Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 4.djvu/305

 12 S. IV. Nov., 1918.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

299

" STABULARIUS." There are two titles in Justinian's ' Digest ' (iv. 9 and xlvii. 5) dealing with the liability of nantce, caupones, and stabularii for loss of what had been entrusted to their care. In English trans- lations these persons are invariably de- scribed as " shipowners," " innkeepers," and " stable-keepers." The word nautce is thus used in a rather wide sense as signi- fying carriers by sea. It has never yet been suggested that the term stdbularius may also have been used in a somewhat wide sense as signifying in legal phraseology a " common carrier." In countries where the law is founded upon that of Rome it might be important to know whether there is any reasonable ground or any authority for such a suggestion. Hack vehicles were not unknown in ancient Rome ; one may perhaps suppose they were owned by stabularii. Some classical scholar may possibly be able and willing to throw some light upon the point here raised.

SOUTH AFRICAN INQUIRER.

MILTON'S OAK. What is Lamartine's authority for the statement that Milton's famous apostrophe to light was dictated under an oak on the slope of Hampstead Hill ? G. G. L.

' DUNCIAD,' iii. 35. Why does the Globe edition of Pope say that the sage " by his broad shoulders known and length of ears " is Dante ? He seems obviously to be Settle. There must be some explanation of so extraordinary a statement.

G. G. L.

ROMAN COFFIN AT COLCHESTER : PAU- SANIAS. Among the many objects of interest in the Museum in Colchester Castle is a Roman lead coffin with a pipe or funnel through the upper part of the lid. As the leaden coffin was originally encased in a wooden one, some of the nails of which are preserved, the lead pipe or funnel must have projected through the outer covering and extended above the ground. It is said this ia the only example of a coffin with such a pipe or funnel that has been found in England. In the case with the coffin is the following explanatory quotation :

" Pausanias, speaking of the tomb of the hero Xanthipmis, at Tronis in Phocis, says : ' He is honoured every day, and the Phocians bring vic- tims and pour the blood through a funnel into the grave.' "

Can any of your readers give the source of this quotation ? It is unknown to the Curator of the Museum, Mr. A. G. Wright.

Is it a fact that no other coffin of the kind has been found in this country ? Is there any evidence as to whether tli'is system of making sacrifices or libations to the dead was common among the Romans ? And if so, during what period of their history did it prevail ? CHARLES C. OSBORNE.

51 Claverton Street, S.W.I.

GIGANTIC LEADEN COFFIN. Can any reader account for a leaden coffin, 7 ft. 6 in, long, 3 ft. wide, 2 ft. 6 in. deep, or recall a coffin of anything approaching this size ? Is it at all probable that a soldier in the year 1720 would be buried in his armour, and might this account for the size of the coffin ? This would hold four bodies, but near relations seldom die so conveniently that all can be buried in one coffin. They might in times of plague, but in that case is it likely that they would be buried in a leaden coffin in a vault ? There is no inscription. A. B. MILNER.

Micheldever, Hants.

REGENCY PARK. A century ago, on Nov. 1, 1818, The Observer published the following paragraph :

"A new military hospital is now building in the Regency Park, solely intended for soldiers afflicted with the ophthalmia and other disorders in the eyes."

To what locality does the term Regency Park refer ? How long was it known by that name ? and what has become of the building mentioned ?

J. LANDFEAR LUCAS.

Glendora, Hindhead, Surrey.

[The name doubtless applies to Regent's Park which had been then newly created. See extract" from The Observer and The Times, s.v. ' Regent s Park Centenary,' at 11 S. v. 107, 414, 517 ? vi.^98.;

PDUKE OF SUFFOLK'S HEAD. Could you enlighten me as to where the head of the Duke of Suffolk (father of Lady Jane Grey) now is ? It used to be kept at Holy Trinity Church, Minories. This was closed as a church, however, about 1901, and the monuments removed, I understand, to St. Botolph's, Aldgate. On making inquiries the other day at St. Botolph's I was told that they knew nothing about it there.

H. G. GILLESPIE.

Royal Societies Club, S.W.

[The latest handbook to London, Mr. Findlay Muirhead's ' London and its Environs,' 1918, says on p. 379 : " The supposed head of the Duke of Suffolk (beheaded 1554), father of Lady Jane Grey, is preserved in this church [St. Botolph's, Aldgate], but seldom shown."]