2-<»s.Noii5.,MAK.i3.'68.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



209 



ence to such an article in the possession of the 

 " Queen of Hearts ?" S. M. S. 



Portrait of Nell Gwijn (2"* S. v. 107.)— I, beg 

 to suggest to Dr. Rimbadlt, that this portrait is 

 very possibly in the gallery at Littlecot, near 

 llungerford. The last Leyborne of Westwell, 

 near Burford, married Anne Popham of Littlecot ; 

 and on the death of her brother, without issue, 

 acquired the name and inheritance of the Pop- 

 hams. The house at Littlecot is full of portraits. 



Patoncb. 



FOLK rOBE. 



" Goodish Tuesday." — Shrove Tuesday is so 

 called by nearly all the old folks in the Stafford- 

 shire village from which I send this Note. I 

 do not meet with this name of " Goodish " for 

 Shrove Tuesday in the references to the day and 

 its customs in former volumes of "N. & Q.," or 

 in other books within my reach ; and it seems, 

 therefore, worthy of a Note, to which I append a 

 Query : Is the name a rustic record of the shriving 

 and confession customary to Shrove Tuesday be- 

 fore the Reformation ? Cuthbert Bedb. 



Custom on Shrove Tuesday. — Taking up a 

 Somersetshire paper a day or two since, I find 

 the following case amongst others heard at the 

 Petty Sessions at Crewkerne : — 



" Two little boys were summoned for malicious injury 

 to the door of the National School-room by throwing 

 against it on Tuesday evening last." 



This case, the attorney for the prosecution said, 

 arose out of the curious custom existing in that 

 town " of throwing stones against people's doors 

 on what the boys called ' Sharp Tuesday,' a 

 privilege which the youngsters appeared to con- 

 sider above invasion." This custom is not con- 

 fined to Crewkerne or to the county of Somerset, 

 but is also found in Devon, Dorset, and Cornwall. 

 In Dorsetshire Brand says, " Boys go round beg- 

 ging for pancalces, singing : 



" I be come a shrovia 

 Vor a little pankiak, 

 A bit of bread o' your baikin, 

 Or a little truckle cheese o' your maikiu. 

 If 3'ou'll gi' me a little I'll ax no more, 

 If you don't gi' me nothin, I'll rottle your door." 



Can any of your readers elucidate the custom, 

 and tell me at the same time why we eat pancakes 

 on " Sharp Tuesday ? " * J. B. S, 



Woodhayne. 



Hag-ridden. — The other day while talking with 

 a labouring man, he used the words hag-ridden. 



[♦See '• N. & Q." !»' S. v. 491. ; and " Shrove Tuesday 

 Customs" in the General Index to the !»' Series. — Ed.] 



Upon inquiry he informed me it was applied to 

 persons who had been bewitched, i. e. unable to 

 rest at night, fixed in certain positions, prevented 

 from doing their work, &c. He also informed me 

 that a certain old woman who died some short 

 time since possessed this power, and related to 

 his mother how such power might be obtained, 

 viz., to attend the sacrament at the parish church, 

 and upon the bread being delivered to the re- 

 cipient, to secrete the same instead of eating it ; 

 to take it home, anfi the same night attend at the 

 church door at twelve o'clock, and give the bread 

 to a person who would be there to receive it, in 

 exchange for which he would confer such powers 

 as might then be demanded of him. 



I don't remember reading anything similar to 

 this. C. C. 



Yorkshire. — 1. The farmers, in the West Rid- 

 ing of Yorkshire, say that " to spill new milk in 

 any great quantity is a certain forerunner of mis- 

 fortunes." 2. The inhabitants of Keighley say, 

 " If the coroner once enter the town, he is sure to 

 be required other twice in a very short time." 



C. D. H. 



Buttering Cats' Feet. — At various times I have 

 had three white cats, which, I can assure former 

 correspondents of "N. & Q." on this subject, were 

 not deaf I have seen many deaf white cats, but 

 they were all "wall-eyed," which was not the case 

 witb mine. Upon a recent occasion, on bringing 

 a full-grown cat home, I desired my servant to 

 take every precaution to prevent puss attempting 

 to return to her old domicile. This my servant 

 informed me could be effected by buttering the 

 cats feet I Accordingly pussy's feet were smeared 

 with butter ; and being kindly treated, she never 

 "imitated" (to use a Norfolk expression) straying 

 away. Probably kind treatment would have ef- 

 fected the same result, without the butter. 



E. G. E. 



Bean Feasts. — The custom originated with the 

 farmers, who regaled their men on the conclusion 

 of the bean-harvest, one of the most critical of 

 agricultural operations. 



Mackenzie Walcott, M.A. 



Adders and their Power. — I lately had some 

 discussion respecting serpents and other venomous 

 creatures of a similar kind, more especially of the 

 adder and snake description ; and of the pecu- 

 liarity ascribed to the reptiles mentioned of having 

 the power, as we say in Scotland, to " suck the 

 larrack oot o' the lift," that is, draw the lark from 

 the sky. I wish to know to what class or classes of 

 the poisonous tribe the peculiarity referred to ap- 

 plies. A curious fact bearing on this subject has 

 lately come to my knowledge, and as conclusive 



