9 th S. II. OCT. 1, '98.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
271
of rye-grain, is almost certain. The question
has several times been raised, and if it has
only now begun to exercise the New York
mind, for once our American cousins have not
been up to date. This beautiful stream is
just of the kind that would attract the poet's
attention, especially from where at Cunnyng-
hame-Baidland to the Ryefield Woods it runs
through a deep romantic glen, the banks of
which are clothed with a natural wooding of
oak, hazel, ash, and thorn. In early summer
especially, when decked out with a profusion
of mayflower, honeysuckle, and wild roses,
the glen presents a picture difficult to beat of
its kind. At Kyefield most of my youth was
spent, and well do I remember the " steppin'
stanes" below the slope from there, and
leading from the village of Drakemyre (half
a mile from the town of Dairy) to the Ryes-
holme side. These stones were associated in
my mind with Burns's lass as inculcated by
old country folk, and many a more modern
lass have I seen " kilt her coats "* well clear
of her bare " trilbies " while coming through
the Rye here. My impression regarding the
stones and the popular song I communicated
two or three years ago to the Rev. Jas. B.
Johnston, Falkirk, author of ' Place-Names of
Scotland' (1892). Whether the crossing is
still there I cannot say, not having been in
the neighbourhood for over ten years. In
that time a mill has extended about the spot,
so that there may now be no such " thorough-
fare " for lassies " comin' frae the toon." In
the same manner as people argue whether
" Bonnie Dundee " refers to the town of the
name or Claverhouse's handsome features, so
doubtless will they go on fighting over this
point. Old ideas based on nothing, or pre-
judices, are not easily got rid of. But the
balance of evidence, I think, is in favour of
the stream, and not the grain. Why, indeed,
should a girl systematically take a route
th rough a field of wet-growing crop ? "Jenny 's
seldom dry." v Grain is not grown in glens,
and there is direct mention of a glen in the
song, by implication, in conjunction with the
name of the stream, that of the Rye.
WALTER M. GRAHAM EASTON.
In the "Century Edition" Mr. Henley clearly shows that Burns's song was founded on ' The Bob-tailed Lass,' a song to be found in 'Ane Pleasant Garden of Sweet-scented Flowers,' published in the early part of last century. That the word does not refer to a
- Tuck up her clothes :
I '11 kilt my coats aboon my knee And follow my love through the water.
' Braw Lads of Gala Water ' (Burns).
stream, but to a field of rye, is evidenced by
the following quotation :
On Wednesday in the afternoon
I took a walk in the field : It was to bring my courage down,
And still I was forced to yield. For there I met with a bob-tail'd lass,
As I should have passed her by ; And I kindly took her by the hands
And I led her into the rye/
../..- J. R. M.
CROMWELL'S FOLLOWERS (9 th S. ii. 209). W. S. L. will find information regarding English families settled in Ireland in Prender- gast's ' Crornwellian Settlement,' and he might also consult ' List of Adventurers for Lands in Ireland under Charles I.' . t R. B.
Upton.
Does W. S. L. know Mr. J. P. Prendergast's ' Crornwellian Settlement of Ireland'? The first edition appeared in 1865, and another, which I think was considerably enlarged, in 1870. EDWARD PEACOCK.
W. S. L. may find some information re- specting the above in ' The Irish and Anglo- Irish Landed Gentry,'by John O'Hart, Dublin, 1884. JOHN RADCLIFFE.
MORRIS'S COFFEE-HOUSE (9 th S. ii. 149). Was Morris's really a coffee-house 1 In the list of hotels, coffee-houses, &c., given in ' The Picture of London for 1803 ' is the following :
" Morris's, Kirkum's, and Grillon's Hotels, Lower Brook Street, Grosvenor Square. Accommodation- for Gentlemen and Families."
JOHN T. PAGE.
West Haddon, Northamptonshire.
OLD PRETENDER'S MARRIAGE (9 th S. i. 67). No reply to this query has yet appeared, but I have recently learnt that the following \yere present at the marriage, which was solemnized in a wing of the episcopal palace at Monte- fiascone on 1 Sept., 1719 : Sebastiano Pompili Bonaventura (Bishop of Montefiascone), Ales- sand ro Mazzinelli (abbate, and secretary to the bishop), Sebastiano Antonini (arch-priest of the cathedral, protonotario, and vicar- general), John Brown (of the Order of Preachers, and the Pretender's confessor), Mr. and Mrs. Hay, James Murray, Charles Wogan, and John O'Brien. Can any of your readers add to this list "? I should feel obliged by any information, especially if authorities are quoted. Are there any biographical notices or portraits of Father Brown, Mazzi- nelli, or Antonini ? W. S.
SWEATING-PITS IN IRELAND (9 th S. ii. 107, 157). These buildings are still fairly common, and such a structure is known as Teach-an-
