Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/102

 NOTES AND QUERIES. P> s. m FEB. 2, 1901.

Isabel, but Drummond's claim was voided by Parliament in Holyrood, April, 1389 (see 'Acts of Parliament of Scotland,' i. 557). Shortly afterwards Archibald appears as Earl of Douglas. HERBERT MAXWELL.

James de Douglas the good Sir James of the legend was the eldest son of William de Duglas (the Hardy), who died in York Castle in 1302, by his first wife, a daughter of Wil- liam de Keth. See Sir Robert Douglass 'Peerage of Scotland ' (ed. Wood, 1813), vol. i. p. 420. A. K. BAYLEY.

St. Margaret's, Malvern.

THE TITLE OF ESQUIRE (9 th S. vi. 387, 452, 471 ; vii. 33). I think we may well ask if the ruling received through Richmond Herald is more authoritative than the direct official statement of Garter King. I know of a case in which MR. A. C. FOX-DAVIES hesitates to give a man the title of Esquire in ' Armorial Families,' although Heralds' College has so styled him in a grant of arms. Mr. Athill's prescription is embodied in the following note attached to MR. FOX-DAVIES'S 'Information Form':

"The following are Esquires, and should be so described. The term is not used in ' Armorial Families' except in such cases: The sons of Peers ; the sons of Baronets ; the sons of Knights ; the eldest sons of the younger sons of Peers, and their eldest sons in perpetuity ; the eldest son of the eldest son of a Knight, and his eldest son in per petuity ; Companions of the Orders of Knighthood ; the Kings of Arms ; the Heralds of Arms ; Officers of the Army and Navy of the rank of Captain and upwards; Sheriffs of Counties, for life; J.P.s oJ Counties whilst in Commission ; Serjeants-at-Law Queen's Counsel ; Serjeants-at-Arms ; certain prin cipal Officers in the Queen's Household ; Deputy Lieutenants and Commissioners of Lieutenancy, Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy ; Masters of the Supreme Court ; those whom the Queen, in any Commission or Warrant, styles Esquire [anc amongst these are Royal Academicians], and an> person who, in virtue of his Office, takes precedence of Esquires.

" Gentleman : This description is used throughou the book in its ancient and strictly legal and correc interpretation, namely, a person entitled to bea arms ; and it occurs in every such instance when there is no other description.

To me it seems unreasonable that one\ knighted confectioner or coal-dealer shoulc transmit the title of Esquire to his eldest son in perpetuity, that any other tradesman wh( is a magistrate should have a right to it, anc that men of generations of professional an cestry gentlemen who may be Fellows o. their Colleges and in good social position- should not be allowed to have any right to the same distinction. There is no use in quibbling over "the grand old name of gentleman"

1 1 3 it : if it be superior, then it ought not .o ue conceded to people who may be social nferiors of those to whom it is dniP,d.

FITZ-GLANVIL asks, "Is the word Esquire a real title, seeing that we use it only as a suffix?" I find from old family papers of James I.'s time, and contemporaneous records, that Esquire was a title, used as an * to the name. An old memoir of Nicholas Ferrar, of Little Gidding, states that his father who was already a "Gentleman >f the Yorkshire Farrar family, was granted m 1588 by Queen Elizabeth, for special service rendered to her, a special coat- of arms and crest and the title of " Esquire." MICHAEL FERRAR.

Little Gidding, Baling.

"To KEECH" (9 th S. vi. 408 ; vii. 18). Both the Northamptonshire glossarists, Miss Baker and Hernberg, give keech as meaning to dip or ladle out water or other liquids. Miss Baker also adds two other meanings : (1) " The fat of a slaughtered beast rolled up ready for the chandler"; (2) "a large oblong or triangular pasty, made at Christmas, of raisins and apples chopped together." I have myself known the word as applied to some such con- fection as the foregoing ever since my early- childhood. Keeches were always made tri- angular in my experience, with a bird shaped in dough sitting on the ridge in the centre. Two currants were stuck on to form the bird s eyes. If either of these fell out in the baking it was considered very unfortunate. Keeches were always made at Christmas, and one was allotted to each of the young children of the household. I still retain in my possession a letter written to me when I was away at school in the sixties by my dear departed mother, in which she rallies me on being " too big for a keech " when I shall return home for the Christmas holidays.

JOHN T. PAGE.

West Haddon, Northamptonshire.

NORMAN ARCHITECTURE (9 th S. vii. 29). For architectural works of every possible kind consult Mr. Batsford, 94, High Holborn, W.C. He has by far the most exhaustive collection of books of that kind in England.

HARRY HEMS.

Fair Park, Exeter.

"PEAKY -BLINDER" (9 th S. vii. 28). The " larrikins," "rufflers," or "hoodlums "of the Midlands are thus known from a custom they adopted of wearing the peak of their cap