S34
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. 11. DEC. so, wie.
" Probably the so-called dancing to music of the
cobra, for inst.-uicc. is clue simply to excitement
of some kind, such as anger or fear. The Indian
and Egyptian snake-charmers are very clever
jugglers, and, no doubt, are able to deceive, with-
out any difficulty, by far the greater proportion
of their observers,"
A, N. W. FYNMORE.
Arundel.
WILL OF PRINCE RUPERT (12 S. ii. 201, 435). I gladly answer JUDGE UDAX'S re- marks about my article on Prince Rupert's will, for I feel that communications of this kind should be as accurate as possible. I studied the notes which Messrs. J. Gough Nichols and J. Bruce attached to their transcript of the will, but much has been written about Prince Rupert since their time, and I did not feel bound in all cases -to agree with them. Besides the earlier work by Eliot Warburton (1849), I have glanced through ' Rupert, Prince Palatine,' by Eva L. Scott (1899), Mrs. Steuart Erskine's ' A Royal Cavalier, the Romance of Rupert, Prince Palatine ' (1910), a volume by Lord Ronald Gower. and the account in
- Diet. Nat. Biog.' I will take my friend's
criticisms in their order.
1. Dudley Bard's mother was undoubtedly Frances, Francesca, or Francisca (thus vari- ously spelt), daughter of Sir Henry Bard, Viscount Bellamont. Her mother was Ann, daughter of Sir William Gardiner of Peck- ham by Frances, daughter of Christopher Gardiner of Bermondsey. (See the ' Com- plete Peerage,' by the Hon. Vicary Gibbs.) Nichols and Bruce doubtless confused the -daughter's Christian name with that of the mother. She must have been called Frances after her maternal grandmother.
2. As to the date of Dudley Bard's death. The 'Diet. Nat. Biog.,' following Nichols and Bruce, gives it as July 13, 1686, but my confidence in the accuracy of the writer was shaken because he says that the event took place at the siege of Breda. I accepted Miss Eva Scott's statement. She says : "In August, 1686, young Dudley fell in a desperate attempt made by some English volunteers to scale the walls of Buda." To make sure one ought to look up original documents.
3. As to the price paid by Nell Gwynne for the "Great Pearl Necklace," I have mislaid my reference, but 4,5207. is the price generally mentioned, and I am quite willing to agree with apologies if I have made a slight clerical error. The book of accounts should still be at Combe Abbey.
I take the opportunity of adding a little
- o my former note. It is, I think, worth
while to record in these pages the discovery
of an interesting document, of which an
illustration based on a photograph is given
between p.p. 342 and 343 of Mrs. Steuart
Erskine's volume. She says at the beginning
that it was brought to light by Miss Eva
Scott, and was reproduced by permission of
Mrs. Deedes of Saltwood Castle, also that
it " has been preserved for generations in
a family which is descended from Persiana
Bard." This is a small discoloured piece
of paper, on which the following words are
written in ink now much faded- :
" July y e 30th, 1664.
"These are to certifie whom it may concerne that Prince Rupert and the Lady (Frances Bard were lawfully married at petersham in Surrey by me,
" HEXRY BIGNELL, Minister "
Mrs. Steuart Erskine asks the questions,
- ' Is this document genuine ? Is it contem-
porary ? Is it official ? " The character of the handwriting suggests to my mind that the date is accurate. It seems, however, that there was then no minister belonging to Petersham named Henry Bignell, though there was a curate of that name at Crow- hurst. It is not an extract from a parish register. On the other hand, we are told that two pages have been cut out from the Petersham register which include the entries for the year 1664. It really looks as if there was a marriage of some sort, but if it had been valid Prince Rupert would hardly have spoken in his will of " Dudley Bart, my naturall son," and during his lifetime Francesca appears to have made no claim for recognition, though in later years she was treated with kindness and respect by the Electress Sophia. PHILIP NORMAN.
" FFOLIOTT " AND " FFRENCH " : " FF "
OR " FF " FOR F (12 S. ii. 429, 498). A good many examples of " ff " and " Ff " are given at 11 S. vi. 166, 214, s.v. ' ffairbanck,' &c. ; vii. 183, s.v. ' English Officers,' &c. ; ix. 126, s.v. ' St. James's Square,' &c. ; x. 228, s.v. ' ffrancis,' &c. ; 269, s.v. ' Rum- ney Diggle,' &c. ; 276, s.v. ' ffrancis,' an example and a criticism.
In a foot-note concerning the title of Baron Ffrench of Castle Ffrench, the late G. E. Cfokayne], in his ' Complete Peerage,' vol. iii., 1890, p. 344, makes some very caustic comments. Inter alia he says : " This (triple X) ffoolish {fancy has happily not been repeated by any other member of the peerage."
Those who refer to the foot-note should also refer to ' Corrigenda ' in vol. viii. p. 399, where Cokayne adopts for insertion in the
