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NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. 11. AUG. 5, me.

being 9-30 inches above the average. But excessive rainfall is recorded in times of peace. From November, 1878, to October, 1879, the fall was 36-65 inches, being 11-63 inches above the average. This will answer MB. ROBERT PIERPOINT'S inquiry.

TOM JONES.

Readers who are interested in this subject are referred to an illustrated article on ' Guns that protect Crops from the Ravages of Hailstorms ' in The Scientific American for May 27 last, and a short note on ' Rainfall and Electricity ' in a recent number (end of June) of The Electrical Review. L. L. K.

THE NEWSPAPER PLACARD (US. xii. 483 ; 12 S. i. 13, 77, 129, 230, 317, 435). Under the above heading, at the penultimate reference, mention was made by MR. J. J. FREEMAN of the following :

Death of Mr. Bradlaugh.

Scorcher's Finals.

^[R. R. S. PENGELLY, in replying (at the last reference), stated that he thought that MR. FREEMAN was mistaken, in so far as there was not at the time of Mr. Bradlaugh' s death any sporting journalist writing under the name of " Scorcher." MR. FREEMAN, how- ever, was most likely correct in his memory, as in Nottingham " Scorcher " was a well- known writer on sports in the eighties and nineties. He chose his nom de guerre, I believe, because of his connexion with football refereeing, a pastime which, I sup- pose, calls for " scorching."

The newspaper placard in question was very possibly one belonging to a Nottingham journal. T. E. W.

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL (10 S. vi. 345). On pp. 52-4 of the 'Libre Segon dels Miracles,' by Friar Michel Llot, of the Order of St. Dominic (Perpignan, 1589), we learn that the Kings of France were con- sidered alone " entre los Revs de la terra " in having the power to cure'" Porcellanes " ( = tumours) by their touch, while pronoun- cing the words " lo Rey te toca y Deu te sana," which mean "The King touches thee, and God makes thee whole." This curious hook, in classical Catalan prose, exists in the Bodleian Library, where it was examined, in the summer of 1914, by Mossen J. M. Batista y Roca, of the University of Barce- lona, who found that its author has another l)ook to his credit, and mentioned it in the Renaixement of Barcelona for Nov. 19, 1914. At the time of its publication, the Rousillon, of which Perpignan is the capital, belonged to -Spain. The name Rousillon comes, through

Latin Ruscino, from Keltic rwKn=the bark (of a tree), the district having always been famous for its cork-woods.

EDWARD S. DODGSON. Oxford Union Society.

SIR WALTER SCOTT : LOCKHART'S UN- PUBLISHED LETTER : A CORRECTION (12 S. i. 446; ii. 18, 57). This letter having been submitted to one qualified to speak with authority, it is due to your readers to know his decision. Primarily from the format of the paper Bath post 8vo from the head- ing of the letter, and further from its con- tents, he is satisfied that its date is 1846, not 1826 as I had stated. This date will clear away all ambiguities. The engagement of Misp Lockhart to Mr. Innes was broken off, and in August, 1847, she married Mr. Hope, afterwards Hope Scott.

The reference to Sir Walter Scott is to the second baronet, who died in October, 1847. By a curious misprint in the article on Sir W. Scott in the ' D.N.B.' it is stated that his elder son Walter, born Oct. 28, 1801, died in 1817 (be it noted, however, that this is cor- rected in the second edition). Of course, had not the account given by Lockhart of the father's death escaped my memory, the misunderstanding would not have occurred.

L. G. R, LMR. W. H. PEET thanked for reply.]

GENNYS OF LAUNCESTON AND PLYMOUTH (12 S. i. 126, 193, 249, 299, 489). The first mention of the name of Gennys in the locality of Launceston is not, as Miss GERTRUDE THRIFT surmises, in 1532, but, according to the ancient Bishops' Registers to which she alludes, in 1373, and therefore nearly a quarter of a century before the Helscote reference she gives. In the late Prebendary Hingeston-Randolph's ' Register of Thomas de Brantyngham, Bishop of Exeter, A.D. 1370-94,' 'it is recorded that Rob. Gyneys was ordained at Exeter sub- deacon on ".Tune 11, 1373, "ad tit. Domus Launcestonie ' ' ; deacon at Chudleigh on the following Dec. 17 ; and priest at Clyst, May 27, 1374 (pp. 777, 781, 785).

ALFRED F. ROBBINS.

MUMBO JUMBO (12 S. ii. 47). ' Mungo Park's Travels in the Interior of Africa' gives a rather different account of the above :

" A bogie or bugbear in the Mandingo towns of Africa. As the Kaffirs have many wives, it not unfrequently happens that the house becomes un- bearable. In such a case, either the husband or an agent dresses himself in disguise, and at dusk approaches the unruly house with a following, and