HISTORICAL DEATHS.-Every now and again the obituary columns of the Times contain announcements of real historical interest, or which bring back into momentary interest events and epochs long passed. Of such is the following, which appeared a few days since :— "On Tuesday, the 22nd April, 1879, at 36, Bryanston Square, Charles Reginald Buller, Esq., of Erle Hall, Plympton, for many years H.M.'s Government Agent in Ceylon, and J.P. for Devon, aged seventy-two, third son of the late James Buller, Esq., Clerk to H.M.'s Privy Council in the reigns of George III., George IV., and William IV." Your columns seem especially designed for such records. CORNELIUS WALFORD. MASTERLY INACTIVITY."-This phrase is said to have originated in an article on the policy of Sir John Lawrence, contributed to the Fortnightly Review, in 1869, by Mr. Wyllie, a young Indian civilian of great promise, who shortly afterwards died. THO. SATCHELL. AN INDEX TO THE "NONARUM INQUISITIONES." -Why should not the Index Society arrange for the compilation of an "Index Nominum" to this valuable source of genealogical information? As published by the Public Record Commission, the work only contains an Index Locorum," which is quite insufficient for the purpose of referring to names of persons. 66 Queries. NOMAD. [We must request correspondents desiring information on family matters of only private interest, to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct.] THE PALM.-Can any satisfactory cause be assigned for the commencement and universality of the custom by which the palm has been taken as the symbol of victory? It arose very early, and so also the questions upon it. Pausanias (Arcad., ch. xlviii.) says that a crown of palm was given to the victors by Theseus when, returning from Crete, he instituted the games at Delos, and that this was the origin of the custom. Plutarch also, in his Life of Theseus, says :- "He is also said to have instituted games in Delos, where he began the custom of giving a palm to the victors" (vol. i. p. 21, Langhornes' trans., Lon., 1819). Livy, at the year U.C. 459, B.C. 293, relates:" Eodem anno coronati primum, ob res bello bene gestas, ludos Romanos spectaverunt: palmæque tum primum, translato e Græcia more, victoribus data" (lib. x. c. 47). He thus assigns the time at which the custom was introduced at Rome from Greece. Plutarch enters upon the subject at some length in his Symposiacon (quæst. iv., Opp. Moral. p. 723, Par., 1624), where the various reasons are examined, and the preference appears to be given to the notion of its beauty and length of life. The comparison of Nausicaa with the palm at Delos (Odyss., Z., 163) is natural in relation to this in the same passage. Aulus Gellius (iii. 6) supposes the reason to be its strength and power of resistance under heavy pressure. Plutarch refers to this, but rejects it as the reason. I am aware of the use of the palm in Scripture, Judges iv. 5, Ps. xcii. 12, Ezek. xli. 18; on which last Cornelius à Lapide observes :-"Cum constet palmam oriundam esse ex Judæa et Phoenicia dubitandum non videtur quin ex exemplo Salomonis depromptum sit, ut palma pro victoria signo ponatur ab ethnicis, atque ut in certaminibus victori daretur palma." ED. MARSHALL. BEAUCHAMP QUERIES.-Can any one kindly help me to discover the names and families of the wives of 1. Richard Beauchamp of Holt (nephew of William, Earl of Warwick), whose Inq. is i E. III., i. 20. 2. His grandson, John B. of Holt, who died 8 H. V. 3. Reynbruno, son of Thomas, fourth Earl of Warwick. 4. Richard, brother of Reynbruno. (Her name was Elizabeth.) 5. Robert B. of Hacche, who died 13 John. 6. Robert B. of Hacche, his grandson, living 42 H. III. 7. John, first Lord B. of Hacche ; Inq. 10 E. III., i. 43. (Her name was Maud.) 8. William B. of Bletshoe, father of Roger the first baron. (Her name was Joan.) 9. Giles, brother of No. 8. 10. Roger, first Lord B. of Bletshoe. (Second wife; her name was Margaret.) 11. John, brother of No. 10. (Her name was Elizabeth.) 12. Roger, son of Roger (No. 10), who died v.p. 13. William, son of No. 11. (Second wife; HERMENTRUDE. her name was Joan.) THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH.