Usually, I think, the sheep and lamb are connected with good fortune in folk-lore. What do other correspondents of N. & Q.' G. W. say? Ulysses and Diomed go out to the Trojan camp in the night-time. And the black ewe may be promised by Nestor in honour of the goddess Night. In the sixth book of the Eneid,' Eneas sacrifices to Night and to her sister a black lamb: Ipse atri velleris agnam Heyne in a note says that the mother of the "GORDON'S FORMULA" (10th S. v. 238).-In Trautwine's pocket - book the well-known column-formula is ascribed to Prof. Lewis Gordon, of Glasgow. In the British Museum Catalogue his full name is given as Lewis Dunbar Brodie Gordon, although on the titlepage of his Lectures' held before Glasgow University (1849), his name is plain Lewis Gordon. L. L. K. ་ an invocation. The following citation from Elworthy's The Evil Eye,' London, 1895, p. 441, throws light on the question : "It was an ancient belief that each of the vowels of the alphabet represented the sound uttered in its revolution by one particular planet; these all combined form one eternal harmony to the glory of the Great Creator of the Universe. This is the meaning of the lines in Addison's well-known hymn: For ever singing as they shine The hand that made us is divine. Another interpretation of the seven vowels is that they represent the ineffable Name of the Creator, the mystic Jehovah, the great I AM." R. Y.: "IRISH STOCKE" (10th S. v. -This "Company's business in was scarcely a voluntary speculat being "undertakers" in the colon Ulster at the command of King the City companies taking Coler Derry, which was thus renamed derry. The capital was found by tion, and several guilds still h shares, administered by the so-call Society." Their first official in cha Mr. Beresford, progenitor of, the Marquis of Waterford. RAMSGATE CHRISTMAS PROCESSIO v.208). This custom is undoubtedly with the universal "mummings" a ings" which survive to this day wi old enthusiasm, especially at Le Shetland. (See The Shetland Tim ruary, 1905, a copy of which was ve sent to me by the Rev. J. W. W St. Ringan's Manse, Lerwick, a N. & Q.') · The Ramsgate Hodening or "C ing"-so called because one of characters, the Dragon, wore a "hooden," or wooden head, and the principal character was the C St. George-is described, in a manne to the account in The European Mag Brand's Antiquities,' ed. Ellis (Bo vol. i. p. 474, Going a-Hodening' its continuance at the present da well ('Dict. of Archaisms') desc as a custom "formerly prevalent on Christmas Eve, when a horse's carried in procession. This is continued, but the singing of carols season is still called hodening." E Mr. H. F. Abell, in a very interestin in The Home Counties Magazine f 1901, entitled Some Surviving Beliefs,' says that the Kentish n "almost known as hodenings are quite extinct, but were within living a universal item in the festivities season." One of the chief character the Kentish "Hoodeners" wore a " head, "filled with hobnails for teet chattered when moved by a string." This noise corresponds to the snapping of the jaws of the horse as described in the account quoted by MR. STONE; but the circumstance of the horse's head of St. George often appearing without his antagonist the dragon, is perhaps owing merely to the horse's skull having been more easily obtainable than a stage dragon. The Kentish band of Hoodeners consisted of St. George, the Dragon, Father Christmas, the Doctor, the King of Egypt, a Turkish Knight, and the Giant Turpin. Mr. Abell leaves it to folk-lorists to decide if the Kentish Giant Turpin be a descendant of Typhoeus or Typhon, or Turpin the churlish knight of Spenser's Faery Queen'; but he was always a prominent member of the party. THE HARE AND EASTER (10th S. iv. 306; v. 292).-MR. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL speaks of the German custom of hiding the Easter eggs in a sort of nest for the children to find. But some twelve years ago, when we hid the eggs on Easter morning in South Germany (the children being meanwhile locked up in the schoolroom, so that they might not watch us), we were told to place the eggs always in some prickly place-in a patch of nettles, or among thorns or hollyso that the children might run the chance of being stung or scratched in picking them out. Later in the day some one suggested that this might be a relic of the Prometheus myth-the egg, the life-principle, having to be snatched from a prickly or burning place. And the same day we chanced to find, among the children's books, a Japanese fairy tale, in which was a picture of a hare guardflaming volcano. To us it seemed there might be some connexion between the three incidents. I should like to know if we were correct in supposing that there was, and to hear what other readers of N. & Q.' have to say. ROWLAND THURNAM. According to The Church Times of 2 Jan., 1891, the custom of Hodening was not dead in that year, in at least two Kentish towns-ing two eggs: in the background was a Deal and Walmer. "We were