108 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 144. 



Mexican Grammar (Vol. v., p. 585.). — The 

 only person likely to have grammars of South 

 American lanj^uages for sale is the well-known 

 bookseller Asher (Berlin, under den Linden). 

 Should, however, the prices at which Asher ge- 

 nerally offers such very scarce books appear to 

 TV. B. D. too exorbitant, he will get any of those 

 IVIexican &c. grammars, which in Jiilg's edition of 

 Vater's Gi-ammatiken, ffc, are maiked with an 

 asterisk, cheaply transcribed for him from the 

 ■original copies in the royal public library of Berlin. 

 Otherwise W. B. D. must take the chance to wait 

 "till the great work on the American languages, 

 begun many years ago by the late W. Von Hum- 

 boldt, and long since completed by Prof. Busch- 

 inann, will at last come out. E,. R. 



Canterbury. 



Burial without Service (Vol. v., p. 613.). — This? 

 whether legal or not, is with respect to Roman 

 Catholics continually practised, at least in Lanca- 

 shire, where the common sense of both parties 

 •easily gets over the difficulty. Tiie priest knows 

 he cannot celebrate his service in the chvu'ch, and 

 therefore performs it ere the body leaves the house. 

 The clergyman knows tlie English service would 

 not be acceptable, and does not offer to perform it. 

 The bell tolls as usual, and the coffin being taken 

 straight to the grave, is buried by the sexton and 

 his attendants. If (as is often the case with the 

 Roman Catholic gentry) the family vault is inside 

 the church, the organist sometimes plays solemn 

 music during the interment. If the Protestant 

 <jlergyman desires to show respect to the character 

 or station of the deceased, he either joins the pro- 

 cession, or awaits it (without surplice) in the 

 church. There is no secret made of the matter, 

 and until the last ten or fifteen years it was usual 

 to ring a merry peal on the bells as the mourners 

 were leaving the churchyard. P. P. 



The True Maiden-hair Fern (Vol. vi., p. 30.). 

 — Allow me to add to Eirionnach's list of the lo- 

 calities of the lovely Adiantum (Capillus Veneris), 

 that of Ilfracombe, Devon, in England, where, 

 though rare, it exhibits the greatest luxuriance of 

 growth ; but I have never seen its beauty so con- 

 spicuous as in Italy. It flourishes at Massa and 

 at Carrara ; but the extremity of the Grotto of 

 Egerla, near the Eternal City, is adorned with a 

 curtain of Its beautiful fronds, which will not be 

 easily forgotten by those who have even but once 

 trisited the haunts of the fair inspirer of Numa. 



W. J. Bernhard Smith. 



Temple. 



Royal Arms in Churches (Vol. v., p. 559.). — 

 In the accounts of the churchwardens of Mellis, 

 printed in the Proceedings of the Bury and West 

 Suffolk Archaological Institute, there is a charge in 

 1617 for painting the King's arms, and for making 



a frame for them, upon which the Rev. Mr. Creed, 

 the contributor of the paper to the Institute, re- 

 marks that It does not clearly appear that the 

 setting up of the king's arms in churches was done 

 by any express law or injunction, and submits that 

 It was probably ordered by episcopal or archidi- 

 aconal authority. He mentions, however, one or 

 two instances prior to the Reformation, of the 

 arms of the sovereign being placed in churches. 

 In reference to this subject, Mr. King, York 

 Herald, in his interesting remarks on a series of 

 the royal arms existing in Yarmouth Church (vide 

 vol. li. of Norfolk Archceology, published by the 

 Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society), 

 states that the practice of placing the arms of the 

 sovereign and his family in churches, appears in 

 the Middle Ages to have been In a great measure 

 uniform in architectural and other decorations, 

 and suggests that the modern exhibition of the 

 arms of the sovereign had its origin in that prac- 

 tice. Both suggestions are entitled to respect, and 

 as the custom may have originated from a combin- 

 ation of both causes, I have placed them In juxta- 

 position, trusting, through your justly increasing 

 and unassuming periodical, to elicit something 

 more decisive upon these points. Z. Z. Z. 



I have seen the royal arms, carved, affixed in some 

 conspicuous place in several churches — commonly, 

 I think, over the western door : but I have also 

 seen large hatchments of the royal arms in coTintry 

 churches ; for instance, those of George I. and II. ; 

 but I have always suspected that they were only 

 given to churches near royal residences, or where 

 there was some royal property. The Lord Cham- 

 berlain's office (the records of which are I believe 

 very curious) might explain this point. C. 



Governor of St. Chi-istopher in 1662 (Vol. v., 

 p. 510.). — At the period referred to the Island of 

 St. Christopher was formed Into two divisions, one 

 of which belonged to the English, the other to the 

 French. This partition took place in 1627, and 

 continued till the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. The 

 governors of the principal Islands in 1662 were as 

 follows: — 



Jamaica 



Barbadoes 



Grenada 



St. Christopher 



St. Lucia 



Tobago 



Guadaloupe 



- Lord Windsor. 



- Lord Willoughby. 



- Count de Cerillac. 



- The Chevalier de Sales. 



- M. Bonnard. 



- M. Hubert de Beveren. 



- M. Ilouel. 



Martinique - - M. de Vaudroque. 



Dominica and St. Vincent were then in the 

 possession of the Carlbs ; while the islands of St. 

 Bartholomew, St. Croix, and St. Martin were 

 under the proprietary rule of the Knights of 

 Malta. I have not iDeen able to ascertain the 

 name of the English governor of St. Christopher 



