Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/307

 ii s. vi. SEPT. 28, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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MAIDENS' GARLANDS. Can any of your readers name churches where " maidens' garlands " or the " virgin crants " of Ophelia (Shakespeare's 'Hamlet') can still be seen ? They are said to be wooden hoops covered with white paper and black rosettes ; and the custom was, I believe, to carry them before the coffins of maidens or women who died single.

I seem to recollect reading in an article (some years old) that such garlands could then be seen in many Derbyshire churches. PERCY R. SMITH.

Ruislip, Middlesex.

[Some information about the custom in 1817 will be found at 10 S. xii. 327.]

AUTHORSHIP OF ' THE DEVIL'S WALK.' I have lately seen an edition of ' The Devil's Walk,' published by Marsh & Miller, n.d., edited by " H. W. Montagu, author [?] of Montmorency's Poems." In an Introduc- tion the editor ascribes the poem to Person. I have elsewhere seen it ascribed to Byron and Southey. Who was Montagu ? Has the authorship of the poem been established ?

J. PARSON.

[Coleridge also has strong claim to the author- ship, and the piece is included in most editions of his poems. See at 9 S. vii. 268 the references to earlier important articles in ' N. & Q.']

BRINDLE ARMS. Can any reader kindly tell me what were the arms of the old Lanca- shire family of Brindle (de Burnhull) ? Sir Peter de Brindle died inter 1327-30 s.p., leaving his two sisters as coheirs. The younger, Agnes, became the wife of David de Egerton, brother of Philip de Egerton of Egerton, co. Chester ; the elder, Joan, was married c. 1335 to William Gerard of Kings- ley, co. Chester, and on the death of her sister s.p. the whole Brindle inheritance went to her descendants, the Gerards of Bryn, now represented by Lord Gerard.

NORDTANUS.

MRS. ARMYTAGE, PAINTED BY SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. Could any reader identify this lady for me ? The portrait is unrecorded in Graves and Cronin's ' Works of Reynolds.'

W. L. KING. Wadesmill, Ware.

INSCRIPTION ON A PORTRAIT. What is the explanation of these words on a portrait of a youth in the costume of the period, date 1612: " ^Etatis snss 20 En: vo: fi: con: ma: sub: " ? J. FOSTER, D.C.L.

Tathwell Vicarage, Louth, Lines.

JOHN NORRIS. Can any of your readers give me information about John Norris, who lived at Donyatt, near Taunton, in 1718 ; or about any family of that name in the neighbourhood ? W. N. H.

" EXATE." (See ante, p. 151.) What does this word stand for ? I cannot find it in Bailey, Johnson, or Halliwell.

H. A. ST. J. M.

LORD TRURO'S UNIVERSAL INFORMATION BUREAU. Can any reader give me the history of this institution, which is said to have existed in London " about twenty years ago " ? EUGENE F. Me PIKE.

135, Park Row, Chicago.

" P O M A N D E R." (11 S.vi. 149,213.)

A MONOGRAPH on these musk-balls is still a desideratum, and it is principally to the trans- actions of antiquarian societies that one must go for information. In one of these I find some receipts for making pomander for the primary signification of pomander was not a jewel, but a ball compounded of various ingredients, highly scented and considered as specifics against infection. It appears that one of the earliest receipts "To make a Pomander " is to be found in the 'Treasury of Commodious Conceits,' by Henry Car, 1584. The ingredients were, first benjamin (benzoin), storax, calamite, and labdanum, finely levigated, and dissolved in a little rose-water over the fire. The composition was then taken out, and powder of cinnamon, sweet sanders, and cloves added to it, all of which were well mixed and rubbed together. After this ambergris, musk, and civet, of each three grains, were prepared, the first being dissolved and mingled with the other two. The author then directs you " to take your Pome " and by degrees to gather up the last three ingredients, kneading and mixing them well with the ball till they become perfectly incorporated with it. A shorter receipt for making pomander is given in an old play entitled ' Lingua,' 1603. Elsewhere mention is made of a silver - gilt pomander, somewhat globular, dividing into eight segments. Each segment was intended for a different perfume, and