Sept. 30. 1854.] 



NOTES AiNJJ K^O iuixiiuii. 



263 



has been contributed from the best authority, and 

 has only to regret he is not permitted to name it : 



« Before the period in question, Lord Grey contemplated 

 retiring from public life, and recommended those political 

 friends who regarded him as their leader, to place them- 

 selves under the guidance of the Marquis of Lansdowne. 

 It is well known that noble Lord, and 'a large portion' of 

 the Whig party, did support Mr. Canning ; but a portion 

 of the party, equally large, did not. Among the latter 

 may be named the late Duke of Bedford, the late Lord 

 Rosslyn, Lord Jersey, and others, in the House of Lords. 

 The present Duke of Bedford, Lord Althorpe, Lord George 

 Cavendish, Mr. Coke of Norfolk, and many others in the 

 House of Commons. 



" This portion of the party in the House of Commons 

 ■were called the ' Charleys,' or'Watchmen. Lord Althorpe, 

 in writing to a friend, said he should observe a favourable 

 neutrality." — Martin's Bibliographical Catalogue of pri- 

 SMtely-printed Books, 2nd edit. 



Anon. 



Lord Chancellor HattorCs Estates. — The late 

 Sir Harris Nicolas, in his interesting Life of Sir 

 Christopher Haiton (foot-note, p. 593.), professes 

 to correct an error ascribed to Lord Campbell, in 

 his Life of Lord Chief Justice Coke, in stating 

 *' that his lordship got possession of Hatton's 

 estate," he never having done so for the reasons 

 assigned by Sir Harris in the note referred to. 

 In making this statement Sir Harris himself erred, 

 doubtlessly for want of materials, because there 

 exists unquestionable documentary evidence show- 

 ing that Lord Coke acquired by his marriage (in 

 1598-9) with the celebrated Lady Elizabeth Hat- 

 ton, widow of Sir William Hatton alias Newport, 

 divers manors and estates of great extent and value, 

 which Sir William, her first husband, inherited 

 from his uncle, the Lord Chancellor, and which Sir 

 William settled on Lady Hatton ; in whose right 

 her second husband. Sir Edward Coke, enjoyed 

 them for some years, and until they were disposed 

 of. T. W. Jones. 



Nantwich. 



caucrtejJ. 



THE MAYOR OF MYLOB. 



Having lately become the fortunate possessor 

 of a complete set of " N. & Q.," I have found its 

 pages to be full both of instruction and amuse- 

 ment not to be found elsewhere ; and I should be 

 loth to exchange the nine volumes of " N, & Q." 

 for thrice that number of any other periodical of 

 greater pretensions. Will you allow me to make 

 a Note or two, and append a Query to each ? 



The Mayor of Mylor. — There is a curious 

 custom in the town of Penryn in Cornwall, which 

 has outlived as yet all modern innovations. On 

 some particular day in September or October (I 

 forget the precise date), about the time when 

 hazel-nuts are ripe, the festival of Nutting-day is 

 kept. The rabble of the town go into the country 



to gather nuts, returning towards evening with 

 boughs of hazel in their hands, shouting and 

 making a great noise. In the mean time the 

 journeymen tailors of the town have proceeded to 

 the adjoining village of Mylor, and elected one of 

 their number " Mayor of Mylor," taking care the 

 selection falls on the wittiest. Seated in a chair 

 shaded with green boughs, and borne on the 

 shoulders of four stalwart men, the worthy mayor 

 proceeds from his " good town of Mylor " to his 

 " ancient borough of Penryn," the van being led 

 by the " body guard " of stout fellows well armed 

 with cudgels, which they do not fail to use should 

 their path be obstructed ; torch-bearers, and two 

 " town Serjeants," clad in the official gowns and 

 cocked hats, and carrying each a monstrous cab- 

 bage on his shoulder in lieu of the mace. The 

 rear is brought up by the rabble of " nutters." 

 About midway a band of music meets them, and 

 plays them to Penryn, where they are received by 

 the entire population. The procession proceeds 

 to the town hall, in front of which the mayor 

 delivers a speech declaratory of his intended 

 improvements, &c., for the coming year, being 

 generally an excellent sarcastic burlesque on the 

 speeches of parliamentary candidates. The pro- 

 cession then moves on to each public-house door, 

 where the mayor, his council, and officers are 

 liberally supplied with liquor, and the speech is 

 repeated, with variations. They then adjourn to 

 the " council chamber " in some public-house, and 

 devote the night to drinking. At dark the streets 

 are filled with people bearing torches, throwing 

 fire-balls, and discharging rockets ; and huge 

 bonfires are kindled on the " Green " and " Old 

 Walls." The legal mayor once made an effort to 

 put a stop to this saturnalia, but his new-made 

 brother issued prompt orders to his body guards, 

 and the posse comitatus had to fly. 



The popular Opinion is that there is a clause 

 in the borough charter compelling the legitimate 

 mayor to surrender his power to the " Mayor of 

 Mylor " on the night in question, and to lend the 

 town Serjeants' paraphernalia to the gentlemen of 

 the shears. 



Can any of your antiquarian readers inform me 

 of the origin of this curious custom ? and whether 

 this " lord of misrule " really takes precedence 

 of the constituted authorities on the night in 

 question ? J. H. A. Bone. 



Cleveland, United States. 



■EUM AND MARIA. 



As the second edition of Mr. Martin's work on 

 Privately-printed Books has not hitherto appeared 

 on the north of the Tweed, and as the first edition 

 affords no information on the subject, perhaps 



