Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/258

 326 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9'» s. iv. ocr. 21, m In wyttness wereof I have hervnto subscribed, per me Nieolau' Grimoldu'. It. payd for his lyverey att Mr Sydall's hands xxv" viiid alio'." Below this in the MS. is a Latin note, of which the following is a literal translation :— "100 shillings. From this is allowed on account of twelve weeks ending 18 December : in the fourth year twenty shillings. For my stipend owing at the feast of our Lord s birth twenty shillings. And as stipend for my Lecture, namely, which was owed at the same festival, xxxiii shillings fourpence. And there remain not accounted for twenty-six shillings eight pence allowed in regard to what is mentioned below : which ended in the second month of the fifth year. Item payd for his lyverey att Mr Sydalls hands, xxvi" viiid alio'." Nicholas Grimald was incorporated at Oxford (in Merton College) 1542, so he had been there eight years at this date, which University he left in 1552. He published his play of ' Archipropheta' in 1548, and his 'Vox Populi' in 1549, and his Latin and English verses to Dr. Turner in 1551, so that he must have been a well-known author and divine at the time of this his "necessyte." I am not aware what the word "lyverey" refers to. D. J. Epitaph at Easingwold. — The follow- ing is an exact copy of an inscription on a tombstone in the churchyard of the parish church of Easingwold, and may possibly interest some of your readers : — SM Ann Harris Well known by the name of Nanna Rann Dann Who was chaste but no prude and was free but no harlot By principal virtuous By education a Protestant Her freedom made her liable to censure while her extreme charity made her esteemed Her tongue and her hands were ungovernable but the rest of her members she kept in subjection After a life of 80 years thus spent she died Nov 15th 1745 Passenger weigh her virtues be charitable and speak well of her. E. B. Coal Folk-lore.—The following is from the Daily Mail of 11 May :— " That a mystic value attaches to a piece of coal when it is carried in one's pocket is the superstition that prevails amongst thieves. It appears, judging by the remarks made in a case heard the other day at the Mansion House Police-Court, that burglars almost invariably carry a small piece of coal with them when they start out on an expedition. The more successful they are and the greater their good luck in avoiding capture, the more highly do they prize what they regard as their talisman. They choose another piece of coal when their old treasure has lost its charm, and they are unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of the police.—City Press. Richard Lawson. [See 'Coal as a Charm,' 6th S. vi. 345, 524 ; vii. 458.] Epitaph in Prittlewell Chdrch, near Southend.—The curious epitaph on the two wives of Samuel Freeborne on an altar tomb in Prittlewell Churchyard, near Southend, Essex, has been frequently printed, but generally inaccurately, the spelling being modernized, and other liberties taken with the text. An accurate transcription of the lines, for which I can answer, may be accept- able:— Here lieth the bodys of 11" Anna and Dorothy Freeborne wives of Mr Samuel Freeborne whoe departed this life one y" 31 of July anno 1641 one aged 33 years y° other 44. Under one stone two precious iems dolly Equal in worth, weight, lustre, sanctity If yet perhaps one of them might excell Which wast—who knows ask him yt knew them well By long enjoyment if hee thus be pressd He I pause then answers truly both were best VVeret in my choice that either of the twayne Might be restored to mee t' enjoy againe Which should I choose well since I know not whether He mourne for the losse of both but wish for neither Yet herees my comfort herein lyes my hope The times' ac'omeinge cabinets shall ope Which are lockt fast then then shall I see My jewels to my joy my jewels mee. John Hebb. The John Rylands Library.—The open- ing of the John Rylands Library at Man- chester on the 6th of October marked it a red-letter day to all book-lovers. This library of 70,000 volumes includes the Althorp Library, which consists of upwards of 40,000 volumes. It was purchased by Mrs. Rylands in 1892 for something over 200,000/., through Messrs. Sotheran & Co., Messrs. Sotheby & Co. acting as agents for Earl Spencer ; but long previous to this Mrs. Rylands, through her representative, Mr. J. Arnold Green, had already secured about 20,000 volumes in all departments of literature, including the finest collection of Bibles in the world, in which will be found the Wycliffe MSS. (secured privately from the Ashburnham Library), the Cover- dale, a number of Tyndales, a series of Cran- mers, together with a copy of the Gutenberg, and of the Bamberg publication, a work practically unknown to bibliographers. The historical department comprises all the transactions of the leading societies of the world, not omitting that of Moscow. Natural