32 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. No 106;, Jan. 9. '58. 



of the north-eastern districts of Scotland. It oc- 

 curs in early records of the shires of Aberdeen 

 and Banff; and, I believe, the arms used by all 

 the families of this surname are, azure, a boar's 

 head couped, argent, and 3 stars, gules, in a chief, 

 argent ; crest, a dove flying over the sea, with an 

 olive branch in her bill ; and the motto " virtute 

 duce." Any information regarding different forms 

 of the same name, which are believed to exist in 

 different parts of England, would be most welcome. 



X. X. 



Marat. — There is a tradition that this infamous 

 revolutionary character was once French master 

 at the Warrington Academy. Is there sufficient 

 evidence of this ? Is it alluded to in any life of 

 Marat? There is a walk at Warrington called 

 to this day " Marat's walk." E. C. E. D. 



Plattner ; Thomas Ruker. — In the latter half of 

 the sixteenth century a certain class of artists, 

 who bore the name of Plattner, sculptured sta- 

 tuettes, sword and dagger handles, and even 

 articles of furniture and domestic utensils, out of 

 the unpromising substance iron. Beautiful spe- 

 cimens are preserved in the museums of Berlin 

 and Dresden. This branch of art was principally 

 cultivated in Augsburg. One of the most cele- 

 brated artists, Thomas Ruker, made, in 1574, an 

 arm chair or throne of this work, enriched with 

 historical sculpture of great merit. This was 

 offered to Rudolph II. by the city of Augsburg, 

 but is stated to be now in England. Who pos- 

 sesses it ? and are there any specimens of this 

 work preserved in England ? G. C. 



Grants of Arms. — Of what validity is a grant 

 or confirmation of arms made by the Lord Lyon 

 King-at-Arms in Scotland, or Ulster King-at- 

 Arms in Scotland, to a person of English extrac- 

 tion, and born in and still resident in England ? 



Ibgo. 



Fossil Human Remains. — It is generally asserted 

 by the modern text-books of geology that no 

 fossil remains of man have ever been discovered ; 

 which is accounted for by various reasons, and 

 upon which assumed fact various theories are 

 built. 



The older books of travels constantly make 

 mention of such curiosities in foreign museums, 

 &c., and other older writers frequently record the 

 discovery of such remains. Would it not be very 

 interesting to obtain, through the medium of the 

 pages of " N. & Q.," and by the assistance of its 

 numerous readers, a collection of all such ac- 

 counts, and, as far as possible, endeavour to de- 

 termine what has become of the objects they refer 

 to, and what those objects really are or were ? 



Many of the assertions alluded to were proba- 

 bly made on mere hearsay, and others again on a 

 too hasty examination of the remains, or with too 



slight a knowledge of comparative anatomy ; but 

 some accounts appear strangely to nega,tive the 

 modern opinion. 



A careful exaniination of the question would 

 be a boon to geology and some of the kindred 

 sciences. G. C. 



Militia. — The English militia, from the period 

 of the accession of Geo. III. till the latter part of 

 the last century, was so differently constituted to 

 what It has since become, that perhaps some reader 

 of " N. & Q." would state the different dates and 

 nature of the mutations it has undergone. 



S. S. S. 



Srag and Balderdash. — May not the words 

 hrag and balderdash have originated in the names 

 of the Scandinavian gods of eloquence, Brage and 

 Baldur ? J. P. 



Dominica. 



The Ancient Egyptians. — Do not Dr. Living- 

 stone's striking observations on coincidences in 

 dressing the hair, weaving, pounding corn, &c., in 

 Central Africa,*v/ith the modes of the Egyptians, 

 justify ^he old theory of their origin from the 

 south ? J. P. 



Bolton Castle in Wensleydale. — I transcribe the 

 following from the Diary of Bishop Curtivright, 

 printed for the Camden Society in 1843. It may 

 have the effect of amusing some of your readers, and 

 if any of them could inform me when Bolton Cas- 

 tle ceased to be inhabited by its noble proprietors, 

 a favour would thereby be conferred ; at the pre- 

 sent time (1857) one, if not two, of the turrets 

 are occupied by farmers. No one who has ever 

 witnessed it can forget the magnificent prospect of 

 hill and dale seen from the roof of the tower of 

 Bolton Castle. 



" I was received by the Noble Marquess (i. e. of Win- 

 chester) with all kindness imaginable <at dinner from one 

 at noon till one in the morning; Sir Richard Shuttle- 

 worth, Mr. Dean of Kipon, Mr. Dai-cv, and others there." 

 (p. 11. 12.) 



Note by Editor. — " This sittia^ at table for twelve 

 hours is, to a certain extent, a confirmation of the account 

 which Granger gives from some contemporary memoirs 

 of the singular style in which this nobleman lived at his 

 castle of Bolton during the reign of James the Second : 

 ' He went to dinner at six or seven in the evening, and 

 his meal lasted till six or seven the next morning, during 

 which time he eat, drank, smoaked, talked, or listened to 

 the music. Tlie company that dined with him were at 

 liberty to use and amuse themselves, or take a nap when- 

 ever they were so disposed ; but the dishes and bottles 

 were all the while standing upon the table.' A con- 

 temporary, Abraham de la Pryme, in his MS. Epheme- 

 ris, says that he 'pretended to be distracted, and would 

 make all his men rise up at midnight, and would go a 

 hunting Avith torch-light.' This mode of living is said 

 to have been affected bj^ him in order that he might be 

 thought unfit for public affairs at a time when things 



