Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/285

 12 S. VIII. MARCH 19, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 231 " COMLIES " AND " CONY BAGS." I have In my possession a diary of a Colour Sergeant of the 19th Foot, 1810-1837. He served in CJeylon during the rebellion there in 1817-18, rand in connexion with his experiences the following passage occurs : " We left Batticaloa and arrived at Mandore and the resting house without anything occurring of consequence, but this night we foolishly, to save ourselves trouble, did not take our comlies out of the cony bags, and in the night time it set in very wet and cold and we were nearly starved to death." Can any one tell me the meaning of "comlies" and what exactly were "cony bags ? " M. L. FERKAB, Major Retd. Pay. Torwood, Belfast. THE PLACE-NAME TOTLAND. It has been supposed by those who study the nomen- clature of the Isle of Wight that the deriva- tion of this new watering-place's name is unknown. Recently however a suggestion was made public that the meaning was " a look-out place," and that the first syllable is a form of an ancient verb, " used in the thirteenth century," " to tote " or "to watch." As I have seen no comment on this note, and as the only form of " tote " now generally known refers to carrying loads, I should be grateful for information as to what may only be a piece of clever guess-work. Y. T. HUNTING SONGS : CHAWORTH MUSTERS. " Hunting Songs and Poems. Collected by John Chaworth Musters," is the title of an undated and apparently privately published volume, with photo frontispiece showing the compiler amongst his hounds. He was the well-known sportsman and M.F.H., and died in 1887. Of the songs, &c., one has appended to it, " L. C. Musters, 1872"; another, " F. and L.C.M. " ; and a third " L. C. M." ; as indicating authors. The ' D.N.B.' in a notice of George Chaworth Musters (1841-1879), a younger brother of John, says : " His wife Herminia, daughter of George Williams of Sucre, Bolivia, was authoress of 1888 (Allibone)." Can I be informed if there are in fact two volumes of the same character, one of songs, &c., collected by John Chaworth Musters, and another attributable to the " authoress " of the 'D.N.B.'? I should also be glad to know date of publication of the first described book. It seems not unlikely that some confusion has arisen as to the volume, or volumes. AY. B. H. " MARK RUTHERFORD." I should be glad of biographical details concerning Hale White ("Mark Rutherford"), and of in- formation regarding other of his works than those recently published in cheap editions. Was he not the author of a book about the House of Commons ? A. K. CHIGNELL. Charterhouse, Hull. MARTEN, co. Sussex, descended from those of Aquitaine, 1386. Arms : a foil sa., on a chief indented gu. three escallops or. Wanted information about this family after that date in Sussex. A. E. MARTEN. 64 Howbury Street, Bedford. AUTHOR OP QUOTATION WANTED. Who wrote the following and where ? And still in the beautiful city the river of life is no duller Only a little strange as the eighth hour dreamily chimes In the city of friends and echoes ribbons and music and colour Lilac and blossoming chestnut, willows and whispering limes. The lines were part of a question in a London Matriculation examination. Apart from the satisfaction of tracing the lines after a long search it would be interesting to know how far they can be regarded as a fair question. C. B. CHURCHES OF ST. MICHAEL. (12 S. viii. 190.) I WENT to St. Alban's one day in company with the Abbot of a Scottish Monastery in order to see the Sic sedebat monument of Francis Bacon in St. Michael's Church. Arriving there by motor I remarked that I did not know where the said church stood. " It must be outside the old town," said my companion. I asked what was the reason for that position. " Because," he replied, " the Archangel Michael is the guardian, and churches dedicated to him are usually at the gate or outside the walls of a town." He cited Mont -Saint -Michel in Xor- mandy and St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall as instanqes in point, being guard-posts on the bounds of their respective realms. We found St. Michael's Church on the west side of St. Albans, standing within the bounds of the vanished Roman Verulaneum. HERBERT MAXWELL. Monreith.
 * A Book of Hunting Songs and Sport,' London,