436
NOTES AND Q IT ERIES. tn s. m. JUNE 3, 1911.
imprints on most of the file copy bear the
name of Alexander Ballantyne. In these
days Kelso possessed a theatre, which
was regularly patronized by the different
companies. One bill shows that on 18 No-
vember, 1803, there was produced at it
the ' Wheel of Fortune,' in which the part
of Roderick Penruddock was taken by Mr.
Kemble. On the same occasion a favourite
song of that time, ' Bonaparte, or the
Threatened Invasion,' was sung by Mr.
Stansfield. Another of the pieces in
which Mr. Kemble appeared was ' Douglas ;
or, The Noble Shepherd,' in which
he acted the character of Old Norval ;
the ' Miller of Mansfield ' afforded him the
opportunity of representing John Cockle.
At this theatre one of the pieces produced
was the * Spoiled Child ' by Mrs. Jordan.
There is no evidence when the play was
over, but the doors were opened at half-
past 5, the performance commencing at 7.
- The building which has been so long asso-
ciated with the Mail is situated with a
frontage to Bridge Street, the rear portion
abutting on Abbey Row. In its present
condition it is much in the same state as
in the days of the Ballantynes. The edi-
torial office is in the front, while the com-
posing room occupies the upper portion of
the back premises, and the printing presses
are down below. In the front portion are
an old desk and chair, which, according to
the traditions of the office, are part of the olc
furnishings of the place. An old printing
press which did duty in the Ballantyne
days was removed on account of old age
about forty years ago ; but there is stil
to the fore an eight-day clock of" the grand
father type which used to stand in th<
printing office.
At the present time I am compiling a lis of books printed in Jedburgh and Kelso If W. S. S. or any other reader will kindlj send me a note of any books so printec (title, year, printer's name, size of book and number of pages selling price if ob tainable), which may be in their possession I should be glad of the information.
J. LINDSAY HILSON. Public Library, Kelso.
" CAPPING " AT SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIE (US. iii. 386). Are we to understand fron the explanation of " capping " at the abov reference that the undergraduates at Scottis Universities go bare-headed until such tim as they take their degree ? At Oxford th meaning of " capping " used to be that th newly fledged graduate was salaamed to b
is scout and other college servants, who
ouched their caps to him with politic and
idlfully simulated admiration. Thus we
nd in ' Verdant Green ' (last page) :
" Of course, Mr. Verdant Green and all the new lachelors are most profusely ' capped ' ; and, of purse, all this servile homage although appre- iated at its full worth, and repaid by shillings nd quarts of buttery beer of course it is most rateful to the feelings, and is as delightfully itoxicating to the imagination as any incense of "attery can be."
BLADUD.
Sir George Trevelyan, in his ' Horace at Athens,' describing a scene at the confer- ment of degrees, made the undergraduates n the gallery shout " Cap, cap, cap, cap, you noodle ! " This passage, which has dis- appeared from later editions, seems to require elucidation. OXONIENSIS.
In confirmation of Principal Donaldson's explanation of the capping of students at Scottish universities, when they proceed to
}he degree of M.A., in the quotation from The Globe of 4 April given by A. F. B. it
s interesting to note that the word "manu- mission " occurs as a designation of gradua- tion. Th.e w ord will be found in the ' Records of the Presbytery of Inverness and Dingwall ' (1643-1688), p. 3, published by the Scottish History Society. ALEX. W ARRACK.
Oxford.
SANCTUARY RINGS (11 S. iii. 347). Perhaps somebody may be more fortunate than I was in being able to find a sanctuary knocker which I had read of in connexion with one of the doors of Noyon Cathedral. I sought it with some care, but it eluded me. I note that Murray's ' Guide ' speaks of a fine brass knocker of the thirteenth century on the W. " central " doorway. I was much amused to see at Saint-Omer (Pas de Calais) above the S. doors of Notre Dame two inaccessible bronze rings of which a local handbook said :
" Les deux anneaux de bronze place's au-dessus des portes, et qui sont ant^rieurs au XIII e siecle, rappellent probablement le souvenir du droit d'asile, dont profitait au moyen age tout re"fugie parvenant a empoigner les anneaux du meine genre attaches aux portes de certaines e'glises ou leurs dpendances. Les abus de ce droit d'asile n'ayant pas tarde" a se produire, on fit appliquer, comme on le voit ici, ces anneaux a une hauteur assez grande pour que personne ne put de"sormais y atteindre."
I think there is a rapper of refuge on a church door at Nuremberg, of which I cannot now recall the dedication. It is not mentioned in any book that I have at hand. All Saints',
