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NOTES AND QUERIES.
[12 8. III. DEC., 1917.
Low Ford was the name of the Hylton
Low Ford Pottery, founded by John Dawson
In 1800. Hylton is on the river Wear
above Sunder] and.
Full particulars are given in W. R. Ball's paper on ' The Potteries of Sunderland,' in vol. vii. (1906) of the SunderJand Anti- quarian Society. ALFRED BREWIS. Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The mug was probably made at Sunder- land, as Dawson & Co. had a pottery there in 1800, known as the Low Ford Pottery, Sunder] and. The firm used as a device a full-rigged ship surrounded by the style of the firm, " Dawson & Co., Low Ford." In 1857 the firm was Thomas Dawson & Co., and at the beginning of last century John Dawson & Co. It seems to have now dis- appeared from Sunderland.
ARCHIBALD SPARKE.
RIDDLE BY CHARLES Fox, 1856 (12 S. iii. 479). Is "gossip" a possible answer to this riddle ? F. M. M.
ADMIRAL VAN TROMP'S ENGLISH DE- SCENDANTS (12 S. iii. 478). Gillingham in Kent, on the Medway, is the one intended. The late Mr. Van Tromp had resided for many years in the district, and always claimed to be descended from the great admiral, but I know not with what au- thority. He lias, I believe, left two sons.
I remember that another Dutch family Van Heesen lived at Rochester many years ago.
I think there is nothing remarkable in Dutch names being found in this neighbour- hood, as there was, until a few years ago, a direct trade between Gillingham and Amsterdam in Dutch cheeses and other things. Two cheese-boats regularly sailed to and fro. The end of one of these was rather curious. She had gone up the Medway to Maidstone with a cargo of cheeses, and the Customs officers there suddenly made a mimite search on board (no doubt acting on information received), and underneath the cheeses and a false bottom was found a large quantity of contra- band cigars and tobacco. The crew were heavily fined, and the boat was sawn in halves, that being the penalty prescribed by law. JOSEPH C. BRIDGE.
Chester.
There are, or were a few years ago, Van Tromps living in Bridgwater (the birthplace of Blake), Somerset. JESSIE C. DAVIS.
ROLLS OF LORDS LIEUTENANT (12 S.
iii. 385, 455, 485). My best thanks are
given to your correspondents for their
valuable replies to my query. I have,
however, some doubt, which I should like to
have set at rest, as to 1549 being the year
when the office was instituted, as Doyle's
Official Baronage ' gives May 19, 1547, on the authority of the Talbot Papers, for the appointment of Francis, fifth Earl of Shrewsbury, to the office for cos. York, Lancaster, Chester, Derby, Salop, Stafford, and Nottingham. At present I am only concerned in endeavouring to compile a complete list for Staffordshire.
S. A. GRUNDY-NEWMAN, F.S. A.Scot.
Walsall.
" AUSTRIA, THE CHINA OF EUROPE " (11 S. viii. 170). L. L. K.'s query at the above reference seems not to have been answered. In ' Coningsby,' book vi. chap, iii., I find that Coningsby told Sir Joseph Wallinger " that governments for the preservation of peace and order, and nothing else, had better be sought in China, or among the Austrians, the Chinese of Europe." JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT.
TANKARDS WITH MEDALS INSERTED (12 S. iii. 445, 483). There is no doubt that my tankard is of London make, and of the date of 1714. The marks are very distinct, and agree with those given in Cripps for that date. J. F. ROTTON.
Godalming.
"SELF": A DICTUM (12 S. iii. 478). See dedication of ' The Corsair ' to Thomas Moore by Lord Byron, the second paragraph of which begins : " May I add a few words on a subject on which all men are supposed to be fluent, and none agreeable ? Self."
In an alternative and much shorter dedica- tion, also addressed to Moore for his approval if the first (and adopted) dedication was thought too long, the same idea is retained in slightly different terms : "... .ending with that topic on which most men are fluent and none very amusing one's self."
L. A. W.
Dublin.
" LOAFNER " : MEANING AND DERIVA- TION (12 S. iii. 479). I take this word to be an altered form of the Scotch and Southern substantive elevener and levener, which Wright's ' English Dialect Dictionary ' de- fines as a " luncheon or slight refreshment taken by labourers about 11 o'clock in the morning."
