the city and county of Kilkenny, were absent from their "local habitations ;" and next morning, the plain alluded to (I regret I have not the name) was found covered with thousands of slain tabbies; and the report was, that almost all the cats in Ireland had joined in the contest; as many of the slain had collars on their necks, which showed that they had collected from all quarters of the island. The cause of the quarrel, however, was not stated; but it seemed to have been a sort of provincial faction fight between the cats of Ulster and Leinster-probably the quadrupeds took the quarrels of their masters, as at that period there was very ill feeling between the people of both provinces. I have no doubt, that this Note will elicit something further on this curious story, of which the above is a skeleton. up This has nothing to do with the story of the two famous Kilkenny cats. S. REDMOND. Liverpool. BECKET. Can any reader give me a clue to the history of 66 a Captain Becket," who perished fighting under Marlborough (where, I cannot say)? He married Elenor Percy. The tradition is, that she was a ward in Chancery; and that, in consequence of his marriage with her, Becket was obliged to escape to the Continent. His descendants are quite numerous. ST. T. ROBERT CALLIS was author of The Reading upon the Statute 23 Hen. VIII. cap. 5, of Sewers, 2nd edit. 1685, 4to. I shall be glad of any information concerning him or his family. Bottesford Manor, Brigg. EDWARD PEACOCK. POSTERITY OF THE Emperor CharlEMAGNE. It would appear by Burke's Peerage, and indeed by other publications of a kindred character, that Lord Kingsale derives his descent from John, only son of William De Courci, Baron of StokeCourci, co. Somerset, and Lord of Harewood. An inquisition held on the death of this William De Courci, who was Justice of Normandy, and who died A.D. 1186, represents that he had but one son William, and a daughter Alice, who married Waryn Fitz-Gerold, Chamberlain to King John. According to the testimony of deeds, the authority of which is unquestioned and unquestionable, William de Courci, brother of Alice, wife of Waryn Fitz-Gerold, died unmarried and without issue, 9 Ric. I., whereupon his sister Alice became his sole heir, in which capacity she had livery of all his estates. In further confirmation of this fact, Waryn Fitz-Gerold, only son and heir of his mother Alice, obtained, A.D. 1205, a charter of free warren in respect of the manor of Harewood. That William de Courci was the last lineal descendant in the male line of the Emperor Charlemagne. This being the case, perhaps from some of your numerous correspondents information may be obtained as to the origin of the house of Kingsale. HIPPEUS. FAMILY OF DE SCARTH.-Can your correspondent P. inform me whereabouts in Holstein stands the stone marking the place where fell Skartha, the friend and companion of Swein ? This Swein, or Sweyne, must be the King of self in England; if so, he probably bestowed the Denmark who, in the year 1003, established himlands in Orkney, bearing the name of Skarth, on his descendants (after whom they would be thus named) to be held by udal tenure, which it seems is peculiar to Orkney, though your other correspondent, SHOLTO MACDUFF, says that in Annandale some lands were granted under a somewhat similar title by Bruce, the Lord of Annandale, on his inheriting the throne, to the garrison of his castle. I merely throw out this suggestion for the sake of a reply from those better informed than myself, and I should be glad to hear more on the subject. J. S. D. THE DANISH RIGHT OF SUCCESSION. - Can any of your numerous Shaksperian readers account for, or explain why, the right of succession, which, on the death of the king should have seated Hamlet on the throne of Denmark, is never alluded to by any one in the whole course of the play? And I should also be glad to know if any of the commentators have made any observations on the subject? G. E. ENGRAVING ON GOLD AND SILVER.-Permit me to inquire, how long has the art of engraving articles of gold and silver been practised? I have looked into Herbert's History of the Goldsmiths' Company, but he is not definite on this head. I should like to know the first engraved arms. This was probably on a salt, which was formerly placed in the centre of a table: above which, sat the lord and his family; below, the higher servants of the household. Hence the byword, to "sit below the salt." INQUIRER. DESCENDANTS OF FITZJAMES.-In what book, English or foreign, can I find an account of the descendants, to the present time, of James Fitzjames, Duke of Berwick, natural son of James II.? CHARLES F. S. WARREN. THOMAS GILBERT, ESQ. A volume, styled Poems on Several Occasions, by Thomas Gilbert, Esq., late Fellow of Peter House, in Cambridge, was published in London, 8vo, in the year 1747. The dedication of the work is to J. Hall Stevenson, Esq., of Skelton Castle, and dated from Skinningrave. Information respecting this gentleman is requested by EDWARD HAILSTONE. Horton Hall. POSTERITY OF HAROLD, KING OF ENGLAND.