Aug. 10. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



167 



or information upon any points connected with 

 the subject of Treasure Trove will be thankfully 

 received by, Effessa. 



Poeta Anglicus.— The. gloss on the Prooemium 

 to the Constitutions of Clement V., col. iv. " Corp. 

 Jur. Can." t. iii. Liigd. 1671, has the following 

 renaark : — 



" Et dicitur a Paper, quod est, interjeetio admirantis, 

 et vere admirabilis : quia vices Dei in terris gerit. Inde 

 dixit ille Anglicus in poetria nova : Papa stupor mundi. 

 Et circa fin., Qui maxima rerum, nee Deus es nee homo, 

 quasi neuter es inter utrumque." 



Who is the Anglicus Poeta ? What is the name 

 of his poem? J. B. 



Hornbooks. — Can either of your numerous in- 

 telligent readers give me an account of the horn- 

 books from which our ancestoi-s learned their let- 

 ters? If so, 1 shall feel especially obliged for the 

 information. John Times. 



Sen Jonson, or Sen Johnson. — Among some 

 papers I possess of the Diuby family, I have an 

 autograph poem on The Picture of the Minde of 

 the Lady Venetia Digbt/, by Ben "Johnson." 

 Is this the same as Ben " Jonson ?" and, if so, how 

 comes it the "h" has been dropped from his 

 name ? Or was there some other Bun " Johnson," 

 a poet of that period ? N. A. B. 



MS. Soak of Prayers belonging to Queen 

 Catherine Parr. — In vol. Ix. of the Gentleman s 

 Magazine is a description of a MS. book of 

 prayers, bound in silver, which probably belonged 

 to Queen Catherine Parr. Can yon or any of your 

 numerous readers inform me in whose possession 

 the volume is nowf J. L. W. 



Waltheof — De Combre Family — Pda. — In 

 Waltheof or the Siege of Yorli, an historical drama 

 published at York, 1832, one of the dramatis per- 

 sonce, Judith, the niece of the Conqueror, and 

 daughter of ilie Countess of Albemarle, is made to 

 say,— 

 •* When gallant IValtheof, as his countnfs champion. 



On bus'ness of liigli import and higli inatteis, 



Oft at my royal uncle s court appeared. 



We married privately. 



Ttvo years and more have passed since this has hap- 

 pened, 

 And one sweet pledge of love has crowned our vows." 



Now I am anxious to know, 



1. Whether there be any historical authority for 

 Waltheof l)cing sent as envoy to William? and, 

 if 80, on what mission ? 



2. Is it not the more correct account, that the 

 Conqueror gave his niece Juditii in marriage to 

 Waltheof oykv the surrender of the city, [at the 



same time that he conferred other honours upon 

 him, out of respect for his brave defence of the 

 city ; creating him, first. Earl of Northampton and 

 Huntingdon,\nid afterwards Earl of Northumber- 

 land, A.D. 1070]. And if so, as Waltheof could 

 certainly not have had any " pledge of love" before 

 the siege of York; so neither is it probable that 

 he had any issue at all by Judith, as in the same 

 year, 1070, he was beheaded by William, for sup- 

 posed participation in a conspiracy at York. 



The above drama is said to be " by a descendant 

 of one of the dramatis personcB,'' viz. of " De 

 Combre, one of William's generals;" being written 

 by Rev. Thomas Comber, of Oswaldkirk, York- 

 shire. This De Combre is represented as having 

 married Ilda, a daughter of King Harold, and 

 sister of Edgar. Can any of your correspondents 

 furnish me with information as to the origin and 

 antiquity of this family of Comber? I learn from 

 the present representatives of this family, that they 

 have no recorded pedigree which goes higher than 

 the reign of Henry VI., but that the family tradi- 

 tion has always been, that their ancestor came over 

 from Normandy with William, and married Ilda, 

 daughter of Harold. It seems that the name of 

 Ilda is at this very day borne by one of the family. 

 In the Memoirs of Dr. ThoJnas Comber, Dean of 

 Durham, this De Combre is said to have had the 

 manor of Barkham, in Sussex, given to him by the 

 Conqueror. What family had King Harold II. ? 

 Hud he any daughter Ilda ? and, if so, is there any 

 record or mention of her husband's name ? 



T.E.L.L. 



19th July, 18.^0. 



'■• De male quwsitis" ^'c. — Spelraan's striking ar- 

 gument, that spoliated church property is seldom 

 enjoyed for more than three generations, seems 

 but a special application of a general principle, — 



" De male (jua?sitis gaudet non tertius lia^ra^s." 



Can any of your readers tell me who is the author 

 of the above verse? I find it quoted as "an 

 adage " by John Gadsbury, in his work Oa the 

 Doctrine of Nativities, 1658. R. P. 



Westminster Abbey. — The late Sir Harry En- 

 •jlefield is known to have had access to some of the 

 original fabric accounts of this venerable structure. 

 Can any of your readers inform me whether he 

 published the information he may have obtained 

 from those documents; and, if so, where it may be 

 found ? J. Bt. 



Ilaberdashe) Martinet. — Can any of your 



corres]>ondenl9 suggest an etymology for the word 

 haberdasher f I ought, ])erhaps, to say that I am 

 ac(piaiutcd with the derivations propounded by 

 Mr. Richardson, but consider them all unsatisfac- 

 tory. While on tlie subject, I would also ask if 

 Mr. Richardson's Dictionary is considered the best 



