Mar. 8. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



181 



that, under the civil cominotions in the reign of 

 Charles I. the MS. in my possession came into 

 the hands of General Fairfax, and thence into thase 

 of John Thorcsby : so that no blame can possibly 

 attach to the present, or even some past, genera- 

 tions, of the curators of any library, whether cathe- 

 dral or {jrivate. It is, at all events, desirable to 

 trace the pedigree of existing MSS. of important 

 works, where such information is attainable. 



Perhaps some of your correspondents may be 

 able to inforni me wliat became of the library of 

 Ralph Thoresby ; lor into his possession, there can 

 be little doubt, it came from his father. J. M. 



Tl\e Potters and Shepherd's Keepsakes. — In the 

 cabinet of a lover of Folk-lore are two quaint and 

 humble memorials by which two " inglorious 

 Miltons " have perpetuated their affection, each in 

 characteristic sort. The one was a potter; the 

 otiier, probalily, a sheplierd. The " pignus amoris" 

 of the former is a small earthenware vessel in the 

 shape of a book, intended apparently to hold a 

 " nosegay" of flowers. The book has yellow 

 clasps, and. is authentically inscribed on its sides, 

 thus : 



" The . I.,ove . Is . True. 



That . 1 . owe . You. 



Tlieii . se . you . Bee. 



The . Like . To . Mee. 



( On the other side. ) 



"The . Gift . Is . Small. 



Good . will . Is . alL 



Jeiieuery . y= ] 2 day. 



1688." 



The shepherd's love gift is a wooden implement, 

 very neatly carved, and intended to hold knitting- 

 needles. On the front it has this couplet : 



" WHEN THIS YOV SKE 

 RE.MEMBEll MEE . MW. 



( On one side. ) 

 MW. 1673." 

 To an uninformed mind these sincere records of 

 lionest men seem as much " signs of the times" as 

 the j>erfunied sonnets dropped by expiring swains 

 into tiie vases of " my lady Betty," and " my lady 

 Bab," with a view to publication. H. G. T. 



Writing-paper. — I have long been subject to 

 what, in my case, I feel to be a serious annoyance. 

 For the last twenty years I have been unable to 

 purchsise any letter-paper which I can write upon 

 with comfi)rt and satisfaction. At first, I was al- 

 lowed to choose between plain and bol-j)ressed ; 

 but now I find it impossible to meet with any, 

 wliidi is not glazed or smeared over witli some 

 greasy (roating, which renders it very disagreeable 

 for use with a common ([uill — and I cannot en- 

 dure a steel pen. My style of writing, which is a 



strong round Roman hand, is only suited for a 

 quill. 



Can any of your correspondents put me in the 

 way of procuring the good honest letter-paper 

 which I want ? I have in vain applied to the 

 stationers in every town within my reach. Would 

 any of the paper-mills be disposed to furnish me 

 with a ream or two of the unglazed, plain, and 

 unhotpressed paper which I am anxious to obtain? 



Whilst I am on this subject, I will take occasion 

 to lament the very great inferiority of the paper 

 generally which is employed in printing books. It 

 may have a fine, glossy, smooth appearance, but its 

 texture is so poor and flimsy, that it soon frays or 

 breaks, without the greatest cave ; and many an 

 immortal work is committed to a miserably frail 

 and perishable material ! 



A comparison of the books which were printed 

 a century ago, with those of the present day, will, 

 I C(mceive, fully establish the complaint which I 

 venture to make ; and I would particularly remark 

 upon the large Bibles and Prayer Books which are 

 now printed at the Universities for the use of our 

 churches and chapels, which are exposed to much 

 wear and tear, and ought, therefore, to be of more 

 substantial and enduring texture, but are of so 

 flimsy, brittle, and cottony a manufacture, that 

 they require renewing every three or four years. 

 " Laudator temporis acti." 



Little Casierton (Ttutland') Church. — Within the 

 communion rails in the church of Little Castertoit, 

 Rutland, there lies in the pavement (or did lately) 

 a stone, hollowed out like the basin or drain of 

 a piscina, which seme church-hunters have sup- 

 posed to be a ])iscina, and have noticed as a great 

 singularity. The stone, however, did not origin- 

 ally belong to this church ; it was brought from 

 the neighbouring site of the desecrated church of 

 Pickworth, by the late Reverend Richard Two- 

 peny, who held the rectory of Little Casterton 

 upwards of si.xty years ; he had long seen it lying 

 neglected among the ruins, and at length brought 

 it to his own church to save it from destruction. 



It may be interesting to some of your readers 

 to learn tliat in the chancel of Little Casterton 

 are monumental brasses of an armed male and 

 a female figure, the latter on the sinister side, with 

 the following inscription in black letter : — 



" Hie jacet Dns Thomas Burton miles quondam 

 diis de Tohhorp ac ecclesise. . . . patronus qui obiit 

 kaleiidas Aiigusti. . . . diia Margeria uxor ejus 

 sinistris quor?. alubus ppioietur deus amen." 



R.C.H. 



The Hippopotamus (Vol. ii., pp. 35. 277.).— I can 

 refer your corres])ondent L. (Vol. ii , p. 35.) to one 

 more example of a Greek writer using tiic word 

 lwvinr6Taix«f, viz., the Hieroglyphics of IlorapoUo 

 Niious, lib. i. 50. (I quote from the edition by 

 A. T. Cory. Pickering, 1840): 



