498 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2««i S. VII. June 18, '59. 



annals of botany. We find in old English writers no ac- 

 count of a power to heal wounds or sores, in any ointment 

 prepared from the mtV/j-thistle. But we do find another, 

 and totally distinct plant, the " Carduus benedictus,"_ or 

 " Blessed thistle " {not with milk-white leaves), of which 

 great things are reported — especially as " an vnguent," 

 for " stubburne and rebellious vlcers." (Gerard, p. 1009.) 

 " The blessed thistle," says Loudon, " was so called from 

 its being supposed to possess extraordinary medicinal 

 powers ; it was said not only to destroy worms and cure 

 fevers, but also the plague, and the most putrid and stub- 

 born ulcers." This plant is the "Cnicus benedictus"of 

 Linnaius, formerly called by the Fr. " Chardon benoist," 

 Sp. " Cardo sancto," Du, " Beseegnete distel." We have 

 ourselves heard the title " Blessed thistle " applied to the 

 " Milk-thistle; " and perhaps with the name there was a 

 transfer of the " vertues."] 



Mrs. Joane Drake. — In Lipscomb's Hist, of 

 Bucks, vol. iii. p. 153., under " Amersham," there 

 is a long note on Mrs. Francis Drake of Sharde- 

 loes (nee Tothill), and also the description of a 

 pamphlet about her, entitled The Fi7'ebrand taken 

 out of the Fire, written by B, Usher, D. Preston, 

 M. Hooker, M. Dod, and printed by Thos. Ma- 

 .thews, at the sign of the Cock, St. Paul's Church- 

 yard, 1654. 



Any information respecting the above work, 

 and where also a copy of it may be seen, will be 

 most acceptable to W, T. T. Dbake. 



Bray, Maidenhead. 



[Our correspondent will find some account of this 

 extraordinary case in a work in the British Museum, en- 

 titled Trodden Down Strength, by the\ God of Strength, or 

 Mrs. Drake Revived, shewing her strange and rare case, 

 great and many uncouth afflictions, for tenne yeares to- 

 gether, with the strange and wonderfull manner how the 

 Lord revealed himselfe unto her, a few dayes before her 

 death. Belated by her sometime unworthy Friend, Hart 

 On-hi, 12mo. 1647.] 



Hope in Death. — In MUhlbach's Berlin und 

 Sans Souci, vol. iv. p. 98., occur the following 

 lines : — 



" Als du bei der Geburt emporschlugst deine Blicke, 

 Da lachelt jeder dir, und du, mein Sohn, du weintest ; 

 Ach ! lebe nun so gut, dass wenn dein Aug' einst bricht, 

 Dann jeder weint und klagt, und man dich lacheln 



sieht." 

 They are accompanied by a French translation, 

 but I think I remember reading some lines very 

 like these, said to have been improvised by Shak- 

 speare when supping at the house of an English 

 nobleman. If this be so, I would gladly learn 

 where I can find the original. A. B. 



[Is not our correspondent thinking of Sir William 

 Jones's well-known translation from the Persian ? — 

 " On mother's knee a naked new-born child. 

 Weeping thou laid'st while all around thee smiled. 

 So live, that sinking to thy last long sleep. 

 Thou then mayst smile, while all around thee weep."] 



" The Assemhly." — Who is the author of The 

 Assembly, a comedy, 12mo., 1722 ? The author- 

 ship is attributed to Dr. Pitcairn, but it would 

 seem to have been the work of more than one 



author. See Mr. Tytler's Life of Dr. Pitcairn in 

 Lives of Scottish Writers. Sigma. 



[On the title-page of a copy of The Assembly, now be- 

 fore us, the name of Dr. Pitcairne is inscribed in the 

 handwriting of the middle of the last century. The 

 work is also attributed to this sturdy Jacobite in Cham- 

 bers's Diet, of Eminent Scotsmen.'] 



Parochial Registers, 1699, — Extract from the 

 register of Shottesbroke Church, Berks : — 



" Rudye, the son of James Finmore, Curate of y^ Parish, 

 and Thomasine his wife, was born April 14*'', 1699, and 

 Baptised April y« 15*. 



" Reputed not worth 600Z." 



The last line occurs constantly, both among the 

 baptisms and burials. What is the meaning of 

 it? A. 



[The entry was occasioned by the Act of the 6th & 7th 

 William III. cap. 6., intituled " An Act for granting to 

 His Majesty certain Rates and Duties upon Marriages, 

 Births, and Burials, and upon Bachelors and Widowers, 

 for the term of Five Years, for carrying on the War 

 against France with vigour." The fee for every person 

 having a real estate of 50/. per annum or upwards, or a 

 personal estate of 600/. or upwards, was 20s. ; of the wife 

 of such person having such estate, 10s.] 



THE PIEPOWDER COUET : BARTHOLOMEW FAIR. 



(2'"» S. vii. 217. 283.) 



The book kept by the Piepowder Court at 

 Bartholomew Fair, from the year 1790 to the 

 close of the.fair by cessation of the Lord Mayor's 

 proclamation, is now in the City Library at Guild- 

 hall. It had been mislaid, and was vainly sought 

 for until after the publication of my Memoirs of 

 the Fair, but it has been found. 



Three printed forms were used by the Court : — 

 One, headed by the royal and the city arms placed 

 side by side, gave public notice that the Court 

 was to be held, on three days of September therein 

 named, " at the house known by the sign of the 

 Hand and Shears, in Cloth Fair, West Smith- 

 field," and that all persons were "to pay their 

 Stallage, Siccage, Customs, Tolls, and Duties at 

 the said Court, before they attempt to make any 

 exhibition or show, or otherwise vend or expose 

 to sale any Goods, Wares, or Merchandizes." 

 Notice was on the same paper given to freemen, 

 that they would be required to produce copies of 

 their freedom on taking out their licences. This 

 notice, dated on some day in August, and printed 

 by the printer to the city, was signed by the 

 Steward. 



The business to which this notice referred was 

 done with help from the two other printed forms, 

 each headed by the royal arms and initials, with 

 the style and title of the Court, which was as fol- 

 lows : — 



" Court of Piepowder, held within the Liberty and 