warned," says the writer, "of the arrival of this creature by a very loud clapping noise, and on rushing to the street door saw a horse's head supported on a pole by a man in a crawling position, so as to resemble an animal, and covered in front by a coarse cloth. Nothing was done or sung by the small crowd around; and the clapping caused by the opening and shutting of the mouth continued till the creature, having been satisfied with money, was driven away." (Vide E.D.D.'). J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL. Accounts of the old custom of "Going a-Hodening" will be found in The Kentish Note-Book (Kentish N. & Q'), by G. O. Howell, pp. 19 and 320-1, which also quotes Relics for the Curious,' 1824, and Hone's Every-Day Book,' 1827, as mentioning this custom. It appears to have been observed at Ramsgate, Minster, and all the villages of the Isle of Thanet, as well as at Deal and some places along the east coast of Kent. The custom was discontinued about 1840, in consequence of a woman at Broadstairs being so scared by it that her death resulted. One writer, referring to the hand-bells that were used in these grotesque processions, states that there were still families in Ramsgate who were clever hand-bell ringers. Other places had this custom. It existed in Wales, where it was known as "Merry Lwyd " (see Curious Welsh Custom, 1 S. i. 173, 258, 315), and also in Cheshire and Oxfordshire. G. H. W. Blagdon, Somerset. ROPES USED AT EXECUTIONS (10th S. v. 266, 315).—In February, 1886, three men (Rudge, Martin, and Baker) were hanged at Carlisle for murder, newspapers stating that "Berry, Charles Maldon officiated as his assistant." of Bradford, was the executioner, and It soon transpired that "Charles Maldon" was the sobriquet of a distinguished amateur; see paragraph in The Times of 20 February, 1886. I have seen a bracelet composed of a portion of the hanging rope used on the above occasion, with gold mount inscribed to that effect, and indicating the article as a gift from the individual who "assisted" at W. B. H. the last penalty of the law. CHEYNE WALK: CHINA WALK (10th S. v. 245, 312).-The terrace of houses by the river-side at Chelsea known as Cheyne Walk was so named, not from the china manufactory for which Chelsea was famous, but after the Lord of the manor of Chelsea, Charles, Lord Cheyne. The family of the Cheyneys, or de Casineto, or Quercineto, signifying the oak, from its abundance near their ancient residence, says Faulkner, have long flourished in Bucks, and were supposed to have originated from the village whence they assumed their surname. The village of Cheneys, Chenies, or Islehampstead Cheyneys, in South Bucks, is owned by the Duke of Bedford, who has the manor; but the old seat of the Cheyneys was at the adjoining village of Chesham Bois, on the river Chess. Cheyne Walk was, however, certainly spoken of by old Chelsea folk as China Walk, from the idea that the name was commemorative of the Chelsea China Works, at the corner of Justice Walk. J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL. PROF. SKEAT'S suggested derivation of the name of Cheyne is of interest, but as a local place-name it was applied because the manor was in the possession of the Cheyne family. From 1657, on its purchase by Charles Cheyne, until 1712, when it was sold to Sir Hans Sloane, they owned this site, and towards the end of that period Cheyne Walk came into existence. The substitution of China Walk may have some significance in connexion with the famous pottery, but I am rather sceptical. It was never a sufficiently important resort or a subject of local pride likely to have caused a change of place-names. ALECK ABRAHAMS. 39, Hillmarton Road, N. "PIGHTLE": "PIKLE" (10th S. v. 26, 93, 134, 174, 317).—In the Surrey Archaeological Collections, vol. ix. pp. 23, 119, an undated deed recording a gift of land in Warlingham by Odo de Dammartin to Tandridge Priory, Surrey, has: "Sine aliquo retinemento in croftes, in pictlakes, in boscis." The deed is there stated to be earlier than 1210; a witness is also said to have been alive in 1198. The benefactor Odo de Dammartin was alive in 1154, and is again mentioned as being alive in 1218. The deed is also printed in 'Monasticon,' vi. 603. F. GORDON PULFORD. Warlingham, Surrey. "Pightle" occurs twice on a map showing "The True Platt and Description of ye land belonging to ye Mannors of Pembrooke, Bruses, Dawbneyes & Mockings in the Parishes of Tottenham and Edmonton in the County of Midd. being parcell of ye Possessions of the right honorable Richard Erle of Dorsett, 1619 (Tho. Clay Desc.)." In the grounds of the manor of Mockings are two adjacent fields called severally "The Nether Pightle" and "Upper Pightle," and leased to one named J. Burrough. These fields lay along the north bank of the "Garbell Ditch," and seem to have been called Nether and Upper with regard to the flow of the water of the said ditch, which is now known as the river Moselle. Other noteworthy field-names in this map are Tomacre, Long Dinge, The Great Dinge, The Slype, Long S and The Little Holm are depicted as island Lea. In this map the of Queen Mary's ti modern form with o spelt "Harnsey" the 4, Temple Rd., Hornse BALL GAMES PLAYED iv. 347).