Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/417

 9 th S. II. Nov. 19, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

409

j; grief for his loss. The Slingsbys' seat is ot known, and they may be a branch of the lorkshire Slingsbys; but the marriage to Miss Jelf is not mentioned in Burke, and the Christian name of the husband is forgotten. B. R. THORNTON.

FEEDING-BOTTLES. When were these first used ? In Christopher Ness's ' Distinct Dis- course and Discovery of Antichrist,' 1679,

p. 97, we read : -

"Milk in a warm breast is more effectual nourish- ment, than milk in a cold suckling box ; so a sermon preach'd batters Babylon more than one printed."

Has such a "suckling box" survived? Is there any museum of domestic appliances ?

W. C. B.

[Consult 'H.E.D.,' where "feeding-box" is given as well as "feeding-bottle."]

SIR JOHN TOWNSHEND. Who was " Sir John Townshend, of Salop," knighted at Sir John Fortescue's in July, 1603? According to the 'Visitation of Shropshire, 1623' (Harl. vol.), Robert Townshend, of Ludlow (second son of Sir Robert, Justice of Chester, who died in 1557), by his wife Anne, daughter of John Machell, Alderman of London, had, with other issue, John Townshend, his son and heir apparent. Could he be this knight ? A Sir John Townshend, Knt. (doubtless the same person), was returned M.P. for Chipping Wycombe in 1604-11. W. D. PINK.

" IN NATIVE WORTH." What is the literary origin of this expression? It occurs in the Daily Telegraph of 2 September, in an article headed 'Our New Street.' With reference to the Sardinian Chapel one is told :

" In the early part of the eighteenth century it was the scene of a very extraordinary incident. A female fanatic, emulous, perhaps, of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, made her way to the altar, in native worth, ana nothing else, and harangued the con- gregation for about a quarter of an hour. Then, returning to sanity and a sense of decency, she hastily dressed herself and escaped."

PALAMEDES.

fit is the beginning of a well-known description of Eve in Haydn's ' Creation.']

ARCHITECTURAL NICHES POSSIBLY INTENDED FOR NESTS. At the old mansion where I am visiting, a wing, surmised to have been added as a stable by " Warrior " Wykes in the six- teenth century, has one wall, facing the inner court, riddleu with, perhaps, sixty recesses suitable for the nesting of birds. They are not large enough for pigeons, the openings averaging 6 in. by 4 in., and the depth about 5 in. (though varying with the size of the stones), nor are ledges provided such as pigeons would require to alight upon, so

that sparrows would seem to have been the intended occupants. Considering the general antipathy for these little grain marauders, I have been puzzled to account for such encouragement ; but the tenant of the Barton part (Mr. Edwin Stanbury) proffers the suggestion that possibly in the days of falconry a colony of such small bjrds might have served for feeding and training the hawks. Can any of your readers confirm this explanation? I have seen in the 'Archi- tectural Association Sketch-Book ' (vol. vii.) a drawing of a church-like fourteenth-century barn showing similar niches, though, I judge, somewhat larger and less numerous.

ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES. South Tawton, Devon.

"JUMBLE": REFERENCE FOR QUOTATION. Johnson, s.v. ' Jumble,' quotes from Swift, " What jumble here is made of ecclesiastical revenues, as if they were all alienated with equal justice." He gives two quotations for the word, and two explanations the latter of these, "violent and confused agitation," apparently referring to the passage of Swift. I suppose him therefore to understand, "What an outcry and commotion is made." If any one can tell me where in Swift's writings the passage is to be found, I shall be grateful for a reply direct.

C. B. MOUNT.

14, Norham Road, Oxford.

HACKNEY CARRIAGES. By an Act of 1843 (6 & 7 Vic. c. 86, s. 33), " every Driver of a Hackney Carriage, whether hired or unhired, allowing any person besides himself, not being the Hirer or a Person employed by such Hirer, to ride on the Driving Box," is to be fined. Do the words " a Person employed by such Hirer" illustrate any custom of the time? What, generally, is the reason of the pro- hibition? H. C.

HEYSHAM ANTIQUITIES.

(9 th S. ii. 222, 281.)

1. SIR HENRY HOWORTH contends that the unroofed church at Heysham is pre-Saxon, and belongs to either the fifth or sixth cen- tury. Is not this latter admission fatal to his contention? The building can hardly be Romano-British unless erected before A.D. 449. But he adds, "It is contemporary with St. Patrick, or built soon after his death" an- other admission detrimental to his assump- tion, putting it clearly out of court, and actually conceding my theory. "Soon" is rather an indefinite quantity.