English Bishops deprived by Queen Elizabeth, 1559.—Mr. Dredge's list (Vol. vi., p. 203.) was very acceptable and interesting; but he has left unanswered several points regarding these bishops. 1. Bishop Scot's death is given as at Louvain, but not the period when it occurred. 2. Bishop Bayne is merely said to have "died at Islington in 1560," month unnoticed. 3. Bishop Goldwell is "said to have died shortly afterwards (1580) at Rome," while I gave my authority as to his being still alive in the year 1584 (Vol. vi., p. 100.). 4. Bishop Pate is said to have also "died at Louvain," but no date is mentioned. 5. Bishop Pole "died in 1568." Is neither the place nor month known? In conclusion, with regard to the "English bishops deprived, 1691," only the years of the deaths of Bishops Frampton and White are stated. I trust Mr. Dredge, if he sees this, will forgive my being so minute and particular in my inquiries on the above points, and kindly recollect that I am far away from all public libraries and sources of information. For the replies he has so readily afforded, I am very grateful indeed.

A. S. A.

Wuzzeerabad.

John Williams of Southwark, Esq. (elder brother of Morgan Williams, who married a daughter of Walter Cromwell of Putney, from whom descended Oliver Cromwell: Jones's Brecknockshire, vol. ii. p. 111.).—Will you, or either of your readers, oblige me with some account of the male descendants of such John Williams; or of John Williams ("heir to the paternal estate" of such Morgan Williams: Waring's Recollections of Iolo Morganwg, p. 162.) and his male descendants, or any references to such account?

Glywysig.

"A Screw."—Why should a broken-down horse be called "a screw?" Is it because he has "a screw loose," or because a force equivalent to the screw-propeller must be applied to make him go? This was discussed at a hunting dinner the other evening, and the guests could arrive at no satisfactory conclusion: neither could they agree as to the definite meaning that should be assigned to "screw," and what description of horse came under that very condemnatory designation. Perhaps "N. & Q." can assist them to a proper meaning.

Cuthbert Bede, B.A.

Tanner's MSS.—In a collection of MSS. relative to Eton College, in Birch and Sloane Collection, British Museum, mention is made of Tanner's MSS., which, at the time these MSS. on Eton were collected (1736), were in the Picture Gallery at Oxford. Are these the MSS. inquired for by your correspondent in Vol. vi., p. 434.?

E. G. B.

The Westminster Assembly of Divines.—On the cover of A Collection of Confessions of Faith, &c., of the Church of Scotland, in my possession, is the following memorandum:

"The minutes of the Westminster Assembly are yet reserved in private hands."—Calamy's Abridgment of Baxter's Life, p. 85.

In Dr. Williams's Library, Redcross Street, there is part of a journal; but Neal, in his History of the Puritans (preface), tells us—

"The records of this Assembly were burnt in the Fire of London."

Strype, preface to Lightfoot's Remains, says:

"A journal of the various debates among the learned men in the Westminster Assembly, was diligently kept by Dr. Lightfoot."

And Strype tells us he had seen it.

I shall be much obliged to any of your readers who can inform me where this journal, or any other, of the proceedings of the Assembly can be procured?

Joseph Stansbury.

The Witch Countess of Morton.—Can any one give me any information about a Countess of Morton who was called "The Witch?" Her picture is at Dalmahoy.

L. M. M. R.

Mary, Daughter of King James I. of Scotland.—This princess is stated to have been married to the Count de Boucquan, son of the Lord of Campoere in Zealand, and she had at least one son, born 1451: any information as to her husband's family, her own death, &c. is requested; for all notitia of our royal princesses are interesting.

A. S. A.

Wuzzeerabad.

Hibernicis Hibernior.—Whence, and what the proper form of this proverbial expression?

W. T. M.

Hong Kong.

The Cucking-stool, when last used.—Can any of the correspondents of "N. & Q." inform me of the latest period at which this instrument of punishment for scolds is recorded to have been used in England? The most recent instance mentioned by Brand was at Kingston-upon-Thames, in 1745. In Leicester, however (and probably elsewhere), the practice continued to a much later period, as appears by the following entry in our municipal accounts for the year 1768-69:

"Paid Mr. Elliott for a cuckstool by order of Hall, 2l."

I have been informed by an octogenarian inhabitant of this town, that he recollects, when a boy, seeing the cucking-stool placed, as a mark of disgrace, against the residence of a notorious scold; and the fact of this use of it here at so comparatively recent a period has been confirmed by another aged person, so that this practice probably obtained for some years after the punishment by immersion, or exposure upon the cucking-stool, had fallen into desuetude.

Did a similar use of the instrument prevail in other places about the same period?

I may mention that an ancient cucking-stool is still preserved in our town-hall.

Leicestriensis.

Grafts and the Parent Tree.—Is there any ground for a belief that is said to prevail among horticulturists, that the graft perishes when the parent tree decays?

J. P.

Birmingham.

Conway Family.—Is it true that Sir William Konias (founder of the Conway family) was Lord High Constable of England under William the Conqueror? The Welsh pedigrees in the British Museum assert as much, and that he married Isabel, daughter of Baldwin, Earl of Blois; but it does not appear that there was a Count of Blois of that name.

Ursula.

