mediately after Mercury, says to him--

"The hosts upon the highway cry out with open mouth upon you, for
supporting _plafery_ in your train; which, though, as you are the god
of petty larceny, you might protect, yet you know it is directly
_against the new orders_, and oppose the reformation in diameter."

What is _plafery_? It is evident that the joking allusion to it was rather
bold, for Mercury exclaims,--

"Peace, railer, bridle your licentious tongue,
And let this presence teach you modesty."

B. R. I.

_St. John's Bridge Fair._--In what county in England was St. John's Bridge
Fair held in the year 1614, and in what town in the county?

JOSEPHUS.

_Queries on Costume._--In Wilson's _Life of De Foe_ there is an anecdote of
Charles II. concealing himself, when a fugitive from Worcester, beneath a
lady's hoop, while his pursuers searched the house in which he had taken
refuge. Were hoops worn so early as the year 1651? In the _Book of Costume_
I find no mention of them before the beginning of the eighteenth century;
but I do not think this circumstance conclusive, as the "Lady of Rank" is
not always very accurate.

Writing in the reign of Anne, she says, "Fans were now very much used," but
omits to mention that they were in fashion long before, having been
indispensable to Catherine of Braganza and her ladies at home and abroad,
in the church and the theatre.

"Long gloves," says the Lady of Rank, "began to be worn by the ladies in
this reign." (Queen Anne's).

"Twelve dozen Martial,[2] whole and half," says Evelyn:--were not _whole_
Martial gloves, long?

WEDSECNARF.

[Footnote 2: "_Martial._--The name of a famous French perfumer, emulating
the Frangipani of Rome."--_Miscellaneous Writings of John Evelyn_, pp. 705.
711. 4to. edit. 1825.]

_Cum Grano Salis._--Sometime ago I asked from what figure is borrowed the
expression of "Cum grano salis," and have had no reply. I can't find it in
Erasmus. Once a very clever Cambridge man said that it meant "the thing
must be swallowed with a little Attic salt to make it go down pleasantly."
I don't think that he was right.

E. H.

_Earl of Clarendon's Daughter, Lucretia._--I should be very glad to learn
whether the great Earl of Clarendon had a daughter named Lucretia. A friend
of mine is descended from Dr. Marsh, archbishop of Armagh, who (it is said)
married Lucretia, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, and was the father of
Lucretia, wif