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seven or twenty-eight examples of ring-marks,
dating from 1813 to 1838. These records, roughly
scratched on the walls and coloured with red-ochre,
were locally known as cheeses," because, as the
vicar says, it was the custom of the Laneham
ringers to mark out the form of a cheese on the
wall, and then place within the round the initials
of the married persons and the year of our Lord.
About two miles west of Laneham, and three
miles south of Treswell, is the village of East
Drayton, and there, as the vicar, the Rev. Mr.
Wilkinson, informs me, there are no fewer than a
hundred of these curious markings, not scored, but
simply painted on the belfry walls. They are
known as "6
66 rounds"; sometimes they
rings" or
are called "cakes," as they used to be at Treswell,
but never "cheeses," as at Laneham. East Dray-
ton_ring-marks, which are still fresh and undis-
turbed (in fact, they were retouched at the restora-
tion of the church), contain three initial letters and

E.

the four figures of the year, dating from W.D. to

B.

1865,

1777,

R. M. and probably to even a still later date. The tep letter stands for the bride's Christian name, the lower letters for the Christian and surname of the bridegroom, and the figures, of course, for the year of the marriage. The old village carpenter now living was the last to put up "marriage lines" such as these, and, according to the testimony of his wife, "he was a good letterer and did a many." The custom was that every married couple who brought the ringers a large plum loaf of six or eight pounds weight, and rich according to the wealth of the giver, a cheese, often a sage cheese," such as is still not unknown in that neighbourhood, and a certain sum of money for beer, had not only a "ring o' bells" on the wedding morn, but also a ring with their respective initials put up on the belfry walls by the ringer who was best skilled in that art. In course of time, as the walls became covered with these devices, it was found necessary to efface the older records in order to paint new ones in their place, and evidences of half-obliterated "rings traceable underneath more modern ones.

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Dwellers in towns and cities, whose knowledge of a village wedding is derived from Luke Fildes's celebrated picture, may be interested to know what was the old-fashioned way of keeping up a wedding in these remote parts of Nottinghamshire. Everybody was apprized of the coming event three weeks before by a peal rung after the morning service on the Sunday when the banns were first published-a custom which, by the way, is still practised at East Drayton. When the day came the village was en fête. The nuptials having been solemnized, and the wedding breakfast over in the morning, the whole bridal party walked back to

church, and, in the case of a better-class wedding, the "best man" carried a basket containing a plum loaf, a cheese, and a knife, all wrapped in a white cloth. Amongst the poorer class the bridegroom himself carried under his arm a cake wrapped up in the same way. This gift was taken to the belfry and delivered to the oldest ringer, who cut the cake and cheese and distributed to all the assembly, but first of all to the village children, who came in a few at a time and were arranged in a row with their hands folded, the idea being that they must be orderly and well behaved in the belfry. When all had partaken of the simple feast, the wedding party paraded down the four streets of the village with the attendant throng until they reached the bride's house, where all went merry as a marriage bell, and where the church ringers were entertained at supper in the evening.

At a wedding at East Drayton in April, 1891, the bridegroom took a plum loaf and a piece of cheese to the ringers in the belfry; but no record was placed on the belfry walls, although," says Mr. Wilkinson, "I believe the bride's sisters' rings' are on the walls." The custom of painting

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the rounds seems to have ceased when the floor

of the ringing loft was raised some years ago.

Readers of N. & Q.'are familiar with the common practice in former days of newly-married people making gifts to friends and neighbours*a usage that has been completely reversed in our own times-but this apparently local custom of recording marriages on belfry walls may not be generally known; indeed, I find it has even escaped the notice of Mr. Briscoe, a Nottinghamshire antiquary, in his interesting compilation of 'Curiosities of the Belfry.' Lindum House, Nantwich.

JAMES HALL.

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* In a Yorkshire village, not many miles from East Drayton, it is usual to have competitive races, and the wedded couple to give the prizes: a pound of tobacco for old men, a pound of tea for old women, a silk handkerchief for young men, a ribbon for young girls. If these sports and prizes were not provided, a besom would be found at the door the next morning, the idea being that if the bridal couple did not give anything to race for they were too poor to buy a besom.

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This was a double return, and Foley was declared 1710 Charles Cæsar elected.

