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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. XL MARCH 21, 1003.
fulness it deserved. He therefore published ' Thomas
Bates and the Kirklevington Shorthorns, a Con-
tribution to the History of Pure Durham Cattle,'
a work of great interest, which astonished not a
little those who had been in the habit of regarding
him as "a mere antiquary."
The extracts from the Privy Seal Dockets, mainly relating to the north of England, contributed by Mr. F. W. Dendy, form a valuable paper. Mr. Dendy is the owner of a manuscript, probably com- piled by Robert Surtees, the Durham historian, and author of ' Bartram's Dirge,' containing notes from these dockets. Although they have been collated with the originals in the Record Office, they are by no means complete, but nevertheless will be of much service to those interested in Northern family history. From them we find that while in Lord Shrewsbury's custody the captive Queen of Scotland had paid for her 521. per week a large sum for even a royal prisoner in the six- teenth century. In 1604 pardons were granted to Robert Heron, Walter Heron, Robert Ramsay, and John Swyneborne for burning the house of John Lilburne, at East Thickley, in the bishopric of Durham. Here we have an indication of a Border feud, whose history, could we recover it, might be of great interest. The criminals were evidently members of neighbouring families of the upper rank. John Lilburne, the sufferer, must have been a relative, probably a near one, of his namesake the patriot or fanatic call him which you will who became memorable during the Civil War and Com- monwealth.
Mr. W. W. Tomlinson contributes a paper on 'Seaton Sluice,' once a harbour belonging to the Delavals, and Mr. J. C. Hodgson furnishes 'Notes on a Northumbrian Roll of Arms.' Some of the bearings do not seem to be recorded elsewhere.
The Language Question in Greece. Three Essays by J. N. Psichari and One by H. Pernot. Trans- lated into English from the French by Chiensis. (Calcutta, Baptist Mission Press.) WE have here a strong protest against the attempt to revive the Greek language as it existed in classic times, and, as a consequence, a defence of vulgar, that is, dialectic Greek. The grammar has so far altered by the lapse of time and the frequent con- flicts with Latins, Slavs, Teutons, and other races, that a return to the past is impossible. To attempt such a feat shows surpassing ignorance of what we thought was common knowledge regarding the evolution of human speech, though we cannot say that we are surprised that there should be some so enthralled by the splendour of the past as to make the hopeless attempt. Dialect in Greece is every- where the spoken tongue in the drawing-room as well as the cottage. The translation seems to be on the whole, a good one, but it is evident that English is not the mother-tongue of Chiensis.
WE have received the January number of the Berks, Bucks, and Oxon Archaeological Journal It contains, as usual, some useful information The paper on Hungerford by the editor, the Rev. P. H. Ditchneld, records some local customs. It appears that at Hocktide "the tithing or tutti men, so called from their wands of office being wreathed with tutties or posies of flowers, collect from any person, being a householder, and of every journev- man,a duty called a head-penny, and from every woman a kiss. The latter payment, we are sorry
to hear, has been abandoned very recently. Was
it regarded, we wonder, as a sign of barbarism ?
Of course it was really a survival of the kiss of
peace. Mr. A. J. Foster's ' Tour in Buckinghamshire'
is continued, and there are some notes on Berk-
shire by the late Rev. E. R. Gardiner, which we
trust may be carried on in further issues.
ANOTHER popular edition of the works of Charles
Dickens is announced. Messrs. Chapman & Hall
and Mr. Henry Frowde, the joint publishers of the
" Oxford India-Paper Dickens," are co-operating in
the production of a new. complete, and fully illus-
trated edition, to be known as "The Fireside
Dickens." There will be twenty-two volumes in
all, printed in large type on good opaque paper.
MB. C. E. BYLES (of 36, Sidney Road, Stockwell, S.W.), a son-in-law of the late Rev. R. S. Hawker, vicar of Morwenstow, is preparing a memoir of Mr. Hawker for a new edition of ' Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall.' Mr. Byles would be glad to hear from any one who knew Mr. Hawker, or who has letters or MSS. of his, and would be much obliged for any assistance in the shape of new material. Mr. Hawker, who died in 1875, was a frequent contributor to ' N. & Q.'
MR. FRANK HOLLINGS, of the Turnstile, Lincoln's Inn, promises a bibliography of Robert Louis Stevenson by Col. W. F. Prideaux, C.S.I., issued in a style uniform with the "Edinburgh Edition" of Stevenson's works.
to
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C. D. ("Little Willie the Conqueror long did reign "). The information you require was supplied last week, ante, p. 209, under the heading ' His- torical Rime.'
ERRATUM. The family inquired after ante, p. 209, is Sampey, not " Samfrey."
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