2«d s. VI. m, Sept. 4. '58.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



197 



Prisoners tahen at Dunbar (S""* S. vi. 148.) — No 

 doubt Scottish names may be found in abundance 

 in the Fen country, as well as in every other part of 

 England ; but I do not know of any traces, or even 

 of any tradition, showing that any Scotch prisoners 

 were sent by Cromwell after the battle of Dunbar 

 to the Fen country. It is certain, however, that a 

 number of Scotch prisoners taken by Cromwell at 

 that battle were sent to the North American colo- 

 nies; and there is a letter from the Rev. John 

 Cotton to Oliver Cromwell, dated Boston in New 

 England, May 28, 1651, which shows how they 

 were disposed of. The letter is given at length in 

 Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, and an 

 extract containing the statement to which I have 

 alluded in my History of Boston (Lincolnshire), 

 p. 423. PiSHET Thompson. 



Stoke If ewington. 



Rev. IVm. Mason (2°'i S. vi. 166.)— The sonnet 

 in question has been "rescued from loss" by Mr. 

 Hunter, in The Deanery of Doncaster (vol. ii. 

 p. 169.) ; who also states in a note that it " first 

 appeared in the complete edition of the Works of 

 Mr. Mason, 4 vols. 8vo., 1811." Mr. Hunter 

 prints from a copy circulated in manuscript not 

 long after Mr. Mason's death, and his version is 

 as follows : — 



" Feb. 23, 1797. 

 " Again the year on easy wings has roU'd 

 To bear me to the term of seventy-two, 

 Yet still my eyes can seize the distant blue 

 Of yon wild peak ; and still my footsteps bold, 

 Unpropp'd by staff, support me to behold 

 How Nature, to her Maker's mandates true, 

 Calls Spring's impatient heralds to the view, 

 The snowdrop pale, the crocus spik'd with gold. 

 And still, thank Heaven, if I not falsely deem, 



My lyre yet vocal, freely can afford 

 Strains not discordant to each moral theme. 

 Fair Truth inspires, and aids me to record 

 (Best of poetic psalms) my faith supreme 

 la Thee, my God, my Saviour, and my Lord ! " 



J. Eastwood. 

 Eckington. 



Holland Land (P' S. ii. 267. 345. ; iii. 30. 70. 

 229.) — The meaning of " Holland land " is ex- 

 plained by Me. Blowen (1" S. iii. 212.), whilst 

 referring to the term "by hooke and by crooke" 

 in a poem by Tusser. Your correspondent 

 aays: "This must be a Norfolk phrase, for in 

 January he advises farmers possessing ' Hol- 

 lands,' rich grass lands, to only keep ewes that 

 bear twins, ' twinlins.' " 



Now another of your correspondents writes : 

 " Holland in Lincolnshire is by Ingulph called 

 Hoiland" and hooiland in Dutch means hay land. 



J. H. VAN Lennep. 



Manpadt House, near Haarlem. 



Portrait (2""> S. vi. 110.) — Symbols, to be cor- 

 rectly read, should first be carefully inspected. It is 

 hazardous to attempt the interpretation of an em- 



blem from description. The general import of the 

 symbolical portrait described by your correspon- 

 dent may, however, be in a measure inferred from 

 the particulars which he has stated. It appears to 

 be a memorial picture, referring to some sad be- 

 reavement ; — possibly, the demise of a beloved 

 daughter. 



The rose, in the language of flowers, is an em- 

 blem of the tender passion. But, in the language 

 of symbols, and with this we have now to do, the 

 rose, being the fairest of flowers, yet fading soon, 

 is a well-known emblem of mortality and human 

 frailty ; " the best things," as a French poet has 

 sung respecting a departed lady whose name was 

 Rose, " lasting the shortest time." So sang Johann 

 Maro (cited by Zedler) : — 



" Vidi ego mane Itosam solis sub lumine nasci, 

 Et vidi rursum sole cadente mori." 



The rose in the portrait now under considera- 

 tion being " full-blown," we may infer that the 

 fair sufferer was suddenly cut off in the prime of 

 life — not till she had reached womanhood. The 

 age of the lady who is seated in the arm-chair, 

 and whom we may suppose to be the mother, will 

 allow for this. 



The rose, being held in this aged lady's Jtand, 

 and iM that position shedding its leaves, intimates 

 that she, that aged lady, had personal charge of the 

 sufferer in her last illness, and personally minis- 

 tered to her departing hour. The leaves of the 

 rose, dropping on the arm which supports it, im- 

 ply that in that aged lady's arms the patient died. 



The watch on the table, pointing to half-past 

 twelve, may be viewed as indicating the time 

 when the patient expired. Probably that very 

 watch which the picture represents (gold with 

 tortoiseshell case and blue ribbon), was lying on 

 a table in the sick chamber, and was the identical 

 watch referred to, for the purpose of ascertaining 

 the time, at the moment when the patient expired. 

 On such sad occasions there is generally some one 

 present by whom the time is carefully noted and 

 recorded. 



This, altogether, is a touching memorial ; and, 

 as a symbol, is much more expressive and less far- 

 fetched than many of the emblems that one meets 

 with. Whether the aged lady's black dress, cap, and 

 headgear of " thick white " are to be regarded as 

 }nou7ming, without seeing the picture pne cannot 

 pretend to say, though it appears very probable. 



Thomas Boys. 



P. S. Of all symbols, of all emblems I ever saw, 

 and I am large in that line, the neatest, the 

 cleverest, the most expressive, the very best, was 

 one proposed in your pages, I think by Professor 

 De Morgan, for " N. & Q." It is simply this ; * ? 

 Car you decline it ? 



The Tcrrn-cotta Busts of the CcEsars at Hampton 

 Court (2"'> S. vi. 166.) — The "missing bust" is 



