that "the centre only of the present structure is ancient. The east front exhibits an oblong square tower rising above a portico of modern Gothic work. The west front has in the centre the great entrance, or gatehouse, perhaps nearly in the state in which it was reared in the reign of Richard II. A.D. 1377-1399." It was the residence of the ancient family of Hylton from the time of King Athelstan (A.D. 925-940) to the year 1746; the building has the arms of the Hyltons and their alliances engraven on it in numerous places.] HISTORY OF FAIRS. Observing in "N. & Q.” 3rd S. iv. 477, Dec. 12, 1863, that a correspondent, J. H., asks where he can inspect the best collections for a history of fairs, and that you state that he should endeavour to obtain permission to inspect the curious collections of the late Mr. Fillinham, sold by Messrs. Puttick & Simpson, Aug. 7, 1862lots 352 and 353, Bartholomew Fair; lot 395, Miscellaneous Collections for the History of May, Bow, Horn, Fairlop, Greenwich, and Camberwell Fairs; lot 396, Notices of Hyde Park Fair in 1838; and lot 408, Frost Fairs-I should feel greatly obliged if you can inform me where I can inspect the above lots, more particularly lots 352 and 353, Bartholomew Fair; and lot 395, the Miscellaneous Collections: the latter lot I should be glad to know if for sale. Brixton Hill, Surrey. J. R. D. [Lots 352, 353, were purchased by Mr. Henry Fawcett of 14, King Street, Convent Garden; 395, 396, by Mr. Boone, for the British Museum; 408, by Appleton of New York.] PENDRAGON CASTLE.-There is an engraving of Pendragon Castle, Westmoreland, in Buck's Antiquities, taken early in the last century. While was recently in that part of the kingdom I could find no present account of it in the guide-books, though it was one of the Clifford castles, repaired by the celebrated countess, together with Appleby, Brough, Skipton, &c. Does any part of it yet THOMAS E. WINNINGTON. remain ? demoiselle d'Eon, communiqué par elle à ce seul artiste," &c. It is probably this portrait, "en grand," of which Voltaire speaks in a letter to his friend D'Argental, March 7, 1777: "On m'a envoyé un Chevalier Déon, gravé en Minerve, accompagné d'un pretendu brevet du roi, qui donne douze mille livres de pension à cette Amazone, et qui lui ordonne le silence respectueux, comme on l'ordonnait autrefois aux jansenistes. Cela fera un beau problème dans l'histoire. Quelque académie des inscriptions prouvera que c'est un des monuments les plus authentiques. Déon sera une pucelle d'Orléans qui n'aura pas été brûlée. On verra combien nos mœurs se sont adoucies." In the European Magazine for March, 1791, will be found a portrait of "La Chevalière d'Eon" in hermaphroditic attire, "Née à Tonnerre le 5. 8bre 1728, J. Condé Delin et Sculpt." Another portrait in oval, the face averted in profile, in masculine attire, and adorned with the cross of St. Louis, engraved by Mackenzie, will be found in Eccentric Biography, or Memoirs of Remarkable Female Characters, &c., 12mo, London, 1803. There is also his portrait as "Mademoiselle De Beaumont"; a caricature of him or her—and Dr. Musgrave, the Plymouth physician; a view of the Chevalier's birthplace in Burgundy; and a print representing the Chevalier before a jury of matrons assembled to determine the question of his sex. A second edition of the Life by De la Fortelle was published in 1779, preceded by an Epitre from M. Dorat to the Chevalier, and followed by documents relative to his quarrel with Beaumarchais, which are further detailed in the Vie Privée, Politique et Littéraire de Beaumarchais, (12mo, Paris, 1802, pp. 72-82) where the poet, who had been charged with the mediation between the king and his epicene agent, seems charged with having perverted a sum of 256,763 livres, which the latter asserts that he ought to have received. There is also a pamphlet entitled "Epistle from the Chevalier D'Eon to the Right Hon. L-d M (ansfiel)d on the regard to her Sex." Portrait, 4to, 1778. Lord Mansfield was the judge before whom and a special jury had been tried at Guildhall, July 1, 1777, the extraordinary cause wherein Mr. Hayes, a surgeon, sought to recover from one Jaques, a broker, the sum of seven hundred guineas, for which the latter, in consideration of the payment of one hundred guineas, being fifteen per cent., had signed a policy of insurance