to ecclesiastical and civil matters occur on these
rolls, but there is no complete calendar to what is
entered upon them. The calendar, which exists in
two forms, chronological and alphabetical, is, how-
ever, an exceedingly useful one; it is to be found in
the “Literary” Search Room. On the Common
Law side of the Exchequer there are forty-seven
rolls (3 Hen. III. to 14 Edward I.) known as the
“Jews' Rolls,” on which are entered the Pleas
held before the Justices of the Jews; there are also
“Order Books” (Edward VI. to 1830) and Minute
Books, 1657 to 1830.
I have not yet spoken of the records of the Lord
Treasurer's Rembrancer's (Exchequer L.T.R.)
branch of the Exchequer. In these we have
important material relating to claims of various
kinds, such as claims to markets or fairs, wreck,
&c., and also to accounts of the sheriffs, and as to
fines, issues, or amerciaments due to the Ex-
chequer from the courts at Westminster. The
principal class of records in this division is the
“Memoranda” Rolls, which exist from 1 Henry
III. to 5 William IV.
No very satisfactory calendar exists to these
rolls; that most frequently used is known as
“Jones's Index” (printed), which is a calendar
to selections from entries on the rolls from Henry
III. to Geo. II., arranged alphabetically under
places with an indez nominum at the end. Be-
side this index there are numerous repertories
and agenda books, which serve as a guide to those
who desire to consult the rolls; a list of these
is set out in Mr. Bird’s ‘Handbook,” p. 205. There
are also on the “L.T.R." side the Exchequer
Entry Books of Orders and Minute Books.
The Judicial Proceedings of the Court of Aug-
mentations, the Court of General Surveyors, and
the Court of First Fruits and Tenths—which were
branches of the Exchequer—also demand attention.
In these we have Writs, Pleadings, Informations,
and Decrees, which, though they contain matter
of much topographical and genealogical interest,
are but seldom consulted.
In the Court of Augmentations there are five
volumes of Pleadings (temp. Henry VIII., “Aug.
Mis. Bks,’ vols. Xix. to xxiii.), Depositions (Henry
VIII. to Edward IV., ibid, vols, cviii. to cxxxiii.);

to these there is a MS. Index. The Decrees, which
exist for the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII.
and for that of Edward VI., are contained in “Aug.
Mis. Bks.,’ vols. xci. to cv., to these there is a
calendar; whilst Informations and various other
proceedings are entered in vols. clzv. of the same
series. The Pleadings in the Court of General
Surveyors are contained in a box, the reference
to which is “Exchequer Treasury of Receipt,
No. 111.” The Decrees and Orders (34 to 38 Henry
VIII.) are entered in the “Augmentation Office
Miscell. Books,’ vol. cwi.; a calendar to this ap-
ars on pp. 166-196 of the Appendix to the
Thirtieth Report of the Deputy Keeper. The
records of the Court of First Fruits and Tenths
consist of Plea Rolls (Mary to Geo. II., to which
there is a volume of index), Process Books (29
Henry VIII. to 1817, 13 vols.), and several pack-
ages of miscellaneous documents (Henry VIII. to
William IV.). W. J. HARDr.
(To be continued.)

A CURIOUS BELFRY CUSTOM. At Treswell, Laneham, and East Drayton, three Nottinghamshire villagessituated inclose proximity to each other, and not far from the Trent side, it was formerly a custom for the bell-ringers to record marriages on the belfry walls of their respective parish churches. On one of my summer visits to Treswell when a boy, quite thirty-five years ago, Mr. Daniels, the then rector, pointed out to me certain red-ochre marks, squares and rings, on the interior walls of the tower, where the bells were rung from the floor of the church. ... I have a dim recollection that my informant said these markings were called “cakes.” because they were put there as memorials of gifts of cakes to the ringers on wedding days. But having never met with such-like records of marriages on church walls elsewhere, nor, indeed, of any printed account of such a custom, and thinking memory might have played me false, I recently made inquiries from the clergymen of those parishes, who have kindly furnished me with information of a very interesting character. Dr. Stott, the present rector of Treswell, says that the old belfry records were covered over with plaster at the restoration of that church about thirty years ago, and that only a few traces of portions of circles encroaching upon the stonework of the belfry arch are now visible. Strange to say, at Rampton, less than two miles away, and about half way between Treswell and Laneham, there are no evidences of such marks on any part of the walls of the church, and no one remembers such a custom to have been observed in that village. At Laneham, however, only two miles further,

l there are still to be seen on the belfry walls twenty.

the four figures of the year, dating from W.D. to

B. 1777, R. M. and probably to even a still later date. The 1865, top letter stands for the bride's Christian name, the lower letters for the Christian and surname of the bridegroom, and the figures, of course, for the year of the marriage. The old village carpenter now living was the last to put up “marriage lines” such as these, and, according to the testimony of his wife, “he was a good letterer and did a many.”

The custom was that every married couple who brought the ringers a large plum loaf of six or eight pounds weight, and rich according "to the wealth of the giver, a cheese, often a “sage cheese,” such as is still not unknown in that neighbourhood, and a certain sum of money for beer, had not only a “ring o' bells” on the wedding morn, but also a “ring” with their respective initials put up on the belfry walls by the ringer who was best skilled in that art. In course of time, as the walls became covered with these devices, it was found necessary to efface the older records in order to paint new ones in their place, and evidences of half-obliterated “rings” are traceable underneath more modern ones.

