"Amy Walker of the parish of St. James, Clerkenwell [which includes Cold Bath Fields], widow"; so that Andrew, her husband, probably died in 1785-6.
Three of their children appear as baptized in St. James's Church in that parish between 1764 and 1767, but I can find no burial entry of either Andrew or Amy Walker, nor any will or administration of Andrew Walker, nor record of his parents, nor whence he came to Cold Bath Fields, London, in 1757. C. W. R.
Replies.
TAVOLARA: MORESNET: GOUST
(?LLIVIA): ALLEGED SMALL
REPUBLICS.
(12 S. i. 42.)
Tavolara certainly appears to have claims to rank with Moresnet as a microscopic territory à la San Marino and Andorra, but probably, at the best, with not a tithe of the diplomatic status and official circumstance of these. The existence of Goust appears, on the other hand, to rest upon the authority of The Pall Mall Gazette for June 5, 1915.
As regards the former, the dates given in The Tablet quotation are no doubt correct: "from 1836 to 1886 Tavolara was a tiny monarchy." There is not a word about it in 'The Sketch of the Present State of the Island of Sardinia,' London (Murray), 1828 by Capt. W. H. Smyth, R.N., F.S.A., who, however, mentions the geological and botanical features of this island, "the ancient Hermæa." In J. W. Tyndale's 'The Island of Sardinia,' London (R. Bentley), 1849, vol. ii. pp. 19-20, is an account of the genesis of the monarchy, which I abridge as follows: A shepherd and his family "of most primeval and unsophisticated habits have for many years been the sole inhabitants of the island." When the king came to Tavolara and Terranova, the shepherd sent him, as provisions, a number of the sheep and wild goats in which the island abounds. His Majesty, who, of course, did not need these, in thanking the shepherd of Tavolara, asked whether he wished for anything, promising to give it him if the demand were reasonable and within the royal power. After much pondering and debate, a list of household articles (not worth 20s.) was decided against favour of 1 lb. of gunpowder. But the royal messenger suggesting that the shepherd should ask for something else, he, after further deliberation, broke out:—
"'Oh, tell the King of Terra ferma that I should like to be king of Tavolara; and that if any people come to live in the island, that they must obey me as the people obey him in Terra ferma.' It might be rash [continues Tyndale] to guarantee the veracity of the whole of the story, but that the greater part is true is very probable from the fact that the King of Terra ferma gave a few privileges to the shepherd as long as he should live and inhabit his sea-girt rock; a compromise between a pound of gunpowder and a regal diadem."
The "King of Terra ferma" was apparently Charles Albert of Sardinia (1831-49). (Tyndale's book, is, by the by, a most interesting and painstaking work. It contains a transcript of a patent, granted by a king of Aragon to the ancestor of a modern Sardinian noble of Spanish descent, which corrects and supplements the accepted pedigree of the house as given by the Valencian genealogist Viciana, in unexpected fashion. )
With regard to Llivia, &c., the theory that Gouse is an abbreviation of Saillagouse may or may not be correct. But if it be, then the republican status of Gouse (=Saillagouse) goes by the board. The following two notes are from an article by A. Salsas, 'Consécration de l'Église Sainte Eugénie de Saillagouse (3 juin, 913),' in the Revue d'histoire et d'archéologie du Roussillon, iii. 217 (Perpignan), 1902:—
"Saillagouse, chef-lieu de canton de l'arrondissement de Prades, est mentionné pour la première fois dans le diplôme de consécration de la cathédrale d'Urgel en 839, sous le nom de Sallagosa. Ce village dépendait du district de Llivia, pagus Liviensis."—P. 225, note 3.
"Gourguga.—Gorguja, hameau dépendant du territoire municipal et de la province de Llivia enclave espagnol)."—P. 226, note 4.
Thus Saillagouse is a chef-lieu de canton of the French arrondissement of Prades; it was formerly attached to Llivia, which in turn remains a fragment of Spain. A. V. D. P.
The Newspaper Placard (11 S. xii. 483; 12 S. i. 13, 77.)—Examples of some famous contents bills may be found in certain incidents connected with the late James Gordon Bennett's journalistic career. Here in England we sometimes find it difficult to understand, or at any rate to appreciate, American newspaper methods; and it is not easy to grasp the precise intention of the late James Gordon Bennett, when he began a journalistic career by attacking the editors of other newspapers. James Grant, in his 'History
