Norwich, Kirkpatrick Collection of MSS. for the History of.—Mr. Simon Wilkin, in the preface to the Repertorium, contained in his fourth volume of his valuable edition of the works of Sir Thomas Browne, p. 4., having spoken of the large collections for the History of Norwich made by Mr. John Kirkpatrick, who died in 1728, and gave the said collections by will to the mayor, sheriffs, citizens, and commonalty of the city of Norwich, in order that "some citizen hereafter, being a skilful antiquary, may, from the same, have an opportunity of completing and publishing the said history," &c., goes on to say, "the MSS. referred to were some years ago in the possession of the corporation, but we fear the original intention of the donor has been lost sight of, and that these valuable MSS. are for ever lost to the lover of local antiquities." This was printed in 1835. But the subject ought not to be permitted to drop and rest there. Up to that date, can it be ascertained that the papers remained in the keeping of the Corporation? Are they still in their hands, though inaccessible? Can any information be obtained as to the when and the how they passed out of their possession? Or, above all, can any clue be found to their subsequent history and present resting-place? It may be suggested to any patriotic citizen and antiquary of the fair city of Norwich, that, inasmuch as the Corporation, by the terms of the will, are only trustees for the property, the Court of Chancery might be moved to assist in the recovery thereof.

T. A. T.

Florence, March, 1854.

Corbet.—Can any of your readers furnish information relative to the Scottish family of Corbet, one member of whom emigrated to America, about the year 1705, from the neighbourhood of Dumfries?

Corbie.

Philadelphia.

Initials in Glass Quarries.—In St. Clement's Church, Norwich, are some diamond-shaped panes of glass, or quarries, containing initial letters, &c.

1. The letters I. V. beneath a mitre. (Glass probably about A.D. 1600.) Do these belong to any Bishop of Norwich?

2. A. A. 3. A. I. Glass and style probably give 1500-1550 for the date.

At St. Neots' parish church, Huntingdonshire, the initials W. and M. interlaced, G., and C., occur on several quarries.

At Puttenham, Hertfordshire, is a broken quarry bearing a shield, charged with a ship in full sail; on a chief, the arms of King's Coll. Cambridge. The living belongs to that college, I believe.

Can any of your correspondents assist in assigning these initials and arms to their respective owners? The date of the glass in the two last-named cases is probably the end of the seventeenth century.

G. R. York.

Church Service: Preliminary Texts.—Among the texts with which the Church of England Service commences, is one with two references; the former of these is the correct index to the words, the latter points to a kindred text. At Jer. x. 24. we find the passage; then why is Ps. vi. 1. added, no parallel text being indicated to any of the other ten? Has this always so stood?

W. T. M.

Hong Kong.

The Spinning-machine of the Ancients.—Can any of your readers give a satisfactory explanation of the difficult passage which occurs at the end of Catullus' Epithalamium, containing the description of the spinning-wheel of the Fates? As this has been such a perplexing subject hitherto to commentators, a solution of the terms there employed, illustrated by a plan of the machine, would doubtless be a boon to many who have unsuccessfully tried to understand it.

F???a???.

View of Dumfries.—I have a modern lithographed view of the town of Dumfries, said to have been taken from an old engraving in some printed book. It represents a small chapel (the Crystal Chapel) on a height in the foreground, and the walls of the town and the old church behind. I have in vain sought for the original, and have almost come to the conclusion that the drawing is a forgery. Can any of your readers who have access to the Bodleian, inform me whether anything of the kind is to be found in Gough's Topographical Collections, which are there deposited?

Balivus.

Edinburgh.

"To pass the pikes."—What is the origin of this phrase?

G. Taylor.

May-day Custom.—Can any of your correspondents inform me of the origin of a singular custom which prevails in Huntingdonshire on May 1, viz. that of suspending from a rope, which is hung across the road in every village, a doll with pieces of gay-coloured silk and ribbon, and no matter what, attached to it; candlesticks and snuffers, spoons and forks, being parts of those I saw the other day in Summersham, St. Ives, and several other places.

Henrietta M. Cole.

3. Gloucester Crescent, Hyde Park.

Maydenburi.—The seal with which I close my letter was purchased some years ago on the west coast of Wales. It is engraved on brass; the upper part being much beaten down, as if struck with a hammer when used, but the face is perfect. The legend is, "S. IONIS. DE MAYDENBVRI:" but being engraved in the usual direction, it reads on the impression from right to left. The "s." may be read either as "sanctus" or "sigillum." The figure is that of St. Christopher, bearing Christ across a running stream.

I have not been able to discover the locality of Maydenburi, and therefore my questions to such of your readers as are more skilled in mediÆval lore than myself, are, Where is this place situated, and what was its previous destination, monastic or otherwise? and who was the original proprietor of the seal?

H. E. S.

Tewkesbury.

Richard Fitz-Alan, ninth Earl of Arundel.—Can any one tell me why Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, who married Eleanora, daughter of Henry Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster, relict of Henry Lord Beaumont, received the sobriquet of "Richard with the Copped Hat?"

H. M.

French Refugees.—During the time of the French Revolution, 1789-1800, many families emigrated to England, and received shelter and support at an hospital then situate in Spital Fields. I should feel obliged for any information relating to the books or registers of that hospital wherein would be found the names of the emigrants, and also whether there is any publication relating to them.

J. F. F.

Dublin.

"Dilamgabendi."—What is the precise meaning of the word Dilamgabendi; is it of ancient British origin, or to what language does it belong?

A Traveller.

Mr. Plumley.—In the Literary Intelligencer for March, 1822, No. 131., in an article entitled "Extremes Meet," it is said:

"Mr. Plumley concludes one of his tragedies with a dying speech and an execution. And gives an appendix of references to the passages of Scripture quoted in his plays."

Who was Mr. Plumley, and what did he write? I cannot find any book to which the above passage can refer in the British Museum.

C. L.

Designation of Works under Review.—I shall be much indebted to the Editor of "N. & Q.," or to any of his correspondents, if he or they will inform me of the designation under which the works, whose names stand at the head of a review, should be technically referred to by the reviewer.

C. Mansfield Ingleby.

Birmingham.

North-west Passage.—In 1612, Captain Thomas Button made a voyage to discover the north-west passage, and was afterwards knighted by King James. Can any of your readers refer me to a pedigree, or other particulars, of Sir Thomas Button's family? They appear to have been seated at Duffryn, in Glamorganshire, as early as the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Sir Thomas' daughter Ann married General Rowland Langharne, of St. Bride's, Pembrokeshire, a noted character in the civil war.

Notary.

Fountains.—Will some kind reader obligingly state the names of any works that give representations or descriptions of foreign fountains?

Aquarius.

Pope and John Dennis.—What is the authority for the universal assumption that Pope wrote The Narrative of Dr. Robert Norris? It is said, in the notes to the Dunciad, to have been published in Swift and Pope's Miscellanies, vol. iii. This does not prove that Pope wrote it. Farther, it is not in the third volume of the Miscellanies as republished in 1731. What are the facts?

P. J. D.