Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 12.djvu/94

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NOTES AND QUEEIES. [9* s. xn. A, i, 1903.

received a written warrant of appointment, he was not liable to a fine. The jury over-ruled the objec- tion, and he was fined ].s. 4c. He was re-appointed with Mr. Councillor Garrett, upon promising to assiduously carry out his duties in future. Five jurymen not having previously served were filled Is. each, 'colt' money, for ale; four leading inhabitants were fined <d. each for failing to answer their summons ' to do suit and service to the Court Leet ' ; and the steward received his customary pay of 4d., his only salary, for carrying out the duties appertaining to the manor. A new town crier and bailiff was appointed at no salary, the old crier having resigned. He said he was starving, and was tired of his office."

In an old Midland borough I know well there are or twenty years ago there were searchers of flesh annually appointed, and much mirth was occasioned once on 9 Novem- ber, when a loquacious town councillor, upon drawing attention to the adjournment taking place before the appointment of town crier, was himself proposed for the office, and thereunto voted nem. con., the bell being handed to him over the council table, and he retaining the post of town crier for a twelve- month. Fortunately for individual and corporate dignity, the duties were nil.

THE SERVIAN DYNASTIES. A correspondent of the Times (19 June) gives the supposed origin of the name Kara George or Tserni George (Turkish kara, Servian tsemi, black), who was called a " black villain " by his mother. Mr. W. Miller ('The Balkans') says that the name was derived from the hero's dark raven locks. It is noteworthy that the names Karageorgevitch and Obreno- vitch are rather patronymics than regular surnames. The terminations evitch and evna, borne by the son and daughter of a man after his own Christian name, are most consistently used in Russia. Kara George was Petrovitch, presumably a patronymic, but I do not know if he possessed a surname. If so, it has not been preserved by his descendants. Mr. Miller states that the first Obrenovitch, Milosh, was the son of Tescho, who married the widow of Obren. If this be the true genealogy, Milosh was scarcely Obreno- vitch, but rather Teschovitch. I imagine that the rigid usage of these patronymics has been dropped in the Balkan countries, and am aware that it does not prevail in Bohemia. In Russia a man is often remembered by his Christian name and patronymic after his surname has been forgotten.

FRANCIS P. MARCH ANT.

Brixton Hill.

SEX OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. Among the very numerous volumes formerly the property

the Chevalier d'Eon, now in my possession, are two containing; newspaper cuttings bear- ng on his life in England, and in an especial manner on the controversies concerning his sex. These were assiduously collected by this extraordinary being, and pasted by him on blank pages in chronological order, often accompanied by illustrative notes in his hand. Whether their contents were friendly or nimical to him, they received an equal wel- come. For example, he does not scruple to preserve a cutting from the Public Advertiser of 17 April, 1771, which facetiously intimates that a child dropped in the lobby of the House of Commons was k 'a Foundling of most illustrious Parentage, being the genuine Off- spring of J n W kes Esq : begotten on the body of Madame D'E n." Accounts of androgynous persons had always a fascina- tion for him. From the Daily Advertiser of 25 January, 1783, he has snipped the follow- ing astounding paragraph :

' A News-paper received Yesterday from Ireland, called 'The Dublin Register.' contains the following improbable Article : ' The following is extracted from the Pennsylvania Gazette of Nov. 11 : "A Discovery has lately been made on this Continent that will astonish the whole World. Our great and excellent General Washington is actually discovered to be of the Female Sex. This important secret was revealed by the Lady who lived with the General as a Wife these 30 years, and died the 6 th instant at the General's seat in Virginia, to the Clergyman who attended her. What is extraordinary, the Lady knew the Circumstance previous to the Ceremony of Marriage, and both agreed to live together from Motives of the most refined Friendship. Perhaps there are fewer Instances in Female Nature of such rigid Chastity than of manly Fortitude. The famous Hannah Suell served as a private Soldier in the British Army and was present at many Battles and Sieges in the late War. The Chevalier d'Eon was a Captain of Dragoons, Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis, and Ambassador from the Most Christian King to his Britannick Majesty, and made herself celebrated by her repeated Challenges to the Compte de Guerchy, her Successor in the Employ. In more antient Times France nearly recovered her Empire from the Hands of the British Regency by the astonishing Bravery of the Maid of Orleans ; and now the Rights of America have been asserted and her Independence established through the amazing Fortitude of a Woman. Per- haps it is fortunate that this Circumstance was not known at a more early Period of the Contest." ' J. ELIOT HODGKIN.

CRASH AW : A RECENT EDITION. The notes to ' The English Poems of Richard Crashaw/ one of the volumes in Messrs. Methuen & Co.'s attractive " Little Library," contain several remarkable errors which a competent revision might have removed.

On "the soft gold which | Steals from the amber- weeping tree," p. 5, the editor observes: