Notes and Queries, Number 41, August 10, 1850 | Page 8

time that he conferred other honours upon him, out of respect for his brave defence of the city; creating him, first, Earl of Northhampton and Huntingdon, and afterwards Earl of Northumberland, A.D. 1070.] And if so, as Waltheof could certainly not have had any "pledge of love" before the siege of York; so neither is it probable that he had any issue at all by Judith, as in the same year, 1070, he was beheaded by William, for supposed participation in a conspiracy at York.
The above drama is said to be "by a descendant of one of the _dramatis person?_," viz. of "De Combre, one of William's generals;" being written by Rev. Thomas Comber, of Oswaldkirk, Yorkshire. This De Combre is represented as having married _Ilda_, a daughter of King Harold, and sister of Edgar. Can any of your correspondents furnish me with information as to the origin and antiquity of this family of Comber? I learn from the present representatives of this family, that they have no recorded pedigree which goes higher than the reign of Henry VI., but that the family tradition has always been, that their ancestor came over from Normandy with William, and married Ilda, daughter of Harold. It seems that the name of Ilda is at this very day borne by one of the family. In the _Memoirs of Dr. Thomas Comber, Dean of Durham_, this De Combre is said to have had the manor of Barkham, in Sussex, given to him by the Conqueror. What family had King Harold II.? Had he any daughter Ilda? and, if so, is there any record or mention of her husband's name?
T.E.L.L.
19th July, 1850.
_"De male qu?sitis," &c._--Spelman's striking argument, that spoliated church property is seldom enjoyed for more than three generations, seems but a special application of a general principle,--
"De male qu?sitis gaudet non tertius h?raes."
Can any of your readers tell me who is the author of the above verse? I find it quoted as "an adage" by John Gadsbury, in his work _On the Doctrine of Nativities_, 1658.
R.P.
_Westminster Abbey._--The late Sir Harry Englefield is known to have had access to some of the original fabric accounts of this venerable structure. Can any of your readers inform me whether he published the information he may have obtained from those documents; and, if so, where it may be found?
J.BT.
_Haberdasher--Martinet._--Can any of your correspondents suggest an etymology for the word _haberdasher_? I ought, perhaps, to say that I am acquainted with the derivations propounded by Mr. Richardson, but consider them all unsatisfactory. While on the subject, I would also ask if Mr. Richardson's Dictionary is considered the best {168} source extant of information on English etymology, because I cannot help thinking that it has very many faults and deficiencies. The very word, for instance, on the derivation of which your valuable correspondent MR. FORBES offered a suggestion in No. 38., viz. _Martinet_, I had in vain sought for in Mr. Richardson's _Dictionary_, at least in his quarto edition, 1887.
PRISCIAN.
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"Querela Cantabrigiensis."--Is anything known of the authorship of the _Querela Cantabrigiensis: or, a Remonstrance by way of Apologie for the banished Members of the late flourishing University of Cambridge. By some of the said Sufferers. Anno Dom. 1647_? This seems a favourable time for inserting this Query, as there is a chance of _a second series of "The Universities' Complaint"_ making its appearance before the year is out.
J.M.B.
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_Long Lonkin._--Can any of your readers give me a clue to the personality of Long Lonkin, the hero of a moss-trooping ballad popular in Cumberland, which commences--
"The Lord said to his ladie, As he mounted his horse, Beware of Long Lonkin That lies in the moss."
And goes on to tell how Long Lonkin crept in at "one little window" which was left unfastened, and was counselled by the wicked maiden to--
"Prick the babe in the cradle"
as the only means of bringing down the poor mother, whom he wished to kill.
Are there any other traditions of him, and can he have any connection with the name bestowed by children on the middle finger, in the following elegant rhyme?--
"Tom Thumbkin, Will Wilkins, Long Lonkin," &c.?
This I had always supposed merely to refer to the length of the finger, but the coincidence of names is curious.
SELEUCUS.
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REPLIES.
TREATISE OF EQUIVOCATION.
I can now inform you that the MS. _Treatise of Equivocation_, about which J.M. inquired (Vol. i., p. 263.), is preserved in the Bodleian Library (Laud, _Miscellaneous MSS. 655_.). Dodd, in his Church History (vol. ii. pp. 381. 428.), under the names Blackwell and Francis Tresham, mentions the work by its second title, _A Treatise against Lying and fraudulent Dissimulation_, and states that the MS. is in the Bodleian. Through the kindness of Dr. Baudinel, I have seen the