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Title: Notes and Queries, Number 76, April 12, 1851 - A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, - Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Author: Various
Language: English
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{273}
NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES,
GENEALOGISTS, ETC.
* * * * *
"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.
* * * * *
No. 76.]
SATURDAY, APRIL 12. 1851.
[Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
NOTES:-- Page
Could Shakespeare have designated Cleopatra "Yond
ribald-rid Nag of Egypt?" by S. W. Singer 273
Browne's Britannia's Pastorals, by C. Forbes 274
Minor Notes:--"In the Sweat of thy Brow"--Anecdote
of Old Times--Foreign English--Britannicus
--Honeymoon--Fees at Westminster Abbey--Turning
the Tables 275
QUERIES:
Authors of the Rolliad--Pursuits of Literature, by Dawson
Turner 276
Account of a large ancient Wood-engraving 277
Minor Queries:--Viaggi di Enrico Wanton--Gloucester
Alarm--Where is Criston, co. Somerset?--
"There was a Maid of Westmoreland"--Anthony
Bridges--Barlaam and Josaphat--"Stick At Nothing"
--"Ejusdem Farinæ"--Batail--The Knights of Malta
--General Pardons--"Too wise to err" 277
REPLIES:--
Thomas May 279
Duchess of Buckingham 280
San Grail 281
The Frozen Horn 282
Bab at the Bowster 282
Oliver Cromwell and his Dealings with the Devil 282
Replies to Minor Queries:--Gig Hill--Epigram against
Burke--Engraved Portrait--Salgado's Slaughter-house
--Mathew's Mediterranean Passage--The Mitre and
the "Cloven Tongues"--Slums--"God's Acre"--
Wages in the last Century--Tradesmen's Signs--
Standfast's Cordial Comforts, &c.--St. Pancras--
Lines on Woman's Will--Scandal against Queen
Elizabeth--Coggeshall Job--Whale caught at Greenwich
before the Death of Cromwell--Fronte Capillatâ,
&c.--John Sanderson, or the Cushion-dance--George
Steevens and William Stevens--Tradescant--Origin
of Harlequins--"Predeceased" and "Designed"--
"Quadrijugis invectus equis," &c.--St. John's Bridge
Fair--Anticipations of Modern Ideas by Defoe--Lord
Howard of Effingham--Separation of the Sexes in
Church--Vox Populi Vox Dei--Mazer Wood--Traditions
from remote Periods through few Hands--
Latin Epigram on the Duchess of Eboli--"Harry
Parry, when will you marry?"--Visions of Hell--
"Laus tua non tua Fraus," &c.--Passage from Cymbeline
--Engraved Warming-pans--Symbolism of the
Fir-cone--Dr. Robert Thomlinson--Touching for
the Evil--Drax Free School, &c. 283
MISCELLANEOUS:--
Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 293
Books and Odd Volumes wanted 293
Notices to Correspondents 294
Advertisements 294
* * * * *
Notes.
COULD SHAKESPEARE HAVE DESIGNATED CLEOPATRA "YOND RIBALD-RID NAG OF EGYPT?"
To judge of this question fairly, it will be necessary to cite the passage
in which it occurs, as it stands in the folio, Act III. Sc. 8., somewhat at
large.
"_Eno._ Naught, naught, all naught! I can behold no longer;
Th' Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral,
With all their sixty, fly, and turn the rudder;
To see't, mine eyes are blasted.
_Enter_ SCARUS.
_Scar._ Gods and goddesses, all the whole synod of them!
_Eno._ What's the passion?
_Scar._ The greater cantle of the world is lost
With very ignorance; we have kiss'd away
Kingdoms and provinces.
_Eno._ How appears the fight?
_Scar._ On our side like the token'd pestilence,
Where death is sure. Yond _ribaudred Nagge_ of Egypt,
Whom leprosy o'ertake, i' the midst o' the fight
When vantage like a pair of twins appear'd,
Both as the same, or rather ours the elder,
The Breeze upon her, like a cow in June,
Hoists sail and flies.
_Eno._ That I beheld:
Mine eyes did sicken at the sight, and could not
Endure a further view.
_Scar._ She once being loof'd,
The noble ruin of her magick, Antony,
Claps on his sea-wing, and, like a doting mallard,
Leaving the fight in height, flies after her;
I never saw an action of such shame;
Experience, manhood, honour, ne'er before
Did violate so itself.
_Eno._ Alack, alack!"
The notes in the variorum edition begin by one from Johnson, in which he
says:
"The word is in the old edition _ribaudred_, which I do not understand,
but mention it in hopes that others may raise some happy conjecture."
Then Steevens, after having told us that a _ribald_ is a _lewd fellow_,
says:
"_Ribaudred_, the old reading, is I believe no more than a corruption.
Shakspeare, who is not always very nice about his versification, might
have written,
'Yon _ribald-rid_ nag of Egypt'--
_i.e._ Yon strumpet, who is common to every wanton fellow."
Malone approves Steevens's _ribald-rid_, but adds,
"By _ribald_, Scarus, I think, means the lewd Antony in particular, not
_every_ lewd fellow."
{274}
Tyrwhitt saw the necessity of reading _hag_ instead of _nag_, and says what
follows seems to prove it:
"She once being loof'd,
The noble ruin of her magick, Antony,
Claps on his sea-wing."
It is obvious that the poet would not have made Scarus speak of Antony as
the noble ruin of Cleopatra's magick, and of his manhood and honour, and in
the same breath designate him as a ribald. He would be much more likely to
apply the epithet _lewd hag_ to such an enchantress as Cleopatra, than that
of _ribald-rid nag_, which I feel convinced never entered the imagination
of the poet.
Imperfect acquaintance with our older language has been too frequently the
weak point of the commentators; and we see here our eminent lexicographer
confessing his ignorance of a word which the dictionaries of the poet's age
would have enabled him readily to explain. For although we have not the
participle _ribaudred_, which may be peculiar to the poet, in Baret's
_Alvearie_ we find "_Ribaudrie_, vilanie in actes or wordes, filthiness,
uncleanness"--"A _ribaudrous_ and filthie tongue, os obscoenum et
impudicum:" in Minsheu, _ribaudrie_ and _ribauldrie_, which is the
prevailing orthography of the word, and indicates its sound and derivation
from the French, rather than from the Italian _ribalderia_.
That _nagge_ is a misprint for _hagge_, will be evident from the
circumstance, that in the first folio we have a similar error in the _Merry
Wives of Windsor_, Act IV. Sc. 2., where instead of "you witch, you
_hagge_," it is misprinted "you witch, you _ragge_." It is observable that
_hagge_ is the form in which the word is most frequently found in the
folios, and it is the epithet the poet applies to a witch or enchantress.
I cannot, therefore, but consider the alteration of the text by Steevens as
one of the most violent and uncalled-for innovations of which he has been
guilty; and he himself seems to have had his misgivings, for his
observation that Shakspeare "is not always very nice about his
versification" was meant as an apology for marring its harmony by the
substitution of _ribald-rid_ for the poet's own _ribaudred_.
