on the east pairtis to the Hospitall zeirlie Ten ss quhilk also wes bocht be ye said William man Mr of ye Hospitall to ye sam fra Robert Barrie and furth of ye sam to ye Choristaris zerlie ten ss (113) Item furth of ye land of Gelis Gaw ladie Claiverhous lyand on ye sout syid of ye murray gaitt Betuix ye land of Bartie matho on ye east and ye land of Andro Stewinsoun on ye west pairtis to the Choristaris zeirlie Twentie twa ss Suma huius pagine vi lb i ss vid (114) Item furth of ye said Bartie Mathowis land foirsaid havand the murray gaitt Port on ye east to the choristaris Twentie twa ss iiija (115) Item furth of ye land of Johne Lyoun lyand on ye north syid of ye murray gaitt Betuix ye land of Alex Browne on ye west and ye said murray gaitt Port on ye east pairtis to ye choristaris zeirlie zeirlie Twentie ss (116) Item furth of ye Townis land Lyand without the Port contigue adiacent to ye sam lyand on ye north syid of ye gaitt to the Hospitall zeirlie for ss vid and To or ladie chaipell in ye Kowgaitt furth of ye sam Twentie twad (117) Item furth of ye land of Andro Maissoun Lyand on ye west syid of ye Welgaitt Betuix ye land of ye airis of vmqle James gulde on ye north and ye said land pertening to ye town on ye south pairtis to Sanct Andro zeirlie fyve ss (118) Item furth of ye land of Johne Swankie Lyand on west syid of ye welgaitt Betuix ye land of ye Laird of Kyngany at ye south and ye land of Dauid Zeman at ye north pairtis To ye choristaris zeirlie foure ss (119) Item furth of ye land of Johne Mathow Lyand on ye west syid of ye Welgait Betuix ye land of Dauid Hay on ye south and ye land of Alex Kymnonth on the north pairtis to ye Choristaris zeirlie Ten ss (120) Item furth of ye land of Dauid fleming lyand on ye west side of ye welgaitt Betuix ye land of James Patersoun on ye south and ye land of Adam Smit on ye north pairtis to ye Hospitall zeirlie Sewine ss vid (121) Item furth of ye land of Robert Mackie Lyand on ye west syid of ye Wellgaitt Betuix ye Port at ye north and ye foirsaid Land of Adam Smith on ye south pairtis to ye Hospitall zeirlie fyve ss (122) Item furth of Johne Merschellis pairt of ye tenement of land sumtyme pertening to Michael Andersoun Lyand on ye east syid of ye Wellgaitt Betuix ye vyer pairt yairof pertening to Johne myln at ye south and ye land of Alex Butchart on ye north pairtis to zeirlie Twa ss nyned (123) Item furth of ye said Johne Mylnis pairt of ye said land haveand on the south the land of Thomas Thomsoun Cordiner To zeirlie Twa sa nyned (124) Item furth of ye land of Johne Quheett Potter Lyand on ye east syid of ye welgaitt Betuix ye foirsaid land of Thomas Thomesoun at ye north and the land of Dauid Fleming at ye south pairtis to ye hospitall zeirlie ellewine ss iii (125) Item furth of ye said Thomas Thomesounis land foirsaid Betuix ye land of ye said George Quheitt at ye south and ye said John Myln his land on the north pairtis to ye Hospitall zeirlie Twa ss Suma huius pag: iii lib xviii ss xid (126) Item furth of ye land of James Allane Lyand on ye east syid of ye welgaitt Betuix ye land of at ye east and ye land of at ye west pairtis To the Choristaris zeirlie Threttie ss (127) Item furth of ye land of Johne Jak Lyand on ye east syid of ye welgaitt Betuix ye land of George Quheitt on ye north and ye land of Johne fleming on ye south pairtis to Sanct Johne ye euangelist zeirlie ten ss vid (128) Item furth of ye land of Johne Will lyand on ye east side of ye welgaitt Betuix ye land of Dauid Hay on ye south and ye land of ye airis of Jenkine Smith on ye north pairtis To or Ladie Chapell inye Kowgaitt zeirlie (129) havand on ye north the land of To or Ladie Chapell Twa ss aucht ss fourtie ss (130) Item furth of ye land of Robert Alanesoun Smith the Choristaris zeirlie man . . fyvetene ss A PROCLAMATION OF QUEEN MARY.