Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/459

 n s. ix. JUNE 6, 1914.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

453

Wolverhampton Chronicle of 31 March, 1790, was also copied from these sources.

Can any one supply the exact date of Hartop's death, and any further information ? What has become of the portrait by Cooper ? And where are Hartop's letters and papers ? These would bs very valuable from an his- torical and literary point of view.

J. B. WILLIAMS.

Charles Fleetwood (d. 1692) the soldier married

(1) Frances Smith, by whom he had Smith Fleetwood (1644-1709), who married Mary, daughter of Sir Edward Hartopp, Barf., and Elizabeth Fleetwood, who married Sir John Hartopp, third baronet (1637 ?- 1722), the Nonconformist and only son of Sir Edward, from whom the existing Cradock- Hartopp family is descended.

(2) Bridget Cromwell, the Protector's eldest daughter and widow of General Ireton.

(3) Mary, daughter of Sir John Coke of Melbourne, co. Derby, the widow of Sir Edward, and mother of Sir John Hartopp mentioned above.' A. R. BAYLEY.

[The letters of this "very extraordinary old man," as he is called in the article quoted by MR. WIL- LIAMS, would justify that description of him if they could be discovered, and it was found that they substantiated the statements in The General Maga- zine. When did Oliver Cromwell give this "ille- gitimate daughter " her dowry ? Hartop was only five years of age when the Protector died, and this daughter is described as the centenarian's third wife. How old was Hartop when this marriage took place ?

Again, Hartop was but seven years of age when the Restoration occurred, and " soon after " he lent Milton fifty pounds. How soon after ? The lender was only twenty-one when Milton died.

From MR. WILLIAMS'S researches it appears that the paragraph " went the round of the press." We hope that MR. WILLIAMS or some other corre- spondent may be able to trace its first appearance and genesis ]

"BILLION," "TRILLION," &c. (11 S. ix. 228, 278, 315). The following extracts from ' A New Introduction to the Mathe- maticks,' by Benjamin Donn of Biddeford, London, 1758, may be of use :

" A Million of Millions a Billion, a Million of Billions a Trillion, a Million of Trillions a Quad- rillion, &c." P. 4.

" We shall now shew him [i.e. the learner] how

'J S

to read a very large Number, e.g. 614. 321631. 543261. 701810. 718432. 171816. 743215. 407184.

321718. 765671. The Method is thus : Over the seventh Figure, counting from the Bight-hand toward the Left, put 1 ; from which count six, and over it put 2, &c. as in the above Number : Then the Figure over which 1 stands is Millions,

that over which 2 is placed is Millions of Millions or Billions, that over which 3 stands is Millions of Millions of Millions, or Trillions, &c. Hence the above Number may be read thus, 614 Nonillions r 321631 Octillions, 543261 Septillions, 701810- Sexillions, 718432 Quinquillions, 171816 Quad- rillions, 743215 Trillions, 407184 Billions, 321718 Millions, 765671." P. 6.

But the French and others give very different meanings to these fantastic words.

" With us [i.e. in England] the billion is a million of millions, a trillion a million of billions, and each denomination is a million times the one preceding. With the French and other Continental nations (except some of the older writers, at least among the Italians) [and also in the United States], the billion is a thousand, millions, and each denomination is a thousand times the preceding." ' The English Cyclopedia,* quoted in Webster's Dictionary, 1889 edition,. s.v. ' Numeration.'

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

LOMBARD STREET BANKERS : SIR STEPHEN EVANCE (US. ix. 230, 272, 298, 373). I am much obliged to the REV. A. B. BEAVEN. for calling my attention to the identification of this London banker at p. 128 of the second edition of Mr. F. G. Hilton Price's 'Hand- book.' When I wrote, only the first edition of this useful work was at hand.

The statement that " Evans " was adopted as the phonetic spelling for " Evance " is not altogether acceptable. It is probable the banker's family was of French origin, and the name therefore " Evence." Between this and Evans there is too great a disparity to allow of any confusion.

ALECK ABRAHAMS.

HYDON'S BALL, SCIRREY (US. ix. 409). Apart from the meaning of the place-name,, it seems relevant to say that a parallel rime to that on Hydon's Ball is associated with Mount Tinto in. Lanarkshire. It is thus

iven in Chambers's ' Popular Rhymes of cotland ' :

On Tintock-tap there is a mist, And in that mist there is a kist, And in the kist there is a caup, And in the caup there is a drap ; Tak up the caup, drink aff the clrap, And set the caup on Tintock-tap.

After stating that there is a great accumula- tion of stones on the hill- top, and giving the legendary reason for their presence there* Chambers writes as follows :

" The summit of Tintock is often enveloped in mist ; and the ' kist ' mentioned in the rhyme was perhaps a large stone, remarkable over the rest of the heap for having a hole in its upper- side, which the country-people say was formed by the grasp of Sir William Wallace's thumb, on the evening previous to his defeating the English at Boghall, in the neighbourhood. The hole is