10
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. x. JULY 4, im.
house exist in its original state ? The
foundations still to a large extent can be
traced, and materials from it can be seen
in the neighbouring walls and cottages.
W. P. D. S.
" LADY CHABLOTTE GORDON." What was the real name of the author who wrote
- The Mysteries of the Court of Denmark '
in 1863 ? J. M. BULLOCH.
" PROMETHEAN." This is given in the American ' Century Dictionary ' as a name for " a small glass tube containing sulphuric acid, and surrounded by an inflammable mixture which it ignited on being pressed ; formerly used for affording a ready light." Can any reader of ' N. & Q.' give informa- tion about this device, or refer to any book in which it is described or spoken of ?
J. A. H. MURRAY.
SNODGRASS AS A SURNAME.
(10 S. ix. 427.)
IT is surprising that there should have been any doubt as to Snodgrass being a real name, as people bearing it are still to be found in Glasgow, Paisley, and other parts of Scotland.
1. An account of the Snodgrass family of Cunninghamehead is given in Paters on' s
- History of the Counties of Ayr and Wig-
town,' iii. 209-10, which I will not repeat more than is necessary for the purpose of adding dates, &c. John, the first Snodgrs owner of Cunninghamehead, and builder of the house there, died 20 Oct., 1771. The eldest son Neil died 6 Oct., 1821, aged 81, his wife Marian having pre- deceased him 13 March, 1818. The second son William died at Irvine, 2 Nov., 1824, aged 83. The youngest son John became a lieutenant in the 82nd Regiment, 19 Dec., 1778, and was drowned at sea soon after- wards.
Neil Snodgrass of Cunninghamehead had three sons and three daughters. His eldest son David took the name of Buchanan His second son John was a major in the H.E.I.C.S. The Major's only son William James married 18 Sept., 1845, at Dalchully House, Inverness-shire, Isabella Newman dau. of Henry Bousfield, Esq., late surgeon Bengal N.I. The Major's eldest daughter Marion Elphinstone Coates was marriec at St. George's, Bloomsbury, 13 Sept.
849, to Theophilus Thompson, eldest
on of Thomas Thompson, of Poundisford
Park, Pitminster, Somerset. The Major's
econd daughter Eliza Ann died at Edinburgh
unmarried, 30 Nov., 1862. Capt. James
Snodgrass, Neil's third son, died at Tabriz,
Persia, in October, 1814. The date of the
marriage of Christina Snodgrass to Lieut. -
Col. Reid was 21 July, 1806.
2. So far as I know, no account has been given of the Snodgrass family of Paisley. John Snodgrass, Sheriff-Clerk of Renfrew- shire, died 24 May, 1785. Hew Snodgrass, W.S., died at Newton, near Paisley, 31 April, 1807. Neil Snodgrass, late of Paisley, died in Jamaica, 14 May, 1818. I suspect that this was the cotton manufacturer of this name who on 24 July, 1807, married at Johnstone, Agnes, e.dau. of Mr. Robert Hodgart, merchant. Hew Snodgrass of Morant Bay died at Port Royal, Jamaica, 24 Oct., 1819. Lieut. Wm. Snodgrass, Late of the 24th Regiment of Foot, died at Govan, 4 Dec., 1820. John Snodgrass, W.S., died at Paisley, 7 March, 1822.
The Rev. John Snodgrass, D.D., a Presby- terian minister of Paisley, married Janet, eldest sister of General Sir Kenneth Mac- kenzie Douglas (a lady ignored by Burke), and died at Saltcoats,. 19 June, 1797. She died at Eagleton, Williams' River, N.S.W., 30 July, 1852, aged 90. Their son Kenneth is the "leader of a Portuguese regiment" mentioned at 9 S. x. 72. There is no evi- dence to connect him with Gabriel Snodgrass, the shipbuilder of Chatham, or with an earlier Gabriel Snodgrass who was principal sur- veyor to the H.E.I.C. in the middle of tho eighteenth century. Major Kenneth Snod- grass was in command of the 1st Battalion of the 1 3th Portuguese Regiment at the siege of San Sebastian, and was slightly wounded on 17 July, 1813, when the fortified convent of San Bartolome and an adjoining work on a steep hill were carried by assault. On 31 Aug. the town itself was taken after some very hard fighting. Sir Thomas Graham wrote :
" The advance of the 1st Batt. 13th Reg. under Major Snodgrass, over the open beach and across
the river was made in the handsomest style under
a very severe fire of grape. Major Snodgrass attacked and finally carried the small breach on the right of the great one."
The Duke of Wellington also wrote :
" All reports concur in praise of the detachment from the 10th Portuguese Brigade under Major Snodgrass, which crossed the river Urumea, and stormed the breach on the right under all the fire which could be directed on them from the castle and-town."
