Baldwin's Gardens.—A passage upon the east side of Gray's Inn Lane, leading into Leather Lane. Tom Brown dates some introductory verses, prefixed to Playford's Pleasant Musical Companion, 1698, "from Mr. Steward's, at the Hole-in-the-Wall, in Baldwin's Gardens." There is extant a single sheet with an engraved head, published by J. Applebee, 1707, and called,—

"The English and French Prophets mad, or bewitcht, at their assemblies in Baldwin's Gardens."

A Letter of Anthony Wood's, in the writer's collection, is thus addressed:—

"For John Aubrey, Esq. To be left at Mr. Caley's house, in Baldwin's Gardens, neare Gray's Inne Lane, London."

The White Hart, Bishopsgate Street.—A tavern said to be of very ancient date. In front of the present building, the writer of the present notice observed (in 1838) the date cut in stone, 1480.

The Nag's Head, Cheapside.—A view of this tavern is preserved in a print of the entry of Mary de Medici, when she paid a visit to her son-in-law and daughter, the unfortunate Charles I. and his queen.

St. Paul's Alley.—

"Whereas, the yearly meeting of the name of Adam hath of late, through the deficiency of the last stewards, been neglected, these are to give notice to all gentlemen, and others that are of that name, that, at William Adams', commonly called 'The Northern Alehouse,' in St. Paul's Alley, in St. Paul's Church Yard, there will be a weekly meeting, every Monday night, of our namesakes, between the hours of 6 and 8 of the clock in the evening, in order to choose stewards to revive our antient and annual feast."—Domestic Intelligence, 1681.

St. Paul's Churchyard.—

"In St. Paul's Church Yard were formerly many shops where music and musical instruments were sold, for which, at this time, no better reason can be given than that the service at that Cathedral drew together, twice a day, all the lovers of music in London; not to mention that the chairmen were wont to assemble there, where they were met by their friends and acquaintance."—Sir John Hawkins' History of Music, vol. v. p. 108.

The French Change, Soho.—A place so called in the reign of Queen Anne. Gough, in a MS. note, now before us, thought it stood on the site of the present bazaar.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

NOTES ON THE DODO

I have to thank "Mr. S.W. SINGER" (No. 22. p. 353.) for giving some interesting replies to my "Dodo Queries" (No. 17. p. 261.). I trust that Mr. S. will be induced to pursue the inquiry further, and especially to seek for some Portuguese account of the Mascarene Islands, prior to the Dutch expedition of 1598. I am now able to state that the supposed proof of the discovery of Bourbon by the Portuguese in 1545, on the authority of a stone pillar, the figure of which Leguat has copied from Du Qesne, who copied it from Flacourt, turns out to be inaccurate. On referring to Flacourt's Histoire de la Grande Isle Madagascar, 4to., Paris, 1658, p. 344, where the original figure of this monument is given, I find that the stone was not found in Bourbon at all, but in "l'Islet des Portugais," a small island at the mouth of the river Fanshere (see Flacourt, p. 32.), near the S.E. extremity of Madagascar. From this place Flacourt removed it to the neighbouring settlement of Fort Dauphin in 1653, and engraved the arms of France on the opposite side to those of Portugal. We are therefore still without any historical record of the first discovery of Bourbon and Mauritius, though, from the unanimous consent of later compilers, we may fairly presume that the Portuguese were the discoverers.

The references which Mr. Singer has given to two works which mention the Oiseau bleu of Bourbon, are very important, as the only other known authority for this extinct bird is the MS. Journal of Sieur D.B., which thus receives full confirmation. May I ask Mr. Singer whether either of these writers mentions the Solitaire as inhabiting Bourbon?

The "Oiseaux appelez Flamands" quoted by Mr. S., are merely Flamingos, and are devoid of interest as regards the present question.

The history of the Dodo's head at Copenhagen, referred to by Mr. Singer, is fully recorded in the Dodo and its Kindred, pp. 25. 33.

The name Dodo seems to have been first applied to the bird by Sir Thomas Herbert, in 1634, who adds, in his edition of 1638, "a Portuguese name it is, and has reference to her simpleness." Before that time the Dutch were in the habit of calling it Dodars, Dodaers, Toters, and Dronte. I had already made the same guesses at the etymology of these words as those which Mr. Singer has suggested, but not feeling fully satisfied with them, I put forth my Query VII. for the chance of obtaining some further elucidation.

Mr. Singer's reasonings on the improbability of Tradescant's specimen of the Dodo having been a fabrication are superfluous, seeing that the head and foot of this individual are, as is well known, still in existence, and form the subjects of six plates in the Dodo and its Kindred.

In regard to my Query IX. as to the local habitation of the family of Dronte, who bore a Dodo on their shield, it has been suggested to me by the Rev. Richard Hooper (who first drew my attention to this armorial bearing), that the family was probably foreign to Britain. It appears that there was a family named Dodo, in Friesland, a member of which (Augustin Dodo, deceased in 1501) was the first editor of St. Augustine's works. Mr. Hooper suggests that possibly this family may have subsequently adopted the Dodo as their arms, and that Randle Holme may, by a natural mistake, have changed the name of the family, in his Academy of Armory, from Dodo to the synonymous word Dronte. Can none of your genealogical readers clear up this point?

H.E. Strickland.

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