290 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°'» S. VIII. Oct. 8. '59. 



As I had reason to believe that the latter came 

 from AfFghanistan and Central Asia, I thought it 

 not improbable (as I had once before discovered 

 to be the case in a similar instance) that the seals 

 had once belonged to officers who fell in Aflf- 

 ghanisfan. 



I therefore advertised them in one of - our 

 Indian papers as well as I was able, and one of 

 them was recognised and claimed by a relative of 

 its original owner, who perished in the disastrous 

 retreat from Kabul. 



The three I now send remained unclaimed ; 

 but as my own heraldic knowledge is limited, it is 

 very possible that I described them incorrectly. 

 It has, however, struck me that you might not be 

 unwilling to give a brief and correct description 

 of them in " N. & Q.," and I have therefore taken 

 the liberty of trespassing on your kindness so far 

 as to transmit them to you for that purpose, in 

 the hope that if you will do so, some of your he- 

 raldic correspondents might be able to identify 

 them. 



If recognised and claimed by any of the family 

 to which their owners belonged, I should be much 

 obliged by your restoring them. If not, you can 

 dispose of them as you will. Perhaps some such 

 note as that given above, with a description of 

 the seals appended, might serve for tiie required 

 object. E. C. Bayley, Civil Service. 



Futtehgurh, N. W. P., India, August 10, 1859. 



" The Tale of a Tub" — Is it among probabili- 

 ties that Swift took a hint for the inimitable Tale 

 of a Tub from a song very popular just before he 

 arrived in England, called a "View of the Reli- 

 gion of the Town" ? I send an extract : — 



" We began at the church of St. Peter, 

 Whose prebends make many mouths water ; 



Religion did here 



Like grave matron appear. 

 Neat, but not gaudy, like courtesan Rome, 

 Plain, but no slut like your Geneva dame. 



Then shifting our protestant dress. 

 To the Royal Chapel we press, 

 Where religion was fine indeed ; 



But with facings and fringings. 



With crosses and cringings, 

 Entirely run up to seed." 



I copy from A Collection of Poems, Songs, Sfc, 

 against Popery, London, 1689 (Part i., p. 18.) 



T. T. T. 



G. Herbert and Theocritus. — George Herbert 

 in modern times, and Theocritus among the an- 

 cients, l;ave each written a poem which takes its 

 name from the form the verses assume when 

 written out : that by George Herbert is called 

 " Easter Wings," and that by Theocritus " Sy- 



rinx." Can any of your correspondents inform 

 me whether there are any other poems extant that 

 take their names from similar circumstances ? 

 and if so, who are the authors ? and where they 

 may be met with ? P. D. 



Speed of Steamers. — What is the fastest speed 

 (miles per hour) at which steamers have travelled 

 previous to the sailing of the Great Eastern ? 



A. S. 



Italian Music in England. — 



" Charles R. 

 " March 1" 16G6. An Establishment of y« yearly- salaryes 

 and entertainm* of his Ma"" Italian Musicke. 



£ s. d. 

 One Contralto - - - - 200 00 00 

 One Tenore - - - - - 200 00 00 



One Basse 200 00 00 



The Poet 200 00 00 



The Woman . . - - sjo 00 00 



The Eunuch - - - - 200 00 00 



Seign^ Vincenzo - - - - 200 00 00 

 S-- Bartholoes (?) his Brother - 200 00 00 



£1700 00 00 

 Has the foregoing paper, being an official war- 

 rant for payment, &c., anything to do with the 

 introduction of Italian operatic music into Eng- 

 land. I can understand the three first items, but 

 the poet, the woman, and the eunuch, are an 

 enigma to me. Can any of your readers afford an 

 explanation ? Abracadabra. 



Schuyler. — Infoi'mation is i-equested respecting 

 a Dutch family called Schuyler. Was it noble ? 

 I have never heard of a Dutch peerage ; but if 

 there be, does this name occur in it ? G. L. 



Epigram. — Could you give me the remaining- 

 lines of this epigram — 



" Bright martial maid, Queen of the frozen zone ! 

 The northern pole supports thy shining throne! " — 



on or to Queen Christina of Sweden ? 



Belater-Adime. 

 Will. De la Grace (^Mai'esJiHll). — In what man- 

 ner did William De la Grace (Mareshall) become 

 possessed of this name ? I can only find it men- 

 tioned in Fenton's Hist, of Pembrokeshire, upon 

 the occasion of his marriage with Isabella, daugh- 

 ter and heiress of De Clare, Earl of Pembroke. 

 Query, Was it assumed, or a double Christian 

 name ? Jas. Finlayson. 



Greek Version of ^^ King Arthur." — In investi- 

 gating the subject of Arthur, the first and greatest 

 hero of medieval romance, I have stumbled upon 

 a footnote in the Quarterly Eevieiv, xxiii. 153., 

 in which the writer observes : — 



** We take this opportunity of noticing an error of a 

 somewhat ludicrous kind in Warton's History of English 

 Poetnj, i. 350. : ' The story of Arthur,' he saj's, 'was also 

 reduced into modern Greek. M. Crusius relates that his 

 friends, who studied at Padua, sent him in the year 15G5, 



