Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/22

 8 NOTES AND QUERIES. [fltt s. iv. JULY i, m to the publication of Burke's 'Armory' (in 1842 I believe) ? Has any one seen them on monuments, stained glass, &c.? The three wheatsheaves might indicate some connexion with Cheshire. G. S. P. TITIAN AT WARWICK CASTLE.—In Tenny- son's ' Life' mention is made of the poet's visit to Warwick Castle, and of his having been much struck by a portrait of Machiavelli by Titian. Dr. Waagen doubts both painter and subject, and cannot recognize "either the con- ception and execution of Titian or the features of Machiavelli," but says that the young man has a sensible countenance, and the painting indicates a great master whose style much resembles that of Giovanni Battista Moroni, of Bergamo. Murray's ' Warwickshire ' makes no mention of the picture. Can any one inform me whether the picture is still at Warwick ; if not, where it is to be found, and whether any decision has been arrived at as to master and subject ? B. W. S. PALMER FAMILY.—It is recorded in a West of England newspaper that a Miss Palmer was born at York 13 January, 1856, the only daughter of the late Rev. H. V. Palmer, rector of St. Margaret's, York, who is described as a descendantof Palmer of Wingham, through Sir Roger Palmer, afterwards Lord Castlemaine. Mr. Palmer had been an officer of artillery before his ordination, and his father, grand- father, and great-grandfather had also be- longed to the army. The only recorded descendant of Roger, Earl of Castlemaine, in the Palmer pedigree at Dorney Court, was the Lady Anne Palmer, who married the Earl of Sussex in 1675. Whence does the Palmer family above noted deduce its pedigree 1 S. S. CALENDS. HERALDIC. — As a sequel to the question at 9th S. iii. 308, I ask what means should be employed to ascertain the authority for arms borne by exiles who left France at the close of the seventeenth century ? It is pro- bable that even the old armorials published in France are incomplete, and, in any case, they could hardly be conclusive evidence. Has not the democratic spirit in France re- sulted in the abolition of the office of Judge of Arms, and with it the possibility of any search—authoritative or otherwise—for in- formation (1) in confirmation of any claimed right to bear French arms; or(2) to elucidate the origin of the arms borne by French exiles? MARKBN. THE AGE OF HUMAN BONES.—How is this arrived at in the absence of any indications of the date of burial .' For example, I have a pair of thigh-bones (disinterred with other bones in the neighbourhood of a Roman camp) which may be anything from one to five hundred years old or even older. The soil wherein they were buried, on a hillside, some six to seven feet below the surface, was of a fairly dry character, and there were no traces of any barrow or tumulus. W. B. GERISH. Hoddesdon, Herts. KERR.—Can any of your numerous readers supply me with information concerning one Lewis Kerr, who was Attorney-General of the Bahamas about 1839, and of his parentage ; also of the date and place of the marriage of his daughter, Mary or Mona, with Capt. James Edward Boggis of the 55th Regiment about that time? D. H. BoGGis-RoLFE. " OLD CLUSTRUM." — This is the popular name given to a painted wooden figure in Halifax Parish Church, which stands close to one of the pillars at the west end, holding a box for alms for the poor. I cannot find any information as to the origin of the name or the history of the figure, and shall be glad of any help. ALF. GARDINER. Leeds. BLESSING CATTLE.—In Brittany a custom still exists of blessing cattle by the bishop at a special service. Are there any records of similar services being held in the United Kingdom at any period ? If there was not a general blessing, were selected or typical animals ever taken to church to be blessed ? Did the pre-Reformation Church in any way recognize the cattle of our ancestors? R. HEDGER WALLACE. Sea View, Lower Largo, Fife. ANGLICISMS.—Am I right in applying the term " anglicism " to such idioms as " Mr. X. wishes the book sending at once"; " That house needs a lot doing to it "• or is it only my provincial ear that fails to appreciate them? I noted these two examples lately from the mouths of educated natives of York- shire and Buckinghamshire. Is the usage found in any standard English writer ? A MERE SCOTCHMAN. "IDYL" OB "!DYLL."—I have occasion to use the phrase "Idyls of Killowen," and I wish to know if there is any justification for Tennyson's double I, which has been imitated by Miss Barlow's 'Irish Idylls,' Frank Bullen'.s ' idylls of the Sea,' somebody's ' Methodist Idylls,' &c. Surely the analogy of label from labellum, libel from libellus, metal from metallum, jtupil from pupillv&, justifies us in