— A genealogical work, entitled, Récherches sur l'Origine de plusieurs Maisons Souveraines d'Europe, compiled at St. Petersburgh by the Baron de Koehne, and printed at Berlin by Ferdinand Schneider in 1863, states that Wladimir, Grand Duke of Kiew, seventh in descent from Rurick, and ancestor of the Romanof Emperors of Russia, married Gida, daughter of Harold II., King of England. Can any genealogist say whether Harold had a daughter named Gida, or whether he left any posterity at all? HIPPEUS. HINDOO GODS. - Is there any book with a list of most of the Hindu gods and illustrations of their images? Having a number of idols in bronze and stone, I am desirous of naming them; and the account given in The Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque is the only book I have on the subject. Also, I should be obliged if I could be informed what constitutes the difference between the images of Budha and Gauda. JOHN DAVIDSON. THE IRON MASK.-Among the arms brought from Paris to this country, after the defeat of Napoleon, and now displayed as a trophy in the Rotunda at Woolwich, may be seen the armour of the renowned Chevalier de Bayard, and a curious helmet, or iron mask, which I have heard some persons affirm to be the iron mask which figures so conspicuously in the romance of French history. Can you, or any of your readers decide, whether it is that famous headpiece? H. C. LEIGHTON FAMILY. A daughter of the Hon. Mr. Compton, one of the younger sons of the Earl of Northampton, married Mr. Leighton, whose son, Wm. Leighton, married Miss Dilly, of the family of the publisher Dilly, of the Poultry, London. I wish to ascertain the true spelling of Leighton. Has the family ever spelt it Layton? CARILFORD. Capetown. MATTHEW LOCKE.-I am anxious to find out whether Matthew Lock, the composer of the music in Macbeth, married Alice Smyth. Edmund Smyth, of Annables, Herts, had ten children, of whom Alice was probably the youngest. I do not know the exact date of her birth, but her father's seventh child was born in 1648. Alice was married to Matthew Lock, whose arms were: 1, 3, 5, azure; 2, 4, 6, or; a falcon, with wings expanded, or. Were these the arms of the musician? And if he was not the husband of Alice Smyth, was he any relation ? F. L. LORD MOHUN'S DEATH, 1677.-In a MS. letter before me, written to Locke in October, 1677, it is mentioned: "My Lord Mohun hath lately deceased of his wound, to the great affliction of all his friends." This was the fourth Lord Mohun, who was an active politician in Charles II.'s reign in opposition to the court, and had made a celebrated motion in 1675 for the dissolution of the Parliament. Can any of your readers help me to any particulars about Lord Mohun's death? C. H. NAPOLEON THE FIRST.-Is there any published work in which I can find the actual number of men raised by Napoleon: the details, manner, and times of the several levies, whether by enrolment, enlistment, or otherwise? The histories to which I have access simply say that he took the field with so many men; that he now enlarged his army by such and such a number, &c. The information which I seek is such as might be valuable to a general recruiting-officer, or a provost-marshal. ST. T. THE OATH EX-OFFICIO. Can any of your readers refer me to the form of this oath? It was administered in the Star Chamber, and in the Court of High Commission. It compelled the person to confess or accuse himself of any criminal matter. It was abolished by the 13th Car. II. сар. 12. JOHN S. BURN. Henley. POPE'S PORTRAIT. Can any one explain the allusion to Pope's portrait in the following passage of Tristram Shandy, vol. viii. chap. ii. ? "Pope and his portrait are fools to me no martyr is ever so full of faith or fire-I wish I could say of good works too." "Vide Sterne has added a note to the passage, Pope's Portrait." J. B. GREENING. PRACTICE OF PHYSIC BY WILLIAM DRAGE. I possess a curious old book with the title: "The Practice of Physick; or, the Law of God (called Nature) in the Body of Man, &c. &c. To which is added A Treatise of Diseases from Witchcraft. By William Drage, Med. and Philos. at Hitchin, in Hartfordshire. London: Printed for George Calvert, at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1666." - A second title describes the latter work:"Daimonomageia; a Small Treatise of Sicknesses and before, at least in this comprised Order and general Disease from Witchcraft and Supernatural Causes. Never manner, was the like published." This appears to have been printed by J. Dover, separately paged. living in St. Bartholomew's Close, 1665, and is without the "Treatise on Witchcraft;" but I I have before seen a copy of this work, but find no mention of the author in Bohn's Lowndes: Can you give me information respecting him, and whether he is the author of any works on philosophical subjects? T. B. WHITE HATS.