264 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»«i S. VIII. Oct. 1. '59. 



" Thus endeth thys ryght profitable tretj'se, Entyteled 

 the boke of consolacion or comfort agaynste al trybula- 

 cion. Enprinted in London by Rychard Pjmson. At the 

 sygne of the George in flete Strete." 



Cut of crucifixion ; on reverse, device as 1. or 

 3, of Dibdin. W. C, Trevelyan. 



Wallington. 



liONDON SHERIFFS AND TENURE-SERVICES. 



By an act passed in the last Session of Parlia- 

 ment (13th Aug.), two very ancient and singular 

 practices (which had long survived the purport of 

 their original institution) in connexion with the 

 " Presentation" at Westminster of the Sheriffs of 

 London and Middlesex, have been abolished. 

 They consisted in counting so many horse-shoes, 

 and the nails belonging to them, and of chopping 

 two pieces of stick with whittles or small knives. 

 Blount, in his Ancient Tenures (4to. Lond., 1815), 

 gives the origin of both these curious ceremonies 

 as follows : — 



" Walter le Brun, farrier, in the Strand, in Middlesex, 

 was to have a piece of ground in the parish of St. Cle- 

 ment, to place a forge there, he rendering yearly six 

 horse-shoes for it. This rent was antiently wont to be 

 paid to the Exchequer every j'ear : for instance, in the 

 first year of King Edw. I., when Walter Marescellus paid 

 at the crucem lapideam six horse-shoes, with nails, for a 

 certain building which he held of the king in capita op- 

 posite the stone cross ; in the second year of King Edw. I., 

 in the fifteenth year of King Edw. II., and afterwards. 

 It is still rendered at the Exchequer to this day by the 

 Mayor and citizens of London, to whom in process of 

 time the said piece of ground was granted." — P. 333. 



The chopping with a whittle is thus given : — 



"Walter de Aldeham holds land of the king, in the 

 More, in the county of Salop, by the service of paying to 

 the king yearly, at his Exchequer, two knives (whittles) 

 whereof one ought to be of that value (or goodness) that 

 at the first stroke it would cut asunder, in the middle, a 

 hasle rod of a year's growth, and of the length of a cubit 

 (half a yard), &c., which same service ought to be done 

 in the middle of the Exchequer, in the presence of the 

 treasurer and barons, every year, on the morrow of St. 

 Michael : and the said knives (whittles) to be delivered 

 to the chamberlain to keep for the king's use." — Pp. 317, 

 318.) 



Under the new regulation, the future Sheriffs 

 of London and Middlesex are not only relieved 

 from the performance of the above ancient cere- 

 monies, but also from personal attendance at the 

 Court of Exchequer, accompanied by the Lord 

 Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen of London, to be 

 approved and sworn before the Lord Chief Baron. 

 Henceforth the Queen's Remembrancer will com- 

 municate her Majesty's approval of the Sheriffs 

 elect, and make the necessary records. The rents 

 and services in respect of the tenure of the waste 

 piece of ground called "the Moors," in the county 

 of Salop, and of a tenement called " the Forge," 

 in the parish of St. Clement Danes, Middlesex, 



may now be rendered by the corporation of 

 London, or by their authorised agent appointed 

 for that purpose, at the office of her Majesty's Re- 

 membrancer. Whether the Shropshire Moor is 

 still in the hands of the City corporation we know 

 not; but the Forge has long since passed away, 

 together with the Stone Cross that faced it at the 

 period of the original grant of the premises, a.d. 

 1235, temp. King Henry IH. Gogmagog. 



shakspeare's house. 



Most of the readers of "N. & Q." are aware 

 that in 1848 a band of spirited gentlemen (Messrs. 

 Dickens, Forster, and others) proposed, by means 

 of amateur theatrical performances, to raise a 

 fund for " the purchase of Shakspeare's house at 

 Stratford, and the establishment of a perpetual 

 curatorship to be held by one distinguished in 

 literature." This office was, in the first instance, 

 to be offered to Mr. Sheridan Knowles, who had 

 then retired from the stage in declining health. 

 The amateur performances, it will be remember- 

 ed, took place : Ijut it was said that Mr. Knowles 

 declined to accept an^ pecuniary advantage from 

 them, he having been otherwise provided for, by a 

 government pension. 



This latter report, however, I have been told, 

 has since been publicly contradicted. 



I have no doubt that, like myself, many of your 

 readers will be glad to learn how this matter 

 stands ; whose property Shakspeare's house now 

 is *, and to what purpose the funds realised by the 

 accomplished troop of amateur Thespians have 

 been appropriated. 



I see it stated in the newspapers that a name- 

 sake of the poet has recently bequeathed a sum of 

 2500L for the formation of a Museum in the house 

 at Stratford, with an annuity of 60Z. for a custo- 

 dier. 



But what suggested my Query at present was 

 the circumstance that a few days ago a friend 

 placed in my hands the lines which I enclose, and 

 which were intended to be spoken as Prologue to 

 the amateur performances in aid of the above 

 object, at Glasgow, in July, 1848. The verses 

 had been given to my friend by a well-known be- 

 nevolent gentleman, not long since deceased, who 

 had a marine villa at this place, A. S. D. Esq. of 

 Glasgow. Mr. D. took a leading part in making 



[* The house at Stratford is now the propertj' of the 

 nation, for whom it is held by certain trustees, the Karl 

 of Carlisle being, we believe, the head of them. Mr. 

 John Shakspeare, who during his lifetime gave a large 

 sum, between 2000Z. and 3000/., for the upholding and 

 restoration of Shakspeare's house, at his death, some two 

 or three years since, left 2500/. more for the permanent 

 preservation of the liouse, gardens, &c., and charged bis 

 estate with an annuity of 60/. for a custodian ; but the 

 will has been disputed, and the matter is still subjudice. 

 —Ed. " N. & Q."] 



