Mab. 17. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



205 



taken of it in such books as Bell's Reptiles, &c. 

 If we divest the description given of the creature 

 by the two countrymen who captured it, of the 

 over-colouring conveyed in machind ignevoma, 

 there is nothing unreasonable in the conjecture, 

 that a serpent of the size indicated might have 

 escaped from confinement out of a ship bringing 

 it as a curiosity to England or Holland. It could 

 doubtless have subsisted for several months in 

 such a locality as the Dunes, or Sandhills, near 

 Sandwich ; indeed one can scarcely imagine a 

 better place for it than those hot, sunny, exposed 

 wastes, with plenty of rabbits at hand. 



Also, is anything at all known of the apothecary 

 in whose possession at that time the stuffed ser- 

 pent was, viz. Mr. Charles Anat ? or of Mr. 

 Caspar Nirenius, the Dutchman ? or of Mr. D. 

 Sparkes, who acted the part of a guide to them in 

 their botanical excursions about that neighbour- 

 hood ? and those who have ever botanised that 

 part of Kent will readily acknowledge that a 

 guide is by no means superfluous, or, as the Rev. 

 G. E. Smith (in his pleasing Flora of South Kent) 

 tells us, speaking of the neighbourhood of Sand- 

 wich, an accurate map is indispensable. 



William Pamplin. 



AJtCHDEACON FUBHET. 



The Rev. Owen Manning, in his History of 

 Surrey *, mentions that the Rev. Richard Furney 

 was collated Archdeacon of Surrey, that he held 

 the livings of Houghton and Cheriton, Hants, and 

 that he assisted Thomas Hearne in Peter Lang- 

 toft's Chronicle, which he published at Oxford, 

 1725, in two vols. 8vo. Beyond this I have but 

 little to add to a memoir of this gentleman, and 

 shall be much obliged to any reader of " N . & 

 Q." who will render it perfect. He was M. A. of 

 Oriel College, Oxford, and I believe was, about 

 1720, Master t of the Crypt School in the city of 

 Gloucester, but resigned after three or four years, 

 when he obtained the preferment mentioned by 

 Manning. He was profoundly acquainted with 

 antiquities, and particularly those of the city and 

 county of Gloucester, and he left by will two folio 

 volumes of the antiquities of that county J to the 

 Bodleian Library. His Collections for the City of 

 Gloucester came after his decease into the hands of 

 the Rev. Richard Rogers, LL.B., of Oriel Col- 

 lege, and Incumbent of St. Mary de Crypt, Glou- 

 cester. These latter (making 129 pages) were 

 printed in Rudder's Gloucestershire through the 

 liberality of Mr. Rogers ; and Rudder, at p. 340., 



* Vol. i., Introduction, p. Ixxxviii, 



t Rudder's Gloucestershire, p. 128. 



j Gutch, in his Oxford, says he bequeathed books, 

 MSS., ancient deeds and charters, but erroneously states 

 he was Archdeacon of Gloucester, vol. ii. p. 947. 



makes his acknowledgments to him for the favour; 

 but upon Mr. Rudder applying to the Bodleiaa 

 Library for Mr. Furney's collections for the 

 county *, he was denied access to them. Thomas 

 Hearne speaks of him as his " learned friend," and 

 gives two letters from him in Peter Langtoft's 

 Chronicle.] The Rev. Thos. D. Fosbrooke (fli«- 

 tory of Gloucestershire, 2 vols. 4to.) speaks of him 

 repeatedly, and his History of the City of Glou- 

 cester; and the same author, in his History of the 

 City of Gloucester, fol. 1819, repeatedly quotes 

 from Mr. Furney. The death of Mr. Furney is 

 thus announced in the Public Advertiser of Fe- 

 bruary 22, 1753 : " Saturday last, Feb. 17, 1753, 

 died at his seat at Hucclecote, near Gloucester, 

 the Rev. Richard Furney, Archdeacon of Surrey.'* 

 It Is probable the Rev. Richard Rogers before 

 mentioned became possessed of Mr. Furney's 

 estate at Hucclecote ; and I have ascertained that 

 a James Furney was sheriff of the city of Glou- 

 cester in 1698, and became mayor in 1710. *. 

 Richmond, Surrey. 



History of Ireland. — Is there such a thing as a 

 good history of Ireland from the earliest period ? 

 If so, what is its title, and where is it to be had ? 



T. P. L. 



Colonel BellinghanCs Journal. — Mr. Wilde, m 

 his Beauties of the Boyne, speaks of, and has made 

 extracts from, a copy of the Journal of Colonel 

 Bellingham of Gernonstown, now Castle Belling- 

 ham : 



« Kept during the years 1688, 1689, 1690, including the 

 whole of King William's campaigns in Ireland during the 

 last year, when Colonel Bellingham attended the king, 

 and acted as a guide to the army till after the battle of 

 the Boyne." 



Some portions have been likewise printed by Mr. 

 D' Alton, in his History of Drogheda, and by the 

 Rev. John Graham ; and the original is in the 

 possession of Sir Alan Edward Bellingham, Bart., 

 of Castlo Bellingham, county of Louth. As Mr. 

 Wilde has asked, so do I : " Why has not all this 

 Journal been published ? " Abhba. 



Winckworth. — Captain John Winckworth 

 (Query Wentworth?) obtained large grants of 

 land in different counties of Ireland, Wexford, 

 Limerick, &c., during the Commonwealth. Can 

 any of your readers trace his descent ? Y. S. M. 



Gaffe's Offl^. -7- Information is desired on the 

 subject of Goffe's oak. It stands on the roadside 

 in the parish of Cheshunt, Herts, and from its im- 



* Manning, as before quoted. 



t Langtoft, by Hearne, vol. i. pp. 68. 201—206. 



