2nd s. VII. Mau. 12. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



219 



The Druids met in groves of oak, and from these 

 trees gathered the mistletoe, of which a word or 

 two hereafter; but all that we read of them in 

 contemporary authors leads to the inference that, 

 however cruel their rites might have been, they 

 were much too wise to worship stones, though 

 they may have used them for punishments. I 

 wish to clear up what seems a very general error ; 

 for the stones and stone-circles appear to me to 

 belong indubitably to the Northmen. Moreover, 

 these stones are generally set in soil in which oaks 

 could not, and would not grow. W. 



" The Caravan." — I have a play in manuscript 

 called " The Caravan," in three acts, concluding 

 with scene 2., which appears to be unfinished. It 

 is written in a neat, bold, round hand, as if by an 

 amanuensis, and is much altered by a strange, 

 scrawling hand, said to be in the autograph of K. 

 B. Sheridan. In the catalogue of the bookseller 

 from whom I obtained the manuscript, it was an- 

 nounced in this fashion : — 



"The Caravan, a Play, MSS., with numerous alter- 

 ations in the autographs of R. B. Sheridan, 8vo., 1826." 



Can any of your readers kindly inform me who 

 was the writer of this play ? and, if published, 

 when, where, and by whom ? M. S. R. 



Brompton Barracks. 



[This MS. seems to be a new edition, with alterations, 

 of Frederick Reynolds's Comic Romance, The Caravan, 

 or the Driver and his Dog, first acted at Drury Lane, Dec. 

 5, 1803, and printed in that year. It was one of the 

 most successful of Reynolds's productions. He says, 

 " The introduction of real water on the stage, and of a 

 dog to jump into it from a high rock, for the purpose of 

 saving a child, were both incidents, at that time, so en- 

 tirely unknown in theatrical exhibitions, that their very 

 novelty rendered everybody, during the production of 

 the piece, most sanguine as to its success. The water 

 was hired from Old Father Thames, and the dog of the 

 proprietor of an A-la-mode beef shop." After witnessing 

 the first representation, Sheridan suddenly came into the 

 green-room, on purpose, as it was imagined, to wish the 

 author joy. "Where is he?" was the first question, 

 " where is my guardian angel ? " « The author has just 

 retired," answered the prompter. " Pooh," replied Sheri- 

 dan, " I mean the dog ; actor, author, and preserver of 

 Drury Lane Theatre." Sheridan at this time was active 

 in his new character of theatrical director, and to him 

 and Bannister, as his stage manager. The Caravan was 

 principally indebted for its success.— Xi/e and Times of 

 Frederick Reynolds, ii. 352.] 



Flemings Christology. — Can you inform me 

 whether a work called Christology, a 'Discourse 

 concerning Christ, by Robert Fleming, consists of 

 three or four or more volumes, and if they were 

 published at one time or separately ? J. B. 



[Fleming's Christology consists of two volumes, but is 

 usually bound in three. Vol. iii. commences with a half- 

 title, viz. " The Four Remaining Chapters of the Third 



Book of Christology ; being a Second Part or Section of 

 the said Book," the paginal figures commencing at p. 

 437., and ending at p. 697. Then follows, as a distinct 

 work, The First Resurrection, 1708, pp. 198. Vol. I. was 

 published in 1705; Vol. II. in 1708.] 



Thomas Walkington, D.D.— Lowndes refers to 

 Dr. Thomas Walkington The Optick Glasse of 

 Humors, 1607. On what evidence does this at- 

 tribution rest? I should have thought Thomas 

 Wenman, the author of The Legend of Mary 

 Queen of Scotts, 1601, a more likely person to 

 own the initials T. W. which are on the title-page 

 of the former. C. Mansfield Inglebt. 



[In the Bodleian Catalogue The Optick Glasse of Hu- 

 mors is attributed to Dr. Thomas Walkington, Fellow of 

 St. John's College, Cambridge, and Minister at Fulham.] 



P. Forester. — I have Magna Britannia in six 

 volumes, 4to., a more enlarged history to that 

 given by Mr. Camden, " Collected and composed 

 by an impartial hand," but without any name. 

 It was printed in 1720. It has a great number of 

 manuscript interleaved additions, also corrections 

 and additions in the various indexes to counties, 

 and also the amount of land-tax paid in each 

 county. Upon the fly-leaf of each volume is 

 written this name, P. Forester, 1720. Can you 

 give me any clue as to who the learned corrector 

 was ? W. H. HouRD. 



[The "learned corrector" was most probably Pulter 

 Forester, Esq. of Broadfield, in Hertfordshire, who died 

 Dec. 3, 1753, aged sixty-four years. He was the ftUher 

 of Dr. Pulter Forester, ChanceUor of Lincoln, and Arch- 

 deacon of Buckingham, who died at Cosgrove on July 

 26, 1778. The editor of diagna Britannia was the Rev. 

 Thomas Cox.] 



Davit. — We know what this nautical term 

 means — the projecting beams on the side or stern 

 of a vessel used for hoisting the boats by a pulley. 

 But what is the etymology of the word ? I can 

 find none in the common dictionaries. Cubiosus. 



\_Davit was in Old English Davyd : " A Davyd, with 

 a shyver of brass," (with a brass sheave or wheel). In- 

 vtntory of the Great Barke, 1532. In French it is called 

 Davier. Jal (Glossaire Nautique) is of opinion that the 

 Fr. Davier is from the Eng. Davit, which he would de- 

 rive from the A.-S. Tawa, any machine or mechanical 

 instrument. Davit is not only the beam to hoist in 

 boats; but the crane used for hoisting the flukes, after, 

 the anchor is catted. Cf. the verb " Davy," which in 

 Norfolk signifies " to raise marl from cliffs by means of 

 a wince." — Halliivell.'] 



IftCpItCSf. 

 FREEBENCII OR CUSTOMART DOWER AND CURTEST. 



(2"<» S. vii. 105.) 



Freebench, though now usually understood to 

 describe the widow's interest only, appears to be 

 that estate which, by the particular custom of the 

 manor — for the right does not exist without a 



