_Pillgarlick_ (Vol. iii., p. 74.).--That _to pill_ is merely another form of the word _to peel_, appears from the book of Genesis, c. xxx., v. 37, 38: "And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree: and _pilled_ white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had _pilled_ before the flocks," &c. On first seeing your correspondent's Query, it occurred to me that perhaps "poor Pillgarlick" was in some way akin to "Pillicock," of whom Edgar, in _King Lear_, records that "Pillicock sat on Pillicock's hill;" but the connexion between these two worthies, if any, I confess myself quite unable to trace. I conceive that Pillgarlick means "peeler of garlick," _i.e._ scullion; or, to borrow a phrase from a witness in a late case at the Middlesex sessions, {151} which has attracted some attention, "a person in a low way of life." The passage from Skelton, cited by your correspondent F. S. Q., may, I think, be explained thus: the will is so powerful in man's moral constitution, that the reason must content itself with an inferior place (as that of a scullion compared with that of the master of the house); or if it attempts to assert its proper place, it will find it a hopeless endeavour--as hopeless as that of "rosting a stone." X. Z. _Hornbooks_ (Vol. ii., pp. 167. 236.).--In answer to MR. TIMBS, I send you the following particulars of a _Hornbook_ in the British Museum, which I have this morning examined. It is marked in the new catalogue (Press Mark 828, a. 55.). It contains on one side the "Old English Alphabet"--the capitals in two lines, the small letters in one. The fourth line contains the vowels twice repeated (perhaps to _doubly_ impress upon the pupil the necessity of learning them). Next follow, in two columns, our ancient companions, "ab, eb, ib," &c., and "ba, be, bi," &c. After the formula of exorcism comes the "Lord's Prayer" (which is given somewhat differently to our present version), winding up with "i. ii. iii. iiii. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x." On the other side is the following whimsical piece of composition:-- _"What more could be wished for, even by a literary gourmand under the Tudors, than to be able to Read and Spell; To repeat that holy charm before which fled all unholy Ghosts, Goblins, or even the old Gentleman himself to the very bottom of the Red Sea, and to say that immortal prayer, which secures heaven to all who _ex animo_ use it, and those mathematical powers, by knowing units, from which spring countless myriads."_ Now for my "Query." Can any of your correspondents oblige me with the probable date of this _literally_ literary treasure, or refer me to any source of information on the subject? KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE.