9 th S. III. MAR. 4, '90.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
169
(Lanes). Any information as to his parents
and grandparents will be welcomed.
(Dr.) H. DE B. GIBBINS; 6, Newsham Drive, Liverpool.
MERLIN'S MECHANICAL MUSEUM. When was this museum established ; where was it situated ; and what was exhibited ? Amongst other things it is said there was a harpsichord with a trumpet stop. CHAS. A. DALTON.
SCRIMANSKL In canto ii. of 'Hudibras' we read :
Scrimansky was his cousin-germ an, With whom he served and fed on vermin.
Who was Scrimanski ; and why is he intro- duced in an account of the bear's pedigree 1
BRUTUS.
"No GREAT SHAKES." What was the origin of this colloquialism, which was more fre- quently heard some years ago than it is at present? W. J. B. R.
IMPRESSIONS OF SEALS. I shall be obliged to any one who will inform me of the best method of obtaining good impressions in wax of seals and similar objects without leaving any wax adhering to the seal ; and also the best means of getting small particles of wax off the seal. What I wish to do is to obtain impressions of a number of Wedgwood intaglios, and also, without damaging the articles, to get out some minute particles which have been left from previous trials. Any information will be much esteemed.
CHARLES DRURY.
Miss BESSIE RAYNER PARKES. Can any of your readers give me details concern- ing this authoress? What works did she publish besides ' Ballads and Songs,' issued by Bell & Daldy, 1863 1
C. H. STEPHENSON.
Birkdale, Lanes.
" THE WHITE PAUNCH HIND." Can you tell me what is the meaning of Whyte-Melville's expression "the white faunch [or Faunch] hind"? It occurs in one of his poems, but I cannot at present give the exact refer- ence. I can only say it is there, and it has puzzled many besides myself. It sounds like a term of veriery ; but in no other author could we locate a similar term, and this by many in many works Shakspeare anol Shelley, and encyclopaedias of sport, &c. I think three years have elapsed since some one first started the inquiry.
J. A. HARVIE-BROWN.
SLOUGH. In 'Merry Wives of Windsor,' I v . v., occurs the passage : " For as soon as I
came beyond Eton, they threw me off, from
behind one of them, in a slough of mire."
Did Slough exist as a village at that date ; or
was it merely what its name denotes? It is
probable there were many sloughs about ;
but it is curious that the above exactly
describes the bearings of the present Slough
to Windsor and Eton.
W. MURPHY-GRIMSHAW.
HALLINGEE, co. CHESTER. That a place so called was known in the parish of Mobberley, said shire, during the seventeenth century I have evidence. What was it a district or a house ? If the latter, whose 1
P. S. P. CONNER.
Philadelphia.
CLANMOLINESPICK. In one of his works Sir Thomas Urquhart speaks of two Irish clans Clanmolinespick and Clanrurie. Can any of your readers give me information about these ; or are they mere inventions of Sir Thomas ? J. WILLCOCK.
Lerwick.
HEYSHAM ANTIQUITIES.
(9 th S. ii. 222, 281, 409, 469.)
1. SIR HENRY HOWORTH is of opinion that " in these days it is no use quoting second-hand authorities and the opinion of nineteenth -century writers upon events which took place in the sixth or seventh century." This decision strikes me as destructive of all argument and history, in the shadow of which Freeman, Carlyle, Macaulay, Gibbon, &c., are simply of no account. His contention, moreover, appears to me not too logical. If Lord Dunraven and Miss Stokes are to have a hearing, surely Newell and Healy merit similar treatment.
2. What I meant by the statement that " the building can hardly be Romano-British unless erected before A.D. 449 " was that the Heysham chapel could scarcely be called "Roman," since it neither bears traces of Roman style nor (if built after A.D. 449 or 410, to be accurate) was raised in Roman days, and would consequently be either Saxon, or Patrician, or Columban. Moreover, according to Bede, Gildas, and the 'Saxon Chronicle' (Mr. Green's authorities), the dura- tion and savagery of the Saxon invasion left the Britons but scant leisure for two centuries for the building of churches. " The conquest of Britain," says Mr. Green, " was, indeed, only partly wrought out after two centuries of bitter warfare. But it was just through the long and merciless nature of the struggle
