2nd g. No 79., JcLY 4. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



but the general enthusiasm to the great man 

 stopped the rumour." 



Is there any truth in this remarkable story ? * 

 Heney W. S. Tatlob. 



Southampton. 



Lord ChesterJieMs Characters of Eminent Per- 

 sonages of his Oion Time. — I have a thin 12mo. 

 volume entitled Characters of Eminent Persons 

 of his Own Time, written hy the late Earl of Ches- 

 terfield, and never before published. The Second 

 Edition. London, printed for William Flexney, Hol- 

 born, 1777. It contains characters of George I., 

 Queen Caroline, Sir Robert Walpole, Mr. Pul- 

 teney, Lord Hardwicke, Mr. Fox, and Mr. Pitt. 

 The character of Mr. Henry Fox is drawn with 

 so much bitterness that the editor of the volume 

 has deemed it right, in his preface, to correct 

 some of the statements. My Query is, is this 

 work genuine ? and, if so, under what circum- 

 stances was it published, and by whom was it 

 edited? C. C. 



Ocean Telegraph. — In the London Literary 

 Gazette of March 10, 1849, the following notice 

 appeared : 



" A telegraph across the Atlantic has been mentioned or 

 proposed in the Congress at Washington, which we have 

 no doubt will be executed as soon as there is gold enough 

 from California to make the wires. Meantime the 

 packets, it is thought, will sail to and fro as usual." 



Might I ask if this is the earliest notice of an 

 ocean telegraph, and by whom was it first pro- 

 posed ? W. W. 



Malta. 



Dixons of CO. Kildare, Ireland. — A supposed 

 offshoot of the Yorkshire family of Dixon, who 

 bear for arms, " Sable, a fleur-de-lis, or, and chief 

 ermine," went to Ireland temp. Henry VIII., gave 

 a bishop to the see of Cork te7np. Eliz., and a 

 lord mayor to the city of Dublin in 1632 ; and by 

 marriage with the family of Borrowes, Barts., who 

 now represent them, became allied to the Earls of 

 Cork and Kildare. Is there any Yorkshire cor- 

 respondent of " N. & Q." who can trace the con- 

 nexion between the two families bearing the same 

 name and arms f The Rev. Erasmus Dixon Bor- 

 rowes, Bart., has obligingly communicated to me 

 the above information, but we are both unable to 

 supply the necessary proof of connexion. I hope 

 some kind and valued contributor will assist, and 

 by doing so, greatly oblige Rt. Wm. Dixon. 



Seaton-Carew, co. Durham. 



Compound Manual. — In 1471 (11 Edw. IV.) a 

 question arose in the King's Bench, whether St. 

 Edmund's Day in the 5th year of Edward IV.'s 



[* A Query respecting Washington's birth-place ap- 

 peared in our !•» S. x. 85. 176., which never received a 

 reply. — Ed.] 



reign fell upon Tuesday or Wednesday ; and the 

 judges said that they would ascertain how the 

 fact was from some one who knew the " Com- 

 pound Manual." Query, What was this ? an 

 almanac or some table, like those now prefixed to 

 Books of Common Prayer ? My note is taken 

 from the Year Books, 11 Edw. IV. 10. pi. 4., edi- 

 tion of 1680. A. S. J. 



"Patois." — Information is requested from "N. 

 & Q." with regard to the derivation of the French 

 •word patois. The " Patavinitas" which Quintilian 

 relates to have been discovered by Asinius Pollio 

 in the writings of Livy has been proposed. Is 

 this with any foundation ? M. 



KirTipatrichs and Lindsays. — When in 1306 

 Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, ancestor of the Empress 

 Eugenie, accompanied his cousin, Robert Bruce, 

 on his escape from England to the Grey Friars, 

 Dumfries, to meet the Regent Gumming, whom 

 he there despatched with his dagger, James 

 Lindsay was one of Kirkpatrick's companions. 



Fifty years afterwards Lindsay's son, then a 

 guest of Kirkpatrick's son at Caerlaveroc Castle, 

 for some cause not handed down, stabbed his host 

 in his bed and fled ; but losing his way in the 

 dark was taken towards morning by Kirkpatrick's 

 men, and dealt with according to the prompt law 

 of Border feud. 



Many years afterwards the murderer's grandson 

 meeting Margaret Kirkpatrick at Holyrood, the 

 young people forgot the feudal duty of eternal 

 hatred. On her return home young Lindsay, 

 prowling about Caerlaveroc, was seized by Kirk- 

 patrick's men and thrown into the castle dungeon, 

 from which in the night he was duly released by 

 Margaret, who, while refusing to flee with Lindsay 

 from the roof of her stern father, was betrayed 

 into vows which after a time she was permitted 

 to perform, her dutiful affection having melted the 

 old man's feudal heart. 



Upon this love tale Mrs. Erskine Norton 

 founded a pretty ballad called " The Earl's 

 Daughter," commencing : 



" Up rose Caerlaveroc's grim Earl, 

 Right joj'ful shouted he, 

 My hated foe for ever now 

 My prisoner shall be. 



What brought the Gallant near my towers. 

 Scarce armed and all alone ; 

 'Twas the hand of Heaven that gave him up, 

 His father's crime to atone." 



This ballad appeared in the Literary Gazette 

 about twenty years since. Can any of your 

 readers refer the querist to the number of the 

 Literary Gazette, or to any other publication in 

 which the ballad has appeared. K. K. K. 



" Sweeping, vehemently sweeping." — Is this from 

 Wordsworth ? If so, from what poem ? and what 

 is the ancient legend to -which he refers, in whi§h 



