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NOTES AND QUERIES. p* s. xn. AUG. is, aoa.

natural-history teaching in schools 1 I believe it was first used in this connexion by the authorities of Cornell University in the nineties?. Perhaps some American reader will note the history of this term, the subject having been first introduced into schools in the United States. R. HEDGER WALLACE. University College School, London.

Miss CHARLOTTE WALPOLE. Would an obliging reader answer the following query? In what year and at what age was Miss Charlotte Wai pole (later Mrs. Atkyns, Duchess [?] of Ketteringham), according to the records of Drury Lane Theatre for the years 1750-1800, admitted as an actress in the said theatre, and in what year did she abandon her artistic career ?

(Madame) C. BARBEY-BOISSIER.

Valleyrea, par Orbe, Vaud, Switzerland.

SHOPS IN CHEAPSIDE IN 1650. In his settle- ment of 20 February, 1649/50, Sir Peter Osborne, Dorothy's father, included I'all those five Messuages, with th' appurtenances ?n Cheap.side in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch of the White Harte, the Ball, the Woolsacke, the Sugarloafe, and the Brush with all Shcpps, Cel- lars, Sollars and the reversions and all
 * n London, called or knowne by the several! names

rents reserved or payable uppon demise,

leases, or grants.''

Can any one tell me anything about any of these shops ? F. J. FUKNIVALL.

STAFFORD. It is stated in Kelly's 'County Directory,' and also in Cassell's ' Gazetteer,' that Stafford is called by the name Betheney in the 'Saxon Chronicle.' Such, however, is not the case ; that town appears in the The * Encyclopaedia Britannica ' says that or Betheney, from the island on which the earliest houses were built." No authority is given for this statement. Kef erring to Camden (Gough's edition, vol. ii. p. 376, col. 2), we read :
 * Chronicle ' (A.D. 913) under its present name.
 * ' the site was at first known as Berteliney

"From thence [the neighbourhood of Eccleshall andEllenhall] the Sow passes by tit afford, antiently Stafford, but first by Betheney, where Berthelin formerly lived the life of a hermit with the reputa- tion of great sanctity."

This seems to mean rather that Betheney was a small place on the river above Stafford than that it was a former name of Stafford itself. Capgrave mentions the building of Stafford and other towns by Ethelfleda ; but, like the * Chronicle,' he calls it by its present name. Can any of your readers throw further light upon this ? Perhaps residents of Stafford may know whether there is now a small place

above the town called Betheney, or something like it. W. T. LYNN.

Blackheath.

"BETWIXT THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP SEA." Can any reader tell me who is the author of this phrase, or how it originated 1 The ordi- nary works of reference do not mention it. DUDLEY JAMES.

[Froude translates "Inter sacrum ex saxum," used by Erasmus in a letter to Pirkheimer, 'Be- tween 'the shrine and the stone. It should be " Between the victim and the stone knife/ This is held by scholars to be the Latin equivalent for " Between the devil and the deep sea. bee 8 tn b. xi. 264, 336.]

"COLD SHOULDER": "TURN THE TABLES." Have the two phrases "to give a person the cold shoulder " and " to turn the tables " on some one ever been satisfactorily ex- plained ? G. KRUEGER.

Berlin.

[The 'H.E.D.' suggests that "Cold shoulder" comes from the cold shoulder being an unpalatable dish. Suggested explanations of "Turning the tables " are found 1 st S. iii. 276 ; xi. 94.]

JOHN ANGLER. On behalf of a corre- spondent at Boston, U.S., will you allow me to ask for information concerning John Angier, born 1629, and presumably son of the Rev. John Angier, of Denton, Lancashire 1 A John Angier graduated at Harvard College in 1653 ; he was in Boston, Mass., 1651 to 1655. He married there and had two or three children ; in 1655 he disappeared with all his family. There is evidence that he was the son of the Rev. John Angier, of Denton, but no absolute proof. Is there any record of him in England from 1655, or of his children ? What were the names of his wife and children, and what the date and place of his death 1

If they are of interest to any one, my correspondent, Mr. E. H. Whorf, Room 17, 143, Federal Street, Boston, will gladly furnish copies of the records on the other side. W. G. WALTER.

WELSH DICTIONARY. I should be very much obliged if any one could tell me whether there has ever been published a good dictionary of the literary Welsh language, written in Welsh, for Welshmen.

COMESTOR OXONIENSIS.

THE MOTHER OF NINUS. Can any one tell me the name of the mother of Ninas? Reference is made to this lady by Camoens in the 'Lusiads,' iii. 126, together with Romulus and Remus. These three are cited by Ignez de Castro as examples of