Coventry, of Wolvercot, first found them and raised the hue. They were viewed the same day by John de Osney, coroner. Simon had a wound on the upper part of his head, seven fingers long, and reaching to the skull. Alan had a wound six fingers long, also reaching to the skull. The jury is from the vill of Wolvercot, the hamlet of Binsey, the hamlet of Walton, and the parish of St. Giles. The jury on oath say that on the day before, viz., Sunday, the said Simon and Alan were at Oxford, and at twilight left Oxford to go to Wolvercot, and when they came to Wycroft, certain unknown thieves killed and wounded the said Simon and Alan. But they make oath that they can name none of the said thieves, nor say where they went after the act. The sureties of the woman who found the bodies are two persons of Wolvercot.

5. Dec. 7, Hugh Russell, clerk, of Wales, died in his lodgings in the parish of St. Peter in the East, and was viewed the same day by John Osney, the coroner. He had a wound on the left side of his belly, two fingers long and one broad. The jury is from the parishes of St. Peter in the East, St. Michael in the South, St. Aldate, and St. Mary the Virgin. The jury say on oath that on the Monday before (December 4) a quarrel arose between the said Sir Hugh and Master Elias, of Mongomery, and that the said Master Elias drew his knife and wounded the said Hugh in the belly, so that he died on the Thursday following. He had all the rites of the Church. And immediately after the deed the said Master Elias fled. The goods and chattels pertaining to him are worth nine shillings. The two bailiffs of the vill of Oxford will answer for them.

6. Dec. 7 (same day), John de Newsham, clerk and schoolmaster, was found dead on the bank of the Cherwell, near Pettipont. Isabella his wife found him dead and raised the hue. He was viewed the same day by John of Osney. He had no wound nor any visible injury. The jury is from the parishes of St. Peter in the East, St. John, St. Mary the Virgin, and All Saints. The jury declare on oath that the said John de Newsham went after dinner to find rods to whip the boys whom he taught, and that he climbed a willow to cut twigs near the mill pool, which is called Temple Hall, and by accident fell into the water. The jury on oath say that no one is to blame for his death. Sureties are taken for the woman who found the body.

7. Dec. 9, John de Hampstead, in the county of Northampton, clerk, was found dead in a garden in Cat Street. William le Schoveler first found him dead and raised the hue. He was viewed the same day by John de Osney, coroner. He had a mortal wound on the breast to the heart, made by a knife, of two fingers broad. The jury is of the parishes of St. Mary the Virgin, St. Mildred, All

Saints, and St. John. The jurors declare on oath that the said John about curfew time the day before left his chamber where he lived, at the north side of the great schools, ad faciendam urinam, and heard abusive language between Thomas of Horncastle and Nicholas de la March, clerks, who live in a chamber at the south side of the said schools, and the same John saw the said Nicholas de la March draw his knife to slay the said Thomas of Horncastle, and ran between them to prevent the said Nicholas from killing the said Thomas; and the said Nicholas with the said knife struck the said John to the heart, so he straightway died. And the said Nicholas fled, and could not be attached because the deed happened at night and no hue was raised. Sureties taken for the man who found the body.

8. Aug. 13, 1302, John, son of John Godfrey, of Binsey, was found dead on the bank of the Thames, near the Wyke. William of Warwick raised the hue. The same day he was viewed by John de Osney, coroner. He had no wound or any visible injury. The jury is from the hamlet of Binsey, the parishes of St. Thomas the Martyr, St. Giles, and St. Michael in the North. The jury declare on oath that on the Saturday before (Aug. 12) the said John, son of John Godfrey, was reaping in his field at Botley with other reapers all day till sunset, and from the heat of the weather he had drunk so much that he was drunk, and wished to cross the Thames in a boat to his home where he dwelt at the Wyke, and as he got into his boat he suddenly by accident fell into the water and was drowned; and they say on oath that no one is to blame for his death. Two sureties from the man who found the body. And the said boat is valued at twelvepence, for it is very rotten; for which price the tithing man of Binsey and his whole tithing will answer.

