Various

“ Ascension Day, you, or some of you, shall come to the wood of Stray-Head, which is in Eskdale-side, by sun-rising, and there shall{149} the officer of the abbat blow his horn, that ye may know how to find him. And he shall deliver to you, William de Bruce, ten stakes, eleven strut-stowers, and eleven yeathers, to be cut by you, and those that come for you, with a knife of a penny price. And you Ralph de Peircy, shall take one and twenty of each sort, to be cut in the same manner. And you, Allatson, shall take nine of each sort, to be cut as aforesaid. ”

“ When the facts are made patent, there will be no need to dwell upon the inconsistencies pointed out by Mr. Warden, and the alleged incompatibility in regard to age for an union between two persons of some note in family history, the son of the first Earl of Westmoreland and his Countess Joan and the daughter and heir of the Lord Fauconberge, who formed an alliance from which the co-heirs are, it is believed, represented at this day. ”

“ Warwickshire Folk Lore.—The only certain remedy for the bite of an adder is to kill the offending reptile, and apply some of its fat to the wound. Whether the fat should be raw or melted down, my informant did not say, but doubtless the same effect would be produced in either case.
If a pig is killed in the wane of the moon, the bacon is sure to shrink in the boiling; if, on the other hand, the pig is killed when the moon is at the full, the bacon will swell. ”

“ I have witnessed the representation of the Twelfth Night as often, during the last five-and-forty years, as I have had an opportunity; and, in every instance, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and the Clown, in their rollicking orgies, smoke tobacco. Now, this must be an "interpolation of the players;" for not only was tobacco unknown in Illyria, at the period of the story, but Shakspeare does not once name tobacco in his works, and, therefore, was not likely to give a stage-direction for the use of it. The great poet is freely blamed for anachronisms ”

“ Lining of Cameras.—I find nothing so good to line a camera with as black velvet; for, black the inside of a camera as you will, if it is hard wood or any size used, there will be reflection from the bottom, which, with very sensitive plates, gives a dulness which, I think I may say, is caused by this reflection. I think even the inside of the lens tube might advantageously be lined with black velvet. ”

“ A true representation of nature is required: and, as we cannot view any object with one of our eyes eighteen or twenty feet separate from the other, so it appears to me a true picture cannot be obtained by taking two views so far apart. ”

“ On distinguait parmi ces tableaux un portrait en pied de Charles I., roi d'Angleterre, original de Vandyk. C'est le seul qui soit resté en France. Madame la Comtesse Dubarri, qui déploie de plus en plus son goût pour les arts, a ordonné de l'acheter: elle l'a payé 24,000 livres. Et sur le reproche qu'on lui faisait de choisir un pareil morceau entre tant d'autres qui auraient dû lui mieux convenir, elle a répondu que c'était un portrait de famille qu'elle retirait. ”

“ Lord Fauconberge may have had a son by his former wife, but I have seen nothing to confirm this supposition. By an inquisition taken after the death of Sir Walter Fauconberge, Chivaler, at Bedford, on the 18th of November, 1415, it was found that Joan, widow of one Sir John Fauconberge, Chivaler, deceased, whom Thomas Brounflete, junior, afterwards married, was then living, and that she granted to the said Sir Walter all the estate which she had in certain rents payable by Matilda Wake, formerly the wife of Sir Thomas Wake, Chivaler ”

“ There appeared in the Berwick Advertiser the following origin of the word humbug, and it assuredly is a very feasible one. It may be proper to premise, that the name of bogue is commonly pronounced bug in that district of Scotland formerly called the "Mearns."
"It is not generally known that this word, presently so much in vogue, is of Scottish origin. There was in olden time a race called Bogue, or Boag of that ilk, in Berwickshire. A daughter of the family married a son of Hume of Hume. ”

