276 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



t2*><i S. VI. 144., Oct. 2. '58. 



Down, ■which they tei'in a daimhliag, or stone 

 church. This account, however, does not coincide 

 with that given by St. Bernard in his life of Ma- 

 lachy, who, speaking of what occurred about a.d. 

 1145, says: 



" Visum est Malacliia) tlebere construi in Benchor, ora- 

 torium lapicleum, instar illorum qui in aliis regionibus ex- 

 tructa conspexerat. Et cum coepisset jacere fundamenta, 

 indigense quidam mirati sunt, quod in terra illil nccduin 

 ejusmodi (edificia inveiiirentur." — Bernardi J'it. S. Mala- 

 chiec, cap. ix. 



The above extracts prove that stone churches 

 existed in Ireland at the beginning of the tenth 

 century. They were probably then far from com- 

 mon. When they were first introduced we have 

 no certain information. The earliest churches 

 were of wood, for Jocelin, speaking of Palladius' 

 mission, says : "Tres ecclesise de robore exstructas 

 fundavit" (cap. xxv.) Alfred T. Lee. 



Teston and Tester (2-"" S. vi. 85. 199.) — The 

 value of this coin — named at various times teston, 

 tester, testern, and testril — varied at different 

 periods. In Henry VIII.'s time it was worth a 

 shilling. Stowe informs us that on the 9th of 

 July, 1551, it was reduced to wz«e-pence, and on 

 the 17th of August following to siar-pence. He 

 afterwards, under the year 1559, cites a pro- 

 clamation for reducing it to four-pence halfpenny \ 

 and it probably fell still lower. In the reign of 

 Elizabeth the coin improved, and rose to the 

 value of si.T-pence. It remained at this value, 

 and hence a tester became another name for " a 

 sixpenny bit" I refer, for more particular in- 

 formation, to Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeai'e, 

 i. 35. Edward F. Rimbault. 



The Red Flag the Signal of Invasion (2"^ S. vi. 

 246.) — During th^ period of apprehension of an 

 invasion by the French every parish church in 

 Suffolk, without regard to its position as a sea- 

 mark, was furnished with a red flag. The church 

 of the parish in which I then lived, is situated 

 upon comparatively low ground, and is visible from 

 no great distance, — yet it had its flag and flag- 

 staff. The object was to communicate rapidly in 

 all directions the intelligence of invasion. On 

 more than one occasion a false alarm was given 

 and rapidly spread, with the intelligence that 

 " the bloody flag was hoisted." No doubt other 

 correspondents will be able to inform you that the 

 red flag for" this purpose was used throughous the 

 whole of England. T. C. 



Patrick Family (2'"^ S. vi. 110.) — A pedigree 

 of the family of which Dr. Patrick, Bishop of Ely, 

 was a member, commencing with the bishop's 

 grandfather, was obligingly shown to me a few 

 years ago by Mr. Collen of the Heralds' College, 

 who stated that it appeared to have been compiled 

 by Dale, Ilichmond Herald, and was amongst the 

 latter's private MSS. C. J. 



Testament of the Txoelve Patriarchs (2°* S. vi. 

 173.) — Perhaps G. N. or D. S. would oblige me 

 by seeing whether their editions are the same as 

 mine, or by elucidating some of the difliculties, I 

 will first notice the misprints, and then the diffi- 

 culties : — 



Reuben, p. 2. 1. 7. (from the bottom), smelling 

 is put for " seeing." 



Gad, p. 6. The Testament of Aser, when it 

 ought to be " Gad." 



Aser, p. 6. The Testament of Joseph, for " Aser." 



Joseph, p. 11. The Testament of Aser, for 

 " Joseph." 



Joseph, p. 12. 1. 9. Eniichs for "Eunuchs." 



The meaning of — Jacol), p. 1 . 1. 2. (from the bot- 

 tom) : " And instituted a birthday for his devilish 

 purpose." 



Reuben, p. 6. 1. 8. : " By offering him slauher 

 sauces." 



Judah, p. 7. 1. 5. : " And they gave us 200 

 quarters of corn, and 500 hates of oyl." 



Issachar, p. 6. 1. 4. (from the bottom) : " I have 

 not eaten my meat alone, nor removed the bounds 

 and buttles of land." 



Joseph, p. 13. 1. 6. : " She would fain have 

 syped me in desire of sin." 



Joseph, p. 14. 1. 15. : " Saying, although they 

 ask two Basences of Gold." 



N.B. My edition is not paginated. I am afraid 

 I am trespassing on space, else I have a few ex- 

 tracts, which are certainly curious, and which I 

 shall be able to send up for another number. 



FuiMus Rugby. 



Persecution of Polish Nuns (2""' S. vi. 157. 

 259.) — I believe that the commonly received ac- 

 count of the persecution of the nuns of Minsk by 

 the Russian authorities is strictly true. At the 

 time when the crime was first made public, a 

 circumstantial narrative was published in the 

 English newspapers, and this was in due time 

 contradicted by the Russian government. Few 

 persons, however, believed that there was any 

 truth in the oflicial statement. 



The Rev. Henry Edward Manning, D.D., in his 

 Pictures of Christian Her-oism, 12mo., 1855, pub- 

 lished by Burns and Lambert, gives a full account 

 of the wrongs inflicted on these nuns. It is hardly 

 possible that he should have done so without 

 having satisfied himself of the truth of the abbess's 

 depositions. K. P. D. E. 



Sir Humphry Davy, a Poet (2'"^ S. vi. 232.) — 

 The title of the book about which Mr. James 

 Elmes inquires is The Annual Anthology, Bristol, 

 1799-1800, 2 vols. 12mo. These are all that were 

 published. It is a collection of poems by Cole- 

 ridge, Soutliey, Lamb, Charles Lloyd, Mrs. Opie, 

 Humphry Davy, Dr. Beddoes, and others ; all of 

 which, with one exception, were " transmitted to 

 the editor by their respective authors." The 



