2nd s. N* 43., Oct. 25. '56.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



32» 



to 10-30 P.M. The rain fell in quantities sur- 

 passing the experience of the oldest inhabitant ; 

 every hollow was, in a short space of time, com- 

 pletely filled. A house was utterly demolished ; 

 animals drowned, and the public roads were in 

 places several feet under water; but the most 

 curious phenomenon was the appearance of a 

 large hole of an irregular circular form, more than 

 20 feet in diameter, and from 7 to 10 feet deep, 

 in a field situate about a mile off, in the parish of 

 Hemsby, having all the appearance of being 

 caused by the descent of a column of water. _ The 

 situation of the field precludes the possibility of 

 its having been caused by an accumulation of 

 surface water. A hedge ran across the spot ; but 

 this, for the space of eight yards, together with 

 large quantities of the subsoil (sand), was carried 

 by the force of the water fully 200 yards into the 

 next field. The sides of the chasm are generally 

 perpendicular, and the depth of the mould con- 

 siderable. I am desirous to know if anything 

 similar has occurred, and if any appearance of a 

 waterspout on land, and the effects of its fall, are 

 on record. E. S. TATftOB. 



Ormesby St. Margaret. 



Chinese and Gi-eeks mtd Romans. — It is not 

 improbable that the ancient Chinese kept a watch- 

 ful eye on what was going on in the western 

 world. Has Chinese or Indian history revealed to 

 our orientalists any particulars connected with 

 the Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, or Romans, 

 with which, from classical sources, we are unac- 

 quainted ? If so, any such scraps of information 

 would find a most appropriate place in a corner of 

 your journal. Henry T. IIilet. 



Caricatures. — There is lying before me a curi- 

 ous little volume which unfortunately wants the 

 title-page, but is lettered on the back, " Political 

 Caricatures from 17.)5 to 1760." It contains 1T)0 

 plates, preceded by twenty pages of letter-press, 

 explaining or describing them. They seem to 

 have been published, from time to time, by Darby 

 and Edwards, at the Acorn, facing Hungerford, 

 Strand. I should like to know the full title of 

 this volume, and whether it is of any value on ac- 

 count of its rarity, or otherwise. E. H. A. 



Races on Foot by naked Men. — During the 

 summer of 1824, I remember seeing, at Whit- 

 worth in Lancashire, two races, at different 

 periods, of this description. On one occasion two 

 men ran on Whitworth Moor with only a small 

 cloth or belt round the loins. On the other oc- 

 casion the runners were six in number, stark 

 naked, the distance being seven miles, or seven 

 times round the moor. There were hundreds, 

 perhaps thousands, of spectators, men and women, 

 and it did not appear to shock them, as being 

 anything out of the ordinary course of things. 



Can any of your readers inform me whether races 

 of this description are still celebrated in any part 

 of Great Britain or Ireland ? It is with reference 

 to this usage, no doubt, that the Lancashire riddle 



says : 



" As I was going over Rooley Moor, Eooley Moor shak'd, 

 I saw four and twenty men, running stark nak'd. 

 Tlie first was the last, and the last was the first." * 

 Henry T. Riley. 



The Queen's Case Stated. — What are the words 

 in full of some verses bearing this title, published 

 about the year 1820 ? Some of the lines were — 



" C was a Copley with aquiline beak, 

 D was a Denmaa who quoted some Greek, 



M was Majocchi, who swore in November, 

 N was the Nothing that he could remember. 



T was the Truth if we could but get at it" 



Uneda. 

 Philadelphia. 



November Nights. — In the London Magazine 

 for December, 1825, a work entitled November 

 Nights, by the author of Warreniana, is announced 

 as " projected." Was it ever published ? 



Uneda. 



Philadelphia. 



Preexistence. — Can any of your readers men- 

 tion a work or works in which this fanciful doc- 

 trine is upheld? I am aware that it was a 

 favourite notion of the poet Shelley. Some years 

 ago I read a paper in, I think, Fraser on the 

 subject ; but I have since lost all clue to it. Any 

 further particulars on this subject would be in- 

 teresting. Henry T. Riley. 



" Instructions for Lent." — I picked up in this 

 parish not long since a little book of Instructions 

 for Lent, with Meditations for every Day, founded 

 on some verses of Scripture that apparently occur 

 in the daily services. It is evidently the work of 

 a Roman Catholic, who, however, in the preface 

 highly approves and recommends Bishop Gun- 

 ning's well-known treatise. The whole is of a 

 very practical character, and contains but little 

 that is distinctively Roman. The title-page is 

 gone, but it would seem to have been printed 

 sometime in the last century. Who was the 

 author ? E. H.A. 



Gateshead. 



Lollard. — In Pulleyn's Etymological Compen- 

 dium (third edit, revised and improved by M. A. 

 Thorns) I find it stated that the term Lollard is 

 derived from a Waldensian pastor of that name, 

 who was burnt alive at Cologne in 1322. No 

 notice, however, is taken of two other derivations 

 which I have met with, and respecting which I 

 should be glad to know through your columns 



* Meaning the spokes of a wheel. 



