Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/135

 ii s. ix. FEB. 14, 19H.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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sermon in London in 1718 there is a copy in the British Museum prefacing it with an aiccount of his troubles and a sketch of his life. Any further information about him, especially the close of his career, will be welcome. J. M. BULLOCK.

MARTEN. This surname appears in ' The Roll of Battle Abbey.' Where did this man settle in England ? Are his descend ants still in existence ? A. E. MARTEN.

142, Laygate, South Shields.

THE WORD " BILL " IN WORDSWORTH. The ' New English Dictionary ' distinguishes four substantives bill, meaning respectively (1) a weapon or tool, (2) a beak, (3) a written document, and (4) " bellowing ; the boom of the bittern." The last is said to be rare, and equivalent to beel, beeal, a dialect form of bell, bellow. The only illus- trative quotation is from Wordsworth's ' Evening Walk ' :

when first the bittern's hollow bill Was heard.

This is dated 1785 in the 'Dictionary,' but it does not appear in the first edition of the poem (1793) ; it is 1. 19 (not 21, as the ' Dic- tionary ' says) of the poem in its final form, but at what date this passage was re- modelled I do not know.

The ' English Dialect Dictionary ' has plenty of examples of beal (sb. and vb.) and bell (vb. only), in the senses of " bellow, roar, cry," &c., from all parts of Northern England, but the spelling bill does not seem to be recorded, nor is any connexion with the bittern or other bird suggested.

In view of the rareness of the word and the possible uncertainty of its meaning, it is worth calling attention to two other pas- sages in Wordsworth :

For I have heard the quire of Richmond hill

Chanting with indefatigable bill

Strains that recalled to mind a distant day.

1820, 'Fame tells of groves,' 1. 19.

Not the whole warbling grove

can thrill

Like the first summons, Cuckoo ! of thy bill, With its twin notes inseparably paired.

1826, 'Not the ,' 1. 3.

The question is whether the word bill in these passages is identical in meaning with the word as used in the ' Evening Walk,' and whether in all or any of these passages there is some confusion with the word bill= "beak." It would be interesting if it could be shown beyond doubt that Words- worth had employed a genuine dialect word for the cry of birds. Heidelberg. L ' R - M " STRACHAN.

CLEMINTINE STIRLING GRAHAM : WILLIAM MACNIE OF STIRLING. I have before me a copy of an 1829 reprint of the 1728 Ayrshire Covenanting chapbook from the printing establishment of William Macnie, Stirling that chapbook entitled ' Cordial for Young and Old Christians (by William Cupples, 1688-1751), whose title-page is inscribed "C. M. Graham to Geo. Cupples, 1835." The latter (1786-1850) was a clergyman of Stirling, author, seemingly, of the only History of Stirling in print.

Was this "C. M. Graham" (the above inscriber) the Graham recorded in Hare's ' Story of my Life ' as follows ?

" Miss Clemintine Stirling Graham, who died at Duntrune, Aug. 23, 1877, a ed ninety-five, the authoress and heroine of ' Mystifications,' and a descendant of Claverhouse." The 1728 chapbook illustrates some of the deeds of Claverhouse.

What is known of Macnie ? and who has a list of his printings ? J. G. CUPPLES.

Brookline, Massachusetts.

Six CLERKS' OFFICE. I should be glad to have information about Henry Barker and W. Trollope, who were in the " Six Clerks' Office " about the end of the eighteenth century. Can any reader of ' N. & Q.' oblige ? MATTHEW H. PEACOCK.

[For the Six Clerks' Office see 9 S. xii. 154, 277, 335,375; 11 S. v. 337.]

HASELDINE AND CARTER FAMILIES. Can any reader give information concerning the Haseldine, Hazeldine, Haselden, Hazelden, Hasselden, or Hazeldean family of Leicester- shire previous to 1750 ?

I also desire particulars of family pedigrees of Haselden of Goldington (4108, f. 53b) and Haselden or Carter (1) of Stamford (1550, f. 188b), (2) of Nassington (1094, f. 221b ; 1184, f. 216b ; 1553, f. 190b), both from co. Leicester, in Heralds' Visitations, British Museum. J. EVANS.

54, Bournemouth Road, Folkestone.

RAILWAY SMOKING - CARRIAGES. The practice of smoking met with scant favour in the early days of railways, and was abso- lutely forbidden on some lines. The direc- tors of the Eastern Counties Railway seem, however, to have held liberal opinions on the subject, and in 1846 they put a " smok- ing saloon " on the rails, which is figured and described in The Illustrated London News of 12 Sept., 1846 (p. 173). The seats, covered with blue morocco, were arranged along the sides, with a table in the middle. The windows, which were continuous, were