Jan. 6. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



13 



it ? If such a preparation had no specific name, it might 

 very well be called ox-blood ; and the story may have 

 been understood at Athens in the same, manner in which 

 it has been understood down to our days ; namely, that 

 Themistocles killed himself with actual ox-blood." — Vol.i. 

 p. 361. 



With respect to this conjecture, perhaps some of 

 your correspondents will be able to state whether 

 prussic acid was known to chemists ninety or one 

 hundred years a^o ; and whether it has ever been 

 extracted from blood ? Moreover, does any other 

 example occur in antiquity (as stated by Niebuhr) 

 of a supposed suicide by drinking bull's blood ? L. 



Thirteen. — Fosbrooke, in the second volume of 

 his Antiquities, p. 797., under the head of "Popular 

 Superstitions," states, that " thirteen in company 

 was considered an unlucky number by the ancient 

 Romans." What classical authority has he for 

 this statement ? G. M. 



Edenhall, PeHrith. 



fRinax Queries tpt'tfi ^nSiotti. 



Hangman's Wages. — I have often heard this 

 term applied to the sum of thirteen pence half- 

 penny. What is the reason of its being so called ? 



In the London Review, No. 1. (April, 1835) 

 p. 39., hanging is spoken of as a cheaper punish- 

 ment than transportation ; " for the fee of the 

 executioner," says the reviewer, " with rope in- 

 cluded, seldom exceeds thirteen shillings and six- 

 pence." Is this correct? Is it possible that a 

 man could be induced to play the part of Jack 

 Ketch for so trifling sum as 13*. 6c?. ? 



H. Maetin. 

 Halifax. 



[Dr. Samuel Pegge addressed a paper to the Society of 

 Antiquaries on the vulgar notion, though it does not 

 appear to be a vulgar error, that thirteen-pence halfpenny 

 was the fee of the executioner at Tyburn, and hence it is 

 called hangman's wages. The Doctor saj's, " As to the fee 

 itself — thirteen-pence halfpenny — it appears to be of 

 Scottish extraction. The Scottish mark (merk), not ideal 

 or nominal money like our mark, was a silver coin, in 

 value thirteen-pence halfpenny and two plachs, or two- 

 thirds of a penny. This Scottish mark was, upon the 

 union of the two crowns in the person of James 1., made 

 current in England at the value of thirteen-pence half- 

 penny (without regarding the fraction), by proclamation, 

 in the first year of that king ; where it is said, that ' the 

 coin of silver called the mark piece, shall be from hence- 

 forth current within the said kingdom of England, at the 

 value of thirteen-pence halfpenny.' This, probably, was 

 a revolution in the current money in favour of the hang- 

 man, whose fee before was perhaps no more than a shil- 

 ling. There is, however, very good reason to conclude, 

 from the singularity of the sum, that the odious title of 

 hangman's wages became at this time, or soon after, appli- 

 cable to the sum of thirteen-pence halfpenny. Though it 

 was contingent, yet it was then very considerable pay; 

 when one shilling per day was a standing annual stipend 

 to many respectable officers of various kinds." Dr. Fegge's 

 article will be found in his Curialia Miscellanea, which 



has been copied into Hone's Table Book, vol. ii. p. 696, 

 Consult also the Gent. Mag. for Feb. 1821, p. 104. ; and 

 Dr. Grey's note in Hudibras, part iii. canto ii. line 751.] 



Ancient Carving. — Some eight years since a 

 gentleman residing in Ipswich purchased, at a 

 carpenter's shop in Harkstead, Suffolk, the remains 

 of a carved oak mantlepiece, consisting of two 

 semicircular pilasters, four grotesque supporters, 

 and two similar coats of arms. Crest, the head 

 and neck of a pard, on an esquire's helmet, shield, 

 and chevron between three pellets. The colours 

 are wanting. The outer pair of grotesques bear 

 the initials I. Gr., and the date 1638. Can any- 

 one lead to the discovery of the family to whom 

 this work of art belonged ? J. D. G- 



[The arms of Golding of Postlingford, and of Fornham, 

 both in CO. Suffolk, are — Gules, a chevron or between 

 three bezants. Richard Turner, of Great Thurlow, mar- 

 ried Susan, daughter of John Golding of Postlingford, 

 circa 1600—1612.] 



Jubilee of 1809. — Was there any detailed ac- 

 count published of the celebration of the Jubilee 

 of George III., which took place in 1809 ? 



^ , E.S.W. 



[Excepting Dr. Joseph Kemp's pamphlet, entitled The 

 Patriotic Entertainment, called the Jubilee, London, 1809, 

 we know of no other detailed account than what will be 

 found in the newspapers and periodicals of the time : see 

 especially Ackermann's Repositori/.'] 



Coat Armour. — To what names do the follow- 

 ing bearings belong ? Purpure (?), a chevron be- 

 tween three rabbits sejant argent. Argent, a 

 fess between three falcons rising sable. Quar- 

 terly, or and gules, four lions passant guardant, 

 counterchanged. Patonce. 



[The last coat is probably that of North Wales, the 

 colours being quarterly gules and or, the lions counter- 

 changed. (ArchcBologia, xxix. 407.) We cannot trace 

 the others.] 



d^tfilieg. 



QUAKERS EXECUTED IN NORTH AMERICA. 



(Vol. ix,, pp. 305. 603.) 



" In 1657 an order was passed ' that if any one brought 

 a Quaker, ranter, or other notorious heretic within the 

 jurisdiction of Plymouth colony, and should be ordered 

 by the magistrate to return him whence he came, they 

 should obey, or pay a fine of twenty shillings for every 

 week that such obnoxious person should remain in the 

 colony after such warning. 



" In despite of the twenty-shilling law, Quakers did 

 come within their precincts, and proclaim their hated 

 tenets. This gave occasion to a severer law, to the effect 

 that whoever should harbour or entertain any Quaker in 

 the colony would subject himself to a penalty of five 

 pounds for every offence, or a public whipping. 



" In October," 1657, Humphrey Norton was examined 

 by the court, who found him guilty of divers errors, and 

 banished him from the colony. He' returned, however, in 



