400 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°'i S. N* 98., Nov. 14. '67. 



He adds, that in a deed dated 6th July, 1671, 

 the ducking-stool is described as then standing 

 on the quay of Carrickfergus. Aetbecs. 



Dublin. 



Stemhold and Hopkins again (2°^ S, iv. 351.) — 

 Your correspondent Gr. E.'s verses on Sternbold 

 and Hopkins reached me with a painful appro- 

 priateness this morning (Sunday), when our vil' 

 lage choir weekly torture us with their version of 

 " singing to the praise," &c. On seeing the epi- 

 gram from G. E., a relation of mine, and a fellow- 

 sufferer under the "village harmony," made the 

 following impromptu : — 



" When Stemhold and Hopkins made their verse, 

 It was to lead to pray, 

 But David's harp becomes a curse 

 When mocked by Georgius Day. 

 Then pray ye choir of Quendon cease, 

 And give both us and David peace." 



E. E. Btng. 



I have seen or heard this attributed (like a 

 good many more foundling jokes) to the witty and 

 profligate Lord Rochester, as extemporised on 

 hearing some country parish-clerk's wretched 

 singing. G. E.'s version differs from mine where 

 I have italicised the words, and I think he will 

 admit mine is rather an improved one : 



" Sternhold and Hopkins had great qualms, 



When they translated David's psalms, 

 X 7'o make the heart /mZ/ glad ; 

 But had it been poor David's fate 

 To hear thee sing, and them translate. 

 By Jove 't had made him mad." 



R.W. 

 Reading. 



" Henley s wide-mouth' d Sons"* (2"'^ S. iv. 309.) 

 -^ I think the original of Mr. Burn's quotation 

 will be found, not in old Drayton, but in a satiri- 

 cal poem called " The Readmg Volunteers," and 

 published some fifty or sixty years ago. It is 

 nearly forty years ago since I saw it, but I be- 

 lieve it celebrates a "field-day" of that illustrious 

 corps, and those who honoured the scene with 

 their presence. The line runs thus : — 



" Henley sends forth her wide-mouth'd sons to eat." 



The next line I am not so sure of, but it is some- 

 thing like this : — 



" And almost rivals Reading at the treat." 



R.W. 

 Reading. 



Occasional Forms of Prayer (2"^ S. iii. 393.) — 

 Mr. Taylor refers to prayers — 



. 1741. Sept. 2. For the dreadful Fire of London. 

 1763. The same. 



I should feel obliged if he would favour me with 



* Your non-local readers should understand that tra- 

 dition has for several generations attributed this feature 

 to the native countenance at Henley. 



some farther account of these prayers, and state 

 if any reason is assigned for their use so many 

 years after the event. What was the last year 

 they were used ? F. B. Relton. 



Dacre Park, Lee, S. E. 



Lord Stowell (2"'» S. iv. 292.) —The Note of 

 J. H. M. upon Lord Stowell is interesting, but 

 considering that the writer appears to have known 

 his lordship, it might have been more so. His 

 observation upon Lord Stowell's judgments being 

 a fit present for a young lawyer is, alas ! now 

 quite inapplicable : his lordship's judgments now 

 can only interest the dilettante lawyer. The prac- 

 tical lawyer will shun them, for they will only 

 mislead him. Lord Stowell's prize law is now 

 obsolete, and his matrimonial law is superseded. 

 The aspirant after knowledge in either of these 

 branches must study the judgments of a greater 

 lawyer and an honester politician, — I mean Dr. 

 Lushington. So much for Lord Stowell as the 

 lawyer. But an injustice will be done to his me- 

 mory, if the " N. & Q." does not come to his aid 

 on another point. His lordship was a deliverer 

 of sparkling jests and bons mots which electrified 

 his contemporaries. Very many of these jesta are 

 still floating in the atmosphere of society, and 

 should be collected, for they are unsurpassed in 

 wit and fun. As a joker, his lordship was, "if not 

 first in the very first line." I would recommend 

 that Doctors' Commons, which must retain many 

 of these good things, should be awakened from its 

 dying slumbers, and be requested to put its re- 

 collections on paper for the " N. & Q." This 

 should be done speedily, as that " fine old English 

 institution " is on its last legs ; its advocates and 

 proctors will be soon dispersed into far-off lands, 

 and we shall only know of Lord Stowell's love for 

 trumpery exhibitions, ignoring altogether his rich 

 and racy facetiousness. To begin "Lord Stowell's 

 Jest-Book," I will mention the two jests which 

 first occur to my memory. Let your other readers 

 do likewise, and we shall have a collection. 



His Majesty King George IV. informed Lord 

 Stowell that Lord Eldon had dined at the royal 

 table at the Pavilion, and had drunk some very- 

 large (specified) number of bottles. Lord Stowell 

 replies, " I am not surprised, your Majesty ; for I 

 always knew my brother to drink any given quan- 

 tity." Lord Stowell was much pressed by an 

 anxious divine (who expected a certain living) 

 to inform him what it was " worth : " " My dear 

 friend," said he, "it is worth having." C. (1.) 



Time of Residence of Widows in Parsonage 

 Houses (2"'* S. iv. 308. 356.) — Ovns is right 

 enough about the two months' residence allowed 

 to a widow after the incumbent is deceased, which 

 implies that the occupation of the premises may 

 be continued so long by the family. As for any 

 rate that is fairly provided for, I have not the au- 



