2nas.vi.i52.,Xov.27.'58.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



429 



15. 

 " Ye Jackdaws tbat are us'd to talk. 

 Like as of human Race, 

 When nigh you see Brown Willis walk 

 Loud chatter forth his Praise. 



16. 



" Ye Icarian Boj's ! that learn to fly 

 From Steeple, House, or Spire, 

 When down you sweep the glowing Rope, 

 Sing, as ye fly, the Squire. ''^ 



17. 

 " Whene'er the fatal day shall come, 

 For come, alas ! it must. 

 When this good Squire must Stay at home 'i, 

 And turn to antique Dust; 



18. 

 " The solemn Dirge, ye Owls, prepare. 

 Ye Bats more hoarsely screak ; 

 Croak all ye Ravens, round the Bier, 

 And all ye Church-mice squeak ! " 



Sneyd Davies' ironical description of the old 

 antiquary's domestic museum (for such, in fact, 

 was Whaddon Kali) with its "fretwork of pen- 

 dent spiders'-v/ebs," would be a fitting accompani- 

 ment to the above doggerel, but your space does ^ 

 not now admit of it. A set biography of Browne ! 

 Willis is a desideratam. There is an abundance 

 of material for such a work, including his private 

 correspondence with some of the most eminent j 

 literati and antiquaries of the last century, which j 

 is not only extremely interesting and valuable, but 

 easily accessible in the National and Bodleian \ 

 libraries. ^^ 



^ Mr. Willis never mentioned the adored town of Buck- 

 ingham without the addition of county-town. 



2 Sir. Willis his person and dress were so singular that 

 the' a gentleman of 1,000/. per ann. he has often been 

 taken for a beggar. An old leathern girdle or belt always ' 

 surrounded the 2 or 3 coats he wore, and over them an 

 old blew coat. 



3 In the garden of Whaddon Hall, formerly the seat of 

 the Duke of Buckingham, is still [17C2] a most venerable 

 and remarkable sized oak, under which Mr. W. supposes 

 Spenser {sic iu orlg.) wrote much of his poetry. 



■1 Very little of the old house remains ; and what is 

 left is supposed to be part of the offices, and is one of the 

 darkest and most gloomy houses I ever was in : probably 

 occasioned bj' the furniture and order it lies in, and 

 partly from the little light that comes into it from the 

 old windows. It is seated in a very dirty country, but on 

 a most beautiful spot, and commands a prospect of great 

 extent. 



* Mr. Willis wrote the worst hand of any man in Eng- 

 land: such as he could with difliculty read himself; and 

 what no one except his old correspondents could deci- 

 pher. 



c Mr. Willis his boots, w^i" he almost always appears 

 in, are not the least singular part of his dress : I suppose 

 it will be no falsity to say they are 40 j-ears old : patched 

 and vamped up at various times. They are all in 

 wrinkles and don't come up above halfway of his legs. 

 lie was often called in the neighbourhood, from his boots, 

 Old Wriukk-h'wts. 



"^ The Chariot of Mr. Willis wa.? so singular, that from 

 it he was called himself Tlie Old Chariot : I may rea- 

 sonably suppose such another is not now to be met with. 



About Flags. — Of the principal naval flags in 

 the world, two are ugly, and one is beautiful. 

 The colours in the Union Jack are blended, by 

 fortuitous concourse of crosses, into a work of art ; 

 while the French, a nation of great taste, show 

 three blotches of colour side by side ; and the 

 United States are content with a mass of uncon- 

 federate stripes, with a corner full of unconnected 

 stars. 



If it can be tolerated that a private individual 

 should point out a course to two great nations, I 

 would suggest the following improvements. Let 

 the French put their tricolor, which means nothing 

 but three colours, upon their old national flag: a 

 lily of each colour upon a golden field. Next, as 

 to the United States. Among the earliest of their 

 institutions is the paper currency of the Congress 

 during the war of independence. This bore a 

 circle of interlaced rings, forming a border for the 

 inscribed description of value. Imagine the several 

 stripes rolled up into rings, interlaced, and each 

 ring with a star in the middle, and the image of 

 confederate States, which the Congress intended • 

 to convey, will be presented as they presented it, 

 while both stars and stripes will be preserved. 

 When thought proper, the eagle might be placed 

 in the centre : while the ring, with a star in the 

 middle, would give a hint for one side of a coin ; 

 and the word ring-stripe, which must needs be in- 

 vented, would give a good name to the space be- 

 tween two concentric circles. M. 



Bear-Children. — As a companion to the Notes 

 on " Wolf- Children," I send you a cutting from 

 Chamhers' Journal relating to bear-children : — 



" M. de la Motraye, in his interesting and instructiv* 

 travels, gives us this singular information respecting the 

 bear at Oza, a large Polish village two miles from Grodno. 

 He writes : ' I was assured that the bears of that forest, 

 though very numerous, are so far from doing any harm to 

 human creatures, that, on the contrary, the she-bears have 



Hi was his wedding chariot, and had his Arms on Brass 

 Plates about it ; not unlike a coflin, and painted black. 



8 Mr. Willis never took the oaths to the Hanover 

 familv. 



s Mr. Willis was as remarkable probably for his love to 

 the walls of structures of churches, as for his variance 

 with the clergy in his neighborhood. He built, by 

 subscription, the Chapel at Fenny-Stratford; repaired 

 Blechlev Church very elegantly at a great expense; re- 

 paired Bow-Brickill Church, desecrated and not used for 

 a century; added greatly to the height of Buckingham 

 Church tower. 



I'j Mr. W. was not well pleased with any one, who in 

 talking of, or with him, did not call him Squire. 



11 This alludes to the eternal motion of the wheels of 

 Mr. W.'s chariot, a sight few of his neighbors rejoice to 

 see: indeed he rarely is at home a day without going out 

 in quest of some game, news, or what is worse. 



1 wrote these notes when 1 was out of humour with 

 him for some of his tricks. God rest his soul, and forgive 

 us all! Amen. 



