Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/400

 NOTES AND QUERIES. p* s. m. MAY 20, '99.

mentioned on p. 235) are some of the most important to which it has belonged as a crest : Tollemache, Dunbar (of Baldoon), Hamilton (Lord Belhaven), De Horsey, Blay- ney (twelfth Lord Blayney;, Darley, Earle, p Grady, Heigham, Mallory, Slade, and Stud

holme. J. LONSDALE.

Gronwy Goch of Llangathen, of the Welsh tribe of Elystan, bore as arms Argent, a nag's head gules, bridled or. I do not know what families of his posterity continued the bear- ing. The Lloyds of Gilfachwen and those of Cilgwyn, and the Edwardses of Rhyd y gors, all descended from Gronwy Goch, but bore different arms. THOS. WILLIAMS.

Aston Clinton.

BERKSHIRE CAROL (9 th S. iii. 307). The carol W. J. B. R. refers to commences : The first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me A partridge in a pear-tree ;

and there are cumulative gifts for twelve days. He will find the whole of this carol given at p. 73 of ' Nursery Rhymes and Nur- sery Tales of England,' collected by J. O. Halliwell, as published by Frederick Warne & Co. What kind of birds are the four " Colly birds " named in the rhyme ; and to what county does the name belong ?

I think this carol is not of Berkshire origin, because it is not known in rural Berkshire ; it was therefore probably imported to Reading. I may add that the only carol of importance that I believe must be of Berkshire origin is the one which in each of the ten verses refers to some "good joy our Mary had." Fifty years ago a poor old body named Sally Acres used to go from house to house in a parish in Mid -Berkshire, at Christmastide, singing this carol, and it was traditionally understood to have been taught and sung in her family from time immemorial. B. LOWSLEY.

Your correspondent may like to know that several versions of the song, of which the lines he quotes appear to be a part, are to be found in Mrs. Gomme's ' Traditional Games,' under 'Twelve Days of Christmas,' vol. ii. pp. 315-21. W. P. M.

[Replies have been received from J. H. J. and others.]

DECOLLATION OF CHARLES I. (9 th S. iii. 124, 316). It is curious to find so much doubt concerning the manner in which this un- fortunate king was beheaded. In a little book in my possession, 'Trials of Charles I. and the Regicides,' one of the " Family Library " series, published in 1832, is a folding plate in outline representing the execution. The king is depicted in a kneeling posture

at the block, apparently some three feet in height ; one executioner is holding up the severed head, whilst the other holds the broad axe. On the scaffold are Bishop Juxon and two officers, probably Cols. Tomlinson and Hacker. The front and sides of the scaffold are filled with spectators, most of them weep- ing. The engraving is entitled * The Execu- tion of Charles the First, from an engraving published at Amsterdam, 1649.' I can, how- ever, remember in an old volume of the Universal Magazine, circa 1780, a copper-plate representing the same scene in which Charles! was depicted lying at full length on the ground, with his head on a very small piece of wood. One executioner, having a very broad-bladed curved axe, is about to strike the fatal blow, whilst an assistant is ready to catch the falling head. Bishop Juxon is represented on one side of the scaffold, and on the other are some soldiers with their matchlocks. JOHN PICKFORD, M.A.

New bourne Rectory, Wood bridge.

ORDER OF SUPPLICATIONS IN THE LITANY (9 th S. iii. 188). The suffrages in the Litany about which inquiry is made are placed in the Prayer Books of 1549 and 1552 in the order in which we have them now.

EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A.

" FEY " (9 th S. iii. 224). This word is known in the Midlands, and I have heard it near Derby. But " feg," meaning the same, was more commonly used, or the word "fettle"; and " scour " oftener than any of the others. THOS. RATCLIFFE.

Worksop.

"ILLUSTRATION" (9 th S. iii. 247, 316). It seems to have escaped the notice of D. M. R. that, by a singular coincidence, p. 249 of the number in which DR. MURRAY'S query ap- pears contains a query by me, in which I quote the title of a volume in my possession which "carries the use of this word back" twenty-five years beyond the date given by DR. MURRAY. I shall feel greatly obliged to any reader of 'N. & Q.' who can tell me whether my copy is a genuine or a pirated edition of 'Jack Sheppard,' and whether "Jack Sketch" was G. Cruikshank. The volume was given me in 1841, which proves the date to be correct. CHAS. WISE.

Weekley, Kettering.

RAT-RIME (9 th S. iii. 328). This is "rote rhyme," or a monotonous jingle, kindred in spirit and movement, no doubt, to the butter- wornari's rank to market. Gavin Douglas, in the Prologue to '^Eneid,' viii. st. 12, has; "rat rane" (black-letter ed. of 1553, "ratt