-The following is a copy of a printed proclamation of Queen Mary, preserved among the archives of Faversham. With the exception of a few words, it is complete: there is no date on it :By the Quene. The Quenes Maiestie consyderynge the euyll dysposition of sundrye her subiects to kepe the auncyent orders for abstynence from eatynge of fleshe, as well in the tyme of Lent as upon other usall fastynge dayes ; And waying the grete notable commodities growinge by the due observation thereof wythin her maiesties dom . . . of wayes: strayghtly chargeth all manner of people resydynge in the sa yearly to observe and kepe the auncyent and laudable order for fastynge tyme, all upon al other fyshe dayes, and lykewyse commandeth as eclesiasticall and temporall, to whome the regarde here of doth or may belong, strayghtlye to se the same wel and duely observed, Wyllying and commandynge them in the name of Almyghtye God, before whom they shall auns were to her Maiesty for theye apparaunt contempte or neglygence, that they do not either by theyr owne example or by lacke of execution of theyr authorytie, permýte such lycentious and carnall dysorder in contempt of God and man, and onely to the satysfactyon of deuelysh and car fered unpunyshed. And because the maner of the execution hereof, in the Cities and Suburbes of London geue good example to the rest of the realme. H E R Majestie by this present Proclamation strayghtly commandeth and chargeth the Maior of her the steward and principal officers of Westminster, that no bocher, pulter nor victueller, shal at any tyme her or cause to be kylled or solde wythin the sayde Cytie, or the suburbes, or wythin Westminster, or the urisdiction therof, any fleshe betweene shroftuesdaye and the tuesdaye next after Palme Sondaye, nor that anye table keper, Inholder, Wictueller or anye other person that kepeth any house, wherto any person do or shal resorte for meate and drynke for their money, nor anye other resydinge within the same places, shal dresse or suffer or consente to be dressed, or eate, or suffere to be eaten, any fleshe, within any of theyr houses, in Lent tyme, or upon any fyshe day, upon payne that euery person and persons that shal offend contrary to this order shall forfeyte and pay to her hyghnesse for euery such offence, twenty poundes, the one halfe to be dysposed by theyr churchwardens, to theyr poore people inhabytynge the paryshe where the offence shal be found and the other to her hyghnesse in lyke case is ordered. And besydes, yf the person offendyng be a without delay, Cytezen he shal by the Maior and be immediately for ever dysfraunchysed, and beyng a table keper or wyctueller utterly disabled in any place to use the auchtened same trade. And yf he be no Citezen, then he shal ouer Item furth of ye Jenkine Smith his airis land foirsaid' and besydes the sayd forfayture, have for euery such offence ten daies imprisonment without bayle, and yf the partie rest octagonal, with moulded bases, and capitals of the Earlyoffending be not able to pay the sayd forfeyture immediately upon proofe made of the offence, stand one Market day in the market time openly upon the pyllory, during the space of sixe houres. And also that euery Alderman for the tyme beyng within his ward, shal twyse in the Lent tyme cause an enquyry and presentment to be made by the othes of twelve honest and substanciall Citezens of euery warde, being no Bochers, Pulters, common Wictuellers no table kepers: what persons have or do offend in eating kylling, or sellyng of flesh within that ward, whereof those enquyrye shall be the Mundaye after Mydlent Sunday, and the other in we Easter, and that in the choyse of the persons which shal so enquire, good regard be had, that they be suche as be best disposed to fynde out, and truely to present such offences, without respect of persons, and also that the Maior with his brethren cause once euery fortnyght priuie search to be made by honest and trusty persons of the houses of all Bochers, Putlers, table keepers, tauernes, wictuellers, and other suspected houses, for the better under standynge whether they or any of them doo offende in the premysses, and that yf they shall fynde either by this searche, or by any laweful proffe brought before them, any person to haue offended: that then immediately they cause the offenders to be punyshed, as aboue is expressed without favor, affection or respect of person. The lyke order to be kept by the direction of the steward or head officer in Westminster, as the case shall requyre." The effect of this proclamation is shown by the following entry in the Records of Faversham:-" 16th Apl 1556 Barth Taylor Sawer had execution about the cross openly for eating flesh in Lent and is banished the Town for that and other considerations so that if he be taken in the Town after the F. of Pentecost next unless it be to the mke [market] or other reasonable cause to have execution of the pillory and one of his ears cut off." Notes. CHURCHES IN KENT. G. B. MINSTER CHURCH, SHEPPEY.