450 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»'» S. VII. June 4. '69. 



JAMES II. : MAEIA D ESTE. 



The anxiety with which Roman Catholics, in the 

 reign of James II., looked forward to the birth of 

 a male heir to the throne, is curiously exemplified 

 by some papers in the Cambridge University li- 

 brary (Dd. 3. 88.) They appear to have been 

 written on 25th March, 1688 ; rather more than 

 two months before Maria D'Este was delivered 

 of the ill-starred James Francis Edward, the 

 Chevalier St. George. After some prayers to 

 the Blessed Virgin Mary, being a sort of para- 

 phrase on the angelical salutation, the writer thus 

 proceeds : — 



" Having thus paid our Humblest Devotion to the 

 Magnificent Queen of Glor}-, on this and the world's 

 greatest day of the Annuntiation, We should here con- 

 clude the solemnity, Were there not other Majesty here 

 present, inferiour indeed to that we have now celebrated, 

 but in respect of Us very great. To whom I chose to 

 pay humble homage this day, especially that the Patro- 

 nage of our B. Lad}' might render it more gratefully, and 

 supply my defects. 



" Hail then, mighty Queen of Great Britany, Our Su- 

 preme Sovereign Lady upon Earth, most happily A- 

 plenished row with a charge of greatest value. Hail ! 



" And that this humble congratulation may claim a 

 more welcome acceptance it is to Mary too, for that name, 

 the most lovely and beloved under Heaven, nay and in 

 heaven next to' that of God himself, your Majesty has the 

 great Happynes and Honour to bear, a name above every 

 name conferred on your Sex. A happy omen. Madam, to 

 your Self and us that you are chose to be the mother of the 

 FaithfuU here by the Allmighty, to whom that name pe- 

 culiarly endears you through the mediation of his B. 

 Mother. Nor is this all Providence did for you. That 

 you might not want a fit means to be recommended first 

 to our B. Lady's Patronage, you have the name of her 

 dearest and best beloved Spouse St. Joseph. Hail Josepha 

 Maria D'Est, from whose East we expect our Prince of 

 Peace and Reconciliation to arise. 



" For which is most of all, you have, Madam, corre- 

 sponded with those names 3-ou bear, bj' being devout to 

 the Sacred persons whose they are, and that b}' the best 

 and only devotion indeed of imitating their Vertues, 

 especially those (most pleasing in the sight of God) of 

 Humility, Obedience, and Chastity. In respect and re- 

 ward whereof the Allmighty has blessed your Majesty, 

 and all us in you, with so far advanced hopes of Royall 

 Issue; Whereby we have a most advantagious Prospect 

 of the greatest Blessing England ever enjoyed, if I should 

 say which the World can now receive, I believe I could 

 make good my assertion. Forasmuch as from the Propa- 

 gation of the Faith in England, in a great measure de- 

 pends the Confirmation of it in the whole Xtian world, 

 and the conversion of all who are out of the Church." 



Thompson Coopee. 



Cambridge. 



FOLK LORE. 



Rockland's Guild. — In this parish, every year 

 on the' 16th May, there is a sort of country fair 

 held which the villagers call the "Guild;" and 

 whicli is evidently a relic of the Guild of St. John 

 )he Baptist held here in St. Peter's church before 

 the Reformation. On this occasion a mayor of 



the Guild is elected, and he is chaired about the 

 three parishes of Rockland, and gathers largess, 

 which is afterwards spent in a frolic. There is 

 another antique custom connected with the Guild 

 which yet obtains : the inhabitants of certain 

 houses in the " street" have the privilege of hang- 

 ing oaken-boughs outside their doors (and their 

 houses are thence called '• bough-houses"), and 

 on the day of the Guild they draw home-brewed 

 ale for all customers, and are not interfered with 

 for so doing either by the village licensed publican 

 or the excise authorities. 



I have heard of somewhat similar customs being 

 yet extant in one or two other villages of this 

 county, though under other names than that of 

 " Guilds." . Addison Hemswobth. 



Rockland's Rectory, Attleborough, 



Weathe?' Distich. — In the office of the re- 

 gistrar of the diocese of Norwich is preserved 

 a very splendid MS. known as the "Norwich 

 Domesday," but which is the Taxatio Ecclc 

 siastica of the diocese. It is preceded by a 

 Calendar, in which, besides saints' days, and one 

 or two historical events, there is the following 

 weather-distich for July 2, the day of SS. Pro- 

 cessus and Martinianus : 



" Si pluat in festo Processi et Martiniani, 

 Ymber grandis erit, ac suffocatio grani." 



which, as the present "St. Swithin's," 15th July, 

 is the same day in New Style, may perhaps bear 

 some relation to the existing belief respectmg 

 the forty days' rain to be expected if it rains on 

 the 15lh. B. B. Woodward. 



. Christinas Thunder. — An old woman, on being 

 told that it had thundered on Christmas Day, 

 quoted an adage : 



" Winter thunder, 

 Rich man's food and poor man's hunger." 



Is this known to be a common saying among 

 the poor ? And can any of your readers throw 

 any light upon its meaning ? R. E. B. 



Origin of Pancahes on Shrove Tuesday. — There 

 is a curious tradition existing in Mansfield, Wood- 

 house, Bulwell, and several other villages near 

 Sherwood Forest, as to the origin of pancakes on 

 Shrove Tuesday. The inhabitants of any of these 

 villages will inform the questioner that when the 

 Danes got to Linby all the Saxon men of the 

 neighbouring villages ran oflT into the Forest, and 

 the Danes took the Saxon women to keep house 

 for them. This happened just before Lent, and the 

 Saxon women, encouraged by their fugitive lords, 

 resolved to massacre their Danish masters on Ash 

 Wednesday. Every woman who agreed to do 

 this was to bake pancakes for their meal on Shrove 

 Tuesday as a kind of pledge to fulfil her vow. 

 This was done, and that the ma.ssacre of the 



