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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. ix. FEB. s, 1902.

wards, in April, 1642, when Charles I. accompanied by Prince Rupert, the Duke of Kingston, the Marquis of Winchester, the Marquis of Northampton (killed at Hopton Heath), the Earls of Lindsey (killed at Edgehill), Derby (executed at Bolton), Montrose (executed in 1650), Worcester, Chesterfield, and Lichfield, Viscount Fau- conberg, Thomas, Lord Arundellof Wardour (killed at the battle of Lansdown, 5 July, 1643), Lord Wentworth, and others appeared before the gates of Hull, the governor, Sir John Hotham, declined to admit them, on the ground that he had orders from Parlia- ment to that effect. It was this action of the governor of Hull that began the civil war between the king and the Parliament. Recorder Thorpe, of Hull, seems to have acted on all fours with Recorder Widd ring- ton, of Berwick, for he afterwards became a judge and a great enemy of the king.

RONALD Dixox. 46, Marlborouffh Avenue, Hull.

ARMS OF DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY (9 th S. ix. 9). I do not think that this com- pany had any arms, but it used a monogram V. O. C., standing for " Vereenigde Oost- Indische Compagnie" (United East India Company). By resolution of 28 February, 1603, it was decided that the monogram should take the form of a large V transfixing an O and a C of less than half its size, and that the letters should be azure on a silver field. Accordingly we find this monogram every where that the Company went, in India, Ceylon, Malacca, the Cape of Good Hope, &c., cut on stone or wood, cast in metal on cannon, swords, bayonets, and coins, graven on the glass, and painted on the Delft ware used by the officials of the Company.

J. P. LEWIS.

THE LOCOMOTIVE AND GAS (9 th S. vi. 227, 358). William Murdock's name was origin- ally spelt Murdoch, but lie is said to have changed the spelling to Murdock because of the inability of Englishmen to pronounce the final ch of his name (see the ' Diet, of Nat. Biog.,' vol. xxxix. pp. 324-8). When I was a boy I used sometimes to stay with William Murdock's son (Mr. John Murdock) at hi- residence in Hands worth called The Syca- mores or Sycamore Hill. This was in the early sixties. I remember Mr. John Murdock showing me a gold snuff-box with an inscrip- tion, and his telling me that that snuff-box was the only reward his father ever received for his invention of gas. He also had some models of steam locomotives which his father designed, I believe before Watt's discoveries

Probably these models and the snuff-box may 3e still in the possession of his relatives, the Waltons. W. G. D. F.

BISHOPS' SIGNATURES (9 th S. ix. 9). My n Worcestershire there is a volume of Stillingfleet's charges, with preface by him- self, dated Hartlebury Castle, 23 April, 1698, and signed " Edw. Wigorn." So my recollection was not unfounded. I am much obliged to you for allowing me to call atten-
 * ather informs me that in a vicarage library
 * ion to the subject. Before this appears

in print the point will have been decided one way or the other let us hope in the right way by the person most nearly con- cerned. W. E. B.

I find on reference to a volume of Stilling- fleet's ' Discourses ' that the preface, which is iated 24 April, 1696, is initialled "E. W." This would almost point to the fact that Stillingfleet's signature would be "Edward Worcester." A very handy addition to 'Mowbray's Churchman's Kalendar ' for this year is a list of the signatures of the present archbishops and bishops. JOHN T. PAGE.

West Haddon, Northamptonshire.

KEYS TO NOVELS (9 th S. viii. 505). See L'Intermediaire (xxxviii. ; xxxix. ; xliv. 480, 819, 956), under the heading of ' Les Romans a Clef de Balzac ' ; also (xliv. 945) under that of ' La Clef des Maritimes.'

I have somewhere seen that in Lord Lytton's 'Paul Clifford' the highwaymen "Old Bags," "Fighting Attie," and "Gentle- man George" represent respectively Lord Eldon, the Duke of Wellington, and George III.

F. E. R. POLLAED-URQUHAKT.

Castle Pollard, Westmeath.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

Pleadings and Depositions in the Duchy Court of Lancaster, Time of Edward VI. and Philip and Mary. Edited by Lieut. -Col. Henry Fish wick. (Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society.) THIS volume relates to one of the most unsettled times in our history. The violent changes which had recently occurred and were still in progress had so disturbed the minds of men that no one could calculate what would happen next, so there was a widespread feeling that it behoved every one to look out for himself. The greater part of the book relates to disputes, often attended with violence, as to real and personal property, in which Stanleys, Gerrards, Townleys, Leighs, and Traffords figure conspicuously. Such documents are of un- questionable value to the local historian and the