modest, unaffected, devoted to her family and friends. She and the duke were fond of literary society, and maintained an intimacy with Swift, Pope, and especially Gay. To the last, the ducbess was unspeakably kind; she not only gave him the shelter of her roof, but paid attention to the minute, every-day comforts, which the unpractical poet could never manage for himself. At the prohibition of his opera, "Polly," their graces were so warm in their resentment, that they were forbidden to appear at court. The duchess corresponded with many persons of note; her letters are to be met with dispersed among the collections that are brought forward for the gratification of modern curiosity. They exhibit considerable sprightliness and good sense.
QUENBURGA,
Or, as she was sometimes called, "Robba," a name commonly adopted by the consorts of the Northumbrian monarchs, was the daughter of Kynigils, one of the Kings of Wessex, who was converted to Christianity by the missionary Bririuus, and under his direction founded Winchester Cathedral. Oswald and his Queen Robba held their court at the royal city of Robbanburgh, the name and site of which is still preserved—Bamburgh Castle, a fortress at one time of great size and strength. Queen Robba, we are told, was as much celebrated by her admirable conduct, as was the saintly king, her husband, by his holiness of life. After the death of Oswald, who was attacked and cruelly slain by Penda, King of Mercia, who envied his goodness and prosperity, the widowed queen obtained permission to bury the head and arm of her husband, which were the only portions of his dismembered body she could procure; she had the precious relics enshrined in a silver case, and conveyed to St. Aidan, by whom they were carefully deposited in St, Peter's Church, in the royal city of Robbanburgh, as is recorded by the Venerable Bede. After this, we hear no more of the pious Quenburga, who probably retired to a monastery, and spent the rest of her days in seclusion,
QUENBURGA,
Or Keneburgh, as it is sometimes spelled, was the wife of one of the Saxon kings who ruled in Britain during the Heptarchy; she was the daughter of Penda, King of Mercia, and was mainly instrumental, it is said, in converting that powerful monarch to Christianity. She was married to Alfred, eldest son of Oswy, and was called Queen of Deria, over which district her husband had control. Through her influence, we are told that the court of Alfred became converted into a kind of monastic school of regular discipline and Christian perfection, according to the ideas of religion then prevalent Her heart, it is said, was more set upon the kingdom of heaven than on any earthly diadem.
Alfred having died during his father's lifetime, Quenburga returned to her father's dominions, and, resolving to devote the rest of her life to religious seclusion, founded an establishment of Christian virgins at a place on the confines of Huntingdon and Northampton, called Dormund-caistor, and afterwards in her honour Kunneburg-ceastor, or the town of Quenburgh. Here she lived, and here she died, and here, when her father was killed, and heavy misfortunes
