Jan. 21. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



55 



been bought, and were surprised when the brass 

 plate was pointed out to them. 



The table is a round one, and rather pretty 

 looking, about two feet and a half in diameter, 

 and supported on one leg. It does not look like 

 a table used for writing, but rather resembles a 

 lady's work-table. The wood with which it is 

 veneered has something the appearance of beef 

 wood. 



Wilkinson's shop does not now exist : he used 

 to deal in curiosities, and was employed as an 

 auctioneer. 



The gentleman who bought this table is de- 

 sirous of ascertaining at what tirrie the table still 

 shown at Fontainebleau, as that on which the ab- 

 dication was signed, was first exhibited : whether 

 immediately after the restoration of the Bourbons, 

 or later, in consequence of a demand for shows of 

 that sort ? Whether it is a fact that the Bourbons 

 turned out the imperial furniture from Fontaine- 

 bleau and other palaces after their return ? 



The date, " cinq d'Avril," is wrong ; the abdi- 

 cation was signed on the 4th. This error, how- 

 ever, leads one to suspect that the table is genuine : 

 as any one preparing a sham table would have 

 been careful in referring to printed documents. 

 From the tenor of the inscription, we may infer 

 that it is the work of a Royalist. 



The Marshals present with Napoleon when he 

 signed his abdication were Ney, Oudinot, and 

 Lefevre ; and perhaps Caulincourt. A Cantab. 



University Club. 



DEATH WARNINGS IN ANCIENT FAMILIES. 



I marvel much that none of your contributors in 

 this line have touched upon a very interesting 

 branch of legendary family folk lore, namely, the 

 supernatural appearances, and other circumstances 

 of a ghostly nature, that are said to invariably pre- 

 cede a death in many time-honoured families of the 

 united kingdoms. 



We have all heard of the mysterious " White 

 Ladye," that heralds the approach of death, or 

 dire calamity, to the royal house of Hohenzollern. 

 In like manner, the apparition of two gigantic 

 owls upon the battlements of Wardour is said to 

 give sad warning to the noble race of Arundel. 

 The ancient Catholic family of Middleton have 

 the same fatal announcement made to them by 

 the spectral visitation of a Benedictine nun ; 

 while a Cheshire house of note, I believe that of 

 Brereton, are prepared for the last sad hour by 

 the appearance of large trunks of trees floating in 

 a lake in the immediate vicinity of their family 

 mansion. To two families of venerable antiquity, 

 and both, if I remember right, of the county of 

 Lancashire, the approaching death of a relative is 

 made known in one case by loud and continued 



knock ings at the hall door at the solemn hour of 

 midnight ; and in the other, by strains of wild 

 and unearthly music floating in the air. 



The " Banshee," well known in Ireland, and in 

 the highlands of Scotland, is, I believe, attached 

 exclusively to families of Celtic origin, and is 

 never heard of below the Grampian range ; al- 

 though the ancient border house of Kirkpatrick 

 of Closeburn (of Celtic blood by the way) is said 

 to be attended by a familiar of this kind. 



Again, many old manor-houses are known to 

 have been haunted by a friendly, good-natured 

 sprite, ycelpt a " Brownie," whose constant care 

 it was to save the household domestics as much 

 trouble as possible, by doing all their drudgery 

 for them during the silent hours of repose. Who 

 has not heard, for instance, of the " Boy of 

 Hilton ? " Of this kindly race, I have no doubt, 

 many interesting anecdotes might be rescued from 

 the dust of time and oblivion, and preserved for 

 us in the pages of " N. & Q." 



I hope that the hints I have ventured to throw 

 out may induce some of your talented contri- 

 butors to follow up the subject. 



John o' the Foed. 



Malta. 



THE SCABLET REGIMENTALS OF THE ENGLISH 

 ARMY. 



When was the English soldier first dressed in 

 red ? It has been said the yeomen of the guard 

 (vulgo Beef-eaters) were the company which ori- 

 ginally wore that coloured uniform ; but, seventy 

 years before they were established, viz. temp. 

 Henry V., it appears the military uniform of his 

 army was red : 



" Rex vestit suos rubro, et parat transire in Nor- 

 maniam." — Archaolog. Soc. Antiquary Lond., vol. xxi. 

 p. 292. 



William III. not only preferred that colour, but 

 he thought it degrading to the dignity of his 

 soldiers that the colour should be adopted for the 

 dress of any inferior class of persons ; and there is 

 an order now extant, signed by Henry, sixth Duke 

 of Norfolk, as Earl Marshal, dated Dec. 20, 1698, 



" Forbidding any persons to use for their liveries scar- 

 let or red cloth, or stuff; except his Majesty's servants 

 and guards, and those belonging to the royal family 

 or foreign ministers." 



William IV., who had as much of true old 

 English feeling as any monarch who ever swayed 

 the English sceptre, ordered scarlet to be the 

 universal colour of our Light Dragoons; but two 

 or three years afterwards he was prevailed upon, 

 from some fancy of those about him, to return to 

 the blue again. Still, it is well known that dress- 

 ing our Light Dragoons in the colour prevailing 



