148 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2''d S. VI. 138., Aug. 21. '58. 



The ancient seals of St. Alban's and its abbey, 

 of Glastonbury and its abbey, of Knaresborough, 

 of Mabnesbury Abbey, and of Bury St. Edmund's. 



lleplies to the above Queries will greatly oblige 



Aliquis. 



Decoration hj Planting young Birch Trees. — 

 Passing through Tunbridge last week, I was sur- 

 prised to find a number of young birch trees, or 

 branches of birch trees, ten or twelve feet high, 

 planted in the street like trees, before almost 

 every house and shop. The waving boughs and 

 the bright green leaves really made a very pretty 

 decoration. On Inquiry I found they were placed 

 there on the occasion of the examination of the 

 boys at the Public School, and the visitation of 

 the Skinners' Company, under whose patronage 

 the establishment has always been since its 

 foundation ; that tbe custom has existed time 

 out of mind ; that no other tree, or flower, or 

 garland is ever used except the birch alone ; and 

 this is always planted like a growing tree. There 

 is no tradition of the origin or reason of the cus- 

 tom, • — though it seems probable that birch alone 

 being used, that tree the horror of all boys, its 

 scholastic use is pointed at. Can any reader of 

 " N. & Q." cite a similar custom elsewhere, or en- 

 lighten us a little as to its history or origin ? 



A. A. 



Welowes and Roses. — Capgrave, in his Chroni- 

 cle, mentions the following curious circumstance 

 under date a,d. 1338 : — 



" In that same yere welowes bore roses, rede and freclie, 

 and that was in Januarie." 



Against this is his private mark placed, where he 

 vouches for facts on his own authority. 



What does he mean by " welowes bore roses ? " 

 The curious circumstance of that flower blooming 

 in January is nothing in comparison with this. 



R. W. Hackwood. 



Heraldical. — Arms: azure, a chevron chequy, 

 argent and gules. I shall be obliged by any one 

 stating to what family the above belong. C. J. 



'■'■It is not worth an old Song!" — What could 

 have given rise to this expression of contempt for 

 any valueless article ? It seems peculiar to the 

 English, for the Scotch, Irish, and Welsh, have a 

 great esteem for old songs. J. Y. 



Prisoners taken at Dunbar. — It has been said 

 that Cromwell sent several hundred Scotch pri- 

 soners taken at Dunbar to the fen country, where 

 they settled permanently. Are any traces of this 

 immigration to be found, such as their names, 

 personal appearance, peculiar customs, or other- 

 wise ? T. 



LordHs Day, not Sabbath. — In all Roman Ca- 

 tholic countries the first day is called the Lord's 

 Day (Dominica), and the seventh the Sabbath 



(Sabbate). This seems certainly to be the correct 

 designation. Can your readers tell me why so 

 many pertinaciously call the Lord's Day by the 

 Jewish name Sabbath, and when it first became 

 the practice ? P. S. A. 



Nostradamus : Joachim. — In P' S. x. 48G. you 

 inserted a Query of mine as to a prophecy of 

 Nostradamus and Joachim. The passage cited by 

 H. B. C. (1" S. xi. 93.) renders it probable that 

 the prophecy was invented by Marino. I have 

 examined several editions of Nostradamus without 

 success. When part of a Query is answered, the 

 rest is liable to be overlooked : so perhaps you 

 will allow me again to ask, AVho was Joachim, or, 

 as Marino calls him, the " Reverendo Abbate 

 Gioacchino?" and where are his prophecies to be 

 found? E.L. 



Alice de Ilahenaye, or Hackney. — In Strype's 

 Stoiu, vol. ii. p. 168., is a curious account of the 

 disinterment of the bodies of Richard Hackney 

 and Alice his wife, in the churchyard of St. Mary 

 at Hill in 1497; when the body of the latter was 

 found perfect, after having been buried more 

 than a century and a half. Richard was Sheriff" of 

 London, 1322. In Dugdale's Account of Sop- 

 well Nunnery, vol. iii. p. 363., it is stated that after 

 the death of Phillipa, In 1330, the nuns unani- 

 mously elected Alice de Ilakeney prioress ; but 

 this coming to the ears of the Abbot of St. 

 Alban's, to which monastery Sopwell was a cell, 

 he ordered the election to be set aside, and ap- 

 pointed Alice de Pekesdene. Can any of the 

 readers of " N. & Q." inform me whether this was 

 the same Alice de Hakney (the word is spelt all 

 sorts of ways) ? and can they throw any light on 

 a subject full of interest to the topographical his- 

 tory of both Hackney and Sopwell ? A. A. 



Dover. — Where shall I find any accurate draw- 

 ings of the ancient architecture in Dover Castle, 

 especially of the chapel in the keep? Where 

 shall I find drawings and descriptions of Barfres- 

 tone church, near Dover ? What is the history 

 of the camp at Coldred, near Dover? E. F. D. C. 



" The Masque of Flowers." — Is anything known 

 regarding the authors of The Masque of Flowers, 

 4to. 1614. This masque was presented by the 

 gentlemen of Gray's Inn, at the Court at White- 

 hall, in the Banquetting House, upon Twelfth- 

 Night, 1613. The Dedication to Sir Francis 

 Bacon is signed J. G., W. D., T. B. R. Inglis. 



Threlkeld or Thirkeld Family. — Is it known to 

 what family belonged Edward Threlkeld, LL.D., 

 who was Rector of Great Salkeld, Archdeacon of 

 Carlisle, and Chancellor of Hereford in the reign 

 of Queen Elizabeth ? He was fellow of King's 

 College, Cambridge, and, as Antony Wood says, 

 so much admired in the University for his excel- 