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Richard Goulston

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Sir Thomas Clarke, Knt.. William Monson

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35 1713

Charles Cæsar

Richard Goulston

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This was a double return. Foley was declared elected and the election of Price was not disputed.

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25

The first poll was that taken by the old legal constables; the second that by the new constables.

1732 On the expulsion of Baron John Birch (a Cursitor Baron of the Court of Exchequer) James Cornewall

Baron John Birch

Paul Foley

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Polls in Smith, 1729, 1734, 1747, 1754.

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Lionel Lyde...

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Polls in Smith, 1722, 1780, 1784, 1790, 1826, 1831.

244

122

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"But I wish to point out that it by no means follows from this that if we could now revert to a correct reckoning from the birth of Christ the present year would 372 be not 1883 but 1888. It is remarkable how often mis258 takes of this kind are made from not recollecting that 254 chronologists have no year 0, but pass at once from B.O. 1 to A.D. 1. Admitting the birth of Christ to have been in 308 B.C. 5, from then to the same day in B.C. 1 would be four 294 years, and to A.D. 1, five years, and to A.D. 1883, 1887 years. So that our present reckoning is not five, but only four years in error."

303

253

238

Although I have duly consulted the indexes to N. & Q.,' I do not find that this very emphatic statement of MR. LYNN's has been challenged ; 461 238 and as the point is one of no little interest and 335 331 MR. LYNN's authority on such matters deservedly 258 of great weight, I trust he will pardon me for requesting him to review the matter in the light of the following considerations.

258

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The second poll is that after deducting the honorary freemen and paupers. Gore and Clayton were returned.

1727 Viscount Grimston

Caleb Lomax
Thomas Gape

1729 Vice Lomax, dead.

Thomas Gape, Jun.
Brassey

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1734 Sir Thomas Aston, Bart.

Thomas Ashby

Viscount Grimston

1742 Vice Thomas Ashby, dead. Hans Stanley

Hon. James Grimston

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475

447

197

By a parity of reasoning, from a day in A.D. 1 te the same day in A.D. 2 would be one year; to A.D. 3 two years, and to the present year 1892 399 years only; but both A.D. 1 and A.D. 2-not the 165 interval between a day in the one and the same 499 day in the other-must be reckoned, and similarly 471 B.C. 5 and B.C. 4 are respectively the first and 388 second years of the era on the supposition that the birth of Christ took place in B.C. 5. Consequently five years is really the amount of the error, as the whole of B.C. 5 must be reckoned, even if the event from which the era takes its rise had happened on the last day of that year.

325

303

Polls in Smith, 1761, 1784, 1790, 1796, 1807, 1809, 1812, 1818, 1820, 1821, 1830, 1831.

Huntingdonshire.

The present year is 6606 of the Julian period;

1729 Vice Marquis of Hartington becoming Duke of deduct 1893, and the quotient, 4713, is the year of Devonshire.

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1739 Vice Lord Robert Montagu becoming Duke of ing 1898 (1893+5) from the Julian period for this

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MR. LYNN's averment seems explicit enough, but I may have misunderstood him. Should he do 73 me the honour of reconsidering the matter, any 73 observations of his on the subject cannot fail to be 64 of interest.

The other day MR. LYNN drew attention to an error in 'L'Art de Vérifier les Dates.' Although not bearing directly upon the subject of this note, I may point out that this most valuable work, in treating of the date of Christ's birth (vol. ii. p. 233),

gives the year of Rome 747 as 4708 of the Julian
period and 6 B. C., instead of 4707 and 7 B. C.,
whilst the year of Rome 749 is given as 42 of the
Julian era and 4 B.C., in place of 41 and 5 B. C.
respectively. These errors can hardly have arisen
from the existence of the astronomical year 0; in
any case the correct dates are to be found in the
chronological tables contained in the first volume,
and may be verified otherwise throughout the
volumes cited.
J. YOUNG.
Glasgow.

