180
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. vm. AUG. 31, 1907.
inference is that they belonged to a pre- Aryan tribe
of Northern India, of a similar type to the Doms or
the Natts, but speaking a dialect akin to the Sindhi
or Kashmiri. The pressure of Aryan rule, which
was of course far heavier in Northern India than in
the southern portions of the peninsula, where the
Dravidian-speaking races have held their own up to
the present day, gradually forced them to emigrate
into regions where they hoped to secure a greater
measure of freedom.
Amongst other interesting papers may be noted one on 'Gypsy Costume' by Mr. J. H. Yoxall, M.P.; another on a seventeenth-century gipsy tract by Dr W. E. A. Axon; and a third, in lighter vein, by Alice E. Gillington. The character of the .Journal for learning is maintained by a recondite article in German, by Dr. F. N. Finck, on the language of the Armenian gipsies, which may be read with equal advantage by students of English Romani.
A Short Account of the Affairs of Scotland in the Years 1744, 1745, 1746. By David, Lord Elcho. With a Memoir and Notes by the Hon. Evan Charteris. (Edinburgh, David Douglas.) IT is surprising that in this age of universal print- ing so important a narrative as that of Lord Elcho of the fascinating and hopeless attempts of the '45 should so long have remained imprinted. It had the very best advertisement of its merit in its use by Walter Scott as a principal authority in his delightful ' Tales of a Grandfather.' There is a hardness about the character of Elcho which will not please Jacobite sentimentalists, but in our view makes him a fairer judge of Prince Charles and his chances than the literary partisan of to-day.
It is very satisfactory to find this well-printed volume so capably edited. Mr. Charteris is evi- dently well acquainted with the best histories of the time, and has used Eleho's journal of the principal years of his life effectively in the 'Memoir' of that convinced Jacobite. There is a striking picture of Eleho's position abroad, and the "Georgite" spies of the Roman Court of James Stuart. At Bologna Elcho met Horace Walpole, and everywhere he took his share in gay society. When he left the Continent for England, he was
- able to hoodwink those he met as to his views and
proclivities. When the Prince made his descent on England, Elcho was in the forefront of the army. His behaviour at the disastrous field of Culloden was excellent, and there seems little doubt that he rebuked the Prince for cowardice. Henceforth he was an embittered exile who hated his former leader, and vainly strove to get repayment of 1,500/. money subscribed for the '4i> and pardon from the Hanoverians. He was long in search of a rich wife, and finally married at the age of fifty- five. The whole narrative is of a varied interest, which the author's style brings out admirably.
Lord Burghley's Map of Lancashire in 1590. With
Notes on the Manorial Lords, and Brief Histories
of their Estates traced down to the Present Day,
by Joseph Gillow. (Catholic Record Society.)
AMONG the treasures of the Record Office there is
-oreserved a large coloured map of Lancashire
<lrawn on vellum, showing the seats of the chiei
gentry, with their names attached. There is a copy
of this, but not an exact duplicate, in the British
Museum. There can be little doubt that they were
made for the purpose of indicating the estates of
- he larger landowners, so that the laws which were
intended to compel conformity to the Reformed religion might be enforced in a district where many of the more important gentry, their tenants and servants, still adhered to the older form of worship. The editor of the ' Haydock Papers ' and the 'Tyldesley Diary' has given an excellent re- production of this map on a smaller scale, and, as ic was fully capable of doing, has compiled a .earned commentary thereon, which will be of great value to students of local and family history. We need hardly say that he treats not only of the families of his own faith, but also of all those whose names figure in the map. Valuable knowledge is frequently communicated which is by no means of a pedigree nature. The account of the Sherburns of Stonyhurst is an example, as it throws a side-light on what used to be known as the " Popish Plot."
There was a body we presume a secret society of which Titus Gates and others of his sort were members, called the Green Ribbon Club. One of these a worthless scamp named Robert Bolron, a discharged steward of Sir Thomas Gascoigne, of Barnborough Hall in Yorkshire was sent down from London with authority to search the houses of Catholics, or those reputed to be such, in Lan- cashire and the three other Northern counties. Bolron had, of course, no difficulty in finding docu- ments such as he required in proof of a plot; but the papers, when their true nature was understood, proved to be of an innocent nature, and no evidence of any substantial kind, so far as Lancashire was concerned, could either be discovered or invented. The documents that Bolron carried off were, how- ever, printed at the time, and now throw a curious light on the way in which the actions of perfectly innocent men were liable to be misrepresented in a time of political delirium.
Child marriages, as they were called, but what really were contracts for marriages to take place at a subsequent period, are several times mentioned in these pages. In view of the discussion in our columns concerning the name of Hamlet, it is interesting to find that it occurs twice as a Christian name in the line of the Holcrofts of Holcroft Hall.
We must call special attention to the following
notices :
ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately, nor can we advise correspondents as to the value of old books and other objects or as to the means of disposing of them.
A. E. A. Chauceriana shortly.
M. L. R. BRESLAR ("Religion of all sensible men"). This phrase is often attributed to Lord Beaconsfield, but neither he nor Samuel Rogers originated it, for it was current many years before either was born. The author of it was Anthony Ashley Cooper, first Lord Shaftesbury. See the communications at 9 S. x. 271.
CORRIGENDA. Ante, p. 123, col. 1, 1. 23, for "Japp " read Jupp. P. 149, col. 1, last line, for " Le Mars " read Le
