io* s. i. FEB. 27, loo*.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
173
says there is a superstition that in as many
different houses as you eat minced pies
during Christmas so many happy months
will you have in the ensuing year. You
have only therefore to go to a different house
each day in the Christmas to ensure a happy
twelvemonth a simple receipt, if effectual.
J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.
There is a variant of the mince-pie legend in the West of England, where many young people try to taste twelve of their friends' and neighbours' plum-puddings,_on the plea of a similar belief. C. T.
COURT POSTS UNDER STUART KINGS (10 th S* i. 107). The Marshal of the King's Hall was an officer whose business it was, when the tables were prepared, " to call out both those of the Household and Strangers, according to their Worth, and decently to place them according to their Quality " (see Cowel's 'Interpreter,' 1727, and N. Bailey's 'Diet.,' 1740). He, of course, had many other duties, and subservient to him were what, in the 'Privy Purse Expenses of Princess Mary,' were called " Husshers," i.e., doorkeepers and ushers to, of, and from "the Presence." An item among the ' Privy Purse Expenses of King Henry VIII.' is " paied to dawson, one of the marshalls of the King's hall, for xxviij dozen Cases of trenchers delivered to the pantry, xlvjs. viijd" (N. H. Nicolas).
With regard to a "Yeoman of the Privy Chamber," a " Yeoman" was an officer in the King's House in the middle place between the Sergeant and the Groom (see Blount's ' Law Diet.,' 1717). The " Yeoman de le lesh " was an officer who had the keeping of the falcons. A leash was a light line used to give the falcon a short flight without releasing her altogether. It was secured to the varvels on the bird's ankle :
But her too f&ithful leash doth soon return Her broken flight, attempted oft in vain.
Quarles's ' Emblems,' v. 9.
An item in the ' Privy Purse Expenses of Henry VIII.' (ed. by Nicolas, 1827), p. 224, is, "in Rewarde for bringing of a lesshe of
laneretts to the King's grace ," and (p. 75)
" to Rolte, yoman of the leshe, for his fee," &c. Richard Bolt/on, Yeoman of the Leash to Henry VIII., received 10s. a quarter ('Ex- penses of Princess Mary,' ibid.).
The Pages of the Bedchamber and Back- stairs of George II. were six in number, but their salary is not stated. For other officials of the King's Household and their salaries, <fec., see 'A General List or Catalogue of all the Offices and Officers of his Majesty's Government,' at the end of John Chamber-
layne's 'Magnae Britannise Notitia,' 1723 r
p. 457. J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL.
A NAMELESS GRAVESTONE (9 th S. xii. 504), Another interesting example is the stone in Hertingfordbury Church, Herts, inscribed "Here lies poor Corydon. Ob 1 Sep r 24 th - 1758." The parochial registers, according to Cussans (' Hist. Herts,' ii. 115), contain no- entry relating to it.
JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT.
BATROME (10 th S. i. 88). In the Inq. p.m. of William Wadham, of co. Dorset (3 Hen. VII. vol. iii. No. 85), one of the jurors is Nich, Batrain' ; and in that of Sir Thos. Mil- bourne, Knt. (8 Hen. VII.), there is mention of land in Batramsley held of the manor of Lydahurst. ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.
"DIABREAD" (10 th S. i. 126). As a guess, I should suppose diabread to be compounded of dia- and bread. Dia- could be prefixed to almost anything used medicinally ; see the ' H.E.D.' under dia-, and note dia-pnme, dia- rhubarb, and the like. WALTER W. SKEAT.
Probably diet-bread, or diet loaf ; on which see 'N.E.D.' and 'E.D.D.'
The blue eggs referred to were probably eggs dyed blue, like pace-eggs. J. T. F.
EPITAPHS : THEIR BIBLIOGRAPHY (10 th S. i. 44). The following may prove of some use towards a complete bibliography of epitaphs :
Bancroft, Thomas. Two Books of Epigrams and Epitaphs, 1639.
Booth, The Rev. J. Epitaphs.
Brown, William Norman. Curious Epitaphs (Country Life, 17 June, 1899).
Cansick, F. T. Epitaphs (St. Pancras).
Commercial in Spare Moments, Gathered by a. An Original Collection of Extant Epitaphs, 1870.
Croft, Sir H. Epitaphs ('The Abbey of Kilk- hampton'), 1780.
Diprose's Book of Epitaphs, Humorous, Eccentric, Ancient, and Remarkable.
'Ejrtrd^irt, or a Collection of Memorials of Good and Faithful Servants, 1826.
Fairley, W. Epitaphiana, 1875.
Hackett, John. Epitaphs, 1757.
Harris, J. A Series of Epitaphs collected from Churches, Churchyards, and Burial-places in Kings- bridge and Neighbourhood. Read at a meeting of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art, 27. 28, and 29 July, 1897. (Published, I think, in the Proceedings.)
Household Words. Tombstone Curiosities, 20 Jan., 1900 ; Gems from the Churchyard, October, 1900.
Loaring, H. J. Epitaphs.
Old Mortality Juniors Epitaphs, 1900 (Simpkin & Marshall).
Palmer, Samuel. Epitaphs and Epigrams, Curious, Quaint, and Amusing, 1869.
Pulleyn, William. Churchyard Gleanings and Epigrammatic Scraps, 1830.
