12 s. ix. DEC. 24, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 511 " HUNGER STONE" IN THE RHINE. I saw in an American financial paper last year that the water in the Rhine had sunk so low that it uncovered the " hunger stone," a sign which in the popular belief prognosticated a coming famine. Where is this stone ? L. L. K. A MISSING CHURCH BRIEF. In or about May, 1898, there was in the library of the Grammar School, Burnley, a printed copy of a church brief entitled ' A Short History of the Episcopal Betlenian College in Tran- sylvania, 1716.' On applying to the present principal of the school, an American friend was told that the brief can no longer be found and does not figure in the catalogue of the library compiled many years ago. If another copy of the brief is in existence, my friend in the United States would be glad to have bibliographical particulars. L. L. K. THE GENDER or " SHIP." I have been asked several times why is a ship called she ? If you can put me on the track of the desired information I shall be obliged. F. J. H. PATRICK ANDERSON was schoolmaster of Channelkirk, a parish in the upper part of Lauderdale, Berwickshire, in 1664. He also held the post of kirk treasurer, and probably that of session clerk. I should esteem any information regarding him, the name of his parents, and whether he married and had issue. JAMES SETON-ANDERSON. 39, Carlisle Road, Hove, Sussex. GEORGE GERARD JOHNSON was admitted to Westminster School, July 18, 1785. Can any correspondent of ' N. & Q.' help me to identify him ? G. F. R. B. THOMAS GREGORY JOHNSTON was ad- mitted on the foundation at Westminster School in 1763, aged 13. He is described as the son of Thomas Johnston of Spanish Town, Jamaica. I should be glad to learn further particulars of his parentage and career. G. F. R. B. THOMAS EDWARDS, LL.D. Can any reader throw light on this person ? Fragments from his MSS. were edited by Mrs. Mercy Edwards and privately printed (Croydon, 1846). Date and place of birth and death will oblige. ANEURIN WILLIAMS. Menai View, North Road, Carnarvon. SURNAMES AS CHRISTIAN NAMES. (12 S. ix. 370, 437, 474.) THE Clitheroe registers begin in 1570, but from 1594 to 1653 they are very defective. After that date they are continuous. I have transcripts of these registers as follows : for marriages to 1754, baptisms to 1778, and burials to 1779. Down to 1700 these registers contain the following examples of surnames used as Christian names : Theaker, son of Abraham Dishfoorthe, buried Jan. 28, 1613/14. [" Theaker " was a local surname. The wife of Richard Theaker, of the Allies, Clitheroe, was buried Feb. 3, 1594/5.] In February, 1656/7, the banns of Barton Hop- wood of Extwistle [near Burnley] were published, and he was buried at Clitheroe, March 10, 1709-10. Tempest Dugdall of Clitheroe, widow, was I buried March 12, 1657. Tempest also occurs as the I Christian name of a boy, for on Dec. 29, 1690,
- Tempest, the son of Richard Hey of Clitheroe, was
baptized. Nowell, the son of Mr. William Appleton, of ! Little Mearley, was christened on June 21, 1670. I [This is not a misspelling of Noel, but the child was I evidently christened after his father's neighbours, I the Nowells of Little Mearley, whose pedigree may j be seen in Whitaker's ' Whalley.'] Vievers, the son of Alexander Foster, illegiti- I mate, was christened July 31, 1681. [The name ! Veevers is still a common surname ha this district.] Fleetwood, the daughter of Elizabeth Paitfield, J was baptized Jan. 29, 1684. [Ughtred Shuttle- ! worth had a daughter christened Fleetwood May 1, | 1703.] Banister, son of Charles Halstead, was baptized Jan. 23, 1698/9. Mr. Major Moore, Master of the Grammar School, Clitheroe, was buried March 10, 1692/3. [Major, son of John More of Howcliffe (probably & relative), was buried Dec. 12, 1700.] On Feb. 15, 1623/4, Baignebrowne Thompson was buried. The following other names occur, which, however, are somewhat doubtful : Ranold Sykes, buried Dec. 19, 1626. Merill, daughter of Robert Wilkinson, born May 22, 1658. Edmund, son of Pearce Clough, baptized Feb. 5, 1667. [The name occurs in several sub- sequent entries and is always spelt " Pearce."] On Feb. 15, 1603/4, Christian [not Christiana] the daughter of Richard Brown, was baptized, [There are several subsequent examples of Chris- tian being used as a female name.] I have not thought it worth while to extract the eighteenth-century examples of surnames being used as Christian names. I should say they are not much, if at all, more frequent than in the seventeenth cen- tury. j^I may, however, mention the entry of
