n s. m. MAY e, mi.] NOTES AND QU ERIES.
349
took a prominent part in the affairs of
Gloucester during the siege, was an active
supporter of the refusal to surrender in
accordance with the summons sent by
Charles I. on 10 August, 1643, and one of the
two bearers selected to convey the city's
message to the King in the Tredworth Fields.
He became Sheriff in 1644, and Mayor in
1659. I should also be glad to have the
names of any Gloucestershire booksellers,
of whom there is printed evidence before
1680, other than those of Jordan and J.
Barksdale. I have evidence of the latter
being in business in Cirencester in the year
named. ROLAND AUSTIN.
Public Library, Gloucester.
CHURCH OF ENGLAND c. 1750. I shall be glad if any readers of ' N. & Q.' can tell me the title of a book of which 30 pages are in the Wallasey Reference Library, and where I can see a copy of it. It is a quarto volume, and is apparently an official return of all the bishoprics, cathedrals, benefices, chapelries, &c., of the Church of England. The portion in the library here consists of pp. 567 to 596, and comprises the whole of the old diocese of Chester, with portions of Carlisle and Durham. The benefices are given, with their patrons and proprietors, under four headings : Livings remaining in charge ; Livings discharged ; Not in charge ; Chapels, Donatives, and Curacies. At the left-hand side are printed the values, and at the right-hand side the yearly tenths.
As the book mentions St. Thomas's Church, Liverpool, as consecrated 1750, and does not refer to St. Mary's, Deansgate, Man- chester, erected in 1756, it was apparently published some time between those dates. I desire to consult the particulars relating to the Southern dioceses, especially Wor- cester. T. GLYNN.
Liscard, Cheshire.
DRAWING THE ORGAN : COPES. In the parish accounts of St. Columb in Corn- wall for 1585, mixed up with such items as " paid for hanging a fire bell 6/8," " for keeping a poor child for a fortnight 12rf.." and " payd to Wm. Callway for his hellpe in the quire," is an item " payd to Jo. Bennye for drauing thorganes 12rf."
What is " drawing 51 the organ ? Is the expression equivalent to what we now call playing the organ ?
The following extract represents another item of fairly frequent occurrence from 1584 to 1587 :
"Due for Copes. Richard Vyvyan of St. Meryn oweth unto this p'isshe for the rest of
c'tein Copes before this tyme solde unto him by
the said p'isshioners and tooke daye on St.
Androwes daye 1584 to paye the saide rest being
then iii 11 ix 8 by 20" yerelye untill the said 3" 9
be satisfyed in full payment for the debt for the
said Copes/
"Receavyd of Richard Wattes die et a q' supra for the debt of Richard Vyvyan and now due
XX s ."
I do not think this can have any reference to the sale of the " superstitious " properties of the church. The parish had a stock of cows and sheep which it let out, but this is the only evidence I find of any actual trading in ther way of sale. What are " copes " in this connexion ? YGREC.
ROBERT DE VALLE. According to Owen's ' Old Pembroke Families,' he was one of the leading men in Pembrokeshire in the reign of Edward I. In ' Cartse Baroniae de Kernes ' (Arch. Camb., 1862), p. 27, mention is made of "an indenture between Robert de Valle and Thomas Warlagh of lands in Redwalles and Morvil.' ' A reference number- is given, viz., " libr. pargameni, fol. 50." Can any one tell me whether this " parch- ment book " still exists, or where particu- lars of the indenture referred to may be seen ? G. H. W.
STAFFORDSHIRE CHARTER c. 1180 : CAME- RARIUS OF PARISH CHURCH. In a Staffordshire charter of 1180, or perhaps earlier, two of the witnesses are Ysabel Panton and Mold (Maud) de Nomi (?). The same deed mentions a certain " Herbertus Camerarius Altaris de Lawton." Who were the ladies, and what was the Camerarius of a parish church ? C. SWYNNERTON.
SCOTS Music. What are the historical grounds for Robert Fergusson's ' Elegy ' on ' Scots Music ' ? Was there an actual decline in the art at his date ? Like the late Prof. Blackie, he laments the
Crabbit queer variety Of sounds fresh sprung from Italy.
W. B.
SAMPSON FAMILY OF YORKSHIRE. Th Rev. George Sampson was Rector of Leven near Hull, also owner of Walkington Grange near Leven. One of his daughters married Lord de Blaquiere, and another (born in 1810) Benjamin Cpllett, J.P., of Grafton Manor, Worcestershire. Any information con- cerning the above Rev. G. Sampson and his family will be appreciated.
H. COLLETT.
137, Hamlet Gardens Mansions, Ravenscourt Park, W.
