Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/165

12 S. I. FEB. 19, 1916.1

NOTES AND QUERIES.

posts. If one failed to answer the greeting, " Peace be with thee," smartly, the orderlies beat him, and if that did not rouse the man, they set fire to his tunic. Probably that was the passage your esteemed contributor had in mind. At any rate, I can trace no other in the pages of the Gemara.

M. L. R. BBESLAB.

J. G. LE MAISTRE, NOVELIST, 1800 (11 S. xii. 480 ; 12 S. i. 14, 54). I find in The Gentle- man's Magazine of December. 1840 (p. 672), the following notice : " Nov. 4, at Chelten- ham, aged 71, J. G. Lemaistre, esq." In The Times of Nov. 7, 1840 : "At Cheltenham, on the 4th inst., John Gustavus Lemaistre, Esq., in the 72d year of his age."

You will note that in both cases, as on the title-pages of his books, the name is given as Lemaistre, not Le Maistre.

M. RAY SANBOBN.

Yale University Library.

REGIMENTAL NICKNAMES (12 S. i. 30, 74, 138). The nickname of the A.S.C. that will arouse the liveliest emotions of anger is not " Ally Sloper's Cavalry," but " Pickford's Hussars." A simple experiment will de- monstrate my accuracy. W.

HERALDRY (12 S. i. 50). Consulting Papworth, the coat I find most like that blazoned by COL. W. H. CHIPPINDALL is : " Argent, on a fess sa. a mullet or ; Kighley or Kightley, co. Lancaster, and Keighley, co. York." E. LEGA-WEEKES.

0n

London County Council : Survey of London.* Vol. VI. The Parish of Hammersmith. (P. S. King & Son, 11. Is. net.)

ALTHOUGH the records of Hammersmith are not so full of general interest as those of Chelsea and some other parishes, yet the reader will find in this volume, quite apart from its stores of his- torical research, much that will attract him.

It was not until 1834 that this parish was separated from Fulham, and the fact that in 1630 it had only a chapel of ease suggests that the various parts of the district were hardly joined in a single community, so that it is doubt- ful within what limits the name Hammersmith should be properly applied. There have been some fantastic suggestions as to the origin of the name ; but Mr. Norman tells us in his Pre- face that " its derivation is obscure, and so far no serious attempt has been made to collect all the forms which it has taken in the past. In ' The Encyclopaedia Britannica ' we are told that the name appears in the early form of Hermodes- wode. This, however, which occurs in Domes- day, represents the modern Harmondsw^orth. Later in the same article it is added that Hammer-

smith probably means Hamer'shythe, or haven r in which case it might have become Hamersy or Hamerithe, but certainly would not have assumed its present form." Mr. Norman sets- aside Faulkner's attempt to derive the name from Hamhythe, and thinks that the derivation from Hamers Mythe, though rejected by the Rev. J. B. Johnston in his ' Place-Names of England and Wales,' 1915, is the true one. " Hamers," Mr. Norman contends, " is doubtless the genitive singular of a personal name, spelt Hamer in Domesday Book, which occurs, with, slight variations, in several Northern languages. At present the form Hamersmyth has been traced no further than the reign of Edward II."

The two most important houses in the district were Butterwick's (near the church) and Palings- wick (Ravenscourt) Park. These are fully de- scribed by Mr. W. W. Braines.who has bestowed much pains on his researches. Hammersmith, like all modern suburbs, has suffered from " developments." The beautiful houses of the Upper and Lower Malls " have been gradually disappearing," and " the last relics of a peaceful and picturesque hamlet are seriously imperilled." Bradmore House (formerly Butterwick), w j ith its orchards, gardens, beautiful trees, and lovely walks, has disappeared, and the land is now in the occupation of the London General Omnibus- Company. However, the architectural main features of the frontage have been preserved, and the fine decorative woodwork of the principal room has been refixed in the billiard-room specially built to receive it. This woodwork is the property of the London County Council. On the first Monday of every month the public are admitted to the room from 10 A.M. to noon. Sir Elijah Impey was born in this house on June 13, 1732, as recorded by MR. WILMOT CORFIELD at 11 S. xi. 394. Palingswick (Ravenscourt Park Manor House} is now the public library.

Other houses of special interest include Fair lawn,-' where Dr. Burney had a school (his classical library is now in the British Museum) ; the Vicarage containing fine examples of Adam fireplaces, and full of beautiful architectural detail of the period ; and The Seasons, No. 17, and The Doves Inn, No. 19 Upper Mall the former named after Thomson's poem, which, according to local tradition, was partly written there. Sussex House is said to have obtained its name as an occasional residence of the Duke of Sussex (1773- 1843), but the editor considers it to be more probable that it merely commemorates his associa- tion with the locality. He laid the foundation- stone of Hammersmith Bridge in 1825. The parish church, dedicated in the name of St. Paul, was erected in the years 1882-91. It has a, peal of eight bells, three of which bear the inscription, " Ex Dono Nicolai Crispi Armigeri Deo Ecclesise, 1639." The pulpit, the gift of Prebendary Ingram, is a beautiful example of work in the style of Grinling^ Gibbons ; it was formerly in the church of All Hallows, Thames Street, now demolished.

Modern Hammersmith will for ever be associated,

with the name of William Morris, for, as all know,

i it was at Kelmscott House, No. 26 Upper Mall,

that he lived from 1878. In 1890 he founded

i the Kelmscott Press, which he set up at Sussex

j Cottage, within a few yards of his dwelling.

' Early in the nineteenth century Sir Francis

Ronalds lived in this house, and a tablet on the

wall records that he, with the assistance of Sir