NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th ix. FEB. i, 1902.
Teeth ; like a Cock upon his own Dunghil ; ; what
is Sawce for a Goose, we say is Sawce for f Gander
the more's the Pity; the Words and the Sense
jump together; knowing Men to have an Eye .to,
to see the World turn'd topsy-turvy ; his Disciple
in all his Whimseys; a slippery ^ sort of Man ;
was hugely put to it; rants and hectors, one
Eye in their freads; Bug-bear sort ; betwixt sixes
and sevens; another bout there ; the Searchers
are as sly as can be ; as it is possible for such Sharks
to be; sleep in a whole skin; let the future shift
for itself; wheedled by them ; we shall take a good
nap ; catch us napping ; made use of tor a stalking
Horse ; though they do not yet play above-board ;
buy a Cat in a Sack or a Pig in a Poke ; dance
Attendance ; down in the Mouth ; I do not value it
a farthing ; in spight of my own Teeth ; shall be
defended Tooth and Nail ; meer hotch-potch ; by
hook or by crook ; this rare Gim-crack ; pinning
Mens Faith upon other Mens Sleeves ; from the
Teeth outward; laugh on the wrong side of their
Mouths ; his Friend may go whistle to understand
it ; away they slip through his Fingers ; in spight
of his Teeth ; no body would give a farthing for all
the Wit and Craft they have ; scared out of their
seven Senses ; set them together by the Ears ; slink
behind the Curtain ; end in Smoak and nothing ;
have got the whipping Hand of us ; but ten to one ;
no Army will budg a foot ; they never boggle at any
Promise ; lay all their Heads together ; not yet
been as good as their word ; Matter fit to hammer
it out of ; they have cock'd their Caps ; it must
needs be the Ace of Trumps ; like a Turn-coat as
he was ; fit to leap out of their Skins ; at the fag-
end of all ; still in his Swadling Clouts ; There is
something here upon the Anvil ; trip up a Man's
Heels that stands ; go point-blank against it ; They
are buzzing their Pates about it ; accept the Will
for the Deed ; the same hurly - burly ; dive over
Head and Ears ; to stand in a Quondary ; have been
fain to let go the Fish ; a sudden Occasion that
call'd me out of Town ; bestir his Stumps ; his
Empire handsell'd with more Work ; ill will cannot
forbear to shew its Teeth ; takes into his Army Tag
Rag and Bobtail ; so they can but feather their own
Nest ; there are some that can swallow it as glibly
as they do here ; he trusts him no further than he
can fling him ; they do it bare-fac'd.
On the first fly-leaf of my copy of these ' Letters,' 1693, there is to be found the name of "Stuart Bickerstaffe," written in a round, bold, and legible hand. Immediately under this name there is written, apparently in a different hand and in a less decided colour of ink, "Donum Authoris." Then on the second fly-leaf there is written, " Mr. Brown Rector Sundridge and Editor of this book gave it me." But as this was not exactly what the writer meant to express, the whoU is obliterated by the pen, and these words arc substituted underneath : "The Authour gav< me this book." The writing of these last t\v( I take to be in character the same as that o " Stuart Bickerstaffe."
I should be much obliged if some kinc reader of 'N. & Q.' could tell me anything
egarding both " Stuart Bickerstaffe " and
Edward Brown, Rector of Sundridge in
Kent." A. S.
THE BIRTHPLACE OF MARGARET, COUNTESS OF RICHMOND.
SOME seven miles from Bedford, on the road between that town and Higham Ferrers, .he birthplace of Archbishop Chicheley, and >n the banks of the slow-flowing Ouse, is iituated the quiet village of Bletsoe, with ts church grey with antiquity, not far from
- he Midland Railway. Bletsoe was once the
-esidence of one of the greatest families in _ngland, the Beauforts, and now has for some ! our hundred years been the property of the
oble family of St. John, styled Barons St. John of Bletsoe. Here was born that most Denevolent of ladies Margaret Beaufort, the 'oundress of St. John's and Christ Colleges at Cambridge and the Lady Margaret Pro- 'essorship of Divinity at Oxford. She is inown by the names of Lady Margaret Beau- tort, Margaret of Lancaster, and the Countess of Richmond, but usually by the simple title of Lady Margaret.
The old castle where this benevolent lady first saw the light in 1441 has been razed to the ground, but a considerable portion of the great mansion where the St. Johns lived is still in existence, a venerable structure covered with ivy, and the church continues to this day to be their burial-place. The vault is in the northern arm of the transept, and on the wall is a curious monument of Sir John St. John, who was brought up by Lady Margaret with her grandson Henry VIII. , who made him guardian of his daughters the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth. There are one or two monuments of modern date to members of this ancient family, but of no great interest. From a common ancestor) descended Henry St. John, Viscount Boling- broke, in the days of Queen Anne, the great statesman, the friend of Harley and Atter- bury, to whom Pope dedicated his fine poemj 'An Essay on Man,' which has this [altered]] address :
Awake, my St. John ! leave all meaner things To low ambition, and the pride of kings. Let us (since life can little more supply Than just to look about us and to die) Expatiate free o'er all this scene of Man ; A mighty maze ! but not without a plan.
Rplingbroke died childless in 1751, and buried in Battersea Church. It is probabl< that on the death of Queen Anne in 171< had prompt measures been taken, her brotht would have ascended the throne of Engb and the story goes that Atterbury offered