Nov. 10. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



365 



My copy contains on the title-page, " Said to be 

 by Mr. John Lock ; but it was wrote by Dr. 

 Burnett of the Charter House, author of the 

 Theory of the Earth." S. R. P. 



Mitford's Anecdota on Thomson, ^'c. — In an 

 edition of Thomson's Poetical Works, p. 149., the 

 editor alludes to the Anecdota on Thomson of the 

 Rev. John Mitford. Where are they to be 

 found ? In the Gent. Mag. f 



Of Thomson's song, beginning, — 



" For ever, Fortune, wilt thou prove," 



the editor remarks that it was one of the author's 

 earliest productions. Was it written before he 

 came to London, or after ? D. 



Stolen Deeds. — Can any correspondent of " N. 

 & Q." inform me of the result of the trial alluded 

 to in the following police report, especially as to 

 the fate of the stolen deeds ? — 



" Hammersmith. Remarkable case. — On Wednesday, 

 Charles Pavis, Elizabeth Trigg, and George Davis, who 

 have been in custody since the 14tli ult., on a charge of 

 having stolen a large quantity of valuable books, fur- 

 niture, and deeds, and other papers relating to churcli 

 patronage in Ireland, of great value, from' the premises of 

 the late Captain Livingstone, of Pelham Place, Brompton, 

 were brought up from the New Prison, Clerkenwell, for 

 final examination, before Mr. G. Clive, the sitting magis- 

 trate. The space allotted to solicitors was most incon- 

 veniently crowded by professional gentlemen, who at- 

 tended to watch the proceedings on the part of the 

 Marquis of Downshire, Marquis of Ormonde, Lady 

 Kingsland, and other noble claimants to portions of this 

 valuable property. The magistrate went fully into the 

 case, and examined witnesses, who stated that the 

 prisoners, ver}' soon after Captain Livingstone's death, 

 refused to allow his solicitor and medical adviser to enter 

 the house; and Mr. and Mrs. Hely, of No. 17. Prospect 

 Place, Old Brompton, proved that Charl-es Davis took a 

 room in their house on the 11th ult., to which a van-load 

 of things was brought, including two japanned deed- 

 boxes, which latter were again removed next day. The 

 prisoners, -whose conduct was very violent and impudent 

 ■during the examination, particularly the woman, who 

 was removed by force from the bar while the depositions 

 were being taken, declined saving anything in answer to 

 the charge, and the magistrate committed them to New- 

 gate for trial. It appears that the most important of the 

 papers and deeds referred to in the course of the inquiry 

 have not yet been found. It was also stated that appli- 

 cation had been made to Mr. Wakley to have the body of 

 Captain Livingstone exhumed, and an inquest hehl." — 

 From The Fictorial Times, London, Saturday, Nov. 11, 

 1843. 



James Graves. 



Kilkenny. 



Nut-tree. — Fuller, in his quaint History of the 

 Holy War, bk, ir. ck xi. p. 64., Pickering's edition, 

 uses the expression, " Who, like a nut-tree, must 

 be manured by beating, or else would not bear 

 fruit." What does this mean ? has it any founda- 

 tion in fact or practice. Trench, in his Notes on 

 the "Parable of the Barren Fig Tree," quotes, 



No. 315.] 



from an Arabian author, the following receipt for 

 curing a palm-tree of barrenness : 



" Thou must take a hatchet, and go to the tree with a 

 friend, unto whom thou sayest, ' I will cut down this tree, 

 for it is unfruitful.' He anwers, ' Do not so, this year it 

 will certainly bear fruit.' But the other says, ' It must 

 needs be, it must be hewn down,' and gives the stem of 

 the tree three blows with the back of the hatchet. But 

 the other restrains him, crying, 'Hay, do it not, thou -wilt 

 certainly have fruit from it this year, only have patience 

 with it, and be not over hasty in cutting it down ; if it 

 still refuses to bear fruit, then cut it down.' Then will the 

 tree that year be certainly fruitful and bear abundantly." 



This belief appears to be widely spread through 

 the East. Has the expression of the witty divine 

 any reference to this custom ? Lindores. 



[What horticultural grounds there may be for this 

 statement we are unable to say ; but Fuller is evidently 

 referring to the very ungallaut old saw : 

 " A wife, a spaniel, and a walnut-tree, 

 The more they're beaten the bettei; they'll be."] 



Charade: " I sit here on a Roch." — The follow- 

 ing charade is a puzzle to all my friends. I do 

 not know who gave it to me; and we wish to know 

 if any one has the answer. It was solved by Dean 

 Peacock, it is said, and by no one else. 



Ad incitas redacttis. 



Charade. 

 " I sit here on a rock while I'm raising ye wind, 

 But the storm once abated, I'm gentle and kind. 

 I have kings at my feet, who await but my nod. 

 To kneel down in the dust on the ground I have trod. 

 I am seen by the world, I am known but to few; 

 The Gentiles detest me ! I'm ' pork ' to the Jew ! 

 I never have passed but one night in ye dark. 

 And that was with Noah, all alone in the ark. 

 My weight is 3 lbs. ! my length is a mile ! 

 And when I'm discovered, you'll saj', with a smile. 

 My first and my last are the best in our isle ! " 



Dadian. — Haxthausen says this title is now 

 borne by the governor of Mingrelia. How has 

 this relic of ancient Persian rule been perpetuated? 



F. C. B. 



" Wash." — What is the derivation of this word 

 as applied to the shallow sea between Norfolk and 

 Lincolnshire ? We have it also in a shallow bay 

 in the Isle of Man, Poolvash. F. C. B. 



" Grundle." — I have met with this term 

 for a natural ditch or narrow ravine, having a 

 winter brook. Pallas says, that in the Ukraine 

 cherries are planted in gullies or deep hollows, 

 sometimes dug on purpose, and called Grunti. Is 

 it the root of our word ground? Will any corre- 

 spondent be so good as to tell me what "ground" 

 is in Welsh and Irish ? J^. C. B. 



Bishop Parry. — In the Catalogue of the Bri- 

 tish Museum, Henry Parry is stated to have been 

 successively bishop of Rochester, Gloucester, and 

 Worcester. Can any one account for this state- 



