Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/573

 ii s. v. JUNE 15, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

473

ROBIN HOOD SOCIETY (11 S. v. 367). There is a tract entitled

" This History of The Robinhood Society, In which the Origin of that Illustrious Body of" Men is traced ; The Method of managing their De- bates is Shewn ; The Memoirs of the various Members that compose it are given ; And some Original Speeches, as Specimens of their Oratorical Abilities, are recorded. Chiefly compiled from Original Papers. . . .London, 1764." In the notice " To the Public " the reader is informed that

" the Robinhood Society has, of late, greatly attracted the Notice of the World ; and is now so much frequented, that, almost every Monday night, Numbers are robbed of the Entertainment they expect, because it is so crowded, that no more can be admitted."

On p. 3 the author says :

" The Perusal of these sheets will sufficiently acquaint the Reader with the Nature and Ten- dency of the Robinhood Society, and of Disputing Clubs in general ; and therefore, without striving to bias his Judgment, or preclude his Remarks by any of my own, I shall proceed to my Account of ' The Society for Free and Candid Enquiry ' from its infant State, to its present mature Growth, at the Robinhood and Little John, in Butcher Row. ' The Societie for Free and Candid En- quirie ' was first discussed by the author's grand- fatherWilliam G******** a'nd Sir Hugh Myddle- ton at the oldest tavern in London, the London Stone in Cannon Street : And the first meeting which this Society of Gentlemen had, was on 20 October 1613 at Sir Hugh Myddleton's Town House, in the Strand."

The Society was originally composed of fifteen members, but after about fifty years, the numbers having greatly increased, the Society determined to hold their meetings at some tavern or coffee-house, and went to " The Essex Head " in Essex Street. In the year 1747 they removed to " The Robin- hood " in Butcher Row. Once a year the Society published a paper containing a " Justification of it from the Sneers of Wit- lings, and the Sarcasms of some Satirical Authors," and setting forth its " Nature and Tendency. ;) Dr. Henley vindicated it from his rostrum in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and, comparing it to some of the' famed assemblies of yore, where a Cicero or a Demosthenes harangued, he affirmed it to be of eminent service to mankind " by mending their Morals, enlarging their Know- ledge, and refining their Taste."' On the other hand, the pulpits everywhere urged its evil tendency, and " resounded with its Infamy." The Society, however, in spite of these denunciations, maintained its ground, and increased in fame. Memoirs of the most remarkable members are added to make the history complete.

TOM JOXES.

SANCTUARY SEATS (11 S. v. 368). Your correspondent will find much that will interest him in a bulky volume published last year by Messrs. George Allen & Sons from the pen of the Rev. J. Charles Cox. the well-known writer on antiquarian subjects, and entitled ' The Sanctuaries and Sanctuary Seekers of Mediaeval England.' The author deals with the frithstools at Beverley, Hexham, York, and elsewhere, but does not mention those at Corhampton, Chewton Mendip, or Halsham. L. L. K.

[MR. TOM JONES who refers to the ' N.E.D.' under ' Frithstool,' and to the bibliography under 'Sanctuary' in the ' Encyclop. Brit.' is also thanked for reply. 1

" J'AI vu CARCASSONNE " (11 S. v. 348). Has not ST. SWITHIN got his quotation wrong ? Does he not mean " II n'a jamais vu Carcassonne " ? If ST. SWITHIN will look at Mr. Theodore Cook's ' Old Provence,' he will see this little note about the well- known poem :

" There was once a farmer in Languedoc who always promised himself the happiness of a journey to Carcassonne . . . .Seed-time and harvest, winter and spring, followed one another, and as he laya-dying the gossips echoed Nadaud's sad line II n'a jamais vu Carcassonne."

H. K. H.

FAMILIES : DURATION IN MALE LINE (11 S. v. 27, 92, 132, 174, 213, 314, 355,415). COL. FYNMORE can scarcely have read Mr. Round's ' Peerage and Pedigree,' vol. ii. pp. 36-7. He says there with reference to Kingscote :

" Nigel Fitz Arthur js son-in-law of a man who died in 1171, and grandson of a man who was living 985. The next two generations add to this wonder, for Nigel's younger son appears to have lived till 1241, and so did Nigel's grandson." Mr. Round adds :

" It is at least certain that Robert Fitz Harding was not the grandson of the King of Denmark, a legend which the Berkeleys, his descendants, have long since dropped."

Harding was, it seems, the son of Eadnoth the Staller. a famous man enough.

As to the Saxon descent of the Derings, let any one read on to pp. 52-5, and his faith in Saxon ancestry will suffer a severe shock.

Finally, as to the Shirleys, Mr. Round says Sewal the Conquest ancestor held under Henry de Ferrers,

"not only Nether Ettington, but manors in Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, and Northants which we know had not been his before the Conquest. He was therefore no mere English thegn suffered to remain on his paternal acres, but one of those who under Norman lords shared in the spoils of England."