106
NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. XIL AUG. 7, 1915.
THE BIRTH OF EDWARD VI. (11 S. xii. 48).
The contemporary evidence relating to the
birth of Edward VI. and the death of Queen
Jane may be found in the ' Letters and
Papers of Henry VIII.,' vol. xii. part ii., and
is as follows :
" The Prince was born on 12 Oct., 1537 (not Oct. 14 as is sometimes stated). Besides the official letters announcing the birth (Nos. 889, 90), there are private letters on the subject (Nos. 921, 922), none of them containing any reference to the illness or danger of the Queen. On 15 Oct. the Prince was christened at Hampton <3ourt, where he was born, and was publicly blessed by both his parents (No. 911). Next day, 16 Oct., one of the ladies of the Court ordered her dress for the Queen's churching (No. 923). It was arranged that the King should leave Hampton Court for Esher on 24 Oct., but on Tuesday the
- 23rd the Queen was suddenly taken ill (No. 977),
.and there was a rumour that she was dead (No. 988). She rallied in the afternoon (No, 970), but became worse again at night, and next day her life was despaired of (Nos. 970, 971), although she survived until Wednesday night (No. 988). Cromwell wrote to the English ambassadors in JBYance that ' the Queen, by the neglect of those about her, who suffered her to take cold, and eat such things as her fantasy in sickness called for, is dead ' (No. 1004)."
These letters and other documents show a natural, straightforward series of events. but of course they may be explained away. It may be said that Henry deliberately suppressed the circumstances of the birth, as no one at the time seems to have con- sidered the Queen in any particular danger ; that he merely assumed surprise at the Queen's illness, which seems to have been quite unexpected ; and that Cromwell's account of it is a lie. The chief point is that the Queen survived her son's birth for eleven days, and if the alleged operation was per- formed, it seems exceedingly unlikely that she could have lived through it. Is the evi- dence for the operation so strong that it is necessary to set aside the contemporary documents and to accept this improbability ? I have never examined Harpsfield's ' Trea- tise,' and I do not know his degree of credibi- lity, but I have recently had. occasion to go critically through several chapters of Guaras's
- Chronicle,' and I can state from experience
that he is utterly untrustworthy. His only authority seems to have been gossip, and his only object to tell a good story. It may also be noted that both Harpsfield and Ouaras were writing long after the event. It is, of course, quite certain that Queen Jane was popularly supposed to have been sacrificed for her son ; ballads on the subject going back perhaps to 1560 are printed in Child's ' English and Scottish Ballads,' vi. 3722; but I think it is possible to give too
much weight to the report of a contemporary
simply because he is a contemporary, without
considering his character and sources of in-
formation. After all, many of our con-
temporaries believed that" an army of
Russians passed through England last
September. M. H. DODDS.
The Phoenix crest granted by Henry VIII. to the Seymours undoubtedly points to the death of Queen Jane in giving birth to Edward VI. ALFRED RODWAY.
26, Long Street, Birmingham.
OLD MAP OF THE LONDON-HOLYHEAD ROAD (11 S. xii. 48). For John Ogilby, King's Cosmographer," 1600-76, see ' D.N.B.' The map is probably taken from Ogilby's
' Britannia ; or, an Illustration of the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales, by a Geo- graphical and Historical Description of the Principal Roads thereof,' folio, 1675.
WM. H. PEET
CANNEL COAL (11 S. xii. 49). Cannel coal is worked at Abram ; also in the Leigh district, and at Bolton. The mine is not homogeneous (as was the old Wigan or Darcy Lever Cannel), in some places chang- ing almost wholly into coal. Cannel is essentially used for the natural enrichment of gas, but has now been largely displaced by the American plan of enrichment by heavy petroleum oils and water gas, which is suitable for use in the incandescent mantle. A fair quality Cannel will letch 21s. per ton at the pit. The best ought to fetch 25s. to 30s.
ARCHIBALD SPARKE, F.R.S.L.
" Cannel " is a corruption of ' ' candle," and was so termed from its readiness to burn like a candle, and the rich gas it produced. Many years ago, a company was established in London to supply cannel-coal gas, and among other places at the West End, it was used at the Royal Institution in Albemarle Street. When the company ceased to exist I know not, but the gas was probably found to be too costly for ordinary use.
WM. E. BROWNING.
This variety of coal is still worked in Lancashire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, and other parts of England, as also in Scotland.
Cannel is not now so extensively used in gasworks since the high candle - power standard imposed on gas undertakings has been reduced, but in districts of Scotland where high illuminating power applies it is still employed to maintain this.
