Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/236

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. x. SEPT. 20, 1902.


pant," showing that both the Aztec name tomatl and the popular "love-apple" were already in use. " Themistitan," I may add is probably a misprint for Thenustitan - i.e. Tenochtitlan, a synonym for Mexico.

JAS. PLATT, Jun.

I.O.U. What is the date of the first pro- missory note? I have seen it claimed that the following is one of the earliest ; it is dated 1179, and reads as follows :

" Know all men present and future that I, Her- bert, parson of Wissinden, owe Aaron Jew of Lin- coln 120 marks, to be returned at the second feast of St. Michael after the death of Richard de Luci [ob. 1179] in six years viz., each year 20 marks at two terms of the year, at Rogations 10 marks and at the chains of St. Peter 10 marks, and so on, from year to year, till the whole debt is paid. The first term for receipt is at the second Rogations after the death of Richard de Luci. And if by chance any one of those terms shall pass, I will give him every week twopence interest for every pound, so long as i shall hold the debt by his grace, and I make my affidavit, and have confirmed it with my seal."

A. E, C.

[The first use of the term I.O.U. was asked 5 th S. v. 89, and remains unanswered.]

HEREFORDSHIRE MANOR-HOUSES. The Rev. Charles J. Robinson, in a foot-note to the

B-eface to his ' A History of the Castles of erefordshire and their Lords,' published in 1869, states that if he should " meet with sufficient encouragement, he would be glad to devote his leisure to the preparation of a companion volume upon the old manor-houses of Herefordshire, their associations, and the fortunes of the families that have dwelt within them."

I should be glad to know if the " companion volume" was ever published. URLLAD.

MONMOUTH REBELLION. The lettering on a contemporary satirical print reads : " Devills in y e Ayre Bewitching M" Army." Where may an account of this diabolical intervention be found ? XYLOGRAPHER.

PRICKET CANDLESTICKS. Will any con- tributor to ' N. <fc Q.' kindly refer me to an authority on these 1 ROBERT WHITE.

Worksop.

HERIOT. Is the custom yet in existence whereby the lord of the manor could seize on the death of a tenant, the best horse, ox' or cow of which he died possessed 1 It was sometimes styled a mortuary fee. It is said that at Little Stanmore, or Whitchurch as it is now usually called, near Edgware, the celebrated racer Eclipse was nearly seized as a heriot, but escaped by his owner causing his legs to be whitewashed, making him


impossible to be identified. Eclipse is buried in the grounds of Canons Park, where once stood the magnificent seat of the Duke of Chandos, now razed to the ground, though there is a handsome mansion on its site.

JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

KAT-CAKES. Information wanted as to what these were, how made, and when they were first introduced into England. They were at one time eaten by Bedfordshire lace workers on St. Katharine's Day.

STURM YE.

ETYMOLOGY OF "BAP" = BREAKFAST-ROLL. Wanted badly the etymology of the Scottish bap, or breakfast-roll.

A. FORBES SIEVEKING, F.S.A.

DE BARRE FAMILY AND WORKSOP PRIORY. I shall be glad to know if any branch of the De Barre family had any connexion with Worksop Priory and what such connexion was. ROBERT WHITE.

Worksop.

" LINNEY." This is a Devonshire word for a shed or open building on a farm for cattle or for storing provender. The word occurs in this form in ' Horse Subsecivse,' 1777. and appears to be a better spelling than "linnay," which is the standard form in 'E.D.D.' We find there that the word is written "linney" in Berkshire, Somerset, and Cornwall, also "linny" in Cork, Somerset, and Devon. The form "linhay" is probably due to popular association with "hay." 'E.D.D.' suggests that the word is connected with the French (Be'arnais dialect) liane, "ranged de pieux, palissade," an etymology to which no objec- tion can be made on the score of form or meaning. The Athenaeum reviewer, however, rejects this conjecture with something like scorn. I beg, therefore, to ask in 'N. & Q.,' What is the etymology of "linney"? Is the word of English or French origin? Is it found in any text or glossary earlier than the eighteenth century ?

COMESTOR OXONIENSIS.

MASCULINE DRESS. Will any one kindly inform me where one is to get sketches, pictures, engravings, or portraits showing the exact fashions in gentlemen's dress from

he beginning of the last century up to 1830,

including full-sized portraits of the dandies of that period (not caricatures) ? E. A. Stockholm.

DELAVAL - CAREY. Can any of your eaders give me information relative to Mary, daughter of Thomas Cary, of Chilton-