12 s. ix. OCT. s, i92i.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 291 same year. But can any of your readers tell me more about it and if it has any rarity or value ? UVEDALE LAMBERT. RESKER. Can anyone tell me origin and probable meaning of name Resker ? Is it Norse ? It is not mentioned by Lower, Baring Gould or Weekley. UVEDALE LAMBERT. ' LES PETITES FILLES MODKLES.' Can anyone tell me who wrote this charming story of four French little girls ? My copy, neavly bound and purchased for a few pence, unfortunately is shorn of its title- page. The author subsequently issued a sequel to this work entitled ' Vacances.' My query is perhaps better fitted for Ulnter- mediaire, but possibly some reader of that counterpart of ' N. & Q.' may notice this request and satisfy my curiosity. J. B. McGovERx. St. Stephen's Rectory, C.-on-M., Manchester. [The author was Sophie Rostopchine, Comtesse de Segur, b. 1799 at St. Petersburg; d. 1874 at Paris. Her father was that Count Rostopchine who was Governor of Moscow in 1812. Her hus- band was Eugene de Segur. She wrote a large number of children's books, among which the most familiar are perhaps the ' Memoires d'un ane,' ' Jean qui grogne and Jean qui rit,' and, above all, ' Les Malheurs de Sophie,' which must form a part of many people's childish recollections of learning French.] CABAL. What were the five names on the committee of the Privy Council, in the reign of Charles II. (1672), the initials of which (it is said) gave us this term, as now a name for a junta or any party engaged in intrigue ? Is this derivation genuine, or is the word from the Hebrew (cabbala, cabala, kabbalah, gabbalah, &?.) ? J. V. F. five names of Ministers whose initials compose the word " cabal " are : Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley and Lauderdale. But the word is of earlier origin. It has been discussed at 1 S. iv. 443, 507 ; v. 139, 520 ; 3 S. ix. 509 ; 8 S. vii. 165 ; xi. 293. At the third reference it is quoted from the title page of a book dated 1612.] SIXTEENTH -CENTURY JEWEL CASKET. I am desirous of tracing the original owner- ship of a casket which is believed to have belonged to some Royal House. It is of Spanish workmanship, the case of wood covered in velvet, and the design worked in gold thread and seed pearls. A promi- nent feature of the design is the letter X with a rough kind of crown, which may possibly indicate the name of its owner. Would the Prado Museum at Madrid be likely to be able to assist ? G. W. YOUNGER. 2, Mecklenburgh Square, W.C.I. 'RuDDiGORE.' Can anyone give any in- formation about " Gideon Crawl " referred to by Gilbert in ' Ruddigore ' ? He seems from the allusion to have been a man who returned to a life of crime after an interlude of virtue. G. M. WELSH NAME FOR BEDFORD. John- ston's ' Place-Names of England and Wales ' states that the Welsh name of Bedford is " Rhydwely," or " ford on this torrent." Can any Welsh or Celtic scholar say if " Rhydwely " is a name of such anti- quity in the Welsh language as to justify the inference that Bedford had some such name in the time of the Ancient Britons ? J. HAMSON. Bedford. CROOKE FAMILY. The following extracts are taken from the Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1660-1661, Charles II.: August, 1660. John Crooke, Stationer of London, petitioned for the office of King's Printer i for Ireland. Hazarded his life in concealing I His Majesty's friends during the late troubles. September, 1660. Capt. Henry Crooke. Peti- j tions for a small pension for the short remnant of his life. Is an aged, impotent cripple through many wounds received in the wars of the late King, wherein he lost two sons and has further lost three houses by the late fatal fire at Marl- borough. The following is from State Papers, Domestic, 1629-1631 : Letter. July 3rd, 1629. The King to Drs. Robt. Pink and Nicholas Love, and to Thos. Risly, Wm. Dillon, John Crooke, and Edward Stanley, electors for the next election at Win- i Chester College. To nominate John Beeseley, a child of Winton College, to New College, Oxford. I should be grateful for any genealogical ! information regarding the above Crookes sent direct to this address. FREDERIC CROOKS. Eccleston Park, Prescot. CULCHETH HALL. I am seeking any in- formation about Culcheth Hall, near War- rington, the ancient home of the Culcheth family until the middle of the eighteenth century when it became the residence of the De Traffords until 1824. Since then it has been in the Withington family, but now it
