144 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. VIII. Aua. 20. '69, 



Milton, and the leasehold lands morgaged to S'' Robert 

 Pye, and by him assigned to his second sonne, the s* 

 John Pye, be forthwith absolutely discharged from seq<>o» 

 whereof the Comis" for seq«<»" in the said County of Ox- 

 ford are to take notice and discharge the sequestracon 

 accordingly, this being first entered with o'^ audito'. 



« E. C. R. M. 



»R. W. J. V." 



Cl. Hoppeb. 



Minat iBoUS. 



Sundial with retrograding Shadoiv. — A short 

 time since I had an opportunity of observing a 

 sundial constructed by a mathematician well 

 known in this city and neighbourhood (Mr. Patter- 

 son), on which the shadow " returned backwards " 

 or retrograded more than twelve degrees. 



I confess that until I made the observations 

 which I will describe to you, I believed it to be 

 impossible for the shadow of an object like the 

 gnomon of a sundial to go backwards and forwards 

 at the same time, or that the shadow of one part 

 of the gnomon should go backwards whilst that 

 of another went forwards continuously, pointing out 

 the hour of the day. I have no longer, however, 

 any incredulity on that point. 



The dial was on a very large scale (24 inches 

 by 20), thus admitting of the angles being mea- 

 sured with great exactness, and being firmly fixed 

 in its place, the retrogradation could not by any 

 possibility be caused by the shifting of the plane 

 of the dial. 



My observations commenced at noon, from which 

 time till halfpast six in the evening, when the 

 shadow left the dial, I continued to observe it at 

 intervals of a quarter of an hour or less, carefully 

 drawing a line the full length of the shadow each 

 time I observed it, and numbering the lines to 

 prevent confusion or mistake. 



The shadow advanced gradually towards the 

 east till a few minutes past two, when it became 

 stationary, and then began to " return back- 

 wards," continuing to do so till it left the dial ; 

 the whole angle of retrogradation being rather 

 more than twelve degrees. 



Mr. P., in a paper containing the mathematical 

 construction of the dial, speaks of the retrograda- 

 tion as well known. It may be well known to ma- 

 thematicians, but I cannot think that it is generally 

 well known ; whilst the number of those who have 

 actually seen it must, I think, be small indeed. 



Now, Sir, the object of my addressing you is, if 

 possible, to obtain from some of your very able 

 correspondents a popular explanation of the cause 

 of the " returning backwards " of the shadow. I 

 think, too, that the subject will be one of intense 

 interest to many of your readers. 



Permit me also to make the following Queries : 

 What is known respecting the dial of Ahaz alluded 

 to in the Scriptures (2 Kings, xx. 10, 11.) ? 



Are there in any other parts of England sun- 

 dials on which the shadow retrogrades or goes back- 

 wards, and where are they ? W. Taylok. 



York. 



Aged Bride and Bridegroom. — In the Dublin 

 Freeman's Journal (Nov. 10, 1764) is the follow- 

 ing entry : — 



" The Banns of Matrimony have been published these 

 three Sundays past in the church of Dunshaghlin, in the 

 county of Meath, between Mr. Bagnel Bentley, tailor, of 

 said town, aged 97, and Mrs. Catherine Sheppard of 

 Skreen, aged 99 ; and the ceremonj' has been solemnised." 



Abhba. 



Fowling and Matrimony. — In 1667, the town 

 of Eastham in Massachussetts voted that every 

 housekeeper should kill twelve blackbirds and 

 three crows, which did great damage to the corn, 

 — a vote which was annually renewed for some 

 years ; and in 1695 it was farther voted that 

 every unmarried man in the township should kill 

 six blackbirds or three crows while he remained 

 single ; and, as a penalty for not doing it, he 

 should not be married until he obeyed the order. 



Uneda. 



Philadephia. 



Mode of celebrating a Birth. — Morus, in a 

 Sermon preached at Charenton in 1660 on the 

 festival of S. John the Baptiste, from Luke i. 76 — 

 79,, says to his audience : — 



" AUume que voudra des feux devant sa maison, et 

 dans les places publiques, pour se r^jouir, et pour celebrer 

 la naissance de S. Jean .... qui croyez-vous qui hono- 

 rassent le plus la naissance d'un homme ? De ceux qui 

 allumoient quelques pieces de bois a ce dessein par une 

 tradition ancienne ; ou, de ceux qui portoient son berceau 

 au soleil levant et I'engloutissoient, pour ainsi dire, des 

 rayons du soleil, par une tradition encore plus ancienne." 



Does the preacher refer, in the latter part of 

 the extract, to old customs of the French people, 

 or to any other nation ? G. N. 



Jews in Oxford, and Halls named after them. — 



" About the year 1075, the Jews began to come much 

 to Oxford. After they were settled, thej' procured a 

 great many houses, particularly in the Parish of St. 

 Martin, St. Edward, and St. Aldate, and heaped up vast 

 wealth. Their dwellings in St. Edward's and St. Aldate's 

 were so considerable as to be stiled the Old and New 

 Jewry ; and in St. Aldate's Parish they had a Sj'nagogue, 

 where they had masters, and taught the Hebrew tongue, 

 to the great advantage of the University ; as there were 

 scholars that afterwards taught in Jewish houses, stiled 

 from thence Lombard Hall, Mossy Hall, Jacob Hall, &c., 

 having their names, without doubt, from Jews to whom 

 they had formerly belonged." — Reliq. Heamiancs, vol. ii. 

 p. 663. 



Fbancis Trench. 



Islip Rectory. 



Bonded Warehouses.-^ 



"It is reported, that the better to encourage Trade, 

 Warehouses will be built at the Government's Expence, 



