468 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 238. 



MSS. is of a much later date than the body of it. 

 He had, I think, two other sons at least, who are 

 not in the books, namely, Godfrey and William. 

 The name is sometimes called " Boswell." Was 

 the younger Ralph's wife, Mary, daughter of 

 Alveray Copley of Eatley ? Y. S. M. 



Major- General Wolfe. — The following MS. is 

 advertised for sale. Is anything known con- 

 cerning it ? 



" A Copy of Orders written by Major- General Woolfe ; 

 an important unpublished Historical MS. This 

 valuable collection commences with • General 

 Orders to be observed by a regiment on their 

 arrival in Scotland, 174S.' At p. 55. begin 

 'Orders by Major-General Woolfe in America: 

 Halifax, April 30, 1759.' They continue dated 

 from Louisburg, Point Orleans, Montmorenci, 

 Cape Rouge, &c, to the last, which is dated on 

 board the Sutherland, off St. Nicholas, Sept. 12th, 

 the day before the scaling the heights of Abraham ; 

 no doubt the last issued by Woolfe, as on that 

 day (13th) he fell in battle. There is no clue in 

 the MS. to its compiler; it consists of 103 pages 

 4to„ beautifully written, with MS. Plan of Order 

 of Battle, of the army commanded by General 

 Woolfe in America, 17S9. It is believed that no 

 printed copy exists of these valuable papers, which 

 are of the highest importance to the Historian, as 

 a slight extract will show. Small 4to., calf. 



« Sept. 12. The Sutherland, at anchor off St. Ni- 

 cholas : — The enemies' forces are not divided ; 

 great scarcity of provisions in the camp, and 

 universal discontent amongst the Canadians. 

 The second officer in command is gone to 

 Montreal or St. John's, which gives reason to 

 think that Governor Amherst is advancing into 

 that colony. A vigorous blow struck by the 

 army at this juncture might determine the fate 

 of Canada. Our troops below are ready to 

 join us; all the light infantry and tools are 

 embarked at the Point of Levi, and the troops 

 will land where the enemy seems least to expect 

 it.'" 



J. Balch. 

 Philadelphia. 



Custom at University College, Oxford. — What 

 is the origin of the following custom observed at 

 this college ? On every Easter Sunday the repre- 

 sentation of a tree, dressed with evergreens and 

 flowers, is placed on a turf, close to the buttery, and 

 every member there resident, as he leaves the Hall, 

 after dinner, chops at the tree with a cleaver. The 

 collejre-cook stands by holding a plate, in which 

 the Master deposits half a guinea, each Fellow five 

 shillings, and the other members two shillings and 

 sixpence each : this custom is called " chopping at 

 the tree." When was this custom instituted, and 

 to what circumstance are we to attribute its origin ? 

 W T ho presented to the chapel of this College the 

 splendid eagle, as a lectern, which forms one of its 



chief ornaments ? Was it presented by Dr. Rad- 

 cliffe, or does it date its origin from the happy reign 

 of Queen Mary ? M. A. 



" Old Dominion." — It is stated in a newspaper 

 that the term " Old Dominion," generally applied 

 here to the state of Virginia, originated from the 

 following facts. During the Protectorate of 

 Cromwell the colony of Virginia refused to ac- 

 knowledge his authority, and sent to Flanders for 

 Charles II. to reign over them. Charles accepted, 

 and was about to embark, when he was recalled to 

 the throne of England. Upon his accession, as a 

 reward for her loyalty, he allowed the colony to 

 quarter the arms of England, Ireland, and Scot- 

 land, as an independent member of the " Old 

 Dominion : " whence the term. What truth is 

 there in this story ? Penn. 



" Wise men labour" $~c. — 



On the fly-leaf of Sir Roger Twysden's copy of 

 Stow's Annates are the following lines, dated 1643 : 

 " Wise men labour, good men grieve, 

 Knaves devise, and fooles believe ; 

 Help, Lord ! and now stand to us, 

 Or fooles and knaves will quite undoe us, 

 Or knaves and fooles will quite undoe us." 



From whence are these lines taken ? L. B. L. 



ttinat fautritg im'tft &u£men>\ 



Dame Hester Temple. — "Lady Temple lived 

 to see seven hundred of her own descendants : she 

 had thirteen children." I have extracted this 

 "sea-serpent" from an extract in Burke from 

 Fuller's Worthies, but I am unable to refer to the 

 original for confirmation of this astounding fact : 

 if true it is wonderful. Y. S. M. 



[Fuller's amusing account of Dame Hester Templo 

 will be found in his Worthies of Buckinghamshire, vol. 5. 

 p. 210. edit. 1840. He says : " Dame Hester Temple, 

 daughter to Miles Sands, Esq., was born at Latmos in 

 this county, and was married to Sir Thomas Temple, 

 of Stow, Baronet. She had four sons and nine 

 daughters, which lived to be married, and so exceed- 

 ingly multiplied, that this lady saw seven hundred 

 extracted from her body. Reader, I speak within 

 compass, and have left myself a reserve, having bought 

 the truth hereof by a wager I lost. Besides, there 

 was a new generation of marriageable females just at 

 her death ; so that this aged vine may be said to 

 wither, even when it had many young boughs ready 

 to knit. 



" Had I been one of her relations, and as well 

 enabled as most of them be, T would have erected a 

 monument for her — thus designed. A fair tree should 

 have been erected, the said lady and her husband lying 

 at the bottom or root thereof; the heir of the family 

 should have ascended both the middle and top bough 

 thereof. On the right hand hereof her younger sons, 



