Various

“ Authors quite as remarkable for their matter-of-fact opinions as A. N. may be, have not rejected the connexion of the Cymry with Gomer. For instance, Volney, in his attacks on Scripture history, when examining Gen. x. on Gomer, adopts an argument in support of this paternity, though not in its Biblical sense, viewing Gomer as a chief. As it is not an unusual circumstance for a nation to adopt the name of its patriarch or founder (and on this point I would refer to a note to Gibbon's Decline, chap. lxiv.) ”

“ I have (as you justly acknowledge) a perseverance in friendship, that time, nor distance, nor circumstance, can defeat,—nay, even neglect can hardly conquer it; and you are just as warm and as near me in North America as you would be upon the spot."
Rickson survived Wolfe eleven years, and I possess the key of the tomb in which his remains repose in Restalrig churchyard, near Edinburgh. ”

“ I have been informed that where a monument was surmounted by a representation of an emaciated corpse (emblematic of the poverty of spirit in which the original was supposed to live and die) , it was usual to erect a second effigy, representing the departed as he actually appeared to his fellow men. This last sentence I must however put in the form of a Query, in the hope that some of your correspondents may answer it with special reference to the supposed tomb, or tombs, of Bishop Tully? ”

“ Mr. Yarrell does not attempt to identify the vendace with any foreign species, nor to answer the question, who introduced them in Lochmaben? However, his account of the other species of the genus Coregonus in Great Britain is well worth giving.
The species of the genus Coregonus are numerous in Europe, and several of them are so similar to each other that they are often confounded.
"Some writers have even considered the Vendisse of Lochmaben as the same with the Powan of [Loch Lomond] Perthshire, the Schelly of Cumberland, the Gwyniad of Wales, and the Pollan of Ireland. ”

“ Your correspondent who inquires about an attendant of the Scottish queen who disappeared when she was in England, will find a notice of the same person in the appendix to Tytler's History of Scotland, reign of Queen Mary. There is a letter there from the English ambassador at Paris to his Court, with an account of the Queen Dowager's visit to France: he mentions that King Henry had been captivated by one of the ladies in Mary's train, who, it was reported, was with child to him. ”

“ The form of name, Lollaert, would make it more than probable that Lollard was a Dutchman, which agrees very well with the account that he preached in Germany.
How much is it to be wished that some member of the many learned Dutch Antiquarian Societies now in existence, would endeavour at last to clear up the history of Lollard by reference to the records of the city of Utrecht, if they are still in being, and extend so far back as the fourteenth century.
Florentius became Bishop of Utrecht in 1379, and died 1394. ”

“ The young heather which springs up from the roots produces much better and more palatable food for the sheep. In this process, which takes place at the same time in a whole district (viz. when there has been no rain for some time) , the whole air becomes loaded with smoke, and a very misty state of the atmosphere is produced. It is the general belief throughout the south of Scotland and in the Cheviot range, that this burning "doth draw downe rain." ”

“ The habits of this fish do not, with the exception of having been in some instances taken with the artificial fly, differ in any marked respect from those of the Vendace of Scotland, or the Gwyniad of Wales, and are in accordance with such species of Continental Europe as are confined to inland waters, and of whose history we have been so fully informed by Bloch. ”

“ The introductory words, "Dear Huty," seem to be an affectionate abbreviation of the young gentleman's surname; but how the fragment came amongst the papers of Wolfe's other friend, Lieut.-Col. Rickson, to whom the whole of the twelve letters in my possession are addressed, I cannot at present say. Here is an exact copy, viz.:
"Dear Huty,
"By a Letter from my Mother I find you are now an officer in Lord Chs. Hay's Regiment, which I heartily give you Joy of, and as I sincerely wish you success in Life, you will give me Leave to give you a few Hints which may be of use to you in it. ”

