194
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 8. vi. MAY s, 1920.
- a slice of cake or something of the kind
only after much persuasion. The little "didicoy" was decidedly " coy," or pre- tended to be, and it might be taken for granted his parents were pretenders, as would have quickly been proved had the mother been induced to tell one's fortune, or had one entered into a dealing transaction ^with the father. Times have changed and many of the characteristics of the " didicai " have disappeared.
W. G. WILLIS WATSON. Exeter.
EARLIEST CLERICAL DIRECTORY (12 S. vi. 64, 157). I think Clerical Directories must go back a good deal further than 1858. I have a 'Clergy List for 1849,' published by C. Cox at The Ecclesiastical Gazette Office, 12 King William Street, Strand. It con- tains, as set out on the title-page :
Alphabetical List of the Clergy in England and Wales ; List of the Clergy of the Scottish Epis- copal Church ; Lists of the Clergy of Colonial Dioceses ; Alphabetical List of Benefices with Post Towns, &c. ; Cathedral Establishments, and Collegiate Chapters ; Benefices arranged under rtheir Ecclesiastical Divisions ; Ecclesiastical Preferments in the Patronage of the Crown, the Bishops, Deans and Chapters, &c.
It is evidently not the first of its series. A list of the clergy of the Church of Ireland,
arranged under dioceses, and called, I think, the ' Irish Ecclesiastical Register,' was published about 1820, but I have not
the volume by me to give fuller particulars.
H. J. B. CLEMENTS. Killadoon, Celbridge.
I have a book with the following title : " The Clerical Guide or Ecclesiastical Dictionary containing a complete Register of the Dignities -and Benefices of the Church of England, with the names of their present possessors, patrons, &c., -and an Appendix. .. .3rd edition, corrected by Richard Gilbert, compiler of the Clergyman's Almanack and the Liber Schololasticus. London. Printed for C. J. G. <fe F. Rivington, St. Paul's Church-yard, and Waterloo-Place, Pail-Mall. MDCCCXXIX."
'This may be the earliest Clerical Directory ; I have seen none earlier. This does not include the names of assistant curates.
W. F. JOHN TIMBRELL. Coddington Rectory, Chester.
The Colchester Public Library possesses "the following works :
1, ' The Clerical Guide ' (ut supra).
2. " Patroni Ecclesiarum, or a list of the Patrons of the Dignities, Rectories, Vicarages, Perpetual Curacies, Chapelries, Endowed Lecture- ships, &c., of the United Church of England and Ireland, with the valuation annexed of all livings
not exceeding 150J. per annum as returned to
Parliament in MDCCCXVIII." London, printed
for C. J. G. & F. Rivington, MDCCCXXXI. This
has. at the end : " An Alphabetical List of the
Prelates, Dignitaries, Beneficed Clergy, &c., of
the Church of England."
3. " The Clergy List for 1854, containing alphabetical list of the Clergy in England and
Wales in Ireland .... of the Scottish Episcopal
Church.... of Colonial Dioceses; Alphabetical List of Benefices with post towns, &c." London : published by C. Cox. At the Ecclesiastica: Gazette Office. 1854. The British Museum Catalogue of Printed Books gives 1841 as the earliest issue of this work.
GEORGE RICKWORD.
Colchester.
I happen to possess a much earlier edition than that in the library of the Leeds Church Institute, viz. :
" The Clerical Guide or Ecclesiastical Directory : containing a Complete Register of the Prelates or other Dignitaries of the Church ; a List of all the Benefices in England and Wales, arranged alpha- betically in their Several Counties, Dioceses, Arch- deaconries, &e. The names of their respective Incumbents, the population of the Parishes, Value of the Livings, Names of the Patrons, &c., &c., and An Appendix containing Alphabetical Lists of those Benetices which are in the Patronage of the Crown, the Bishops, Deans and Chapters, and other Public Bodies. London : Printed for F. C. & J. Rivington, 62 St. Paul's Churchyard, by R. & R. Gilbert, St. John's Sqre., Clerkenwell. 1817. Demy 8vo., pp. x., xvi., 312.
A second edition, containing pp. iv, xxxix, 300, appeared in 1822, and a new edition in 1836, when it ceased. The first issue of ' The Clergy List ' appeared in 1842. 'Crockford' commenced in 1858, second
issue 1860 the eighth in 1876, after which
it has been issued annually.
J. CLARE HUDSON.
Thornton V., Horncastle.
I have ' The Clergy List ' containing alphabetical list of the clergy, &c. published by C. Cox at The Ecclesiastical Gazette Office, Southampton Street, Strand, 1847. In the preface it states that "In the Clergy List for this year an improved system of alpha- betical arrangement has been adopted," which seems to point to at least an earlier publication, probably, I suppose, the year before, as it goes on to say that a new edition is to be published annually.
A. H. ARKLE.
Elmhurst, Birkenhead.
I have in my possession ' The Clergy List for 1854,' containing: 'Alphabetical List of the Clergy in England and Wales,' ' Alpha- betical List of the Clergy in Ireland,' ' List of the Clergy of the Scottish Episcopal
