496 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 295. 



Cathedral Registers (Vol. xi., p. 445.). — In 

 answer to A., I can inform him that christenings 

 do still sometimes take place in cathedrals ; and 

 that the reason marriages are not often celebrated 

 there is, that cathedrals, not being parish churches, 

 would require to be licensed for the purpose. 

 This being very seldom done. It would require a 

 special license to have a marriage celebrated in a 

 cathedral, as has I believe been done sometimes. 



OXONIENSIS. 



Oxford. 



CromweWs Skull (Vol. v., p. 382.). — The fol- 

 lowing notices are perhaps worth insertion in 

 relation to this subject : 



" The curious head of Cromwell, which Sir Joshua 

 Eeynolds has had the good fortune to procure, is to be 

 shown to his majesty. How much would Charles the 

 First have valued the man that would have brought him 

 Cromwell's head ! " — A Newspaper Catting, Sept., 1786. 



" The Real Embalmed Head of the Powerful and Re- 

 nowned Usurper, Oliver Cromwell, styled Protector of the 

 Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland ; with 

 the Original Dyes for the Medals struck in honour of his 

 Victorv at Dunbar, &c. &c., are now exhibiting at No. 5. 

 in Mea I Court, Old Bond Street (where the Rattle-snake 

 was shown last year). A genuine Narrative relating to 

 the Acquisition, Concealment, and Preservation of these 

 Articles, to be had at the place of Exhibition." — Morning 

 Chronicle, March 18th, 1799. 



H. G. D. 



Passage in Gay (ydl. xi., p. 343.).^ — The cus- 

 tom in the last century does not seem so offensive 

 as the one described by Mr. Macaulay ; at least, 

 ticcording to W. Scott. What says Miss Vernon 

 in Rob Roy ? — "But here come cheese, radishes, 

 and a bumper to Church and King — the signal 

 for ladies and chaplains to retire." I quote from 

 memory. They might have let the poor chaplain 

 4rink that one toast, at least. Did they think that, 

 by waiting till the Church was drunk, the clergy- 

 man would be drunk too ? M. 



Stone Altars (Vol. xi., p. 426.). — A Protestant 

 fltone altar exists in the church of Bolton, in 

 Craven, Yorkshire. The slab is inscribed with 

 five crosses, and is in size and shape quite similar 

 to those used before the Reformation. On a 

 board kept beneath it is the following inscription ; 



" Ambrosius Pudsay Armiger et patronus Ecclesiaj de 

 Bolton dedit et erexit hoc altare A" D' 1703." 



K. P. D. E. 



NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC. 



The geographical position of the Crimea has made it the 

 scene, not casually, but by a certain necessity, of so many 

 historical catastrophes, that at the present moment, when 

 it is the theatre of events so pregnant with importance to 



the future welfare of Europe, every one is naturally 

 anxious to know somewhat of its history. Nothing will 

 supply this want belter than Archdeacon Grant's II!sto- 

 rical Sketch of the Crimea, originally prepared in fulfil- 

 ment of an engagement to deliver a lecture at a literary 

 institute in Hertfordshire, but as carefully prepared as if it 

 had been intended for a text-book for schools. It is a little 

 volume which all will read with interest — many with 

 great advantage, — for it tells all that is necessary to be 

 known in a plain, unaffected, and very pleasing manner. 



Mr. Kingsley, who can pour out liis fervid eloquence 

 alike in condemnation of a social wrong, or in praise of 

 the wonders of creation, has just issued a most seasonable 

 little volume, based on an article written by lum in the 

 North British Review. It is entitled Glaucus, or the 

 Wonders of the Shore, and is addressed more particularly 

 to those flying to the sea-side for "a .six-weeks' rest, free 

 from the cares of town business and the whirlwind of 

 town pleasures," and shows them that "there must be 

 many a thing worth looking at earnestly, and thinking 

 over earnestly, in a world like this, about the making of 

 the least part whereof God has employed ages and ages, 

 further back than wisdom can guess or imagination 

 picture." The book, like all real earnest books on natural 

 history, is one which will be read with delight. It is one 

 which may be added with advantage to the list of books 

 which every family takes with it as companions for sea- 

 side rambles; and lastl}', it contains many useful hints to 

 those who, having studied the wonders of the deep during 

 their summer excursion, may desire to continue those 

 studies by their own firesides, through the medium of 

 Vivaria. 



We have received the first volume of the Proceedings of 

 the Yorkstiire Philosophical Society. It contains no less 

 than twent3'-six papers on the archaeology and natural 

 history of the county of York. The articles are of the 

 most varied character, but are all most carefully written, 

 and the volume is one alike creditable to the writers, and 

 to the Society to which it owes its existence. 



The Rev. Joseph Hunter will, it is understood, be the 

 new Vice-President of the Societv of Antiquaries. This 

 again is a move in the right direction ; and will, we doubt 

 not, contribute to bring about that improved state of 

 things to which the revision of the statutes was the great 

 preliminary step. By-the-bj-e, we hope all parties who 

 contemplate " Restorations" will well consider the valu- 

 able suggestions upon this subject, lately put forth by 

 this Society. 



Books Received. — Life of George Washington, by 

 Washington Irving, Vol. I. Containing liis Early Life, 

 Expeditions into the Wilderness, and Campaiqiis on the 

 Border. In this little half-crown volume, we have the 

 first instalment of what is probably destined to become 

 the most popular Memoir of America's great President. 

 To the .same ptiblisher we are indebted for — 



The History of Russia from the Earliest Period to the 

 Present Time, by Walter K. Kelly, Vol. II., which com- 

 pletes the work, and forms a portion of Bohn's Standard 

 Library. 



The Natural History of Pliny translated, with Copious 

 Notes and lllustratio7is by the late John Bostook, M.I)., &c., 

 and T. H. Riley, Esq., B.A., Vol. II., which carries the 

 translation down to the Tenth Book — "The Natural 

 History of Birds." The notes upon this volume are both 

 numerous and valuable. 



The Poems of Shakspeare, edited by Robert Bell. In 

 this volume, one of the Series of the Annotated Edition of 

 the British Poets, we have a neatly-printed edition of 

 those poems which have been comparatively neglected, 

 from their merits having been overshadowed by those of 

 Shakspeare's dramatic productions. 



