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ORIGINS OF PRESENT PENNY POSTAGE

Many of your readers have, I doubt not, perused with interest the vivid sketch of the origin of the Penny Postage System, given by Miss Martineau in her History of England during the Thirty Years' Peace, vol. ii. p. 425., and have seen in the incident of the shilling letter delivered to the poor cottager, somewhere in the Lake district—refused by her from professed inability to pay the postage—paid for by Mr. Rowland Hill, who happened most opportunely to be passing that way—and, when opened, found to be blank (this plan being preconcerted between the woman and her correspondent, to know of each other's welfare without the expense of postage). A remarkable instance of "how great events from little causes spring," and have bestowed much admiration on the penetration of Mr. Hill's mind, which "wakened up at once to a significance of the fact," nor ever rested till he had devised and effected his scheme of Post-office Reform; though all the while an uncomfortable feeling might be lurking behind as to the perfect credibility of so interesting a mode of accounting for the initiation of this great social benefit.

I confess to having had some suspicions myself as to the trustworthiness of this story; and a few days since my suspicions were fully confirmed by discovering that the real hero of the tale was not the Post-office Reformer, but the poet Coleridge; unless, indeed, which is surely out of the range of ordinary probabilities, the same event, corresponding exactly as to place and amount of postage, happened to two persons at separate times.

Coleridge relates the story himself, in one of his "conversations," of which memoranda are preserved in the interesting volumes published by Moxon in 1836 (ii. 114.). "One day,"

"when I had not a shilling to spare, I was passing by a cottage at Keswick where a carter was demanding a shilling for a letter, which the woman of the house appeared unwilling to give, and at last declined to take. I paid the postage, and when the man was out of sight, she told me that the letter was from her son, who took that means of letting her know that he was well. The letter was not to be paid for. It was then opened and found to be blank."

Now, while so many copies of "NOTES AND QUERIES" pass through the Post-office, it is to be hoped one at least may remain there, and be the means of inducing Mr. Hill to inform us whether Miss Martineau had any authority for fathering this story upon him; and whether the Post-office Reform is really indebted to any such trivial incident for its original idea.

E. VENABLES.

RED BOOK OF THE IRISH EXCHEQUER

On one of the vellum leaves of which the Red Book of the Irish Exchequer is composed, there is depicted a pen and ink sketch of that court. In the centre of the picture is the table, which is covered (as it is at this day) with a chequered cloth, whereon are placed a bag upon which are the words "Baga cum rotulis," a book with a clasp, five large pieces of money, and a strip of parchment, upon which is written, "Ceo vous, &c." The table is surrounded on its four equal sides by thirteen human figures, namely, six at the top of the picture, three on the left hand, three on the right, and one at the bottom. Of the six figures at the top of the sketch, all of whom wear robes, he who is on the right hand holds a wand, bears upon his head a cap, and is in the act of leaving the court, exclaiming, "Ademayn." To the right of this man, who is probably the crier of the court, is one of the officers carrying a piece of parchment, upon which is written in contracted law Latin, "Preceptum fuit Vicecomiti per breve hujus Scaccarii." To the right of the last-named figure is another officer of the court, who is in the act of examining his pen by placing its nib at a short distance from his eyes; and this person carries in his left hand a piece of parchment upon which are written, in like character, the words "Memorandum quod x die Maii, &c." To the right of this officer, who is probably the Chief Remembrancer, is placed another officer, wearing a cap, who is in the act of writing upon a piece of parchment bearing the words "Henricus dei gratia." The two remaining figures at the top of the picture are apparently conversing together: to one of them are applied the words, "Eynt bre vic.," with another word following the last which is scarcely decypherable; and to the other the word "Elgyn" seems to have reference; such word being placed upon the ample sleeve of his gown. The three figures on the left of the picture are probably the three Barons. The head-dress of the judge who is sitting at the extreme right of the bench, varies in its form from that which is worn by the baron who is seated in the centre; and the third baron, who is sitting at the left, has his head uncovered. The first-named baron seems in the act of counting or reckoning the pieces of coin which are placed before him upon the table, and says "xx d.;" the baron in the centre, who wears a cap similar in form to the night-cap now commonly used, says "Voyr dire;" and the third baron says "Soient forfez." Opposite to the judges, and to the right of the picture, are three persons wearing gowns, and standing at the bar of the court. One of these points towards his face with the first finger of his right hand, and says, "Oy de brie;" the figure to his left extends his right arm towards the bench, and exclaims, "Soit oughte;" and the third figure says, "Chalange." This man, the handle of whose sword is distinctly visible on his right side, whose outer sleeves are wide and flowing, whose under garment is buttoned tightly at the wrist, and whose boots are in shape similar to ladies' boots of modern times, closely laced to the leg, has placed the thumb of his left hand between the thumb and first finger of his right. And, lastly, at the bottom of the picture is seated the sheriff, bearing upon his head a hood or cap, upon which the words "Vic. tot & unit" are written. Query, Are the persons here represented the barons and officers of the Exchequer? and, more especially, who are the persons who exclaim "Oy de brie," "Soit oughte," and "Chalange"?

J.F.F.

MINOR QUERIES

Abbey of Shapp, or Hepp.—I shall be much obliged to any of your readers who can inform me whether the Chartulary of the Abbey of Shapp, or Hepp, in Westmoreland, is now in existence; and if so, where it is. In the Monasticon, vol. vi. p. 869., it is stated that in 1638 it was in the possession of Lord William Howard, of Naworth; but though a search has been made among Lord William's papers and MSS. in the possession of his descendant, the Earl of Carlisle, at Castle Howard, the Chartulary is not now to be found among them.

J.C.

"Talk not of Love."—Do any of your musical correspondents know the author of the following song, and whether it has ever appeared in print? I have it in manuscript, set to a very fine tune, but have never seen or heard it elsewhere.

 
"Talk not of love, it gives me pain,
    For love hath been my foe;
He bound me with an iron chain,
    And plunged me deep in woe.
 
 
"But friendship's pure and lasting joys
    My soul was form'd to prove,
Then welcome, win, and wear the prize,
    But never talk of love."
 

A.M.

Lucy and Colin.—Can you tell me who was the author of "Lucy and Colin," so beautifully translated by Vincent Bourne, and by him entitled "Lucia et Corydon"?

In Southey's Common-place Book, 3d series, I found the following in p. 712.:—

"Of the wretched poem Colin and Lucy (Tickel?) published as a fragment of Elizabeth's age, the reviewer says, 'Is this the language of Q. Elizabeth's time, or something better? But to whatever age, or to whatever author we are indebted for this beautiful piece, it must be allowed an honour to both, and therefore worth contending for on behalf of our own time.'"

I wonder whether this be the "Colin and Lucy" that V. Bourne translated.

I have not Tickel's works, and therefore cannot discover whether he be the author of that beautiful (whatever Southey may say) ballad beginning with—

 
"In Leinster famed for maidens fair," &c.
 

A.B.

Chapel, Printing-office.—Is there any other authority than Creery's Press for the statement that printing-offices are called chapels? Whatever may have been the case, at present the word "chapel" is applied to the persons, or companionship, employed in the office, not to the office itself.

GOMER.

[Moxon, in his Mechanick Exercises, vol. ii. p. 356. 4to. 1683, says: "Every printing-house is by the custom of time out of mind called a chappel; and all the workmen that belong to it are members of the chappel: and the oldest freeman is father of the chappel. I suppose the style was originally conferred upon it by the courtesie of some great Churchman, or men, (doubtless, when chappels were in more veneration than of late years they have been here in England), who, for the books of divinity that proceeded from a printing-house, gave it the reverend title of chappel."]

Cockade is a ribband worn in the hat, as defined by Dr. Johnson. Query, What is the origin of its use by officers of the army and navy; who are privileged to wear it; when was it first introduced; and by what authority, if any, is it sanctioned or confined to the army and navy?

