384 



I^OTES AND QUERIES. 



[2^ S. V. 123., Mat 8. '68. 



had toiled on, in spite of misrepresentation, ridi- 

 cule, and rapine ; and in 1815, when Blucher and 

 Billow manifested some desire to divide the flocks 

 between them, and carry them off, M. Bourgeois 

 contrived to withdraw them from the sight of 

 those generals, and as "out of sight" was "out of 

 mind" also, the Merinos were no longer thought 

 of. 



We may believe that the flocks were threatened 

 with disease, or some other calamity, subsequent 

 to 1821, for it was found necessary to restore M. 

 Bourgeois to his old office of superintendent, and 

 the Merinos lived on in glory and increase till 

 the second Revolution, when the old palace and 

 grounds became a sort of Cremorne. Under the 

 second Empire the locality has been appropriately 

 converted into an asylum for orphans of soldiers. 

 I should be glad to know whether the farm 

 founded by Louis XVI. is still maintained — whe- 

 ther or not it has done its work. The forty-one 

 rams which entered Rambouillet were the pa- 

 triarchs of the many thousands which have been 

 dispersed over France. I have before me an ac- 

 count of the produce for forty-two years, 1793 — 

 1834 (both inclusive), and this will enable us to 

 form some idea of the commercial value of the 

 Merinos. 



The administration at Rambouillet made nume- 

 rous gifts of rams for the benefit of poorer dis- 

 tricts ; of these no account can be rendered ; but 

 between the years above-named the administration 

 sold 2505 rams, 2,314 ewes, 274 " moutons," and 

 57,304 kilogrammes of wool. The money realised 

 by these sales amounted, in the first four years, to 

 1,555,352 francs (in asxignats) and for the re- 

 maining thirty-eight years to 1,619,628 francs 

 in cash. This was at the parent establishment 

 alone ; but results equally satisfactory have been 

 achieved by private breeders., I should like to 

 hear some brief history of the Richmond farm. 

 They who are as curious about the Rambouillet 

 farm may be referred to Leon Gozlan's Chateau 

 de Rambouillet. I will only add that the Merino 

 flocks are the most valuable of the flocks in Aus- 

 tralia ; that the present Spanish Merinos (wan- 

 derers, or wandering — changing their pastures so 

 widely as they do in Spain) are said to be pro- 

 duced of a cross of the native breed with a flock 

 sent from England ; and that under the word 

 Mesta, a very accessible, brief, and interesting 

 account of the migratory flocks, and of the pecu- 

 liar rights of pasturage in Spain, will be found in 

 Charles Knight's Cyclopedia of the Industry of all 

 Nations. J. Doran. 



P. S. Allow me one last word. In the volume 

 of State Papers of the time of Charles L, so ably 

 compiled by Mr. Bruce, there are some notices of 

 interest on the subject of Spanish and English 

 wof)ls. At p. 448. we hear of Lord Willoughby 

 writing to Buckingham (Oct. 6, 1626) that "Cap- 



tain Skipwith had brought in a French ship laden 

 with Spanish wool." Now the great Duke him- 

 self was a dealer in wool. On June 6, 1 626, John 

 Ellzey reports to Nicholas " that he had been 

 unable to sell certain wool .... belonging to the 

 Duke, in his possession, the trade of clothing being 

 so dead." Buckingham was, in his own person, 

 no encourager of this trade. When he could not 

 sell his wool, he would not clothe his own ser- 

 vants. Under August 12, 1626, we have the fol- 

 lowing : — 



"The Duke of Buckingham's coachman, grooms, sump- 

 term en, and farriers to the Duke. Since Lady-Day, 1625, 

 they have not received any wages, board-wages, or lay- 

 ings-out. They are out of all means and credit, and not 

 having had either clothes or liveries, are now ' worn out 

 of shift, and not in fit case ' to do the Duke any service. 

 This being far from his Grace's good inclination, they 

 pray him to take some such special course as that they 

 may pay their debts." 



On the subjects of wool and the exportation of 

 the material or of cloth, in the reign of Charles I., 

 this very useful volume may be consulted with 

 great advantage. 



The inquiry of * may be partly answered by an 

 article in the Globe of September 20, 1820 : — 



" At the sale of his late Majesty's prime flock of true 

 Merino sheep, on Wednesday the 6th inst, the highest 

 biddings did not much exceed the biddings for the South- 

 downs. The cows of the Ro}'al Dairy chiefly consisted 

 of the Durham and Teeswater breed, which sold at various 

 prices, but the highest did not exceed 30/." 



From this may be inferred a very great decline 

 in the value of these sheep in the ten years when 

 the last sale noted by your correspondent took 

 place, though no cause is assigned. The enco- 

 miums on Mr. Farnham appear to have been very 

 general. He is spoken of as being in a consider- 

 able degree the favourite of the company at the 

 sales ; and the European Magazine for June, 1807, 

 speaks of him as well known to the amateurs of 

 cattle. His skill in the difficult art of judging of 

 the qualities of stock was very great ; and in that 

 respect he may be said to have been pre-eminently 

 distinguished. PECUAaros. 



%k9 



Sir John Temple (2"" S. v. 274. 215.)-! have 

 since discovered the burial-place of Sir John 

 Temple. At p. 238. of vol. v. of Lodge's Peerage of 

 Ireland (with Archdall's Additions), it is stated that 

 " he was buried with his father ;" and referring to 

 p. 234,, I find that his father. Sir William, the 

 illustrious Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, by 

 his will "directed his body to be buried in the 

 college, under the Provost's seat," " without fune- 

 ral pomp and solemnities of heralds." He died 

 Jan. 15, 1627, and was accordingly privately in- 

 terred on the 20th ; and, as his biographer [who?], 



