June 29. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



67 



might possibly still exist, and, even if without 

 Ridley's name, or in an imperfect state, might yet 

 be identified, either from the handwriting or some 

 other circumstance. Do any of your correspon- 

 dents possess or know of any MS. on Election or 

 Free-will, of the time of the Reformation, which 

 might possibly be the missing treatise ? Things 

 turn up so curiously, in quarters where one would 

 least expect it, and sometimes after more than 

 three centuries, that one would willingly hope that 

 this lost treatise might even yet be found or iden- 

 tified. T. 

 Bath. 



LINES WRITTEN DUEING THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



The accompanying is from the pen of one of the 

 officers who bore a prominent position in one of 

 the expeditions under Sir Edward Parry in search 

 of a north-west passage. Not having been in 

 print, except in private circulation, it may be 

 deemed worthy of a place in your valuable journal. 



Arcticus. 



THOUGHTS ON NEW YEAr's DAY. 



" The moments of chasfen'd delight are gone by. 

 When n e left our lov'd homes o'er new regions to rove, 

 When the firm manly grasp, and the soft female sigh, 

 Mark'd the mingled sensations of friendship and love. 

 That season of pleasure has hurried away, 

 When tlirough far-stretching ice a safe passage we 



found *, 

 That led us again to the dark rolling sea. 

 And the signal was seen, ' On for Lancaster's 

 Sound.' f 



" The joys that were felt when we pass'd by the shore 

 Where no footsteps of Man had e'er yet been imprest. 

 When rose in the distance no mountain-tops hoar 

 As the sun of the ev'ning bright gilded the west, 

 Full swiftly they fled — and that hour, too, is gone 

 When we gain'd the meridian, assign'd as a bound 

 To entitle our crews to their country's first boon, 

 Hail'd by all as an omen the passage was found. 



" And pass'd with our pleasures are moments of pain, 

 Of anxious suspense, and of eager alarm. 

 Environ'd by ice, skill and ardour were vain 

 The swift-moving mass of its force to disarm — 

 Yet, dash'd on the bcEch and our boats torn away, 

 No anchors could hold us, nor cabk'.s secure ; 

 The dread and the peril expir'd with tlie day, 

 When none but jligli Heaven could our safety 

 ensure. 



" Involv'd with the ages existent before, 

 Ji the year that has brought us thus far on our way. 

 And gratitude calls us our God to adore, 

 For the oft-renewed mercies its annals disjilay. 



• Alltidiog to the ships crossing the barrier of ice 

 in Baffin's Bay, between Hope Sanderson and Pos- 

 session Bay. 



j- Teli'graph sip-nal made I)y H.M.S. " Hccla," on 

 getting into clear water in July, IS-IO, having suc- 

 ceeded in forcing through the barrier. 



The gloomy meridian of darkness is past, 

 And ere long shall gay spring bid the herbage revive ; 

 On the wide waste of ice she'll re-echo the blast, 

 And the firm prison 'd ocean its fetters shall rive. 



" W." 



FOLK LORE. 



Legend of Sir Richard Baker, surnamed Bloody 

 Baker. — I one day was looking over the difierent 

 monuments in Cranbrook Church in Kent, when in 

 the chancel my attention was arrested by one 

 erected to the memory of Sir Richard Baker. The 

 gauntlet, gloves, helmet, and spurs were (as is 

 often the case in monumental erections of Eliza- 

 bethan date) suspended over the tomb. What 

 chiefly attracted my attention was the colour of 

 the gloves, which was red. The old woman who 

 acted as my cicerone, seeing me look at them, said, 

 " Aye, miss, those are Bloody Baker's gloves ; their 

 red colour comes from the blood he shed." This 

 speech awakened my curiosity to hear more, and 

 with very little pressing I induced my old guide 

 to tell me the (bllowing strange tale. 



The Baker family had Ibrmerly large possessions 

 in Cranbrook, but in the reign of Edvfard VI. 

 great misfortunes fell on them; by extravagance 

 and dissipation, they gradually lost all their lands, 

 until an old house in the village (now used as the 

 poor-house) was all that remained to them. The 

 sole representative of the family remaining at the 

 accession of Queen Mary, was Sir Richard Baker. 

 He had spent some years abroad in consequence 

 of a duel; but when, said my informant. Bloody 

 Queeii Mary reigned, he thought he might safely 

 return, as he was a Papist. When he came to 

 Cranbrook he took up his abode in his old house; 

 he only brought one foreign servant with him, and 

 these two lived alone. Very soon strange stories 

 began to be whispered respecting unearthly shrieks 

 having been heard frequently to issue at nightfall 

 from his house. Many people of importance were 

 stopped and robbed in the Glastonbury woods, and 

 many unfortunate travellers were missed and never 

 lieard of more. Richard Baker still continued to 

 live in seclusion, but he gradually repurchased his 

 alienated property, although he was known to have 

 spent all he possessed before he left England. But 

 wickedness was not always to jn-osper. He formed 

 an apparent attachment to a young lady in the 

 neighbourhood, remarkable for always wearing 

 a great many jewels. He often pressed her to 

 come and see his old house, telling her he had 

 many curious things he wished to show her. She 

 had always resisted fixing a day for her visit, but 

 happening to walk within a short distance of his 

 house, she determined to surprise him with a visit ; 

 her companion, a lady older than herself, en- 

 deavoured to dissuade her from doing so, but she 

 would not be turned from her purpose. They 