-Having a wish to "Hear how once repining Great Eliza captive lay,' I have looked into histories which give some particulars of the melancholy progress which she made from her first apprehension at Ashridge to her release. The account says she was released from the Tower of London and straightway went with her attendants into the church of Allhallows, Staining, to return thanks for her deliverance from prison, and after to the "King's Head," Fenchurch convinced to the contrary, that the use of this Street, to take refreshments. Fox (Book of apostrophe is not incorrect, though time may have Martyrs) makes no mention of this circumstance, caused it to die out, just as the apostrophe in but keeps her jolted from pillar to post, as he says, dont," "tis," "oer," &c., is gradually taking in custody from the time of her seizure at Ashridge leave of the English language in our daily corre to her enlargement at Hampton Court. What spondence, periodicals, &c. I have no time at prewere the places where she was kept prisoner, who sent to follow up the inquiry, but I may say that, were the owners of the private places, and was the while in Bath, a few days ago, I found that Lowth captivity continuous or was she set at liberty from or Lowther-quoted as an authority in an English the Tower? grammar published in 1853-4-says that "Your's" should be written with an apostrophe; and in Thackeray's Humourists I find the Earl of Peterborough, in a letter to Pope, making use of the apostrophe at the end of his letter. Perhaps some of your readers might inform us who perpetrated the first heresy in this matter. W. BARRINGTON D'ALMEIDA. J. T. WORKS OF THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK.-Does a list exist of the articles Peacock wrote in the Westminster Review and Fraser's Magazine? Did he write the articles signed "Vida" in the London Magazine about 1822? Was he the author of Miserimus, printed by Hookham in 1833 ? HENRY COLE. Hampstead. THE SENSITIVENESS OF PLANTS KNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS. I should be very glad if any reader of "TYBURNIA" AND "BELGRAVIA."-It would be" N. & Q.," who may have given attention to in vain to inquire who invented the word "Tyburnia" to designate the district north-west of old Tyburn gate; but I may ask where it can be found in use earlier than 1847, when Thackeray delivered his charming lectures on the English humourists. In the lecture on Hogarth, Smollett, and Fielding, he says: "On the spot where Tom Idle made his exit from this wicked world... the elegant, the prosperous, the polite Tyburnia rises, the most respectable district in the habitable globe." Tyburnia is used more or less jocosely, but Belgravia quite as seriously as if it were, like South Kensington, the legal name of a district. Belgrave Square, being the most fashionable spot in London, is now made to extend its aristocratic patronage as far as Vauxhall Bridge and the river. JAYDEE. FRODO.-In Thompson's History of Boston (Lincolnshire) there is a genealogical table of the Tilney family, headed by the names Frodo and Baldwin his brother, Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds. Can any of your readers tell me anything of the history of Frodo? Was he connected with the Vikings and for what services did he receive the grants of land from Edward the Confessor? There is a Frotho mentioned in Kingsley's Hereward, the Last of the Saxons (p. 62), in connexion with Beowulf. Is this the same man? S. T. PRE-ADAMITE PAPERS.-I believe there appeared some such papers in Scribner's Magazine some years ago. Can you tell me the date? Caston's Road, Basingstoke, J. S. ATTWOOD. the subject, could tell me whether there are any passages in the classics which will help me to understand how much or how little the ancient Greeks and Romans knew of the sensitiveness of plants. There is one passage in the beginning of Aristotle's (?) Tepì purov, where the writer, whoever he may have been, speaks of Anaxagoras and Empedokles "maintaining stoutly that plants have perception, feel pain and pleasure, and holding that they are moved by desire." This locus has set me wondering whether the old Greeks made any experiments on plants, and, if so, what are the loci where such experiments are referred to. I do not think Lewes says anything about it, though he does warn his readers against reading into the Greek the accumulated knowledge of the heirs of all the ages." Does Herodotus, in speaking of the nummulitic limestone of the Pyramids, or in any other part of his history, call the fossils therein "beans"? I am aware that Strabo (see Quekett's Lectures on Histology, I think) compares some fossils to lentils. J. A. C. in Gloucestershire, all situated on the slopes of hills. The springs collecting on the sides of such hills loosen the earth, and frequently by their force drive whole acres of ground into the valleys beneath, a remarkable instance of which happened lately at the Throp Thrupp] in the parish of Stroud. Hence the name Slade." Is the foregoing the correct derivation, and where may one find in print any particulars and the date of the remarkable landslip referred to by Rudder? ABHBA. A JEROBOAM OF CLARET.