Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/577

 12 s. ix. DEC. io, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 475 T.R.E.O. (12 S. ix. 354, 437). When I read, this query it occurred to me that the letters might conceivably stand for " Theatre Royal English Opera," so I turned to Mr. Austin Brereton's history of the Lyceum Theatre. In that work he says : " On August 3, 1815, it was called the" ' Theatre Royal, Lyceum,' and on the following night, "Theatre Royal English Opera'." That same year Mr. Arnold acquired the lease of the site for 80,000 for 99 years, effected considerable structural alterations, and opened the house as the Lyceum New Theatre on June 17, 1816. Conse- quently " Miss M." could not have played there for " two seasons," unless the two referred to include a season of Sadler's Wells. I accordingly rejected the hypothesis, rightly or wrongly. WILLOUGHBY MAYCOCK. NIGGER SONG OB ENGLISH FOLK SONG (12 S. ix. 429). The song about which MB. CHABLES SWYNNEBTON inquires is as old as the hills, and its title is * The Other Side of Jordan.' It was much in vogue in the middle sixties, and figured in most of the penny song-sheets of that period. The version your correspondent recently heard a baritone sing is obviously a bowdlerized one, but I doubt its being of any interest to the readers of ' N. & Q.' to go into the question of how these old songs differ in minute details, as was recently done in the case of ' Uncle Ned.' If, however, Mr. Swynnerton cares to have the nine verses of doggerel comprised in ' The Other Side of Jordan,' I shall be happy to copy them out and send them to him if he will communicate direct with me. WILLOUGHBY MAYCOCK. 80, St. George's Square, S.W.I. RUSPINI (12 S. ix. 371, 413). James Bladen Ruspini, then member of the Lodge of the Nine Muses (London), was elected member of the Prince of Wales's Lodge (London) on March 19, 1813, the death of his father, Chevalier Bartholomew Ruspini, being announced on Jan. 21, 1814. On Dec. 15, 1826, a letter was read in the latter Lodge from the wife of James Bladen Ruspini, stating that her husband had lost his reason, and that the family were without the means of support. Temporary relief was afforded, and one of the children was afterwards admitted into the Masonic Institution for Girls, of which her grand- father, the Chevalier Ruspini, was the founder. (Fenn's ' Prince of Wales's Lodge,' No. 259, 1890.) W. B. H. JL V-J^VyUW U^> J. V^-L-LW VV LJ - X 5 Ai V/J.AJL Ui-LV^ IJ. J JLC*VxV/ 'Descriptive Catalogue of Portraits 'ainted Hall of Greenwich Hospital ' : MULES ON MOUNTAINS (12 S. ix. 354, 395, 431). A correspondent notes that " mules were taken over the Theodule Pass (10,900ft.) without much difficulty seventy or eighty years ago." Now I first went to Zermatt in 1865, and visited that village every subsequent year (save in 1868) up to and including 1872. I have a very clear recol- lection that mules were then taken over the pass, and that there was a regular tariff for them. In any case mules certainly crossed the pass, bringing wine from the Val d'Aosta to Zermatt. I think, therefore, that " about forty to fifty years ago " would be a more suitable date than that given. W. A. B. C. THE PALACE OF PLACENTIA (12 S. ix. 430). I quote the following from the preface to the in the Painted The ancient Royal Palace of Placentia at Greenwich, in which Henry VIII. and his children. Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, were born, and in which also Edward VI. died, stood near to the river at the north-east part of the grounds of Greenwich Hospital. A portion of the crypt of this palace is still in existence and forms part of the foundation of the present building. H. A. PlEHLER. This is the name of old Greenwich Palace, originally built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, about 1437, on the site now occupied by the west wing of the present building, once the Royal Naval Hospital, now the College. The name is the Latin form of " Pleasaunce," but was not pro- perly applied to the palace till Henry VIII. Edward IV. granted the manor and palace to his queen, Elizabeth W T ydvile. Henry VII. confiscated it with others, and Henry VIII. was born here. Edward VI., Mary and Elizabeth all used it regularly ; the last was born in the palace. James I. granted it to Anne of Denmark ; Charles I. and Henri ette Marie also lived in it at in- tervals till 1642. In 1652 it was granted to Bulstrode Whitelocke ; many additions had been made by various rulers, especially by Henry VII. and the two Stuart queens - consort ; some of these were now pulled down. In 1654 it was made a residence of the Lord Protector. In 1660 the old palace was in such a state of decay that it was pulled down and the present buildings begun which now form the west wing. The new building progressed slowly owing to lack of money ; finally, after La Hogue, 1692, Mary II. declared her intention to