Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/496

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. v. MAY 25, 1912,

NICOLAUS MYSTICUS AND COSMAS ATTICUS. -Macaulay writes in his ' History ' (chap.

"A Greek manuscript, relating to the depriva- tion of bishops, was discovered, about this time, in the Bodleian Library, and became the subject ot a furious controversy. One party held that God had wonderfully brought this precious volume to light, tor the guidance of His Church at a most critical moment. The other party wondered that any im- portance coiild be attached to the nonsense of a nameless scribbler of the thirteenth century. Much was written about the deprivations of Chrysostom and Photius, of Nicolaus Mysticus and Cosmas Atticus."

I should be glad of any information about the two last named. DAVID SALMON.

Swansea.

STANDING ON TABLES IN COURTS OF LAW. Will some reader point me to some authority to explain the practice of using tables in certain cases for standing on, more notably in courts of law ?

In the four illuminations showing courts in session presented by Mr. Justice Darling to the Inner Temple there are four examples of this. In the Exchequer Court the tellers -are counting out ths money on the table- cloth, on which an usher is standing; and in the other courts the clerks are writing the rolls at one end of the table, while at the other two ushers are standing. In Acker - mann's ' Microcosm,' in the plate represent- ing the Court of the Earl Marshal, an officer of the court is on the table, round which many people are seated. In Mr. Dasent's ' Speakers of the House of Commons ' there is a plate showing the Commons sitting. Here the two clerks are seen seated at desks placed on a low table, which extends the length, and practically the breadth, of the Hall. This table, indeed, is higher at the Speaker's end than it is at the end next the bar, for the knees of those members seated near the Speaker are hidden, whereas lower down it only just covers a view of the members' feet. Is this an intentional slope, or is the artist's perspective to be blamed ? Mr. Dasent also records that Mr. Evelyn Philipps Shirley of Ellington, at a conference between the Lords and Commons early in the nineteenth century, saw the carpet of the conference room spread not on the floor, but on the table. This, I take it, signifies a similar practice to the others I have mentioned.

I can find no account of this custom any- where. These are the only examples of it which I can recollect at the present moment, though I am sure I have come across others.

All of them, however, seem to have been in courts of law. Of course, I cannot say whether I am right in designating these erections as " tables." Perhaps they are simply examples of the dais serving two purposes i.e., for writing on and for a point of vantage for the court ushers.

C. H. R. PEACH.

YEDDING. The little stream which runs from the moat at Headstone Grange, by Harrow-on-the-Hill, is known as the Yedding: Brook until it reaches Cranford Splash, just above Cranford Park after which it is generally known as the River Cran or Crane until its junction with the Thames at Isle- worth. The cluster of houses where the road from Harlington to Northolt crosses- the brook is calling Yedding Green. What is the origin of the name Yedding, and has it any signification ?

J. TAVENOR-PERRY,

5, Burlington Gardens, Chiswick, W.

LADY MARY GREY, ALIAS KEYS : CHOWT OR CHUTE. I have recently acquired the signature of the Lady Mary Grey to a receipt for a half year's rent to the feast of St. Michael, 1574 of, as I read it, the " whoale psnage of Nilmorp in the county of War'." The amount is 81. Is. Qd., the tenant's name being Christopher Chowt. The sig- nature is very clear : " Mary Greye."

Miss Strickland quotes Sir Thomas Gres- ham as writing on 19 July, 1572, that Lady Mary " hath in law twenty pounds by the year, and this is all she hath in possession,'* but adds that " it seems probable that Queen- Elizabeth did not deprive her of the four- score pounds per annum " which she received as salary for her Court appointment as a maid of honour. In ' N. & Q.,' 8 S. vi. 301, MR. RUTTON contributed a copy of Lady Mary's will, wherein she mentions " leases " as part of her estate.

I find in Arch. Cant., vol. xviii. p. 56, a foot-note to the effect that the name C. Chowt, 1553, is cut in the south side of the east window of the Beauchamp Tower,, immediately below that of " Jhon Seymor." Also, in the Acts of the Privy Council, 26 April, 1573, there are instructions to the officers of Gravesend to apprehend and send up " Edward Chester and Christopher Chute, who remaine upon that coast under pretence to have the leading of Soldiours."

I shall be glad to identify the C. Chowt, 1553. For what was he committed to the Tower ? R. J. FYNMORE.

Sandgate.