  Canon and Prebendary.—What is the difference between a canon and a prebend or prebendary in a cathedral, or a collegiate church establishment? [The distinction seems to be this, that a prebendary is one who possesses a prebend, which formerly a canon might or might not hold. Subsequently, when canons received prebends for their support, the two classes became confounded; the one, however, is a name of office (canon), the other of emolument (prebendary).
So much for the origin of canons. As to prebendaries:
In the Quare Impedit of Mallory, the distinction is thus expressed:—
What Amount of Property constitutes an Esquire?—The practice of subjoining "Esquire" to the names of persons has become so universal, that the real significance of the title is quite lost sight of. Will some one of your correspondents inform me what amount of property really constitutes an Esquire? [No fixed amount of property is a qualification for the title or rank of Esquire. For the description of persons so entitled to be designated, see Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. i.; and the later the edition, the greater advantage W.L. will have in the notes and remarks of the latest law writers.] Cromwell Family.—Will some of your correspondents be so good as to inform me, to whom the children (sons and daughters) of Oliver Cromwell's daughter Bridget were married, those by her first marriage with Ireton as well as those by her second marriage with Fleetwood. I can learn but the marriage of one: Ireton's daughter Bridget married a Mr. Bendyshe. [Cromwell's daughter, Bridget, who was relict of Henry Ireton, married Charles Fleetwood of Armingland Hall, Norfolk, and Stoke Newington, Middlesex: she died, 1681, without any issue by Fleetwood. See Fleetwood's pedigree in No. IX. of the Bibl. Topog. Britannica, pp. 28, 29. By her first husband, Henry Ireton, to whom she was married in 1646, she had one son and four daughters, of whom a full account will be Daughters of the Sixth Earl of Lennox.—J.W. wishes for information as to who married, or what became of the daughters and granddaughters of Charles Stuart, the sixth Earl of Lennox, and brother of Darnley? [The brother of Darnley (the husband of Mary Queen of Scots) was Charles, fifth earl of Lennox, who left an only daughter, the interesting and oppressed Lady Arabella Stuart, as every common Peerage will state.] Wife of Joseph Nicholson.—Any information as to who was the wife of Joseph Nicholson, who resided in London the latter part of the seventeenth century, would much oblige one of his descendants. He was second son of the Rev. Joseph Nicholson, rector of Plumland, Cumberland, who was married to Mary Miser, of Crofton. His eldest brother was Dr. Wm. Nicholson, Bishop of Carlisle, afterwards Bishop of Derry, and died there 1727. The bishop's nephew, Rev. James Nicholson, son of the above Joseph, came to Ireland as chaplain to his uncle, and became rector of Ardrahan, co. Galway, and died there about 1776. [If our correspondent will refer to the title-page of the Bishop's celebrated work, The English, Scotch, and Irish Historical Libraries, as well as to his correspondence with Thoresby, the Leeds antiquary, he will find his name spelt Nicolson, without the letter h. This deserves to be noted, as there was another Dr. William Nicholson, consecrated Bishop of Gloucester, A.D. 1660.] Six Abeiles.—In Mrs. Barrett Browning's beautiful poem, Rhyme of the Duchess May, the following lines occur: "Six abeiles i' the kirkyard grow, On the northside in a row." Will you or some of your readers kindly inform me what abeiles are. From the context, they would seem to be some kind of tree, but what tree I cannot discover. Monkstown, co. Cork, Feb. 18. 1851. [Bailey, in his Dictionary, says, "An abele-tree is a fine kind of white poplar." See also Chambers' CyclopÆdia.] Southey.—There is a jeu d'esprit attributed to Southey, on the expedition of Napoleon into Russia, beginning,— "Buonaparte must needs set out On a summer's excursion to Moscow," and ending,— "But there's a place which he must go to, Where the fire is red, and the brimstone blue, Sacre-bleu, ventre-bleu, He'll find it hotter than Moscow." I know this was printed, for I saw it when a boy. Where can it be found? [See "The March to Moscow," in Southey's Poetical Works, p. 464., edit. 1850.] Epigram against Burke.—Can any reader supply me with some lines of great asperity against Edmund Burke, excited (I believe) by the unrelenting hostility exhibited by Burke against Warren Hastings? The sting of the epigram is contained in the last line, which, alluding to the exemption of Ireland from all poisonous reptiles, runs as follows:— "And saved her venom to create a Burke." And if the said lines shall be forthcoming, I should be glad also to be informed of their reputed author. [The following epigram, thrown to Burke in court, and torn by him to shreds, has been always attributed to Mr. Law (Lord Ellenborough), but erroneously:— "Oft have we wonder'd that on Irish ground No poisonous reptile has e'er yet been found; Reveal'd the secret stands of nature's work, She saved her venom to create a Burke." The real author was one Williams, notorious for his nom de guerre, Anthony Pasquin.—Townsend's History of Twelve Eminent Judges.] Knights Hospitallers.—Where may a correct list be found of the names of the several persons who held the appointment of Master of the Knights Hospitallers in England, from the period of their first coming until the dissolution of their houses? [See Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, new edition, vol. vi. pp. 796-798.] |
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