 Jan., 1859, in The Witness, Hugh Miller's once-powerful organ, the fact of Mr. Grey's father having been an old-time general practitioner at Alnwick is alluded to. To acquire the full name of this practitioner from any Northumbrian antiquary would gratify me. Comparing the notice of Mr.

Grey in Hew Scott's ' Fasti of the Scottish Church' one of the most satisfactory of modern scholarly fact-imparting attempts on a large scale with the record of Mr. Augustine Birrell in the London ' Who 's Who,' it would seem that the latter is a grandson_of the old Edinburgh divine.

J. G. CUPPLES. Brookline, Mass.

TURNERS OF SUSSEX. I am desirous of tracing the ancestry of the old yeoman family of Turners of Mid- Sussex, usually spoken of as the old Sussex Turners. One hundred years ago they were to be found at Balcombe, and in the vicinity of Turner's Hill. I believe their home previously centred around Horsham. JAN. TURNEUR.

P.O., Bockhampton, Australia.

SIR WALTER RALEGH'S HOUSE AT YOUGHAL. Where can I find a detailed description of the interior of this house ?

INQUIRER.

Philadelphia.

JAPANESE GODS. Will some reader of ' N. & Q.' kindly give me the names of two or three gods of the Japanese, and tell me for what special blessing they are supplicated? I want also a short prayer which may be popular with the Japanese. JAPAN.

NICOLAY FAMILY. Sir William Nicolay (1771-1842), Governor successively of Dominica, St. Kitts, &c., and Mauritius, is stated in the ' D.N.B.' to have been " of an old Saxe-Gotha family settled in Eng- land." He was son of Frederic Nicolay, of Westminster, Esq., who was son of Gaspard Nicolay, who came to England about 1730- 1735 from Saxe-Gotha, and had some ap- pointment about the English Court. Further information regarding this Gaspard and his ancestry is sought. SIGMA TAU [2].

' THE INTELLIGENCER.' I have just ac- quired a copy of this work, which is by the author of ' A Tale of a Tub,' the remainder of the title-page reading as follows :


 * 'The Second Edition | London | Printed for

Francis Cogan, at the | Middle - Temple - Gate in Fleet Street | MDCCXXX."

Will any one kindly tell me when and where the first edition was published ? I cannot find any mention of the work in Lowndes. It is written in Swift's usual free style in many cases bitterly sarcastic. It loses some of its point by one's not knowing the persons who suffer under his trenchant pen. It is arranged after the manner of The Spectator. WM. NORMAN.