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NOTES AND QUERIES. &** s. N i?., APRIL 26.

world, from " nations " down to " nobodies," talks by telegraph, the eirea nrepSefra of Homer ceases to be a metaphor. I cannot at this moment cite any passage of the Iliad in which the poet's " winged words " are ascribed to Paris I But, even devoid of this nominal identity, the following paragraph recording the telegraphic announce- ment to English, Swedish, and other European courts, of the birth of an imperial prince, furnishes a pretty literal translation of the Homeric phrase, while it illustrates the velocity with which court news may travel now-a-days through civilised space in any number of lines, at any moment, when radiating from a great centre like Paris. The paragraph appeared in a certain quarter of the Globe:

" Within a few minutes of the birth of the prince, at a quarter past three this morning, the Emperor sent messages in his own name, announcing the event to the Pope, the Queen of England, the King of Piedmont, the Queen of Sweden, the Grand Duchess Dowager of Baden, and some other courts. Telegraphic messages of congratulation were received in answer before six o'clock from the Pope, Queen Victoria, and the Queen of Sweden " rea Trre- poevTa.

F. PHTLLOTT.

Epitaph from Ryaris " Antiquities of Carlow"

" The following lines were written, I am told, by the late Henry Tighe, Esq., of Rosanna, in the county of Wicklow. " Ralph, the subject of them, was wood-ranger to Mr. Tighe. Perhaps his lady, the gifted author of Psyche, lent a hand to the production:

" ' To the Memory of William Ralph, ofKilcarry, who died on the 21s< February, 1818, aged 71 years.

" ' Guard of the wood in settled low content, Lived William Ralph, a ramble paid his rent : A boy, in sportive toil he climbed the trees ; A man, he lov'd them rustling in the breeze. As he grew old, his old companions spread A broader, browner shadow o'er his head ; While those he planted shot on high, and made For many a rook an hospitable shade. With this one change, life gently crept away, A placid stream it flowed from day to day. His friends and children lov'd him, as the tear Well spoke, profusely shed upon his bier. If he had faults, thou also hast thy share ; Strike thy own breast, and feel what lurketh there. He who sees all, shall judge both him and thee; Repent, for as it falls, so lies the tree.' "

J. M.

Judge Jeffreys. I hope the following Note is not of too professional a nature for insertion in your pages :

MR. P. R. DAVIES, in his Note on Judge Jef- freys (2 nd S. i. 128.), says, "though he was a bad man, he was undoubtedly a great lawyer ; and the Reports published by Vernon were his work, but his name was too unpopular to be prefixed to them." MR. DAVIES refers to no authority for this statement, which is evidently altogether doubtful, and certainly inaccurate in some respects. The Reports, which are known as Vernon's, were not

published by Vernon at all, but were compiled from his MSS. after his death, and published by order of the Court in 1726. The notion that they were the work of any one .else seems entirely in- consistent with the dedication to Lord Chancellor King, prefixed to the first volume. As Jeffreys had then been dead thirty-seven years, it does not appear very probable, if he really was the author, that the fear of prejudice, arising from the odium in which his memory was held, would have been sufficient to induce the editors to suppress his name, and ascribe a mere professional work of his to another. But be this as it may, one thing is quite certain, whoever might have reported some of the earlier cases, Jeffreys coxild not possibly have hjid anything to do with the greater part of the second and larger volume of the two ; for it contains cases down to Trinity Term (1719), thirty years after his death.

I therefore cannot help doubting the accuracy of the statement altogether. J. W. PHILLIPS.

Haverfordwest.

Military Costume. The Grenadiers, in 1678, according to Evelyn wore " furred caps with coped crowns, and long hoods hanging down behind;" the uniform being " piebald, yellow and red."

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

Punishment of Dishonest Bakers. The old mode of punishing dishonest bakers in Dublin was good, and at the same time more humane than that of the ancient Egyptians, who baked such persons in their own ovens :

" MCCCX. The bakers of Dublin were punished after a new way for false weights; for, on St. Sampson the Bishop's day, they were drawn upon hurdles, at the horses' tails, along the streets of the city." Pembridge's Annals of Ireland.

The cost of a cranock of wheat was 20s.

ABHBA.

ORIGIN OF FASHIONS.

Can any of your correspondents furnish me with references on this subject, or give me the names of any works in which such a subject is discussed. I should like to know, for in- stance, who or what induced the ladies to put their heads into those coalscuttles in which one sees them depicted in prints, &c., of the last century? And, by and by, some one else will doubtless seek for a true and particular account setting forth the reason why in this ^present and the past year of grace, they were induced to wear that same article of dress of such a size, and in such a position, as to necessitate its_being skewered in order to enable it to retain its position in society to that frail support, the