130 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2"d S. Vlir. Aug. 13. '69. 



Scenery, Character, ^c , vol. ii. p. 338. : " ' Donny- 

 brook,' the little brook, is so called from a moun- 

 tain stream, ' the Dodder,' which runs through the 

 suburb." Abhba. 



Grotesques in Churches. — Where may one find 

 an explanation of grotesque figures often seen in 

 old churches, both in carved stone and painted 

 glass, viz. the head of a man, with lolling tongue. 

 Why called the grin of Arius ? And why repre- 

 sented in a sacred edifice ? Querist. 



" The Young Travellers ; or, a Visit to Oxford." 

 — In the Preface to this book (published in 1818), 

 it is stated that the notes (Appendix 1. to 29.) 

 " refer to a little work, which it is in contempla- 

 tion shortly to publish ... It will contain correct 

 likenesses of the curious characters here referred 

 to, with some biographical or other accounts of 

 them. The plates given in this little volume may 

 be considered as specimens of those which will 

 accompany the other." Now, the only plates in 

 my copy of the work are a view of Oxford, and a 

 portrait of "Mother Goose." Were any other 

 plates published ? And, did the projected volume 

 make its appearance ? Cuthbekt Bede. 



Heraldic Quei-y. — I am very anxious to know 

 to what family the following crest belonged, if 

 crest it be ? It is on a defaced impression of a 

 very rudely cut seal, appended to a Cheshire will, 

 of the date 1667. My description is, I fear, un- 

 heraldic ; but I forward a sketch, which maybe 

 more intelligible : " On a crescent a griffin's (?) 

 head erased, all between two stars." * 



Another will of the same county (dated 1760) 

 is sealed with a " griffin segreant in a lozenge." 

 To what family does this armorial bearing be- 

 long ? J. 



James Aikman. — Wanted information regard- 

 ing James Aik ran, author of a volume of Poems, 

 Edinburgh, 1816. Is he the author of a History 

 of Scotland, published in 1824 ? Z. A. 



Sir Wm. Petty s Letters. — In the sale cata- 

 logue of Mr. Austin Cooper's library (Dublin, 

 1831), of which I have a copy, with the prices 

 and purchasers' names, there are eighteen lots of 

 " Copies of Letters " written by, or by order and 

 on account of, Sir William Petty, 1666 — 1700. 

 " These Letters are necessary to the proper un- 

 derstanding of the Survey made by Sir Wm. 

 Petty," and were purchased by Mr. Cockran, of 

 London, for \50l. Having a particular object in 

 view, may I ask some one of your correspondents 

 to tell me where the Letters are to be found at 

 present? They are not mentioned, I think, in 



[* From the sketch we should describe it as " an eagle's 

 head erased between two mullets, issuing from the horns 

 of a crescent." Will not the names appended to the 

 wills help to identify the families? — Ed.] 



Larcom's edition of Petty's History of the Down 

 Survey, printed in 1851 for the members of the 

 Irish Archaeological Society. Abhba. 



Dorchester House, Westminster. — Where was 

 this house situated, and what is its history ? W. C. 



Origin of the Judges Black Cap. — Is it known 

 when it became customary for a judge to put on a 

 black cap whilst passing sentence of death, and 

 why that custom arose ? W. O. W. 



Tmw and Poison. — In the Theatrical Observer, 

 May 8, 1819, in a notice of a new farce by Mor- 

 ton, A Roland for an Oliver, is the following : — 



" Fixture, finding his wife in Sir Mark's arms, repeats 

 his point with little variation, and rushes out, exclaiming 

 'I'll have law and poison — an attorney, an apothe- 

 cary!' The thought is on records of more than two 

 thousand j'ears old, and must have been repeated more 

 than two thousand times, yet Emery's acting carried it 

 through with applause." 



A reference to any old use of the joke will ob- 

 lige. A. A. R. 



The Family of Bentivoglio. — There seems to 

 be a connexion between this family and the House 

 of Swabia, more romantic perhaps than can be 

 found elsewhere in any history — more romantic, 

 possibly, than is consistent with truth. 



Shortly before the downfal of that House of 

 Swabia, when its enemies were searching for Hein- 

 sius, the fugitive son of Frederick II., a lock of 

 his golden hair unfortunately escaping from under 

 his disguise rendered his discovery inevitable. 

 " No one," they said, on seeing it, " no one in 

 the world but King Heinsius has such beautiful 

 fair hair." With his fate when captured we have 

 here little to do ; but we read that before his 

 death a young girl visited him in prison to com- 

 fort him, and that they had a son, who was called 

 Bentivoglio (I wish thee well). Tradition asserts 

 that he was the founder of the illustrious family of 

 that name. 



I should like more information on this subject 

 than is to be met with in Michelet and other his- 

 torians. W. O. W. 



"7i is not heautie 1 demanded — Who is the 

 author of the poem commencing with this line? 

 It has been assigned to Carew. F. R. D. 



Qttalitied : Fau^ens. — 



" Besides all this, he was well gualitied, 

 And past all Argives, for his spear." 



Chapman's Iliad, xiv. 104. 



Is not this word qualitied peculiar to Chapman ? 



" Thus pluck'd he from the shore his lance, and left the 



waves to wash 

 The wave-sprung entrails, about which fuusens and 



other fish 

 Did shoal." Chapman's Iliad, xxi. 189. 



Can any of your correspondents throw any 