-On Mardi writing of the twel century in his 'Histoi p. 269), “on jouait bois d'Abbeville"; an tated : "Ballon de cuir gros mousse ou de son, peint az du roi, de Ponthieu, et de au maire par le procureu suite de ce jeu, qui durait avait un banquet où l'on netiaux (jeunes canards) a mangea trente-six douzaine paux et les habitants de M même jeu, le dimanche et 1 de Bouhourdis." I am sorry I do not l what intent this last-1 held. As for the solar signifi I am tempted to think been square and the ear still, active players would devised the various facil marbles to footballs min the recreation of humanit COLLOP MONDAY, &c. ( a small boy I was at a pr Luton, Beds, called Nor last Sunday of the term Sunday and Cock-hat S being used interchangeably mortar-boards on Sundays custom to tilt them over ou Sunday in the term when w service at the local church. unbutton the two bottom waistcoats, and to spit in church where we sat before instructions for Cock-hat S comes the more familiarly veyed in the rime : Unbutton one, Unbutton two, Cock-hat Sunday Gob in the pew. I cannot give any reason but I can remember that othe my acquaintance, who went t of that kind, had the same notions about Press Club. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: HIS ANCESTRY (10th S. v. 269).-Descended from an illustrious family of Campania, in the kingdom of Naples, he was son of Landulphe, Comte d'Aquin, Seigneur de Lorete et de Belcastro, and grandson of the famous general Thomas d'Aquin, Comte de Sommade, who commanded the army of the Emperor Frederick I., and who married the Emperor's sister Françoise de Souabe, daughter of Frederick, Duc de Souabe, and Judith of Bavaria. St. Thomas was great-nephew of the Emperor Frederick I., nephew of the Emperor Henry VI, and in the third degree of the Emperor Frederick II. His mother Theodora, daughter of the Comte de Théate, of the house of Caraccioli, descended from the Norman princes who drove the Saracens and the Greeks from Italy, and conquered the two Sicilies, of which they became kings in the eleventh century. Malvenda says that the Seigneurs d'Aquin Swallowfield, Reading. Dr. Robert Owen, in his Sanctorale Catholicum' (1880), states that Count Landulph, the saint's father, sent him, "at the age of five to Monte Cassino to be nurtured with other noble youths, as the manner was." Later, he went to Naples to study under Master Peter of Ireland. HARRY HEMS. depicted are taken from "real life," and they form a series of "Tales, Moral and Instructive," addressed to the young. After careful comparison, I find many indications that point to Mrs. Holbrook as the writer of these short stories and of the novel. The same highly religious tone pervades both, with a marked similarity in several of the characters, and the inflexible resolve that villainy should be exposed and punished. Moreover, in the list of subscribers given at the end of the booklet are residents at Ashby the surnames of "Rebecca." Does not this fact offer a valuable clue to identity? For we know how often writers of fiction have sought for their heroes and heroines the names of places familiar to them. I may add that search is still being prosecuted in likely quarters for the missing third volume of Rebecca,' which it is hoped may soon be discovered. Junior Athenæum Club. CECIL CLARKE. LARGE PAPER MARGINS (10th S. v. 147, 217). There is no reason why the margins of large-paper copies should not be equal all round, the width depending entirely upon the way in which the pages of type are placed in the "forme." Just now there is, I think, a fashion for narrow inner margins, and the peculiarity in the large-paper edition of Walpole's Letters' referred to by the HoN. R. MARSHAM-TOWNSHEND may be due to this. The explanation offered by P. N. R. at the second reference is not satisfactory, as it can apply only to the case of a book which is imposed as a folio, that is, in sheets of four pages; and it is hardly conceivable that an ordinary octavo could have been printed in this expensive way. Iam afraid I am becoming somewhat obscure to the non-technical reader, but my meaning will be made clear by opening out a number of N. &Q before cutting it, and noticing the arrangement of the pages. It will easily be seen that the attempt to produce a "large-paper copy" of N. & Q' by simply printing it upon a larger sheet of paper would produce a ludicrous result. I mention this because I once found that a librarian of great experience, whose name is well known to all your readers, was of opinion that the production of a "large-paper" copy was simply a matter of using larger paper, and did not involve the somewhat expensive process of reimposition. R. B. P. REBECCA': A NOVEL (10th S. iii. 128, 176, 293, 435; v. 72, 117). There has recently come into my possession a small 12mo volume, published at Burton-on-Trent in 1822, entitled Realities and Reflections in which Virtue and Vice are Contrasted,' by Ann Catharine Holbrook mark the spelling of both Christian name and surname-who is, by many, considered to be the writer of Rebecca. Upon the fly-leaf is inscribed "A scarce volume, by this little-known Staffordshire authoress." Therein is also pasted a cutting (apparently from some book catalogue quoting another work of Mrs. Holbrook's called "The Dramatist; or, Memoirs of the Stage. With the life of WIGAN BELL FOUNDRY (10th S. v. 168, 216, the authoress, &c. Birmingham, 1809." It 257).