Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/359

 ii s. VIL MAY 3, i9i3.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

355

INSCRIPTION IN PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY, LLANFAIR - WATERDINE (11 S. vi. 10, 94). -Has a proper and legible facsimile ever been published of this mysterious inscription on the Communion rails ? I have seen the reproduction, in a Church paper, mentioned in the cutting quoted by CROSS - CROSSLET, but it is of too minute size to be of any value to Indian scholars. I would suggest, in addition to a larger reproduction, that the vestry books of the church should be searched, as also the ar- chives of the diocese, since a faculty must have been obtained before the inscription could be placed on Communion rails. The views of the present vicar, or his predecessors if available, would be of service. Members of the Asiatic Society, I understand Col. Leigh of Bath and Mr. H. B. Woodhouse of Plymouth are each pursuing lines of in- vestigation ; their views, when obtained, will be read with deep interest by students. WILLIAM MACARTHUR. Dublin.

EARLIEST AGE OF KNIGHTHOOD : ARTHUR OF BRITTANY (11 S. vii. 308). An exami- nation, where possible, into the ages of the various Knights of the Bath made at the Coronation of some of our kings, or at the creation of the various Princes of Wales, will, I think, show that many of the young scions of the nobility thus honoured Were under age some, indeed, mere boys at the time ; e.g., at the Coronation of Edward VI. Lord Scrope's son and heir was but 13 years old, Lord Hastings was 10 or 11, the Duke of Suffolk and his brother either 12 and 10 or 10 and 8 respectively, and so on. Upon such occasions it was, I believe, generally sought that the new K.B.'s should, as nearly as possible, be of the same age as the Prince.

Some time back the lamented G. E. C., when compiling his Marsh genealogy, drew my attention to a very curious instance of knighthood at early age. Thomas Marsh eon of Thomas Marsh of Cambridgeshire, and afterwards of Hackney, by his wife Dorothy, daughter and heiress of James Horsey of Honnington, Warwickshire was baptized at Hackney 24 Sept., 1648, and knighted in 1661, when a boy of 13. He matriculated at Wadham Coll., Oxon, 29 Aug., 1664, aged 15, being then described as a knight, and was buried at South Mimms ' from Hackney. 31 Dec., 1677. He is not included in any known printed list of knights, but his knighthood is undoubted.

Arthur of Brittany performed homage to King John as Duke of Normandy. The

suzerainty of Brittany was given to Duke Hollo by King Charles the Simple as far back as about 912, and was held all down by his successors. W. D. PINK.

I translate the following from the Year- Book of 7 Henry I.V., p. 7, plea 5 :

Thiming, J. : I have heard that when a lord has a son and takes him to be baptized, as soon as he is baptized the lord takes his sword and makes him a knight, and says, " Be a good knight, for a good esquire you will never be."

W. C. BOLL AND.

SMUGGLING POEMS (11 S. vii. 309). MR. R. M. HOGG will find three smuggling songs in ' Modern Street Ballads,' by John Ashton (Chatto & Windus, 1888). They are ' The Smuggler's Bride,' ' The Female Smuggler,' and * The Poor Smuggler's Boy.' This last I took down in September, 1912. from the singing of an old man in Haslemere, Surrey. My version is much the same as Mr. Ashton's, but has the added chorus :

" Then pity, I pray, and give me employ,

And think on an orphan," cried the poor smuggler's

boy.

After the last verse the chorus goes : So no more will I wander or seek for employ, But will tell the good fortune of a poor smuggler's

boy.

The song is an uninspired production, to say the least of it. I have not met ' The Attack on Dover Gaol.'

My friend Mr. J. W. Layard took down a song called ' The Smuggler ' at Abinger, Surrey, about a month ago. The first verse runs :

[To] the village that skirted the sea The exciseman one midsummer came, But prudence, betwixt you and me, Forbids me to mention his name. Young Richard he chanced for to spy, A tub on his riapper he bore, Six gallons of brandy or nigh And where 's there a head could bear more ?

No doubt there are an endless number of smuggling songs, but I do not recall any particularly good ones.

IOLO A. WILLIAMS.

The words of ' The Poor Smuggler's Boy ' will be found in ' Modern Street Ballads,' by J. Ashton, and also in The Invicta Maga- zine by C. J. Redshaw. ' The Smuggler's Bride ' is printed in ' Highways and Bye- ways of Kent,' by W. Jerrold ; and ' The Attack on Dover Gaol ' in English's ' Smuggling Reminiscences of Old Folke- stone.' ' Modern Street Ballads ' also con- tains ' The Female Smuggler.'