NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. x. JULY 5, 1902.
is expected. The author has made an estimate of
the cost of the construction of the Antonine wall
reduced to the monetary standard of the present
day. The result arrived at is 317.00W. This will
surprise many of our readers. We have, however,
gone carefully through his calculations, and regard
them as an under rather than an over estimate, if
slave labour were not employed. Working on the
same lines, Major Ruck concludes that the stone
wall of Hadrian was produced by the expenditure
of 1,268,OOW. ; but, as he points out, there was
economy displayed in this heavy payment, as it
would obviously require a smaller proportionate
garrison to guard it. To recur to the Antonine
wall, when it was complete were grass seeds sown
on the top ? if not the rains would soon work great
damage. If they were, how was the seed obtained ?
We may conclude, though there can be no certainty
on the matter, that on this island the business of a
seedsman was then unknown.
Mr. J. Romilly Allen's short paper on ' The Early Christian Monuments of the Glasgow District' is well illustrated. There are few persons who have examined so many of these objects as the author. He has confined his paper to those which are anterior to or about the period of the Norman Conquest of England. The greater number are memorials of the dead, but some are evidently preaching crosses, and others probably mark the boundaries of sanctuaries, while perhaps in a few cases, though the author does not suggest this, they indicate the place where some tragedy has happened for the purpose of directing devout persons to pray for the souls of the victims. So far as is at present known, there are none with legends carved upon them. Quoting Jocelyne's life of St. Kentigern, written 111 the twelfth century, Mr. Allen directs attention to the statement that the pious bishop erected many crosses, one of which was made of the sand of the sea-shore. Ropes of sand figure in Scottish folk-lore, and we have read somewhere of a person who doubted the capacity of those who constructed Stonehenge to move the blocks of which it is composed, and that he solved the mystery to his own satisfaction by maintaining that they were castings of sand formed by some process now for- gotten. But a cross made out of sand is a new thing in our experience.
'The Chateau of St. Fargeau' is by Mr. James Dalrymple Duncan. It is an interesting chronicle of the successive owners of the castle and domain, but contains very little relating to Scotland.
' Notes on Scottish Costume in the Fifteenth Century,' by Mr. Robert Brydall, is an interesting paper, put from the nature of things cannot be all we desire ; iconoclasm has done its work so effec- tively over the Border that few tombs can furnish evidence.
Miscellanea Qenealogica et Heraldica for June, edited by W. Bruce IJannerman, opens with an interesting obituary notice of its founder, Dr. Joseph Jackson Howard, Maltravers Herald Extraordinary. He was born on the 12th of April, 1827, entered the Post Office in 1851, and became principal clerk in 1867, retiring in 1888. He was one of the pioneers of the Civil Service Supply Association. Early in life he acquired a taste for heraldry and genealogy, and became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1854. At the time of his death, on the 18th of April, he was eighth in seniority of such fellows. He took an active part (in conjunction with the
late Sir A. W. Franks) in the Exhibition of Civic
Plate held at Somerset House in 1860, and in the
following year contributed to an Exhibition of
Seals. In May, 1862, he collected materials for an ex-
hibition of heraldry which was held in the Society's
rooms, and he was also a considerable contributor
to the Heraldic Exhibition of 1894. He was one of
the earliest to commence a collection of armorial
hook-plates, and, in addition to this, made a choice
collection of armorial china. He was one of the
founders of the Harleian Society, acting as honorary
treasurer from its formation in 1869 to the end of
last year. Dr. Howard's charming manner en-
deared him to all who knew him. No correspondent
ever wrote to him in vain, and he spared neither
time nor trouble in giving to all, whether friends
or strangers, the results of his investigations. He
was a valued contributor to ' N. & Q.'
THE Coronation numbers of the Sphere and the Queen, received too late for notice last week, have now a pathetic interest. Both numbers contain interesting papers on archaeology and folk-lore, the popular taste for which is largely due to ' N. Q.' The Sphere in its ' Story of King Edward and his Empire from 1862 to 1902' is admirable in every way, and forms a record of forty years' pro- gress, not the least interesting paper being that by the editor, ' The Story of Literature and Education.' The Queen, in an historical article by Arthur H. Beavan, contains a number of illustrations copied from the Lambeth Palace Library by special per- mission of the Archbishop of Canterbury. An illus- tration of a George III. Coronation teapot is also given ; this was among the first examples of the method of transfer printing on china invented by John Sadler, of Liverpool.
$0 tier 8 to Comsponirruis.
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E. BIGOK BAOOT (" A headless man had a letter to write," Ac.). The answer seems to be 0=nothing. See 7 th S. x. and xi. passim.
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