hot, in Hampshire, who doth with
many, and indeed more solemne, rites inuest his brothers of his
vnhallowed chappell of Basingstone (Basingstoke?) (as all our men of
the westerne parts of England do know by deare experience to the smart
of their purses), to these merry burgomaisters of Saint _Gewere_ vse to
do."

Will any of your readers state whether the custom is remembered in
Hampshire, and afford explanation as to the most Rev. Lord Ball? The
writers that I have referred to are silent, and I do not find mention of
the custom in the pages of Mr. Urban.

J. H. M.

_Marcarnes._--In Guillim's _Display of Heraldry_ (6th edit., London, 1724),
sect. 2. chap. v. p. 32., occurs the following description of a coat of
arms: "_Marcarnes_, vaire, a pale, sable."

There is no reference to a Heralds' Visitation, or to the locality in which
resided the family bearing this name and coat. It is only mentioned as an
instance among many others of the pale in heraldry. I have searched many
heraldic books, as well as copies of Heralds' Visitations, but cannot find
the name elsewhere. Will any herald advise me how to proceed farther in
tracing it?

G. R. M.

_The Claymore._--What is the original weapon to which belongs the name of
claymore (_claidh mhor_)? Is it the two-handed sword, or the basket-hilted
two-edged sword _now_ bearing the appellation? Is the latter kind of sword
peculiar to Scotland? They are frequently to be met with in this part of
the country. One was found a few years since plunged up to the hilt in the
earth on the Cotswold Hills. It was somewhat longer than the Highland
broadsword, but exactly similar to a weapon which I have seen, and which
belonged to a Lowland Whig gentleman slain at Bothwell Bridge. If these
swords be exclusively Scottish, may they not be relics of the unhappy
defeat at Worcester?

FRANCIS JOHN SCOTT.

Tewkesbury.

_Sir William Chester, Kt._--It is said of this gentleman in all the
Baronetages, that "he was a great benefactor to the city of London in the
time of Edward VI., and that he became so strictly religious, that for a
considerable time before his death he retired from all business, entered
himself a fellow-commoner at Cambridge, lived there some years' and was
reputed a learned man." Did he take any degree at Cambridge, and to what
college or hall did he belong? Must there not be some records in the
University which will yield this information? I observe th