252
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. VIL MARCH so, 1907.
of Risley, and is buried in Blaokwater" Street
Church. His father was the Rev. Samuel
Threlkeld, minister of the Presbyterian
congregation at Halifax. When Dr. Priestley
went, in 1762, to be married at Wrexham
to Miss Wilkinson, whose father was an iron-
master near that town, Thomas Threlkeld
accompanied him as groomsman. It had
been settled that in the performance of the
marriage service he should give the bride
away. Unfortunately, upon entering the
church, Thelkeld, delighted with the idea of
being now able, for the first time, to gratify
his passion for the Welsh language of which
he was master at the fountain head, had
buried himself in a large and lofty pew,
where he had found a Bible in the vernacular.
He was deeply engaged in studying it when
wanted in the chancel. The service was at
a standstill ; the father did not appear to
give away the bride ; a hue and cry was set
up for the groomsman, and at length he
was discovered in his hiding-place, ignorant
of what was passing, and unconscious of
anything but the pleasure of reading his
favourite language. His memory for facts,
figures, and quotations was prodigious.
See Monthly Repository, 1807, p. 172 ; also
' Record of Provincial Assembly of Lanca-
shire and Cheshire,' 1896, p. 162. Is any
portrait of him known ?
GEO. EYRE EVANS. Ty Tringad, Aberystwyth.
The Thirkills were a family of importance at Fishtoft, in Lincolnshire, three miles from Boston, and patrons of the living. In one corner of the chancel is a slab inscribed " Entrance to Mr. Thirkill's vault." No doubt there are many entries of the family in the registers of the parish.
The name Threlkeld is quite different, and often found in Cumberland and Westmor- land. JOHN PICKFOBD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.
BANNER OR FLAG (10 S. v. 450, 493). My attention has been lately recalled to bunting, and I am ashamed to find how much I erred in making answer to MR. C. H. ORFEUR. I hope he will accept my apology, with the following amendment ; but a blunder made in print is more enduring than most things, and I am afraid the effect of my mistake may not be wholly done away. I do not think there is any name but " banner " or its diminutive " bannerette " for the piece of swallow-tailed stuff " hang- ing by a cord from a cross pole " which is the subject of MR. ORFEUR'S inquiry. A small swallow-tailed flag of perpendicular
suspension is a pennon. A pendant or
pennant is, strictly speaking, a very long,
narrow streamer, gradually coming to a
point at the end of the flag, which is used
in the navy ; but popularly any little flag,
and, I believe, especially one with sides that
taper off into a point, would be called a
pennant. I trust that, if not now correct,
I may be corrected. ST. SWITHIN.
WEST INDIAN MILITARY RECORDS (10 S. vi. 428, 476 ; vii. 14, 78, 156, 197). I feel myself much indebted to W. S. for the last communication under this heading, furnish- ing me with interesting notices of one of my ancestors, who died in the early part of 1817,. and was buried in Antigua (where he had considerable interest), though I never heard whether or not any memorial was erected over his remains. Regarding Edward Stapleton's commission as ensign, whereof W. S. supplies the date, I should very much like to learn whether there be not somewhere accessible a register of commissions, from which I might learn in what regiment he had previously served, as I have reason to believe that he rose from the ranks.
A. STAPLETON.
158, Noel Street, Nottingham.
CHARLES I. : HIS PHYSICAL CHARACTER- ISTICS (10 S. vii. 169, 210). Sir Henry Halford wrote in 1813 :
"At length, the whole face was disengaged from its covering. The complexion of the skin of it was dark and discoloured. The forehead and temples had lost little or nothing of their muscular sub- stance ; the cartilage of the nose was gone ; but the left eye, in the first moment of exposure, was open and full, though it vanished almost immediately ; and the pointed beard, so characteristic of the period of the reign of King Charles, was perfect. The shape of the face was a long oval
"It was difficult, at this moment, to withhold a declaration that, notwithstanding its disfigurement, the countenance did bear a strong resemblance to- the coins, the busts, and especially to the pictures, of King Charles I. by Vandyke, by which it had been made familiar to us. It is true, that the minds of the Spectators of this interesting sight were well prepared to receive this impression ; but it is also certain, that such a facility of belief had been occasioned by the simplicity and truth of Mr. Herbert's Narrative, every part of which had been confirmed by the investigation, so far as it had advanced : and it will not be denied that the shape of the face, the forehead, an eye, and the beard, are the most important features by which resem- blance is determined
" The ha k r was thick at the back part of the head, and in appearance, nearly black. A portion of it r which has since been cleaned and dried, is of a beautiful dark brown colour. That of the beard was a redder brown. On the back part of the head, it was [? not] more than an inch in length, and had probably been cut so short for the convenience of
