80 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



L2»<» S. IX. Feb. 4. '60. 



fluence which courts have upon fashions." — The Con- 

 noisseur, Thursday, January 2, 1755. 



W. P. 



Naval Ballad. — I am anxious to recover the 

 words of a rough naval ballad of the last century 

 relating to an engagement between the British 

 under the command of Sir Thomas Matthews and 

 a Spanish fleet. 



I never knew but one person who had heard of 

 it, and he could only remember a fragment. The 

 following is all that now clings to my memory : — 



" Our Captain he was a man of great fame, 

 Sir Thomas Matthews, that was his name ; 

 And when in the midst of the battle he came, 

 He cried, ' Fight on my jolly boys with courage true 



and bold, 

 We will never have it said that we ever was con- 

 trolled.' " 



Edward Peacock. 



"Frederic Latimer." — Who is the author of 

 a novel entitled Frederic Latimer, or, the History 

 of a Young Man of Fashion, 3 vols., 1799 ? Is it 

 the case that the leading incidents of this story 

 are taken from reality ? and to what members of 

 the aristocracy do they relate ? A. J. Beatson. 



Scottish College at Paris. — Allusion was 

 made in a work I once read to the curious MSS. 

 preserved in the Scottish College at Paris and 

 the repositories at St. Germains. Can any of 

 your correspondents tell me the locale of the 

 college, and whether any MSS. exist there rela- 

 tive to the residence at St. Germains of James 

 the Second and the Pretender. N. H. R. 



Treasurie of Similies. — I have an old book 

 of which I should much like to discover the full 

 title, as my copy is very imperfect. The running 

 title is " a Treasurie or Storehouse of Similies," 

 and it seems to have consisted of about 900 pages, 

 small quarto, published, I should suppose, in the 

 early part of the seventeenth century.* There are 

 many words and allusions in it which I am at a 

 loss to understand. Perhaps some of your readers 

 may help me. The writer at p. 793. says : — 



" As sweete trefoile looseth his sent seven times aday, ami 

 receiveth it againe, as long as it is growing, but being 

 withered and dried, it keepeth still its savour, so the 

 godly, living in the body, shall often fall and recover 

 againe ; being dead shall no more fall, but continue in 

 their holinesse." 



What fact in the natural history of the trefoil 

 does this refer to ? Again — 



" As the great Castle Gillofer floureth not til March and 



[* This work is entitled A Treasvrie or Store- Hovse of 

 Similies : both pleasaunt, delightfull, and profitable, for all 

 estates of men in generall. Newly collected into Heades and 

 Common-places. By Robert Cawdray. London, Printed 

 by Thomas Creede, dwelling in the Old Chaunge, at the 

 Signe of the Eagle and Childe, neare Old Fish-Streete, 

 1G00. It is dedicated "to the Right Worshipfvl, and his 

 singular benefactors, Sir Iohn Harington, Knight, a* also 

 to the Worshipfull lames Harington, Esquire, his brother." 

 —Ed.] 



April, a yeare after the sowing, and Marian's Violets two 

 yeares after their sowing ; so the grace of God received in 

 baptism does not by and by shew forth itself till some 

 yeares after the infusion," p. 669. 



What are these two flowers ? The book is full 

 of these curious references, and I should like to 

 know more about it. H. B. 



Arms. — Can you inform me what family bore 

 the following arms : — Argent, 3 bars gules be- 

 tween six martlets proper, 3, 2, and 1 ? * 



C. J. Robinson. 



Inscription. — Wanted an explanation of the 

 following inscription, which is to be seen in Dry- 

 burgh Abbey on one of a number of stones, an- 

 cient and modern, collected and let into a ruined 

 wall by the late Lord Buchan. The man who 

 at present shows the Abbey says that he has heard 

 that it is the tombstone of a suicide : — 



" + FL(DS€ 

 TJ\R5tf." 



I fancy that these letters may be a contraction 

 of longer words. K. M. B. 



John Ffishwick. — Can any of the readers of 

 " N. & Q." give me any information respecting the 

 ancestors of the above ? He was licensed incum- 

 bent of Wilton, alias Northwich, Cheshire, in 

 1675, and was buried there in Nov. 1718. H.F.F. 



Versiera. — Can Prof. De Morgan or any 

 of your correspondents explain the reason of the 

 strange appellation given to the Curve called, in 

 Italian, the " Versiera," in English, the " Witch " 

 of Agnesi, invented by the celebrated female 

 mathematician of Milan ? On reference to the 

 Italian dictionaries, I find the word " Versiera " 

 means a fend or hobgoblin. Pascal. 



The Sea Serjeants. — I have been informed 

 that there was a Masonic body of Loyalists at- 

 tached to the house of Stuart who adopted this 

 designation. Does any reader of " N. & Q." 

 remember to have seen them alluded to, and if so, 

 where? S. P. R.+ 



The Label in Heraldry. — What is the 

 meaning of the heraldic bearing of the label as 

 a distinguishing mark of an eldest son ? I have 

 failed to discover it, after many inquiries. 



Joan Famitch. 



Michael Angelo. — The following entry is 

 from a grant book of Edw. VI. Is anything 

 known farther respecting the circumstances under 

 which the said grant was made ? 



" Nov. 28, 5 Ed. vj. An annuitie of xx n to Michaell 

 Angelo of Florence, for life, to be payd at th'augment' 

 from Christmas last quarterly." 



Ithdriel. 



[* There appears to be some inaccuracy in the above 

 description. It must either be 2 bars between 6 martlets 

 3, 2, and 1 ; or on 3 bars 6 martlets 3, 2, and 1. — Ed.] 



