404 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[Nov. 24. 1855. 



and vi.). The Historij itself extends from p. 7. 

 to p. 80. The MS. note is as follows : 



" Let any Genf" set forth greater services done in y« 

 late Happy Revolution then is in this small treatise truly 

 specified, w«i» I writ and Printed chiefly for his Matie's 

 Perusall, but his Majestic not understanding English 

 well, I was advised by a Great Peer to get it nicely trans- 

 lated, w«^ I got done by as Polite an hand as any in 

 England, for translating'of it, and yn got its transcribed 

 by as good a writer as any in England, and by one yt 

 understood y® ffrench tongue well, yt he might be sure 

 to transcribe it true, w'''' he did, and yn it was as well 

 and as richly bound as y" Book Binder was capable of 

 doing it, and' was presented to his Majestie in May last 

 by ye Earl of Berkley from me, Hugh Speke. 



*' The Happy Revolution must be allowed to be y° Basis 

 and Foundation of our Present happy Establishment under 

 his Majestie King George." 



Bookworm. 



An Irish Election in the Old Times. — The fol- 

 lowing appears in a report of the proceedings of 

 the last meeting of the Kilkenny and South-East 

 of Ireland Archasological Society, given in a local 

 paper. 



" Mr. James F. Ferguson sent a transcript of the fol- 

 lowing letter, throwing some light on electioneering 

 practices in the county of Kilkenny more than a century 

 ago. It was needless to state that the writer was an an- 

 cestor of the present Sir R. Langrishe of Knocktopher; 

 the letter had probably been addressed to Baron VVorth, 

 and so came to remain in the Irish Exchequer amongst 

 that judge's papers. It was as follows : — 



« [ ] Carrick, Sepr. 7th, 1715. 



[ ] was wth. Coll. Ponsonby [ ] 



him yr. lettr. liee is very stedfast in his promise to serve 

 Mr. Worth in ye Ellection of Knocktopher and it is to 

 bee next fryday & Mr. Wall will joine with Mr. Worth 

 in ye Expences Equall shares, the same day the Knights 

 of the shiere will bee chosen at Knocktopher ; & ye Coll : 

 thinks yt will bee yc best time for to choose members 

 for ye Burrow of Knocktopher, because most of ye Colls, 

 & Mr. Walls teiits. are freeholders of ye County as well as 

 Ellectrs for yt Burrow — there is a Hogshead of Wine 

 provided, & I will provide Cold meate. If Mr. Worth has 

 any Comands for mee, let him direct to mee to Knock- 

 topher neer Kilkenny. I hope Mr. Worth will contribute 

 something towards bringing a horse Barrack to [ ] 



ktopher. The post is j f ] to give my service to 



[ ] Coz. Dolly & Jane. 



* Tor most afFt. coz. and most humble servt. 



' Jo. Langrishe. 

 ' If Mr. Worth cannot bee at Knocktopher, I doubt not 

 but to carry his Election in his absence,' " 



W. O'C. 

 Upper Montague Street. 



The Vine at Hampton Cowt. — Having made 

 the following note of the vine at Hampton Court, 

 and of its parent at Valentines, on a recent visit 

 to them, it may be useful in your utilitarian mis- 

 cellany. 



The vine at Hampton Court is the largest in 

 Europe, its branches extending over a space of 

 2300 feet. It was planted from a slip in the year 

 1768, and generally bears upwards of 2000 



No. 317] 



bunches of grapes, of the black Hambro' kind. 

 The original vine, from which this cutting was 

 taken, still flourishes in Essex, at the seat called 

 Valentines, in the parish of Ilford, near Wan- 

 stead, where it was planted in 1758. In 1835 it 

 bore four cwt. of grapes, and the stem girted 

 twenty-four inches. In one season 300^. was 

 realised by the sale of its fruit. W. Collyns, 



Drewstoi nton. 



Old Arithmetical Worhs. — Perhaps the follow- 

 ing notices of two curious books on arithmetic 

 may not be unacceptable : 



1. " Arithmetick : Vulgar, Decimal, Instrumental, Al- 

 gebraical. In Four Parts, &c. &c. The Third Edition, 

 corrected and enlarged by the Addition of several Rules 

 not in the former Editions. By William Leybourn. 

 London: printed by J. Streater, for George Sawbridge, 

 living on Clei'kenwell Green." 



There is a portrait of Leybourn (by Faithorne), 

 " Anno iEtatis, 30." 



Although there is no date on the first title- 

 page, the second one has 1668. The fourth part, 

 containing an abridgment of the precepts of 

 Algebra, is said to have been " written in French 

 by James de Billy," and now translated into 

 English. The volume, which is in 12mo., has 

 436 pages, besides title, preface, and contents. 



2. " Arithmetick, Vulgar and Decimal, fully explained 

 and directed after a Plain and Easie Method to the Meanest 

 Capacitys. By Mr. Thomas Bruce, Schoolmaster in Edin- 

 burgh. The First Edition, carefully corrected. Edin- 

 burgh, 1724." 



The announcement that it is the _/irst edition 

 corrected, is odd enough. J. M. 



Edinburgh. 



^mtits. 



THE "right" and " LEFT " HAND. 



Is it really a physiological fact, that men natu- 

 rally use the right hand in preference to the left ? 

 Sir Benjamin Brodle, in his Psychological Inquiries, 

 p. 203., speaks of it as an instinct. He even sug- 

 gests that it is probable it is " an original instinct," 

 adding : 



" The reason of our being endowed with this particular 

 instinct, is sufficiently obvious. How much inconvenience 

 would arise, where it is necessary for different individuals 

 to co-operate in manual operations, if some were to use 

 one hand and some the other I " 



The truth of this last remark is obvious enough ; 

 but unless medical men can show some anatomical 

 difference between the hands (which of course 

 would settle the doubt at once), we suspect that a 

 jury of nurses and mothers would draw a very 

 different conclusion from Sir Benjamin Brodie's. 

 They would aver that the use of the right hand 

 is a thing which has to be taught from babyhood ; 



