28 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»d S. No lOe., Jan. 9. '68. 



edition 1735 describes the work as in "four 

 volumes." 



While on the subject I may observe that 

 Faulkner subsequently published two additional 

 volumes, which were thus announced in the Dublin 

 Evening Post of Feb. 17, 1736 [I73f] : — 



" Dublin, Feb. 14, 173g, George Faulkuer, &c , having 

 met with very great encouragement for four Volumes 

 which he hath lately published of the writings of the 

 Kev. J. S., &c., proposeth to publish two Volumes more, 

 &c., consisting of political Tracts, and many pieces both 

 in verse and prose never before published." 



These additional volumes were issued in 1738, 

 and are In Archbishop Marsh's library in Dublin, 

 — may indeed be common. F. E. S. 



Dea7i Swift and Erich the Forester. — The cele- 

 brated Dean of St. Patrick's says of his father, 

 Mr. Jonathan Swift, that " he married Mrs. Abi- 

 gail Erick of Leicestershire, descended from the 

 most ancient family of the Ericks, who derive 

 their lineage from Erick the Forester, a great 

 commander, who raised an army to oppose the in- 

 vasion of William the Conqueror, by whom he 

 was vanquished, but afterwards employed to com- 

 mand that prince's forces ; and in his old age re- 

 tired to his house In Leicestershire, where his 

 family has continued ever since." 



I am aware that the family still exists in Lei- 

 cestershire, and Is now represented by Mr. Her- 

 rick of Beaumanor, and, from what is said by 

 Worsaae, in his Traces of the Danes and Norwe- 

 gians, It is not improbable that, at the time of 

 William's invasion, a person of that name was in a 

 position to oppose him. Is there any historical 

 evidence of the truth of what the Dean has re- 

 corded ? Gershom. 



[No one, perhaps, was better able to clear up this point 

 than Mr. John Nichols, the able historian of Leicester- 

 shire ; but for Avant of historical evidence, he left it an 

 open question.' He says : " There is a tradition that the 

 most ancient family of the Ericks derive their lineage 

 from Erick the Forester, a great commander who raised 

 an army to oppose the invasion of William the Conqueror, 

 by whom he was vanqnished ; but afterwards employed 

 to command that prince's forces ; and in his old age re- 

 tired to his house in Leicestershire, where his family hath 

 continued ever since. From a veneration to the memory 

 of the Dean of St. Patrick's, and the friendship I have 

 experienced from both branches of this family (the Hey- 

 ricks of Leicester and the Herricks of Beaumanor)," 1 

 should have been happj* to have been able to confirm a 

 tradition which has every appearance of probability." — 

 Hist, of Leicestershire, vol. ii. part ii. p. 679. Consult 

 also "N. & Q.," l»t S. xii. 227.] 



EARTHQUAKES AND METEORS. 



In the various notices of earthquakes it appears 

 that in some instances they have been preceded 

 by luminous meteors, which favours the suppo- 

 sition that there may be some connexion between 



the state of the atmosphere and the phenomena of 

 earthquakes. The Athenmum of last Saturday 

 contains a graphic description of the recent one 

 at Naples, in which a correspondent says, — 



" I was writing on Wednesday night [Dec. 16th] at 

 10"10 P.M., when my table seemed to be grasped by a 

 powerful hand, and dragged violently backwards and 

 forwards. Lamps danced, pictures knocked against the 

 walls. The timbers of my rooms cracked like a ship 

 labouring in a heavy sea, and the very walls moved per- 

 ceptit)ly. 'It is an earthquake,' I shouted, and rushed to 

 the door, when the bell rang violentlj^ as though one 

 were in a hurry for admission. Outside of my apartment, 

 which is on the fourth story, were grouped many persons, 

 some of whom had sprung out of their beds and were in 

 night dresses. Terror seemed to have overcome them ; 

 and whilst some were screaming or invoking the saints, 

 others were leaning in a fainting state against the walls." 



Now it is remarkable, and worthy of a Note, 

 that an extraordinary meteor was seen In England 

 on the same evening, as appears from the follow- 

 ing letters in The Times of the 18th and 19th 

 ult. : 



" Sir, — A meteor of extraordinary brilliancy was seen 

 in this neighbourhood on Wednesday evening [Dec. 

 16th], about 10 minutes before 8. It was of a blood-red 

 colour, and traversed the heavens from north to west. 

 The labourers who saw it were quite terrified at its ap- 

 pearance. At 4 A.M. this morning the sky presented an 

 extraordinary appearance, theTieavens being illuminated 

 in the north-west with a bright fierj' red, as if lighted up 

 b}' a conflagration. You will probably hear further par- 

 ticulars from other quarters. " X. Y. Z. 



" Wokingham, Berks, Dec. 17." 



"Sir, — 'X. Y. Z.' to-day notices the meteor of Wed- 

 nesday which he saw in Berkshire. 1 on that evening 

 saw it as I was passing through Pentouville on my road 

 home. The evening was, as j'ou will remember, very 

 hazy, though the clouds hung at a great height. To me 

 the meteor had the appearance of a body of fire (of the 

 size the sun presents through a thick fog), which rolled 

 over and over three times, afterwards totally disappearing 

 as suddenly as it had appeared. Its light was great, and 

 presented the effect of a triple forked flash of lightning. 



"J. B. X." 



" Sir, — I beg to inform j'ou that I was a witness of the 

 phenomenon described by your correspondent ' X. Y. Z.' 

 On Wednesday evening, on the road from Sj-denham to 

 Norwood, and at about 14 minutes to 8 o'clock, the whole 

 country round was lit up for at least 8 seconds by a me-^^ 

 teor of the greatest brilliancy; no sound whatever accom-^ 

 panied its appearance. About five minutes before heavy 

 clouds had come rapidly from the south-west. 1 observed 

 lightning in the north-east horizon at intervals for about 

 half an hour afterwards. " B. A." 



A luminous meteor was also seen early the fol- 

 lowing morning in all the northern parts of Bel- 

 gium : — 



" It was afcout a quarter before five in the morning, 

 and quite dark, when an aurora borealis of a deep blood- 

 coloured flame suddenly arose from behind a long, hori- 

 zontal cloud in the north, dividing itself into two diverging 

 columns ; each of these divaricated and extended above 45 

 degrees' into the skj', leaving a pale yellow luminosity 

 between them. By degrees the aurora became so in- 

 tensely bright, and was so extensively reflected from the 

 clouds above, thatseveral engines were brought out (from 



