358 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 S. X. MAY 6. 1922.
Nevin Family (12 S. x. 131, 178, 316). Major J. D. Nevin, in his note at the last reference, misunderstands the purport of the marriage licence bond which he quotes. The prelate concerned was the Archbishop (not the Bishop) of Armagh, and Robert Irwin did not pay him 100 for the licence. What happened was this: a Bishop who issued a marriage licence was open to an action for damages if he granted such licence in a case where the parties were too nearly related, or some other canonical hindrance existed. To guard himself, therefore, the issuer required two persons (of whom the future bridegroom was generally one) to enter into a bond for a considerable sum, which of course was only paid if the canoni- cal impediment existed and the legal action were taken. It is satisfactory to know that marriage was not even then such an expensive business after all. H. B. Swanzy.
JOHN AND CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT (GUN-
POWDER PLOT CONSPIRATORS (12 S. x.
228, 280). I have in my possession an illu-
minated manuscript volume of the arms
and crests of the families of Wright in the
United Kingdom, by Jere. Wright, Arms
Painter, Anno 1700, dedicated to Sir
Nathan. Wright, Knt., Lord Keeper of the
Great Seal of England. The following arms
and crest are there assigned to Richard
Wright of Plowland, Yorkshire : Or, a
fess counter componie, argent and azure
inter three eagles' heads erased of the last.
Crest, on a wreath of the colours, a unicorn
regardant tripping argent, mane, horn and
hoofs or. Portraits of Christopher and
John Wright are mentioned in Evans's
- Catalogue of Engraved Portraits ' name
of tho engraver not given. LEONARD C. PRICE. Essex Lodge, Ewell. USE OF " AT " OR " IN " WITH PLACE- NAMES (12 S. x. 170, 234). When Dryden (in ' The Medal,' 11. 103-105) wrote The common Cry is ev'n Religion's Test ; The Turk's is, at Constantinople, best, Idols in India, Popery at Rome, he was using " at " and " in " as most of us use those prepositions to -day ; but can any- one say dogmatically that his " While Nor- man Tancred in Salerno reign' d" (' Sigis- monda and Guiscardo,' 1. 1) and his " In quiet Cumae fixing his repose," in his trans- lation of Juvenal's third satire, 1. 3, are bad English ? JOHN B. WAINE WRIGHT. DANIEL DE LIGNE (12 S. x. 310). He was evidently a member of the ancient and I still existing Belgian princely house of I de Ligne. The majority of the members have been always stanch Catholics, but in the seventeenth century some became Protestants and were expelled from Belgium (then under Austrian rule until the French Revolution), and were not allowed to settle in France. Some expelled members settled in Holland and entered the service of the Prince of Orange (afterwards King William III. of England), and others crossed over to England. Daniel de Ligne, who " was admitted on the foundation at Westminster School in 1673," was prob- ably a son of one of the settlers in England. The best -known member of the family is Prince Charles Joseph de Ligne (born Brussels 1735, died 1814), whose complete collected ' (Euvres,' forming no fewer than 30 volumes (in- 12), were published in 1807. ANDREW DE TERNANT. 36, Somerleyton Road, Brixton, S.W. SLR THOMAS PHILLIPPS (12 S. x. 189, 230, 295). Supplementing the interesting in- formation -given by MR. PROSSER CHANTER and others, CLARIORES E TENEBRIS may like to know that The Times on May 6, 1910, described Sir Thomas as " the greatest collector of manuscripts and documents that ever lived." The Quarterly Review writer's calculation that Phillipps dis- bursed 100,000 " in his ardour for col- lecting " is probably correct, but the in- vestment was by no means a bad one. At the time mentioned less than half the collection had been dispersed, and according to The Times of June 10, 1910, "so far the public sales of the Phillipps library and manuscripts amount to about 50,000." Many thousands of pounds were realized by further sales in 1911 and 1913, and full descriptions of many of the lots appeared in The Times of the following dates : March 29, April 25, 26, 28, May 9, 1911 ; and May 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 1913. R. S. FARROW. 37, Melody Road, S.W. 18. ' PETER SIMPLE ': NAVAL SLANG (12 S. x. 289). Ansted, in ' A Dictionary of Sea i Terms ' (Glasgow, 1917), says that the expression " Tom Collins " is an old term of positive assertion. It may mean, lite- rally, " Such is the case, whatever may be said to the contrary." ARCHIBALD SPARKE.
