Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/260

 252

NOTES AND QUERIES.

[2nd s. N 13., MAK. 29. '56.

family (one of the most ancient in this county) were yet in being. If ever you, Sir Harry, and myself are in London at the same time, I desire you will present me to him. I have often heard Mr. Delaval (the member for this county) sav, that his mother frequently told him that in her memory nothing but trenchers were in use in Northumberland, and that his grandfather had seventeen dozen of them ; and that in all the gentlemen's families, an officer called a trencher-scraper (tot they were not to be washed) was kept for that purpose only: and that Seaton-DelaVal (the seat of Long Delaval) and Chip- chase (the seat of the Herons) were the only houses where they had pewter (and theirs was only dishes, and but few of them), which was only used on high days and holidays, and was admired by the whole country as an unusual piece of magnificence. This anecdote of his ancestor's grandeur, I dare say Sir Harry never heard."

How is this reconcileable with the vouchers we have for the bravery of gold and silver plate in our baronial halls ? H. D.

" The Spirit Song" I lately met with a song with the above title, published, apparently many years since, by Wm. Walker, 116. Portland Street, "the music by Haydon, the words by Win. Shakespeare." They are as follow :

" Hark, hark ! what I tell to thee,

Nor sorrow o'er the tomb ; My spirit wanders free,. Nor waits till thine shall come.

" All pensive and alone ;

I see thee sit and weep, Thy head upon the stone Where my cold ashes sleep.

" I watch thy speaking eyes,

And mark each falling tear ; I catch thy passing sighs, Ere they are lost in air."

Can you point out where these lines are to be found, and by whom they were written? Cer- tainly not by William Shakespeare. C. DE D.

Quotation wanted.

" A thought strikes me ! Let's swear eternal friendship."

ZEUS.

The Lovell Family. Of what branch of this family was Gregorie Lovell, who is described as cofferer to the queen's household in 1593 ? Was he connected by relationship with Sir Robert Lovell, who died about the year 1600 ? J. B.

The Golden Rose, and' other Papal Gifts. In The Times of Thursday, March 13, we read the following paragraph :

" A letter from Rome, of the 5th, in the Debats, says, ' Rumours are current that Cardinal Alfieri will go to Paris to represent the Pope as godfather to the infant of the Emperor at the ceremony of the baptism, but others think it probable that there will not be any special envoy, the Nuncio in Paris executing the mission. The funeral obsequies of Cardinal Bianchi took place here to-day, and the Pope was present at the Requiem. The deceased was born at Cremona, and was an octogenarian. On Sunday last, being the fourth Sunday in Lent, the Pope gave his

benediction to the Golden Rose at the Sistine Chapel. It is said that it will be sent to the Empress of the French. It is a very ancient rite of the church that the Pope should, on the day just mentioned, bless a golden rose, which it is a custom to send to a sovereign, to a celebrated church, or to some eminent personage. If it be not presented to any one, it receives a second bene- diction the year following. This pious present was sub- stituted for the gold and silver keys, and for the pieces cut with a file from the chains which are said to have bound the hands of St. Peter, which were formerly sent." "

Where can I find any account of the " gold and silver keys," and " the pieces cut with a file from St. Peter's chains," mentioned by the writer ?

WILLIAM J. THOMS.

The Purest English. In what part of Eng- land is the pronunciation of English supposed to be purest ? B. A.

Address from York Convocation. In the lately published life of Sidney Smith, I find that he writes in 1827 to the Dean of Chester:

" I thought I had heard that you were almost alone in the Convocation in defending the Catholics. But these are mere rumours of the streets ; I have no kind of au- thority for them."

Was the convocation here referred to the convo- cation of York province ? and did they present an address to the crown on the subject of Roman Catholic emancipation ? Was there a debate on that address ? An answer to these questions would be very useful just now.

WILLIAM FBASEB, B.C.L. Alton, Staffordshire.

" Dies Dominicus." It has been said that this designation was given before the Christian era to the first day of the week (Sunday), as the day of Dominus Sol*, and therefore that it is not to be re- garded as merely an ecclesiastical formula. May I inquire of some of your learned readers, if there be any reliable authority for this -view ?

SCRUTATOR.

Jakes. Ellis, second son of Thomas Chetham of Nuthurst, married Jone, daughter and heiress of Richard Jakes of Middleton, Cheshire, who bore for his arms, Argent on a fesse, engrailed sable, three escallops, or. Are any particulars of the Jakes family known ? Maurice Jakes, M.A., was precentor of Kildare, 1307 to 1317, accord- ing to Cotton's Fasti. Y. S. M.

Bishop Corbet on Pews in Churches. In an admonitory, persuasive, and satirical address to

[* These words are an abbreviation of Dominica solennia, or the services of the Lord's Day. Our correspondent is probably thinking of Dies Soils, as Sunday was some- times called in compliance with the common phraseology, and when it was necessary to distinguish the day, in ad- dressing the heathen. The learned Cave has a long article on this subject ill his Primitive Christianity, Part I. chap, vii.]