406 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 108. 



the crown. In 1627, Sir Jolin Finett says he re- 

 ceived news of the death of Sir Lewis Lewknor, by 

 which, in right of his Majesty's grant of reversion 

 by letters jiatent, he became sole Master of the 

 Ceremonies — an office which he before held jointly 

 with Sir Lewis Lewlsnor. S. E. G. 



286. Cause of Trmisparency. — Seeinj^ through 

 the glass of ray window a landscape, and not know- 

 ing lohy I see through the glass, and not through the 

 shutters, I will thank one of your philosophical 

 correspondents to tell me the cause of transparency. 



-3Dgrotus. 



287. Gold Medal of late Duke of York.—l have 

 a small gold medal, three-quarter inch in diameter, 

 a head with inscription — 



" Fredericus dux Ehorac." 

 and Rev. : 



" Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit. Non. Ian. 1827." 

 Were many such struck at the duke's de;ith, or 

 what is the history of it ? A. A. D. 



288. Compositions during the Protectorate. — 

 Where is there any account or list of these ? In 

 Oldfield's History of Waiiifleet, p. 12. Appendix, 

 is a " List of Residents in the County of Lincoln 

 who compounded for their Estates during the 

 Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell;" but he gives 

 no authority or reference. Where can this list be 

 checked, as I suspect an error ? W. II. L. 



Fulhara. 



289. Bristol Tables. — Upon the pavement in 

 front of the Exchange, Bristol, there are iburvery 

 handsome bronze tables standing, upon a single 

 pedestal each ; the tops circular, about two feet in 

 diameter, with a slightly raised edge round them. 

 It is said that they wei"e presented to the Bristol 

 merchants for them to pay their money upon ; 

 but when, or by whom, they were so given, I have 

 not been able to learn. A friend of mine who 

 was lately examining them was told that they 

 were formerly called " Nails," and gave rise to the 

 saying, " Pay down upon the nail :" this I should 

 think must be an error. " Solvere ad unguem" 

 would be found to be older than they are. If any 

 of your correspondents can give me any informa- 

 tion respecting them, I shall be obliged. E. N. W. 



Southwark. 



290. Mucfarlane's Geographical Collection. — 

 In almost every work treating of the history and 

 topographical antiquities of Scotland, we are re- 

 ferred to Macfarlunes Geographical Collection, 

 preserved in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. 

 This MS., and its author, are very little known, 

 except by name, henorth the Tay, notwithstanding 

 they are so often quoted. I should be glad if any 



of your correspondents would give me any in- 

 formation regarding the extent of country em- 

 braced, I. e. parishes, counties, &c. ; and if any 

 part of it has been published jier se, and when, 

 and where. Antiqxiaeiensis. 



Inverness. 



291. " -4cM tiriali me?'idi." — At the head of an 

 English metrical discourse upon the administration 

 of justice, in a MS. of the fourteenth or fifteenth 

 century, in the Public Library, Cambridge, is 

 placed the following obscure motto, upon which, 

 perhaps, some correspondent can throw light : — 



" O judex vi feivida haiie servabis artem, 

 Acu tinali merida .i. audi alteram partem." 



I have not seen the MS., but am told that the 

 correctness of the reading may be depended upon. 



C. W. G. 



292. Sir Joshvu Beynolds. — Having the early 

 catalogues of the Royal Academy before me, I 

 see that in 1773 and following years, Sir Joshua 

 exhibited twelve or thirteen works. You will find 

 they stand as current Nos. in the list. Can you 

 inform me whether they hung on the line, that is, 

 in the space of privilege, or took their chance with 

 the many ? Had they, under his own eye, been 

 grouped together, what a treat it must have been 

 to see them ! What an evidence of the industry 

 of the man ! Though too late in the day to 

 obtain these details from actual observation, 

 enough may be recorded or remembered through 

 others, to assist in throwing light on the rules and 

 customs of past days, which never can be deficient 

 in interest while they tend to illustrate the habits 

 and character of great men. 



You could touch no topic more interesting than 

 this must prove to the increasing curiosity seekers 

 in your useful and amusing repertorium, and your 

 attention to it will be valued by A Layman. 



Athenasiim Club. 



293. Great Plough at Castor Church. — Can 

 any of your correspondents give me the history of, 

 or afford me any intelligence about, the large 

 plough which Dibdin, in his Northern Tour, vol. i. 

 p. 44., tells us is about twenty feet in length, and 

 suspended in Castor Church, extending from one 

 transept to the other ? In a foot-note on the same 

 church, he speaks of a curious ceremony, as prac- 

 tised there every Palm Sunday, respecting a pe- 

 culiar tenure. 1 do not find it referred to in any 

 other account of Castor Church. Bourne, in his 

 Antiquities, vol. i. p. 130., gives the history of it, 

 but says it is practised at Caistor Church in Lin- 

 colnshire. Is the doctor right in his statement ? 

 I would also be glad to know whether it is still 

 continued at Caistor Church, as some years ago 

 an act was tried for in the House to abolish it. 



R. W- Elliot. 

 Hull. 



