Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 8.djvu/352

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NOTES AND QUERIES. (9 th s. vm. a* 26, 1001.

MDCCLVII." If this, then, be the first edition, Sir H. Yule postdated the issue by nine years. My copy has sixteen pages of dedi- cation and contents, 407 pages of text, and errata on the reverse of the last page. P. 195 is misprinted 695. This agrees with the 'D.N.B.,' which gives the editions as first, 1757; second, 2 vols. 8vo, 1766; third, 1772. Will any one who possesses all three editions kindly tell me how they differ in text ? Mine has no illustrations. Were there illustrations or maps in the later issues? In my copy unfortunately pp. 95, 96 are mutilated. I should esteem it a great favour if any one who possesses a copy of the 1757 edition would kindly send me a transcript of the first fifteen lines of both these pages. Very little seems to be known of Grose, who must have been a notable man in his day. According to the ' D.N.B.,' he flourished between 1750 and 1783. Is it not possible to ascertain the exact dates of his birth and death 1 ? May I ask also on what evidence the * D.N.B.' asserts that this book was com- piled from Grose's notes by John Cleland ?

In 'N. & Q.'6 th S. ii. 291 a "great-great- nephew of Francis Grose, the antiquary," supplied some particulars of the Grose family. Will this correspondent, or some one equally well informed, give particulars of the author of one of the most valuable books on Anglo- Indian life? W. CROOKE.

Langton House, Charlton Kings.

OYSTER FISHERY OPENED. The Daily Mail of 13 September reports that " the oyster fishery of the Colne was formally opened yesterday. The Corporation of Colchester went over the fishery in a steam dredger, and partook of gin and gingerbread, according to custom."

What is known of this custom, date of intro- duction, and the odd mixture of gin and gingerbread? EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road.

ALMANAC MEDALS. In the public museum at Lichfield there is an almanac for the year 1796 in the form of a medal. Are metal coin- shaped calendars of this sort made anywhere now? They would be very convenient for carrying in the purse or the waistcoat pocket. E. S. DODGSON.

CORPORATION CHAINS AND MACES. I seek information concerning corporation chains and maces. This little town of Brackley is one of the oldest boroughs, and got its charter renewed under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, but it does not possess either a mace or chain. I want to find out whether it ever had these. I have heard of instances

where they were sold in some towns near us and it might have been so here, but I cannot get any information. The seal of the borough is about two hundred years old, and is in regular use. Can you refer me to any work on the subject ?

JOHN G. CLARKE. Brackley, Northamptonshire.

' SIR GALAHAD/ L. 53.

The tempest crackles on the leads. Can any reader kindly inform me whether the above refers to leads of roofs ? If so, is not the allusion anachronous ? Surely, at the period when King Arthur is supposed to have been occupied in "swearing men to vows impossible," and in encouraging knights to attitudinize as immaculates at his table, leaded roofs were not yet in vogue. M.

" TEENAH "=FiG TREE. Conjectured to be from a Hebrew root signifying to sigh or groan. Can any reader kindly inform me if this word occurs in other languages, and if so, what is its meaning ?

J. M. LAWRENCE.

MANX GAELIC TRACT. I should be gla to find out who was the author of a tract of eight pages, in the Gaelic of Man, headed "No. 63. M. Smooinaghtyn Cranee mychione Beaynid " (i.e., 'Serious Thoughts about Eternity '), and ending with the notice, " Liverpool : Printed by E. Tilling for the Manks Society for promoting the Education of the Inhabitants of the Isle of Man through the medium of their own language." From the appearance of the paper and type one may assume this publication to be about fifty years old at the least. As there is now a movement in favour of reviving Manx, which is still spoken by 5,000 people in Elian Vannin, any notes com- pleting our bibliographical knowledge of the language will be valuable.

E. S. DODGSON.

Peel, Isle of Man.

' THE COMING K ,'&c. Who were the joint authors of 'The Coming K ,' 'The Siliad,' 'Jon Duan,' and 'Edward VII.,' Christmas annuals issued in the seventies of last cen- tury ? Did they, jointly or individually, publish other works? Q. K. B.

[They were, we believe, by a young clerk in the War Office, well known as a journalist.]

BIRTHDAY CAKE WITH CANDLES : A GERMAN CUSTOM. An English girl staying at a pension in Hanover, where I also was a visitor some weeks since, announced one morning that on the following Thursday she would be