Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/448

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. vi. NOV. 9, 1912.

GRANT BY ELIZABETH OF LANDS IN BELFAST TO SIR THOMAS SMITH. On 27 April, 1913, the Corporation of Belfast will probably celebrate its tercentenary by an exhibition of objects connected with the city and neighbourhood. It would be of interest to trace the document granting Sir Thomas Smith the lands in and around Belfast by Queen Elizabeth in 1571 lands which were forfeited afterwards, and granted to Sir Arthur Chichester by James I. in 1603. Benn in his 'History of Belfast,' published in the year 1877, says that " Smith went to the expense of having the grant illuminated in colours with a miniature of Queen Elizabeth in the letter E of her name, and it was sold by auction a few years ago in London."

Perhaps some of your readers may know the whereabouts of this important document.

A. DEANE, Curator. Public Art Gallery and Museum, Belfast.

GERMAN FUNERAL CUSTOM. It was the custom at funerals in Germany (Dresden) about the year 1845 for the Leichenwdscherin (" corpse -washer ") to walk at the head of the procession dressed in black, and holding a lemon in her hand. If I remember rightly, on some occasions men who walked beside the catafalque on which rested the coffin covered by a black velvet pall edged with silver, on the top of which were wreaths, or, if a soldier, his helmet and sword carried slender black staves, and also held lemons. Why this custom ? I was told it dated from the times of the plague, against which lemons were supposed to be a pro- tection. H. C. H.-A.

[Our much-regretted correspondent W. C. B. h as a note at 8 S. i. 25, in which he quotes from t he Countess de Genlis's ' Memoirs ' a description of a funeral at Altona in 1795, where the " married p eople [men] had a lemon in their hand." He furnishes no explanation of the custom.]

AUTHORS OF QUOTATIONS WANTED.

1. A temple whose transepts are measured by miles, Whose altar has morning for priest, &c.

2. The red moon is up on the moss-covered

mountains, And the hour is at hand when I promised to

(?)

' GAMMER GURTON.' I should be glad of information as to the best edition of this. J. A. CRAWLEY.

BERRYSFIELD. Will any one inform me of places in England called Berryfield or Berrysfield, and tell me the origin and meaning of the word ? I know of one near Bradford in Wiltshire, and cne near Bodmin.

C. H. G.

FORDWICH, THE OLD PORT OF CANTER- BURY. Formerly at this place there was a curious custumal. Criminal trials were by ordeals. The accuser,

" fully equipped as a prosecutor should be, shall stand up to his naval in the Stair, prepared to prove his charge. The accused shall come in a boat, clothed in a dress called Storrie, with a weapon called an ore, three yards in length. The boat shall be fastened to the quay by a cord, and he shall fight with the said prosecutor till the matter is decided."

Where shall I find more about the custumal ? What sort of dress was a " storrie,' 1 and what species of weapon an " ore " ? I have looked at Burrows's and also Hueffer's book on the Cinque Ports, and find no- answers therein. J. HARRIS STONE.

Oxford and Cambridge Club.

[Is not "ore" a variant spelling of "oar"? Another peculiar custom connected with Fordwich is described at 6 S. viii. 143.]

BOTANY. In Logan's ' Scottish Gael ' it is stated that " crohil geal, a lichen found on stone, was used to dye crimson " by the ancient Highlanders. Can any one help me towards the modern botanical name for this lichen ?

Plants are said to have " sympathies " and " antipathies." Is there any literature bearing on this subject ? RENIRA.

JOHN EWEN, THE ABERDEEN PHILAN- THROPIST. I should be grateful to any of your correspondents who could supply me with information respecting the above, I should like to know whether he came from Montrose ; how long he lived in Aberdeen ; what business he was engaged in ; when he died ; who contested his will ; to whom the money went ; and where he is buried. The information is, I believe, in the British Museum, but I do not know in what record.

J. EWEN.

Tunbridge Wells.

[A. brief account of the lawsuit is given in the notice of Ewen contributed to the 'D.N.B.' by Mr. T. F. Henderson, who cites among his authori- ties Wilson and Shaw's ' Cases decided in the House of Lords on appeal from the Courts of Scotland,' iv. 346-61.]

SUECIA. At what period did the Latin name of modern Sweden first appear ? Some of the classic authors have a good deal to say about the " Suevi," but these were no doubt the ancestors of the modern Schwaben. According to Tacitus, the Suiones were also a Suevian race, and the Sitones lived next to them, but he does not mention the name of their countries.

L. L. K.