this parish very generously presented us with a parish chest, into which were placed what books, etc., we possessed; at the same time an appeal was made for all ratepayers to bring forward any books or papers they might possess relating to the parish. Up to the present time no one has responded to the appeal, although the other day a ratepayer, evidently absentmindedly, admitted having ratebooks in his house nearly ninety years old. A few months ago I picked up in tte the most casual manner a century old Book for this parish, about which no one seemed to have the least knowledge or care. This topic might well be associated with that about Church inscriptions and the preservation of village records at cliii. 361, 406, 446. 427, A. E. OUGHTRED. Scagglethorpe, Malton, Yorks. ΜΕ [ERCHANTS' MARKS (cliii. 137, 177, 250, 359). Since my note on this subject appeared at the last reference, I have seen in the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, an illustration of a sixteenth century brass seal found in the Burgh Roods south of the town wall of Linlithgow. It bears, without any legend, a merchant's mark which is of exactly the same form and design as that on the Pownder Brass (1525) at Ipswich, saving that the initial gothic Con the stem is omitted, and the initials I. C. are substituted one on either side of the stem. The figure four and the two X's are identical. This is the first instance that I have seen of two marks of the same design, though many are very nearly alike. As the centuries are the same, can there be any connection between them? WALTER E. GAWTHORP. in AUTHOR WANTED (cliii. 426; cliv. 16). The phrase wanted is Meredith's, as PROF. BENSLY suggests, but it belongs to the description of Adrian Harley, the wise youth,' Richard Feverel,' chapt. i. "He had no intimates except Gibbon and Horace, and the Society of these fine aristocrats of literature helped him to accept humanity as it had been, and was; a supreme ironic procession, with laughter of Gods in the background. Why not laughter of mortals also?" V. R. The Library. Old Scotch Songs and Poems. Phonetically spelt and translated by Sir James Wilson. (Oxford University Press. 18s. net). SIR IR James Wilson, as the Foreword to this volume by Sir Robert Bruce, President of the Burns Federation, reminds us, died in December, 1926. This beautiful book is thus his last, but by no means his least, contribution towards the revival of appreciation of the Scottish verfour notable works on Scottish dialects, the nacular. He had already published three or fruit of his leisure upon retirement, in 1910, after a distinguished career in the Indian Civil Service only part, though, of that fruit, for he did much work before and during the War on the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. His object in making this collection-where each item is given threefold: as usually printed; spelt to represent one or other Scotch dialect; and rendered into ordinary English-was to give those who cannot, so to say, hear the Scotch tongue in their ears when they read the dialect as commonly presented, a chance to catch something of the humour, pathos and general force of the poetry which, unless they get the sounds accurately, they are sure to miss. He is undoubtedly right in giving the pronunciation, which has been taken from actual speech of old country people, as broadly as it could well be given, partly because he probably renders better so the pronunciation of the time when the earlier specimens were produced, partly also because the ideal will probably best be hit by the stranger through reducing from a first exaggeration. The two sounds most difficult to the non-Scottish tongue and ear, ei and ui, remain to be acquired by listening to native speech; the rest may well be mastered from these pages. Besides its interest and usefulness from the point of view of its main purpose, the book will be found one of the best anthologies of verse ever put famous popular Scottish together. Burns is altogether omitted, the author having dealt with him sufficiently in an earlier volume. Three Oxford Ironies. Edited by George Gordon. (Humphrey Milford. 3s. 6d.) THIS is a member of the series called The Oxford Miscellany' and a pleasing number, for the Ironies' are Copleston's Advice to a Young Reviewer '; Mansel's Phrontisterion and The Oxford Ars Poetica.' The last gave occasion to the little book, through the late William Ernst Browning's liking for it and wish that it should be reprinted. always been attributed to George Murray, an undergraduate at Magdalen Hall, and the present editor has found no reason to counter the attribution. Probably Murray had un successfully tried for the Newdigate, and his poem exposes with an attractive mixture of shrewdness, impudence, and research, the petrifying effect of the earlier Newdigate tradition,' which in 1853 was strongly archæological, and drove the would-be poet and his Muse upon nothing but ruins. The Advice to a Young Reviewer is very good reading, but both the main essay and the specimen review of L'Allegro' are longer and heavier than a modern wit would make them. The best things in the little volume are the delicious choruses of the German Professors in Phrontisterion.' All this, for modern readers, requires annotation and introduction, which are excellently supplied by Mr. Gordon, in whose preface will be found not only the requisite information (and a good story or two by the way) but also a skilful tuning of the reader's mind for enjoyment of this wit of a period with which we have somewhat lost touch. by XVIIth Century Lyrics. Edited with short Biographies, Bibliographies and Notes Alexander Corbin Judson (University of Chicago Press: Cambridge University Press. 