ll frequenters of Newmarket.

BRAYBROOKE.

"_Bachelors of every Station_" (Vol. ix., p. 301.) is the beginning of the
_Berkshire Lady_, an old ballad nearly extinct, and republished by me some
years ago in the form of a small pamphlet, which sold rapidly. If I can
procure one, it shall be forwarded to Mr. Bell.

The story is a true one, and related to a daughter of Sir William
Kendrick's, who succeeded him, and was possessor of Calcot Place in the
parish of Tylehurst, and to Benjamin Child, Esq., whom she met at a
marriage feast in the neighbourhood. A wood near Calcot is where the party
met to fight the duel in case Mr. Child rejected the proposals of marriage
made to him by Miss Kendrick.

I had the account from an old man between eighty and ninety years of age,
clerk of the parish; and my friend Miss Mitford agreed with me in the
accuracy of the story: she had it from the late Countess Dowager of
Macclesfield, an old lady celebrated for her extensive and accurate
knowledge of legendary lore.

In opening a vault in St. Mary's, Reading, last year, her coffin was found
entire, with this inscription:

"Frances Child, wife of Benjamin Child. Esq., of Calcot, and first
daughter of Sir Benjamin Kendrick, Bart. Died Feb. 27, 1722, aged 35.
The Lady of Berks."

Another coffin,--

"Benjamin Child, Esq., died 2nd May, 1767, aged 84 years."

JULIA R. BOCKETT.

Southcote Lodge.

_Mousehunt_ (Vol. viii., pp. 516. 606.; Vol. ix., pp. 65. 136. 385.).--In
Vol. ix., p. 65., the _Natural History of Quadrupeds_, by James H. Fennell,
is quoted; where, speaking of the Beech Marten (_alias_ Mousehunt), he
says:

"In Selkirkshire it has been observed to descend to _the shore_ at
night time to feed upon mollusks, particularly upon the large Basket
Mussel (_Mytilus modiolus_)."

In p. 136, I ventured to state that Mr. Fennell must have been a better
naturalist than geographer, as Selkirkshire was well known to be an inland
county nowhere approaching the sea by many miles. I added, that I hoped,
for Mr. Fennell's sake, that _Selkirkshire_ was either a misprint or a
misquotation.

In p. 385. MR. ARCHIBALD FRASER, Woodford, not choosing to exonerate Mr.
Fennell by either of my suggestions, prefers, as a staunch, but I think
rather an inconsiderate friend and champion, to _vindicate_ the paragraph
as it stands, by candidly admitting that if the word _beach_ had been used,
it would certainly have refe