-Minster is distant about three miles from Sheerness, in the Isle of Sheppey, on the summit of the cliffs overlooking the sea. It was the site of, and received its name from, a minstre, or nunnery, said to have been founded about the year 673, by Sexburga, widow of Ercombert, King of Kent. The present church, which is of considerable interest, is dedicated to St. Mary and St. Sexburga, and consists of two aisles, a chancel, with a small chapel attached on the north side-now used as a school room-and the lower portion of a western tower, of great size and with double buttresses. This tower opened to the north aisle by a pointed arch, which is now blocked up. It has evidently been much higher, and is now surmounted by an ugly wooden top, terminating in a point, and contains five bells. On either side of the tower is a semi-octagonal stair turret or buttress; one having been used by the parish bellringer, and the other-a newel staircase-by the conventual sacristan s servant to chime the hours. The southernmost of the two aisles was formerly the parish church, having its own porch; and the northern, it is stated, formed the nuns' choir. The entrance from the south porch is under a semi-circular arch of two orders, with good mouldings, and shafts of transitional Norman workmanship. The west window is Perpendicular, with four lights, the tracery in the head being in a miserable state of decay. Beneath is an embattled stringcourse along the sill, and below this is the western doorway, with shafts and many mouldings. The spandrels are filled with quatrefoils, containing severally a rose and a shield, in which the lines of a cherub are faintly discernible. The interior is of four bays; in the arcade are fine pillars, the central one being round, and the English period. On the capitals of the pillars in the chancel is the conventional foliage of the Decorated style; on the eastern pier is a coat of arms. The font is octagonal, and of the Perpendicular period. The east end of the north aisle has a good Perpendicular parclose, and in the east wall is a door of the same period, with a hood-mould, terminating in masks, pierced through a pointed arcade on the outside. It may have communicated with the Lady Chapel. The south aisle is probably that mentioned as St. Katherine's aisle, and in this part of the church the lower portion of the Perpendicular roodscreen remains perfect. In the chancel there is a trefoil-headed drain in the south wall, and an aumbry in the east wall. The windows in the north aisle are coupled cinque-foiled lights under a square head, whilst the nuns' chapel above mentioned is lighted by two windows of the same period. Three large buttresses relieve the monotonous effect of the north side of this portion of the church. On the western wall are to be seen portions of flint work. At the west end of the south aisle are two windows, one a lancet and the other Perpendicular, with three lights. In the arch between the north chapel and the chancel is a panelled tomb of Bethersden marble, on the top of which reclines the effigy of Sir Thomas Cheney, Knight of the Garter, and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, who died in 1559. Sir Thomas had been first buried in the chapel of the adjoining abbey; but his son Henry, Lord Cheney, in the reign of Elizabeth, obtained a licence for removing the coffins and bones of his father and ancestors thence, having sold the materials of the chapel to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and had them interred here. In front of the altar platform there are two brasses, supposed to commemorate Sir Roger de Northwode and Lady Bona his wife, dated 1330. The figure of the knight is represented in armour, and cross-legged, with large spurs, a long sword, and a lion at his feet; Lady Northwode has three bars wavy on her mantle, and a talbot dog at her feet. The inscription is almost entirely obliterated. In the north chapel is an effigy in armour of the fifteenth century, which was exhumed in 1833 in the adjacent burial ground. There is also an effigy of a Spanish general on a panelled tomb, which is placed in a richly panelled recess in the north wall of the chancel. He is called Senior Cerinemo, and is said to have commanded the land forces of the Spanish Armada, and to have died a prisoner on board the guard ship at the Nore, in 1591. There are also statues of the Virgin and Holy Child; two early stone coffin lids with a cross, and a coffin of stone with a trefoil recess for the head. On the south side of the chancel, opposite the