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NOTES AND QUEEIES. [9< s. in. FEB. is, m

cestor of the Stewarts of Ardvorlich, in Bal- quhidder, which James married his cousin Annabella Buchanan, and thus brought back to his line the legitimate blood of the Stewarts of Albany and Menteith, so that practically, if not quite legally, Ardvorlich may be said to represent the house of Albany in the male line. MR. CALDER asks who the Sir John Graham was who became Earl of Menteith, and was father-in-law of the first Duke of Albany. Duncan Stewart, in his 'Genealogy of the Stewarts,' supposes him to have been of the Abercorn branch or rather Abercorn was the stem of the family, but it is more pro- bable he was the younger son of Sir Patrick Graham, of Kincardine, Perthshire that " goodly knight, all dressed in harness meet," who fell gloriously at the battle of Dunbar in 1296, " lamented and applauded even by his enemies." He was a worthy sire for the Earl of Menteith, the hero of Durham, who, falling into the hands of Edward III., was beheaded and quartered. His representative of line, and accordingly of the two Dukes of Albany who were Earls of Menteith, and of the original Earls of Menteith, is Mr. John Buchanan - Hamilton, of Spittal of Catter, Leny, and Bardowie, heir male of the above Sir Walter of that ilk. WALTER M. GRAHAM EASTON.

THE SIEGE OF TROY AND THE SIEGE OF BELGRADE. It is interesting to observe how men have the same habits in different ages. In Boswell's 'Life of Johnson' the following story concerning General Oglethorpe and Dr. Johnson is told :

"Dr. Johnson said: 'Pray, General, give us an account of the siege of Belgrade.' Upon which the General, pouring a little wine upon the table, de- scribed everything with a wet finger. ' Here we were. Here were the Turks,' et cetera. Johnson listened with close attention."

In Ovid's * Heroides ' Penelope, in her letter

to Ulysses, mentions the action of some one

who, spilling wine on the table, describes the

position at Troy :

Atque aliquis posita monstrat fera prselia mensa :

Pingit et exiguo Pergama tota mero.

Hac ibat Simo'is : haec est Sigei'a tellus.

Hie steterat Priami regia celsa senis.

The last two lines, as readers will remember, are quoted in the 'Taming of the Shrew.' What I have remarked above is not in such notes to Boswell's ' Life ' as I have seen. But so much has been written about the book that I cannot be sure of the newness of my observation. E. YARDLEY.

"yEREGRAPHANS " = A COMPOSITOR. I have

never seen attention called to this very curious hybrid word, It obviously means

" one who writes with brass," in allusion, I presume, to the cut brass types as distin- guished from cast metal types, the invention of which was attributed, I think, to Peter Schoeffer. The word occurs in the colophon of a book entitled 'Thomas Murner de AugustinianaHieronymianaqueReformatione Poetarum,' which runs thus :

"Impressum Argentine anno Salutis M.D.IX. Of- fendes piissime lector passim seregraphantis negli- gentia incastigatiores mendas : tuum erit & auctorem & corrigentem excusatos habere : quippe qui prseter suos aliena fucati sunt ignauia Sed emenda si quid reperies."

J. ELIOT HODGKIN. Childwall, Weybridge.

ALL SOULS' DAY DITTY. The following is a cutting from Peter Lombard's notes in the Church Times for 28 Oct., 1898 :

Day, going from house to house. At the close of the day the children are regaled by the Lady Bountiful of the place at her house with cakes and coin. 1 wonder whether such a custom is to be found else- where. The words are surely a burlesque of some- thing else more serious sung in days gone by :

ALL SOULS' DAY DITTY.

Soul Day ! Soul ! The roads are very dirty,

Our shoes are very thin : Pray, good missis and master,

Pop a penny in !

An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry, Or any good thing to make us merry : If you haven't an apple, a pear will do ; If you haven't a pear, good money will do. One for Peter, two for Paul, Three for Them as made us all.

Soul Day ! Soul ! The cock sat up in the yew-tree,

The hen came cackling by ; We wish you a merry Christmas, And a fat pig in the stye ! Soul Day ! Soul !

PETER LOMBARD."

I was driving one day from Harrogate to Ripley, and at a village en route some boys ran beside the carriage, repeating : The roads is very dirty, My boots is very thin, I 've got a pretty pocket To put a penny in. Please, sir, give me a penny, sir : If you haven't got copper, I'll take silver ; If you haven't got silver, I 'Jl take gold.

CELER ET AUDAX.

TROUSERS. No date is even approximately given in the 'Century Dictionary' for the introduction of trousers as a commonly used word in our language. When the compilers of the ' H.E.D.' get as far as T, they may appreciate this reference from a letter written