to pay the plaintiff the said sum whenever he could prove that the Chevalier d'Eon was a female. In the course of the trial it turned out that the plaintiff had sold, on the same terms, to "Baron Nolleken" (the sculptor ?) a moiety of his chance. Two French gentlemen were called to prove, 4th S. II. SEPT. 19, '68.] NOTES AND QUERIES. from their own certain knowledge and observation, that the subject of the examination was a female, and one of them "gave positive proofs of the same, by relating particulars too indelicate for us to mention." Lord Mansfield commented on the indecency of the proceeding, which, he remarked, arose more from the unnecessary questions asked than from the case itself; that the witnesses had declared that they knew that the Chevalier was a woman, and that if she was not so, they were perjured; and that therefore there was no need of enquiring He how and by what method they knew it. thought, therefore, that the jury must find a verdict for the plaintiff,-which, without going out of court, and after a consultation of two minutes, they did, for seven hundred pounds and forty shillings. Besides the sum thus given by the verdict to Mr. Hayes, it is said that he recovered three thousand pounds on other policies. Other very large sums were dependent on the same suit. If the reader wishes to see a fuller account of this curious matter, he may refer to a notable piece of compilatory quackery, entitled: "Fifty Years' Recollections of an Old Bookseller, consisting of Anecdotes, Characteristic Sketches, and Original Traits and Eccentricities of Authors, Artists, Actors, Books, Booksellers, and of the Periodical Press for the last half Century, &c., 8vo. Cork, 1835." The author of this precious farrago was William West, to whom we are also indebted for a History and Topography of Warwickshire, 8vo, Birmingham, 1830; and a little volume entitled Tavern Anecdotes and Reminiscences, &c. By one of the Old School, 12mo, 1825. Cautioning the reader as to the possible inaccuracies of the blundering writer from whom I have taken the foregoing statement, I may add what he omits, that in spite of the verdict, the plaintiff in this scandalous cause failed to obtain his expected gain. The matter was again brought before Lord Mansfield, in the Court of King's Bench, when, the defendant pleading a previous Act of Parliament for non-payment, this was de.cided to be binding, and the verdict was reversed. The affair had, however, the consequence of causing the Chevalier to be regarded as a woman, and laid him open to the accusation of being a party to the transactions, and an intending sharer of the plunder. This caused his departure from Engfand in Aug. 1777, after asserting in the public papers his innocence of complicity, and referring to a former notice in the papers of 1775, in which he cautioned all persons concerned not to pay any sums due on policies effected with reference to his sex, and declaring his willingness to controvert the evidence adduced on the trial, if he could obtain permission to return to England. His assumption of female attire, which he con tinued to wear till his death, appears to have been forced upon him by his royal master Louis XV., and only submitted to with great reluctance, finally overcome by an imprisonment of some weeks in the castle of Dijon. The mystery attendant upon this extraordinary circumstance in his life, will probably never now receive a satisfactory explanation. The Chevalier was skilful at fence; his profound knowledge of the theory of the art enabled him to render important aid to the elder Angelo in his well-known treatise; he was the constant guest and bosom friend of the latter; and it was with him that Angelo junior first tried his 'prentice hand with the foil. Besides his display with Mons. de St. Georges, as mentioned by P. A. L., he was also accustomed to exhibit in several provincial towns his knowledge of carte and tierce with Mrs. Batiman, an actress. John Taylor, who was accustomed to meet the Chevalier in advanced life at Mr. Angelo's, says that though dressed as a woman, " he spoke and acted with all the roughness of a veteran soldier," and expressed regret that one "who had made so conspicuous a figure should ever have been reduced to derive a precarious support from a public exhibition of his talents in fencing with a woman.' (Records