THE ROYAL MARRIAGE.-The fact of the direct
heir to the throne marrying an Englishwoman is
so rare an event that it seems worth noting. I can
only recall two instances since the Conquest, viz.,
Edward, the Black Prince, and Edward, Prince of
Wales, son of Henry VI., who married Ann of
Warwick, subsequently the Queen of Richard III.
Ann of Warwick, however, was not of royal blood;
but the Black Prince and Joanna of Kent were
equally descended from Edward I., and, oddly
enough, as in our present royal marriage, the bride
was a generation older than the bridegroom.
Edward, the Black Prince, was great-grandson of
Edward I.; Joanna of Kent was granddaughter of
the same king; the Duke of York is great-great-
grandson of George III.; while the Princess May
is only great-granddaughter of the good old king.
Several of our kings have married English wives,
but, so far as I can remember, no direct heir to the
throne has ever done so except those I have men-
tioned.
CHARLOTTE G. BOGER.

St. Saviour's, Southwark.

land is described in English as "hastler land."
The rod, or symbol of investiture whereby copyhold
land was conveyed, might have been hastula, but I
doubt whether servitium hastilare is in any way
connected with this symbol, especially as in these
villages copy hold lands are said to be held "by
the straw.'
S. O. ADDY.

3, Westbourne Road, Sheffield.

FOLK-LORE: DROWNED BODY LOCATED.-The Suffolk Times and Mercury of Friday, Nov. 4, 1892, under the heading of 'A Norfolk Superstition,' gives the following:

"Last week (writes our Thetford correspondent) information was received at Thetford that a middle-aged woman had been missing from Brandon since Oct. 11, and had been seen at Thetford. Her friends naturally became alarmed about her, and had serious fears as to her safely, and as they could hear nothing about her, they asked that the river between Thetford and Brandon might be dragged. Instead of this, recourse was had to a very curious procedure, in which it appears some people really believe. On Tuesday afternoon the Navigation Superintendent got a boat and rowed down the river, accompanied by a policeman, who was mildly and slowly beating a big drum. It was stated that, if they came to any part of the river in which there might be a be distinctly noticed. The experiment, however, was a dead body, a difference in the sound of the drum would failure, and later on, it was reported that a person answering to the description of the missing woman was at Elvedon. This proved to be correct, and she was ultimately taken home, to the great relief of her friends.” I fancy this belief is uncommon; at least, I have never met with it before. W. B. GERISH.

South Town, Great Yarmouth.

THE INVENTOR OF LUCIFER MATCHES.— "Mr. John Walker, chemist, of Stockton, and the original inventor of lucifer matches, died in that town the other day at the age of seventy-eight. For a considerable time he realized a handsome income from the sale of his matches in boxes at 1s. 6d. each."-Vide Baptist Reporter, June, 1859.

JOHN T. PAGE.

Holmby House, Forest Gate. RELICS IN A LONDON CHURCH.-The following appears in the City Press:

ARCHILOCHUS.-Apparently the usually accepted epoch at which the great satirist of Paros flourished must be brought down about half a century. In one of the fragments which alone remain of the works admired by Horace, he speaks of Zeus turning midday into night, a phenomenon so remarkable that he thinks no one ought afterwards to be surprised at anything-not even if the dolphins and land animals should change places. An Italian astronomer, Prof. Millosevich, of Rome, has recently re-examined the question of explaining "As the church of St. Mary, in the Minories, will be this by the occurrence of a total eclipse of the sun mission room, a faculty having been obtained some time in the locality where Archilochus resided, with the ago for the amalgamation of the parish with that of St. result that one only in the seventh century before Botolph, Aldgate, what is going to be done with the Christ will perfectly correspond with the circum-interesting relics? Notably among these is the head of stances. This was the eclipse of April 6, B.C. 648, which was total over Thasos about ten o'clock in the morning, and thus fixes the date of the composition of the poem. W. T. LYNN. Blackheath.

