Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/330

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. v. APRIL 21, im

John of Bourgogne, the probable author of the book, had ever travelled at all is doubt- ful. He may have been in Egypt and he may not. The few fruits he mentions are nearly all wildly fabulous. Fair fruits full of coal and ashes, grapes of which a single cluster makes a stout man's burden, are specimens of his "observations" in this way. The idea of such a "traveller" speculating about the introduction of oranges into Lon- don could only be possible in the latter-day journalism. How many people who speak of them have ever read the famous and un- blushing ' Travels ' 1 GEORGE MARSHALL. Sefton Park, Liverpool.

BROTHERS BEARING THE SAME CHRISTIAN NAME (9 th S. i. 446 ; ii. 51, 217, 276, 535 ; iii. 34, 438 ; iv. 74 ; v. 54). In addition to the Fitzwilliains, it may be noted that all the male members of the Metcalfe family, of which the present head is Sir Charles Theo- philus Metcalfe, Bart, have since 1610 borne the Christian name Theophilus, and most of

to "Hornsey Wood House." "TheSluiceHouse" was a low-built tavern of wood and brick,, having large front windows, in which were exhibited temptingly eels, pies, and other delicacies. The garden was square in plan,, and faced the house, divided from the actual footway by low wooden railings with adoorway in the middle. All around the grass, upon the otherthree sides, were continuous rows of snug little arbours. In the piers by the side of the sluice itself and of the wooden bridge that crossed the river at that particular spot cray- fish abounded. We used, as boys, to catch them with a bait of boiled lights, tied to a stone with a hole in it. Lying flat on the grass by the water's brink, this tempting morsel was lowered and slowly dragged amongst the wooden foundations. Presently out would crawl one of these tiny lobsters, and the bait was seized. Just as quickly the hungry victim to misplaced confidence was landed. We sometimes caught half a dozen and more upon a single Saturday afternoon. Hornsey Wood House," already mentioned,.

the females that of Theophila. The family I stood by the side of a good i y wood, f rom was long one or considerable standing in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and is said to have been at one time the most numerous of any family in England. The first Theo-

Ehilus was born in 1610, and became cele- rated as the author of a system of stenography, entitled * Radio - Stenography or Short Writing,' first published 1635. For his skill in this art he was granted by the Heralds' College a charge on his escutcheon of a hand and pen. According to Debrett, "This charge was granted to Theophilus Metcalfe, who first reduced shorthand writing to a system." The latter statement may be open to question. However, that is not here under discussion. The baronetage was con- ferred in 1802 upon the great-grandson of the stenographer.

ALEXANDER PATERSON, F.J.I.

SHEPHERDESS WALK (9 th S. iv. 306, 424 ; v. 11, 115). MR. JOHN T. PAGE passingly refers to the old tea-gardens of North London. Of those in Islington that I remember were the tea - gardens under fine shady trees at " Canonbury Tavern " adjacent to the old manor house of Canonbury. My nurse used to take me there in the forties. In those days "Highbury Barn" was another popular place for out-of-door amusement. Further on, through Mead Vale and alongside the banks of the New River, was the celebrated eel-pie resort known as "The Sluice House." The latter stood upon the right hand of the lane that led from the river side to the footpath crossing two fields leading

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which x suppose it gained its name. In the- write a b ut, this wood was often in- r ested with gipsies, who, rightly or wrongly, lad an evil reputation as child -stealers, and we children were solemnly warned never to- snter it by ourselves. Near it was a thorough- are, between hedged fields, known as Cut- throat Lane, about which I have heard a blood-curdling story, the particulars of which seem to have slipped my memory. " The Rose- mary Branch," near Hoxton, was another ravourite resort. It had very pleasant grounds, and in the early fifties a rivalry xisted between it and "Highbury Barn" in regard to balloons. Some very remark- able ascents have been made from both places. Acrobats performing upon a trapeze swung underneath the car ; a live horse,, with a man on its bare back, in lieu of any car at all, and other dangerous sensations,, it has been my lot from time to time to witness.

In those days, whenever a balloon was seen ascending into the skies, children in th& streets formed in groups, and, whilst look- ing up and watching its career, would chant : Air bar loon ! Air bar loon !

over and over again until the novelty dis- appeared from view. And when a soldier passed the same little ones would always vigorously intone the lines :

Soldier-laddie, My grand-daddie, Dont shoot me !