me which
ought to be considered the principal officer, or which is the most
important, and which ought to have precedence of the other, the mayor of a
town or borough, or the sheriff of a town or borough? and is the mayor
merely the representative of the town, and the sheriff of the Queen; and if
so, ought not the representative of majesty to be considered more
honourable than the representative of merely a borough; and can a sheriff
of a borough claim to have a grant of arms, if he has not any previous?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Nottingham.

_The Beauty of Buttermere._--In an article contributed by Coleridge to the
_Morning Post_ (vid. _Essays on his own Times_, vol. ii. p. 591.), he says:

"It seems that there are some circumstances attending her birth and
true parentage, which would account for her striking superiority in
mind and manners, in a way extremely flattering to the prejudices of
rank and birth."

What are the circumstances alluded to?

R. W. ELLIOT.

Clifton.

_Sheer Hulk._--Living in a maritime town, and hearing nautical terms
frequently used, I had always supposed this term to mean an old vessel,
{127} with sheers, or spars, erected upon it, for the purpose of masting
and unmasting ships, and was led to attribute the use of it, by Sir W.
Scott and other writers, for a vessel totally dismasted, to their ignorance
of the technical terms. But of late it has been used in the latter sense by
a writer in the _United Service Magazine_ professing to be a nautical man.
I still suspect that this use of the word is wrong, and should be glad to
hear on the subject from any of your naval readers.

I believe that the word "buckle" is still used in the dockyards, and among
seamen, to signify to "bend" (see "N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 375.), though
rarely.

J. S. WARDEN.

_The Lapwing or Peewitt_ (_Vanellus cristatus_).--Can any of your
correspondents, learned in natural history, throw any light upon the
meaning in the following line relative to this bird?--

"The blackbird far its hues shall know,
As _lapwing_ knows the vine."

In the first line the allusion is to the berries of the hawthorn; but what
the _lapwing_ has to do with the _vine_, I am at a loss to know. Having
forgotten whence I copied the above lines, perhaps some one will favor me
with the author's name.

J. B. WHITBORNE.

_"Could we with ink," &c._--Could you, or any of your numerous and able
correspondents, inform me who is