346 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 128. 



liberal art, and is the first man of his profession in 

 the world," Who was this nobleman ? J. M, 



Chelwoldesbury. — I shall be glad to have the 

 opinion of your r-eaders on the derivation of the 

 name of a village, which in early records is spelt 

 " Chalwoldesbury," " Chelwardesbury," " Chil- 

 wardesbury," " Chedvvoldesby," &c. It is partly 

 on the site of a British or Danish encampment, in 

 a good state of preservation. The soil is chalky, 

 and the country for some short distance round 

 may have been open, but more probably the woods 

 closely surrounded the camp. These particulars 

 may assist in arriving at the derivation of the 

 name, now corrupted into Cholesbury. W. H. K. 



Swallows' Nests. — 

 *'.... That wond'rous stone, which the swallow, 

 Bruigs from the shore of the sea to restore the sight 



of its fiedglings ; 

 Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of 

 the swallow !" 



Longfellow's Evangeline, Part I. i. 



May I ask for information respecting the allu- 

 sion contained in these lines ? W. S. T, 



Quotation from Arthur Hopton. — Arthur Hop- 

 ton (Baculum Geodceticum, 1610, preface) says : 



" If this hold, it is time to ... . take the globe 

 out of the king Ptolomies hand, and there place a poore 

 Siquis, such as forlorne forreiners use to have in Paul's 

 Church." 



What does this mean ? M. 



Group at Prague. — I have in my possession a 

 print representing Mercury in a flying attitude, 

 bearing a female figure in his arms : the latter 

 figure carries a cyathus in her right hand. 



The inscription at the bottom of the print is — 



" ivssv rvdolphi • ii -ciesaris avgvsti, 

 Adrianvs de vries hagiensis faciebat. Prag^. 

 ol'vs altitvdinis pedvm octo ex iere. 1.5.9.3." 



I apply to " N. & Q." in hopes that this " Q." 

 may meet the eye of some erudite correspondent, 

 and draw forth a satisfactory " N." 



Was Prague ever decorated with such a group? 

 If the group in question be not a myth, what is 

 the meaning of it ? Who is meant by the first 

 line of the inscription ? Tecede. 



Ca7'ds prohibited to Apprentices. — When was 

 the prohibition to play at cards or dice first intro- 

 duced into apprentices' indentures ? It occurs in 

 the form of an indenture for an apprentice in A 

 Book of Presidents., printed about l.'i66, and com- 

 piled by Thomas Phaer, who describes himself as 

 " Solicitour to the King and Queenes Majesties." 



EdWAED p. RlMBAULT. 



Cursitor Barons. — Can any of your corre- 

 spondents guide me to a list of the Cursitor 

 Barons, or refer me to any account of their origin 



and history ? I find no such officer named tip to 

 the reign of Henry VIII., beyond which I have 

 not yet inquired ; nor does any notice occur of 

 them in Madox's History of the Exchequer. 



Edward Foss. 



Phelps's Gloucestershire Collections. — The late 

 John Delafield Phelps, Esq., who died in De- 

 cember, 1842, was well known among the literati 

 as an ardent hibliophile, and a great investigator 

 and accumulator of antiquities. He was one of 

 the original members of the Roxburghe Club, es- 

 tablished nearly forty years ago, and had devoted 

 a long life to his favourite pursuits. Having been 

 a native of Gloucestershire, he felt a particular in- 

 terest in everything which regarded that county, 

 and had in his lifetime collected a great mass of 

 materials for the elucidation of its history, an- 

 tiquities, &c., in every respect. It is understood 

 that an ample catalogue (raisonne perhaps) was 

 printed under his direction for circulation among 

 his particular friends, giving great evidence of his 

 assiduity and talents, and of the value of the col- 

 lection. Participating to a great extent the in- 

 terest which actuated Mr. Phelps to ascertain a 

 local knowledge of Gloucestershire, I should feel 

 obliged if any reader of the " N. & Q." could 

 inform me what has become of Mr. Phelps's col- 

 lection ; if it remains entire, and if it be accessible 

 bv anv recommendation to the present possessor ? 



A. (2). 



Huant Le Puisne. — I have in my possession a 

 small gold bonbonniere exquisitely enamelled with 

 portraits and landscapes, and bearing the follow- 

 ing inscription : 



" Huant Le puisne pinxit a Berlin." 

 Can any of your readers refer me to a work 

 where I shall find any account of this painter ? 



A. O. O. D. 



Arms of Roberson. — W' hat is the meaning of 

 a man, chained hand and foot, placed horizontally 

 beneath the arms of Roberson ? R. S. B. 



Winterton. — Information is requested of John 

 [Ralph] Winterton, Fellow of King's College, 

 Cambridge, who translated, revised, and published 

 Gerard's Meditations and Prayers., Cambridge, 1C74, 

 dedicated to John (Dolben), Lord Bishop of Ro- 

 chester : the second part is called on the title-page 

 the tenth edition. This book measures only four 

 by two inches, and one inch in thickness, and con- 

 tains 560 pages. E. D. 



[Ralph Winterton, in 16.S2, translated the Consider- 

 ations of Drexelitis vpon Eternity, in the Preface to 

 which he says, " I left the temple of Hippocrates and 

 the Muses, and betook myself into the sanctuary, to 



