Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/384

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. v. MAY 12, 1900.

LAYMEN READING THE LESSONS IN CATHE- DRALS. It is a common practice for laymen to read the lessons in Church of England parish churches and also, of course, in college chapels ; but I was lately assured by a Church dignitary that in English cathedrals the custom is quite unknown. Can any one say whether his statement is accurate 1

PERTINAX.

SURNAME OP VINRACE. Can any reader of 1 N. & Q.' tell me the signification of this name ? I should be glad of any information as to its derivation. The name has been braced in Leicestershire for over a century, but it does not appear in any of the county histories. CHARLES HIATT.

'THE SALE OF AUTHORS.' Can any possessor of this book (by Archibald Campbell) supply a passage from it in which is stated Gray's reason for leaving Peterhouse ? H. T. B.

"LARKSILVER." In an account of the parish of Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, written by John Layer, of Shepreth, about 1635, he says : "The lete is of Clare, of fee, and ye townsmen paid, besides the common fine, 3s. per annum for larkesilver, but what the meaning of it is, I know not, and it is paid to this daie." This payment of "larksilver" can be traced back through the Court Rolls and Ministers' Ac- counts of the Honor of Clare to the reign of Henry III. It was originally made at Christ- mas time. The term " larksilver " first occurs in the reign of Richard II. The Court Leet at Meldreth has not been held for centuries, but the " larksilver " and common fine (now called fee farm rent) are still paid by the parish constable to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. I should be glad of further information concerning " larksilver."

W. M. PALMER.

POCKLINGTON PEDIGREE. I shall be very glad if any of your readers can supply me with information as to the present where- abouts of a MS. pedigree of the family of Pocklington which was in the possession of the Rev. Henry Sharpe Pocklington, of Steb- bing, Essex, in 1840, and was probably dis- posed of at his death in 1842. A similar document was in possession of another branch of the family, but was lost in a fire.

GEOFFREY R. POCKLINGTON.

KENTISH PLANT - NAME. What flower is known by the name of " wax dolls " in Kent ?

T. E. K.

KINGSTON FAMILY. Could any readers assist me with particulars of the ancestors of the Kingston family ? They were an old and

well-known West Indian family, and claimed to have given their name to Kingston, Jamaica. Benjamin Kingston, of Walton Hall, Esse- quibo, died about 1830, and left a son, the late Capt. A. J. Kingston, R.N., and a daughter.

J. LESLIE.

[You will find references to various Kingstons in every series except the first.]

"KipcoAT": "KITCOTE"=A PRISON. The following is an extract from some parochial accounts quoted in Stark's 'History of Gains- borough ' (1843), p. 285 :

" 1772, February 6th. The constables immedi- ately to remove the stocks from under the Town Hall and that they procure a pair of moveable stocks to be kept in the Kidcoat."

A foot-note runs thus :

" Kidcoat, the name usually applied to the prison in this town. Its derivation is unknown."

" Kitcote " is mentioned by Thomas Miller in ' Our Old Town ' (Gainsborough), chap. viii. p. 199 (London, 1857) :

" The old town lock-up was called the 'Kit-cote,' why so 1 must leave to be answered by some one learned in Notes and Queries."

Have the words ever been discussed in ' N. & Q.' 1 If so, I should be glad to have a reference ; if not, perhaps some reader can give information respecting them.

H. ANDREWS.

Gainsborough.

PETITION AGAINST THE USE OF HOPS. Walter Blith, in his * English Improver Im- proved,' published in 1653, says that "as for Hops it is grown to be a nationall com- modity. But it was not many years since the famous city of London petitioned the Parliament of England against two anuisances [sic], or offensive commodities were likely to come into great use and esteem, and that was Newcastle-coal in regard of their stench, &c., and Hops in regard they would spoyl the tast of drink and endanger the people."

What is the exact date of the petition referred to, and where may the petition or a copy of it be seen 1 John Clark, in the * General View of the Agriculture of Hereford ' (1794), states that a petition against the use of hops in beer was sent to Parliament in 1528, but I have not been able to find any evidence of such a petition. J. P.

ORIGIN OF THE SURNAME PERCIVAL. What is the derivation of the surnames Percival and Perceval 1 J. P.

[See 7 th S. iii. 517 ; iv. 177.]

BOROUGH-ENGLISH. I have been told that the custom of borough-English succession to real estate exists in the parish of Skidly, a place near Beverley. Can any one inform me