488.), who suggests Monmouth; but he has overlooked the fact stated in
the original communication of L. M. M. R., that Nuneham only came into the
possession of the Buccleuch family through the Montagues, _i.e._ by the
marriage of Henry, third Duke of Buccleuch, to Lady Elizabeth Montagu; the
present proprietor, Lord John Scott, being their grandson. This marriage
took place in 1767, or eighty-two years after Monmouth's execution, and
thirty-three years after the death of his widow, the Duchess of Buccleuch
and Monmouth, who is supposed to have caused the body to be removed from
Tower Hill.

Notwithstanding the failure of heirs male in three noble families within
the century, viz. the Leighs, the Wriothesleys, and the Montagus, the
present proprietor is their direct descendant, and there are indications in
the letter referred to, that the place of interment of his ancestors, as
well as of this singular unknown, will no longer be abandoned to be a
depository of farm rubbish.

W. L. M.

* * * * *

ANCIENT FURNITURE--PRIE-DIEU.

Perhaps some of the readers of "N. & Q." will be able to give me some
information as to the use of an ancient piece of furniture which I have met
with. At Codrington, a small village in Gloucestershire, in the old house
once the residence of the family of that name, now a farm-house, they show
you in the hall a piece of furniture which was brought there from the
chapel when that part of the building was turned into a dairy. It is a
cupboard, forming the upper part of a five-sided structure, which has a
base projecting equally with the top, which itself hangs over a hollow
between the cupboard and the base, and is finished off with pendants below
the cupboard. The panel which forms the door of the cupboard is wider than
the sides. All the panels are carved with sacred emblems; the vine, the
instruments of the Passion, the five wounds, the crucifix, the Virgin and
child, and a shield, with an oak tree with acorns, surmounted by the papal
tiara and the keys. The dimensions are as follows:

Depth from front to back, 2 feet 4-1/2 inches.

Height, 4 feet 8 inches.

Height of cupboard from slab to pendants, 2 feet 6 inches.

Height of base, 9-1/2 inches.

Width of side panels, 1 foot 8 inches; of centre panel, 1 foot 10-1/2
inches.

Width of the door of the cupboard, 1 foot 5 inches.

The door has carved upon it a scene representing two men, one an old man
sit