Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 6.djvu/358

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 8. vi. JUNE 12, im

wearing of oak is a relic of some ancient May festival having no real connexion with King Charles or May 29 : which one cannot help thinking must be the case.

The custom among the school children here (a small parish in North Hampshire) is to change the leaf twice during the day. Oak is worn till twelve o'clock ; then ash till four ; after that, ivy. I have never seen this double change alluded to anywhere else. Neighbouring parishes do not seem to recog- nise the custom.

The association of oak and ash is familiar from the old weather -rime : and we know that

The oak and the ash and the bonny ivy-tree They flourish at home in the north country.

We used to be taught that the oak was a sacred tree of the Druids : was there ever an ancient cult of the ash and the ivy, as well as of the oak ?

In this parish, the penalty for not wearing a spray is fas usual) either pinching or stinging with nettles. The name " Shick Shack Day " is generally known, " shick- shaek " being (I was once told) the tassel- like flower of the oak, which is not always obtainable on May 29, though this year it was. G. E. P. A.

(Qntruz.

We must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct.

WAGGON MASTER. Referring to the correspondence regarding the master-gunner perhaps one of your readers interested in this subject can tell me the rank and duties of the waggon master of an artillery train in 1692 ? In the ' Hist. MSS. of the House of Lords,' Report 14, part 6, there is a list of officers of the Flanders Artillery Train taken on their embarkation at Greenwich, Mar. 29, 1692, with their pay per diem, in which appears the name o: George Barnard, waggon master, 10s. a day The pay of a captain-lieutenant being Us. battery master, 12s. ; adjutant, 8*. ; anc chaplain, 8s., it would seem that the waggon master held commissioned rank.

I shall be glad to know if any records exist of the officers to whom commission were granted at that period

H. C. BARNARD.

DEATH OF NAPOLEON. I should be glad o be given a list of imaginative works including poems, dramas, novels, &c.) and listorical works which fully describe the ircumstances attending the death of sTapoleon. P. V. N.

Cambridge.

MENTEITH. Sir Andrew Murray of Vturrayshall, second son of Andrew, 1st Lord

Balvaird (cr. Nov. 17, 1641, d. Sept. 24, 1644),

by Elizabeth (m. contr. April 30, 1628). dau.

of Sir David Carnegie, 1st Earl of Southesk d. February, 1658), married Anna Menteith.

Who were the parents of Anna, and to which >ranch of the family did she belong ?

H. PlRIE-GORDON.

OLD CHINA. This phrase was recently n use as an equivalent for old pal, old mate. A pugilist explained that he did not hit his antagonist as hard as he might have done, Because he was an " old China." What is he origin of the word ? I suspect that it may be a piece of rhyming slang, which involves ingenuities difficult to guess. " Old hina " might rime with " old forty-niner " ; but that seems rather far off as an explana- tion, as well as far-fetched. V. R.

THOMAS MASLET (OR MESLET). He was perpetual curate of South Shields, 1557-80 ; Master of Jarrow and vicar of St. Andrews, Newcastle. Can any reader give me any fuller details concerning him ?

HAYDN T. GILES.

THOMAS LUPTON. He was an intruder in St. Hilda's Church, South Shields, 1657-64. Is there anything known about him ?

HAYDN T. GILES.

11 Ravensbourne Terrace, South Shields.

INSCRIPTIONS IN CITY CHURCHES. Can any reader give me a reference to any printed or manuscript list of the monu- mental and mural inscriptions in the City churches, including and especially those now threatened with destruction.

E. ST. JOHN BROOKS.

Clevedon, Grove Road, Sutton.

COLONEL WATSON. In the catalogue of the sale of the Wellesley Collection of Drawings and Miniatures, announced by Messrs. Sotheby for the end of this month are two portraits by John Smart, nos. 740 and 741, one described as" Col. Watson, chief engineer of Bengal," wearing the uniform of the 52nd Regt. The miniature is dated 1786.