36
NOTES AND QUERIES. cio* s. i. JAN. 9, UM.
been cut off the print, below which appear
the words " Custom of Riding the Black
Earn. ' H N.
This old manorial custom is probably of far higher antiquity than the illustrated broadside alluded to by L. L. K. would appear to indicate, for there is an account of it in dowel's 'Interpreter; or, Law Dic- tionary,' the first edition of which appeared in 1607. Whether it is to be found in this first edition, however, I cannot with certainty say, but it probably is, and it certainly is in the edition of 1727. The passage referring to the widow should be: "The widow shall have her Free bench in all [not " hall "] his Copyhold Lands" (i.e., in the lands of the customary tenant deceased). "The like custom," continues Cowel, "there is in the Manor of Chaddleworth in the same County ; in that of Torre, in Devonshire, and other Parts of the West " (vide ' Free-Bench ') ; and in Blount's ' Law Diet.,' 1717, in the Reading- Room copy at the British Museum, is what appears to be a contemporary MS. note, which is added to the article on 'Free- bench,' stating that "in effect the same custom is in the manor of Leichland," in the county of "Gloucester" (query the chapelry of Leighland in Somersetshire, or Lechlade in Gloucestershire). See also Tomlins's ' Law Diet.,' and the Spectator, No. 614. Lysons says that "at every court the jury still present this as one of the ancient customs oi the manor " (i.e., at East and West Enbourne)
"The penalty has not been literally enforced within the memory of man, but it is said that a pecuniary commutation has been received in lieu o it, which perhaps may have been more readilj
accepted, from the difficulty of procuring a propei
animal for the purpose."
J. HOLDEN MAC'MlCHAEL.
A copper-plate engraving representing thi ceremony will be found in the Wits' Mar/a zine for April, 1785. The letterpress de scribing the picture is extracted from th Spectator, No. 623, Monday, 22 Nov., 1714.
W. F. PRIDEAUX.
Places and particulars of this custom ap pear in connexion with the word ' Bench ' in Barclay's 'English Dictionary,' 1808.
H. J. B.
MARY, QUEEN OP SCOTS (9 th S. xii. 148 196, 238).! quote the following from Hil Burton's 'The Scot Abroad,' first edition 1864, vol. i. p. 68 :
"Most conspicuous and illustrious among th emigrants to France were those who belonged t the royal race of Stewart : and here let me offer a explanatory protest for spelling the name in thi unfashionable manner. It is the old Scots spellin
.ie other namely Stuart having been gradually
dopted in deference to the infirmity of the French
anguage, which is deficient in that sinewy letter-
half-breed between vowel and consonant which
e call w. This innovation stands in the personal
omenclature of our day, a trivial but distinct relic
f the influence of French manners and habits over
ur ancestors."
W. S.
The following order for the proclamation
if the marriage between Darnley and the
jueen may be of interest in reference to
bove. It is taken from the ' Buik of the
irk of the Canagait.'
" The 21 of July anno domini 1565. The quhilk day Johne Brand, Mynister, presentit to ye kirk ane writting written be ye Justice Clerk hand desyring ye kirk of ye cannogait ande Minister yareof to proclame harie duk of Albaynye Erie of Roise on ye one parte, And Marie by ye grace- of God quene of Scottis Soverane on ye uyer part. The quilk ye kirk ordainis ye Mynister to do, wyt. [nvocatione of ye name of God."
THORNE GEORGE.
"Top SPIT" (9 th S. xii. 505). This is a well-known gardeners' term for green sward taken up to the depth of a spade, or less depth, and piled up to decay for light soil used in potting, &c. See ' Mary's Meadow/ by Mrs. Ewing. J. T. F.
Winterton, Doncaster.
This term is hardly a provincialism, for it abounds in horticultural literature. Tims, "The top spit of an old pasture makes capital potting soil" (Sutton, 'Cult. Veget. and Flowers,' 1892, p. 311). To save the expense of removing it themselves, builders sometimes advertise "top spit given away." Only a day or two ago I noticed a board with this superscription. J. DORMER.
" AS MERRY AS GPJGGS " (9 th S. xii. 506).
Griggs is a Staffordshire word for bantams, and' Josiah Wedgwood, the Staffordshire potter, no doubt used it in this way.
W. HODGES.
My wife tells me that in Yorkshire she has often heard children called grirjys that is, when they are about four to eight years of age. W. H. M. G.
I have always understood that a grigg was a tadpole. As a youth I used to fish for them both under this name and that of "bull- heads." CHAS. F. FORSHAW, LL.D.
Baltimore House, Bradford.
CANDLEMAS GILLS (9 th S. xii. 430). This custom was doubtless a survival of the once universal "church-ale." Church ales were when the people went from afternoon prayers on Sundays to their lawful sports and pas-
