Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/240

 194 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s.ix. SEP* 3,1921. &c., that "he was unwilling himself to revert to the correct blazon, but 'expressed his hope and belief that his successors would do so." And again, in his later work, ' Heraldry : British and Foreign ' (1896), at p. 157 of vol. i., Dr. Woodward states : Or, three piles in point gules, are the arms of the Lordship of Brechin. . . . This coat has often been erroneously tinctured, argent being substituted for the field or. The arms^have thus been made identical with those of the family of Wishart. The right tincture is the ancient one of or, whether it appears in the quarterings of the Maules, Lords Panmure, and Earls of Dal- housie ; or in the arms of the City ; or in those borne by custom for the See of Brechin. In all these cases the arms of the territorial Lords of Brechin are intended, and not those of the com- paratively insignificant family of Wishart. The suggestion of MB. LOVIBOND that the changed tincture in this case may possibly denote bastardy may, therefore, I think, fall to the ground. J. S. UDAL, F.S.A. EPITAPHS DESIBED (12 S. viii. 211, 260, 335). William Billinge. At the last reference E. R. Suffling's ' Epitaphia ' is quoted. In the few words given the com- piler has three errors. The name is Billinge, not Billings ; he was born at Fawfield head, not at Fairfield ; his age was 112, according to his epitaph, not 102. I have submitted a copy of the epitaph, taken from ' Curious Epitaphs ' collected by William Andrews, 1899, p. 49, to the vicar of Longnor, who has corrected it. Andrews's version is not quite without faults, e.g., he has " at Ramillies " instead of "at the ever Memorable Battle of Ramillies " ; in the verses at the end he gives " Billeted " instead of " Billited " ; he makes the second verse begin with " And when " instead of simply " When." There are a good many other trivial errors. The version given at 11 S. xi. 490, mentioned by MB. WAINEWBIGHT at the second refer- ence, is almost perfect. The little errors are scarcely worth noticing Cornfield for Corn Field ; Fawfieldhead for Fawfield head ; quartered for quarter 'd, &c. The earliest book in which I have found Billings for Billinge is ' A Collection of Epitaphs and Monumental Inscriptions,' 1806. The anonymous compiler says that " Billings " was born in 1694 at Fairfield near Longnor, and died Jan. 28, 1791, aged 102. He should have checked his figures. He does not give the epitaph, but supplies six fictitious verses containing a few words taken from the true version. Most of our modern epitaph books bristle with errors. Let one editor give a falsa reading, others will reproduce it. There is a short biography of William Billinge (spelt Billings) in The Penny Magazine, vol. iv. (1835), p. 114. The two verses are given with " Billeted ' r for " Billited " as well as the invented " And." Also Fairfield Head appears. Billinge " was literally born under a hedge in 1679," became a farmer's servant ; enlisted at Derby, 1702, in a regiment stationed there ; served with the regiment under Sir George Rooke in the siege of Gibraltar. Later he went with his regi- ment to Flanders, serving in the army of Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough. At the battle of Ramillies, in 1706, the Duke was thrown from his horse in leaping a ditch, and was nearly surrounded by a detached party of Marshal Villeroi's army. Billinge immediately brought to his relief a few of his comrades, who succeeded in bringing the Duke off in safety. Billinge in the skirmish received a musket -ball " in the thick part of the thigh, which the surgeons were unable to extract." Some thirty years afterwards it " came out underneath his ham." This bullet, which he called this " French cherry," he kept for the rest of his life. He was at the siege of Ostend in 1706. He returned to England in 1712. In 1715 he served against the rebels, and in 1745 he was at Preston Pans and Culloden. He spent about 75 years in the 'army, but got no promotion or pension. He was in his old age kept from destitution by his neigh- bours. " From his birth to his death, he never experienced a day's illness ; and his final passage from life was parfectly tran- quil." This biography gives his age as 114 years. I offer this account for what it is worth perhaps very little. ROBEBT PlEBPOINT. In vol. i. Gloucestershire Notes and Queries. p. 193, there is given the following : Berkeley (Church). Here rt steth the body of Thomas Pearce who was five times Maior of this Towne, who deceased the 25th of February, 1665, cetatis .77. Here lyeth Thomas Pierce whom no man taught Yet he in Iron, Brasse and Silver wrought ;: He, jacks and clocks and watches (with art) made, And mended too when others' work did fade. Of Berkeley five times Maior this artist was And yet this Major, this Artist was but grasse When his own watch was Down, on the last Day He that made Watches, had not made a Key To Winde it Vp but Vselesse it must lie Vntill he Rise A Gaine no more to die. T. C. TOMBS.