Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/307

 12 S. IX. SEPT. 24, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 249 and immediately placed in the hands of the orchestrators. According to The Stage (Sept. 8, 1921) the telegram ran as fol- lows : Eyre, Funniosity, London. Echo song Hippodrome Wylie-Tate Peep Show key a two-four time each word one bar stop sohla- late tedohdoh mera soh mera soh sohlalate tedohdoh mere oh mere soh lasohmedoh reme sohfadohla fella meradohla medoh remedoh re repeat first twelve lasohmedoh sohfa sohfadohre fame mesoh soh mesoh soh me echo me re echo re doh (stop) Gillespie aboard approves number put into rehearsal Monday. Tate. C. EDGAR THOMAS. , Sion College Library. . CHARLES DICKENS (see ante, p. 48). I am now able to supplement what was said of Dickens's differences with the Inland Re- venue authorities at the reference above by the following, from ' Charles Dickens, the Story of his Life,' by the author of 'The Life of Thackeray,' 1870 (John Camden Hotten : ? author as well as pub- lisher) : Connected with Household Words, at the end of each month, appeared The Household Narrative, containing a history of the preceding month. It began in April, 1850, and involved Mr. Dickens in a dispute with the Stamp Office. An in- formation was laid against The Narrative, it being contended that, under the Stamp Duty Act, it was a newspaper ; but on appeal to the Court of Exchequer, the Barons decided in Mr. Dickens's favour, and thus the first step to the repeal of the newspaper stamp was given. W. B. H. SOUTHWARK BRIDGE. There has been allusion to the demolition of the iron bridge and the erection and opening of the present bridge. Now the Press are calling atten- tion to the fact that it is equally deserted and of no use in affording an alternative to the overcrowded Blackfriars and London Bridges. How useless this rebuilding would be was quite realized by all dispassionate onlookers. At least there was nothing of antiquarian interest involved. The old bridge was not of much beauty or interest. The 12th edition of 'The Ambulator,' 1820, has an interesting frontispiece, and its text, pp. 72 and 73, provides a useful record. The northern approach involved the oblitera- tion of the site of St. Thomas the Apostle, and only fragments of the churchyard remain on either side of Queen Street. ALECK ABRAHAMS. 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. GENTLEMEN-PENSIONERS, 1684. In an Army List published by Nathan Brooks in 1684, the names of the persons here following appear as belonging to the " Royal Band of Gentlemen -Pentioners. ' ' What is known about them and about their respective titles ? The Honourable Francis Vilars, Lieutenant. Sir Tho. Bloodworth, Bar., Standard-bearer. Sir Tho. Roe, Knight. Sir Robert Dacrees, Knight. Sir Gerard Fleetwood, Knight. Sir Theop. Janson, Baronet. J. H. LESLIE, Lieut. -Col. WILLIAM DUTHIE AND DICKENS. In 1858, William Duthie published ' A Tramp's Wallet stored by an English Goldsmith during his Wanderings in Germany and France,' and dedicated it to Dickens, in whose Household Words 16 of the 28 chapters had appeared. He also published novels and verse. What is known of him ? J. M. BULLOCH. 37, Bedford Square, W.C.I. DE GONCOURT ON COLLECTING. Where can I find the terms of E. de Goncourt's dictum that a collection should be dispersed on the collector's death, in order to renew for others the pleasure he had in forming it ? P. J. ANDERSON. KING JOHN'S HUNTING LODGE, DATCHET. According to Edward Jesse's ' Favourite Haunts' (1847), on the right-hand side of the road from Datchet to Wraysbury and about one mile from it there is a farmhouse called " King John's Hunting Lodge." A woodcut in the book bears out the author's description of an " ancient house with rude porch, primitive windows and curious gables all betokening the architecture of bygone times." W T hilst cycling last month from Staines to Datchet I searched in vain for the Hunting Lodge. I asked several intel- ligent persons to direct me to it (including a cultured cyclist who admitted local know- ledge and antiquarian tastes), but none proved informative. A few days after, on my return to London,