10 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



[No. 166. 



" Lot 1 1 98. Henrici Archid. Huntindoniensis de 

 Gestis Anglorum et Gyr. Cambriensis expugnatio 

 Hiberniae. (In pergamena.) Sold in 1807 for 2/. Is. : 

 produced at Heber's sale, 1836, 78Z. 15s. 6d. 



"Lot 1206. Chronica Matt. Parisensis sine Historia 

 Minor cum vita authoris, per Doctissinnum Virum 

 Rog. Twysden Bar. (In papyro.) Sold in 1807 for 

 21. 8s. : produced at Heber's sale, 1836, 51. I5s. 6d. 

 Total produce in 1807, 81. Is. : in 1836, 2387. 17s." 



In the catalogue of Heber's books, &c., Nos. 447- 

 1006. 498. 118. and 1016. correspond with the 

 H^os. 1185. 1190. 1195. 1198. 1206. F. W. J. 



Robert Hill. — I possess a Latin Bible which 

 formerly belonged to this person, and contains 

 many MS. notes in his handtvrlting. The follow- 

 ing is by another hand : 



" This book formerly belonged to Mr. Robert Hill, 

 a taylor of Buckingham, and an acquaintance of my 

 cousin John Herbert, surgeon of that town. J. L." 



" In literature we find of this profession (i. e. that 

 of a taylor) John Speed, a native of Cheshire, whose 

 merit as an historian and antiquary are indisputable — 

 to whom may be added the name of a man who in 

 literature ought to have taken the lead, we mean John 

 Stow. Benjamin Robins, the compiler of Lord Anson's 

 Voyage, who united the powers of the sword and the 

 pen, was professionally a taylor of Bath ; as was Robert 

 Hill of Buckingham, who, in the midst of poverty and 

 distress, while obliged to labour at his trade for the 

 support of a large family, acquired a knowledge of the 

 Hebrew, and other languages, such as has only been 

 equalled by Magliabecchi, who studied in a cradle 

 curtained by cobwebs and colonised by spiders." — See 

 "Vestiges Revived," No. XX. European Mag. for Mar. 

 1813. 



The above choice note is, I presume, an extract 

 from the Europ. Mag., and may serve to show that 

 although ordinarily it takes " nine tailors to make 

 a man," it may occasionally require nine men to 

 make such a tailor as R. Hill seems to have been. 



B. H. C. 



English Orthography. — The agricultural news- 

 papers and magazines in the United States have 

 generally restored the spelling of plow in place of 

 plough, which has crept In since the translation of 

 the Bible into English. 



Could not cloke, the old spelling, be also restored, 

 in place of cloak, which has nothing but oak to 

 keep it in countenance ; whilst cloke Is in analogy 

 with smoke, spoke, broke, &c. ? 



There are two English words, in pronouncing 

 which not a single letter of them is sounded; 

 namely, ewe (yo !) and aye (I ! ) Uneda. 



Philadelphia. 



Bookselling in Glasgow in 1735. — The following 

 curious report of a law case appears in Morlson's 

 Dictionary of the Decisions of the Court of Session, 

 p. 9455. It appears from It that, so late as 1735, 



the city of Glasgow, now containing a population 

 of nearly 400,000, was considered too limited a 

 sphere for the support of only two booksellers. 



"1735, January 15. Stalker against Carmichael. 

 Carmichael and Stalker entered into a co-partnery of 

 bookselling within the City of Glasgow, to continue 

 for three years ; and because the place was judged too 

 narrow for two booksellers at a time, it was stipulated 

 that after the expiry of three years, either of them re- 

 fusing to enter into a new contract upon the former 

 terms, should be debarred from any concern in book- 

 selling within the city of Glasgow. In a reduction of 

 the contract, the Lords found the debarring clause in 

 the contract is a lawful practice, and not contrary to 

 the liberty of the subject." 



X.Y. 



Edinburgh. 



Epitaph on a Sexton. — Epitaph on a sexton, 

 who received a great blow by the clapper of a bell : 



" Here lyeth the body of honest John Capper, 

 Who lived by the bell, and died by the clapper." 



Answer to the foregoing : 



" I am not dead indeed, but have good hope, 

 To live by the bell when you die by the rope." 



E. 



EUSTACHB DE SAINT PIEKKE. 



With the siege of Calais, and its surrender to 

 Edward III. In 1347, is associated the name of 

 Eustache de St. Pierre, whose loyalty and devoted- 

 ness have been immortalised by the historian, and 

 commemorated by the artist's pencil. The subject 

 of Queen Phllippa's Intercessions on behalf of 

 Eustache and his brave companions is, no doubt, 

 familiar to most of your readers : the stern de- 

 meanour of the king ; the tears and supplicating 

 attitude of the Queen Philippa ; and the humili- 

 ating position of the burgesses of Calais, &c. But 

 what if Eustache de St. Pierre had been bought 

 over by King Edward ? For without going the 

 length of pronouncing the scenes of the worthy 

 citizens, with halters round their necks, to have 

 been a "got up" affair, there is, however, some 

 reason to doubt whether the boasted loyalty of 

 Eustache de St. Pierre was such as Is represented, 

 as will appear from the following notes. And 

 however much the statements therein contained 

 may detract from the cherished popular notions 

 regarding Eustache de St. Pierre, yet the seeker 

 after truth Is Inexorable, or, to use the words of 

 Sir Francis Palgrave (Hist, of Norm, and Eng., 

 i. 354.), he Is expected " to uncramp or shatter 

 the pedestals supporting the idols which have won 

 the false worship of the multitude ; so that they 

 may nod In their niches, or topple down." 



In one of the volumes forming part of that 

 valuable collection published by the French go- 



