clay. To this crevice many of the country people say our Saviour fled from the persecutions of the Jews. Others deem it more likely that St. Gawen, influenced by religious mortifications, squeezed himself daily into it, as a penance for his transgressions, until at length the print of the ribs became impressed on the rock. Here the pilgrim, standing upon a stone rendered smooth by the operation of the feet, is to turn round nine times and wish according to his fancy. If the saint be propitious, the wish will be duly gratified within a year, a month, and a day. Another marvellous quality of the fissure is, that it will receive the largest man, and be only just of sufficient size to receive the smallest. This may be accounted for by its peculiar shape. Perhaps you may deem the above worthy of insertion in "N. & Q.," and it may in. terest your correspondent MR. ROBERT RAWLINROBERT J. ALLEN.

SON.

Bosherston, Pembroke.

SURNAMES ASSUMED.

Surely in a country like this, where such regard is paid to male descent, and where the use and advantage of hereditary names has been so long understood, the custom of assuming, and leaving posterity with, the name of a family extinct in the male line is a great mistake, and leads to much error and confusion: much greater is that of continuing the name of a family from whom the assumer does not even descend in the female line?

If Burke's Peerage is correct, perhaps no greater instance can be pointed out than the name of Wellesley; for though at foot of his account of Mornington he calls this family "the Marquis's maternal family," yet, from the pedigree, it is clear that he does not descend from them.

Now, if I do not misunderstand Burke, and if (as I presume will be the case) Alison's History of Europe will be the study of future ages, what will readers believe from the following (chap. xlix. 1.)? The Wellesleys were an old Saxon family long

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settled in Sussex, and the ancestor of the Irish branch had come over with Hen. II. in 1172, &c. Wellington's elder brother, &c. &c. . . . So that one family enjoyed the rare felicity of giving birth, &c."

The natural desire of preserving an old name and old arms, might easily be gratified, without flying false colours. Thus, in the case noticed, Richard Colley, instead of assuming " Wesley,' could have called himself “Richard Wesley Colley;" and his descendants have become "Wesley Colley." So the Pagets should be "Paget Bayly;" the Pakington's "Pakington Russell."

One of

my noted instances appears under "Fountaine :" here an heiress marries a Clent, their heiress marries a Price, their heir assumes surname and arins of Fountaine. Now, according to my suggestion (and common sense), the latter, if desirous of pre

serving the old name, should have handed down the name of Fountaine, Clent, Price, or Fountaine Price. In every county, the natives generally believe that such families are of the old male blood.

I am not aware whether the Americans ever adopt this false system (probably not); but they some years since passed an admirable law that no firm should trade with the name of extinct partners. Different families having taken the same title, is much less confusing; though many readers probably imagine every Earl of Northumberland to have been a Percy, and would be surprised to hear that the present Duke is not a male Percy. A. C.

G. H.

Cardinals in England. "Master Hugh Latimer" observes in his second sermon before King Edward VI., in reference to Cardinal Beaufort, "These Romish hats never brought good into W. H. L. England.”

Robin Hood.-In Latimer's sixth sermon before Edward VI., Latimer tells a story about wishing to preach at a country church, when he found the door locked, and the people gone abroad to gather for Robin Hood. He then adds, "Under the pretence of gathering for Robin Hood, a traitor and a thief, to put out a preacher." This may corroborate Mr. Hunter's view of that renowned perW. H. L. sonage.

