274
NOTES AND QUERIES.
[128. V. OCT., 1919.
America, is to the effect that if the old birds
fail to release the captives they will bring
them poisonous berries which prove fatal.
Of this I have had no personal experience,
but I have at intervals noted reported cases.
See The Field of Oct. 12, 1872, and Aug. 24,
1912. The earliest mention of such a case
which I have met with occurs in the Journal
of Thomas Moore, where, under date 1827,
Feb. 25, is the following entry :
" Brougham told me that in a letter which he had just received from America (from Casey of Liver- pool) he was informed that some young birds in a cage [ppecies not statedl were from time to time visited by the old ones their parents, and that the latter, after many attempts to liberate them through the bars of the cage, brought some poisonous berries which they placed in the cage, and which the prisoners immediately eat of and died."
Moore's comment upon this statement is " a strange story to send all the way from America." And so it is ; but, as above stated, analogous cases have been reported in England.
Before placing entire credence in such statements it would be desirable, in fresh cases, to have more explicit details. For example, the species of bird observed, in order to infer the nature of its usual food ; the name of the plant the berries of which are alleged to be poisonous ; and the result of a post mortem examination to ascertain the cause of death. For although it might be true that the parent birds brought berries of some kind to their young, it does not follow that the latter were poisoned by eating them. They may have been too young to appreciate them, and may have died simply from starvation.
J. E. HARTING.
Portmore Lodge, Weybridge.
FENNER FAMILY : DUDLEY FENNER (12 S. v. 181). There are accounts of Dudley Fenner in the ' D.N.B.,' Cooper's ' Athenae Cantabrigienses,' Brook's ' Puritans,' and many other works on the Puritans and on Literature. He is described as being born iu Kent and the heir of great possessions, but who his parents were is not stated. He entered Cambridge University, matriculated as a fellow- commoner of Peterhouse, June 15, 1575, and left the University without graduating. During his stay there he is said to have been a celebrated tutor. He became minister at Cranbrook in Kent, but being dissatisfied with the Church of Eng- land went to Antwerp, and was ordained according to the manner of the reformed .churches at that place, renouncing his
former ordination. Upon his return to
England he was brought into many troubles
for nonconformity, was imprisoned for
above a year, and ultimately went to
Micldleburg, in Zeland, where he was chap-
lain to the English merchants. He is Faid
to have died at that place in the winter of
1589. He was the author of numerous
treatises, &c. ARCHIBALD SPARKE.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF EPITAPHS (12 S. v. 68, 129, 161, 192, 218). I take the following from booksellers' catalogues :
Select Collection of Epitaphs chiefly collected from the Tombstones of the most eminent Personages in England, Scotland, and Ireland, with many that are celebrated for their Oddity and Quaintness. Printed for John Death at the sign of the Hour- Glass and Skull in Church- Yard Alley. 12mo, 1759.
Frobisher's New Select Collection of Epitaphs. 216 pp. Printed for Nathl. Frobisher, York. No date (1790?).
The Epitaph Writer, consisting of upwards of six hundred original Epitaphs. By John Bowden, a stone-mason of Chester. 12mo, 1791.
Graham (W.) Collection of Epitaphs and Monu- mental Inscriptions, Ancient and Modern. 12mo, 1822.
Wadd (William) Nugae Canorae, or Epitaphian Mementos (in Stone Cutter's verse) of the Medici Family, of Modern Times. By Unus Quorum. 8vo, 1827.
Booker (L.) Tributes to the Dead ; consisting of more than 200 Epitaphs. 12mo. 1830.
Simpson (J.) A Collection of Curious, Interesting and Facetious Epitaphs and Monumental In- scriptions. 1853.
Booth (J.) Metrical Epitaphs, Ancient and Modern. 12mo, 1868.
Mottoes for Monu f n^nts, by F. and M. A. Palliser. Post 8vo, 1872.
W. B. H.
To previous works should be added :
The Churches and Churchyards of Berwickshire. By James Robson. Kelso, 1896.
The Churches and Churchyards of Roxburgh- shire. By James Robson.
A good collection of Epitaphs of Organists appears in Cathedral Organists, Past and Present. By John E. West. Novello, London, 1899.
I would be glad if MR. J. W. FAWCETT would correspond with me.
HAYDN T. GILES.
II Ravensbourne Terrace, South Shields.
See list of epitaphs of Scottish martyrs in ' Cloud of Witnesses,' 1765, pp. 375-92.
J. ARDAGH.
There are at the Minet Joint Library, Knatchbull Road, S.E.5, fifteen volumes of epitaphs in manuscript, collected and arranged by myself, which the Librarian, Mr. C. J. Courtney, would be pleased to show to any one interested in the subject ; and I
