a leaden coffin was taken up, which, on being opened, exhibited a complete skeleton of a body that had been interred about sixty years, whose leg and thigh bones, to the utter astonishment of all present, were covered with myriads of flies (of a species, perhaps, totally unknown to the naturalist), as active and strong on the wing as gnats flying in the air on the finest evening in summer. The wings of this nondescript are white, and for distinction's sake the spectators gave it the name of the coffin fly. The lead was perfectly sound, and presented not the least chink or crevice for the admission of

air. The moisture of the flesh had not left the bones, and the fallen beard lay on the under jaw.

"Such a swarm of white flies very probably proceeded from the saint's coffin; that he produced them by virtue of his saintship, and that they produced the infection among the French, would be believed in that age by all parties."

word is the French pierre, a stone, cannot, I think, be upheld. J. A. H. MURRAY.

"THOLSELS."-I shall feel obliged if you can inform me where I can obtain a definition of the word "Tholsel." It is a public building "Tholsels in the nature of a Town Hall. are to be found in several Irish townsDrogheda, Kilkenny, Waterford, &c.-but I cannot find the word in any dictionary or book of reference, either in our own library or in the National Library of Ireland.

THOS. J. HAYES.

Royal Dublin Society, Leinster House.

EDWARD PEACOCK.

DOVER PIER.-The pier at Dover is said to have been constructed when the Emperor Charles V. landed there in the reign of Henry VIII., who on that occasion contributed a large sum for its erection. Where is the contemporary authority for this? The date is earlier than our first quotation (1530) for the word "pier" (then commonly spelt pere or peere) in this sense, and we have no reference to the "pere" at Dover until 1556, when the Privy Council had its repair under consideration. Will any reader of 'N. & Q.' at Dover or elsewhere send us an earlier reference to the pier? It may be added that we have a reference to the "pere" of Leith in 1546, and should be glad to know of any earlier one for that also. The etymology and history of the word "pier" are very obscure, and any early instances or facts throwing light upon them will be welcome. (We have those for per or pere of a bridge, from 'Ser Ferumbras' and the Promptorium'; then nothing till the appearance of a harbour pier in 1530.) The current conjecture that the

designated Traquair House" as the Palace of Traquair." I shall be obliged for a reference to this quotation. O. B.

"DON'T NAIL HIS EARS TO THE PUMP."

Who first gave this suggestive prohibition? I do not find it in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations,' nor in the Indexes of N. & Q.'

C. B. MOUNT.

ITHAMAR.-Can any one tell me the origin and locus classicus of Ithamar as a girl's name? I am familiar with Itha, the Irish saint celebrated by every hagiologist, from the Bollandists to Baring-Gould; but Ithamar has a Norse ring about it.

EDWARD HERON-ALLEN.

[Ithamar was one of Aaron's sons (Exod. vi. 23).] ATLAS AND PLEIONE: THE PLEIADES: THE DAISY.-Where can I find confirmation of the following legend?

Atlas and Pleione sent their seven daughters to school in the Elysian fields to learn the mysteries of divine magic. Each was provided with a golden ball, and each ball was set with a different stone, so that its owner should recognize it. (Why?) They were permitted each evening to play together with their balls, and one day one of the pleiads (daughters) lost her ball and searched for it a long time in vain. (Which pleiad, and where?) At last she saw it on the earth in the moonlight, so she descended on a shooting star to where it lay in a meadow of soft

duelling, why is the duellist punished? On the contrary, if against it, why is a man who deliberately kills another allowed to escape with so light a sentence for bloodguiltiness? M. P.

GEORGE III. AND SYDENHAM WELLS.-I have made several attempts to ascertain the date of the king's visit, when he is said to have spent a day there and drunk the waters; but I have been unsuccessful. That this royal visit was no mere tradition, as some writers would have it, is proved by the fact that the present owner of the little house in Wells Road, Upper Sydenham, possesses the identical table at which the king sat on the occasion, and had, down to a recent date, the chair he used, though this, having almost perished, had to be broken up.

The visit must have been made between the years 1791 and 1810-rather a wide range. I have searched the general index to The Gentleman's Magazine, but without finding any mention of it there. Perhaps one of your readers may know, or could help me to discover it, and will kindly communicate through 'N. & Q.' A. S. FOORD.

11, Riverview Gardens, Barnes, S. W. TUFNEL FAMILY.-I have accounts rendered by William and John Tufnel for bricklaying and joinery work done at "Her Majesties Receipt of Excheq," and at the houses of Charles Dartiquenave in "Burlington Ground," 1711-1722. The name is Tufnell, Tuffnell, Tuffnel, by the same hands in different accounts. Is anything known respecting these evidently important tradesmen? Are they in any way connected with the William Tufnell who in 1754, on the decease of Sir William Hatton, entered into possession of the manor of Barnsbury? ALECK ABRAHAMS.

39, Hillmarton Road, N.

SIR ROBERT LYTTON. -Any biographical information, or references to books and manuscripts, relating to Sir Robert Lytton will be gladly received. He died 6 May, 1483, and was buried by his wife Isabella (who predeceased him in 1458) in Tideswell Church, where is a well-preserved brass to their memory. He was an ancestor of the Lyttons of Knebworth. He is said to have been Under - Treasurer of England temp. Henry VI. JAS. M. J. FLETCHER. Tideswell Vicarage, near Buxton, Derbyshire. DRYDEN PORTRAITS.-I should be glad to know the present whereabouts of the following portraits of John Dryden. No doubt many have changed hands more than once

since the date at which my list was compiled-1800.

