Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/221

 ii s. ix. MAR. 14, ion] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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A BISHOP AS BOXEB (11 S. viii. 468). The bishop referred to was the Right Rev. John Warren, D.D., Bishop of Bangor from 1783 to 1800. I have failed to come across Dr. Geddes's Macaronic poem, ' The Battle of B-ng-r,' or the epistle mentioned, If it is distinct from the poem. But are Dr. Geddes's observations to be taken un- reservedly ? ' The Battle of B-ng-r,' I am led to believe, has in it a nucleus of fact, which he has clothed and embellished with fancy. What we read about Bishop Warren in contemporary literature is most quaintly contradictory. He must have been a man of distinct character, for he was simply worshipped by some and yet hated by others. So, historically, the foot-note from ' A Biographical Index,' &c., should be taken cum grano salis, lest it may have been instigated by an enemy of the Bishop. It may not be out of place for me to show how this " boxing " tradition may have a nucleus of fact in it.

The Parliamentary election of 1796, in the county of 'Carnarvon, centred round Penrhyn Castle, and consequently round Bangor, as the castle is practically in the city. Bangor at that time was hardly more than a Cathedral close, and so the Cathedral authorities were in the thick of the contest. The fight was between two branches of the Penrhyn family the old Welsh branch and a new English branch. Sir Robert Williams represented the old Welsh branch, and bore the baronetcy honour of Penrhyn. which had come to him, a descendant of a collateral line, through the failure of the direct male line. Lord Pen- rhyn (first Lord of the first Barony of Pen- rhyn) was an Englishman who had become the owner of the castle and estates through marriage and purchase. Thus the contest became a contest of nationalities. The Bishop was an Englishman also, and an instance of w y hat was considered in Wales a Hanoverian curse an English bishop over a Welsh see. Thus though Dr. Warren was a good man and a strong character, he was disliked even in many Church quarters. Naturally the Bishop took the side of Lord Penrhyn in this contest of nationalities, and particularly so, since Lord Penrhyn lived in the castle hard by, and the other candidate lived in another neigh- bourhood far away. The Bishop and Lord Penrhyn were the two most important men in the city and district, and they saw a deal of one another. The Welsh element among the Cathedral authorities, however, took an independent course, and, in spite

of the Bishop, sided with Sir Robert Wil- liams. They were led by the Diocesan Registrar, a man of quite as strong a cha- racter as the Bishop himself. The Bishop was very angry with the Registrar, and they undoubtedly had bitter quarrels over the matter, and indeed tradition whispers that they did come to blows over it. Neverthe- less, it would be unhistorical to follow the exaggerations of avowed enemies, or the mere statements of Dr. Geddes, on such a question. T. LLECHID JONES.

Yspytty Vicarage, Bettws-y-Coed.

RABBIT RIME (11 S. viii. 150). I think MB. LANE does not quote this correctly. It appeared about 1870 in Good Words for the Young, by the author of ' Lilliput Levee,' but I do not know who that was. It is too long to print in ' N. & Q.,' but I shall be glad to let MB. LANE have a copy of it if he has not already got one. The ' Ballad of Bunny ' is introduced about the middle of the poern, the rest of which is in blank verse. It begins :

Thou light cloud of amber

Blown by the west wind !

White-bosomed swallow,

Outpacing the cloud !

O thou swift west wind,

How far art thou bound for ?

BBOWNMOOB.

MAJOB-GENEBAL PATBICK DUFF (11 S. ix. 89, 177). The following extracts from The Gentleman's Magazine give the desired information, as well as some further par- ticulars that may be of interest :

1803 (pt. i., p. 197, Feb.). Deaths. Feb. 2. At Edinburgh, Major-General Patrick Duff, of the East India Company's service ; and, on the 6th, his wife.

1817 (pt. i., p. 572, June). Deaths. June 3. In Hans-place, Chelsea, in her 22d year, Margaret Sinclair, eldest daughter of the late General Patrick Duff, of Carnousie, Banffshire.

Your correspondent will find some further notes on this Duff family in a query that appeared in The Pedigree Register, ii. 351, and in my reply thereto in vol. iii. pp. 62-4 of the same magazine. H. A. F.

HENBY JAMES CHIPPINDALL (11 S. ix. 148). Henry James Chippendale (not Chip- pindall) became a writer in the Bengal Civil Service, 11 July, 1803. He was Commis- sioner at Tanjore, 9 Sept., 1833, to 1838, and a Senior Merchant till his death at Calcutta, 7 July, 1839.

General Robert James Latter died 24 Feb., 1855. There was a memoir of him published by Mrs. Baillie in 1870.

FBEDEBIC BOASE.