12 S. X. MAR. 4, 1922.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 175
The Pillow (Pilau) Club (12 S. ix. 169, 235).—With reference to my query in regard to the above, and the reply kindly given by St. Swithin, I have recently found another reference to the club which proves that St. Swithin was right in his surmise that the word is pilau and that the club consisted of Anglo-Indians, of which Sir Robert Nightingale, one of the directors of the East India Company, was the president. The members met at the King's Head, Leadenhall Street. Among the letters written from England to John Scattergood, merchant, while in India, is one dated "From the Polow Club at the King's head Leaden Hall Strett Decemr. the 31st 1719." It is signed by Thomas Panuwell and Richard Rawlings, who acknowledge "by order of the President Sir Robt. Nightingale and the rest of the assembly," the gift of "a Punchin of Old Arack," which was "by some mistake converted into two caske, containing in all fivety three Gallons."
I presume that the King's Arms where the club met was identical with the coaching inn which appears in Mr. de Castro's list (12 S. viii. 85) for the year 1732. If so, it must have been in existence at least some fifteen years earlier. Is it known when this inn disappeared? Bernard P. Scattergood.
COMMONWEALTH MARRIAGES AND BURIALS (12 S. x. 81, 104, 124, 142). An explanation of the form of the Aldeburgh registers will be found on consulting Scobell's ' Acts and Ordinances of Parliament,' November, 1640, to September, 1656. Cap. vi. of the Ordinances of Barebone's Parlia- ment in 1653 directs how marriages shall be solemnized and registered after September 29 in that year, and directs also births and deaths to be registered. I believe that a new edition of these Ordinances has been published recently. The provisions as to marriages are mentioned in Neal's ' Puri- tans,' ii., p. 603 of the 1837 edition. A. D. T. EDWARD CAPERN (12 S. x. 110). I enclose an extract from Boase which answers W. N. C.'s query. CAPERN, EDWARD (the child of a baker at Tiverton), born Tiverton, 21 July, 1819; worked in Derby lace factory, Barnstaple, 1827-47 ; rural postman at and near Bideford 1848-1868; granted a, Civil List pension of 40 a year 23rd Nov. 1857, raised to 60 24th Nov. 1865. Re- sided at Harborne, near Birmingham, 1868-84 ; lectured in the Midland Counties ; W. S. Landor pronounced him to be a noble poet and dedicated his poem ' Anthony and Octavius,' 1856, to him ; author of Poems, 1856, 3 ed. 1859; Ballads and Songs, 1858; Devonshire Melodist, 1862; Way- side Warbles, 1865 ; Sungleams and Shadows,. 1881. Died, Braunton, near Barnstaple, N. Devon, 4th June, 1894. Buried Heanton Pun- chard on, near Braunton ; his postman's bell was let into his gravestone. His portrait, by E. Williams, hangs in Bideford public library. W. H. G.* The following is extracted from ' The Life and Letters of R. S. Hawker,' by C. E. Byle* (John Lane, 1905), p. 245 : Capern . . . was buried at Heanton Pvm- chardon, near Northam. . . . On his tomb- stone is the following inscription : Edward Capern The Postman Poet Born at Tiverton, 21 Jan. 1819 Died at Braunton, 4 June 1694 O Lark-like Poet : carol on, Lost in dim light, an unseen trill ! We, in the Heaven where you are gone, Find you no more, but hear you still. ALEBED AUSTIN, The Poet Laureate. Above the inscription is fixed the bell which Capern used to ring to announce his arrival when on his rounds. M. THE ROYAL SOCIETY AND FREEMASONRY. (12 S. x. 42).- The prevalence of Free- masonry amongst Fellows of the Royal Society was dealt with in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, vol. xi. 116 (1898), by Mr. Edward Armitage, who, by comparing the list of Fellows in 1722 with contem- porary lists of Masonic lodges, found forty-seven names common to both, indi- cating that apparently nearly 25 per cent, of the F.R.S. were also members of the masonic craft. W. B. H. PICTURES IN THE HERMITAGE AT PETRO- GRAD ( 12 S. ix. 528 ; x. 114). Perhaps I may be allowed to add something to what has already been said upon this subject. When trouble began in Russia, certain lovers of art banded themselves together to protect the museums and picture galleries. The authorities allowed them to do what they thought best, and they removed a few of the pictures from the Hermitage for the sake of greater safety, but left most of them in the Hermitage, where they may now be seen by visitors to Petrograd. At the beginning of the period of trouble there was a certain amount of pilfering, but not, I am informed, very much. The same truth holds good about the treasures in the churches in the great cities of Russia. The icons are still there, and so
