400
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. ix. MAY 16, 191*.
have, first, the concern of the Spaniards at the
appearance of the English in the Straits of Magel-
lan, with the instructions for the exploration and
settlement of Easter Island and the seizure of
Port Eginont, and next, as the most interesting
portion of the book, the expedition of the frigate
Aguila to Tahiti. Wallis, Bougainville, and Cook
had been there before the Spaniards, and Boe-
nechea, the Spanish commander, notes the
interest evinced by the natives when the English
ensign was displayed to them : as soon as it was
hoisted all the natives on board and those in the
canoes lying about the Aguila set up a great
shout, remaining silent when the Spanish colours
were run up again.
Boenechea's Journal while at Tahiti is the document of greatest general interest included in this volume. It does not add much, perhaps, to our knowledge of the natives as derived from Cook and other English writers, but it gives many details worth noting, and it clears up a curious error which Forster fell into when accom- panying Cook on his visit to Tahiti in 1773. The mistake can refer only to the first coming of the Aguila in 1772, and sets out that the Spanish captain who is said to have been Juan de Langara executed there four of his ship's com- pany, while a fifth escaped the same fate by flight; Juan de Langara, however, is out of the question . it was Boenechea who took the frigate to Tahiti ; and it now appears that what the Tahitian in- former wished to convey to Forster was that four Tahitians had been, not hung, but conveyed away to Lima by the Spanish captain. As for the fifth, he was a native of San Cristobal, where the Aguila had touched on her way to Tahiti, who had chosen to join the Spaniard for that expedition, and on the return journey had natur- ally left her when his own island was reached Again. The source of the confusion would appear to have lain in the Tahitian word tari, which may mean either " to convey " or "to hang by the neck." Perhaps it was in the interest of getting together a sensational story that Forster, having no means of checking the truth either way, took .the more startling sense.
The dispatches, minutes, and royal instructions which preceded the expedition take up the greater part of this first volume, which has a careful Introduction. The more interesting documents will appear in Vol. II.
MESSRS. BELL & SONS send us another of their '" Cathedral " series, Great Malvern Priory Church (price Is. 6d. net), by the Rev. Anthony Charles Deane, who was for some time the Vicar. He apologizes for the " many years this volume has been announced as in preparation," but explains that the historical chapter has necessitated much research. On this he has evidently bestowed great pains, and it occupies thirty-one pages of the little book. In expressing gratitude to the people of Malvern, who in 1541 saved the Priory Church from destruction, he regrets their inability to purchase, with the church, the whole of the land immediately around it. There is but a remnant of the ancient stained glass which once glorified its forty windows, " yet the portion remaining repre- sents a possession which few parish churches can equal. Almost all, with the exception of one window (the north window of the Jesus Chapel, which is of the year 1502), belongs to the period
1460-85 ; a very few fragments of older glass
survive."
A description is given of the series of misericords on the monks' stalls, many of which are very quaint. There are forty-two illustrations.
The Antiquary. May. (Elliot Stock, 6rf.) THE LION OF SCOTLAND is the subject of an interesting paper by Mr. A. Peter Macdonald, who refers to the " reckless romancing " on the part of writers who in the olden times composed what is "playfully called history." "All we really know is that the Koyal Shield of Scotland is first found on a seal of Alexander II., appended to a charter dated at Kinross, July 26, 1222. The same shield was borne by all the succeeding sove- reigns of Scotland. Later occupants of the throne ceased, at their accession, to be distinguished by their personal arms the orle of Balliol, the chief and saltire of Bruce, or the fess cheeky of Stewart and adopted in their turn the Lion and Tressure as the Arms of Dominion of the Kingdom of Scot- land." " In all the best examples, the Lion of Scotland has his tail curved in toward the neck ; not outward, like the letter S." The "double tressure " consists of two narrow orles, one within the other, and was not allowed to be used by any subject without a warrant from the sove- reign. Aberdeen and Perth have, by special token of royal favour, their municipal arms surrounded by the Royal Tressure.
Mr. Macdonald refers to the decision of the House of Lords on 7 April, 1910, upholding the claim of Mr. Henry Scrymgeour Wedderburn to the title of Royal Scottish Standard-Bearer (see ' N. & Q.,' 11 S. i. 381 ); also to the late King Ed- ward's order (of which we received official intima- tion) that the Royal Banner of Britain was only to be flown when the King was present in person. We doubt whether Mr. Macdonald's information is correct that there is ""no objection to the Royal Banner being * slung ' as, for instance, across a street or otherwise used for decorative purposes." This would lead to complications. He suggests that the use of the Scottish lion flag should be so restricted, instead of, as at present, being allowed to be flown from a flagstaff on houses.
Mr. J. Holden MacMichael continues his account of London signs ; Mr. Walter J. Kaye, jun., treats on Roman vases ; and Nancy Johnson describes La Rue de la Boucherie, Limoges, which the butchers have occupied for eight hundred years. Among the correspondence Mr. Harry Hems mentions the remarkable sundial in the church of Holy Trinity, Dartford.
to (Eormponirntis.
ON all communications must be written the name
and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately, nor can we advise correspondents as to the value of old books and other objects or as to the means of disposing of them.
J. H. L. Forwarded.
REV. E. L. H. TEW. Yes, we should be glad of the lists kindly proposed, especially if there are any "remarks" which can be appended to the names.
