traits" of the Nisbets which in 1794 were in possession of J. Nisbet? 5. Who was John Nisbet, and when did he die? The tract entitled God and the King has been subsequently reprinted, but the edition of 1616 seems the first one. Licence was given that year to James Primrose "for twenty-one years to print, or cause to be printed, both in English and Latin, either abroad or at home, the work entituled God and the King." Primrose was the founder of the noble family of Rosebery. Could he have been the author? J. M. RICHARD, SEVENTH EARL OF ANGLESEY. Permit me through your valuable publication, to ask for information respecting the last Earl of Anglesey in connexion with the Annesley family, a member of which still retains the title of Viscount Valentia in the Irish peerage. Richard Annesley, the sixth Earl of Anglesey, died in 1761, when a question arose as to the legality of his marriages (having been married four times), and the consequent legitimacy of his children; which became the subject of inquiry before the House of Lords in England, and of that of Ireland. The claimants were Richard Annesley, an only child by Ann Selkeld, and Arthur Annesley, the son of Julian Donovan. Respecting the issue of this inquiry before the English House of Lords the following appeared in the London Evening Post of the 4th April, 1772:"Richard Annesley, the claimant of the titles and Honours of Richard, late Earl of Anglesey, is the legitimate son of the said Earl, by Ann, second daughter of William Salkeld, of the city of London, Merchant." The said Earl of Anglesey advanced his claim to the title, &c. of Viscount Valentia in Ireland, which was accordingly heard, and of which the following record appears in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xlii. page 291.: "2nd June, 1772.-"The long-contested Valentia cause was this day decided by the House of Peers in Ireland in favour of the sitting lord (Arthur Annesley): 19 were for him, and only 6 against him; several lords did not vote upon the question, which seemed to them doubtful. It is somewhat remarkable that this noble Lord is illegitimate in England, and the true son of his father in Ireland; and that he has been so declared by two tribunals, each supreme in its decisions upon the question of the different peerages." I shall feel greatly obliged to any of your readers who can inform me, through your very useful publication, when and where Richard Annesley, the seventh Earl of Anglesey, died, and was interred. Whether married; if so, to whom, and whether he left issue. Burke's Peerage, &c. 1833, and his Extinct and Dormant Peerages, are not in this instance to be relied on. H. J. M. IRISH KNIGHTS. In the Dublin Warder, 26th January, 1822, the following short paragraph, copied from The Globe, appears: "The opinion of the Attorney-General and SolicitorGeneral has been taken, whether the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland has any power to confer the honour of knighthood, and they are both decidedly of opinion that, since the Union, no such right has existed. A copy of the opinion has been sent to Lord Wellesley." Can you give me any farther information respecting knighthood in Ireland? What proceedings were taken in consequence of the foregoing opinion? and how, and when, was the right of the Lord Lieutenant to create knights, now exercised without any let or hindrance, placed beyond dispute? Авива. ANTROBUS.-Can any of your readers inform me if there is any connexion between the local name of " Antrobus" in Cheshire and the families of that name settled in the south of England? Also, has any light been thrown upon the origin of this curious name? Is the termination Latin? and if so, are there any instances of its being vernacularly used in English? ELEUTHERUS. STEWART, EARL OF ORKNEY.-What are the facts about the representation of this title? The earldom is stated to have been claimed by John Stewart, Esq., who died at his estate, Mount Stewart, Prince Edward's Island, in 1833, at a very advanced age. Mr. John Stewart had held some.high offices in that island, such as Speaker of the House of Assembly, &c. Where can the pedigree be found? The title to which he laid claim was that created by James V. of Scotland in favour of his son Robert, whose mother was Eupheme, daughter of Lord Elphinstone. The title does not appear to have been borne by any of the family after the death on the scaffold of the second earl. Query, was the title claimed by the aforesaid John Stewart as the representative of a younger son of the first earl ? IOTA. "Can that soft flame still dwell in Parsons' breast, N. F. H. for Wit, vol. v. p. 255. It is well known that Miss Parsons, after the rupture of her liaison with the Duke of Grafton, was ultimately married to Viscount Maynard. Who then was D-? He must have been some intermediate lover, who, perhaps with others, filled up the space between her two aristocratic admirers. Junius says of the Duke, "His baseness to this woman exceeds all description and belief." But the fact was that the Duke of Grafton, having been released from a wife whom he disliked, determined on becoming respectable. He therefore pensioned off his mistress and married Miss Wrottesley, daughter of a Staffordshire baronet, a young lady in every respect worthy of the rank to which she was raised. Miss Parsons, Miss Reay, and many others, are examples that ladies do not universally, when they lose one virtue, bid adieu, at the same time, to all the rest. W. D. SIMON PAAP, THE DUTCH DWARF. There must be some mistake in the account of this individual's height furnished by MR. VAN LENNEP (2nd S. ix. 423.), where it is said that at full growth he did not exceed 16 inches and a half. I saw Simon at Oxford in the year 1818, when he was exhibiting himself in this country; and his custom was to present his visitors with his autograph. I have the one he gave me (written in my presence) now before me, upon a scrap of paper measuring 3×2 inches. I transcribe it literatim: "Mr. Simon Paap, Age 28 years, in height 28 inches, It is written in a rather small but distinct hand, and the capital letters are very much flourished. Query: is there any record of an adult human being whose height did not exceed 16 inches and a half? E. V. JOHN GREENHALGH, of Sidney College, B.A. 1630-1, was admitted a Fellow of S. John's College, on Mr. Ashton's foundation, 23 March, 1631-2; commenced M.A. 1634; was one of the Proctors of the University, 1639-40, and proceeded B.D. 1641. He was ejected from his fellowship by the Earl of Manchester, 8 April, 1644; married before the Restoration, and was created D.D. 1672. We suppose him to have been the Mr. Greenhalgh who attended James Earl of Derby" at his execution, 15 Oct. 1651, and drew up an account of his speech upon the scaffold, and of some remarkable passages in his going to and being upon it. (Peck's Desiderata Curiosa.) We hope that some of your correspondents can give information as to Dr. Greenhalgh's preferments, and the date of his death. C. H. & THOMPSON COOPER. Cambridge. THE FRUIT OF THE FORBIDDEN TREE POISONOUS.-Could any of your readers inform me as to the originator of this opinion? In a work, recently published, on Metaphysics (by the Rev. John H. Mac Mahon), the author, whose note (p. 2.) on the above point displays considerable research, tells us that he has been unable to discover the name of any particular theologian espousing it, though the opinion itself is mentioned by Josephus, Theophilus, and several of the Fathers, Eugubinus Steuchus, Le Clerc, and others. Even Ludovicus Vives- a man well versed in such questions-acknowledges his ignorance in this matter, as appears from a quotation, given in the note referred to, taken from his Commentary on St. Augustine's De Civitate Dei. ALCIPHRON. AMSTERDAM THEATRE BURNT.— "At Amsterdam, Neyts was playing in the grand theatre, when, on the 11th May, 1772, during the representation of The Deserter, this superb building became a prey to the flames. This terrible accident cost several persons their lives, and caused the ruin of the actor Punt, who, as well as Neyts, resided in the building.” — Delepierre, History of Flemish Literature, p. 178. Those who are interested in Dutch literature are much indebted to Mr. Delepierre for his excellent outlines; but as a supplement to Hallam it is incomplete for want of references. Can any of your correspondents tell me where to find a fuller account than the above? In all the books which I have consulted the fact of burning with loss of life is all that I can find. A great theatre was burned at Venice in 1780 or 1781. Any information upon the fact will much oblige. F. "A COLLECTIONER:" WHAT?-In the register of the parish of Great Hampden, Bucks, which commences 23 October, 1557, and is very curious, this word is often used. Thus, in the record of burials, we find, It begins: "Father Rector,Let not the d [illegible] of astonishment seize upon your most sacred and zealous soule in apprehendinge the suddaine and unexpected callinge of this Parliament. Wee have not opposed, but rather furthered it, so that wee hope as much in this Parliament, as ever we feared any in Qu. Eliz; dayes." The writer proceeds to show the ground of his hope, which was chiefly the anarchy which would result from the factions in the House; at considerable length he points out the means of overthrowing "their furious enemy the Duke of Buckingham," and says: "Wee have those of our owne religion which stand continuallie at the Duke's chamber doore, to see whoe goes in and out. I cannot choose but laugh to see some of our coate accowtred themselves; you would scarce knowe them if you sawe them; and 'tis admirable howe in speech and gesture they act the puritan. The Cambridge Schollers shall see (to their roofull experience) that wee can better acte the puritan than they have done the Jesuit." The