280 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



[Oct. 13. 1855. 



instrument by wliich the property was conveyed, 

 but the donor's kindred, after the first generation 

 or two, at all events, were not so careful of the 

 deed which their ancestor received in exchange. 

 The escape of this deed from destruction is the 

 more remarkable, that from its date it must, with- 

 in a very short period after it was made, have be- 

 come valueless to every one but Margaret Darker 

 the annuitant. The provision for the payment to 

 her is evidently an afterthought, and is added in a 

 different handwriting. A. F. B. 



Diss. 



"This Indenture, made the vjth day of July, in the 

 twentie yere of the reigne of Kyng Henry the Eight, be- 

 twen Mast' Roger Lupton, P'voust of the' Kyng's College 

 of o"" blessed Lady of Eton, n_ygh Wyndesor, in the 

 countie of Buks and the said college on that on' partie, 

 and Thomas Smyth, otherwyse callid Thomas Butler, of 

 the p'sche of Eton in the said countie, on the other partie, 

 Witnessith that the said P'voust and College of Eton 

 aforesaide coven'ntith and grauntith for thoym and their 

 successours, and them and their successours byndith to 

 the said Thomas Smyth, otherwyse callid Thomas Butler, 

 and his executours, that the same P'voust and College of 

 Eton and their successours shall hold and keepe a so- 

 lempne annyv'sarie w'in the same college church of Eton 

 yerly whiell the world shall induer, with the hole quere 

 of the same college, and all the same annyv'saries spe- 

 cially and p'napally to be holden and kepte for the soule 

 of the said Thomas Smyth, the soulis of his father and 

 mother, the soule of Basill Bowman, and for the soulis of 

 all those that the said Thomas is bounde to p'y for, and 

 for all Crysten soulis. The said annyv'sarie to be holden 

 and kepte yerly for ev' the day of the deth of the said 

 Thomas Smyth, otherwyse callid Thomas Butler, that is 

 to say, with placebo and derige by note with vi lessons, 

 with laudis on' nygt excepte in pascall tyme, and on the 

 morow masse of requiem ; and the said P'voust and College 

 shall yerly p'vyde, orden, and have at ev'y such anny- 

 v'sarie an herse to be sett in the myddis of the body of 

 the church of the said college, coverid and apelid conve- 

 nyently for the same, and a cross to be sett upon the said 

 herse with four tap's of waxe, and all the same four tap's 

 to be lyght and continually bren all the time of evy such 

 placebo and derige laudis and massis of requiem ; and the 

 same P'voust and College and their successours shall 

 cause the bellis of the same college to be solemply ronge 

 at evy of the said annyv'saries in like man' and forme 

 as they do or have don at other lyke annyv'saries or 

 obitts holden within the said college. In witness wherof 

 bothe the p'tis above said, ether to other intch'ngeably 

 have put to their sealis the day and yere above wryten. 

 P'vyded alwey that Margaret Darker shall have yerly 

 during here lyfe of the said college xiijs. iiijd sterlyng 

 after the decease of tha said Thomas Smyth." 



[Seal of the college aiHxed.] 



"THE LORD OF BURLEIGH. 



I have lately stumbled upon Hazlitt's narrative 

 of The Lord of Burleigh, on which Tennyson 

 appears to have founded his beautiful poem ; for 

 both the essayist and the poet represent "the 

 Lord of Burleigh " as taking his bride to " Bur- 

 eigh House by Stamford Town," immediately 

 No. 311.] 



upon the celebration of their marriage — a state- 

 ment which I imagine to be unfounded. Hazlitt 



says : 



" The late Earl of Exeter had been divorced from his 

 first wife, a woman of fashion, and of somewhat more 

 gaiet}^ of manners than ' lords who love their ladies ' like. 

 He determined to seek out a second wife in a humbler 

 sphere of life, and that it should be one who, having no 

 knowledge of his rank, should love him for himself alone. 

 For this purpose he went and settled incognito (under 

 the name of Mr. Jones) at Hodnet, an obscure village in 

 Shropshire. He made overtures to one or two damsels in 

 the neighbourhood, but they were too knowing to be 

 taken in by him. His manners were not boorish, mode 

 of life was retired ; it was odd how he got his livelihood, 

 and at last he began to be taken for a highwayman. In 

 this dilemma he turned to Miss Hoggins, the eldest 

 daughter of a small farmer, at whose house he had 

 lodged." 



The " one or two damsels " spoken of by 

 Hazlitt may, I fancy, be reduced to one. This 

 was a Miss Masefield, the daughter of a gentleman- 

 farmer, residing at the Buttery Farm. Mr. Jones, 

 or, to supply the full name under which he passed, 

 Mr. John Jones, visited with the Masefields, and 

 loved, and was beloved by, the daughter. But it 

 was a mystery how Mr. Jones got his living. At 

 certain seasons of the year he was invisible ; so, 

 as those were the good old days of Paul Clifford 

 and gentlemen highwaymen, it was logically con- 

 cluded that Mr. John Jones must be a " knight 

 of the road." When, therefore, he proposed for 

 the hand of Miss Masefield, though accepted by 

 the young lady, he was rejected by the papa and 

 mamma, who (giving Mr. John Jones the benefit 

 of the doubt as to his being a highwayman) con- 

 sidered him to be their daughter's social inferior, 

 and " no match " for her. Mr. John Jones was 

 consequently sent about his business, and his visits 

 at the Buttery Farm were ruthlessly brought to 

 an end. 



These particulars I have (time back) frequently 

 heard from a (lineal) Miss Masefield, and also 

 from my mother's mother, who came from the 

 Newport neighbourhood. I never heard either of 

 them speak of " the Lord of Burleigh " having 

 passed as " a landscape painter." Tennyson seems 

 to make this his profession as an excuse for his 

 income. 



On another point, too, they were at variance 

 with the poet and with Hazlitt. Mr. John 

 Jones purchased land in the neighbourhood of 

 Hodnet (or Bolas), built a house thereupon, and 

 lived in it, with his wife, for some few years. 

 During this time she lived in complete ignorance 

 of her husband's real rank. He served some 

 parish situation at Bolas, either as overseer or 

 churchwarden. In this official position he had to 

 attend Shrewsbury Sessions, where he was noticed 

 by one who, pointing him out to a brother magis- 

 trate, said, " Have you ever seen the overseer of 

 Bolas before to-day ? " " Not to my knowledge," 



