174 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2ndS. No35.,^UG. SO.'Se. 



St. Leonard's in many places ; also about "Ashburnhani, 

 between Catfield and Ninfield, in some places quite a con- 

 spicuous ornament to the liedgerows, which is not the 

 only situation it affects, occurring apparently truly wild, 

 though rarely, in the midst of natural woods near 

 Hastings, as in those at the Old Road, Coghurst, &c., in 

 ■which places I have found seedlings as well as trees of 

 advanced growth springing up perfectly spontaneously, 

 and very remote from habitations or cultivated ground. 

 In Guernsey and Jersey I have often found it wild, so 

 that its claim to be considered indigenous can hardly be 

 questioned ; besides, I have never seen it in any garden, 

 as a cultivated fruit tree, within many miles of this place 

 (Hastings, Sussex)." The dwarf medlar was introduced 

 in 1683. Consult also Loudon's Trees and Shrubs of 

 Great Britain, vol. ii. pp. 877. 928.] 



Edition of Virgil. — I shall be much obliged if 

 you, or any of your correspondents, will inform 

 me whether an edition of Virgil is a valuable one 

 which has name of printer and date as follows ? 



" Leovardiae : Franciscus Halma, D.D., Ordinis Frisiae 

 Typographus, cio,iocc,xvn." 



OXONIENSIS. 



[Mr. H. G. Bohn in his General Catalogue of the 

 Classics, offers an edition of Virgil's works, of this place 

 and date, "in 2 vols. 4to., plates by Picart, fine copy, in 

 gilt prize vellum," for 11. lis. 6d] 



Dr. Johnson and W. Davenport. — Can any of 

 your readers kindly supply any information re- 

 lating to the W. Davenport, a protege of Dr. 

 Johnson, who was placed by the Doctor with Mr. 

 Strahan the printer, of Crane Court ? Davenport 

 is said to have been a man of high attainments, 

 and I am anxious to glean some particulars re- 

 specting him. I. W. S. 



[A brief notice of William Davenport, who died at 

 Cheshunt, Herts, on Jan. 2, 1792, will be found in Ni- 

 chols's Leicestershire, vol. i. p. 609., and in the Gentleman's 

 Magazine for January, 1792, p. 91.] 



Bow or Bay Window.^. — About what time was 

 the bow or bay window introduced into our do- 

 mestic architecture, and by whom and where ? 



John Scribe. 



[Mr. Joseph Gwilt, in his Enci/clopccdia of Architecture, 

 p. 185., states that " the bay window was invented about 

 a century before the Tudor age. In a MS. at the He- 

 ralds' College relating to an entertainment given at 

 Richmond by Henry VII., the following passage occurs, 

 and may be taken as descriptive of one of the purposes to 

 ■which it was applied : ' Agaynst that his grace had 

 supped, the hall was dressed and goodlie to be scene, and 

 a rich cupboord sett thereup in a baye window of ix or x 

 stages and haunces of hight, furnissed and fulfilled with 

 plate of gold, silver, and regilte.' Carved wainscotting 

 in panels, generally of oak, lined the lower part of the 

 halls Avith greater unity of design and execution than 

 heretofore ; and it now found its way into parlours and 

 presence-chambers with every variety of cj'phers, cogni- 

 zances, chimeras, and mottoes, which in the castles of 

 France, about the age of Francis I., were called Boisseries. 

 Of these some curious specimens still remain in the hall 

 and chambers of the dilapidated mansion of the Lords de 

 la Wprre at Halnacre, in Suffolk." Consult also Glossary 

 of Architecture, vol. i. p. 69.] 



MILITARY DINNERS- 



(2"'^ S. ii. 127.) 



Amongst the mighty achievements which have 

 been celebrated over the festive board none ever 

 surpassed, in all its bearings, the banquet given 

 upon the bridge at Calloo, thrown over the Scheldt 

 to complete the investment of Antwerp, by the 

 Duke of Parma in 1584. 



The wide and rapid river presented numerous 

 difficulties to this gigantic scheme hard to be sur- 

 mounted. In winter, huge masses of detached 

 ice floated upon the surface, or, sinking with the 

 weight of accumulated snow, rolled on with the 

 currents beneath. But when the tide flowed, the 

 foaming waves bore back the masses ; and meet- 

 ing others in a downward course, they congealed, 

 and accumulated to ponderous heaps, sinking or 

 destroying whatever crossed their course. In 

 summer the sandy sloughs ofiered but an insecure 

 foundation for a structure destined to bear the 

 transit of the heaviest ordnance and the muni- 

 tions necessary for the siege. 



Over these difficulties the engineer the Marquis 

 of Roubais, at once a traitor to his adopted cause 

 and his country, found the means to triumph : he 

 commenced his unparalleled work, and laboured 

 like the unconscious insect at its own chrysalis. He 

 saw all difficulties surmounted ; but while he was 

 pursuing his work, the Italian Giambelli was ma- 

 turing his plans for destroying the marvellous 

 barrier. Ships without crews or rudders or masts 

 were sent adrift from the beleaguered city, and left 

 to the unstable guidance of the waves ; but they 

 bore within their holds the "Antwerp fire." 

 Some stranded on the way ; and the loitering 

 soldiery hastened from the banks to board them, 

 and learn the meaning of the floating logs ; others 

 approached the bridge. De Roubais waited there 

 the favoured but fatal moment, then leapt upon 

 the deck, followed by companions daring as him- 

 self. The bridge was crowded with wondering 

 troops. The Duke of Parma was hurried from 

 the scene, and to a moment saved. The explo- 

 sions followed : the bridge was riven in twain. 

 Thousands were scorched and killed, and Roubais 

 died, to fill a traitor's grave. 



"The End of the War," as the scheme was 

 called, was accomplished ; but the Prince of 

 Orange had fallen, and none remained to grapple 

 with the prostrate foe. 



The bridge was speedily repaired, and the brave 

 St. Aldogond, driven to the last extremity by 

 starvation, yielded Antwerp to the first general of 

 the age. 



To gratify his soldiers' pride was the victor's 

 first thought. To dine with them upon the bridge, 

 the first great cause of his success, appeared the 

 proudest triumph he or they could feel. The 



