The Withered Hand and Motto "Utinam."—At Compton Park, near Salisbury, the seat of the Penruddocke family, there is a three-quarter length picture, in the Velasquez style, of a gentleman in a rich dress of black velvet, with broad lace frill and cuffs, and ear-rings, probably of the latter part of Queen Elizabeth's reign. His right hand, which he displays somewhat prominently, is withered. The left one is a-kimbo, and less seen. In the upper part of the painting is the single Latin word "UTINAM" (O that!). There is no tradition as to who this person was. Any suggestion on the subject would gratify

J.

History of York.—Who is the author of a History of York, in 2 vols., published at that city in 1788 by T. Wilson and R. Spence, High Ousegate? I have seen it in several shops, and heard it attributed to Drake; and obtained it the other day from an extensive library in Bristol, in the Catalogue of which it is styled Drake's Eboracum. Several allusions in the first volume to his work, however, render it impossible to be ascribed to him. It is dedicated to the Right Honourable Sir William Mordaunt Milner, of Nunappleton, Bart., who was mayor at the time.

R. W. Elliot.

Clifton.

"Hauling over the coals."—What is the origin and meaning of the phrase, "Hauling one over the coals;" and where does it first appear?

Faber.

Dr. Butler and St. Edmund's Bury.—Can any of your readers give me any information respecting the Mr. or Dr. Butler, of St. Edmund's Bury, referred to in the extracts from the Post Boy and Gough's Topography, quoted by Mr. Ballard in Vol. vii., p. 617.?

Buriensis.

Washington.—Anecdotes relative to General Washington, President of the United States, intended for a forthcoming work on the "Homes of American Statesmen," will be gratefully received for the author by

Joseph Stansbury.

26. Parliament Street.

Norman of Winster.—Can any of your correspondents afford information bearing on the family of Norman of Winster, county of Derby?

"John Norman of Winster, county of Derby, married, in 1715 or 1716, to Jane (maiden name particularly wanted). The said J. Norman married again in 1723, to Mary" (maiden name wanted also).

I shall be particularly obliged to any one affording such information.

W.

Sir Arthur Aston.—I shall be much obliged, should any of your very numerous correspondents be able to inform me in which part or parish, of the county of Berkshire, the celebrated cavalier Sir Arthur Aston resided upon his return from the foreign wars in which he had been for so many years engaged; and previously to the rupture between Charles I. and the Houses of Parliament.

I believe one of his daughters, about the same period, married a gentleman residing in the same county: also that George Tattersall, Esq., of Finchampstead, a family of consideration in the same county of Berkshire, was a near relative.

Chartham.

"Jamieson the Piper."—I am anxious to ascertain who was the author of the above ditty; it was very popular in Aberdeenshire about the beginning of this century. The scene, if I remember rightly, is laid in the parish of Forgue, in Aberdeenshire. Possibly some of the members of the Spalding Club may be able to enlighten me on the subject.

Bathensis.

"Keiser Glomer."—I have a Danish play entitled Keiser Glomer, Frit oversatte af det Kyhlamske vech C. Bredahl: Kiobenhavn, 1834. It is a mixture of tragedy and farce: the former occasionally good, the latter poor buffoonery. In the notes, readings of the old MS. are referred to with apparent seriousness; but Gammel Gumba's Saga is quoted in a manner that seems burlesque. I cannot find the word "Kyhlam" in any dictionary. Can any of your readers tell me whether it signifies a real country, or is a mere fiction? The work does not read like a translation; and, if one, the number of modern allusions show that it is not, as it professes to be, from an ancient manuscript.

M. M. E.

Tieck's Comoedia Divina.—I copied the following lines six years ago from a review in a Munich newspaper of Batornicki's UngÖttliche ComÖdie. They were cited as from Tieck's suppressed (zurÜckgezogen) satire, La ComÖdie Divina, from which Batornicki was accused of plundering freely, thinking that, from its variety, he would not be detected:

I omitted to note the paper, but preserved the lines as remarkable. I have since tried to find some account of La Divina Comedia, but in vain. It is not noticed in any biography of Tieck. Can any of your readers tell me what it is, or who wrote it?

M. M. E.

Fossil Trees between Cairo and Suez—Stream like that in Bay of Argastoli.—Can any of your readers oblige me by stating where the best information may be met with concerning the very remarkable fossil trees on the way from Cairo to Suez? And, if there has yet been discovered any other stream or rivulet running from the ocean into the land similar to that in the Bay of Argastoli in the Island of Cephalonia?

H. M.

Presbyterian Titles (Vol. v., p. 516.).—Where may be found a list of "the quaint and uncouth titles of the old Presbyterians?"

P. J. F. Gantillon, B.A.

Mayors and Sheriffs.—Can you or any of your readers inform me which ought to be considered the principal officer, or which is the most important, and which ought to have precedence of the other, the mayor of a town or borough, or the sheriff of a town or borough? and is the mayor merely the representative of the town, and the sheriff of the Queen; and if so, ought not the representative of majesty to be considered more honourable than the representative of merely a borough; and can a sheriff of a borough claim to have a grant of arms, if he has not any previous?

A Subscriber.

Nottingham.

The Beauty of Buttermere.—In an article contributed by Coleridge to the Morning Post (vid. Essays on his own Times, vol. ii. p. 591.), he says:

"It seems that there are some circumstances attending her birth and true parentage, which would account for her striking superiority in mind and manners, in a way extremely flattering to the prejudices of rank and birth."

What are the circumstances alluded to?

R. W. Elliot.

Clifton.

Sheer Hulk.—Living in a maritime town, and hearing nautical terms frequently used, I had always supposed this term to mean an old vessel, with sheers, or spars, erected upon it, for the purpose of masting and unmasting ships, and was led to attribute the use of it, by Sir W. Scott and other writers, for a vessel totally dismasted, to their ignorance of the technical terms. But of late it has been used in the latter sense by a writer in the United Service Magazine professing to be a nautical man. I still suspect that this use of the word is wrong, and should be glad to hear on the subject from any of your naval readers.

I believe that the word "buckle" is still used in the dockyards, and among seamen, to signify to "bend" (see "N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 375.), though rarely.

J. S. Warden.

The Lapwing or Peewitt (Vanellus cristatus).—Can any of your correspondents, learned in natural history, throw any light upon the meaning in the following line relative to this bird?—

In the first line the allusion is to the berries of the hawthorn; but what the lapwing has to do with the vine, I am at a loss to know. Having forgotten whence I copied the above lines, perhaps some one will favor me with the author's name.

J. B. Whitborne.

"Could we with ink," &c.—Could you, or any of your numerous and able correspondents, inform me who is the bon fide author of the following lines?—

Naphtali.

Launching Query.—With reference to the accident to H.M.S. CÆsar at Pembroke, I would ask, Is there any other instance of a ship, on being launched, stopping on the ways, and refusing to move in spite of all efforts to start her?

A. B.

Manliness.—Query, What is the meaning of the word as used in "N. & Q.," Vol. viii., p. 94., col. 2. l. 12.

Anonymous.