2»<» S. X. Aug. 11. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



117 



"AtiNT Sally" (2°^ S. x. 46.) —'Aunt Sally 

 is the heroine of a popular- Negro melody, in which 

 the old lady meets with several ludicrous adven- 

 tures ; whence, I suppose, she has given her name 

 to the no\^ prevailing pastime. T. Scott. 



Essay of Afflictions (2"* S. ix. 493. ; x. 95.) 

 — I am anxious to correct as soon as possible an 

 error in my statement last week. The two small 

 tracts have been acquired by the Bodleian. _ When 

 I inquired some weeks back the librarian was 

 absent, and the sub-librarian thought they had 

 not had such an addition. Mr. Coxe, under date 

 31 July, writes : " Dr. Bandinel has returned, and 

 has just found the little Monson books." He then 

 gives particulars which show the editions are the 

 same as mine of 1647, and not, as I had hoped, the 

 quartos of 1661. They are " in the original plain 

 calf dress, and belonged once to Vincent Amcotts, 

 ex dono domiui Grantham." Both are names of 

 county contemporaries of Sir John Monson. 



Monson. 



Burton Hall, 



The Father Rector at Burells (2"'^ S. x. 

 28.) — If neither Mr. Gardiner nor Mr. J. G. 

 Nichols answers this Query, be pleased to inform 

 Mr. E. Yentris that the letter in question was 

 addressed to the "Father Rector at Bruxelles," 

 and was said to have been found in the Jesuits' 

 College in Clerkenwell, broken up by Sec. Coke 

 early in 1628. Mr. J. G. Nichols published in 

 1852 in the Camden Miscellany, vol. ii., an ac- 

 count of this incident, entitled " The Discovery of 

 the Jesuits' College at Clerkenwell in March, 

 1627-8; and a Letter found in their House (as 

 asserted), directed to the Father Rector at Brux- 

 elles." Mr. Ventris may be safely referred to 

 this able paper for an elucidation of the subject to 

 which his communication relates. I may add that, 

 since Mr. J. G. Nichols published his Addition 

 to the paper I have mentioned (in vol. iv. of the 

 Camden Miscellany), one more of the illustrative 

 papers referred to in the Narrative of Sec. Coke 

 has been found in the State Paper Office. It is 

 the one marked L, entitled " Poynts for the An- 

 nuall letters, beside those which are in the Rule 

 De Formula scrihendi ;" B, C, and O, are still 

 missing, but I make no doubt they will ultimately 

 be recovered. John Bruce. 



Civic Hunting (2°'* S. x. 47.) — Tbe Lord 

 Mayor of London was by charter privileged to 

 hunt in Middlesex, Essex, and Surrey, and for 

 that purpose a kennel of hounds was maintained 

 at the city's expense. The Common- Hunt ranked 

 as an Esquire by office, and took precedence next 

 to the Sword-bearer. Ludicrous descriptions of 

 and sarcastic allusions to the solemn hunting fes- 

 tivals of the city of London abound in the litera- 

 ture of the Elizabethan and subsequent ages. 



In the Spectator there occurs an amusing allu- 

 sion to the showy trappings of the city hunt. 



" Mr. Graves, the City Huntsman," was, I be- 

 lieve, succeeded in his office by Mr. May Hill . 



William Hone, in his Every-day Booh, lamented 

 that the office was in danger of desuetude. 



I think the kennel was in the neighbourhood of 

 Finsbury or Moorfields. W. C. 



The office of Common Hunt is of ancient origin, 

 and is meiitioned in very early civic MSS. In the 

 34th Henry VI. a sum of money Was granted to 

 the Common Huntsman for the hire of a house for 

 his dogs and horses, and a goodly number of per- 

 sons was appointed to go with the Common Hunt 

 to the chase (according to the custom and liber- 

 ties of the city hitherto approved and used) within 

 the land of the abbot and convent of Stratford 

 and neighbouring places (Epping Forest). Twenty 

 shillings was granted in the reign of Edward IV. 

 to the Common Hunt for the payment of the rent 

 of the kennel in the Moor. The several suc- 

 ceeding monarchs took a lively interest in the 

 appointment of the huntsman, as their numerous 

 letters to the civic authorities show ; at one time 

 recommending, and at other times disapproving 

 of the gentleman appointed. In 1540, the 32 H. 

 VIII. the king recommended one person, the 

 queen another, and the lord chancellor another. 

 The kennel stood near the present Old Street 

 Road, and they evidently hunted the stag, which 

 custom is still maintained by the Londoners on 

 Easter Monday (Epping) Hunt. The office of 

 the Common Huntsman and the Common Hunts- 

 man's Young Man has now been abolished for 

 some years past. W. H. Overall. 



Maitland, in his list of the Lord Mayor's Offi- 

 cers, names " The Common Hunt " as having a 

 great salary or perquisites, and with the title of 

 Esquire. At civic dinners he attends the Lord 

 Mayor, dressed as a huntsman, booted and spurred. 



G. Offor. 



Excommunication since the Reformation 

 (2"* S. ix. 364. 428.) — Your correspondent Mr. 

 Williamson asks for instances of excommunica- 

 tion from the Protestant church in this country. 

 The following from a register-book of the parish 

 of Ecclesfield in Yorkshire may interest him : — 



"1740, April 30. Will Kushbyfrom workhouse, died 

 excommunicated." 



The page bears the signature of "W. Steer, 

 Vicar." J- H. G. 



Per Centum Sign (1"' S. ix. 451.)— This sign 

 (%), it appears to me, is a corruption oi pjc, 

 the initial letters of per centum with a stroke be- 

 tween them. This form of contraction is, T be- 

 lieve, not uncommon ; and the alteration of the two 

 letters into two o's, is readily to be understood. 



T. Lampbay. 



