388
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. vm. NOV. o, 1901.
to Roger Fowke, third son to Fowke of
Brewood in Staffordshire, came to Ireland in 1647 as lieutenant-colonel of the regiment under the command of Col. Anthony Hunger- ford. He died 1 March, and was buried 7 March, 1665/6, at Ardee. G. D B.
MICHAEL BRUCE AND BURNS (9 th S. vii. 466 ; viii. 70, 148, 312). It is quite true that the writers mentioned at the last reference " have all upheld the claims of Logan," but it is also the case that they have not proved his authorship of the ' Ode to the Cuckoo.' Till indubitable evidence of this is forth- coming Dr. Grosart's conclusions, based on the work of Mackelvie and strongly but- tressed by the results of his own investiga- tions, must be held to be decisive. The newspaper controversy to which attention has been drawn threw no fresh light upon the difficulties involved, but was in the main a threshing of straw. Fresh evidence must be adduced before we can leave Grosart's standpoint of 1864. Pending the discovery of new facts, it will always be possible to stand beside the impartial critic of 1873, who gathered from Grosart that Bruce's mother upheld her son's claim to the poem, and straightway with final emphasis exclaimed, " No doubt the old woman was right ! "
THOMAS BAYNE.
"BYRON'S TOMB" (9 th S. viii. 241). From MR. RICHARD EDGCUMBE'S statement of the worldwide interest taken in this matter I am induced to supplement the information he has given. At Somerset House (Webster, 402) is to be seen a copy of the will of John Peachy, "of the Island of St. Christopher," dated 19 June, 1780, sworn by one of the witnesses thereto 25 January," 1781, before the President of Council of that island, and proved in London 3 August, 1781, by one of the executors resident in the United King- dom, to whom administration was granted. Thence it appears that the said John Peachy was (or had been) a blacksmith ; that his wife Rebecca was then living ; that a certain Frances Cooper (commonly called Peachy), the daughter of Elizabeth Cooper, was at that date residing with him in the parish of Christ Church, Nichola(s) Town, in the island of St. Christopher ; and that his mother was Elizabeth Shouldsmith, "now (1780) of Middlesex, Great Britain." Among his bequests were several slaves, one thirty- second part of a certain ship, houses and land (including a blacksmith's shop) in the island, and money in public funds in the kingdom of Great Britain. As t9 his mother, can add the following information :
"15-12-1748. Elizabeth Peachy of Harrow-
on-the-Hill married Richard Shulsmith [sic]
at St. George's Chapel, London." Upon these
data a meagre pedigree may be drafted as
follows :
1. Peachy =f= Elizabeth of = 2. Richard
ob. ante 1749. Harrow - on - the- Shulsmith, Hill, 1748, men- m. St. Geo. tioned in will 1780 Chapel,
as of Middlesex. London,
15-12-1748.
John Peachy of Ch. Ch. = Rebecca
Nichola(s) Town, St. mentioned in Christopher's,o6.290ct. will 1780. 1780, s.p. leg. Buried Harrow ; will 1780-1.
Hence I imagine that the testator, a resi- dent of St. Christopher's, died while on a visit to Harrow, the home of his fathers.
Further, there are minor evidences pointing to a probable connexion between this branch of the family and a certain John Peachi, M.D. Caen and extra- licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, London, who has been identified (see 'D.N.B.') as having practised "in Gloucestershire" and as being the author of a treatise upon "the root called Casmunar." A query of mine (see p. 185, ante) was inserted with the object of elucidating this point. I am further anxious to obtain information as to the derivation of the name "Nichola(s) Town," since I have evidence proving a con- nexion between the Nicholas family (said to have come from Alton, co. Hants), the West Indies, and the Peacheys.
GEORGE C. PEACHEY.
Brightwalton, Wantage.
An engraving of "Byron's tomb" appeared in the Illustrated London News of 8 February, 1862. The sketch is evidently contempo- raneous with the date of the paper, for in the letterpress it is referred to as representing the tomb ' k in its present state." There are no indications of an iron cage, or indeed of any protection whatever.
May I suggest that "age" would be better than "" life " for the last word of MR. EDG- CUMBE'S probable reading of the inscription ?
JOHN T. PAGE.
West Haddon, Northamptonshire.
' HYMNS ANCIENT AND MODERN ' (9 th S. viii. 101, 230). This title, as applied to the dis- cussion on the language of certain hymns, has become misleading. But let that pass.
W. C. BVs criticism hardly meets the point of C. C. B.'s note. It is not the " miscon- ceptions " by 'children and uneducated persons," but " ugly errors," "faulty construc- tions," and phrases "not English," that C. C. B. wishes away.
