Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/178

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. VIL MARCH 2, 1901.

say if there were children of the Lady Anne Roos (beyond the Lady Frances, who*died in 1659) actually precluded ; and, if so, are there any traces or their descent ? A. M.

"ToLPATCHERY." Trench ('On the Study of Words,' p. 223), speaking of "comic words" for which their authors did not intend more than a very brief existence, cites "tolpatchery " of Carlyle. Will some reader of ' N. & Q.' say where the word occurs in Carlyle's writings ?

SENGA.

SEARCHERS OF LEATHER.

(9 th S. vii. 48.)

^ SEARCHERS of leather exercised their func- tions by the authority of various Acts of Parliament. The principal Act was passed in 5 Elizabeth, cap. 8. It regulated the dressing of leather, and imposed conditions upon sale and use. The clauses relating to searchers (abridged) read as follows :

" And be it further enacted for ye trewe exe- cution of this estatute, yt ye Maire & aldermen of ye City of London uppon payne to forfait x\.li for euerie yere that they make default [half to the Queen & half to the informer] shal yearely appoint fower or more expert persons to be searchers, who shalbe sworne to do their office truly. Which said serchers shal by vertue of this act fower times in the yere at ye least make true search & view of and for all bootes, shoes buskins and other wares and thinges whatsoeuer made of tanned lether, in al and euery house & houses, place and places within. & within iii miles of, ye saide citie, and make true presentment in writing of euery default in the making, selling or putting to sale of any boots, buskins, startups, shoes, bridles, saddles or other things, stuff'e or ware made of lether contrary to the true meaning of this estatut."

Then follows a clause which answers MR. PHILLIPS'S question :

"All other Mayors, &c., & al Lordes of liberties, faires and markets shal uppon like paine of xl li euery yeare that they make default, appoint '& swere yerely ii, iii, or more personnels, of the most honest & skilfull men within their seueral offices or liberties, by their discretion to serch and viewe within ye precinct of theire said offices, liberties and aucthorities ; and shal haue a marke or seale pre- pared for that purpose and shal seale or mark such lether as they shal find sufficient and no other. And if the sayd searchers or any of them do find anie leather sold, or offred to be sold or bought, to be searched or marked, insufficiently tanned or curried or any bootes, buskis, shoes, startuppes, slippers' brydles, saddles or any thing made of leather in- sufficiently tanned curried or wrought, it shalbe lawful to the searchers to sease as forfaited al such leather, shoes and wares made of lether, and retaine the same until the same be tried by sixe expert men appointed by such maior, lord of libertie or his sufficient deputye, the said triall to be within fifteen

daies after such seysour at ye furthest upon ye othes of the said triers."

Leather and leather goods forfeited in Lon- don and three miles beyond were to be valued in Guildhall, and the value divided into three parts and distributed one-third to the seizer, one-third to the Corporation, and the remainder among the poor of "the newe Hospital of Saint Bartholomews " and other poor house- holders, at the discretion of the Mayor and four aldermen. Similar goods forfeited in the country were to be valued in common hall (if a borough), or in some open place appointed by the lord of the liberty where no common hall existed, and the value dis- tributed in thirds : (1) to the first seizer,

(2) to the poor and in deeds of charity, and

(3) to the commonalty or the lords of the liberty, as the case might be :

"And be it enacted that al iustices of assise, of gaol deliuerye & of the peace and stewardes of fraunchises, leetes and lawdaies within their seueral precincts, jurisdictions & liberties, and the Maior of London & al other maiors bailifes fee. shal enquire of al the premisses in theire sessions, leet or lawdaye, and here & determine the same."

The foregoing extracts are from ' Rastall's Statutes,' 1579, and the variations in spelling, and the apparently indifferent use of " and " and "&," arise from the exigencies of the compositor, working with a large-faced black letter on a double-columned octavo page. RICHD. WELFORD.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

WINE IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH (9 th S. vii. 4, 135). GUSTOS is mistaken in his quotation. I did not use the phrase "early Acts " which he attributes to me. My words are "that very curious early Christian romance the 'Acts of Xanthippe and Poly xena.'" That, I think, is an accurate description of the document I was quoting. My note was in- tended, if possible, to elicit information, and not to provoke controversy.

WILLIAM E. A. AXON.

Manchester.

QUOTATIONS (9 th S. vi. 489 ; vii. 74).--"Est rosa flos," <fec. The version given as from Burmann appears to be incorrect. Burmann m his ' Anthologia ' (1773), lib. v. ep. 217, gives the following :

Est rosa flos Veneris, cujus quo furta laterent, Harpocrati matris dona dicavit Amor.

Inde rosam mensis hospes suspendit amici,

Convivse ut sub ea dicta tacenda sciant. It also appears in Wernsdorf's 'Poetse Latini Minores,' Lemaire's edition, Paris, 1 826, vol. vii. p. 125. " Amicis," however, takes the place of

amici." A note says : " Burmannus edidit