ii s. vin. JULY 19, i9i3.] NOTES AND QUEEIES.
"W. K." in each corner. The bill for the execution of this painting is still to be seen in the Corporation accounts as "due to Wm. Day for painting ye town arms"; and as "the town arms" the portcullis is frequently alluded to in old papers, and it is also to be seen on the head of the second mace dated 1749. Is it only a badge on a seal, or is it a coat of arms?
The town of Romsey stands on an island, surrounded by tributaries of the River Test, and the borough can only be reached by crossing numerous bridges, such as Porters Bridge (anciently Porte Brigge), Broad Bridge, Middle Bridge, &c. In the paper read to the Ramblers' Club it was suggested that the portcullis was possibly chosen as a seal for the mayor, who Was guardian of the gates on the bridges, reference being made to the title oS the chief citizen of London at the Domesday Survey, namely, " Porte Grave," governor of the water gate. Romsey was, of course, never fortified, being but a small forest town, -but its proximity to the hunting in the New Forest caused it to be visited three times by James I. and also (tradition says) by Queen Eliza- beth. The portcullis was the badge of the houses of Beaufort and Tudor, and borne by the former with the motto " Altera securitas." Any information would be grate- fully received by a party of
OLD ROMSONIANS.
PARKE AND SCOLES IN EGYPT AND NUBIA. Sir Gardner Wilkinson in his ' Modern Egypt and Thebes,' 1843, vol. i. p. 155, states that Mr. Parke and Mr. Scoles visited Egypt in 1823. On p. 89 of the same work he recommends Parke and Scoles's ' Nubia ' as a useful book. I am not aware of any other reference to this work. Where can I obtain information about it, or about Parke and Scoles's observations ? Prince Ibra- him-Hilmy, in ' Literature of Egypt and the Soudan,' vol. ii. p. 441, 1888, has an entry:
" Park ( ). ' Egypt and the East ; or,
Travels on Sea and Land,' London, 1852, 8vo." Is this by one of the travellers re- ferred to by Wilkinson ?
FREDK. A. EDWARDS
[The English Catalogue has this entry : " Park (And.) Egypt and the East; or, Travels by Sea and Land, post 8vo, 5s. A. Hall, 185?."]
"THE EIGHT AND FORTIE MEN." In St. Chad's (Shropshire) Parish Register is the following entry : " 1642, Feb. 26, John Phillips of Kill Lane, one of the eight and fortie men."
Who were these ? O. S. T.
MILTON. Among Milton's books was a
copy of Dante's ' Convivio,' with the sonnets
of Giovanni della Casa and Benedetto
Varchi, bound together in one volume,
and bearing Milton's signature with the
date 1629. This volume was once in the
library of Richard Heber, and afterwards
passed through several hands. In 1861
it belonged to Mr. Arthur Roberts. Can
any one tell the name and address of its
present owner ? JOHN S. SMART.
Glasgow.
HUMBUG. Can any reader tell me the name of any writer who has written on " Humbug," and where such article can be obtained ? KELSO.
[The careers of Cagliostro and Casanova might afford some material; and ' Literary Forgeries,' by J. A. Farrer, published in 1907 by Longmans, might also be of service. " Mimicry ?r in animals would probably also prove a fruitful line of search vide Poulton's 'Colours of Animals' and Beddard's 'Animal Coloration.'!
DR. GREGORY SHARPE'S CORRESPON- DENCE. Two volumes of Gregory Sharpe's (1713-71) correspondence were recently sold among the Phillipps MSS. They are mentioned in Chalmers's ' Biographical Dic- tionary.' These volumes appear to be part of a larger correspondence, and I should be much obliged if any reader of c N. & Q.' could tell me whether any further volumes are in existence, and if so where they may be found, more especially any before 1750. There do not seem to be any at the British Museum. L. E. T.
2, Little Dean's Yard, S.W.
OAK TREES IN A GALE. Is there any foundation for the belief that oaks become more firmly fixed in the soil through the force of a strong wind ? It is found in several places, e.g., in ' Rule, Britannia': As the loud blast that tears the skies
Serves but to root thy native oak. Common sense would suggest that shaking the trunk of a tree \vould tend to loosen its roots.
" WEAR THE BLUE." In Graham of Gartmore's well-known song ' If Doughty Deeds ' come the lines :
For you alone I ride the ring, For you I wear the blue.
Blue has at different times been the mark of a Tory, a beggar -man, and a learned lady ; but I do not think this doughty cavalier would have declared him- self to be any of these. Is there a more probable explanation ?
C. B. WHEELER.
