Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/599

 12 s. ix. DEC. IT, i92i.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 493 Dedham. In the latter part of his life he lived in Boston, where he held a subordinate office in the custom house, and afterward became a familiar object in State Street, gaining a pre- rarious living by selling razors and other small wares, and amusing himself by writing poetry. He published ' Musings of a Recluse ' (Boston, 1837); 'The Sea' (1840); and 'The Village' (1841). John Barton's son, George Horatio (Derby), soldier, b. in Dedham, Mass., April 3, also known as Gallows Gate and is so named in 1800. The lord of the manor of Cockington had right of gallows and represented the county in Parliament from 1305 to 1307 in the person of Sir Roger de Cockington. It seems a curious fact that precisely the same legend is attached to the Cocking- ton Gallows Gate as MB. O. G. S. CRAWFORD 1823; d. in Xew York, May 15, 1861. He was reports from Gloucestershire, i.e., that a graduated at West Point in 1846, and made j sheep -stealer in getting over the gate wa& brevet 2nd lieutenant of ordnance. He was j hanged by the sheep he had taken falling J3^J^^ to hX^ - ,j31ra ^ *.<* *e gate and the thief on the assistant on the survey of New Bedford harbor, other. Is it not possible that in- the days. Maso. In the war with Mexico he served at the | when hanging was the penalty for sheep - siege of Vera Cruz, was severely wounded in i stealing and even gallows rotted and got out the battle of Cerro Goigo, and for gallant and of repair that as a warning to others meritorious conduct in that battle was breveted -,. . n c +1^ wu ~'^ , 1st lieutenant, After his official duties as | and intimation to all of the robber s crime- assistant in the topographical bureau in Washing- ; the body was really suspended, as described ton, he conducted various surveys, 1847-' 8, and i by tradition, over the very gate or stile by also explorations in Minnesota territory, 1848-' 9, ! w hi c h the thief removed his spoil. In the "^^^^T^^^^^^^ Cockington the publicity of the sit. improvements of San Diego harbor, California, i on e hl g h road it is also the highest in 1853-' 4, was on the staff of the commanding the district leaves little doubt that it was general of the Department of the Pacific, and of j the ancient " forches." military roads in the same division in 1854- '6, and was coast surveyor and lighthouse engineer in 1856-'9. He rose to the rank of captain of engineers, and for two years was employed by HUGH R. WATKIN. Beside the road about half-way between Haverfordwest and Little Haven (St. Bride's of his duty in Florida he suffered a sunstroke, Bay) there is a stone called Hang-ston& which affected his sight and caused softening of David, the name of which is explained in the the brain, from which he died after his removal US ual way. As it is improbable that on& to New York. Under the pen-name " John; and incre dible that several men, could .r ncenix he wrote a series ot sketches and, i_ j xi. A- 4. A V^T +V, ^ burlesques, which were published with the title have perished in the manner indicated by the of ' Phcenixiana ' (New York, 1855). He was story, there must be some more reasonable also the author of ' The Squibob Papers ' (1859), origin of the name. If, as in other cases, under which name other of his articles were ^ e s tory was invented to account for the published after his death. name ^ what is the fa.^ form o f the name ? K ' u> DAVID SALMON. "HANGMAN'S STONES " (12 S. ix. 446). Swansea. In the Ordnance Survey of 1810 there was Th m tradition which attec hes to the I believe, a place-name "Hangman" at ^ example of hangman's stones Combe Martin, Devon; and in Brans- ^ ^ in g^ Wegt ft Exmoor combe, in the same county was a Hang- f h graceful hills is named manstone." Neither ot these two names There is the Great Hangman is mentioned in the modern directory and ^ an ^ Hangman. The Great Hang- it would be interesting to know if they ^ VGTlooks Lyn g toll) and it is said that j J man carrying a sheep across the hill by a On the old "Dartmouth Road" as it at cl f ed to & neck was strangled was called m early maps, between Moles the sudden tightening of the cor d. There Cross and icldecombe Cross at the junction y * Colyford, East of the parishes of Cockington St. Mary- 1 S favou rite hunting meet. church with Kingskerswell, Marldon, and w a WTTTTS WATSON Paignton with Stantor, is a junction of the road from Cockington with the old highway, the site being known as Gallows Gate. The Nooks and pinhoe A similar story is told in gate known locally as giving this name is, Corners of Pembrokeshire,' by H. Thornhill perhaps significantly, on -the Cockington Timmins, p. 114 : estate, and opens into a field of 21 acres, About half-way out (between Haverfordwest