9. June 15, John Osgodeby is found dead in a certain lane in the parish of St. Edward. Osbert of Wycomb found him dead and raised the hue. The same day he was viewed by John of Osney. He had three mortal wounds on the left part of his head, each to the skull. The jury is taken from the parishes of St. Edward, St. Mary the Virgin, St. Aldate, and St. Martin. The jurors declare on oath that the day before Thomas de Weldon, clerk, and John the Northerner, his servant, and Nicholas de Vylers, of Ireland, clerk, met the said John de Osgodeby in the said parish of St. Edward, and there attacked him with swords and slew him, and immediately all fled. No goods could be found of the said Thomas, and John the Northerner had no goods. There was found of goods and chattels of Nicholas de Vylers to the value of 13s. 10d. in clothing and books. For these the then bailiffs will answer. Two sureties from the finder of the corpse.

Three of the ten deaths are declared to be acci

dental, three are the deeds of robbers, four are the results of academical quarrels. In one case the wounded man survived his injuries ten days, in another six.

Three of the Oxford parishes named have disappeared. Of these the church of St. Mildred is known to have stood on or near the lane between Exeter and Lincoln. That of St. Michael in the South was absorbed into the south-west angle of the great quadrangle of Christ Church at the date of Wolsey's foundation. St. Edward's was on the south side of Blue Boar Lane, for its site is now also included in Christ Church (Peshall).

Four of the existing Oxford parishes of ancient origin are not named-St. Ebbe, St. Peter in the Baily, St. Mary Magdalen, and Holywell. It is probable that two of these at least were not parishes at this early date, and perhaps none of them. The manor of Walton lay beyond the north hundred of Oxford, and about this time was the property of the abbess of Godstow, though Morton College claimed some rights over it.

At this period there was only one college in Oxford, that which Merton had founded about thirty years before, for Balliol and University Colleges were not settled, their revenues being as yet a few scanty pensions, but without any real incorporation. There were probably many such imperfect foundations which have been lost.

Oxford.

JAMES E. THOROLD ROGERS.

from A.-S. stów, a place, root sta, to stand, S., root No. 418 in list of Aryan roots. Cf. Morwenstow (Cornwall).

Nettlecombe (Netelcomba).-A.-S. netele, nelle (a diminutive form, S.), a nettle. E., p. 256, suggests snidan, to cut, and says Nettlecomb= the separated land in the dingle. Cf. Nettlestead (Kent and Suffolk), Nettlebed (Oxon), Nettleden (Bucks), Nettleham (Linc.), Nettleton (Linc. and Wilts).

Newton St. Loe (Newetona).-For the family of St. Loe see Collinson's Somerset, iii. 342 and other references in Marshall's Genealogist's Guide. 1. Norton St. Philip (Nortuna); 2. Norton Malreward; 3. Norton-sub-Hamdon; 4. Norton Fitzwarren.

3. Northtown under Hamdon Hill.

4. For the family of Fitzwarren see Collinson's Somerset, iii. 271, and other references in Marshall's Genealogist's Guide.

1. North Newton (Newentone); 2. Northover. E., p. 260, says over is from ofre, margin or edge. As a suffix it= t=a hill site, as Condover (Salop); as a prefix it=higher of two places, as Over Stowey and Nether Stowey (Soms.). See K, iii. xxxiv. Bosworth has ofer, a margin, brink, bank, shore. Over, A.-S. ofer, Gr. vπép, Lat. super, closely allied to up, S.

Nynehead (Nichehede; Nigon hídon, K., 897). -This-the parish containing nine hides. Cf. Fivehead (Soms.).

Nunney (Nonin, Noiun).-Assuming that nun is the root of this name, we get a confirmation of

COUNTY OF SOMERSET.

(Continued from 6th S. viii, 462.)

The names in parentheses are the old forms of the names of the parishes, taken from Eyton's Domesday Studies and from Collinson's Somerset. Authorities quoted.-Taylor's Words and Places, T. Edmunds's Names of Places, E. Bosworth's Anglo-Saxon Dict., B. Skeat's Etym. Dict., S. List of A.-S. root-words in vol. iii. of Kemble's Codex Dip. Evi Saxonici, and also the list of place-names in vol. vi., K.

