212
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. ix. MAR. H, 1914.
FIBE-WALKING (11 S. ix. 49, 114, 151).
Although the two following instances do
not bear directly on fire-walking, they may
be considered sufficiently curious to find a
place. They are both taken from that
museum of curious lore known as ' Wanley's
Wonders,' published in 1774 :
" Rodericus Fonseca, a physician of great reputation in Pisa, bought for his household em- ployment a negro slave. She, as often as she pleased, took burning coals into her hands and mouth without any hurt at all ; this was con- firmed to me by Gabriel Fonseca, an excellent physician in Rome, and by another of deserved credit, who told me he had frequently seen the trial and red-hot coals held in her hand till almost cold, and this without any impression of fire left upon her ; and I myself saw the same being done by a she negro in the Hospital of the Holy Ghost, to which I was physician. Petr. Serv. in dissert, dealing. Armar, pp. 29-30.
" It is familiarly known all over Pisa, of Martinus Ceccho, a townsman of Montelupo, that he used to take hot coals in his hand, put them in his mouth, and bite them in pieces with his teeth, till he had extinguished them. He would tread upon them with his bare feet. He would put boiling lead into his mouth, and suffer a burning candle to be held under his tongue, as he put it out of his mouth ; and many such other things as may seem incredible ; all this was con- firmed to me by divers Capuchins, and my worthy friend Nicholaus Accursius, of the Order of St. Francis. Petr. Serv. in dissert, de Ung. Armar, pp. 33-4."
GALLOWAY FRASEB.
Strawberry Hill.
THE RED BULL THEATRE (US. ix. 150). I have been able to secure evidence of three plays being produced at this theatre in the reign of James I. :
1. " If it be not Good the Divel is in it. A now Play as it hath bin lately acted with great applause by the Queene's Majesties servants, at the Red Bull ; written by Thomas Decker." 4to. 1612.
2. ' Swetnam the Woman-hater arraign'd by Women.' Comedy acted at the Red Bull by the late Queen's servants. Anonymous. 4to. 1620.
3. ' Herod and Antipater," with the Death of the fair Mariam.' Tragedy by Gervase Markham and William Sampson. Acted at the Red Bull. 4to. 1622.
See Baker's ' Companion to the Playhouse,' 1782.
Thomas Killigrew, Charles II. 's favourite, and a dramatic writer of some distinc- tion, as a boy got into this theatre without paying by playing the part of a devil. Pepys attended the theatre on 23 March, 1662, to see a tragedy by W. Rowley 'All 's Lost by Lust ' but he records in his Diary that the whole play was poorly done and with much disorder. There were only about ten people with him in the pit, and not one hundred in the whole house.
WM. NORMAN.
TABBING (US. viii. 368, 416, 473 ; ix.
158). I have particulars of over thirty
persons (males) bearing the name of Tarring,
including most of those mentioned by
W. S. B. H., but the most important point
has not been noted (see viii. 416), viz., in-
formation as to change from Terringe to
Tarring in Sussex, and evidence of early use
of the word as a patronymic in Devonshire.
Thanks to W. S. B. H. G
SHILLETO (US. ix. 71, 136). In his Bible, which we still possess, my great-great-grand- father Richard Shillito wrote :
" The letter (e) was left out of our name in the Year of our Lord 1760. Tho' according to the arms some puts it in and some leaves it out, but I think the original way has been without the e.'*
Shillitoe of Heath, near Wakefield, in the Wapentake of Agbrig and Mosley, bore Argent, in a fesse between three cocks' heads erased sable, erected, beaked, and jolloped or, a mitre of the third.
These were the arms of Bishop John Alcock, who in 1497 founded Jesus College, Cambridge, and are to-day the arms of the college.
Another coat : Or, a chevron between ten cross - crosslets sable. Crest : A lion rampant argent, decently crowned or, in flames of fire proper. Motto : " Quod honestum utile est."
A third coat : Azure, in chief a key between two fleurs-de-lis, and in base a fleur-de-lis between two keys, the wards erect, or. Crest as before.
In the Ackworth Registers the name is spelt (1569-98) Shillito ; in 1599 Elizabeth Shillitowe occurs.
Robert de Sigillo was one of the signatories of the charter of Hugh de Laval to the monks of Pontefract about the year 1621. ABTHUB SHILLITOE.
Junior Athenaeum Club, W.
With reference to my suggestion that Shilleto is probably a corruption of De Sigillo, I am now informed that the charter of Hugh de Laval of Pontefract (Yorkshire) was signed by Henry I., King of England, &c., and Robert de Sigillo. As Pontefract appears to have been the original home of the Shillitoes, this tends to confirm my sug- gestion. George Shillitoe, who was born about 1565, was Mayor of Pontefract in 1622, and his son Gervase was Mayor during the siege in 1644. His grandson (another George Shillitoe) was Mayor of Pontefract in 1665, and again in 1679 ; and his great-grandson, Gervase, was Mayor in 1694, and died in 1725, leaving two sons.
