tried as participators in the No-popery riots, of whom fifty-eight were found guilty, and of these only twenty-five were executed. Nine of the rioters brought to trial were women, viz.: Mary Roberts and Charlotte Gardiner (a negro girl), tried July 4, and executed July 11, on Tower Hill.

Letitia Holland, tried July 6, and convicted. She was ordered for execution by "His Majesty in Council," on July 14, but respited on July 23. Sarah Harwell, Elizabeth Harwell, and Judith Swiney, tried July 11, and acquitted.

Mary Cook and Susannah Howard, tried July 12, and Elizabeth Collins, tried July 13, were all convicted. Howard, however, was respited on July 30. Cook and Collins were executed on August 9, in Saint George's Fields.

None of the rioters underwent their sentence at Tyburn. It is therefore clear that Mr. Rogers's impression of seeing "a whole cartful of girls, in dresses of various colours, on their way to be executed at Tyburn," is incorrect.

young

I may perhaps be permitted to remark that Mr. Dickens must have been a diligent reader of the Morning Chronicle for 1780. It is surprising to find in the newspapers so many of the incidents and names which appear in Barnaby Rudge. Even the raven is historical. ROBERT S. SALMON.

Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Colonel Duncombe's daughter appears to have married Colonel Rowland Reynold (Col. 3rd Foot Guards, June 9, 1743), and their daughter and heir to have married Admiral Sir Robert Harland, Bart.

I presume an heiress of the Duncombe family married some peer's son, who thereupon took the name of Duncombe. On these data can any of your readers assist me? JAMES KNOWLES.

Parish Registers (2nd S. ii. 66. 151.) The subject of parish registers, and especially some with which am acquainted, has been anxiously impressed upon my mind. I began at one time to make a transcript of the registers in my possession in this manner. I had several sheets of foolscap paper headed with each year; the baptisms, marriages, and burials, being kept in separate batches. I then began copying each entry as it appeared in the original tattered pages, with their defects. I kept a margin of an inch wide on the left hand side of each page, on which afterwards to write the date of each entry, so that it might be the more conspicuous. I intended then to copy these sheets into large books, placing each entry in chronological order; to keep this order the more easily was the chief use of adding the dates on the margin. A pressure of time and public duty prevented my completing the work; but I live in hopes of doing so. The copies I intended for re

What a mass of curious entries and valuable inleaves, except when required for legal evidence. formation would be thus brought to light; no doubt many to find their way into the pages of "N. & Q." SIMON WARD.

I have taken some trouble to ascertain who he was, but unsuccessfully. In the inscription on his wife Susannah's tomb he is spoken of as the Hon. Col. John Duncombe, and in his will he so styles himself; in Pearch's Collection of Poems he is also so described; yet he was not a son of Anthony, Lord Feversham, the only peer of the name of Duncombe in the last century, or the one which preceded it, and he is moreover styled Honourable before 1747, when the Feversham peerage was created. He stated of himself that he was page to James II. when the latter was Duke of York, and also that he was wounded in the leg at the siege of Lille; he was on intimate terms with the second Duke of Marlborough, whose bond he held for 12,000l., and he devised to his daughter estates at Marston-Moreton, co. Beds, where the Duncombes long had been possessed of lands, and the manor of which had been the property of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, devised by her to her grandson the Hon. John Spencer, uncle of the second Duke of Marlborough.

I rejoice that your correspondents still keep alive the question of parish registers and other ecclesiastical records. My own experience corresponds with that of MR. EDWARD PEACOCK, as to the fact that, in some parishes, the registers have been but imperfectly kept, whilst in others (as in my own) they have not been kept at all, but have had the ill luck to be burnt or otherwise de stroyed. And although the occasional loss of the registers of a small parish might be a matter of no great moment, supposing the transcripts in the diocesan registry were more easily accessible than they are, and as well kept and catalogued as they ought to be, yet, if we may take MR. PEACOCK'S account of the episcopal registries of one diocese as a sample of the whole, it is evident that, in many cases, the loss might not easily be repaired.

The difficulty with regard to diocesan records seems to be, that those who have the custody of them have no leisure for perusing, arranging, and cataloguing them; and probably there is no fund out of which a qualified officer could be paid to look after them, so as to render them accessible to the public. Consequently not only parochial

registers, but many valuable historical documents, may be supposed to slumber in the dust of ages totally forgotten, or perhaps never heard of in this generation.

The difficulty appears to be partly one of expense; but might not this be got over by the introduction of gratuitous labour? I imagine that, in every diocese, clergymen might be found having small parochial charges, who would willingly devote a portion of their time to the arrangement and cataloguing of these valuable documents, and who would think themselves well paid for their trouble by the historical facts and information with reference to early synods, and many interesting matters which would be likely to turn up from time to time among the more ancient muniJ. SANSOM.

ments.