-When did the fashion of wearing a white hat commence? Had the colour in question any political significance? Whence, also, its continued unpopularity? for, twenty years since, the wearer of one was hooted at by boys in the streets, and termed a “Radical;" and, even now, he is frequently questioned by them as to his affinity to the " Man who stole the Donkey." White hats are evidently of old date (whatever their shape might have been), as can be shown by the following extract from one of the letters carried by Lord Macguire to his execution (A. D. 1644): "Most loving Sir.-My master his coach shall wait for you infallibly. That day your friend William shall go by coach all the way, upon a red horse, with a white hat, and in a gray jacket, and then," &c. &c.-Vide Rushworth's Collections, vol. v. pt. II. p. 737. ARTHUR HOULTON. LIFE OF EDWARD, Second MARQUIS OF WORCESTER.Having been some years collecting materials for a Life of Edward, second Marquis of Worcester, author of the Century of Inventions, I have consulted the British Museum Library, State Paper Office, Bodleian Library, and the Beaufort MSS., &c. The work affords an excellent opportunity for the introduction of any information, particularly arising from stray MS. documents, however apparently uninteresting. I have reason to believe that many of his letters lie scattered, one here, another far distant; also, receipts for the loans of money during the Commonwealth, and between 1660 and 1666. Information respecting his "honoured friend," Colonel Christopher Coppley, would likewise be interesting. He was under Fairfax's command in the north. My work is written in order of date, and will extend to from 400 to 500 pages octavo. H. D. Queries with Answers. Hiltons of Hilton Hall, Durham, bear as their HILTON CREST: "HOUMOUT."-1. Why do the crest the singular device of a Moses' head? Prince is stated to have been, "De par houmout ich dien." To what language does "houmout” belong, and what is its signification? DENKMAL. 2. The entire motto of Edward the Black [The Hilton crest, as given by Surtees (Durham, ii. 20), is "on a close helmet, Moses's head in profile, in a rich diapered mantle, the horns not in the least radiated, but exactly resembling two poking-sticks." This is probably one of the earliest exemplars of this singular bearing, which Dr. Burn (History of Westmoreland, i. 541), calls "the crest of cuckoldom." He says, "Horns upon the crest (according to that of Silius Italicus, 'Casside cornigera dependens infula ') were erected in terrorem. And after the husband had been absent for three or four years, and came home in his regimental accoutrements, it might be no impossible supposition, that the man who wore the horns was a cuckold. And this accounts also, why no author of that time, when this droll notion was started, hath ventured to explain the connection. For woe be to the man in those days that should have made a joke of the holy war; which, indeed, in consideration of the expence of blood and treasure attending it, was a very serious affair." Several attempts have been made to ascertain the origin and the meaning of Houmout, one of the mottoes of Edward the Black Prince. (See two papers in the Archeologia, vols. xxxi, and xxxii.; the first by Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas, and the second by J. R. Planché, Esq.) According to the former, "the motto is probably formed of the two old German words, Hoogh moed, hoo moed, or hoogh-mos, i. e.. magnanimous, high-spirited, and was probably adopted to express the predominant quality of the Prince's mind." Mr. Planché, on the other hand, conceives that "Houmout is strictly speaking Flemish; and, instead of considering Houmout' and 'Ich Dien' as two separate mottoes, is inclined to look upon them as forming one complete motto." [This word (variously spelt trossers, trousers, and trowzers) frequently occurs in the old dramatic writers. In Act I. Sc. 1, of Ben Jonson's Staple of Newes, Peniboy, junior, "walks in his gowne, waistcoate, and trouses," expecting his tailor. A man in The Coxcomb of Beaumont and Fletcher, speaking to an Irish servant, says, "I'll have thee flead, and trossers made of thy skin to tumble in." Trossers appear to have been tight breeches. "Trowses (says the explanatory Index to Cox's History : of Ireland) are breeches and stockings made to sit as close to the body as can be." See the Commentators on Shakspeare, King Henry V., Act III. Sc. 7.] DR. GEORGE OLIVER.- What relation is the Dr. George Oliver, the author of The Religious Houses of Lincolnshire and other works on Freemasonry, to the late Dr. George Oliver, the Historian of Devon, and author of several works of a kindred nature? They appear to have been written about the same period. As the names are similar, can a distinct list of each author's writing be procured, as it appears very difficult to make it from the Publisher's Catalogue? A DEVONIAN. [Future biographers and bibliographers, it is to be feared, will be sorely puzzled in assigning to each of the above authors his own special productions. Their Christian and surnames are not only the same; but both were contemporaries, and both divines, Doctors in Divinity, as well as ecclesiastical antiquaries. For lists of their respective works consult Bohn's new edition of Lowndes. We cannot trace any relationship between the late Dr. George Oliver, D.D. of St. Nicholas Priory, Exeter, and the present Rector of South Hykeham, Lincolnshire.] BISHOP ANDREWES' WILL.