Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 9.djvu/243

 8. IX. MARCH 22, 1902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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his elder brothers, appear to have died with- out issue. " His life was spared, but his estate of The Vache confiscated and given to the Duke of York." Lipscomb's 'History of the County of Buckingham,' vol. iii. p. 227, also says the estate was for- feited to the Crown, but gives the name of the regicide's father, according to Willis, as Charles, though the pedigree on pp. 227-28 makes him the son of Sir William Fleetwood. The pedigree also appears to be inaccurate in regard to the father of General Charles Fleetwood, Cromwell's son-in-law, and George, the Swedish general.

The 'Dictionary of National Biography' says Charles Fleetwood, Cromwell's son-in- law, was " third son of Sir Miles Fleetwood, of Aid winkle, Northamptonshire, and of Anne, daughter of Nicholas Luke, of Wood- end, Bedfordshire."

Sir Miles's eldest son, Sir William, was a Royalist, whilst George, the second son, was the Swedish general and baron. A foot-note to the biography of this George Fleetwood says, "Burke, in his 'Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies/ repeats genealogical errors of Mark Noble." I specially mention this as MR. PINK cites Noble's * Lives of the Regi- cides.' It may interest him to know that the ' Dictionary ' gives biographies of eight members of the Fleetwood family.

My notes from the wills are incomplete, as I have not had time to examine all the wills and administrations. At present the results are so fragmentary that they do not appear to me to be of general interest. I hope later to make further search, but if the miniature could be traced some of the notes would probably become at once of value.

R. W. B.

The Rev. Edward Fleetwood, who was rector of Wigan from 1571 to 1604, is said to have married Christian, daughter of Paul Wentworth, of Lillingston, Bucks. Doubtless he is the " Fleetwoode of Wygan " inquired after by D. Paul was younger brother to Peter Wentworth. Both were Elizabethan M.P.s and leaders of the Puritan opposition. 1 have no present means at hand of testing if the wrong brother has been assigned for Mrs. Fleet wood's father. Edward Fleetwood was third son of Thomas Fleetwood, of The Vache, Bucks, and of Rossal, Lancashire (died 1 Nov., 1570), by his second wife, Bridget, daughter of Sir John Spring, of Lavenham, Suffolk. Two of his many brothers were Sir George Fleetwood, of The Vache (died 1620), and Sir William Fleetwood, of Cranford, Middlesex, Receiver of Wards, the grandfather of the celebrated Crom-

welhan officers. The Wigan parish registers give the following family to the Rev. Edward Fleetwood: Theodor (Theodora), baptized 6 Aug., 1591 : Christian, baptized 29 March, 1594, buried 13 Nov., 1599; Elizabeth, baptized 13 June, 1596 ; Bridget, baptized 13 Nov., 1597 ; Dorothy, baptized 20 May, 1599 ; Edward, baptized 4 July, 1602. He is said, however, to have been survived only by one son and two daughters. W. D. PINK.

"LuRDEN" (9' h S. ix. 185). The silly story about lurden being derived from Lord Dane has often been quoted, but the reference to Grafton is useful. It also occurs in Fabyan's 'Chronicle,' ed. Ellis, p. 205. It is easily seen to be an invention by observing that the vowel in lurd- is different from that in E. lord, and the diphthong ey in the old spelling lordeyn is not the same thing as the a in Dane. The spelling lordeyn as a variant of lurden shows that we really have to do with the O.F. ou, and the spelling with -eyn also points to a French origin.

The word is perfectly well known. It occurs several times in ' Piers the Plowman,' spelt lordein, lordeyn, lordeyne, lourdein, lurdeyn, and the derivation from the O.F. lourdein is duly given in the glossary. The same derivation is given in Stratmann's ' Old English Dictionary,' with five references. It is given as lourdeine in the * Concise Dic- tionary of Middle English,' by Mayhew and Skeat, with the etymologv from O.F. lourdein. It is a mere derivative of O.F. (and mod. F.) lourd, explained by Cotgrave as "dull, sottish." Indeed, Cotgrave actually gives " Lourdin, lourdaine, blunt, somewhat block- ish, a little clownish, lumpish, rude, smelling of the churl or lob-cock." It is not worth while to say more, though the number of allied words is very large. We have the variants lourde, lourdart, lourdel, lourdet, lourdier, lourdin, lourdinot, lourdois, all in Godefroy, and all with the same sense ; and the modern F. lourdaud. Then there is the verb lourder, with the substantives lourdece, lourderie, lourdete', lourdie, lourdise, lourdoie- ment. Altogether, the Latin luridm had a numerous progeny (see Diez and Godefroy). The * English Dialect Dictionary' gives Lurdan, Lurdane, with over twenty refer- ences, refers to 'Piers the Plowman,' and quotes the O.F. form. CELEB.

SUNFLOWER ORNAMENT ON CRUCIFIX (9 th S. ix. 67). The second-hand bookseller probably mistook a radiating nimbus behind the head of a crucified Christ for a sunflower. The nimbus is, of course, one of the many Christian symbols derived from pagan