Wen thur wus a bit uv a skrimmage among um ud look uz pleezd you can't think un grunt un sort a laff ta isself like tul 1 de a took it inta is yud to ketch 1 on um uz cum reether 2 neer toon, un skrumped un up jest like a nut. Well ater that a wus allis a bird ketchin un was up to all sorts a mooves at that theer geem. Ater a'd cleered out tha trauw pertty well a'd jest skatter about a feeaw grayns athin reach uv is nose, un lay down un pertend ta go ta sleep, un then twaz warrhock ta any sparra or whitefinch or robbin ither uz cum athin is reech. But tha got up

toot ut last, un specially tha sparras; un then wot dy think a dun -wy a turnd to upon the Rots.

We ad all at once tha dyuce un all a rots, un wher tha cum from why Ime shure I dwont knauw, but awever tha seemed ta use ta get ther prog princaply from tha pigs vittells.

Well, at fust, a seemed ta use ta like ther cumpney un wen tha did cum 1 or 2 at a time a'd look quite pleesed un stand un watch um un talk to um like jest as a used to do along a tha robbins but when tha birds got shire un tha rots moor numerouser un did cuma duzn ur a duzn at a time, 1 de quite onexpectedly a piches into um un massycrees 2 on um un ater that wenever a seed a likely chance heed fly at um jest like any uther reglar bred tarrier un a yused ta kip up them ther geems up ta tha de uv is deth wich took pleece soon ater a wus seesed for my rent wich somehow or nother unfortnutly got into rare.

Now as for Sally she wus allis of a weeklier constitution like as we ma say un dident thrive not neer sa well un so we yused for ta let her run in un out a tha taproom un bask afore tha fire along a tha ducks which I shal ave more ta say about them presenly but a got sassier nor ever Now ther wus 2 or 3 fellas a mendin tha rodes jest bi our ouse un 1 de tha cum in jest ta ave a pint a beer ath ther dinners wich was bred un chees or summut a that deskrypshun rapped up in ther ankychers. 1 on um appened ta put down isn fur a minnit un I be hanged if Sally dident collar it un finished it (ankycher included) amost afore a cud say Jack Robison. Well ater that none on um cud leave a hankycher about or cum into tha house ath 1 in his haud but her must knauw all about it un see what a'd got in it but blessy a'd yused ta sarve we wuss nor that. Sumtimes when weed got a bit a beecon un greens or anything a that sort the missis ud teek up the greens out a tha top a tha pot un put um upon the pleet upon the teeble fust (cos we allis likes um biled along a the beecon tha be so much richer) while her wus a getting out the beecon un I do assure you as if I wusnt standin sentry like all the time. Ime blessed if that ther pig woodnt either jump up on his ind legs on the teble or else upset un un cler tha dish a evry teter or green as wus in in afore a could well look round.

Now tha observetion as I got to meek about that ther is as this here when a pet dog or amost any other sort a pet a dun any

thing a roguery he knows on it un'll cut away from e but a pig on't-he'll stand un grunt un snort un squeak at e like a bear un bully e out on't.

But a got sa mischievious at last as I coodn't kip un no longer a did offend so many a our customers un so I sowld un to a man at Santers fur amost nothin at all jest ta get rid on in--but I had ard work ta get tha missis ta part with un thauw.

Pon me life tha partin atwixt thay 2 wus quite cuttin un a got out a is sty un cum un see us once or twice ater that. I dwont know what he fed un on ater a left we but a'd a got sa chaice then as a'd ardly yet anything but bred un butter. The last I yeared the poor cretur wus as a'd died a very pertty pig a about a four

teen score.

Now thems what I considers very interesting hannygotes of a dimestic pig but them ther ducks wus 2 sech ducks as you don't see evry de barring as 1 on um wus a dreek.

Tha wus Mus-covys un wus give ta me by Dr. Wells a Nordon I never seed 2 kinder harted creeters in my life Tha meed therselves at home as soon as ever tha cum to us un ater a bit tha got sa fond on us as wenever me or my missis went to tha pump (not having no piece a water for um dy see) thay'd run jabberin up un woodn't let us go away or be at quiet tul weed pumped on um un geed um a good dousin un then thayd go in a doors un lay therselves down afore the fire to dry un if we offered for to go away from the pump without doing on it for um thayd run ater us un peck our legs un heels a good un. I a got one on um now-the dreek-but Ime sorry to say as I lost tother about 12 Mos ago un you never see nothin more affectin nor the last moments o that ther duck.

Some time afore-some wicked rascal of a dog--how I wish I'd a ketched him ony praps I shoold a sarved him amost too badgeed er a tightish nip 1 de un thow with a good deal a nussin un coddlin my missis brought im round again un a was got quite cheerful like a allis walked leem un limped a good deal un didnt seem to injay hisself so well as formyly. Ater a bit a wuzn't so well agyan un seemed uz if there was summut az wazn't quite right in her inside. Well now my wife ad bin verry queer fur a wick or 2 with a bad complaint in her chest un one de tha duck seemed wuss nor ushal if anything un my wife was a nussin on her in her lap afore tha fire un a seemed very thoughtful un all at once her says says her "I say Jem if I was to give the poor duck a dose a my medsan says her "I shoodn't wonder if it didn't do un good for it have certnly done me a good deal" says her. And so "Well" says I "praps 'tood. Ime agreeable" says I an so we geed un two teble spoonfuls a tha chest mixter. Well the poor creeter shook his hed un didn't seem to like it for a bit but at last a got quieter un seemed to beagwain off to sleep un all at once after a'd a layd quiet for about a ten minutes a tried to

rouse isself up like un begun ta sheek is yed agean as if to say az twus no go-a give a fayntish queevering kind of a quack un then a looked up in my mississes feece un died in a minnit. Now thats I considers a very interestin annygote of a Muscovy duck an its my firm belief as theres very few peeple as knows what affection dimestic animals may be brought to for um for want a treetin on um properly but all as Ive got to say about it is this here which is as if its of any use to you or the Cotsuld club as its verry much at your service un I remain Sir

Your humble sarvant to command

JEEMS NICKS.

1652. THE UPTON FAMILY.-Can any reader give me any information respecting James Upton, who married, about 1770, Elizabeth, daughter of William Bendall, of Dursley, or their descendants? I believe they had three children, two daughters and one son, Thomas, born in 1794.

The Canons, Mitcham, Surrey.

R. U.

1653.—COMPENSATION FOR THE BURNING OF THE BISHOP'S PALACE, BRISTOL.-An absurd statement respecting the amount of compensation awarded for the destruction of the episcopal palace, and the furniture therein, by the Bristol rioters in 1831, has more than once appeared in print, one writer carelessly copying another; and as such a statement, if left uncorrected, is not unlikely to do mischief in certain quarters, I wish to trouble you with a few lines upon the subject. I cannot say in what publication, or by whom, the statement in question was first made; but in an article in the Bristol Times and Mirror of July 25, 1884 (purporting to be a reprint of an article in the Guardian by E[dmund] V[enables]), it is gravely asserted that "the £60,000 paid by the county to the bishop as compensation was expended in the purchase of a property at Stapleton, near Bristol, and in building a suitable residence;" and that subsequently, "by some mysterious transaction, as to the nature of which it is wisest not to inquire, on the principle that 'bygones should be bygones,' the costly palace at Stapleton [now Colston's Hospital] was sold," etc. That such a statement should appear in a Bristol newspaper is rather strange: it appeared, however, and there it might well have been left in peace. But not 80. In the recent issue of 66 a new and revised edition" of An Illustrated History of Bristol Cathedral, by Messrs. Leversage and Taylor (Clifton, 1888), p. 114, the same statement regarding the amount of the money reappears, and almost in the words I have already quoted. For this slip (to call it nothing else) there can, I think, be no excuse. "Sixty thousand pounds paid by the county to the bishop as compensation!" If any one is curious to know the truth of the matter, let me refer him to the Report of the

Commissioners appointed under the Bristol Damages Compensation Act, and Statement of Actions for Damages, and Proceedings had therein under that Act, with their General Results, Bristol, 1835. It appears from this authentic record that for the destruction of the bishop's house and furniture, the sum of £12,000 was claimed for the former "by declaration," and £11,544 9s. 11d. for the latter "by particulars to Commissioners;" and that the sum of £6,000 was recovered "by verdict," and £2,040 "by agreement with Commissioners." Full particulars, as given by the Commissioners, may be found in their Report, p. 10. See also Latimer's Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century, p. 181.

