224 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 228. 



ciently a feast immediately preceding Lent, which 

 lasted many days, called Carniscupium. In some cities 

 of France an officer was annually chosen, called Le 

 Prince d' Amoreux, who presided over the sports of the 

 youth for six days hefore Ash Wednesday. Some 

 traces of these festivities still remain in our Univer- 

 sities." In these degenerate days more is known, we 

 suspect, of pancakes and fritters, than of a football 

 match and a cock-fight: — the latter, we are happy to 

 say, is now almost forgotten among us. As to the 

 pancake custom, no doubt that is most religiously 

 observed by the readers of " N. & Q,.," in obedience to 

 the rubric of the Oxford Sausage : 



" Let glad Shrove Tuesday bring the pancake thin, 

 Or fritter rich, with apples stored within." 



According to Fitz-Stephen, " After dinner, all the 

 youths go into the fields to play at the ball. The 

 scholars of every school have their ball and bastion in 

 their hands. The ancient and wealthy men of the city 

 come forth on horseback to see the sport of the young 

 men, and to take part of the pleasure, in beholding 

 their agility." And till within the last few years : 

 ". . . . The humble play 



Of trap or football on a holiday, 



In Finsbury fields," — 

 was sufficiently common in the neighbourhood of 

 London and other places. See Brande's Popular An- 

 tiquities, vol. i. pp. 63 — 94. (Bonn's edition), and 

 Hone's Every-Day Book, vol. i. pp. 244. 255—260.] 



Vossioner; its Meaning. — In looking over a par- 

 cel of brass rubbings made some years since, I 

 find the word vossioner used, and not knowing its 

 signification, I should be glad to be enlightened 

 on the subject ; but, in order to enable your 

 readers to judge more correctly, I think it better 

 to copy the whole of the epitaph in which the 

 word occurs. The plate is in Ufton Church, near 

 Southam, county Warwick : it measures eighteen 

 inches in width by sixteen deep. 



" Here lyeth the boddyes of Richard Hoddomes, 

 Parsson and Pattron and Vossioner of the Churche and 

 Parishe of Oufton, in the Countie of Warrike, who 

 died one Mydsomer Daye, 1587. And Margerye his 

 WifFe w th her seven Childryn, as namelye, Richard, 

 John, and John, Anne, Jane, Elizabeth, Ayles, his iiii 

 Daughters, whose soule restethe with God." 



I give the epitaph verbatim, with its true or- 

 thography. There are some curious points in this 

 epitaph. First, the date of the death of the clergy- 

 man only is given ; second, the children are called 

 hers, while the four daughters are his; and two of 

 the sons bear the same Christian name, whilst only 

 one soul is said to rest with God. The family is 

 represented kneeling. Above the inscription, and 

 between the clergyman and his lady, is a desk, on 

 •which is represented two books lying open before 

 them. J. B. Whitborne. 



[Vossioner seems to be a corruption of the Italian 

 voseignor, your lord, or the lord, i.e. owner or pro- 



prietor. Many similar words were introduced by the 

 Italian ecclesiastics inducted into Church livings during 

 the sixteenth century. The inscription is given in Dug- 

 dale's Warwickshire, vol. i. p. 358.] 



The Game of Chess. — At what period was the 

 noble game of chess introduced into the British 

 Isles ; and to whom are we indebted for its intro- 

 duction among us ? B. Ashton. 



[The precise date of the introduction of this game 

 into Britain is uncertain. What has been collected 

 respecting it will be found in the Hon. Daines Bar- 

 rington's paper in Archceologia, vol. ix. p. 28. ; and in 

 Hyde's treatise, Mandragorias, seu Historia Shahiludii. 

 Oxonia?, 1694.] 



A Juniper Letter. — Fuller, in describing a letter 

 written by Bishop Grosthead to Pope Innocent IV., 

 makes use of a curious epithet, of which I should 

 be glad to meet with another instance, if it be not 

 simply a " Fullerism " : 



" Bishop Grouthead offended thereat, wrote Pope 

 Innocent IV. such a juniper letter, taxing him with 

 extortion and other vicious practices." — Church His- 

 tory, book in., a.d. 1254. 



J. M. B. 



[" A juniper lecture," meaning a round scolding 

 bout, is still in use among the canting gentry.] 



CLARENCE. 



(Vol.ix., p. 85.) 



Clarence is beyond all doubt the district com- 

 prehending and lying around the town and castle 

 of Clare in Suffolk, and not, as some have fanci- 

 fully supposed, the town of Chiarenza in the 

 Morea. Some of the crusaders did, indeed, ac- 

 quire titles of honour derived from places in 

 eastern lands, but certainly no such place ever 

 gave its name to an honorary feud held of the 

 crown of England, nor, indeed, has ever any 

 English sovereign to this day bestowed a territorial 

 title derived from a place beyond the limits of his 

 own nominal dominions ; the latest creations of the 

 kind being the earldoms of Albemarle and Tan- 

 kerville, respectively bestowed by William III. 

 and George I., who were both nominally kings of 

 Great Britain, France, and Ireland. In ancient 

 times every English title (with the exception of 

 Aumerle or Albemarle, which exception is only an 

 apparent one) was either personal, or derived from 

 some place in England. The ancient earls of 

 Albemarle were not English peers by virtue of 

 that earldom, but by virtue of the tenure of lands 

 in England, though, being the holders of a 

 Norman earldom, they were known in England 

 by their higher designation, just as some of the 



