Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/417

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

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coal merchant, who built cellars and made his coal-yard on part of the lawn. The portion retained by Mr. Annis consisted of the little garden and the remainder of the lawn ; on these he built stables. He also retained part of the walled garden. In 1874, when Miss Fox published her book, this part of the premises was used by the occupier of ''The Anchor Hotel," while the other part, including the lawn, comprised cellars and coal-yard.*

Miss Fox, in her ' Kingsbridge Estuary,' 1864, mentions a beautifully executed miniature of Dr. Wolcot, the work of Walter Stephens Lethbridge, which was then in the possession of my great-uncle, Mr. Charles Prideaux, F.L.S. ; but I regret to say I do not know what became of it after his death. The bulk of his fine col- lection of china was purchased by Lady Charlotte Schreiber, and is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and that lady may have possibly acquired the miniature also. W. F. PRIDEAUX.

The house at Dodbrooke, Devon, in which Dr. Wolcot was born, was situate upon the estuary. It had belonged to his ancestors for many 'generations. The doctor had plans and estimates prepared for an improved house, but at the last moment changed his mind and sold the fee simple (in 1795) to the Rev. Nathaniel Wells. The purchaser took down most of the fabric, and began the rebuilding, which was finished by his widow, Mrs. Juliana Wells, the owner when Lysons wrote, 1822 (vol. vi. p. 165). In the poet's time there was on the estate a thatched barn in which he sheltered some strolling actors who had been turned out of the adjoining parish of Kingsbridge. The circumstances are de- scribed in the two odes ' To my Barn ' (' Poems,' vol. ii. pp. 123-4, ed. 1809).

As a boy he was remembered for his strokes of humour and smart repartees. His schoolmaster (at Kingsbridge) was John Morris (1717-1788), a native of Ring- wood, Hampshire, whose virtues are recorded in the following epitaph :

Of morals pure and manners mild, Preceptor loved by ev'ry child : With mind possessed of classick store, The mien of meekness MORRIS wore. No lofty look ; no pedant-pride : t He sought the infant step to guide : A virtuous course through life he ran, And strictly proved an honest man.

S. P. Fox, p. 249, ex inform. G. B. Lidstone, Esq.
 * ' Kingsbridge and its Surroundings,' by

From his instruction "Wolcot caught The spark that kindled radiant thought, Illumined paths that lead to fame, And with the Nine enrolled his name. Blest shade ! that could the muse inspire- The modern Pindar's sounding lyre : Harmonious lays that charm the heart, And pleasure's balmy ze&t impart. Such liv'd the man : interred he lies, Expectant with the good to rise ; May those who read these lines as well Deserve among the just to dwell.

Of Wolcot' s life in Jamaica as a clergy- man, the following is related in ' Chambers' s Encyc.,' 1877, s.v. Wolcot :

" His congregation consisted mostly of negroes, and Sunday being their principal holiday and market, the attendance at church was very limited. Sometimes not a single person came ; and Wolcot and his clerk the latter being an excellent shot used at such times, after waiting for ten minutes, to proceed to the seaside, to enjoy the sport of shooting ring-tailed pigeons."

Among the admirers of Wolcot' s poetry was the Polish general Kosciusko (1756-1817), who assisted the revolting American colonies in the War of Independence. He sent Wolcot a present of Falernian wine ('Ann. Reg., 1795,' 32, n.).

In the trumped-up case of crim. con. in which Wolcot was involved in 1 807, as a result of having taught his landlady to act, it was stated by the plaintiff's counsel that Wolcot had said that he had taught Mrs. Siddons to act ('Ann. Reg., 1807,' Chron., p. 450). Wolcot mentions Mrs. Siddons several times in his poems, but does not onfirm this statement.

The following may be added to the autho- rities mentioned in ' D.JST.B.' : A paper on Wolcot by the Rev. J. M. Hawker, Rector of Berrynarbor, Ilfracombe, printed in Trans. Devon. Assoc., 1877 ; and also the ' History of Kingsbridge ' by Abraham Hawkins, the dedication of which reads :

" To | John Wolcot M.D. | long accredited at ,he Court of Apollo | as | Peter Pindar Esq. | These pages commemorative of the | History and Topography | of the Vicinity of his | native Earth | are | (by his permission) | dedicated | as a mark of sincere respect | for his superior genius and talents | by his friend I the Author."

M.

' COMUS ' AT COVENT GABDEN THEATRE

.11 S. iv. 348). The performance of ' Comus ' was considered " the most brilliant produc- tion of the season, presenting the most classical and perfectly artistic ensemble of all the spectacle pieces brought out under
 * ook place during the season 1839-40. It
 * >he Vestris-Mathews management." Ac-

cording to an account by Vandenhoff,