Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/424

 350 NOTES AND QUERIES. P* s. vi. NOV. 3, im LOOKING-GLASS LORE.—In ' Le Miroir,1 one of the stories in the ' Contes de la Pritnev&re,' by Andre Theuriet, a young girl practices love-divination with a looking-glass. She is living in retirement during the French Re- volution near the Belgian frontier, and an old servant tells her that whoever places a mirror under her bolster on the night of Candlemas, saying certain words, will seethe man that she is to marry during her sleep. The words to be used are:— Miroir, fais-moi voir en dormant Celui qui sera mon amant. I judge from the manner in which the story is told that the folk-lore is a genuine belief, not invented for the occasion. Can any one give me information on the point ? Of course, it is well known that reflecting surfaces, such as those offered by mirrors and water springs, have often been used for securing a glimpse of absent and unknown people ; out in this instance the face of the future husband is not seen in the glass itself, but during the sleep of the person whose head lies above it. A. E. ANCIENT STEEL.—In ' A History of Inven- tions and Discoveries,' by John Beckmann, 1817, vol. iv., there is a valuable article on the ancient history of steel, and on p. 249 the article finishes with, '• At what time was damasked steel obtained from the Levant'" Has this query been answered 1 If so. when and where? H. J. B. damask blade is mentioned in 1632. See [A dan •H.E.D.'] REV. ROBERT PIERCE, 1667-1707, of North Tidworth, Wilts. Any clue to the surname of his wife Elizabeth will oblige. A. C. H. STAFFORD.—Information is sought respect- ing the descendants of George, a younger son of Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and his wife Anne, daughter of Ralph Nevill, first Earl of Westmoreland ; also of George, a younger son of Homy Staf- ford, Lord Stafford, and his wife Ursula, daughter of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salis- bury. The latter George is said to have been in the rebellion of 1560. JUBAL STAFFORD. Edgeley, Stockport. THE BELLMAN.—Were letters for the post formerly collected in London by a bellman ? Writing to Mason in 1779 ('Letters,' ed. Cunningham, vol. vii. p. 288), Horace Wai- pole, at the end of the letter, says, "Adieu, or the bellman will be gone." Ho has pre- viously mentioned that he is finishing his letter at eleven o'clock at night I believe that Miss Burney has somewhere a mention of "the bellman," apparently in the same connexion. H. T. B. HERALDIC. — Arms wanted of Walker, of Walthamstow ; Gouldsmith, of Nantwich ; Hucks, of London; Sherbrooke, of Arnold, co. Notts; Gossage, of Spratton. (Mrs.) E. E. COPE. Sulhamstead, Berks. THE GRAMMATICAL GENDER OF "CHDRCH." —A query of mine on this subject appeared in 'N. & Q.,' 9th S. iii. 448. The following extract from the Daily Telegraph of 27 Sep- tember shows that it may be regarded as a question of practical politics :— " Grammar is a strong point in West St. Pancras. Mr. Benson, the Radical candidate, declares in bis address that he approves Disestablishment, because it would ' give to the Church of England the power of correcting their own abuses.' One student of Murray has corrected a copy of the address posted outside Mr. Benson's principal committee-room by substituting 'its' for 'their.' Yet another has deleted ' their' and inserted ' her." A lively con- troversy is promised in the constituency as to whether the Church of England is singular or plural, feminine or neuter." What tribunal has authority to pronounce judgment on the word ? PALAMEDES. NELL GWYN, GWYNN, OR GWYNNE. (9th S. vi. 308.) IN reply to MR. CECIL CLARKE'S query as to the spelling of this name, I do not think, from what I nave seen, that there was any hard-and-fast way of writing it, as in the old ledgers of Messrs. Child & Rogers (with whom she banked), among her cheques and receipts, I have found the following various renderings : Ellen Gwyn, Ellin Gwyn, Ellen G wynne, Ellen Gwin, Eleanor Gwyn, and Eleanor Gwynne— six different ways. Her secretary, James Booth, when writing cheques or notes for her, invariably called her " Madam Gwyn." On 11 December, 1686, he drew up a receipt for the balance of her account, 73/. Is. 2rf., upon which he wrote :— Ellen Gwyn her marks, to which she appended her initials " H. G." in the space between her Christian and surname. Another instance occurs in the following doctor's receipt :— " Received by the hand of Mr. Child the summe of one hondert and nine pounds yn full of all remedea