12s. 6d. net). THIS should be a useful introduction to seventeenth century poetry. The fourteen poets from whose work the selection is made are those to be expected, and, for the most part, though not altogether, the pieces chosen are also those one would expect. We would, however, have included Crashaw's Letter to the Countess of Denbigh (preferably in its second form). To Herrick are given twice as many pages as to Jonson and Milton, the two best portioned next to him, and perhaps that preponderance is excessive. We would have forgone one or two of Milton's sonnets given here in favour of the magnificent lines On Time.' The author of the famous epitaph on Charles II is commonly known in England as Rochester; it would have been better to keep to that, and not put " John Wilmot in the page-heading. The texts have been modernized both in spelling and punctuation, but, so far as we have tested them, appear sound, though in Marvell's Horatian Ode,' the original thorough should have been kept in I. 15, which as Did through his own side," reads most uncomfortably. In the poem about the Nymph and her dying Fawn is a questionable reading 66 For it was nimbler much than hinds And trod as [if] on the four winds." "if" being inserted, as above, within square brackets. But this is hardly tolerable, and doubtles the true explanation of the apparently defective verse is current pronunciation of four" as a dissyllable. The notes supplied do not often amount to much. Better are the little biographies, and the student will probably find the bibliographical notes which follow these Lives yet more useful, We have received from the London County Council Parts 1. and li. of their report, Indication of Houses of Historical Interest in London. Printed and Published by The Bucks Free The former, giving some account of Ratcliff Cross and the Stairs and the explorers who started thence, shows the bronze tablet erected in commemoration of these navigators in the King Edward Memorial Park in 1922; and then goes on to give particulars of Canaletto and the tablet affixed in 1925 to the house he lived in in Beak Street. The latter records the affixing of tablets to the house Gladstone occupied in Carlton House Terrace; to George Frederick Watts's house, No. 6, Melbury Road, Kensington; and to Whistler's house in Cheyne Walkall in 1925. Each record, as usual, is accompanied by a pleasant and informative essay relating to the period of the historical person's life with which the house and the tablet are concerned. BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES. MR. JAMES F. DRAKE'S Catalogue No. 188 liste first editions of modern books. The prize among them, marked at $325 is a set of first editions of Byron's Don Juan,' uncut, in the original boards with the paper labels as issued, library of Mr. John Drinkwater, bearing his and enhanced in interest by coming from the library label, signature and pencil note. We were interested to observe that the book which (with Hudson's Crystal Age' bearing the this is a large paper copy signed by author author's autograph), is to cost next most to and artist of When We Were Very Young (A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard) and priced $275. Mr. Drake has a copy of Gay's Fables' with Blake's Plates ($100); a first edition of Butler's The Way of all Flesh ($125); some good first editions of Conrad, and first editions of the set of Roscoe's Novelist's Library, 19 vols. with the complete series of 100 plates, 74 of which are by George Cruikshank ($250).. We observed that first editions of Lafcadio Hearn's Stray Leaves from Strange Literature and Some Chinese Ghosts are offered respectively for $90 and $100. A rare book worth noting is Poems from the Arabic and Persian; with Notes, by the Author of Gebir " (W. S. Landor) priced $175, and another fine item is a first edition of Swinburne's 'Poems and Ballads with an autograph inscription by the author ($250). There is a single Trollope first edition-The Vicar of Bullhampton' in the original paper covers ($100). The Publisher will be pleased to forward free specimen copies of N. and Q.' to any addresses of friends which readers may like to send to him. Press, Ltd., at their Offices, High Street, Wycombe, in the County of Bucks. FOR READERS AND WRITERS, COLLECTORS AND LIBRARIANS. Italian NOTES: Unpublished Letters of Warren SIXPENCE. ANY BOOKS IN or OUT of print CAN BE OBTAINED FROM HALEWOOD & SON, Dealers in Fine and Rare Books, FRIARGATE, PRESTON. 'PHONE: 2603. Enquiries Solicited. Established 1867. For Sale.-Notes and Queries. 36 bound volumes (1874 to 1879). Would be NOTES AND QUERIES. BINDING CASES FOR VOLUME PUBLISHER'S BINDING CASES for VOL. INDEX TO VOLUME CLIII. THE HE TITLE PAGE and SUBJECT INDEX to VOL. CLIII (July-Dec., 1927) will be ready at the end of January. Orders, accompanied by a remittance, should be sent to NOTES AND QUERIES." 20, High Street, High Wycombe, Bucks, England, direct Canning-Barbon Family-Meredith: quotation through local newsagents and booksellers. The wanted, 70, Index is also on sale at our London office, 22, Essex Street, Strand, W.C.2. THE LIBRARY:-Five Centuries of Religion a Visitors to London are invited to The Piccadilly Auction Rooms (Calder House) to inspect the display of ancient Silver, Jewels and Antiques collected from the Ancestral Homes of England. To obtain the full value of your treasures, employ the Auctioneer with expert knowledge of values, and one who studies the customer's interest before his own personal gain. Although it may seem paradoxical, it is nevertheless a fact, that if you wished to buy you could not do better than attend my rooms or instruct me to purchase on your behalf. It is simply a case of one person buying what another wishes to sell that enables me to perform a double service to the advantage of both buyer and seller. one I have a fleet of motor cars and staff of experts constantly touring the country visiting the homes of the hard-pressed fixed income classes, who are compelled to part with their treasures in order to meet the everincreasing demands of the tax collector. For 21s. two of my representa tives-one with a knowledge of Plate and Jewels, and the other Pictures, Porcelain, Old Furniture, Objects of Art, etc.