It is to me a matter of surprise that Mr. Collier and Mr. Knight, in their
laudable zeal for adherence as closely as possible to the old copies,
should not have perceived the injury done both to the sense and harmony of
the passage by this unwarrantable substitution.
S. W. SINGER.
* * * * *
BROWNE'S BRITANNIA'S PASTORALS.
I have lately been amusing myself by reading the small volume with this
title published in Clarke's _Cabinet Series_, 1845.
Among the many pleasing passages that I met with in its pages, _two_ in
particular struck me as being remarkable for their beauty; but I find that
neither of them is cited by either Ellis or Campbell. (See Ellis,
_Specimens of the Early English Poets_, 4th edition, corrected, 1811; and
the Campbell, _Specimens of the British Poets_, 1819.)
Indeed Campbell says of Browne:
"His poetry is not without beauty; but it is the beauty of mere
landscape and allegory, without the manners and passions that
constitute human interest."--Vol. iii. p. 323.
Qualified by some such expression as--_too often--generally--in almost
every instance_,--the last clause might have passed,--standing as it does,
it appears to me to give anything but a fair idea of the poetry of the
_Pastorals_. My two favourites are the "Description of Night"--
"Now great Hyperion left his golden throne," &c.,
(consisting of twenty-six lines)--book ii. song 1. (Clarke, p. 186.) and
the "Lament of the Little Shepherd for his friend Philocel"--
"With that the little shepherd left his task," &c.,
(forty-four lines)--book ii. song 4. (Clarke, p. 278.)
If you will allow me to quote a short extract from each passage, it may
enable the reader to see how far I am justified in protesting against
Campbell's criticism; and I will then try to support the pretensions of the
last, by showing that much of the very same imagery that it contains is to
be found in other writings of acknowledged merit:--
I. FROM THE "DESCRIPTION OF NIGHT."
"And as Night's chariot through the air was driven,
Clamour grew dumb, unheard was shepherd's song,
And silence girt the woods: no warbling tongue
Talk'd to the echo; satyrs broke their dance,
And all the upper world lay in a trance.
Only the curlëd streams soft chidings kept,
And little gales that from the green leaf swept
Dry summer's dust, in fearful whisp'rings stirr'd,
As loath to waken any singing bird."
II. FROM THE "LAMENT OF THE LITTLE SHEPHERD."
"See! yonder hill where he was wont to sit,
A cloud doth keep the golden sun from it,
And for his seat, (as teaching us) hath made
A mourning covering with a scowling shade.
The dew in every flower, this morn, hath lain,
Longer than it was wont, this side the plain,
Belike they mean, since my best friend must die,
To shed their silver drops as he goes by.
Not all this day here, nor in coming hither,
Heard I the sweet birds tune their songs together,
Except one nightingale in yonder dell
Sigh'd a sad elegy for Philocel.
Near whom a wood-dove kept no small ado,
To bid me, in her language, '_Do so too_'--
The wether's bell, that leads our flock around,
Yields, as methinks, this day a deader sound.
{275}
The little sparrows which in hedges creep,
Ere I was up did seem to bid me weep.
If these do so, can I have feeling less,
That am more apt to take and to express?
No--let my own tunes be the mandrake's groan,
If now they tend to mirth when all have none."
Both these passages may have been quoted by some of Campbell's
predecessors. This might justify him in not repeating them, but _not_ in
writing the criticism to which I have ventured to object. His work holds a
high rank in English literature--it is taken as a text-book by _the
generality of readers_; for which reasons I think that every dictum it lays
down ought to be examined with more than usual care and attention.
Compare with different parts of the "Lament:"
"And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves,
Dewy with nature's tear drops, as they pass,
Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves,
Over the unreturning brave,--alas!
Ere evening to be trodden like the grass," &c.--_Childe Harold_, Canto
iii. St. 27.
"The morning of the day on which the farmer was to be buried, was
rendered remarkable by the uncommon denseness of an autumnal fog. To
Mrs. Mason's eye, it threw a gloom over the face of nature; nor, when
it gradually yielded to the influence of the sun, and slowly retiring
from the valley, hung, as if rolled into masses, mid-way upon the
mountains, did the changes thus produced excite any admiration. Still,
wherever she looked, all seemed to wear the aspect of sadness. As she
passed from Morrison's to the house of mourning, the shocks of yellow
corn, spangled with dewdrops, appeared to her to stand as mementos of
the vanity of human hopes, and the inutility of human labours. The
cattle, as they went forth to pasture, lowing as they went, seemed as
if lamenting that the hand which fed them was at rest; and even the
Robin-red-breast, whose cheerful notes she had so often listened to
with pleasure, now seemed to send forth a song of sorrow, expressive of
dejection and woe."--Miss Hamilton's _Cottagers of Glenburnie_, chap.
xii.
C. FORBES.
Temple.
* * * * *
Minor Notes.
"_In the Sweat of thy Brow_" (Vol. ii., p. 374.).--To the scriptural
misquotation referred to, you may add another:
"In the sweat of thy _brow_ shalt thou eat bread."
The true text reads,--
"In the sweat of thy _face_ shalt thou eat bread."--Gen. iii. 19.
The misquotation is so common, that a reference to a concordance is
necessary for proving to many persons that it is not a scripture phrase.
J. GALLATLY.
[In the Wickliffite Bible lately published by the University of Oxford,
the words are, "swoot of thi cheer _or face_," and in some MSS. "cheer
_ether bodi_."]
_Anecdotes of Old Times_ (Vol. iii., p. 143.).--A friend of mine has
furnished me with the following particulars, which may, perhaps, be
interesting to A. A.
When the aunt of my friend married and began housekeeping, there were only
two tea-kettles besides her own in the town of Knighton, Radnorshire. The
clergyman of the parish forbad the use of tea in his family; but his sister
kept a small tea service in the drawer of the table by which she sat at
work in the afternoon, and secretly made herself a cup of tea at four
o'clock, gently closing the drawer if she heard her brother approach. This
clergyman's daughter died, at an advanced age, in 1850.
My friend's mother (who was born a year or two before the battle of
Culloden), having occasion to visit London while living at Ludlow, went by
the waggon, at that time the only public conveyance on that road. A friend
of her's wished to place her daughter at a school in Worcester, and as she
kept no carriage, and was unable to ride on horseback, then the usual mode
of travelling, she _walked_ from her residence in Knighton to Ludlow, and
thence to Worcester, accompanied by her daughter, who rode at a gentle pace
beside her.
WEDSECNARF.
_Foreign English._--The following handbill is a specimen of German English,
and is stuck up among other notices in the inn at Rastadt:
"ADVICE OF AN HOTEL.
"The underwritten has the honour of informing the public that he has
made the acquisition of the hotel to the Savage, well situated in the
middle of this city. He shall endeavour to do all duties which
gentlemen travellers can justly expect; and invites them to please to
convince themselves of it by their kind lodgings at his house.
BASIL JR. SINGISEM.
Before the tenant of the Hotel to the Stork in this city."
