art xi. No. 98., and I observe, by referring to that volume,
that the compiler has the following note:--

"This MS. is entirely in the handwriting of Sir George Buck, Master of
the Revels in the reign of James I., as prepared by him for
publication. The initials G. B. correspond with those of his name, and
the handwriting is similar to a MS. Dedication of his poem to Lord
Chancellor Egerton, which is preserved at Bridgewater House."

The authorship of _The Famous History of St. George_, then, rests solely
upon the initials "G. B.," and the similarity of the handwriting to that of
{74} Sir George Buc. Now it must be remembered that the MS. dedication was
written in 1605, and the _history_ after 1660! Surely an interval of
_fifty-five_ years must have made some difference in the penmanship of the
worthy Master of the Revels. I think we must receive the _comparison_ of
handwritings with considerable caution; and, unless some of your readers
can produce "new evidence" in favour of one or other of the claimants, I
much fear that your reverend correspondent will have to exclaim with Master
Ford in the play,--

"_Buck._ I would I could wash myself of the _Buck_!"

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

I am not quite certain that I can satisfactorily answer Mr. Corser's query;
but at least I am able to show that _a_ Sir George Buck, seised in fee of
lands in Lincolnshire, did die in or about 1623. In the Report Office of
the Court of Chancery is a Report made to Lord Keeper Williams by Sir Wm.
Jones, who had been Lord Chief Justice in Ireland, dated the 10th Nov.
1623, respecting a suit referred to him by the Lord Keeper, in which
_Stephen Buck_ was plaintiff and _Robert Buck_ defendant. In this report is
contained a copy of the will of Sir George Buck, whom I supposed to be
_the_ Sir George Buck, the master of the Revels; and the will containing a
singular clause, disinheriting his brother Robert because he was alleged to
be a Jesuit, and it having been supposed that Sir George Buck died
intestate, I published an extract from it in my _Acta Cancellariae_
(Benning, 1847). On further examination of the whole of the document in
question, I find it distinctly stated, and of course that statement was
made on evidence adduced, that Sir George Buck was seised in fee of certain
lands and tenements in Boston and Skydbrooke, both of which places, I need
scarcely say, are in Lincolnshire. It is therefore, at least, not
improbable