_Hall-close, Silverstone, Northamptonshire._--Adjoining the church-yard is a greensward field called "Hall-close," which is more likely to be the site of the mansion visited by the early kings of England, when hunting in Whittlebury Forest, than the one mentioned by Bridles in his History of the county. About 1798, whilst digging here, a fire-place containing ashes was discovered; also many large wrought freestones. The well, close by, still retains the name of Hall-well; and there are other things in the immediate vicinity which favour the supposition; but can an extract from an old MS., as a will, deed, indenture, &c., be supplied to confirm it? H. T. WAKE. Stepney. _Junius's Letters to Wilkes._--Where are the original letters addressed by Junius to Mr. Wilkes? The editor of the _Grenville Papers_ says, "It is uncertain in whose custody the letters now remain, many unsuccessful attempts having been _recently_ made to ascertain the place of their deposit." D. G. _The Reformer's Elm._--What was the origin of the name of "The Reformer's Elm?" Where and what was it? C. M. T. Oare. _How to take Paint off old Oak._--Can any of your correspondents inform me of some way to take paint off old oak? F. M. MIDDLETON. * * * * * Minor Queries with Answers. _Cadenus and Vanessa._--What author is referred to in the lines in Swift's "Cadenus and Vanessa,"-- "He proves as sure as GOD's in Gloster, That Moses was a grand impostor; That all his miracles were tricks," &c.? W. FRASER. Tor-Mohun. [These lines occur in the Dean's verses "On the Death of Dr. Swift," and refer to Thomas Woolston, the celebrated heterodox divine, who, as stated in a note quoted in Scott's edition, "for want of bread hath, in several treatises, in the most blasphemous manner, attempted to turn our Saviour's miracles in ridicule."] _Boom._--Is there an English verb active _to boom_, and what is the precise meaning of it? Sir Walter Scott uses the participle: "The bittern _booming_ from the sedgy shallow." _Lady of the Lake_, canto i. 31. VOGEL. [Richardson defines BOOM, v., applied as _bumble_ by Chaucer, and _bump_ by Dryden, to the noise of the bittern, and quotes from Cotton's _Night's Quatrains_,-- "Philomel chants it whilst it bleeds, The bittern _booms_ it in the reeds," &c.] "_A Letter to a Member of Parliament._"--Who was the author of _A Letter to a Member of Parliament_, occasioned by _A Letter to a Convocation Man_: W. Rogers, London, 1697? W. FRASER. Tor-Mohun. [Attributed to Mr. Wright, a gentleman of the Bar, who maintains the same opinions with Dr. Wake.] _Ancient Chessmen._--I should be glad to learn, through the medium of "N. & Q.," some particulars relative to the sixty-four chessmen and fourteen draughtsmen, made of walrus tusk, found in the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, and now in case 94. Mediaeval Collection of the British Museum?