Nov. 13. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



461 



1. Calamy (^Ejected Ministers, vol. ii. 680.) says 

 of Edmund Thorpe, ejected from Selscombe, 

 Sussex : " He was a great acquaintance of that 

 learned and pious gentleman, Mr. Polhill of Bur- 

 wash, who had a great respect for him; and he 

 held a very pleasing and useful correspondence 

 with him." 



2. Mr, Polhill was the author of Preciom Faith 

 considered in its Nature, Working, and Growth: 

 of which 'book Philip Henry once said, "it was 

 hard to say which excelled, the gentleman or the 

 divine." — Life of Philip Henry, p. 422. 



3. Orme, in his Life of Dr. John Owen, notices 

 Mr. Polhill, but says he is unable to furnish any 

 account of him. It seems that he was a magistrate 

 of the county of Sussex, and much esteemed. His 

 various works, says Orme, " are valuable, and de- 

 serve a place in every theological library," p. 507. : 

 and at the conclusion of this biography (p. 513.) 

 is inserted an excellent letter from Owen to Mr. 

 Polhill's wife, on the death of her daughter. Mr. 

 Orme conjectures that Mrs. Polhill was a member 

 of Owen's church. 



In Watts's Lyric Poems there are some verses 

 addressed to David Polhill, Esq., a Kentish man. 

 Were they related ? G. 



Lord Mayors of London. — The recent visit of 

 the Lord Mayor of London to his native town of 

 Bury St. Edmunds creates an interest in the in- 

 quiry, as to who and how many other Lord Mayors 

 have been natives of the same town, or of the 

 county of Suffolk. I know of but one native of 

 Bury, Sir John Paddisley, or Pattisley, who was 

 mayor in 1 440, and held the office of " Master of 

 the Money in the Tower," or Master of the Mint, 

 in the time of Henry VI. During the same cen- 

 tury, Milford, Mildenhall, and other towns, fur- 

 nished lord mayors. If any of your readers can 

 help me to any facts or sources of information on 

 this point, I shall be greatly obliged. Buriensis. 



Barons of Ulster. — Can any of the readers of 

 " N. & Q." give me any information respect- 

 ing these personages? I have seen a card on 

 which was engraved the name of a gentleman, and 

 around the crest was a label with the words, "One 

 of the Barons of Ulster;" but I have been unable 

 to learn more on the subject, which much interests 

 me. . Ceeidwen. 



Sir Walter Scott and the Edinburgh Magazine. 

 — In the well-known article on the first series pf 

 Tales of my Landlord, in the Quarterly for January, 

 1817, the reviewer, whether Sir Walter Scott 

 or William Erskine, quotes a passage relating to 

 the gypsies from what he styles " a new periodical 

 called the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine." Now 

 the first number of Blackwood s Edinburgh Maga- 



zine, in which the passage appeared, only came 

 out in April, 1817. Sir Walter was the author of 

 the paper in Blackwood, and so could know its 

 contents without needing to employ second sight : 

 but what puzzles me is, his quoting it as already 

 published. Was it in print at the earlier period ? 

 and if so, what deferred its publication ; and what 

 caused the change of name ? J. S. Warden. 



Wit referred to by Coleridge. — Coleridge {Intro- 

 duction to Greek Classic Poets, p. 36.) writes, " A 

 noted English wit of the day can improvise in 

 rhyme, even in our language, as long as you please 

 to listen to his amusing exhibition." Who is al- 

 luded to ? A. A. D. 



The Charm of a Clan. — Whilst on a visit to 

 Strowan, the chief of the clan Robertson, at Duna- 

 lister, his beautiful residence near Loch Rannoch 

 in the Highlands of Scotland, the chief said after 

 dinner to his wife, " Show the charm of the clan ;" 

 when there was produced from a silken purse a 

 small globe, two inches in diameter, of pure crys- 

 tal apparently, but with some slight cracks in it. 

 This, it is said, was found one morning after a 

 day's fight, during the Crusades, adhering to the 

 standard of the clan Donochie, or Robertson, 

 which had laid on the ground. It had remained 

 without flaw till the day of the battle of Sheriff 

 Muir, when the chief, looking at it for an omen, 

 observed for the first time cracks in it ; after 

 which there were some misfortunes in the clan. 

 Can any of your Scotch readers give any more 

 details of this curious stone, called in the clan 

 " Clagh-na-bratagh," or the stone of the stamlard? 

 James E. Alexander, Knt., A.D.C. 



Montreal, Canada. 



Admiral Vernon. — I have a cocoa-nut cup, 

 mounted in plated metal, with the following in- 

 scription engraved in running character round the 

 lip: 

 " Vebnonis ut memorent Britones celebrare Salutem 



Hunc Anglis Cyathum Blassius ipse dedit. 

 Carthageiia, 1741." 



Blassius — Don Blasde Leso — was the Spanish 

 admiral at Carthagena, which he defended against 

 Admiral Vernon in 1741. Are these lines in- 

 tended to ridicule Vernon's unsuccessful attempt? 

 or how are they to be explained ? Do any similar 

 cups exist ? Arthur Paget. 



Privilege at Fairs. — At Fazely fair, in Stafford- 

 shire, held the first Monday after Oct. 10, and 

 during the week which is the wake week, an old 

 charter gives the inhabitants the privilege to brew 

 and sell beer, and to sell tobacco. 



The inhabitants of Belton, Leicestershire, have 

 the same privilege during their fair and wake, 

 held the second Monday after Whitsunday. 



Query, Is this a common privilege ? W. Bn. 



