16
NOTES AND QUERIES. 10 s. vm. JULY 6, 1907.
Charles Skrymsher (1688-1762), only son of
Dr. Gerard Skrymsher (1618-1700), of High
Offley, Staffs, by Catherine his wife, who was,
I have given the strongest reasons for
believing, sister to Michael Johnson. All
the evidences I collected of the family go
to prove that Skrymsher was the accepted
spelling during the seventeenth and eigh-
teenth centuries, and " Scrimshaw " in
spite of Dr. Johnson must be considered
a vulgar corruption. But as the " great
lexicographer " knew so little of his cousin
as to inquire for him twenty-two years after
his death, we need not be asked to accept
his spelling of that cousin's name.
ALEYN LYELL READE. Park Corner, Blundellsands, near Liverpool.
AN EARLY LATIN-ENGLISH-BASQUE DIC- TIONARY (10 S. iv. 143, 255, 333 ; vi. 51). Dr. Abbott has continued the study of this dictionary in La Revue de Linguistique of Paris and the Hermathena of Dublin.
A handsome edition of the manuscripts of J. d'Etcheberri, discovered by Don Julio de Urquijo at Zarauz, was published on 12 Nov., 1906, at the bookshop of M. P. Geuthner, 68, Rue Mazarine, Paris. ' N. & Q.' is, however, not the best medium for criticiz- ing it. It is a valuable contribution to Bascology. EDWARD S. DODGSON.
LAWYERS' WILLS (10 S. vii. 266). The wills of famous lawyers which have come before the courts for construction or for some other reason include those of Chief Baron Thomson, Chief Justice Holt, Chief Justice Eyre, Chief Justice Saunders, Baron Cleasby, Serjeants Hill and Maynard, Baron Wood, Mr. Justice Vaughan, Francis Vesey, jun., Mr. Preston and Thomas Braithwaite (both conveyancers), Lord Chancellor St Leonards and Lord Chancellor Westbury and, very recently, that of Sir FranciL Jeune, President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice. STAPLETON MARTIN.
The Firs, Norton, Worcester.
According to The Standard of 6 April p. 7, col. 4, the late
" Lord Davey made his will on a sheet of rougl foolscap, and omitted to nominate any executors hut this omission was remedied by him in a codioi of the same date."
Lord Davey was a Lord Justice of Appea 1893-4, and a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1894. ROBERT PIERPOINT.
"UMBRELLA" (10 S. vii. 267). A earlier use of the word umbrella than tha quoted by MR. JARRATT (1684) occurs i
eaumont and Fletcher's play ' Rule a Wife
nd Have a Wife ' (circa 1615), Act III. sc. i.r
Now you have got a shadow, an umbrella, To keep the scorching world's opinion From your fair credit.
This is the earliest mention of the word nat I have been able to find. The subject
interesting. Although umbrellas are men- ioned so early as in the instance given above,, nd subsequently by Dryden, Swift, and ther writers of Pope's period, it is said in laydn's ' Diet, of Dates ' that they were Irst generally used in London b^y Jonas lanway, who died in 1786, and by John ttacdonald in his case " a fine silk um- rella which he brought from Spain (1778)."
I am pretty sure, however, that Sydney Smith (1771-1845) somewhere mentions, ,mong the many changes for the better in lis own lifetime, the fact that umbrellas, rom being scarce, had become common, hus putting the period of their general use still later. T. M. W.
STURMY OR ESTURMY FAMILY (10 S. vii. 209, 312). For pedigrees of this family see iloare's ' History of Wiltshire,' vol. i. pt. i. j. 117; Foster's 'Visitation of Yorkshire,' )p. 177 and 196 ; and Morant's ' History of ilssex,' vol. i. p. 265.
CHAS. HALL CROUCH. 5, Grove Villas, Wanstead.
COURT LEET : MANOR COURT (10 S. vii. 327, 377). In the manor of Old Paris Garden, Southwark, a Customary Court designated a Court Baron) is held twice a year for the copyhold portion of the manor, with special courts at intervals, at which surrenders and grants are duly made per virgam, the ebony rod used bearing the date 1697. It is needless to point out that the criminal jurisdiction of the Court Leet has long ceased to exist, although a court so called exists in many localities, at which officers are elected to more or less sinecure offices, and convivialities are indulged in. The Manorial Society (1, Mitre Court Build- ings, Temple, E.G.) has for one of its objects the collection of information relating to surviving manorial jurisdictions. It is hoped that local antiquaries will assist the Society by reporting any such survivals in their respective localities.
NATHANIEL J. HONE.
3, Clarence Road, Kew Gardens.
" JOMMOX " : " WUDGET " : " WOMPUS "
(10 S. vii. 447). Your American corre- spondent will find in Halliwell's dictionary a more closely related word for " wudget "
