Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 3.djvu/516

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [i2s.m.DEc.,i9i7.

" WINESOUR," A PLUM. I suppose the name of this plum, well known in Scotland, may have an English equivalent ; but the dictionaries, save Ogilvie's, do not record its existence. In Robert Hogg's ' Fruit Manual ' (1884) it is described as a dark, purple, oval plum, under medium size, agreeably acid, with greenish-yellow flesh, and having red lines near the kernel. What is its botanical formula ? N. W. HILL.

WROTH FAMILY. I should gratefully re- ceive any information regarding the Devon- shire branch of the Wroth family, especially as to the birthplace of Samuel Wroth, who lived at Down St. Mary ; Kingsbridge ; and Exeter (1748-54). He "was born possibly c. 1726, and died 1760 or later.

What connexion had he or his ancestors with the Somerset-Essex Wroths, dealt with in Collinson's ' Somerset 'and W. C. Waller's ' Loughton Parish,' &c. ?

ARTHUR E. WROTH. 223 North End Road, WestiKensington, W.14.

THE GREAT BOWYER BIBLE. In vol. v. of the First Series of ' N. & Q.,' p. 248 (March 13, 1852), is a query with editorial reply stating that the Bowyer Bible was disposed of by lottery in 1848 by Mrs. Parkes, and that the winner was a Mr. Saxon, a gentleman farmer of Shepton Mallet, Somersetshire. At p. 309 of the same volume the inquirer is informed that the book is at Puttick & Simpson's for sale (March 27, 1852). At p. 350 .in the same volume there are some notes by a friend of Bowyer' s of 40 years' standing, but he does not give any family genealogy. What I want definitely to settle is :

1. What relation to William Bowyer the " learned printer " was Robert, the minia- turist, who grangerized the " Macklin Bible " into the " Bowyer Bible " ?

2. Who was Mrs. Parkes ? Some say a daughter of Robert Bowyer, arid others say a housekeeper to whom he left the Bible out of gratitude for her valuable services and care of him. The Times for Oct. 14, 1840 (' N. & Q.,' vol. vii., 1853, p. 607), calls the lady Mrs. Parker of Golden Square. The entry in ' N. & Q.' gives as reference for the Bowyer Bible, " vol. vii., passim" but I cannot find a single reference other than this either in the index or throughout the volume.

3. Who was the lucky lottery ticket- holder Mr. Saxon, the Somersetshire farmer (' Chambers's Book of Days '), or the

Suffolk farmer who became a London haber- dasher, as stated in ' Letters of a Citizen; Haberdasher to a Young Friend,' 1847 ?

4. I cannot find any record of this book. Does any one know it ?

ARCHIBALD SPARKE, F.R.S.L.

AUTHORS OP QUOTATIONS WANTED. I should like to know the source of the following lines :

1. Quinque sumus fratres, uno de stipite nati ; ^

Sunt duo barbati, duo sunt sine crine creatij Dispariter ne quis dicat consistere quiiique

Unus de nobis non est barbatus utrinque. The third line is only a conjecture of my own. RANDALL DAVIES, P.S.A.

2. Death opens out the covered way which enters--

into light.

g. God bless thee wheresoe'er thou art

In God's wide universe to-day.

A. K, T,

CLITHEROE PROVERBIAL FOR

BRIBERY. (12 S. iii. 417.)

THE reference to lavish expenditure by- candidates at Clitheroe elections, referred to by DR. MAGRATH, being contained in a letter dated Sept. 22, 1695, it is necessary, in order to elucidate it, to restrict inquiries to events before that date. Information, however, on the matter is scanty. The- only account of any value of the Parlia- mentary history of Clitheroe is contained in a series of articles contributed by the late- Mr. W. A. Abram, F.R.H.S., to The Preston Guardian in or about 1884. Mr. Abrairt states :

" The materials for a narrative of the successive elections of members of Parliament for Clitheroe are by no means abundant. Compared with those at our service relating to Preston elections ,. the documents and papers which come to light relating to Clitheroe are few until we come to- the elections to the Reformed Parliament in 1832."

The first return from Clitheroe of members of the House of Commons was to the Parlia- ment which began on Jan. 23, 1558/9.

The earliest charter of Clitheroe was granted by Henry de Lacy, who was living in 1147, but none of its charters formally incorporated it, and it was therefore con- sidered to be a corporation by prescription under the style of " the Bailiffs and Bur- gesses of the Borough of Clitheroe." It had no Town Council or other select body,.