Page:Notes and Queries - Series 5 - Volume 10.djvu/27

 SthS. X. Jcly6,'78.] NOTES AND QUERIES. Doctor of Medicine in undress gown, Dr. AVilliams, C.C.C. (George Williams, M.D., Senior Fellow and Vice-President of Corpus Christi College, Professor of Botany from 1795 to 1834, and Keeper of the Badcliffe Library from 1810 to 1834.) Whilst on the subject of academical costume it may be worth -while mentioning that the black gown, with full velvet sleeves, now exclusively worn by the proctors, was once the usual dress gown of the M.A., but has long since fallen into disuse. Though the inquiry has frequently been made by me as to the time of its being laid aside, an answer has never yet been given. Much more recently the dress gown of the gentleman commoner has sunk into desuetude. John Pickford, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, 'Woodbridge. The Eussell Family (5*^ S. ix. 461, 491, 510.) — In all cases of pedigree one goes so naturally to " N. & Q." that I am surprised to find Col. Chester speaking of misdescription as unim- portant, or, rather, I am surprised at his selecting " N. & Q." as the vehicle for such an assertion. If I describe a man as the son of Major-Oencral So-and-so, is it a mere verbal criticism if you point out that he is the son of Sergeant-Major So-and-so 1 Yet my supposed error still confines the search to the army. Lady James Russell may be the daughter of any one, from a coster- monger to a viscount. Lady Elizabeth Russell must seek her father in the limited ranks of earls, marquises, and dukes. As Col. Chester objects to my harmless initials, A. H. C, I sign my name. A. H. Christie. Athenasum Club. Jenkins Family (S''* S. ix. 3SS.)— The arms described are not borne by any family whose name is given by Burke, nor do they appear in Pap- worth's Ordinary. The coat intended is Per pale az. and sa., three fleurs-de-lis or, which, with the battle-axe crest, was borne by a Welsh family named Jenkins, but the county is not given. The arms are those ascribed to Ynyr, Prince of Gwent, and are still borne as quarterings by several families who descend from the Welsh houses of Probert, Williams, &c. As a representative of the last-named family they were borne by the Protector Oliver Cromwell (see Visitation of Huntingdonshire, Camden Society). J. Woodward. Authors of Books Wanted (5*"^ S. ix. 469.) The Old House at Home. — I have always understood that this once very popular ballad was written by Eliza Cook, although I believe it is not to be found in any collected edition of her works. The style and thought remind one very much of T/ie Old Arm-Chair, admittedly her production. The music of the former song I have always heard attributed to the late Mv. George Herbert Kodwell, musical composer and novelist. In the former character he is responsible for {inter alia) the vocal llustrations to Moncrieff's version of Ainsworth's Jac/c Sheppard, produced at the old Adelphi, with Mrs. Keeley as young Jack, 0. Smith as Jonathan Wild, Paul Bedford as Blueskin, and R. Honner as Jack grown up to manhood. In the latter capacity he wrote The Memoirs of an Umhrella, Old London Bridge, kc. Although, like Mr. Pickford, I have not heard or seen The Old House at Home since my boyhood, I perfectly remember the tune. On seeing his letter I wrote out the words from memory, and he is perfectly welcome to a copy if they have escaped his recollection and he will kindly inform me where to send it. S. P. The Old House at //ome.— The author was E. J. Loder. . B. (511' S. ix. 509.) The Foster Brothers is by James Payn, the novelist. H. A. B. Authors of Quotations Wanted (5"^ S. ix. 509.)— "So burly Luther breasted Babylon." From Lord Lytton's The New Timon. H. A. B. iWf^ccIlancausf. NOTES ON BOOKS, &c, A History of England in the Eighteenth Century. By W. E. H. Lecky. 2 vols. (Longmans & Co.) The readers of JIr. Lecky's former works on ration- alism and European morals will not, we think, be dis- appointed in this book, belonging to a very different class of subject. The vivacity and boldness of style which his former productions have taught us to associate with his name are certainly not wanting here ; and the qualities which these characters impart to his recent work are all the more valuable that they induce us readily to bear him company in his survey of a portion of history which, important and interesting though it be, is usually, by reason of the dryness or obscurity of the ordinary means through which we obtain access to it as a whole, passed by with more or less neglect. For in the writings of Macaulay, Massey, and others we obtain sight only of some limited part of the century, or of some special topic belonging to it. Mr. Lecky, in his rapid account, takes up the thread of narrative from the Spanish succession troubles, and follows it down to times of which the remembrance is yet comparatively fresh with all who have given the most cursory attention to the annals of this country. We trust he will continue his history to the end of the century. But the chief value of the present work is not to be found in its summary of the prominent political events of the period, nor, judging from his distribution of the matter of his volumes, do we believe that Mr. Lecky had any intention to place much stress upon these. To make this evident we will only refer, by way of example, to his treatment of the campaigns of Frederick the Great or of the conquest of Hindustan in comparison with his account of Ireland, or with his lengthy but unflaggingly interesting chapter on the religious revival in England. The chapters on these last two topics form, in our opinion, the most valuable portion of the whole book, because they resume in them- selves an amount of information, detailed and yet com- pact, which it would be impossible for that ubiquitous person the "general reader" to acquire unless he belied his description by applying himself to those special sources of information which it is his privilege to shun. Without pretending to pass any opinion on subordinate