Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/381

 9*S.II. Nov.5,'98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

373

degrees. Two of these "sun-dogs" bein visible, if a cloud covered the true sun an one of them, the other alone would cast shadows. Those that I saw in 1848 were quite bright enough to do this, when the true sun was hidden. I might add that the angle 22^ is the eighth of an average day, and that fifteen years, which Hezekiahi's life was pro- longed, is an eighth of the allotted life of postdiluvians (Gen. vi.). E. L. GARBETT.

PERRYS OP CLAVERLEY (9 th S. ii. 308). Is it not possible that Harl. MSS. might give COL. G. S. PARRY some information? I have a volume of the Gentleman's Magazine for 1822. At p. 489 there is a plate of Claverley Church, Salop, S.E. [sic], with descriptions of tombs, tablets, &c., there, and inscriptions, mostly in Latin, but not a word about the Perry family. In a note at the bottom of p. 490, no doubt by the editor, he refers the reader to Harl. MSS., as I said above, respecting the arms of Ferrers, &c., the ancient lords of this manor. ALFRED J. KING.

101, Sandmere Road, Clapham, S.W.

KlNGSTON-UPON-TilAMES (9 th S. i. 475 ; ii.

4, 154, 232). The names of the seven Saxon kings which have been inscribed round the base of the coronation stone at Kingston are as follows : Athelstan, Edwin, Ethelred, Edward the Elder, Edmund, Edward the Martyr, and Edred. Would COL. PRIDEAUX kindly annotate this list, informing us which of the names may be considered authentic and whether any additions may be made to the number ? It would be interesting to know by whom the list was compiled, and also whether the names are those of the monarchs whose statues stood till 1730 in St. Mary's Chapel hard by. ISAAC TAYLOR.

When King's Town, and when King's Stone ? It seems unfortunate that places which appa- rently owe name-origin to the possession of a king's stone should not have retained the finale. Surely Kingston -upon -Thames, as having possessed a coronation stone, should not be thus mulct. Taking the case which perhaps is most interesting of all, Kingstone Lisle, in Berkshire, we find this spelt King- ston (without e final) both by gazetteers and the ' Postal Directory.' Yet does not this parish derive its name from King Alfred's Blowing Stone, which is still to be seen on the left-hand side as you leave Kingstone Lisle Church and start up over the Downs for Lambourn ? Berkshire men hold dearly by the Blowing Stone and its traditions, and I remember how, nearly forty years ago, mine host of the inn opposite to which the

stone stood took delight in blowing into it, and thus producing the low-toned, farspread- ing sound which used to call together King Alfred's men to fight the Danes.

This stone seems hardly second in interest to any relic in the kingdom. At present the Blowing Stone lies sneltered by an elm tree, and a batten protects the mouthpiece. If it should ever be removed to a more safe and central resting-place, perhaps Wantage, the birthplace of King Alfred, may be allowed to have the prior claim ; but the stone is not public property, and there are also many other and good reasons why it may always remain near White Horse Hill, and in the parish to which it presumably gave name.

B. LOWSLEY.

With reference to COL. PRIDEAUX'S interest- ing reply on this subject, perhaps I may be permitted to state in ' N. & Q.' that a short time before the death of Egbert (in 837), the first King of all England, a great council was held here at which Egbert, his son and suc- cessor Ethelwulf, and many prelates, abbots, and nobles Avere present, including Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury, who presided ; and in the acts of that council it is stated to have been held "in loco famoso vocato Kyningestun." It follows, therefore, that the name Kingston (anciently called Moreford. or the great ford, as stated by Camden) could not have been imposed on account of the coronation of the Saxon kings after the ter- mination of the Heptarchy.

However, in a charter of 946 (vide ' Saxon Charters,' edited by J. M. Kemble) Kingston is expressly termed "the royal town where kings are hallowed." Authentic chronicles of the town commence with the crowning of Athelstan, son of Edward, in 924; and subse- quently the following kings were "hallowed" at Kingston, namely, Edmund, in 940; Edred, 946 ; Edgar, 959 ; Edward the Martyr, 975 ; Ethelred II., 987 ; Edmund II., 1016 ; and there have been added to the list Edward the Elder, 900, and Edwig, 955. The last is dis- tinctly stated by Florence of Worcester, not a contemporary, but a very early authority. A striking account of the coronation of Athel- stan is given by Dean Hook in his ' Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury '(1861-75) :

'He was arrayed in a purple vestment, with a Saxon sword in' a golden sheath hanging from a jewelled belt. On an elevated platform m the Market Place, and on a stone seat, he took his place, the better to be seen by the multitude. He was received with shouts of loyalty, and elevated on a stage or target ; he was carried on the shoulders of his men, being from time to time, in their enthu- siasm, tossed into the airj!] until they arrived at the door of the church. Here the archbishop was