Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/258

 252

NOTES AND QUERIES. [9- s. m. APRIL i,

penwoman, such as Lady Temple was, could vary her writing easily by changing the posi- tion of her fingers, wrist, or elbow.*

H. H. DRAKE.

PUZZLE JUG (9 th S. iii. 49, 98). Puzzle jugs are rightly named by W. F. R., and are not now common. There are several makes, and I have four, only one being quite perfect, and two only workable. One I have is, I should say, quite as old as that described by W. F. R. It has no date, but bears on the bowl of the vessel the lines :

Here, gentlemen, come try your skill ; I '11 hold a wager if you will That you don't drink this liquor all Without you spill or let some fall.

The lines are within a blue border, with nicely painted flowers, extending the depth of the space occupied by the verse, at the beginnings and ends of the lines. The verse arid flowers with decoration on handle and other parts are under the glaze, the latter being very good for the period at which I believe it was made. W. F. R. has not quite described how the liquor may be extracted from the jug by one possessing its secrets. In this specimen there is a small hole inside which communicates with the bottom of the handle, which contains a passage leading to the rim of the jug. _ The rim is larger than that of an ordinary jug, and from it project three nozzles, one on each side of the handle and the third in front of the jug. Only two of the nozzles are holed through into the rim, the third, the one in front, being a dummy in this respect, though, to look at, exactly like the others. On the under side of the bow of the handle, near the top, is a small round hole, so placed that in an ordinary grasping of the handle the fingers would not cover it. In this hole in the handle lies the secret of the jug ; for unless it is closely covered by the finger, it is impossible to suck a single drop of the contents through either of the two nozzles, one of which must be closed. These jugs were a I believe, in the old days common in taverns. As the verse indicates, they were brought forth to trap unwary and ignorant folk as well as to amuse the com- pany. They were used also at parties, and I remember seeing one handed round at a Christmas gathering forty-five years ago. It was then filled to the limit with wine posset, but only two or three were able to dispose of the contents. The jug I have described is the only one I have seen glazed arid ornamented

vince h that he has been too precipitate.
 * If . MOORE cares to interview me I can con-

with flowers and designs in blue colour. The rest are light-brown unglazed ware, decorated with raised convivial or hunting scenes. One I have is stamped on front of the bowl "S. Watkinson, 1835": arid I do not think the making of such jugs was continued much later than this date.

One other puzzle jug I have of a totally different character. It is in shape an ordinary dark -brown glazed earthenware vessel, of three pints capacity, without perforations below the rim. The ornament consists chiefly of a raised hunting scene, in which the hounds have pulled down a stag at the foot of a tree, two dismounted huntsmen standing on either side, holding their horses. The lower part of the handle is continued inside the jug to the middle of the bottom. The outer and inner parts of the handle are hollow, and there is a hole through the bottom of the jug under the spot where the inside part of the handle joins the bottom. On the under side of part of the handle, within the vessel, a small hole can be felt, and on the top of the handle outside the

jug is a hole less than half the size of that

hich is in the bottom of the ji handle is hollow from the hole in the upper

part of the handle to the hole in the bottom of the jug. In this case the jug is filled with liquor, and a wager is made that part or all the contents can be drunk without putting the mouth to. the rim of the jug. The man who knows how can suck the contents through the hole in the handle ; the man who does not know cannot recover a drop. The secret of success in this case is to close the hole in the bottom of the jug with the finger, and, this done, " a long suck, a strong suck, and a suck altogether " removes the contents into other quarters.

These jugs were made in "Nottingham stoneware," so called, at Brampton, near Chesterfield, and also at the Rockingham Works, near Rotherham. The "teapot" which MR. GREEN mentions is not a teapot, but a water jug. Tea could be " mashed " in it, but after mashing the spent leaves could not be removed. I have two of the jugs which MR. GREEN calls " teapots." They are Rockingham ware, and one of them has the word " Bramald " impressed underneath in the rich, dark-brown glaze. This "teapot" is known as " the Cadogan " teapot.

THOS. RATCLIFFE.

Worksop.

"A WIG OF BREAD" (9 th S. iii. 168). It would be easy to fill a few pages with the history of wig. It is common enough in