Mr. Raper suggests that they may have been part of Harold's military chest, or a store sent inland for safety. A few pieces from among the general collection are deposited in the museum at Lewes Castle.-E. W. FITCH, Hastings.

[In Edward Hawkins' Silver Coins of England, fourteen types of Maldon mintage are described, belonging to Æthelred II, Cnut, Edward Confessor, Harold II, William I and II, showing a range of dates from 978 to 1100. See also below, p. 128, foot.-ED.]

Oliver Cromwell and Essex (E. R., i, 209-211; ii, 56).— In Mr. J. Ewing Ritchie's interesting paper on the Cromwell Family we read: "At the Grammar School at Felstead were educated four of Oliver's children, and in the church one of them, Robert, was buried, of whom we know little more than that he was named after his grandfather and died young." But as there seems to be some confusion here between Oliver the Protector and Sir Oliver Cromwell, of Hinchinbrook, perhaps it is better to put the following evidence on record.

On the authority of Morant (ii, 421), we learn that three of the Protector's sons, Oliver, Richard, and Henry, were educated at Felstead School, but the Robert Cromwell buried in Felstead Church porch, May 31st, 1623, was not a son of his, for the Protector's eldest son was then but nineteen months old, and the entry in the Felstead register is as follows:

"Robertus Cromwell filius honorandi viri mtis Olivari Cromwell et Elizabethæ uxoris ejus sepultus fuit 31 die Maiiæ. Robertus fuit eximiæ spei. Juvenis Deum timens supra multos."

Now, the Protector was never knighted; so this Sir Oliver Cromwell must have been his uncle, Sir Oliver, of Hinchinbrook.

Another of these Hinchinbrook Cromwells--Jane, daughter of Sir Oliver Cromwell, of Hinchinbrook, Knight of the Bath-lies buried in the chancel of Chipping Ongar Parish Church. She was the wife of Tobias Pallavicini, and died on March 23rd, 1637, aged forty-two.-C. F. D. SPERLING, Dynes Hall, Halstead.

The little fellow

Plash (E. R. ii, 56).-A modern instance: "They came at last to a puddle that she could not cross. advanced before her, took two steps in the mud, and leaped over the plash, leaving behind him his wooden shoes."-Quiver, August 18, 1892, p. 796.

Historical Fragments.-Mr. Chas. Golding, of Colchester, kindly sends us an interesting fragment of a black-letter 32m0 of 1652, apparently a summary of suicides, etc., of that year. Pp. 7-9

record, in terms too plain for our pages, the blasphemies and death of Mary Adams, of Tillingham, the details being attested by Mr. Hadley, minister, James Townsworth and Andrew Farmer, churchwardens, and Richard Staffe, constable. P. 12 recounts the spontaneous combustion of Mrs. Day, of Aytrapp, probably Aythorp Roding, where a Mrs. Day is postmistress at the present time.

A Dovercourt Beetle.-Dr. Charnock, in his Glossary of the Essex Dialect, p. 59, mentions the proverb: "Dovercourt all talkers and no hearers," and incidentally refers to "a Dovercourt beetle, i.e., one that could make a loud noise." This explanation is not correct, as the following extract from Dale's History of Harwich and Dovercourt, pp. 87-98 (1730) will show :--

"In this Parish (Dovercourt) grows a strong, Knurly, and Knotted and crooked sort of Elms, famous for their several uses in Husbandry, which with using wear like Iron; it is said (because in vain often attempted) they will not grow out of this Place. Old Tusser, in the 9th figure of his husbandly Furniture, recommends them to his Husbandman for this Use in especial, viz., A Dovercourt Beetle with Wedges of Steel, &c. Naves made of this Dovercourt Elm, are much desir'd by Wheelwrights and others, as being very durable, and not subject to split." H. G. GRIFFINHOOFE.

34, St. Petersburgh Place, W.

