80
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. v. MARCH, 1019.
X)ivision of the County of North Wiltshire,'
speaking of a pot in which some Roman
^denarii were found, says that " it resembles
in appearance an apprentice's earthen Christ-
mas Box" See, under title ' Christmas
Box,' Nares's ' Glossary,' edited by Halli-
well and Wright ; Brand's ' Popular An-
tiquities,' edited by Ellis, and the ' New
'English Dictionary.'
The "earthen halffe baked balles.... made For servauntts to gather Mony att Christmas," referred to by SIB R. C. TEMPLE, were evidently rudely made varieties of the Christmas boxes before .alluded to. WM. SELF WEEKS.
Sandys in 'Christinas Carols' (1833) says :
" Apprentices and journeymen, and servants, used to carry about earthen boxes with a slit in them to receive money fat Christmas time], and, when the time for collecting was over, broke them to obtain the contents."
Brand in ' Popular Antiquities ' gives refer- ences so far back as 1621 and 1642. Neither of these authors states whether the custom is peculiar to any one district.
ARCHIBALD SPABKE.
" KIMONO" (12 S. iv. 271). In the ' Diary of Richard Cocks ' (Hakluyt Society, 1883, vol. i.) we read thus :
"November 6 [1615]. I received ... .other 2 [letters] from Mr. Eaton. . . . \vherin Capt. Copin- dall adviseth me how well the Emperour did receve the present he carid hym, and gave hym an other of 5 kcrremons, 10 pike heades, 100 arrow heades, and three waccadashes [wakizashis, or swords] "P. 81.
" Marche 15 [1616], There went divers, pil- grims to Tenchadire with an ammambush [ Yama- bushi, mountaineering priest] for their gide, the pilgrims haveing letters written on the backs of their keremons (or coates)." P. 121.
Doubtless both kerremon and keremon of this diary are intended for kirimon, a vulgar abbreviation of kirimono, which, in its turn, is a corrupted titterance of kimono.
KUMAGTJSU MlNAKATA. Tanabe, Kii, Japan.
BYRON IN FICTION (12 S. iv. 10, 60). In addition to the novels listed in my former article and to Mrs. Ward's ' The Marriage t)f William Ashe ' (supplied by M. H. DODDS at the second reference, and by several gentlemen who communicated with me by post) the following novel, recently turned up by me, may be recorded :
Bailie Erminie Rives [Mrs. Post Wheeler] The Castaway. Indianapolis, n.d. [1904]. This production follows the incidents of Byron's life -quite closely, with just sufficient perversion oi
events, characters, and motives to make the
perusal of it irritating to any one acquainted with
the details of Byron's career. His character is
' whitewashed " and sentimentalized painfully.
Always he is depicted as more sinned against than
sinning. Lady Byron and Lady Caroline Lamb
are both blackened. Mary Chaworth does not
appear. La Guiccioli is the heroine. She and a
friar of the Armenian monastery near Venice are
with Byron when he dies. All the characters are
trom real life except a certain Trevanion, who is
bhe villain of the piece. The novel is illustrated
by Howard Chandler Christy.
SAMUEL C. CHEW. Bryn Mawr College, U.S.A.
HERALDIC : SABLE, ON A CHEVRON ARGENT (12 S. iv. 219, 334). In The English Illus- trated Magazine for April, 1901, appeared an article on * Proclamations and Broadsides.' It was illustrated by a number of photo- graphic reproductions of these old docu- ments. On p. 88 was reproduced a card or " ticket " referring to the King family. It was not directly mentioned in the text, but I made a copy of it at the time. In the centre of an oblong sheet is printed the following :
" A General Meeting of the Surname of KING being appointed to be Held at Mr. John King's, at the Rummer Tavern in White-Chappel, London, on Saturday the 29th of this Instant May, 1703, being the Anniversary in Memory of the* happy Restoration of KING CHARLES the 2d and the ROYAL Family. You are earnestly desired to be there by Twelve of the Clock precisely, by your most humble Servants Robert King, Gent., "^
James King, Herald Painter, V Stewards. John King, Vintner.
Pay for the Ticket 2,8. 6d., and bring it for your Admittance."
The edges of the cards are ornamented with seventeen coats of arms.
The only one of these which actually corresponds to the charges in the arms inquired about is given without tinctures, and is accorded to King of Dorsetshire.
To the other variants I need not here refer. JOHN T. PAGE.
Long Itchington, Warwickshire.
[We greatly regret to hear of the death of MR. PAGE. Fuller reference will be made in our next issue.]
THE AINSLIE BOND (12 S. v. 41). Will the following extract from Mr. Samuel Cowan's ' Mary, Queen of Scots, and who wrote the Casket Letters,' answer SCOTTISH STUDENT ?
" After the flight of Bothwell, Sir James Balf our .... broke open Both well's private desk .... and took out of it the bond for Darnley 's murder, also the one signed at Ainslie's tavern, requiring Bothwell to marry the queen. Balfour