of My Life, 2 vols. 8vo, 1832, vol. i. p. 336.) The unfortunate Such, indeed, was the case. Chevalier, who had returned to England, was deprived of his pension at the time of the French Revolution; and in Sept. 1795 an advertisement appeared, in which he stated "that at the age of sixty-eight she embraces the resources of her skill and long experience in the science of arms, to cut her bread with her sword; and instead of idly looking up for support from those who in her prosperity were her professed good friends, she relies on the liberality of Britons at large to protect an unfortunate woman of quality from the stings and arrows of outrageous fortune, in a foreign land and in the vale of years." At the house and table of the elder Angelo, the Chevalier was, as I have mentioned above, a frequent visitor. Here the pleasantly garrulous son relates – "On my entrance, to my surprise, I beheld a lusty dame dressed in black silk, the head-dress a rosed toupet necklace, long stays, and an old-fashioned stomacher. and laced cap. He had not the least beard, a diamond My father leading me to the assumed lady, I received, à la Française, a kiss on each cheek. Ever afterwards when he dined at our house, though dressed as a woman, when the ladies retired, he remained to enjoy the glass and doors beyond Astley's Theatre. He always dressed in conversation. When I last saw him, he then lived a few black silk, and looked like a woman worn out with age and care."-Reminiscences of Henry Angelo, 1830, vol. ii. p. 59. 66 The reminiscent further adds: At this period there was much talk about D'Eon's sex, and one day, when he dined at our house, Treves, the Jew (who was afterwards one of the chosen guests at Carlton House), contrived a plan with a view to elicit something connected with the mystery. My father informed D'Eon that there was a person in the next room who would, on condition that he discovered his sex, on the instant pay him a thousand pounds, when he directly flew into a violent passion, and it was with much difficulty that my father could restrain his rage against the Jew."-Ib. p. 58. Angelo speaks of memoirs of the Chevalier by Boswell. This I have not seen. Is it the work referred to by MR. LYSONS? The Chevalier was fond of literature, and had cultivated it with success: an enumeration of his various works, as comprised in his Loisirs, 13 vols. 8vo, Londres, 1775, will be found in the Biog. Univer., xiii. 185. In Sept., 1763, he was sent to London as Secretary of Embassy to the Duc de Nivernois, Ambassador from France to that court. This nobleman was succeeded by M. de Guerchy, and the Chevalier was appointed minister plenipotentiary. His disputes with this latter, which led to many of his subsequent misfortunes, are detailed in his Lettres, Mémoires, et Négociations particulières, 4to, 1763; which was succeeded by an Examen des Lettres, &c., 4to. Notwithstanding this unfortunate affair, the Chevalier enjoyed the confidence of his royal master Louis XV., and remained in correspondence with him till the death of that monarch. A good account of the Chevalier, with a portrait by E. Cooper (a copy of that in the European Magazine) will be found in Wonderful Characters by Henry Wilson, 3 vols. 8vo, 1821. The fencing exhibition of the Chevalier did not prove a source of much profit, and he became forced to dispose of his valuable library of books. These were sold by Christie in Pall Mall in 1791, the MSS. and political tracts realising enormous prices. The Catalogue, which is preceded by an exposé in French and English, giving curious details of the private life of the Chevalier, is now very scarce, and fetches a high price in France. He also published at the same time :"An Account of the Facts, Motives, and Reasons, for the Public Sale of Property to satisfy Creditors before departing for Paris." 