-will call and impart all the information they can, and, if necessary, bring the jewels and silver away in the car. If desired, a third will also call to confer with those who wish to sell their landed property by auction or by private treaty, to talk about valuations for mortgages, dilapidations, and all such matters undertaken by a surveyor. Valuations for Probate, Insurance, etc., at moderate fees. Weekly Auction Sales of Pearls, Diamonds, Old Silver, Sheffield Plate. No buyingin charges. Stamps purchased for cash to any amount. Parcels safe registered post. W. E. HURCOMB, Calder House (Entrance: 1, Dover Street), Piccadilly, London, W. 1. 'Phone: Regent 6878-9. HURCOMB NOTES AND QUERIES is published every Friday, at 20, High Street, High Wycombe, Bucks (Telephone: Wycombe 306). Subscriptions (£2 2s. a year, U.S.A. $10.50, including postage, two half-yearly indexes and two cloth binding cases, or £1 15s. 4d. a year, U.S.A. $9, without binding cases) should be sent to the Manager. The London Office is at 22, Essex Street, W.C.2 (Telephone: Central 0396), where the current issue is on sale. Orders for back numbers, indexes and bound volumes should be sent either to London or to Wycombe; letters for the Editor to the London Office. Memorabilia. of the oldest and most beautiful portion of it. The central tower has just been made safe for a hundred years or more; it is now the south transept that is in imminent danger. The west window of the transept (inserted in 1440 into the Norman wall of William the Con queror's day) is bulging so that any casual observer may expect its instant collapse; the external buttress is in a bad condition; above all the south wall of the transept (Perpendicular work) has become so greatly dilapidated that bits of it can be broken off as if it were of wood. "If anything should happen to the south wall," the Dean of Hereford is reported to have said, "the east wall will certainly fall in. The east wall in question is a bit of pure Norman work, sole surviving portion, experts say, of the first Hereford Cathedral. And if it falls it will bring down with it the early fifteenth century roof with its beautiful vaulting. The repairs, it may be seen, want instant doing; the money will NO reader of The Times but will have be the harder to find because contributions for LOOKING through an 1679. account of the in recently published Decennial Supplement of the Registrar-General (1921) dealing with Occupational Mortality, which appears The Times of Jan. 23, we observed the relative immunity from cancer and consumption of the clergy and bankers an immunity which is not now noticed for the first time and then came upon the rather curious fact that appendicitis, marked as to some extent a disease of the well-to-do, appears to be specially prevalent among barristers. Barristers appear in the group among whom consumption is noticed the announcement in the issue restoration of the central tower have been so for Jan. 25 of the decision of the Council of recently asked for; but there is some comfort the Medical Society of London to sell at auc- in learning that the reconstruction of this tion Dr. John Ward's Diary. Dr. John endangered portion of the Cathedral is not Ward was vicar of Stratford-on-Avon during estimated to require more than one thousand the later middle years of the seventeenth pounds. century, and his Diary, contained in sixteen small pocket-books, runs from 1648 to 1 Not so very far removed from Shakespeare, certainly in a position to pick up first-hand gossip about him from people who had seen and talked with him, Dr. Ward is the authority to whom we owe our information about that merry meeting " with Drayton and Jonson, when they drank it seems too hard and " Shakespear died of a feavour there contracted." This passage was given to the world in 1839, when Dr. Charles Severn, Registrar to the Medical Society, brought out a digest of the Diary, giving the more interesting passages from it with notes on them. It is certainly to be wished that the Diary should now be published in full, for, apart from Shakespeare, and from the value of anything that serves to illustrate for us more fully Shakespeare's surroundings and the currents of contemporary life in them, there is an immense store in it of curious observations, odd facts, anecdotes and scraps of wisdom. Dr. Ward employed himself it is clear in concern for men's bodies almost as much as in concern for their souls. THE special correspondent of the Morning Post sounds an alarm about the safety of Hereford Cathedral (Jan. 25)-at any rate "" lowest.' " It would seem that the healthfulness of speech as an exercise more than compensates for disadantages of bad air in the divers courts and places of worship. WE see in The Times of Jan. 23 that there has been found in the Cottage Hospital at Moreton-in-the-Marsh, Gloucestershire, a chair which figured in the trial of Charles I. at Westminster. It is hoped that arrangements will be made for its transfer to South Kensington. An official of the Victoria and Albert Museum stated that negotiations for the purchase of the chair were not completed, the final signatures for the sale having still to be appended. It is said that |