11 S. X. Nov. 14, 19U.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
389
VANISHED LONDON : 1. DIBDIN 's HELICON
THEATRE. In a resume of the life and
works of Charles Dibdin (1745-1814),
published in The Times last summer, it was
mentioned that one of his attempts at
theatrical management
" was connected with the Helicon, a theatre in Pentonville, the site of which he chose close to a piece of water which he intended to utilize for special hydraulic effects. He could not, however, obtain a licence for his theatre, which, as it happened, did not much matter, as, before the building was completed, a violent gale blew the whole thing down, and Dibdin never made any attempt to reconstruct it."
Where was this Helicon Theatre situated ? and was it subsequently built up by others ?
2. POETS' GALLERY, FLEET STREET. Where was this ? and why was it so called ? I have seen it recently stated that book auc- tions were held there during the Napoleonic wars a century ago. J. LANDFEAR LUCAS.
Glendora, Hindhead, Surrey.
TREES IN MOORFIELDS, &c. " An His- torical Narrative of the Great and Tremen- dous Storm which happened on Nov. 26th, 1703. London, 1769," provides (p. 68) the following :
" There were as many trees blown down about London, in proportion to the quantity, as in any part of England : Seventy in Moorfields, some of them affirmed to be three yards about ; above an hundred elms in St. James's Park, some of full growth, reported to have been planted by Cardinal Wolsey. Above two hundred trees were blown down at Sir George Whitemore's ; some of them of extraordinary size were broken off in the middle."
This is the first reference so far as I have ascertained to the existence of large trees on Moorfields. It is, perhaps, a carelessly applied place-identification, and the trees may have been near St. Giles's, Cripplegate, or St. Luke's ; but their size suggests an age pre -dating the redraining and laying out of this area, or its ultimate beautifying. Is any further information about them avail- able ? ALECK ABRAHAMS.
" MAGNA EST VERITAS ET (?)." The rendering in the Vulgate of 3 Esdras iv. 41, "Magna est veritas et prsevalet," is very frequently, in fact almost invariably, quoted " prsevalebit." A curious instance of this occurred the other day, when I sent a letter to a well-known provincial newspaper in which I had occasion to quote the passage. My letter was inserted, but the (correct) word I had used had been altered to " praeva- lebit." When I wrote to the editor to justify my quotation, and protest against its having been altered, an editorial paragraph appeared in the next issue, admitting the
mistake. It added, however : " While it is
doubtful if any number of protests will pre-
vent the conventional misquotation, it would
be interesting to learn how and when it came
into being." Perhaps PROF. BENSLY or
some of your other contributors could throw
light on the matter. T. F. D.
CARDIFF NEWSPAPERS. I should be ex- tremely obliged if any correspondent could inform me whether there were any news- papers published in Cardiff in the early years of the nineteenth century. I am anxious to obtain particulars of a trial which took place at the Assizes held in Cardiff on or about 19 April, 1827. The Times for that year does not contain any reports of the Welsh assizes.
PAUL V. KELLY.
AUTHOR WANTED. Who was the author of ' The Clubs of London, with Anecdotes of their Members, Sketches of Character and Conversations,' in two volumes, printed by Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street, 1828 V There is no author's name on title- page. S. P. KENNY.
CHATSWORTH. This palace of the Peak is the Seventh Wonder, (or one of the Seven Wonders) of the Peak in the eyes of Derbyshire folk, at any rate. It is said that a certain French general who was kept there as a prisoner during the wars, in making his farewell to the then Duke, said he would leave out any mention of his detention at Chatsworth. I have often heard this stated as a fact. Is it so ? and who was the French general ? THOS. BATCLIFFE.
THE APOCRYPHA : STORY OF JUDITH. In ' Peveril of the Peak,' chap, vi., Sir Geoffrey Peveril, in conversing with the Countess of Derby, says :
" You may rely on my guidance and protection, noble lady, though you had come here at midnight, and with the rogue's head in your apron, like Judith in the Holy Apocrypha, which I joy to hear once more read in churches."
Was the story of Judith and Holofernes ever included in the Lectionary ?
JOHN T. PAGE.
Long Itchington, Warwickshire.
THOMAS SKOTTOVVE. Of what family was Thomas Skotiowe, Secretary of State for South Carolina at the outbreak of war ? Did he leave any family ? and had he any connexion with the village of Skottowe in Norfolk, or with Skottowe Hall in that county ? Where was he buried ?
P. R. A.
