306 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 259. 



Curiosities of Bible Literature. — I have re- 

 cently met with the following statement. Can 

 any of your biblical scholars verify its correct- 

 ness ? 



" It is a curious fact, that there are about 500 verses in 

 Matthew's Gospel, that are also in Mark's ; more than 300 

 in Luke, that are also in Mark's ; and about 120, that 

 are also in Matthew. Nearly one half of the Gospel by 

 Matthew is to be found in Mark, and more than one-third 

 of the Gospel by Luke is to be found in Mark or Mat- 

 thew." 



w. w. 



■ Malta. 



Standard-hearer of the Conqueror. — Within a 

 week I have met with four persons to whom this 

 honour is appropriated. 1. At the archaeological 

 meeting at Chepstow (see The Times of Aug. 28 

 last), Mr. Wakeman asserted that the manor and 

 lordship of Usk was granted to Fitzrolph, " the 

 standard-bearer of the Conqueror," and that he 

 died s. p. 2. Knight, in his Architectural T'our in 

 Normandy^ p. 189., says that " William Malet 

 was descended from the illustrious warrior who 

 was standard-bearer to William the Conqueror," 

 and that the son of the standard-bearer was 

 banished from England in 1102, 3. Wace, in his 

 Chronicle of the Conquest (Taylor's translation, 

 p. 1G8.), describes Duke William offering the 

 standard to Raol de Conches, as his " by right 

 and by ancestry;" but Raol requested permission 

 to fight instead that day : so, (4.) after other 

 refusals, it was accepted by Tosteins Fitz Rou 

 le Blanc. Will some one learned in Norman 

 Jiistory reconcile for me these statements ? 



J. M. G. 



White Slavery (/). — In a Philadelphia paper, 

 in 1797, two Irish girls are advertised as thieves 

 and runaways : 



" These girls came into this country a year ago . . . 

 in a brig . . . and sold themselves to pay their passage." 



What does this mean, and when was it abolished ? 

 One of them is elegantly described as " pouch- 

 mouthed, slobbers as she speaks, swears very 

 hard, and will her eyes with any Jack." M. 



Whistling for the Wind. — Sailors, when be- 

 calmed, have a practice of whistling for the wind : 

 has this any connexion with the saying "You 

 may whistle for it?" i. e. for anything you may 

 be wishing for, but which you have little or no 

 chance of ever possessing. 



Haughmond St. Clair. 



Anonymous Works. — Who are the authors of 

 the following works, published anonymously : 

 Nights at Mess ; Violet, or The Danseuse ; Caleb 

 Stukeley f M. A. 



Brass in Boxford Church — An explanation of 

 the following inscription on a monumental brass. 



in Boxford Church, Suffolk, will oblige. It is a 

 representation of a child in a bed, and underneath : 



" Dormitorium Davidis Birde Filii 



Josephi Birde, Rectoris istius ecclesiae. 



Obiit vicess. Febrv. 1606. 



2vatus Septima. 22." 



It is perfectly intelligible without the figures 22. 



W. T. T. 

 Ipswich. 



Stocliten Hall. — How did Stockten Hall, at 

 Stamford, the residence of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 

 Bart., obtain its name ? T. E. N. 



Bishop, Beference to. — 



" Even in the memory of persons living there existed a 

 bishop, concerning whom there was so much mj'stery and 

 uncertainty prevailing as to when, where, and by whom 

 he had been ordained, that doubts existed in the minds 

 of some persons whether he had ever been ordained at 

 all." — Cautions for the limes, p. 250.* 



What bishop is referred to ? E. J. S. 



Worrall Family. — Can any one give me any 

 particulars of the family of Worrall, of Stourton, 

 CO. Stafford ? What were their arms ? Cid. 



Hermitage of Merchingbye. — In the Chartulary 

 of Kelso, printed for the Bannatyne Club, there 

 are four deeds relating to a hermitage called Mer- 

 chingbye, which, in the original grant by Walter 

 de Bolebeck, is stated to be founded " de Vasto 

 meo juxta Merchingburnam cum ecclesia Sancte 

 Marie ibidem constructa." In the confirmation 

 by his son, he describes it as given — 



" In puram elemosinam per has videlicet divisas quic- 

 quid continetur infra claustras suas ex utraqne parte 

 Merchinburnae per circuitum de vado figulorum usque ad 

 vadum ubi Stainefolenburne descendit in Merchinburne." 



In a bull by Pope Innocent IV., it is mentioned 

 as being " in episcopatu Dunelmensi." I have 

 referred to Dugdale, Tanner, Surtees, Hutchin- 

 son, and other authorities in vain, to ascertain the 

 site of this hermitage. And I shall be obliged to 

 any one who can throw light on the point. M. L. 



Lincoln's Inn. 



Were Cannon used at Crecy ? — On a recent visit 

 to the site of the battle, I was informed by a lad 

 (who was playing at the base of the windmill 

 which was the station of King Edward) that balls 

 had been found in the fields on which the battle 

 was fought. I had no opportunity of endeavour- 

 ing to trace these relics, but it may be easily done ; 

 and if the statement is correct, it will decide a 

 question which is still involved in some degree of 

 doubt. S. R. P. 



Curious Ceremony at Queens College, Oxford. 

 — Barrington, in his Observations on the Ancient 



[* Page 304. of the edition of 1853.] 



