AN. 14, '99.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
31
POEM ON THE HORSE-CHESTNUT (9 th S. ii. 48).
- -In a copy of 'The Comic Album, or Reciter's ( 'ompanion ' (undated), London, Orlando ] Eodgson, 10, Cloth Fair, I note the recitation
- The Chestnut Horse,' beginning " An Eton
f tripling," &c. Unfortunately no name is j;iven ; but the jest appears to be ancient. In ii. compilation by William Tegg, F.K.H.S., entitled 'One Hour's Reading' (Lond., 1877), on pp. 237-8, under heading 'What's the Difference between a Horse-chestnut and a Chestnut Horse ? ' is the following explana- tion :
"In the reign of Queen Anne lived two gentle- men, both members in the same Parliament ; the one was called Montague Matthieu, the other Mat- thew Montague ; the Former a tall, handsome man, the latter a deformed, ugly one. On one occasion in the House an honourable member inadvertently attributed something that had been said by Mr. Mat- thew Montague to Mr. Montague Matthieu : upon which the latter got up and appealed to the Speaker and the House in the following manner : ' Sir, an honourable member has charged me with haying said that which I never gave utterance to, but which came from Mr. Matthew Montague. Now, Sir, I must appeal to you and this honourable House whether there is not as much difference between Mr. Mat- thew Montague and Mr. Montague Matthieu as there is between a horse-chestnut and a chestnut horse?" 5
The narrator further adds that the House was convulsed with laughter, and gives the foregoing as the origin of the whimsical question. E. WILSON DOBBS.
Toorak, Victoria, Australia.
COUNTS OF HOLLAND (9 th S. ii. 468). Ac- cording to Betham's 'Genealogical Tables' (London, 1795), Table 566, John, Count of Hainault, who died in 1304, was a nephew of William II., Count of Holland and Emperor of the Romans. The said John appears to have been the son of Adelheid, sister of William II., by her marriage with John of Avesnes, Count of Holland. The said Wil- liam II. and Adelheid were two of the five children of Florence IV., Count of Holland, by his marriage with Mechtild, daughter of Henry IV., Duke of Brabant. John, Count -of Hainault, married Philippa, daughter of Henry I., Count of Luxemburg.
ROBERT PIERPOINT.
St. Austin's, Warrington.
Florence IV., Count of Holland, ob. 1235, married Mechtild, daughter of Henry IV., Duke of Brabant, and had issue three sons William II., Count of Holland and Emperor of Germany. Richardis, and Florence ; and two daughters Margaret, wife of Herman II., ount of Henneberg, and Adelheid. Wil- liam II., ob. 1256, the eldest son, married
Elizabeth, daughter of Otto Puer, Duke of
Brunswick Luneburgh, and had one son,
Florence V., Count of Holland, ob. 1296, who
married first Beatrix, daughter of Guido,
Count of Flanders, and had a son John I.,
Count of Holland, ob. 1299, who married
Elizabeth, daughter of Edward I., King of
England, and left no issue. Florence V. by
his second wife, Isabel of Achaia, had Mech-
tild, wife of Louis of Burgundy, Prince of
Achaia. The countship devolved upon a
descendant of the afore-mentioned Adelheid
(daughter of William IV., Count of Holland),
who married John of Avesnes, Count of
Hainault, whose son John II., ob. 1304,
became Count of Hainault, Holland, Zeeland,
and West Friesland. JOHN RADCLIFFE.
MR. DALLAS will find particulars of the succession of William II., Count of Holland and Deutscher Konig, in H. Grote's ' Stamm- tafel.' His son Florence V. succeeded in 1256, ruling until 1296, and was followed by his son John I., 1296-99. There being no nearer heirs, John, Count of Hainault, a son of Adelaide, own sister to William II., suc- ceeded in 1299, and ruled until 1304. Meyer in his ' Conversations-Lexicon ' of 1864 gives full details. W. S. CHURCHILL.
Manchester.
William II. of Holland, King of the Romans, was succeeded by his son Floris V., and grandson John I. ; his sister (i. e., of William II.) Alix, who married John d'Avesnes, Count of Hainault, had a son John, also Count of Hainault, who on the death of John I. became Count of Holland, Zeeland, &c., as John II. Thus the latter was nephew of William II. PUTEANUS.
TOLLING BELLS FOR PAYMENT OF CHURCH RENTS (9 th S. ii. 507). If the exploded dictum that " omission is prohibition " held good, the only legal ringing would be of one bell for daily service. Theoretically it seems incon- sistent that church bells should be rung for anything besides church services. But as a matter of fact they may be, and have been, rung for many other things connected with the church and the parish. In Worcester- shire it is still usual to ring one of the bells at the time of a vestry meeting, and until the coming in of parish councils the meeting might be for business wholly secular. In many parishes the clerk from time im- memorial received a payment for ringing the harvest bell. There was also the curfew bell. Church dues and rents were commonly fixed to be paid in the church porch or at some well-known place (e.g., a tomb) in the church
