Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/349

 v. APRIL 28, 1900.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

341

sound, and was pensioned for his army services in 1891. General Grant, in his 'Memoirs,' exculpates him from the blame of failure of the Red River expedition.

George Gordon Meade, major-general, born of American parents, Cadiz, Spain, 31 Dec., 1815 ; died Philadelphia, 6 Nov., 1872 ; gra- duated at West Point, 1835 ; resigned from army, 1836 ; re-entered in 1842 ; served in Mexican war and with great distinction in Civil War, commanding army of the Potomac for two years ; won battle Gettysburg ; a member of many learned societies ; distin- guished as an engineer.

John McAllister Schofield, born Chautauqua co., New York, 29 Sept., 1831 ; still living ; graduated West Point, 1853 ; distinguished in Civil War ; Secretary of War, 1868-9 ; senior major-general U.S. when retired.

W. ABBATT.

Fourth Avenue, New York.

ANCIENT DOGS (9 th S. v. 269). I doubt if any particular or recognized breed of dog was peculiar to Devonshire alone in ancient times. The English dog par excellence was the mastiff. The greyhound and Irish wolfhound were more used in Scotland and Ireland ; but pro- bably the sheep-dog, of uncertain descent, is the oldest breed of all. The "old English" bobtailed sheep-dog is the southern type of sheep-dog ; but " the most ancient times " is a long way back to define any recognized breed. B. FLORENCE SCARLETT.

Possibly some information on the subject might be found in Boyd Daw kins and Sanford's report on the remains in Kent's Cavern. The report was published in 1869, but by whom I cannot say. Consult the Proceedings of the British Association or the Transactions of the Anthropological Institute.

W. E. WILSON.

EGYPTIAN CHESSMEN (9 th S. v. 28, 111, 273). The writer at the last reference appears to argue on the assumption that if a thing might have happened it aid happen. We are told that chess was played in Hindustan nearly 5,000 years ago, and that this antiquity " makes it easy and natural " for the game to appear on Egyptian monuments ; and further, that it is " reasonable to conclude " that the Egyptians " must " have known chess. Even granting the 5,000 years of chess in India (a matter on which scholars are by no means agreed ), that fact can pro ve nothing as to Egypt. A. M. attempts to meet the point as to the necessity for pieces of various shapes by sug- gesting that the drawing in the Art Journal is on so small a scale that the artist may not

have been able to distinguish the different forms, " specially as his Egyptian customers would know the game." It is a little startling to be told that those who are best acquainted with the subject of a picture are more in- clined than others to pardon errors in detail ; and the remark appears to conflict with A. M.'s own reference to "the minute detail of most Egyptian paintings." The awkward fact that has to be explained is that no pic- ture of this supposed game of chess (whether large or small) shows pieces with different forms. It is further suggested that, even if the pieces used were all of the same form, they might have been distinguished by painted or inlaid cipher emblems. A. M apparently assumes (and perhaps justly) that these emblems could not be conveniently shown in a picture, but we might have ex- pected that among the fairly large number of actual pieces known to us some of this class would nave been preserved. But the actual pieces, equally with the pieces shown in the pictures, are quite unfitted for playing a game like chess, in which it is essential that one piece shall be easily distinguishable from another. It follows from the above that, if chess is really represented on the Egyptian monuments, the artists have with a singular unanimity omitted to show an essential de- tail ; and further, that, while the appliances for other games have survived in some quan- tity, no trace of chess remains. I find such conclusions too great a strain upon my powers of belief, and I shall continue to hold that the Egyptians were not acquainted with chess. I note that A. M. offers no ground for the belief that the objects mentioned in the original query are Egyptian.

F. W. READ.

EMERY (9 th S. v. 27, 115, 174). In addition to Beds Notes and Queries, MR. ADDY should consult Mr. Blaydes's * Gen. Benfordiensis ' for the particulars he requires. If these books are not accessible to him I shall be glad to copy and forward the information. THOS. WM. SKEVINGTON.

Wood Rhydding, Ilkley.

CAPT. SAMUEL GOODERE (9 th S. v. 209, 275). In my possession are several pamphlets relating to the murder of Sir John Dinely, which, together with cuttings from maga- zines, MS. notes, and a traced copy of the original order for the erection of a gibbet to hang in chains the body of Mahony, one of the murderers, on land on the eastward side of the Bristol river, are bound together in a volume.

One of the pamphlets (n.d. 8vo. pp. 36),