Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/617

 12 s. vii. DEC. 25, 1920.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

509

all in his power to save his lordship's life, and would declare when on the scaffold, that it was by his persuasion his lordship did it, he being a young man.' But all to no purpose, he remained quite obstinate and would do nothing, at which the colonel left him -in a great passion. This conference was not known until some years afterwards, and was admitted by the Earl- Marischal to Mr. Irvine of Brackly. It is difficult to say why so determined a man as Colonel Scott should be entirely swayed by the decision of the Earl-Marischal of Scotland, seeing his palace

guard' were on English ground and the Commander i-Chief of the English Army affected to be willing to do the same. The truth is tnat every- one of the Jacobites wished the Proclamation to be hazarded by someone rather than himself. The guard on the Palace indicated were probably the Royal Scots, the incorporation of which regiment into the forces of the body-guard of Queen Anne had recently occurred. The story of that eventful Sunday in Kensington was kept by Mrs. Ogilvie of Balbignie, who was the wife of Colonel Scott's half-brother. She recorded the story at Edinburgh, upon oath, on 30th April, 1768. Queen Anne was given a private funeral at Westminster Abbey, being buried in the Stuart vault in King Henry VII. 's Chapel a private funeral meaning a torchlight procession in the evening of 24th August, 1714. The Palace Guard at the time of Queen Anne's death was the ' old Royal Guard of Scotland,' which had been brought from Edinburgh to Kensington since the Crowns of England and Scotland were united. This guard would follow the directions of the Earl- Marischal, just as the English Army would have obeyed the commands of the Commander-in- Chief, if he supported the direction which Colonel Scott of Brotherstown told the Earl-Marischal that he should take, to secure the rights of Queen Anne's brother whom it is only natural that at her death she desired to receive the united Crowns."

This account would be more interesting if we knew from, which window in Kensing- ton Palace such a celebrity as Dr.Arbuthnot showed the handkerchief, because the scene of Col. Scott receiving this sign, would make the subject of a beautiful picture of days of which the memory still lingers in Kensington. Also, was the Earl-Marischal 's house in Kensington or in the West End near Charing Cross ? although the account suggests that it was near the Palace, as Col. Scott got there apparently almost at once. On the face of the account, it looks as though Col. Scott of Brotherstown knew that the old Royal Guard of Scotland would do its obvious duty on the orders of the Earl-Marischal, while he, as the officer of the English Army on duty at this moment, could not himself proclaim the new king. The account forms an interest- ing picture of the period.

C. STUART NAIRN. 33 Westbourne Terrace, W.2.

THE VASE OF SOISSONS. -In The Times of Dec. 4 M. Henri Brenier says : " The story of the vase of Soissons is known to every French child." What is the story ?

CINQVOYS.

[The story is told as follows : Clovis, in 486, after defeating Syagrius, made his headquarters at Soissons. Out of respect for St. Remigius he had spared Reims but, without his knowledge, a disorderly band of Franks attacked that city and carried off a number of precious objects from the churches. Among these was a sacred vase of unusual size and beauty, and the Bishop sent to the king begging him, if the rest of the plunder was not to be recovered, at least to restore that vase. Clovis, who was campaigning in the direction of Chalons brought the bishop's envoys back with him to Soissons where the division of the spoil was to take place ; and then, when the whole mass of it was before the army, and the lots were about to be drawn, asked the soldiers' consent to his appropriating that particular vase. They unanimously consented, with thje exception of a single soldier, who, shattering the vase with a blow of his battle-axe said, " You shall have nothing but what falls to you by lot."

Clovis endured the insult simply gathering up the fragments of the vase and having them delivered to the Bishop. But the following year at a review, seeing the soldier who had broken tfie vase standing in the ranks, he went up to him, chid him for not having his arms in good order, and struck his axe out of his hand. As the man stooped to pick it up he cleft his skull with his own axe, saying " Remember the vase of Soissons ! "]

PAMPHLET ON KENSINGTON SQUARE. Can any one tell me the name of a pam- phlet on Kensington Square, first printed in 1883 for private circulation, and reprinted in a Jubilee edition in 1887 ? It is men- tioned in 'Kensington, Picturesque and Historical,' by W. J. Loftie, chap. iv. p. 112.

F. STEWART.

36 Kensington Square, W.8.

BULGOLDORF. Castanheda mentions a stone obtained in the head of an animal called Bulgoldorf, which was exceedingly rare, and was said to be an antidote against all kinds of poison (Kerr, 'Voyages and Travels,' ii. 439). What was this animal, and what is the origin and meaning of its name 9 EMERITUS.

PORTRAIT or LORD MONTE AGLE. In the article in the 'D. N.B.,' upon Sir William Parker, Lord Monteagle, afterwards Lord Morleyand Monteagle, temp. James I., it is stated that Monteagle's portrait was, m the year 1866, in possession of Mr. Jonn Webb. Is it known where the portrait now is ; or where the Mr. John Webb alluded to resided ? G. B. M. ,