2°a S. IX. Arr.iL 14. 'CO.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



287 



and evidently of large fortune. After a time she 

 consented to marry him, he promising she should 

 have everything she wished on one condition, 

 which was that she should never attempt to dis- 

 cover his profession, or he would go away, and she 

 would never see him more. To this she agreed, 

 and all went on happily till her mother came to 

 stay with her, and with excusable curiosity the 

 old lady did her tiest to discover the secret. 

 Every day did the gentleman drive forth in his 

 cabriolet, and return to dinner. The groom was 

 questioned : he could not say where his master 

 went, for he always drove to the livery stables, 

 and left the cab there. At last, in spite of her 

 daughter's entreaties, the mother sallied forth to 

 follow her son-in-law ; but it was of no avail, she 

 always lost him at one point, and again and again 

 returned home foiled. At last, one dirty day 

 she was picking her way across the street, when a 

 ragged sweeper held out his hand for alms ; she 

 looked in his face, beheld her son-in-law, ut- 

 tered a scream, and fell down in the mud in a 

 fainting fit. The sequel I do not remember or 

 never heard, but I think it was always wrapped in 

 mystery ; for I always longed to know whether 

 the husband fulfilled his threat of running away, 

 or whether he put an end to the ladies a la Blue 

 Beard, or whether he forgave the curiosity of his 

 mother-in-law, and they all lived together happily 

 to the end of the story. Perhaps if Mr. Bache 

 could ascertain whether Mr. Simcox's friend had a 

 wife and family, it would set my mind at rest as 

 to the conclusion of this wonderful story, which I 

 have often heard from the lips of my old nurse. 



Magog. 

 Legend of Jersey : the Seigneur de Hambie 

 (2 qJ S. viii. 509.) — This suggested a tale, printed 

 Ln two volumes, 12mo., La Hague Bie de Hambie, 

 a Tradition of Jersey ; with Historical, Genealo- 

 gical, and Topographical Notes, by James Bulke- 

 ley, Esq., 1837. J. G. jST. 



Ronalds' "Electrical Telegraph" (2 nd S. 

 ix. 26. 73. 133.)— Neither the Editor of "N. & 

 Q.," nor E. R. (who gives the reference, p. 73.), 

 could have remarked that E . R. only repeats me 

 at the second reference. A. A., at the first re- 

 ference asks for particulars of Ronalds' experi- 

 ments. I now give them, as the work in which 

 they are described is scarce : Descriptions of an 

 Electrical Telegraph, $c, 1823 : — 



(1.) " Upon a lawn or grass plot at Hammersmith I 

 erected two strong frames of wood at a distance of 20 

 yards from each other, and each containing 19 horizontal 

 bars. To each bar was (sic) attached 37 hooks, and to 

 the hooks were applied as many silken cords, which sup- 

 ported a small iron wire (by these means well insulated) 

 which (making its inflections at the points of support) 

 posed in one continuous length a distance of rather 

 than 8 miles." 

 (J.) " When a Canton's pith ball Electrometer was 

 ected with each extremity of this wire, and it was 



charged by a Leyden jar, both electrometers appeared to 

 diverge suddenly at the same moment ; and when the 

 wire was discharged by being touched with the hand, 

 both electrometers appeared to collapse as suddenly." 



(3.) " A trench was dug in the garden 535 feet in 

 length, and 4 feet deep. In this was laid a trough of 

 wood 2 inches square, well lined in the inside and out 

 with pitch, and within this trough thick glass tubes 



were placed, through which the wire ran The 



trough was then covered with pieces of wood screwed 

 upon it while the pitch was hot ; they also were well 

 covered with pitch, and the earth then thrown into the 

 trench again." 



(4.) '• A light circular brass plate, divided into 20 equal 

 parts, was fixed upon the seconds' arbor of a clock which 

 beat dead seconds. Each division was marked with a 

 figure, a letter, and a preparatory sign. The figures were 

 divided into 2 series, from 1 to 10, and the letters were 

 arranged alphabetically, leaving out T, Q, U, W, X, and Z. 

 Before or over this disk was fixed another brass plate, 

 capable of being occasionally moved by the hand round 

 its centre, which had an aperture of such dimensions that, 

 whilst the disk was carried round by the motion of the 

 clock, only one of the letters, figures, and preparatory 

 signs upon it could be seen through the aperture at the 

 same time." 



(5.) " In front of this pair of plates was suspended an 

 Electrometer of Canton's pith balls from a wire which 

 was insulated communicated {sic) with a Cylindric Elec- 

 trical machine of only 6 inches diameter, and with the 

 above-described wire buried and insulated by the glass 

 tubes and trough in the garden." 



(6.) " Another similar Electrometer was suspended in 

 the same manner before another clock, similarly furnished 

 with the same kind of plates and Electrical Machine. 

 This second clock and machine were situated at the other 

 end of the buried wire, and it {sic) was adjusted to go as 

 nearly as possible synchronically with the first." 



The modus operandi I need not extract. It is 

 obvious. Besides the telegraphic arrangements 

 above described, Mr. Ronalds had a telegraphic 

 dictiona?-!/ to facilitate the transmission of mes- 

 sages. Clammild. 



Athenaeum Club. 



"Quarter" (2" d S. ix. 143.) — Your correspon- 

 dent A., quoting Ben Jonson's First Witch, 



" I have been all day looking a'ter, 

 A raven feeding upon a quarter," — 



adds, doubtingly : " ' Quarter,' in this connexion, 

 is, I presume, equivalent to field or cultivated 

 enclosure ? " 



The word offers, if an uglier, a more witch-like 

 meaning. The sentence of a traitor was to be 

 hung, drawn, and quartered. 



A raven, feeding on the exposed quarter of a 

 traitor might well attract a witch's attention. 

 She goes on suitably : 



" And, soon as she turn'd her beak to the south, 

 I snatch' d this morsel out of her mouth." 



Compare the Seventh Witch : 



" A murderer, yonder, was hung in chains : 

 The sun and the wind had shrunk his veins. 

 I bit off' a sinew, I clipp'd his hair, 

 I brought off his rags that dane'd i' the air." 



L. X. R. 



