Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/361

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12 s. vii. OCT. o, 1920.] NOTES AND QUERIES.


297


"William Hunt of Stratford. On his death Gastrell left his Stratford property to his "widow, who sold it to Hunt in 1775. Mrs. CJustnell was Jane, sister of Gilbert Walmisley -of Lichfield, a cultivated man who showed much interest, in Johnson and Garrick in their youth, and whose memory they always revered. In 1776, says Boswell in his Life of Johnson ' : "Mrs. Aston. . . .and her sister, Mrs. Gastrel, a widow lady, had each a house

and garden, and pleasure-ground, prettily

situated upon Stowhill, a gentle eminence, -adjoining to Lichfield.," Johnson and Boswell dined with Mrs. Gastrell, "at the lower house on Stowhill. . . .at two " o'clock. Dr. Johnson told Boswell afterwards that when Gastrell "with Go thick barbarity cut down" Shakespeare's "mulberry tree"; his wife "participated in the guilt of what the enthusiasts o*f our immortal bard deem almost a species of sacrilege." In a letter to Johnson of Oct. 22, 1779, Boswell, describing & visit to Lichfield, says : "I then proceeded to Stow-hill, arid first paid my respects to Mrs. Gastrell, whose conversation I was not -willing to quit." A. R. BAYLEY.

Some few yea^s ago I contributed to The Antiquary a brief history of the famous mulberry tree at New Place, and its more or less authentic derivatives. Most of my information about the Rev. Francis Gastrell -was gathered from 'An Historical Account of New Place,' &c., by J. O. Halliwell- Phillips, 1864. ALECK ABRAHAMS.

FRENCH SONGS WANTED (12 S. vii. 270). The song wanted by J. C. W., which does not begin as he quotes it, but of which the first lines are

O Kichard ! 6 mon roi 1 L'univers t'abandonne ;

'5s to be found in ' La Lyre Francaise,' in the "" Golden Treasury Series." It is by Sedaine, -who was born in 1719, and died in 1797. HARRY K. HUDSON. Stratford Lodge, Twickenham.

' O Richard, O mon roi ' is Blondel's song lin Sedaine's ' Comedie en trois actes, en prose et en vers,' 'Richard Cceur de Lion,'

Sroduced by the " Comediens Italiens rdinaires du roi " in Paris, Oct. 21, 1784. 'The comedy (or rather comic opera libretto) will be found in the ' (Euvres Choisis de Se- daine ' (Hachette edition). It was set to ' music by Gretry. There are two modern editions of the vocal score (French and German words), viz., Peters of Leipzig


(London agent, Augeiier) and Litolff of Brunswick (London agent, Enoch, Gt. Marl- borough Street). The other once popular song mentioned by J. C. W., ' Ou peut un homme etre mieux que dans sa famille ' has long since been "out of print " and thefirsb edition is sought by French collectors. ANDREW dE TERNANT.

36 Somerleyton Road, Brixton, S.W.

PRINCIPAL LONDON COFFEE HOUSES, TAVERNS AND INNS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY (12 S. vii. 185, and ante}. The old City tavern of "Pursseli's," Finch Lane, should, I think, warrant inclusion in MR. PAUL DE CASTRO'S very helpful list. It wag razed about thirty years ago. The site is now occupied by a well-known firm of stock-brokers. CECIL CLARKE.

Junior Athenaeum Club.

'DiE ENGLISCHE PFERDEDRESSUR ' (12 S. vii. 231). Since sending this query I have discovered a full description of this mys- terious book in Capt. Carl Graefe's ' Hippologische Literatur ' (Leipzig, 1863, no. 420). Edouard Gordon (not " Gowan ") is described as " Rittmeister in der Gross- britt. Armee." 1 may add no such officer appears described in " Gordons under Arms.'

J. M. BULLOCH.

37 Bedford Square, W.C.I.

THE UNIVERSITY FAMILY BIBLE : HENRY SOUTHWELL (12 S. vii. 230). In the His- torical Catalogue of the Printed Editions of the Holy Scripture (Library of the British and Foreign Bible Society) Part I., English, p. 299, consecutive number 908 ; there is mentioned under the year 1773: "The Universal Family Bible. .. .by. .. .Henry Southwell...." and in the description of the Bible which follows, it is said that " Robert Sanders. . . .was the real compiler."

The history of Robert Sanders (1.727-1 783) compiler and hack-writer in London, includ- ing his arrangement with the Rev. Henry Southwell fcr the publication of the Family Bible will be found in the ' Dictionary of National Biograph}^.' W. M. CLAY.

Alverstoke, Hants.

KITTY CLIVE, ACTRESS (12 S. vii. 250). Kitty Clive (Miss Raf tor) 'captivated a sober gentleman of good family who married her. This was the Mr. George Clive mentioned by MR. LEGGATT. He was a barrister without practice, brother to Sir Edward Clive, one of the Barons of the Exchequer, and nephew to another judge of the same family, an old