Aug. 18. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



125 



The picture is in the style of the "English 

 Claude;" and I should be glad to learn that the 

 monogram RW, which it bears, was affixed by the 

 hand of Richard Wilson. Rufebt. 



Baltimore. 



" Maud,'' ly Alfred Tennyson.— WAX one of the 

 many readers of Maud be so kind as to explain to 

 me the following line ? Talking of " the long- 

 necked geese of the world," he adds : 

 « Because their natures are little, and, whether he tried it 

 or not, 



Where each man walks with his head in a cloud of poi- 



sonous Jlies," 



Thorpe Morieux Eectory, near 

 Bildestone, Suffolk. 



W.H. 



Duchess of Marlborough. — She is described 

 somewhere in pretty nearly these terms : " Three 

 furies reigned uncontrolled within her breast ■ — 

 detestable avarice, sordid ambition, and uncon- 

 querable pride." Where does this passage occur, 

 and what are the exact words ? F. 



Roman Catholic Bishoprics. — •! shall be much 

 •obliged to any of your readers or correspondents 

 who will inform me where I shall find an account 

 of the archbishoprics and bishoprics of the Roman 

 •Catholic Church in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and 

 early part of the sixteenth centuries ; and the 

 modern names of the localities of these ecclesias- 

 tical divisions. I particularly wish to know the 

 districts to which the following titles refer : — 

 1451, Bishop of Enachdunensis ; 1479, Bishop of 

 Kathlin; 1498, Bishop of Carleus ; 1512, Bishop 

 ■of Maionen ; 1518, Bishop of Argolicensis ? 



I am aware that I have copied the possessive 

 termination to some of these titles, but I confess 

 my inability to give the names correctly. 



PisHET Thompson. 



Stoke Newington. 



Bardon Hill, Leicestershire. — In the county of 

 Leicester there is an elevation designated Bardon 

 Hill, which is between 800 and 900 feet high. It 

 is said the view from its summit is the most 

 extensive in England, if not in Europe, owing to 

 its central situation, and the comparatively flat 

 nature of the surrounding country. From the 

 mountains of Switzerland views of far greater 

 extent in a given direction may of course be had, 

 "but the prospect is obstructed in other directions. 

 In the case of Bardon Hill the range of vision is 

 extensive in all but a few directions ; so that 

 ■from its summit the Wrekin in Shropshire, the 

 Malvern Hills, Dunstable, Lincoln Minster, and 

 even Snowdon, may be discerned, — such, at 

 least, is stated in topographical works. It is 

 added that seamen, when on the German Ocean, 

 on the coast of Lincolnshire, can see the top of 



No. 303.] 



Bardon before they can descry the line of the 

 English coast. I am farther told that the officers 

 employed in making the Ordnance Survey, whea 

 on Snowdon, regarded Bardon as one of their 

 landmarks, by means of which to make their ob- 

 servations. As the distance must be nearly 

 120 miles, this assertion seems improbable. May 

 I ask any of your readers who have made tele- 

 scopic observations, whether they can confirm an^ 

 of the above statements ? Jatteb, 



Length of Miles. — The reader of Leland*s 

 Itinerary will probably have observed that his 

 distances seldom, if ever, agree with modern 

 measurement. His " thence a five miles " is now 

 nearer eight. In some instances the roads may- 

 have been altered ; but in many, where there has 

 been no alteration, his statements are an inaccu- 

 rate guide to modern travellers. Were English 

 miles ever longer than they are now ? And if so, 

 when was the change made ? J. 



Staniforth Family. — In my collection of book- 

 plates I have one of John Staniforth's, of Ports- 

 mouth, whose arms are. Argent, three bars azure 

 on a canton or, a fesse and three mascles sable. 

 Crest, a dexter gauntlet in bend, holding a sword 

 rompu near the hilt, in bend sinister, ppr. 



My friend Mr. Daniel Parsons has in his collec- 

 tion of book-plates one of the same arms impaling 

 for femme, " Or, a lion passant guardant gules, on 

 a chief azure, three lozenges vaire, argent and 

 gules;" and below the motto scroll the letters 

 H. S., one on each side. 



In Dugdale's Origines Juridiciales, p. 329., the 

 same arms are given to William Staniford, Jus- 

 tic. Com. Banc. Can any of your readers tell 

 me if this family of Staniforth is a branch of the 

 family of that name who were living at Darnall, 

 near Sheffield, in 1390 (the 13th of Richard II.), 

 and if any representatives of this branch still exist 

 bearing these arms? Any information relating 

 to the family of Staniforth not already given in 

 Mr. Hunter's History of Hallamshire would be 

 gratefully received by K. 



Order of St. John of Jerusalem. — Does the 

 Order of St. John of Jerusalem still exist in this 

 country ? The king of Prussia revived the Order 

 in his dominions in 1853 ; and I find a Scotch 

 baronet, Sir Richard Brown, of Colstoun, is de- 

 signated secretary of the British Langue of the 

 Order. I also noticed the other day the death of 

 a Mr. Banks, who was styled a Knight Commander 

 of the Order. If it exists, where is the pre- 

 ceptory ? I find in the Edinburgh Almanac, 



"The Military and Religious Order of the Temple, 

 Duke of Athol, Grand Master." 



This I presume to be connected with Masonry. 

 It is stated to have been founded a.d. 1118. Some 



