366
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. iv. NOV. *, 1911.
31 March last, contained a notable para-
graph which deserves to be included in the
pages of ' N. & Q.' :
- In some interesting introductory observations
on the land value duties, the Commissioners refer to the general valuation of all land in the United Kingdom now in progress. ' The magnitude of this task will be appreciated,' they say, ' when it is mentioned that the number of hereditaments in the three kingdoms amounts approximately to 11,000,000. To find a parallel to this scheme of universal valuation we have to go back to the Domesday Book of William the Conqueror, and it is of peculiar interest, as forming a link between the eleventh and the twentieth century valuations, that in at least one instance there are probably others we have in the course of pur survey met with an estate which has remained in the hands of one family from the date of the Domesday Book to the present time.' This property, it is explained, is in the parish of East Quantockshead, and is in the possession of Mr. A. F. Luttrell, a lineal descendant of Ralf Pay- nell, who held it in the reign of William the Con- queror."
W. BRADBROOK.
SYLLEPSIS OB ZEUGMA : ' PICKWICK.' (See ' " Pickwick " : Miss Bolo,' ante, pp. 89, 158.) These references give an example taken from * Pickwick,' chap, xxxiv., p. 382 of the first edition, 1. 6 from foot. May I offer another example also from ' Pickwick,' chap, xv., p. 157 of the first edition, 1. 3 from foot ?
" Mr. Tupman returned to his companions ; and in another hour had drowned all present recol- lection of Mr. Alfred Jingle, or Mr. Charles Fitz- Marshall, in an exhilarating quadrille and a bottle of champagne."
ROBERT PIERPOINT.
"SILLY SEASON" FOR NEWSPAPERS. The ' N.E.D.' defines the " silly season " as
- the months of August and September,
when newspapers supply the lack of real news by articles or discussions on trivial topics " ; and supplies, as its earliest illus- trative reference, the remark of Punch of 9 September, 1871, "The present time of the year has been named ' the silly season.' "
But the idea is very much earlier, as is evident from the following extract from The Daily Journal of 6 September, 1725 :
" The story of the pretended Stratagem of the Smugglers at Buntington in Yorkshire, in burning a Tun of Pitch and other combustable Matter at Sea, to divert the Officers of the Customs, while they run Goods a-shoar, as published in The Evening Post and other Papers, we are well assured is entirely false, and is only a Piece of Invention contrived (according to Custom) to amuse the ignorant at this barren Season of News."
ALFRED F. BOBBINS.
COCK-FIGHTING AND CORONATION MUGS.
The following paragraph appeared in The
Yorkshire Post of 28 June of this year :
" A CURIOSITY IN CORONATION MUGS. A most original Coronation memento was presented to the children of Dalston, Cumberland, consisting of a mug bearing the Royal portraits, the parish coat of arms, and a representation of the famous fighting Dalston black-red gamecocks, With the defiant motto, ' While I live I crow.' In old days Dalston was a great centre of cock-fighting, and its pit birds were renowned among cockers for courage and stamina. They were allied in blood to the black-red breed kept by the Earls of Derby. Many old strains are still maintained in the neighbourhood, and, it is whispered, are occa- sionally tested for courage. Old English game fanciers are already seeking to acquire the mugs as curiosities."
T. SHEPHERD.
SIR JOSEPH NAPIER. On the walls of the chapel of the cemetery at St. Leonards- on-Sea, in which his body lies entombed, a tablet is fixed with the following inscrip- tion :
Sacred to the Memory
of The Right Hon. Sir Joseph Napier, Bart.,
Ex-Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Born 26 December, 1804. Died 9 December,
1892. An earnest and humble Christian,
he consecrated
to the Master's service the rare abilities he
possessed, and after a life spent in advancing the
interests of justice, learning, and religion,
he was summoned to the nearer and holier
service of the church above, having won the victory through his Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Peace, peace ! he is not dead he doth not sleep, He hath awakened from the dream of life.
I take the above from an article on this great Ulsterman in Great Thoughts for 14 October, written by the editor, Dr. R. P. Downes. WILLIAM MACARTHUR. Dublin.
COLLEY GIBBER'S MARRIAGE. The parish register of St. James, Duke's Place, Aldgate, in the City of London, records the marriage of Colle (sic) Gibber with Cathrine (sic) Shore on 6 May, 1693.
DANIEL HIPWELL.
" STRIP AND Go NAKED, ALIAS STRIKE- FIRE " = GiN. The Daily Journal of 6 July, 1725, recorded that three evenings before
" an elderly Man that carried a Basket in Hunger- ford Market for his Livelihood, was drowned in an excessive Quantity of Strip and go Naked, alias Strikefire, alias Gin, at a notorious Brothel in the Strand ; the poor miserable Wretch expiring under too great a Dose of that stupefying Bene- diction."
