2nd s. No 93., Oct. 10. '67.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES, 



2S9 



inhabitants of crowded cities ; but as a general 

 rule, I very much doubt the correctness of the 

 assertion. From the accounts of the Middle Ages, 

 we have good proof that our immediate ancestors 

 had no advantage over us either in height or 

 bulk ; but I am anxious to ascertain if there is 

 any data to show the average height of the Greeks 

 and Romans. 



I am not aware to what extent the mummies 

 may have shrunk ; but from what I am able to 

 judge from the specimens I have seen, I certainly 

 think the ancient Egyptians were by no means 

 superior in size to the present race. 



W. 



Bombay, 



Pi-operly held for Religious Purposes by the 

 Church of England immediately before the Re- 

 formation, and at the present Time. — Are there 

 any documents extant, of an authentic and official 

 character, showing the amount of property held as 

 above at the respective periods mentioned ? 



Enquirer. 



The Monthly Magazine. — Who edited The 

 Monthly Magazine (not the New Monthly) in 

 1831-32 ? Iota. 



"Pastor Fido." — There was a translation of 

 The Pastor Fido published anonymously in 1782. 

 The author's name is said to have been W. Grove. 

 In the Gentleman's Magazine for 1794 (p. 582,), 

 there is a biographical notice of Wm. Grove, 

 LL.D,, of Lichfield. This gentleman, who was 

 High Sheriffof the county of Warwick about 1783, 

 was the author of several poems published in the 

 Gentleman s Magazine. Can any of your readers 

 inform me whether he was the translator of the 

 work I have mentioned ? Iota. 



Musical Game. ■ — Can you give me any inform- 

 ation as to the rules of a game entitled, The 

 Newly invented Mudcal Game, dedicated by Per- 

 mission to H. R. 11. the Princess Charlotte of 

 Wales, .by Anne Young, Edinburgh ? M. F. 



Arched Instep. ■— In Shirley, by Currer Bell 

 (chap, ix.), one of the characters, a Yorkshireman, 



says, — 



"All born of our house have that arched instep under 

 which water can flow — proof that there has not been a 

 slave of the blood for three hundred years." 



Is this a common saying in Yorkshire ? Does 

 it obtain elsewhere ? On what can it be grounded ? 



T. D. 



Crossing Knives. — What is the origin of the 

 superstition relative to this ? J. A. D. 



Quotation. — Whence the following ? 

 " The Archangel's spear 

 Waa light in his terrible hand." 



D.A. 



Turneir'a Birthday. -^ Tba day and year of 

 Turner's birth are unknown. Mr. Ruskin sayg, 

 in his Lectures on Architecture and Painting, that 

 Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in 

 Maiden Lane, London, about eighty years ago. 

 The register of his birth was burned, and his age 

 at his death could only be arrived at by conjec- 

 ture. 



The bishop's transcript for the parish ought to 

 be, and most likely is, in existence ; if so, perhaps 

 some admirer of the great painter will consult it, 

 and make his age known. K. P. D. E. 



" Shankin- Shon." — I am the possessor of a 

 painting, on panel, called " The Goat and Boots : " 

 at the foot (in a painted square) are the following 

 words, " Shankin Shon, Ap-Morgan, Shentleman 

 of Wales." This Shankin Shbn is a most ugly 

 looking fellow, and is represented as riding on a 

 goat. His coat and hat are of the old military 

 style ; in the hat, a three-cornered one, is stuck a 

 leek (as for a feather) ; in his right hand he 

 carries a long walking-stick, as though under 

 orders to " carry " swords. A fish and a leek (the 

 fish over the leek, and both in an horizontal di- 

 rection) may be supposed as representing his 

 sword sheath. And his knee boots and spurs are 

 of an immense description. The painting is very 

 old, and is evidently the work of a clever artist. 

 It was represented to me, on my purchasing it, as 

 the original sign-board to the " Goat and Boots " 

 public-house, Tyburn, of ancient date. May I 

 ask for information as to this Shankin Shon, and 

 also generally on the subject of the painting, and 

 by whom it was painted, and of the " Goat and 

 Boots " public-house at Tyburn. Humilitas. 



/* the English Spaniel of Japanese Origin ? — 



" Commodore Perr}^ when on his official visit to Japan, 

 learned that there were always three articles included ia 

 an imperial present: rice, dried fish, and dogs. Four 

 small dogs of a rare breed were sent to the President of 

 the United States as a portion of the Emperor's gift. It 

 has been observed that two of the same race were sent on 

 board of Admiral Stirling's ship for her Majesty of Eng- 

 land. The fact that dogs are always part of a royal 

 Japanese present suggested to the Commodore the 

 thought that possibly one species of spaniel now in Eng- 

 land may be traced to a Japanese origin. In 1613, whea 

 Capt. Saris returned from Japan to England, he carried 

 to the king a letter from the Emperor, and presents in 

 return for those which iad been sent to him by his 

 Majesty of England. Dogs formed probably part of the 

 gifts, and thus may have been introduced into the king- 

 dom the Japanese breed. At any rate there is a species 

 of spaniel in England which it is difficult to distinguish 

 from the Japanese dog." — V. Peny's Japan and China 



w. w. 



Malta. 



The Waldenses. — In a deed dated 6 Hen. IV. 

 the Corporation of Henley-on-Thames grant a 

 lease of a granary, "cii capella adju'cta quond'm 



