2»<i S. X. Nov, 3. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



357 



times the reason given by the donor for making 

 the bequest Avas, that the sound of the bell might 

 be a guide to travellers benighted in the sur- 

 rounding country; or that it might be a warning 

 to those who heard it to think of their ov/n " pass- 

 ing bell," and so prepare themselves betimesfor 

 their last sleep ; while in some cases a small piece 

 of land had been enjoyed by the parish-clerk on 

 condition of ringing the bell every evening from 

 time immemorial, possibly from the old Norman 

 days, when the practice was compulsory wherever 

 a church existed. Raymoni) G-. Smith. 



I have observed in many villages in Thuringia 

 (Germany) the practice there alluded to, of toll- 

 ing the ijfeU at six o'clock p.m. during harvest 

 time, the avowed object being to let the peasants 

 know the hour. H. B. P. 



Paston Letters (-2"* S. vi. 289. 488. ; vii. 108.) 



— In llie Times of 4th October, 1860, is recorded 

 the following death : — • 



" On the 2ncl inst. at Bur}' St. Edmonds, W. Dalton, 

 Esq., at the advanced age of 93." 



This gentleman was employed by Sir John Fenn 

 in transcribing for the press the Paston Letters 

 from the originals 4 and in the month of May of 

 this year, he showed me several sheets of notes 

 which he made at the time the work was passing 

 through the press, suggesting to the editor various 

 corrections and observations. 



He was remarkable for his beautiful handwrit- 

 ing, which I believe was taken advantage of by 

 Professor Porson, when he was engaged in select- 

 ing the form of Greek type which was adopted in 

 the University Press at Cambridge. 



W. C. Trevelyan. 



Tromp's Watch (P' S. x. 307; 2°* S. ix. 330.) 



— The value of "N. & Q." as a medium of com- 

 munication has been recently illustrated, much to 

 my advantage. In 1855 I received from a per- 

 son who had emigrated to Australia a bracket- 

 clock, with a request that I would accept it as a 

 token of his gratitude for some slight service I 

 had been able to render him. The timepiece did 

 not appear to be of any special value, but his let- 

 ter informed me that the works were constructed 

 from the " celebrated Van Tromp's watch," a 

 statement which no doubt was intended to awaken 

 in me a greater sense of obligation than I am 

 ashamed to confess I was conscious of. 



The communication of (j>" — c^ to the Navorscher, 

 quoted by your correspondent, led me to refer to 

 Ebor's inquiry in 1854, which had escaped me. 

 With some difficulty I have hunted out the Aus- 

 tralian package, which I had stowed away in a 

 iumber-room, and upon the dial-plate I find the 

 name of " Booth, Pontefract." Inside the stand I 

 have discovered the lower half of a saucer-shaped 

 cover of shagreen, and the works, as adapted to 



this clock, exactly fit into this cover. The works 

 are evidently of foreign manufacture, tlie main- 

 spring is in perfect order, and the keys are attached. 

 The watch face was probably removed by Booth, 

 and the " writings " are nowhere to be found. I 

 shall be very glad if Ebor will look at this relic, 

 as he evidently believes it to be, of the gallant Dutch 

 admiral, and, I need not say, that any farther in- 

 formation he can afford its unconscious possessor 

 will be highly valued. On referring to the donox-'s 

 letter I find he says " the clock was given me by 

 George Booth of Pomfret before he went to Ame- 

 rica." Chakles Reed. 

 Paternoster Eow. 



Chancels (2"^ S. x. 68. 253. 312.) — Concern- 

 ing the deflection of chancels. Did it ever occur 

 to your correspondents that most commonly the 

 body of the church and the chancel were in dif- 

 ferent hands, and in consequence were repaired 

 or rebuilt independently of one another ? 



One remark on each of the solutions commonly 

 offered. 



1. Let me assure your correspondents that the 

 " Orientation " theory is good for nothing. When 

 fairly tried, I have found it generally fail : and I 

 know that some of its former ardent supporters 

 have given it up, from their experience having 

 been the same. 



2. With regard to the supposed symbolism in 

 the deflection, let me mention what I once heard 

 poor Pugin say. We were standing in a church 

 in Leicestershire, which he afterwards rebuilt for 

 me, when a friend of mine asked him whether he 

 thought the deflection of the chancel was con- 

 nected with any symbolism ? His characteristic 

 answer was, " Symbolism ? Pack of nonsense : 

 it was because they didn't know how to build 

 straight." 



Preferring to his the solution ofTered above, I 

 yet think it worth while to put on record what 

 such a man said on the point, as showing at all 

 events what he thought of the gratuitous intro- 

 duction of very sacred things into such consider- 

 ations. H. A. 



Deanery, Canterbury. 



The Oxford Act (2°^ S. x. 46.) — Is not 

 the Act or time of completing the degree of 

 Master in Arts or Doctor in the Faculties so 

 called because at that time the statutable acts ne- 

 cessary for the completion of the degrees were 

 kept ? The Commemoration of Benefactors cele- 

 brated in Trinity Term is in its present form of 

 recent origin. It was instituted about the middle 

 of the last century. W. C. 



The Act is not identical with Commemoration, 

 the latter always taking place on the Wednesday 

 three weeks after Whit Sunday, and being, as its 

 name implies, " a Commemoration," viz. of foun- 



