their commencement have been accustomed to follow the example of the Church of England in celebrating the feast. The other denominations, without publicly admitting the fact, have gradually followed so good an example. Whether the Quakers have made any change I do not know, as their numbers have so decreased in the West of England that some of their chapels are but rarely used throughout the year. In conclusion it may be stated that the so-called Ritualistic party have been the means of bringing about a much closer religious keeping of the Christmas Day, which under the old Evangelical régime had degenerated into a very drowsy observance, and stood a great chance of falling into disrespect with many of the rising generation. GEORGE C. BOASE. 15, Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster. (From Notes & Queries, 6th S., X., December 20, 1884.) JESSIE, THE MANIAC MAID OF BERRY HEAD.-A poetical story is told of Jessie the poor maniac maid, who is said to have been betrayed by her lover, and afterwards to have wandered over this fine and grand headland of Berry Head, gathering wild flowers and weaving them in her hair. Her lover is described as a brave and stalwart knight, but he deserted her for another, named Gertrude. He, with the latter in a boat, are leaving England, but Gertrude, before entirely quitting the beautiful bay, is desirous of once more hearing the waves break upon her much loved land; her father's house being near to the headland, she induces her knight to stay the progress of the boat; the day is drawing to a close, and the wind is freshening to a gale, the knight is fearful of the danger, and says: "The sun is laughing on the bay, And light is on the wave's quick pulse : In this bright spot we must not stay, But, on;-but on! 'Tis madness else." And in his haste to furl the sail he loses his balance and falls overboard, and is swept away, but being a good swimmer makes for the land. The boat with the knight and his fair Gertrude had, however, not escaped the quick wild eyes of poor Jessie, who, according to her wont, was on the headland of Berry, she appears to have recognised her false lover, and in her wild despair, had thrown herself over the cliff, and as the story runs : "The Knight long wrestled with the wave, just on the spot where poor Jessie's still warm body lay. Years have passed away, and the Knight is discovered fighting, the leader of a reckless band : : "He who had broken Jessie's heart, He fell beneath a noble foe, The foe was Jessie's injured sire." The story on which this poem is founded is composed of forty-two stanzas and is cleverly worked out, by the talented author, Edwin Henry Burrington, an Exonian, and, with others, forming a volume entitled-Revelations of the Beautiful and other Poems, printed in London, 1848. Is anything further known of this story, of poor Jessie, whether it is founded on fact or not? The poet in a heading to this story, says : "A house on one side of the road, now inhabited by the Rev. H. Lyte-a poet of great lyrical skill-was formerly a hospital. Close by the house a single plain stone has been erected, on which the inscriber has thus written : "To the unknown dead." Is this stone still extant, and if so, is anything known to whom it is inscribed? E. PARFITT. Exeter. * ROBOROUGH, about 6 miles froin Torrington, owns one of the few old churches built in the Early English style, to be found in this country. Whether founded by Alexander Cloigny, who held the manor in the reign of Henry III., or by any of his descendants I cannot determine. In 1868 the church was carefully restored, and, as far as possible, its ancient and interesting features were preserved. Some good old Devonshire names are associated with the history of this parish, and a few of these are commemorated on its walls. Let the Western Antiquary also enrol them on one of its pages by publishing the two following quaint inscriptions I copied from two mural monuments in the north aisle : 1.-"To the Lasting Memory of Mrs. Eliza Langford, Daughter of John Fortescue of Weare, Esquire, and wife of Robert Langford Esquire. She Died the 3rd of August 1648. Aetatis Suae 61." "Could walls speake out, or Marbles weepe their due This Shrine which Hides Her underneath entomb'd, What each man's toung should utter each man's heart. Discreetly, Bounteous, Humble and Charitable One Year a wife, the next a widow, Blest With issue one sonne a post-humous, now at rest Amongst the decorations on this monument are four shields, charged with the arms of Langford and Fortescue. The principal one bears them empaled : Paly of six, or, and gules, on a chief azure a lion passant argent. (Langford.) Azure, a bend engrailed, argent, cotised or. (Fortescue.) 