-I see in the Times that a jeroboam of claret contains eight bottles. Can any of your readers tell me the origin of this term? JOHN CHURCHILL SIKES. Godolphin Road, Shepherd's Bush, W. Jack Ketch or CATCH was, until recently, the name by which the hangman was commonly known. Is there an earlier instance of its use than the following?— "What now remains, but that the Tap must burst? I thus bequeath the remnant of my estate." A Supplement to the last Will and Testament K. P. D. E. DUGUID. Is this Scotch name the same as the English Duckett, and is it of French origin? It first appears in Scotland at Dundee, as witness to a charter in 1406. I want any earlier trace of it. SCOTUS. THE COWAY STAKES.-The Venerable Bede describes the stakes at the ford where Cæsar crossed the Thames B.C. 54 as existing in his day, and in the British Museum is what tradition identifies with one of these stakes, and which was "drawn out of the bottom of the Thames, at a place called Cowaystakes, in 1777," as certified by an inscription on it. May I ask whether there is on record any similar instance of what I may call the conservative power of water on wood? The wood of these stakes, if they were the original ones, must have been 1,800 years old. E. WALFORD, M.A. Hampstead, N.W. "PALINGENESIA."-Who was the author of Firmin Didot, Rue Jacob, No. 24; London, pubPalingenesia, the World to Come? Paris, printed by lished by Martin Bossange, Regent Street, No. 124, 1824, 8vo. Half-title, title, To the Reader, Sonnet, and Postscript, 5 leaves; Palingenesia, pp. 1-264; Index, pp. 265-275; Errata, 1 page; Appendix, pp. BURIAL AT NIGHT, 1601.-In the parish register 1-29. This is a poem in seven books, much of it in of Norton, co. Derby, I find: "1601. Anthonius Scriptural phraseology, giving the writer's ideas on Blythe de Byrchet p'oe de dranfield Armiger sepult'"the Scriptural doctrine of the world and age to fuit in capella eccl'ia p'oali de norton adjunct' Tertio die Junii in nocte." The chapel was then separated from the chancel by a screen, and had been in Catholic times the burial-place of the Blythes, having been erected by them. Is it possible that Anthony Blythe was secretly buried according to the rites of the Church of Rome? Or, if not, what reason was there for burial at night? Sheffield. S. O. ADDY. "FRANK HEARTWELL; OR, FIFTY YEARS AGO." -In Cruikshank's Omnibus, published by Tilt & Bogue in 1842, appeared a naval tale, continued through it, under this title, purporting to be by Bowman Tiller. Whose nom de plume was this? come." Lord Byron died whilst some references to him were being penned on pp. 238-9, and the author takes advantage of this circumstance to insert a poem entitled "Lord Byron." This is No. 4 in the Appendix, pp. 20-29. GEO. C. BOASE. 15, Queen Anne's Gate, S.W. Who was the writer of The Gaulliad? and where and when was it published? Some lines from it are prefixed to the ninth chapter of Rob Roy. JAYDEE. Robert Emmet. By ****. Published in Paris, 1858. EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. Replies. THE BYRON SEPARATION. The question of the Byron separation has had much new light thrown upon it by the recent publication of Mr. Hodgson's Memoirs, and as some correspondence has recently been carried on in the columns of "N. & Q." on this subject, I imagine the subjoined document may be considered worthy of being again recorded. It was originally published by one of your contemporaries (Oct., 1869), but appears to have escaped the notice of many who are interested in all matters relating to Lord Byron. This statement (the original autograph of which is in the possession of Mr. Murray) was drawn up by Lord Byron in August, 1817, while Mr. Hobhouse was staying with him at La Mira, near Venice, and was given by him to Mr. Matthew Gregory Lewis (commonly known as Monk" Lewis), among whose papers it was found at the time of his death : "It has been intimated to me, that the persons understood to be the legal advisers of Lady Byron, have declared their lips to be sealed up' on the cause of the separation between her and myself. If their lips are sealed up, they