2'>'i S. X. July 14. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



37 



Poor Belle (2"* S. ix. 364.)— The great Duke 

 of Ormond married the only child of the Earl of 

 Desmond. She was a ward of the Earl of Hol- 

 land. Whilst the courtship was going on, the 

 Duke was thrown a great deal into the society of 

 Lady Isabella Rich, both very young; the fre- 

 quent result ensued, and the lady was sent to 

 France to conceal the consequences. She was the 

 bosom friend of the (future) young Duchess ; and 

 so well was the business managed, that she never 

 knew what had happened to her friend, nor was 

 their society and intercourse ever subsequently 

 interrupted. May not the reference to " Poor 

 Belle " be some how connected with this story ? 

 I have it somewhere related, but cannot find the 

 book, and had hoped some other reader might 

 have recollected the anecdote. 



I throw the above out more as a farther Query 

 on the original matter than as an answer. 



W. H. L. 



The Judges' Black Cap (2°^ S. ix, 132. 405. 

 454.) — The quotation given by your correspon- 

 dent H. D'AvENEY is not, I think, altogether to be 

 depended upon. En the first place, clerks were 

 forbidden to act as advocates in the common law 

 courts so long ago as in the early part of Henry 

 III.'s reign, and very soon afterwards they ceased 

 to exercise judicial functions in common law courts. 



In the second place, it is hardly to be conceived 

 that by putting on upon occasion a certain cap, 

 and so concealing the tonsure, ecclesiastical per- 

 sons could be enabled for tlie time to disregard 

 the canon which forbade their participation in 

 causes of blood. 



Spelman imagines that the Serjeant's coif — and 

 we should not forget that judges of assize must, 

 by 14 Edw. III. c. 115., be serjeants-at-law — was 

 adopted In order to conceal the tonsure of those 

 clerks who remained in the courts of law as ad- 

 vocates. 



We know from the case of William de Bussay, 

 1259, that at all events the coif sometimes served 

 that purpose. But, as it was habitually worn, and 

 not merely assumed upon occasion, any inference 

 to be drawn from the case of Bussay must fail 

 when applied to the use of the judges' black cap. 



Moreover, had ecclesiastical persons acting ju- 

 dicially in the common law courts been enabled 

 by assuming the black cap to put themselves out 

 of the reach of ecclesiastical censure, sui'ely some 

 such provision would have been made by which 

 the ecclesiastical persons in our highest court of 

 judicature might have exercised their judicial 

 functions in matters of blood. And yet there is 

 not, I believe, any trace of such a provision in the 

 records of parliament. 



Further, in the case of Prynne's sentence, would 

 not Laud (whose antiquarian knowledge was not 

 small) have sheltered himself under such a prece- 

 dent, had it existed, and assumed the cap, instead 



of vindicating himself by a pitiful quibble from 

 the charge of uncanonically taking part in a cause 

 affecting life and limb ? W. C. 



Are not two caps or a hat and a cap usually 

 used by the judges, — one a three-cornered cap 

 or hat made of beaver, which they sometimes put 

 upon their heads, and which they usually carry 

 with them, and the other a cap made of silk which 

 tliey put on only on very solemn occasions ? If 

 this is so, how is the distinction to be accounted 

 for ? S. O. 



Olivers anb Hblmsley (2"^ S. ix. 434.) — 

 Whatever date may be established for the tune 

 " Helmsley," it is quite certain that "Olivers" 

 preceded it ; and could Mr. Olivers' music sheets 

 (in folio), wherein the tune originally appeared, 

 be procured, it might at once set the matter out 

 of all doubt. It is to be regretted that J. Wes- 

 ley's Sacred Harmony, 12mo. pp. 156. (in which 

 the tune Olivers appears) is without date ; it may, 

 however, be inferred that the book was published 

 between 1762—1770. 



The first appearance of C. Wesley's " Lo ! He 

 comes with clouds descending," was in 1758 ; 

 and it Is most probabl-e that T. Olivers was not 

 far behind with the tune for it. Neither the tune 

 nor hymn are in J. Wesley's Select Hymns with 

 Tunes annexed, 1761. 



T. Olivers also composed a hymn on the Last 

 Judgment, ("Come immortal King of Glory") be« 

 fore the year 1759, in the same measure as C. 

 Wesley's hymn on Christ's second coming. 



Daniel Sebgwick. 



Sun Street, City. 



Manifold Writers (2"* S. ix. 444.) — Perhaps 

 G. M. G. may find an answer to his Query in the 

 question which I now suggest. What was the 

 system of double writing invented by Sir William 

 Petty for the exercise of and control over which 

 he obtained exclusive privilege by letters patent 

 granted March 16, 1647-8 ? 



The monopoly in his Instrument, and liberty of 

 using It, was assigned to him for a term of four- 

 teen years, during which term no one might under 

 a penalty of 100^. practise the art of double writ- 

 ing by means of any Instrument whatsoever with- 

 out having obtained a licence from him. The 

 charge for the licence was five shillings ; the price 

 of the instrument was half-a-crown. W. C. 



Tap Dressing (2°'» S. ix. 345. 430.) — Tap 

 dressing or well flowering is a custom derived 

 from a period long anterior to the Introduction 

 of Christianity, although many regard It as a 

 remnant of Roman Catholicism. Annual festivals 

 were celebrated at the fountain of Arethusa in 

 Syracuse, in honour of Diana, who was fabled to 

 preside over Its waters. The Fontinalia of the 

 Romans were " solemn feasts about wells," when 

 it was customary to throw flowers upon streams. 



