404 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 130. 



small, is protected by a thick glass, and is framed 

 in an ornamented, richly jjilt, copper frame. It is, 

 I think, painted in ivory, and is backed by a gilt 

 copper plate, on which is engraved, in characters 

 apparently of the period, "01, Cromvvall, Anno 

 1684." The accent over the « renders it probable 

 that setting and inscription are foreign. The 

 p.iinting itself gives the features of Cromwell very 

 exactly, and represents him in plain armour, with 

 a pliiin falling collar round the neck, and long 

 flowing hair. G. J. K,. G. 



Sleek Stone, Meaning of (Vol. v., p. 140.), — I 

 have just found a passage in Burton's Anatomy of 

 Melancholy which proves that E.. C. H. was correct 

 in the remarks he made on these words, viz. that 

 they ought to have been printed sleek-stone, and 

 that they were the name of an instrument used for 

 smoothing- or polishing, and not for sharpening : 



" The ebon stone which goldsmiths use to sleeken 

 their gold with, born about or given to drink, hath the 

 same properties, or not much unlike." — ^nut. of Mel,, 

 Part ii. sec. iv. mem. 1. subs. 4, [Blake, one vol. 8vo. 

 MDCCCXXXVI. P. 437.] 



Lady Macbeth says : 



" Come on ; 

 Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks ; 

 Be bright and jovial 'mong your guests to-niglit." 

 Macbeth, Act III. Sc. 2. 



C. Forbes. 

 Temple. 



Slick or sleek stones are used by curriers to re- 

 move wrinkles and other irregularities in, and to 

 smoothen the surface of hides and skins, after they 

 have been converted into leather by the tanner. 

 The stone which is considered to be the best for 

 this purpose is quarried in the neighbourhood of 

 Kendal. 



The currier's sleek stone is an oblong square 

 plate, measuring six inches in length by four inches 

 in breadth, and half an inch in thickness. One of 

 the longer edges of the stone is fixed into a groove 

 in a wooden handle or stock, and hence it is also 

 commonly called a stock stone. 



The leather being spread out upon a table, the 

 stock is held in both hands, and the opposite edge 

 of the stone is pressed upon and rubbed over the 

 surface of the leather. In a subsequent part of 

 the process of currying the workman uses, in like 

 manner, a slicker or sleeker made of steel, and 

 finishes his work with a glass sleeker. J. L. C. 



Tenor Bell of Margate (Vol. i., p. 92. ; Vol. v., 

 p. 319.). — The weight of this "ponderous tenor 

 bell" is not mentioned; but there does not seem 

 to be any particular " obscurity," whatever there 

 may be of strangeness in the alleged mode of its 

 transit by water. By the terms "mill-cog" of the 

 poetaster is doubtless to be understood the cog- 

 wheel of the miller, viz. that which more or less 



directly connects the motive agent with the shaft 

 carrying the stones. Persons who happen to have 

 noticed the large size and ponderous construction 

 of the main cog-wheel in many an ancient flour- 

 mill, will easily imagine that if set afloat it would 

 carry a great weight ; especially if prepared, as a 

 missionary to the Hudson's Bay territories told 

 me a small cart-wheel was rigged to transport 

 him over the rivers, viz. by stretching a large skin 

 over its area. It was, in all likelihood, to some 

 contrivance of this kind that John de Dandelion 

 and his dog have become so picturesquely and 

 permanently connected with the history of Mar- 

 gate in " traditionary rhyme." D. 



Rhymes connected with Places (Vol. v., pp. 293. 

 374.). — The following has been printed in the late 

 John Dunkin's History of Dartford ; but as topo- 

 graphical works have but a limited circulation, and 

 the above-named author was fond of printing but 

 few impressions of his works, I have taken the 

 liberty of forwarding the lines to you : 

 " Sutton * for mutton, 

 Kirbyf for beef, 

 South Darne | for gingerbread, 

 Dartford § for a thief." 

 All four of the parishes are situate upon the 

 river Darent, and adjoin. A\(ppi'b. 



Burial, Law respecting (Vol, v., p. "320.). — 

 Though not a lawyer, I venture to express the 

 opinion that, if preferred, burial may take place 

 in unconsecrated ground. The law exacts the re- 

 gistering of the death, and inhibits a clergyman 

 from officiating except within the consecrated 

 boundary. Indeed the burying-ground of dis- 

 senters is not consecrated according to law, al- 

 though it may have to be licensed. But, supposing 

 a person to have the fancy to lie " in some loved 

 spot, far away from other graves," there seems to 

 be no legal difficulty. In the shrubbery of Brush 

 House, the residence of my friend and neighbour 

 John Booth, Esq., M.D., there is a mausoleum 

 over the remains of his uncle, from whom he in- 

 herited the property. 



" Here," says Hunter, in his History of Hallamshire, 

 " Mr. Booth spent the latter part of an active life in 

 mathematical and philosophical studies; and, indulging 

 a natural (?) and patriarchal desire, prepared his own 

 sepulchre amidst the shades his own hand had formed, 

 in which his remains are now reposing." 



Was not Mrs. Van Butchell preserved many 

 years after death in a glass case by her husband ? 



Alfred Gattt. 



* Sutton at Hone — fine pastures. 



f Horton Kirby, the same. 



\ South Darenth, celebrated for its old church, and 

 (probably when the lines were composed) for its baker. 



§ Dartford : the bridewell of the district was for- 

 merly in this parish, in Lowfield Street. 



