June 5. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



537 



Spain. Is it not the same fish from which what 

 is called mother-of-pearl is taken ? Has not 

 some part of it, the beai'd or otherwise, been spun 

 and wove ? Is the Nacar the true name, or only 

 local ; and, if so, what is the scientific appellation ? 



Cyrus IIedding. 



Cilgerran Castle. — I shall be much obliged to 

 any correspondent of " N. & Q." who will direct 

 me to any charters or other early records relating 

 to this castle of Kilgarran, or Cilgerran, which is 

 situated near Cardigan. Llewellyn. 



Use of Slings hi/ the Earhj Britons. — In the 

 course of the very interesting operations at present 

 in progress on Weston Hill, there have been fre- 

 quently found in the hut-pits small accumulations 

 of shore-pebbles, of the size most convenient for 

 slings, for which it is supposed they were intended. 

 Any information on this topic will be received with 

 many thanks. It is worth noting that to this day 

 the boys of the obscure village of Priddy, on the 

 Mendips, are notorious for the skill with which 

 they can hit a bird on the wing with a stone 

 thrown by the hand. PIenry G. Tomkins. 



Weston super Mare. 



" Squire Vernon s Fox Chase." — Can any of 

 your correspondents refer me to a copy of the 

 ballad called " Squire Vernon's Fox Chase ? " I 

 am anxious to meet with an original copy, and also 

 to know if it has been reprinted in any modern col- 

 lection. E. S. 



The Death Watch. — Has there appeared in any 

 of your former Numbers a Note upon the popular, 

 but how exploded "death watch?" In earlier 

 life, an instance of it occurred in my presence, 

 which did at the time, and does even now, " puzzle 

 the sense." The noise (like the ticking of a watch) 

 was so painfully distinct, that I endeavoured twice 

 to discover the source of it, but in vain. I made 

 a note of it at the time, but the narrative 

 (although perfectly correct) reads so much like 

 the speculation of a sick brain, that I hesitate to 

 send it. If you would put this Query (however 

 briefly), I should much like to see it discussed in 

 your interesting pages. M. W. B. 



Genealogical Queries. — I beg to trouble you 

 with the following Queries : — 



On what day of the year 1690 did Elizabeth 

 Bayning, created Countess of Sheppy for life, die? 

 and where was she buried ? 



Where was buried Anne Palmer, alias Fitzroy, 

 Countess of Sussex? She died 16th May, 1722. 

 The Earl was buried at Chevening. 



Was Sir John Mason, who died Treasurer of 

 the Chamber, &g., 2Ist April, 1566, Chancellor of 

 the Duchy of Lancaster ? He is so designated in 

 one of the llarl. MSS. He was twice Chancellor 

 of Oxford, G. Steinman Steinman. 



Ben Jonzoris adopted Sons. — They are said to 

 be twelve in number. Alexander Brome was 

 one ; Bishop Morley another. Can any of your 

 correspondents give tlie names of the other ten ? 

 By doing so, it will oblige an Inquirer. 



Kyrle's Tankard at Balliol. — A very beautiful 

 silver tankard, bearing the following inscription, 

 with the arms of the donor engraved in vthe centre 

 of the body of the cup ; the fii'st two words above, 

 the others beneath the arms, was presented to 

 Balliol College, Oxford, by that celebrated and 

 excellent man, John Kyrle, Esq., better known 

 by his world-wide appellation, " The Man of Ross." 

 It will be perceived from the inscription that he 

 was a gentleman commoner of that society : 



" Poculum Charitatis. 



Ex done Johannis Kyrle, de Rosse, in agro Here- 



fordiens, ct 



hujus Collegli Socio Commensalis." 



It weighed upwards of five pounds, and the 

 cover was lifted up by his crest, a hedgehog. It is 

 said to have been always produced at table when 

 a native of Herefordshire favoured the society 

 with his company. Can any of your correspon- 

 dents favour me with the following particulars : — 

 Is the tankard still in existence, and has it been 

 ever engraved ? If so, in what work ? Is there 

 any record in the college books to show in what 

 year, and upon what occasion, it was presented ? 



J. B. WniTBOBNE. 



Irish Language in the West Indies. — The atro- 

 cities which Oliver Cromwell committed in Ireland 

 are fresh in the memory of the poorest Irishman, 

 and his memory held in the deepest execration : 

 every ruined fortress that we pass is ascribed to 

 the great castle-killer, and the peasant's bitterest 

 malediction is, '■'■ Mallachd Crumwell orV (The 

 curse of Cromwell on you). 



The particular atrocity of Oliver's that we have 

 to do with at present is thus stated by Dodd, 

 vol. iii. p. 58.: 



" At Drogheda all were put to the sword together 

 with the inhabitants, women and children, only about 

 thirty persons escaping, who, with several hundreds of 

 the Irish nation, were shipped off to serve as slaves in 

 the island of Barbadoes, as I have frequently heard the 

 account from Captain Edw. Molyneux, one of that 

 number, who died at St. Germains, whither he fol- 

 lowed the unfortunate King James II." 



The following note occurs in a paper on the 

 Irish language, read by Mr. Scurry before the 

 Royal Irish Academy, Oct. 1826 : 



" It is now ascertained that the Irish language is 

 spoken in the interior of many of the West India 

 islands, in some of which it maybe said to be almost 

 vernacular. This curious fact is satisfactorily explained 

 by documents in the possession of my respected friend 

 James Hardiman, Esq., author of the History of Galway. 

 After the reduction of Ireland by Cromwell and his 



