2"'» S. VIII. Nov. 26. '69.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



431 



liberty of printing such book and books for the 

 term of 21 years and no longer." And it pro- 

 ceeds to enact in these words : — 



"That the author of any book or books already com- 

 posed and not printed and published, or that shall here- 

 after be composed, and his assignee or assigns, shall have 

 the sole liberty of printing and reprinting such book and 

 books for the term of 14 years, to commence from the day 

 of the first publishing of the same, and no longer ; and 

 that if any other bookseller, printer, or other person 

 whatsoever, from and after the 10 day of April, 1710, 

 within the term granted by this Act as aforesaid, shall 

 print, reprint, or imprint, without the consent of the 

 proprietor or proprietors thereof first had and obtained in 

 writing, signed in the presence of two or more credible 

 witnesses, or knowing the same to be so printed or re- 

 printed without the consent of the proprietor or pro- 

 prietors, shall sell, publish, or expose to sale, or cause to 

 be sold, published, or exposed to sale, any such book or 

 books, without such consent first had and obtained as 

 aforesaid, then such offender or offenders shall forfeit such 

 book or books, and all and every sheet or sheets being 

 part or parts of such book or books, to the proprietor or 

 proprietors of the copy thereof, who shall forthwith damosA 

 and make waste paper of them." ' 



I shall be obliged by any of your readers 

 giving the explanation of this use of the word, 

 and how derived. ' Inquirer. 



Minax <^\ttviti. 



" Three Kings of Colon." — In the notice of 

 Bishop Cosin in Surtees's History of Durham, it 

 says that he (the bishop) never sun?, or heard 

 sung by the choir, the " Anthem of the Three 

 Kings of Colon ;" but at his first coming to be 

 Treasurer, did raze and cut tbe said anthem out of 

 the old song-book in the quire. Can any of your 

 correspondents give me the words of this old an- 

 them ? which appears to have been considered 

 objectionable, and its supposed use brought as 

 part of an accusation against the bishop. E. S. W. 

 Norwich. 



Arthur Hildersham. — Any information respect- 

 ing the descendants of this gentleman, rector of 

 Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and Nonconformist, whose 

 life is given in Clark's Martyrology, is earnestly 

 requested. He died 4th March, 1631 (Old Style), 

 leaving, I believe, four children; viz. Samuel, rector 

 of West Felton, who in 1642 published One Hun- 

 dred and Fifty-two Lectures upon Psalm LI., com- 

 posed by his father ; another son, name unknown ; 

 Timothy ; and Sara, wife of Jervase Lummas or 

 Lomax. I can find no public trace of the exist- 

 ence of any of these persons subsequently to 1653, 

 but I cannot believe that their fate is involved in 

 hopeless obscurity, since their ancestry was as illus- 

 trious as any in England, Arthur Hildersham's 

 mother being Anne Pole, grand-daughter of Mar- 

 garet Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury (the 

 last survivor of the royal house of York), by Sir 

 Richard Pole, K.G. This noble descent is men- 



tioned in the inscription on the tablet to Arthur 

 Hildersham's memory in Ashby church. Can Sir 

 B. Burke throw any light upon this subject ? 



T. E. S. 

 William Marshall. — Will some correspondent 

 give me some account of William Marshall, an 

 engraver (who lived about 1640), and his descen- 

 dants ? G. W. M. 



Sir W. St. John. — Who was Sir Wm. St. John, 

 an active naval officer in the reign of James I. ? 



G. R. L. 



The Judges and their Style Honourable. -^ For 

 this style, which custom of some time past seems 

 to have sanctioned, there does not appear any dis- 

 tinct order, but a prescriptive usage. Will some 

 of your correspondents say when the style or ap- 

 pellation originated ? Are the judges so styled 

 in any commissions, patents, or instruments issued 

 or sanctioned by the crown ? Perhaps Mr. Fobs 

 may have the means of affording information on 

 this point. J. 



Bishops Elect. — Can a bishop sit in parliament 

 after his election and confirmation, but before bis 

 consecration ? J. R. 



Skelmufeky. — In The Repuhlic, a Poem, Lon- 

 don, 1797, among many unexplained allusions 

 is the following, perfectly unintelligible to me, 

 but I hope not so to all your correspondents : — 



" See Thomas Paine with aspiration high 

 Bound up and tumble down like Skelmufeky. 

 Great in the warrior's, as the statesman's part, 

 This braves Barras, that noses John de Bart ; 

 This the Convention greets with honours full, 

 That sends his card up to the Great Mogul ; 

 And thrice deceived, by rank and riches vain. 

 Ragged and dirty each goes home again." 



What is meant by Skelmufeky ? A note says 

 " see Skelmufeky s Travels, The original was sup- 

 pressed, and the author imprisoned by the King 

 of Prussia." F. 



Box. — In Eyston's Little Monument printed in 

 1716, I find a house at Glastonbury still standing, 

 and of very considerable dimensions, described as a 

 neat new box. I have always understood the term 

 to apply to a small compact building. What is 

 the origin of the word as applied to a house, and 

 when was it first so used ? J. G. L. B. 



Plough. — In a warrant addressed, at the time 

 of the memorable rebellion, by Lord Feversham 

 to the constables of Butleigh, they are required 

 to provide a number of ploughs for the convey- 

 ance of ammunition. In Somersetshire waggons 

 are still vulgarly called ploughs ; and a farmer 

 will tell you that he has sent his plough to coal- 

 pit, &c. Is this use of the word general, and how 

 did it originate ? J. G. L. B. 



