512
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s, ix. JUNE 23, 1902.
published in 1894 by Oliphant, Anderson" &
Ferrier. RONALD DIXON.
46, Marlborough Avenue, Hull.
WIND FOLK-LORE (9 th S. ix. 148, 338). A farmer in the Fylde district of Lancashire assured me that you could depend upon the prevalence of the wind from the quarter it was blowing from "when the equinoxes were on." RICHD. LAWSON.
Urmston.
HARRIETT POWELL (9 th S. ix. 267). The fourth volume of ' Selections from the Gentle- man's Magazine,' by John Walker (London, 1814), contains a list of the prints after Sir Joshua Reynolds, among which the following are named : " Powell, Miss Harriet, in the character of Leonora in the ' Padlock,' nine lines * Say, little, foolish, flutt'ring thing,' &c. R. Houston, engraver. Ditto, 8vo. Eliz. Jud- kins, engraver." This may be of interest to your correspondent.
EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. [See also Smith's 'Catalogue Raisonne.'J
THE SMALLEST CHURCH IN ENGLAND (9 th S. ix. 47, 375). In answer to MR. PAGE'S sug- gestion, I can add one particularly small church to his list namely, that of Little Gid- ding, in Huntingdonshire, once so well known through Nicholas Ferrar and his family in the days of Charles I., in more modern times brought to notice through 'John Inglesant,' Miss Carter's (of Clewer) ' Life of Nicholas Ferrar,' Mrs. Marshall's 'A Haunt of Antient Peace,' and Miss Cruwys-Sharland's remark- able ' Story Books of Little Gidding, 1631-32.' The church has sittings for twenty-six persons, but could hold more. It is a parish church, and not a chapel of ease or other adjunct to a parish church.
MICHAEL FERRAR.
Little Gidding, Baling.
A little-known instance of an exception- ally small church occurs at Snibston, Leices- tershire, where the dimensions are : exterior, 32 feet by 18 feet 3 inches ; interior, 26 feet by 13 feet 7 inches. W. B. H.
CHESS PLAYING : A LEGEND (9 th S. ix. 248, 293, 398). The outline plate ' Satan playing at Chess with Man for his Soul,' by Retzsch, appeared in the Saturday Magazine, vol. x. p. 169, published 6 May, 1837. ' W. B. H.
' THE DIRTY OLD MAN ' (9 th S. ix. 428). The volume referred to by your correspon- dent was a series of poems written, I believe, by William Allingham. I have possessec for many years a small pamphlet issued by a publican in Bishopsgate Street, entitled
' ' Ye Dirty Old Man ' (Dirty Dick), a legend
of Bishopsgate, from Household Words, con-
ducted by Charles Dickens." It contains a
poem of fifteen verses, commencing with
In a dirty old house lived a Dirty Old Man. Could Charles Dickens have made a mistake in describing Bentley as of Bishopsgate, in "ieu of Leadenhall Street ; or may the pamphlet be regarded as an advertisement only? EVERARD HOME COLEMAN.
SWORN CLERKS IN CHANCERY BEFORE 1765 (9 th S. ix. 408). The information could, perhaps, be obtained from the manuscript catalogues of Chancery Proceedings at the Record Office, where the clerks' names date back to circa 1650.
JOHN HOBSON MATTHEWS.
Town Hall, Cardiff.
Lists may be found in the annual volumes of Chamberlayne's ' Present State of Great Britain.' W. D. MACRAY.
MICHAEL BRUCE AND BURNS (9 th S. vii. 466 ; viii. 70, 148, 312, 388, 527 ; ix. 95, 209, 309, 414, 469). The following misprints in my article at the last reference require cor- rection : P. 469, for " Lerina " read Levina ; for " Menelaus " (1. 21) read Menalcas; p. 470, col. 1, 11. 16 and 17, for "line " read page.
The fair fame and literary integrity of the Rev. John Logan have long been subjected to " the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." The first serious assault was made by the Rev. Dr. Mackelvie in 1837. His information was largely derived from floating tradition and the verbal evidence of Mr. John Birrel (1752-1837), who, at his first meeting with Dr. Mackelvie, was about seventy-eight years of age. The other chief witness for the prosecution of Logan was Mr. David Pearson (born in 1744). The declara- tions of these individuals therefore require to be carefully examined. Dr. Mackelvie says (p. 20) :
" No person had better opportunities than Pearson to know what our poet [Michael Bruce] wrote, and, consequently, no one could be better able to give evidence on the subject, when evidence was wanted."
Dr. Anderson's opinion runs thus in a letter to Mr. John Birrel (Mackelvie, p. 20) :
"The friends of Logan think I have paid too much attention to Mr. Pearson's testimony ; but I think he is not disqualified from giving his testimony on this point by his want of learning. His integrity is admitted on all hands."
Pearson wrote to Dr. Anderson that Logan having received from Bruce's father " the whole of his manuscripts, published only his own pleasure, and kept back those poems that
