Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/611

 9* s. vi. DEC. 29, i9oo.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 507 process of demolition will soon be filled by the inevitable block of flats. It was reported at one time that the sisters had taken Priory Lodge, Frognal, Hampstead, where Dr. John- son and his wife are popularly believed to have lodged for a w hile. But any plans the nuns may have had fell through. I think the convent is now located at Hornsey. The hand of change has indeed dealt heavy blows upon the Marylebone Road of late years, what with hospitals, workhouses, that huge waxwork exhibition, "mansions," railway stations, and so forth, whereby few of its picturesque features remain. Happily, how- ever, strangers can still make pilgrimage to the bow-windowed house, on the south side, made famous as the abode of Charles Dickens and his raven. May it be long ere this spot is also doomed to efiacement! CECIL CLARKE. Authors' Club, S.W. WE must request correspondents desiring infor- mation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct. SIR ROBERT MORAY.—I have hunted in vain for a portrait of Sir Robert Moray, the intime of Lauderdale and Charles II., the friend of Evelyn and Pepys, "the wisest and worthiest man of his age," President of the Royal Society after its incorporation, a man of transcendent ability ana beautiful life. Can any of your readers help me ? OSMUND AIRY. Solihull, Birmingham. " DESIGHT."—This word occurs in Webster's 'International Dictionary,' ed. 1897, in the sense of an unsightly object. It is marked "obsolete." Can any one tell me what is Webster's authority for this statement 1 Does the word occur in any old author? I hardly think it does, for it is not recorded in 'H.E.D.' before 1834. Was it ever used in any English dialect' I think not, for it does not appear in 'E.D.D.' Is it American? Hardly, for it is not found in the ' Century Dictionary,' Bartlett, Farmer, or Green. A. L. MAYHEW. Oxford. HORSE WITH FOUR WHITE STOCKINOS TOLL- FREE.—In L. Chevalier's ' Histoire de Bar- sur-Aube' (1851), ch. vii. 169, it is stated that by art. 14 of the droits de ptage of the Counts of Lesmont "uri cheval les quatre pieds blancs [est] franc de pe'age." Is the vulgar opinion of the superiority of a horse with four white stockings to be traced to regula- tions of this sort, or vice versd ? O. O. H. JAMES ARROW was admitted to Westminster School on 14 July, 1772. Particulars of his parentage and death are desired. Q. F. R. B. JOHN AOAR was admitted to Westminster School on 12 June, 1811. Can any corre- spondent of 'N. <fe Q.' help me to identify him ? G. F. R. B. GOITRE.— Can any reader direct me to books or papers dealing with the effect of goitre on the organs of speech, with reference particularly to the pronunciation of the mute consonants? J- P. OWEN. AUTHOR OF VERSES WANTED.—Can any one tell me the author of a short poem of about thirty lines, of which these are the first four? Wouldst thou o'er wayward childhood hold firm rule And sun thee in the light of happy faces ? Love, hope, and patience—these must be thy And in thine own heart let them first keep school. Can they be Hartley Coleridge's ? EDITH MARY SHAW. San Diego County, California. REYNES.—Can any reader of 'N. <fe Q.' in- form me if the Reynes of (formerly) Lewes, Sussex, and those of Bucks and Kent, are both descendants of Roger de Raines, or Raneis, companion of William the Conqueror 1 The arms of the latter family are Chequy gules and or, a canton ermine. 'Is the canton ermine indicative of descent from the house of Brittany ? It is so borne by Alan la Zouche. (Miss) S. POLLARD. St. Anne's, Lewes, Sussex. " BOILEAU'S PRESSNESS."—In the preface to his 'Satires' (Aldine edition, p. 66) Young writes:— "An excellent critic of our own commends Boileau's closeness, or, as he calls it, pressncas, particularly; whereas, it appears to me, that re- petition is his fault, if any fault should be imputed to him." Who is the critic in question t THOMAS BAYNB. MONKEYS. Wanted the name and date of the magazine which contained an article on ' The Monkeys of the Old and New Worlds,' published some time in the autumn of 1896 or 1897. N. REV. THOMAS CAMPBELL, LL.D.—He was an Irish divine and author of 'Diary of a Visit