Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/157

 ii s. v. FEB. 17, 1912.] NOTES- AND QUERIES.

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six o'clock yesterday morning." Cf. Casanova's description, Gamier, vi. 5523.

I have looked through the files of The St- James's Chronicle from June, 1763, to June, 1764, but have found no allusion to the window-card advertisement, the examina- tion before Sir John Fielding, or the incident of the parrot, all of which, from what Casa- nova tells us, ought to be there.

HORACE BLEACKXEY.

GOTHAM IN DERBYSHIRE. (See 10 S. viii. 8.)

MY original communication on this subject appeared in the issue for 6 July, 1907, but failed to elicit any further information. It concerned the place-name " Gotham " occur- ring on modern maps (instance particularly the 6-in Ordnance map) in the vicinity of Parwich, Derbyshire, and on the line of the High Peak Railway. It seemed reasonable to conclude that this Derbyshire Gotham was perhaps but a relatively modern nick- name, or second-hand reflection, of the original Nottinghamshire Gotham.

In the eighth volume of Messrs. Philli- more's ' Derbyshire Marriage Registers,' 1911, which embraces Parwich, there occur among the Parwich marriages several parties described as " of Gotham." The obscurity of the place, however, may be gauged from the circumstance that the able transcriber, Mr. L. L. Simpson of Derby with whom I at once communicated was unaware that such a place-name existed in the county, having assumed that the references were to the well-known Nottinghamshire Gotham. Had such been the case, however, it cannot be doubted that even after allowance is made for the laxity of old-time clerks some reference to the county would have been made, for the whole width of Derbyshire separates Parwich from Notts.

However, Mr. Simpson, on receipt of my letter, at once agreed that the references in the Parwich register could only be to the obscure local Gotham. Further, he very kindly searched, on my behalf, various Derbyshire books and other records, with the following results :

" Gotam " first occurs (so far as can be found) on Burdett's map of Derbyshire, 1762-7.

Glover's ' Directory of Derbyshire,' 1829, gives the names of four farmers living at Gotham.

The same ' Directory ' for 1846 definitely describes Gotham as a hamlet in the parish of Parwich.

White's ' History ' of the county, 1857 r very curiously renders the name " Gottom " an archaic form of the Notts Gotham.

Kelly's ' Directory,' 1891, gives the name of one farmer living at Gotham.

The same work for 1908, I find, in the list of Parwich residents, includes two farmers located at Gotham.

The Rev. C. P. H. Reynolds, M.A., Vicar of Parwich, in response to an inquiry, wrote me : " Gotham in this parish is a name covering two farms."

However, the circumstance that there were four farmers here in 1829, plus the fact that it was deemed worthy of a place on the map of a century and a half ago, justifies the assumption that the place has suffered the ordinary rural disease of depopulation, and consequently that this Derbyshire Gotham was formerly of greater importance than at present. The suffix " ham " might, perhaps, be considered to support this view.

The earliest reference to Gotham in the printed Parwich marriages occurs under date 1708, which at least proves the name on this spot to be upwards of two centuries old. As the register commences in 1640, it is, of course, possible that the imprinted baptisms and burials may comprise earlier allusions. Even so, however, this would not suffice to carry the name far enough back to remove the possibility of its having originated in a nickname, when we remember how early the Gotham tales were popular, and likewise the various recorded instances, of the application of the nickname.

I may, however, mention that a Derby- shire authority, whom I am not at liberty to name, assures me that this Gotham is just as old a Saxon place name as any in the county. A. STAPLETON.

39, Burford Road, Nottingham.

BOOK WITH ROBERT BURTON'S AUTO- GRAPH. (See 10 S. viii. 326; 11 S. i. 325; iv. 44. ) I am indebted to MR. J. H. DAVIES for kindly drawing my attention to an item in Mr. Bernard Halliday's Catalogue No. 31 (Leicester), namely, William Burton's ' The Description of Leicester Shire,' 1622, bear- ing Robert Burton's autograph on the title. The account, however, given in the cata- logue greatly overrates the rarity of this autograph. It was Robert Burton's common practice to put his name or initials on the title-pages of his books, and, as may be seen