Nov. 4. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



371 



edition of his Lettres Choisics, the twenty-eighth 

 of the first volume of the larger edition) Pere 

 Simon names the subject of the suppressed letter 

 noticed by Arterus, and assigns a plausible 

 reason for the suppression, at the same time fur- 

 nishing in its true address an instance of the 

 carelessness in printing of which he complains. 

 For " Sanes," as correctly copied by your corre- 

 spondent from the London edition, we are to read 

 " Sanci ; " and for " Madoviensis " " Maloviensis," 

 the letter being from M. de Sanci, Bishop of St, 

 Malo, to Cardinal Bagni ; although printed among 

 Morin's letters, because copied by him, on account 

 of the interest of its contents, in his own hand. 



Simon complains of other suppressions, and 

 epecifies a passage in the forty- sixth letter of the 

 collection, omitted, as he supposes, on account of 

 its having contained an erroneous assertion, that 

 the decrees of the Council of Trent concerning 

 doctrine had been received in France. He at- 

 tributes other errors to defective proof-reading, 

 but gathers from the discrepance of the table of 

 contents, as compared with the printed letters, 

 that there must have been also designed omissions. 

 (^Lettres Choisies de M. Simon, tome i. p. 248. ss., 

 Amsterdam, 1730.) 



Simon's correspondent was in England, or at 

 least an Englishman ; but I find no clue to his 

 name or position. The connexion of Justel with 

 the transaction has furnished occasion for its 

 mention by Ancillon, Memoires concernant les Vies 

 etles Outrages de plusieurs Modernes, ^c, p.229.5., 

 Amsterdam, 1709. W. 



Baltimore, U.S.A. 



OLD CORNISH SONG. 



(Vol. X,, p. 264.) 



A reader and admirer of your excellent pe- 

 riodical has been able, through the assistance of 

 a lady (whose gallant husband, I trust, is now 

 within the walls of Sebastopol), to send the words 

 and the music of the "Fox's nightly foraging 

 Tour." If within a day or two I can ascertain the 

 origin of the ballad, it shall be forwarded. 



" Old Cornish Song. 

 " A fox went forth one moonshiny night, 



And lie pray'd to the moon to give him good light. 



For he'd many miles to trot that night, 



Before he got home to his den 0, 

 His den O, his den O ; 



For he'd many miles to trot that night, 



Before he got home to his den Q. 

 *' And when he came unto a wood, 



As on his hinder legs he stood, 



A little bit of goose would do me good. 



Before I get home to my den 0, 

 My den 0, my den O. 

 " So off he set to a farmer's yard, 



The ducks and the geese were all of them scared. 



•The best of you all shall grease my beard. 

 Before I get home to my den 0.' 



" He seized the great goose by the neck. 



And flung it all across his back ; 



The young ones cried out ' Quack, quack, quack,' 



And the fox went home to his den O. 

 " Old Mother Slipperslopper jump'd out of bed. 



She open'd the window and popp'd out her head» 



' John ! John ! John ! the great goose is gone, 



And the fox is gone home to his den O.' 



" So John went up unto a hill, 

 And blew his hom both loud and shrill ; 

 Says the fox, ' This is very pretty music, still 

 I'd rather be safe in my den 0.' 



" And when he came unto his den, 

 Where he had young ones nine and ten, 

 Crying out, ' Daddy Fox, you must go there again. 

 For we think it a lucky town ' — 



" The fox and his wife they had such a strife, 

 They never ate a better goose in all their life. 

 They tore it abroad without fork or knife, 

 And the little ones pick'd the bones 0." 



Edward Pole-. 



[We are also indebted to W. E. S. T., J. K. M., and 

 many other correspondents, for copies of this song, of 

 which a modernised version is to be found in a Collection, 

 of Nursery Tales and Rhymes published by Cundall.] 



ACTONS or SHROPSHIRE. 



(Vol. X., p. 265.) 



A. T. T. E. makes three inquiries respecting 

 John Acton, who died in 1774, aged eighty-two, 

 and left issue one child, a daughter. Although I 

 cannot positively answer all these questions, yet 

 the following may be of some assistance to your 

 querist. 



1. Was he the son of Thomas or Clement 

 Acton? No. Their father Thomas had three 

 sons (two of whom survived him) : Edward, who 

 died young ; Thomas, who died setat. twenty-two, 

 1687, as it appears s.p. ; and Clement, who died 

 at the age of eighteen. It is evident that John 

 Acton, therefore, was not the son of either of 

 these. ' ^ '''■ 



2. Was he the son of Robert Acton of Stepney, 

 fifth son of Sir Walter Acton? No. Robert 

 married Hester, daughter of Francis Coleman, of 

 Stepney, by whom he had two sons, Francis, who 

 died young ; and Robert, who left issue Charles. 

 Robert, senior, had also one daughter, Catharine. 



3. Was he John of Clapham, M.A., and grand- 

 son of Walter ? This is possible, but not certain. 

 John Acton, M.A., was the son of John of the 

 Custom House, who died 1721, and therefore in 

 point of age may have been the person inquired 

 after by A. T. T. E. That John Acton, M. A., 

 was less likely to be of the medical than of the 

 clerical profession, we may suppose from his 

 title. Had he been a physician we should have 