Salt.—Dugdale, in his Antiquities of Warwickshire, p. 294., speaking of the town of Leamington, says:

"All that is further observable touching this place is, that nigh to the east end of the church there is a spring of salt water (not above a stone's throw from the river Leame), whereof the inhabitants make much use for seasoning of meat."

Was salt a scarce article in the midland counties in those days?

When and where was the first salt-mine established in England?

Erica.

Geological Query.—Can any of your geological readers inform me what is the imagined reason that there is no increase of temperature in Scandinavia (as there is everywhere else) in descending into mines?

M—a L.

Wandering Jew.—I am anxious to learn the authority on which this celebrated myth rests. I am aware of the passage in John's Gospel (xxi. 21, 22, 23.), but I cannot think that there is no other foundation for such an extraordinary belief. Perhaps on the continent some legend may exist. My object in inquiring is to discover whether EugÈne Sue's Wandering Jew is purely a fictitious character, or whether he had any, and, if any, what authority or tradition on which to found it.

Tee Bee.

Frescheville Family.—In what work may be found the tradition, that the heir of the family of the House of Frescheville never dies in his bed?

F. K.

The Wednesday Club.—Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." refer me to any notice of this club, which existed about a century back in the city of London?

Charles Reed.

Paternoster Row.

Oratories.—In a parish in the county of Essex there is a pretty little brick chapel, or "oratory," as it is called there, with a priest's house attached at the west end, of about the thirteenth century; the length of both chapel and house being thirty feet, and the width fifteen. There is also a field called "Priest's Close," which was probably the endowment.

Can any of your correspondents inform me if there are many such places of worship in England, and, if so, to mention some, and where any accounts of them may be found?

It is quite clear that this oratory had no connexion with the parish church, being a mile distant, and seems more likely to have been erected and endowed for the purpose of having mass celebrated there for the repose of the founder's soul?

M. F. D.

Arms of De Turneham.—Can any of your readers inform me what were the armorial bearings of Sir Stephen de Turneham, who in the year 1192 was employed by Richard I. to escort his queen Berengaria from Acre to Naples? The writer would also be glad to obtain any particulars of the family and history of this brave knight, who seems to have possessed the entire confidence of his sovereign, the redoubtable "Coeur de Lion." Probably he belonged to the same family as Michael de Turneham, the owner of estates at Brockley, near Deptford, and at Begeham (the modern Bayham), on the borders of Sussex, in the reign of Henry II., whose nephew, Sir Robert de Turneham, appears to have been distinguished in the Crusade under Richard I. Might not Stephen and Robert be brothers? Did they leave descendants? And, if so, when did the family become extinct? Was it this Robert de Turneham whose wife was Joanna Fossard, who, about the year 1200, founded the Priory of Grosmont, near Whitby, in Yorkshire?

John Thornholme, of Gowthorpe, near York, to whom arms were granted Sept. 11, 1563, was probably not of the same family? These arms are—On a shield argent, three thorn-trees vert. Crest: On a mount vert, a tower argent. Motto: "Probitas verus honos."

Any particulars as to the early and subsequent history of this last-named family would also be valuable.

T.

Poisons.—What are supposed to have been the poisons used for bouquets, gloves, &c., in the time of Catherine de Medici, and her friend RenÉ?

H. A. B.

Open Seats or Pews in Churches.—Mr. Barr (Anglican Church Architecture: Oxford, Parker, 1846) gives measurements, as by experience, found most convenient for many parts of this description of church fitting; but he gives not the length of each sitting, or, in other words, the space, measured along the length of the bench, that should be allowed for each person. Neither does he give the height nor the breadth of the flat board to rest the elbows on when kneeling, or to place the books upon, which he proposes to substitute for the common sloping bookboard. Neither does he appear to have paid any attention to the disposal of the hats with which every male worshipper must, I fear, continue to be encumbered, and which I like not to see impaled on the poppy-heads, nor plied on the font, nor to feel against my knees when I sit down, nor against my feet when I kneel. If any of your correspondents could name a church in the open seats of which these things have been attended to, and well done, I should be much disposed to go and study it as a model for imitation; and if satisfied with it, I should want little persuasion for commencing the destruction of my old manor pew, and the fixing of open seats on its site.

Regedonum.

Burial of unclaimed Corpse.—In the parish of Markshall, near Norwich, is a piece of land now belonging to the adjoining village of Keswick. Tradition states that it was once a part of Markshall Heath; but, at the enclosure, the parishioners of Keswick claimed and obtained it, because some years before they had interred the body of a murdered man found there; the expenses of whose funeral the rate-payers of Markshall had inhumanly refused to defray. I think I have somewhere read a similar statement respecting a portion of Battersea Fields. Can either of these cases be authenticated; or is there any law or custom which would assign a portion of a common to a parish which paid for the burial of a corpse found on it?

E. G. R.

Minor Queries with Answers.

Sir John Powell—the judge who tried the seven bishops. Where was he buried? i.e. where is his epitaph (which is given in Heber's Life Of Jeremy Taylor) to be seen?

A. C. R.

[He was buried on September 26, 1696, in the chancel of the church of Langharne, in Carmarthenshire, where there is a tablet to his memory, with a Latin inscription, recording that he was a pupil of Jeremy Taylor. The Judge had a residence in the parish.]