are not sealed up by me, and the greatest favour they can confer upon me will be to open them. From the first hour in which I was apprized of the intentions of the Noel family to the last between Byron and myself in the character of wife and husband (a period of some months) I called repeatedly and in vain for a statement of their or her charges, and it was chiefly in consequence of Lady Byron's claiming (in a letter still existing) a promise on my part to consent to a separation if such was really her wish, that I consented at all; this claim and the exasperating and inexpiable manner in which their object was pursued, which rendered it next to an impossibility that two persons so divided could ever be re-united, induced me reluctantly then, and repentantly still, to sign the deed, which I shall be happy-most happy-to cancel, and go before any tribunal which may discuss the business in the most public manner. "Mr. Hobhouse made this proposition on my part, viz., to abrogate all prior intentions-and go into Court-the very day before the separation was signed, and it was declined by the other party, as also the publication of the correspondence during the previous discussion. Those propositions I beg here to repeat, and to call upon her and hers to say their worst, pledging myself to meet their allegations-whatever they may be-and only too happy to be informed at last of their real nature. "August 9, 1817. (Signed) "BYRON. The version said to have been given by Mrs. Morrell of the separation of Lord and Lady Byron recalls to me a passage in Medwin's Conversations of Lord Byron, pp. 42-3. Conversing with Capt. Medwin, Byron says: "I have prejudices about women: I do not like to see them eat. Rousseau makes Julie un peu gourmande; but that is not at all according to my taste. I do not like to be interrupted when I am writing. Lady Byron did not attend to these whims of mine. The only harsh thing I ever remember saying to her was one evening shortly before our parting. I was standing before the fire, ruminating upon the embarrassment of my affairs and other annoyances, when Lady Byron came up to me and said, Byron, am I in your way?' To which I replied, Damnably!' I was afterwards sorry, and reproached myself for the expression: but it escaped me unconsciously-involuntarily; I hardly knew what I said." Without more information on the point, it is difficult to know whether to take Mrs. Morrell's statement as a corroboration of the above or as simply a repetition of it. Medwin's Conversations were published in 1824, the year of Byron's death, and it is not at all unlikely that this old servant of Lady Byron's family, who may naturally be supposed to have interested herself in the circumstances of the separation, either read or heard related the incident above mentioned. The "standing before the fire ruminating" of Byron, and the "leaning against the mantelpiece" of Mrs. Morrell, are to me wonderfully suggestive of a common origin. Galashiels, N.B. J. RUSSELL. "THE LITERARY MAGNET" (5th S. xi. 307.)— The full title of this publication at its commencement was "The Literary Magnet of the Belles Lettres, Science, and the Fine Arts, consisting of 1. Original satirical essays of permanent interest; 2. Sketches of society, humourous and sentimental; 3. Original poetry: 4. Miscellaneous matters; forming a body of original and copper, and wood. elegant literature.... With numerous engravings on steel, Edited by Tobias Merton, Gent., assisted by various wits of the day. London, William Charlton Wright, 65, Paternoster Row; Ewbank, Brussels. 1824. 8vo." Vol. i. contains 452 pages, brought out in six monthly numbers; vol. ii. 416 pages, published in a similar manner. With vol. iii. there was a change in the imprint, the magazine being published by George Wightman, 46, Fleet Street, and coloured plates were introduced. In the absence of the original wrappers in the bound copy which I have seen, it is not easy to say what other changes took place, but it seems probable that during the course of this volume the monthly number was divided into two parts, 1. The Literary Magnet, 2. The Monthly Journal. Vol. iv., dated 1825, brought this series to an end. With the new series there was a change in the title, which is The Literary Magnet, or Monthly Journal of the Belles Lettres, consisting of, &c. Vol. I. New Series. London, printed for Charles Knight, Pall Mall East, 1826, 8vo. Vol. i. was for Jan. to June, 1826; vol. ii., July to Dec., 1826; vol. iii., Jan. to