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NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 a. n. DEC. 2. iwe.

WESTERN GRAMMAR SCHOOL, BROMPTON. . This building still exists, adjacent to Alexander Square, and near by the Bells and Horns recently demolished. My father, the late F. B. Garnett, C.B., was educated there, before going to King's College (to which this local school was affiliated), and he carried off the Cadogan Prize, consisting of a set of handsomely bound volumes pre- sented by the then Earl of that name to the head boy of this school. Are there any records kept of this school, where so many of the boys of old Brompton were taught their rudiments ? F. W. R. GARNETT.

The Wellington Club.

PLATE-MARKS. I have some very ornate and heavy (3 oz. av.) silver forks. The five marks on them seem to be very unusual. They are : ORY '> a cross and triangle ; DON '> S (black letter) ; 6 *

Can any one fix the date, and say why the usual marks are absent ? G. S. PARRY.

MEW OR MEWS. It was stated in ' N. & Q.' many years ago that this family was of Huguenot origin, but I cannot trace the reference. As it may be under a different heading, I should be obliged if any reader could give particulars.

J. H. LETHBRIDGE MEW.

Barnstaple.

MITTAN, ENGRAVER. I have a portrait by this engraver about the early part of the last century. What was his Christian name ? I should be much obliged for the date of his birth and death, and a few biographical details. ISRAEL SOLOMONS.

SUFFIX "KYN." Can any one tell me the period when this suffix first began to be used with surnames ?

H. E. RUDKIN, Major.

The Wynd, Woking, Surrey.

J. SHERIDAN LE FANU'S WORKS. Can any of the readers of ' N. & Q.' tell me whether there has been any edition of Le Fanu's works since the one published by Downey & Co., 12 York Street, Covent Garden, in 1896 ? I should be glad to know whether any of his novels have been pub- lished separately.

FREDERICK T. HIBGAME.

54 Chapel Field Road, Norwich.

[Cheap editions of several of Le Fanu's novels , ve a PP eared in recent years, e.g., ' Uncle Silas ' (Macmillan, 6d.) ; Wylder's Hand,' 'The Wy- vern Mystery,' ' The Dragon Volant,' and ' Green lea (Newnes. 6d. each); and 'The Cock and Anchor (Duffy, Is. net).]

FISHING-ROD IX THE BIBLE OR TALMUD.

(12 S. ii. 308.)

WITHOUT incursion into a wide area of investigation, I fear, no categorical reply can be given to DR. LANE-POOLE'S interesting query. What the bias of my own personal views may be will become apparent with the progress of the criticisms I shall endeavour to submit, for and against the point raised. I will begin with the Talmudic section of the subject, since it throws light and is of perennial interest to scholars universally. Some passages I propose to cite from the Talmud should vivify with increased illumi- nation the miraculous events recorded in John xxi. 1-9 ; Luke v. 1-7 ; and Matt, xv. 34-9, as happening by the Sea of Galilee. That inland sea or lake, otherwise known as the Sea of Tiberias, with its newei tannim (Isa. xxxv. 7*), rendered tl R.V. " the habitations of dragons," is surrounded by creeks and caverns and caves (mechillous), which are mentioned in Yeba- moth, 121a, and form a most interesting feature in its topography. In size and con- formation it resembles Winder-mere, and from its waters the fishermen of the New Testament drew various kinds of perch, gurnard, pike, mackerel, mullet, and salmon. On the south-west of its basin lay anciently Tiberias, a city of renown among the Hebrews, and close by was Minyeh, identified as Capernaum, where the " Minim," an ancient sect of advanced Hebrews probably the Essenes, the progenitors of the early Christian communities had their local and centre. In the same neighbourhood are the tombs of the prophet Nahum, Hillel Shammai, and Shimmon Ben Yochooee, one of the accredited authors of the Zohar. For the Hebrews, Shimmon Ben Yochooee is a name to conjure with. Hadrian set a big price on his head the head of him who was one of the last princes of our Church ! According to Weiss, who narrates one of the most thrilling episodes in the history of letters, Shimmon, in the dead of the night, met four of his disciples in one of the caves (mechillous) on the shore of this inland sea, and conferred upon each of them Semichah,

[* The references to the Old Testament are to the divisions used in the Hebrew Scriptures, not to those in the Authorized Version of 1611, which are retained in the Revised Version.]