BLOWEN.
_Britannicus._--I gather the following anecdote from the chapter "Paper
Wars of the Civil Wars" in Disraeli's _Quarrels of Authors_. Sir John
(Birkenhead) is the representative of the _Mercurius Aulicus_, the Court
Gazette; Needham, of a Parliamentary _Diurnal_.
"Sir John never condescends formally to reply to Needham, for which he
gives this singular reason: 'As for this libeller, we are still
resolved to take no notice, till we find him able to spell his own
name, which to this hour BRITANNICUS never did.' In the next number of
Needham, who had always written it _Brittanicus_, the correction was
silently adopted."
A similar error occurs on the shilling and six-penny pieces of George III.,
circa 1817 (those {276} most frequently met with in the present
circulation), whilst the cotemporary crowns and half-crowns have the
correct orthography.
R. W. C.
_Honeymoon._--Among my memoranda I find that, on January 31, 1845, an
accomplished Welsh lady said to me, that the common expression "Honeymoon"
was "probably derived from the old practice in Wales of drinking
_methèglin_ for thirty days after the marriage of a bride and bridegroom. A
_methèglin_ jollification for thirty days among the relatives and friends
of the newly married pair." The _methèglin_ is a fermented liquor, of some
potency, made from honey. The lady asked me, at the same time, if _honey_
was used by the ancient Greeks or Romans in the preparation of a fermented
liquor. I said that I recollected no such use of honey among them, but that
the ancient Greeks seemed to have brewed a _beer_ of some kind from barley
or other grain, as allusion was made to it by Aristophanes. Perhaps this
notice of the "honeymoon" may draw forth some information from your
correspondents who are learned in "folk lore." In the Old Testament there
are many passages alluding to the use of honey, but none of them appear to
indicate its having been employed in making a fermented beverage. Lucretius
alludes to the practice of enticing children to swallow disagreeable
medicine by anointing the edge of the cup with honey.
G. F. G.
Edinburgh.
_Fees at Westminster Abbey._--The custom of taking fees at Westminster
Abbey is of very ancient date, and was always unpopular. Shirley alludes to
it in his pleasant comedy called _The Bird in a Cage_, when Bonomico, a
mountebank, observes--
"I talk as glib,
Methinks, as he that _farms the monuments_."
The dean and chapter, however, in those days were more moderate in their
demands, for the price of admission was but one penny to the whole.
"This grant was made to the chapter in 1597, on condition that,
receiving the benefit of the exhibition of the monuments, they should
keep the same monuments always clean," &c.--See _Reply from the Dean
and Chapter to an Order of the House of Commons_, 1827.
BLOWEN.
_Turning the Tables._--In Bingley's _Useful Knowledge_, under the head of
MAPLE, I chanced to hit upon the following the other day:
"By the Romans maple wood, when knotted and veined, was highly prized
for furniture. When boards large enough for constructing tables were
found, the extravagance of purchasers was incredible: to such an extent
was it carried, that when a Roman accused his wife of expending his
money on pearls, jewels, or similar costly trifles, she used to retort,
and turn the tables on her husband. Hence our expression of 'turning
the tables.'"
Can any of your kind contributors supply a better derivation?
[Omega]. [Phi].
* * * * *
Queries.
AUTHORS OF THE ROLLIAD--PURSUITS OF LITERATURE.
I cannot doubt but that many of your readers feel with me under great
obligations to your very able and obliging correspondents, LORD BRAYBROOKE
and MR. MARKLAND, for the information afforded us upon the subject of the
writers of the Rolliad. And, though not many of them are, probably,
sufficiently old to remember as I do--if not the actual publication of that
work, yet, at least, the excitement produced by its appearance--I apprehend
that the greater number are aware that it really did produce a great
sensation; and that, as with the _Letters of Junius_ before it, and the
_Pursuits of Literature_ subsequently, public curiosity for a long time
busied itself in every direction to detect the able and daring authors.
With this impression, I have been not a little surprised to find, since the
notice of the work in your pages, that I have failed in tracing any account
of it in the two books to which I naturally turned, the _Gentleman's
Magazine_ and Nichols' _Literary Anecdotes_. Very thankful therefore should
I be if any of our correspondents would direct my inquiries to a better
channel, and particularly if they would guide me to information respecting
the authors,--for here I am completely at fault. I allude more especially
to Richardson, Tickell, and General Fitzpatrick; who, I doubt not, were men
of such notoriety and standing in their day, that "not to know them, argues
myself unknown." And yet, humiliating as is this acknowledgment, it is far
better to make it than to remain in ignorance; for the case can surely not
be one "where ignorance is bliss," and where, consequently, "'tis folly to
be wise."
I need hardly beg it to be understood, that, in grouping together the
_Rolliad_, the _Pursuits of Literature_, and _Junius' Letters_, I by no
means intended to place them upon an equality; and here I may inform your
correspondent S. T. D. (what a pity that you do not require every one to
give his name at length!) that the fact of Mr. Matthias being the author of
the second of these works was scarcely made a secret by his family after he
went to Italy. Indeed, for some time previously, it was well known to
myself from what passed at this house, where he was a frequent visitor, and
where I should at any time be happy to give S. T. D. ocular demonstration
of it, by the production of the letters addressed to the {277} "Anonymous
Author of the _Pursuits of Literature_," accompanied in some cases with his
own answers.
DAWSON TURNER.
Yarmouth, April 1. 1851.
* * * * *
ACCOUNT OF A LARGE ANCIENT WOOD-ENGRAVING.
Perhaps some of your readers may be able to give me information regarding a
large and very elaborate woodcut, which has been many years in my
possession, and obviously has been used as the fly-leaf of some folio
volume, though, of course not originally intended for such a purpose. It is
so complicated, that I fear I shall have some difficulty in explaining it,
and my explanation may require more space than you may be willing to afford
me. You can, however, insert my Query at any time when you have room to
spare.
The size of the engraving, is 16 inches by 13, and it is divided into two
large oblong circles, and a centre; a story being carried on, clearly
allegorically, from the outer circle to the second, and from the second to
the centre. I will speak of each, beginning with the outer, which is
entered by a portico, consisting of two columns and a round arch; on the
base of one of the columns is a monogran of the artist or of the engraver,
formed of the letters R. D. Under the arch is seated a lady richly attired,
who holds a large cup and cover in her left hand, and around her are
fourteen naked children, to one of which she seems tendering the chalice;
while a bearded old man, with a scroll, is directing attention to what is
going on in the outer circle. Passing under this portico we see,
immediately behind it, six ladies, three religious and three secular; while
to the right of the three secular ladies is a naked, winged female figure,
with her foot on a sphere, a large goblet in her right hand, and some
objects that look like fetters in her left hand. To the right of this
figure are many others of both sexes, but nearer the spectator, some
tranquil and some in despair; while, within a sort of pavilion, we see a
young lady and an old gentleman banquetting, and in another compartment in
bed. Still farther to the right of the winged figure are persons who appear
to be escaping from torments, while a young man in rags is making his way
towards a person in a religious habit, who has a scourge in his hand;
behind these are two persons under a miserable thatched shed, while a lady
is pointing out to a young man what is to be observed in the second circle.
