8. xii. DEC. 12, loos.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
471
I of Brasenose College, Oxford ; | Rector of Leigh
Del am ere and Vicar of Norton, Wilts | ...... London
| Printed for the Author j ...... 1855,"
and from the accompanying text to be found at pp. 99-102, it would seem to have been as follows :
HOWE : HOWE : WHO : is : HEARE : I : ROBYN : or : DONCASTER : AND : MARGARET :
MY : FEARE :
THAT I I : SPENT ! THAT : I : HAD :
THAT : I : GAVE : THAT : I : HAVE : THAT : I :
LEFT : THAT : I : LOSTE.
These words, in Roman type, not black letter, somewhat ornamented, run in one continuous line, within a border some little distance from the edge, the short lines, as above, being at the head and foot respectively. A little below the first line is the date in Arabic numerals A.D. : 1 : 5 : 7 : 9 ; and some distance below this again, in five lines, is the remainder of the inscription :
QVOD : ROBERTVS : BYRKES : WHO : IN : THIS : WORLDE : DYD : REYNE : THRE : SKORE : YEARES I AND : SEAVEN ; AND : YET : LYVED : NOT : ONE.
Three of these lines are above the short dia- meter of the stone, the remaining two below it. After the fire only a few fragments of the stone could be recovered. The Editor's note as to the riddle supplies all that is necessary ; for a fuller and more fanciful one see Southey's ideas as given in ' The Doctor,' ch. xlii. These are quoted by Jackson, who continues :
"However just in themselves, these remarks are not very pertinent to the case of this poor old gentleman, into whose head no such ideas had pro- bably ever entered, as those which the more active brain of the Laureate conceived upon reading the epitaph. Robin's history was not a very romantic one, as the reader will see from the few particulars of it that have been gleaned. What his exact position in the world was as to property or calling, has never been ascertained ; but that he was ' well to do' is probable from the character of his monu- ment. He is known to have been an Alderman and thrice Mayor. Moreover he could write his own name, which was more than the majority of his brethren could do ; for out of thirty-five upon one occasion at some municipal proceedings no fewer than twenty-one signify their consent bymofrvb."
Jackson gives a facsimile of 4i his last re-
corded attendance on civic duty (4 April,
1589) autographically attested," and con-
cludes :
- ' It has been said by some that Robert Byrkes
gave Hunster Wood, in Rossington, to the poor. But of this no evidence has ever been adduced, nor does there seem to be any foundation for the state- ment ; at all events, the poor never had the wood."
Miller (' History of Doncaster,' 1804) says :
" The Corporation of Doncaster are Lords of the
Manor [of Rossington] and owners of this estate
Hunster Wood is remarkable for a number of
fine oaks, and for the quantity of game it contains.
The Rectory of Rossington is in the gift of the
Corporation, and worth upwards of 500/. per annum."
Thirty years after Miller wrote this the Corporation, desirous of reducing its in- debtedness, having obtained sanction from the Treasury, sold the estate to James Browne, Esq., of Hare Hills, near Leeds, for 92.500J. on 13 December, 1838, and on 4 September of the following year accepted the same gentleman's offer of 4,100/. for the purchase of the advowson of Rossington. (See " Doncaster | from I the Roman Occupa- tion | to | the Present Time. | By | John Tom-
linson | Doncaster 1887," pp. 274-91.)
Rossington, it may be noted, is five miles from Doncaster. E. G. B.
"TURNOVER" (9 th S. xii. 364). This sense of the word was, E am told, first used in con- nexion with the Globe. Certainly it was well known in the early eighties. Q. V.
ANIMALS IN PEOPLE'S INSIDES (9 th S. xi. 467 ; xii. 414). The story about the X rays at the last reference is a fine example of a lie with a circumstance, for the X rays would not have detected the "animal" unless it had a bony skeleton. J. T. F.
Durham.
FRANCES JENNINGS (9 th S. xii. 349). The best, if not the only, account of this lady will be found in Mr. G. Steinman Steinman's ' Althprp Memoirs,' 1870, pp. 45-52. As this book is exceedingly scarce, a summary of the principal events of her life may be accept- able to MR. EDWARD DENHAM. She was the daughter, and eventually sole heiress, of Sir Giffbrd Thornhurst, the only baronet, of Aghne Court, Old Romney, co. Kent, by Susanna, daughter of Sir Alexander Temple, Knt., of Chad well, co. Essex. She married Richard Jenyns, Esq., of Holy well House, St. Albans, lord of the manors of Sandridge, co. Herts, of Churchill, co. Somerset, and of Fanne, in Godalming, co. Surrey, M.P. for St. Albans 1642, and again 1661. Her marriage to this gentleman took place apparently at the church of St. Paul, Covent Garden, in December, 1643, when she was eighteen, her husband six years older. According to the marriage allegation in the Bishop of London's Registry, 1643, 18 Decem- ber, the marriage was to take place at St. Mar- tin's-in-the-Fields, St. Giles's-in-the-Fields, or St. Paul's, Covent Garden. It was not cele- brated at either of the two first-mentioned
