416 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»* S. VIII. Nov. 19. '69. 



Davis. I understand it is founded on fact. In a 

 note, p. 626., Div. iii. of Wright's History of 

 Ireland, it is related " That in the preceding 

 summer (1631) the Turks had landed on the 

 coast of Cork, attacked Baltimore, and carried 

 away about a hundred of the inhabitants into 

 slavery." 



Now, in reference to this ballad I would feel 

 obliged by some kind correspondent's Notes to 

 the following Queries : — 



1. What was the Christian name of the O' 

 Driscol, whose daughter, according to the poet, 

 " was chosen for the Dey." 



2. What amount of truth is in the following 

 lines ? — 



" She's safe — he's dead— she stabbed himjn the midst 

 of his Serai ; 

 And when to die a death of fire that noble maid they 



bore. 

 She only smiled — O'Driscol's child — she thought of 

 Baltimore 1" 



Theta. 



Dates of Early Plays. — Can you inform me 

 whether there is any rule by which an undated 

 early play can be placed ? There are some in 

 such case, the type of which is as old, the 

 printers as ancient, and the general appearance as 

 crumbly and tattered as heart can wish, and yet 

 the first dated edition is set before them. N. D. 



Grossetestes " Castle of Love." — Will some of 

 your intelligent readers throw a light upon the 

 following lines in the Castle of Love, by Grosse- 

 teste, reprinted by Mr. Halliwell, 1849, p. 62. : — 



" For from the rode- for oure nede, 

 Ey3ht into helle he 5ede; 

 Fourty times ther he wes, 

 Er that he to aryse ches ; 

 3et he rose up on the thridde day, 

 Erli in the marnyng on a Sonday." 



Can it mean that for the forty days before the 

 Ascension Our Lord daily visited and preached to 

 the souls in prison ? George OrroB. 



Colonel Brett. — I am much in want of some 

 particulars concerning Colonel Brett, a well- 

 known celebrity at the beginning of the last 

 century. He was the friend and contemporary 

 of Cibber, Addison, and Steele, and is mentioned 

 in the Tutler by the sobriquet of Colonel Ramble. 

 It is almost needless to add that he married 

 Anne Countess of Macclesfield, after her divorce 

 from the Earl. Oxoniensis. 



Bishop Hurd. — The Ecclesiastical and Uni- 

 versity Annual Register for 1809 contains a well- 

 written sketch of Bishop nurd's life, with a short, 

 but candid and judicious critique on his works. 



Query. By whom was this written ? 



My suspicions point to the Rev. Dr. Lucas, 

 Rector of Ripple, near Worcester, who married 

 the bishop's niece. To him has also been ascribed 



a spirited pamphlet in defence of the bishop 

 against Dr. Parr's attack in the Preface to his re- 

 publication of Tracts by Warburton and a War- 

 burtonian. 



Can any reader of " N. & Q." assist me in 

 tracing the authorship of these pieces to br. L., 

 or any other person ? F. Kilvebt. 



Bath. 



Gray's Copy of Strypes Stowe. — When the 

 library of the poet Gray was sold in the year 

 1846, among many books which had their margins 

 filled with MS. notes in the hand of that eminent 

 person, who was as curious and minute in his 

 investigations as he was accurate and fastidious in 

 his compositions, was a copy of Stowe s Survey of 

 London, of the first edition by Strype, which was 

 sold for 14Z. 5s. In what public or private library 

 is this now to be found ? J. G. N. 



Swans. — What are the names given to distin- 

 guish the male and female swan ? None of the 

 works on natural history that I have consulted 

 give this information. J. F. 



[According to Yarrell, the distinguishing names of the 

 male and female swan are " Cob" and "Pen." — "In the 

 language of swanherds," [persons who have the charge of 

 swans] "the male swan is called a Cob, the female a 

 Pen." (^British Birds, ed. 1856, p. 228.) With this agrees 

 the Penny Cyclopaidia, art. Swan : — " Where, as it some- 

 times happens, the cob bird (male) of oneownermates with 

 a pen bird (female) belonging to another, the brood are di- 

 vided between the owners." In the " Ordinances respect- 

 ing swans in the Kiver Witham, co. Lincoln," a.d. 1524, 

 the male and female swan, with reference to their " sig- 

 nets," are styled " sire and dam." — Archceol. xvi. 156. 



A friend who, both as a rower and an angler, is well 

 acquainted with the Thames above bridge, assures us 

 that as far up as Abingdon the male and female swan 

 are now called vernacularlj' " Tom " and " Jenny" and are 

 also distinguished as " Cock " and " Hen." Col. Hawker 

 applies to the male hooper or wild swan the term Gander. 

 " The old * gander ' was only winged." (^Instructions, ed. 

 1859, p. 269.) " M. Salerne dit . . . . que, quand on vent 

 faire venir le cygne h, soi, on rappellepodarrf." " Suivant 

 M. Frisch, on lui donne, en Alleraand, le nom Aa frank," 

 [Franck?] " et il s'approche h. ce nom." (ButFon, art. 

 Cygne, notes.) Both terms, however, Godard and Franck, 

 appear in this case to be used as epicenes, i. e., without 

 reference to sex.] 



VAbbaye de Quincy. — I have a copy of Le 

 Gueux, a duo. of more than 400 pages, bound in 

 the same original vellum with Le Voleur of 549 

 pages, published at Rouen in mdcxxxii., across 

 the title of which is written "Labbaye de Quincy." 

 I wish to ask where was this abbey, and was it 

 for monks or nuns ? Also were such books re- 

 cognised as suitable for the libraries of religious 

 houses ? I had an idea that the reading of the 

 inmates of such houses was very strictly confined 

 to religious, or at least eminently useful books, 



