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NOTES AND QUERIES. p* s. ix. MARCH 29, 1902.

that I have searched personally (as a stranger) for a week or ten days at a time, all the records of several large parishes in London and in the country without any fee whatever having been demanded of me. C. MASON. 29, Emperor's Gate, S.W.

"THE COCK AND CRYER." I read recently that some silver plate had been lost in February, 1718/9, from the royal household, and that it was "ordered to be cried by the Cock and Cryer " with a view to its recovery What is the full meaning of this phrase?

C. MASON.

29, Emperor's Gate, S.W.

"MERESTEADS" OR " MESESTEADS." In a review of Mrs. Alice Morse Earle's ' Old Time Gardens,' just published, I find that the following passage from the book is quoted :

"The first entry in the Plymouth records is a significant one. It is the assignment of 'Mere- steads and Garden Plotes,' not meresteads alone, which were farm lands, but home gardens. The outlines of these can still be seen in Plymouth town."

The word "merestead "is new to me ; but it will be seen by a reference to 9 th S. v. 349 that "meestead" (i.e, messuage) occurs with some frequency in the Court Rolls of the manor of Dewsbury in Yorkshire in the six- teenth century. Have these New England records been correctly edited, or is "mere- stead " an erroneous reading of " mesestead " or "meesestead"? Perhaps Mrs. Earle or some American scholar would kindly verify the original record. S. O. ADDY

3, Westbourne Road, Sheffield.

DUMAS IN ENGLAND. Dumas pere visited England in 1833, and again in 1857 (the last few days of May and first few days of June). Can your readers refer me to any English record of either of these visits ? H. A. S.

SIR ALAN DE HEYTON. Can any of your readers tell me the descent of Sir Alan de Hey ton, of whose daughters and coheirs one married Sir John Fen wick (in the reign of Kichard II.) and another married Thomas, son of John Middleton, of Belsay 1

M/J. N. H.

NEWARK ABBEY, SURREY. There is a portion of boundary wall, and a stone coffin- slab with an incised cross with fleur-de-lys hard by, near the five-barred gate opposite the abbey (on the narrow road from Pyrford to hipley). Is it known from whose tomb the slab came, or from what part of the abbey 1 Are there any prints in books showing the monastic buildings or plan thereof (including

boundary wall) previous to S. and N. Buck's view 1 If so, please quote chapter and verse.

J. A. RANDOLPH. 128, Alexandra Road, Wimbledon, S.W.

" G.R." In some letters written by an artillery officer serving in Flanders with the English army in 1793 the following sentences occur :

" I lost ray horse in that affair : I did not regret his loss much as he was a G.R."

"I am very tired, having been on horse-back ever since five the morning, and have got a very unruly G.R."

A note by the editor of the letters says that G.R. is "apparently the slang term for a troop horse "; but what do the letters actually stand for ? J. H. LESLIE, Major.

Hathersage, North Derbyshire.

COOPER'S 'ATHENE CANTABRIGIENSES.' The second volume of this work was published in 1861. At the end of the book is printed the following note: "A third volume of 'Athense Cantabrigienses ' is in preparation and will shortly be sent to press." This promise was never fulfilled ; but I should be glad to know if the MS. of this third volume has been preserved, and, if so, in whose custody it now is. BERNARD P. SCATTERGOOD.

Moorside, Far Headingley, Leeds.

KENYON'S LETTERS. Can you tell me to what the following refers : " Mr. Kenyon's Letters, Pap. Reg." ? It is a reference given in ' Notitia Cestriensis ' (Chetham Society Publications, vol. xix.) under " Ellenbrook Chapel." K. TRICE MARTIN.

CHESS PLAYING : A LEGEND. Will some one kindly refer me to the passage in Hux- ley's works where he speaks of Nature and man as if playing a game of chess? Where can I find the old legend of Satan playing at chess with a man for his soul ?

Lucis.

[For the devil and chess see 8 th S. xii. 251, 354.]

BARROSA TOKEN. A few years ago a box, of the Empire style, was given to me. It appears to have been made to hold playing cards. In it was a quantity of metal tokens unds. On the obverse of one is a repre- sentation of the French Imperial eagle Derched on a scroll bearing the name " Bar- osa." It is surrounded by the words "The French Imperial Eagle." On the reverse, 'Taken at Barrosa by the British troops
 * o be used as card counters. They are of two
 * ommanded by Gen 1 Grayham." The other

)attern has under the scroll "March 5, 1811."
 * shall be glad to know if these tokens were