Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/441

 9* S. IV. Dec, 9, '99.] 477 NOTES AND QUERIES. dary stones at the opposite ends of the strips, or elsewhere in their course. The strips ex- tended as far as the hedge which surrounded the open field. Their course was not straight, but a little curved. I could only guess the size of the field. It seemed to be about twenty acres, but it is said to have been larger formerly. Only a part of the field was divided into strips; in about half the field there were no strips. I was told that of late years the tendency had been for several adjoining strips to become united in the same owner, and that in this way the old system of open-field husbandry had nearly been brought to an end. Such boundary stones as these would not hinder the plough. Notwithstanding the curse that fell on him that removed his neighbour's landmark, acres were sometimes lost. 'The Domesday of St. Paul's,' p. 11, has a case in point in the year 1222: "Tres acrse quas tenuit Laurentius sine servicio inveniri non possunt." S. O. Addy. We must request correspondents desiring infor- mation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their iiueries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct. "Hoastik carles."—In the 'Nidderdale Almanac,' 1880, the following occurs : "Foaks hez lang toked aboot t' hoastik carles, an ther wallin t' cuckoo in, an sike like." Lucas, in his 'Studies in Nidderdale,' 1882, p. 259, sug- gests that " the ' carles ' here referred to are no doubt spirits of the woods, the idea spring- ing from the echo in Hoastik Wood in the little story 'Lost in the Wood.'" Is "Hoastik" the name of a real or of an imaginary wood ? A. L. Mayhew. Oxford. "Hander."—On 27 February, 1577, James Unak, of Youghall, bequeathed " to his son John Unak, this parcel following: A nott of silver double gilt, being at Piers Forest, and a piece of silver and also his ring of gold, also a pair of iron handers."—Caulfield's Annals in Council Book of the Corporation of Youghal,' 1878, p. xliii. What are " handers " ? Q. V. Eastern Boundary Line of Europe.— When, and by what authority, was the eastern boundary line of Europe, as de- lineated on maps, altered to its present position? The 'English Cyclopedia refers the old boundary to the last century ; but it certainly was retained in school atlases as late as 1840, and I find it so given in the map of Europe on p. 281 of Murray's ' Encyclo- pedia of Geography ' of the same date. C. L. F. Hannah Lee. — In Alcott, ' Little Men' (Tauchnitz ed., p. 193), I find the following : " Don't you know how Hannah Lee in the Fretty story crept under the snow and died?" shall be glad to know in what fairy tale or story Hannah Lee appears. Dr. Mohrbutter. Oldenburg, Parkstrasse 4. Henry Stacey was elected from West- minster School to Trinity College, Cam- bridge, in 1610, and graduated M.A. in 1617. Can any correspondent of ' N. & Q.' give me further particulars of his career? G. F. E. B. Thomas Fitz-Randolph was elected from Westminster School to Trinity College, Cam- bridge, in 1606. I should be glad to receive any information concerning him. G. F. R. B. Boxing Day. (See 2nd S. ii. 68.)—"The term Boxing Day is used both in the theatres and in courts or law. What is the meaning of it in each case ?" It is over forty- three years since this query appeared; and if it is unanswered may I be permitted to ask for the meaning and origin of Boxing Day ? What does ' H.E.D.' say ? H. J. B. [The ' H.E.D.' has more to say than we have leisure to copy. The Christmas-box is a box, generally of earthenware, into which presents of money were put, and which was not seldom broken at Christmas for the purpose of arriving at its con- tents. The following lines from Carey's popular ix>em ' Sally in our Alley' illustrate the use of Christmas boxes :— When Christmas comes about again, 0, then I shall have money ! I '11 hoard it up, and Box and all I'll give it to my Honey.] Parody on Tennyson's ' Princess.'—Where can a parody on Tennyson's ' Princess' be obtained ? Are single copies to be had ? S. K. P. The Stafford Family.—In an interesting communication from a correspondent regard- ing a branch of the Stafford family who established themselves in Mellor, co. Derby, at an early period, it is said that after the Staffords quitted Shands Hall, Elizabethan coins and letters to a Madame Stafford, from a near relation residing at Macclesfield, were found secreted behind the wainscot. Lord Henry Stafford, son of Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, retired to his castle at