We learn from the same writer, that it was formerly the practice at Queen’s College to give a needle and thread to the Fellows, being a rebus on their founder’s name, Eglesfield, _aiguille_ in French signifying a needle, and _fil_ a thread (p. 38). STAFFORDSHIRE. A grotesque manorial custom is described as being kept up in the reign of Charles II., in connection with Hilton. There existed in that house a hollow brass image, about a foot high, representing a man kneeling in an indecorous position. It was known all over the country as Jack of Hilton. There were two apertures; one very small at the mouth, another about two-thirds of an inch in diameter at the back, and the interior would hold rather more than four pints of water, which, says Plot (_History of Staffordshire_, 1686, p. 433), ‘when set to a strong fire, evaporates in the same manner as in an Æolopile, and vents itself at the mouth in a constant blast, blowing the fire so strongly that it is very audible, and makes a sensible impression in that part of the fire where the blast lights.’ The custom was this. An obligation lay upon the lord of the adjacent manor of Essington, every New Year’s Day, to bring a goose to Hilton, and drive it three times round the hall-fire, which Jack of Hilton was all the time blowing by the discharge of his steam. He was then to carry the bird into the kitchen and deliver it to the cook; and when it was dressed he was to carry it in a dish to the table of his lord paramount, the lord of Hilton, receiving in return a dish of meat for his own mess. An annual payment, called Moseley’s Dole, was formerly made by the corporation, consisting of a penny a piece to all the inhabitants of Walsall, and of the adjoining parish of Rushall, which is supposed to have anciently formed part of that of Walsall. Three persons were employed to make the distribution, who began on New Year’s Day, and went through the parishes, giving a penny to each inmate of every house, whether permanently or accidentally abiding there. It is stated by Plot (_History of Staffordshire_), that the earliest mention of this dole is in the 36th Henry VIII., when 7_l._ 10_s._ 9_d._ discharged it. The first trace of it, however, that is found in the documents of the corporation is in 1632, when its amount was 14_l._ 9_s._ 4_d._ The amount increased gradually till 1799, when it was 60_l._, and until the time of its cessation in 1825, it remained yearly about the same.