“ Sir W. Jardine says, 'The story that it was introduced into these lochs by the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, is mentioned by Pennant in his description of the Gwyniad, (and it is likely that his information was derived from this vicinity,) and is still in circulation. That the fish was introduced from some continental lake, I have little doubt, but would rather attribute the circumstance to some of the religious establishments which at one time prevailed in the neighbourhood, and which were well known to pay considerable attention both to the table and cellar. ”

“ On the floor is an image of a decayed skeleton-like body; on the tomb above, his effigy arrayed in his episcopal robes.
K. P. D. E.
I would remind your correspondent BURIENSIS of the splendid monument in Winchester cathedral, beneath which are deposited the remains of Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester, and founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who died here on the 14th of September, 1528. In an oblong niche, under the third arch, lies the figure of Bishop Fox, represented as an emaciated corpse in a winding-sheet, with his feet resting on a skull. ”

“ My success in this instance encourages me to trouble you with another Query. Can any of your correspondents furnish me with information respecting any mediæval town halls remaining in England? I am acquainted with several, but believe there are many more than is commonly supposed. Some of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries are mentioned in Mr. Turner's work on Domestic Architecture, as the County Hall at Oakham; the Guildhall at Lincoln; the King's Hall at Winchester. In addition to these, the Guildhall at Exeter is partly of the thirteenth century, and partly of the fifteenth. ”

“ It is believed in the neighbourhood of Melrose that burning the heather brings rain.
It must be remarked that Tweeddale runs mainly west and east; that the heather-covered hills are all to the west of this place. West wind brings rain.
†
In the north of England, and in Scotland, and probably in all moorland districts of the country, it is the practice of shepherds in spring, when the [302] heather is dry enough, to set fire to it and burn large tracts of it, in order to get rid of the old woody plants. ”

“ Qualiter ipsa nocet: mors quando venit dominari."
Tradition ascribes it to Bishop Lacy's tomb, and the vergers even at the present day inform visitors that it was erected to commemorate his attempt to fast during Lent. It is an exquisite piece of work. An engraving of it may be found in Britton's Exeter Cathedral. I have heard that there is a similar monument in Salisbury Cathedral, and it appears probable, from there being more than one, that it was a favourite device to represent the instability of human grandeur. ”

“ It affords evidence that in 1596 there was a dearth of corn which was general through the kingdom; that barley was then much used for bread; that there was a custom, either general, or occasioned by the scarcity, that the poor should be served in open market, at an accustomed hour; that one of the means relied upon to supply food to the people was to restrain the making of malt; and, therefore, that malt liquor must have been very generally consumed by our forefathers at that time. ”

“ I make no doubt but you have entirely laid aside the Boy and all Boyish amusements, and have considered yourself as a young man going into a manly profession, where you must be answerable for your own conduct. ”

“ The last line, however, seems only to apply to the applauding sound of the wings, and not to intimate that any music was produced by them.
C. I. R.
Cimmerii (Vol. v., p. 188.) .
—The belief that the Cymry are descended from Gomer can prove very little as to the restlessness of those who hold it; and if it is making progress, the opinion must be supported by probability: consequently a mere denial will not dispel the illusion. ”

“ Shines by the side of every path we tread
With such a lustre, he that runs may read."
LOUISA JULIA NORMAN.
Wild Oats (Vol. v., p. 227.) .
—I think I can give a clue to the Query of BEAU NASH respecting the origin of this phrase. In Kent, if a person has been talking at random, it is not uncommon to hear it said, "you are talking havers," or folly. Now I find in an old dictionary that the word havers means oats; and therefore I conclude, that the phrase "to sow your wild oats" means nothing more than "to sow folly."
RUBY.
Portrait of Mrs. Percy (Vol. v., p. 227.) . ”

“ It would be the highest absurdity therefore for those who, whilst they are in a course of purification, are at so much pains to take off the hair from every part of their own bodies, at the same time to cloath themselves with that of other animals. ”

“ Mary's Guild at Coventry is a well-known and beautiful example. The Town Hall of Weobly in Herefordshire is, if I remember rightly, an early example of timber work. These are a few instances which occur to my memory. I have no doubt there are many others ”

