posed to the
weather and have no other place to sit upon but a moor-stone bench,
and no refreshments but what they bring with them; for this reason the
steward immediately adjourns the court to Tavistock, or some other
stannary town.

HALBERT H.

* * * * *

DOWRUCK.

In different parts of the North of England it is customary for the
labouring men to come before their masters at the close of their
_dowruck_ (day's work,) and inform him of their labours; the number of
hours their work took them are cut in notches upon an ash stick, and
at the end of the week when the men are paid, the stick is produced,
which immediately shows what each man is entitled to.

W.H.H.

* * * * *

FAITOUR LANE,

Or as it is now called, Fetter Lane, is a term used by Chaucer, for an
idle fellow. The propriety of its denomination is indisputable.

W.H.H.

* * * * *

ROBIN HOOD.

At Brough Sowerby, in Westmoreland, is an ale-house bearing the sign
of Robin Hood, with the following lines beneath it:--

"Good frinds, good frinds, my ale is good.
It is the sign of Robin Hood,
If Robin Hood be not at hoame,
Step in and drink with Littel Johne."

W.H.H.

* * * * *

JACK OF HILTON, THE BRAZEN IMAGE, ALIAS AN AEOLIPILE.

(_For The Mirror_.)

Dr. Plot, in his _History of Staffordshire_, says, "The following
service is due from the Lord of Essington, in Staffordshire, to the
Lord of Hilton, about a mile distant, viz. that the Lord of the Manor
of Essington, shall bring a goose every New year's day, and drive it
round the fire in the hall at Hilton, at least three times, whilst
_Jack of Hilton_ is blowing the fire. Now Jack of Hilton is a little
hollow image of brass, of about twelve inches high, kneeling upon his
left knee, and holding his right hand upon his head, having a little
hole in the place of the mouth, about the bigness of a great pin's
head, and another in the back about two-thirds of an inch diameter, at
which last hole it is filled with water, it holding about four pints
and a quarter, which when set to a strong fire, evaporates after the
same manner as in an _Aeolipile_, and vents itself at the smaller hole
at the mouth in a constant blast, blowing the fire so strongly that it
is very audible, and makes a sensible impression on that part of the
fire where the blast l