Bickerton or de Bickerton.—Information wanted respecting the Bickerton family, formerly of Bickerton, Cheshire. Please reply direct. H. S. Jones.
Pictures from Kitterick.—In an old catalogue of pictures in. a country house I visit is the following separate entry, "Pictures from Kitterick," followed by the description of a dozen pictures and the prices given for them. Was Kitterick the name of a picture-dealer or of a place? The owner of the pictures does not know.
Addleshaw.—I shall be glad if any of the readers of 'N. & Q.' can give me information as to the history, meaning, and derivation of the above name. Hillside.
"Druce" or "Druice," Lane-Name.—Can any of your readers kindly explain the origin and meaning of this word and the correct way of spelling it? It is the name given to a lane leading from a main road, and running parallel with a river. A. M.
M. Gordon, Minor Poet.—In 1836 a volume of poems by M. Gordon, A.M., was published by W. E. Painter, 342, Strand, with a portrait of the author. Who was he?
H.M.S. Beaver, 1828.—Can any one give me information respecting H.M.S. Beaver about 1828? I find there was a sloop of that name mentioned in 'The Kentish Companion' for 1780, but of course it could not be the same ship. Was there a vessel so named at Navarino in 1827? G. H. W.
"Falsehood of extremes."—Can any reader give me the origin of this phrase? I have tried many quotation books with no success. H. T. Cox.
'The Allied Armies before Sebastopol.'—Can any reader oblige me by stating the whereabouts of a key-plate to this large engraving, published by Agnew & Browne in 1859? J. Fitzpatrick.
"Blow the cobwebs away."—When taking a walk on a windy day one frequently hears the remark, "This will blow the cobwebs out of your head," referring, doubtless, to the invigorating effect of bracing air. Quite recently in a Staffordshire village I heard an old lady assert that the wind would blow the cobwebs out of the "hedges." Further inquiry elicited the information that it is bad for cattle to be out in the open when cobwebs appear in the hedges; consequently farmers would welcome the breezes that would remove such evil signs. Would it not appear, therefore, that this is the origin of the modern saying, "head" being a contraction of "hedges"?
Polish Dragoons: "Jager."—1. Was the term "Polish Dragoons" used in the middle of last century to mean, generally, heavy armed troops?
2. Is the German word "Jager" or "Yager" (hunter) now used, or was it so used in the middle of last century as a military term (? to mean light armed troops)?
Philip Thicknesse: Automaton Chess-Player.—George Walker in his 'New Treatise of Chess' (3rd ed., 1841) and the 'D.N.B.' state that Thicknesse was the author of 'The Speaking Figure, and the Automaton Chess-Player, Exposed and Detected' (London, 1784). What is their authority for this statement? The book was published anonymously.
Where could I see a copy of 'Observations on the Automaton Chess-Player, now exhibited in London, at Spring Gardens,' by an Oxford Graduate, London, 1819?
Barnard & Staples, Bankers of Cornhill.—I should be glad to know if there was such a firm of bankers in Cornhill during the latter half of the eighteenth century. A Roger Staples (or Stables), banker, died in 1778; was he Barnard's partner? Had the Staples any connexion with the North of England families of this name? A Josiah Barnard, banker, of Cornhill, died in 1809, who was, I suppose, connected with the business. If there is a pedigree of the Barnard family in which Josiah Barnard is mentioned, perhaps some reader will kindly inform me of it, as I should like to know if he had any connexion with the Leeds family of this name. Have the following facts relating to the Leeds Barnards been amplified in any publication? They are obtained from the Wilson MSS.:—
"Thomas Barnard, married 17 June, 1757. … daughter … of Resenhazen (?) of Isleworth in Middlesex. This Thomas was Fellow of St. John's College, Cambs, chaplain to the Duchess of Somerset, Rector of Newmarket, and Rector of Wethersfield in Suffolk."