8vo. 1791. In this curious pamphlet it is represented that Earl Ferrers received a sum of 5000l. on account of Mdlle. D'Eon, and applied 3000l. of it in repairing his mansion of Stanton Harold, neglecting the rightful claims of the lady. The Chevalier died May 21, 1810, and was buried at St. Pancras. An autopsy was made by Mr. Copeland, surgeon, of Golden Square, when the body was discovered and certified, to be that of a perfect male. WILLIAM BATES. Birmingham. THE LATIN LANGUAGE. (4th S. i. 535, 589.) Although I have already shown (1st S. ix. 536-38) from the Classical Museum, &c., a remarkable similarity between the Celtic languages and Latin, I hope to be allowed to make some remarks on the correspondence of a later date, which originated in the query: "Where can you find a good account of that element in Latin which is not related to Greek-the barbarous element, as it is called ? " MR. BUCKTON in his reply mentions, amongst its elements, first, the language of the Illyrians, who were of Thracian origin. But the Thracian Greek, see Jamieson's Hermes Scythicus. Second, or Scythian has been considered the parent of of the Iberians. Several modern writers have maintained the Celtic origin, or affinity of the Iberians or Ligurians. Third, of the Celts or Gauls who originally inhabited the north of Italy; these were designated by the Romans Umbri : "From these authorities (Herodotus, lib. iv. c. 49; Dionysius of Halicarnassus, lib. i.; Pliny, lib. iii. c. 14), it is evident that the Umbri at a remote period occupied the greatest portion of North Italy. The Ligurians, a nation confessedly Celtic, seem to have shared the country with them."-Williams "On one Source of the NonHellenic Portion of the Latin Language" (Trans. of the Royal Soc. of Edinburgh, vol. xiii. p. 499). Zenodotus of Trozene, a writer quoted by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (lib. ii. p. 49), as the author of a History of the Umbri, and who must be supposed to have examined into the subject, expressly asserts that the Sabini were originally Umbrians. These are his words: "The Sabines, who are indigenous, inhabited first the Reatine district; but being driven thence by the Pelasgi, entered that country, which they still inhabit, and having changed their name together with their situation, were called Sabini instead of Umbri. To connect the Sabini with the original population of Rome is an easy task," &c.-P. 503. Thus, there is but one barbarous element of Latin, viz. the Celtic: "Considering the Umbri as confessedly the most ancient people of Italy, I think we may safely ascribe to them the primitive form of its language, until the several communities of the Etruscans, Sabines, and Latins successively detached themselves from the parent adopted also different modifications of the same primevaĺ nation, and from a combination of different elements, tongue."-Williams, p. 513. But the language of the Etruscans was a corruption of Greek: "In iis Italiæ antiquæ linguis (Etruscorum vel Oscorum) principia ac primordia vetustissimæ linguæ Græcæ, inquinata scilicet ac corrupta latuisse nemo, qui acutissimi Lanzii de hac re doctissimum opus inspexerit, dubitare potest."-R. Payne Knight, Proleg. ad Homerum. BIBLIOTHECAR. CHETHAM. LACEMAKERS' SONGS: "LONG LANKIN." (4th S. ii. 178.) Forty years ago, when in Northamptonshire, I used to hear the lacemakers sing the now wellknown ballad of "Hugh of Lincoln " ("It rains, it rains," &c.) Another, which I have never seen in print, but which I happen to have in MS., is "Long Lankin," of which I send a copy. Like the damsels whom Shakspeare represents as "chanting" the song which the Clown proceeds to sing (in Twelfth Night, Act II. Sc. 4), the equally free maids of my childhood's days often chanted, rather than sung, as they sat in rows "in the sun" or in the "lace-school," an institution which is perhaps effete. But Shakspeare's lacemakers made "bone lace," and not "bobbin lace," with which only I am acquainted. I could perhaps remember some few other ditties which the lacemakers used to sing, though my impression is that they were often mere childish nursery rhymes like "Sing a song of sixpence." Such probably was one which began in this of which I recollect no more, but that, as a little boy, I used to tell them to say "nutmeg-tree," which they obstinately refused to do. By-theway, there was a long piece about "Death and the Lady," which the "free maids" used to chant. This exhausts my present reminiscences, so I shall proceed to give you "Long Lankin": "Said my lord to his lady as he got on his horse, 'Take care of Long Lankin, who lives in the moss.' Said my lord to his lady as he rode away, Take care of Long Lankin, who lives in the clay. The doors are all bolted, and the windows are pinned, There is not a hole where a mouse can creep in.' Then he kissed his fair lady as he rode away; For he must be in London before break of day. The doors were all bolted, the windows all pinned, But one little window where Lankin crept in. 