146 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. No 112., Feb. 20. '58. 



had been neglected under the stairs leading to the offices, 

 until the rebuilding of the old Court -House (King's Old 

 Castle) in 1806, when it was once more placed on a pe- 

 destal in the Grand Jury Room, and the lost head replaced 

 by that of William. From the old it was removed to the 

 new Grand Jury Room, by order, in 1836." — P. 21. 



This is not tlie first instance of the statue of one 

 man being made to represent another. Abhba. 



City Swords. — 



" There are four swords belonging to the citizens of 

 London. 1. The Sword of State, borne before the Lord 

 Mayor, as the emblem of his civic authority. This is the 

 sword which is surrendered to the Sovereign at Temple Bar, 

 when she comes within the City of London. 2. Another 

 is called the Pearl Sword, from the nature of its orna- 

 . ments, and is carried before the Lord Maj'or on all occa- 

 sions of ceremony or festivity. 3. The third is a Sword 

 placed at the Central Criminal Court, above the Lord 

 Mayor's chair. 4. The fourth is a Black Sword, to be 

 used in Lent, and on days of public fasts, and on the 

 death of any of the Roj'al Family." — City Press. 



Anon. 



Longevity. — The obituary column of the Morn- 

 ing Post of this day (Jan. 30, '58.) appears to me 

 to present something very remarkable. Out of 

 the thirty-five deaths therein recorded, with the 

 ages given, there will be found under sixty years 

 of age twelve, of the remaining twenty-three 



Upwards of 60 and under 70 - - - - 5 



70 and under 80 - - - - - 7 



In 80th year and upwards - - - - 9 



One (female) 95 years - - - - 1 

 And for climax the following entry : 



" On the 8th inst., at Bishop Lydiard, near Taun- 

 ton, Somersetshire, Mrs. Elizabeth Miles, in her one 



hundred and twelfth year - - - - 1 



23 

 Anon. 



Tenby {Pembrohesh{7'e), Response to an old Tra- 

 dition. — In The Times newspaper of Feb. 10, it 

 is stated that : — 



" The fishermen of Tenby have been fortunate enough 

 to discover an excellent bank of codfish off that town, 

 and so productive is it proving that they are taking an 

 enormous quantity of fish. It appears that it is a bank 

 which formerly proved most valuable, but which had been 

 lost. In consequence of the increased take, the wholesale 

 price has fallen as low as Is. each, sometimes for fish 

 weighing 30 lbs." 



In that somewhat rare book, Norris's Etchings 

 of Tenby, 1812 (p. 82.), this bank of cod is re- 

 ferred to : — 



" There is a tradition of some extraordinary Bank or 

 Rock at Sea, called Will's Mark, on which the greatest 

 abundance, and every variety of fish, was formerly taken. 

 This spot is now no longer to be found. The loss is said to 

 have been a judgement on Tenby for some enormity per- 

 petrated by its inhabitants. So severe is the punishment, 

 that everj' native is incapacitated from all future dis- 

 covery for ever. Strangers have occasionally been di- 

 rected to it by chance or sagacity," &c. 



There is a curious MS. among the papers of the 



corporation, quoted by Norris, which evidences 

 the solicitude with which the town of Tenby 

 formerly noted the bearings of the rock ; nor is 

 this to be wondered at, when, to quote the MS., 

 " there hath been such abundance of God Bless- 

 ings in fish on the said Rock as that the town of 

 Tenby and the Key therein were first builded by 

 the benefit of the fish that were taken thereon." 

 And farther, "that there is about it Millwell, Ling, 

 Congers, Breams, Gernets, and all kinds of Sea fish, 

 God's plenty thereof, and fowls do flock about it 

 very much in the Summer." 



J. Ci/AUDE Webster. 

 Middle Temple. 



fSLiwox ^wttiti. 



" Respublica Solipsorum.^' — In Dr. Isaac Bar- 

 row's Works (Lond. 1687, vol. iv. p. 110.) there 

 is what is entitled " Oratio Sarcasmica in Schola 

 Grseca." This is in fact a hearty scolding of his 

 audience for not attending the lectures which, 

 during the past year, he had delivered as Profes- 

 sor of Greek. He says, — 



" Ever since, at the beginning of last j'ear, when I 

 made mj"- speech, you bade me a long farewell, I have sat 

 solitary in this Professorial chair (even if I lie in this I 

 am quite sure that none of you can contradict me as an 

 ej'ewitness), like Prometheus bound to his rock, or like 

 the Supreme Judge in that City of 3Ien-by-themselves, 

 which a certain person lately invented : Vel ut arbiter 

 supremus in ilia (quam non nemo nuper excogitavit) 

 Republica SolipsoriAn.' " 



This seems to imply that some one had lately 

 publislied a fiction with the title Respublica Solip- 

 sorum. Can you or any of your readers tell me 

 anything of such a book ? W. 



Launching Ships Sideways. — Can any reader 

 of " N. & Q." give an account of the inventor, or 

 the origin, of this method of getting vessels afloat? 

 It is said to have been first done at Boston in 

 America. A. A. 



Poet's Corner. 



The lost Lake. — In the last number of the 

 Archceologia Cambrensis the position of a lost 

 lake, referred to by Leland (by Llanybyther, 

 Carmarthenshire,) is identified. Query, When, 

 and by whom, was the excavation made which 

 dried up the said lake ? Llwyd o Llangathbn. 



Laws and Cobtvebs. — There is a familiar com- 

 parison of laws to cobwebs, where great flies 

 break through, and small ones are caught. Can 

 any of your readers give me a reference to the 

 original of this simile ? A Lawyer. 



Burial in Lead. — An interesting discussion, as 

 to the earliest known instance of burials in lead, 

 occurred the other day at a party where I was 

 present. No satisfactory conclusion was uafortu- 



