Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 9.djvu/265

 9* S. IX. MARCH 29, 1902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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and at the Battle of the Standard. That ancestors of the Gordon family so fought is most probable ; but is there any record or authority for the statement that they then bore the famous name 1 But all this should be capable of proof, and, in the interests of Scottish history and correct genealogy, should be proved.

While we are on the subject, can any one tell me what is the earliest appearance of De Gordon arms in Scotland, whether the boars' heads or anything else? I ask because I notice that Mr. Joseph Foster, in his new book on ' Feudal Coats of Arms,' puts in an Adam de Gordon, who bore, in the time of Henry III., and so presumably in England, Gules, three fleurs-de-lys argent ; but it would appear as if in the actual Roll the name is spelt Gurdun, perhaps correctly.

G. S. 0. S.

James B. Johnstone, in his 'Place-names of Scotland,' gives the following :

" Gordon (Earlston). 1250, Gordin ; 1289, Gordun. Welsh gor din, 'spacious hill,' or perhaps like Gourdon, Gaelic gobliar (pronounced gore), goat ; dun, a hill, meaning goat hill ; but Killgordon in Ireland is Irish, Coill-na-genirdin=:wood of the parsnips, a word which does not seem to be in the Gaelic."

JOHN RADCLIFFE.

ROYAL PERSONAGES (9 th S. viii. 184, 252, 349; ix. 89). A. W. B. asks, among other things, where the Duke of Cumberland, brother to George III., was married to the Hon. Anne Horton on 2 October, 1771. It was at her house in Hertford Street, Mayfair. I should much like to know what number the house at present bears.

E. F. Du CANE.

AN OLD CHARM (9 th S. ix. 49, 158). In answer to MR. MATTHEWS (whom I thank heartily for his interesting reply), I think there is no doubt that my reading of the two words in question is correct, but their form may have been due to errors in copying. Their resemblance to the Welsh phrases MR. MATTHEWS quotes can scarcely be a mere accident. C. C. B.

CUCKLAND (9 th S. viii. 384, 510 ; ix. 155). I agree with MR. HARRISON that we must not derive all our cuck names from Cwichhelm. In King Eadgar's Hampstead charter to Mangoda we find that one of the boundary limits is the " coccing p61." In the very interesting paper on this and another Harap- stead charter which was contributed by Prof. J. W. Hales to the Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, vi. 560,

the learned writer discusses this place-name without coming to any definite conclusion. The " cucking-stool " is brought forward, and other meanings are suggested, while the most obvious one, that derived from cock, is passed over. I believe that Coccing Pol has much the same meaning as the Hanewelle of Domesday, the modern Han well. The Domes- day Haneworde (Hanworth) may in like manner be compared with the old Devonshire family name Cook worthy, which was formerly spelt Cok worthy or Cock worthy. The ter- mination -ing may at first sight present a difficulty, but if we accept the cfictum of Mr. W. G. Searle in his invaluable 'Ono- masticon Anglo - Saxonicum,' introduction, p. xv, that it is occasionally the equivalent of a mere genitive singular in place-names, the difficulty disappears.

W. F. PRIDEAUX.

"THE MOSS-COVERED BUCKET" (9 th S. ix. 148). This poem is by Samuel Woodworth, of Scituate, Massachusetts, 1785-1842, and is as follows :

How dear to this heart are the scenes of my child- hood,

When fond recollection presents them to view ! The orchard, the meadow, the deep- tangled wild- wood,

And every loved spot which my infancv knew : The wide-spreading pond and the mill wnich stood

by it.

The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell ; The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,

And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well ; The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.

That moss-covered bucket I hail as a treasure ;

For often, at noon, when returned from the field, I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure.

The purest and sweetest that nature can yield. How ardent I seized it, with hands that were

And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell ; Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing,

And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well ; The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket, arose from the well.

How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it,

As, poised on the curb, it inclined to my lips ! Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,

Though filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips. And now, far removed from the loved situation,

The tear of regret will intrusively swell, As fancy reverts to my father's plantation,

And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well ; The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket which hangs in the well. J. DE BERNIERE SMITH.

Bartlett's ' Familiar Quotations ' gives two lines of these verses as the production of Samuel Woodworth, 1785-1842. W. C. B.