Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/164

 248 NOTES AND QUERIES. V>* s. iv. sn. 23, m buried ? In 1638 he built Swakeley House in the parish of Ickenham, Middlesex ; but whether he died there, or whether he was buried in that neighbourhood, I cannot find out. Can any of your readers help me ? James Hall. Lindum House, Nantwich. Capt. Charles Redmond. — Can any of the readers of ' N. <fc Q.' oblige me with infor- mation relative to Charles Redmond, captain in Abercorn's Horse in the army of King James II. 1 I am acquainted with D'Alton's 1 King James's Army List.' Philip Redmond. Mimmes Family.—This family at one time held extensive estates in Herts, also in Bucks at Wendover, also in Norfolk. An old writer, circa 1570, 'Survey of Popery,' states they were kinsmen of King Offa, and lorded over the whole district of the river Mimram, named after them, now called Hert- fordshire. They held the manor of Mymmes, or Miminie, before, the Conquest. They were dispossessed at the Conquest of the manor, but still managed to hold much land and wealth. The writer states Roger de Somery married a daughter. Very curiously, he held the manor of Mymmes. The writer also states they gave much property to the monks of St. Albans, and were upholders of Popery from early times. One Robert held extensive estates at Wendover, Bucks (see inquisition temp. Henry II.). They were represented at the battle of Agincourt by Richard Botelier Mymmes, esquire to his uncle, Sir Bote- lier. The arms of Botelier and Mymmes and Gravely were to be seen on an altar tomb in Hertingfordbury Church (see Clutter- buck). The Mimmeses seem to have married into some of the best families, Villiers, Coningsby, More, Botelier (see monuments by Clutterbuck, Watton, Woodhall, Herts). The author of the ' Survey of Popery' states they were kinsmen by marriage of Earl of Warwick, King-Maker, and that a tomb may be seen at Flamstead, Herts; but there is none there now with inscription, except in one of the bays a curious altar tomb of two persons of some consequence and note, a male and a female. Tradition on the spot (old sexton) says it is a tomb of Earl of Warwick and his countess ; but the inscription is gone from the matrix. One John Mymmes was vicar of St. Peter's, St. Albans, circa 1487. He is stated by the writer to have been nephew of John of Wheathampstead, whose name was Bostock, some say, but I notice this is disputed by many. Will the arms of John of Wheat- hampstead help ? " three ears of wheat." It would be interesting to know if the said John Mymmes was nephew on the sister's or brother's side of the abbot. The 'Survey of Popery' says they were kinsmen of Queen Elizabeth. Very curiously they held land emparked at Hatfield, as an old inquisition proves. The writer goes on to say alliance with Henry VIII. divided the family, as Sir Thomas More was also kinsman on his mother's side, and a great upholder of Popery (we know he lost his head). King Ed- ward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth gave to the Mymmes family much Church property in Norfolk (see Gough's ' History of Norfolk'). One interesting feature is the number of daughters born to this family, the male line being in a minority ; this accounts for the intermarriages and relationship and cousinship to most of the English old nobility—an influence to be reckoned with in political times. We next hear of them in the person of Sir John Mimmes (note the change of spelling), Rear-Admiral temp. Charles I. The name is spelt in some cata- logues as Minns. We now part company with the y, the age of Charles I. being a transition time, especially in the spelling of names, m in some inscriptions becoming n, although on old tombs it is hard to decipher m and n. This Sir John Mymmes, or Mimmes, espoused the forlorn cause of Charles I., and tradition says he joined Prince Rupert and was lost to ken. What a romance might be written here ! His portrait, by Van Dyck, can still be seen at Moor Park. There was also a Col. Mymmes who fought for Charles I. The last of the name is an old maiden lady who left a dole for Hertford poor, circa 1703. Since then the family appears, to judge by Court guides, to have sunk into oblivion. Did the members espouse the Stuart cause? Did the title become extinct with the disappearance of Sir John Mymmes, or Mimmes, with Prince Rupert? Spelman, in his ' Doom of Sacrilege,' traces the misfortunes of those holding Church pro- perty. Might the history of the Mymmes family be an example ? Can any reader give further particulars as to the history and vicissitudes of this ancient family of Herts and Norfolk ? H. H. Burton. " Orsidue." — In the account of "The Antick-Masque of the Song" in the anony- mously written ' Masque of Flowers' (1G14) occurs the following passage :— "Kawasha had on his head a nightcap of red cloth of gold, close to his skull, tied under his chin, two holes cut in the top, out of which his ears appeared, hung with two great pendants ; on the