532
NOTES A"ND QUERIES. [9 th s. vm. DEC. 28, 1901.
arbitrary rules denoting the rank of the
wearer ; sometimes they consisted of con-
ventional trefoil foliage, sometimes of single
pearls, sometimes of clusters of pearls on
spikes. The coronet of Prince William of
Hatfield in York Minster is simply a circlet
composed of fleurs-de-lys, and it would be
interesting to know when the present rules
as regards the details of the coronets of peers
were established ARTHUR P. PUREY-CUST.
Deanery, York.
In common with many inquirers into the origin and purpose of various articles of ecclesiastical millinery and furniture now in use, / should be glad to know what was the origin of the mitre and what was its original purpose. It was certainly not used in apostolic times, nor, so far as I can ascertain, for seven or eight centuries thereafter. It would be interesting to many to ascertain why it was adopted and when.'
F. DE H. L.
Sydenham.
The last time I noted a reference to the Bishop of Durham's earldom it was named "Sedbergh," which is in Yorkshire. Now your correspondent says it was "Jedburgh," which is in Scotland. It is neither the one nor the other, but Sadberge, a village in the south of Durham county, a mile or two east of Darlington. R. B R.
YOUTHFUL M.P.s (9 th S. viii. 462).-Edmund YValler, the poet, was not sixteen, but eighteen years old when first he obtained a seat in the House of Commons. He was born 3 March, 1605/6, and elected M.P. forllchester about March, 1623/4. The very common statement that he was returned to Parliament in 1621/2 is an error. I do not know the precise age of Sir Thomas Walsingham (IV ) when returned for Poole in 1614, but believe that he was older than fourteen. He is said to have been " about sixty " in 1654, and so about twenty at his first election. This, I think, is likely to be true, his son Thomas (not " Sir " Ihomas) being born in 1617 (aged two at the Visitation of Kent 1619). It is quite true that in the first half of the seventeenth century and eve " la^ many M.P.s were under age when elected, but so far I have not met with a proved instance of a fourteen-year-old mem- ber. At eighteen and nineteen years cases were not infrequent W. D. PINK
X OF WAR IN FRANCE
. viii. 444).-! have a small book pub-
n AP on ' n wo mes
called "A Picture of Verdun; or, the English detained m France. From the Portfolio of a
Detenu. London, Printed by B. Clarke,
Well Street, for T. Hookham, Jun., and E. T.
Hookham, Old Bond Street ; and M. Keene,
Dublin." This appears to contain much of
the information which POLITICIAN desires.
G. G. BUTLER.
See the references under the word ' Detenu ' in the ' H.E.D.' The forms detenewe, detinue, detiny, were for the most part of antecedent date to the period referred to, and were of legal as distinguished from military usage. ARTHUR MAYALL.
A RIME ON EDWARD VII. (9 th S. viii. 445). The rime which seems to s have so much annoyed the Church Times has been familiar to English Catholics for the past two genera- tions at least. The version usually heard runs thus :
Under Edward the Sixth the Mass was undone, Under Edward the Seventh will Mass be begun.
This " prophecy " is commonly supposed to refer to the celebration of Mass in West- minster Abbey. I join with MR. HOOPER in hoping that we may hear some account of the history and origin of this rime.
JOHN HOBSON MATTHEWS. Town Hall, Cardiff.
" OMNIUM GATHERUM" (6 th S. x. 449 ; 7 th S. iii. 98, 192, 258). -On 18 August, 1776, John Adams, afterwards President of the United States, wrote thus to his wife :
" My letters to you are an odd mixture. They would appear to a stranger like the dish which is sometimes called omnium gatherum. This is the first time, I believe, that these two words were ever put together in writing. The literal interpre- tation I take to be ' a collection of all things.' But as I said before, the words having never before been written, it is not possible to be very learned in telling you what the Arabic, Syriac, Chaldaic, Greek, and Roman commentators say upon the subject."
That Mr. Adams, however, was mistaken is apparent from the citations here made.
RICHARD H. THORNTON. Portland, Oregon.
A ^ CORK LEG (9 th S viii. 204, 307, 413). Haying been engaged in the manufacture of artificial limbs for noarly a quarter of a century, and being able to draw upon my father's experiences of just fifty years, I can write with some knowledge of this subject, and thoroughly endorse MR. HEMS'S notes on the matter.
The term "cork leg" is certainly never used by artificial - limb - makers themselves. It may possibly be used by outsiders, but even then only by those in comparative ignorance on such matters.