2." To the Memory of Sara, the Wife of John Woollcombe, Esq. and the 26th day of June 1652." "If God have said the Wicked shall not rott. His Wills implyed that Good folkes names shall not, Which she deserv'd will aske more time and space Know then by birth that Fortescue was her name She married Woollcombe, with whom she spent One Grave should hold them both when both were dead There are three shields on this monument: 1.-On a lozenge, azure, a bend engrailed argent, cotised, or, (Fortescue) 2.-Argent, three bars gules, a labei of the second. (Woollcombe) 3.-A conjunction of the above arms in empalement. I observed that several of the old bench ends are preserved. Some of these are extremely interesting as bearing on shields what seems to be a mixture of heraldic and fanciful devices,- following are a few examples:--1.-A saltire between 4 pears. 2.-A cross flory. 3.-A bend sinister between 2 owls. 4.-I. between 4 crosses patée, or formée. 5.-A Bourchier Knot. 6.-On a bend between 2 mens' faces a rose between 4 keys addorsed. 2. & 2. The repetition of the Bourchier badge is commemorative of this once potent, and widely-spread, historic family, one of whom may have been associated with others, whose names are unrecorded otherwise than by these devices, in the benevolent and pious work of erecting or beautifying this church. The charges twice repeated on shield No. 6, seem to be a combination of Spencer and Pridieulx, two families once connected with this parish. But what of the bend between two owls found on two bench ends? Not far from the church there is an estate called Owlacombe, occupied by Mr. Wadland. It was once called "Over Woollacombe." For centuries after the "Norman Conquest it was owned by the Woollacombes. Did this name in any way suggest the bend between two owls? Our old church builders were very imaginative in some of their ideas, and fertile in inventive projects by which to commemorate names, deeds, and events. We owe it to their genius in this respect, that much unwritten history is in this interesting manner handed down to us in many of our old churches, especially in the two most western counties. The largest of the 6 sweetly-toned bells is the gift of Mr. Roger Woollcombe, who presented it to the parish in 1706. My visit to Roborough Church was a brief one, and consequently, my gathered information scanty. However, the few collected fragments are portions of its history and existence which may not be lost. J. WHITMARSH, M. POGGI, THE ARTIST, AND HIS CONNECTION WITH PLYMOUTH.—The following copies of letters from Thomas Pitt, Esq., afterwards first Baron Camelford, refer to an artist, M. Poggi, who married a Plymouth lady. Will some of your correspondents say who the lady was, and give further particulars about her and her husband, The original letters are to be found in the British Museum, Egerton MSS., 1969 ff., 142, 158. "Sir, "I take the liberty to recommend to your protection the bearer of this letter. who is an ingenious artist well known to Sir Joshua Reynolds. His name is Poggi; he came to England with General Paoli, whose fortunes he shared, and who has a great regard for him. He has lately married an English woman of a very decent family at Plymouth, and is by that alliance become a sort of country. man. Your natural disposition will, I know, be a sufficient inducement to you to favour merit, and I flatter myself you will not think it a discouragement, that it will confer an obligation on an old acquaintance, who has the honour to profess himself, "I am to return you thanks for your favour of the 27th of last month, as well as for the obliging attention you have been so good as to shew to my recommendation of Mr. Poggi. I wish there was anything in this country in which I could be useful to you or Mrs. Strange, to whom I beg my best compliments, in which Mrs. Pitt would be glad to join if she had the honour to be known to her. "I am, Sir, with great truth, "Your most obliged and obedient servant, THOMAS PITT. "To His Excellency John Strange, Esquire, "British Resident at Venice." I cannot find in the life of Sir Joshua Reynolds any mention of this artist, but I see in connection with General Paoli there was a Monsieur Pozzi; could this have been the same person? GEORGE C. BOASE. 15, Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster. THOMAS A'BECKET.—The arms of Archbishop Becket were 3 Cornish choughs proper. What had he to do with Cornwall? E. W. R. WEST COUNTRY NEWSPAPERS.-Has anyone yet published a history of the Newspapers and Magazines published in Devon and Cornwall? The pages of the Bibliotheca Cornubiensis doubtless contain most of the Cornish materials for such a history, but has anything been done in and for Devon? W. S. L. S. "THE KING IS DEAD."