“ And then ye shall take them on your backs, and carry them to the town of Whitby, and take care to be there before nine of the clock, and at the same hour, if it be a full sea, to cease your service. But, if it be low water at nine of the clock, then each of you shall, the same hour, set your stakes at the edge of the water, each stake a yard from the other, and so yeather them with your yeathers, and stake them on each side with your strut-stowers, that they may stand three tides, without removing by the force of the water. ”

“ As a proof, quantum valeat, that the Castle fogies were so called for some other reason than merely because of their being "old folks," I may mention that there was in Edinburgh, for more than a century, another body of veterans, called the Town Guard, or City Guard, maintained by the magistrates as a sort of military police, or gendarmerie, and finally disbanded in 1817. This corps was generally recruited from old soldiers; and during the period of my acquaintance with them (91⁄2 years) they were all aged, and some of them very old men; yet I never heard the word fogies applied to them. ”

“ It is particularly useful in confined habit of body, as also diarrhœa, bowel complaints, affections of the kidneys and bladder, such as stone or gravel; inflammatory irritation and cramp of the urethra, cramp of the kidneys and bladder, strictures, and hemorrhoids. This really invaluable remedy is employed with the most satisfactory result, not only in bronchial and pulmonary complaints, where irritation and pain are to be removed, but also in pulmonary and bronchial consumption, in which it counteracts effectually the troublesome cough ”

“ The photographer forms a weak solution for his purpose with one of the least soluble and weakest of the ammoniacal preparations, and which, by drying around the stopper of the bottle, is very unlikely to become explosive, from its wanting the addition of another element as necessary to the formation of an explosive compound. For my own part, I must say, that I have found, from experience, all the compound solutions of silver keep much better, and the photogenic effect more satisfactory, by mixing only so much as I may require for immediate use, at this time of the year especially. ”

“ A newspaper of Scottish manufacture appeared at Edinburgh, the same authority relates, on the 31st of December, 1660, under the title of Mercurius Caledonius; comprising the affairs in agitation in Scotland, with a survey of foreign intelligence. It was published once a week, in a small 4to. form of eight pages. Chalmers adds, that—
"It was a son of the Bishop of Orkney, Thomas Lydserfe, who now thought he had the wit to amuse, the knowledge to instruct, and the address to captivate the lovers of news in Scotland. ”

“ I have now obtained the most ample evidence of the existence, in the latter part of the last, and the beginning of the present, centuries, of the existence of a peculiar body of men called the Fogies, in Edinburgh Castle. My informants agree in describing them as old men, dressed in red coats with apple-green facings, and cocked hats. ”

“ A Cob-wall.—Why do the inhabitants of Devonshire call a wall made of tempered earth, straw, and small pebbles mixed together, a cob-wall? Walls so constructed require a foundation of stone or bricks, which is commonly continued to the height of about two feet from the surface of the ground. Has the term cob reference to the fact that such a wall is a superstructure on the foundation of stone or brick? ”

“ OTTEWILL'S REGISTERED DOUBLE-BODIED FOLDING CAMERA, is superior to every other form of Camera, for the Photographic Tourist, from its capability of Elongation or Contraction to any Focal Adjustment, its extreme Portability, and its adaptation for taking either Views or Portraits. ”

“ Bayle, in his Pensées sur les Comètes, § 243., has a passage which illustrates the slowness of the Spaniards:—"D'un côté on prévoyoit, que l'empereur et le roi d'Espagne se serviroient de très grandes forces, pour opprimer la chrétienté: mais on prévoyoit aussi de l'autre, qu'ils ne seroient jamais en état de l'accabler, parceque la lenteur et les longues délibérations qui ont toujours fait leur partage, font perdre trop de bonnes occasions. ”

“ The Number Nine.—Can any of your mathematical correspondents inform me of the law and reason of the following singular property of the numbers? If from any number above nine the same number be subtracted written backwards, the addition of the figures of the remainder will always be a multiple of nine; for instance—
John Lammens.
Position of Font.—The usual and very significant position of the font is near the church door. But there is one objection to this, viz. that the benches being best arranged facing the chancel, the people cannot without much confusion see the baptisms. ”