letter ends thus: demy, claiming the authorship for the late Mr. H. B. Code, proprietor of The Warder newspaper. Sir Jonah Barrington, in his Personal Sketches, vol. ii. p. 231., gives it as the production of Edward Lysaght, amongst whose Poems, however, published in 1811 after his death, it is not to be found; and Lover, in his Lyrics of Ireland, p. 139., evidently on the authority of Barrington, assigns it to the same pen. "The same remark," as MR. FITZPATRICK notes, "applies to D. Ó. Maddyn's observation in the Revelations of Ireland, p. 12." Авива. THOMAS BEDWELL, matriculated as a sizar of Trinity College in November, 1562; B.A. 1566-7; M.A. 1570; was a minister in London about 1580. He projected the bringing the waters of the Lea from Ware to London. We believe that he was uncle to William Bedwell, rector of S. Ethelburgh, London, and vicar of Tottenham, the great Arabic scholar, who calls him "our English Tycho, a man so ingenious, industrious, and "Joyne your prayers with ours in importuning the learned, that I suppose there were few things Blessed Virgin and all the hoast of angells and holy martyrs to intercede for us. And noe question God will make haste to help us. Thus having to see Count de Tilly and Marques Spinola heere about July come twelvemonths I rest, in the meane tyme wee pray for the happy successe in Germany and the Lowe Countryes." Can MR. GARDINER or any other reader of " N. & Q.," versed in the history of the time of Charles I., identify the writer of this letter, or the "Father Rector" to whom it is addressed? Is "Burells" the place where, or the person with whom, Father Rector was residing? E. VENTRIS. CHARLES II.-The following unpublished letter from Sir Joseph Banks to George Chalmers is vndertaken by him, if fecible, which hee would not have effected and done." (W. Bedwell's Brief Description of Tottenham High Crosse, chap. viii.) He is author of 1. "De Numeris Geometricis. Of the nature and properties of geometricall numbers, first written by Lazarus Schonerus, and now englished by Tho. Bedwell," Lond. 4to. 1614. With a preface by William Bedwell. 2. "Mesolabium Architectonicum, that is, a most rare and singular instrument for the easie, speedy, and certain knowledge of measuring planes and solids, invented by T. Bedwell," Lond. 4to. 1631. This was published by William Bedwell, and according to Watt there was a second edition, London, 4to. 1639. We shall be glad to obtain any information however slight respecting Thomas Bedwell. He was perhaps the uncle to whom William Bedwell wrote 29 June, 1616, for money to carry on some suit at law (Hackman's Cat. of Tanner MSS. 829.). C. H. & THOMPSON COOrEr. CARLETON AND Chamberlain. - Having occasion to refer to letters written by Sir Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain previous to the departure of the former from England, in the early part of 1597, and finding the papers invariably without_date the day and month only being given I hoped to supply the deficiency by being given a reference to the answers, but have hitherto been unsuccessful, as the S. P. O., though rich in original Chamberlain writings of 1598 and subsequent years, has but one paper of 1597, and none, I believe, of the previous year. I should, therefore, feel extremely obliged to any reader of "N. & Q." who could point out original Chamberlain letters antecedent to 1598 which would enable me to determine the dates of Carleton's early writings. BETA. Queries with Answers. "PALLAS ANGLICANA." - Can you give me any account of the subject, &c. of a Latin political drama called Pallas Anglicana, written by Myles Davies, a Welsh clergyman? I only know this piece from the notice of it in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, viii. 501. Neither the drama nor its author are mentioned in the Biographia Dramatica. Can you give me the date of the author's death? R. INGLIS. [In attempting to describe this work, there is a difficulty arising out of the character of the work itself. D'Israeli expresses a suspicion (Calamities of Authors, 1812, p. 71.) that, as the author proceeded with his volumes, "his mind became a little disordered;" and in the Pallas Anglicana, which is the fifth volume of his Athena Britannica, there certainly are apparent symptoms of an unsettled brain (brought on, as D'Israeli suggests, "by want and indignation"). The author himself describes his drama as "Drama Ethico-Politico-Epistemicum. Tam Varietate Styli quàm materia ubique regnante;" and this is perhaps as good an account of it as can be given. According to his "Argumentum" prefixed, p. 1., Albionopolis (London?) is invaded by certain strangers who are led on by Ars Magica and Discordia, i. e. Genius Jesuitismi and Irreligio Atheistica; and these, after giving a great deal of trouble, are at last eternally exiled by Pallas or Irenastes, "Regio nempe ceu Supremo Regimine"! It is a strange farrago, but not without marks of learning and ability. The date of the author's death is unknown.] REV. CHARLES JENNER.