This division is entered by another gate consisting of two square
ornamental columns supporting a low gable, beneath which a lady, with a
cross on the cape of her dress, is receiving a young man. The persons in
this circle are very variously employed: on the right of the spectator are
rocks with one man climbing up them, and another fallen headlong: on the
left are five persons, male and female, engaged in singing and playing, and
near them two men performing military music on a drum and fife; to their
right are groups of philosophers and men of science with spheres,
astrolabes, books, compasses, &c., and one wearing a laurel crown with a
scroll in his hand, probably a poet.
We then come to the centre, or inner circle, which is entered by a wooden
gate of the simplest construction, and under it is a religious lady with a
young erect female on her right hand, and a supplicating male, in tattered
garments, on her left. Beyond these are six females, variously clad, some
with flowing hair, some in close caps, and others with _nebulæ_ round their
heads. A little to the right of these is a throned lady, with a crown of
peculiar construction on her head, and a sceptre in her hand, before whom
kneels a female figure, upon whose brows the throned lady is about to place
a coronet. Behind the throne is what appears to be a conventual building of
rather singular appearance, with round, square, and octagon towers, and
surrounded by a battlemented wall. Considerably to the right of the throned
lady is a figure clearly intended for some booted king wearing a crown and
a collar of esses: on one side of him is a severe looking dame, fully clad
and with flowing hair; and on the other a younger lady, also with flowing
hair, and with her bosom bare.
Such is the woodcut regarding which I request some intelligence from your
readers, as I have shown it to several persons, who I thought could
enlighten me, but who could afford me no satisfaction. I suspect, from the
costumes and the edificies, that it is German; and I ought to have
mentioned that each circle is separated from the others by a low stone wall
running all around, and that trees, hills, and fountains are not sparingly
introduced. In the whole, it includes nearly a hundred figures of men,
women, and children.
THE HERMIT OF HOLYPORT.
* * * * *
Minor Queries.
_Viaggi di Enrico Wanton._--A fiction, upon the same plan as _Gulliver's
Travels_, describing the visit of two Europeans to communities of monkeys
and cynocephali, and written by a Venetian named Zaccaria Seriman, was
printed at Venice in 1749, and again in 1764. A third citation, with the
title-page _Delli Viaggi de Enrico Wanton alle Terre Australi, nuova
Edizione_, was printed in London in 1772, "presso Tommaso Brewman
Stampatore in Wych Street, Temple Bar," in 4 vols. 8vo. This edition is
dedicated to George III. by "L'umilissimo e fedelissimo suddito, Enrico
Wanton." Can any of your correspondents explain how this work {278} (which
is of no great literary merit) came to be reprinted in England, and
dedicated to the king?
A notice of Seriman's life may be found in the _Biographie Universelle_.
L.
_Gloucester Alarm._--In the archives of Lyme Regis is this entry:
"_Town Accompt Book._
"1661. For the four soldiers and drummers for service on the Gloucester
alarm and candles, 10s. 0d."
What was the "Gloucester alarm?"
G. R.
_Where is Criston, County Somerset?_--Mr. Vaughan, a young man who was to
have joined the Duke of Monmouth, was of that house or place.
G. R.
"_There was a Maid of Westmoreland._"--"Some fifty summers past," I was in
the habit of hearing sung a simple ballad, which commenced--
"There was a maid of Westmoreland,
Who built her house upon the sand:"
and the conclusion of which was, that, however desolate and exposed a
situation that might be for her dwelling, it was better than in "the haunts
of men." This was said to have been written by the late Mr. Thomas
Sheridan. I never heard by whom the music to it, which was very pretty, was
composed; nor whether or not it was published.
Can any of your correspondents supply the words of this old ballad, and
state the name of the composer of the music to it? Also whether it was
published, and, if so, by whom?
E. H.
_Anthony Bridges._--In the Hampshire Visitation of 1622, Harl. MS. 1544.
fo. 25., appears the marriage of Barbara, second daughter of Sir Richard
Pexsall, of Beaurepaire, in co. Southampton, by Ellinor his wife, daughter
of William Pawlett, Marquis of Winchester, to "Anthony Bridges." That Sir
Richard Pexsall died in 1571, is the only clue I have to the date of the
match.
Query, Who was this Anthony Bridges, and did he leave issue?
Is it possible that this is the identical Anthony, third surviving son of
Sir John Bridges, first Baron Chandos of Sudeley, respecting whose fate
there is so much uncertainty? He is presumed to have married a daughter of
Fortescue of Essex, but the collateral evidence on which the supposition is
founded is too slight to be satisfactory. Little is known but that he was
born before 1532; that he was living in 1584 (in which year he was
presented to the living of Meysey Hampton in Gloucestershire, the county in
which he resided); and that he had a son Robert, upon a presumed descent
from whom the late Sir Egerton Brydges founded his well-known claim to the
barony of Chandos of Sudeley.
O. C.
_Barlaam and Josaphat_ (Vol. iii., p. 135.).--I was much interested in MR.
STEPHENS' remarks on the Rev. W. Adams's beautiful allegory, and would be
glad to know from him, or some other of your learned correspondents, _what
English translations there are_ of this "spiritual romance in Greek;" where
I may find an account or notice of the work, or get a copy of it.
JARLTZBERG.
"_Stick at Nothing._"--The expression "stop at nothing" occurs in the
following couplet in Dryden's _Aurengzebe_:
"The world is made for the bold impious man,
Who _stops at nothing_, seizes all he can."
And Pope, in one of his letters, has the expression "stick at nothing,"
where he says:
"The three chief qualifications of party-writers are, to _stick at
nothing_, to delight in flinging dirt, and to slander in the dark by
guess."
Can any of your correspondents explain the origin of the word "stick" in
the sense in which it is used by Pope; and how it came to supplant
altogether the more intelligible word "stop," as employed by Dryden?
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, January, 1851.
"_Ejusdem Farinæ._"--Your readers are acquainted with the expression
"ejusdem farinæ," and the derogatory sense in which it is employed to
describe things or characters of the same calibre. It was in common use
among clerical disputants after the Reformation; and Leland has it in the
following remarks respecting certain fabulous interpolations in the _Black
Book_ at Cambridge:
"Centum sunt ibi, præterea, ejusdem farinæ fabulæ."
I have no doubt, however, that the origin of the expression may be traced
to the scholastic doctors and casuists of the Middle Ages.
Will any of your correspondents be good enough to explain the circumstances
which gave rise to the adoption of "farina" as a term expressive of
baseness and disparagement?
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, January, 1851.
_Batail._--Favine, in his _Theatre of Honour_ (b. ii. c. 13), in speaking
of a bell at Menda, says of the clapper of a bell, that "it is a _Bataill_
in Armes." Was this word ever introduced into English heraldry? The only
instances of bells in English arms that I can discover in the books to
which I have access at present are in the coats of Bell, Porter, Osney, and
Richbell.