'Where's the lord of this house?' said Long Lankin. 'He is gone to fair London,' said the false nurse to him. 'Where's the lady of this house?' said Long Lankin. 'She's in her high chamber,' said the false nurse to 'Where's the young heir of this house?' said Long him. Lankin. 'He's asleep in his cradle,' said the false nurse to him. We'll prick him, we'll prick him all over with a pin, And that will make your lady come down to him.' They pricked him, they pricked him all over with a pin, And the false nurse held a basin for the blood to drop in. O nurse! how you sleep, and O nurse how you snore! You leave my son Johnson to cry and to roar !' I've tried him with suck, and I've tried him with pap; Come down, my fair lady, and nurse him in your lap: I've tried him with apple, and I've tried him with pear; Come down, my fair lady, and nurse him in your chair.' You shall have as much money as you can carry on your back. Oh! spare me, Long Lankin, oh! spare me one hour! You shall have my daughter Nancy, she is a sweet flower.' 'Where is your daughter Nancy? she may do some good; She can hold the golden basin to catch your heart's blood.' Lady Nancy was sitting in her window so high, "O father! O father! don't lay the blame on me; Then Lankin was hung on a gallows so high, To the best of my recollection this copy is not quite complete, and it was sung with occasional ad libitum variations, as "Sally or "Betsy" for Nancy. It is probable that inquiry in the lacemaking districts would produce copies of other old B. H. COWPER. ballads. If MR. EDWARD PEACOCK will refer to a note (3rd S. ix.30) he will discover that "Mirry-land" is no terra incognita. Bishop Percy's nonsense about "Milan" and "the Po" is indeed "a fancy, not worth a serious answer." "Mirry-land toun" is = Mere-land town = Lincoln Merry-land town the town of Mere-land the land of meres, or fen-lakes. Any one who has visited the Fens must have heard such phrases as "A good farm, but too merey"; "Too much mere-land," &c. &c. The meres have been mostly drained, but many of the larger ponds still retain the name of "meres." S. QUEEN BLEAREYE'S TOMB PAISLEY ABBEY. (4th S. i. 309, 486, 584; ii. 60.) ESPEDARE's last able paper (in which, however, he speaks too flatteringly of my humble aid) goes far to solve the difficulty that has been long felt regarding this tomb, and I think establishes clearly the fact that it is a composition of two: (1) the recumbent figure, intended for Marjory Bruce; (2) the altar-tomb, that of some dignified ecclesiastic-the laymen's shields being those of allies or relatives of this latter personage. It will interest ESPEDARE to know that the Crocs were, at an early period, among the landowners of the county of Peebles, as well as Renfrew. (See Orig. Paroch. Scot., vol. i.) He is perfectly right in his correction of my erroneous construction of the curious charters by Robert III. to his brother and nephew, the Albanys. I delayed acknowledging this till I had again consulted the originals; and these show distinctly that it was the "homage and service," not the money grant, which were to be received by Sir Robert Stuart after the death of his brother the Earl of Carric. Perhaps the following extract (supplying contractions) may be acceptable, as it is not every one who examines the Great Seal register: * "Robertus, etc., Sciatis nos dedisse concessisse et hac presenti carta nostra confirmasse dilecto consanguineo nostro Murdaco Senescallo militi pro homagio et servicio nostro et speciali retinencia sua carissimo primogenito nostro David Senescallo Comiti de Carric, ad terminum vite sue continuand. et ipso primogenito nostro in fata forsan decedente continuand. similiter dilecto filio nostro Roberto Senescallo militi prout in literis ipsius Murdaci inde confectis plenius continet centum marcas sterlingorum annuatim levand. et percipiend. de magna custuma nostra burgi de Abirdene per manus custumariorum nostrorum ibidem qui pro tempore fuerint proporcionaliter ad festas pentecoste et sancti Martini in Yeme," etc. etc.Reg. Mag. Sig., p. 213, No. 51. I think the epithet "primogenitus" is quite conclusive against the statement of Abercromby and Duncan Stuart, that