July 17. 1852.] 



KOTES AND QUERIES. 



e9 



used is "Grinnin» like a Cheshire cat chewing 

 gravel." Are the last two worils merely the ad- 

 dition of some enterprising genius, or are they part 

 of the original simile ? Juvenis. 



Spanish Vessels wrecked on the Irish Coast 

 (Vol. v., p. 491.). — The vessels alluded to by 

 Cyrus Redding formed a part of Philip's navy, 

 which was cast away upon the Irish coast at the 

 end of the year 1588 : 



" When the country people massacred most of the 

 soldiers and sailors who escaped the fury of the tem- 

 pest; and the lord lieut., Fitz William, caused the 

 rest to be hanged." — See Mortimer, vol. ii. p. 417., 

 col. 2, commencing about 20 lines from the bottom, 

 and continued ; see also note on p. 418. 



Mortimer, who was vice-consul for the Austrian 

 Netherlands, mentions in an appended note to the 

 above the account of the loss, transmitted to the 

 court of Spain : 



" In the counties of Tyrconnel and Connaught at — 

 Lochfoile - 1 ship - 1000 men and others y' escaped. 

 Sligo - - 3 „ - 1500 „ 



Tyrawley - 1 „ - 400 „ 



Kere Island 1 „ - 300 „ 



Finglasse - 1 „ - 400 „ 



Ophally - 1 „ - 200 „ 



Irrisse - - 2 „ - — the men fled. 



Galway bay 1 „ - 70 „ 



Shannon - 2 „ - 600 . „ 



„ - 1 „ - — burnt, men escaped. 

 Trayle - - 1 „ - 24 „ 



Dingle - - 1 „ - 500 „ 



Desmond - 1 „ - 300 „ 



17 ships 5394 men. 

 Bolt Court, Fleet Street. 



J. Ebif. 



Boy Bishop at Eton (Vol. v., p. 557.). — Your 

 correspondent upon this interesting subject is in 

 error when he says that Holy Innocents' Day is 

 that "on which the boy bishop was usually ap- 

 pointed." The election generally took place on 

 St. Nicholas's day, and the office and authority 

 appears to have lasted from that time till St. Inno- 

 cents' day, i.e. from the 6th to the 28th of Dec. 

 Certain days during this period were set apart for 

 particular ceremonies ; but, as far as I can learn, 

 they invariably concluded with the celebration of 

 " the whole service," on the Feast of the Innocents. 



In a proclamation of the 33rd of Henry VIII. 

 {1542) the concluding clause of the ordinance 

 runs thus : — 



" And whereas heretofore dyvers and many super- 

 stitious and chyldysh observances have been used, and 

 yet to this day are observed and kept, in many and 

 sundry partes of this realm, as upon saint Nicholas, 

 saint Catherine, saint Clement, the holie Innocents, and 

 such like," &c. 



The practice of electing a boy bishop appears 

 to have existed in cathedrals, in parish churches, 



I and in grammar schools. St. Nicholas, says War- 



j ton, was the patron of scholars, and hence, at Eton 



College, St. Nicholas has a double feast, i.e. one 



j on account of the college, the other of the schools. 



With regard to your correspondent's first Query, 



I find that Brand (^Popular Antiq., edit. 1849, i. 



431.) quotes from the Status Scholce Etonensis, 



A.D. 1560. Probably this is the Corpus Christi, or 



the Harleian MS. 



"Pope St. Hugo's day" was on the 17th of 

 November. St. Hugh was a real boy bishop at 

 Lincoln. 



As to L. C. B.'s last Query, " Whether any 

 reason can be assigned why Holy Innocents' Day" 

 should have been expressly excluded from the 

 boy bishop's reign at Eton College, I fancy it has 

 something to do with the double celebration of the 

 chorister's feast. Hone, in his Ancient Mysteries 

 (p. 198.), says: 



" St. Nicholas as the patron of scholars has a double 

 feast at Eton College, where, in the papal times, the 

 scholars (to avoid interfering, as it would seem, with 

 the boy bishop of the college on St. Nicholas day) 

 elected their boy bishop on St. Hugh's day, in the 

 month of November." 



The Eton Montem was evidently derived from 

 the ceremony of the boy bishop. Even within 

 the memory of persons alive when Brand wrote, 

 the Montem was kept in the winter time, a little 

 before Christmas, although the time was after- 

 wards changed to Whitsuntide. 



Edward F. Rimbault. 



Descendants of John Rogers. — Mr. Knight, at 

 p. 522. of your last Volume, makes an inquiry 

 respecting them. There is no doubt that some of 

 Rogers' immediate descendants emigrated to the 

 colonies which now form the New England states 

 of the North American confederacy. The name 

 of John Rogers is early ingrafted upon the me- 

 mory of the New England children of the present 

 day, from the circumstance that a rude represen- 

 tation of the " Martyr at the Stake " forms one 

 of the embellishments of the Neio England Primer; 

 and it can be traced back, through the earlier 

 editions of that publication, for more than a hun- 

 dred and fifty years. Round the stake are assem- 

 bled " the wife and nine children, and a tenth at 

 the breast," as a note informs the reader, witness- 

 ing the horrid scene. 



The National Intelligencer of April 27th last 

 (published at Washington, U. S.), announces the 

 death of Professor Walter R. Johnson, of the 

 American National Institute, and states, as an 

 interesting fact, that he was a descendant of the 

 celebrated John Rogers who was burnt at Smith- 

 field for heresy, in the reign of Queen Mary. No 

 doubt information could be procured from Mr. 

 Johnson's family wHich might aid Mr. Knight in 

 his inquiries. P. T. 



Stoke Newington. 



