Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/305

 ii s. v. MAR. so, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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and talkers that I have heard during the last fifty years have clearly indicated the long form of the second "e" in " pre-cedence,"- " precedent" (a.), and the short form in " precedent ' ' (sb. ). But the new-comers give precedence both in type and place to what, to me, sounds, to say the least, uncultured.

J. H. K.

[Since the " e " in prcecedo is long, it is indeed difficult to see how the 'C.O.D.' arrives at this 1 -reference ]

HERALDS' VISITATION. Will some one kindly explain the case of an original visita- tion seen at Heralds' College, with no arms recorded for the four generations named, and none to be found in the list of grants to that family ? Did not the visitation and names being recorded mean that the family were entitled to arms ? Would they other- wise have been mentioned ? T. D.

PROVERB ABOUT SHOES AND DEATH. On Friday, 9 March, 1733, one William Alcock was hanged for the murder of his wife. He swore, sang, &c., on the way to, and at, the place of execution. " Before he was turn'd off, took off his Shoes, to avoid a well-known Proverb " (Gentleman's Magazine, iii. 154). What was this well- known proverb ? ROBERT PIERPOINT.

["To die in one's shoes or boots" was a slang equivalent for " to be hanged."]

SOPHIA HOWE. Mr. Austin Dobson, in his chapter ' In Leicester Fields ' ( ' Eigh- teenth Century Vignettes '), after referring to the Maids of Honour Mary Bellenden and Mary Lepel, mentions Sophia Howe, who " died of a broken heart."

Can any one of your readers tell me her story ? G. R. LAGLEN.

BATLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL. YORKSHIRE. I shall be glad of any information as to the history of this school or its masters not to be found in Sheard's ' Records of Batley.' Was Joseph Hague, curate of Birstall. usher at the school in 1744 ? Who was Mr. Dixon (probably usher 1743) ? N. L. F.

ROBERT DREWRIE, PRIEST, EXECUTED AT TYBURN, 25 FEB.. 1607. I am anxious to discover who the above was. Can any reader kindly inform me who his parents were ? An account of his trial is to be found in ' State Trials,' vol. ii. He must not be confounded with Robert Drury, the fourth son of Wm. Drury, D.C.L., "of Tendring, who met his death at the " Fatal Vespers." CHARLES DRURY.

" ETHROG." In The Daily Telegraph for 14 August, 1911, there appeared a notice of the will of the late Chief Rabbi, Dr. Hermann Adler, and in it appeared the following bequests :

" One of his ' Ethrog ' cases to ' my valued friend Kabbi Avigdor Chaikir.' "

" The smaller gilt ' Ethrog ' casket to Solomon H. Harris of Southport."

What is an " Ethrog " ? I have consulted a Bible dictionary and all the dictionaries I can get access to, but cannot find the word. _ J. W. M.

" BELL OF ARMS." According to a royal warrant in 1768, the Black Watch Regiment was authorized to wear " on the drums and bells of arms the same device [i.e., the King's crest], with the rank of the regiment under- neath" ('Historical Record of the Forty- Second Foot,' p. 64). What are "bells of arms " ? A. RHODES.

LITTLE WIT-HAM. A correspondent in the Grantham controversy refers (US. iv. 535) to an " ancient gibe " against the people of Little Witham reflecting on their degree of intelligence that clearly arose from the name of the place. If such gibe be really ancient, it is probably referred to by old- time topographical and other writers. Can any one supply the earliest date at which it occurs ? I ask the question because the notorious Gotham stories may have had a parallel origin. Some years ago Mr. Salz- mann, the Sussex historian, suggested to me that the name Gotham probably had as much to do with the origin of the famous tales as anything else, " the goat being an ancient emblem of stupidity." I have not, however, found any early evidence of the goat being credited with stupidity.

A. STAPLETON.

COMBE - MARTIN MARKET CHARTER. Lewis, ' Topog. Diet.,' says respecting this place :

' The Market has been discontinued, but the Charter granted to Nicholas FitzMartin by Henry III. in 1264 is still retained by the exposure of some trifling articles for sale."

Where can a copv of this charter be seen ?

G. H. W.

THE DANISH NATIONAL FLAG. The ' E. B.,' Murray's ' Dictionary,' and other respectable authorities state that the Dannebrog, a white cross on a red ground, is the Danish national flag. Hans C. Andersen in one of his stories says that the Danish flag has lions and hearts in the device. Are there two Danish national flags ? TEMPLAR.