Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/443

 9 th S. II. Nov. 26, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

435

flowing stream, he would have indicated hi purpose by writing " the Rye," and thereb making the reference quite distinct. As h did not do so when giving the lyric to Johnson but plainly stated that Jenny s condition wa due to her persistence in " comin' thro' th rye," his editors have all acted prudently i reproducing his text as he left it, and inter preting it according to the natural meanin of the words. THOMAS BAYNE.

Helensburgh, N.B.

Let us not forget the song in ' As You Lik It ' about the lover and his lass that o'er th green cornfield did pass, and lingered "be tween the acres of the rye " (V. iii.T.

ST. SWITHIN.

KEATS'S EPITAPH ON HIMSELF (9 th S. ii. 186, MR. JOHN HEBB has given an instance o the use of the words "writ in water" in th year 1658. Let me add the following, from Hakewill's 'Apologie,' 1635, p. 127:

"Whence it comes to pass that unseasonabl weather, and the like crosse accidents are printec in our memories, as it were with red letters in ar Almanacke ; but for seasonable and faire, ther stands nothing but a blanke : the one is graven in Tjrasse, the other written in water."

This leads us back to the speech of Griffith in 4 King Henry VIII.,' IV. ii. :

Afens euill manners liue in Brasse, their Vertues

We write in Water.

RICHARD H. THORNTON.

Portland, Oregon.

THE DOMESDAY " MANSIO " (9 th S. ii. 326). Although there is no doubt that royal per- sonages have put up at the "Angel" at Grant- ham, it is very unlikely that this picturesque old house occupies the site of the " Mansio ' enjoyed by so many English queens. Mar- garet Tudor, we know, was brought " in fayr Aray to hyr Lodgyngs, that was with a Gentylman called Mr. Hioll," or Hall, who, it is believed, lived in a stone mansion eastward of the church, ^a dwelling that is still repre- sented. The property covered by the "Angel" belonged to the Knights Templars. It is not improbable that the rival " George " an inn whose praise is in 'Nicholas Nickleby'- stands on the spot in which the consorts of our kings were specially interested. The house is now a portion of a comfortable hostel erected in the latter part of the eighteenth century as successor to a beautiful building, unequal to the requirements of coaching days, but which Grantham would be all the fairer for having retained. Street records that Ed- ward IV. gave his mother Cicely, Duchess of York, a hospitium called "Le George" in this town. She bequeathed this, " mine Inn,"

to her widowed friend Dame Jane Pesemershe for life, with remainder to the college of Fotheringhay ; but it reverted to the Crown (' Notes on Grantham,' p. 68).

ST. SWITHIN.

PILLAR DOLLAR (9 th S. ii. 347). I remember buying two of the Spanish pillar dollars in Tenerife in 1892, and giving about JO pesetas each for them, perforated and mounted as brooches. So I fancy they cannot be worth much more than their face value.

ED. PHILIP BELBEN.

Branksome Chine, Bournemouth.

"LA TRINITE DBS VINS " (9 th S. ii. 348). This expression, which occurs with fair frequency outside wine-shops in France, signifies that Champagne, Bordeaux, and Burgundy are to be had within. T. P. ARMSTRONG.

Putney.

THE JUDGE AND THE TREADWHEEL (9 th S. ii. 288, 377). A somewhat similar instance to that given by MR. MARSHALL is recorded as having occurred to the present Earl Spencer. I quote the following from Wit and Wisdom of 16 Feb., 1889 :

"A half-yearly meeting of the directors who manage the Northampton Private Asylum had just broken up, and Lord Spencer, a member of that body, desiring to reach Althorp Park somewhat more quickly than customarily, determined to re- turn home by a route which intersects the grounds of the asylum, and which is rarely used save as a summer parade for the unfortunate lunatics. Arrived at the gate which separates the asylum from the outer world, Lord Spencer, much to his annoyance and disgust, found it securely locked. A keeper, however, happening to come in sight just at that moment, Lord Spencer lost no time in explaining to him the nature of his wishes. The man surlily replied that his orders were to the effect that no one should pass through that gate except due notice were given to him to the contrary by the authorities, and that, being a married man with a wife and a arge family, he failed to understand what special advantage was to be gained by transgressing the rules, and thus placing his situation in jeopardy. )bserving that the fellow was growing obdurate, r ord Spencer thought it best to reveal his name id rank, imagining that a knowledge of the same ould recall the man to his senses. Nothing of the ort happened, however. The stolid features of he keeper simply relaxed into a broad grin, and as ic turned to depart he gently explained that Lord Spencers in that particular locality were as plentiful ,s blackberries in the autumn time. Explanations nd expostulations were useless, the discomfited arl being forced to return the way he had come."

JOHN T. PAGE. West Haddon, Northamptonshire.

SIR JOHN RUDSTON (9 th S. ii. 387). Accord- ng to Glover's ' Visitation of Yorkshire, 584-5,' Sir John Rudston married Ursula, aughter of Sir Robert Dymock, Knt. (the