18
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. m. JAN. 7, 1911.
There is a pedigree of the Sumners of
Hatchlands in Burke' s ' Landed Gentry,'
5th ed. It also appears in other editions.
CHAS. HALL CROUCH.
48, Nelson Road, Stroud Green, N.
ELIZABETH WOODVILLE AND THE KINGS OF COLOGNE (11 S. ii. 449). The attempt to connect Elizabeth Woodville with one of the three Kings of Cologne is, I fear, a hope- less undertaking. It was doubtless through her mother, Jaquette or Jacqueline, that the connexion (if such there was) existed. But the difficulties in the way of tracing her descent seem insuperable. In Cologne, I believe, the names assigned to the three Kings are Gaspar (or Jaspar), Melchior, and Balthazar. There are, however, at least four other accounts, in every one of which the names are different. From an origin so obscure and nebulous, it appears impossible to deduce the pedigree of the Lady Eliza- beth Woodville with anything approaching accuracy. W. S. S.
BABIES AND KITTENS (11 S. ii. 509). Miss Charlotte Leatham in an article on West Sussex superstitions lingering in 1868 (Folk - lore Eecord, i. 18) says : " The belief that a baby and a kitten cannot thrive in the same house is far from being peculiar to Sussex."
Norfolk people hold the same view, and they will not hesitate to drown a cat if it is ailing when there is an infant about.
W. B. GERISH.
LOWTHEBS v. HOWARDS : A SUPERSTITION UPSET (11 S. ii. 504). I first heard the saying mentioned, "A Lowther cannot beat a Howard," during the recent election. If it is of long standing ("a century and a half," The Morning Post says), it is difficult to see how it could have any foundation on fact. In the Parliaments of 1695, 1698, 1700, 1701, and 1780 Carlisle, and in those of 1679, 1806, 1807, 1812, and 1818 Cumber- land, each of which was a two-seat con- stituency, returned both a Lowther and a Howard. This must have meant either a compromise or such a balance of power as gave no advantage to either family. The expression " A Lowther cannot beat a Howard," or, as I heard it, "A Lowther has never beaten a Howard," implies a number of contests at the polls in which a Howard was uniformly successful over a Lowther. I do not find that the political history of Cumberland and Westmorland affords any Confirmation of such a view. DIEGO.
Leland's Itinerary in England. Edited by Lucy
Toulmin Smith. Parts IX., X., and XI. (Bell
& Sons.)
THIS volume marks the conclusion of the valuable and scholarly work upon which Miss Toulmin Smith has been long engaged. Of its contents, one part only, Part X. having to do with Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Wilts, Somerset, Glouces- tershire, and Dorset is in the nature of con- tinuous narrative. The remainder 'consists of miscellaneous notes in Latin and English, those in Part XI. having formed to some extent the basis of the more connected disquisitions in the earlier portions of the Itinerary. An interesting Appendix to Part X. sets forth a ' Note ' by Thomas Hearne on the building of the bridge between Culham and Abingdon, concluding with the cita,tion of a " table " put up by " Mr. Richard Fannand, iron-monger," in the Hall of St. Helen's Hospital, wherein the details of the enterprise labour, material, and dimensions are set forth in pious and enthusiastic verse.
This, the final volume, is supplied with every- thing necessary towards perfecting the work as a whole, and facilitating references. The Preface contains an additional note of the Leland MSS. in the British Museum ; there is a ' Conspectus of English and Welsh Counties ' touched upon by the traveller. ; a list of the ' Maps and Illustra- tions in the Five Volumes ' ; 'A Concordance of the Present Edition of Leland's Itinerary with Hearne's Printed Text, Second Edition, 1744 ' ; and a ' Glossary ' of ' Archaic Words and Senses ' ; while the two general Indexes, of ' Persons and Landowners ' and ' Places and Subjects ' respec- tively, which have reference to the volumes pre- ceding as well as the present, are, so far as we have been able to test them, wonderfully accurate.
By her thorough and painstaking performance of a task which has demanded infinite patience and scrupulous care, no less than learning and critical insight of a high order, Miss Toulmin Smith has earned the gratitude not only of antiquaries, but also of those less responsible persons who love to dabble in local history and tradition for the romance that is in them.
IN The Cornhill Magazine for the new year Mrs. Humphry Ward begins a new novel, ' The Case of Richard Meynell,' another story of theological difficulties, and Mr. and Mrs. Egerton Castle a lively story, ' The Lost Iphigenia.' Mr. J. Meade Falkner has a pleasant poem on ' Oxford.' Mrs. Woods's ' Pastel ' is concerned with ' Black and White,' and finds something to say in favour of the former. Sir Frederick Pollock in ' Arabiniana' deals with the odd sayings of Serjeant Arabin, an original character who administered justice from 1827 till 1841. His best-known saying, and we think his best the others are nothing like so witty is current in some such words as " Prisoner, God has given you good abilities, instead of which you go about the country stealing ducks." For " good abilities " we have generally heard " health and strength." Mrs. S. A. Barnett has a short, but sensible article ' Of Town Planning.' ' Marlborough's Men,' by Col. Hugh Pearse, is suggestive, but rather too much of a summary^to please us. " Q." has a lively
