10» 8. IV. JULY 29,1965.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 87 last syllable of mutantur is lengthened by the same license which permits pectpribus inhians and fultun huacintho. The transposition would be very un- dignified." ST. SWITHIN. RUSHBEARING.—The following appeared in The Standard of 7 July :— • " Quaint Ceremony Observed. — The ancient cnitom of rushbeariiiK, stated to be nearly 1,000 -r-ai-i old, and which is still observed in four places in England, three of which are in Westmor- ! r-i I. was carried put yesterday at the village of Muigrave, near Kirkby Stephen. When our early forefathers worshipped in churches with only rude earthen floors, or floors at best paved with cobbles, it wis the custom to lay rushes gathered from the ueigibouring marshes upon the floors as a means' of oltaining both comfort and warmth. As the layiig of rushes became unnecessary through the improved flooring of places of worship, the custom oT nsh bearing was changed to that of flower bearng. The girls of the villages around are decled in crowns of flowers and march in pro- cessun to the church, where their garlands are huntagainst the walls. Hundreds of people at- te'ndid the ceremony yesterday, and the village opera, held afterwards, were heartily entered into, the vhole proceedings being concluded with a good ojd-fishioned country dance." I doubt the accuracy of the statement that rushbearing was known at only one plae out of Westmorland. The custom has beet recorded in ' N. & Q.' at the following plaes, viz. : Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex (»"Sj i. 471); Barrowden, Rutland (8th S. ii. 37); and Holcombe, Lancashire (8th S. Yvtt6). EVEEAED HOME COLEMAN. V .'-HicKERY - PUCKERY."— This singular ex- pression seems to be absent from all our (jrtionaries. The ' N.E.D.' has hickery- ptkery in the sense of a drug, mais ceci est u'.e aiitre histoire. As will be seen from tte following quotation, the phrase can be nversed, with a change of moaning, so prhaps the editors of the 'N.E.D.' may be ule to bring it in under puckery-hickery:— " Such have often doubly cheated the Gowern- nent, first by running tobacco, or entering all Irht hogsheads at importation, which in their Inguage is called Hickery-puckery ; and then again ( getting a debenture for tobacco that has been •n, or entering all heavy hogsheads for exporta- w>n, which they term Puckery- hickery."—Hugh pnes's ' Present State of Virginia,' 1724, p. 145. . . JAS. PLATT, Jun. THE MONUMENT ON FISH STREET HILL. —The reference, ante, p. 80, to the effacing of the old inscription by order of the Court of Common Council, in your review of "The Gentleman's Magazine Library," reminds me that the Athenaeum for January 29th, 1831, in recoriing the.chipping of£o£"the old lying inscription," makes, this .protest: — "This is abundantly silly. To mutilate and destroy inscriptions is to falsify history. Its re- maining there did not prove that the Catholics set fire to the city ; but it proved the bigoted ignorance of the people who believed so; it proved that popular opinions, where they run current with popular prejudice,are very indifferent authority." JOHN C. FRANCIS. THE IRISH BRIGADE.—The Journal of the Royal United Service Institution for July contains the last article of a long series on the Irish regiments in the service of France, and, bringing their history up to the transfer of several of the first battalions to the British service, and the capture in San Domingo of several of the second battalions by a British force, deals with matters which have been the subject of discussion in the pages of 'N. & Q.' (See 1st S. ii. 452, 499; iii. 372 ; 4th S. xii. 496 ; 5th S. i.*32 ; 6th S. xi. 387 ; 9"' S. vii. 25, 114, 211, 333.) D. WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct. MANTEGNA'S HOUSE.—I should be glad to find out whether the house built by Andrea Mantegna in the Pusterla, Mantua, between 1475 and 1496, is still standing. Many of the decorations had disappeared, and the court was being used as a school for technical training, in 1901; but a short while ago there appeared a newspaper paragraph stating that the whole building was to come down. Of this demolition I can find no proof. C. JERROLD. Hampton-on-Thames. BIRCH ON WHITSUNDAY.—There is an old custom here, the meaning and origin of which I am anxious to discover. On Whit- sunday a small sprig of birch is fixed at the end of every seat in the church. This has been the custom within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. If you can give me any explanation of it I shall feel obliged. C. D. RAE, Rector of Leigh. Stoke-on-Trent. ALMSHOUSES. — I should appreciate the kindness of any of your readers who could give me particulars of interesting old alms- houses where the architecture is really noticeably good. What I want are alms- houses such as are at Guildford, Ewelme, Morden College, St. Mary's Hospital (Chichester), Corsham, Bristol, East Grin-
