Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/566

 470 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9'*S- VI- DEC- 151900- rector here, and I am gathering some notes on his life. M.. WYNNE. Allington Rectory, Grantham. PETITION T0 PARLIAMENT.-In what month of 1780 or thereabouts was a petition de- manding a “necessary and effectual reform of the expenditure of public money” resented to Parliament? T. B. ‘MASTERMAN READY., - I have a copy “ traduit de l’Anglais par Mr. James, Membre du Parlement Britannique,” Bruxelles, 1845. Who was he? In the “ Conclusion” he speaks of a possible continuation. Did this appear? LIBRARIAN. OMBINATION. ’-In an elementary school report dated 1821 the master says: “Fifteen or sixteen who could not write on their coming to school; ...... about a dozen are in Combination five or six have assed from Addition to Multiplication.” Wqiat is Com- bination ? LIBRARIAN. “C I PITMAN.-I shall be glad of any information which may throw li ht on the parentage, &c., of Frederick Cobbe l”itman, who was an ensign in the 9th Regiment of Foot from 1744 to 1751, and who was appointed a lieutenant in the East India Company’s service, Bengal, in 1758. Mr. Pitman is believed to have been born in Hampshire about 1725. Re lies may be for- warded direct. A. PITMAN. Kensington Palace Mansions, W. DR. J. Msnvm NooTH.-I should like to have some particulars respecting the life and work of Dr. J. Mervin Nooth, who was Super- intendent-General of British and Forei n Hospitals and Physician to the Forces in the British Provinces in North America from 1789 to 1799. Dr. N ooth was also a botanist. Mr. Philéas Gagnon, the Canadian bibliophile, has in his Ifossession nine auto ra h letters from Dr. ooth to Sir Joseph Banqcs, Secre- tary of the Royal Society. Q be RAOUL RENAULT. U6 C. “Faassen”-On p. 15 of the Times of 10 November these words occur, “Excuse the nose bein frabbed a bit, sir, for the head in the gIass case do wobble so, sir.” The head in question is that of the Duke of Suffolk at the Minories. Is frabbed a “dic- word "1 What is its exact sense 'l P.LAM1~:n1=:s. tionary it comes “from Sainte Terre cause men saunter visit the Holy Land” has been con- stamped upon. There is a word in PALMER.” - The @2888 that srtunter if they dignly ‘Weir of Hermiston ’ which might provoke a congruous conjecture, “A bonny figllrfb £ would be palmering about in bauchles (p. 28). The glossary which comforts the mere English reader has “palmerinpi walking injirmlyf What is the etymology t ereof 'l ST. SWITHIN. gzylin. THE TITLE OF ESQUIRE. (sw S. vi. asv, 452.) EVEN the amusement of writing to the papers palls on one after a certain amount of such occupation, and I long ago came to the conclusion that neither profit nor pleasure could be obtained from newspaper Warfare The letter signed SIGNIA savours somewhat of an invitation to tread on the tails of the coat of himself or W. I. R. V. I am weary Of news aper correspondence on the subject of the description of “ Esquire,” which, of_a1l ress discussions, is the most utterly futile; For nobody ever convinced a barrister that he was not an “Esquire,” inasmuch as faith is “ the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” _ A barrister on the subject of “Esqui-res” is as hopeless as any one named Smith on the subject of the necessity or otherwise of a royal licence to assume an additional surname. I recently, in connexion with the book to which SIGNIA refers, had a visit from a gentleman who was both a barrister and named Smith-the latter, of course, with the usual little unauthorized family additions ; and at the end of m interview I formed a mental resolve that Ilwould steer _clear-as far as I could-of such discussions in future. I would again quote, but am afraid of the recently manufactured specialists in quota- tion; so I content mysef with alluding to the ancient proverb or quotation which refers to a man convinced against his will. It was the other man in this case, not myself. Still the letter of SIGNIA may be a genuine thirst for information, and, on the _chance of this being the case, I will comply with the request. When I commenced to compile ‘Armorial Families’ I was confronted with the current uncertainty. and I asked Mr. C. H. A_thill, Richmond Herald, kindly to send me a list of those people who were accepted as_Esquires hy t.he College of Arms, giving him notice that the list was required for publication. I applied to the Colege of Arms because I considered it the most authoritative quarter to which I could apply. The list have published is the list with which Richmond