78 NOTES AND QUERIES. [i2s.ix.jm.Y23. 1021.
Hearth Tax (12 S. viii. 471, 518). William Gates of Pontefract lived, at the time of the Hearth Tax, in a house in the Nant Market, one of the largest and best in the town, and therefore would probably contain 7 hearths. The house was called "The Leaden Porch." I shall be glad to give R. G. S. further information of the Gates family of Pontefract if he cares to write direct to me. R. J. Shilleto.
61, St. John's Road, Oxford.
Sundials (12 S. viii. 511; ix. 39, 59).
In any bibliography of books on sundials, the following should certainly find a place 'Primitive Sundials, or Scratch Dials, Containing a list of those in Somerset.' By Dom Ethelbert Home, with a Preface by [the late] Dr. J. Charles Cox, F.S.A., Taunton: Barnicott and Pearce, The Wessex
Press, 1917 ; pp. xii. and 90 ; 8vo., with 17
plates. This work is a delightful specimen
of a learned enthusiast on ancient sundials,
and should be better known.
J. CLARE HUDSON.
Woodhall Spa.
The enclosed clipping, from Rochdale
Observer, Aug. 12, 1916, re a noted sundial
may prove serviceable in the history of
sundials.
A REMARKABLE SUNDIAL.
INTERESTING TIME INDICATOR AT BAGSLATE.
Writing to us yesterday, Mr. James Kershaw
Grindrod, of Ivy Cot, Oulder Hill, directed
attention to an extremely interesting old time-
teller which may be seen at Bagslate. In the
letter Mr. Grindrod said : In these days of day-
light saving and altered clock time, it might
interest your readers to know of the remark-
able sundial at Clay Lane House, Bagslate, the
old home of the Kershaw family, for some time
occupied as' Norden Vicarage, and the tem-
porary home for crippled children before their
removal to the picturesque mansion erected by
the munificence of Mr. Walter Scott, J.P.
On this sundial the " time shadow " from the ;
gnomon at noon is contrasted with the time
at distant places on the earth's surface, such j
as Jerusalem, Surat, Siam, Ispahan, the Bar-
badoes, New York, Lisbon, &c. The sundial I
bears the name of the owner, John Kershaw, j
and the date, 1807. Thus it is dated two
years after the great naval battle of Trafalgar,
and eight years previous to the Hundred Days j
Campaign which closed at Waterloo.
The stonedial measures 22 J inches square and
is 3J inches thick. Its Latin inscriptions are
cut deep, but are somewhat obscure through
old paint or other " filling." They appear to
read in the left-hand corner " Vegetate f orate,
Tempus Mors," and in the right-hand corner
" Tempus Obit, Fugit, Venit."
The John Kershaw mentioned was interred
in St. James's Church, Ashworth, which is
more widely known as " Ashworth Chapel," and
is in the gift of the Rt. Hon. Earl Egerton of
Tatton. Inside this church there also rest the
remains of John Milne and his Wife, relative
of John Kershaw, and grandfather and grand-
mother of the late Professor John Milne, the
world-famed seismologist, and a native of
Rochdale.
FRED I.. TAVABE.
22, Trentham-street, Pendleton, Manchester.
DE BBTJS TOMB AT HABTLEPOOL. (12 S.
ix. 30). The town and haven of Hartle-
pool were once defended on every side with
, walls, except where the abrupt eastern
cliffs and rocky coast rendered all defence
needless. In the time of some of the earlier
historians Hartlepool exhibited a perfect
and interesting specimen of the fortifications
, of former times, having a long extended
wall, strengthened by demi-bastions at
intervals, some rounded, others square ;
- gates and sally-ports, secured by machicola-
tions and the portcullis, some of the gates defended by angular, others by square tur- rets in short, displaying all the variety in fortifications which had grown into use in those days. These walls appear to have been originally reared by Robert De Brus in the latter part of the thirteenth century. The early history of this place is very scanty, and relates chiefly to a religious establishment noticed in Bede's ' Life of St. Hilda,' but which finally perished during the Danish invasion. Who was this Robert Da Brus ? No doubt the tomb is that of his family JAMES SETON-ANDEBSON. 39, Carlisle Road, Hove, Sussex. PENZANCE FAIR : ' CAPUT JOHANNIS IN Disco ' (12 S. ix., 30). There are long letters on this subject in The Tablet for July 2 and 9, and no doubt the correspondence in that paper will continue. HARMATOPEGOS. WILLOW PATTEBN CHINA (12 S. viii. 496). The Willow Pattern, an opera in two epi- sodes, by Basil Hood, music by Cecil Cook, was produced at the Savoy Theatre on Nov. 14, 1901. ARCHIBALD SPARKE. RUSTIC NAMES FOR FLOWERS (12 S, ix. 29). I have heard White Arabis called "Snow on the Mountain," and the Red Garden Hawkweed " Grim the Collier." Both of these, I think, are quaint descrip- tive names. C. B. E.
