_Door-head Inscriptions_ (Vol. vii., pp. 23. 190.)--In Watson's _History of
Halifax_ (1775, 4to., p. 257.), in describing the High Sunderland, an
ancient mansion near Halifax, formerly the residence of the Sunderlands, he
notices that "over the north door is written, _Ne subeat Glis serdus_, a
mistake for _surdus_; and over a door on the south side, _Ne entret amicus
hirudo_."
As some of your correspondents doubt as to the proper reading I have
thought it worth while to give this duplicate version. I recollect the
inscription well, having been sorely puzzled, when a schoolboy, in my
frequent walks to High Sunderland, to understand these two inscriptions. I
must not omit the inscription on the south front:
"Omnipotens faxet, stirps Sunderlandia sedes
Incolet has placide, et tueatur jura parentum,
Lite vacans, donec fluctus formica marinos
Ebibat et totum testudo perambulet orbem!"
The commentary of the worthy historian is edifying:
"The writer of these, or his son, alienated this very estate, which the
then owner so earnestly wished might continue in the family for ever!"