Dwellers in towns and cities, whose knowledge of a village wedding is derived from Luke Fildes's celebrated picture, may be interested to know what was the old-fashioned way of keeping up a wedding in these remote parts of Nottinghamshire. Everybody was apprized of the coming event three weeks before by a peal rung after the morning service on the Sunday when the banns were first published—a custom which, by the way, is still practised at East Drayton. When the day came the village was en fête. The nuptials having been solemnized, and the wedding breakfast over in the morning, the whole bridal party walked back to

church, and, in the case of a better-class wedding,
the “best man” carried a basket containing a plum
loaf, a cheese, and a knife, all wrapped in a white
cloth. Amongst the poorer class the bridegroom
himself carried under his arm a cake wrapped up
in the same way. This gift was taken to the belfry
and delivered to the oldest ringer, who cut the
cake and cheese and distributed to all the assembly,
but first of all to the village children, who came in
a few at a time and were arranged in a row with
their hands folded, the idea being that they must
be orderly and well behaved in the belfry. When
all had partaken of the simple feast, the wedding
arty paraded down the four streets of the village
with the attendant throng until they reached the
bride's house, where all went merry as a marriage
bell, and where the church ringers were entertained
at supper in the evening.
At a wedding at East Drayton in April, 1891,
the bridegroom took a plum loaf and a piece of
cheese to the ringers in the belfry; but no record
was placed on the belfry walls, “although,” says
Mr. Wilkinson, “I believe the bride's sisters'
‘rings' are on the walls.” The custom of painting
the rounds seems to have ceased when the floor
of the ringing loft was raised some years ago.
Readers of ‘N. & Q.” are familiar with the com-
mon practice in former days of newly-married
people making gifts to friends and neighbours"—
a usage that has been completely reversed in our
own times—but this apparently local custom
of recording marriages on belfry walls may not be
generally known ; indeed, I find it has even
escaped the notice of Mr. Briscoe, a Nottingham-
shire antiquary, in his interesting compilation of
* Curiosities of the Belfry." JAMEs HALL.
Lindum House, Nantwich.

POLLS AT PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
BEFORE 1832.
(Continued from p. 303.)
Herefordshire.
Polls in Smith, 1722, 1754, 1774, 1776, 1796, 1802,1818.
Hereford.
1661 Sir Henry Lingen, Knt. ... -
Sir Edward Hopton, Knt. 251
Herbert Westfaling --- --- --- 233
This was a double return, and the whole election was
declared by the House void, and a new writ ordered.
1689 Vice Sir William Gregory, made a Judge of the
Court of Common Pleas.
Henry Cornewall ... 372
Edward Gwyn 143

* In a Yorkshire village, not many miles from East Drayton, it is usual to have competitive races, and the wedded couple to give the prizes: a pound of tobacco for old men, a pound of tea for old women, a silk handkerchief for young men, a ribbon for 3. girls. If these sports and prizes were not provided, a besom would be found at the door the next morning, the idea being that if the bridal couple did not give anything to race for they were too poor to buy a besom.

land is described in English as “hastler land.” The rod, or symbol of investiture whereby copyhold land was conveyed, might have been hastula, but I doubt whether servitium hastilare is in any way connected with this symbol, especially as in these villages copyhold lands are said to be held “by the straw.” S. O. Addr. 3, Westbourne Road, Sheffield.

Folk-Lore : DRowNEd Body Located.—The Suffolk Times and Mercury of Friday, Nov. 4, 1892, under the heading of ‘A Norfolk Superstition,” gives the following:—

“Last week (writes our Thetford correspondent) information was received at Thetford that a middle-aged woman had been missing from Brandon since Oct. 11, and had been seen at Thetford. Her friends naturally became alarmed about her, and had serious fears as to her safely, and as they could hear nothing about her, they asked that the river between Thetford and Brandon might be dragged. Instead of this, recourse was had to a very curious procedure, in which it appears some people really believe. On Tuesday afternoon the Navigation Superintendent got a boat and rowed down the river, accompanied by a policeman, who was mildly and slowly beating a big drum. It was stated that, if they came to any part of the river in which there might be a dead body, a difference in the sound of the drum would be distinctly noticed. The experiment, however, was a failure, and later on, it was reported that a person answering to the description of the missing woman was at Elvedon. This proved to be correct, and she was ultimately taken home, to the great relief of her friends.”

I fancy this belief is uncommon; at least, I have never met with it before. W. B. GERISH. South Town, Great Yarmouth.

The Inventor of LUCIFER MATches.—

“Mr. John Walker, chemist, of Stockton, and the original inventor of lucifer matches, died in that town the other day at the age of seventy-eight. For a considerable time he realized a handsome income from the sale of his matches in boxes at 15. 6d. each.”—Vide Baptist Reporter, June, 1859. John T. PAGE. Holmby House, Forest Gate.

REL:cs IN A London CHURCH.-The following appears in the City Press:–

“As the church of St. Mary, in the Minories, will be closed during the next few weeks, and used only as a mission room, a faculty having been obtained some time ago for the amalgamation of the parish with that of St. Botolph, Aldgate, what is going to be done with the interesting relics? Notably among these is the head of the Duke of Norfolk, which is kept in a black box under a glass cover in the vestry. The story goes that, immediately after his execution on Tower Hill, the duke's friends obtained possession of the head and secreted it in the chapel attached to his family mansion. This family mansion really comprised the buildings of the ancient Priory of Holy Trinity, as founded by Matilda, Queen of Henry I., in 1108, and which, together with the precincts, had been given, at the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., to Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor of England, who, after pulling down the church, made the place his residence until his death, in the year 1554. Thereupon, in virtue of his marriage