-Perhaps some readers of the Western Antiquary can explain the following custom, or if not a custom, the peculiarity? When George II. died, the postman who brought the news into a part of Devonshire, not a great way from Newton Abbot, came in with a halter tied round the horse's head; and when asked the reason of the halter, he immediately exclaimed-" The King is dead." The gentleman who related this to me heard his mother speak of it, for she saw the halter and heard the explanation, but he could give me no information as to its meaning. E. PARFITT. Exeter. HAWKINS' FAMILY.-Several notes concerning this family have appeared at different times in your columns, but they don't touch upon the subject of this query. William Hawkins graduated B. D., 1665, D.D., 1673 (or 6?); subsequently became Canon of Winchester, and married the only daughter of Izaak Walton. I want to ascertain whether this Dr. Hawkins was a grandson, great grandson, or what of Sir John Hawkins, Devon sea-dog, buccaneer, and Lord of Queen Elizabeth's "navee." As Dr. Hawkins' daughter bore the arms granted to the naval hero, viz. :-sa a lion statant on waves of the sea in chief three gold plates-on a canton or an escallop between two palmer's staves-it seems reasonable to assume that the two men belonged to the same familybut I seek a proof. I presume also that the city Knight, Sir John Hawkins the biographer and editor of Walton and his Complete Angler, was a twig of the same tree? 2, Dix's Field, Exeter. C. ELKIN MATHEWS. MARSHALLS AT PLYMOUTH.-I shall be obliged to any of the readers of the Western Antiquary, who will assist me to identify the father of George Marshall, Comptroller of the Port of Plymouth, and Mayor of Plymouth, 1782-3, who died early in this century, aged 93. His descendants state that he "went down off the Scilly Islands with Sir Coudlesley Shovell in 1707." It will be remembered that the ship in which Sir C. Shovell was wrecked was called the " Association," and that the event occurred 22 October, 1707. There were two men named Marshall connected with the "Association" at this period, neither of whom could have been the father of George Marshall as they both died unmarried, nevertheless there may be some truth in the tradition. It is quite possible that one of them may have been his collateral though not direct ancestor. The will of one, and administration of the other, will be found in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, as follows: "Adm❜on of Peter Marshall, who died in the Association, unmarried, was granted to James Marshall his father, 22 Dec., 1707. "The will of Thomas Marshall, mariner, is dated Dec. 1, 1704-5 (sic). Mentions mother, Anne Marshall, of Bedall (sic) in Yorkshire, executrix: Kinsman William Gamball. Ile proved as attorney of Anne Marshall, now of Bedale, co. York, 31 July, 1708. In the probate act, Thomas Marshall is described as late in Nave Regia Le Asociation Calibis defuncti, (165 Barrett.) George Marshall, the Mayor, was father of John Marshall, who married Eliza, daughter of William Flamank, of St. Austell, and had issue, with a daughter, who married Captn Napp, who died at Brussels two days after the Battle of Waterloo, a son Marshall, who married Jane, eldest daughter of John Hedges, of Wallingford, solicitor. His son, John Hedges Marshall, is the present representative of the family. - The family have the tradition of a descent out of Yorkshire, which points to Bedale as a possible place of origin, on the other hand it must be borne in mind that Marshall was a common name both in Cornwall, and Devon, at the beginning of the last century. GEORGE W. MARSHALL. MARSHALL FAMILY OF PLYMOUTH AND DONCASTER. Do you or any of your readers know anything of a family named Marshall, living in a good position in Plymouth in the last century? They are said to have sprung from Bedale in the county of York about the end of the 17th century. The first known as an ancestor is Thomas Marshall, who went down in the shipwreck of Sir Cloudes ley Shovell in 1707, and was father of George Marshall, a civic dignitary of Plymouth, who had a son, John Marshall, married to Eliza Flamank of St. Austell, from whom descends Dr. J. G. Marshall, now of Doncaster. I wish if possible to establish this tradition on the firm basis of recorded fact, by reference to tombstones, parish registers, wills, etc. Can you assist me? JOHN SYKES, M.D. Doncaster. Replies. ✩ * ARMORIAL SHIELDS IN EXETER CATHEDRAL.