110 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2"^ S. No 81, Aug. 8. '57. 



for nothing. Any Lincolnshire man will tell you 

 that the curate of Boby means Boothhy, Boby 

 being the ancient name of this place (see Valor 

 Ecclesiasticus and other ancient records) ; and 

 that the " Damoselle de Namhy " is no doubt 

 Nawnby, as Navenby, which is within a mile of 

 Boothby, is always called. 



As for Ballioi/s assertion, that there is no 

 such place as Somerton Castle in Lincolnshire, it 

 is a profound mistake, as he will learn if he will 

 inquire of any Lincolnsliire fox-hunter, or come 

 down and see ; and its history is correctly stated 

 by H. W. in his remarks. 



Like your correspondent T. Cooper, I cannot 

 discover that John was ever confined at Somerton 

 in Somersetshire. I am aware it is so stated in 

 a variety of publications during tlie last eighty 

 years, such as Burlington's British Traveller, 

 Nightingale's Beauties of England and Wales, 

 and many other more recent works, which seem 

 to have followed one another In propagating what 

 is now proved to be an error. 



Dr. Doran, I trust, will not alter the word to 

 " Somerset," as announced in his letter to you 

 (p. 72.) ; if he does, I beg to assure him, through 

 you, he will make a mistake. It is Somerton 

 Castle, Lincolnshire, and no other, which the Due 

 d'Aumale's work refers to. J. P. K. 



Grantham. 



THE great DOUGLAS CAUSE. 



(2"'^ S. iv. 69.) 



L. F. B. will find no difficulty in obtaining a 

 printed report of this cause celebre. I have looked 

 up from my own shelves the following, viz. : 1. 

 The Speeches, Ai-guments, and Determinations, SjC, 

 in the cause before the Scottish Courts, " with an 

 Introductory Preface, giving an impartial and dis- 

 tinct Account of this Suit, by a Barrister- at-Law," 

 Svo., Lond., Almon, 1767 ; again, Edin., small 

 8vo., same date. 2. The Speeches and Judgment, 

 Sfc, before the same Court ; " by W. Anderson, 

 Writer, in Edin.," 8vo., Edin., 1768. The first of 

 these contains a neat abstract of the whole case, 

 extending to 75 pages. An appeal being carried to 

 the House of Lords, the decision of the Scotch Court 

 was reversed, and Archibald Douglas, the sup- 

 posititious son of Lady Jane Douglas, or Stewart, 

 according to the Lords of Session, was, by the 

 first Estate, declared her true and lawful issue, 

 and as such again reinstated in his right as the 

 heir-at-law of his uncle, the Duke of Douglas. 

 This adjudication of the highest Court in the 

 kinsrdom was not, however, quietly acquiesced In 

 by Mr. Andrew Stuart, one of the trustees of the 

 Duke of Hamilton, to whom the large properties 

 (the substantial point in dispute) would have 

 fallen had the Scotch decision been confirmed by 



the Lords : for feeling himself aggrieved by some 

 personal reflections cast upon him by the Lord 

 Chancellor, he resorted to the unusual mode of 

 repelling the attack, and arraigning the judgment 

 of the Peers. L. F. B. should not, therefore, over- 

 look the " Letters to the Rt. Hon. Lord Mansfield, 

 from And. Stuart, Esq.," an unpublished book, 

 having the Mansfield arms for a frontispiece, and 

 a vignette of a pair of warrior-Cupids, bearing, 

 probably, some satirical allusion to his so-called 

 supposititious little heroes, Archibald and Shalto 

 Douglas : Svo., Lond., printed In the month of 

 Jan. 1773, and highly praised in Censura Litera- 

 ria, vol. v. p. 177. ; and what is more, commended, 

 and under the circumstances justified, by Dr. 

 Johnson, (see some characteristic talk between 

 him and his biographer on the subject in Croker's 

 edition, 1835, vol. iii. p. 272.). Boswell's father. 

 Lord Auchinleck, one of the Lords of Session, 

 upheld the legitimacy of Arch. Douglas, and, I 

 rather think, the son had something to do in sup- 

 porting the same side when before the Lords : at 

 all events, the latter complains that he could 

 never get Johnson to bring his great powers to 

 bear upon the whole case, although he "urged 

 upon his attention The Essence of the Douglas 

 Cause, a pamphlet written by himself in favour of 

 Mr. D." This reminds me that in my book first 

 named, some one has written after " by a Bar- 

 rister-at-Law," i. e. James Boswell (?). Johnson 

 says, that in consequence of Stuart's Letters not 

 being published, they attracted no attention. I 

 may, however, remark that, besides the privately 

 printed edition I have noted, they were produced 

 In quarto ; and I have also an impression, in 

 octavo, bearing the imprint : " Dublin printed in 

 the month of March, 1775." J. O. 



It may assist the inquiry of L. B. F. to be in- 

 formed that I have long ago seen exposed for sale 

 two or three quarto sized volumes of what were 

 called the " Douglas Papers," and which, I think, 

 contained a verbatim report of the evidence in this 

 toughly litigated cause. They may, however, have 

 been only some lawyer's loose papers bound up, 

 embracing a part of the subject — the length of 

 time having nearly erased the circumstance from 

 my memory, so that I am unable to communicate 

 further particulars. The proofs of each party 

 amounted to above a thousand quarto pages in 

 print. I am in possession of a 12mo. vol. (pp. 216 ) 

 which to ordinary readers will convey the pith of 

 the whole question, entitled, — 



"A Summary of the Speeches, Arguments, and Deter- 

 minations of the Right Honourable the Lords of Council 

 and Session in Scotland upon that important Cause 

 wherein His Grace the Duke of Hamilton and Others 

 were Plaintiffs; and Archibald Douglas of Douglas, Ksq., 

 Defendant; with an Introductory Preface giving an Im- 

 partial and Di.stinct Account of this Suit. By a Barrister 

 at Law, Edinburgh, 17G7." 



