Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/189

 12 s. VIIL FEB. 19, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 151 led to the bombardment of Tangiers by a French fleet under Prince de Joinville : an expedition mercilessly ridiculed by Punch. England resented this action by France ; but was this difference sufficient to promote anything like a general enrolment of volun- teers ? Was there any other cause, or only the memory of the Waterloo campaign ? K. S. EARLY HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH AND IRISH GAEL. What amount of credibility is to be attached to the ' Chronicles of Eri, ' published by Sir Richard Phillips & Co. in 1821 ? This purports to be a translation from the original records of the Irish Olam or official recorders. The two volumes pub- lished extend only up to B.C. 7, and the translator, The O'Connor of the time, gives -a lengthy dissertation intended to prove that the Hebrews, Greeks and Romans were offshoots of the original stock new directly represented by the Scots. I have hitherto failed to find any refer- ence to<his work in any modern historian. A. D. M. "THE SWORD OF BANNOCKBURN." I have been much exercised to find the English original of the words said to be engraved on the ancient " Sword of Bannock- burn " belonging to the Douglas family. In Theodore Fontane's account of his trips to England and Scotland, I came upon a -German version, containing the distich : Dann trag du, wenn ich gestorben bin Mein Herz zum heil'gen Grabe hin. These words inspired the much admired ballad 'The Heart of Douglas,' .by Leo von 'Strachwitz. I have not been able to lay hands on a book called : ' Old Scottish Weapons,' by Drummond, Edinburgh, 1881, which might very likely contain the infor- mation desired, flight I appeal to yourself and your learned correspondents for the authentic words and whatever else may be known about the sword and its inscription .in literature ? J. L. CARDOZA. 117 Middenweg, W-meer, Amsterdam. HAWKE FAMILY. Can any reader of 'N. & Q.' give me information of the Ancestry of Edward Hawke, Esq., father of the great Admiral Hawke ? Was his family resident at Towton during the seventeenth century ? Information of his uncles or aunts desired. J. HILLSTONE. [Sir J. K. Laughton in the ' D.N.B.' says that this family had been for generations resident at Treriven, Cornwall.] WILSON THE "RANGER OF THE HIMA- LAYAS." Bayard "rflylor in his 'Travels in India, China, and Japan,' speaks of meeting in Rajpore, India (1853), "Wilson, the noted 'Ranger of the Himalayas,' as he is called." Who was he ? I can find no mention of him in the ' D.N.B.,' and will be glad of any details, including dates of birth and death, if possible. From Taylor's account he must have been born about 1803. WILLIAM ABBATT. INNYS COLLECTION OF MAPS. In Go ugh 's 'Camden,' vol. i., 1789, p. 274, occurs the following passage : " In Westbury-on-Trim is ' Redlands,' the residence of John Innys, Esq., elder brother of the eminent bookseller of that name, whose matchless collection of maps, views and plans of all parts of the world in near 100 volumes are since his death, passed into the library at Holkham." Who is the present owner of this collec- tion ? O. G. S. CRAWFORD. PHAESTOS DISK. This is a round piece of pottery, covered with Cretan pictographs ; and as the inscription is rather a long one, and well preserved, it ought to give some evidence, or be capable of an explanation. Sir Arthur Evans was inclined to see in it a hymn, or metrical composition of some kind. I should be glad to know if any progress has been made in its decipherment during the last ten years. W. H. GARLAND. AMERICAN CUSTOMS : A LONG GRACE. We are told by Mr. Herbert Paul in his 'Life of Froude,' that in America in 1872 "a very long grace is always said before dinner." Has that practice been modified somewhat since ? Will someone learned in American manners give us the grace in extenso, if it is not too long for printing in ' N. & Q. ' It cannot exceed in length the ritual of the Hebrews, probably the longest grace in the world. M. L. R. BRESLAR. BONTE. One of my maternal ancestors was the first wife of Dr. William Roxburgh, Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Gardens, 1793 (see 'Diet. Nat. Biog.'). Her maiden name was Bonte ; according to family tradition, her father (Christian name unknown) was of French or Swiss extraction, and was at one time " Governor of Penang." But this cannot I think have been the case, for at 11 S. iii. 325-6, MR. A. FRANCIS STEWART points out that Penang was from