HASTLER LAND. In some villages in the neighbourhood of Sheffield land was anciently described as being held of the lord in seruicio hastilari. This expression occurs in documents of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and at a later period the

closed during the next few weeks, and used only as a

the Duke of Norfolk, which is kept in a black box under mediately after his execution on Tower Hill, the duke's a glass cover in the vestry. The story goes that, imfriends obtained possession of the head and secreted it in the chapel attached to his family mansion. This family mansion really comprised the buildings of the ancient Priory of Holy Trinity, as founded by Matilda, Queen of Henry I., in 1108, and which, together with the precincts, had been given, at the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., to Thomas Audley, Lord church, made the place his residence until his death, in Chancellor of England, who, after pulling down the the year 1554. Thereupon, in virtue of his marriage

with the Lord Chancellor's daughter, the property passed into the possession of Thomas Howard, Earl of Norfolk, whose unhappy lot it was twenty-two years afterwards to lay down his life on the block. After his execution, his son, the Earl of Suffolk, disposed of the priory precinct and his mother's mansion therein to the City. In the year 1622, the inhabitants of Duke's Place, that had been built on part of the site of the old priory, having come to an open quarrel with the parishioners of St. Catherine Cree, obtained leave of Charles I. to rebuild the priory church, with the assistance of Lord Mayor Barkham. The church was accordingly rebuilt, and remains to this day."

Queries.

H. T.

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"Had contrived a species of armour, of which neither the horse-armoury in the Tower, nor Gwynnap's Gothic Hall, no, nor Dr. Meybrick's invaluable collection of ancient arms, has preserved any specimen."-Ibid., chap. xxxii. p. 396.

What is meant by Gwynnap's Gothic Hall?

"Winterblossom is one of us-was one of us at leastand won't stand the ironing. He has his Wogdens still, that were right things in his day, and can hit the haystack with the best of us."-'St. Ronan's Well,' Centenary Edition, chap. iv. p. 49.

What were Wogdens ?-pistols ?

"By the by, Lady Penelope, you have not your collection in the same order and discipline as Pidcock and Polito."-Ibid., chap. vii. p. 85.

Who were Pidcock and Polito ?-keepers of a wild-beast show?

"For fair play's sake I made him take one of my pistols -right Kuchenritters."-Ibid., chap. xix. p. 210.

Is anything known of Kuchenritter ?-presumably a gunsmith.

"With a volley of such oaths as would have blown a whole fleet of the Bethel Union out of the water."Ibid., chap. xxi. p. 233.

What was the Bethel Union?

"With your usual graceful attitude of adjusting your perpendicular shirt-collar, and passing your hand over the knot of your cravat, which deserves a peculiar place in the Tietania."-Ibid., chap. xxvi. p. 287.

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defence of the Catholic doctrine of confession is quoted in 'Redgauntlet' (Centenary Edition, letter viii. p. 91)?

"If you ever saw me tremble, be assured that my flesh, like that of the old Spanish general, only quaked at the dangers into which my spirit was about to lead it."'Redgauntlet,' Centenary Edition, letter iii. p. 29.

Who was this old Spanish general? The same remark occurs in 'The Fair Maid of Perth' (Centenary Edition, chap. viii. p. 95).

"Hang thee, Alan, thou art as unfit a confidant for a youthful gallant with some spice of imagination as the old taciturn secretary of Facardin of Trebizond."—Ibid., letter iii. p. 32.

From other sources I have some reason to infer that Prince Facardin of Trebizond was the name or hero of a play or opera which was well known in Berlin in the beginning of this century. Precise particulars would be welcomed.

"It's no a Scotch tune, but it passes for ane-Oswald made it himsell, I reckon he has cheated mony ane, but he canna cheat Wandering Willie."— Ibid., letter 1. p. 105.

Joseph Lincke, a celebrated 'cello player, born in 1783, is stated to have learned his instrument from Oswald. Presumably this is the person Wandering Willie alludes to; but who was he? J. T. B.

OLD BELL.-There was sold, on the 9th inst., in Dowell's Rooms, Edinburgh, a bell, dated "1789. Lepine, Fondeur, a Quimper," with Latin cross embossed. This bell was in a church at Quimper, in Normandy. It was desecrated in the French Revolution, was in the Pique frigate, which was taken in the war, and was presented by the captain to Wm. Macdonald, of St. Martin's, in 1804. It was used in the belfry of St. Martin's Abbey, in Strathmore, Perthshire, for fifty years.

Glasgow.

J. F. S. GORDON.

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LYON FAMILY.-Can any reader of N. & Q.' put me in the way of substantiating the early accounts of the Scotch family of Lyon before the Sir John who married the Princess Jane, and got with her the lands of Glamis? Were they connected with the Northamptonshire Lyons?-who

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