Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/281

 11 8. V. MAR. 23. 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

in 1427 (Batten's 'Hist. Coll.'); John Meryet had land in Treneslynch, Devon, in 1428 (Pat. Rolls); and Gilbert Meriott married Beatrice Thatcher, and died childless at Alderbury, Wilts, before 1467 (Hoare's ' Modern Wiltshire '). I have found no other notices of the name until 1533, when John Meriot of Wantage, Bucks, made his will. Since that date there are many on record in various counties, and the name Merrett is first known in America (Scituate, Mass.) in 1626. DOUGLAS MEKRITT.

Rhinebeck, N.Y.

DEAN STANLEY : EASTER DAY SERMONS. Can any reader tell me where to find the fullest report of the sermons preached by A. P. Stanley, Dean of Westminster, on 12 April, 1868 ; 28 March, 1869 ; 17 April, 1870; 31 March, 1872; 5 April, 1874; 28 March, 1875 ; 16 April, 1876 ; 1 April, 1877 ; 13 April, 1879 ; 28 March, 1880 ? These dates were Easter Sundays. J. A.

LORRAINE LEGEND : " PAYS BLEU." Where can I find the Lorraine legend about a " pays bleu," said to be the foundation of Maeterlinck's ' Blue Bird ' ? T. O.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WANTED.

1. SIR CHARLES ASGILL, BT. I should be glad to ascertain the full dates of the birth and death of the second baronet of this name. The ' Diet. Nat. Biog.,' ii. 159, does not give the desired information.

2. EDMUND BACON. According to the ' Lists of Members of Parliament,' pt. i. p. 430, Edmund Bacon was returned to the Parliament of 1592-3 as one of the members for Suffolk. Is Edmund a clerical error for Edward ? If not, who was this Edmund Bacon ?

3. THOMAS BEDFORD appears to have died at Compton, near Ashbourne, in February, 1773. (See 'Diet. Nat, Biog.,' iv. 112-13.) I should be glad to ascertain the exact date of his death and the place of his burial.

4. HARMAN BLENNERHASSET. Accord- ing to the ' Diet. Nat. Biog.,' v. 213, Blenner- hasset married " Miss Agnew, daughter of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man." I should be glad to learn the date and further particulars of this marriage. On what day in 1831 did he die in Guernsey, and where was he buried ? G. F. R. B.

ABBEY OF AUMONE. Can some reader inform me when the Cistercian Abbey of Aumone, in Normandy, was founded ? Also of what abbey was Aumone a daughter ?

J. H. C.

SIGNET RINGS. Will some reader of ' N. & Q.' please inform me if there is any fixed custom as to the wearing of a signet ring with family coat of arms engraved thereon ? Is wearing it on the index finger strictly confined to gentlemen in possession of a title, and is there any distinction as to right and left index finger ? J. B.

Groniugen.

[See 1 S. vii. 12 ; 2 S. i. 76 ; v. 58 ; 3 S. v. 281, 327 ; 4 S. vi. 323 : 5 S. iii. 249 ; iv. 252 ; 7 S. xi. 309 ; 8 S. iv. 9, 157. j

THE ROYAL CHARLOTTE. Three silver salvers were presented by the owners of the Royal Charlotte to Capt. John Clements in 1763. Each salver is engraved with a representation of a three-masted ship in full sail, a long pennon flying from the main mast, and an ensign over the stern. Under the ship is the name " The Royal Charlotte," and above it an inscription recording the fact of the presentation. I have some recollection of having once heard of a well- known ship (? East Indiaman) of this name, and shall be grateful for any information about her. H. J. B. CLEMENTS.

' LADY GORDON,' BY JOHN DOWNMAN. There has recently been exhibited at Shepherds' Gallery in King Street a portrait of Lady Gordon (reproduced in The Con- noisseur, December, 1911). Who was she ? The Gallery cannot tell me.

J. M. BULLOCH.

123, Pall Mall, S.W.

THOMAS F. ERSKINE. Could you kindly give me any information respecting a Thomas F. Erskine of Somerset House in the year 1837 (16 August) ? W T as he in any way connected with the famous Thomas Erskine, Lord Chancellor, who was born 12 March, 1788, at 10, Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street, and died 1864 (9 November), member of Lincoln's Inn ? Any information will be of much service to me.

(Miss) A. T. CONNOR.

CHEVET'S POPULARIZATION OF Music. In Aylmer Maude's ' Life of Tolstoy,' p. 167, the following passage occurs :

" It was probably during this visit to Paris that Tolstoy witnessed and admired Chevet's popularization of music by an easy system of instruction, of which he says : ' I have seen hundreds of horny-handed working men sitting on benches . . . .singing at sight, and understanding and being interested in the laws of music.' "

What is the system of music referred to ? LAWRENCE PHILLIPS.