Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/29

 9"-S. IV. July 1,'99.] 15 NOTES AND QUERIES. large leaden cisterns in different parts of New- castle, and from these cisterns was delivered to tenants through mains in the principal streets. Yarnold's arrangement was unsatis- factory, and various alterations were made— one of them being the laying of a four-inch elm pipe from Heworth, near Gateshead, to Newcastle, fitted with air - cocks, which lessened the strain upon the mains and reduced the costs of repairs. The system of service was as follows. The water was brought from the ponds at Gateshead to the two cisterns on Saturday night, and by Sunday morning they were full. The water from one cistern then flowed into the pipe supplying Castle Garth district and remained on till one o'clock ; it was then turned off into Flesh Market district till seven o'clock. In like manner the water from the other cistern ran to Pilgrim Street till one o'clock, and was then taken to Groat Market till seven. On Sunday night the cisterns were again filled, and on Monday four other districts obtained supplies. On Tuesday the process was re- peated in four fresh districts. This com- pleted the service, and thus the various parts of the town were served in rotation once a week. This cumbersome system gradually gave way to a better, but occasionally the old elm - wood pipes are exhumed in making excavations. One of them, 5 ft. long, 10 in. in diameter, with a 3-inch bore, was dug up near the Tyne Theatre, Newcastle, in August, 1893. Much curious information upon this subject is contained in a pamphlet entitled ' History of the Water Supply of Newcastle- upon-Tyne,' 1851. Here, as an example, is an extract from the old books of the water com- pany : " Robert Atkinson cutt himself off, having sunck a well in his Back side at Michas. 1717, which supplys hime." Richard Welford. Newcastle-upon-Tyne. London and Hull are not the only places in which ancient water-pipes have been found. Newcastle-upon-Tyne had its water supply in the last century by means of wood pipes. The unearthing of these ancient pipes is so frequent in the laying down of new gas-pipes, <fec., in the older streets in the city that to the inhabitants they are quite familiar. They are usually about 20 ft. long, 10 in. in diameter, and of a 3-inch bore. Many of the oak pipes are as solid as when first put down. The following estimate of the cost of laying down 1,160 yards of wood water-pipes in the year 1780, on the Seaton Delaval estate, will illustrate the method employed, and also the cost of labour in the last century :— Common Expenses for 1 Yard. Cutting earth, filling up and beating each joint after pumps are laid, at 4a. per yard 0 0 4 Timber, small Norway balks, Ik/, per foot, 10 ft 0 1 3 Boring a 2J-inch bore, 2d. per foot ... 0 0 6 Worming ends of each pump, cutting and fitting the joints, and laying ... 0 0 0J 0 2~Ti 1,160 yards at 2s. hd. per [yard] amounts to " 123 5 0 Extra Expenses. 100 yards additional cutting and filling up from well across the road and plantation, about 3 feet deeper than the common, at 4rf. per yard 1 13 4 500 yards additional timber on account of strength through the Burn, l^d. a solid foot to each yard 8 68 £133 5 0 John Robinson. Delaval House, Sunderland. No doubt there are many wooden pipes still to be found under London streets; and as it seems to be the practice to put them back when refilling after excavation, they are likely to be rediscovered periodically for the interest and amusement of successive genera- tions. A. S. H. In the year 1890 I myself saw exactly such water-pipes unearthed in Clifford Street, W. Others were found a few feet below the sur- face in Great Marylebone Street, near Wim- pole Street, in March of this year. John T. Page. The most extraordinary water-pipes I ever saw were lying on some waste ground on the western outskirts of Beaune, C6te d'Or, October, 1881. They were of squared lime- stone, like kerbstones, about six feet long, and perhaps rather less than a foot square : they had a round socket—an enlargement or the bore—at one end, and a corresponding projection at the other, for joining. Thomas J. Jeakes. [Other replies are acknowledged.] Two of Edward PitzGerald's Early Poems (9th S. iii. 441).—I hardly think that the admirers of Edward FitzGerald will be inclined to accept the two poems that have been reprinted at this reference as the genuine productions of the Laird of Littlegrange. As a young man FitzGerald was very much under the influence of Lamb and Words- worth, and the poem that he contributed in 1831 to Hones 'Year-Book,' under the title of ' The Meadows in Spring,' reprinted by Dr. Aldis Wright in his two editions