-Can you give me any account of the Rev. Charles Jenner, rector of Claybrook, Leicestershire? He was author of poems, plays, novels, &c. R. INGLIS. His [The Rev. Charles Jenner was educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, B.A. 1757; M.A. 1760; and obtained two of Mr. Seaton's prizes. He succeeded Dr. Hutchinson in the living of Claybrook; and having obtained a dispensation to hold that vicarage with Craneford St. John, co. Northampton, was instituted in 1769. numerous works show that he possessed elegant literary accomplishments, refined taste, and exquisite sensibility of heart. Mr. Jenner died May 11, 1774, aged thirtyeight. A monument was erected to his memory in Claybrook chancel by Lady Craven. Nichols's Leicestershire, iv. 114. 135.] PORTRAIT OF COLONEL Barre. Is there now in existence, and if so, where, a portrait or engraving of Col. Isaac Barré, member of the House of Commons, and a strong friend of the American colonies, previous to their revolution? I know of none except in the picture of the death of Gen. Wolfe, whose aide-de-camp he was at the siege of Quebec. R. E. H. [There is a portrait of Col. Barré painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in the possession of the Marquess of Camden. Sir Joshua also painted a portrait of Barré with Lord Shelburne and Lord Ashburton (Dunning), now in the possession of Sir Thomas Baring. From this a large mezzotinto was engraved by James Ward, A.R.A., which has never been published, and it is also engraved as a frontispiece to the late John Britton's Authorship of the Letters of Junius Identified, 8vo. 1848.] SIR JOHN PERRING. Can you afford me information as to what year (I believe long since) one Perring held office as Lord Mayor of London, and if during his mayoralty he received a title? (as knighthood or a baronetcy?) A. B. H. Sir John Perring of Membland, co. Devon, was elected alderman of Broad Street Ward in 1798; served the office of Sheriff of London in 1800, and that of Lord Mayor, 1803; elected M.P. for Romney, 1806; and raised to the dignity of a baronet by patent dated Oct. 3, 1808. He died on 30th Jan. 1831.1 Replies. SCOTISH BALLAD CONTROVERSY. We do not know the "force" of PHILO-BALE DON's argument when he says "that the gradual change of language by reciters, besides that it is wholly gratuitous is inadmissible in compositions that appear so perfect and so elegant, so peculiar in a freedom from all vulgar admixture." Why "gratuitous?" Can any verses recovered from tradition be truly said to retain the same form of words in which they originally came before their hearers two or more centuries ago? Why "inadmissible," if in point of fact popular poetry of this class changes gradually in the lapse of time. The plot of the ballad may, in all its more important essentials, remain pretty much as it was, but the language alters, words, lines, verses are varied; and sometimes, we have no doubt, the meaning of the original author is mistaken. The persons, too, by whom the ballads are handed down preclude the possibility of preservation in their original state. Can it be conceived for one instant that the peasantry of a country would be scrupulous as to phraseology? or that their taste for antiquated words would induce a careful retention of that which they did not understand. Nurses, husbandmen, and servants have been the means of rescuing many interesting poetical fragments from destruction, and surely such persons would be the last in the world to care much about the language. If PHILO-BALEDON means to say that polished and elegant diction creates a suspicion of forgery, we are not disinclined to agree with him; but we see no extraordinary polish or elegance in the lot of ballads Mr. Chambers has handed over to Lady Wardlaw. Again, the interpolation of a verse or two in an old ballad is no reason why the entire production should be designated as fabricated. In some instances modern manipulators have taken great liberties with the text, either to suit their own caprice or to obviate that coarseness which the refinement of this century assumes to have disfigured our popular poetry of the olden time. From the days of Allan Ramsay to those of Burns and Scott there never has, in our humble that the version in the Minstrelsy was taken down by him from the recitation of Robert Hamilton, Esq., Sheriff of Lanark. Neither the reciter, Scott, Finlay, nor Motherwell entertained any doubt that it was genuine. Mr. Hamilton, with whom the writer of these remarks was very well acquainted, was a gentleman of probity and much esteemed. He was about the last man in Scotland to countenance a practical joke. He was of good family, well educated, a classical scholar, and moreover possessed of considerable legal knowledge. He obtained much professional reof Wishaw, which carried the peerage of Belhaven before a committee