510 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2n'» S. VII. June 25. '69. 



den. Until lately the house had from its exterior 

 a crazy tumbledown appearance ; but during the 

 present year it has undergone some repairs, a bay 

 window on the north side has been removed, and 

 the front of the house recompoed ; and for its 

 future identification the words "Burnett House" 

 have been impressed in the cement over the up- 

 per story. The lofty and well-proportioned 

 rooms of this noble mansion have been parti- 

 tioned off in every conceivable way ; and lately 

 there were no less than thirteen poor families pur- 

 suing various employments in the very rooms once 

 set apart for the reception of distinguished guests. 

 The chimney-pieces in several of the rooms are 

 handsome in design, and of elaborate workman- 

 ship ; the hearths are all of white marble ; the 

 old stoves have been removed ; and the old stair- 

 cases have also been replaced by less substantial 

 ones of modern construction. In a yard behind 

 the right wing of the house is a leaden cistern 

 of large dimensions ; on the outside are several 

 devices in relief; on the front and at either end 

 are figures of the Goddess of Plenty. Near the 

 tipper edge of the cistern is the date of its casting, 

 1682, and the initials " B. A. M." Within a panel 

 there is a shield quite plain, and over this, as a 

 crest, a lion passant, the dexter paw resting on a 

 blazing star. (To what family does this crest 

 belong, having " M." as the initial letter of their 

 name ?) There was until recently another cis- 

 tern on the premises, bearing date 1721, and the 

 initial " G." for Gilbert, surmounted by a mitre ; 

 but in 1857 it was sold for old metal, and is said 

 to have weighed four hundred weight. 



In conclusion we must express a regret that 

 an old mansion such as this, — in days of yore 

 honoured by the residence of men m'Iio by their 

 talents will be long remembered in literary cir- 

 cles, — is not rescued from the hand of the spolia- 

 tor, as a remnant of historic fame : — 



" We do love these ancient ruins. 

 And never tread upon them, but we set our foot 

 LTpon some reverend historj-." 



W. J. Pinks. 



BOOK NOTES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 



The following, which I transcribe from the fly- 

 leaves of books in my own study, will perhaps 

 be deemed worth preservation : — 



1. In a copy ofHopton's Cuncordancy ofYeares 

 [London] 1615, the leaf which precedes the title 

 has an escocheon of arms, with the date " 1656" 

 sketched first in pencil, and then with writing ink, 

 and this description : — 



" He beareth arg. 3 Bends wavy az. to which y^ Mott' 

 underwritten alludes. In Portu Quies. This is y" pa- 

 ternall coat of Wilbraham of Nantwich, whose mother 

 was Heir gifrall to Clive of Huxley, & had a share of her 

 Father's Lands in Clive & in Huxley. 



" L<i when 1 find my Ship to reele 



Be thou my Steers-man, guide y« keele : 

 Secure y^ Freight, bring it to Shore, 

 And 1 shall praise thee evermore. 



" All thy Waves & thy Billows are gone over Mee. 



« Ps. 42. 7." 

 " In Portu Quies was my jMott' 



When Seas were calme, w^'* now are not, 

 If God glue Grace to Persevere, 

 Though Seas doe rage, I will not fear. 



" KoGEIt \VlLLBRAM. 



" 1676." 

 On one of the fly-leaves at the end of the 

 volume is : " John Corbett, 1683," and " Richard 

 Godard his Book, God give him grace." 



2. On a fly-leaf of Lord Clarendon's Survey of 

 Hobbes's Leviathan, Oxford, 1676, are these lines, 

 in an old hand : — 



" Our Spring is short, our SuRier's quickly gon, 

 Our Autumn followes, then y® fall comes on. 

 Now viewy® leaves, & see how thej' decay. 

 Just so mans life does quickly passe away. 



" Will"" Arthur." 



Perhaps those lines are a quotation from one of 

 the English poets of the seventeenth century, but 

 not having any of them at hand, I have no means 

 of determining. Arterus. 



Dublin. 



Fly-leaf Scribblings. — On an edition of Wal- 

 ler's poems : — - 



" Here, lovely Ethelinda, shalt thou find 



The strongest sense and sweetest numbers joined ; 

 Virtue in him and eloquence conspire 

 The attic sweetness and the Roman fire. 

 Such was the bard who Sacharissa sung, 

 Like thee the fair for whom his lyre he strung. 

 Wouldst thou, _like her, with love the bard requite, 

 Strong as his numbers, as his fancy light ; 

 Fir'd with the prospect of the glorious prize, 

 To deathless honour thou shouldst see me rise ; 

 Then Waller's fame should quickly yield to mine, 

 And Sacharissa's name be lost in thine. 

 " 1696." 



The verses are so good for the date, as to be 

 worth preserving. Edward King. 



In the fly-leaf of an old book of churchwardens' 

 accounts, beginning in 23 Hen. VII. (1508), I 

 have found some Latin verses scribbled. They 

 are in the handwriting of that period. The leaf 

 has been torn, and otherwise ill-treated ; and the 

 ink has faded a good deal, so that they are not 

 very easy to decipher. The first that I have 

 been able to make out are : 



" Sunt mea si qua dedi, fuerant mea si qua comedi, 

 Si qua remanserunt neseio cujus erunt." 



Next comes : 



" Si quis centiret (sic) quo tendit et unde vcniret 

 .... gauderet, sed in omni tempore fleret." 



The first word of the second line I cannot de- 

 cipher, but I should guess "nunquam." 



" Me vult vitalem qui mihi dat medicalem," 

 is written next ; and lower down, in a different 



