July 16. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



59 



chair stands to this day, liice some of the valuable 

 discoveries made by the alchemists when in search 

 of the Elixir Vita3, or the Philosopher's Stone, an 

 example of a fortunate and unexpected disclosure 

 made when not directly in search of it. I have 

 since learnt that a fluid possessing the above- 

 named detergent qualities, is to be purchased at 

 some of the oil and colour shops, the formula for'^ 

 its preparation being kept a secret. 



Henbt Herbert Hele. 

 Asfaburton, Devonshire. 



P. S. — In making the solution on a caustic 

 alkali, perhaps I should have said that the common 

 carbonate of potass of commerce will do as well as 

 the common carbonate of soda, if not better, from 

 the probability of its making a stronger solution. 



The following recipe for taking paint off old 

 «ak is from No. 151. of The Builder : 



" Make a strong solution of American potash (which 

 <;an be bought at any colour-shop, and resembles burnt 

 brick in appearance); mix this with sawdust into a kind 

 of paste, and spread it all over the paint, which will 

 become softened in a few hours, and is then easily re- 

 moved by washing with cold water. If, after the wood 

 has dried, it becomes cracked, apply a solution of hot 

 size with a brush, which will bind it well together and 

 make it better for varnishing, as well as destroy the 

 beetle, which is often met with in old oak, and is erro- 

 neously called the worm." 



The following is also from the same Number : 



" To make dark oak pale in colour, which is some- 

 times a desideratum, apply with a brush a little dilute 

 nitric acid judiciously ; and to stain light oak dark, use 

 the dregs of black ink and burnt amber mixed. It is 

 better to try these plans on oak of little value at first, 

 as, to make a good job, requires care, practice, and 

 attrition." 



H. C. K. 



F. M. MiDDLETON will find that American 

 potash, soft soap, and warm water, will remove 

 paint from oak. The mixture should be applied 

 with a paint-brush, and allowed to remain on until 

 the paint and it can be removed by washing with 

 vrarm water and a hard brush. Getsbn. 



BURIAL IN AN ERECT POSTURE. 



(Vol. viii., p. 5.) 



Your correspondent Cbeverells refers to the 

 "tradition" of one of the Harcourt family being 

 buried in an erect posture, and asks, " Is the pro- 

 bability of this being the case supported by any, 

 and what instances ? " As this Query has been 

 raised, it may be worth while to mention the fol- 

 lowing circumstance, as a singular illustration of 

 a remarkable subject ; though (as will be seen) 

 the actual burial in an erect posture is here also 

 probably " traditional." 



Towards the close of the last century, there 

 lived in Kidderminster an eccentric person of the 

 name of Orton (not that Orton, the friend of Dod- 

 dridge, who passed some time in the town), but 

 "Job Orton," the landlord of the Bell Inn. 

 During his lifetime he erected his tomb in the 

 parish churchyard, with this memento-mori Inscrip- 

 tion graven in large characters on the upper slab : 



" Job Orton, a man from Leicestershire ; 

 And when he's dead, he must lie under here." 



This inscription remains unaltered to this day, 

 and may be seen on the right-hand of the broad 

 walk on the north side of the spacious churchyard. 

 His coffin was constructed at the same time ; and, 

 until it should be required for other and personal 

 purposes, was used as a wine-bin. But, to carry 

 his eccentricity even to the grave, he left strict 

 orders that he should be buried in an erect posture : 

 and " tradition" (of course) says that his request 

 was complied with. Your correspondent says that 

 tradition "assigns no reason for the peculiarity" 

 of the Harcourt knight's burial ; but tradition has 

 been more explicit in Job Orton's case, whose 

 reason (?) for his erect posture in the tomb was, 

 that at the last day he might be able to rise from 

 his grave before his wife, who was buried in the 

 usual horizontal manner ! Job Orton appears to 

 have had a peculiar talent for the composition of 

 epitaphs ; as, in his more playful moments, he was 

 accustomed to tell his better-half that if he out- 

 lived her he should put the following lines on her 

 tombstone : 



" Esther Orton — a bitter, sour weed; 

 God never lov'd her, nor increas'd her seed." 



He seems, however, to have spared her this 

 gratuitous insult. As a farther illustration of the 

 characters of this singular couple, the following 

 anecdote is told. Esther Orton having frequently 

 declared, that she should " never die happy until 

 she had rolled in riches," Job, like a good hus- 

 band, determined to secure his wife's happiness. 

 Having sold some land for a thousand pounds, he 

 insisted that the money should be paid wholly in 

 guineas. Taking these home in a bag, he locked 

 his wife up in a room ; knocked her down, opened 

 his bag of guineas, and raining the golden wealth 

 upon her, rolled his Danae over and over in the 

 coin. " And now, Esther," said Job Orton, " thee 

 mayst die as soon as thee pleases : for thee'st had 

 thy wish, and rolVd in riches" 



CUTHBEBT BePE, B.A. 



lawyers bags. 



(Vol. vii., p. 557.) 



Additional evidence of the fact that lawyers 

 used to carry green bags towards the end of the 



