Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/97

 9 >s.x.At7G.2,i902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

89

tainly makes out a strong case for the room he found off the Rue de la Blanchisserie, and near to the Rue des Cendres. I am aware that the matter has been discussed in 'N. & Q.,' but I wish to ascertain how it now stands, for in his ' Life of Wellington ' Sir Herbert Maxwell says :

"The late Sir William Fraser was strongly of opinion that he had identified this historic ball- room as still in existence ; but the late Dowager Lady de Ros and Lady Louisa Tighe, both of whom were at their mother's ball, were positive that the building had disappeared, and that the site of it is now traversed by the Rue des Cendres." -Vol. ii. p. 13.

CHARLES HIATT.

[See 8 th S. viii. 248, 315, 411.]

HASELOCK FAMILY. I find a family named Haselock or Hazelock settled in Aston juxta Birmingham in 1631. One branch of that family still remains in that neighbourhood. Can any of your readers tell me whether the name is to be met with elsewhere ?

FRED. SAWORD.

DANES IN PEMBROKE. I should like to know if there are any evidences that the Danes made a settlement in this county in or about the district of Kemeys. There were many plunder raids on the Pembroke- shire coasts, and St. David's was burnt several times ; but are there proofs that a colony was established ? If so, can a Norse element be traced in the population, as well as a Flemish, Norman, and Welsh ?

G. H. W.

BOROUGH OF BISHOP'S STORTFORD. Sir Henry Chauncy, in his ' History of Hertford- shire (vol. i. p. 325, reprinted 1826), under ' Stortford,' states :

" He [King John] seized the Town into his hands, made it a Borough, constituted Burgesses to govern the Town, incorporated them into a commonality, authorized the Commonality to choose officers out of themselves in their Borough," &c.

Can any one state the source from which Chauncy derived his authority for this state- ment? J. L. GLASSCOCK. Bishop's Stortford.

FORSTER. Thomas and Christopher Forster were admitted to Westminster School in 1781 and 1809 respectively. Can any correspondent of 'N. & Q.' help me to identify these Forsters?

G. F. R. B.

RUSSIAN STORY. In the Sun newspaper of 4 May, 1894, there was printed a short story, stated to be translated from the Russian, entitled ' A Love Lesson : the Serf's Awaken- ing.' The characters in the story are Prince Horostienko, his wife, Count Alexis Kara-

gine (a lover of the princess), and Yann Bassouck, the prince's huntsman. Can any of your readers inform me who is the'author of this story, and whether his works have been translated either into English or French ?

C. L.

'AYLWIN.' (9 th S. ix. 369, 450 ; x. 16.)

THE question raised by JAY AITCH as to the school of mystics founded by Lavater, and the large book ' The Veiled Queen,' by " Philip Aylwin," which contains quotations that JAY AITCH affirms have haunted him ever since he read them, are certainly ques- tions about as interesting as any that could have been raised in connexion with the story. And in answering these queries I find an opportunity of saying a few authentic words upon a subject upon which many unauthen- tic ones have been uttered tnat of the occultism of D. G. Rossetti and some of his" friends. It has been frequently said that Rossetti was a spiritualist, and it is a fact that he went to several stances; but the word " spiritualism " seems to have a rather elastic meaning. A, spiritualist, as distin- guished from a materialist, Rossetti certainly was, but his spiritualism was not, I should say, that which in common parlance bears this name. It was exactly like " Aylwinism," which seems to have been related to the doctrines of the Lavaterian sect about which JAY AITCH inquires. As a matter of fact, it was not the original of " Wilderspin " nearly so much as the original " D'Arcy " who was captured by the doctrine of what is called in the story the " Aylwinean " ; and it is a remarkable fact in reference to ' Aylwin,' that a story written to give expression to certain emotions and ideas in connexion with the world and the universe should, to the surprise of all those who had the privi- lege of reading it before publication, have obtained a popularity as a mere story equal to that of the ordinary circulating-library novel.

With regard to Johann Kaspar Lavater JAY AITCH is no doubt aware that, although this once noted writer's fame rests entirely upon his treatise ' Physiognomische Frag- mente,' he founded a school of mystics in Switzerland. This was before what is called spiritualism came into vogue. I believe that the doctrines of 'The Veiled Queen' are closely related to the doctrines of the Lava- terians ; but my knowledge on this matter is