268 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»d s. VIII. Oct. 1, '69. 



Danish Forts in Ireland. — In the Sale Cata- 

 logue of Mr. Bradish's library (Dublin, 1829), of 

 which I have a copy with the prices and pur- 

 chasers' names, there appears the following item 

 amongst the MSS. p. 51. : — 



« A Conversation, or Colloquy upon the Danish Forts 

 in Ireland, and various other Curiosities. This MS. ap- 

 pears extremely antique, and bears the autograph of 

 Arthur Chichester." 



It was purchased by "Mullen" for twelve 

 guineas. Can anyone tell me where it is now 

 deposited ? Abhba. 



Louis the Fifteenth. — In the report of the curious 

 trial for forgery of Mr. Humphreys or Alexander, 

 the pretender to the title of Earl of Stirling on 

 29th April, 1839, which resulted in his conviction, 

 at p. xciii. of Appendix to Introduction occurs 

 the following passage : — 



" Louis XV„ a prince who is believed to have written 

 only two words in his reign, — his own name ' Louis R.,' 

 and the word ' Bon ' as an approval of any document sub- 

 mitted to him. His disapproval was marked by a line 

 deleting the proposal, to save the fatigue of further pen- 

 manship, which indeed he so carefully eschewed that even 

 his notes to his mistresses were written by a secretary." 



What foundation is there for such a strange 

 account ? Y. S. M. 



Finshury Jail. — In the Diary of William White- 

 way of Dorchester, 1618-34, Egerton MS. 784., 

 mention Is made of the following incident : — 



" May, 1621 : Sir Francis Mitchell, being one of Sir 

 Giles Mompesson's cousins, was sent unto Finsbury Jail, 

 a place made by him for rogufis, and made to ride on a 

 lean jade backwards through London, holding the tail in 

 his hand, and having a paper upon his forehead, whereon 

 was written his offence." 



Taylor the Water- Poet, in The Praise and Ver- 

 tue of a Jayle and Jaylers, 1630, also notices it : — 



" Lord Wen tworth's jayle within White Chappell stands. 

 And Finsbury, God blesse me from their hands ! " 



Can any one spot the precise locality of Fins- 

 bury Jail ? J. Y. 



Sir Francis Drake, his Portrait, ^c. — A con- 

 temporary pamphlet in MS., entitled An Answer to 

 a Pamphlet slandering Queen Elizabeth, takes note 

 that the Duke of Florence placed the portrait of 

 Sir Francis Drake " in his gallei-y amongst the 

 princes of that tyme." It tells us moreover, very 

 gravely, that his very name was a byword, and 

 employed as a bogie to terrify ill-humoured chil- 

 dren, — that " hee did so beestirre hym as he 

 frighted many Jn his passages on the sea-coast. 

 Insomuch as ihe women, when theire children 

 cryed, to still them they wold say : ' Howld yo' 

 peace, Drake comes.' " It relates farther that the 

 queen knighted him with the sword of the French 

 Ambassador. Is the portrait above alluded to 

 known to be at present in existence ? 



Abbacasabba. 



Cither's ^^ Apology.'" — Would some gentleman, 

 well up in Fielding, and especially In Tom Jones, 

 oblige me by mentioning the exact terms used to 

 describe Colley Cibber's Apology, — a saying that 

 he had lived the life he did to be able to write such 

 a book ? F. S. 



Scire Facias Club. — A friend has given me 

 the following, copied, he says, from the original 

 in the chtirchyard of Dunboyne, co. Meath : — 



" This monument was erected by the members of the 

 Scire Facias Club to the memory of John Hamilton, 



Esq., of Ballinacoll in this parish, who died on the 



daj' of August, 1784." 



I have tried, but hitherto in vain, to trace the 

 origin and history of this attorneys' club, farther 

 than that it eventually merged in the Law Club 

 of Ireland. A society with so singular a name 

 ought, I think, to have some records of its exist- 

 ence, even though, as I have heard, it was a 

 convivial club. Y. S. M. 



Detached Chapels : Beckefs Crown. — A rumour 

 has gone forth that the Dean and Chapter pur- 

 pose to take In hand the long-delayed restoration 

 of the east end of Canterbury Cathedral, popu- 

 larly known as "Becket's Crown." It would 

 interest me under these circumstances (and might 

 prove useful also) If any of your architectural 

 correspondents could recall any similar examples 

 of a semi-detached chapel at the east end, particu- 

 larly If they could specify the nature of the roof 

 in such cases, and the method of juncture with 

 the main building, whether by flying buttresses 

 or otherwise. The only analogous eastern ending 

 I am acquainted with is that of the Marienklrche 

 at Lubec. Fagus. 



Sir Robert le Grys. — Could any of your kind 

 correspondents give me any Information about 

 "Sir Robert le Grys, Knight?" He " rendred 

 English," in two bookes, Velleius Paterculus his 

 Romane Historie, 12mo., 1632. Also, 



" John Barclas' his Argenis, translated out of Latine 

 into English, the Prose upon his Majesties command by 

 Sir Robert le Grys, Knight, and the Verses by Thomas 

 May, Esquire, &c. 4to. 1654." 



Belater-Adime. 



Manuscript Verse Translation of De Guileville's 

 " Pilgrimage." — Mr. Gillies, an advocate, who re- 

 sided at Brechin some years ago, was In posses- 

 sion of a valuable library, in which it Is said that 

 there was a MS. verse translation of De Guile- 

 ville's Pilgrimage of Man, supposed to have been 

 the identical one which Bunyan had with him In 

 prison. Can any of your readers give any in- 

 formation as to what became of this MS. ? as his 

 library was sold, and probably dispersed. Anon. 



Sir John Franklin. — We have now learnt that 

 Sir John Franklin died in 1847. I remember to 



