114
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. m. FEB. n, '99
in 1822. The estate, after lying waste for
many years, was purchased by the Cor-
poration of London, and conveyed to the
Epping Forest Committee in trust for the
public. The grounds have been since laid out
as a park, which was publicly inaugurated
in August, 1882. For a detailed account of
the place, and an illustration, see 'Greater
London,' by Edward Walford.
EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road.
NAMES : SAXON AND NORMAN (9 th S. iii. 1). CANON TAYLOR'S paper on this subject is both important and interesting. The history of the growth and decay of Christian names in this country has not, as yet, received the attention it deserves. I may remark that Sarah, or rather the Vulgate form Sara, was not unknown in pre-Reformation days. It occurs three times in Mr. J. H. Jeayes's 'Catalogue of Charters at Berkeley Castle.' We have Sara, wife of Gilbert fil Radulfi de Baggepath, circa 1250. In the reign of Henry III. Ralph Jowas granted to Sara de Blokessam half a virgate of land in Niuneton, that is South Newington, in Oxfordshire ; and in a deed dated 11 Richard II. the names occur of a William Palmer, of Oxford, and Sara his wife (pp. 102, 120, 179). I know of but two instances of the name Sarai being used. A remote cousin of my own was bap- tized thus at Scotter in 1577. The following is the entry in the register : " Sarai Peacock, the daughter of Richard, thethirde of Marche." A woman of Lincolnshire birth and of peasant family, who, if she be now alive, is about fifty years of age. bears, I am told, the Christian name Sarai.
Agnes, it seems, has become an unpopular name. Here we have a prejudice against it, because it is believed that those who bear it will go mad. Whether this is a merely local belief, or whether it be a widely spread super- stition, I have no means of knowing ; if the latter, it accounts for the name being rejected ; but then how did the belief arise ? It would seem to be of comparatively modern date.
Mr. Jeayes's 'Catalogue' contains a few other names of which it may be well to make a note : Albert (twice), Anketil (three times), Anselm, Canutus, Elias and Helias (many times), Harketil, Ignacius, Joseph, Moyses, Sabina, Walkelin. EDWARD PEACOCK.
Dunstan House, Kirton-in-Lindsey.
"RANDAN" (9 th S. ii. 507). It is worth noting that this was the name of a "boon companion " much earlier than the Madame de Randan in Monvel's comedy. Randan appears more than once in Brantdme's 'Dames
Galantes,' and always in connexion with
some adventure for which "spree" would be
a mild ter^n. Thus, in Discours II., "J'ay
ouy faire ce conte a feu M. de Randan, qu'une
fois estants de bon compagnons a la Cour
ensemble, comme M. de Nemours, M. le vidame
de Chartres," &c. It is comforting to think
that De Bourdeille "heard" most of his
scandal. It may have been untrue.
GEORGE MARSHALL. Sefton Park, Liverpool.
&nile Souvestre, 'Les Derniers Bretons,' vol. i. part i. chap. iii. 1, p. 69, has :
" J'e"tais entre" an Chateau de la Roche, et j'avais cherche' la place ou le seigneur de Rh6 trouva lebon constable du Guescliu depe$ant un verrat et faisant portions pour les voisins."
At Chateauneuf, Pouilly-en-Auxois, Cote d'Or, I, as a child, in the early fifties, partook of such neighbourly " portions," consisting of grillades = le3,n broiling- pieces, cut, I think, from the chine ; and of rich home-made black-puddings. THOMAS J. JEAKES.
WORDSWORTH AND SCOTT (9 th S. ii. 489). " A hillock of moss, such as the poet of Gras- mere has described " (' Heart of Midlothian,' chap. xxx.). The allusion is apparently to the fourth verse of Wordsworth's poem ' The Thorn,' which runs thus :
And close beside this aged thorn
There is a fresh and lovely sight, A beauteous heap, a hill of moss,
Just half a foot in height. All lovely colours there you see,
All colours that were ever seen ; And mossy network too is there, As if by hand of lady fair
The work had woven been ; And cups, the darlings of the eye, So deep is their vermilion dye.
C. LAWRENCE FORD, B.A. Bath.
EXECUTION OF QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN (9 th S. ii. 468 ; iii. 17). I have always understood, with MR. PICKFORD, that the sword of Mon- sieur of Calais decapitated Anne Boleyn. On the other hand, Ainsworth, in his ' Tower of London,' represents the executioner singing, while grinding his axe :
Queen Anne Boleyn laid her head on the block,
Quietly waiting the fatal shock ;
The axe, it severed it right in twain
So quick and so true that she felt no pain.
I quote from memory. GEORGE ANGUS. St. Andrews, N.B.
"KINGS!" (9 th S. iii. 28.) This word is used here in a protective sense, and absolves a boy from pains and penalties in a game until such time as he shouts " No kings ! " It
