July 31. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



97 



day. To this crevice many of the country people 

 say our Saviour fled from the persecutions of the 

 Jews. Others deem it more likely tliat St. Gawen, 

 influenced by religious mortifications, squeezed 

 himself daily into it, as a penance for his transgres- 

 sions, until at length the print of the ribs became 

 impressed on the rock. Here the pilgrim, stand- 

 ing upon a stone rendered smooth by the operation 

 of the feet, is to turn round nine times and wish 

 according to his fixncy. If the saint be propitious, 

 the wish will be duly gratified within a year, a 

 month, and a day. Another marvellous quality of 

 the fissure is, that it will receive the largest man, 

 and be only just of sufficient size to receive the 

 smallest. This may be accounted for by its pecu- 

 liar shape. Perhaps you may deem the above 

 worthy of insertion in " N. & Q.," and it may in- 

 terest your correspondent Mk. Robert Rawlin- 



SON. RODERT J. AjLLEN. 



Bosherston, Pembroke. 



SURNAMES ASSUMED. 



Surely in a country like this, where such regard 

 is paid to male descent, and where tiie use and 

 advantage of hereditary names has been so long 

 understood, the custom of assuming, and leaving 

 posterity with, the name of a family extinct in the 

 male line is a great mistake, and leads to much 

 error and confusion : much greater is that of con- 

 tinuing the name of a family from whom the 

 assmner does not even descend in the female line ? 



If Burke's Peerage is correct, perhaps no greater 

 instance can be pointed out than the name of 

 Wellesley ; for though at foot of his account of 

 Mornington he calls this family "the Marquis's 

 maternal family," yet, from the pedigree, it is clear 

 that he does not descend from them. 



Now, if I do not misunderstand Burke, and if 

 (as I presume will be the case) Alison's History of 

 Europe will be the study of future ages, what will 

 readeis believe from the following (chap. xlix. 1.) ? 



" 1'he Wellesleys were an old Saxon family long 

 settled in Sussex, and the ancestor of the Irish branch 



had come over with Hen. II. in 1172, &c 



Wellingtoa's elder brother, &c. &c So that one 



family enjoyid the rare felicity of giving bii th, &c." 



The natural desire of preserving an old name 

 and old arms, might easily be gratified, without 

 flying false colours. Thus, in the case noticed, 

 Richard Colley, instead of assuming " Wesley," 

 could have called himself " Richard Wesley Col- 

 ley ; " and his descendants have become " Wesley 

 Colley." So the Pagets should be " Paget Bayly ;" 

 the Pakington's " Pakington Russell." One of 

 ray noted instances appears under " Fountaine : " 

 here an heiress marrit5s a Clent, their heiress mar- 

 ries a Price, their heir assumes surname ;ind arms 

 of Fountaine. Now, according to my suggestion 

 (and common sense), the latter, if desirous of pre- 



serving the old name, should have handed down 

 the name of Fountaine, Clent, Price, or Fountaine 

 Price. In every county, the natives generally 

 believe that such families are of the old male blood. 

 I am not aware whether the Americans ever 

 adopt this false system (probably not) ; but they 

 some years since passed an admirable law that no 

 firm should trade with the name of extinct part- 

 ners. Different families having taken the same 

 title, is much less confusing; though many readers 

 probably imagine every Earl of Northumberland 

 to have been a Percy, and would be surprised to 

 hear that the present Duke is not a male Percy. 



A. C. 



Chronogram at Winchester Cathedral (Vol. v., 

 p. 585.). — Your correspondent W. A. J. may be 

 gratified by becoming acquainted with another 

 chronogram existing in Winchester Cathedral, 

 being an adaptation of a well-known and beautiful 

 passage of Scripture, recording the date and cir- 

 cumstances of the construction of the roof on 

 which it is inscribed, viz. that which conceals the 

 old lantern tower from the choir. It is to this 

 effect : — 



"Pi! UEGES NVTU'.TII REGIN^ NVTRICES Pi-t 



s NT DoMVs hVIVs." 



And gives the date 1635 thus : 



M = 1000 



D = 500 



C = 100 



VVVVV = 25 



illllllMl = 10 



1635 



G.H. 



Cardinals in England. — "Master Hugh Lati- 

 mer " observes in his second sermon before King 

 Edward VI., in reference to Cardinal Beaufort, 

 " These Romish hats never brought good into 

 England." W. II. L. 



liobin Hood. — In Latimer's sixth sermon before 

 Edward VI., Latimer tells a story about wishing 

 to preach at a country church, when he found th^ 

 door locked, and the people gone abroad to gather 

 for Robin Hood. He then adds, " Under thejpre- 

 tence of gathering for Robin Hood, a traitor and 

 a thief to put out a preacher." This may corro- 

 borate Mr. Hunter's view of that renowned per- 

 sonage. W. H. L. 



^xitxiti. 



A RIDDLE. 



Having on a former occasion received in your 

 pages a satisfactory solution of a Query I for- 

 warded to you, 1 am induced to tend you the 

 following : 



