ches; and perhaps some of your correspondents may be
able to trace their subsequent history: the _name_ is certainly not
extinct, whether its bearers be his descendants or not.

Is the gallant Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert descended from one of Sir
Walter's half-brothers?

J. S. WARDEN.

_Ancient Fortifications: Hertstone, Pale, Brecost._--In the Clause Rolls,
16 John, M. 6. (_Public Records_, vol. i. p. 192.) is a warrant of King
John's, addressed to the bailiffs of Peter de Maulay of Doncaster, as
follows:

"Mandam' vob' q[=d] villa de Danecast[=r] claudi faciatis heritone et
palo sc[=d]m q[=d] fossatu f[=cm] exigit, et una leve bretasca fi
faciatis su[p=] ponte ad villa defendenda."

Which, in Miller's History of that town (p. 40.), is thus translated:

"We command ye, cause the town of Doncaster to be inclosed with
_hertstone_ and _pale_, according as the ditch that is made doth
require; and that ye make a light _brecost_ or barbican upon the
bridge, to defend the town."

I shall be obliged by being informed if _hertstone_ is the correct
translation of the word "heritone," and, if so, what species of
fortification it was. _Pale_ is probably a defence composed of high wooden
stakes. _Brecost_ is questionable, I imagine, and should most likely be
spelt _bretesk_ or _bretex_. I shall be glad, however, of explanations of
the words.

C. J.

_Newton and Somers._--It has been said that there is a complimentary
allusion to Somers in Newton's writings. Where?

M.

_Daventry, Duel at._--

"Veni Daintreo cum puella,
Procerum celebre duello."

"Thence to Daintree with my jewel,
Famous for a noble duel."--_Drunken Barnaby's Journal._

Can any Northamptonshire reader of "N. & Q." say between whom, and when,
this duel took place?

J. H. L.

_Passage in Burial Service._--Whence comes the expression in the Burial
Service, "In the midst of life we are in death." I have observed that Mr.
Palmer, in his _Origines Liturgicae_, refers for a parallel passage to
ancient liturgies, but, if I mistake not, to none but those used in
England. The passage is very scriptural: but I do not believe it exists in
the Bible.

J. G. T.

"_They shot him on the nine-stane rig._"--Where is the ballad beginning
with the words--

"They shot him on the nine-stane rig,
Beside the headless cross."

to be found? Who is the author?

BORDERER.

_Wardhouse, and Fishermen's Custom there._--In a