Cheney tomb, is the remarkable tomb of Sir Robert de Shurland, Warden of the Cinque Ports in the reign of Edward I. It is under a high pointed arch, having a range of cinquefoil cusps below the inner mouldings, rising from short columns, the bases of which are lions couchant. Upon the tomb is the recumbent effigy of the knight, lying cross-legged, with his head resting on his helmet; at his right hand, at the back of the recess, is a horse's head, represented as if emerging from the waves, or in the act of swimming; on his left arm is a shield like that of a Knight Templar; and at his feet stands an armed page, much mutilated. This monument has been sadly defaced; indeed, the pinnacles and finials which crowned the upper part of the tomb are entirely broken away. Sir Robert, who was lord of the manor of Shurland, in the adjoining parish of Eastchurch, was created a knight banneret by Edward I. for his gallant conduct at the siege of Carlaverock, in Scotland. Grose, in his "Antiquities,' says that some pretend that the horse's head on this tomb is intended to set forth the "excellency he [the knight] possessed in the art of training horses to swim." Philipott, in the "Viliare Cantianum" (p. 382), says that this tomb of Sir R. de Shurland "is become the scene of much falsehood and popular error; the vulgar having digged out of his vault many wild legends and romances, as, namely, that he buried a priest alive; that he Which mortified. So he was kill'd, And the hag's prophecy fulfilled. swam on his horse two miles on the sea to the king, who was then near the isle on ship-board, to purchase his pardon, and having obtained it, swam back to the shore, where, being arrived, he cut off the head of his said horse, because it was affirmed he had acted this by magic; and that riding a hunting a twelvemonth after, his horse stumbled and threw him on the skull of his former horse, which blow so bruised him, that from that contusion he contracted an inward imposthumation, of which he died." Another version of this tale of Philipott is, that "after the knight had returned from obtaining the king's pardon for his crime, he recollected a prediction that the horse he then rode would be the occasion of his death, and, to prevent this, he drew his sword and slew the faithful animal that had carried him through the waves; but that long afterwards, seeing the bones bleaching on the ground, he gave the skull a contemptuous kick, and having wounded his foot by so doing, the wound mortified, and his death followed." That the horse's head on the tomb alludes to some particular circumstance or event in the knight's history there can be little doubt; and the writer above quoted imagines that it most probably arose "from his having obtained a grant of various liberties for his manor of Shurland, among which were the right to 'wrecks of the sea;' which right," adds Philipott, "is evermore esteemed to reach as far into the water, upon a low ebb, as a man can ride in and touch anything with the point of his lance." This tomb has been immortalized by the author of the "Ingoldsby Legends," in the following lines: "Of monuments that here they show He an old woman meets-a witch! The horse which now your life doth save,' You wild hag! And then, with his sword, The gen'rous beast stabb'd to the heart. Vil. Cant. p. 382. See there his cross-legged figure laid, The following is the version of the above legend as related to this day by the people in the village. Sir Robert de Shurland is said to have come to the churchyard of Minster one day, and seen a crowd gathered around a priest beside an open grave. Inquiring the cause, he was told that the priest refused to perform his office without payment, on which the knight drew his sword, at one sweep took off the priest's head, and tumbled him into the grave. Whether service was performed over the two corpses, we are not informed, but it seems the knight retired to his stronghold in Eastchurch, and thus kept out of harm's way for awhile until he heard that the king was sailing by the island, when he determined to venture out and solicit pardon. He mounted his favourite horse, galloped down the cliffs, where no one dared to follow him, and spurring his charger into the sea, swam off to the king, who readily promised his pardon on condition of his swimming back again. He reached the shore in safety, and was patting his horse, when a witch approached and told him that the animal which had that day