Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/456

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450


NOTES AND QUERIES. t n s. vm. DLC. e, 1913.


NIGHTINGALE FAMILY. I clipped the following from a newspaper not long since, and should be glad to know the origin of the " ancient privilege " accorded to the eldest daughter of this house :

"INTERESTING ENGAGEMENT.

" The engagement is announced of Lieutenant G. W. N. Boynton, R.N., only son of Sir Griffith Boynton, of Barmstori, and Naomi Coralie, only child of Mr. and Mrs. Ethelston Nightingale, and granddaughter of the late Sir Henry Dickenson Nightingale, formerly of Kneesworth Hall, Cambs, and of Newport Pond, Essex. At her presentation at Court last year Miss Nightingale's train, with its corners embroidered with her own ceremonial [armorial?] bearings, caused some sensation. The right to a distinctive coat of arms worn thus is the ancient privilege of the eldest daughter of this house. The marriage will take place next year."

CUBIOUS.

"COCKLESHELL WALK." In Sitting- bourne, Kent, there is a " Cockleshell Walk." How did this name originate ? Is it land reclaimed from the river ? or was it made in the manner described by Pepvs in his Diarv (15 May, 1663) ?

" I walked in the Parke, discoursing with the keeper of the Pell Mell, who was sweeping of it; who told me of what the earth is mixed that do floor the Mall, and then over all there is cockle-shells powdered, and spread to keep it fast."

J. ABDAGH.

AUTHORS WANTED.

"Thoughts and Meditations in Verse. By a Young Lady of the Hebrew Faith. London, William Pickering, 1848." 8vo, xi + 140 pp.

"To Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart, From the perusal of whose works I have derived such intense pleasure ; this little volume is by permission most gratefully inscribed."

I should be much obliged if any reader of

  • N. & Q.' could give me the name of the

author. ISRAEL SOLOMONS.

118, Sutherland Avenue, W.

They said that Love would die when Hope was

gone,

And Love mourned long, and sorrowed after Hope. At last she sought out Memory, and they trod The same old paths where Love had walked with

Hope, And Memory fed the soul of Love with tears.

R. A. POTTS.

CHOIRBOYS IN RUFFS. I noticed the other day in Norwich Cathedral that the choirboys wore a species of ruff or frill, instead of the usual Eton collar. Is this done elsewhere ? and what precedent is there for it ?

FREDERICK T. HIBGAME.

23, Unthank Road, Norwich.


LADY HAMILTON'S GRAVE. (11 S. viii. 188, 276, 356.)

THIS matter is in a way of being satis- factorily cleared up. The account given by R. B. Calton, 1852, quoted by LEO C., is not to be relied upon. The following extract is from the ' D.N.B.,' vol. xxiv. p. 153 :

" It has been confidently stated and very generally believed that during this period [that is, her last residence in Calais] she was in the utmost penury. Her letters show that she was living on partridges, turkeys, and turbot, with good

Bordeaux wine There is no reason to suppose

that she was altogether penniless, and in any case Horatia's 200/. a year was payable to her for their joint use. According to the false story told to Pettigrew by Mrs. Hunter, Lady Hamilton died in extreme want, unattended save by herself and Horatia ; she was buried at Mrs. Hunter's expense, in a cheap deal coffin with an old petticoat for a pall ; and the service of the church of England was read over the remains by an Irish half-pay officer, there being no pro- testant clergyman in Calais. Lady Hamilton's daughter assured Mr. Paget (Blackwood, cxliii. 618) that Mrs. Hunter was unknown to her. The funeral was conducted by a Henry Cadogan. on the part of Mr. Smith. Of this Cadogan we know nothing ; but his name would seem to point to a possible connection with Mrs. Cadogan, as Lady Hamilton's mother had been called for more than thirty years. It is at any rate quite certain that she was buried in an oak coffin, and that the bill, including church expenses, priests, candles, dressing the body, &c., amounting to 281. 10s.,

was paid to Cadoganby Mr. Smith The mention

of priests and candles agrees with her daughter's statement, and confirms the story that during her later years she had professed the Roman catholic faith."

Since the biography of Lady Hamilton appeared in 'D.N.B.' in 1890 there has been an excellent article about her in The Edinburgh Review for April, 1896, vol. clxxxiii. p. 380. It states that she

" sought consolation and pardon for her sins in the bosom of the Church of Home. On her death- bed she received the last sacraments according to that communion, and was decently buried in the cemetery at a total cost of 28/. 10s., which was defrayed by Mr. Smith."

" Mr. Smith " is no doubt Alderman Joshua Jonathan Smith, who in the spring of 1814 assisted her to leave London for Calais.

Here is another account of her burial. In 1815 the ' Memoirs of Lady Hamilton ' were published. The name of the author is not known, but they were evidently written by some one who was able to state with