H. N. E.
_The Knights of Malta._--On the stone corbels which support the roof of one
of the aisles of a church in my neighbourhood, there are carved the
armorial badges of persons who are supposed to have contributed to the
building of the church, which was erected in the thirteenth century. On one
of the corbels (the nearest to the altar, and therefore in the most
honourable place) there is a lamb bearing a flag. The lamb has a nimbus
{279} round its head, and the staff of the flag terminates in a cross like
the head of a processional cross. The device, I have reason to think, was
the badge of the knights of the order of Saint John of Jerusalem, who had a
preceptory in this neighbourhood during the thirteenth century. In the
history of these knights, first of Jerusalem, then of Rhodes, and
afterwards of Malta, I find it stated, that in the year 1130 Pope Innocent
II. commanded that the standard of the knights (at that time settled at
Jerusalem) should be "gules, a full cross argent."
Will any of your correspondents be so kind as to inform me if the device on
the corbel was the badge of the knights of the order of St. John of
Jerusalem? and if so, at what time they first assumed it?
S. S. S.
_General Pardons._--Has any example of a general pardon under the great
seal been ever printed at length? particularly any of those granted after
the restoration of Charles II.?
J. G. N.
"_Too wise to err._"--You will oblige many of your readers if you will
inform them from whence the words
"Too wise to err, too good to be unkind,"
are quoted.
T. W. A.
* * * * *
Replies.
THOMAS MAY.
(Vol. iii., p. 167.)
Thomas May, famous amongst the busy characters of his age, both as a
politician and a poet, was the eldest son of Sir Thos. May, Knt., of
Mayfield, in Sussex, where he was born in 1595. At the usual period of
life, he was admitted a fellow-commoner of Sidney Sussex College,
Cambridge; and having taken the degree of B.A. he entered himself at Gray's
Inn, with the intention of studying the law, which, however, it is
uncertain whether he ever pursued as a profession. Whilst he was a student
of the law, he made the acquaintance of Edward Hyde, afterwards Earl of
Clarendon; and became the intimate associate of Ben Jonson, Selden, Cotton,
Sir K. Digby, Thos. Carew[1], "and some others of eminent faculties in
their several ways."
"His parts of nature and art," writes Clarendon[2], in describing his
character, "were very good, as appears by his translation of Lucan
(none of the easiest work of that kind), and more by his Supplement to
Lucan, which being entirely his own, for the learning, the wit, and the
language, may be well looked upon as one of the best epic poems in the
English language."
As an elegant writer, indeed, of Latin verse, he is justly numbered amongst
the most successful of the accomplished poets of our nation--Ben Jonson,
Cowley, Milton, Marvell, Crashaw, Addison, Gray, Smart, T. Warton, Sir W.
Jones, &c.--who have devoted their leisure to this species of composition.
Clarendon goes on to say that May was "born to a fortune, if his father had
not spent it; so that he had only an annuity left him, not proportionable
to a liberal education:"
"Yet since," continues this illustrious authority, "his fortune could
not raise his mind, he brought his mind down to his fortune, by a great
modesty and humility in his nature, which was not affected, but very
well became an imperfection in his speech, which was a great
mortification to him, and kept him from entering upon any discourse but
in the company of his very friends," of whom he had not a few, for "he
was cherished by many persons of honour, and very acceptable in all
places."
From Charles I., no mean judge of poetry, and a liberal patron of the
Muses, May received much encouragement, and many substantial marks of
favour in the shape of donatives; and it was at the express command of this
monarch that he wrote his historical poem entitled _The Victorious Reigne
of Edward III._ From disgust, however, at the appointment of D'Avenant to
the Laureateship, on the death of Jonson in 1637,--a post to which,
according to what he considered to be his own superior deserts[3], he was
himself justly entitled,--"May fell from his duty, and all his former
friends," and became an active agent in promoting the designs of the
so-called popular leaders. Through the interest of Cromwell, he was
nominated Secretary to the Parliament, in which capacity he wrote a History
of its transactions, a work which was published in 1647. This performance,
which is highly commended by Granger, rendered its author extremely
obnoxious to the royal party, who exercised all their powers of pen to
disparage both the book and its compiler. He is represented by Clarendon,
for instance, "as prostituting himself to the vile office of celebrating
the infamous acts of those who were in rebellion against the king; which he
did so meanly, that he seemed to all men to have lost his wits, when he
left his honesty." Anthony à Wood's account[4] of these matters, and of May
himself, is that
"He was graciously countenanced by K. Charles I. and his royal consort;
but he, finding not that preferment from either which he expected, grew
discontented, sided with the Presbyterians, and, upon the {280} turn of
the times, became a debauchee _ad omnia_; entertained ill principles as
to religion, spoke often very slightly of the Trinity, kept beastly and
atheistical company, of whom Thos. Challoner, the regicide, was one,
and endeavoured to his power to asperse and invalidate the king and his
cause."
His acquaintance with Challoner is also alluded to by Aubrey who says[5],
"that his translation of Lucan's excellent poem, made him in love with the
republique." Aubrey adds, he was--
"A handsome man, debauched, and lodged in the little square by Cannon
Row, as you go through the alley."
Clarendon concludes his notice of May by observing that--
"Shortly after the publication of his parliamentary history he died,
miserable and neglected, and deserves to be forgotten."
The fact is, he was found dead in his bed in Nov. 1650; but that he was
"neglected" is not altogether correct. At any rate, he was honoured with a
public funeral, a marble monument, and a laudatory epitaph in Westminster
Abbey,--short-lived dignities! for, at the Restoration, the memorial of his
fame was torn down, whilst his body was exhumed, and, after being treated
with much ignominy, hurled into a large pit in St. Margaret's churchyard
adjoining.--Besides the works above noticed, May also wrote _The
Description of Henry II._, in verse, with _A Short Survey of the Changes of
his Reign_, and _The Single and Comparative Character of Henry and Richard
his Sons_, in prose. Nor was that of Lucan his only translation, for he
rendered into English verse _Virgil's Georgics_ and _Selected Epigrams of
Martial_. He was also the author of five dramas, two of which are given in
Dodsley's _Old Plays_. A now forgotten critic, Henry Headley, B.A., of
Norwich, observes concerning his historical poetics, that May--
"Has caught no small portion of the energy and declamatory spirit which
characterises the Roman poet, whom, as he translated, he insensibly
made his model. His battle pieces," our critic continues, "highly merit
being brought forward to notice; they possess the requisites, in a
remarkable degree, for interesting the feelings of an Englishman. While
in accuracy they vie with a gazette, they are managed with such
dexterity, as to busy the mind with unceasing agitation, with scenes
highly diversified and impassioned by striking character, minute
incident, and alarming situation."[6]
In confirmation of the general propriety and justness of these remarks, I
would refer to the description of "The Den of the Vices" (H. II. b. i.),
and to the accounts of "The Death of Rosamond" (H. II. b. v.), "The Battle
of Cressy" (E. III. b. iii.), and "The Capture of Mortimer" (E. III. b.
i.). These pieces can only be thus vindicated, being much too long for
extracting; but I think a republication of the entire poems would be an
acceptable boon to the public.
COWGILL.
[Footnote 1: _The Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon, &c._, Oxf. 1827.]
[Footnote 2: The same.]
[Footnote 3: Southey calls May "the very able competitor of D'Avenant," and
describes him as "a man so honourably known by his translation of Lucan,
and his Supplement to that poet, that it were to be wished he were
remembered for nothing else."--_Biog. Sketches._]
[Footnote 4: _Athenæ Oxon._ Bliss's edit.]
[Footnote 5: In MSS. Ashmol., as quoted in _Biog. Britann._, from which,
and Chalmer's _Biog. Dict._, the dates, and such of the facts above given,
not otherwise authenticated, are _principally_ derived.]
[Footnote 6: _Biographical Sketches,_ Lond., 12mo. 1787.]
Although May's version of Cato's soliloquy is immeasurably below Addison's,
I am inclined to agree with J. H. L., that, on comparing them, it is more
than probable, Addison had May's description of Cato's death in his mind at
the same time he penned the justly celebrated soliloquy in the 5th Act of
his _Cato_.
E. B. PRICE.
Cow Cross.
_Thomas May, the author of the Supplement to Lucan_ (Vol. iii., p. 167),
was the secretary and historian of the Long Parliament. He was born at
Mayfield in 1595; took the degree of B.A. at Sydney-Sussex College,
Cambridge, and afterwards entered Gray's Inn, but devoted himself to
literature. He translated Virgil's _Georgics_, Selected Epigrams of
Martial, and in 1627 Lucan's _Pharsalia_; to the latter, in 1630, he
supplied an English continuation of his own in seven books; intituled, _ A
Continuation of the Subject of Lucan's Historical Poem till the Death of
Julius Cæsar_. It was dedicated to Charles. He afterwards published at
Leyden a Latin translation of the seven additional books; this was added to
the Amsterdam and other editions of Lucan, and has established May's fame
as a classic scholar. Andrew Marvell, who saw only an apology for the
doings of the tyrannical parliament in the continuation of Lucan's poem,
calls May--
"Most servile wit, and mercenary pen,
Polydore, Lucan, Allan, Vandal, Goth.
Malignant poet and historian both.
Go seek the novice statesmen and obtrude
On them some Roman cast similitude."
He died suddenly in the night of 13th Nov., 1650, his death being
attributed by Marvell to a little too much indulgence in wine.
"As one pot drunk into the packet-boat,
Tom May was hurry'd hence, and did not know't."
W. DURRANT COOPER.
81. Guilford Street.
[We are also indebted to BALLIOLENSIS and other correspondents for
general replies to this Query; and to W. S. (Richmond) for a reference
to Baron Maseres' account of him prefixed to his edition of May's
_History of the Long Parliament._]
* * * * *
DUCHESS OF BUCKINGHAM.
(Vol iii., pp. 224, 249.)
P. C. S. S. believes that a reference to almost any Peerage or work on
British genealogy, would {281} have saved Mr. F. B. RELTON the trouble of
addressing the inquiry at Vol. iii., p. 224. Katherine Sedley, daughter of
Sir Charles Sedley, commemorated in Johnson's line--
"And Sedley cursed the form that pleased a king"--
was created Countess of Dorchester by James II., and subsequently married
David Collyer, first Earl of Pontmore in Scotland. She died in 1692, having
had by King James a natural daughter, to whom, by royal warrant, that
monarch gave the rank and precedence of a duke's daughter; she was styled
Lady Catherine Darnley, and married first, in October 1699, James, third
Earl of Anglesey, from whom, on account of alleged cruelty on his part, she
was separated by act of parliament in the following year. The earl died in
1701, and his widow married, secondly, in 1705, John Sheffield, first Duke
of Normanby and Buckingham. She died on the 13th of March, 1743, and was
interred with almost regal pomp in Westminster Abbey. By her _first_
husband (the Earl of Anglesey) she had an only daughter, the Lady Catherine
Annesley, married to Mr. William Phipps, father of the first Lord Mulgrave,
and, consequently, great-grandfather of the present Marquis of Normanby,
who on his recent elevation to that dignity, has, it appears, preferred to
take one of the ducal titles of a nobleman from whom he does _not_ descend,
and of whose blood there does not flow a single drop in his veins, to the
just assumption of the title of one from whom he _does_ descend, and whose
sole representative he undoubtedly is.
Of the Duchess of Buckingham's inordinate pride, there are some curious
stories in Walpole's Letters to Sir Horace Mann (_sub anno_ 1743). But
perhaps the most remarkable instance of it is to be found in a periodical
paper called the _British Champion_, which was published at that time, and
which is now not commonly to be met. In the No. for April 7, 1743, there is
the following anecdote:--
"I have been informed that a lady of high rank, finding her end
approaching, and feeling very uneasy apprehensions of this sort, came
at length to a resolution of sending for a clergyman, of whom she had
heard a very good character, in order to be satisfied as to some
doubts. The first question she asked was whether in heaven (for she
made no doubt of going thither) some respect would not be had to a
woman of such birth and breeding? The good man, for such he really was,
endeavoured to show her the weakness of this notion, and to convince
her that there was, where she was going, no acceptance of persons, and
much more to the same purpose. This the poor lady heard with much
attention, and then said with a sigh, 'Well, if it be so, this heaven
must be, after all, a strange sort of a place!'"
P. C. S. S. is unwilling to believe this painful story--the more so, as it
must be recollected that the author of the paper was an inveterate Whig,
and the Duchess (jure paterno) as inveterate a Jacobite.
P. C. S. S.
* * * * *
SAN GRAIL.
Sir Walter Scott, in his _Marmion_ (Introduction to Canto First), writes of
Sir Lancelot of the Lake, that--
"A sinful man and unconfessed,
He took the Sangreal's holy quest,
And slumbering saw the vision high
He might not view with waking eye."
In his note on this passage, he refers to the romance of the Morte Arthur,
and says:
"One day when Arthur was holding a high feast with his Knights of the
Round Table, the Sangreal, a vessel out of which the last Passover was
eaten (a precious relic, which had long remained concealed from human
eyes, because of the sins of the land), suddenly appeared to him and
all his chivalry. The consequence of this vision was that all the
knights took on them a solemn vow to seek the Sangreal."
The orthography of the word in the romance itself is _Sancgreall_, which
affords us a clue to what I believe to be its true etymology, _Sang réel_
(Sanguis realis), a name it derived from the tradition of its having been
employed, not only to hold the paschal lamb at the Last Supper, but also by
Joseph of Arimathea to catch the blood and water which flowed from the
wounds of our Blessed Lord.
Archdeacon Nares, in his _Glossary_, pp. 209. 445., enters largely into the
legendary history of the Sangreal, as well as the question of its
orthography. He takes some pains to refute the etymology given above, and
quotes Roquefort (_Dict. de la Langue Romane_) to prove that graal or
_greal_ signifies _a broad open dish_. Will any one who has the means of
consulting Roquefort inform us, whether he brings forward any instance of
the existence of such a word in this sense? or, if so employed, whether
such use may not have arisen from the ordinary erroneous orthography? It is
a question well worth investigation, which I hope may call some abler pens
than mine into exercise.
This holy relic, the object of so much fruitless search to Arthur and his
knights, is now safely deposited in the cathedral of Genoa, where all, holy
or unholy, may behold it, on making the accustomed offering to its
sanctity. Of old, it concealed itself from the eyes of all but those free
from mortal sin; but now, the ability to pay five francs puts one in
possession of every Christian virtue, and the _Sacro Catino_ (as it is
called) is exhibited on the payment of that sum. In addition to the
authorities quoted by Nares, I would refer to Sir F. Palgrave, in _Murray's
Handbook to Northern Italy_, 1st edition, p. 105.
SA. CA.
{282}
_The St. Graal_ (Vol. iii. p. 224.).--Your correspondent W. M. K. will find
the subject of "the Sangreal's holy quest" treated in the late Mr. Price's
elaborate preface to Warton's _History of English Poetry_ (ed. 1840), p.
53; also an account of the MS. at C. C. C., Cambridge, in the same work,
vol. i. p. 149.; and a reference to Walter Map's translation of the Latin
romance of St. Graal into French, vol. ii. p. 416. See also Sismondi, _Lit.
of the South of Europe_ (Bohn, 1846), vol. i. p. 197., and note.
H. G. T.
* * * * *
THE FROZEN HORN.
(Vol. ii., p. 262. Vol. iii., p. 25.)
Your correspondent J. M. G. quotes _Hudibras_, p. i. c. i. l. 147.:
"Where truth in person does appear,
Like words congeal'd in northern air."
Zachary Grey does _not_, in his note, refer to Mandeville, but he says:
"See an explication of this passage, and a merry account of words
freezing in Nova Zembla, _Tatler,_ No. 254.; and Rabelais' account of
the bloody fight of the Arimasphians and Nephelebites upon the confines
of the Frozen Sea (vol. iv. c. 56. p. 229., Ozell's edit. 1737). To
which Mr. John Done probably refers, in his panegyric upon T. Coryat,
and his Crudities:
'It's not that French which made his giants see,
Those uncouth islands, where words frozen be,
Till by the thaw next year they've voice again."
W. B. H.
Manchester.
J. M. G. quotes Sir John Mandeville for the story of the congealed words
falling like hail from the rigging of his ship in the Arctic regions. I do
not remember the passage, but there is one almost identical in Rabelais'
_Pantagruel_, lib. iv. ch. lv., headed--
"Comment en haulte mer Pantagruel ouït diverses parolles desgelées."
In the notes to Bohn's translation it is said:
"Rabelais has borrowed these from the _Courtisan_ of Balthasar de
Castillon, of which a French translation was printed in 1539, and from
the _Apologues_ of Cælius Caleagnnius of Ferrara, published in 1544."
W. J. BERNHARD SMITH.
Temple.
* * * * *
BAB AT THE BOWSTER.
(Vol. ii., p. 517.)
Your correspondent MAC is mistaken when he says that no words are used in
the Scottish dance of "Bab at the Bowster:" I have myself "babbed at the
Bowster" within the last few years. Upon that occasion the words sung by
the company while dancing round the individual bearing the "bowster" were--
"Wha learn'd you to dance,
You to dance, you to dance,
Wha learn'd you to dance
Bab at the bowster brawly?"
To which the "bowster-bearer" replies--
"My mither learned me to dance,
Me to dance, me to dance,
My mither learned me to dance
Bab at the bowster brawly."
After which, throwing down the "bowster" or cushion before one of the
opposite sex, they both kneel upon it, and kiss one another
_affectionately_.
I never heard any words save the above; but a friend from a neighbouring
county (Dumbartonshire) informs me, that with them it is sometimes changed
into
"Wha gi'ed you the keys to keep,
The keys to keep," &c.
There are also other variations which I believe I can procure, should they
be desired by MAC or others. I should perhaps mention, for the benefit of
Southrons, that almost all untravelled Scotchmen in conversation use the
verb _to learn_ in place of the verb _to teach_.
Y.
Glasgow.
The dance in Scotland called "Bab at the Bowster" is always the winding up
at "kirns" and other merrymakings, and is most likely similar to the
cushion-dance. The tune to which it is danced has words belonging to it.
The beginning lines are--
"There's braw yill,
Down at the mill,
Bab at the bowster," &c.
L. M. M. R.
* * * * *
OLIVER CROMWELL AND HIS DEALINGS WITH THE DEVIL.
(Vol. iii., p. 207.)
Among the papers of an old personal friend and correspondent of the
"Sylvanus Urban" of his day,--a clergyman of the good old school, who died
a quarter of a century ago, aged eighty-six, I find the inclosed. It may
possibly lead to the further elucidation of one of the Notes of B. B. It is
unfortunate that no date is attached to it, nor any intimation of its
history. Its owner was the intimate friend of Bennet, Bishop of Cloyne, of
Dr. Farmer, of Burgess, Bishop of St. David's (afterwards Salisbury), and
other eminent divines of his time.
With this MS. was inclosed another, in more modern writing; but, from the
orthography, copied from an older paper, headed "Private Amours of Oliver
Cromwell." It is very short, and also without date. It is at your service
if desired.
S. H. H.
{283}
A NARRATIVE CONCERNING CROMWELL'S DEALINGS WITH THE D----L
"On y^e 3d of Sept., in y^e morning, Cromwell took Colonel Lindsey, his
intimate friend, and first Capt. of his regiment, to a wood side not
far from y^e army, and bid him alight and follow him into that wood, &
take particular notice of what he saw & heard.
"After they had both alighted & secured their horses, & walked some
small way into the wood, Lindsey began to turn pale, & to be seiz'd
with horrour, from some unknown cause; upon wch Cromwell askt him how
he did, or how he felt himself. He answered, that he was in such a
trembling & consternation that he never felt y^e like in all y^e
conflicts and battles he had been engaged in: But wether it proceeded
from the gloomyness of y^e place, or y^e temperament of his body, he
knew not. 'How now?' said Cromwell. 'What! trowbled with vapours? Come
forward, man.' They had not gon above 20 yards before Lindsey on a
sudden stood still and cry'd out, by all that's good he was seized with
such unaccountable terrours & astonishment that it was impossible for
him to stir one step further. Upon which Cromwell call'd him
faint-hearted fool, & bid him stand there & observe or be witness: and
then advancing to some distance from him, he met with a grave elderly
man, with a roll of parchment in his hand, who deliver'd it to
Cromwell, who eagerly perused it. Lindsey, a little recover'd from his
fear, heard severall loud words betwixt them: particularly Cromwell
said, 'This is but for seven year. I was to have it for 21, and it must
and shall be so.' The other told him positively it could not be for
above seven; upon which Cromwell cry'd with a great fierceness, it shd
be, however, for 14 year; but the other person plorily declared it
could not possibly be for any longer time: and if he woud not take it
so, there was others that woud accept of it: Upon which Cromwell at
last took y^e parchment, and returning to Lindsey with great joy in his
countenance, he cry'd, 'Now, Lindsey, the battle's our own: I long to
be engag'd.' Returning out of the wood, they rode to y^e army. Cromwell
with a resolution to engage as soon as possible, & y^e other with a
design of leaving y^e army as soon. After y^e first charge Lindsey
deserted his post, and rode away with all possible speed, day and
night, till he came into y^e county of Norfolk, to y^e house of an
intimate friend, and minister of that parish: Cromwell, as soon as he
mist him, sent all ways after him, with a promise of a great reward to
any that w'd bring him alive or dead.
