Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/184

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. n. AUG. 27, t

I find this answer perfectly. The letters can be easily read, and never get crumpled or fingered more than necessary. I find the slip can be easily pulled off the cardboard, should I wish to insert a better specimen or change a place, as the surface of the board seems to come with it, whilst the letters never come off. I find some friends care to see only one class of autograph, and in this way their wish can be at once gratified. My books were four years in London, and did not suffer in any way from "fog." I have about 3,000.

P. A. F. STEPHENSON.

" DEWY-FEATHERED " (9 th S. ii. 7, 116). With regard to ME. BAYNE'S remark that " the refreshing effects of dew on slumbering vegetation are manifest, and have been recog- nized from early days," perhaps I may draw attention to

Ilka blade of grass keps its own clrap of dew, vide ' Songs,' p. 3, of James Ballantyne. And Lord Byron wrote :

The starlight dews All silently their tears of love instil, Weeping themselves away, till they infuse Deep into nature's breast the spirit of her hues.

But Chesterfield said :

The dews of the evening most carefully shun ; Those tears of the sky for the loss of the sun.

'Advice to a Lady in Autumn.' HENRY GERALD HOPE. Clapham, S.W.

ST. FURSEY (9 th S. ii. 25, 104). It might be added to MR. PAGET TOYNBEE'S interesting note under this heading that, according to Husenbeth ('Emblems of Saints'), this abbot died 16 January, A.D. 650, and that an ancient representation exists showing an angel de- fending him against the Devil. In Owen's ' Sanctorale Catholicum ' the same day is given, but the year is quoted as A.D. 653. He is therein spoken of as a native of Munster, and apparently died at Latiniac (Lagny) in France. HARRY HEMS.

Fair Park, Exeter.

SIR RICHARD HOTHAM, KNT. (9 th S. i. 448 ; ii. 17). Reference to his will and three codicils, proved by his executors, William Hotham, of York, William Knott, the testator's great-nephew, and Jane Cowan, of Hotham- ton, or Bogrior, co. Sussex, widow, 19 April, 1799 (P.C.C. 271 Howe), shows that there is no mention of any son. Rev. Amezeali Empson, Vicar of Scawby, co. Lincoln, named as an executor, predeceased the testator, who, 22 May, 1797, is described as of Wimbledon Grove, co. Surrey. William Knott's mother, Sarah Knott, is given as of Duriington (query Donington ?), co. Lincoln. She had an elder

son, John Knott, who was left an annuity of fifty guineas. Sir Beaumont Hotham, Knt., one of the Chief Barons of the Exchequer, his son, Col. Beaumont Hotham, and his grand- son, Beaumont Hotham, who was in remainder for the Bognor property, are referred to. Is anything known of a portrait of Sir Richard Hotham, painted in 1793 by Romney ? Who is its present possessor?

REGINALD STEWART BODDINGTON. Constitutional Club.

" SUMER is Y-CUMEN IN " (9 th S. ii. 7, 109). Hardiman says that this air was taken bodily by Dr. Burney from the ancient Irish melody called "Samhre teacht," or "Summer is coming." Moore is declared to have written " Rich and rare were the gems she wore " to the melody. (See 'The Irish Melodies of Thomas Moore,' by Dr. Charles Villiers Stan- ford, 1895.) The likeness was first detected by Dr. Young, Bishop of Clonfert. Hardi- man says (1831) :

"This sweet hymn was a tribute of grateful melody, offered up by our ancestors to the opening year, and has been sung from time immemorial by them at the approach of spring. To those who have resided among the peasantry of the southern and western parts of Ireland, where the national manners are most unadulterated, this melody is at this day perfectly familiar.'

I know it is the custom to abuse Hardiman, just as it is the habit of English writers to almost ignore the claims and antiquity of Irish music ; but both deserve great and thoughtful attention. S. J. A. F.

GALE (5 th S. ii. 368 ; 9 th S. ii. 153). Yes. See 'Laws of Dean Forest' or 'History of Dean Forest.' But "a gale" is an acreage of a certain seam of coal or iron, rather than "land " in the usual sense. D.

OLDEST PARISH REGISTER (8 th S. xi. 108, 215; 9 th S. ii. 35, 133). Lately I had occasion to make numerous extracts from the Burrell collections, including the volume 5697, re- ferred to by DR. MARSHALL ; and under Alfri-:- ton I have a note, " Reg. beg. 1538." This confirms DR. MARSHALL'S opinion that the entries were begun comparatively late. The date given by so painstaking and curious an inquirer as Sir W. Burrell is probably cor- rect ; but if any doubt remain, perhaps the question could be solved by an application to the present custodian of the register.

E. G. CLAYTON.

Richmond, Surrey.

Mr. G. F. Chambers, in his admirable 'Handbook for Eastbourne ' (1886), goes eight better than C. H. C., for he asserts that " the