Pork Acre. Portfolio 212 of P.R.O. Court Rolls contains several relating to Harlington. In 1857 Mr. H. O. Myers published 'A Lecture upon the Village of Harlington.' This I have not seen. Newcourt's 'Repertorium' and the Rev. G. Hennessy's Supplement to it give lists of vicars. There are some notes upon sepulchral brasses at Harlington in B.M. Add. MS. 32,490. See also Add. MSS. 18,976 and 19,003-9.
It is an interesting fact that the street in the west of London so well known as Arlington Street should really be Harlington Street. When Henry Bennet, who lived at Harlington, read of his new dignity as announced in The London Gazette, found that through some mistake he had been made Earl of Arlington instead of Harlington. It is supposed that some scribe of the Heralds' College was not so attentive to his h's as he should have been.
The history of Dawley, a fine house close to Harlington, is full of interest. Lord Uxbridge is said to have built a wall round it a mile long "to keep out the smallpox." Pope visited Bolingbroke at Dawley, and Voltaire did the same. A poem called 'Dawley's Farm' appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine for 1731. Pope wrote to Swift from Dawley when staying with Bolingbroke:—
"I now hold the pen of my Lord Bolingbroke, who is reading your letter between two haycocks; but his attention is somewhat diverted by casting his eyes on the clouds not in admiration of what you say, but for fear of a shower Now his lordship is run after his cart I have a moment left to myself to tell you that I overheard him yesterday agree with a painter for 200Z. to paint his country hall with trophies of rakes, spades, prongs, &c., and other ornaments, merely to countenance his calling his place a farm."
This is confirmed in a letter by Lady Luxborough, Lord Bolingbroke's sister:—
"When my brother Bolingbroke built Dawley, which he chose to call a farm, he had his hall painted in stone colour, with all the implements of Husbandry placed in the manner one sees, or might see, arms and trophies in some general's hall: and it had an effect that pleased everybody."
The Home Counties Magazine for 1912 has an informing article upon Hounslow Heath, and there is a reference to the church living of Harlington in the same magazine for 1900.
187 Piccadilly, W.
Your correspondent should see 'Eight Hundred Years of Harlington Parish Church,' by the Rev. H. Wilson, M.A., published in 1909, and the references to books and documents consulted in connexion therewith given in the work; also 'The History of the Ancient Town of Uxbridge,' edited by Geo. Redford, A.M., and Thos. Hurry Riches, 1818. A reprint of the original edition was issued in 1885.
The yew tree on the south side of Harlington Church is of wide reputation, and the annual clipping thereof in Whitsun week was for a long time a function which attracted residents in the neighbourhood. The last clipping was in 1825. The old tree is still in a flourishing condition, or was when I last saw it two or three years ago. An illustration of the tree as it appeared in 1729 is given in Mr. Wilson's book, and a copy of the same old print, but on a larger scale, may be seen in The Picture Magazine, vol. iii. p. 30.
In this connexion I may mention that a few years ago, when it was proposed to convert the old burial-ground belonging to Uxbridge—a township and chapelry in the parish of Harlington—into a recreation-ground, I copied all the inscriptions therein. They remain in manuscript.
Hermon Hill, Wanstead.
Hymn-Tune 'Presburg' (12 S. i. 409).—The tune of this name, set to the words "Go to dark Gethsemane" in 'The Hymnal Companion' (London, 1877), and there attributed to C. E. Bach, is set to the words "Now the labourer's toils are o'er" in 'The English Hymnal' (London, 1906), and is there called "Pressburg (Nicht so traurig)," and is attributed to Freylinghausen, 'Neues Geistreiches Gesangbuch,' 1714.
A different 'Presburg' is set to the words "God, Thou my King," in 'The European Psalmist' (London, 1872). This tune is attributed to Joh. Schop, 1641. A different "Nicht so traurig" is set to the words "Bread of Heaven" in 'Hymns Ancient and Modern' (London, 1904).
There seems to be no method in the naming of hymn-tunes, and very little care taken as to their ascription.
Cardinal Newman: his Bust at Oxford (12 S. i. 427).—I see a letter dated from the Oxford Union Society referring to a bronze bust of the Cardinal, now placed in the garden of Trinity College, and signed by Broadbent, sculptor, in 1915. I once dined as guest of Robinson Ellis at Trinity College. My old friend the Rev. T. Mozley (see my account of his death in The Athenæum for June 24, 1893), for many years resident in Cheltenham, decorated his hall with a marble bust of Newman, whose sister was Mozley's first wife. William Mercer.
