Page:Devon and Cornwall Queries Vol 9 1917.djvu/247

Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries. 191 for Gold : for it, men have venterd (by Sea) to the furthest parts of the Earth : In the Pursute whereof, England's Nestor and Neptune (Haukins and Drake) lost their Hues. Vpon the Deathes of the which two, of the first I writ thus : The Waters were his Winding sheete, the Sea was made his Toome ; Yet for his fame the Ocean Sea, was not sufficient roome. Of the latter this :— England his hart; his Corps the Waters hatie ; And that which raysed his fame, became his grave." R. Pearse Chope. 160. The Devonian Year Book for 1917. — We have received an advance copy of this work, which, as usual, is full of interesting matter. Want of space prevents our reviewing the contents of the volume, but we have much pleasure in drawing the attention of our readers to it, and heartily congratulate Mr. R. Pearse Chope, the Editor, on its production. Eds. 161. " Crowned." Curious Entry from Kingsbridge Parish Register (IX., p. 159, par. 130). — Had " Extractus" been a native of Somerset, he would have heard the word in continual use. An inquest is never held in rural Somerset — the body is always "crowned," i.e., the Coroner holds his court of inquiry into the cause of death. Does " Extractus " not recollect the repeated use of the word by Shakespeare ? "The crowner hath set on her, and finds it Christian burial." Hamlet, v., i. " But is this law ? Ay, marry, is't : crowner's quest law." Ibid. " Go thou and seek the crowner, and let him sit o' my coz : for he's in the third degree of drink, he's drowned." Twelfth Night, i, v. From the earliest time the chief function of a coroner was to hold an inquest in view of the body in case of death from violence or accident, or those who died in prison. Coroners are first clearly named in the Articles of the Eyre of 1 194. The derivation of the name that designates the office of Coroner is that of " Custos placitorum coronas " — (Guardian of the pleas of the Crown) — a fact that is still preserved in the popular term of " Crowner," which is used in Somerset to this day. In Smith's Commonwealth, b. ii., c. 24, will be found the following : — " Coroner is one chosen by the prince of the meaner sort of gentlemen, and for the most