I have in my library a folio copy of the Historie of the Church, by "the famous and worthy Preacher of God's word, Master Patrick Symson, late Minister of Stirling in Scotland, 1634." This book has formerly been possessed by two individuals who have read it with great care, as is evident from the numerous annotations with which the margin and blank pages are filled. The writers of these notes seem, from the character of the handwriting, to have lived, the former about 1650, the other a hundred years later. The notes themselves, though generally short, display a very competent knowledge of classical learning; quotations from Virgil, Horace, Juvenal, &c. being frequent but they are chiefly remarkable for their anti-papistical and anti-prelatical spirit, which would satisfy the most devoted adherent of Exeter Hall theology. But among all this abuse of Popes and Bishops there occurs, singularly enough, the following "Riddle," copied, as I conceive, from some well-known work then in vogue. The Riddle bears the date "Sept. ye 30. 1744:" "Before creating Nature will'd

That attoms into form should jar,
The boundless space by me was fill'd,
On me was built ye first made star.
For me a Saint will break his word,

By y proud Atheist I am rever'd,
At me the Coward draws his sword,
And by the Hero I am fear'd.
Than Wisdom's sacred self I'm wiser,
And yet by every blockhead known,
I'm freely given by y Miser,

Kept by ye Prodigal alone.
Scorn'd by ye meek and humble mind,
But often by ye vain possest,
Heard by y deaf, seen by ye blind,

And to the troubled Conscience rest.
The King, God bless him, as 'tis said,
Is seldom with me in a passion,
Tho' him I often can persuade

To act against his inclination.
Deform'd as vice, as virtue fair,

The Courtier's loss, the Patriot's gains,
The Poet's purse, the Coxcomb's care,

Read, you'll have me for your pains." The answer, which is plain enough, is then given in Greek thus, ouder. My Query is, who is the author of the foregoing? I am strongly impressed that I have seen the riddle before, for its language seems familiar to my mind, but I cannot recall where. Perhaps some of your correspondents will kindly inform me. R. BN. Ashington Rectory, Sussex.

WAS DANTE EVER AT OXFORD?

Giovanni di Serravalle, prince and bishop of Fermo says, in his Latin version of the Divina Commedia, that Dante went also to Oxford, to

pursue his studies in that celebrated school. A MS. copy of this version (which has never been printed), with a commentary, is in the Vatican Library. As Serravalle lived in the century in which Dante died, he might have heard from some contemporary that Dante had been at Oxford; and in fact, Tiraboschi says it was at the request of Cardinal Amadeo di Saluzzo, and two English bishops, Nicholas Bubwich, bishop of Bath, and Robert Halm, bishop of Salisbury, who were at the Council of Constance with Serravalle, that he undertook the translation, and afterwards wrote a commentary upon Dante. It is not improbable that these English bishops knew that Dante had studied at Oxford, and communicated the fact to their fellow-bishop at the Council. Boccaccio, in the Latin poem which he sent to Petrarch, when he presented that poet with a copy of the Divina Commedia, states that Dante visited Britain. Tiraboschi mentions the statement of Serravalle, as deserving of being recorded, but seems to doubt the sufficiency of his evidence. Dante certainly studied at Paris; and to a mind so eager in the pursuit of all the divine and human knowledge of his time, it seems natural that he should have been desirous of visiting the great rival of Paris, the University of Oxford, then so renowned through the fame of Roger Bacon and Duns Scotus, not to mention a host of other names, of lesser but enduring celebrity. J. M.

COACHES.

At what period was a regular system of travelling by public vehicles first established between London and the provinces ? when did such vehicles first obtain the popular denomination of stage-coach? and when did the practice of placing the luggage on the roof, instead of in a basket fastened behind, commence? The inconvenience and delay of the latter system gave rise to a well-known saying: "If the coach starts at six, when starts the busket?"

Beckman's History of Inventions, vol. i. p. 81., edition 1846, gives a detailed history of hackney carriages, fiacres, berlins, and cabriolets; but his work has no particulars relative to the establishment of public vehicles between the metropolis and the country.

