Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 9.djvu/40

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. ix. JAN. n, 1002

The final phase of the matter was the appoint- ment by the Bishop of Lichfield (Ryder) of a lay commission, which, after looking into opinions which had been given by Sir Herbert Jennerand Dr. Lushington, reported, in 1831, " that pews cannot be held to be appurtenant to houses."

The soundness of this view must, however, now be judged by the light of the Warmin- ster pew case, decided by the House of Lords in 1891, and the Sharnbrook pew case, heard in 1896 before Sir Arthur Charles, the present Dean of Arches, then a judge of the Queen's Bench Division. W. B. H.

From time immemorial it has been the custom in South Taw ton, Devonshire, to apportion a pew to an owner of property of any significance in the parish. During "the restoration of the church, some twenty years or so ago, I remember that Mr. Arnold, the then owner of North Wyke, threatened to go to law because he considered his rights in this matter had been infringed.

The following is an extract from a cata- logue of deeds, &c., offered for sale by Mr. Coleman, of Tottenham :

"Gloucestershire. The original faculty granted to Robert Brown, who in 1733 kept the White Hart publichouse in Stroud, in the county of Glou- cester, claimed his right to a seat in the Parish Church there for the use of himself and family, he then being the owener of the tennement called the VVhite Hart, in the said town, signed by Edward Stephens, registrar, 27 March, 1733."

W. CURZON YEO. Kichmond, Surrey.

-"x AL un UIls '" A KENTISH GAME (9 th S. viii. 402). Why not quote from the original book, Ootton s Uompleat Gamester ' of 1674 (chap. x. p. Ill) I I he passage there is as follows :

"A A/l ^ UrS is a . Game very much play'd in Kent and well it may, since from thence it drew its first original ; and although the Game may be lookt upon. as trivial and inconsiderable, yet I have known

fote t) ! U eme ! 1 a ^ d thers f verv considerable note who have play'd great sums of money at it, yet that adds not much to the worth of the Game 1>lay away an estate at One and

ne Io8eacons iderabie -i"

I.e., three throws of dice. J. S. McTEAR.

REGIMENTAL NICKNAMES (9 th S v 161 224 263 377, 438 ; vi. 235). -There is a monument dS? cein f. ef y at Trimulgherry (Deccan, dia), raised by the officers, non-commissioned

~,. ,,, w 76th Iveirimerit to thp

memory of those of their corps who died during its time of service in India. On this

H?nH Uine ? fc ^ re imentis c*Ued the "76th Hmdoostan Regiment." The76th-at present

the 2nd Battalion of the West Riding Regi- ment was raised for service in India at the time of the war with Hyder Ali. It remained in India until peace was proclaimed in the Deccan, having been at Seringapatam and Assaye. I regret that I have forgotten the date of the monument. FRANK PENNY.

KIRJATH-JEARIM (5 th S. vi. 346 ; vii. 250). The question here was, why Sir Walter Scott took this place-name for the name of a Jew. I would suggest that he borrowed from Marlowe's ' The Jew of Malta.' See Dyce's edition of Marlowe's plays, 1865, p. 147 : There 's Kirriah Jairim, the great Jew of Greece, Obed in Bairseth, Nones in Portugal, Myself in Malta, some in Italy, Many in France, and wealthy every one.

RICHARD H. THORNTON.

Portland, Oregon.

A SURVIVAL OF PAGANISM (9 th S. viii. 463). There are still a few people left in this village who profess to believe that it is un- lucky to kill a pig during the waning moon. I cannot, however, say that any one acts up to the superstition. 1 have heard the belief stated at a pig-killing, prefixed by the usual "They say," but.it seems to me that people here always kill their pigs at the time most convenient to themselves, regardless of con- sequences. JOHN T. PAGE.

West Haddon, Northamptonshire.

"RACING "/9 th S. viii. 104, 150, 291, 347). When the grinder races a grindstone he uses a piece of pointed cast steel, called a racing-iron, to make the working surface of the stone flat, as grindstones have often soft places in them, and when the grinder has worked upon them it causes the stone to become uneven on the surface. Old grindstones when discarded by the grinder are often utilized for various purposes. I have seen several well-built sheds for cattle in the neighbourhood of Sheffield with excellent pillars formed of grindstones. To support the roof of the shed a post has been driven in the ground, and the grindstones have been placed one upon another, forming in some cases picturesque pillars, reminding one of the primitive age of the construction of early classic columns. Grindstones too were very fre- quently used to form stepping-stones over the millstreams. Numbers of these stones are still to be seen in the river-bottoms near Sheffield, where bridges are now constructed.

have seen some excellent vases turned out from grindstones. When the grindstone is of no further use to the grinder it becomes a useful commodity to the housewife for cleansing floors, &c. It is a very common