9'" S. IX. JAN. 25, 1902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
77
The Commissions of Sewers are enrolled
on the dorse of the Patent Rolls.
Proceedings before the Commissioners of Sewers range from Ed ward II. to Henry VI.
Laws and ordinances of the Commissioners range from 42 Elizabeth to 1831, and include decrees relating to the Bedford Level made in Charles II.'s reign.
The above information is taken from Mr. Scargill-Bird's ' Guide to the Public Records,' and the documents themselves are to be found in the Public Record Office. E. A. FRY.
Birmingham.
G. A. M. will find some information as to the existing law on this subject (from stat. 23 Henry VIII. c. 5 onward) in the current edition of the 'Index to the Statutes in Force,' under 'Drainage and Improvement of Land,' heading 1. He will also find a Com- mission of Sewers ordered as early as 1314-5 for the Yorkshire Dove (' Rolls of Parliament,' vol. i. p. 319, col. 1). O. O. H.
Your correspondent G. A. M. will find much information on this subject in Robert Callis's 'Reading upon the Statutes of Sewers,' the first edition of which was issued in 1647. The late Serjeant Woolrych wrote a useful book on the law of sewers, but I cannot give the title. Dugdale's ' History of Embanking and Draining' may also be consulted with advantage. EDWARD PEACOCK,
A Commissioner of Sewers.
For a brief history of the formation and doings of the above see article on ' Drainage of the Great Level' in Fenland Notes and Queries for April, July, and October, 1901.
J. H. S.
IRISH IN PEMBROKESHIRE (8 th S. i. 434). A query at this reference still, I believe, remains unanswered. MR. R. LINN, of Christchurch, New Zealand, quoting a review in the Edinburgh Review of April, 1886, of Bagwell's ' Ireland under the Tudors,' wants to know whether the settlement of Irish in Pembrokeshire was made in the time of Henry VIII., and whether their descendants can be recognized at the present time in any way. The following is an extract from 'The Welsh People,' by Principal J. Rhys and D. Brynmor Jones, a work published in 1900, referring to this settlement :
" We read in the history of Pembrokeshire by George Owen, who lived in the time of Elizabeth, that the Anglo - Flemish portion of his native county was so overrun by Irishmen, that in some parishes the clergyman was found to be the only inhabitant who was not Irish. This it is true was an exceptional time, as it was at the end of the war known as Tyrone's Rebellion, but many of the
exiles must have settled in Pembrokeshire. In fact
Mr. Henry Owen, the learned editor of George
Owen's works, remarks that the descendants of
these Irishmen can still be traced."
I am informed that this colony is still in evidence. The east end of the town of Pem- broke is largely composed of Irish folk, whose ancestors probably settled there at the time of the colonization above referred to.
J. P. LEWIS.
SONG WANTED (9 th S. viii. 364, 510). I cannot give GNOMON any information as to the 'National Song -Book' about which he inquires, but I can give him the song which he wants. It is in 'The Banquet of Thalia ; or, the Fashionable Songster's Pocket Memo- rial,' p. 94 :
THE GODS OF THE GREEKS.
Words by G. A. Stevens.
i. Once the gods of the Greeks, at ambrosial feast,
Large bowls of rich nectar were quaffing ; Merry Mom us amongst them was sat as a guest :
(Homer says the celestials love laughing.) On each in the synod the humourist droll'd,
So none could his jokes disapprove ; He sung, reparteed, and some smart stories told,
And at length he began upon Jove :
n. " Sire ! Atlas, who long has the universe bore,
Grows grievously tired of late ; He says that mankind are much worse than before,
So he begs to be eas'd of his weight." Jove knowing the earth on poor Atlas was hurl'd,
From his shoulders commanded the ball ; Gave his daughter ATTRACTION the charge of the world,
And she hung it high up in his hall.
in. Miss, pleas'd with the present, review'd the globe
round
To see what each climate was worth ; Like a diamond the whole with an atmosphere
bound,
And she variously planted the earth : With silver, gold, jewels, she India endow'd
France and Spain she taught vineyards to rear ; What suited each clime, on each clime she bestow'd, And FREEDOM she found flourish'd here.
IV.
Four Cardinal Virtues she left in this isle,
As guardians to cherish the root ; The blossoms of LIBERTY then 'gan to smile,
And Englishmen fed on the fruit. Thus fed and thus bred, from a bounty so rare,
preserve it as free as 'twas given ! We will whilst we 've breath ! nay, we '11 grasp it in death !
Then return it untainted to heav'n.
The prefatory address " to the public " in
- The Banquet of Thalia ' is signed " F. Atkin-
son," and is dated " York, Nov. 19, 1792." At the end of the book is " From the Herald- Office, York, by Wilson, Spence, and Maw- man, anno M,DCC,XC."
