114
AND QUERIES. to* s: L te 5,
4. But MR. YEATMAN'S chief accusation is
in connexion with the interesting bond which
ME. VINCENT printed in a recent issue of
- N. & Q.' He again accuses Mr. Halliwell-
Phillipps of
" having suppressed it, because (if he had honestly used it) he must have rewritten the greater part of his work, for it is based upon assumptions contrary to it."
The statement that Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps knew of this bond and printed it is an asser- tion by MR. YEATMAN, who evidently has forgotten his reference, and writes vaguely that " a copy of this tract is in the British Museum." Assuming, however, the accuracy of MR. YEATMAN'S reference, I venture to protest against his charge that Mr. Halliwell- Phillipps dishonestly suppressed it. I had the privilege of having many communica- tions with that gentleman, and I always found him glad to receive information, and willing to correct mistakes when they were pointed out. Considering the thousands of notes which he compiled and the numerous books and tracts which he published, he may easily have forgotten even such a fact as that alluded to, just as MR. YEATMAN has forgotten his reference. I remember, in a similar case, I quoted to Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps a state- ment which I had taken from one of his booklets, though I had not noted the exact reference. He had forgotten the statement, and though he searched for it he could never find it, nor have I yet come across it. But MR. YEATMAN accuses Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps of suppressing the bond with a motive, viz., that had he published it he would have been compelled to rewrite the greater part of his work. I venture to assert that Mr. Halliwell - Phillipps would have held, as I hold, that the description of John Shake- speare as " of Snytterfield, Agricola," in the bond of 1561 by no means proves that the administrator was not the burgess of Strat- ford. (By-the-by, MR. YEATMAN is confused as to the date of the bond, which in his communication he thrice assigns to the yeai 1565.) The description is certainly one which those who deny the identity of the adminis- trator with the John Shakespeare who was fined in 1552 may bring forward as a strong argument on their side. But when we recol- lect the difficulty which so often arises as to the residence of the poet's father ; when we remember the different ways in which he is described, as John Shakespeare, Mr. John Shakespeare, John Shakespeare, glover, &c. and when we consider the whole circum stances of the case, those who hold the identity may surely be allowed still to place
he poet's father in Stratford in 1552, in spite
f the administration bond, at least without
ieing accused of dishonesty.
H. P. STOKES.
It is quite possible for a man, when acting iway from his home, to use an alien designa-
ion ; so the shopkeeper ^of Stratford-on- Avon might, when at Snitterfield, describe
limself by his former occupation when living as farm-assistant to his father at the latter
ilace. Take the case of his son William a gentleman at Stratford, a play-actor in Lon- don he might execute deeds in either
capacity and his identity be obscured. As
o the known father and the supposed grandfather, the dates seem to harmonize,
mt the uncertainty remains. A. H.
BIOGRAPHICAL (9 th ^S. i. 9). Consult the
Dictionary of National Biography.' The
grandson of Abp. Cleaver is the Rev. W. H.
Cleaver, the much-respected rector of Christ
Church, St. Leonards-on-Sea.
EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A. Hastings.
There never was an "Allen," Duke of Gordon. Lady Henrietta Gordon was the eldest daughter of Alexander, second Duke of Gordon, by his wife Henrietta, daughter of Charles, third Earl of Peterborough and Monmouth. She died in February, 1789, unmarried, aged eighty-one.
CONSTANCE RUSSELL.
GENEALOGIES OF NORTH - EAST FRANCE (9 th S. i. 46). L' Intermediate des Chercheurs et Curieux, Avenue de Wagram, 38, Paris, will serve the purpose required. It is con- ducted on the lines of ' N. & Q.,' and does not confine itself to antiquarian subjects alone, but is largely used for genealogies, and is, perhaps, the best French authority on matters of general erudition.
ARTHUR MAYALL.
TODMORDEN (9 th S. i. 21, 78). Without wishing to enter into a correspondence on the origin of this word (for which I have neither the time nor the inclination), I should like to be allowed to protest against the assumption that the second syllable is a con- traction or corruption of moor.
I have no doubt whatever, notwithstanding the arguments brought forward by your correspondent, that mor was originally mere, and that in some part of this long narrow dene or valley there was a small lake.
Surely the name " moor- valley " is a mean- ingless description, whilst the lake or mere valley would exactly describe the position. Moreover, the high-lying lands above the
