402 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 264. 



swallowed, and liked it so well that he asked 

 ■where they got their water. " Over the side " 

 was the reply — w^hich nearly caused the return 

 of the draught to its native stream. How- 

 ever, the nauseated gentleman' was assured that 

 Thames water, after standing twenty-four hours 

 in cask, and undergoing some process of ferment- 

 ation, became perfectly bright and pure, and that 

 outward-bound ships preferred laying in their 

 stock of water from the Thames, to getting it 

 from any other source; it was considered so sweet 

 after depositing its feculent matter, and kept so 

 well. Is this account true, or was it cooked for 

 the occasion ? Alfred Gatty. 



American Female Obesity and Fecundity. — The 

 following two cuttings from American newspapers 

 show that our brother Jonathan considers the 

 European race to increase in size and quantity 

 by transplantation beyond, the Atlantic. 



" Mrs. Catherine Schooly, 'who is represented as the 

 largest woman in the world, is holding levees in Columbus. 

 She is a native of Pickaway County, Ohio, thirty-six 

 years of age, and weighs 611 lbs. The advertisement 

 farther says, * Her size round the body is 10 feet 4 inches ; 

 around the arm, 3 feet 2 inches ; around the thigh, 4 feet 

 11 inches ; height 5 feet 2 inches. ' " 



" A Litter of Babes. — A German woman passed through 

 Daj'ton, Ohio, on the 1st, having with her six children, 

 all boys, born at the same time. Thej"^ were six months 

 old, small but sprightly. It is supposed that this case is 

 almost if not quite unprecedented." 



E. D. 



GortorCs " Biographical Dictionary." — I have 

 always considered this work as far more valuable 

 than could have been supposed, from its size and 

 apparent pretension. The mere capitals at the 

 beginning of each article, joined to the Italics at 

 tbe end, would make a very useful work of re- 

 ference. An enlarged edition has lately appeared. 

 Are the additions worthy of the original work ? 

 A few words from some of your correspondents 

 who especially attend to biography would be 

 useful. 



The question of the additions which standard 

 works receive, is not one for the ordinary re- 

 viewers. It has been well said of them that they 

 review a work as they would try a ham, by sticking 

 a fork in and smelling it. Short notices from your 

 correspondents on such a subject would not only 

 be better than reviews, but would bring together 

 the natural and proper differences of opinion, M. 



" Sculcoates Gote.'* — In the definition of the 

 boundaries of the ancient, but not of the most 

 ancient, port of Hull, " Sculcoates gate to the mid- 

 stream of the river Humber " is mentioned. The 

 following extract from Lord John Russell's Me- 

 moirs of Thomas Moore (vol. v. p. 28.) may throw 

 light on the site of this gote, one of the metes. 



limits, and boundaries of that port, which is still 

 under inquiry : 



" North said, before dinner, that he had discovered, ia 

 an old Act of Parliament, an illustration of the phrase 

 ' gouts of blood,' in Shakspeare : in speaking of the 

 sewers of Dublin, the Acts called them 'gouts.' Tliis, 

 however, I [Moore] remarked, has a more direct origin in 

 the French word egouts, which means ' sewers ; ' while the 

 gnitt of Shakspeare is as directly and evidently from the 

 French word goutte. Like a man accustomed to lay down 

 the law, he did not appear willing to give up his own 

 view of the matter."" 



^ T. J. BUCKTON. 



Lichfield. 



Churchyard Literature. — The following dog- 

 gerel lines are on a tombstone in the churchyard. 

 of Darrington, near Pontefract, Yorkshire : 



"Here 

 Lie reposited the remains of William Shackleton of 

 Cridling Park, who departed this life the 2Gth day 

 of November, 1775, 



Aged 76 years. 



After a long Life spent in rural Cares 

 Amongst his flocks and pastoral Affairs, 

 The grand Sweeper Death seiz'd on his gray hairs. 

 His Farm at Cridling Park was his delight, 

 Toiling all Day he sweetly slept at Night. 

 Noise and Hurry of Towns he did not love. 

 But retir'd chose to supplicate Great Jove. 

 His Barns with Com, his House with plenty flow'd. 

 The kind Blessings which God on him bestow'd ; 

 Yet Mortals being subject to decay, 

 When his Creator call'd he did obey. 

 This Stone 

 erected by Joseph Goodall." 



C.J. 



D' Alton s "Memoirs of the Archbishops of 

 Dublin." — In drawing attention to Mr. D'Alton's 

 Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dublin, 1 shall 

 confine what I have to say to his memoir of the 

 late Archbishop Magee, which (to give the author 

 his due) is the least favourable specimen of an in- 

 teresting publication. 



He is mistaken, I think, when he says that the 

 archbishop entered Trinity College, Dublin, as a 

 sizar; but this is not a point of much importance. 



He says that in due time, after ordination, 

 Magee obtained a fellowship. This certainly is a 

 mistake, for by referring to " The Case of Trinity 

 College," p. 75., he might have found that soon 

 after his election, being desirous of going to the 

 bar, he applied to the provost. Dr. Hutchinson, 

 for permission to obtain a dispensation for that 

 purpose. 



He farther remarks that " during his lifetime 

 he provided munificently for his sons, four of 

 vihom he brought up in his own principles and 

 profession." AH his sons, three in number, doubt- 

 less held preferments in the Church ; but for none 

 of them did he so very munificently provide, when 

 we consider his opportunities, as to justify the 

 severity of any such remark. 



