194 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2"<» S, VI. 140., Sept. 4. '58. 



place. Lord Tyrone was no exception ; for, al- 

 though dying a deist, or at best a doubter, he 

 had been leniently judged — "he was happy." 



To conclude, I would call attention to the 

 curious coincidence that within the last fifteen 

 or twenty years ghost stories have marvellously 

 increased. Works on Deraonology, Witchcraft, 

 Second Sight, &c. &c. have been published, — to 

 meet, of course, the prevailing taste. We have 

 had table-turning, spirit-rapping, Belgravian and 

 other Sibyls, together with numerous other symp- 

 toms of a morbid hankering after the super- 

 natural, all indicating a retrograde movement of 

 mind in the direction of mediaeval superstitions ; 

 and, moreover, able pens have been at work to 

 show that such is an inevitable result of the pre- 

 sent advanced state of knowledge ; in short, that 

 scientific attainments lead to superstition. 



Is all this mere coincidence ? I fear not. 



A. C. M. 



Exeter. 



When I was a child I often heard from several 

 undoubtedly veracious persons, witnesses of the 

 fact, who all corroborate the testimony of one 

 another, a remarkable instance of a warning be- 

 fore death, occurring to a member of my own 

 family, which circumstance I will relate for the 

 benefit of those who, like myself, are interested, 

 or are — as some perhaps will say — sufficiently 

 " superstitious " to believe, in the existence of 

 such things : — 



An aunt of mine married a Lieutenant Charles 

 Ilarcoui't White, R. N., who was dangerously 

 wounded in some of the naval actions in which 

 he participated, and which wounds so shattered 

 his constitution, as to reduce him, after a time, to 

 the point of death. 



While lying in this condition at Ilfracombe, 

 Devon, he informed those around him that he 

 had seen, or bad dreamed he saw, his own funeral ; 

 his coffin, with age at decease, and date of death 

 (which, I believe, he specified) borne by men-of- 

 war's men belonging to the man-of-war. 



This greatly affected his spirits, and he said 

 he must die on the day stated ; but his friends, 

 desirous of cheering him, jocosely said it could 

 not be his funeral, because no men-of-war's-men 

 were anywhere within a hundred miles, and could 

 not be present to carry him to his grave, which 

 fact he admitted, but added, " They would see — 

 he distinctly saw the name of the vessel inscribed 

 on their hats orfrochs." He did die on the day 

 stated, and strange to relate, the very morning of 

 his funeral the vessel he had named arrived in 

 harbour, and the men belonging to it followed 

 nim to the grave. 



Now, being in weak health, the depression of 

 spirits consequent on his dream may have caused 

 his death on the day stated (of which we have 



many authentic instances) ; but, as he was not 

 aware that the vessel was anywhere in the vicinity, 

 much legs that it would come to Ilfracombe, his 

 mind could not have been dwelling on it, so as to 

 produce a dream. It is possible, though I am 

 not aware, or ever heard suggested, he may have 

 served on board that vessel, and his'thoughts may 

 have reverted to her and to old times ; but " I 

 tell the tale as 'twas told to me," and it cer- 

 tainly is a singular one, though I have not the 

 slightest doubt as to its perfect veracity. 



C^DO Illud. 



Although slightly acquainted with members of 

 both the Sherbrooke and Wynyard families, I have 

 been warned that the mention of the ghost was un- 

 pleasant to either, and therefore never alluded to 

 it. As I have heard the tale related by professedly 

 "knowing ones," Sherbrooke and Wynyard had 

 no third person with them when the ghost of 

 Wynyard's brother passed, and certainly were not 

 at mess. The party afterwards addressed in Lon- 

 don by Sherbrooke was described as bearing a won- 

 derful resemblance to the dead Wynyard, but not 

 a twin-brother decidedly. E. P. 



As this subject appears to have attracted much 

 attention in these pages, it may be as well to point 

 out another source of reference ; viz. Hugh Mil- 

 ler's First Impressions of England (chapter 7.), 

 where the author quotes numerous authorities, and 

 narrates the ghost story at great length. 



CnTHBERT BedE. 



SEPARATION OF SEXES IN CHURCHES. 



(2'"> S. V. 361., &c.) 



A severe and lingering illness has prevented my 

 replying sooner to the admirable letter of Dr. 

 Rock quoted above. While thanking him, as 

 your other readers must do, for the mass of learn- 

 ing he has brought to bear on the subject, he will 

 perhaps excuse me if I venture to say he has in 

 some little degree misunderstood the drift of my 

 queries. That the separation of sexes at public 

 worship is an old custom among the Jews, and in 

 the Oriental churches, I have already stated : to 

 the present time the Jewish women are not only 

 separated from the men, but are concealed from 

 view behind lattice-work-. That the custom ob- 

 tained in the Greek church I have also conceded ; 

 but this appears rather to have been in compli- 

 ance with their social prejudices, than from any 

 religious feeling : they seem to have considered 

 there should be a ywaiKuov in the church as well 

 as in the house. That there is frequent mention 

 of " the men's side," and " the women's side," 

 in churches in mediraval writers, I have also con- 



