2"d S. IX. Jan. 21. '60.] 



NOTES AND 'QUERIES. 



45 



opinion amongst the Romanist jurisconsults upon 

 this matter, since France continued diplomatic in- 

 tercourse. Are there any historical notices, ex- 

 tant upon the subject? J. R. 



King Bladud and his Pigs. — The city of 

 Bath has a curious and somewhat comic tra- 

 dition (which is noticed in its local guide books) 

 that the old British King Bladud (father of 

 King Lear or Leal), being reduced by leprosy to 

 the condition of a swineherd, discovered the me- 

 dicinal virtues of the hot springs of Bath while 

 noticing that his pigs which bathed therein were 

 cured of sundry diseases prevailing among them. 

 Warner, our chief writer on the history of Bath, 

 quotes this tradition at large from "Wood, a local 

 topographer of the preceding century, who gives 

 it without authority. Warner states that al- 

 though the legend may appear absurd, it is 

 noticed and accredited by most British anti- 

 quaries of antiquity. Now as we do not find it 

 in Geoffrey of Moninouth, or any early author of 

 antiquarian lore whom we have yet consulted, I 

 take the liberty of directing the attention of your 

 sagacious readers to the point, so that by the aid 

 of " N. & Q." the question concerning King 

 Bladud's pigs may finally be settled. The direct 

 question is this, — What are the most ancient ex- 

 isting authorities for this legend, which, though ap- 

 parently unimportant in itself, is connected with 

 some points of old British history, in whose solu- 

 tion antiquaries are justly interested. 



Francis Barham. 



St. Mark's Place, Bath. 



Judges' Costume. — In Sir William Dugdale's 

 Origines Juridicales, at page 98., in the 20 Ed. 

 III., the King, by his precept to the Keeper of 

 his Great Wardrobe, directs him to provide the 

 different justices therein named witb, — 



" For their Summer Vestments for that present year half 

 a short Cloth, and one piece of fine Linnen silk ; and for the 

 Winter season another half of a Cloth colour Curt with a 

 Hood and three pieces of fur of white Budg. And for the 

 feast of the Nativity of our Lord, half a cloth colour Curt, 

 With a Hood of two and thirty bellyes of minevere, 

 another belly with seven tires of minever, and Uvofurs of 

 silk." 



Doubtless, Sir, some of your, numerous cor- 

 respondents who are learned in mediasval cos- 

 tume will be able to answer some or all of the 

 following queries : — 



What kind of fabric is meant by linnen silk ? 



What is the meaning of " curt ? " Has it refer- 

 ence to the colour or the width of the " cloth ? " 



What were " tires" of silk ? 



And what were "furs of silk? " Could they have 

 been merely imitations of furs analogous to our 

 so-called " sealskin ? " 



An answer to these queries will greatly oblige 



Causidicus. 



Bp. Downes' " Tour through Cork and 

 Ross."— Dive Downes, D.D., ancestor of the late 

 Lord Downes (for some years Lord Chief Justice 

 of the Court of King's Bench, Ireland), was pro- 

 moted to the bishoprick of Cork and Ross in the 

 year 1699; and has been described by Bishop 

 King, of Derry, as " a man considerable for gra- 

 vity, prudence, and learning, both in divinity, 

 ecclesiastical law, and other sciences." He wrote 

 (as we are informed by Archdeacon Cotton in 

 his Fasti Ecclesice Hibernicce, vol. i. p. 230.), an 

 interesting journal of a " Tour through the Dio- 

 ceses of Cork and Ross," which is preserved in 

 the manuscript room of the Library of Trinity 

 College, Dublin. AVould it not be a boon to 

 many readers to print this document, either se- 

 parately, or in some one of the suitable periodi- 

 cals of the day ? Abhba. 



Celtic Families. — Is there a work about to 

 be published purporting to give the history of 

 the ancient Celtic families of Ireland, and if so, 

 what is its title ? Miles. 



Magister Richard Howlett. — Can any one 

 give me any information as to the ancestors or 

 descendants of the above, who in 1616 was tutor 

 to Oliver Cromwell at Sidney Sussex College, 

 Cambridge ? Was he in any way connected with 

 the Norfolk Howletts ? Chelsega. 



Oldys's Diary. — Oldys left a Diary, and as I 

 may judge, of no little interest, from such ex- 

 tracts which I have seen. It was in the possession 

 of J. Petit Andrews, Esq., of Brompton, in 1785. 

 It was entituled JDiarium Notabile, and is de- 

 scribed as an octavo pocket-book, gilt leaves. In 

 whose possession is it at present ? * Ithuriel. 



The Battiscombe Family. — Having obtained 

 all the information I desire concerning the first 

 of my Queries through the kind assistance of the 

 Editor and B. S. J., I should feel greatly obliged 

 to any correspondent for answers to my Queries 

 concerning William Battiscombe, who, I have 

 since learnt, was nearly related to Mr. Robert 

 Battiscombe, the royal apothecary, had two 

 brothers James (or John ?) and Daniel (men- 

 tioned in the reply) ; had issue William John, 

 and died 180-. How were the said Robert and 

 William Battiscombe connected ? 



I have also heard that the former married a 

 French lady and died s. p. Am I correct, and if 

 so, what was her name, and what ai - e the dates of 

 their deaths ? When did Peter Battiscombe of 

 Vere Wotton, father of the said Robert (living in 

 1796) die? A. Shelley Ellis. 



Bristol. 



[* For a notice of Oldys's Autobiography, see our 1 st S. 

 v. 529.— Ed.] 



