Local Rhymes, Norfolk.—

Z. E. R.

"Hobson's Choice."—I, the other day, in a paper of 1737, came upon the inclosed, if of interest sufficient for insertion in "N. & Q.:"

"Upon the mention of Mr. Freeman being appointed one of the four horse carriers to the university of Cambridge, we had the following paragraph:—'This was the office that old Hobson enjoyed, in which he acquired so large a fortune as enabled him to leave the town that ever-memorable legacy the conduit, that stands on the Market Hill, with an estate to keep it perpetually in repair. The same person gave rise to the well-known adage, 'Hobson's choice—this or none;' founded upon his management in business. He used to keep, it seems, hackney horses, that he let out to young gentlemen of the university, with whose characters being well acquainted, he suited his beast to its rider, who upon a dislike was sure to receive that answer from him, 'This or none.'"

J. W. G. G.

Khond Fable.—The following is a free version of a fable current among the Khonds of Oriosa, of whom a very interesting account is given by Captain Macpherson in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1852:

"A mosquito was seated on the horn of a bull, and fearing that his weight might be oppressive to the quadruped, he politely accosted him, begging that, if he felt any inconvenience, he would mention it, and professing himself ready, in that case, to remove to some other position. The bull replied, 'O mosquito, so far are you from oppressing me with your weight, that I was not even aware of your existence.'"

The moral of this is common enough, but is the fable found elsewhere in a similar form?

J. C. R.

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Bart.—As those who have read the deeply interesting memoirs of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton are aware, he was placed at a school in Donnybrook in the year 1802, and shortly after "entered" the University of Dublin. His success in that seat of learning, where able competitors were many in number, was brilliant; for "on the 14th of April in the same year [1807], he received his thirteenth premium, and also the highest honour of the university,—the gold medal. With these distinctions, and the four silver medals from the Historical Society, he prepared to return to England." In fact, so high did his character stand, that a proposal was made to him by the electors (which, however, he deemed it prudent to decline) to come forward as a candidate for the representation of the university in the imperial parliament, and good grounds were given him to expect a triumphant return.

Now, this man was doubtless an honour to the "silent(?) sister" in Ireland; and, as an Irishman, I feel some little degree of pride in our having educated him so well for his subsequent career. With surprise, then, do I find, on referring to the Dublin University Calendar for the present year, the name of a "Mr. John Powell Buxton" in the list of gold medallists. The editor appears to be sadly ignorant of the proper person, and cannot lay the blunder at the printer's door, having very unaccountably repeated it from year to year. I have taken the trouble of examining many volumes of the Calendar.

Abhba

Anagrams.—I beg to forward the following:

(He was the librarian at Florence, about the end of the sixteenth century). This name makes—

In the poems of some Jesuit father (Bacchusius, I think) the following rather offensive one is mentioned, on the celebrated father Costerus:

i.e.

Philobiblion.