-The reputed old coat of arms of the Rashleighs, of Rashleigh, near Eggesford, is arg a cross between 4 crescents gules. It is mentioned in some book as their coat and as being in an old window in Exeter Cathedral. The Rashleigh's can be traced at Rashleigh as far back as the time of Henry III. E. W. R. FROG STREET.-(W.A. 4th S., 89, 148.) I can add one more name to the list given by Dr. Pring. On Dartmoor, a mile or two from the Grey Wethers, is "Frogymead Hill, adjoining Fenworthy."-See Rowe's Dartmoor 1848, p. 78. Exeter. J. S. ATTWOOD. OBSOLETE WORDS-(W.A., 4th S., 96.) These words explain themselves and are all to be found in Bailey's Dictionary. Picage, money paid for breaking the ground. Panage, the feeding of swine, or money paid for the same, also a tax upon cloth. Portage, money paid for carriage of goods, &c. Pontages, bridge dues. Murges, this I presume is Murages, payments for the building of public walls. J. S. ATTWOOD. Exeter. * STOKE CANON.-(W.A., 4th S., 152.) This note is scarcely accurate, and perhaps I may be allowed to correct it. There was no cathedral church of Exeter until about a hundred years after the time of Athelstan, the See not having been transferred thither from Crediton until 1050, by Edward the Confessor, when the Abbey church of S.S. Mary and Peter at Exeter became the cathedral church. It is therefore evident that the manor and church of Stoke could not have been given to the cathedral church of Exeter; nor was Athelstan the donor; in fact it did not become Cathedral property until two centuries after his time; at p. 17 of Oliver's Lives of the Bishops of Exeter, it will be seen that the manor and church of Stoke were granted to the Canon of Exeter by Bp. Robert Chichester in 1148. JS. ATTWOOD. Exeter. KELLAND FAMILY.-In Kelly's Directory of Devon for 1883, we have, under Lapford, this notice : "Kelland in this parish was the original seat of the ancient and powerful family of the Kellands, many of whom were sheriffs and members of Parliament in the sixteenth century." This "ancient and powerful" family, as far as the Heralds Visitations can tell us was unknown as a "gentle" family in the 16th century. Kelland occurs only twice in the Visitation of 1620, once in a marriage with Colleton, the other occasion is that of Thomas Kelland who appeared before the Heralds at Tiverton, and tried to prove his gentility, and was struck off as ignobilis. Some Kellands, who may have come from Lapford, but this is unproved, were at Totnes at the beginning of the 17th century, where they were successful merchants, and purchased the manor of Painsford in Ashphrington, near Totnes. The heiresses married into Courtenay, Stafford, and Coffin. John Kelland, of Painsford, represented Totnes in 1679, and Charles Kelland also in 1680. John Kelland again in 1685. But it is only possible that the Painsford family issued from Kelland of Lapford, which was a small yeoman family. The marriages given in Lapford registers, were all with persons of yeoman rank. Kelland is not even entered as Gent. in the parish register. GENEALOGIST. * Ꭺ CLOBERY.—With reference to "Hibyskwe's" question whether Clobery is at all a usual Cornish Christian mame, is it not probable that Clobery Lilley was so baptized in consequence of some connection with the family of Clobery of Bradstone, Devon, T. O. G. Western Antiquary, 4 S., Part 6, p. 116.-The words which HIBYSKWE brings under notice as Old Cornish Names are obviously errors of the transcriber. I have no doubt that KIBYSKWE is correct in his conjecture as to the names of the places mentioned. Clobery Lilley should be read Clobery Silly, who died in 1771, intestate. See my pedigree of Silly, of Heligan, in St. Maben History of Trigg Minor, Vol. ii., pp. 520521," which will show how the Christian name of Clobery was derived. There is a short notice of the Munday Family in the same work, Vol. i., p. 309. Glasbury House, Clifton, JOHN MACLEAN. PORTRAITS OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS--In the November part of the Western Antiquary, p. 123. C. Harris, says:—“It is reported that Sir Joshua Reynolds painted only two likenesses of himself." In the exhibition of works by Sir Joshua Reynolds at the Grosvenor Gallery last year, there were no less than nine portraits of himself, and a note to one of them in the Catalogue, says: "It is known that Reynolds painted not fewer than eighteen portraits of himself; probably he executed a still greater number. One of the earliest is now in the National Portrait Gallery, painted when he was about seventeen years of age; one of the latest is that of the grizzled and spectacled man now in the Dulwich Gallery." Northcote in his Life of Reynolds, speaks of "the many portraits of Sir Joshua himself, by his own hand." The following are those at the Grosvenor Gallery as in the printed catalogue : |