-In a list of printed wills, given by MR. C. H. COOPER (3rd S. iii. 30), is that of Bishop Andrewes. May I ask your correspondent where I can find a copy? An outline of the will is published in Gutch's Collectanea Curiosa (vol. ii.), and an extract in "The Life of Andrews," No. 11. of The Englishman's Library; but I do not think the will has ever been printed in its integrity. I possess a MS. copy. JUXTA TURRIM. [Bishop Andrewes's Will, with three Codicils, is printed in extenso from the original in the Registry of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in his Two Answers to Cardinal Perron, published in the Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology, 8vo, 1854.] TOP OF HIS BENT. - How is this expression derived? ST. T. [From Bend, to make crooked; to inflect; as in Hamlet, Act IV. Sc. 2.: "They fool me to the top of my bent; " to which Mr. Douce has added the following note: "Perhaps a term in archery; i. e. as far as the bow will admit of being bent without breaking."] BLIND ALEhouse. What is the meaning of this? I find it in the Life of Nich. Ferrar, Wordsworth's Eccles. Biog. v. 183, edit. 1818. ST. T. [The phrase " Blind-alehouse" occurs also in Etherege's Comical Revenge, 1699: "Is the fidler at hand that us'd to ply at the blind-alehouse?" We also read of a blind path. The meaning of both phrases is clearly that of unseen; out of public view; not easy to be found; private. Gosson, in his Schole of Abuse, 1579, mentions Chenas, "a blind village in comparison of Athens."] Replies. A FINE PICTURE OF POPE. (3rd S. v. 72.) INCREDULUS having appealed to a Gloucester correspondent to clear up the mystery of the "Curious Discovery at Gloucester" of "a fine picture of Pope," and of "The Temptation," by Guido, I gladly embrace the opportunity of placing your readers in possession of what information have been able to glean in reference to it. The "Curious Discovery" surprised no one more than Mr. Kemp, the master of our School of Art. An Italian master found under his very nose, and he not aware of it! 66 a recent one. The paragraph in The Builder has but a very slight substratum of truth. In the first place, the discovery," if a discovery at all, is by no means The picture said to be by Guido was never walled up in any recess, but occupied a panel in Mr. Kemp's bedroom, and was never considered to be of any value, either by Mr. Kemp, an artist of experience, who closely inspected it, or by any gentleman connected with the Art School. It was, I am assured, coarse in execution, and as a work of art almost contemptible. Mr. Kemp remarked, also, that the head of the Tempter appeared to have been painted more recently than the other parts of the body. The picture said to be of Pope occupied an oval panel (evidently constructed for it) over the kitchen mantelpiece, and, from what I have heard of it, I am inclined to think it merits as little consideration as The Builder's Italian master. It was surmounted by a bust, which certainly bears a resemblance to Pope, judging from the most authentic portraits of him. The old housekeeper at the School (an illiterate woman) believed it to be a portrait, not of Pope, but of a Pope (of Rome), and on that ground had a great aversion to it, and regarded it with a painful degree of awe. She used to say that the eyes of the picture (though it was much injured by dirt, smoke, &c., "followed her all over the kitchen when she was at work;" and she did not attempt to conceal her satisfaction on its removal. The house in which the alleged discovery was made once belonged to the Guises, as is evidenced by the arms of that family being carved in several of the rooms. The modern owner was Miss Cother, from whom Mr. Baylis probably obtained the pictures. By the way, if I am not misinformed, Mr. Baylis, some years ago practised as a surgeon in this city, and was doubtless acquainted with Miss Cother. There is a tradition that Pope was a frequent visitor at this mansion, and one of its old walnut pannelled rooms is yet called "Pope's Study." I shall be happy to furnish any other information that can be obtained. F. G. B. SOCRATES' OATH BY THE DOG. (3rd S. iv. 475, 527; v. 85.) Your correspondents who have remarked upon the above well-known oath of Socrates, have not noticed the fact that the philosopher is alluding to the worship paid to the Egyptian divinity, Anubis. Socrates expressly refers to this deity in the words, ἢ εἰ τοῦτο ἐάσεις ἀνέλεγκτον, μὰ τὸν κύνα, τὸν Αἰγυπτίων θεόν, οὔ σοι ὁμολογήσει Καλλικλῆς, κ.τ.