Sept. 15. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



203 



often applied to those who work hard, " You're 

 going to kill yourself with hard work, and then 

 you'll be buried at Six Roads End, at the ex- 

 pense of the county." I suppose it is meant as a 

 dissuasive from that particular form oi felo de se. 

 The same village is well known for a particular 

 kind of crumbling cake, and a lady's temper is 

 often characterised as being " as short as a March- 

 ington wake cake." William Fbaseb, B.C.L. 

 Alton, Staffordshire. 



^Mttiti, 



THOMAS MAEWOOD. 



In the old church of Honiton, co. Devon, is a 

 monument with the following inscription : 



" Here lieth the body of Thomas Marwood, gent., 

 who practised physick and chirurgery above seventy-five 

 years; and being zealous of good works, gave certain 

 houses, and bequeathed by his will to the poor of Honiton 

 10/. ; and being aged above one hundred and five years, 

 departed in the Catholick faith, September y" 18">, 

 anno domini 1617." 



The physician thus commemorated was in many 

 points of view a person of considerable interest. 

 To say nothing of the astounding period (seventy- 

 five years) during which he practised physic, and 

 the patriarchal age at which he arrived, he Is the 

 earliest physician practising in the county of 

 Devon of whom we have any records ; and was, 

 as we learn from another monument In the same 

 church (to the memory of his great-grand- 

 daughter Bridget, relict of Edward Ford, Bachelor 

 of Physick), physician to Queen Elizabeth. His 

 grandson Thomas, and great-grandson James, 

 were also of the medical profession: the former 

 resided at Honiton. And it was in his house, 

 still standing, and but little if at all altered from 

 its original condition, that King Charles I., in his 

 progress towards the west, took up his quarters, 

 and passed the night of Thursday, July 25, 1644. 

 To these two physicians, a late resident in the 

 house, and a descendant ex parte matenia of the 

 Marwood family, the Rev. William John Tucker, 

 refers in his poem entitled Honiton Hill : 



" Here Marwood liv'd, my mother bore that name — 

 Pardon the boast : twas from that line I came. 

 Still on the house he built, his name is seen, 

 The fam'd physician to the Virgin Queen. 

 Inviolate his loyalty he kept ; 

 Under his roof the royal martyr slept." 



I have reason to think that the second Thomas 

 Marwood, who had the honour of receiving 

 Charles I., had been physician to King James I. ; 

 and that many records yet remain in private 

 hands of this family of distinguished physicians. 

 I am engaged collecting materials for a History of 

 the Medical Worthies of Devon, and should be 

 obliged could any of the readers of " N. & Q." fa- 

 No. 307.] 



vour me with any particulars of these physicians *, 

 or refer me to the records, if such there be, above 

 alluded to. Doubtless, information could be 

 afforded by some of your Devonshire correspon- 

 dents. 



James Marwood, M.D., the great-grandson of 

 the " physician to the Virgin Queen," was buried 

 in the church of the neighbouring parish of Wid- 

 worthy. _ W. Munk, M.D. 



26. Finsbury Place. 



WASHINGTON, MEDAL OR COIN OF. 



I have a gold coin in my possession, a rough 

 sketch of which I inclose ; and which, although 

 much worn, is still of the full value of the Ameri- 

 can eagle, namely, ten dollars. On inquiring at 

 the United States' mint, in Philadelphia, a few 

 years since, I found that, In the collection there 

 of specimens of all Ihe federal coins, none like this 

 existed. It attracted much curiosity ; but nothing 

 of Its history could be learned. A very intelligent 

 officer of the institution informed me, that he con- 

 jectured It was stamped in Birmingham. The 

 name of Washington, President, appearing upon 

 it, renders it an object of greater Interest ; as it is 

 generally understood, and believed, that while that 

 distinguished man was President of the United 

 States, learning that a coinage was about to be 

 stamped at the mint, bearing his effigy, he imme- 

 diately arrested the proceeding. A few copper 

 coins had however been struck, which were never 

 issued ; and which I believe are still preserved in 

 the collection to which I have above referred. 

 No gold or silver coin of the same stamp was 

 ever struck in the United States of America. The 

 coin in my possession was evidently intended for 

 circulation. Its style of execution is rather rough, 

 and the motto upon the scroll In the eagle's beak, 

 " Unum e pluribus," is not correct ; that upon the 

 federal money having been, " E pluribus unum." 

 If you can, through any of your readers, afford 

 me any Information touching the subject of my 

 inquiry, you will greatly oblige G. A. Mteks. 



Richmond, Virginia (U. S. A.). 



[This American piece was struck at Birmingham by 

 Hancock, an engraver of dies of considerable talent. Of 

 these pieces there are several varieties : one, without date 

 on the obverse; on reverse, American eagle, shield on 

 breast, olive branch in one claw, arrows in the other; 

 above, stars, cloud, and " one cent ; " edge, " united 

 STATES OF AMERICA ; " below, " 1791." Another, date 

 under head, " 1791 ;" reverse, eagle as above, but larger; 

 in beak a scroll, " unum e pluribus ; " above, " one 

 CENT;" no stars, cloud, or date. Another, profile of 

 Washington to the right, fillet round the head, no dress ; 



[* Some notices of the Marwoods may be found in the 

 Gentleman's Magazine, vol. Ixi. p. 608. ; vol. Ixiii. p. 114. ; 

 vol. Ixxix. p. 3. ; vol. Ixxx. pt. i. p. 429. ; vol. Ixxx. pt. ii. 

 p. 320. ; and Graves's History of Cleveland.'} 