The Fifth Crusade (2nd S. ii. 149.) Your correspondent M. E. J. will find on reference to any of the best works on the Crusades that the fifth Crusade was undertaken in the pontificate of Honorius III. (A.D. 1217.) Its leaders were John of Brienne, titular King of Jerusalem, and Andrew II., King of Hungary. Andrew was soon recalled to his kingdom by the revolt of his magnates. John of Brienne took Damietta. There is no history of the Crusades in English. Mill's work does not deserve the name, and Keightley's is still more unworthy of notice. The best books on the subject are one in German by Wilken, and the great work of Michaud, which should be read in conjunction with the Bibliothèque des Croisades collected and edited by the same writer. Guizot's valuable collection of memoirs relating to the Crusades deserves attentive study, as also the ponderous volume by Bongars entitled Gesta per Francos.

Dei

W. H. M.

the election, but he seems to have kept his seat until 1695.

He was most probably a brewer, as he was succeeded by Sir Charles Cox, who was a brewer, and resided at Hay's Wharf, where Alderman Humphery is making his new dock. G. R. C.

Morgan O'Doherty (1 S. x. 96. 150., &c. ; 2nd S. ii. 58.) — I am surprised that no one of the many who ought to be able to speak authoritatively on the subject has settled the question as to the identity of " Morgan O'Doherty with the late Dr. Maginn. I am not at all inclined to agree with your correspondent S., who summarily assumes that Capt. Hamilton, and not Maginn, was the originaÎ "Standard-bearer." I have never had a doubt about the matter myself, and though unable to offer any direct evidence in favour of Maginn, I am confident that he, and he alone, was the "Sir Morgan O'Doherty," the "Ensign " and the "Standard-bearer" of Blackwood and Fraser. Apart from the authority of Dr. Moir, in the Dublin University Magazine for January, 1844, of Fraser (vol. iii.), and of Professor Ferrier, in his new edition of the Noctes Ambrosianæ (vol. i. p. 33.), the internal evidence alone is sufficient to stamp Maginn as the original and true "Standard-bearer," and author of all the various articles, squibs, and songs, ascribed to Morgan O'Doherty. One work, at least, which originally appeared under that signature in Fraser's Magazine, "Homeric Ballads," has since been published with Maginn's name in full, as the author. The ripe scholarship, the rich humour, the exuberant wit, and the jovial, rollicking spirit which mark the works of "Morgan O'Doherty' are peculiarly the qualities which made Dr. Maginn famous as the prince of magazine writers. As for Captain Hamilton, I have never till now heard that he was ever charged with any brilliancy of wit or depth of learning.

York.

H. E. W.

Suspicious Circumstances so truly answers the Tale wanted (2nd S. ii. 11.)—Mrs. Opie's tale of conditions of a. ß.'s inquiry, that I have no doubt that it is the one inquired after. R. W. DIXON.

Seaton Carew, co. Durham.

Queries on a Tour (2nd S. i. 470.) — Referring to MR. BOASE's fourth Query respecting the Turkish inscription at Buda, which when there I did not see, I would ask him if the celebrated sources d'eaux are still in existence, concerning which La Martiniere says:

"Il y a des sources d'eaux chaudes, qui y donnent la delicieuse commodité des bains. Il y a de ces sources dont l'eau est si chaude que l'on y cuit des œufs en moins de temps qu'il n'en faut pour les cuire dans de l'eau qui seroit sur un feu clair; et comme si la nature avoit voulu temperer ces eaux, elle y a joint une source d'eau très

Common Place Books (1st S. xii. 478.; 2nd S. i. 486.) -Your correspondent F. C. H. will find an excellent common-place book; paged and ruled, with index, and with a short printed instruction for use, published in 1820, entitled an Aid to Memory, by J. A. Sargent; sold by Wetton & Jervis, publishers and stationers, Paternoster Row. It is a thick quarto, and contains 574 pages, and has a brass lock. I purchased mine in 1823, and have found it of the greatest use. W. COLLYNS.

Coffer (2nd S. ii. 69.) — If SocIUS DUNELM Will refer to Weale's excellent Dictionary of Terms in Architecture, &c., he will find that one meaning of coffer is "a deep panel in a ceiling," and will probably be satisfied with the explanation thus afforded of the passage quoted by him. Jeastes of course means joists or beams. M. H. R.

Pence a piece (2nd S. ii. 66. 99. 118.) — Evelyn in his Acetaria, says of artichokes :

"Tis not very long since this noble thistle came first into Italy, improv'd to this magnitude by culture; and so rare in England that they were commonly sold for crowns a piece."- Evelyn's Misc. Writings, by William Upcott. 4to. Lond., 1825. p. 735.

ZEUS. Bothwell's last Place of Confinement (2nd S. ii. 141.) -See Pièces et Documents relatifs au Comte de Bothwell, privately printed by Prince Lebanoff, St. Petersburg, 1856, royal 8vo.; and relative Notice sur la Collection des Portraits de Marie Stuart appartenant au Prince Alexandre Lebanoff, also privately printed in royal 8vo., same place and date. These may, perhaps, be obtained from Mr. Dolman, 61. New Bond Street. M. L.

be found, I can, I think, assign the date of its first publication as 1828-29, from the following circumstance. The late Thomas Hood commenced the publication of his Comic Annuals in 1830, and the first of them (written in 1829) contains many parodies on songs and poems which were then popular. One of these parodies is headed "Lines to a Lady, on her Departure for India," and consists of ten verses, of which I send the first, the similarity of which to the verse sent by X. H. is apparent :

"Go where the waves run rather Holborn-hilly,
And tempests make a soda-water sea;
Almost as rough as our own Piccadilly,
And think of me!"