A.E.

Suem, Ferling, Grasson—In a copy of Court Roll, dated the 40th year of Elizabeth, and relating to the manor of Rotherfield, co. Sussex, these words occur:—

"R. K. cepit extra manus domini unam suem trẽ nat' de ferling," &c.

I shall be obliged to any of your correspondents who will explain the words suem and ferling.

What is the etymology of grasson, a word used in some north-country manors for a fine paid on alienation of copyhold lands?

C.W.G.

Cranmer's Descendants.—Being much interested in everything that concerns the martyrs of the Reformation, and not the less so from being descended (in the female line) from the father of Archbishop Cranmer, I should be very glad if any of your correspondents could inform me whether there are any of his male descendants still in existence. Gilpin, in his Lives of the Reformers, says that the Archbishop's wife and children lived in great obscurity. This was probably on account of the prejudice, which had hardly passed away, against the marriage of the clergy; but surely the descendants of so great a man, if there be such, have not lost the records or pedigree by which their descent can be verified.

C.D.F.

Collections of Pasquinades.—Can any of your correspondents inform me whether a collection has ever been published of the satirical verses affixed to the torso of Menelaus, at the corner of the Palazzo Braschi at Rome, and commonly known as Pasquinades, from the name of a tailor whose shop stood near the place of its discovery? (See Nibby Itinerario di Roma, ii. 409.) I send you a specimen which I do not remember to have seen in print. It was occasioned by the Pope Pius VI. (Braschi) having placed his own coat of arms in various parts of St. Peter's. They consisted of the double-headed eagle, two stars, a lily, and the head of a boy, puffing at it.

 
"Redde aquilam imperio; Gallorum lilia regi;
        Sidera redde polo; cætera Brasche tibi."
 

The eagle being restored to the Holy Roman Empire, the lily to the Most Christian King, and the stars to the firmament, there remained for the Pope himself—an empty puff.

MARFORIO.

Portraits of Bishops.—Can any of your correspondents inform me of portraits of John Williams, archbishop of York (previously bishop of Lincoln); John Owen, bishop of St. Asaph; George Griffith, bishop of St. Asaph; Lewis Bayley, bishop of Bangor; Humphrey Henchman, bishop of London (previously bishop of Salisbury); Lord Chief Justice Glynne; and Sir Thomas Milward, chief justice of Chester.

Cassan, in his Bishops of Salisbury, mentions one of Henchman; but I mean exclusively of this.

Y.Y.

The Butcher Duke.—Can any of your readers furnish me with the rest of a Scotch song of which I have heard these two couplets?

 
"The Deil sat girning in a nook,
Breaking sticks to burn the duke.
A' the Whigs sal gae to hell!
Geordie sal gae there hissel."
 

And who was the writer?

MEZZOTINTO.

Rodolph Gualter.-I think I have somewhere seen it stated that Rodolph Gualter (minister at Zurich, and well known as a correspondent of our divines in the age of the Reformation) was a Scotchman. Will any of your correspondents oblige me by supplying either a reference for this statement, or a disproof of it—or both?

J.C.R.

Passage in St. Mark.—What Fathers of the early Christian Church have annotated that remarkable text, Mark xiii. 32., "ουδε ‛ο ‛υιος," "Neither the Son?"

As this subject has certainly engaged the attention of many of your readers, it will be a great favour conferred on the present writer, if their replies should indicate the authors' names, the date and place of the edition, the page, and such other distinctive marks as shall lead to a prompt investigation of the subject: among them, whether the authors quoted are in the library of the British Museum.

CALMET.

"Fronte Capillatâ," &c.—On the Grammar School at Guilsbro, in Northamptonshire, is inscribed the following hexameter:—

 
"Fronte capillatâ post est Occasio calva."
 

I suppose it alludes to some allegorical representation of Occasio; and is intended to convey the same meaning as our English proverb, "Seize time by the forelocks." From what author is this inscription taken?

E.H.A.