J. G.

1654.--ROMAN ART IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE.*-England abounds with mosaics from north to south, from the banks of the Humber to the Welsh Caerleon, recalling the memories of those of Europe and Africa, wherever the Romans have settled, for where they were, there were mosaics. More might have been rescued from the havoc of time and ignorance had their value been known; but, like so much beside art, their interest is in their associations, which imply both that knowledge and feeling which turn archæology into romance, and all the more fascinating because it is all true. These broken relics of old times are precious pages. These remnants of old mosaics in our land mark the spots where men, whose names still live in classic history and literature, once passed a stirring life of war and enterprise, where they summoned councils and held their courts; or, in times of peace, gathered their families about them and laid for their former foes the foundations of the best civilisation that they knew. . . . Of all the parts of England that bear witness to Roman residence, Gloucestershire appears to have been a favourite. The grassy dells of the Cotteswolds afforded them a scenery which, perhaps, the undeveloped sense of landscape in those days may have failed to interest; but they settled there, and have left along the whole length from the Painswick beacon to the hills and valleys westward of Dursley the relics of many of their homes. It was a tempting site for them. The wide hunting ground of the Cotteswold country was behind them, and their city Corinium, the modern Cirencester, at the junction of their principal roads, was within easy reach; Aquasolis (Bath) also and Caerleon, and their "castra exploratoria" on the points of all the hills. The great military establishment at Glevum (the modern Gloucester) lay in the valley below them, on the bank of the meandering Severn; and, far beyond, the country of the Silures, the scene of their great campaign, stretched out into the wide distance, blending the woods and hills of its horizon with

From The Ministry of Fine Art to the Happiness of Life, by T. Gambier Parry, of Highnam Court, Gloucester (London, 1886), pp. 151-154. The ninth essay in this volume, pp. 338-362, is entitled "The Builders and Buildings of the Abbey of St. Peter at Gloucester, now the Cathedral.-ED.

the mists of the setting sun. Here in one of its loveliest spots, now Woodchester, a palace was built, which, from the evidence of its extent and wealth, was one of much importance. Its historian has with most reasonable inference traced here the site of imperial residence, where Claudius and Hadrian trod its tessellated floors. Ostorius Scapula was proprætor of Britain under Claudius, and is known to have constructed many "castra" along the Severn valley. Claudius's 7th legion was for many years stationed at Gloucester, and this favoured spot, Woodchester, afforded precisely the central and secure position required for the governor's residence. Its great central open court was an atrium of all but fifty feet square. The mosaic of its pavement is one of the largest known, and though coarsely executed, it exhibits all the best features of Roman mosaic art of that period. The ground of it is a warm white, and within a grandly-designed border is one large circle divided into several rings with an octagonal centre. The central figure is lost; but Orpheus, who commonly occupies that place, is here delineated within one of the inner circles, with animals and birds duly tamed by his music quietly following each other all round. The colour is rich and simple; and the materials, which are mostly of local production, have, for the purest white tessera, the hard calcareous stone imported for the purpose, the same as is found in Roman mosaics in various parts of Europe. It is approached by a corridor 114 feet long and 9 broad, from end to end mosaic; and in various directions are the foundations of rooms, of which the evidences of their once tesselated floors still remain. The character of the latest of these pavements is of a style that would date about the reign of Septimius Severus; and in relation to that emperor a coincidence is worthy of remark, that a group of figures ornamenting the floor of one of the rooms, is that of two genii, without wings, but in the attitude of flying, carrying between them a basket of fruit, and inlaid below them is the motto "Bonum Eventum". -a motto that is found on the reverse of coins of that emperor and of his son Geta. He remained some time in England, and this device seems to bring him to this spot, the floor having been thus inlaid in honour of his residence.

1655.-"LOCAL NAMES OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE."-Under this title an interesting 8vo pamphlet of sixty-eight pages, by the Rev. Robert Hall, M.A., rector of Saul, has lately issued from the press. In the opening paragraph of his preface the author writes:-"In days when the deciphering of the monuments of distant lands enlists so much curiosity, perhaps there may be a little to spare for the map of an English county. These pages attempt to recover the meanings which lie hidden under the names of parishes and numerous other places in Gloucestershire. In the majority of cases it is hoped the renderings will be safe; in some they do not pretend to be more than those which on the whole best