Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/443

 9"> S. IV. DEC. 9, '99.] 479 NOTES AND QUERIES. this "small water-insect" a name—popular or scientific? Is it the Gerris Incustris; and, if so, what is its familiar appellation? And how is " the cinque-spotted shadow," (fee., to be explained? THOMAS HUTCUINSON. "A PICKLED ROPE."—In Fletcher's 'Bonduca' (Act I. sc. ii.) is the saying " A pickled rope will choke ye." What does this mean ? JAMES HOOPER. "DozziL" OR " DOSSIL."—Can any one tell me in what parts of England these objects are still in use ? For the benefit of those who do not know what the word means, I may say that in Lincolnshire a dozzil is the figure of some animal or bird cut out of tin or wood and lightly painted. This figure is mounted on a long pole and stuck at the top of a stack of corn. Occasionally it rotates, and serves as a vane, but usually it is a fixture. When I was a child "dozzils" were very common—almost every stack had one on it; but of late years they have become compara- tively rare. Those most usually met with in this neighbourhood are fishes and cocks. Some years ago Jack Tars were to be seen (the figure of a sailor, generally with a pipe in his mouth), but at the present moment I do not know where one is to be found. I shall be very grateful if any reader of ' N. & Q.' will send me photographs of dozzils, as I am anxious to obtain all the information relating to them I can acquire. FLORENCE PEACOCK. Dunstan House, Kirton-in-Lindsey. REV. RICHARD WALTER.—Can any one tell me where I can obtain information about the Rev. Richard Walter, who was chaplain of the Centurion in Anson's voyage round the world in 1740? I want to know when and where he died and to obtain details of his life. In the Royal Naval Exhibition of 1891 his Bible and Prayer-Book were lent by Sydney Arthur Walter, Esq., of Snaresbrook, Essex; but the Post Office can find no trace of the exhibitor at that address. In 1744 Richard Walter be- came chaplain to the ships at Portsmouth. There was a Richard Walter in the same position in 1761; but whether it was the same person or not I do not know, but wish to find out. If it was the same, he was still living in 1783, for in that year he was appointed to the Ardent, guardshipat Portsmouth. Please reply to (Rev.) A. G. KEALY, R.N. H. M.S. Colossus, Holyhead. REV. FRANCIS FOTHERBY.—He was vicar of St. Clement's, Sandwich, 1618-42, and ejected by the Puritan party ; also vicar of Linstead, near Sittingbourne, 1618-49, where he was se- questered. He was presented to both livings by the Archdeacon of Canterbury. A licence was granted 28 June, 1628, to Francis Fotherby, clerk, about thirty-four, to marry Anne (or Agnes) Hatch, of Bapchild, widow of John Hatch. His name does not appear in the Fotherby pedigree (Berry's ' Kent Families '), although he was evidently a member of that family. Was he the third son of Robert Fotherby (uncle of Dean Charles Fotherby), whose Christian name is not given in the pedigree] Any particulars as to parentage, date of death, or what relation to Charles Fotherby, Dean of Canterbury (who died 1619), would be acceptable. Hasted, Boys's 'History of Sandwich,' and other works on Kent have been consulted. ARTIIUR HUSSEY. Wingham, Kent. PREFACES.—Where can I find some account of the custom of persons other than the authors writing prefaces to books 1 Was it usual in 1699? I quite expected to find something about this practice in Brewer's 'Handbook' or his 'Dictionary,'or Adams's 'Diet, of Eng. Lit.,' or Haydn, or perhaps where most one would expect to find it, in 'Words. Facts, and Phrases,' by Eliezer Edwards, 1882. RALPH THOMAS. THE PLACE-NAME OXFORD. (9th S. iii. 44, 309, 389 ; iv. 70, 130, 382.) THE grounds on which I base my belief that Eoccenford is the oldest form of the place-name Oxford are: (1) The authen- ticity of the boundary names in the grant of Ceadwalla to the early Anglo-Saxon Abbey of Abingdon of land close to Oxford ; (2) the identification of these names with existing natural features, and especially those from Sandford-on-Thames to Osney Bridge. I shall not traverse any argument based on charters centuries later that are not imme- diately concerned with these issues. As regards the boundary names, although I consider the whole of those mentioned by Ceadwalla as within the area of discussion, as I have already said my case is mainly based on those from Stanford to Eoccen- ford, i.e., from Saudford-on-Thames to Osney Bridge. I will first state those points in this dis- cussion on which ME. W. H. STEVENSON is silent. 1. He does not deny that the old boundary line from the river Cherwell to the shire