Borough doe at the prop costs and charges of the Mayor and Burgesses of the same Borough appear for all the persons soe subpoenaed by the said Nicholas Trist & doe all things requisite and convenient in defending them from the said suit & that the said John Amyatt be paid and satisfied all his costs and charges in and about the same by us the said Mayor & Burgesses. Roger Berryman Edward Langworthy Mayor Richard Cole Danll. Sowden Joseph Fox Jno. Amyatt." What the result of Mr. Trist's proceedings was does not appear; but in 1713 the matter comes up again, and is recorded in the Court Book. "Borough At the Court of Daniel Sowden Esq. Mayor of the sd Borough held at the Counsell Chamber there the xvith day of January Anno DomR 1713. of Totnes. Whereas Nicholas Trist of Bowdon Esq. hath now comenced his action on the case agst Mr. William Payne & Mr. Walter fford for a p❜tended disturbance of the sd Nicholas Trist in the North Isle of the parish Church of Totnes aforesd And Whereas the said disturbance if any such was done by them as Officers of this Borough & in vindicason of the Rights & priviledges of this Borough & by the pticular Direccon of the Mayor & Masters It is therefore ordered by us the Mayor & Masters of this Borough whose names are subscribed that the said Mr. Wm Payne & Walter Ford be defended from the sd accons by & at the costs & Charges of this Borough & That Mr. John Amyatt & Mr. Wm Cornish be desired to appear for them the sd Mr. Payne and Mr. fford & that the sd Mr. Amyatt & Mr. Cornish be paid & satisfied for their ffees & charges in & touching the premises out of the publick Stock or moneys belonging to the sd Mayor & Burgesses as witness our hands. Danll Sowden Mayor John Harlowin Robt Symons Roger Berryman The law's delays appear to have been as great in olden times as now, for it was not till 1714 that matters were settled, and then by an amicable arrangement. The follow ing entry in the Court Book gives the terms, which will show that Mr. Trist obtained the allotment of two seats in the aisle for himself and family, he renouncing all rights over the aisle as owner of Bowden. 66 Borough) At the Court of Daniel Sowden Esq. Mayor of the of said Borough held at the Counsell Chamber there the xiii day of July 1714. Totnes. Present Mr. Mayor Mr. Justice Cole Mr. Symons Mr. Fox Mr. Predam Mr. Berryman Mr. Clement and Mr. Amyatt. It is this day ordered & agreed by the majority of the Mayor & Masters this day present That for the appeasing of all differences and ending all disputes and preventing the like for the future between the Corporacon & Nicholas Trist Esq. (who being now p'sent in the Chamber agrees and consents to seale & execute to the Corporacon such Deed or Renunciation of all his right & p'tence wtsoever to the North Isle of the parish Church of Totnes aforesd & the seats in the same as Francis Drewe Esq. the Deputy Recorder of this Borough shall p'pare for that purpose) That on his the sd Nicholas Trists execution of the Deed or Renunciation afore'd the sd Corporacon shall & will allott & allow unto the sd Nicholas Trist the two seats on the South side of the sd North Isle for him and his Lady & children to sitt in under such limitations restrictions & condisons as in such Deed shall be contained. Three years later Mr. Trist was elected one of the Master Councillors. The entry is as follows in the Court Book: Borough At the Court of John Amyatt Esq. Mayor of the så Borough held in the Counsell Chamber the xxij day of Sept. Anno Dmi 1717. of Totnes. Present Mr. Mayor Mr. Justice Mr. Trist Mr. Buckley sen Mr. Fox Mr. Langworthy Mr. Clement Mr. Cole Mr. Sowden Mr. Buckley jun Mr. Payne Mr. Clarke. It is this day ordered by the majority of the Masters & Counsellors now assembled That Forasmuch as Nicholas Trist Esq. hath done the Corporacon the honour to accept of the office of one of the Masters & Counsellors of this Borough That the sd Nicholas Trist in respect of his quality Doe take place next to the Justice for the time being & be called in all Meetings and Assemblies of the Corporacon next after the Justice." The year following Mr. Trist was elected Mayor of Totnes. SECOND SUPPLEMENT TO PAPER ON EARTHQUAKES IN DEVONSHIRE FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS TO THE PRESENT TIME. BY EDWARD PARFITT. (Read at Plympton, July, 1887.) IN Mr. T. J. Northy's popular History of Exeter, page 27, is the following paragraph: "According to our authority [an old manuscript in the Bodleian Library], in the middle of a certain night, in the year 1080, a terrible and unaccustomed noise, with lightning and thunder, came suddenly with a motion of the earth, and caused great ruin of houses. The inhabitants were stricken with fear, for they thought it was a judgment of God come upon them." I am in some doubt as to this date, as Mr. Mallett, in his chronological list of Earthquakes, does not give one for this part of the world in the year above quoted; but he does give one for the year 1081-March 27th, first hour of the night. This shock was felt throughout all England, and was accompaned by subterranean noises. His authorities for this are Mathew Paris and Mathew of Westminster. In 1089 there was a severe earthquake felt all over England, recorded by Mr. Mallett,* and I am inclined to believe that this is the one mentioned by Mr. Northy, and that either the figure nine had lost its tail in the manuscript, or in the printing of the book, and so looks like an 0. As a further contribution to the