Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/473

 ii S.VL NOV. 16, 1912.1 NOTES AND QUERIES.

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A TALE OF MONASTICISM IN THE THIR- TEENTH CENTURY. About twelve or fourteen years ago I read a novel, of which, when a few years afterwards I wanted to refer to it again, I had forgotten the name of the author, and could only remember a sub- title something like " A Tale of the Monasti- cism of the Thirteenth Century." The scene was laid chiefly in and around some monas- tery near Canterbury or Glastonbury, Eng- land, and the hero of the novel was Father John, unless I have confused the name with King John (there was some king, who took part in a tournament). The book also made allusion to the legend of the tree which blossomed white at Christmastide, under which this priest a most exemplary man secretly met a village maiden and taught her. There was a princess held prisoner in a castle, and this same priest confessed her, and arranged a secret interview with her lover, who was confined in another part of the castle. The friar, or priest, was finally discovered attending secret meetings at a tavern in a neighbouring town, and was sentenced to be stoned to death.

I made inquiry of Mr. Edmonds of the Mercantile Library of Philadelphia, and he advised me to write to you. The man in charge of the ' Notes and Queries ' of The Boston Transcript told me he remembered having read such a book, and suggested my writing to Macmillans, but they knew nothing about it.

I am desirous of obtaining the book.

CHARLES BOYCE.

P.O. Box 206, Bala, Pa.

THE WHITENED DOORSTEP. Has the subject of the feminine worship of the whitened doorstep ever been discussed or its origin investigated ? It appears to be largely an urban cult, as one rarely meets with it in the country, the only place where the stone could be expected to retain its pristine whiteness for any length of time.

W. B. GERISH.

ARTHUR D. MORISON. I have in my possession a copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne's ' Life of Franklin Pierce ' (Boston, 1852), on the back of the frontispiece (portrait of Pierce) of which is written in pencil

" From the Author | to Arthur D. Morison Esq. C. [B. or E.] | with his kindest regards I March 3 d 1853."

From a comparison with published fac- similes of Hawthorne's writing I doubt whether this was written by " the author " himself, but it has been suggested to me that it may have been written hurriedly

and in a train or conveyance. It is slightly back -hand. Who was Arthur D. Morison ? The letter after the "C" is difficult to decipher. F. H. C.

"THE ORANGE BOND" I should be glad of information concerning this body. Is it modelled on the Bond at the Cape ? WILLIAM MACARTHUR.

Dublin.

COACHING IN THE FIFTEENTH AND SIX- TEENTH CENTURIES. I shall be glad if any correspondent can give me any references to coaching or the driving of chariots or other vehicles in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, or their first appearance. Please reply direct. G. J. HILLTER.

20, Durham Terrace, Westbourne Gardens, W.

AUTHOR WANTED : " LINGER NOT LONG." In The Athenaeum of 1 1 May, 1839, No. 602, p. 351. s.v. ' Anthology for 1839,' is a short review of ' Verses Printed but not Pub- lished.' The first extract is :

Linger not long. Linger not long ! Home is not home without thee,

Its dearest tokens only make me mourn : Oh ! let its memory, like a chain about thee,

Gently compel and hasten thy return. Linger not long !

Then follow five other stanzas, the first two of which begin with the refrain, which is common to all six. Who was the author, and what is known about the book ' Verses Printed but not Published ' ?

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

DR. PETER Du MOULIN AND NORTH WALES. In Bishop Racket's ' Memoirs of the lafe of Archbishop Williams,' ed. 1715, p. 145, we read :

" Dr. Peter Du Moulin the elder, who fled from France, was a great Partaker of his [Archbishop Williams's] Liberality. And so was his Son, Dr. Peter the younger, whom he sent for out of France, ordained him Deacon, and provided for him one of the best Donatives in North-Wales : and caused him to engage that Provision should be made out of it for his Mother-in-law, if she should survive his father ; a Benefit which the Father, that great Pillar of the Reformation in France, neither sought nor expected."

Can any reader of ' N. & Q.' tell me what " Donative :! was this in North Wales, the revenue of which went to these French people ? Did the wife of Du Moulin the elder survive her husband ? If she did, she probably was a beneficiary from the emolu- ments of the Church in North Wales, though she lived in France.

T. LLECHID JONES.

Yspytty Ifan Vicarage.