Notes and Queries, Number 180, April 9, 1853

    Alexander Carte.

Chaucer's Prophetic View of the Crystal Palace (Vol. iii., p. 362.).—

"Chaucer it seems drew continually, through Lydgate and Caxton, from Guido di Colonna, whose Latin Romance of the Trojan War was, in turn, a compilation from Dares, Phrygius, Ovid, and Statius. Then Petrarch, Boccacio, and the Provençal poets, are his benefactors; the Romaunt of the Rose is only judicious translation from William of Lorris and John of Meun; Troilus and Creseide, from Lollius of Urbino; The Cock and the Fox, from the Lais of Marie; The House of Fame, from the French or Italian: and poor Gower he uses as if he were only a brick-kiln or stone quarry, out of which to build his house."—Representative Men; Shakspeare or the Poet, by R. W. Emerson.

From what sources in the French or Italian is "The House of Fame" taken? And ought not an attack on Chaucer's claim to be the original author of that beautiful poetical vision to be grounded, especially by an American, on some better evidence than bare assertion?

    An Oxford B. C. L.

Magistrates wearing Hats in Court.—What authority is there for magistrates wearing their hats in a court of justice, and is it an old custom?

    Parvus Homo.

West Chillington, Hurst, Sussex.

Derby Municipal Seal.—What is the origin and meaning of the "buck in the park," on the seal now in use at the Town Hall, Derby?*

    B. L.

[* Edmondson gives the arms, as painted in the Town Hall, as "Ar. on a mount vert, a stag lodged within park-pales and gate, all proper. The seal, which is very ancient, has not any park-pales; and the stag is there represented as lodged in a wood."—Ed.]

Sir Josias Bodley.—Was Sir Josias Bodley, as stated by Harris in Ware's Writers of Ireland, a younger brother of Sir Thomas Bodley, the founder of the Bodleian Library? Who did Sir Josias Bodley marry; where did he live after his employment in Ireland ceased, and where did he die? Any information relating to him and his descendants will be most gratefully received.

    Y. L.

Sir Edwin Sadler.—In the Appendix to the Cambridge University Commission Report, p. 468., we find that nothing is known of Sir E. Sadler, the husband of Dame Mary Sadler, foundress of the "Algibræ" Lectures in that university. Can any of your correspondents throw any light on this?

    P. J. F. Gantillon, B.A.

The Cross given by Richard I. to the Patriarch of Antioch.—The "hero of Acre," Sir Sidney Smith, received from the hands of the Archbishop of Cyprus, in the name of a grateful people, a cross of which the tradition was, that it had been given by King Richard Cœur de Lion to the Patriarch of Antioch, when he went to Palestine on the third Croisade. This gift was preserved by Sir Sidney with the care due to a relique so venerable in its associations; and it was bequeathed by him to the Convent of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, at Paris, as successors of the Templars, from whose Order it originally came. He directed that it should be worn by the grand masters in perpetuity. In the biographical memoirs of Sir Sidney Smith, published a few years ago, the cross is stated to be preserved in the house of the Order at Paris. Perhaps some member of the Order residing there would take the trouble to give some description of this interesting relique, and would say whether its style and character are consistent with the tradition of its antiquity? I am not at all acquainted with the evidence on which the tradition rests; but any particulars relating to such a relique must be interesting to the countrymen of the illustrious admiral, and would much oblige his godson,

    Wm. Sidney Gibson.

Newcastle-on-Tyne.

P.S.—Apropos of Sir Sydney Smith, may I be allowed to suggest that, in the decoration of The St. Jean d'Acre, recently launched, some personal souvenir might be introduced that would visibly connect his memory with the stately vessel whose name commemorates the scene of his greatest victory.

Lister Family.—In a communication relating to Major-General Lambert (Vol. vii, p. 269.), Lord Braybrooke mentions his marriage with Frances, daughter of Sir William Lister, of Thornton in Craven. I imagine that this lady was sister to Sir Martin Lister, physician to King Charles I., of whose (Sir Martin's) descendants I shall be glad of any information.

Sir Martin Lister married Susanna, daughter of Sir Alexander Temple, widow of Sir Gifford Thornhurst. This lady, by her first husband (Thornhurst), had issue a daughter, who married Mr. Jennings, and became the mother of three celebrated women; of whom one was Sarah, duchess of Marlborough, wife of the great duke.

Had Sir Martin Lister any issue by her? and, if so, can their descendants be traced?

