286 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2«'a s. VII, April 2. '59. 



sought to get possession of the Castle and Lordship of 

 Berkeley, which not only occasioned the famous lawsuit 

 in question, but was often attended with the most violent 

 quarrels on both sides, at least during the first fifty j-ears 

 or more. In the year 1469 (10th of Edward IV.), Tho- 

 mas Talbot, 2nd Viscount Lisle, great-grandson of the 

 above Elizabeth, residing at Wotton-under-Edge, was 

 killed at Nibley-green in a famous sj^irmish between 

 some 500 of his own retainers and about as many of those 

 of William (then) Lord Berkeley (whom he had chal- 

 lenged to the field), who likewise headed his men ; when, 

 besides the brave, but ill-fated, j'oung Lisle (scarce of 

 age at that time), about 150 of their followers were slain, 

 and 300 wounded, chiefly of the Wotton party, who fled 

 on the fall of their leader. Lord Lisle's sisters were his 

 heirs, and their husbands (one of whom got the title) fol- 

 lowed up the suit, as their descendants did after them, 

 until 1609, when Henry, 11th Lord Berkeley, obtained a 

 decree in favour of his claims, and got full and quiet pos- 

 session of the lands and manors in dispute." 



Lex ScRirxA. 



Mr. Stigant, in his Life of Sir Philip Sidney 

 (Cambridge Essays, 1858, p. 82.), says : — 



" One of the Lisles . . . was knocked on the head by 

 Lord Berkeley in a quarrel about lands." 



Then in a note : 



" This quarrel caused the longest Chancery suit on 

 record ; it lasted for seven generations, from 3 Henry V., 

 1415, to 2 James I., 1604 (189 j'ears) ; and was then set- 

 tled by a compromise between Lord Berkeley and Sir 

 Robert Sidney, Sir Philip's brother. The Chancery Bar 

 should raise a monument to the founder of this suit." 



s. c. 



Knights Templars" Lands (2""^ S. vii. 200.)— In 

 1185, an inquisition was taken of the lands of the 

 Templars in this country, with the names of the 

 donors, under the direction of Geoffrey the supe- 

 rior of the Order in England. It is printed in 

 Dugdale's Monast., vi. pt. ii. p. 820. Some ac- 

 count of their possessions is given in Addison's 

 Knights Templars. As to England, pp. 103. to 

 108., collected from Dugdale, Rymer, Concilia, 

 Magna Britannice, the various county histories, 

 and other authorities. As to foreign parts, see 

 pp. 94. to 103. : the author adds their annual in- 

 come was estimated at six'millions sterling. An 

 exact account of their possessions at the time of 

 their suppression is probably contained in the 

 extent of the lands and revenues of the Order 

 amongst the records of the Queen's Remembran- 

 cer's Office, now or lately at Carlton Ride, and in 

 the accounts of the sheriffs amongst the records 

 of the Pipe Office, taken under the direction of 

 the Court of Exchequer at the time of the im- 

 prisonmentof the Templars in England. 



An Old Pauline. 



^'Voydinge Knife" (P' S. vi. 150.) — The ex- 

 plication given by E. D. (vi. 280.) on a Query of 

 Mr. Spek (p. 150.), as to the signification of a 

 " voydinge knife of silver," seems to me not right 

 for the time of Elizabeth, though it may be the 

 right one to-day. In Webster I find the word 

 " voiding, ejecting, evacuating." And thus it ap- 



pears to me that " a voydinge knife of silver " 

 means, in that time, rather " un couteau de chasse 

 monte en argent pour faire la curee," by deer 

 hunting. It seems not likely that, three centuries 

 ago, the crumbs of bread were so nicely cleared 

 away. Spok Ntueb Ed. 



The Statue in the Bloch (2"'' S. vi. 346.) —This 

 conception does not appear to belong to Plato, 

 or to classical antiquity. 



Hallam {Lit. of Europe, iv. iii. p. 281.), in set- 

 ting forth the opinion of Locke, that the subjective 

 conceptions, as we should now call them, of the 

 mathematician, are not copies of objective reali- 

 ties, says of a geometrical figure, " it exists in the 

 infinite round about us, as the statue exists in the 

 block," adding : — 



" Michael Angelo has well conveyed this idea in four 

 lines which I quote from Corniani : — 



" Non ha 1' ottimo artista alcun concetto, 

 Che un marmo solo in se non circonscriva. 

 Col suo soverchio, e solo a quello arriva 

 La mano che obbedisce all' intelletto." 



T. J. BUCKTON. 

 Lichfield. 



Bishop Barnabee (2""^ S. vii. 196.) — Having 

 resided many years in Norfolk, and always taken 

 notice of children's ditties and provincialisms in 

 general, I am satisfied that what the children do 

 say is not '■'■Bishop," but '■^Bishee, Bishee, Barny- 

 bee;" and a Norfolk gentleman, who had been 

 taught the ditty in his childhood, assures me that 

 this was its real wording. Now the first word, 

 said twice over, in my opinion means nothing, but 

 is merely a nonsensical address to the insect ; and 

 as to the next word, I believe it to be intended for 

 Burny, or Burning Bee, that is red, fiery looking 

 bee. Something coincident may be observed in 

 the distich used instead of this in the western 

 counties, where the children sing thus : — 



" Lady bird, lady bird, fly away home, 

 Your house is on fire, and vour children at home!" 



F. C. H. 



MS. of Basil Kennett (P* S. xii. 382.) — Mrs. 

 Howe, daughter of Bishop White Kennett, was 

 the wife of Col. John Howe, who in 1718 was 

 living at Great Staughton near St. Neots. Basil 

 Kennett, younger brother of the bishop, was chap- 

 lain to the English factory at Leghorn from 1706 

 to 1714, when he returned to England, and died 

 the following January. Joseph Rix. 



St. Neots. 



Serte Silver (2"^ S. iii. 48. ; vii, 180.) --I think 

 your correspondent E. G. R. is slightly in error 

 in his definition. " Certum leta2," variously called 

 cert or certainty-money, chief or king's silver, 

 common fine, head-money and head-pence, was a 

 payment the lord" of a hundred or manor who had 

 obtained a grant of a leet franchise was entitled to 