“ C. the popular account printed and circulated at Whitby is given. It is substantially the same with that given by Beckwith, but for "strut-stowers" we have "strout-stowers;" and for "yadders" we have "yethers." It appears, also, that the service was not at that time performed by the proprietors in person; and that part of the lands charged therewith were then held by a gentleman of the name of Herbert.
I shall be glad if any of your correspondents will elucidate the terms strut-stowers, and yeathers or yadders. ”

“ He succeeded in reaching Panama, traversed the Isthmus, and sailed from Porto Bello{145} in the Spanish fleet, which reached San Sucar, Nov. 28, 1637. He returned to England after an absence of twenty-four years. His father was dead: he found himself disinherited, and although hardly recognised by his family at first, he met ultimately with kindly treatment. During his residence in S. America, doubts had arisen in his mind as to the truth and validity of the creed and ritual to which he was attached. ”

“ Cure, No. 180:—"Twenty-five years' nervousness, constipation, indigestion, and debility, from which I had suffered great misery, and which no medicine could remove or relieve, have been effectually cured by Du Barry's food in a very short time.—W. R. Reeves, Pool Anthony, Tiverton."
Cure, No. 4,208:—"Eight years' dyspepsia, nervousness, debility, with cramps, spasms, and nausea, for which my servant had consulted the advice of many, have been effectually removed by Du Barry's delicious food in a very short time. ”

“ The interest which the execution of the railroad across the Isthmus of Panama excites, induces me to transmit you the following extract from Gage's New Survey of the West Indies, 8vo., London, 1699.
A few lines relative to the author, of whom but little is known, may be also of use. He was the son of John Gage, of Haling; and his brother was Sir Henry Gage, governor of Oxford, killed at the battle at Culham Bridge, Jan. 11, 1644. His family were of the Roman Catholic faith; and he was sent by his father in 1612 into Spain, to study under the Jesuits, in the hope he would join that society ”

“ Northamptonshire Folk Lore.—There is a singular custom prevailing in some parts of Northamptonshire, and perhaps some of your correspondents may be able to mention other places where a similar practice exists. If a female is afflicted with fits, nine pieces of silver money and nine threehalfpences are collected from nine bachelors: the silver money is converted into a ring to be worn by the afflicted person, and the threehalfpences (i. e. 131⁄2d.) are paid to the maker of the ring, an inadequate remuneration for his labour, but which he good-naturedly accepts. ”

“ Turner exhibits much learning and research, and he has consequently laid before the reader much interesting information. It is a book that was wanted, and that affords us some relief from the mass of works on Ecclesiastical Architecture with which of late years we have been deluged. ”

“ Walter, fifth Lord Fauconberge, died on the 29th of September, 1362 (Esc. 36 Edw. III., 1st part, No. 77.) , leaving a son Thomas (issue of his first marriage with Matilda, sister and co-heir of Sir William de Pateshull, Kt., Esc. 33 Edw. III., 1st part, No. 40., and Rot. Orig., 34 Edw. III., Ro. 2.) , then a minor, under eighteen years of age.
Thomas, who was born circa 1345, was already in 1362 married to his first wife Constancia, by whom he does not appear to have left any issue surviving. His was rather an eventful life; some incidents not noticed by Dugdale will be briefly cited. ”

“ Query, What is the authority for this well-known story?
Essay XIII. Of Goodness.—
"The Turks, a cruel people, nevertheless are kind to beasts, and give alms to dogs and birds; insomuch, as Busbechius reporteth, a Christian boy in Constantinople had like to have been stoned for gagging in a waggishness a long-billed fowl." ”

“ Every man ought to read the jest-books, that he may not make himself disagreeable by repeating "old Joes" as the very last good things. One book of this class is little more than the copy of another as to the points, with a change of the persons ”