saved his life, would yet cause his death. The knight, as we have seen, was prompt in resolve, and to defeat the prophecy he killed his horse on the spot. Some time after, he was walking on the beach, when he kicked against what he took to be a stone, but it was the skull of his ill-requited charger; he had broken it by the blow, a piece of the bone pierced his foot, and he died, only living time enough to direct that his steed should share his monument with him. lancets; the others are poor "decorated" two-lights, and some are wretched modern nondescripts. That this was a Norman building, and not rebuilt, is evident from a round arch over one of the lancets in the north wall of the chancel. There is nothing worth noting more than this, except that a dispute about the rectory between William de Insula and the abbot of Faversham occurred, which was settled by the latter receiving a large pension. OARE. There is little to notice in this small church. It has a Norman font, and on the south side of the chancel is a round-headed piscina. There are also remains of a perpendicular screen. There were formerly three shields of arms in the windows, viz. (1.) Nebule of four, argent and gules; (2.) Ermine, on a bend azure, three boars' heads couped, or; (3.) A coat I can hardly make out, it appears to be ermine, a fess checky, in chief six fleurs-de-lis, in pale with ermine, a chief checky, and in base six fleurs-de-lis: the colours are not given. A man in coat armour, with sword and spurs, kneeling, has his arms drawn on his tabard the same as on the last shield. THROWLEY.-Throwley church has a nave with aisles, a chancel with north and south chapels, and a tower on the south side of the building. It is mainly "decorated," with much" perpendicular" work, and with some Norman portions. The "decorated" work is all well executed, but most of the "perpendicular" windows are very poor. Two pointed arches, resting on a round pillar, and two responds, divide the north chapel from the chancel, and the south chapel opens into it by one arch, supported by two cylindrical responds. The north chapel is the burial place of the Lords Harris, and contains a remarkably fine statue of the first lord, who stormed and captured Seringapatam. The south chapel has some tombs of the Sondes family in it; one to the memory of Sir Thomas and his lady (d. 1584), is noteworthy. From some MSS. left by Filmer Southouse, of Faversham, at the end of the 17th century, we learn that the arms of Sondes, Finch, and Gatton, were once in the windows of this church, and in one of the north windows the words: Pray for the good estate of Alice Martin the which did make this window mecerly. In the chancel are three oaken misereres. fairly carved; and in the south wall an ambry, with a sedile beside it, without a canopy. The north aisle is separated from the nave by two arches, resting on an octangular pillar and respond; the western spandrel dies into the wall, and a pier intervenes between these and a larger arch. The south aisle is divided from the nave by two arches only. The tower arches are at the east end of this aisle; one of them rests on corbels shaped like curls. In the north wall of the tower is a four-centred door close to the chancel arch, which formerly communicated with the rood-loft; in the same wall is a portion of a Norman arch. The western door of the nave is Norman, with the chevron moulding. The great east and west windows are very fine. The east windows of the chapels are alike, and their counterparts may be found in many neighbouring churches. These four large windows and the smaller ones in the chapels, as well as one in the south wall of the tower, are "decorated," and the date in the stained glass, 1345, is probably the time all this work was executed. The windows in the nave aisles appear as if they were put in about the time of Henry VI.; but all on the north side, and one on the south, have been altered, and are debased in style. The tower was originally Norman, but it has been evidently nearly rebuilt in the "perpendicular" style. There is a good modern font, and an old octagonal one, with the top missing, is still preserved. The chancel contains a beautiful modern reredos. G. B. "St. Valentine," says Wheatley, 66 was a man of most admirable parts, and famous for his love and charity, and, therefore," he adds, "people do this and that on Valentine's Day." The argument is weak, and possibly the idea of Butler, stated in his "Lives