Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/482

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. v. JUNE ie, 1900.

DANIEL QTJARE, WATCHMAKER. Inasmucl as Britten, in his recent book on * Old Clock and Watches and their Makers,' gives "1724 only as the date of death of this celebratec London maker and inventor of the repeating watch, it will be interesting to note th following extract from the * Historica Register ' :

" 1724 (N.S.) March 19. Dy'd M r Daniel Quare Watchmaker in Exchange Alley, famous over al Europe for the great Improvements he made in that Art."

It would appear that Quare was a member of the Society of Friends, and his residence as above was known by the sign of the " King's Arms." Britten states that he diec at Croydon (in Surrey), aged seventy-five years, and was buried in the " Quakers Ground at Bunhill Fields, Finsbury." His burial-place was, however, I believe, their ground in Coleman Street, Bunhill Row, which has frequently been confounded with the well-known Bunhill Fields Ground.

W. I. R. V.

' TOM BOWLING.' The meaning of the open- ing line of Dibdin's popular song is obscured by the way in which the accent falls. The words

Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling do not convey any very definite impression; but if Dibdin had written something like this,

Poor Tom a sheer-hulk lies,

some curious persons would have inquired what a " sheer-hulk " was. It is thus defined in Weale's ' Rudimentary Dictionary of Terms used in Architecture,' &c., 1851 : " Sheer-hulk, in the navy, an old seventy-four, cut down to the lower deck and fitted up with a pair of sheers for the purpose of taking out the lower masts of ships preparing for sea."

Perhaps I ought also to define " sheers," or " masting sheers," as they are sometimes called. They are a sort of very high crane capable of picking up a tall mast and lowering it into its place in the ship, or removing it, as the case may be. To be converted into a sheer- hulk was about the last use to which an old ship could be put. R. B. P.

1 TALES OF THE GENII.' (See 7 th S. i. 230.) It has already been pointed out that this work, once so popular, was due to the Rev. James Ridley, formerly Fellow of New College, Oxford, who died in 1765, and wrote under the pseudonym of Sir Charles Morell. On turning to my copy of Allibone's 'Dic- tionary' (vol. ii., 1875) I find Sir Charles Morell transformed into a reality, credited

with the book, and called the " Persian ambassador." The story, which may be found in the book, is called ' Sadak and Kalasrade ; or, the Waters of Oblivion ' (not Kalasarade, as printed at p. 354). When Sadak has pro- cured the waters after undergoing many perils, the Sultan Amurath drinks the draught, and death immediately ensues.

I once possessed a copy of the 'Tales of the Genii ' in 2 vols., illustrated by Westall, but it has long since been lost. In 7 th S. i. 230 are some very interesting notes on the anagrammatical names of some of the cha- racters in the book.

JOHN PICKFORD, M.A.

"MR. ATTORNEY." The quotation of earliest date given in 'N.E.D.' in illustration of "Mr. Attorney " as the " style " used in speaking of the Attorney- General is one from Marvell in 1660-61. Much earlier instances, however, are to be found in the 'Commons' Journals,' as, for example :

"24 November, 1606. Mr. Attorney came in of himself and continued by connivance, without other Order." Vol. i. p. 324.

"18 July, 1610. No such Course in Parliament, either by Petition, or by Mr. Attorney." Ibid., p. 451.

" 11 April, 1614. The Solicitor's Place but a Limb of Mr. Attorney." Ibid., p. 460.

ALFRED F, ROBBINS.

SIR ERASMUS WILSON. Seeing that the ' Dictionary of National Biography ' has given a comparatively full life of Sir Erasmus Wilson, it may be satisfactory to complete it in one or two points. Sir Erasmus is said to have been a great Freemason, and to have restored Swanscombe Church. But it might have been added that in the porch of that church is an inscription :

' This stone was laid and the Porch rebuilt 1874, By the Bretheren [sic] of the Erasmus Wilson Lodge of Free-Masons, No. 1464, As a tribute of Affection to their first Master Erasmus Wilson, F.R.S."

The biography states that he died at a country residence, but it might have added that he was buried in the church at Swans-

ombe, which he had restored. It is true that lis florid monument is in little harmony with

he spirit of the ancient edifice, but the in- scription is worth remembering :

" Sir Erasmus Wilson, F.R.S., LL.D., &c., Fellow and President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Born November 25 th, 1809, Died August 8 th , 884. And is buried here. It pleased Almighty God not alone to endow him with fine intellect, but o give him grace to utilize his talent and the fortune hat it earned, for the good of his fellow men, and he advancement of the noble profession which he oved so well, ' Well done, good and faithful Servant,"'