2nd s. No 98., Nov. 14. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



m 



not state his authority, and he may be wrong, as 

 he certainly is about Chatterton, who never pre- 

 tended to have found some old MSS. in Bristol 

 Cathedral. It was the church of St. Mary, Red- 

 cliffe, where the " Eowley MSS." were said to be 

 found. Stephen Jackson, 



Late of the Flatts, Malham 

 . Moor, Yorkshire. 



Ldusaraie, Suisse. 



[Mr. Monckton Milnes, in his Life, &c. of John Keats, 

 thus notices his early intellectual studies: "After re^ 

 maining some time at school, Keats's intellectual ambi- 

 tion suddenly developed itself; he determined to carry off 

 all the first prizes in literature, and he succeeded : but 

 the object was only obtained by a total sacrifice of his 

 amusements and favourite exercises. Eveft on the half- 

 holidays, when the school was all out at play, he re- 

 mained at home translating his Virgil or his Fenelon : it 

 has frequently occurred to the master to force him out 

 into the opeii air for his health, and then he would walk 

 in the garden with a book in his hand. The quantity of 

 translations on paper he made during the last two years 

 of his stay at Enfield was surprising. The twelve books 

 of the jT^neid were a portion of it ; but he does not appear 

 to have been familiar with much other and more difficult 

 Latin poetry, nor to have even commenced learning the 

 Greek language."] 



St. MichaeTs Cave, Gibraltar. — "When at 

 Gibraltar some years ago I visited the exterior of 

 St. Michael's Cave, of which they told me no one 

 had ever penetrated more than a little of the 

 interior. All I could learn was, that towards the 

 end of the last century Lieut.- General Charles 

 O'Hara, Colonel of the 74th foot, endeavoured to 

 explore its recesses, but found, after very arduous 

 exertions, he could not make anything like regu- 

 lar progress, and was obliged to relinquish his 

 design. He, however, to stimulate some subse- 

 quent adventurer to accomplish what he could 

 not, deposited his sword, a valuable one, at the 

 utmost limit he reached, which might be the re- 

 compense of the enterprise. I rather think Gene- 

 ral O'Hara was Governor of Gibraltar when he 

 attempted this feat. Perhaps some reader of 

 " N. & Q." may give some particulars of this cave, 

 which I think will be interesting. Delta. 



[The author of Tlie Traveller's Handbooli for Gibraltar, 

 12mo. 1844, has furnished the following interesting par- 

 ticulars of this remarkable cave : " San Michel's cave is 

 the greatest natural curiosity on the rock : and the num- 

 ber of these natural formations, noticed by the earliest 

 writers, forms one of its most remarkable features. The 

 Roman geographer Mela, a native of Tangier, who wrote 

 A.D. 45, says, 'This rock (Calpe), hollowed out in a won- 

 derful manner, has almost the whole of the west side 

 perforated by caves ; a large one of which may be pene- 

 trated to a great extent into the interior of the mountain.' 

 Of these many yet remain in diff'erent parts ; one, very 

 large, near the centre of the town ; some, altogether de- 

 stroyed, and others converted to various uses, as buildings 

 have increased: San Michel's, however, yet retains its 

 original character. The entrance is small, but immedi- 

 ately within is seen a magnificent and lofty cave, the roof 

 supported by numerous columns of stalactites of tasteful 

 formation. As the rain, by which these have been cre- 



ated, contirraally percolates, the floor is frequently muddy 

 and soft, but those who choose to penetrate will be amply 

 recompensed for their curiosity. Advancing far into the 

 interior, other lower caves are discovered, only to be 

 reached by ladders ; many have been penetrated by of- 

 ficers of the garrison to a considerable extent, nothing 

 very interesting being observed ; but at no great distance 

 from the entrance is a large chamber, fantastically and 

 beautifully ornamented by stalactites in all possible va- 

 riety of forms and shapes. This has hitherto escaped the 

 mischief to which the outer cave, being more accessible, 

 has been exposed, for having no light from without, it is 

 only when illuminated for the occasion that its beauties 

 become visible. This is often done with great judgment 

 for tfje gratification of strangers of distinction ; and when, 

 in this interior region,-human beings are seen wandering 

 about in the dull glare of torches — beautiful females, 

 men fantastically dressed, their voices reverberating in 

 curious sounds ; all combined with the appearance of this 

 temple, for such it may be called, with columns, festoons, 

 Gothic arches in endless variety, exceeding in beauty 

 any production of human art — the whole produces a 

 most surprising and pleasing effect, calling to mind the 

 days of enchantment, and the tales of fairy times."] 



The Lord Mayor and the Dissenters. — 



" The Lord Mayor, S' Humphry Edwin, has for two 

 Sundays together gone to More's Meeting House in Lon- 

 don, attended by his sword-bearer with the citty sword, 

 and the other officers. This has given great offence even to 

 the most considerate dissenters, who look upon it as a very 

 imprudent act, and which may do them great prejudice; 

 and the Court of Aldermen has taken notice of it, and 

 after expressing their dislike thereof, passed a vote that 

 the city sword sh^ not for the future be carried to any meet- 

 ing or conventicle." — (Extract from a letter, under date 

 Nov. 11, 1697.) 



Where was More's Meeting House situated ? 



Ci/. Hopper. 



[Dr. Nichols, in his Defence of the Church, states that 

 " Sir Humfrey Edwin, late Lord Mayor of the City of 

 London, a member of one of the dissenting congregations, 

 to the great dishonour of the laws and the chief magis- 

 tracy of that city, went publickly to a conventicle, which 

 was held in a Hall, belonging to one of the mean me- 

 chanical companies in that city, attended with all the 

 ensigns of that august corporation." To this it was re- 

 plied, " that the place, whither Sir Humfrey Edwin 

 carry'd the mace, was as handsome as many of their own 

 parish churches ; and was indeed apply'd to no other use 

 but that of the worship of God." This affair caused no 

 small stir at the time, as appears from an account of it in 

 Pierce's Vindication of the Dissenters. It set-ms that fif- 

 teen of the City companies' halls had been used for meet- 

 ing-houses ; and the names of the officiating ministers, 

 from 1690 to 1719, are recorded in Wilson's History of 

 Dissenting Churches.'] 



THE ISLAND OF THtJLB. 



(2"^ S. iv. 187. 273.) 



There is, m ancient classical geography, a cer- 

 tain class of local names, which had their origin in 

 mythology and poetical fiction, and did not, in 

 their primitive acceptation, designate real places, 

 more than the countries visited by Sindbad or 



