Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/65

 v* s. in. JAN. 21, m] NOTES AND QUERIES.

\\ )re shown in his treatment of Fairbairn's ' Book o Crests,' a book at its first appearance, in 1859, p actically valueless, and now, in the later edition, j< ited by Mr. Fox-Davies in 1892, of genuine autho-
 * i ,y and value. From this he banished many

h indred false ascriptions. The delusion still pre- v lils that one not entitled to a coat of arms may y :t indulge himself in a crest, whereas a crest is n icessarily a portion of a complete heraldic achieve- n ent. Like supporters in the present day, a crest v as, and is, an extra distinction, and though there a -e numerous old coats without any crest, there is bat a single instance in which the crest is of more aicient date than the coat. In this solitary in- stance the arms were exhibited at the Visitation of the heralds., were not passed, and were subsequently rectified, while the crest was passed at the time. Emboldoned by his success in his earlier venture, Mr. Fox-Davies has published the present work, in which he subjects to close scrutiny some two to three thousand coats. In his treatment of these he has followed in part the system adopted by Joseph Edmondson in the 'Alphabet of Arms' included in his ' Complete Body of Heraldry,' 1780, a work in which he was aided by Sir Joseph Ayloffe. This system, which has subsequently been employed in other treatises, leads Mr. Fox-Davies to print in roman. text the arms which are officially sanctioned, and in italics those for which no similar authority exists, some of them not seldom boasting no higher authority than that of the heraldic stationer. In his present volume the editor prints at the foot of each alternate page the guarantee " that every entry not in italics is that of a genuinely armigerous person." Somewhat startling results naturally, and even inevitably, attend this process. Not seldom the parvenu is more careful to have his grant secure than is the cadet of a family long noble. We can test only as regards a single county, and here we find orthodox arms assigned a man who, within our own recollection, kept a small ready-made clothes shop, and others of origin no less humble, while the arms are given in italics of the sons of peers and others belonging for genera- tions to county families. We are casting no doubt upon the work, but are simply stating facts. In the case of people of the utmost distinction, Mr. Fox-Davies employs his favourite formula, "Ar- morial bearings as used, but for which no autho- rity has been established, are," &c. The chief fault that has been found with the work is that it is not complete. This is a self-evident proposition. It is difficult to conjecture in these days in which it is popularly, but erroneously, supposed that the Excise confers by its receipt of payment a right to wear arms how many scores of thousands there are by whom they are worn. In the second part of his title the compiler describes his book as "a directory of -some gentlemen of coat-armour, show- ing which arms in use at the moment are borne by legal authority." The italics are, of course, ours. He does not claim to have included the whole oj the families in Shirley, still less to have scrutinized every armorial book-plate that owes its existence to the Ex-Libris Society. He insists, however, on the fact that a large number of the noble and gentle families of England have made no proof of descent since the Visitations, and he holds the risk of ille- gitimacy too great for him to accept any pedigree unless it has properly gone through the mill. He reiterates his assertion that the work, the effect o: which has been sensible, has never put forward a

laim to completeness. Looking forward as he does to seeing the work a periodical perhaps even L biennial production, he views with some appre- lension the enormous number of new entries which will need to be inserted. No less modest is Mr. ?ox-Davies in claiming for his work no official authority. He has been greatly aided by the heralds notably by Richmond Herald and by Lyon King f Arms and Ulster King of Arms but for all that e prints he takes the sole responsibility. The lutnority of his work will not readily.be disputed, jy those, at least, whose arms are given in roman text. No similar work to this exists in Britain, lor, so far as we know, in any other country. During the few years it has been before the public it has risen steadily in public favour, and as its merits are known it will continue to rise. It is a handsome work, bristling with illustrations, and must form an indispensable portion of every heraldic library.

Diary of Thomas Broivn, Writer in Kirlcwall, 1675-1697. Edited by A. Francis Steuart, Advo- cate. (Kirkwall, Peace & Son.) RATHER dry bones are those given us by Mr. Steuart in the shape of the diary of Thomas Brown, a "writer" in Kirkwall (using the term "writer" in a Scottish sense) concerning whom next to nothing is known. It is possible for imagination, or even for knowledge, to clothe them with flesh. Many facts of interest concerning Orcadian families and customs may be extracted. As a rule the interest of the entries is purely genea- logical. There are some matters, however, of historical or general importance, as, for instance, the record how 250 " Quhiggs [Whigs] taken at Bothwal Brige," shipped for " Verginy," " paroched" (perished) at or near the " Moull head of Deirnes." Ihere are allusions to a "batell" between George, " alledged Earle of Caithness, with his men " and "Glenorkie and his men." We hear how "Mr. Ritchard Reidman, a muntebank phisitiane, came to Kirkwall from Walls " ; how offenders against morality were " conveined befoir the pulpit, and the like. We approach Sir Walter Scott when we find the name Halcro, and hear much of Barkies, Feas, Moncrieffes, and Traills. The little volume has much interest for Scottish genealogists and will be welcome to a wider circle.

The Use of Sarum. By W. H. Frere, M.A. (Cam- bridge, University Press.)

MUCH has been done for liturgiology in this last decade. Many of the ancient service-books and sacramentaries have been edited by competent scholars, and abundant material for forming some estimate of their value and importance is now avail- able. We confess that to non- liturgical students it is difficult to share the enthusiasm which the subject seems to inspire in those devoted to it. To appreciate the minute niceties of ecclesiastical eti- quette one needs an unappeasable appetite for small details, which to the exoteric seem absolutely trivial and insignificant. The average Englishman knows little of the use of Sarum beyond a passing reference to it in the preface to his Prayer Book. If he wishes to dispel his ignorance this learned volume will largely help him.

Mr. Frere gives the customs of Sarum as they are set forth in the Latin Consuetudinary and Custom- ary of that ancient foundation. The former of these is a code of usages and regulations on which the