Nailsea.-A.-S. nagel, a nail or pin. Also the name Nigel. Nailsea Nigel's water, E., p. 255. K. gives Næglesburne (Hants), Neglescumb (Somers.), Neglesleáh (Glos.).

Nempnett.-E., p. 256: "Nemp, Nym, a personal name, see Shakspere's K. Henry IV.; probably a contraction of Nehemiah. Ex., Nymenhut or Nemp-nett (Som.), Nym's hut; Nymsfield (Glos.); Nymton and Nymet (Devon)." In confirmation of this I may mention that I have heard Nim used as a short name for Nehemiah since I have been here.

1. Nether Stowey (Estalweia, Estaweia, Stawe); 2. Over Stowey.-Nether (=lower) is a comparative, see S. Our word stow, to pack away, comes

Domesday names are A.-S. forms written by Norman scribes. O.F. nonne nun, see S.

Nunne: "A nunne was a person advanced in years, but a minicen appears to have been younger (B.). For an account of Nunney Castle see Murray, p. 371.

Oake (Acha).-A.S. &c, M.E. ook or oke, S. Sometimes ock in place-names. A.-S. ora,

Oare (Ar, Are).-T., p. 331: the shore of a river or sea, e. g., Bognor, Cumnor, Oare near Hastings. Windsor, anciently Windlesora, the winding shore." See K., iii. xxxv.

Odcombe (Odecoma).-Probably from the name of the owner. Odder (D.)=otter: a Mercian noble, Oddo, is commemorated in Worcestershire tradition. Cf. Oadby (Leic.), Odiham (Hants), E., p. 258.

1. Orchardleigh (Hordcerleia) with Lullington; 2. Orchard Portman.-"The name Orchard only occurs in Wilts, Somerset, and Dorset," E., p. 259.

1. Lullington: see Kemble's Saxons in England, i. 469. Among "The Marks" he finds the Lullingas in Lullingfield (Salop), Lullingstane (Kent), Lullingstone (Kent), Lullington (Derb., Somers., Sussex).

2. For the Portman family see Collinson's

1. Otterford; 2. Otterhampton (Otremetone) A.-S. oter, an otter. K., vol. vi., has Otershaghe, Ottershaw (Surrey), Otereshám (Berks), Otereshol (Wilts).

Paulton. This St. Paul's town, E., p. 263. There were Paltons of Somerset, see Visitation of Somerset (Sir T. Phillipps), 124.

Pawlet (Paulet, Pavalet).-N.F. from the name of the lord, E., p. 263. For the Paulet family see references in Marshall.

Peasedown.-From St. Pega, d. A.D. 714, to whom Peakirk (Northants) is still dedicated. Cf. Peasemarsh (Suss.), Pegsworth (Leic.), E., p. 263. 1. Pendomer (Penna); 2. Pennard, E. (Pennarministre; Penuard, K.); 3. Penselwood (Penna). 1. Possibly from Penda, king of Mercia. K., vol. vi., has Pendan æc, 262; Pendan cumb, 1244; Penderes clif, 1266; Pendre, 1143.

2. and 3. The first syllable is Celtic pen, a headland or hill. A.-S. scél good, excellent. Selwood Forest may mean excellent forest or holy forest, from a derived word salig, holy. Bosworth makes Silchester Selchester=good city.

1. Perrott, N. (Peredt); 2. Petherton, N. (Nort Pedret); 3. Petherton, S. (Sut Peretona).-All on the river Parret. "Axe is a purely Saxon name, which seems to have supplanted the British name, if such there ever were...... Other small rivers, such as the Parret, have in like manner had their British names obliterated by the Saxons and Angles" (E., p. 15). In the A.-S. Chronicle it would seem that the Parret, which is called Pedride, Pederede, Pedrede, takes its name from Pederida, king of the West Saxons. Parret, if Celtic, would probably be from Irish and obs. Gael. breath, pure, clear, from which comes the Bratha, in the Lake district. (See Ferguson's River Names, p. 164); but this is not Ferguson's own derivation. He connects Parret with Gr. Tío and A.-S. pidele, a thin stream, Piddle being the name of several small streams. Cf. Puddlehinton and Puddletrenthide (Dorset): see E., p. 265.

