Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 9.djvu/158

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

ix. FEB. 22, 1902.

It is said that the gentleman " gave him a cant" from the first floor into the streef, and that Foote, passing by, reminded him of the advice he had often given

"not to play so high as the danger was imminent. ' Jack ' still continued to play, but wears his card curtains, which are the largest ruffles ever seen, that hang over his fingers' ends and conceal the long shuffle and the slip."

They concealed his manoeuvres, and hid the lameness of his fingers, from which he derived his nickname :

" The print is likewise accompanied by a cutting from a book, or newspaper, containing ' The Little Baron Newman : a Sketch,' being an obituary notice of the man in question,"

the little baron, of crook-fingered memory, which states that some had said that it was Lord Chesterfield who detected the cheat, and avers that it was not he, but a brother sharper, who achieved this act. Lord Chester- field often played at piquet at Bath with the " Baron." The paper gives a miserable account of the sharper's killing his last and only friend, a little spaniel, and final hang- ing of himself at his lodgings in Duke Street, Bath. No. 4651 in the national collection above named is "Baron Forchetta, after a Bett of Fifty (Baron Neuman) (Bath). By an Officer in the Guards." This is a coloured etching, published by Mathew Darly, "Jan. 24, 1774, Strand," and represents a dwarfish old man holding a pinch of snuff j and a snuff box. The text of the Catalogue I in view here states this is a portrait of Neuman, who, having been suspected of foul play, was watched, and a gentleman, seizing a fork, dashed it through the baron's hand, with the apology, "Sir, if such a card is not under your hand, I must beg your pardon." F. G. STEPHENS.

This print, I venture to suggest, depicts an incident in the career of that well-known eighteenth - century gambler " Savage " Roche or Rock, who actually "pinned" to the table with a steel fork or knife the hand of a fellow-gambler who, he had occasion to think was playing unfairly. The subject would have been easier of solution had F J given name of engraver, &c.

JOHN ROBERT ROBINSON.

This print occurs as the frontispiece to a book on games called " Annals of Gaming By a Connoisseur. London : Printed fo'p'o! Allen, No. 59, Paternoster -Row, 1775 " The operator with the fork is "Capt. Roche, alias iyger, ahas Savage Roche, who stuck his gaming companion's hand to the table with 2u f? r e ? nce ^ in S a card under his hand " ( ihe Gaming Calendar,' 1820, 8vo, p 63)

The name of the " gaming companion " has nob come down to us, so far as I know.

In reply to F. J.'s flattering appeal, I must offer a sincere apology to those who have done me the honour to ask me to continue my bibliography of books on gaming, together with a promise that I will do so as soon as possible. The well-known result of under- taking too many things is that one never finishes anything, or but rarely. At least, that has been rather constantly my fate.

JULIAN MARSHALL.

WINDOW GLASS (9 th S. ix. 87). The use of glass in windows was practised by the Romans certainly in the first century A.D., if not before. Three years ago I had what I considered unusual luck in drawing a small pane from the remains of a great villa near Porto d'Anzio (Antium), a considerable portion of which is in my possession now. The edges are thickened and rounded, pro- bably for the grip of the metal or wooden frame. It lay about three feet below the present grassy level, among a quantity of broken pottery, &c. Similar panes, and also portions of bronze framing, were found in another first-century villa, known to me, near Marino, on the Alban Hill. At Pompeii, in the tepidarium of the bath in the villa of Diomedes, four panes of glass ten and a half inches square and portions of their frame (wooden) were taken. Others were found in the baths near the Forum.

ST. CLAIR BADDELEY.

I believe that MR. G. C. WARDEN is right in his impression that window glass was not used until the eleventh century. The windows of Saxon and Anglo-Norman buildings were frequently filled in with oiled canvas, which kept out the wind and rain and admitted a certain quantity of light. According to Sir Gilbert Scott, canvas was bought so late as 1253 to close the windows of the Chapter-house of Westminster Abbey. In books dealing with ancient churches one reads of stained glass of the eleventh century, but though I have examined many churches with supposed eleventh-century glass, I am persuaded that the glass is much more recent than the writers profess. CHARLES HIATT.

Window glass is found in all the Roman camps in the north of England. There can be no doubt that it was in use in the time of the Romans. If I knew MR. WARDEN'S address I would send him a fragment. R. B R. [Further replies to come.]

STOWE MISSAL (9 th S. viii. 484 ; ix. 98). MR. ROBERTS is correct in stating that the