-The following is a short list of bells is claimed for 'Realities' that the incidents, from the Wigan foundries of Ralph Ashton Miscellaneous. NOTES ON BOOKS, &c. and Luke Ashton: Pennington, R. A., 1719; Urswick, "Luke Ashton Fecet Wigan, 1724" Claughton, L. A., 1727; Rushen Castle, Isle of Man, L. A., 1728; Gersingham, L. A., 1740; The History of Japan: together with a 1 Woodland, 1744. There are no founder's initials on the Woodland bell, but the letters, of the Kingdom of Siam, 1690-92. By figures, and heart-shaped stops correspond As an expansion of the great work they Kaempfer, M.D. Translated by J. G. S exactly with those on the first bell at Urs-plishing in their superb reprint of the F.R.S. 3 vols. (Glasgow, MacLehose wick. This seems to show that there was Voyages' of Hakluyt (now out of p still a foundry at Wigan in 1744, although Collection of Voyages' of Purchas, and Mr. J. P. Earwaker, F.S.A., in the Trans-Crudities,' Messrs. MacLehose & Sons actions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 1892, states that the bells of Wigan Church were sent to Gloucester in 1732 to be recast by A. Rudhall. Further information may be found in vol. ii. N.S. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archæological Society, pp. 282-306, and in vol. iii. No. 2 of the Transactions of the Barrow Naturalists' Field Club, pp. 100-14. Barrow-in-Furness. HARPER GAYTHORPE. the first time in a complete form, wh upon Japan. The author of this was the most important and authoritative e and the explorations he made were u on behalf of the Netherlands Embas Emperor's Court, which, in a spirit of devotion to science, he joined as physi judged from these things. His MS. English share in him is greater than came into the possession of Sir Hans whose secretary Scheuchzer they were and by whose influence they were gi world in two volumes folio in 1727, half before the appearance of the first Germa The motive of the purchase of the MS. b [MR. A. H. ARKLE also refers to Mr. Earwaker's Sloane seems to have been found in th paper.] 66 "THE SOPHY" (10th S. v. 308, 354).-Sully (memoirs) calls the ruler of Persia by this title, and describes war and negotiations between the "Grand Turc" and " le Sophy," who had sent son ennemy l'Empereur, et le Roy d'Espagne pour lier vers le Pape, amitié auec eux et les requerir d'assistance." "Le grand Seigneur" therefore sent counter embassy to Henri IV., held by him a to be "le plus estimé Roy de la Creance de Jesus." D. Dr. Kaempfer went on board a ship that the 'Amoenitates Exotica' of the same a Setting out from Batavia on his voyage Siam. He was thus able to give an account of the revolution in that countr execution of Constantin Faulcon, at derived from Japanese authors. He con Prime Minister. His observations on J with geographical descriptions and oth first book with the natural history of fishes, and shells of Japan, including minerals, plants, trees, animals, bird which, as he mentions, are mythical. În book full particulars are supplied ABBEY OR PRIORY (10th S. v. 327). My records the observations made in the co Nagasaki, the one place open to foreigne to the Chinese and the Dutch; while the note seems incomplete. I should like to add two excursions from Nagasaki to the C that the street which runs by the Worksop Emperor at Jedo which, under some lim Priory Church is Prior's Road, and the old was allowed to make. The last supply mill near is the Priory Mill. At some dis- houses (herein called tea-booths), of tance from the church, in the middle of the bath houses, of hotels, and the like. Fu animated accounts of incidents of tra road, is the Prior's Well-now covered in-is passed upon what, though it is not s to which in the old days people from near and far used to resort, and drink the water for pleasure and health's sake. Yet, with these old names before them, the church was "t'owd Abbey Church"; the fine Priory Gatehouse close by was Gateway." The ruins of St. Mary's Chapel, "t'owd Abbey on the south side of the church, went by the name of "t' owd Abbey ruins." torians of Worksop-John Holland, 1826; The hisEdwin Eddison, 1854, and Robert White, 1875 and 1905-all write of it as a Priory, though Eddison often relapses into the error, very common in his time, of calling it an abbey.' Worksop. THOS. RATCLIFFE. ་་ hari-kari; and it is claimed for Japan Capital of the whole Empire, and the |