Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/93

12 s. ix. JULY 23. i92i.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 71 —In 1799, Sir Joseph Banks, P.R.S., suggested the above as a desideration to those who attempted to improve the breed of sheep; not for their own wear but as a label for their "fleecy charges." No mark, he said, had, then been thought of by means of which sheep without horns could be distinguished with certainty from each other during the whole course of their lives, except by cutting and maiming their ears, which at best only divided them into classes without paiticularizing each sheep from the rest. Accordingly he had made in Birmingham some flattened wire rings, or rather fetter-shaped loops of rustless metal, either jointed like a woman's ear-ring, or made of an elastic metal. They were attached by means of a hole pierced in the sheep's ear. Each loop was stamped with figures, e.g., 9999 signifying a bheep lambed in the year 1799, and the 999th sheep marked that year. A large number were supplied to Sir Joseph, who expected a great demand for them, since it was variously estimated that there were 10 to 17 sheep to a man in England. He first brought them to public notice at Lewes Fair in July, 1799. Did they ever come into general use?

—Who was Sir John H. Duval, who in 1764 (see Rees Cyclopedia, article Canals) paid for the making of the above canal, the existence of which has just been re-discovered?

Is anything known of a "manuscript Treatise which has been prepared intended for separate publication (perhaps extending to two volumes in Octavo) on the Principles and Present state of Canals, River navigation, Railways, &c., in the United Kingdom by John Farcy, late of Woburn Beds., now of Upper Crown Street Westminster (February, 1806)," or of the author, John Farcy? This treatise is the source of Rees's information.

Can any reader give me the names and full particulars of the trial of the "Warrington Gang" in 1806, also of their execution for "unnatural offences" on August 23 of the same year?

. I should be much obliged if any reader could explain the origin and meaning of this phrase.

What is the origin of the phrase "to go to Warwick," in the sense of coming to a quarrel? It is frequently to be heard in Sussex.

—This street is given as the address of several merchants in Roger l'estrange' s 'A Collection of the Names of the Merchants living in and about the City of London,' 1677. Can someone please indicate the location of this street?

In a book of travel in England, written by one of our clergy a few years ago, is a copy of a strange epitaph in the church at Campden, Gloucestershire. A list of the dead man's children is given, including two which are new to me (both of girls). They are "Moselyn" and "Gizzey Gamme."

What are they in modern English?

About 1875 there was domiciled in Paris a Russian named Duatyeff, or a person passing as a Russian and going by the name of Duatyeff. Over that signature he contributed to various periodicals in Paris articles of varying length and some prose fictions in the nature of short stories. Translations of some of his articles and tales appeared in various American periodicals about 1875. I have been able to identify but one: a tale or article called 'The Lion-Killer' (from the French of Duatyeff), by Mary Wager Fisher, printed in St. Nicholas'' for Dec., 1877, volume v., pp. 78-81.

Now I can find nothing about anyone named Duatyeff in any work of reference likely to tell about a writer domiciled in Paris about 1875 and passing as a Russian. Can any of your readers give any light on the questions as to who he was, where he came from, what were the dates of his birth and death (if he is not yet alive) and what he wrote and where it was published? I should be greatly obliged for any information.