12 s. ix. OCT. 22, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 337 MULBERRIES (12 S. ix. 308). Anent MR., CHARLES SWYNNERTON'S informing note, it may be of interest to record that a mulberry- j tree still flourishes in the beautifully-laid- j out garden of Finsbury Circus. A basket of the luscious fruit .is, I believe, annually presented to the Lord Mayor. CECIL CLARKE. Junior Athenaeum Club. HATCHMENTS (12 S. ix. 310). W. is quite right. The only hatchments I j see now are those put up over the front | gates of colleges when the Head dies, and the Heads are seldom peers. Moreover, ! I have in days gone by seen hatchments, ! which once had been set up over the doors i of the chief squires in the parishes, pre- i served in parish churches, and few of these belonged to families of peers. JOHN R. MAGRATH. In reply to W., the practice of fixing a hatchment to the front of a house on the death of the head of the family was cer- tainly not limited to peers only. Commoners frequently followed the prac- tice, and, to give a single instance, I saw the hatchment on the house placed there on the death of the Rev. G. E. Maunsell of Thorpe Malsor Hall, Kettering, in 1875. L. F. C. E. TOLLEMACHE. About fifty years ago my late father rented the shooting attached to Whitton Hall, Westbury, about nine miles from Shrewsbury. I well remember, because I had never seen one before, or since, in such a position, a hatchment placed over the main entrance door -of the Hall. Two maiden ladies named Topp were living there at that time, and I think that the hatchment was put up at the death which occurred a short time previously of either their father or brother, by whom the property had been owned I think the last male member of the branch. HERBERT SOUTH AM. All families of coat armour, of course, until lately, used to affix hatchments on their domiciles after the demise of a member of the family. I believe the usage is still surviving. The custom was not restricted to the peerage. This would be an anomaly. A peer's father might not have possessed a coat of arms, whilst the squire's family, next to him, had been entitled to arms and hatch- ments for, maybe, five centuries. The last hatchment I saw was the one dedicated to the late Lady Rosebery, over the front door of the mansion at Dalmeny. This was in 1890, if my memory does not deceive me. Curiously enough, this last hatchment I observed was the one of a lady who by birth was a Jewess. W. DEL COURT. 47, Blenheim Crescent, W.ll. I remember seeing, during my time at Oxford, the hatchments of the Master of Pembroke and of the Provost of Oriel affixed to the fronts of their respective lodgings. A. R. BAYLEY. A " hatchment " or, latterly, " funeral escutcheon " may be used by anyone who has a right- to bear arms, and is usually placed over the entrance at the level of the second floor, and remains for six to twelve months, when it is removed to the parish church ('Ency. Brit.'). The custom is fall- ing into disuse, though still not uncommon. In Parker's ' Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry ' will be found an extensive list of the hatchments to be used by royalty, peers, and private gentry. In Dearie Church, Bolton, there is a hatchment evidently used at the decease of a member of the Hulton family, who are commoners. ARCHIBALD SPARKE. W.'s view is certainly correct, and is confirmed by the article in the ' Encyclo- paedia Britannica,' in the course of which it is stated that it is usual to hang the hatchment of a deceased head of a house at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge over the entrance to his lodge or residence. HARMATOPEGOS. LACTICINIA (12 S. ix. 150). This is a recognized term in Roman Catholic moral theology and canon law. It denotes milk and all that is made from milk, e.g., butter and cheese (see, e.g., Tanquerejv ' Synopis Theologiae Moralis,' ii. 649, 1119). LAWRENCE PHILLIPS. CHARLES II. AND BARBARA VILLIERS (12 S. ix. 251). The ' D.N.B.,' under Villiers, says : It is impossible to say precisely when the intimacy commenced between Mrs. Palmer (Lady Caetlemaine) and Charles II., but it was certainly not later than 28 May, 1660, or the night of the King's return to Whitehall. ARCHIBALD SPARKE.
