Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 6.djvu/139

 12 s. vi. APRIL 10, i92o.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

Ill

.mother or grandmother, was preserved down to about 1850.

A Marr. Lie. in Killaloe Books shows that a Miss Anne Hastings married in 1702 Hickman of Fenloe. She is stated to have been daughter of a George Hastings of Daylesford in Worcester of the Warren Hastings family. Her daughter was Lady O'Brien of Dromoland.

As the Ross-Lewins and O'Briens " called cousins," the above-mentioned Anne and Elizabeth may have been sisters.

The Hastings of Ballyalla in co. Clare, descendants of a Capt. John Hastings who fought at Siege, Limerick, 1690, also claimed descent from Earls of Huntingdon, and in 1820 lent many papers to the Capt. Hast- ings who eventually obtained the earldom.

' Pedigree " Davis thought it probable that one of the nine daughters of Capt. John Hastings of Ballyalla who were all married might have be'en Mrs. Ross-Lewin. Mrs. Hastings' (who died 1691) mother was a Lady Wilson, which might account for the " Lady." I am acquainted with De Ruvigny's ' Clarence Volume,' but it does not come late enough to solve the difficulty.

Mrs. Ross-Lewin might have been daughter of the Geo. Hastings of London who was first cousin to llth Earl of Huntingdon.

JOHN WABDELL.

MABBIAGE OF THE FIRST DUKE OF MABL- BOBOUGH. Many years have elapsed since the publication of the last life of the great Duke. So many parochial registers have been printed in the interval that it is now permissible to inquire if the date and place of marriage of John Churchill and Sarah Jennings have come to light. R. B.

Upton.

GOBDON : THE MEANING OF THE NAME.

In his ' General Gordon : a Sketch of His Life and Character' (1902)., Mr. Reginald Haines says (p. 6) : " The very*name Gordon means a spear." Has this derivation ever been suggested before or since and what is
 * its validity ? J. M. BULLOCH.

THE THIBD TBOOP OF GUABDS IN 1727. Daniel Southam, of parish of St. George, Hanover Square, London, gentleman, made his will Aug. 16, 1727. He left his " estate at Oddington in Co: Oxon " to his son Edward, and, also to him, " the house I am now building in Duke Street, near Grosvenor Square . . . . " This shows that he was a man of substance. To his wife Judith, he left the yearly sum of 5L, " over and above what she will be entitled to receive from the third 'Troup of Guards to which I belong."

The word " Troup " would seem to indicate that he was in the Life Guards, or the Horse Guards.

No doubt all the troopers were gentlemen : were they allowed to live where they pleased, as long as it was near the Court ? To what rank could a man, in position of the above, attain, and is there any record of Muster Rolls, where his name might be found ?

HEBBEBT SOUTHAM.

THE KNAVE OF CLUBS. My attention has been called to several curious details in the court cards king, queen, and knave of packs of playing-cards. I have no doubt that there is some good explanation of them and their differences. For instance, in each suit the three cards face the same direction, with the exception of the knave of clubs which faces to the left, whereas the king and queen of clubs face to the right. The hearts and diamonds all face to the right, the spades to the left. Why is the knave of clubs exceptional ? LEE KNOWLES, Bt. 4 Park Street, W.I.

ETONIANS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTUBY: If any reader can furnish a clue which will help me to identify the owners of the following surnames which are to be found in the MS. Eton School Lists, I shall be greatly obliged :

Agnew 1762-63 Buller 1782-83

Albert 1784-87 Buller 1782-89

Alves 1778-79 Buller 1778

Archbould 1753-57 Burton 1770

Armitage 1788 Calder 1753-54

Atkins 1773-75 ma Callender 1783 Atkins 1773-76 mi Chambre 1779-84

Bagnall 17b9-70 Charlton 1772-74

Baternan 1781 Cheap 1775-78

Blair 1753-57 Chetwynd 1^53-54 ma

Bond 1785-80 Chetwynd 1753-54 mi

Boyce 1778 Clapp 1769-70

Boyle 1772-78 Colby 1769

Branscomb 1782-86 Coppinger 1777-81

Buller 1772-76 Coppinxer 1779

Buller 1776-78

R. A. A.-L.

" BALDEBDASH " : W ASSAILING OF APPLE - TREES. The dictionaries say that the source of this word is dubious, but its original meaning seems to have been weak drink, especially beer or cider. Does any reader think that the " weak drink " used to wassail apple-trees at Christmas, a ceremony which has been connected with the ritual appropriate to the Norse god Balder, may have been called " balderdash " ? Has such an origin ever been discussed ? (See Herford, ' Norse Myths in English Poetry,' Bulletin of John Ry lands' Library, v. t nos. 1 and 2). MABY BBOCAS.