86 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 275. 



Minav ^utviti. 



Pope and " The Dunciad." — Do any of your 

 correspondents know of an edition of The Dun- 

 <nad (alone) in Timo. or small 8vo., of the date of 

 1750 ? Such an edition there certainly was. If 

 any gentleman happens to possess it, and would 

 kindly send it to the publisher's for my inspection, 

 it should be safely and thankfully returned in two 

 or three days. C. 



Gurney's " Burning of East Dereham.^' — An 

 Account of the lamentable Burning of East Dere- 

 ham, in the County of Norfolk, on the \st of July, 



1581, by Arthur Gurney, in verse, black letter, 



1582, London. Mentioned by Blomefield, who 

 refers to Anecdotes of Topography, p. 37 1 . 



Where can I meet with a copy of this scarce 

 poem ? I could not find it at the British Museum. 



G. A. C. 



Neilson Family. — What branch of the family 

 of Neilson bears the arms of the Neilson of Cor- 

 sack ; and what are the arms, crest, and motto, if 

 any ? The same information respecting the family 

 of Neilson of Grays ; Neilson of Craigcaffie ; 

 Neilson of Maxwood ; Neilson of Grangen ; Neil- 

 son of Galloway or Galway. In Naphtali, p. 323., 

 the name of John Neilson of Corsack is mentioned, 

 the said J. N. having died at Edinburgh, Dec. 14, 

 1666. The name of Neilson, jun. (I suppose the 

 son), appears in the list of fugitives. May 5, 1684. 

 The land which appertained to this family was 

 confiscated, it is said. Can you give any reliable 

 information on the subject ? To whom is it sup- 

 posed to have belonged ? 



The name William Neilson appears in the list 

 of provosts of Edinburgh, a. d. 1717-18. Who are 

 the descendants of this William Neilson, and what 

 were his arms, crest, motto, &c. ? 



In the time of Robert Bruce, one of the family 

 was entitled to bear two shields. What were 

 they, and to whom descending, with crest ? 



From what heraldic work can this be learned ? 



Ex Familia. 



P. S. — Would you kindly say whether the 

 Neilsons are descendants of the O'Neils, kings of 

 a province of Ireland ; or from whom supposed to 

 be descended, and how far back they can trace 

 their pedigree ? 



Lucifer'' s Lawsuit. — After having described the 

 dispute between Corcyra and Corinth, respecting 

 Epidamnus, at the beginning of the Peloponnesian 

 war, Niebuhr adds the following remark : 



" From a legal point of view, much might indeed have 

 been said on both sides to justify the interference : and if 

 the matter had been tried in a court of justice with all the 

 tricker}' of lawyers, very different decisions might have 

 been come to ; as in a very learned lawsuit of Lucifer 

 against Christ, for doing injury to paganism, which was 



composed in the seventeenth century." — Lect. on Anc. 

 Hittory, vol. ii. p. 39., ed. Schmitz. 



Can any of your correspondents explain this allu- 

 sion ? L. 



Husbandman. — What is the original signifi- 

 cation of this term ? In the present day we 

 usually understand by it an agricultural labourer, 

 a cottager, and such like. I have, however, seen 

 it put as an addition, in former times, to persons 

 whom I am disposed to think must have been in 

 a somewhat higher position in life than those 

 above mentioned. In Burn's History of Parish 

 Registers in England, p. 98., is an extract from 

 the register at Barwell, October 7, 1655, of "Mr. 

 Gregory Isham, attorney and husbandman ;" and 

 at Hawsted, p. 129. : 



" William Cawstone and Mary Baldwin, of this parish, 

 were married 8 Sept. [1710]. The said William is a 

 husbandman, and liable to pay 2s. Gd. as the king's 

 duty." 



C.J. 

 Talismanic Ping. — I have a ring in my posses- 

 sion to which my father attached superstitious 

 importance, and it bears the following inscription: 

 " C2. 0. A2. = M'. T2. R«. Talisman *." 



Can any of your readers enlighten me as to the 

 meaning of these signs, and inform me if such 

 rings are common ? G. C. 



11. Mark Lane. 



Booch or Butch Family. — Information is re- 

 quested as to the family of Booch or Butch, who 

 lived in Carlisle or its neighbourhood. Upwards 

 of one hundred years ago Elizabeth Booch (or 

 Butch) from Carlisle settled in Dublin. Her 

 father was an ensign in the army of William HI., 

 at the battle of the Boyne. Her husband's father 

 was an officer in James's army. He either belonged 

 to Tyrone, or settled in that county after the 

 revolution. Any information will interest 



A Descendant. 



Wolverhampton. 



Dramatic Queries. — Can you give me any in- 

 formation regarding the following curious drama, 

 the names of dramatis persona, &c. ? — The Manu- 

 script, an interlude, by William Lucas, 1809. This 

 drama is published in a volume along with The 

 Travels of Humanus in search of the Temple of 

 Happiness, an allegory. I would also be obliged 

 for any account of the author. Besides the works 

 I have mentioned, he has written The Fate of 

 Bertha,a poem, 4to., 1800; The Duellist; or Men 

 of Honour, London, 8vo., 1805, — a story calcu- 

 lated to show the folly, extravagance, and sin of 

 duelling. 



Can any of your readers give me the names of 

 the authors of the following dramas, all of which I 

 believe are very scarce ? — The Planters of the 



