Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/236

 190 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 S.VIII.MABCH 5,1921. FRANCIS BOYCE. I should be grateful if any one could give me some details con- cerning Capt. Francis Boyce such as parent- age, wife's family, dates of birth, marriage, death, &c. He commanded the Royal Charter,, and also the Eagle. While with the latter vessel he received a presentation of plate bearing the following inscription : " Presented by the owners Gibbs, Bright & Co to Capt. Francis Boyce of the Australian packet ship Eagle for making the fastest passage known from Melbourne, Victoria to London having arrived on Nov. 19, 1852, 76 days." He possessed a seal bearing, what he apparently used for his crest, a lion rampant. BEATRICE BOYCE. TAVERN SIGN : THE BRENTFORD TAILOR. There is an inn of this name in the village of Cholsey, Berks. Who was this individual? H. E. R. CHURCHES OF ST. MICHAEL. I am very much interested to find whether there is a tradition in England that churches to bear the name of St. Michael should always be on high ground. I have read rather recently that that was the case and should be glad to have it substantiated. An old St. Michael's Church here, named by a Welshman, in 1735, has always been a matter of query, as to why it was named after that particular saint, but it certainly stands on a hill -top. (Miss) E. D. KINGSBURY. 80 Prospect Street, Waterbury, Connecticut. THE FISHERMAN'S "INDIAN GRASS." What was the substance known as Indian grass or Indian weed or East Indian weed, introduced here about 1700 as a substitute for horsehair for the cast or point of fishing lines ? It appears to have been extensively used during the eighteenth century. It was superseded by silkworm gut, first mentioned in 1724, but not in general use till the end of the century. J. W. H. " COLLY MY Cow." In Motteux's trans"- lation of ' "Don Quixote ' (vol. ii. chap. ix. ) a passage is rendered : " But what is the rout at Roncesvalles, tell me ? It concerns us no more than if he had sung the ballad of ' Colly my Cow.' ' In the original it is the ballad or romance of ' Calainos,' one belong- ing to the same epoch and collection as that referring to the defeat of the French at Roncesvalles. Motteux, I presume, thought that an English reader would understand the passage better if the name of a popular English ballad were substituted for that of ' Calainos.' But what is the ballad or song of ' Colly my Cow ' ? Where is it to be found ? Curiously enough in Browning's 'The Ring and the Book' (Count Guido's second speech, 1. 553) the phrase "Colly my Cow " occurs as an expression of con- tempt. Does it mean "kiss my cow?" I should be glad to hear where the ballad or song, if extant, is to be found. JOHN WILLCOCK. JOHN AND CHARLES THOMAS BROOKS. Can any of your readers tell me in what parish I should be likely to find the burial entries of the above. John Brooks of II Mansfield Place, Kentish Town (parish of St. Pancras) died between June 8, 1823, and Apr. 22, 1825, the dates of the making and proving of his will. Charles Thomas, his son, of Duke Street, Manchester Square (parish of St. Marylebone) died between Apr. 19, 1820, and Feb. 27, 1823, the elates being similarly determined. I have searched the Registers of the above two parishes without result ; nor are they buried in the native parish of the father, Churchill, co. Oxon. . E. ST. JOHN BROOKS. 122 Beaufort Mansions, Chelsea. CULBEN SANDS. I should be glad to know of any trustworthy book dealing with Culben Sands, the tract of land now covered with sand, near Nairn in Scotland. B. C. A PROVERB ABOUT EATING CHERRIES. In Thomas Wright's ' Essays on Subjects connected with the Literature, Popular Superstitions and History of England in the Middle Ages,' London, 1846, vol i, p. 174 we read : " Another very curious English proverb, quoted by Ray, ' Those that eat cherries with great persons shall have their eyes sprinted out with the stones,' occurs also in German ' Mit grossen Herrn ist nicht gut Kirschen essen, sie schiessen gern mit Steinen zu, und werffen die Stiele einem an denKopf (Griiter 59 Prov. Alman.).' The same proverbs thus quoted in the German ' Reinhard.' XJig haint id etzelige wale geweten : Mit peren ist quait kirsen eten. Si willent, dat ir geselle grife, Alzit de hardi, in de si de rife. (' Grimm. Reinh. F., p. 383)." What is the explanation of this proverb ? I am here unable to get access to any of the three works quoted. KUMAGUSTJ MlNAKATA. Tanabe, Kii, Japan.