76
NOTES AND QUERIES. in s. m. j. a, 1911.
firm became W. & T. Hears in 1787, Thomas
probably being the son of William. William
retired altogether in 1789. These particu-
lars are abridged from Stahlschmidt's
- Church Bells of Kent,' pp. 66, 92, 93, 109-
113, where a fuller account of the White- chapel firm can be found, but no further details as to William Mears. A. RHODES.
SHIP LOST IN THE FIFTIES (11 S. ii. 528). Was the ship in question the Birkenhead (steam- transport), wrecked on the coast of Cape Colony on 26 February, 1852 ?
G. C. MOOEE SMITH.
On 19 October, 1853, the Dalhousie (com- manded by Capt. Butterworth) foundered off Beachey Head, when the Captain, the passengers, and all the crew, with the exception of one man, perished, about 60 persons in all being lost. Perhaps this may be the vessel referred to in the query. The newspapers of the period will no doubt contain a list of the drowned.
On 30 August, 1857, the Dunbar clipper was wrecked on the rocks near Sydney, when 121 persons perished. Only one individual was saved, after clinging to the rocks for about thirty hours. W. SCOTT.
ALFIERI IN ENGLAND (US. ii. 421, 532 ; iii. 37). The duel between Edward, second Viscount Ligonier, and Count Alfieri took place in the Green Park on Tuesday, 7 May, 1771. See Public Advertiser, 11 May ; Gazetteer, 11 and 14 May ; Town and Country Mag., iii. 238, 277 ; Lady's Mag. [1771], 478. Alfieri is said to have been wounded slightly in the arm, and his life spared, after he was disarmed, by the injured husband.
In the petition for divorce at Doctors' Commons in June-November of the same year the movements of Lady Ligonier and Alfieri after the duel were described by several of the witnesses. The former left Cobham Park on the evening 'of 7 May, and from the 8th to the 17th of the month she resided in New Norfolk Street, London, where she was visited by the Count. On 17 May she set out for France, being joined at Shooter's Hill by Alfieri ; but, as no accommodation could be had there, they proceeded to " The Rose Inn " at Dartford. Here they stayed together until Monday, 20 May. On that morning they went in a post-chaise to Shooter's Hill; but Lady Ligonier and another lady returned the same evening to " The Rose Inn," and proceeded to Rochester. Shortly afterwards Alfieri followed on horseback. The witnesses state
that the pair were going to France together.
See ' Select Trials at Doctors' Commons/
printed for S. Bladon, London, 1779, vol. iii.
The account of the divorce proceedings
in the ' Journals of the House of Lords,'
January, 1772, corroborates the statement
that Lady Ligonier went to France ; and
according to a paragraph in The Public
Advertiser of 20 November, 1771, she was-
then residing at Calais. There are many
statements about the pair in 'The Gazetteer
of 1771, and a careful search through the
files of the newspapers for this year would
probably disclose Alfieri' s movements in
detail. HORACE BLEACKLEY.
'TiT FOR TAT,' AMERICAN NOVEL (US. ii. 489 ; iii. 56). In Sampson Low & Co.'s ' English Catalogue, 1872-80,' Miss M. E, Smith is named as the author of a book with this title, an edition of which was published in 1875 by Hurst & Blackett. This lady is apparently the Mary Elizabeth Smith who brought an action for breach of promise against Lord Ferrers, and wrote in 1849 a poem, ' Moscha Lamberti,' that is partly autobiographical. N. W. HILL.
AUTHORS OF QUOTATIONS WANTED (US. iii. 29).
Captives of his (or my) bow and spear A faulty remembrance of 2 Kings vi. 22,. " Wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow ? " W. C. B.
[PROF. BENSLY also refers to the same text.}
RIDDLE OF CLARET (11 S. ii. 527). An old custom is here referred to. It is difficult,, perhaps impossible, to ascertain how it originated. A riddle or sieve was no doubt employed for convenience in carrying the bottles of wine. Claret rather than any other wine was probably consumed because it was comparatively cheap and easy to be procured. But why a riddle of thirteen bottles should almost invariably have formed a feature at archery dinners is not at all easy to conjecture. At archery meetings the number thirteen may perhaps have been supposed to bear some mystic relationship to the number of arrows discharged in the competition.
But the gift of a riddle of claret was not confined to archery meetings. At golf competitions also the magistrates and town council, invited to the closing celebration dinner, were in the habit of presenting for consumption a riddle of claret. Perhaps some superstitious notion lay at the root