of the Saints," that the day was the old Roman Feast of Februata Juno, and that when goddesses got to be thought naughty people, St. Valentine was put on to do duty instead, may be the correct solution of the question. Be this as it may, an old chronicle tells us that "it is a ceremony never omitted among the vulgar to draw lots, which they term 'Valentines,' on the eve before Valentine's Day." Speaking of the 14th of February, Herrick thus explains the reason for this custom : "Oft have I heard both youth and virgins say Birds chuse their mates, and couple too, this day; Afield I went, amid the morning dew, To milk my kine, for so should housewives do, Thee first I spied, and the first swain we see, In spite of Fortune, shall our true love be." A strange custom on the eve of Valentine's day is thus described in the Connoisseur. "On the night before Valentine's day I got five bay leaves and pinned four of them to the four corners of my pillow, and the fifth to the middle, and then if I dreamt of my sweetheart, Betty said, we should be married before the year was out. But to make it more sure, I boiled an egg hard, and took out the yolk, and filled it with salt; and when I went to bed, eat it, shell and all, without speaking or drinking after." According to tradition, Valentine's day is the fête of the unmarried only, for, speaking of a bride, it is said : "She must no more a-maying, Or by rose-buds divine, Who'll be her Valentine?" It would appear that one person could also be another one's Valentine by arrangement, as Pepys was his wife's year by year; and one year he says, "this year it is likely to cost 41. or 5. in a ring for her which she desires," so that costly Valentines are not without precedent. The first symptom of the letter style of Valentine appears also in the Diary of Pepys, when "Little Will Mercer came in the morning to be his wife's Valentine, and brought her name writ upon blue paper in gold letters, done by himself very pretty." How the old diary-keeper would stare if he could return to life, and look in upon the Valentine Palaces of the Strand, Regent-street, Ludgate hill, and, indeed, of a hundred other streets in London ! "THE CRUEL MOTHER."-In the second volume of "The Border Minstrelsy" appears a small fragment of a ballad bearing the above title, given as an introductory note to the ballad of Lady Anne." Can any of your readers tell me The same custom is spoken of in Poor Robin's Almanac for whether this poem was ever printed in its complete form, 1676:and where? Now Andrew, Antho Another mode of obtaining a Valentine was to challenge (sic) the first man seen in the morning. Thus Pepys tells us that in 1659, "his wife having heard Mr. Moore in the dressing room, got herself ready, and came down and challenged him for her Valentine." It is apparently of this custom Gay tells in the lines "Last Valentine, the day when birds of kind W. JORDAN. * GRANT TO WEAR HATS AT COURT.- Permission to appear at court without uncovering his head, is said to have been accorded by Henry VIII., in 1513, to Walter Copinger, gent., of Buxhall, Suffolk. Is such a grant still in existence? L. M. ABBOTSFORD.-I believe this was not the original name of the property. Will some one of your numerous readers inform me by what name it was known previous to its purchase by Sir Walter Scott? A. K. [The original name of Abbotsford was Cartley Hole. Sir Walter purchased the property in 1811, and gave it its present name. The mansion-house was almost entirely built by him.-ED.] THE CROSS AT LUCCA.-William II. frequently made use of this oath, "By the Cross of Lucca," or, By the Crucifix at Lucca." Authentic information as to the origin of this expression would be acceptable. F. B. CAPTAIN WILLIAM HOOPER. I shall feel greatly obliged if any correspondent will direct me to some work giving information on the life, career, and descendants (if any) of Captain William Hooper, mentioned in Mrs. Hutchinson's Life of Colonel Hutchinson," and who was the Parliamentary engineer officer at the siege of Oxford, in 1648. J. P. EMSLIE. NOBILITY.-In England. I believe, this term belongs exclusively to the peerage; but in other countries of Europe it comprehends all classes raised by birth or privilege above the community at large. Is there any grant or statute in existence showing the origin of the term? T. R. afterwards to have covered her head with a veil, richly embroidered with gold spangles, worked, it is traditionally affirmed, by the queen's own hand. Can any of your readers tell me whether this veil is still in existence; and, if so, where it is preserved ? T. R. S. MAYORS' OFFICIAL PREFIX.