30g 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 259. 



foxes, buck stags, &c., in the Black or Middlesex 

 Forest (now the Regent's Park and Ken Wood). 



Jane Shore once resided at this palace in 

 Tottenham Court, under the protection of King 

 Edward III. Queen Elizabeth once resided in 

 this palace, and entertained the Russian ambas- 

 sador with the sports of the forest in hunting wild 

 boar, stags, &c. Oliver Cromwell had a military 

 station near this palace ; no doubt he resided here, 

 and held some of his councils of war in this palace. 

 It was once a monastery of Carthusian monks ; and 

 they had a subterraneous passage or cloister from 

 this religious house to the old parish church of 

 St. Pancras, in the village which is nearly one 

 mile distant. This passage was explored by a 

 Mr. Price many years ago, to the distance of 

 about 136 feet to 140 feet : he was stopped from 

 proceeding any farther by damp, and a pool of 

 water. The remains and ruins of the palace were 

 taken down about the year 1806. 



Could any of the readers of " N. & Q." give me 

 an account of this royal palace, or an account of 

 the monastery of Carthusian monks ? When was 

 it dissolved ? Who was the last abbot ? Is there 

 any print of this palace ? S. H. 



[A print, with an account of this palace, is given in 

 Wilkinson's Lond'ina Illustrata, vol. i. ; it is entitled "An 

 ancient structure, denominated in various records King 

 John's Palace, lately situated near the New River Com- 

 pany's reservoir, Tottenham Court." It had undergone 

 many repairs and patchings-up previous to its demolition 

 in 1808. Madox, in his Formulare Anglicanum, fol. 1702, 

 p. 32., has given a document entitled " A Composition be- 

 tween the Carthusians, near London, and the Dean and 

 Chapter of St. Paul's, and the Prebendary of Totenhale, 

 concerning certain ways within the Manor and Fields of 

 Bloomsbuiy ; " but it seems doubtful whether any records 

 are extant of the monastery.] 



Trajarts Palace. — In what year was the floating 

 summer palace of the Emperor Trajan weighed 

 up from the bottom of the lake Nemi, and where 

 can I find a good account of it ? W. E. H. 



Birkenhead. 



[A minute description of this wonderful structure is 

 given in Grotier's Tacitus, Appendix, pp. 466. &c. A con- 

 densed translation of this floating palace — for it can 

 scarcely be called (as Tacitus calls it) a ship — will be 

 found in Eustace's Classical Tour through Italy, to which 

 is subjoined the following remark: "When this watery 

 palace sunk we know not." Again, " It is much to be 

 lamented that some method has not been taken to raise 

 this singular fabric, as it would probably contribute, from 

 its structure and furniture, to give us a much greater in- 

 sight into the state of the arts at that period, than any 

 remnant of antiquity which has hitherto been disco- 

 vered."] 



St. Edward's Oak. — Where can I find the 

 account of the destruction by lightning of St. 

 Edward's Oak, in Hoxne ? W. E. H. 



Birkenhead. 



[In the Gentleman's Magazine, Nov. 1848, pp. 469 — 471., 

 is a letter on the subject of the great oak in Hoxne Wood. 



It shows the improbability of its being the tree to which 

 St. Edmund, when he was murdered, was fixed, and the 

 absurdities of some of the speculations relating to it. Tho 

 details of these speculations may be found in the Ipswich 

 Journal, Oct. 7, 1848, and Oct. 14, 1848. See also St. 

 James's Chronicle, Dec. 26 — 28, 1848 ; Athenmum, Dec. 16, 

 1848, p. 1267. ; Gentleman's 3Iagazine, Feb. 1849, pp. 183. 

 185.] 



Bibliographical Queries. — Please let me have 

 the names of the respective authors of the follow- 

 ing books : 



1. " Essays on 'the Political Circumstances of Ireland, 

 written during the Administration of Earl Camden. 8vo. 

 Dublin, 1799." [Alexander Knox?] 



2. " Sketches of Irish Political Characters. 8vo. 

 London, 1799." 



3. " My Pocket Book ; or, Hints for ' A Ryghte Merrie 

 and Conc'eitede' Tour, in 4to., to be called ' The Stranger 

 in Ireland,' in 1805. Small 8vo. London, 1808." 



4. " Lines written ' at Jerpoint Abbey. 8vo. London, 

 1823." 



Abhba. 



[No. 1. is attributed to Alexander Knox by Watt. 

 No. 3. is by Edward Dubois. Nos. 2. and 4. must remain 

 as queries.] 



Sir Johi Perrott. — Who was the author of The 

 History of Sir John Perrott, Lord Lieutenant of 

 Ireland ? According to Mason — 



"This work, which was published from an original 

 document, written about the end of the reign of Elizabeth, 

 in some measure supplies the historical defects in that 

 reign, as it contains much information relative to Ireland 

 during the time this unfortunate statesman held the reins 

 of government there." — Bibliotheca Hibernicana, p. 20. 



It is a small 8vo. volume, and was published in 

 London in 1728. Abhba. 



[This work was edited by the celebrated Richard Raw- 

 linson, who states in the advertisement that " the original 

 manuscript was communicated from Ireland, and thither 

 it is again safely transmitted. The author is unknown."] 



" A fair island Seat." — Can any correspondent 

 favour me and other readers of " N. & Q." with 

 an explanation of this sort of church seat ? The 

 phrase occurs in the life of Ferrar, in the account 

 of the family's daily procession to the church : 



" As the}' came into church, every person made a low 

 obeisance, and all took their appointed places. The 

 masters and gentlemen in the chancel ; the youths knelt 

 on tlie upper step of the half space. Mrs. Ferrar, her 

 daughter, and all her granddaughters, in a fair island 

 seat." 



H. T. Ellacombe. 



The Rectory, Clyst St. George, Topsham. 



[According to Phillips, in his JVew World of Words, it 

 •means a seat in the isle or aisle. He says, "Isle, or 

 island : in architecture, isles are sides or wings of a build- 

 ing." But, according to the Glossary of Architecture., 

 " Many writers apply the word isle to the central, as well 

 as to the lateral compartments. Thus Browne Willis has 

 ' middle-isle ' repeatedlj'. King, in his Vale Royal, has 

 'the body- is distinguished into a broad middle ile, and 

 two lesser iles on either side.' Blomfield also speaks of 

 the middle isle. In these cases the word must be con- 