1. Pill (Pille); 2. Pilton (Piltona; Pultún, K., vol. vi.); 3. Pylle (Pilla).-Pool, pill; Welsh pul, an inlet or pool, e.g. Pill in Somerset, Poole in Dorset, Bradpole, Pwlheli, Liverpool, T., p. 331. The place is called Pull in Somerset dialect.

1. Pitcombe (Pidecome); 2. Pitminster (Pinpeministra; Pipmynster, K.); 3. Pitney (Peteneia).

1. From A.-S. pyt, Lat. puteus: see K, iii. XXXV. Pitcombe the deep valley.

2. The oldest form, Pipmynster, would seem to

point to a personal name Pippa. There was a saint of that name who was Bishop of Lichfield : see E., p. 266. Pipeminstre is given by Collinson as the Domesday form.

3. This may mean St. Peter's Island. Pitter is the local pronunciation of Peter.

1. Porlock (Portloc); 2. Portbury (Porberia); 3. Portishead (Portesheve).-These three places are close to the sea, but Kemble (iii. xxxv) gives port, a port or town; this accounts for such inland names as Langport, &c.

1. This name the enclosed or landlocked port, E., p. 267. Port, a bank, a landing place, a fortress, Joyce, ii. p. 230.

Poyntington (Ponditona). - Puntingas, Pointington, Somerset, Kemble's S. E., i. 471. Priddy.-" Pridd, British, earth. Ex. Ty-pridd, earth house," E., p. 268.

Priston (Prisctone).-This-priest's town, E., p. 268.

Publow. Hlew, a hill (low). I shall be glad to receive suggestions for the first syllable.

Puckington.-Pucingas, Puckington, Somerset, Kemble's S. E., i. 471. Prom Pucca, the lord's name, E., p. 268.

Puddimore Milton (Middeltona). —I suspect Puddimore is a family name, though it is not contained in Marshall's Guide. Pudda, a man's name, may be at the root of this name, E., p. 268. Cf. Puttanheath, now Putney.

Puriton (Peritona).-For the family of Pury see Harl. Soc., v. 189. (1) Perhaps from burh, a fortified place, which occurs only in four instances (Ex-Hartpury, Glouc.), E., p. 269, or (2) pyrie or pirige, a pear tree: see Bosworth.

Puxton (Pixton, Potesdone).-Pucca, the lord's name, E., p. 268. Cf. Puckington (above). F. W. WEAVER.

a

Milton Vicarage, Evercreech, Bath.

(To be continued.)

spelt in the Inquisitio Nonarum, where it is mentioned, together with the neighbouring parishes of Clifford and Whitney, as being in the Marches of Wales. I doubt whether Kew, near London, has anything to do with her.

Litton (6th S. viii. 404)=a burial-ground. So in the phrase Church litton. Probably the first syllable is the same as that of Lich-field, Lich-gate. Church litton occurs in the register of this parish, temp. Edw. VI. Ropley, Hants.

T. W.

ANONYMOUS BOOKS.-It is worth while for "N. & Q" to record the authorship of anonymous books which have escaped the vigilance of the late editors of the very valuable Dictionary of the Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature of Great Britain, and of the watchfulness of the present editor, who himself is, so far, anonymous. If an appendix is given with the forthcoming volume of that work the following title should be included:

"A Concise Vindication of the Conduct of the Five Suspended Members of the Council of the Royal Academy. By Authority. [Quotation.] London, printed for John Stockdale, 1804." 8vo. pp. 46.

In his recent Life of Lord Lyndhurst, Sir Theodore Martin states, on the authority of William Jerdan, that this pamphlet was written by John Singleton Copley, afterwards Lord Lyndhurst, whose father, it will be remembered, was one of the five suspended members. Mr. Jerdan thought his copy of this tract was probably unique, but there is another in the Manchester Free Library.

