Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 8.djvu/461

 " s. vm. NOV. so, 1901.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

453

the grant in the reign of Elizabeth is noted by Sir John Harington in his 'Treatise on Playe ' (published in * Nugse Antiquse,' ii. 15, ed. 1779): "Yt hath been a favor (thoughe now not common) to geue a pardon of the cap, viz., to stand coverd." With regard to the Kingsale peerage the following occurs under date 27 June, 1720, in Salmon's 'Chrono- logical Historian,' ed. 1733 : "The Lord Kin- sale was presented to the King [George L] by the Duke of Grafton, and assertea the ancient Right of his Family, of being covered in his Majesty's Presence." This nobleman, according to Burke, who notices the incident, was Gerald, the twenty-fourth baron.

F. ADAMS.

115, Albany Road, Camberwell.

SIR WALTER SCOTT: "Miss KATIES" (9 th S. viii. 403). The previous word in the sen- tence, " pismires," gives the clue to Davie Deans's meaning. He refers to mpsquitos, which word is still pronounced " miskaties " by the country people in Scotland.

A. & 0. BLACK.

[Similar replies acknowledged. The "Edin- burgh " Waverley, now being published, also ex- plains this in the glossary.]

LARKS FIELD : BARONS DOWN (9 th S. viii. 264, 372). Inasmuch as ' N. & Q.' will become authoritative to future generations, please correct an obvious misprint. " Nexex " should read rexen, our vernacular for rushes. We often duplicate the old plural, and now say rexens. F. T. ELWORTHY.

MONSIGNOR ERSKINE (9 th S. viii. 385). Monsignor Charles Erskine was born in Rome 13 Feb., 1743, and was a cadet of the family of the Earl of Kerrie, now Mar and Kellie. He was a son of Colin Erskine, whose father was Sir Alexander Erskine, second baronet, of Cambo, married to Lady Anne Erskine, the elder daughter of the third Earl of Kellie. He was made by Pius VI. successively Con- sistorial Advocate, Canon of St. Peter's, Domestic Prelate, and Uditore. He was diplomatic agent of Pius VI. in London at the end of the eighteenth century, and cele- brated the obsequies of Pius VI. at St. Patrick's Church there in 1799 with great solemnity, in the presence of all the foreign ambassa- dors ; and a large number of the French bishops at that time in exile assisted at the ceremony, together with many of the English aristocracy, Protestant as well as Catholic. He was created a Cardinal Deacon in 1801 by Pius VII., of Sta. Maria in Campitelli, a title previously held by the Cardinal Duke of York. When Rome was taken by the French

Erskine was deported to Paris, and died there in March, 1811, the same day on which was born Napoleon's son, the so-called King of Rome. Erskine was buried in the Pantheon at Paris, where an inscription on granite marks his grave.

HARTWELL D. GRISSELL, F.S.A.

Cardinal Charles Erskine was the son of Colin Erskine and grandson of Sir Charles Erskine, of the county Fife. Colin was an artist at Rome, and married an Italian lady. Charles was born about 1743, was educated at the English College at Rome, and acted as a kind of legate in London, where the Pope, on the conclusion of the Concordat with France, deputed him to require the resigna- tion of the emigre bishops. He is described as a good scholar, an excellent talker, and a patriotic Briton. Apparently on his way back to Rome he visited Paris in 1802, where I believe he died in 1811. J. G. ALGER.

Paris.

NATIONAL COVENANT OF 1638 (9 th S. viii- 385). This document appears in full in Rush worth's ' Historical Collections,' the second part, p. 734. Rushworth is to be found in all good libraries, and therefore M. N. G. can have no difficulty in obtaining the original words. The document occupies exactly seven pages folio, and is entitled

" The Confession of Faith of the Kirk of Scotland, subscribed at first by the King's Majesty and his Household in the Year of God 1580 ; thereafter by Persons of all Ranks in the Year 1581, by Ordinance of the Lords of the Secret Council, and Acts of the General Assembly ; subscribed again by all sorts of Persons, in the Year 1590, by a new Ordinance of Council, at the desire of the General Assembly ; with a General Band for maintenance of the True Religion, and the King's Person, and now subscribed in the Year 1638, by us Noblemen, Barons, Gentle- men, Burgesses, Ministers, and Commons under subscribing ; together with our Resolution and Promises for the Causes after specified, to maintain the said True Religion, and the King's Majesty, according to the Confession aforesaid, and Acts of Parliament : the Tenure whereof here followeth."

Sir Walter Scott in 'Tales of a Grand- father,' chap, xli., describes the excitement raised by this document as intense ; it was " sworn to by hundreds, thousands, and hundreds of thousands, of every age and description, vowing, with uplifted hands and weeping eyes, that with the Divine assistance, they would dedicate life and fortune to maintain the object of their solemn engagement."

RICHD. WELFORD.

I have a copy of the "Fac-Simile of the National Covenant of Scotland, in its Original Form, with the Autographs of the principal leading Personages, Fr. Schenck, Lith., Edinburgh (entered Stationers' Hall)." It