Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 8.djvu/516

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. vm. DEC. 21, 1001.

Lane, on a tract of land lying between the canal which forms the Lea navigation and the eastward river channel, where two enormous reservoirs are being constructed for the East London Waterworks. The ancient course of the River Lea ran through this tract, although now filled up with allu- vium, and during the process of excavation an ancient British "dug-out" canoe (of the kind common in connexion with old lake- dwellings) was found, resting on a bed of fine sandy silt, mixed with fresh-water shells. The dimensions are : length, 14 ft. 10 in. ; breadth, 2ft. 4 in. ; and depth, 16 in.

A description of this boat or canoe, which has been carefully preserved and will shortly be located in the British Museum, was given by Mr. Traill (one of the engineers superin- tending the excavations) in the Reliquary, January, 1901, with a sketch ; while a further description occurs in * Geological Notes on the New Reservoirs in the Valley of the Lea, near Walthamstow, Essex,' by Mr. T. V. Holmes, F.G.S., in the Essex Naturalist, the journal of the Essex Field Club, recently issued to members. Two illustrations of the boat are given therein : one made from a photo- graph taken in situ by Mr. C. W. Sharrock, the representative of the contractors (S. Pear- son & Son), who has taken much interest in and preserved the various "finds"; while the other is from a drawing by Mr. H. A. Cole, showing the relic resting on a trolly for removal. At some distance north-eastward an old vessel had been found in a disused channel a little while before, which was described in the newspapers as a "Viking ship," arid a probable relic of the invading Danish fleet of A.D. 895, which was captured or destroyed by King Alfred, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'; but from a careful examination of its construction the writer is doubtful if it can possibly be older than a third of that period, or about 300 years. Among other finds during the pro- gress of the works have been large quantities of Koman and later pottery and ironwork while the number of broken tobacco pipe was great, varying from the seventeenth century types to those of more recent date.

WALTER CROUCH. Wanstead, Essex.

Probably the most perfect specimen of an ancient British boat is the one found by Mr. Arthur Bulleid at the Lake Village, and now preserved in the museum at Glaston- bury This was no rude "dug-out," though formed from the solid trunk of a tree-it shows that our ancestors were, excellent carpenters, while other wooden objects and

utensils prove them to have been good coopers and expert turners. A photograph of this boat was given in the Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological Society, vol. xl. p. 148 (1893). It is a curious fact, illustrating the conservatism of local custom, that the boats in use in the same neighbourhood to-day are of almost the same pattern, though now made of sawn, wood, as that found in the peat, and pronounced to be not later than two centuries B.C. F. T. ELWORTHY.

"WAGE "=WAGES (9 th S. viii. 404). May I say that to my mind the unusual word for the singular idea is " wages " ? To hear an individual speak of his " wages" is to my ear as detestable as to be asked " if you have no objections." Surely one "objection" would suffice if the speaker were really as obliging as he professes to be. In the North we some- times go to the other extreme, and speak of the book containing particulars of all the wages as the " wage book," not the " wages book " ; but we use the plural form in such a sen- tence as this : " No person will be allowed to draw two wages." PROF. SKEAT'S contri- bution to the question, being the second ' N. & Q.' reference of the Editor, is to be found reprinted as No. 163 in ' A Student's Pastime,' but that is twenty years old and differs from the definitions given in his dictionary just issued.

One is reminded of a verse in Mr. Austin Dobson's ' Before the Curtain ' :

Ah, Reader, ere you turn the page,

I leave you this for Moral : Remember those who tread Life's stage With weary feet and scantest wage, And ne'er a leaf for laurel !

ARTHUR MAYALL.

"BYRON'S TOMB" (9 th S. viii. 241, 388). As Mr. John Peachy, of St. Christopher's, is one of those who have had greatness thrust upon them, it may not be altogether unworthy of mention that a certain Daniel Peachy "in Dr. George Butler's earlier vears kept the key of the school, and rang the bell up from the head master's house before school." Dr. Butler miscalled "Pomposus" by the youth- ful Byron was head master of Harrow School 1805-29 ; and Peachy, a shoemaker by trade, had been a free scholar under Dr. Sumner in 1771. This old-time "custos" may very likely have been related to the owner and occupant of the " Peachey stone."

A. R. BAYLEY.

ARMADA QUOTATION (9 th S. viii. 423). The quotation asked for by C. B. M. occurs in 'The War with Spain.' This was first published in 1629, and is an exceedingly