192 Devon Ncies and Querns. 152. James Payn in Dbvonshirb (II., p. 159, par. 120.) — The private tutor in Devonshire with whom James Payn passed a year before going up to Cambridge was the Rev. W. C. Thompson^ Rector of Blackborough. Another noteworthy literary man who read with Mr. Thompson was Sir Francis Burnand, the present editor of Punch. The reason why I am familiar with this matter is that my father was for forty- five years Vicar of Broadhembury parish, which adjoined Blackborough, and consequently the Thompsons were some of our nearest neighbours, and we knew them very well. W. B. Hebbrdbn.
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REVTEV* 153. Combe Martin. — This is another addition to our parochial histories. Such contributions are always welcome, and we congratulate Mrs. Francis Toms on its production^ and the careful way in which she has collected a large number of facts with reference to the place, which we think Charles Kings! ey somewhere calls "mile long man-stye," — why we know not. We could have wished that what has already appeared in print had been less relied upon, and that records, of which there should be a good many when we consider the associations of Combe Martin with mines and mining, had been consulted. But we mention this, not by way of fault finding, but as a hint, and we hope that the present pamphlet is only the forerunner by the authoress of a fuller history of this seaside village. We have chapters on the early history, on the Martins and other owners of the manor, and noted inhabitants, on the church, with lists of the Rectors from 1309, and of the Wardens from 1671. We do not find any reference to the registers, or how far they go back, and the Churchwardens' accounts appear to be late. There is much more to be said about the fine church than is given. We think the two niches in the screen, which no doubt originally contained figures, formed the reredos of an altar, the dedica- tion of which might be discovered, as well as the dedication of other altars which were of old in the church. "Notes on Combe Martin," by Kathleen M. Toms. Barnstaple: Printed at the Herald Press, io6| High Street, 1902. Price 6d.