Husbands authorized to beat their Wives (2nd S. ii. 108.)- Your correspondent HENPECKED may be informed that, according to Blackstone, the power of moderately correcting the wife, by the old common law, belonged to the husband. The civil law allowed him for some misdemeanours, flagellis et fustibus acriter verberare uxorem, for others only modicam castigationem adhibere. This right began to be doubted in the reign of Charles II., and latterly fell into disuse, except among "the lower rank of people, who still claim and exert their ancient privilege." I am sorry to say that the same class in our day show as much fondness for their ancient privilege as in Blackstone's. This information, given almost exactly in Blackstone's words, may be found in Commentaries, vol, i. p. 444., London, 1836, ed. Hovenden. ERALC LAHL.

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1856.

Notes.

THE DEATH OF CLARENCE.

The curious and well-known story of the Duke of Clarence, brother to Edward IV., having been drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine, has been received with considerable scepticism by some of our historians; and certainly it would be difficult to conceive a fact à priori more improbable. Clarence had rebelled against his brother and been forgiven; but his discontented spirit made him again obnoxious to Edward's resentment, and he was impeached of treason. The case was tried before the House of Lords, and Clarence was condemned to death. Edward had been his sole accuser; but, after the sentence was passed, there appears to have been a struggle in his mind between the offended majesty of the king and the natural affection of the brother, and some time elapsed before the law was allowed to take its course. At last the Speaker of the Commons went up to the House of Lords, and desired that the sentence might be executed. Edward caused it to be done in secret, not wishing that his brother should suffer the ignominy of a public execution. The method of his punishment was not made known; but if we may believe the chroniclers, the general impression of the time was that he underwent the penalty of his treason by being suffocated in a cask of wine!

The only contemporary, or nearly contemporary, authorities for this extraordinary tale are Fabyan and Comines; but their testimony would undoubtedly have been held amply sufficient_to establish anything a degree more credible. Comines, it is true, was a foreigner; and, though he appears to have credited the story, qualifies his testimony with comme on disoit." But Fabyan was an Englishman and a Londoner, and had no doubt about it whatever. "The Duke of Clarence," he says, 66 was secretly put to death and drowned in a barrel of Malvesye within the Tower." Nor is there any contradictory testimony; the Continuator of the Croyland Chronicle only says, "Factum est id, qualecunque erat, genus supplicii," showing that he himself was not acquainted with the circumstances. What, then, are we to think of the affair? Are we to believe that this extraordinary mode of punishment was actually had recourse to? Or, if not, are we to believe that it was the general opinion of the time? The report must have spread far to reach Comines, and must have appeared to him to rest on tolerably respectable authority, otherwise so intelligent a historian would scarcely have mentioned it in the way he has done. However extra

ordinary then it may appear to us, one would think the nineteenth century ought to distrust its judgment of a fact which contemporaries appear to have had so little difficulty in believing.

A solution of this riddle has occurred to me, the value of which I leave better judges to decide. I shall be happy to meet with anything confirmatory of my theory; but should any of your correspondents see arguments against it, they can do me no greater favour than by demolishing my speculations. Meanwhile the following remarks may, I hope, be not uninteresting. If I were to ask, Did they kill him first and drown him afterwards? I suppose I should be considered guilty of something like an Irish bull. Yet this is exactly what is implied, if the expression of Fabyan above quoted be construed strictly: "The Duke of Clarence was put to death, and drowned in a barrel of Malvesye." Of course we must not look for a rigid adherence to grammar in such a writer; but if it can be satisfactorily made out that the word "drown" was used in old English authors in such a manner that it would have been no absurdity to talk of drowning a dead body, then Fabyan's grammar is in this instance vindicated, and we have got a new version of the death of Clarence.

I find in Shakspeare two instances which I think go some way to prove this. The first is in the well-known speech of Prospero in The Tempest: "I'll break my staff,

Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And, deeper than did ever plummet sound,
I'll drown my book."

Burying and drowning here appear to be quite analogous processes. The thing that is to be drowned has no more life in it than the thing that is to be buried. But it may be thought that the word "drown" is here used by poetic licence, with a slight departure from its strict signification. The next instance is plain prose. When Parolles, in All's Well that Ends Well, having undertaken to recover his drum, is deliberating by what device he shall excuse himself for not accomplishing his task, he says :

"I would the cutting of my garments would serve my turn; or the breaking of my Spanish sword or, to drown my clothes and say I was stripped."

If inanimate objects could be "drowned," why not dead bodies?

I am the more inclined to this theory because it explains another instance - the only other instance I know of- of a death concerning which there was a similar report. In a certain ballad or rhyming history of the "Ladye Bessie," or Princess Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII., the heroine alludes to the murder of her brothers, Edward V. and the Duke of York, by their uncle Richard III., in these words: