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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. vi. SEIT. -_>i, 1912.

AUTHORS OF QUOTATIONS WANTED. "Tradition is but a meteor, which if it once falls cannot possibly be rekindled." Can any one say where this quotation occurs ? It is given as from one of Dr. Johnson's works in Dr. Davies's ' Other Men's Minds.'

J. H. LESLIE.

Where does this quotation, applied to Satan, come from ?

Traitor ! this bolt shall find and pierce thee

through

Though under hell's prpfoundest wave thou div'st To find a sheltering grave.

J. C. GOODWIN.

EAST ANGLIAN FAMILIES. Information is desired concerning the history of the families of Goose, Gorse, or Le Gos, and of Bavin, belonging to East Anglia chiefly, it is believed, to Norfolk. TANNITSOW.

EMBLEM ON A RING. I have recently examined a lady's ring, the bezel of which had originally been fitted as a swivel. On the obverse is a stamp from a die, in gold, of Napoleon Bonaparte ; on the reverse a rabbit, in mosaic. The usual significance of the emblem may, I think, be put aside. What, then, is it intended to convey ? The ring was contained in an old-fashioned card- board jeweller's box, inscribed " For Miss Murray, 1835." AITCHO.

FIREBACK: RELIC OF 1660. At Bellamy's Farm, Longney, Glos., the residence of Mr. E. Longney, may be seen an iron plate which was removed from the back of the kitchen grate in that house.

Near the top is the date 1660, and in the centre is the figure of a man rubbing his face with his right hand as if rubbing off smoke. On each side of the figure are the following curious lines :

16 60

FROM... A > SMOKY. LIFE

AND. A. SCOVLD INGE. WIFE.

ALL. YOV. THAT DOE. ME. SE

TAKE. PETIE AND DELI\'ER[M]E

The R in DELIVER is joined by a stroke to the E, thus representing M.

Were such articles in general use during the seventeenth century ?

L. H. CHAMBERS. Amersham.

" LEASE FOR THREE LIVES." Will some reader kindly explain the legal significance of this phrase, and what bearing, if any, the principle involved may have had on the wording used by Mrs. C. Price in her will, 1764 ? The testator bequeathed certain

real property to three sisters, ' ; and imme diately after their decease to the use of Halley Benson Millikin." The italics are mine. Does this language not imply that the property was entailed, and that the testator, Mrs. Price, was legally unable to bequeath it absolutely to her eventual heir, Halley Benson Millikin ? (See 10 S. iii. 6 ; 11 S. vi. 67.) EUGENE F. Me PIKE.

135, Park Row, Chicago.

[Land or houses in England were .sometimes .eased, not for =a definite number of years, but lor the duration of the lives of three persons named in the lease. On the death of the third the property reverted to the freeholder. Some of the evils resulting from such a system are dis- ussed in a little handbook called ' Leasehold Enfranchisement,' written in 1885 by Henry Broadhurst and Robert T. Reid (now Lord Loreburn, and recently Lord Chancellor), and published by Messrs. Swan Sonnenscheiii.]

THE ROCKET TROOP, ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY : MEDAL FOR VALOUR AT LEIP- sic. A statement occurs in a catalogue of a private collection of war medals to the effect that Lieut. Strangways and five men of the Rocket Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, received the Swedish medal for valour in the field -"for their good conduct and bravery at Leipsic, October, 1813" and that royal permission was granted to accept and wear the decoration.

Can any one give any authority for the statement, and say where the " royal permission " above referred to can be found ? J. H. LESLIE.

AUTHOR OF SONG WANTED. Can any of your readers tell me who wrote the words of a song called ' Life ' ? They consist of two stanzas, the first of which begins, Our joy is like a narrow raft Afloat upon the hungry se;t :

and the second,

Our life is like a curious play

Where each man hideth from -himself.

It is described as "from an old MS.," and is set to music by Jacques Blumenthal.

J. WILLCOCK. Lei-wick.

CONCAVE MIRROR WITH EAGLE, CHAIN, AND BALL. I lately bought in Wiltshire a concave mirror of the usual type, except that it is surmounted by an eagle, which holds in its beak a chain descending to the centre of the glass, and terminating in a ball. Perhaps one of your readers can tell me if this is a mere ornament, or if it has an heraldic or royal significance. We have at Said some large mirrors surmounted by