374 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[2nd §, No 19., May 10. °56. 
Are any of the readers of “N. & Q.” sufficiently 
versed in diplomatic forms to explain by what 
process this act of paraphing was performed by 
those same ‘“ undersigned ?” 
As the King of France had his particular pa- 
raph, said to have been a grate, are we to presume 
that each state had its own? 
The Fr. parafe or paraphe, the Sp. and It. 
parafo, are explained to be “ the flourish or knot 
added to one’s signature.” The good old lexico- 
grapher, Cotgrave, adds: ‘“ Also a subsignature or 
signing under.” The word, uncorrupted, para- 
graph, was formerly in use. 
Evelyn, in his Tract on the State of France, 
twice einploys it: 
“The Duke of Orleans, &c., &c., deliver them to the 
greffier or clerk, by whom they are to be allowed, that is, 
paragraphed in parchment.” 
“The king’s secretaries must first allow, and paragraph 
them.” (See in Richardson’s Dictionary.) 
Ts it not this same “ flourish,” above-named, that 
is referred to by Mr. Lockhart in his Life of Sir 
Walter Scott (vol.i. pp. 195, 196.), as one of “the 
little technical tricks ” learnt by Sir Walter during 
his clerkship, and continued to be practised while 
the Great Unknown: 
“Tallude particularly to a sort of flourish at the bottom 
of the page, originally, I presume, adopted as a safeguard 
against the intrusion of a forged line between the legiti- 
mate text and the attesting signature.” Q 
Bloomsbury. 
Minor Queries. 
Calvary. — Why is that holy site so constantly 
designated Mount Calvary? When was it first so 
spoken of ? and what authority is there for believ- 
ing to have been an elevated spot? C. W. W. 
—n. 
Gypsum, Bones, Guano. — Perhaps some of 
your agricultural readers can favour me with 
answers to the following Queries ? 
At wlfit period, and in what quarter, was gyp- 
sum first used as a manure to land ? 
When were bones, whether in the form of inch- 
bones or bone-dust, first used as a manure ? 
Can any one fix the precise date at which Pe- 
ruvian guano was first used as a manure? When 
was the Ichaboe guano discovered, and in what 
manner ? 
Who was the inventor of the broadcast sowing 
machine, for sowing grass-seeds and corn, and 
where was it first used ? Henry STervens. 
Mixed Marriages, — May I ask you, or some 
of your correspondents, to inform me whether a 
clergyman of the Established Church can legally 
refuse to marry a Protestant and a Roman Ca- 
tholic, assigning the religion of the latter as the 
reason for his refusal? This is taking for granted 
that the names have been duly called in the 
church, or that a licence from the Consistorial 
Court has been presented to him. 
Or (to view the matter in an earlier stage), 
can a clergyman of the Established Church legally 
refuse to call the names of a pair, one of them 
being a Roman Catholic ? 
I have never refused in such cases, but still I 
wish for information. ABHBA. 
Glassington and Birkhead Families. — Where 
can I gather information of these families, who 
for a long while were connected with Trinity 
Chapel, Knightsbridge ? The former as governors 
of the Lazar House; and the latter, I presume, 
were lessees under the Dean and Chapter of West- 
minster. Nicho. Birkhead, gouldsmith of London, 
as a tablet in front of the chapel describes him, 
rebuilt it in 1699; and some part of its com- 
munion plate was the gift of a Mrs. Mary Birk- 
head, as also its bell. Information regarding them 
will greatly oblige. 15 Cop DP 
Knightsbridge. 
Signal Whistle. — A few years ago a signal 
whistle of great power was constructed: it con- 
sisted of three tubes uniting in one mouthpiece ; 
at first the tubes were all of equal length, and 
when sounded produced a perfect concord; then 
two of them were cut unequally, so as with the 
third, which was left of the original length, to 
produce when sounded a perfect discord; and it 
was to this that the great power of the instrument 
was due (it was said it could be heard at the dis- 
tance of three miles). Where can I procure one 
now, and at what price ? PFEIFER. 
Capital Punishments. — When and where was 
hanging first used as a capital punishment in 
England? and what was the name of the first 
worthy who, in lieu of being indulged with “a 
chop or a stake,” was treated with “a drop too 
much” as a reward for his misdeeds ? 
At the same time, can you tell me if there 
exists any collected description of the capital 
punishments in use, or which have formerly been 
used, in other countries? I have notes of a few, 
and should be glad to add to the number. 
R. W. Hacxwoop. 
Blood which will not wash out. — 
“Yet here’s a spot.” — Macbeth, Act V. Sc. 1. 
I know a lone house where there is a red stain 
in a paving stone of the floor, and this stain is 
said to have been caused by a drop of blood from 
a man who was murdered many years since in the 
locality (Gloucestershire, N.), and whose body 
had been removed to this house. No washing will 
remove the spot, which I saw, and was told the 
above by the woman of the house. 
