Sept. 23. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



255 



nature. It comprises at the same time the works 

 of the English essayists, and of many of the great 

 writers in prose and verse. At the same time 

 some newspapers and magazines are taken in. 

 The library is in the middle of the school, and 

 accessible at out-of-school hours. 



This information is at your service, if you think 

 it wortli insertion. It at all events will satisfy 

 the querist about one of the endowed grammar 

 schools. A. H. 



Deptford Inn, near Heytesbury. 



Right of Refuge in the Church Porch (Vol. ix., 

 p. 325.). — In an old "Towne Booke" for the parish 

 of Diss, Norfolk, I found among the disbursements 

 of Samuel Foulger, one of the churchwardens, in 

 1687, the following : 



"To the wench Ellener, that laye in the 

 church porch, at saverall times - - £00 7s. Od." 



S. W. Rix. 

 Beccles. 



"Obtains" (Vol. ix., p. 589.). — This ex- 

 pression would seem to be elliptical, the word 

 "currency" being understood. For example, 

 when we say that such an opinion obtains, the 

 meaning is that the opinion passes current, or ob- 

 tains currency. Henbt H. Breem. 

 St. Lucia. 



Giggs and Scourge-sticks (Vol. ix., p. 422.). — 

 A gigg is a whipping-top, and the scourge-stick is 

 the instrument with which a boy whips his top. 

 My authority is Mr. J. O. HiilliweH's Dictionary 

 of Archaic and Provincial Words, in which re- 

 ference is made to the following quotation : 



" Every night I dream I am a town-top, and that I am 

 whipt up and down with the scourge-stick of love, and the 

 metal of affection." — Grim the Collier of Croydon, ap. 

 Dodsley, xi. 206. 



'AAtct;!'. 



Dublin. 



Cash (Vol. viii., p. 386., &c.). — This word had 

 received its present meaning before Milton's time. 

 See Par. Lost, iv. 188. 



" Or as a thief bent to unheard the cash 



Of some rich burgher, whose substantial doors, 

 Crossbarr'd, and bolted fast, fear no assault, 

 In at the window climbs." 



J.P.Jun. 

 D. O. M. (Vol. iii., p. 173. ; Vol. ix., pp. 137. 

 286.). — I have seen Datur omnibus mori engraved 

 on tombstones, and consequently I have no doubt 

 that D. O. M. are the initial letters of those words. 

 A tombstone is not dedicated to God as a church 

 is; and I tell W. M.N., with all courtesy, that he 

 is mistaken when he says that Deo optimo maximo 

 will a[)ply to the reading of. a tombstone inscrip- 

 tion. 



As to the Tandem D. O. M. of the Cornish book- 

 collector, though I am no (Edipus at puzzle-guess- 



ing, I think I can see clearly that his fondness for 

 his literary treasures did not make him unmindful 

 of the time when he would at length lose them. 



R.W.D. 



Seaton Carew, Durham. 



Factitious Pedigrees (Vol. ix., p. 275.). — I was 

 favoured by Me. Spence with the offer of two 

 Crusaders, nine generations, and twelve quarterings, 

 viz., Umfraville, Marmion, Talboys, Wells, Pole, 

 Neville, Latimer, &c., for 5/., from the work of the 

 great Camden, and which Miss Cotgrave was to 

 guarantee. But as these additions in some cases 

 were disproved by my own pedigrees and docu- 

 ments, I declined having anything to do with 

 them. 



A friend of mine was however taken in. After- 

 wards he had his family papers examined by a 

 real antiquary, and he then informed me that Randle 

 Holmes's Pedigrees were very incorrect, for his 

 family documents and the pedigree Miss Cotgrave 

 had guaranteed did not coincide at all ! P. P. 



Clarence (Vol. ix., p. 224.). — Since sending you 

 my reply on this subject, I have learned that there 

 is a very elaborate paper upon " The Duchy of 

 Clarence, and the Clarencieux King of Aruis," by 

 Dr. Donaldson, the learned Head Master of Bury 

 School, contained in the first number of the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Bury and West Suffolk Archceological 

 Institute. I am told that this paper coin[)letely 

 confirms my view of the derivation of the title ; 

 and to it, therefore, I beg to refer Honorb db 

 Makeviixb. Vokaros. 



John Keats s Poems (Vol. ix., p. 21.). — Is 

 there any interpi-etation of these lines to be 

 found in the story of Merlin's accidental impri- 

 sonment by his mistress, as told by Dunlop (see 

 Hist. Fiction, vol. i. p. 181.)? Merlin might be 

 said to have paid the debt in his own person, when, 

 having communicated the secret of his enchantment 

 to Viviane, she returned the favour by trying it on 

 her lover to his everlasting discomfiture. Ellis, in 

 his Metrical Romances, does not, I think, mention 

 this, and I have not just now easy access to the 

 originals. T. S. N. 



Inscriptions on Bells (Vol. ix., p. 592.) — In the 

 tower of Tiverton Church, there are eight bells 

 with the following inscriptions on them : 



1. " Glory to God in the highest," 



2. "And on earth peace," 



3. " Goodwill towards men." 



4. " Prosperity to all our benefactors." 



5. " Wm. Evans, of Chepstow, cast us all." 



6. " Mr. Bartholomew Darey and Mr. James Cross, 

 Churchwardens." 



7. " Mr. Clement Govett and Mr. Thomas Anstey, 

 Wardens." 



8. " George Osmond, Esq., Mayor, 1736." 



Are such inscriptions common ? Anois. 