1. A painting, artist unknown, probably painted in 1664, in picture gallery at Oxford. 2. A painting, supposed date 1690, by Closterman, engraved by Faithorne, Jun. 3. A painting by Riley, formerly in possession of Mr. Davenport Bromley, of Baginton, co. Warwick.

4. A painting by Kneller, formerly owned by Mr. Baker, of Bayfordbury, Herts.

5. A painting, engraved by Vertue and Houbraken, in possession of Edward, Earl of

Oxford.

afterwards the property of Mr. J. Simpson, 6. A painting once owned by Addison, and second son of Lord Bradford.

7. A painting in the possession of Horace, Earl of Orford, said to have been by Mau

bert.

8. Duplicate of No. 7, owned by C. Bedford, of Brixton.

of Rev. Mr. Bilton, chaplain of All Souls 9. Drawing by Fab. Steele, in possession College, Oxford.

10. Paintings in possession of the Piggott family of Shropshire.

Any particulars of other known portraits would be gladly received. P. M.

BRI: THE PLANCHE.-Can any reader tell me the meanings of the following names that A house is called Brî House. appear in my neighbourhood? What does Brî mean? A part of a parish is called the Planche. What does Planche mean?

L.

'JENETTA NORWEB,' A LOST BOOK.-Early in the last century a book was published too True.' Such is the title as told to me by entitled Jenetta Norweb; or, the Tale, alas! two friends, both of whom have been long dead. The volume was, I think, issued by subscription. Its writer was a Miss Mary Brown, who then lived at Brigg, in Lincolnshire. I have heard that many people mistook it for a novel; but it was in truth an

fresh grass. She knew her ball because it had a ruby in it, and picking it up she clasped it to her bosom and fell asleep. But the children of the Elysian fields cannot live on earth without special preparation, and this she had not; therefore Phoebus, who in Elysia taught her music, and who knew the pain and sorrow that awaited her on awaking, all unprepared for the earthly life, drove his fiery chariot across the sky, and, seeing her, transformed the ball in her bosom into the centre, and her limbs and garments into the white petals, of a daisy, and her green sash and mantle into its sheaf. She was sweet and merry, and all the children now love the field daisy.

6

I am acquainted with the story of 'Alcestis and the Daisy,' as told by Chaucer, likewise with the story of Bellis and Ephigeus' and the Celtic legend of Malvina and her Infant Son'; but, needless to say, these are not what I want, nor do the classical dictionaries, Smith, Lemprière, Dr. Brewer, &c., throw any light on this particular legend.

I should also be glad to know where I can see a paper on "The Daisy,' read in the first instance by Canon Ellacombe before the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club in the year 1874, and subsequently printed as an Appendix (A) to his Plantfore of Shakespeare.' I have consulted the only edition of Canon Ellacombe's Folklore of Shakespeare' in the British Museum, and also the Report of the Proceedings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club' for the year 1874, but the paper in question does not appear in either.

RITA RUSSELL.

Lyceum Club, 128, Piccadilly, W.

LAWRENCE.-Can any one give the parentage of John Lawrence, admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 19 October, 1652; B.A., 1656; M.A., 1660? He is described in the college books only as "of Middlesex."

·

with the vicar of Isleworth. On the other hand, it is certain that John Hale, LL.B., who became rector of Cranford, Middlesex, 11 September, 1505, exchanged this rectory for the vicarage of Isleworth, 13 August. 1521 (see Hennessy's Novum Repertorium,' pp. 133, 229). He was, as Dom Bede Camin points out, Fellow of King's Hall, Cambridge, at the time of his death. Was he the John Hale or Hall who became a Scholar of Eton in 1485 (Harwood's 'Alumni Etonenses,' p. 120)? JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT.

PRINTED CATALOGUES OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES. -What public libraries have printed their catalogues? I can name only a very few. The The British Museum heads the list. catalogue of Dublin University was, I believe, printed some twenty years ago. I have seen a complete printed catalogue of the National Library of New South Wales. I understand the Bibliothèque Nationale has made a beginning of printing its catalogue. Are there any others? If not, why not? Is not the utility of a printed catalogue for every public library recognized? Facility of reference is one of its greatest advantages over the card catalogue. Again, the printed catalogue enables an isolated worker in the country to ascertain which of the works that he may desire to consult is accessible in a neighbouring city, and may perhaps save him loss of time and money in a futile visit. There are libraries as a rule opposed to the idea. I other advantages also; yet I find public formidable nature of the task which publishcannot help thinking this may be due to the ing the catalogue of a great library would involve for the staff. Ком Омво.

DUELLING IN GERMANY.-Will some German reader of N. & Q.' explain the following difficulty to an ignorant Briton? According to the scraps of information relating to German life which find their way into English newspapers, a man of good position is challenged. Duelling is still a recognized bound by the code of honour to fight if institution, and severe social condemnation falls on any one who refuses to face his antagonist's pistol. Yet in Es war,' a story by the celebrated novelist and dramatist Sudermann, I find that its hero, Leo Sellenthin, is condemned to two years' imprisonment in a fortress for accepting Rhaden's challenge and wounding him mortally. It is true that a year of the sentence is remitted; but he undergoes legal punishment for doing exactly what the social obligations of his country demand of him. If national feeling is really in favour of