-Some little confusion frequently takes place as to the proper style to be used in the official addresses of mayors of corporate towns; sometimes they are described as the " Right Worshipful," and at others simply as the "Worshipful." Which is correct? H. ALEXANDRIAN CODEX.-Can any of your readers give me a slight description of the above MS. ? I should also be glad to learn where I can obtain a sight of this interesting document. So far as I can remember, it was brought (or sent) to England in the reign of Charles I. CAROLUS. "THE MOURNER."--Who was the author of a poem WHIMSICAL EPITAPH.-I send you the following epitaph bearing this title, written, I believe, either early in the pre-which was some time since copied from a stone in the churchsent century, or towards the close of the last. It is some yard at Epsom :time since I saw it; but, as near as I can recollect, it com mences thus : ... SWAKELEY HOUSE, MIDDLESEX.-In Pepys' Diary, under date of Sept. 7, 1665, is this entry:-" To Swakeley, to Sir R. Viner's. A very pleasant place, bought by him of Sir James Harrington's lady. It is a place not very moderne in the garden nor house, but the most uniforme in all that I ever saw; and some things to excess." Is this house still standing? If so, can any of your readers give me any information respecting it? "Here lieth the carcass Of honest Charles Parkhurst, His sovereign lord the King Ob. Dec. xx. MDCCIV. ætat. LXXXVI. Can you, or any of your readers tell me who this individual was, whose name is thus handed down to posterity? J. SILLS. of the Rev. John Parkhurst, author of a Greek and Hebrew lexicon: [In Epsom Church there is a monument, by Flaxman, to the memory we believe the above Charles Parkhurst was a member of that family.-ED.] GARTH, THE POET.-Can you furnish me with information respecting the history of Samuel Garth, the author of a poem entitled " Claremont," published early in the last century? Replies. T. ST. L. KENTISH CHURCHES.-The last time I was at Sandwich, great efforts were being made to restore the different churches in that ancient town. St. Clement's, which had been in a very dilapidated condition for many years, I was pleased to see, seemed likely to be preserved from the utter decay that at one time appeared to threaten it; St. Peter's ST. MARGARET-AT-CLIFFE, NEAR DOVER, had been "partially" restored; but St. Mary's seemed left to its fate. I should be glad to hear from any of your correspondents whether the good work of restoration has been carried on; and if so, to what extent. RAMBLER. HENCHMAN.-What is the meaning of this term? The word has, I believe, now become obsolete, but is frequently met with in descriptions of ancient ceremonials. L. T. (Vol. iii. 69). THE church dates back to the days of King Stephen, and is supposed to have been attached to St. Martin's Priory, in Dover. It is a most remarkably fine specimen of rich Norman architecture of the best period, and is now considered one of the finest Norman buildings in the county. The mouldings of the west door-way (emblematical of the Holy Trinity) should be noticed, as well as the beautiful tracery of [The word is mentioned in the second canto of Sir Walter Scott's the arcades, chancel arch, and north door-way. The five Lady of the Lake:" A footnote explains that the term denotes a sort of secretary; indeed, one who is to be ready, upon all occasions, to venture his life in defence of his master. At drinking-bouts his office was to stand hebind his master's seat, at his haunch-from whence the title was derived-to watch the conversation, and to see if any one offended his patron.-ED.] ESSEX HEAD CLUB. -This club was once held at a tavern of that name in Essex-street, Strand. Can any of your readers tell me anything about it, and when it ceased to P. T. exist? MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.-This unhappy queen, we are told, when on the scaffold, was wounded in the shoulder by a false blow given by her executioner-whether from awkwardness or nervousness is uncertain. She is said | east windows of the chancel have been recently filled in with In reply to P.'s question respecting the beautiful Norman church at St. Margaret's-at-Cliffe, near Dover, above, I send *The notice in "Murray" needs correction in his next edition. |