Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/403

 9* s. iv. Nov. 25, -99.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 447 of St. John's Church, Middleton, North War- wickshire :— All you who are Ringers This do_ye Mark, He That Throws o'er A Bell Pays a groat to the Clerk. If with Hat on or Spur you Perchance Should Ring, You must pay two-pence For that Very same Thing. And for Every Oath taken You one shilling do pay, Or be expelled from the belfry Without Any delay. I. Hall, Clerk. 1782. Benj. Walker. Langstone, Erdington. Many such rimes have been printed in ' N. <fe Q.' The largest collection, however, is to be found in Briscoe's ' Curiosities of the Belfry.' Bellringer. An extensive collection of these rimes, including the one quoted by C. C. B. from Haxey Church, is given in Mr. J. Potter Briscoe's'Curiosities of the Belfry,'London, 1883. Further examples are given in the Rev. T. F. Thiselton Dyer's 'Church Lore Gleanings,' London, 1891, chap. viii. H. Andrews. I think there must be a good many ringers' rimes similar to those at Haxey still remain- ing ; but the only ones 1 distinctly call to mind are the much earlier ones at Scotter. They are printed in North's ' Church Bells of Lincolnshire,' p. 632. North gives the Haxey rimes at p. 446. J. T. F. Durham. There are many such rimes displayed in belfry towers throughout the country. I remember noting a similar effusion at All Saints' Church, Hastings. This, with many others, will be found in the chapter headed "Laws of the Belfry" in 'Curious Church Customs,' edited by William Andrews, F.K.H.S., 1895. On 26 August, 1898. Mr. Harry Hems, a frequent and valuea cor- respondent of ' N. & Q.' contributed to Church Bells the riming 'Rules, Orders, and Regu- lations of the Belfry of Brushford,' Somerset. John T. Page. West Haddon, Northamptonshire. " Persimmon " (6th S. ii. 107 ; 8th S. x. 295). —The question has been twice asked what De Quincey meant by saying, "It passes my persimmon." I would suggest that he pro- bably had a vague notion of the size of the fruit, which is really like a small plum, and that he meant my head, i.e., my comprehen- sion. Compare the use of zucca, a gourd, in Italian: "Battendosi la zucca" ('Inferno,' xviii. 124). Richard H. Thornton. Portland, Oregon. Musical Epitaph (9th S. iv. 305).—A very good example of a musical epitaph is to be seen in Bunhill Fields Burial-ground. It is contained on a plain upright stone, standing near the western boundary of the northern portion of the enclosure. The inscription is as follows :— In Memory of Mr. William Shrubsole, who died 18th of January 1806, Aged 46 Years, Composer of " Miles's Lane." (Here follow the first three bars of this well- known tune in its original key of c.) Also Mr. John Benjamin Tolkein, died January 27th, 1819, Aged 66. And Mary his Wife, died March 16th, 1837, Aged 91. John T. Page. West Haddon, Northamptonshire. Carriage of a Sword-belt (9th S. iv. 286). —The observations of Killigrew on this subject seem to require some comment, as he appears to be under the misapprehension that the " carriages " or " hangers" of the latter part of the sixteenth century were similar to the " billets or buckling pieces " he refers to, and that the ' H.E.D.' is wrong in stating that they are " obsolete." The term may be common, but is not now applied to the same article. The original carriages are scarce, but two or three were contained in the Meyrick Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, exhibited some years back at South Kensington, but now dispersed ; and the ' Dictionary ' to Planche's ' Costumes,' plate iv., gives an engraving of a figure wearing one of these appendages. It appears to be attached to the waist-belt by a small knot, and has the appearance of three straps or bands, parallel and attached to each other, narrow at the upper part, but increasing in breadth as it descends, so that it may be roughly described as having superficially a long triangular form. These carriages were introduced for the purpose of carrying the long rapiers, the fashionable sword of the period. The great length of these weapons made it inconvenient to carry them by the side, as swords are now carried, and the broad end of the carriage helped to sustain them in a more horizontal position. They became so exaggerated in length that Stow relates, sub an. 1578, that Elizabeth, soon after her thirteenth year, issued a proclamation for- bidding their use beyond a certain length,