Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/116

 208 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9»s.iv.sept.9,'99. reverently done, and, unknown to the busy hahitiUs of the locality, the bones of 28,000 persons have been removed, it was found that some of the bodies had been interred as deep as 18 feet from the surface. The most remarkable discovery was that of a wine cellar full of all kinds of bottles. Fancy a wine cellar in the midst of a cemetery !" The above paragraph, copied from the Liverpool Courier, appeared in the Daily Mail of 9 August. Does it refer to the Russell Court graveyard ? If so, I am quite at a loss to understand the allusion to the apparently recent removal of the bones of 28,000 persons. The Russell Court ground was surely inca- pable of containing a tithe of this number, even though "bodies were found interred immediately underneath the stones." This quotation is taken from a notice of the opening of Russell Court burial-ground as a playground on 19 May, 1886, under the auspices of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association. The notice appeared in the Daily News of the day following, and from it I gather that the bodies had previously been cleared away and the ground covered with concrete. It is passing strange to hear of 28,000 bodies and a wine cellar now coming to light from beneath this concrete. John T. Page. Mango Family.—Can any of your readers furnish information with reference to this family 1 Members of it were resident at Basingstoke at the beginning of the present century. Is Mango an English name 1 It is certainly not a common one. A. M. Author of Poem Wanted.—Who wrote the poem which in early decades of our century was common in English, or at least in American, school readers, and which begins— How big was Alexander, pa, That people call him Great ? James D. Butlee. Madison, Wis. Dyddian'r Cwn.—I have resided in Wales for many years, and in cities or towns have never experienced what I have in the coun- try, particularly in Glamorganshire, in the following respect. From the latter part of June to that of September, in every year, my household, friends from no matter where, and myself are afflicted with what we have named " spots." The form this nuisance assumes is a sudden and abominable sensa- tion which induces scratching; this being resorted to, there almost immediately appears a_ spot varying in size from a pin-head to a sixpence. The sensation is so very unbear- able that one gets no relief till the skin is broken and pain supervenes. Now the Welsh, at least in the Gower district, apply the above name to this worthy candidate for a place in the list of Egyptian plagues. Can any one explain why this nuisance is thus called, and what " dog days " have to do with it ? Alfred Chas. Jonas. Bull Races.—In a consular report (United States) on cattle in France I find it stated in the description of " The Landaise Breed " that "at the fairs in the Landes the agility of these animals is often exhibited; the bulls rarely figure in these games, although they are termed 'bull races.' The oxen and cows ordinarily take part in these games. These are less exciting than bull- fights, but the greatest enthusiasm is evinced by the crowd, and the same agility and audacity on the part of the actors." If I am not mistaken, the " race landaise" is white in colour, and the animals are con- sidered good trotters. What is the nature of the "bull races" above referred to; and have we in this country ever supported the same sport ? R. Hedger Wallace. Jack Birkenhead.—Who was Jack Birken- head referred to by Sir Christopher Wren in the following passage?— " I like very well what Jack Birkenhead has somewhere said—' That a great wit's great work is to refuse.'" John Hebb. " Welcher." — Can any one give me the origin and original and secondary meanings of the word "welsher" or "welcher"? The ' Century Dictionary' has this :— " Welih, verb, either from the surname or in allusion to the alleged bad faith of Welshmen. To cheat or practise cheating by betting or taking money, as a stake on a horse-race, and running off without settling." Dewitt Miller. San Francisco. [See 3rf S. ix. 433; 6th S. vii. 189; viii. 116.] " Soam OF hay."—In Mr. Jacobs's ' Jews of Angevin England' (1893, p. 66) is the fol- lowing :— " Know all men present and future that I, Robert, parson of Bisebrok (co. Rutland), owe Aaron, Jew of Lincoln, 25 soams of hay, Stamford measure, and I have agreed that every two loads shall make one great bundle, Lincoln measure," &c. This is quoted from a Record Office docu- ment dated 1179. What is a " soam " of hay ? James Hooper. Norwich. A Quaint Clock-case Inscription.—On an old " grandfather clock " case at Welbeck Abbey is the following inscription. The letters are all plain, square-cut capitals and