10 s. XL MAY s, 1909.J NOTES AND QUERIES.
369
A small oval ' Portrait of John, Second ' was a Frenchman, born c. 1764-5, stationed
Viscount Bateman,' which was contributed i first in Scotland, then in England. His last
by Lord Bateman to the Burlington House
Exhibition of 1881 (No. 40), and is now in
another collection, is initialed " T. G." It
seems likely that other portraits and land-
scapes which were painted by the artist for
Lord Bateman also bore the painter's
monogram.
The portrait which was lent to the White- chapel Exhibition in 1906 (No. 65) by the late Mr. Alfred Beit, and was exhibited under the misleading title of ' Martha Gains- borough, Daughter of the Artist,' appears to be signed with the monogram " T. G." The artist had, of course, two daughters : Margaret, who never married, and Mary, who married Fischer the hautboy player.
At least one other picture, the ' Portrait of Heneage Lloyd and his sister,' which was formerly in the possession of Messrs. P. & D. Colnaghi, is signed with the monogram "T. G."
Do any of your readers know of other genuine signatures on this artist's pictures ? MAURICE W. BROCKWELL.
HENRY IRETON OF GRAY'S INN. He was admitted to Gray's Inn 12 Feb., 1670, as ', son and heir of Henry Ireton of Notts." Both the date and description would seem to apply very well to Henry, only son of the celebrated Commissary-General ; yet I much doubt this identity. Under 24 Aug., 1697, Luttrell in his ' Diary ' states t at it was reported that " Mr. Ireton of Graies Inn would be appointed to succeed old Mr. Wallop, Cursitor-baron of the Exchequer." Two days later he contradicts this report. The Commissary-General's son was in the Army at least as early as 1688, and con- tinued so until his death, when he was lieu- tenant-colonel of Dragoons. It seems hardly possible that the soldier and the barrister were one and the same person. Who then was the barrister ? W. D. PINK.
JOHN IRETON, LORD MAYOR OF LONDON 1658-9. He was brother to the Commissary- General, and was buried in the church of St. Bartholomew the Less, 16 March, 1689-90. Whom did he marry ? Did he leave issue ? I believe that he was twice married, and that his second wife was a widow named Sleigh.
W. D. PINK.
Lowton, N ewton-le- Willows.
Louis OR LUDOVIC MERLIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST. I seek information re- specting this priest, his family, scenes of labour, and writings (if any). Louis Merlin
ten years he spent in N. Lanes. He died
Dec., 1819. In what diocese were Roman
Catholic priests in Lanes from c. 1800 ?
ST. MARYLEBONE.
" BOTEMEN ": " LANDBOTE." One of the items in the South Tawton Church- wardens' Accounts that seem to call for annotation is the following :
1528-9. " Gustos petit allocari de xl 1 delib'at D Johi Paule [chaplain], & Will'o Oxenham, ad solvend the Botemen, & alia on'a incumbent', p'ut p't3 in eor' bill."
The word " botemen," for which the scribe could apparently find no Latin equiva- lent, cannot be interpreted " boatmen," for there was no navigable water anywhere near. I thought it might possibly read " bokmen " (meaning perhaps bookbinders), but two chirographical experts have pronounced the spelling to be as I have given it above. " Boot" in. the 'N.E.D.' (11-15 cent. " bot"; 13-16 cent. " bote ") is said to have meant (in sense 9) compensation paid, according to O.E. usage, for injury or wrongdoing ; also (in sense 10) an offering by way of atone- ment, sin-offering ; according to Lingard, "Fines arising from. .. .these crimes...,, were paid into the treasury of the Britons under the name of Bots."
The same element enters into a term remarked upon in Rowe's ' Perambulation of Dartmoor ' (ed. 1848, p. 4) thus :
In the Forest, as well as in the Venville Commons, there have been from ancient times certain enclosed lands called ' Newtakes,' as appears from accounts rendered by officers of the Forest and Manor. The sums paid for these holdings are entered as 'new rents,' and the tenure is called ' Landbote.' Many in the time of Hen. VII. con- tained no more than 1 acre."
Turning to a cited article by E. Smirke ' On Obscure Words in the West of England ' (Archaeological Journal, April, 1848), I note as follows. A record of the time of Ed. III. specifies "totum ilium tenementum cum lande- botis adjacentibus." In a thirteenth-century Rental of Sidmouth Manor there is a distinct head of " Lambote* de Sydemue." There follows a list of tenures at small rents, ex- plained to be " parvse augmentations ad voluntatem Domini." New grants of land, parcel of the demesne of Lidford and Forest of Dartmoor, have been immemorially made to be holden by copy of Court Roll, by the
' The term " Lambeth," which I have referred to
as evidently relating to some form of tenure
(10 S. ii. 173), is perhaps another corruption of this
word.
