Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/276

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NOTES AND QUERIES. 19 th s. VIL APRIL 6, woi.

usual shape, commonly known in our day as a ' chim- ney-pot.' The Governor-General was so struck by the apparition that he ordered a minute to be made of the matter and placed in the record-chest with the official documents, where it is said to have remained ever since. In course of time a ship from England arrived bringing the news of the death of Mr. Shake- spear's father, and likewise a cargo of 'chimney- pot' hats, the first ever brought to India. This incident is further attested by the tradition of it being handed down by five successive generations of the family of the Cators of Woodbastwick the original Mr. Cator having been one of the witnesses of the mysterious apparition in the Council Chamber, where he was present as Secretary to Warren Hastings."

Can this narration be verified by reference to the Calcutta official documents, or is any- thing known further of it ? Is not the Mr. Shakespear above mentioned the former Shakespear of Langley Priory 1

W. H. QUARRELL.

THE FRIEND OF PHIDIAS. In Browning's 4 Cleon ' the expression occurs

Nor carved

And painted men like Phidias and his friend.

What is the name of the friend ?

ARTHUR MAY ALL.

" SOD- WIDOW." There has been a dis- cussion in the Athenaeum concerning the meaning of the term "grass- widow." In the United States it means either a wife whose husband is all but continuously absent or a wife who is actually separated from her hus- band, though there may have been, thus far, no legal separation.

The term "sod-widow" a woman whose husband is dead is also in use in the United States. Can any one give its origin 1 D. M

Philadelphia.

[Apparently a widow whose husband is under the sod.]

BASKINN. J. C. Mangan,in ' Kin kora,' says, and the hosts of Baskinn from the western wave." Does he refer to the Basks 1

E. S. DODGSON.

HEADS IN SOUTHAM CHURCH, WARWICK- SHIRE. Over the east window of the south aisle of this church, where was once a chapel, are two small heads, stuck there somewhat to one side and with no ornamental con- nexion. I have been told a visitor to the church within the last year stated his belief that they were skulls off a battle-field during the Civil Wars, stuck there in derision bv Roundheads (?). If this should meet his eye, I should be very grateful for his information on the subject, and the authority on which it is founded. L. J. CARTWRIGHT.

The Abbey Southam.

POWDERING GOWN. In 'Pride and Preju- dice/ chap, xlviii., Mr. Bennet says : " I will sit in my library in my nightcap and pow- dering gown, and give as much trouble as I can." Is a powdering gown a dressing- gown in which one sat to have one's hair powdered ? If it is, the illustrator of Dent's edition is in error, since none of the figures wears hair powder. The phrase is new to me.

H. T.

AND POMPEY. Can any of your readers tell me where I can find a summary of the characters of these two great rivals contrasted the one with the other?

JOHN WILLOOCK. Lerwick.

LOCATION OF THEATRE. Which town has its theatre situated in George's Street? The identification is required for an item relating to a theatre so called, that is, Theatre Royal, George's Street. W. W. A.

CATHERINE STREET THEATRE. When was the Theatre of Varieties, Catherine Street, Strand, first opened, and what is the approxi- mate date of its being closed 1 W. W. A.

'THE DEVIL'S WALK.' What evidence exists, by way of MS. or otherwise, that Richard Porson was the author of this poem ? It was once published among the works of Coleridge. It is catalogued at the British Museum under the name of Porson.

J. H. MITCHINER.

[We have always regarded this poem, which first appeared in the Morning Pott, as due to Coleridge (with the exception of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 9th, and 16th stanzas, which were dictated by Southey). It appears, we believe, in most, if not all, editions of Coleridge's poems. But see ' N. & Q.,' 3 rd S. ix. 197, and especially a long article by MR. C. A. WARD, 7 th 8. viii. 161, and a comment by CUTHBERT BEDE, 7 th 8. viii. 258.]

JOAN OF ARC. Did not Joan of Arc term

the English of her day " goddams " 1 Where

is the reference? and is the same nickname

used of the English by other French people 1

GEOFFREY HILL.

[The terms an English "goddam" and an English "milord" have boen heard in recent days.]

JOHN ROBERTS. He was a director of the late East India Company in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Any particulars as to his parentage, birth, education, marriage, career, death, and burial would be most acceptable to me. C. MASON.

29, Emperor's Gate, S.W.

ROYAL STANDARD. When and why did the kings of England adopt the lions or leopards on their coat of arms ? C. C. T.