§94 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 130. 



I find that William Notte, with Elizabeth his 

 •wife, his father-in-law and mother-in-law, are 

 buried at Thames Ditton, co. Surrey. Manning 

 and Bray's Surrey^ vol. i. p. 463., contains the fol- 

 lowing passage : 



" On a stone, or brass plates, are the portraits of a 

 man kneeling at a table, and of a woman : bebind the 

 man are three sons ; behind the woman, three daughters 

 all kneeling, and underneath : 



"♦Here under lyeth the bodies of Robert Smythe, 

 Gent., and Katheryn his wife, daughter to Sir Thomas 

 Blount of Kinlett, Knyght, which Robert dyed the 

 Srd daye of Sept 1539, and the sayd Katheryn dyed 

 the X day of July, 1549.' 



" Below these, on the same stone, are also the por- 

 traits of a man with fourteen sons behind him ; and a 

 woman with five daughters, all kneeling ; and under- 

 neath : 



" ' Here under lyeth the bodies of William Notte, 

 Esquyre, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter to the above- 

 named Robert Smyth, and Katheryn his wyfe ; whiche 

 William dyed the 5J5th day of Nov. 1576, and the sayd 

 Elizabeth dyed tlie xv day of May, 1587.' 



" Above are the arms, Notte, on a bend between 

 3 leopards heads one and two, 3 martlets; crest, an 

 otter with a fish in his mouth in a tussock of reeds.' " 



Can any one of your readers refer me to any 

 notice or pedigree of this family of Notte, who 

 were lords of the manor of Imbercourt in the 

 parish of Tiianies Ditton ? 



Can any one tell me to what family this Robert 

 Smytlje belonged? Was lie one of the Smythes 

 of Oalenhanger in Kent ? Was his wife Katheryne 

 too the dauiihter of Sir Thomas Blount by the 

 daughter of Sir Richard Crofts of Eldersfield ? 

 The History of the Croke family does not notice 

 her existence. And, lastly, would some one on 

 the spot kindly inform me, whether the above- 

 mentioneil brasses are still extant, and in suffici- 

 ently perfect condition to admit of a rubbing being 

 taken of them ? Tbwaes. 



Stiff ragan Bishops. — Can any of your readers 

 favour me with information in regard to any seals 

 of suffragan bishops in England, besides that which 

 is engraved in the Arckceologia, vol. vii. ? Any 

 references or notices on the subject of suffragans 

 would be thankfully received, which may not be 

 included in the observations collected by Dr. 

 Pegge. Albert Way. 



Poison, — I should feel much indebted to any of 

 your correspondents who will inform me what is 

 the true etymon of this word — the strict meaning 

 of the term originally — and when first used in our 

 language ? 



However trifling this Query may at first sight 

 appear, yet I am very anxious to ascertain whether, 



originally, the term was applied exclusively or 

 principally to deadly agents 0{)erating on the body 

 through the skin, or an external wound, and not 

 through the sto"macii ? 



The Greek word Toxicon is rendered "venenum" 

 quod barbarorum sagittce eo illinebantur. (Vide 

 Diosc. Lib. vi. cap. xx.) Again, Ihs, jaculum, sa- 

 gitta. Item, venenum, quod serpentes et caetera 

 animalia venenata ejaculatur. Horace uses the 

 words "j9?« atque venenum," not to express two 

 different things, but merely to add force and point 

 to his satire ; just as in like manner we read 

 " crafts and subtleties" in the Liturgy, or " a 

 thief and a robber " in the Scripture. 



Now, is it not probable that our word " poison" 

 takes its origin from this " pus?" Cabbo. 



Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. — In the Critic of 

 February 2, 1852, p. 78., there is an excellent 

 letter, written by a lady, in defence of female 

 doctors. In this letter Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., 

 is mentioned with great respect. It appears, from 

 the Critic of January 15, p. 45., that Dr. Elizabeth 

 Blackwell is an American lady, and graduated in 

 some American university, and that she was re- 

 ceived with distinguished marks of attention both 

 in London and Paris, and especially at St. Bar- 

 tholomew's Hospital. Can any of your corre- 

 spondents favour us with a biography of this lady, 

 and state in what university, and when she gra- 

 duated ? Sob. 



Martha, Countess of Middleton. — In Worcester ■ 

 Cathedral is a marble monument to the memory 

 of " Martha*, Countess of Middleton, who died the 

 9th of February, 1705, aged 71." 



Can any of your readers inform me who this 

 lady was ? I have been unable to find her name 

 in any of the pedigrees within my reach. 



J. B. Whitboene. 



Lord Lieutenant and Sheriff. — The latter officer, 

 the sheriff, claims precedency over the Queen's re- 

 presentative, the lord lieutenant, in tiie county, 

 whilst in office. It seems contrary to all reason, 

 but will any of your legal friends state upon what 

 authority such precedence is maintained ; and in 

 what instances they know that, when present, the 

 lord lieutenant has ranked below the sheriff? 



L.L 



Vikingr Skotar. — Mr. W. F. Skene, in his 

 Highlanders, quotes Ari Froda or Arius Multis- 

 cius for the assertion, that the Hebrides were 

 occupied, on the departure of Harold Harfagi', "by 

 Vikingr Skotar, a term which is an exact trans- 

 lation of the appellation Gallgael" (vol. ii. p. 27.). 

 That is true, on the assumption that Vikingr is 



[* The name is Dorothy in Valentine Green's Hit- 

 tory of Worcester, vol. i, p. 149. — Ed.] 



