518 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»«S. VII. June25.'59. 



incident in the camp-life of the insurgents at 

 Valley Forge in 1778 : — 



" As to the situation of our army, suffice it to say, that 

 we were in want of provisions, of clothing, of fodder for 

 our horses, in short, of everything. I remember seeing 

 the soldiers popping their heads out of their miserable 

 huts, and calling out, in an under tone, ' No bread, no 

 soldier.' Their condition was truly pitiful, and their 

 courage and their perseverance beyond all praise. We 

 who lived in good quarters did not feel the misery of the 

 times so much as the common soldiers and the subaltern 

 officers, yet we had more than once to share our rations 

 'with the sentry at our door. . . . Once, with the Baron's 

 permission, his aids invited a number of j'oung officers 

 to dine at our quarters, on condition that none should be 

 admitted who had on a whole pair of breeches. This 

 was, of course, understood as pars pro toto, but torn 

 clothes were an indispensable requisite for admission, and 

 in this the guests were very sure not to fail. The dinner 

 took, place. The guests clubbed their rations, and we 

 feasted sumptuously on tough beefsteak and potatoes, 

 with hickory nuts for our dessert. Instead of wine, we 

 had some kind of spirits, with which we made Sala- 

 manders, that is to say, after filling our glasses, we set 

 the liquor on fire, and drunk it up, flame and all. Such 

 a set of ragged, and at the same time, merry fellows, 

 were never brought together. The baron loved to speak 

 of that dinner, and of his ' sans culottes,' as he called us. 

 Thus this denomination was first invented in America, 

 and applied to the brave officers and soldiers of our revo- 

 lutionary army." 



The above is an extract (p. 120.) made by the 

 author from a letter written by a young French 

 officer attached to Baron vou Steubin. It is 

 curious to find a French authority assigning an 

 American origin for the term, but this authority is 

 of no value. Mercier, a great maker of " notes," 

 has put on record the true origin of the term ; 

 and it is to be remembered that von Steubin had 

 been recently residing in Paris, where, — a middle- 

 aged man of much observation and good memory, 

 — he had doubtless learned what had escaped the 

 attention of the younger French officer. Still, 

 I will venture to hope that M. Philarete Chas- 

 LES may shed farther light on the word and its 

 history. J. Doban. 



KMIGHTS CREATED BY OLIVER CROMWELL. 



(2"'' S. vii. 476.) 



On reading the Query by Tthubiel, I remem- 

 bered a passage in my Knights and their Days 

 which may perhaps help him to the end he has in 

 view. The substance of the passage is as fol- 

 lows : — 



" The Protector did not create a single Knight of the 



Garter, nor of the Bath Cromwell, however, made 



one peer, Howard, Viscount Howard of Morpeth, ten 

 baronets and knights, and conferred certain degrees of 

 precedency." 



This wns written on authority I found at the 

 Museum, but I have mislaid the reference, on 

 which 1 hope yet to lay my hand. I have an im- 

 pression, however, that Ithuriel will, at least, be 



directed to the way he would go, if he will con- 

 sult Nicolas. With regard to the recognition of 

 the Commonwealth Chevaliers, after the Restora- 

 tion, — a good reason for denying such recognition 

 had been afforded by the Parliament of February, 

 1652, which abolished all titles and honours con- 

 ferred by Charles I. since the 4th of January, two 

 years previously. A fine of lOOZ. was decreed 

 against every offender, whenever he employed the 

 abolished title, with the exception of a knight, 

 who was let off at the cheaper rate of 40Z. Per- 

 haps the worst treatment endured by " Oliver's 

 Knights," after the Restoration, was at the hands 

 of the hilarious royalist dramatists. They were 

 invariably represented as swindlers, drunkards, 

 and cowards, who are cheated, hocussed, and 

 beaten by very high gentlemen of very low prin- 

 ciples. Among various chevaliers designated as 

 " Oliver's Knights " in the dramatis persona: of 

 plays after the Restoration, I may notice Sir 

 Nicholas Cully in Etherege's " Comical Revenge " 

 (a part in which Doggett used to raise as much 

 laughter as he did in the then low-comedy part of 

 Shylock), Sir Barnaby Whig, in D'Urfey's comedy 

 of that name, and[Sir Timothy Treat-all in Mrs. 

 Behn's " City Heiress." In the last piece, " true 

 Tory all over," the plain-spoken Aphra contrasts 

 the Oliverian Knight, Sir Timothy, with a couple 

 of Tory Knights ; but the moral sense of the lively 

 lady is so ^perverted, that she is unable to perceive 

 that the Oliverian is made by her a far more de- 

 cent and creditable person than the Sir Anthony 

 and Sir Charles of her especial predilection. 



S ^ -i" S ^Vlij -f} /ll^, J0H» DORAN. 



SIR THOMAS ROWE. 



(2"'' S. vii. 477.) 



I am greatly obliged to the Editor for his valu- 

 able references illustrating the life of this distin- 

 guished man. 



The evidence of a connexion between John 

 Rowe, Principal of Clifford's Inn, and Sir Thomas, 

 is only presumptive ; but at the same time is so 

 strong as to seem to rae'conclusive. 



Principal Rowe is described in the Visitation of 

 Sussex (1634) as the son of John Rowe of Tun- 

 bridge, CO. Kent, and grandson of William Rowe. 



Now Sir Thomas Rowe's ancestors were seated 

 for many centuries at Rowe's Place, near Tun- 

 bridge and Penshurst, and in the parish of Ayles- 

 fcrd ; and I learn from the elaborate pedigree of 

 the Rowes (with documentary proofs) in Harleian 

 MS. 1174, that John Rowe, serjeant-at-law (son 

 of John Rowe, and nephew of William Rowe 

 of Aylesford), sold the family seat of Rowe's 

 Place in the year 1532. Possibly Principal Rowe 

 was connected with this branch of the family, and 

 no doubt a little search in the London and Can- 

 terbury will registries would settle the question. 





