2«ds.vi.ui..SEPT.ii.'58.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



205 



the former one, and it was again published at 

 Brussels in 1731, in 3 vols, folio ; as also, still 

 more recently, among the Collection Universelle des 

 Memoires particidiers relatif ciT Histoire de France. 

 The title of the Paris edition of 1659 is as follows : 



" Castelnau (Michel de, Seigneur de,) ses Me'raoires, 

 illustrez ct augniente's de plusieurs Commentaires et 

 Manusciits, tant Lettres, Instruction, Traitez, qu'autres 

 Pieces Secrettes et Originales, etc., I'Histoire Ge'nealo- 

 gique de la Maison de Castelnau, etc., par J. Le La- 

 boureur." Portraits and arms, &c. 



An English translation was published in 1724, 

 London, folio, entitled Mcmoii-^ of the Reigns of 

 Francis II. and Charles IX. of France ; but this 

 I have not seen : the work is now rare ; and even 

 at the sale of M. Colbert's library at Paris, a copy 

 of the French edition of 1659 cost 180 livres. 

 The statement in the above work is, that Mary's 

 daughter, by BothwcU, was carried from Scotland 

 to France in the year 1568, and having been 

 educated as a religieuse in the convent of Our 

 Lady at Soissons — an episcopal city on the river 

 Aisne, sixty miles distant from Paris — became 

 eventually a nun in that establishment, "Notre 

 Dame de Soissons," and died there. Le Laboureur's 

 statement, in confirmation of the fact, as given by 

 Castelnau in his Memoirs, is so circumstantial as 

 to lead to the supposition that, when he published 

 the work, he must have had access to the registers 

 of the convent at Soissons, which it would have 

 been easy for him to do, and thus assure himself 

 that ]\Iary's hapless daughter had really been a 

 nun there. 



Considering, therefore, Le Laboureur's position, 

 which must have made him acquainted with va- 

 rious particulars of historical importance and in- 

 terest, long kept secret, it is not too much to 

 suppose that he could only have homologated 

 Castelnau's original statement from personal re- 

 searches, and sources of information considered 

 reliable by him, as well as deserving of confidence : 

 his own trustworthy character as a critical his- 

 torian and genealogical writer makes this all the 

 more probable ; and it is diflicult to perceive on 

 what grounds his testimony can be set aside by 

 those opposed to the fact of the nun-princess of 

 the house of Hepburne Stuart. 



In conclusion, I would suggest that, even in the 

 present day, a reference to any monastic records 

 still existing at Soissons might prove of service in 

 this inquiry. There are several religious com- 

 munities at Soissons ; though whether the con- 

 vent of Notre Dame is still there, I am unable to 

 Bay; nor do I know to what female order that 

 nunnery belonged. M. I'Abbu Bourse, diocesan 

 secretary of Soissons, would perhaps be the pro- 

 per odicial to whom to apply for information. I 

 now leave this interesting subject to the consider- 

 ation of tliosc who may consider it deserving of a 

 reply in your pages. A. S. A. 



Barrackporc, East Indies. 



fSiixiav cauertcS. 



Sir John Weld, son of Humphrey Weld (ulti- 

 mately a knight, sheriff' of London 1599, Lord 

 Mayor 1609), and his wife Anne, daughter of 

 Nicholas AVhelar, was of Arnolds in Edmonton ; 

 founded the chapel of Southgate in that parish, 

 1615; died 1622; and was buried at Edmonton, 

 where is a monument to his memory on the south 

 wall of the chancel. (Newcourt's Repertorium, i. 

 600. 805.; Hutchins's Dorsetshire, i. 22G., iv. 345.; 

 Clutterbuck's Hertfordshire, i. 145., ii. 358. ; Ly- 

 sons' Environs, ii. 275, 276.) We desire the fol- 

 lowing information respecting him : 1. the date of 

 his birth ; 2. the date of his being knighted ; 3. 

 was he Town Clerk of London ? 4. a copy of the 

 inscription on his monument. 



C. H. AKD Thompson Cooper. 



Cambridge. 



Tickford. — On referring to l^-^znw^ Bucking- 

 hamshire for information respecting Tickford, I 

 find it stated (vol. i. p. 613., edit. 1805) that — 

 " Tickford Park and the Manor of Tickford End were 

 sold by the Atkins family to the Uthwatts, and by them 

 to Sir William Hart : it is now the property of Mr. Van- 

 hagen, in right of his wife, whose first husband purchased 

 it of the heirs of Sir William Hart." 



The account in Lipscomb's History of the 

 county (vol. iv. p. 297., edit. 1847) is much the 

 same, but no dates are given. I believe that Sir 

 W. Hart purchased the property of the Uthwatts 

 about the year 1763. Can any of your readers 

 inform me ivhen Mrs. Vanhagen's first husband 

 (Mr. Jaques) purchased it of the heirs of Sir AV. 

 Hart, and who is the present owner of the pro- 

 perty ? H. H. 



Henr. Smetii Prosodia. — I send a copy of the 

 title-page of a very old and curious book in my 

 possession, and shall be much obliged if any of your 

 learned correspondents can give me any account 

 of it or of its value •, it contains many thousand 

 words, arranged alphabetically, with a quotation 

 from some ancient author to show the quantity of 

 the syllables, thus : — 



" Impiger. — Horat. ' Impiger extremos currit Merca- 

 tor ad Indos." 



There are complimentary Latin odes, &c. It 

 also contains a " Methodus Dignoscendarum Syl- 

 labarum, ex Georg. Fabricii." I believe a good 

 reprint would supersede our old Gradus ad Par- 

 nassum. 



" Prosodia Henrici Smetii Medicinaj Doct. Promptis- 

 sima : qu;e Syllabarum Positione et Dipthongis carentium 

 Quantitates, sola veterum Poetarum Auctoritate, adduc- 

 tis exempiis, demonstrat. Londini, ex Typographia 

 Societatis Stationariorum. 1622." His dedication, " Jo- 

 anni a Korenput, Joan. F. Tribuno ct Architecto Militari 

 nobilissimo," is dated "Ex Musaeo nostro x Martii, 

 1599." 



Wm. Colltks. 

 Ilaldon House. 