June, 1827; vol. iv., July to Dec., 1827. In the volumes brought out by Charles Knight are found an interesting series of papers called "The Living Poets of England," a tale named "The Gentleman in Black," verses by J. H. Wiffen, ballads by John Clare, poems by William and Mary Howitt, epigrams, &c., by S. T. Coleridge, poetry by Mrs. Henry Rolls, stanzas by Mary Anne Browne, &c. It is not, however, always easy, from the way the magazine is edited, to say precisely which are the original articles and which only reprints. The eight volumes described above I believe form a complete set of The Literary Magnet. In conclusion, I wish to make the inquiry, Who was the editor of the first series of this magazine who used the pseudonym of "Tobias Merton, Gent."? GEO. C. BOASE. 15, Queen Anne's Gate, S.W. ARMS ON THE STALLS IN THE CATHEDRAL AT HAARLEM (5th S. ix. 61, 101, 413, 451, 471, 497; xi. 269, 318.)-I should feel grateful to D. P. for his correction of my "misunderstanding" with regard to the arms of Guelders, if that "misunderstanding" had any existence except in his own imagination. D. P. does not appear to be aware that although, as he quite correctly says, the arms referred to contain two distinct coats-those of Guelders and Juliers-they are yet constantly referred to in their united condition as the arms of the duchy or province of Guelders. They are so in a modern Dutch heraldic work of the highest authority now lying before me, no reference being there made to the fact, well known to every tyro in heraldry, that a portion of the coat was assumed for Juliers. Spener says, "Geldria insignia sunt duo in bipertito scuto se respicientes leones," &c., as I blazoned them, though he does go on to say (what it seemed to me perfectly unnecessary to refer to in my brief note) that one of the lions was assumed for Juliers. Not long ago, in Paris, a gentleman politely directed my attention to the fact that in a certain place were visible what he termed "les armoiries de l'Angleterre." The shield really contained the quartered coats of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and so (strictly speaking) was not the arms of England, but those of the united kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. But I did not think it necessary to assume that the French gentleman was ignorant of this fact simply because he called the whole arrangement by its conventional name, though, instead of thanking him for his politeness, I might have pointed out "a misunderstanding of his," and displayed at one and the same time his very painful inaccuracy and my own highly superior know no ledge. It is, however, pleasant to be assured that DANTE'S VOYAGE OF ULYSSES: "INFERNO," C. XXVI. (5th S. xi. 148, 190.)-MR. BOUCHIER'S interesting communication is suggestive of various speculations. Did Dante consider the account of this voyage given by Pliny and others to be fabulous, or to have had foundation in fact? In my Verona edition of 1750 the commentator (Pompeo Venturi) holds the former theory, viz., that the poet treated the subject as he did his own poem, as imaginary. I cannot be satisfied with this theory. Dante was one of the most learned men of his day, and we may reasonably expect to derive from him the most advanced knowledge attained in his times. It appears to me that there must have been more than mere fancy in the idea of the ancients of a wide ocean extending far west of Europe and having land beyond it. Some ships in the course of ages may reasonably be supposed to have been driven out into the Atlantic by stress of weather, and, even if wrecked, some accounts of their disaster may have reached Europe through I believe it is widely survivors of the crew. admitted in the present day that Greenland was peopled from Norway or Iceland long before the Cabots discovered North America. Again, it must have been more than fancy which upheld the great Columbus in his heroic enterprise. I should be glad if MR. BOUCHIER could throw any light upon the inquiry whether Columbus was acquainted with this account of Ulysses and his last voyage, either in Homer, Pliny, or Dante. The first printed edition of the Inferno came out, I believe, in 1472, and Columbus's first voyage was undertaken in 1492, so that, if he had seen or heard of this passage in Dante, it might have encouraged him to persevere in his scheme. Dante's account would almost have furnished him with sailing directions towards the West Indies. Ulysses passed through the Straits of Gibraltar, |