Robert III. had an elder son John. These writers are considered very indifferent authority. ESPEDARE is also right in correcting me as to the existence of Robert III.'s other natural son James of Kilbride, who occurs in Robertson's Index of Lost Charters as having had a grant of that barony," with ane taillie" [entail]. This was one of the forfeited estates of the Comyns, and had been bestowed by Robert I., or his son David, upon the High Steward. I am almost ashamed to confess that, though I spent the best part of my life within a ride of Paisley, I have only seen this tomb on two occasions; and my knowledge of its architecture is chiefly derived from the very beautiful and accurate work of Mr. Billings. ANGLO-SCOTUS. PARISH REGISTERS, ETC. (4th S. ii. 262 et antea.) I am very glad to find that the subject of parish registers is now receiving attention, and trust that by the persevering efforts of "N. & Q.," Parliament may ere long be induced, not only to provide for the safe custody of existing books, but to provide the clergy with persons better qualified to make the entries correctly than they have proved themselves to be. As a superintendent registrar, I have to receive every quarter from the incumbents of the several parishes in my district copies of the marriage entries for the preceding quarter; and sad it is to see the little attention that men of education (as our clergy are) bestow on the plainest requisites. They have had to fill up forms, but even those * In Robert Duke of Albany's Charter, immediately following, are added here the words "in pace et guerra.' Its terms are otherwise the same. they do not seem to understand: there are of course a few exceptions. I have tried hard to "educate" them up to the mark, but I have now abandoned the task in despair. But the object of my present writing is to make a few comments upon the statements of G. W. M. in "N. & Q." 4th S. ii. 262, and remove some misapprehensions which he seems to entertain. Let me first say that the registrars under me (and I believe the praise may be given generally) are most earnest and indefatigable in the performance of their duties. Deaths there is but little chance of their omitting to register, as their certificate is required to be shown to the minister or other person burying; or if not shown, the clergyman officiating is bound to report the fact to the registrar, that he may have the proper entry made. With "births" I admit that there is some difficulty, as, unless the parent feels the importance of registering his child's birth, the registrar may never hear of it. In country places the gossips take care that the fact is known; but in large towns it is impossible for the registrar to find them out for himself. I trust, therefore, that G. W. M., when he is next blessed, will not wait for the registrar calling upon him; for although that officer is entitled to, and is paid (by the guardians) a fee upon every entry, he cannot register that of which he is not informed. I will now proceed to notice G. W. M.'s peculiar grievance. Why in a large town, no entry of a birth may not be made unless the father of the child "takes the trouble" to give notice to the registrar, I have above shown; but does G. W. M. think it "a trouble" to perhaps secure the civil rights of his child by an authorised and legal entry of the fact of its birth? How many an inheritance has been lost by the want of such a record! Surely no parent can think this a "trouble." But, it seems, he registered his child's birth, without giving a (Christian) name. This the law allows; but as it also allows six weeks after the birth for gratuitous registration, I find that in almost all instances the name is decided upon before the registration takes place. Still it sometimes happens that no (Christian) name appears in the first entry. But here the law provides a remedy, as is shown by G. W. M. himself. After baptism, the name may be inserted; but any request to add anything to the register, as required by G. W. M., would have subjected the registrar to severe punishment, and rightly. I will only ask, in conclusion, why, if after discussion (no doubt with his better half) G. W. M. was able to decide upon a name next day, he could not have had the "discussion" on the day before, and thus saved all parties much "trouble"? A SUPERINTENDENT REGISTRAR. |