Nov. 20. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



485 



Rufus's Spur. — At the " Queen's House " in 

 Lyudburst is preserved a curious relic of anti- 

 quity (boasting, perhaps, a much more venerable 

 aofe than it has any claim to), called Rufus's stir- 

 rup. It has the form of a stirrup, of very large 

 dimensions, of steel, with an appearance of gilding 

 or lacker on some parts of it, the loop for the 

 leather being in a horizontal instead of vertical 

 plate of metal. 



A doubt is suggested as to its being a stirrup of 

 that date, on the ground that metal stirrups were 

 then unknown in England. Is this so ? 



The common tradition, which assigns it to the 

 Red Monarch, connects it also with the cruel 

 custom of " depeditation " practised on mastiffs 

 and large dogs found in the forest. It Avas said 

 to be the test of a dog's harmlessness, that he was 

 small enough to pass through the stirrup. If he 

 could not pass the ordeal, he was carried before 

 the ranger and " depeditated," by means of a 

 mallet and chisel. The latter part of the process 

 is described with minuteness by the chronicler 

 of tlie Forest Laws, who, however, makes no 

 mention of the test. G. T. H. 



Lyndhurst. 



Murat. — Reading a week or two ago an article 

 entitled "Dead or Alive," in a late Number of 

 Household Words, it is said that Murat escaped 

 his generally supposed death by shooting, and fled 

 to America, where, in the far West, he resided for 

 the rest of his life. Can any of your readers say 

 whether or no this Is the case ? Qu^rens. 



Jack Straw. — 



"July 2, A.D. 1381, upwards of 1500 rioters were 

 hanged in England, among the chief of whom were 

 Jack Straw, and Ball the preacher. Some of them 

 were hanged in chains, — the first example of that mode 

 of punishment." 



What, may I ask, is known of the history of 

 these notables ; and were they of the number who 

 perished in chains ? W. W. 



Malta. 



Coins of Jvlia Domna. — Addison, in his Dia- 

 logues upon the Usefulness of Ancient Medals, has 

 the following remark : 



" There are several reverses which are owned to be 

 the representations of antique figures, and I question 

 not but there are many others that were formed on the 

 like models, though at the present they lie under no 

 suspicion of it. The Hercules Farnese, the Venus of 

 Medicis, the Apollo in the Belvidera, and the famous 

 Marcus Aurelius on horseback, which are, perhaps, the 

 four most beautiful statues extant, make their appear- 

 ance all of them on ancient medals, though the figures 

 that represent them were never thought to i^e the copies 

 of statues, till the statues themselves were discovered." 



Is this assertion correct ? and, if so, on what 

 coins are they to be found ? 



If such be the case, I think I can add one to the 

 list, viz. the I. B. and denarii of the Empress Julia 

 Domna, rev. Venus standing in a rather peculiar 

 attitude, and which, unless I am much mistaken,, 

 is a copy of the famous Venus Callipyge in the 

 Museo Borbonico at Naples. I should like to 

 verify this. E. S. Taylor. 



Pierre Cotton. — Was Pierre Cotton, the Jesuit 

 controversialist, related to any of the English, 

 families of the same name ? R. W. C. 



Titus Oates. — Pray what did Dryden, In the 

 first part of Achitophel, mean by these lines ? 

 " Some future truths are mingled In his book, 



But (qu. and?) where the witness fail'd, the prophet 

 spoke." 



What events had occurred in the year 1681, 

 which tallied with declarations that Oates had 

 falsely made three years before ? Or if none, what 

 are we to suppose the poet to signify ? A. N. 



Thornton Abbey. — It appears that Thornton 

 Abbey, Lincolnshire, was strongly fortified ; pre- 

 senting a curious mixture of the ecclesiastical and 

 castellated styles. The fine gatehouse, which is 

 late Perpendicular, still exhibits a barbican, bat- 

 tlement, loopholes, a moat, the groove for a port- 

 cullis, and indications of a drawbridge. What 

 other examples are to be found of religious houses 

 similarly protected ? How could so extensive an 

 Inclosure be sufiiciently garrisoned ? Against what 

 attack was danger apprehended ? It has been 

 affirmed that formidable pirates entered the Hum- 

 ber, and committed depredations in the fifteenth 

 century. Is there any authority for such asser- 

 tions ? C. T. 



Richardson's ^^ Choice of Hercules." — The original 

 MS., dedicated to his nephew, of Richardson's 

 noble poem on " The Choice of Hercules," having 

 come Into my possession, I am desirous to ascer- 

 tain If It was ever published. 



If any of your readers could enlighten me, I 

 should feel greatly obliged. Charles Pooley. 



Cirencester. 



Curious Marriage Entry. — In the register books 

 of a small village in Wilts I find the following 

 entry, of which some explanation seems desirable : 



"John Bridmore and Anne Sellwood, both of 

 Chiltern All Saints, were married October 17, 1714. 



"The aforesaid Anne Sellwood was married in her 

 smock, without any clothes or head-gier on." 



J. Eastwood. 



Capital Punishment in England. — I am de- 

 sirous of forming a correct list of capital punish- 

 ments sanctioned by law in England i'rom the 



