2»>ds. VII. Mat14.'59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



393 



everywhere all attention to his little pupils. The 

 day passed off" in hilarity and innocent enjoyment, 

 and the competitive system of free offerings left, 

 generally, something pleasing to tell for some days 

 in the pockets and humble cupboard of the 

 teacher. This custom prevailed until after the 

 commencement of the present century, but is now 

 all but forgotten. 



Is this a mere local custom, or one brought by 

 the colonists of 1172? for it was not observed in 

 the Irish districts. E. H. 



" RoUwright" or " RoUright" its Etymology. — 

 These are the so-called " Druid stones " in Oxford- 

 shire. The pure RoUright Stones form a circle in 

 which is a clump of trees. They are on the 

 summit of a lofty eminence, and may be seen for 

 miles. They are close to the road which parts 

 Oxfordshire from Warwickshire ? In a field ad- 

 jacent (on the Oxfordshire side) is a fallen crom- 

 lech of five stones, commonly called the " five 

 knights." 



In a field opposite the circle (in Warwickshire) 

 is a solitary stone, called by the natives " the 

 King," a meinigywr ; around it are traces of 

 earthworks. My guide told me that it was 

 daily diminishing in size, " because people from 

 Wales kept chipping off" bits to keep the devil off"," 

 and that he could remember it much larger. My 

 guide was born half a mile off", at Long Compton, 

 and had, he said, lived there " all his days." On 

 walking back to Chipping Norton this Good 

 Friday evening, I saw, at half-past eight o'clock, 

 the finest' Aurora Borealis I have ever noticed in 

 England, and at that moment I formed a specula- 

 tion that RoUright was a corruption of EL, or 

 Bel, or Baal, the fire-god, symbolised by the Sun, 

 and RIGHT, from Rex, Raj, Reicht, &c,, all of 

 which are synonyms. The King of Fire, or, in 

 other words, the Sun God's Shrine. A. J. D. 



Nmiomagus, Good Friday. 



Quotation. — Who is the author of the following 

 lines ? They have been attributed to Sir William 

 Davenant, but cannot be found in his Poems : — 



" Laugh at the graver business of the state, 

 Which speaks men rather wise than fortunate." 



J.Y. 



Martyn and Tracy Families. — In a provincial 

 paper of Devonshire, Woolmer's Exeter and Ply- 

 mouth Gazette, Nov. 20, 1858, there appeared a 

 notice of the Tracy family, barons of Barnestopol, 

 drawn up by a hand signing itself " Nemo." 



From the information contained in that sketch 

 it is clear the writer had some authentic docu- 

 ments from which to compile ; but as he departed 

 in it very far from Dugdale and Sir William Pole, 

 in so much of the pedigree as related to the 



family of Fitz-Martyn of Dartington, into which 

 the family of Tracy merged, I think he perhaps 

 would be induced to furnish through " N. & Q." 

 some information concerning the Martyn family. 

 It is quite evident that no genealogist has yet 

 traced the Martyn pedigree correctly, and in no 

 case does that furnished tally with contempora- 

 neous records, such as escheats, writs of Parlia- 

 ment, &c. 



" Nemo " is the first authority I have met with 

 who gives Matilda, the daughter and heir of Guy 

 de Bryan, to a William Martyn to wife. All other 

 historians say Nicolas ; and I am very curious to 

 know if he has good authority for that. There 

 was a Nicolas Martyn of Devon, who died 1327, 

 evidently of this family, but I do not find him 

 mentioned in any pedigree. 



Hutchings, in his History of Dorset, gives a 

 certainly more correct tree of the Martyns than 

 Sir W. Pole,- but he inserts a Colinetus Martyn, 

 with whom I have never met. If any of your cor- 

 respondents can clear up the Martyn line, which 

 is at present very obscure, it would be of great 

 interest to many of your readers ; but I suspect 

 " Nemo " has access to some documents of high 

 literary value, and has it in his power to enlighten 

 us, beyond that possessed by others. J. Ye. 



Edinburgh. 



P. S. If " Nemo " will do this I will prove to 

 him that the tomb of William de Tracy in Mor- 

 thoe Church, Devon, said by Risdon to be the 

 resting-place of Becket's murderer, is not rightly 

 so designated. 



Carthaginian Passage in Plautus. — Any refer- 

 ence to books, but especially the most recent, in 

 which the Carthaginian passage in the Paenulus of 

 Plautus is discussed will oblige A. A. R. 



'TireJffToo-js. — Will some kind correspondent of 

 " N. & Q." explain how the words inrSffTua-ts, sub- , 

 stantia, and understanding come to have such 

 diff'erent meanings ? Abp. Whately (Logic, 9th 

 edit, p. 215.) adduces these words as "a striking 

 instance of the little reliance to be placed on ety- 

 mology as a guide to the meaning of a word." 



Vbrbcm. 



Mrs. Cockle. — Can you give me any account of 

 Mrs. Cockle, author of several educational works, 

 poems, &c., published about the year 1810 ? Z. 



Impalement, Sfc. of Wifes Arms. — Is it optional 

 whether the wife's arms should be borne or his 

 own coat alone by a married man ? This Query 

 will apply to cases where the wife's right to arms 

 is doubtful. I remember once to have seen on 

 the hatchment of a woman of low origin who had 

 married a man of family, the sinister side of the 

 shield occupied by flourishes. If it was desired to 

 make use of a hatchment in such a case, I suppose 



