ect."

ECHO.

_Holland Land_ (Vol. ii., pp. 267. 345.; Vol. iii., pp. 30. 70.).--Were not
the Lincolnshire estates of Count Bentinck, a Dutch nobleman who came over
with William III., and the ancestor of the late Lord George Bentinck, M.P.
for Lynn Regis, denominated _Little Holland_, which he increased by
reclaiming large portions in the Dutch manner from the Wash?

E. S. TAYLOR.

_Passage in the Tempest_ (Vol. ii., p. 259, &c.).--I do not profess to
offer an opinion as to the right reading; but with reference to the
suggestion of A. E. B. (p. 338.) that it means--

"Most busy when least I do it,"

or--

"Most busy when least employed,"

allow me to refer you to the splendid passage in the _De Officiis_, lib.
iii. cap. i., where Cicero expresses the same idea:--

"Pub. Scipionem,... eum, qui primus Africanus appellatus sit, dicere
solitum scripsit Cato,... _Nunquam se minus otiosum esse, quam cum
otiosus_; nec minus solum, quam cum solus esset. Magnifica vero vox, et
magno viro, ac sapiente digna; quae declarat, illum et in otio de
negotiis cogitare, et in solitudine secum loqui solitum: ut neque
cessaret unquam, et interdum colloquio alterius non egeret."

ACHE.

_Damasked Linen_ (Vol. iii., p. 13.).--I believe it has always been
customary to damask the linen used by our royal family with appropriate
devices. I have seen a cloth of Queen Anne's, with the "A. R." in double
cypher, surrounded by buds and flowers; and have myself a cloth with a view
of London, and inscribed "Der Konig Georg II.," which was purchased at
Brentford, no doubt having come from Kew adjoining.

H. W. D.

_Straw Necklaces_ (Vol. ii., p. 511.).--Having only lately read the "NOTES
AND QUERIES" (in fact, this being the first number subscribed for), I do
not know the previous allusion. It makes me mention a curious custom at
Carlisle, of the {230} servants who wish to be hired going into the
marketplace of Carlisle, or as they call it "Carel," with a straw in their
mouths. It is fast passing away, and _now_, instead of keeping the straw
constantly in the mouth, they merely put it in a few seconds if they see
any one looking at them. Anderson, in his _Cumberland Ballads_, alludes to
the custom:--

"At Carel I stuid wi' a strae i' my mouth,
The weyves com roun me in clusters:
'What weage dus te ax, canny lad?' says yen."

H. W. D.

_Library of the Church of Westminster_ (Vol. iii., p. 152.).--The sta