Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/38

 28 NOTES AND QUERIES. rw- s.vI.Jm14.1ooo. Francisco de Miranda and referring to the French Revolution and his negotiations for the independence of Venezuela and South America. It is certain that these books are in London, and very important to know in what office or private library they are. CARLOS A. VILLANURVA. LoUIJs. - Some years since there was quoted in the Saturday Review (then edited by Mr. Frank Harris) a ver striking sonnet by Louijs. I regret that ly did not kwp a. copy of this, but I made at the time a rough, but fairly literal version in English, which I may perhaps be allowed to quote :- 'rmz PRAIRIE. A soul fares forth leading a courser pale, Mild, silver-bridled, and of noiseless tread: O’er the wide plain she fares; the courscr led Holds in his strong white teeth her flying veil. An opal star* trembles upon his head Andrthhrough the soul shines the full moon’s clear 18 12; Drawn by the spell of the ineffable night Thefv pace the plain dim-gllitterintjg, far~ontspread. An see where er the sou 's fair eet have lain, From the dew-sprinkled turf what flowers up- spring, What heavy lilies rise like turtle-doves ! Of these that great horse recks not an thing; Crushing the ghostly flowers, right on lie moves, And strews with their dead blooms the monstrous plain. A friend with a very fair knowledge of French literature to whom I sent this recently asked me who Louijs is and what the sonnet means. As I can answer neither qIuIestion I apply to our rarely failing ‘ . dz Q.’ C. C. B. PALATINATE.-I desire to find a clear and full account (in English) of the Wars of the Palatinate, especia y with reference to the assistance rendered by England with men under Sir Horace Vere and funds. Can any one tell me if Parliament gave any vote of thanks and gifts to Sir Horace Vere and the otlicers under him? F. B. T. BROWN FAMILY.-A certain Stephen Brown (the fifth ancestor of the inquirer on the maternal side) had his eldest son christened 27 January, 1762 (vide parish registers of St. John-at-Hackney). Is he identical with one Ste hen Brown, of Tacolneston, co. N or- folk, who, according to the register of the church of La Patente, in Brown’s Lane now Hanbury Street, Spitalfields, married Susannah Desfontainein 1727? The maternal great-grandfather of the writer kepta whole- sale leatherseller’s shop in Brown’s Lane nearly a century ago. Particulars concern- I I * Etaug in the French. ing the ancestry of Stephen Brown of Tacol- neston will géaieatly oblige. A. G. MARKS. 24, Hewlitt ad, Old Ford, E. PRRSSGANG SONGS. - Can one of your readers ive me the continuation or any portion 0% two songs of pressgang days? One of them begins :- My Johnnie was a shoemaker, And dearly he loved me; M Johnnie was a shoemaker, But now he ’s gone to sea. The other begins, I think :- Cruel was the winds, for they wouldn’t blow con- tr ; Cruel (gills the ship, for it took her love from Mary; Cruel was the cap n and the bo’sun and the men, For they didn’t care a farden should us never meet again. And the last verse recommends the virtue of constancy :- For if you ’ll be but constant you ’ll have all your heart’s deli ht, Though it’s fi£iling in the morning and a drop of gin at night. I shall be very grateful if any one can give me further details as to date, authorship, dsc. and any more verses of these two céuaint old songs. STRPHRN IMEON. [We have supplied MR. SIMEON with the words of the first of these.] HENRY MIHRLL OR MICHEL.-“A celebrated poet, born in Norwich, Fellow of C.C.C., ‘ambridge.” So runs the record in a list of celebrated persons educated at Norwich Grammar School, ap nded to a historqy: of that school published” in 1862 (p. 50). his “celebrated poet” is said to have been a pupil at the school during the head-master shipqof Lymbert, 1570-1602. Mihell is not in ‘D.I .B.,’ and I cannot find his name in the British Museum Catalogue. Can any further information be given concerning this obscure celebrity? JAMES Hoorlsn. CAPEL FAMILY.-I desire information as to the Capel famil . I believe we are entitled to a crest, but the property having been lost, no one has troubled about it. T e original (Mrs.) S. E. CAPEL. [See 4“‘ S. iii. 243, 347, 468; 7"‘ S. x. fl]8.] spelling was “ Capelle.” _ CoRNEL1us VAN DER Goss.-In the Van Dyck Exhibition at the Acaflemfy last winter was a pen-and-chalk portrait o this person (numbered 210 in the Catalogue, and belong- ing to the King of Italy). Is anything known of him? PERCY SIMPSON. THE CAMPBELLS.-Can any of your readers direct me to a book or books giving a history