While I am writing, may I ask if any reader can give the author's name of the following tract? "Marks and Re-Marks for the Catalogue of the Exhibition of the Royal Academy. MDCCCLVI. By A. E. Comitis producti comes. London, W. J. Golbourn, 1856." 8vo. pp. 32. There was a second edition with alterations. It is in verse-a sort of parody of Longfellow's Hiawatha. A copy before me has the author's initials, R. J. L.,

written on the title.

CHAS. W. SUTTON.

121, Chorlton Road, Manchester.

SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE.-A writer in the Saturday Review (Nov. 10, 1883), noticing Miss Emma Phipson's book, entitled The Animal-lore of Shakespeare's Time (Kegan Paul & Co.), ob

serves:

"While we are citing Mandeville, we think Miss Phipson might well have given us more of him, for the book was certainly the source of a great many passages and allusions in various English works down to Shakespeare's time and later. And when Miss Phipson does quote it, she seems to have no doubt that it was written in Eng lish by a real Sir John Mandeville; whereas not only the English is known not to be original, and the greater part of the travels the book purports to recount appear by internal evidence to be fictitious, but the whole of it is a compilation from earlier works, and there is a great want of reason to believe that there was such a person as Sir John Mandeville at all."

I have not seen Col. Yule's article on the subject in the Encyclopædia Britannica, to which allusion is made, but I have in the Abbey Church of St. Albans seen what purports to be the grave of the famous traveller; it is situated in the nave; and from a shield or escutcheon fastened to a pillar hard by, I learned that it was placed there in memory of Sir John Mandeville, who was born at St. Albans, and buried there in 1372, having commenced his peregrinations in 1322, and continued them through the greater part of the world during thirty-four years. The inscription over his place of sepulture (divested of the original spelling in the black letter), so far as the height at which it is placed and the confused manner in which it is written enabled me to decipher it, is as follows: "Lo in this tomb of travellers do ly,

One rich in nothing but in memory,
His name was Sir John Mandeville, content,
Having seen much mirth, with small confinement;
Towards which he travelled ever since his birth,
And at last pawned his body to the earth,
Which by a statute must in mortgage be
Till a Redeemer come to set it free."

CAROLINE A. WHITE.

Preston on the Wild Moors, Salop. P.S.-It is now some years since, acting on your excellent motto, I made a note of this matter. The church has since suffered restoration.

[See 1st S. v. 289; 2nd S. iii. 185; iv. 434; 3rd S. ix. 33, 128, 204; x. 45, 77, 98, 463; xii. 388; 6th S. v. 186.]

FUNGUS IN A LIBRARY.-A singular instance of the havoc among books which may be made by the growth of fungus was brought to my notice recently. An outer pipe becoming choked, the water it should have conveyed ran down the wall outside. The leakage was not discovered till the woodwork and shutters of an adjacent window began to crack and start, being forced out by the growth of an enormous fungus between them and wall were examined, the former were found to be the wall. When the presses and books near the strained and loosened, the latter covered with a coating of brownish fungus, three to four inches thick, which fastened them to other books so attacked and to the shelves of the book-cases. On trying to open the books, most of the leaves were found so firmly glued together by a white, silky, sporadic formation, in shape somewhat like seaweed, that attempts to separate the leaves without tearing them were futile. Hundreds of pairs of leaves, in books two or three feet from the wall, were thus penetrated; and, thin as was the coating of fungus, it almost obscured the letterpress and, of course, ruined the plates. The most effectual way to repair the damage appeared to be to thoroughly clean the fungus from the exterior and expose the books to a gentle heat till the damp was expelled. Though the books could then be opened and read, many were irremediably injured.

The rapidity of growth of this fungus was remarkable. For the sake of experiment in corpore vili, a book, after being treated as above, was replaced. In three days the exterior had acquired a coat of fungus about an inch thick, the book was fixed on the shelf, and the leaves refused to be parted asunder.

Moral-See that water-pipes near a library are not choked. H. DELEVINGNE. Chiswick.

