2** S. IX Mat 5. 'CO.] 



NOTES AND QUEE1ES. 



345 



osity to know where these buildings stood. I 

 believe they commenced near Southsea, and ex- 

 tended in the direction of Dover. They must 

 not be confounded with the " Martello towers," 

 which were erected full ten years later, because 

 one of our frigates had been repulsed by a fort 

 called the Martello (hammer), somewhere in the 

 Mediterranean. W. D. 



Aemt and Navy. — Was the "Navy and Army " 

 ever proposed at convivial meetings at any period 

 of English history; or did the "Army" always 

 precede the "Navy" as a toast at a convivial 

 banquet ; in other words, did the "Army" al- 

 ways take the precedence of the " Navy"? IT. 



The Oily Hero. — Among some old newspaper 

 cuttings I have a copy of verses headed " Dum 

 vivimus bibamus," the ingenuity of which con- 

 sists in making every couplet end with " water," 

 and in not directly naming any of the persons 

 injured by it. Thus : — 



"The Danish courtier had a virtuous daughter, 

 Damaged by calumny, but killed by water." 



"The oiley hero, 'scaped from fire and slaughter, 

 Women and wine, but died of drinking water." 



" These are old fond paradoxes to make fools 

 Laugh in the — " 



refreshment houses ; but, knowing the rest, I 

 shall be glad to be told who is " the oiley hero " ? 



A. A. R. 

 Maids of Honour. — 



" Ye maids who Britain's court bedeck, 

 Miss Wrottesley, Beauclerk, Tryon, Keck, 

 Miss Meadows and Boscawen," &c. ' 



Ode to the Maids of Honour, 1770.* 



I want the parentage and connexions of these 

 six ladies. Miss Wrottesley was sister to the lady 

 who married the Duke of Grafton after his di- 

 vorce from Miss Liddell. Miss Keck was pro- 

 bably one of the Legh-Kecks, of Great Tew 

 House, Oxfordshire, a property which has since 

 passed into other hands. I could guess at the 

 rest, but should probably be wrong in some, at 

 least, of my conjectures. 



Dr. Doran says that in those days respectable 

 coachmen would not have allowed their daughters 

 to associate with the maids of honour. Can this 

 have been true, at any time, of the young ladies 

 of Queen Charlotte's court W. D. 



Tap Dressing. — 



"Tat Dressing We are sure all our readers — es- 

 pecially those who have seen a tap dressiDg — will hail 

 with pleasure the announcement, that steps are about to 

 be taken to have the taps at Wirksworth dressed on 

 Whit- Wednesday next. For the last two years they have 

 been everything that could be desired, and the healthful 

 pleasure attendant upon them has been felt bj- thousands. 



[• Our correspondent should have stated where he 

 found this Ode. — Ku.] 



It is a remarkable fact that not a single objection can be 

 made to the custom. Another circumstance is, that it is 

 strictly local ; it belongs to Derbyshire alone. We feci 

 strongly for these old customs, as links of the chain con- 

 necting us with the past and appealing to us with their 

 deep meaning aud significance — their fostering of hos- 

 pitality — and their drawirg together peer and peasant, 

 master and man, in bonds which degrade neither." 



Is the above a common practice ? aud I am 

 obliged to ask what it means. B. 



©tieries? forth &n£fiBn£. 



" The Widow of the Wood ; being an au- 

 thentic Narrative of a late remarkable Trans- 

 action in Staffordshire," Glasgow, 1769. Some 

 one has written inside the cover, — 



" A curious and extraordinary book. Longman & Co.'s 

 Catalogue, 1817, No. 2655., price 18s. This volume details 

 a variety of curious, and almost romantic, occurrences con- 

 nected with some of the most respectable families in Staf- 

 fordshire, and which took place about the year 1750." 



Can you furnish me with any farther particulars 

 respecting the parties hinted at, or till up the 



blanks of Sir W m W y of W y Hall, 



and Mrs. Wh y of Wh y Wood ? 



George Lloyd. 



[ The Widow of the Wood, first published in 1755, is the 

 production of Benjamin Victor, the dramatist. A sum- 

 mary account of its romantic details is given in the Gent. 

 3Iag. xxv. 191. The blanks quoted above we have no 

 wish to fill up, for the sake of ,an honourable family still 

 in existence. On a fly-leaf of a copy of this work now 

 before us some one has written the following couplet : — 



" Slander still prompts true merit to defame. 

 To blot the brightest worth, and blast the fairest name." 

 Lowth's Hercules' Choice. 

 The maiden name of the "widow" was Anne Northcy. 

 Her first husband was Mr. Whitby ; her fourth, Mr. Har- 

 grave, father of the celebrated jurist, who, by her death 

 and the consequent lapse of her jointure, sustained a con- 

 siderable loss. Every copy of the work which could be 

 found was destroyed bv Mr. Hargrave's son, the coun- 

 sellor. See " N. & Q." i" S. ii. 468. ; iii. 13.] 



John Maxwell, a blind poet, published by 

 subscription at York two tragedies having the 

 following titles: The Royal Captive, 8vo., 1745; 

 and The Distressed Virgin, 8vo., 1761. Can you 

 give me any account of the subjects, &c. Any 

 information regarding the author would be ac- 

 ceptable. X. 



[The scene of The Royal Captive is Sparta; and the 

 Dramatis Persona, Ajax, King of Sparta; Albertus, 

 brother to the King; Paransus, favourite to the King; 

 Serapsis, favourite to the Prince; Tarascus, Captain of 

 the Guards ; Macillus, an Epirot ; A Gentleman ; A Mes- 

 senger; Mandana, the Captive Princess; Eliza, an at- 

 tendant on Mandana. The Dramatis Persona of The 

 Distressed Virgin are: — Men. Lord Airy; Araxes, at- 

 tendant on Lord Airy; Archilas, guardian to Cleona; 

 Polono, servant to Archilas. Women. Felicia; Cleona; 

 Melanta, friend to Cleona. We know nothing of this 

 blind dramatist.] 



