2"* S. IX. Juke 9. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



439 



•when about ninety his last wife brought hifri a thumping 

 bov, of whom the old man was excessively proud. {Europ. 

 Mag., 1813, vol. Ixiii. p. 363.) 



David Ferguson, died at Dunkirk, near Boughton- 

 under-the-Blean, August 6, 1818, aged 124. He was 

 born at Netherud, in the parish of Kirkud, and was the 

 youngest of fifteen children. He first entered the army 

 in the Glasgow Greys (not the present Scots Greys), and 

 was present at the" battle of Sheriffmuir in 1714. He 

 afterwards served in the 70th Foot. {Biog. and Obit., 

 1819, p. 502.) 



Patrick Grant, died at Braemar, Feb. 11, 1824, aged 

 113. He fought at Falkirk and Culloden, and also in th« 

 English raid under the Pretender. In 1822, Geo. IV. 

 granted him an allowance of a guinea a week, which, at 

 his death, was bestowed on his daughter Anne for life. 

 {Ibid., 1825, p. 421.) 



Arthur Johnston, died at Diumlough, co. Down, 14th 

 April, 1832, aged 105. He had been a sergeant in the 

 1st Foot. In the army he served twenty-one years, and 

 was a pensioner sixty-one. (Dodsley, Ann. Reg., 1832, 

 App. Chron., p. 195.) 



Aaron Botts, died at Dublin, 22nd Sept. 1832, aged 106. 

 He served in most of the battles and sieges in America, 

 and was an extra- pensioner of Chelsea Hospital. {Ibid , 

 1832, App. Chron., p. 219.) 



John Henderson, died at Kilmainham, about April, 

 1836, aged 105. He fought at Culloden, at the sieges of 

 ■Quebec and the Havannah ; also at the battle of Bunker's 

 Hill, and other affairs. {Ibid., 1836, App. Chron., p. 197.) 



Thomas Plum, died at Whitechapel, Aug. 25, 1832, 

 aged 108. He was a native of North America, and when 

 young was the servant of a surgeon in the army. He 

 afterwards joined a loyal corps of engineers formed in 

 Ameriea ; and while attached to the 52nd Regiment, was 

 present at Bunker's Hill and several other battles, till 

 taken prisoner. After his discharge, he worked at his 

 trade as a carpenter till he reached his 80th year of age. 

 Ibid., 1832, App. Chron., p. 214.) 



George Fieteher, died at Poplar, 2nd March, 1855, aged 

 108. He was born at Clanborough, co. Nottingham, 

 2nd Feb. 1747. After following the occupation of a 

 farmer for twenty-one years, he joined the army, in 

 which he served twenty-six years, and was present at 

 Bunker's Hill, and also in the Egyptian campaigns of 

 1801. After leaving the army, he found employment 

 with the West India Dock Company, remaining in its 

 service for thirty-six years. During most of this time 

 he was a useful local preacher among the W T esle3'ans, 

 continuing his ministrations till within a short period of 

 his death. {Ibid., 1805, App. Chron., p. 256.) 



Mary Ral/ihson, died at Liverpool, 27th June, 1808, 

 aged 110. She was born Jan. 1st, 1698, O. S., at 

 Lochaber in Scotland. Her husband, Ralph Ralphson, 

 was a private in the Duke of Cumberland's army. Fol- 

 lowing the troops, she attended her husband in several 

 engagements in England and Scotland. At the battle of 

 Dettingen she equipped herself in the uniform and ac- 

 coutrements of a wounded dragoon who fell by her side, 

 and mounting his charger, regained the retreating army, 

 in which she found her husband, and returned with him 

 to England. In his after campaigns, she closely followed 

 him like another " Mother Ross," though perhaps with 

 le.-e courage, and far less indiscreetness. In her late 

 years she was supported by some benevolent ladies of 

 Liverpool. {Evrop. Mag., 1808, vol. liv. p. 71.) 



Amon» the noble and rich of the land, I have 

 noticed but few records of extended life. It 

 seems to be the lot of a favoured number of the 

 undoubted poor. Women are longer livers than 



men, and soldiers than other people. With all its 

 dangers — its vicissitudes of service and travel — 

 its privations and its hardships — military life, 

 after all, is a healthy occupation, giving hope of a 

 fine old age. War, and the endless occasion of 

 death to which it is exposed, make, it is true, ter- 

 rific havock among the soldiery ; but of those 

 who survive the incidents of battle and of climate, 

 many drop away from time at good old ages, and 

 a greater number arrive at the centenary period 

 than any other class or classes of men. 



Think of this, ye volunteers ! and take heart 

 (if ye need it) from these facts — remembering 

 also that your little home service, which promises 

 its own charms and excitement, is calculated not 

 to shorten but to lengthen " the little span." 



M. S. R. 



MEDIAEVAL RHYMES. 



In a MS. in the British Museum (Ilarleian, 

 No. 275.) occurs the following curious mixture of 

 English and Latin rhymes. One would almost 

 suppose that the lines of the canticle were in- 

 tended to be sung alternately by the laity and 

 clergy : — 



" Joyne all now in thys feste 

 ffor Verbum caro factum est. 



" Jhesus almyghty king of blys 

 Assumpsit carnem Virginis; 

 He was ev' and ev'more ys 

 Consors p'rni lumls. 



" All holy churche of hym mak mj-nd 

 Intravit ventris thalamum ; 

 ffrom heven to erthe to save mankj'nd 

 Pater mint filium. 



" To Mary came a messanger, 

 fferens saliTi homini ; 

 And she answered w* myld chere, 

 Ecce ancilla Domini. 



" The myght of the holy g08te 

 Palacium intrans uteri ; 

 Of all thyng mekenesse is moste 

 In conspectu Altissimi. 



" When He was borne that made all thyng 

 Pastor creator oium ; 

 Angellis then began to syng 

 Veni redemptor gentium. 



" Thre kynges come the xii day 

 Stella nitente previa; 

 To seke the kyng they toke the way 

 Bajulantes muuera. 



" A sterre furth ledde the kynges all 

 Inquirentes Dominum ; 

 Lygging in an ox stall 

 Invenerunt puerum. 



" For He was kyng of kyngis ay 

 Primus rex auru optnlit; 

 ffor He was God and Lord verra)' 

 Secundus rex thus protulit, 



