Nov. 3. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



347 



am in hopes my question may not remain un- 

 noticed. G. R. M. 



iHtitor ^utviti tutti) ^nStncri. 



Bomney Marsh. — Can any correspondent give 

 the title and dates of the early histories and de- 

 scriptions of this curious portion of tlie county of 

 Kent? I have seen a chart entitled "The De- 

 scription of Romney Marsli, Walland Marsh, 

 'Denge Marsh, &c., M. Paker, 1617." Ts this 

 purcliaseable anywhere ? James Gilbert. 



49. Paternoster Row. 



[We can give the titles of a few works : — l. The 

 Grnunts, Ordinances, and Lawes of Romney Marsh. By- 

 Thomas Berthellet, London, 1543, r2ino. 2. The Charter 

 of Rnirmey-Marsh ; or the Laws and Customs of Romney- 

 Marsh : framed and contrived by the venerable Justice, 

 Henry de Bathe. Very useful for all Professors of the 

 Law, and also for all Lords of Towns, and other Land- 

 holders within Romney-Marsh, Bedford Level, and all 

 other Marshe-s Fenns, and Sea- Borders. The various 

 editions are 1543, 1579, 1686, 1726, and 1732. 3. Besides 

 which has appeared the following tract relative to Rom- 

 ney-Marsh: "The Improvement of the Marsh, and the 

 Country near about it: being an Account of some Pro- 

 posals for furnishing the Marsh with fresh water; with 

 Reasons for the same. Reflections thereon, and Objections 

 answered, by John Young, 4to." There is also a Map of 

 Romney Marsli by James Cole, and another by Carter.] 



Gainsborough the Painter. — Can any of the 

 correspondents of "N. & Q." furnish me with 

 information respecting this eminent artist, more 

 espei'iallv with reference to his residence in 

 London from 1774 to 1788 ? Also of the existence 

 of any of Gainsborough's works, whether consist- 

 ing of landscapes, portraits, or drawings, with 

 their subjects and localities ? 



Edmund Syer Fulcher. 



[Philip Thicknesse published a meagre Sketch of the 

 Life and Paintings of Thomas Gainsborough, 8vo., 1 788 ; 

 but a fir better notice of this artist is given in Chalmers's 

 Biographical Dictionary, which also contains many re- 

 ferences to other works for farther particulars.. In Wal- 

 pole's Anecdotes, hy Dallaway, vol. iv. j). xiv., it is stated 

 that " two of Gainsborough's early landscapes are in the 

 collection of J. Hawkins, Esq., of Bignor Park, Sussex ; 

 and one of the finest of his later compositions was given 

 by the late SirG. Beaumont to the National Gallery. No 

 less than sixty-nine of his works were exhibited in the 

 Gallery of the British Institution in 1814."] 



Didron's " Christian Iconography." — It is now 

 nearly five years since the first volume of Mr. 

 Bohn's cheap and admirably illustrated English 

 edition of this valuable work made its appearance. 

 What is the cause of the delay in its completion ? 

 and when may the second volume be expected ? 



Clericus D. 



[It appears that the second and concluding volume of 

 this translation has been delayed in consequence of the 

 original not j'et having been published in France. The 

 work was undertaken at the expense of the French Go- 



No. 314.] 



vernment, when funds for literary purposes were abund- 

 ant ; but as these are now diverted to military require- 

 ments, and are likely to be so for a long time to come, 

 Mr. Bohn Iwis made arrangements with the author to 

 publish the continuation in this country, and hopes to do 

 so early in 1856. See Bohn's Lists of Standard, §-c.. 

 Libraries. ] 



The Plith and Knout. — There are said to be 

 two principal instruments of flagellation (besides 

 the cane) in use among the Russians, i. e. the 

 plith and the knout. Can any of your readers 

 tell me the diflference between them ? Miso-Russ. 



[The word plith refers to different instruments of pun-, 

 ishment: — 1. Flit is a piece of iron made hot, and put 

 into an heated iron box, to be taken up and held by the 

 victim. 2. Plet is a lash like a knout, but not knotted, 

 made of strips of raw hides. Also (3.), a tourniquet, or 

 thumbscrew, made out of the twigs of trees, and twisted 

 till the parts are compressed. The hnoot, or knout, is a 

 knotted bunch of thongs made of hide. It is so called 

 because it is the Tartar synonym of the Slavic word hiot. 

 As the knout was a Tartar invention, and subsequently 

 introduced into Russia, it has always been called by the 

 Tartar name.] 



Militia Officers and their Precedence. — T. P. 

 would like to be informed whether a captain in 

 the militia (or army) is an esquire by office, or 

 merely by courtesy. He is styled an esquire in 

 his commission signed by the Lord Lieutenant of 

 his county, but T. P. has hitherto failed to learn, 

 on suflScient authority, whether he has, in conse- 

 quence, a bona fide right to the title and precedence 

 of an esquire by office. A word from the Editor 

 of " N. & Q.," or any of his correspondents, would 

 settle the question, which is of some interest to a 

 numerous class. T. P. 



Hull. 



[Persons so styled in commissions, or warrants, under 

 the Queen's sign-manual, are esquires. The commissions 

 of captains in the army are under the royal sign-manual ; 

 those of captains in the militia are by the Lord Lieu- 

 tenant, and that rank does not give him any precedence 

 in the civil order of society as of right. Esquires by 

 office are justices of the peace, and those holding office 

 under the crown. It is very difficult to define accurately 

 what persons, not holding offices, or so styled by the 

 Sovereign, have any other than the courtesy designation. 

 Captains in the army and navy have defined relative 

 rank, but what regulations, if any exist, as to precedence 

 between such officers of the army and navy and militia 

 officers, we know not.] 



" Clap-trap." — What ia the derivation ? 



H. A. B. 



[The term clap-trap seems to have derived its name 

 from the clap-net, a device for catching of larks; for, 

 according to Bailey, " A clap-trap is a name given to the 

 rant and rhymes that dramatic poets, to please the actors, 

 let them go" off with ; as much as to say, a trap to catch 

 a clap by way of applause from the spectators at a play."] 



Mr. Ferrand and the " Devil Dust." — Some 

 few years ago Mr. Ferrand, during the course of 

 a speech in the House of Commons, produced a 



