108 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2'"J S. VI. 136., Aug. 7. '58. 



■which j'Oii'U know bv his letter. There being no sure 

 hand, I remitted a bill to Mr. Charles Patersonne last 

 week, which is payable at fourteen daj-s sight; and de- 

 sired him to pay you 32/., and take my note with our 

 acquitance upon it to me and Mr. Crow, to whom I en- 

 dorced the bill, and gave it to Mr. Paterson with any let- 

 ters of Mr. Crow's about it. For the exchange now it must 

 make more. I am far more obliged to my kind friend 

 Turner, who may assure himself of a true friend to the 

 utmost of my power. Mr. Crow gives his kind service to 

 yon. I shall be glad to hear from you, and know how all 

 my friends are. If you'll favour me with any news, 

 they'l be most acceptable to 



" Yours, most sineerelj', 

 "James Andersos." 



J. M. 



Minat HattS. 



Extraordinary Literary Blunder. — Dr. Johnson, 

 in reference to the -word Curmudgeon, says, — " It 

 is a vicious manner of pronouncing caur me.chant*, 

 Fr. an unknown correspondent." The author or 

 printer of Dr. Ash's Dictionary (editions of 1775 

 and 1795) imagined that " an unknown cor- 

 respondent" was Johnson's translation of caiur 

 mechant, as is evident from the following extract 

 from Ash's Dictionary : — " Curmudgeon {s. from 

 the French coeur, unknotvn, and mechant, a cor- 

 respondent), a miser, a churl." R. E. 



Dryden's Funeral. — In Luttrell's Diary (Ox- 

 ford, 1857), it says, under the entry for May 14, 

 1701 : — 



" Yesterday Mr. Dryden was carried in great state 

 from the College of Physicians to Westminster Abbey, 

 and interred next Chaucer and Cowley. — 11th June. Fixed 

 on Mr. Dryden's tomb in Westminster Abbey." 



Then follows this epigram : — 



" John Dryden had enemies three. 



Sir Dick f, old Nick, and Jeremy.| 



The fustian knight was forced to yield; 



The other two maintain'd the field ; 



But had the Poet's life been holier, 

 . He had o'ercome the Devil and old Collier." 



James Elmes. 



Monumental Inscriptions. — I rejoice to see the 

 prospectus issued by the Society of Antiquaries 

 relative to the proposed collection of monumental 

 inscriptions. May their efforts be crowned with 

 success, say I. It strikes me, however, that it 

 should be distinctly understood whether this col- 

 lection is intended to be accessible only to mem- 

 bers of the Society, or whether the public is to have 

 access as a matter of right. The appeal is made 

 to the public, and many will no doubt respond to 

 it, but it would seem very ungracious if hereafter 

 an industrious contributor should be denied the 

 privilege of consulting the collection. Still, if it 

 be now plainly understood that such is the inten- 



* Coeur, " heart ; " mechant, " wicked." 

 + Sir Richard Blackmore. 

 X Jeremy CoUier. 



tion, no reproach can hereafter be cast on the 

 Society, though possibly the collection will not at- 

 tain the magnitude it otherwise would. 



Thos. BEKSI-Er. 

 5. Bolt Court, Fleet Street. 



THE KNIGHT OF KEEET. 



The mention of this gentleman's name lately in 

 connexion with the Atlantic cable at Valentia, 

 reminds me of a Query I have long intended 

 asking some of your able genealogical correspon- 

 dents, — Where can I find the best and most au- 

 thentic history or pedigree of the Fitzgeralds or 

 Geraldines, Earls of Desmond, and their descend- 

 ants ? I shall attempt part of an answer myself, 

 by saying, that in conversation with the late 

 knight some twenty years since, in reply to a 

 question of mine, he said, that when George IV, 

 was in Ireland, the king ordered Sir Wm. Betham, 

 Ulster King-of-Arms, to make out a history, or 

 trace of descent of the Fitzgeralds, especially in 

 reference to the Knights of Kerry, Glin, and 

 White Knight, represented by the Earl of King- 

 ston. It was done, and the late Knight of Kerry 

 had a copy in his possession, but unfortunately 

 placed it in a drawer in the bed-room of his hotel 

 in Dublin : on looking for it a day or two after- 

 wards, it was gone ! and after inquiry, the cham- 

 bermaid said, she saw a roll of papers in the 

 drawer, but not thinking they were of any value, 

 lighted the fires with them ! (The knight was 

 naturally indignant enough, but his public duties 

 soon occupied his mind, and he thought no more 

 on the subject.) But he told me that the original 

 document, was by the king's orders lodged in the 

 Home Office, and I could easily obtain a copy. 

 A few years since, one day passing down White- 

 hall, it occurred to me to ask at the Home Office 

 whether I could procure such a document, and 

 how. I inquired from a porter in the hall where 

 should I go, alluding to what I wanted : but in the 

 rudest and most uncivil manner he told me to 

 " write about whatever I wanted, or go upstairs 

 and ask." Being discouraged by a clerk " up- 

 stairs," who stared at me, but " could not tell 

 anything about it," I let the matter drop. Per- 

 haps some other correspondent may be more for- 

 tunate in obtaining a clue to this curious docu- 

 ment. I know reference is often made to the 

 Geraldines in local histories, and in histories of 

 Ireland, but in no instance have I yet been able 

 to find any continuous satisfactory index or ac- 

 count of this once powerful family. 



(Mem. — Why are the porters, or messengers, as 

 they wish to be called, in our public offices so 

 proverbial for their rudeness to strangers ? Ci- 

 vility or a little politeness is just as easy ; I had 

 painful experience of the fact myself, while en- 



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