2»'> S. X. Sept. 29. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



255 



The minister on coming out solved the difficulty, 

 by saying that a colony of owls had established 

 themselves in the roof of the church, and to them 

 we owed the interruption. I do not say whether 

 this was an excuse to avoid the discredit of preach- 

 ing his congregation asleep ; but certain it is that 

 owls did congregate within the sacred precincts. 



M. E. F. 



In reply to Hibou, I may state that there are 

 circumstances within my knowledge negativing the 

 theory of the snoring of the owl, arising from the 

 young birds crying for food. I know two cases of 

 full grown tame owls making the sound referred 

 to. In one of those cases the bird was familiar 

 with its owners, and emitted the sound (which my 

 friend described as a hiss) on their coming near it. 

 From which it may be inferred that the Editor's 

 theory (in the note to Hibou's Query) of the sound 

 being one of menace is also incorrect. I may add, 

 that a year or two ago I heard the snore of an 

 owl, which had settled itself in an aperture of the 

 uppermost bastion of the walls of Conway. The 

 tower is tolerably high, and the owl's hole two- 

 thirds of the height ; yet the snore sounded quite 

 loud at a considerable distance, too powerful one 

 would think to proceed from fledglings. By way 

 of experiment I threw stones up near the hole, 

 when the snoring ceased for awhile, only to be re- 

 newed shortly afterwards. I cannot think, there- 

 fore, that it is a sound of fear or menace, or a 

 youngling's cry for food. One of my family, who 

 has heard it more than once, suggests that it arises 

 from a comfortable or pleasurable feeling, like the 

 purr of the cat. Qy., how is it produced? 



M. H. R. 



We country folks well know (to our own incon- 

 venience sometimes) that the young of the Strix 

 flammea are great snorers. I have many a time 

 been kept awake by the snoring of owlets in the 

 belfry of the church just opposite my bedroom 

 window. So far as I have been able to observe, 

 the owlets snore during the absence of the old 

 birds in search of food ; and, on the return of the 

 old birds, sharpen the snore into a sort of hiss. 



w.c. 



Pencil Weiting ; Fire-Engine (2"'^ S. x. 57.) 

 — The mention of hlack lead, in the Epicoene (which 

 appeared in 1609) enables me to give some pre- 

 sumption as to the period at which black lead was 

 introduced. The mention of " black lead to draw 

 maps " shows that the surveyors had got hold of 

 it in 1609 : but not in 1590. There is a very 

 original and pleasantly written book on practical 

 geometry and surveying, by Cyprian Lucar, Gen- 

 tleman, " A treatise named Luca?-solace, devided 

 into fower bookes," London, 1590, 4to. The geo- 

 metrical instruments required are, " a ruler, a 

 compasse, a square, a fine pointed cole or keeler, 

 and a wyer line [surveyor's chain] of two, three, 



or foure pearches in length." He afterwards says, 

 " You may buy of any painter for a penny 3 or 4 

 fine pointed coles or keelers." His diagrams are 

 " a keeler or pensill," being a bit of coal fixed in 

 an elastic fork with a ring to tighten the prongs 

 over the coal, just such as is now used : and " a 

 sharpe pointed cole," being a conical bit of coal 

 without any holder : from the size of the object, 

 as compared with the compasses, &c., it is impos- 

 sible it can have been blacklead. 



In this book occurs what is perhaps the first 

 mention and drawing — in this country at least — 

 of a fire-engine, as follows : — 



" I will ... set before your eyes a type of a 



squirt which hath been devised to cast much Avater upon 

 a burning house, wishing a like squirt and plenty of 

 water to be alwaies in a readinesse where fire may do 

 harme, for this kinde of squirt may be made to holde an 

 hoggeshed of water, or if you will a greater quantity 

 thereof, and may so be placed on his frame, that with 

 ease and a smal strength, it shall be mounted, imbased, 

 or turned to any one side right against any fired marke, 

 and made to squirt out his water with great violence 

 upon the fire that is to be quenched." 



As Lucar announces in his title that the con- 

 tents are "in part devised" by himself, and as he 

 makes no special mention of what is his own, I 

 suspect that he is here describing his own inven- 

 tion. A. De Morgan. 



Label in Heralbry (2'^'' S. ix. 489.) — Allow 

 me to ask Mr. Taylor if he is aware of the note 

 in Polwhele's Civil and Militarj/ History of Corn- 

 wall (p. 22.), where the reason is given for the 

 label in the Prideaux arms ; and not, as he sup- 

 poses, that two lines at least of the elder stock 

 were extinct. 



If he considers he is correct, will he kindly 

 point out the two lines of the family that became 

 extinct ? 



I believe he will find that the label was used in 

 the Prideaux arms long before the last of the 

 eldest line married into the Herle family. 



Burke, in his General Armory, gives the Pri- 

 deaux arms, of Prideaux Castle, temp. Conquest : 

 arg. a chev. sab. 



I believe no arms have been recorded for the 

 Herries of Orcharton, that married Hackadon 

 Prideaux, except by Burke. In whose possession 

 is the Prideaux Carew MSS. from which the note 

 in Polwhele is taken ? G. P. P. 



Sir Harry Trelawny (2"^ S. x. 140.) — On 

 my mentioning to the venerable Dr. Oliver the 

 surprise of G. M. G. at seeing Sir Jonathan Tre- 

 lawny called John in his valuable Collections, p. 

 32., he observed that he could hardly imagine 

 that it was so written in his own MS., and that 

 he had not the advantage of correcting the press. 

 He pointed out that farther on, at p. 108., the 

 name is given correctly, Jonathan ; and observed 

 that in his Lives of the Bishops of Exeter now at 



