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THE SHONKS EPITAPH, BRENT PELHAM. — I should be grateful for information regarding the epitaph on O. Piers Shonks in Brent Pelham Church, Hertfordshire. The tomb of this worthy lies in a recess cut into the north wall of the church and bears the following inscription in Latin (I quote from memory):—

Tantum fama manet Cadmi Sanctique Georgi Postuma; tempus edax ossa sepulchra vorat.

Hoc tamen in muro tutus qui perdidit anguem Invito positus Daemone Shonkus erat.

There is also a neat rhyming translation in English which I cannot recall.

Who was Shonks? What is the point in the reference to Cadmus and St. George (in itself a curious conjunction of names)? What is the significance of ‘who destroyed the snake’ (the Devil?) as applied to Shonks? What is the point of ‘invito Daemone’?

I understand that a field in the village still bears the name ‘Shonks’ field.’

D. C. THOMPSON.

Notes and Queries, 1932