[Moore, in his edition of Byron's _Works_, has the following note on this passage:--"Lord Byron alludes to a ridiculous custom which formerly prevailed at the public-houses in Highgate, of administering a burlesque oath to all travellers of the middling rank who stopped there. The party was sworn on a pair of horns, fastened, 'never to kiss the maid when he could kiss the mistress; never to eat brown bread when he could get white; never to drink small beer when he could get strong;' with many other injunctions of the like kind, to all which was added the saving clause, 'unless you like it best.'" Our correspondent, W. S. GIBSON, Esq., in his _Prize Essay on the History and Antiquities of Highgate_, has preserved some curious notices of this burlesque oath. He says, "All attempts to trace the once prevalent, but now obsolete, custom of 'swearing at Highgate' to any really probable source have proved unavailing, and the custom has fallen into disuse. The early identity of the site of the present hamlet with the ancient forest, and the vicinity of Highgate to a park or chase, naturally suggests the possible connexion of these trophies with huntsmen and their horns; and it is not difficult to perceive that the spoils and emblems of the chase, and the hunter's joyous horn, may in time have acquired the character of household gods, and at length, become like the sword of the warrior, a sacred emblem upon which vows were taken, and the most binding engagements made. It is, however, less difficult to imagine the reality of such an origin, than to account for the strange degeneracy exhibited in the modern aspect of the custom. 'Swearing on the horns' was an observance at all events more than a century old; for a song which embodied a close paraphrase of the oath, according to the best authorised version yet extant, was introduced in a London pantomime at the Haymarket Theatre in the year 1742."] Minor Queries. 42. _Proverb of James I._--In the _Miscellaneous State Papers_ (published 1778), vol. i. p. 462., we find Steenie (the Duke of Buckingham) writing to his royal master as follows:-- "Give my leave here to use your own proverb,--_For this the devil cone me no thanks._" At the risk of being thought very dull, I ask, what is _cone_, and what is the meaning of the proverb? James was no _ignoramus_, after all. VARRO. 43. _Mrs. Hutchinson._--What became of the celebrated Lucy Hutchinson, who wrote the memoirs of her husband--where did she die? and from whence is all the information that can be got about her, subsequently to her autobiography, to be obtained? M. 44. _Amadis de Gaule, Early Translation of._--I have lately purchased a black-letter volume, dated 1595. The first part has no title, but the second is called,--