•6 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 121. 



5aid had been used by the " Romans" (Roman 

 Catlioiics) as a phicc of worship. A party of iive 

 , liired a boat for the purpose of visitinjj the phice, 

 •wliich is about two miles from the little bay of 

 Llandudno ; for it is quite inaccessible by land. 

 We arrived in about an hour ; and were quite 

 surprised at the appearance of the " cavern," which 

 seems to have been made as private as possible, 

 and as inaccessible, by large stones being piled 

 ciirelessly upon each other, so as to hide the en- 

 trance, and which we could not have found with- 

 out the assistance of the sailors. The " cavern " 

 is about ten feet high, lined with smooth and well- 

 jointed stone work, with a plain but nicely exe- 

 cuted cornice at the height of seven or eight feet. 

 The shape is heptagonal, and the fronts on each 

 side are faced with smooth stone : the space from 

 front to back, and from side to side, is equal, 

 about six feet six inches. On the right, close to 

 the entrance, is a font, sixteen inches across in- 

 side, twenty-two outside, and eight or nine inches 

 deep. There is a seat round, excej)t at the en- 

 tran(!e ; and there has been a stone table or altar 

 in the centre, but a small portion of it and the 

 pillar only rem:Hln. The floor has been flagged, 

 but it is in a very dilapidated state. That it was 

 used for worship, there is little doubt ; but how 

 and when it was fitted up, seems marvellous. It 

 is not mentioned by Pennant, or any Welsh tourist. 

 Will any of your correspondents obi ge me and 

 the public with the history of this " cavern," as it 

 is called, at Llandudno ? L. G. T. 



Johnsons House, Bolt Court. — Can any of your 

 reaiiers inform me whether the house in which Dr. 

 Jolinson resid(;d, and in which he died, situate in 

 Bolt Court, Fleet Street, is yet in existence ? You 

 :tre probably aware that an engraving of it ap- 

 peared in the Graphic Illustrations edited by ]\lr. 

 Croker, and prefixed to this engraving was an 

 announcement that it was destroyed by fire. 



There is reason, howevei-, to believe that this is a 

 mistake, and that the house so destroyed by fire 

 belonged not to Johnson, but to Johnson's friend, 

 Allt-n the printer. 



You are probably aware that the house which 

 stands opposite the Johnson's Head Tavern, is 

 shown as tha residence of the gi'eat moralist ; and 

 on comparing another engraving by Smith of the 

 Doctor's study with the room now claimed to have 

 been occupied by Johnson, the likeness is exact. 

 Cobbett, too, who afterwards lived here, boasted 

 in one of his publications that he was writing in 

 the same room where Johnson compiled his Dic- 

 tionary. At any rate it is an interesting question, 

 and probably can be set at rest by some of your 

 literary friends, especially as I have reason to be- 

 lieve that there is one gentleman still living who 

 visited the Doctor in Bolt Court. Madame D'Ar- 

 blay, I think, once said, that the author of the 

 Pleasures of Memory arrived at the door at the 



same moment with herself during Johnson's last 

 illness. Edwin Lechlade. 



Bishop Mossom. — Robert j\Iossom, D.D., was 

 prebendary of Kn;iresboro' in Yorkshire, 16G2, 

 and Bishop of Derry, 1666. In dedicating his 

 Zions Prospect (1651) to Henry (Pierrepont) 

 Marquess of Dorcliester and Earl of Kingston, 

 towards the end he says, " Besides this, mine 

 relation to your late deceased uncle ; " then re- 

 ferring to the margin he has "Ds. T. G., Eques 

 felicis niemoria;.''^ 



Zions Prospect (a copy of which, with several 

 of his other works, is in the library of the British 

 Museum) has on the title-page, " By R. M., quon- 

 dam e coll" S. P. C." 



His grand.son, Robert Mossom, D.D. (son of 

 Robert IVIossom, LL.D., Master in the French 

 Court of Chancery), was Senior Fellow of Trinity 

 College, Dublin, and subsequently Dean of Ossory 

 from 1701 to 1747 ; he married Rebecca, daughter 

 and coheir of Robert Mason of Dublin, and grand- 

 daughter, / believe, of Jonathan Alaud of Water- 

 ford. Dean Mossom was one of the oldest friends 

 of Dean Swift ; Sir Walter Scott has but one 

 letter to him in Swift's Correspondence (2nd ed. 

 Edin. 1824, vol. xix. p. 275.). Are there any 

 other letters that passed between them in exist- 

 ence ? 



Can any of your readers refer me to a pedigree 

 of the Masons of Dublin, and also any pedigree 

 that connects the Mossom with the Ekcud family 

 of Yorkshire ? 



What college was that of S. P. C? and who was 



Sir T. G , Knt. ; and how was he related to 



Bishop Mossom ? T. C. M. M. 



Inner Temple, 



Orlando Gibbons. — Hawkins, in his History of 

 Music, gives "a head" of this musician. Is there 

 any other engraved portrait ? 



Edward F. Rimbault. 



Portraits. — What is the most correct catalogue 

 of all the engraved portraits which are known to 

 exist? S. S. 



Barnard's Church 3fusic. — Can any of your 

 readers point out where John Barnard's first 

 book of selected church music, folio, ten parts, 1641, 

 is to be found ? The writer knows of the imperfect 

 set at Hereford Cathedral, a tenor part at Can- 

 terbury, and a bass part in private hands. Dr. 

 Burney makes mention, in his History of Music, of 

 having sought diligently throughout the kingdom, 

 but could not find an entire copy. Perhaps some 

 of your correspondents may kindly fiivour the 

 writer with a list of its contents. Amanuensis. 



The Nelson Family. — In Burke's Commoners, 

 under the head of " Nelson of Chuddleworth," it 

 appears that William Nelson of Chuddleworth, 

 born in 1611, had by his second wife, the daughter 



