2"d S. No lOG., Jan. 9. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



37 



Mediceval Maps (2"'^ S. iv. 434. 478.) —It may 

 save somebody some trouble to observe that the 

 Mappa Mundi folio in the British Museum is a 

 reprint or copy of the fac-similes of the Catalan 

 Atlas given by MM. Buchon and Taster in torn, 

 xiv. of the Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits de 

 la Bihliotheque du Roi. I take the opportunity 

 of thanking you and the other gentlemen who 

 have replied to my Query. M. A. 



Locusts in England (2"^ S. iv. 267.) — Living 

 specimens of the Gryllus migratorius have not 

 been unfrequently found singly in gardens near 

 the sea coast. One I found at Yarmouth, in 1841, 

 I vainly attempted to kill and preserve for some 

 days. The G. gryllotalpa is, I believe, not found 

 in Norfolk. E, S. Taylor. 



Ormesby St. Margaret. 



Arnbiguous proper Names in Prophecies : Death 

 of Henry IV. (2°^ S. iv. 202.)— The story re- 

 specting the death of Henry IV. in the Jerusalem 

 Chamber can be traced much farther back than to 

 Fabian's Concordance of Histories, since it is found 

 in the Brute, both in the early MSS. of that Chro- 

 nicle, as well as in the printed editions. By 

 Thos. Elmham (prior of Lenton and chronicler 

 of Henry V.), the scene of the king's death is, 

 however, assigned to a chamber which he calls 

 the "Bethlehem" chamber. Can this name be 

 found elsewhere ? The following verses, found 

 in a MS. of his metrical Life of Henry V. (Bodl. 

 MS., Rawl., B. 214.), contain his allusion to the 

 subject : 



*' Annis millenis quftdringentis duodenis 

 Kex meat Henricus ad loca digna sibi. 

 Cuthberti luce vitse spiramen ab ymys 



Suscipit Altitonans Rex miserando piis. 



Ficta prophetia sonuit, quam vivus habebat, 



Quod sibi sancta fuit terra lucranda cruce : 



Inprovisa sibi sacra terra datur necis hospes, 



In Bethlem catnera Westquempnasterio." 



W. D. Mackay. 



Bell Inscriptions from the Tower of Plumsiead 

 Magna Church, Norfolk (2°"^ S. iv, 430.) — I 

 think I can suggest an emendation in the inscrip- 

 tion, which will improve both its sense and pro- 

 sody. Should it not be 



" Sanctorum meritis pangamus cantica laudis " ? 

 The vesper hymn from the Common of many 

 Martyrs, in the Roman Breviary, is most probably 

 the origin whence the above line is derived. It 

 begins 



" Sanctorum meritis inclyta gaudia, 

 Pangamus socii, gestaque fortia." 



J. V. 



Was Washington a Marshal of France? (2"^ S. 

 iv. 385. 441.) — Mr. Walsh, a well known Ameri- 

 can writer, formerly Consul of the United States 

 in Paris, in which city he is still residing, has re- 

 cently asked information on this subject from M. 



Vaillant, Minister at War, and received from him 

 the following reply : — 



" Ko trace of a degree conferring on Gen. Wasliington 

 the dignity of a Marshal of France can be found in tlic 

 archives of this ministry." 



But then P. S., a correspondent of the Wash- 

 ington Intelligencer, aptly remarks, — 



" How does it happen that the portrait of Washington, 

 painted by C. W. Peale for -Louis XVI., and sent to 

 France, where it was placed in the palace of the Tuilories, 

 and brought back to this country by Count de Menow, 

 and which is now in the National Gallery of the Patent 

 Office,- represents him with a badge of a Marshal of 

 France ? It may be that the broad riband of this picture 

 indicates no such rank ; and if not, what does it mean ? " 



It may be remarked " that the venerable C. W. 

 Peale is the only gentleman now living to whom 

 Washington sat for his portrait." W. W. 



Malta. 



Early Tragedies and Almanacks (2"'' S. iv. 106.) 

 — Your correspondent W. W. is in error. He says 

 that the first English Almanack made its appear- 

 ance in 1673, from the Oxford Press. I have now 

 an Almanack from another source, ar^ of an 

 earlier date. It runs thus : — 



" Swallow, an Almanack for the year of our Lord God 

 1668, being the Bissextile or Leap Year, and from the 

 world's Creation 5672 ; calculated for the Meridian of 

 the University and Town of Cambridge, when the Pole 

 is elevated 62 deg. 17 min. above the horizon. Cam- 

 bridge : John Field, Printer to the University, 1668." 



The above is a correct copy of the title-page. 

 The book contains forty pages, and the size 18mo. 

 Can any of your readers inform me whether this 

 is the first Almanack from the Cambridge Press, 

 and how long did it continue ? 



There was a Gabriel Harvey, a student at Christ 

 College, Cambridge, born 1545, and died 1630, 

 who was Proctor to the University. I find to a 

 short description of his life the following note : — 



" Towards the latter part of his life he began to study 

 Astrology, and finally turned Almanack Maker ; he was 

 an Intimate friend to Spencer the Poet and Sir Phillip 

 Sidney." 



He (W. W.) also states that the first tragedy in 

 the English language is entitled Gortuduc, and 

 published 1561. I find that the tragedy of Gor- 

 boduc, by the celebrated Thomas Sackville, Lord 

 Buckhurst, and after Earl Dorset, was performed 

 before Queen Elizabeth in 1561. Is this the same 

 tragedy as your correspondent means ? 



G. Roan Woodgate. 

 Mile End. 

 LCertainly. Gortuduc is a misprint. — Ed. "N. & Q."] 



^'Peculiarities in Church Steeples" (2"'' S. iv. 

 452.). — In answer to R. L.'s query, I beg to in- 

 form him that there is a church extant in Edin- 

 burgh which has an open belfry. It is St. Giles's 

 in the High Street, a very noble specimen of 



