456 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd S. N" 49., Dec. 6. '56. 



Duke of Oraftoiis " Vindication of his Adminis- 

 tration" (2°i S. ii. 372.)— To W. J. Fitz-Pa- 

 trick's wish, expressed in " N. & Q.," that the 

 Duke of Grafton's Vindication of his Administra- 

 tion should be published, according to his will, I 

 can state that there was nothing in the will of that 

 duke relating to it. He had written a Memoir of 

 his Political Life, and had desired his son and 

 successor not to publish it during the lifetime of 

 George III. The present duke lent it to Lords 

 Stanhope, Brougham, and Campbell, who have 

 published extracts from it. In The Lives of the 

 Chancellors there is inserted fi-om it a letter of 

 Lord Camden's, written on Lord Chatham's attack 

 of illness in the House of Lords, which occasioned 

 his death a few days afterwards. Lord Campbell 

 describes the letter containing the account as " the 

 most graphic and the most authentic extant of 

 that solemn scene." The memoir, if published 

 now, would be stripped of its novelty, and conse- 

 quently would lose all its interest. J. F. 



Spring Gardens, Greenwich (2"'* S. i. 315.) — 

 These were situate near Christchurch, East Green- 

 wich, and for many years were garden ground ; 

 but, as is the fate of many such places in the 

 vicinity of the great metropolis, are now nearly 

 built over. Geo. W. Bennett. 



Greenwich. 



Ouzel Galley (2"-! S. ii. 419.) — 



" In the year 1700 the case of a ship in the port of 

 Dublin excited great legal perplexity ; and in order to 

 lessen the consequent delay and expense, it was referred 

 to an arbitration of merchants, whose decision was prompt 

 and highly approved. This led to the foundation of the 

 present society for terminating commercial disputes by 

 arbitration. The vessel was named the ' Ouzel Galley,' 

 and the society adopted the name. It is a popular and 

 useful society in Dublin." 



The above extract is from poor Haydn's Dic- 

 tionary of Dates. What would the " Ouzel Gal- 

 ley " have awarded him as a pension had it been 

 referred to it to assess the value of his services to 

 his country f E. Lennox Bovp. 



Spanish Proverbs (2°'^ S. ii. 388.) — I know not 

 for what " purpose " Mr. Middlemore inquires 

 after Spanish proverbs, but I would venture to re- 

 mind him that there is no nation or language of 

 whose proverbs there exists so copious a collec- 

 tion as the Spanish, namely Sancho Panza's con- 

 versations as recorded in Don Quixote. The Don 

 frequently reproaches his follower with uttering 

 all the proverbs that ever were coined. The 

 most, or indeed the only, complete list of Spanish 

 proverbs would be an index to Sancho's dis- 

 courses. C. 



I beg to call the attention of Mr. Middlemore 

 to the very curious collection of Spanish proverbs 

 in James Howell's Lexicon Tetraglotton, fol. 1660. 



They form a separate division of the book entitled, 

 " Refranes, 6 Proverbios en romance, d la Lengua 

 Castellana ; et los quales se han anadido algunos 

 Portuguezes, Catalanes, y Gallegos, &c. De los 

 quales muchos andan Glossados." 



Edward F. Rimbault. 



Maws of Kites (2"'» S. ii. 372.) —What is re- 

 jected from the stomachs of birds of prey is 

 technically called castings. The process seems 

 necessary for their health, and it consists generally 

 of an agglomeration of food with feathers or wool, 

 &c., into a ball. Yarrell, in his History of British 

 Birds, vol. i. p. 109., says : 



" Owls, like falcons, return by the mouth the indi- 

 gestible parts of the food swallowed, in the form of elon- 

 gated pellets; these are found in considerable numbers 

 about the usual haunts of the birds, and examination of 

 them when softened in warm water detects the nature of 

 the food." 



In an old book on falconry, among the direc- 

 tions for the management of hawks, I find one as 

 follows : 



" Let her (the goshawk) have every night castings of 

 feathers or cotton, and in the morning observe whether it 

 be wrought round or not, whether moist or dry, or of 

 what colour the water is that drops out of her castings ; 

 by these means he may know what condition his hawk 

 is in." 



J. S. S. 



Leaning Towers (2°* S. ii. 388.) — The tower 

 of the Temple Church, Bristol, leans nearly four 

 feet out of the perpendicular, and has even, by 

 sinking, separated from the church. Its appear- 

 ance is unpleasant arid somewhat alarming, but it 

 is examined from time to time, to test its security. 



F. C. H. 



I should like to know more of the crooked spires 

 of Yarmouth and Chesterfield, whether they were 

 actually, or only apparently, crooked ? One of the 

 two magnificent spires of the cathedral of Chartres 

 is, as I recollect, crooked to the eye, though in 

 fact perfectly' straight and symmetrical. How 

 the deceptio visus was produced I was not able to 

 detect, but the effect was indisputable. C. 



About twenty years ago the tower of Wybunbury 

 Church, in the county of Chester, had a consider- 

 able leaning towards the north-east. I am almost 

 afraid to say to what extent, but I believe to at 

 least five feet out of the perpendicular. It was as 

 marvellous to see standing as either of the Torre 

 Asinelli at Bologna, or the " Leaning Tower " of 

 the Duomo at Pisa, or the Campanile of the Ro- 

 manesque church of San Martino at Este, which 

 inclines as much, it is said, as that of Pisa. As 

 the inclination of the Wybunbury tower had been 

 showing a slight increase from year to year, it 

 was resolved, about 1834, to take it down as dan- 

 gerous, and rebuild it. Fortunately, however, 

 before this was finally resolved, Mr. Trubshaw, an 



