2udS. VI. 138, Aug. 21. '58.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



149 



lent knowledge and eloquence, that he was thought 

 to use the help of some good genius. His wife's 

 name was Margery Leighton. A MS. of Erdes- 

 wick in the British Museum gives his arms : ar- 

 gent, a maunch gules, quartering argent, three 

 stars gules; and the crest, a maiden looking over a 

 tower wall. 



I should also be glad to know who was the Rev. 

 William Threlkeld or Thirkeld, who married the 

 eldest daughter (and purchased the shares of the 

 remaining co-heiresses) of Lancelot Thi'elkeld, 

 Esq., of Melmerby. He held the rectoi-y of 

 Melmerby from 1684 to 1701, and is described as 

 a collateral branch of the family. Was he iden- 

 tical with Wm. Thirkeld, M.A. (not of Oxford), 

 who was Vicar of Bishopton in the county of 

 Durham from 1681 to 1686? or with William, 

 son and heir of Edward Thirkeld of Durham, 

 Gent, (younger brother of Anthony Thirkeld of 

 Dale, CO. Cumberland), who entered his pedigree 

 in 1666 (Dugdale's Durham Visitation) ? The 

 eldest son was then eighteen years of age. Any 

 information tending to elucidate the parentage 

 and descent of the above Edward and William 

 Thirkeld would oblige E. H. A. 



Prince of Wales's Badge, 1666. — In S. Ni- 

 cholas' church, Ipswich, there is an escutcheon on 

 the wall of the nave, on which is the Prince of 

 Wales's badge, with the date 1666. How can this 

 date be accounted for ? Hilton HE^BURY. 



Characters in Gidliver's Travels. — Is there any 

 sense to be made out of the proper names and 

 other strange words which are scattered through 

 Gidlivers Travels f If so, what is the key to tbe 

 language of Lilliput, Brobdingnagia, Houyhmnn- 

 land, &c. ? Hilton IlENBURr. 



MS. Life of Dr. George Hickes. — I was in- 

 formed some years since, that the late Rev. Dr. 

 George Townsend, Canon of Durham, possessed a 

 MS. Life of Dr. George Hickes, formerly belong- 

 ing to the library of the Rev. John Lewis, M.A., 

 of Margate. Canon Townsend's library was sold 

 by Puttick and Simpson in December, 1853. Was 

 this MS. Life of Dr. Hickes sold with his' other 

 books ; and if so, who was the fortunate pur- 

 chaser ? J. Y. 



Triptych at Oscott. — At S. Mary's College, 

 Oscott, there is a picture, of which I send you the 

 description, in the hope that a notice of it in the 

 "N. & Q." may lead to the discovery of its coun- 

 terpart, if it exist in England. 



It is one of the leaves of a triptych. Ou the 

 side which would be seen when open are S. An- 

 tony, S. Ursula, and S. George. On the reverse 

 is the kneeling figure of the Blessed Virgin, part 

 of a representation of the Annunciation. It is 

 surrounded by a framework, and its dimensions, 



%vithiu this frame, are 3 ft. 64 in. x 3 ft. 2 J in. ; the 

 frame being about 2^ inches wide. 



At the top, in the framework, are the names 

 of the painters : 



" lOUANNES ET TVO STRIGEL." 



Below the figure of the Blessed Virgin, on the 

 panel, is an inscription in two lines : 



" Anno dm mcccclxv jicuratoea eccHe put cu adiuvamie 

 pduci viuetib' comitebugone de motfortet uxOe u' Elyza." 



The counterpart would present the Archangel, 

 the rest of the inscription, and perhaps some in- 

 dication of the home of the painters. I do not 

 remember having met with their names elsewhere. 



Daniel. 



The City of Alcliud. — Can any reader of " N". 

 & Q." throw light on the following passage from 

 The Descripcyon of Englonde at the end of The 

 Cronycles of Englonde, printed by Wynkyu de 

 AVorde, 1523? — 



" Other men wolde suppose that Alcliud was that cj-te 

 that now is called Burgliam in the north Countree of 

 Westmerlonde, fast by Comberland, and standeth upon 

 the river Eden ; the cite is there wondersl y seen. Deme 

 ye now where it is buylded." 



Has this identity of Alcliud and Burgham or 

 Brougham been established by any subsequent 

 writer ? C. A. 



Dormant Biography. — Where can I fiud a bio- 

 graphical memoir of Mr. Samuel Chifney, who 

 died about fifty years ago, and was well known 

 in his day as the racing, or stud-groom of the 

 Prince of Wales (George IV.) ? He was author of 

 a work entitled Genius Genuine, which sold at 

 forty shillings, and which might be a high price for 

 the work ; but Sam Chifney, as he was called, 

 was such an adept in all the recondite mysteries 

 of the race-course, that the cost of the production 

 was disregarded. Chifney rode a horse called 

 Escape on two consecutive days' races, October 

 20 and 21, 1791. The results of these two days 

 are too well known to be otherwise than ever- 

 memorable in the annals oC jockeyship. Contempo- 

 rary with Chifney was Dick Goodison, stud-groom 

 to William, fourth Duke of Queensberry ; and 

 in consequence of the termination of the two races 

 above-mentioned, such animosity was engendered 

 between these two persons that it could not be as- 

 suaged by their mutual friends ; and, like the ser- 

 vants of the Montagues and Capulets, the two 

 grooms meeting each other, some such dialogue 

 passed as this — 



Gregory. " Do you quarrel, Sir? " 



Sampson. " If you do, Sir, I am for you ; I serve as 

 good a man as you." — Rumco and Juliet. 



In short, such extreme hatred was only to be 

 decided by a duel, not with pistols, but a down- 



