Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/290

236 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 S.VIJI.MABCH 10, 1921. representing England, Scotland, and Ire- land, and the motto " Tria juncta in uno." Grose's 'Military Antiquities,' vol. i., page 210, has the following : " The Serjeant Major-General, sometimes de- nominated Serjeant Major of the camp or field, was what is now called Major- General, as Ser- jeant Major of a regiment formerly signified the officer now stiled Major." A study of Grose's 'Military Antiquities' would probably provide much valuable additional information. ARCHIBALD SPARKE. HOE CAKE (see under " Poor Uncle Ned," ante p. 94). MR. ROBERT PIERPOINT asks at the above reference " What sort of bread or cake is or was hoe cake ? " The receipt for hoe-cake is found in most American cook-books. Mr. Rover, one of the more prominent authors on the subject, gives the following rule : HOE CAKE. Four cups white corn meal (American " Indian Corn "), one teaspoon salt ; boiling water. " Mix salt and meal, add boiling water to make a stiff batter. Moisten hands in cold water. Take a tablespoon of batter in your hand and press it into a thin round cake. If you have an open fire, have before it an oak plank, well heated. Place cake on the board in front of the fire. Bake on one side and turn and bake on the other until thoroughly done, about three-quarters of an hour. These can also be baked on a griddle on top of the fire. When done pull apart, butter and send to the table hot." Hoe cake is a common substitute . for bread throughout the Southern States, especially among the Negroes. Its name is derived from the fact that it was originally baked on a hoe instead of a plank or a griddle. CHARLES M. JERVIS. BENJAMIN CHOYCE SOWDON (12 S. viii. 168). The personal name Sowdoii or Sowton may be traced in various parts of Devon, such as, Broadclyst, Devonport, Exeter, Ilsington, Marldon and Whitstone (near Exeter). It is believed to be derived from the place-name Sowton, a parish near Exeter. After B. C. Sowdon's time his College (Emmanuel) became patrons of the living of Whitstone, and there is in the college library a book containing MS. Records of the parish, including a pedigree of the Sowdon family, a person of that name having been a public benefactor. It would be interesting to know whether this pedigree throws any light on the parentage of B. C. Sowdon, who may have been of the Devon family although his father was residing at Hotter dam in 1773. M. TAVERN SIGNS (12 S. viii. 170). May I suggest a few possible solutions of these- signs. Old Blade Bone. I was once told a wild story of a man who was murdered, and his skeleton buried in this neighbourhood. All that was found was his shoulder blade, and this led to the discovery of the crime, and the adoption of the sign. No dates or details were available and it seems more* probable that it was a sign connected with the butcher's trade, either the original land- lord or his customers being connected with it.. Sun in the Sands. Is not this a variant of the setting or rising sun painted by the' original sign-painter over a seascape, and' afterwards adopted to distinguish the house- from the many other Suns ? Flying Scud. -A vessel famous for fast sailing with small sail area in front of a gale. Perhaps adopted from some temporarily famous sailing yacht or privateer. Rose of Denmark. Probably adopted on. the marriage of Prince George of Denmark: to Queen Anne, or of Queen Alexandra to; the Prince of Wales. British Queen. Refers I think to the famous British Queen strawberries, grown by Myatt the nursery man in Camberwell early in the nineteenth century and famous all! over London. They had no local con- nexion with Old Street, but public-house signs have sometimes an association with, some local incident or celebrity or industry and sometimes have a metropolitan or a national origin. These guesses may perhaps inspire other readers with better solutions. R. S. PENGELLY. Clapham. IRISH FAMILY HISTORIES (US. vii., viii;,. ix ; 12 S. i. 446). Colclough : Pedigree and history of the C. family of Staffordshire and Wexford, by Beauchamp H. D. Colclough, MS. fol., 1879, in library of Royal Dublin Society. Fitzgerald : Pedigree, seventeenth century Sloane MS., 1429 f. 98b. Gillman : Searches into the history of th G. family 4, 1895. Tracy : Notes on, sixteenth century Sloan MS., 1301 f. 235 b.y,,, ^ J. ARDAGH. HERALDIC ARMS WANTED (12 S. viii, 152). The arms, paly of six, az. and ar. on a bend gu. three cinquefoils or, are ascribed!, by Berry to Stradlyng. FRED R. GALE O .