The term coach appears to be of modern date. In the Hereford Journal of January, 1775, I find two advertisements from which it appears that stages were then known as machines, which did not ply, but fly on their journeys. If we consider the state of the roads, the size of the vehicles, and the pace at which they travelled, the word flying (lucus a non lucendo) seems singularly inappropriate. When travelling by coaches had reached a state of perfection, proprietors modestly announced their vehicles to run.

gedies, is well to be understood; but it is the order in which the several plays are arranged under those heads which I cannot understand. For instance, the comedies begin with the Tempest, which was the last play written by him, namely in 1612; while among the tragedies nearly the last is Titus Andronicus, his first, 1588 (if his at all). I have examined all the five first folios (including the two-thirds), and find the order in each the same, except that the first does not contain Troilus and Cressida, which in the second comes in between Henry the Eighth and Coriolanus.

Southwark.

E. N. W.

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Celebrated Trees.

Henry VIII. went out with his hounds, and breakfasted under a great tree in Epping Forest the very day his once-loved wife (Anne Boleyn) was to perish in the Tower."-Fisher's Companion to History of England. Is this tree known to exist at the present time? F. B. RELTON. Wickliffe MSS.-Dugdale says that Francis, fourth Earl of Bedford, bequeathed to the "Lord Burleigh, high treasurer of England, all his ancient

MSS. of Wickliffe's works." Are these MSS. in existence? W. A.

Moroni's Portrait of Mary Queen of Scots.Can any of your correspondents inform me what is become of the beautiful full-length portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, painted by Moroni just previous to her marriage with the Dauphin? As Moroni was a friend of Titian's, and as that great artist was in the habit of sending his supernumerary sitters to him, it is probably a very superior work of art. About thirty years since I believe it was in Paris, and was said to have been stolen, during the Revolution, from the Trianon. ÆGROTUS.

Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, 1070-1101.This earl is called nephew of William I. (by whom he was created earl), and his sister Maude de Abrincis, who married Ralf de Mischines, was mother to Ranulph, afterwards Earl of Chester, 1119-28. I wish to ascertain who Ralf de Meschines was, and also through what sister Hugh and Maud were nephew and niece to the Conqueror. The exact relationship is not given in any work I

had access to; and the only sister recorded is

Adeliza, married to Odo, Earl of Champagne (who was created Earl of Albemarle by his brother-inlaw-uterine, and died 1096), and she, with her brothers, Robert, Earl of Mortaigne, and Odo, the celebrated Bishop of Bayeux, I have always considered the sole issue of the Conqueror's mother, Arlotta of Falaise, by her husband Odo de Conteville, a Norman knight. William I. was only child, and that illegitimate, of Duke Robert of Normandy, consequently this other sister, with her descendants, Earls of Chester, has always puzzled me, and as unfortunately I have not Dugdale, or similar works to refer to here, I now throw myself on your mercy, and trust that some of your antiquarian subscribers may enlighten my igA. S. A.

norance.

Wazzeerabad.

in June, 1559. English Bishops deprived by Queen Elizabeth, Can any of your ecclesiastica readers furnish me with the date and place of death, also age if known, and any other brief notices, of the following prelates, who were deprived of their sees for refusing to take the "oath of supremacy to Queen Elizabeth: viz. John White, Bishop of Winchester; Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle; Cuthbert Scott, Bishop of Chester; James Turberville, Bishop of Exeter; Thomas Reynolds, Bishop elect of Hereford; Ralph Bayne, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry; Francis Mallet, Bishop elect of Salisbury; Thomas Goldwell, Bishop of St. Asaph; Henry Morgan, Bishop of St. Davids; and Richard Pate, Bishop of Worcester ? but should like to obtain further information as to Of the following I possess some scanty notitia, their place of death, age, and exact date (of month even): of Archbishop Heath of York, and Bishops. Bourne of Bath and Wells, Pole of Peterborough, and Watson of Lincoln. Regarding the last, I have both 1582 and 1584 as date of death, the place Wisbech Castle, Cambridgeshire, and he is called "the last of the diocesan Catholic bishops in England;" yet I find Bishop Thomas Goldwell of St. Asaph mentioned in 1584 as being then alive at Rome, and "Suffragan to Cardinal Savelli, Vicegerent of Rome," under Pope Gregory XIII. Perhaps both these bishops, Watson and Goldwell, died in the same year, 1584. The latter is also mentioned as having been present at the Council of Trent, among the "Bishops of Pope Paul IV.;" and in the records of that council he is styled, "Th. Goduellus: anglus: episc: Asaphen," being the only English prelate present there, with the exception of Cardinal Reginald Pole. A. S. A.