λ. The use of this form of oath has its origin in the religious scruples of the mind of the devout Greek. According to tradition Rhadamanthus first imposed upon the Cretans the law "that men should not swear by the Gods, but by the dog, the ram, the goose, or the plane tree." Your correspondent, MR. J. EASTWOOD (3rd S. iv. 527), very pertinently refers to Potter's Grecian Antiquities for information on the subject. The passage in question is so interesting that I will briefly quote some of its parts: "Sometimes either out of haste, or assurance of their being in the right, they swore indefinitely by any of the Gods. Others, thinking it unlawful to use the name of God upon every slight occasion, said no more than Nal ua Tov, or " By," &c., by a religious ellipsis omitting the name. Suidas also mentions the same custom, which, saith he (puoμíce рòs evσéßeιav), inures men to a pious regard for the name of God. Isocrates, in Stobæus, forbids to swear by any of the Gods in any suit of law about money, and only allows it on two accounts, either to vindicate yourself from the imputation of some wickedness, or to deliver your friends from some great danger. Pythagoras, as Hierocles informs us, rarely swore by the Gods himself, or allowed his scholars to do so; instead of the Gods, he advised them to swear by Thy TETрaкTÚV, “the number four," thinking the perfection of the soul consisted in this number, there being in every soul a mind, science, opinion, and sense. . . By which instances it appears that though the custom of swearing upon light and frivolous occasions was very common among the Greeks yet the more as wise and considerate sort entertained a most religious regard for oaths."—Antiquities of Greece, i. pp. 293, 294. Porphyry's words, to which Bryant (Ancient Mythology, i. p. 345) refers, are as follows: Οὐδὲ Σωκράτης, τὸν κύνα καὶ τὸν χῆνα ὀμνύς, ἔπαιζεν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν τοῦ Διὸς καὶ Μαίας παῖδα ἐποιεῖτο τὸν 8pкov.-De Abstinent. iii. 285. The Egyptian Anûbis was identified by the Greeks with Hermes, the son of Jupiter and Maia. (See on this subject Jablonski, Pantheon Egyptiorum, lib. ii. cap. i.) Hence, if Porphyry is correct, it would seem that the pious and reverent Socrates, instead of invoking the sacred name of Hermes, uses an expression which implies the same meaning; or else, as perhaps is more probable, he is merely strengthening his assertion in accordance with the command of Rhadamanthus, without reference to any definite God. I may state that your correspondent, LE CHEVALIER DU CIGNE (3rd S. v. 85), misrepresents Bryant's opinion with regard to the terms "by the dog and the goose." The whole of the argument employed by Bryant in the chapter from which your correspondent's quotation is taken, is meant to show that the Greek words, kúшv and xív, are a corruption of the term "Cahen, the Cohen, 1 (priest), of the Hebrews." The Greeks, says Bryant, with his characteristic mode of explaining myths, "could not help imagining from the sound of the word, which approached nearly to that of κύων and canis, that it had some reference to that animal, and in consequence of this unlucky resemblance they continually misconstrued it a dog." (i. p. 329.) W. HOUGHTON. DECAY OF STONE IN BUILDINGS. W. appears to be unaware that this fatal liability in most kinds of freestone may be arrested or averted by means of a solution of silica and of calcium; by which Mr. Frederick Ransome forms sand into an artificial freestone, surpassing in strength and (so far as chemical tests can foreshow the effects of time and weather exposure) in durability, any kind of building-stone known. Freestone, as found in quarries, consists mainly of sand consolidated into a mass by cementing substances introduced amongst it in the operations of nature; and is more or less durable according to their composition, and to their insolubility in the water and the acids to which they may be exposed under the influences of the atmosphere. Even in different parts of the same quarry, the strength of these cementing substances seems to differ: so that, in selecting the stone for indestructibility. a building, it is impossible to make sure of its Boiled linseed-oil has long been a means resorted to, in this part of the country, to arrest doubt, it is found to effect its purpose for a few the disintegration of building-stone; and, no the stone to bar the entrance of moisture. But years, that is, so long as it remains sufficiently in ultimately, the oil itself becomes decomposed and washed out by the action of the weather, and the parts of the stone that had been saturated with it crumble more readily than those that had not been anointed with it. By a judicious application of Mr. Ransome's solutions, the originally defective natural cement that held together the sandy particles of the stone, and the gradual decomposition of which is letting it crumble into sand, is effectually replaced-not on the surface merely, but for some distance within the substance of the stone-by pure silicate of lime, insoluble in and impervious to moisture: a cement which the lapse of time only hardens, and the strength of which, as witnessed |