CHRISTMAS MUMMERS. As this subject has been revived in your Christmas number, perhaps I may be permitted to record in your pages a curious incident that may suggest a much earlier origin of the custom than the mystery plays to which it is usually attributed.

Nearly forty years ago I witnessed a performance of the Ram Leela, the oldest mystery play in existence, by the men of my own regiment (one of the old Bengal Native Infantry), of which a very large proportion were Hindus of high caste. Among the numerous characters represented, such as Rama, Seeta, Hunooman, and the army of Dèos, Sūrs and Asūrs who accompany or are opposed to them, I observed one figure incongruously dressed in the full uniform of a medical officer of the Indian Army (borrowed from the regimental surgeon for the occasion), and I remarked to the Subedar, who was explaining the play to me, on the absurdity of introducing such a costume, and added, "You must have borrowed that character from us. We have similar plays in England at Christmas-time, and in one our great hero St. George is slain, and the doctor comes in and puts a bottle to his lips, just as this one is doing, and says,

'Here, take this essence of elecampane,

Rise up, St. George, and fight again.'

The Subedar admitted the incongruity of the costume, which he explained by the fact that there was no such profession as the medical one among the Hindus; but he assured me they would never for a moment admit such an interpolation as I suspected them of, and that the character was strictly in accordance with the text of the play, and that the essence administered was the Amrita, the essence of immortality. And as I still appeared to doubt him, he sent for the Havildar (sergeant) Major, who was a Brahmin of the highest caste in the regiment, who produced the text, a manuscript book, and quoted a passage, which I have forgotten, but which distinctly satisfied me of the correctness of his assertion. Perhaps some of your readers have copies or translations of the Ramayana, and can quote it. At any rate, the use of the Amrita was very good proof of its originality. I should like to know if elecampane has an Indian origin. Whether or no, as Boodha has been converted into a respectable Roman Catholic saint, I see no

reason why, by a converse process, we may not assign to the maligned St. George an Indian nationality, and at least relieve him of his odious connexion with "ration beef." JOHN BAILLIE.

"HISTORICAL MEMORIALS OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY."-The late Dean Stanley's work is of exceeding beauty; besides which it has become a standard book of reference for all who are interested in the Abbey. An error occurs in what I believe to be the last edition (fifth, 1882), which it will be of service to point out, that it may be rectified in future issues.

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, the Parliamentarian general, was buried in Westminster Abbey October 19, 1646 (Chester's Westminster Abbey Reg., p. 141). The sermon, Dean Stanley tells us, was preached by Dr. Vines, who compared the dead soldier to Abner, and said that over his grave should be "such a squadron monument as will have no brother in England till the time do come (and I wish it may be long first) that the renouned and most excellent champion that now governs the sword of England shall lay his bones: by him." The dean adds that "This wish thus early expressed for Cromwell was, as we have seen, realized" (p. 206). A mistake is made here; the champion who "now governs the sword of England can mean no other than the Commander-inchief of the Forces of the Parliament. This post was filled by Sir Thomas Fairfax (the third Lord) from February 4, 1645, until June 25, 1650, when he resigned his commission, and was succeeded on the same day by Oliver Cromwell. See Clements R. Markham, Life of the Great Lord Fairfax, pp. 190, 361. EDWARD PEACOCK.

Bottesford Manor, Brigg.

"DRAWING THE NAIL."-This is a curious Cheheard, and which signifies the breaking of a vow. shire metaphorical expression, which is occasionally It originates in an equally curious custom, not, perhaps, very common, but practised now and then in the neighbourhood of Mobberley and Wilmslow. Two or more men would bind themselves by a vow-say, not to drink beer. They would set off together to a wood at some considerable distance, and drive a nail into a tree, swearing at the same time that they would drink no beer while that nail remained in that tree. If they got tired of abstinence they would meet together and set off "to draw the nail," literally pulling it out from the tree; after which they could resume their cusmary drinking habits without doing violence to their conscientious feelings.

Frodsham, Cheshire.

ROBERT HOLLAND.

A NEW "VENERABLE."-In a notice of the Congregational Year Book given in the Daily News of January 3 is the rather astonishing state