Jag or Jagg (E. R., i, 238; ii, 59).—The word is well known in this district, and is generally understood to mean a small load, as contradistinguished to a full or packed load. Bailey says, a small load of hay. Mr. T. L. O. Davies says jagger is a pedlar, and the word is in use in Cheshire for one who sells coals in small cartloads. "I would take the lad for a jagger, but he has rather ower good havings, and he has no pack." (SCOTT, The Pirate, ch. v.)-W. W. GLENNY, Barking.

This word is used in most parts of West Essex, certainly in this neighbourhood. A jag of wood, hay, straw, manure, etc., is intended to mean a little less than a one-horse cartload. The old people round me say that they and their fathers before them have always used the word. [Colonel] M. LOCKWOOD, Lambourne Hall.

In reply to Mr. H. G. Griffinhoofe's enquiry, is the word "jagg" still in use in Essex? I have often heard my father, a native of the Pelhams, in Essex, use the word in the sense of a small cartload, not only of wood, but of corn, hay, etc.-CHARLES B. SWORDER, Epping.

Sciddinchou (E. R., ii, 60). Since writing our editorial to Mr. Gould's note on the meaning of this name, we have found that the quotation given by Mr. Yelloly Watson, as from an old writer,

is in Mr. Chisenhale-Marsh's translation of Domesday Book relating to Essex (Chelmsford, 1865). P. clxxxii, tit. 54, note c, reads "Mr. Jenkins (of Colchester) observes that the Saxon or Danish name of Sciddinchou

Beacon Lights (E. R., ii, 61).—I think there is some mistake about the beacon light at Bishop's Hall. There never has been, to my knowledge, a light of that description. The house, however, stands very high, and I have often noticed that the setting sun casts a very strong light on the windows. Of course, this would not account for any light after dark.-[Col.] M. LockwOOD, Bishop's Hall, Lambourne.

Halls Family, of Colchester.—I shall be glad of any information as to the birth, parentage, and descendants of James Halls, of Colchester, and of his wife, Amelia Garnett, younger sister of the Very Rev. John Garnett, D.D., Dean of Exeter, who died 1813. One of their sons, John James Halls, became distinguished as a portrait painter at an early age, and painted the picture of his uncle, the Dean, in his robes, of which there was a mezzotint engraving by C. Turner published in 1813. Where is that picture now? He also painted a portrait of the late J. Savill, Esq., of Colchester, which is still in possession of that family. Another son of James Halls is believed to have been a Metropolitan police magistrate. An elder sister of Dean Garnett was wife of General Humphrey Evans Lloyd, whose son, Hannibal Evans Lloyd, became connected with the Foreign Department of the Post Office, and died at Blackheath, 1847.-F. BROOKSBANK GARNETT, 4, Argyll Road, Kensington.

Waldegrave Family.-Can any of your readers tell me when the Waldegraves of Essex first quartered in their ar.ns three beehives?--C. C. STOPES.

Sir Anthony Deane, Knt., M.P.-The Rev. J. Harvey Bloom, of Springfield, will be glad of any information respecting this member of the Deaue family, especially his birth, parentage, burial place, etc.

Rafty. Is this an Essex word? I heard it many years ago. It was then used in answer to a question as to what the morning was like (about four a.m.); I took it to mean fresh and piercing.

Wright says: Damp, cold, misty (east)"; Halliwell: "Rancid, fusty (var. dial.); wet, cold, foggy (east)."—W. W. GLENNY, Barking. [A rafty morning is still well understood in north Essex as meaning a raw morning.]

NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.

Essex Highways, Byways, and Waterways. Written and illustrated by C. R. B. BARRETT. Pp. xv, 228; and 2nd Series, pp. xvi, 232. 4to. London (Lawrence & Bullen), 1892, 1893. Price 12s. 6d. each, net. Large paper, extra plates, 31s. 6d. each, net.

