86
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. L JAN. so, MM.
from the park-pale, and in May, 1791, his
agents entered into Mr. Wm. Cockeram's
land and marked eight trees, within that
space, for falling. Thereupon Cockeram
employed six men to cut down and remove
the trees. The Duke then entered an action
for trespass, which was tried at the Derby-
shire summer assizes in August, 1792. I have
seen the brief for the defendants, but not the
report of the trial. There is a note, how-
ever, by one of the legal gentlemen that Mr.
Wm. Cockeram lost his case through his own
admissions on the trial.
In Thomas Gill's ' Vallis Eboracensis,' 1852, p. 358, we read, under the head of 'Sessay':
" Formerly, some five or six hundred acres of the parish, lying towards Brafferton, constituted an ancient park ; but, about 120 years ago, the deer were removed to Cowick, and the park converted into farms. The park-farm, however, retains to this day one memento of the purposes to which it was originally devoted, in the continuance of its encircling belt, the bow-rake. This bow-rake, or bow-range, seems to have conferred on the owner of the park, by an old feudal law, a right of soil, to the extent of a bow-shot, beyond the limits of his own manor."
In 18G6, when there was a commission for the enclosure of Selstone Common (co. Notts), the agents of the Duke of Portland, lord of the manor of Kirkby, proposed to claim a similar "buck-leap" in respect of the park, but I do not know the result.
It seems most unreasonable that a privi- lege which only existed for the sake of game should extend to the cutting down of trees where there is not, and has not been for centuries, any game. See the article 'Pur- lieu ' in the Law Dictionaries of Cowel and Jacob.
I cannot find "bow-rake" and "buck-leap" in the 'N.E.D.' There are a few notes on this privilege, under the head ' Deer-leap,' in 2 nd S. iii. 47, 99, 137, 195 ; 3 rd S. xii. 186.
W. C. B.
HALLEY'S COMET. A picture of a portion of the Bayeux Tapestry showing the comet of Halley in 1066 is given in ' A Handbook of Descriptive and Practical Astronomy,' by George F. Chambers, i. 438 (Oxford, 1889).
"La reine Victoria porte dans sa couronne un fleuron tire de la queue de cette comete qui a eu la plus grande influence sur la victoire d'Hastings." 'Astronomic Populaire,' by Camille Flammarion, 609 (Paris, 1890).
In 9 th S. xii. 125 I repeated an announce- ment that the Hussion Astronomical Society had undertaken a calculation " with a view to predicting the exact date of the next return" of Halley's comet. A private advice subsequently reaching me voices the opinion
- hat " malheureusement la tache entreprise
ne puisse pas etre accomplie " by that body.
Will your astronomical readers kindly make additions to the list of authorities following, bearing upon the 1910 return of Halley's comet ?
Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Seances de I'Acaddmie des Sciences, pp. 706, 766, 825 (Paris, 1864).
Nature, xi. 286-7, 11 February, 1875.
The Journal of the British Astronomical Associa- ion, xii. 134, 175, 288 (London, 1902).
EUGENE F. McPiKE.
Chicago, U.S.
WE must request correspondents desiring in-
formation on family matters of only private interest
to affix their names and addresses to their queries,
in order that the answers may be addressed to them
direct.
FRENCH MINIATURE PAINTER. Will any reader kindly tell me if there was a French miniature painter at the end of the eighteenth century wnose Christian name or surname commenced with Vig 1
EVELYN WELLINGTON.
Wonston, Micheldever.
CRABBE BIBLIOGRAPHY. If any reader can help me to a collation of the first edition of Crabbe's 'The Candidate,' 1780, or aid me in the search for the juvenile poems mentioned at the foot of p. 22, vol. i. of the ' Life and Poems,' 1834, I should be very glad if he would write to me at the University Press, Cambridge. A. R. WALLER.
ROBERT CATESBY. Had Robert Catesby (of Gunpowder Plot fame) any descendants ? Was all his property, including that of his family, confiscated by order of the Crown? Of what did the property consist? How can I best find out the above? I shall be glad if correspondents will send their replies to me addressed care of Beard more & Co., 58 and 81, Cleveland Street, Fitzroy Square, W. JAMES CATESBY.
ROMAN LANX. Where is the Roman lanx
found in 1864 at Welney, in Norfolk, and
exhibited by Mr. Albert Goodman to the
Society of Antiquaries on 13 January, 1870 ?
T. CANN HUGHES, M.A., "F.S.A.
Lancaster.
ROMAN AND CHRISTIAN CHRONOLOGY. In chap. ix. of the third book of his essays Montaigne gave a copy of the document making him a Roman citizen, and it bears the following date : " Anno ab urbe condita