of privileges. He also drew up the elaborate claim of Miss Lennox of Woodhead to the ancient earldom of Lennox, an interesting production, but based on a fallacy. He had been in the army originally, and served in the American war. He quitted the army, and coming to the Bar obtained the preferments we have mentioned. opinion, been a ballad written that could be mistaken for ancient: perhaps the inimitable productions of Surtees may be excepted, and the fragmentary stanzas of Steenie Mucklebacket's grandmother in The Antiquary. They are much too fine; some are very mawkish, some stupid, and others of exceeding beauty; but still they lack the flavour of the old minstrelsy. On the other hand, numerous ancient songs have been rescued by poetical antiquaries from destruction, vitiated in many instances and interpolated, but nevertheless genuine. Those who have looked much into such matters cannot help being struckputation for getting up the case for Hamilton by the variations and differences which will occur in different versions of the same production. Take, for instance, Catherine Jaffery, a border ballad printed by Scott, but which had travelled into Aberdeenshire, and was first included in Mr. Maidment's North Country Garland, and secondly in Mr. Kinloch's Ballads. The story is substantially the same, whilst the verses vary materially. Sir Patrick Spens has been the chief object of attack. Let us see how matters stand in reference to this fine old fragment. It was originally printed by Bishop Percy in his Reliques, from two MSS. obtained from Scotland, and he had no doubt that it was genuine. Next it appeared in David Herd's curious and now scarce collection of Scotish songs; and towards the end of last century in Ritson's collection (1794); and this most acute and unusually cautious critic was apparently duly satisfied of its authenticity. Now of all men in the world there never existed one so little inclined to take things upon trust as Ritson. Sir Walter Scott, who knew him, assured the present writer that he was the most distrustful individual in literary matters he ever met with, and the most difficult to convince. He actually took a journey exclusively to ascertain the accuracy of a statement which Sir Walter hazarded in relation to the height of the Roman wall at one portion of it, and thus satisfied himself that what he had been told was true. That the original ballad was not fabricated by Lady Wardlaw I have not the slightest doubt, but I have no fault to find with such persons as think otherwise. Ritson is not always infallible; but in such matters there never existed a more keen-sighted man or competent judge, and when Sir Patrick passed muster before him, it would require some better arguments than any hitherto adduced to show that he had been imposed upon. The modern versions of the ballad by Scott, Finlay, Motherwell, and Buchan are enlarged ones; they mention the visit to "Noroway," the reception, probably at Bergen, where the palace of King Haco still exists, the impertinence of the Norwegians, the hasty departure, the storm and its consequences, which are more minutely given than previously. Sir Walter informs his readers Mr. Hamilton used to sing the ballad to a quaint tune, which the late Alexander Campbell noted down and gave to the public in his undeservedly neglected collection of Scotish music termed Albyn's Anthology, a work which ought to be better known in the South. Mr. Hamilton died several years since at a good old age. Some time before his demise he had relinquished his Lanarkshire sheriffdom, and obtained the more lucrative appointment of clerk of session. It is now matter of regret that inquiry had not been made as to the quarter from whence he obtained his version of the ballad. Notwithstanding this omission I see no reason to question the accuracy of the Hamilton additions. In the first place we are bound to take into consideration the character of the person from whose lips the verses are taken down by Scott; and in this instance he is omni exceptione major, to use a legal phrase. In the second place, Mr. Hamilton had not the slightest turn for poetical composition. He never wrote, his surviving. relations inform me, a line of poetry in his life. He, both in outward appearance and in reality, was an "unpoetical" sort of person. As an historical relique the legend of Sir Patrick would attract his notice, and we doubt not that he got it during his rule as sheriff of Lanarkshire. What a pity that modern sceptics did not raise their objections before his demise. In the third place, Sir Patrick comes dressed by Mr. Peter Buchan after the Aberdonian fashion, differing considerably from his more southern costume. Hardicnute was more than a century before printed; numerous versions were published, yet, generally speaking, the country ignores the existence of this worthy; whilst Sir Patrick, whose existence was only orally perpetuated, contrived |