William Stafford. - Perhaps some of your genealogical readers may be able to supply information respecting William Stafford, Esq., who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Guldeford, K. G., of Kent, and widow of Thomas Isley, Esq., of the same county. The third husband of this lady was Sir Richard Shirley, of Sussex. Thomas Isley died 8th February, 1518, but when Stafford and Shirley, I am unable to say.

There was a William Stafford, Esq., who on the 25th September, 1 Henry VII. 1485, was appointed by patent keeper of the exchange within the Tower of London, keeper of the coinage of gold

and silver within the said Tower, and elsewhere within the realm of England. (Vide Harl. MS. 698. f. 70.)

Agnes, daughter of the above Thomas and Elizabeth Isley, married to her second husband Sir Francis Sydney, Lieutenant of the Tower, and a younger son of Nicholas Sydney, Esq., ancestor of the Sydneys of Penshurst. Can any one inform me when he died? G. STEINMAN STEINMAN.

Sinking Fund.

"Hence the sinking fund has been a costly, as well as a most delusive, piece of quackery. The loss it entailed on the country during the war has been estimated, apparently on reasonable grounds, at above 600,000l."-M'Culloch, Brit. Empire, ii. 427.

"In 1813 it was producing more than half the interest of the debt, and, if it had been let alone, would have extinguished the whole debt existing at the end of the war, before the year 1840."-Alison's History of Europe, chap. xxxvi. 93.

Will some correspondent inform me which of these stated facts is true? A. C.

Minor Queries Answered. "The Boil'd Pig."-Was the poem called "The Boil'd Pig" ever printed, and who was the author of it? It used to be recited as a speech at Harrow School, half a century ago. JACK.

[This poem, we believe, was privately printed about thirty years ago, by Thomas Jonathan Wooler, the editor of the Black Dwarf, in a small collection of poems for distribution among his friends.]

Stone Coffins-Where can I obtain information as to the history of stone coffins? Is there any work on the subject? J. LARCOMBE. [Consult Gough's Sepulchral Monuments in Great Britain, Part I.; also the Indices to the Archæologia, for various papers on this subject.]

[The names will be found in any of the old Herbals: but, perhaps, the best to consult is, The Herbal of William Turner, in Three Parts, lately gathered, and now set oute with the names of the Herbes, in Greek, Latin, English, Dutch, French, and in the Apothecaries and Herbaries Latin, with the Properties, Degrees, and habitual Places of the same. Collen, 1568. fol.]

Meaning of Slype.-I shall be glad if any of your correspondents can inform me of the meaning of the term slype, applied to a passage pierced through the buttress at the S. W. corner of the south aisle of Winchester Cathedral; and also of the real purport of an inscription on one of the walls of the "slype" to this effect:

CESSIT COMMVNI PROPRIVM JAM PERGITE
QVA FAS, 1632.

The popular account refers it to a time antecedent to the piercing of the buttress, when the road to the market-place lay through the nave of the cathedral. The difficulty consists in its application to such a state of things. Could it be referred to the same date as the cutting of the "slype," it would be more intelligible. G. H.

[Britton, in his Architectural Dictionary, says, "A Slyp is a passage between two walls." Milner states, that "in 1632, when Curle was bishop of Winchester, it being judged indecent that the church should be left open as a common thoroughfare into the close and the southern suburbs of the city, the passage called the Slype was opened, where certain houses had stood, and

* Sir H. E. F. Young, now Governor of South Australia.