Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/172

138 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 S. X. FEB. 18, 1922. as he judged, she was about sixty-three years of age."

On p. 474 in the same volume of 'N. & Q.' a correspondent suggested that the "Mrs. Masters" who died at Brook, in Kent, Sept. 27, 1759, was Elizabeth, widow of Streynsham Master (sic) of Brook, in the parish of Wingham, Kent, who died on June 22, 1724, aged 43. This Elizabeth Master was the only daughter of Richard Oxenden, fifth son of Sir Henry Oxenden, Bt., of Dean, or Dene, in Wingham.

(12 S. x. 91).—I note; that Wheatley's edition, i. 36, says Andoyne not Audoyne.

Audoyne might well be for St. Ouen (Audoënus), the Benedictine Abbey of St. Ouen at Rouen, of which Guillaume de Montaigne was abbot from 1639-42 (see 'Gallia Christiana,' xi., col. 155, ed. of 1759).

ARAB (OR EASTERN) HORSES (12 S. x. 91). j ARAB'S inquiry raises an interesting and j difficult problem. Not only Professor j Ridgeway, but many other writers in stan- dard works on the thoroughbred horse make the same statement, viz., that Charles II. , sent Sir John Fenwick to the Levant to pur- ! chase Barbs and Turks for the royal stud. It is obvious that, so far as Charles II. is concerned, he could, as King, not have dis- patched the Sir John Fenwick who died two years before the Restoration on this mission. Mr. Robert Black, in his ' Horse Racing in England,' states that Sir John Fenwick had been stud-master both to Charles I. and Charles II., but I venture to doubt the accuracy of this assertion. If according to tradition Charles II. did, in fact, dispatch Sir John Fenwick to the Levant to purchase horses and mares, it must have been the Sir John Fenwick who was born c. 1645, and beheaded for conspiracy in 1697. Now, although there is an extensive account of this worthy in the ' D.N.B.,' no mention occurs of his having held office as " master of the horse " or " stud-master." Macaulay, however, in alluding to the state of England in 1685, writes : The importance of improving our studs by an infusion of new blood was strongly felt ; and with this view a considerable number of barbs had lately been brought into the country. Two men, whose authority on such subjects was held in great esteem, the Duke of Newcastle and Sir John Fenwick, pronounced that the meanest hack ever imported from Tangier would produce a finer progeny than could be expected from the best sire of our native breed. I doubt there being any record extant of the number or sex of the Ajrabs and Barbs im- ported in the reign of the " Merry Monarch." WlLLOUGHBY MAYCOCK. OXFORDSHIRE MASONS (12 S. x. 89). Sir R. Bigland's ' History of Gloucestershire,' under Barrington Parva, gives this inscrip- tion on a gravestone : In Memory of Joseph Beauchamp and Ursuly his wife They were buried February 28th 1726 He aged 71 years and she 73 years. Taynton (Oxon) is near to Little Barring - ton, and Edward Strong, jun., married one Mary Beauchamp. Can anyone say if this Mary Beauchamp was a daughter or sister of the above-mentioned Joseph Beauchamp , and whether Edward and Ephraim Beacham (or Beauchamp) belonged to the same family ? I have been trying to trace the origin of one Jacob Beacham who carried on a builder's business at West Molesey, Surrey, during the earlier part of the nineteenth cen- tury, but without success, and if any reader can furnish me with some particulars I should much appreciate them. T. C. TOMBS. 60, Harrow View, Harrow. Two NAVAL PICTURES BY SERRES (12 S. x. 93). As to the first picture, may I suggest that the harbour in question is not Plymouth, but Port Royal, Jamaica, which has a long spit of land protecting the anchorage. Sir George Rodney defeated the French fleet on April 12, 1782, off Dominica and captured the Ville de Paris (104), Glorieux (74), Cesar (burnt), Hectar (74) and Ardent (64). After refitting he retired with his fleet to Jamaica, where he was on July 10, when he was superseded. On July 25 Rear- Admiral Graves sailed from Jamaica for England with a squadron convoying the French prizes and 100 sail of merchantmen. He encountered a hurricane, and the Ramillies, Centaur, Ville de Paris, Glorieux and Hectar foundered. The second picture probably represents one of the preliminary actions. The For- midable (98) was Rodney's flagship and the Namur (90) was also in the battle. The previous Jan. 16, 1780, off Cape St. Vincent, Rodney attacked a Spanish squadron of eleven ships of the line, and of nine engaged only two escaped and Gibraltar
 * was relieved. On April 17, 1780, off