Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/96

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. I. JAN. 29, '98.

common in Man, and if it is the Manx equivalent of the Gaelic Mac Fhearghuis (Ferguson) 1 ? It is curious that in Scotland, while the translated name Ferguson is common, the surname Mackerras, which is an attempt to render phonetically to English ears the original Mac Fhearghuis, is exceed- rare. DONALD FERGUSON.

"STEED." A few days ago a Lincolnshire girl, who comes, I believe, from the middle of the county, used the phrase "when we steed up the stairs," meaning "when we mounted them." Is this verb derived directly from stigan, to ascend ; or is it formed from the local stee, a ladder ? MABEL PEACOCK.

PAINTING OF HEAD OF NAPOLEON. In a private collection is a painting of the head of Napoleon with the following inscription :

/'Painted by D. Ibbetson from a sketch made by him at St. Helena of Napoleon, the morning after his death, which took place on the evening of the fifth of May, 1821, at sunset. The features had fallen away during his illness, but the fulness in his throat remained. The countenance was very placid the colour of the skin very yellow, and there was a redness about the eyes, which had the appear- ance as if the head had been beaten and bruised. A picture similar to this was painted by D. Ibbet- son at St. Helena immediately after the sketch was taken, and was given by Sir Hudson Lowe, on his return to England after the death of Napoleon, to King George IV. This picture is now at Hampton Court, and it appears by a periodical work called the Art Union that the performance of it was attri- buted to Madame Bertrand."

I do not know if the Ibbetson is any re- lative of Julius C?esar Ibbetson, 1759-1817, whom Benjamin West called the " Berghem of England." Is anything known of the picture or the painter? M. W. B. FF.

[See 2" d S. x. 145, 199.]

CIWMWELL'S PEDIGREE. Where can I find, in print, the pedigree of the Protector Oliver leading up to the Princes of Wales 1

CURIOSO.

ANNE MAY. Randall Fowke arrived in India 11 July, 1711, and on 21 Dec., 1713, married Anne May, who died 3 Aug., 1734, aged fifty. Particulars of the parentage of Anne May are desired.

FEANK REDE FOWKE.

24, Victoria Grove, Chelsea, S.W.

THE CHEVALIER SERVANDONI. How many visits did this brilliant architect pay to Lon- don and what were the exact periods of his residence there? Apparently he came over for the first time in 1749 to superintend the erection of the palace of fireworks con-

structed in the Green Park in celebration of the peace, on 27 April. He must have re- turned to Paris not later than 1751, as he furnished the scenery for a theatrical spectacle at the Tuileries in that year. The younger Angelo gives us the impression, in his none too reliable ' Reminiscences ' (i. 10), that Servandoni was scene-painter at the Opera House in the Haymarket somewhere about the year 1758. There is also evidence to show that he executed some scenic work for Rich, of Covent Garden. Bryan's ' Diction- ary ' (1889) says that he was married in London, and Walpole, in his ' Anecdotes of Painting,' tells us that he painted " a stair- case in conjunction with one Andrea, at Mr. Arundel's, the corner of Burlington Street, now Mr. Townshend's." W. L.

LADY ELIZABETH FOSTER. Was not Lady Elizabeth Foster (the object of rivalry and repartee between Gibbon and the French physician) the one who afterwards became Duchess of Devonshire, and whose portrait by Gainsborough mysteriously disappeared a few years ago? J. FOSTER PALMER.

8, Royal Avenue, S.W.

[See ante, p. 25.]

PAINTING FROM THE NUDE. Where can one find the question of the morality of painting from the nude discussed in a spirit equally removed from the bigotry of Puritanism and the paganism of the modern French school ? Is it true that Fra Angelico painted from nude models 1 CANONICUS.

STRUTT. Can any one inform me in what periodical journal, about the beginning of the year 1831, or perhaps later, is to be found a memoir of William Strutt, by his son Edward Strutt? FREDERICK STRUTT.

Milford House, Derby.

[Such memoir is unmeritioned in Poole's ' Index to Periodical Literature.'!

INDIAN MAGIC. Two years ago Mr. Thomas Stevens, an American bicyclist traveller, lectured in the United States on the wonder- ful things the Yogi of India can do. He exhibited some of their miracles, as noted in photographs, and claimed to have discovered the secret of their mysterious powers. Has he yet made public the formula by which the mysterious powers of the Yogi are obtained ?

INDIA.

D UNBAR OF GRANGEHILL. Will any one having access to Scottish genealogical books be kind enough to send me the pedigree of Dunbar of Grangehill and Bennetsfield and the arms, if known? JAMES DALLAS.

Lympstone, near Exeter.