It is high time that Essex topography fell into fresh hands. There has been much feeble grafting on Morant and Wright in this generation. The growth of the stock has frequently been aborted, but the scions have produced little fruit, and that mostly of a very inferior description. At any rate, Lord Bacon's dictum "that the scion over-ruleth the graft quite, the stock being passive only," has hitherto not been exemplified in this connection. From the capable hands of Mr. Barrett we now have two handsome volumes, abundantly and judiciously illustrated by the author; many of the etchings are deserving of all praise, and the sketches of antiquarian details and interesting bits are both beautiful and accurate. By the courtesy of the publishers, we are able to give two of these. We have counted stones, bricks, and rafters of the originals, and the illustration is faithful. The history, genealogy, and heraldry may be relied upon; and many interesting extracts. and curious particulars gleaned from the State Papers are given.

The first chapter of the first series treats of Maldon and Beeleigh Abbey, the latter spoken of as a relic "at once so picturesque and of so much antiquarian interest, that few places in the county can equal it." The next describes a day on the Blackwater, from Maldon to Bradwell and Mersea; and besides the topographical details there is much about Bate Dudley, wildfowl, and oysters. Then Barking, with historical reminiscences of the abbey, St. Margaret's Church, Eastbury House (extracts from the State Papers in connection with the Gunpowder Plot conspirators are referred to) and Parsloes. Chapter iv deals with Sible and Castle Hedingham, both so rich in antiquarian interest, and many interesting old-time details in each village are alluded to-Sible Hedingham Church and Sir John Hawkwood, Castle Hedingham Church and the Veres, and, of course, that grand old place, the castle itself, the largest keep in existence, which, with "its grand Chapel of St. John" and "the grand hall," is simply unique. The next chapter takes us to

Witham, more especially Chipping Hill; Feering, with illustrations of the old carving of the Sun Inn; Feering Church; the chapel at Feeringbury; Messing Church, with its fine east window, and the untoward fate of a wooden effigy once therein contained; Layer Marney and the Marneys, with their short-lived title, the famous Tower, and the church with its Marney Chapel. Then to Felstead and its school; Little Dunmow and its flitch, with reference to the Fitzwalters; Great Dunmow, with its interesting and fine old church, and so on, through a fine country to Thaxted, once an important borough, probably dating from Edward III, a veritable Essex Sheffield down to the time of Edward VI. The beautiful church of Thaxted is particularly noticed, then the curious little almshouses and Horeham Hall and the Cutts. Then Coggeshall, with its fine church, its Cistercian Abbey, and its many old houses with carved beams, etc., and a short reference to Great Tey Church. Here we have the first reference to an Essex historian, Morant. Chapter viii takes us to Saffron Walden with its many interesting buildings and "bits," especially the castle and church; the characters of Marney and Audley, both the favoured servants of the same king (Henry VIII), are compared, unfavourably to the latter; Sir Thomas Smyth, Gabriel Harvey, the Repel ditches, the Maze, the almshouses, etc., are referred to. Then a chapter upon Colchester and Lexden, with much about the castle and its historical associations, as might be expected from the author of a work upon the White Tower of London; St. Botolph's Priory, the Lexden ramparts, and the Colchester families of Rebow, Jobson, and Grimston. The chapter ends with interesting extracts from the State Papers as usual. This is the largest item in the index, giving no less than forty-four references in the first volume and sixteen in the second. Vol. i ends with a short article on Essex coinage, by Mr. L. A. Lawrence. Commencing with the British coins of Tasciovanus and Cunobelin, and with short reference to Roman coins, he gives some interesting particulars of the Saxon coins struck at Colchester, evidently a very important mint (Ethelred II to Henry II), Maldon (Eadgar to William I or II), Harwich (Æthelred II only), and Witham (unique coin of Hardicanute). Colchester siege pieces next claim attention, and then reference is made to the seventeenth century tokens, of which 359 varieties, issued in 85 different places, are known. A very satisfactory plate gives figures, obverse and reverse, of twenty of these coins. [See also Note on p. 123, ante.]