Page:Devon and Cornwall Queries Vol 9 1917.djvu/235

Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries. 179 bears on the obverse a savin tree with the date 1660. On the reverse the arms of Sir Wm. Strode and his second wife Blanche, daughter of Wm. Kekewich, of Catchfrench, Co. Cornwall — Ar. 2 lyons in bend passant sable cotised or. The lady was baptized 27th July, 1627; married 13th October, 1647, at St. Germans ; buried gth October, 1665, at Plympton St. Mary. For what purpose the medal was struck is not apparent. It may have commemorated the knighthood of Strode or his return to Parliament, both of which events occurred in 1660; or it may have been a servant's badge, though no trace of any loop or other means of fastening remains. It is pro- bably of native metal, Sir William having discovered mines of lead, tin and loadstone in the neighbourhood, specimens of which he brought to show the Grand Duke of Tuscany when His Highness Cosmo III. visited Plymouth in 1669. E. L. Radford. 146. Crest of Strode (IX., p. 128, par. no). — Far from being a rarity the savin tree (Juniperus sabina) is widely distributed and well-known in this country, and many of its species would undoubtedly find a place in any average collection of ornamental shrubs. Probably the best known species of Sabma are procumbens, prostrata, variegata, and tamariscifolia, and they would be best described as low- growing evergreen coniferous shrubs suitable for rock gardens. In habit and foliage the Juniper family are rather dissimilar, and one can readily understand those species bearing awl or needle-like foliage being erroneously classed with the yew, a characteristic most marked in Juniperus Sanderi, one of the gems of the Juniper family. Their compact growth, dark-coloured foliage, and small berries with a glaucous bloom, would alone ensure their perpetuation as plants of decorative worth, but if we add to this the value of their bitter acrid tops in the preparation of medicines for many and varied ailments, their yielding an oil resembling turpentine, and also their clandestine use in cases of abortion, we think we have shown that the savin tree as known by that name is scarcely so obscure^ imagined. J. W. T. 147. Sir Nathaniel Herne (IX., p. 159, par. 132). — In reply to the questions about Sir Nathaniel Herne I beg to say : — Sir Nathaniel Herne was the son of Nicholas and