chronicling of Earthquakes in Devonshire, I may mention that I have been favoured by one of our members, Mr. Standerwick, with his experience of the shock on Monday, the 25th June, 1883, as noted by him at the time. Mr. Standerwick's house is situated on the * Brit. Assoc. Report, 1852, p. 22. south side of Caistor Rock, Dartmoor, at an elevation of 1150 feet above sea-level. The shock was experienced by the household and by the farm-labourers near by. It occurred at 1:45 p.m. Mr. Standerwick says: "All in the house were terribly alarmed, and the dog barked furiously. There were two distinct shocks, and we thought there was an interval between each shock of about half a minute, the last being the most violent. Our walls shook, and the windows rattled. It was said to have lasted ten seconds, but to us it seemed much longer. The farm-labourers, whose cottages are not more than 250 yards away from our house, were at dinner at the time; they told me they ran out of doors frightened, and wondering what the noise and trembling could be. One of them suggested that it was the 'Chagford traction-engine coming,' and that was our first impression; but only for a moment; for we realised almost at the same time the dreadful feeling that it was an earthquake. We stood wondering for a moment what to do, whether to run out of the house or to remain. While thus hesitating what to do the noise and trembling subsided, leaving our house and ourselves uninjured. We felt a slight shock about eleven o'clock the night before, and could not imagine what it could be. My wife compared the noise to a heavily-laden waggon passing across our newtake; but it being Sunday night it could not be that at that time of night, for there is no road." Of the shock which was experienced in January, 1886, which seems to have been delivered in its greatest force near Dartmouth, and the waves of which extended over a considerable area, I have collected the following from the papers, and from friends resident on or near the spot. First I shall notice the collective evidence as it appeared in the Western Morning News of January 5th, 1886, entitled, "Earthquake shock in the South Hams." The writer says: "What was undoubtedly a shock of earthquake, and a rather severe one, passed over the district of the South Hams yesterday morning at about twenty minutes past ten o'clock. It was felt very generally all along the route between Dartmouth and Kings bridge, as well as at other places lying more inland. Just after leaving Dartmouth the driver of an omnibus, which runs daily to and from Kingsbridge, had a rather alarming experience as of an oscillation of the ground, which lasted some seconds, and on arriving at Stoke Fleming what he thought at the time must have been imagination was fully confirmed, persons standing about in alarmed groups. Mrs. Fox, who keeps a grocer's shop at Stoke Fleming, states that her house verily 'rocked.' In the Green Dragon' public-house, kept by Mr. Martin, the shock caused a quantity of plaster to fall from the ceiling. At Strete the oscillation was similarly felt. Mr. Wallace, postmaster of that village, asserted that he had just come from Eastdown, in the parish of Blackawton, where he had been in the course of his duties as lettercarrier, and the shock was very distinctly felt there and several miles inland. The phenomenon appears, however, to have been more severe at Torcross than any other part, the inhabitants being thrown into a great state of alarm. The occupants of the 'Fisherman's Arms,' which house stands on the beach, were so frightened that they one and all rushed out of the house, thinking, as they said, that the building was going to fall. "Mr. W. Vickery, of the 'Torcross Hotel,' gives several indications of the severity of the shock. In fact, it appears to have been felt by almost everyone in the village. At Stokenham, Chillington, and Frogmore there was a unanimous confirmation of the oscillation and shaking experienced in the other villages, but in a less degree. It reached even as far as Kingsbridge, where it was most distinctly felt. At all the places mentioned the report of the time of the shock being felt agree to two or three minutes. "A further confirmation has been given by persons who were on the road at the time, some walking, and others driving or riding, in some cases several miles apart." The correspondent of the Western Times gives a very meagre account of the phenomenon. He says: "About 10.30 yesterday morning [January 4th] a severe shock similar to that of an earthquake was felt at Dartmouth, preceded and followed by a rumbling noise, which lasted for a few seconds. It was felt in various parts of the town, especially in the centreLower Street, the Quay, and Drake Street. Nothing has yet transpired to account for the phenomenon." Mr. A. Brent writes to the Times, January 7th, p. 6, as follows: "SIR,-It may be worthy of notice, as showing the direction of the wave with reference to the earthquake in Devonshire on Monday morning last, that at Bromley, in Kent, about twenty minutes past ten a.m., I experienced a most unpleasant sensation as if the ground were moving from under me, which I felt convinced was caused by the shock of an earthquake." In a letter from Mr. T. Beedle, of Southwood, Tiverton, to the editor of the Tiverton Gazette, dated January 7th, 1886, this gentleman writes as follows: "SIR,-On my return home on the evening of Monday last, Mrs. Beedle told me she had heard that day, about 1.30 p.m., a |