2°<> S. IX. Feb. 18. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



121 



archery"; as appears from the following royal in- 

 junction addressed by Edward III. to the sheriff 

 of Kent, and to the sheriff of each county, dated 

 1st June, 1363, only seven years after the victory 

 of Poitiers (Sept. 1356) : — 



"Rex Vicecomili Kantiae salutem. 



"Quia populus regni nostri, tam Nobiles quam igno- 

 biles, in jocis suis, artem sagittandi ante haeo tempora 

 communiter exercebant, unde toti regno nostro honorem, 

 et commodum nobis in actibus nostris guerrinis, Dei ad- 

 jutorio cooperante, subventiouem non modicam dinoscitur 

 provenisse, — 



"Et jam, dicta arte quasi totaliter dimissa, idem po- 

 pulus ad jaetus lapidum, lignorum, et fcrri ; et quidam ad 

 pilam manualem, pedivam, et bacularem; et ad cani- 

 bucam et gallorum pugnam ; quidam etiam ad alios ludos 

 inhonestos et minus utiles aut valentes, se indulgent, — 



" Per quod dictum reguum de Sagittariis infra breve 

 devenict verisimiliter (quod absit) destitutum, — 



"Xos, volentes super hoc remedium apponi opportunum, 

 tibi pracipimus quod in locis in comitatu tuo, tam infra 

 libertates quam extra, ubi expedire videris, publice facias 

 proclamari, quod quilibet ejusdem comitates, in corpore 

 potens, in diebus festivis, cum vacaverit, arcubus et sa- 

 gittis, vel pilettis aut boltis, in jocis suis utatur, artemque 

 sagittandi discat et exerceat : — ■ 



"Omnibus et singulis, ex parte nostra, inhibens, ne ad 

 bujusmodi jaetus lapidum, lignorum, fcrri : pilam manua- 

 lem, pedivam vel bacularem; aut canibucam vel gallorum 

 pugnam, aut alios ludos vanos hujusmodi, qui valero non 

 poterunt, sub pcena imprisonamenti, aliqualiter intendant, 

 aut se hide intromittant. 



" Teste Rege apud Westmonasterium, primq die Junii. 

 " Per ipsum Regem." 



This proclamation seems not to have produced 

 the desired effect, for I find that it was repeated 

 two years later (12 June, 1365) exactly in the 

 same terms. It would seem, therefore, that the 

 English people were lulled into a feeling of se- 

 curity by the peace and the recent victories, and 

 indulged their taste for other sports, which by the 

 way it is very interesting to note, as they are enu- 

 merated in the proclamation. But how stringent! 

 Imprisonment for a game at hand-ball ! How dif- 

 ferent the language of our gracious Queen, on the 

 subject of the volunteer movement. "I have ac- 

 cepted with gratification and pride the extensive 

 offers of voluntary service which I have received 

 from my subjects. This manifestation of public 

 spirit has added an important element to our sys- 

 tem of national defence." — Queen's Speech, Jan. 

 24,1860. John Williams. 



Arno's Court. 



fHt'itar i&atctf. 

 Lord Eldon a Swordsman. — It is an amusing 

 incident in the life of Lord Eldon, that in the 

 year 1781, when he was Attorney- General, a thin 

 octavo volume (114 pages), entitled A few Mathe- 

 matical and Critical Remarks an the Sward, was 

 dedicated to him. The dedication contains the 

 following passage : — 



" I ingenuously declare, if I knew but one man in the 



kingdom to have a sounder judgment and a finer ima- 

 gination, a more humane and expanded heart, and a more 

 spirited and judicious arm, I should have been still more 

 presumptuous than I am in prefixing your name to so 

 trifling a production." 



The book was published anonymously, printed 

 by D.Chamberlaine, No. 5. College Green, Dublin, 

 1781. The expert lawyer, it appears, was also an 

 expert swordsman, cunning in fence in each cha- 

 racter, but 



" Cedant arma togaj." 



Nix. 



Tinted Paper. — It is suggested that, now 

 we are to be freed from the paper-duty, tinted 

 papers be more used. The relief an occasional 

 slight shade of colour affords to those whose eyes 

 are constantly poring over bleached and glazed 

 sheets is well worth any little difference in price. 

 Any one who has intently read a new library 

 work for a couple of days will know what this 

 means, as well as those who have to look over 

 white MSS. 



Experiments have been made in the tints most 

 agreeable to the eye, and this improvement has 

 already been adopted in some mathematical tables, 

 in a few standard books, in catalogues, and in a 

 colonial paper or two. Perhaps the way to begin 

 is, to print a few tinted copies of every publica- 

 tion, whether bound or unbound, and let pur- 

 chasers take their choice. (" N. & Q." not to be 

 excepted.) 



Query. What would be the extra cost on the 

 several varieties of paper ? I am told 10 per cent, 

 is the limit. S. F. Creswell. 



The School, Tunbridge, Kent. 



Eleanor Gwyn. — In a ballad (Collection Old 

 Ballads, Brit. Mus.) upon the conflagration of the 

 Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Jan. 25, 167£, these 

 two lines occur : — 



" He cryes just judgment, and wished when poor Bell 

 Rung out his last, 't had been the stages kNell." 



A MS. note at the back (contemporary hand) 

 says being so writ a little k and a great N, some 

 thought it reflected upon Nell Gwyn, and tho' 

 y e verses were licensed L'Estrange threatned 

 to trouble y e printer for making a great N. 

 Wherein is the point of this allusion ? 



In a " Dialogue " in a new Song of the Times, 

 1683, printed in Marvell's State Poems (2nd col- 

 lection), the writer makes Oliver Cromwell's por- 

 ter to enter with a Bible given him by Nell Gwynn. 



Is there any foundation for this incident ? 



ITH URIEL. 



First Coach in Scotland. — The first coach 

 seen in Scotland was probably that of the Queen 

 of James VI. (our James I.). The Diary of 

 Robert Birch records that after the King's de- 

 parture to England, " on the 30th May, 1603, her 

 Majesty came to Sanet Geill's Kirk,' weill con- 