“ However, as I observe by the periodicals that MR. HAGGARD'S first statement is getting into circulation, and that it now assumes this form—that the vellum-bound copy of Junius presented by Woodfall to Junius was sold at the Stowe sale, I think it right to state, that the Stowe copy, printed on and bound in vellum, was, as I am informed on good authority, not the edition of 1772—not a Woodfall edition at all—but the common illustrated edition, printed more than thirty years after, by Bensley, for Vernor and Hood. ”

“ The introduction must have taken place by means of spawn: the fish themselves could not be transported alive even a few miles. They are not confined to the castle loch, but are found in several others, some of which have no communication with that where they are thought peculiar. In general habits, the Vendace nearly resemble the Gwyniad, and indeed most of the allied species of the genus."
Mr. Yarrell gives representations of two magnified specimens of their food. ”

“ It is certainly strange that no proper memoir of one so distinguished in arms as Wolfe has yet been written. His career, though short, was brilliant and embraces a period of time, as well as events, which would render a sketch of his life, by a competent writer, singularly interesting. Materials do not seem wanting ”

“ Latin Names of Towns (Vol. v., p. 235.) .
—I transcribe, for the benefit of your readers, the full title of the largest Geographical Dictionary which I know to contain the information M. asks for. Dr. William Smith's New Dictionary of Classical Geography may be expected to supply the desideratum, in regard to places known to the Greeks and Romans, but will not, I presume, take up all the names in Baudrand's Dictionary. ”

“ As it may be thought desirable to say something more than I have done, regarding the packet of Wolfe's letters in my custody, I beg to state that the officer to whom they are all addressed, was William Rickson, a native of Pembroke. He was eight years older than Wolfe. They appear to have served together in Flanders. ”

“ Probably some of your numerous correspondents could give me some idea as to the number of surnames there are in this country used by British subjects. We have no good work on surnames, as those of Lower and others do not go sufficiently into the subject to satisfy the curiosity of those who wish to know the origin and date of the names in use among us. ”

“ When off Duty get a Sergt or a Corporal, whom the Adjutant will recommend to you, to teach you the Exercise of the Firelock, which I beg of you to make yourself as much master of as if you were a simple soldier ”

“ The operator holds a thread between the finger and thumb, with a shilling fixed horizontally to it, gradually drops the shilling into a glass, and after it has once become stationary, the shilling begins to oscillate, and, as the superstition goes, invariably strikes the hour of the day against the glass. ”

“ I infer that one meaning of the word stoke is wood of any kind, from the fact that the opening through which coals are introduced under the larger boilers in our houses is called a stoke-hole, from the wood formerly used for fuel.
S. S. S. (2) .
King's College Chapel Windows (Vol. v., p 276.) .
—See Blomefield's History of Norfolk, vol. i. p. 406., and vol. ii. p. 388. At the latter reference, under the head of Richard Nykke or Nix, Bishop of Norwich, 1500, occurs this passage: "This bishop incurred a premunire for extending his jurisdiction over the Mayor of Thetford, and was fined for it. ”

“ Relative to extraordinary births, I may mention that within half a dozen miles of this city, and not more than six weeks since, a poor woman gave birth to four children, two of each sex, and all, with the mother, doing well. Some millions are born without such, as I may term it, a phenomenon. ”

“ Grostete, Bishop of Lincoln.
—Dibdin, in his Northern Tour, vol. i. p. 97., says of this distinguished prelate:
"We may anticipate the portrait of this truly great man drawn to the life in the intended biography of my friend Mr. Willson."
Dibdin published this in 1838. Has the memoir of Grostete ever appeared?
I may add, as a pendant to this Query, that two years back I saw a beautiful English MS. of Grostete's on vellum, at the library of the English College at Douay, out of which some British traveller, to whom it had been obligingly lent, had cut every one of the illuminations. ”