no 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 37. 



reminding us of the probationary exercises which 

 the priests of Mithras forced the candidates for 

 initiation to undergo. T. J. 



Collar ofSS. (Vol. ii., p. 89.).— B. will find a 

 great deal about liiese collars in some interesting 

 papers in the Gentleman s Magazine for 1842, vols, 

 xvii. and xviii., communicated byMr. J.G. Nicholls ; 

 and in the Second Series of the Retrospective Re- 

 vieiv, vol. i. p. 302., and vol. ii. pp. 156.514.518. 

 Allow me to add a Query : Who are the persons 

 now privileged to wear these collars ? and under 

 what circumstances, and at what dates, was such 

 privilege reduced to its present limitation ? *. 



Martello Towers (Vol. ii., p. 9.). — A mis-spelling 

 for Mo7-tella towers. They are named after a 

 tower which commands the entrance to the har- 

 bour of St. Fiorenzo, in Corsica; but they are 

 common along the coasts of the Mediterranean. 

 They were built along the low parts of the Sussex 

 and Kent coasts, in consequence of the powerful 

 defence made by Ensign Le Tellier at the Tower 

 of Mortella, with a garrison of 38 men only, on 

 8th February, 1794, against an attack by sea, 

 made by the Fortitude and Juno, part of Lord 

 Hood's fleet, and by land, made by a detachment 

 of troops under ^Major-General Dundas. The two 

 ships kept up a fire for two hours and a half with- 

 out making any material impression, and then 

 hauled out of gun-shot, the Fortitude having lost 

 6 men killed and 56 wounded, 8 dangerously. The 

 troops were disembarked, and took possession of a 

 height commanding the tower; and 1 heir battering 

 was as unsuccessful, till a hot shot fell and set fire 

 to the bass-junk, with which, to the depth of five 

 feet, the immensely thick parapet wall was lined. 

 This induced the small garrison, of whom two were 

 mortally wounded, to surrender. The tower 

 mounted only one 6 and two 18-pounders, and the 

 carriage of one of the latter had been rendered 

 unserviceable during the cannonade. (See James' 

 Naval History, vol. i. p. 285.) The towers along 

 the English coast extend from Ilythe to Seaford, 

 where the last tower is numbered 74, at intervals 

 of about a quarter of a mile, exce])t where the 

 coast is protected by the cliffs. The tower at 

 Seaford is 32 feet high, with a circumference o*" 

 136 feet at the base, and gradually tapering to 90 

 feet at the top. The wall is 6 feet thick at the 

 top next the sea, and 2 feet on the land side. The 

 cost of each tower was very large, — from 15,000Z. 

 to 20,000Z. I am not aware of any blue book on 

 the subject : blue books were not so much in vogue 

 at the time of their erection, or perhaps a little less 

 would have been spent in these erections, and a 

 little more pains would have been taken to see that 

 they were properly built. Some liave been under- 

 mined by the sea and washed down already ; in 

 others, the facing of brick has crumbled away ; 



and in all the fancied security which the original 

 tower taught us to expect would be probably 

 lessened were the English towers subjected to an 

 attack. Wm. Duurant Cooper. 



".4 Frng he woidd a-wooing go" (Vol.ii., p. 75.). — 

 I know not whether this foolish ballad is worth the 

 notice it has already received, but I can venture 

 to say that the supposed Irish version is but a 

 modern variance from the old l)allad which I re- 

 member above sixty years, and which began — 

 " There was a frog lived in a well, 



Heiglio crowdie ! 

 And a merry mouse in a mill, 



With a liowdie crowdie, &c. &c. 

 This frog he would a-wooing go, 



Hc'igho crowdie ! 

 Whether his mother would let him or no, 



With a howdle crowdie," &c. 



Of the rest of the ballad I only remember 

 enough to be able to say that it had little or no 

 resemblance to the version in your last Number. 



C. 



William of Wijkeham (Vol. ii., p. 89.).— I. I 

 believe that there is no better life of this prelate 

 than that by Bishop Lowth. 



2. The public records published since he wrote 

 give several further particulars of "Wykeham's 

 early career, but a proper notice of them would be 

 too extended for your columns. 



3. When W. H. C. recollects that New College, 

 Oxford, the first of the works he names, was not 

 commenced till 1380, and that Wykeham had then 

 enjoyed the revenues of his rich bishopric for 

 nearly fourteen years, and had previously been in 

 possession of many valuable preferments, both lay 

 and ecclesiastical, for fourteen years more, he will 

 find his third question sufficiently answered, and 

 cease to wonder at the accumidation of that wealth 

 which was applied with wise and munificent libe- 

 rality to such noble and useful objects. 



I am not able to answer W. H. C.'s 4th and 5th 

 questions. *. 



Execution of Charles I. (Vol. ii., p. 72.). — The 

 late Mr. Rodd had collected several interesting 

 papers on this subject : and from his well-known 

 acquaintance with all matters relating to English 

 history, they are no doubt valuable. Of course 

 they exist. He offered them to the writer of this 

 note, on condition that he would prosecute the 

 inquiry. Other engagements prevented his avail- 

 ing himself of this liberal offer. J. M. 



Woburn Abbey. 



Suiords (Vol. i., p. 415.). — Swords "ceased to 

 be worn as an article of dress" through the in- 

 fluence of Beau Nash, and were consequently first 

 out of fashion in Bath. " We wear no swords 

 here," says Sir Lucius O'Trigger. Wedsecuarf. 



