12 s. viz. AUG. 7, 1920.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 109 ever is apparently an error, as the pedigree of the latter shows his son John to be the Captain in the Navy, who died in 1682, and g-esumably the Capt. John Lightfoot, of .M.S. Elizabeth, which ship was lost by him to the Dutch in 1665, for which he was tried by court martial and dismissed. This confusion in the two Johns also occurs in ' Colonial Families of America.' Can anv one clear up the discrepancy ? E. W. LIGHTFOOT, Major. 16 Selborne Road, Hove, Sussex. ZOFFANY'S ' COCK MATCH.' What has become of the " reduced copies in water- colours " of this and other pictures, made in 1853 by Masawur Khan, miniature painter to the last King of Oudh ? According to W. Kilbride (8 S. viii. 97), these copies were, in 1895, in the possession of the political officer for whom they were painted more than forty years earlier. S. W. GRAMMAR OF STAGE DIRECTIONS. What is the origin of the idiomatic usage in the stage directions in printed plays of linking the plural predicate with the singular sub- ject : for example, "Enter Hamlet," in- stead of the grammatical " Enters Hamlet,' or "Hamlet enters " ? Can the usage be traced to French or has it some other derivation ? E. BASIL LUPTON. 10 Humboldt Street, Camb., Mass., U.S.A. PRICE FAMILY. I should be grateful if anyone could tell me the Christian name of the father and the Christian and surname of the mother of John Price, rector of Priston, Bath, who married at Farnborough, Bath, in 1724-5, Emma Catherall of English- combe. To what family of Price did he belong ? LEONARD C. PRICE. Essex Lodge, Ewell. " SEEVIER." In a deed dated April 2, 1702, Edward Trattle the elder and his son Edward Trattle the younger, both of Newport, Isle of Wight, is each described as a Seevier." The deed was a Settlement made in contem- plation of the marriage between Edward Trattle the Younger and Jane Jolliffe, and comprised (inter alia] a house on the south side of Pyle Street, Newport, in which Edward Trattle the Elder then dwelt, with the Malthouse thereto belonging, and a house with the Malthouse thereto belonging situate at the corner of Lugley Street and Chainestone Lane, Newport. In a Deed elated Feb. 10, 1761, Edward Trattle of Salisbury, Apothecary, is described as the only son and heir of Edward Trattle of Southampton, Gentlemen, who was the eldest son of Edward Trattle of Newport, Maltster and Jane his wife formerly Jane Joliffe. It is therefore clear that the Edward Trattle the younger, of the first mentioned deed, was at one time a maltster, and from the fact that this deed conveys two malt- houses, it seems likely that both he and his Father wore maltsters. Is, then " Seevier " another word for Maltster ? I have, however, been unal > e to find it in any Dictionary, and I should be glad if any of the readers of ' N. & Q.' can throw any light upon it. WM. SELF -WEEKS Westwood, Clitheroe. " EVERY BULLET HAS ITS BILLET." This phrase occurs in a song to which it gives the title, the author of which is unknown. Sir Walter Scott quotes the words "the bullet has its billet " as part of the motto to chap. xxv. ' Count Robert of Paris,' giving as his authority ' Old Play.' Is this mere "camouflage " to convey an idea of his own, or a genuine quotation ? J. E. HARTING. SOVEREIGN OF NAAS : SOVEREIGN OF DINGLE. What were the duties and privi- leges of these Irish dignities ; by whom conferred, and do they still exist ? A. W. WALLIS -TAYLOR. Beulah Cottage, Tatsfield, Nr. Westerham. p| LEONARD DIGGES. I should be much obliged by any information concerning Leonard Digges, who wrote commendatory verses on Shakespeare in the 1623 folio : especially as to any connection with Francis Bacon. GEORGE HOOKHAM. Willersey, Glos. {The ' D.N.B.' has a short account of Leonard Digges which does not, however, supply the information specially asked for.] GERMAN: ORIGIN OF THE NAME. Dr. John Aikin, whose ' Excursions ' are now appearing in these pages boldly asserts in a note on p. 7 of the 4th (1823) edition of his translation of the ' Germania ' and * Agricola ' of Tacitus that "the derivative sic] of German is Wehr mann, a warrior, or man of war." But Wehr does not mean war, but defence. There was, I believe, an O.H.G. word Werra, a quarrel, from which Fr. guerre and It. and Sp. guerra have been derived. Can it also be the origin of "German"? The 'N.E.D.' says: "The name does not appear to have been applied
