Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/425

 i2S. VIIL AERUGO, 1021.1 NOTES AND QUERIES. 347 Shakespeare's plays, both of them in the early comedy ' The Two Gentlemen of Verona,' which is unusually full of remini- scences of Stratford. Launce has " sat in the stocks for puddings " that his dog " hath stolen, and stood on the pillory for geese he hath killed" (iv. 4, 33 ff.). EDGAR I. FRIPP. Altrincham. ASCENSION DAY : A WARWICKSHIRE j CUSTOM. Rain falling on this day was caught, bottled, and kept for use. It j prevented bread from turning heavy in the j baking and would keep for a year. A tea- 1 spoonful of water was added to each batch I of bread. J. HARVEY BLOOM. JOSEPH AUSTIN, ACTOR (1735-1821). | On April 10, 1921, The Observer contained the following notice, copied from its issue of April 9, 1821 : Died. Aged 86, Joseph Austin, Esq., many years proprietor of the Chester and Newcastle Theatres, and the last remaining actor mentioned in Churchill's ' Rosciad.' This seems worthy of a permanent place in ' N. & Q.,' for Austin's death does not appear to have been recorded either in The Times or in The Gentleman's Magazine, although the same obituary notice is to be found in The Annual Register for 1821 (p. 234). Some information about Austin is given in the Rev. J. Genest's ' Some Account of the English Stage ' (1832, iv., pp. 583, 609, 612), and in Thomas Gilliland's ' The Dramatic Mirror' (1808, i. 236), but the date of his birth was apparently unknown to these authors. Between 1759 and 1761 he was associated with Garrick at Drury Lane, and was employed there not only as actor but as prompter and assistant manager. A portrait of Austin, the only one known, belongs to Dr. Philip Norman, F.S.A. It was painted in 1788 by William Bell of Newcastle, and is reproduced, together with one by the same painter of Austin's wife, in this month's Connoisseur. HILDA F. FINBERG. 47, Holland .Road, Kensington, W.I 4. NEOLOGY. There are some words in Stephen Graham's ' The Challenge of the Dead ' which seem very like a challenge of the living and make an old writer " sit up." Let me instance three. Talking of white stone crosses which have been raised in memory of fallen fighters in a French cemetery he remarks : " 1921 will see them rolling out in new stone crosses, at first startingly pallid and virginal, but as the months go on getting gradually greyened and darkened " (p. 96). Greyened ! Hard to say, hideous to the eye, wholly superfluous ! On p. 121 we read of eyes that are " dullened," and of Arras it is noted that " the Cathedral with the top of its massive tower gnawn off by Fate is to be preserved for ever as a memorial of these days " (p. 113). By the way, I visited Arras before the war, and, to my surprise, have no recollec- tion of this tower which made a lasting impression on Mr. Graham. In one passage, which I perhaps scanned too casually, he seemed to imply that it dominates the Grand' Place. Is this the case ? Though not likely, it is just possible that he may be mixing up the Cathedral with the debris of the Hotel de Ville. What does somebody else say ? ST. SWITHIN. uerte*. 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. EIGHTEENTH - CENTURY NAVAL AND MILITARY FUNDS. I should be glad to learn if any information can be obtained about the Naval and Military Funds that were raised in the City of London at the end of the eighteenth century, to assist the wounded and relatives of the fallen, or to reward deeds of gallantry with badges of distinction. A. N. ST. QUINTIN, Lt. -Colonel. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF FUNCTIONARIES. Can anyone direct me where I can obtain detailed and accurate information as to what are the rights and duties of (a) a Lord- Lieutenant ; (6) a Gustos Rotulorum ; (c) a Privy Councillor ; (d) the Board of Green Cloth ? WILLIAM BULL. House of Commons. " VENETIAN WINDOW." I should be greatly obliged if any reader could inform me what is the meaning of " Venetian window " as applied to church windows in the seventeenth century. Does the expres- sion apply to a particular-shape, or to the fact that the window was filled with coloured glass ? S. M. L.