68 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2n« S. NO 108., Jan. 23. '58. 



ingham, and performed at the theatre in Dorset 

 Gardens in 1682, there is a curious allusion to 

 Nell Gwin's performance of jigs worth noting : — 



" Besides the author dreads the strut and mien 

 Of new prais'd poets, having often seen 

 Some of his fellows, who have writ before, 

 TFhen Nel has danc'd her Jig, steal to the door, 

 Hear the pit clap, and with conceit of that. 

 Swell, and believe themselves the Lord knows what." 

 Edward F. Rimbault. 



Farm Houses, Isle of Wight. — Has any special 

 notice been taken as yet of the fine old farm-houses 

 still standing in the Isle of Wight ? Many of them 

 are undoubtedly Elizabethan, if not older still. The 

 largest which I have seen stands beside the little 

 Norman church of Yaverland; and in its tall 

 brick chimneys, high-pitched gables, square-headed 

 windows, and general plan, it affords a very per- 

 fect example of the Elizabethan manor-house. 

 Within a bow-shot of Arreton church stands an- 

 other, nearly as perfect ; and a few miles from the 

 same village on the Newchurch road is a third, 

 formerly in the occupation of the monks of Quarr 

 Abbey, whose estates, this large farm included, 

 were confiscated at the dissolution of monasteries : 

 a panel whereon are carven the royal arms, and 

 apparently the " Prince's feather," still remains 

 incorporated with the building ; and a shilling of 

 Elizabeth was discovered here some years since 

 on the occasion of some repairs. Perfect, more- 

 over, as a type of a smaller house, is Gatehouse, 

 some two miles from Ryde — a very compact farm- 

 house, the plan of which is especially noticeable 

 for its convenience. T. H. P. 



Turkish Titles of Pasha and Bashd. — Watkins, 

 in his Travels, vol. ii. p. 310., has the following 

 note : — 



" The words Pasha and Basha seem but little known 

 in England. The first is a Governor, or General; the 

 second signifies Mister, or Master. In addressing, a 

 Janizary, he should be called Basha." 



And it is recorded that Sir Sydney Smith, in 

 his official communications, would appear to jus- 

 tify the distinction. W. W. 



Malta. 



Bruges Monumental Inscriptions. — A few years 

 ago, while making some excavations in Bruges, | 

 the workmen found a brass plate, with an inscrip- 

 tion (of which I have seen a printed copy) in 

 memory of the mother and sister of Harold, who 

 with many other Saxon ladies, after the battle of 

 Hastings, retired to Flanders, and ended their 

 days in a religious house in the above-named city. 



In the churchyard of St. Croix, near Bruges, I 

 discovered a tombstone to the memory of a lady 

 who descended "octavo gradu a Thoma More, 

 celeberrimo Cancellario Angliae." Her name is 

 the same as that of the Chancellor. She was Su- 

 perior of the convent of English Sisters in Bruges, 



and died about the beginning of this century. I 

 have not seen any mention of either of the above 



in guide book or history. 



C. C. B. 



Cock Fighting. — It may be worth recording in 

 the pages of " N. & Q.," that at Haydon Farm, 

 near Wells, (an old mansion, formerly the resi- 

 dence and property of Dr. Creswick, Dean of 

 Wells, who died Jan. 13, 1766), there is a cock- 

 pit close to the house, consisting of a large circular 

 "pit," or hole, sunk in the ground. Before the 

 house was altered (a few years ago) there was a 

 window of large size, from which persons within 

 could see the " sport " as it went on in the pit. 



Ina. 

 Wells. 



The Mormon Leader. — It being possible, from 

 present appearances, that a collision may shortly 

 take place in Utah territory (if it has not already 

 occurred), between the forces of the United States 

 and the Mormons, it may be of interest to men- 

 tion that the Governor and Commander-in-Chief 

 of this singular sect is Brigham Young, a native 

 of Whitehaven, Vermont ; who is now in the fifty- 

 sixth year of his age, and of a hale and healthy 

 constitution. 



The Mormon force has been recently estimated, 

 on good authority, to be not far from eight thou- 

 sand men ; who, in the event of a war, might 

 prove themselves troublesome enemies from being 

 fanatics, and fighting with desperation. There 

 are also fifteen hundred or two thousand friendly 

 Indians, who might possibly join the Mormons, 

 and come in for their share of punishment when 

 the war is finished. W. W. 



Malta. 



DR. DONNE's discovery OF A MURDER. 



In the Memoirs of Mrs. Pilkington, iii. 150., 

 occurs the following remarkable story respecting 

 Dr. Donne : 



" A day or two after Dean Swift came to town, he sum- 

 moned a senatus consultum, as he called those few friends 

 whom he peculiarly regarded. He placed us round a 

 great table, where he told us we were an empannelled 

 jury; and placed himself at the head of it, where he sat 

 as judge. He then told us the reason why we were sum- 

 moned : Mr. Gratton's favourite hen was put to death by 

 an unluckj' stroke of a whip by one of my fellows, as I 

 suppose. I accused them, and they denied the fact ; but 

 as murder will always come to light, I found the hen's 

 head and neck in the seat of my chaise-box ; and now I 

 want to convict the criminal. Accordingly he ordered 

 his three men-servants to come before us, and related the 

 following story to them : When Dr. Donne, afterwards 

 Dean of St. Paul's, London, took possession of the first 

 living he ever had, being a speculative man, he took a 

 walk into the churchyard, where the sexton was digging 

 a grave, and throwing up a skull, the doctor took it up, to 

 contemplate thereon ; and found a small sprig, or head- 



