For Abraham's smiles we're all practising wiles,
And cheating and chattering thro' land;
Till Death he pops in, with his comical grin,

And a cancel for Abraham Newland!

Oh! Abraham Newland!

The bell tolls for Abraham Newland!

But Death ne'er appeared, But all were cashier'd
As well as poor Abraham Newland.

The expression "Sham Abraham" did not originate with our Abraham. A short time ago some very interesting correspondence appeared in "Notes and Queries "* on this expression. It appears that the original meaning was to feign sickness or distress, an Abram or Abraham-man being a beggar. It might almost be applied to the Weary Willies" of the present day. The expression was appropriated by Dibdin, but used to illustrate a very different meaning.

Whether Newland ever sang this song to his own fiddling I know not, but the identical fiddle used by the renowned cashier now reposes in the museum at the Guildhall Library, where it may be seen by any of my hearers. It was presented by Archibald McDougal, Deputy.

At the bankruptcy of Messrs. Surtees, Burdon and Tontine. Co., bankers, of Newcastle, in 1803, a very exceptional plan was adopted to try and dispose of some of the assets, a plan quite unknown to bankers of the present day. Mr. Burdon was the largest proprietor of the tolls from Sunderland Bridge. The value was too great for one purchaser, so it was resolved to try and raise £30,000 by way of tontine, for which an Act of Parliament was obtained. The subscribers would receive 5 per cent. at once, and higher interest as death thinned the ranks of the shareholders. The scheme fell through, so another Act of Parliament was obtained to dispose of the bridge tolls by lottery. I exhibit a copy of one of the bills then issued.

There were to be 6,000 tickets, and the prizes ranged from £5,000 to £100. The drawing took place previous to December, 1816, and was regulated in like manner as the State lotteries. Medals were given to every one of the 6,000 subscribers, containing a view of the bridge on one side and a description on the other, and the parties who obtained prizes received debentures bearing interest at 5 per cent. The debentures were paid off as the Commissioners obtained funds from the bridge and ferry tolls. The last of them was duly cancelled in 1846. "The bridge was considered one of the "wonders of the world. It cost £40,000, of which sum £30,000 was advanced by its projector and originator, Rowland Burdon, M.P."

The sudden rise of the country bankers after 1755, Bogus Notes. the enormous number of small notes with which they flooded the country, and the difficulty many holders soon experienced in getting gold for paper money, brought notes into ridicule, and gave the humorist an opportunity to exercise his wit, in issuing a skit note in imitation of the genuine article. The earliest of these notes that I have any record of was issued by the "Scale-de-Cross Bank." It is dated January, 1784. The six partners are strictly adhered to, all of them being "Knights "of St. Crispin." It is signed "For Sir J. Duncan, Hide, "Strap, Last, Awl, and Self, Jacob End," the value of the note being for twopence. It is said they were issued from an old cobbler's shop in the Side, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The joke caught on, the notes were sold, and the proceeds given to charity. A newspaper of the day records: - " A few weeks after the "establishment of this bank, the proprietors gave Two guineas "to the Dispensary and one guinea to the Lying-in Hospital." A horse dealer was given twelve months imprisonment for passing one of these notes as genuine.

The notes evidently had a reputation beyond Newcastle, as the "Gentleman's Magazine" has: "Died at Newcastle, February, "1791, at an advanced age, James Duncan, cobbler, better known "by the appellation of Sir James Duncan, principal proprietor "of the Scale-de-Cross Bank, the two-penny notes of which have "had a wide circulation for some years past."

Another note of the same class, issued in 1792, was the "Full "Moon Magna Charta Bank" for twenty pence; it is signed "For Castor, Self & Co., Jeremiah Pollux."

A third note appeared at a later date, "Fort Montague Bank." It was for five halfpence. These notes evidently were palmed on to many of the unsuspecting, as the following notice shows:

"Caution. There are a set of swindlers in the Fair attempting to put off as, and for, Five pound notes, certain fictitious "notes purporting to issue from the Montague Bank, for the payment of Five Half-pence!

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Mayor's Chambers, Newcastle, 28th October, 1816."

At various times notes of this nature have been issued from many parts of the country. Some writers have taken them seriously, as showing the great scarcity of change. My own opinion is that all notes issued for a few pence may be considered "jokers."

Fleet Note.

In the Connoisseur of March, 1904, is shown a note issued from "Debtors' Bank, Newgate." The writer on the subject says:- "The origin "of the note was that in the days when Newgate was

a

"debtor's prison, as well as a criminal establishment, the poor "debtors used to detail daily one of their number to stand in the cage which gave upon the street, to solicit alms from the passers by, collecting the money in a tin can. The actual coin was not "distributed, but notes, which were honoured to their face value "at the canteen within the prison rules. The bank was particularly hard up on the date on which the note here illustrated was issued, as they only promise to pay 'three days after sight' "the sum of twopence." (An original may be seen at the Guildhall Library.)

Here I think the writer has been misled; the whole tenor of the note points to a joke. Most probably the notes were sold by the man in the cage," the purchaser investing in a spirit of good

humour.

5/- Note. 1/- Note.

Doubtless notes were issued for very trifling amounts. I show one of the "Huddersfield Bank" for five shillings, and of "Ipswich Bank" for one shilling. Below this I do not think genuine notes were ever issued in England.

"Captain

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Capt. Starkey," a well-known character on the streets of Newcastle, did a considerable business in

Starkey." raising loans for one halfpenny. For this he always gave his promissory note, which was frequently retained by the creditor as a curiosity. His memoirs, written by himself, with a portrait, and facsimile of his handwriting, were published in 1818. I have seen one of the original promissory notes issued by this gentleman.

The constant bank failures that occurred during the early years of eighteen hundred were duly noted by the caricaturist of the day. "The men of paper going to pot, or the directors in a "stew" is the title of a broad sheet then published.

The issue of small notes was by the Government P.O. Orders. made illegal many years ago. Now the Government issue them themselves in the form of postal orders. The old country banker gave you most freely his paper money in exchange for your gold. You might retain his paper as long as you liked, and the more you lost, burnt, or destroyed, the better he was pleased, but now you have to pay the Government a commission to get paper for your gold, and if you keep the paper over a certain time you have to pay another commission to get your gold back again. I presume there is some wise reason for this, but I have failed to find it. Why should not the Bank of England charge commission on every "fiver" they issue, and charge another commission if you want your gold back after a fixed date?