308
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io*.s.v. APRIL 21, IQOC.
future George IV. to Mrs. Fitzherbert." Is
there any foundation for that assumption
beyond idle rumour 1
RICHARD EDGCUMBE.
Edgbarrow, Crowthorne.
[The clergyman who performed the marriage ceremony was the Rev. Robert Burt, then vicar of Twickenham. See the review of * Mrs. Fitzherbert and George IV.,' by the late W. H. Wilkins, in The Atbenceum, 2o November, 1905, p. 716.]
LEIGHTON s * BRITISH CRESTS.' (See 9 th S. x. 109. 173, 374, 455.) I venture to ask ME. H. R. LEIGHTON, through your valuable inter- medium, if his contemplated * Ordinary of British Crests ' has yet been published. If not, are there hopes of its appearance shortly 1 CROSS-CROSSLET.
AUBREY'S 'SURREY/ ANNOTATED BY PETER LE NEVE. In an article by J. G. Nichols on the life of Henry Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, which appeared in The Gentleman's Macja- zine, 1833, part ii., the author mentions a copy of Aubrey's ' History of Surrey ' which was in the library of his father, J. B. Nichols, F.S.A. This copy had in it a manuscript note by Peter Le Neve, relative to the con- dition of Nonsuch Palace in the time of James II. I should be glad to know the present whereabouts of this copy.
H. C. ANDREWS.
13, Narbonne Avenue, Clapham Common, S.W.
HOLY BRITONS. Years ago I saw a state- ment in a periodical (of which I have lost the note) to the effect that " Hecateus wrote that the ancient Britons were a holy nation." What led Hecateus to make such a state- ment? and where is it found ?
S. SMALLWOOD.
CRESSET STONES. I should be glad to know where cresset stones may be seen, and, if possible, to have measurements.
JOHN H. WHITHAM.
15, Moorland Road, Leeds.
^ JEFFERSON. Can any correspond-
ent of * N. & Q.' kindly assist me in ascer-
taining the lineage of Lieut. John Pigott, of
Stroud's Regiment of Foot, who was married,
17 June, 1760, to Elizabeth Jefferson or
Jeffreyson, of the parish of St Andrew,
Dublin 1 Is there any record of his death in
the war with Havannah, circa 1762? Was
Stroud's Regiment engaged there ?
WM. JACKSON PIGOTT. Manor House, Dundrum, co. Down.
"THE SOPHY." Mr. W. C. Hazlitt, at vol. ii. p. 132 of his 'History of the Venetian Republic/ speaks of the Republic's seeking the aid of "the Sophy" some time before
1479. Is not this an anachronism? Was
that term for the Shah of Persia ever used
before the accession of the so-called Siifi
dynasty in 1499? FORREST MORGAN.
Hartford, Conn.
THOMAS BETTESWORTH. \Vho was Thomas Bettesworth, one of the justices of the peace for co. Southampton in January, 1650?
R. REYNOLDS.
BARNES : ORIGIN OF THE NAME What is known of the origin of the word Bernieres. whence comes the name Berners or Earners t The place-name Bernieres occurs in Calvados and the Seine- Inferieure. See also the ' Diet. Topographique, par Hippeau, Paris, 1883. The Arc/i. Journal, vii. 322, suggests O.Fr. bernier, a vassal who paid bcrnaye, a feudal due for the support of the lord's hounds.
W. BARNES HELMEROW.
EARL OF SHIPBROOK. Walker's Hibernian Magazine for December, 1783, p. 669, has the following extract from The London Gazette :
" Died, 15th September, at Orwell Park, Suffolk, right hon. Francis Vernon, earl of Shipbrook, viscount Orwell, and baron Orwell, of Newry, county Downe, in Ireland. He has two nephews
under-age, sons of Vernon, Esq., at Bury St.
Edmund's. His lordship was nephew to the cele- brated admiral Vernon, to whom he erected a monument in Westminster-abbey. His title is extinct."
I take some interest in the annals of Newry, co. Down, and should be glad to know upon what authority the Earl of Shipbrook was designated as "of Newry, county Downe, in Ireland." Though I have an intimate know- ledge of the history of my town, I have never seen any connexion of the gentleman in question with it, so that an explanation will be gladly received by PHILIP CROSSLE.
11, Trevor Hill, Newry.
IRISH BOG BUTTER. The following from The Times of 26 March deserves reproduction in 'N. & Q.' When a boy in Ireland, I re- member being told that bog butter was what the fairies carried off from the dairy. Any one who entered the place while churning was going on was obliged to help to turn the churn, to prevent the fairies from robbing the butter. Has such butter been found elsewhere than in Ireland ?
"Irish Bog Butter. The current annual report (the 31st) of the Ontario Agricultural College con- tains some account of Irish bog butter, a sample of which was sent to the college laboratory. It is stated to have been found in the county Kildare, Ireland, and when taken out of the peaty soil was so fresh that dogs ate it. The sample, as received, was a greasy, greyish-white substance, with a slightly rancid smell. Examination served to show
