2nd s. No 46., Nov. 15. '66.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



397 



dents, for information as to whether either of these 

 six children of Lord Francis intermarried with the 

 Shurdington Lawrences. If the two families were 

 not connected in this direct manner, I believe 

 they became so by the marriage of Joseph Law- 

 rence with Mary Townley, who was the (only ?) 

 child of one of Lord Francis Howard's daughters 

 by Mr. Townley. The marriage of Joseph Law- 

 rence with Mary Townley took place in France. 



The scanty information I possess on this subject 

 is derived from some records at New York, where 

 the name of Lawrence seems very common, and 

 at least one Effingham Lawrence was living there 

 a few years since. The coincidence of these two 

 names is curious, if only accidental ; but I under- 

 stand that many persons have borne them at dif- 

 ferent times. 



I may be entirely on the wrong track, but I 

 should feel thankful for any information on the 

 subject. E. H. V. 



Bayswater. 



''Bath Characters" 1808 (2°'^ S. ii. 172. 2.53.) 

 — My Key to Bath Characters agrees with that 

 of Anon., with the addition of " Snorum — Mr. 

 Coombes." 



A. conjectures rightly that the work created a 

 sensation at the time, as did another publication 

 by the same author, also in 1808 : Rebellion in 

 Bath, or the Battle of the Upper Rooms, a 4to. 

 vol. in Homeric verse, founded on an occurrence 

 which took place in 1769, when two Masters of the 

 Ceremonies were chosen. The author alters the 

 cause of the " Rebellion," but makes the Bath 

 Characters of 1 808 the principal actors in it, and 

 introduces a few others. 



The event is thus described in the Bath and 

 Bristol Chronicle of April 13, 1769, and may be 

 interesting to your readers : 



" Never'was such a scene of anarchy, riot, and confu- 

 sion in this city, or exhibited in any assembly that has 

 pretensions to politeness, as happened on Tuesday night 

 last at Mr. Simpson's Rooms, when the friends of Mr. B. 

 and Mr. Plomer met mutually to support their choice of 

 each of the above gentlemen, as Master of the Ceremonies. 



" Before the minuets began a written paper was pro- 

 duced by a gentleman in the interest of Mr. Plomer, 

 which he requested to be permitted to read, but hisses, 

 groans, and other indecent marks of disapprobation from 

 the other party prevented it, and a general confusion was 

 the consequence. 



" Among the gentlemen, scandalous epithets soon pro- 

 duced blows, and among the ladies <^who began the fray), 

 the spirit of opposition afforded work for the milliners, 

 hair-dressers, and, mantua-makers. At last the Mayor 

 appeared with his proper officers and the deputy Town 

 Clerk to appease the tumult, which was at length effected, 

 after the Riot Act had been three times read." 



In this work the satire is far severer than in 

 Bath Characters. The most strenuous efforts 

 were made to discover the author, but in vain : the 

 secret has been as well kept as that of " Junius." 



Can Anon, or any of your readers inform me who 

 was Mr. B., one of the M. C.'s in 1769, or furnish 

 me with a Key to the other characters introduced 

 in the Battle f viz. : 



Lady Wilhelmina Puff. 



Mrs. Chatter. 



Madame Pannikin. 



Pompo Gorgon. 



Petulant. 



Owen. 



Fidel. 



The Gallant D., and 



Solemn T. 



B. H. B. 



Bath. 



Epitaph at Abinger (2°'i S. ii. 306.) -- This 

 epitaph is not original: it will be found in the 

 churchyard of Bradford, Yorkshire, with a few 

 verbal alterations, as follows : 



" My stithy and my hammer I reclined, 

 My bellows too have lost their wind ; 

 My fire's extinguish'd, and my forge decay'd, 

 And in the silent dust my vice is laid : 

 My coal is spent, my stock of iron gone. 

 My last nail driven, and my work is done. 

 John Hill, died 1813." 



Similar epitaphs on blacksmiths are probably 

 to be found in various other parts of the country. 

 The above I copied from a flat grave-stone not 

 many weeks ago. N. L. T. 



Lord Bean of York (2°^ S. ii. 171. 294.)— There 

 were two Wykehamists in the sixteenth century 

 named John Younge : one, Warden of New Col- 

 lege, April 13, 1521, and Bishop of Calliopolis, 

 Feb. 3, 1513-14; the other was Fellow of New 

 College, Dean of York, May 17, 1514, envoy to 

 Austria and France, and Master of the Rolls ; the 

 former was born at Newton Longueville, the 

 latter at Rye. A reference to Mr. Hardy's edi- 

 tion of Le Neve's Fasti would show whether any 

 Dean of York was likewise a suffragan about that 

 period. Mackenzie Walcott, M. A. 



Nearsightedness (2"" S. H. 149. 236. 257.) — I 

 have seen it stated in works on physiology that 

 the highly nutritious and concentrated food, to- 

 gether with the reading and other sedentary 

 habits of the higher classes, has a close connection 

 with the nearsightedness so palpably prevalent 

 amongst them. That many maji affect such a de- 

 fect is true, but that it is not far more prevalent 

 among the upper than the lower classes is an idea 

 at variance with universal testimony and expe- 

 rience. As a general thing those engaged in 

 agricultural pursuits, and who seldom read or 

 try the eyes by close application, are quite free 

 from this defect. In this county (Somerset) a 

 nearsighted ploughman or out-door labourer of 

 any class would, I am sure, be a rara avis, and so 

 would he be, I presume, in any other county. 

 Of course tailors, shoemakers, weavers, and all 



