Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/169

 12 s. ix. AUG. is, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 135 pp. 161-172 in vol. iii. of Joseph Gorani's ' Memoires secrets et critiques des Cours, des Gouvernements, et des Mceurs des prin- cipaux Etats de 1'Italie,' Paris, 1793. Fur- ther references are given in the ' Npuvelle Biographie Generate,' under ' Elisabeth Tarakanof (1755-1777). But she is prob- 1 ably familiar to English readers from the account in Sir N. W. Wraxall's ' Historical ; Memoirs.' See 'Part the First,' pp. 112-' 118, in the edition of 1904. Wraxall had , discussed her story with Sir John Dick, j British Consul at Leghorn, at the time when j the supposed Princess was kidnapped by Alexius Orlov. The popular form of the story made Eliza- beth one of three children of the Russian j Empress Elizabeth by Razumovsky. She | was brought up in Russia under the namej of the Princess Tarakhanov. When twelve j years of age she was seized by Prince Charles Radziwill and carried to Rome, j Radziwill, exasperated by the Empress Catherine's treatment of Poland, conceived 1 the design of putting forward the girl as a claimant to the throne. Alexius Orlov was ' commissioned by Catherine to kidnap Eliza- beth and bring her to St. Petersburg. He effected his purpose by an unscrupulous ' process of deceit, including a sham marriage. I He took Elizabeth to Leghorn, where she; visited a Russian squadron, was put in chains and conveyed to St. Petersburg, and died there after some years of imprisonment; being beaten to death according to one ver- sion, according to another drowned in her dungeon by the rising of the Neva. Sir John and Lady Dick were accused of heart- less cruelty in assisting Orlov in his design. Several romances, says the ' Nouvelle Bio- graphie Generale,' were written about her. But, alas! Mr. R. Nisbet Bain in his Life of the Empress Elizabeth (' The Daughter of Peter the Great ') tells us that though the Empress was probably married to Razu- movsky, " there were no children of the marriage," and that " the mythical Tara- khanovs are an invention of credulous gossip - mongers " ; and Sir John Dick had assured Wraxall that the " Princess " was merely Radziwill's mistress. EDWARD BENSLY. Much Hadham, Herts. " A FROG HE WOULD A-WOOING GO " (12 S. ix. 51, 95). What is the authority for the statement that " King Charles [the Second] was always called ' Old Rowley ' because of his likeness to a frog" ? I had supposed the orthodox explanation of the nickname to be that in the ' Richardsoniana ' : There was an old goat that used to roam about the privy-garden to which they had given this name ; a rank lecherous devil, that everybody knew and used to stroke, because he was good- humoured and familiar ; and so they applied this name to Charles. See p. 180 of Peter Cunningham's ' Nell Gwyn,' edited by Gordon Goodwin. The name has also been derived from " an ill- favoured but famous horse in the Royal Mews," p. 84 of the same work. The King's remark to Riley, who had painted his por- trait, is well known : "Is that like me ? Then, odds fish ! I am an ugly fellow." But could Charles's particular style of ugliness be called that of a frog ? The writer of the first of the two letters reprinted from ' N. & Q.,' IS. ii. 74, could hardly be confusing Charles II. with Charles I. But it is difficult to see how the son's name of " Old Rowley " can be an argument for the ballad's being occasioned by Charles the First's Spanisi adventure. EDWARD BENSLY. ROBERT JOHNSON, GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA (12 S. viii. 449, 514). In a single copy I possess of The South Carolina His- torical and Genealogical Magazine for October, 1911 (published quarterly by the South Carolina Historical Society, Charles- ton, S.C.), is a list of " Carolina Wills proved in the P.C.C., recorded in Somerset House, London, of testators belonging to Carolina " ; and amongst them is, "1735, 172 Ducie, Robt. Johnson, Govr. of S.C." I regret that I cannot assist G.F.R.B. further in the matter, but if he will write to the Secre- tary of the above-mentioned society he will obtain all the information he is in search of. The address is " care of Walker, Evans and Cogswell Co., Publishers, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A." D. K. T. ORMISTON OF ORMISTON, HADDINGTON- SHIRE (12 S. ix. 50). The arms of Ormiston (of that ilk, Co. Haddington), as given in Burke' s ' General Armoury,' are : Argent three p3licans vulning themselves, gules. I think, therefoie, probably the pedigree has been registered at the Lj on Office, Edin- burgh, or the Heralds' College, London, and would no doubt be mentioned in books relating to the county. LEONARD C. PRICE. Essex Lodge, Ewell.