Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/485

 x. D EO. is, 1902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

477

Court of Crown Cases Reserved, on 28 July 1894. The head-note (so far as it is applic- able) reads as follows :

" * n order to render the evidence of a witness admissible on the ground that he is skilled in the matter upon which he is called to give evidence it is not necessary that such person should be skilled in such matter by reason of his profession or trade it is sufficient if the Court is satisfied that he has in some way or other gained such experience in the matter as to entitle his evidence to credit." In this case the solicitor for the prosecution gave evidence as to certain documents being in the prisoner's handwriting. Counsel for the prisoner objected that the solicitor was not an expert ; he based his view on the case of Reg. v. Harvey (11 Cox's ' Reports,' 546), where Justice Blackburn decided that a policeman was not an expert.

T. CANN HUGHES, M.A., F.S.A. Lancaster.

I joined them as a partner. It was the first novel with which I had anything to do, and it was a source of much trouble for years Ine story of it is an interesting one, but too long for the columns of ' N. & Q.' Briefly I may say that the owner of the manuscript, M.Cabany.a Frenchman, lived and died in the full and sincere belief that 'Moredun- a Tale of Twelve Hundred and Ten,' was written by Sir Walter Scott, and there was an enormous amount of evidence put forward in its favour, in spite of which, however, it was universally condemned by the press and it was fairly proved from internal evidence that Sir Walter Scott had no hand in Moredun. As a publication in the orthodox three- volume form it was a failure.

E. MARSTON.' bt. Dunstan s House, Fetter Lane, E.G.

IZAAK WALTON (9 th S. x. 409). In reply to G. F. R. B., who refers to me, I may be allowed to say that I have no other authority for the statement in my ' Days in Dove Dale,' 1884, that " Walton used to take up his abode at 'The Izaak Walton,'" than that of "the old donkey -woman"; it was the merest gossip, and not to be taken seriously, .f my memory does not deceive me, I think old Mrs. Prince, who then kept the hotel, had faith in the same tradition. "The Izaak Walton " was originally a farmhouse ; the back part of it is very old, and being the only house near the river it is not improbable that if Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton, Piscator and Venator, ever did fish down the dales from Beresford Hall to Thorpe Cloud, a distance of about ten miles, they may have walked up to the old farm to "refresh them- selves with a cup of drink and a little rest"; but it is not in the least likely that they ever lodged there. The old farmhouse had pro- bably no special name until it became an inn early in the nineteenth century. The dairy farm is still kept on by Mr. Evans, the present landlord of "The Izaak Walton."

I know of no evidence to show that Izaak Walton ever held property nearer to the Dove than the cottage in the pleasant little village of Shawford (or Shallowford), about five minutes' walk from Norton Bridge station, Stafford, of which there is an interesting description in Mr. R. B. Marston's Lea and Dove edition of 'The Compleat Angler.' THE AMATEUE ANGLER.

NOVEL ATTRIBUTED TO SCOTT (9 tb S. X.

448). In answer to your correspondent I may say that this work was published by Sampson Low & Son in 1855, the year before

PIDDINGHOE CHURCH, SUSSEX (9 th S. x. 347). In reply to MR. L. M. GIBE'S request for information about the rectangular opening in the wall between the chancel and the first bay of the south *aisle, I think there is no doubt that it 'is a comparatively modern feature in this old (originally) Norman church. It appears from a drawing which I have (a copy of one made about 1780) that the ancient Early English south aisle, as well as the south chapel or chancel aisle, had been disestablished at some unknown period (ap- parently the Perpendicular), the arcade be- tween the nave and the aisle being filled up. Either at that time or later, as lam inclined to believe this rectangular opening was made in order to give light to the reading desk. It is seen in the aforesaid drawing, together with the blocked bays, the line of junction of the aisle roof to the nave, a three- light Perpendicular window, and a quatre- foil circular window in the clerestory. I should be pleased to send your querist an outline drawing (elevation) of this aspect of the church in olden times if he would care to see it. W. HENEAGE LEGGE.

Ringmer, Sussex.

If the altar is visible through it the aper- ture in question is a squint, or hagioscope, examples of which (now frequently blocked up) are to be found in various churches e.g., near Ten by. The object of the squint was to facilitate a view of the elevation of the Host. J. DORMER.

MR. GIBB will find an explanation of the enigmatical nature of this square opening in vol. xlii. of the ' Sussex Archaeological Collec- tions,' pp. 248-9. G. F. R. B.

Was it for a permanent light over some tomb or shrine 1 E. E. COPE.