Mr. Lister, of Burwell Park, Lincolnshire, is probably descended from Sir Martin (if he left issue), or is of kin to him, through Dr. Martin Lister, physician to Queen Anne, who, if not a son or grandson, was certainly his nephew.

My mother's great-grandmother was a Lister, a daughter of Dr. Martin Lister.

Any information through the pages of "N. & Q." will be appreciated.

    R. B. A.

Walthamstow, Essex.

Family of Abrahall, Eborall, or Ebrall.—I shall be obliged if any of your readers can give me some information relative to this family, or refer me to any work containing an account of it, more particularly as regards the first settlers in England. The arms are—Azure, three hedgehogs or.

    Quærist.

Eulenspiegel—Murner's Visit to England.—Are any of your correspondents acquainted with the history and literature of the German tales which go under the name of Till Eulenspiegel? I am searching to find out which are the English translations, but have only succeeded to trace two. The oldest is a very curious black-letter volume in small 4to. in the British Museum, C. 21. c/5, formerly in the possession of Mr. Garrick, as appears from Bishop Percy ("Dissertation on the Origin of the British Stage," Reliques, vol. i. p. 134., ed. 1812). It is entitled, "Here begynneth a merye Jest of a man that was called Howleglas, and of many marucylous thinges and Jestes that he dyd in his lyfe, in Eastlande and in many other places." Colophon: "Imprynted at London in Tamestrete at the Vintre on the thre Craned wharfe by Wylliam Copland."

Of the second I have only a reference of the title: The German Rogue, or the Life of Till Eulenspiegel, 1709.

I am also anxious to learn whether there are any more notices about the visit of Thomas Murner, the author of the German Eulenspiegel, in England, besides that in a letter of Thomas More to Cardinal Wolsey in the State Papers, vol. i. p. 125.

    α.

Aged 116.—When your correspondents were all in a state of excitement about the old Countess of Desmond, I ventured to ask for proof that some person had, within the age of registers, insurance offices, and legal proof, ever lived to 150, or even to within twenty or thirty years of that age. No answer was given, no such proof offered; all our clever actuaries were silent. The newspapers now report one such mitigated case:

"Singular Longevity.—The Irish papers announce the recent death of Mrs. Mary Power, widow of J. Power, Esq., and aunt of the late Right Hon. R. L. Sheil, at the Ursuline Convent, Cork, at the advanced age of 116 years."

If this story be true, there can be no difficulty in proving it. The lady was not an obscure person, whose antecedents are unknown. Will some one connected with the Ursuline Convent, or Mr. Sheil's family, obligingly tell us where the lady was born, and produce the register of her birth—give us, in brief, legal evidence that she was born in the year 1737.

    A. I.

Annuellarius.—Can any of your numerous readers inform me what the meaning of the word annuellarius is? It occurs in a section of the constitutions of one of our cathedral churches:

"Item, quod nullus quicq' sit qui aliqui alii servit nisi tantum Epī servus sit, in Vicarior' Choralium Annuellarior' vel Choristarum numerum in Ecclīa Cath. … deinceps eligatur."

    P. S.

Minor Queries with Answers

Boyer's "Great Theatre of Honour and Nobility," 4to. London, 1729.—At the end of the preface to this work, a copy of which is in my possession, the following advertisement occurs:

"Although this volume exceeds by one-fourth part the number of sheets proposed for subscription, nevertheless it shall be delivered to the subscribers without enhancing the price; and their coats of arms shall be inserted in the second volume; as well as theirs who shall purchase this, provided thay take care to send them, with their blazon, to any one of the booksellers named in the title-page."

I want to know whether Boyer ever published this second volume; and shall be much obliged to any correspondent of "N. & Q." who will enlighten me on the subject.

    S. I. Tucker.

[Only the first volume has been published. According to the original prospectus, now before us, the work was to have made two volumes, divided into six parts. So that the volume of 1729, consisting of three parts, is half of what Boyer originally proposed to publish.]

List of Bishops of Norwich.—Where can I find a list of the bishops of Norwich, with their coats of arms, from an early date?

    Caret.

[In Blomefield's History of Norfolk, edit. 1739, fol., vol. ii. pp. 330-430.]

"A Letter to a Convocation Man."—Who, I am desirous of knowing, was the author of A Letter to a Convocation Man, concerning the Rights, Powers, and Privileges of that Body, published about 1697, which occasioned Wake's book of The Authority of Christian Princes over their Ecclesiastical Synods asserted? Atterbury says, in the Preface of his Rights, Powers, and Privileges of an English Convocation: