us. m. APRIL i5,i9ii.j NOTES AND QUERIES.
295
Those who were boys with me, when
desired to make and keep a promise, were
asked, " Will you spit your death ? " but in
words in the dialect. The answer being yes,
one way of confirmation was to cross the
fore-fingers of each hand and spit over the
cross made by them. Another way was to
put the tips of the forefingers together and
spit over them, saying, " I spit my word."
We spat on the ground in front of a toad
found crawling over the path, and did the
same when we met with a large black snail.
These creatures brought bad luck, which
the spitting averted. In some marble
games it was customary to spit in front of a
rival taw. THOS. RATCLIFFE.
Worksop.
In rny reply, ante, p. 218, col. i, 1. 10, for 44 would stop and recite " read " would spit and recite." J. JACOBS.
CHAMNEY OR CHOLMONDELEY FAMILY (11 S. iii. 3). Possibly the following Ferns consistorial wills might throw further light on this pedigree : Christopher Chamney, Keyle, 1729 ; Jane Chamney, widow, Bally- shonack, co. Wexford, 1746.
From Cholmondeley to Chamney is rather a far cry. A more likely derivation is from De Champagne. In the emigrations from France following on the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 a colony was formed at Portarlington by the Marquis de Ruvigny : in St. Paul's Church there divine service was conducted in the French language up to about 1815.
I cannot refer at the moment to Vicars' s 1 Irish Prerogative Wills,' but I note in the " Irish Record Series," among the Kildare consistorial wills, those of Marie de la Rochefoucauld de Champegne, widow, Port- arlington, 1730 ; and Jane Champagne, Lumville, 1761.
The Van Homrighs were presumably Flemish, and Lewis's ' Topographical Dic- tionary ' states that the Portarlington settle- ment was also recruited by Flemings.
W. ROBERTS CROW.
It would be interesting to learn who the "" scion " of the house of Cholmondeley was who is said to have married the daughter of the ironmaster Bacon, " relinquishing his heritage " and changing his name. Sir Peter Leycester's ' Cheshire ' does not, I think, confirm in any way this assertion, unless the Cholmondeley referred to was a son of Robert, Lord Cholmondeley, who died in 1659 " without any lawful issue of his body."
The Robert just mentioned was succeeded
by Robert, eldest son of his brother Hugh.
ALFRED CHAS. JONAS.
Chamney was a well-known name in the parish of Colton in North Lonsdale, appear- ing regularly in the Colton church registers from 1626 down to 1784.
It is also to be found in the Cartmel parish registers from 1568 downwards, and appears as Chamney, Champney, and Champ- neye. W. H. CHIPPINDALL, Col.
Kirkby Lonsdale.
CANONS, MIDDLESEX : " ESSEX " AS CHRISTIAN NAME (11 S. ii. 328, 374, 394, 437, 534 ; iii. 92, 173, 214). The occurrence of Essex as a Christian name in Pembroke- shire, alluded to by G. E. C. at the last reference, is due to the fact that the Earls of Essex of the Devereux family were the lead- ing magnates of the county, in which they owned Lamphey and other estates (Laws, ' History of Little England beyond Wales,' pp. 27295, &c.). When Mr. Laws com- piled his ' History ' (published 1888), both Essex and Devereux were still used as Chris- tian names for boys in parts of Little Eng- land : " These two are pretty common in Roos, but oddly enough are wanting in Castlemartin " (ibid., p. 414), i.e., amongst the schoolboys, to whom this passage refers.
G. H. WHITE. St. Cross, Harleston, Norfolk.
In addition to the instances given, I may add that Essex, daughter of Lord Paget, was buried at Drayton, Middlesex, 18 Octo- ber, 1639. Her mother's name was Frances (Lysons's ' Historical Account of those Parishes in the County of Middlesex which are not described in the Environs of London,' p. 42). The examples from the London marriage licences show how the name ran in families. Thus Henry Ingram married Essex Montague ; he was the second husband of Essex Cheke of Pyrgo, Essex, by Essex, daughter of the Earl of Warwick. By her first husband she had two children, Robert and Essex, both of whom died in infancy. A. RHODES.
CAPT. COOK MEMORIALS (11 S. iii. 165, 232). The following extract from the 1903 edition of Heaviside's ' Rambles in Cleve- land ' relates to the memorial on Easby Moor :
" The monument was erected in 1827.. The site chosen is an exposed one, and consequently the ravages of storms and boisterous weather gradual! y began to tell on the structure. During tho
