Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/17

 9* s. vii. JAN. 5, 1901.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

book, because Louis du Mesnil, the trans lator, dedicates it "A Monseigneur Fran9oi de Harlai De Chanvalon, Archeveque de Paris, and expresses the belief that he may propose to the French prelates as a model those o the Anglican Cnurch, and presents the life of Bedell to the archbishop in order tha "1'eclat de ses vertus rejalisse jusqu'en France, et quo par 1'union de son example ai Votre [sic], 1'ancienne discipline paroisse bien t6t en sa premiere vigueur." On p. 120 it i stated that

"on avoit deja traduit en Irlandois le nouveau Testament et la Liturgie ; mais jugeant que le viei ne devoit pas etre plus cache il chercha quelqu'un qui possedat bien cette langue pour le traduire De 1 avia du Primat et de quelques autres il jetta les yeux sur un nomine" King ; c'e'toit un homme agd d'environ 70 ans, qui s'etoit convert! quelques annees auparavant, et qui passoit pour le meilleur crivain en Irlandois de son temps en prose et en vers^; nonobstant les defauts de son Education el cet age si avance, notre Eveque le trouva capable de travailler a son ouvrage, et afin de lui dormer une sainte emulation, il lui donna les ordres, le

According to the life of Paul King in the 'Dictionary of National Biography,' the baptismal name of the translator was Mur- tagh, and he was Paul's uncle. No mention is made of Murtagh King in the biographies of Bishops Bedell and Burnet in that collec- tion. Did he translate the whole of the Old Testament'? Has any other part of his writings in prose or verse been preserved or published ? PALAMEDES.

"SARANINE." The latest addition to Oxford journalism, the Pipe, in its second number has occasion (p. 99) to rebuke a critic who described it as being "clothed in a bilious purple cover," and informs its readers that "as a matter of fact the colour was saranine." What is the origin of this name? Surely it has nothing to do with Madame Bern hard t? Q. V.

THREE ESTATES IN PARLIAMENT. I always understood that the Three Estates of the Realm consisted of the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal, and the Commons in Parlia- ment assembled. This, however, was ob- viously not the opinion of Cromwell's Parlia- ment of 1657. For in their "Humble petition and advice," Article VII. (which relates to revenue), it is laid down " and this not to be altered without the consent of the Three Estates in Parliament." There were, as we know, no bishops in Cromwell's House of Lords, and it follows, I suppose, that " the

Three Estates " can mean nothing else but the Protector, the other House, and the House of Commons. BURGHCLERE.

[See 8 th S. iv. 136, 269, 409 ; v. 9 ; viii. 62, 103, 143, 262, especially the references in vol. viii., where the subject of the Estates of the Realm is fully dealt with.]

THE ACACIA IN FREEMASONRY. Can any reader inform me as to the significance of the acacia which is always put in the funeral wreaths for Freemasons] I have asked several Freemasons, but they have not been able to tell me, while admitting the acacia is never omitted. Also, is there any one of the numerous species of acacia which is used in preference to others 1 W. M. NORMAN.

" KITTY- WITCH." Forby, in his 'Vocabulary of East Anglia,' mentions in his account of Kitty-witch :

" It was customary, many years ago at Yarmouth, for women of the lower order, to go in troops from house to house to levy contributions at some season of the year, and on some pretence, which nobody seems to recollect, having men's shirts over their apparel, and their faces smeared with blood. These hideous beldams have long discontinued their preambulations ; but in memory of them, one of the many rows in that town is called Kitty- witch Row/

Will any one inform me as to what time of the year this custom was held, or supply any particulars respecting it ? G. F. PRATT. Stanley Public Library, King's Lynn.

IRISH WILLS. Where are Irish wills kept, 1600-1760? How could I get extracts, and what would be the expense r i

(Mrs.) J. H. COPE.

Sulhamstead, Berkshire.

THE AREA OF CHURCHYARDS. Was there any customary or authorized size for these, or

iid it depend entirely on the generosity of the donor of the land for the site of the church and churchyard? Did the number of the inhabitants of the parish affect the question? I had always understood that,

vhen a pious donor founded a church and endowed it, a specific part of the land was

et apart as a consecrated burial-ground, and

he rest became glebe land. W. B. GERISH. Bishop's Stortford.

ROBERT OWEN, OF NEW LANARK. Owen married 30 September, 1799, Anne Carolina not Caroline), daughter of Dale Dale, mer- hant and philanthropist, Glasgow. The Diet. Nat. Biog.,' vol. xlii. p. 451, mentions hree sons : (1) Robert Dale, (2) Daniel Dale, nd (3) David Dale. Of Robert Dale Owen

separate biography is given ; " the other