"Thus far y^e narrative of Lindsey himself; but something further is to
be remembered to complete & confirm y^e story.
"When Mr. Thorowgood saw his friend Lindsey come into his yard, his
horse and himself just tired, in a sort of amaze he said, 'How, now,
Colonel; we hear there is like to be a battle shortly. What! fled from
your colours?' 'A battle!' said y^e other; 'yes, there has bin a
battle, and I am sure y^e King is beaten. If ever I strike a stroke for
Cromwell again, may I perish eternally, for I am sure he has made a
league with y^e Devil, and he will have him in due time.' Then,
desiring his protection from Cromwell's inquisitors, he went in &
related y^e whole story, and all the circumstances, concluding with
these remarkable words, That Cromwell w'd certainly die that day seven
year that the battle was fought.
"The strangeness of his relation caused Mr. Thorowgood to order his son
John, then about 12 years of age, to write it in full length in his
common place book, & to take it from Lindsey's own mouth. This common
place book, and likewise y^e same story writen in other books, I am
sure is still preserv'd in y^e family of y^e Thorowgoods: But how far
Lindsey is to be believed, & how far y^e story is to be accounted
incredible, is left to y^e reader's faith and judgment, & not to any
determination of our own."
* * * * *
Replies to Minor Queries.
_Gig Hill_ (Vol. iii., p. 222.).--Perhaps your correspondent is mistaken in
saying that "there is no indication of anything in the land to warrant the
name." At least, the very fact of its being a hill is suspicious. If I
could venture to affront you with a pun, I should say, that it seems to me
very natural that the _top_ of a hill should look like a _gig_. Mercy on
us! do words wear out so fast? Why, I have not reached three-score, and did
not I "whip my gig" when I was an "infant"?--not an infant born in a remote
province, sucking in archaism with my mother's milk, playing with heirloom
toys, and calling them by obsolete names, but a smart little cockney, born
and bred in the parish of St. Andrew, Holborn, where, no doubt, there were
gig-whipping brats plenty. In the crowded state of your columns, you would
not thank me for enlarging on the top-_hic_, or I should really feel
disposed to enter into a dissertation on the nature and characteristic
differences of whipping-tops, humming-tops, peg-tops, and gigs. As to the
latter, it certainly occurs to me, now that the question is raised, that I
have not seen such a thing for a long time; though I fancy _gigs_ lying in
the shop-windows, as they did at a period when I was more likely to observe
them; and if they have become so far forgotten, it may be worth while, for
the sake of Shakspeare, to say that they were generally (as far as I
remember always) made of horn; and therefore, when Holofernes says "Go,
whip thy gig" (which means just the same as Mr. Oldbuck's "Sew your
sampler, monkey!"), Moth replies, "Lend me your _horn_ to make one, and I
will whip about your infamy _circum circa_; a gig of a cuckold's horn!" It
is enough to add that the gig was made of the tip of the horn, and looked,
while spinning, like an inverted extinguisher. It was hollow, but my
impression is that there was sometimes lead at the bottom of the inside.
Even with the ballast, it was a ticklish, volatile, kickety thing, much
more difficult to set up and to keep up than the sober whipping-top, and
bearing somewhat the same relation to one in bulk and motion, {284} that a
ship's gig may do to herself, or a gig on land to a coach. As to Gig Hill,
however, unless it has a conical top, some other explanation must be
sought.
N. B.
[C., E. H., and numerous other correspondents, have also kindly replied
to this Query.]
_Epigram against Burke_ (Vol. iii., P. 243.).--
"Oft have I heard that ne'er on Irish ground,
A poisonous reptile ever yet was found;
Nature, though slow, will yet complete her work,
She has saved her venom to create a Burke."
The author of these lines was Warren Hastings himself; his private
secretary (Mr. Evans) sat by his side during the trial, and saw him write
the above. My authority is a niece of Mr. Evans, who formed one of her
uncle's family at the period of the trial.
N. M.
_Engraved Portrait_ (Vol. iii., p. 209.).--This is the portrait of Samuel
Clarke, the ejected minister of Bennet Fink, London. I have three
impressions of this engraving now before me. Two of these are in an
illustrated Granger, and are in different states, the earlier one having no
shading in the background. The third copy is prefixed to--
"A Collection of the Lives of Ten Eminent Divines, Famous in their
Generations for Learning, Prudence, Piety, and painfuless in the work
of the Ministry, &c. By Sa. Clarke, Preacher of the Gospel in St.
Bennet Fink, London, 1662." 4to.
Very likely the same plate had been previously used for some other of
Clarke's numerous publications. At the end of the verses beneath the
portrait, my copies have "P.V.A.M. _fecit_," which, I suppose, are the
initials of Peter Vinke.
JOHN I. DREDGE.
A full and interesting account of this worthy divine is given in _Granger_,
vol. v. p. 73.; and the quatrain will be found annexed to a brief account
of the same portrait in Ames's _English Heads_, p. 43.
J. F. Y.
_Salgado's Slaughter-house_ (Vol. ii., p. 358.).--Your correspondent asks,
Who was Salgado? and his question has not yet, I believe, been answered.
James Salgado, whose name does not appear in any biographical dictionary,
though it deserves to do, and whose pieces are unnoticed in Peck's
Catalogue, though they should certainly not have been omitted, was a
Spanish priest, who renounced the Roman Catholic belief, and was imprisoned
by the Inquisition, and after undergoing many sufferings made his escape to
England in the latter part of the reign of Charles II. His history is
contained in _An Account of his Life and Sufferings_, in a 4to. tract in my
possession, entitled, _A Confession of Faith of James Salgado, a Spaniard,
and sometimes a Priest in the Church of Rome_, London, 1681, 4to. Watt and
Lowndes both notice some of his pieces, but their lists are very imperfect,
and do not comprise the tract, of which your correspondent gives the title,
and which is also in my possession, and several others which I have noted
in my copy of my _Confession_, but which it is perhaps unnecessary to
enumerate here.
JAMES CROSSLEY.
_Mathew's (not Ma_tt_hew's) Mediterranean Passage_ (Vol. iii., p. 240.).--I
have a copy of this work, and shall have pleasure in forwarding it to
MERCURII for perusal, if he will address a note to me, which the publisher
of "NOTES AND QUERIES" will forward.
NIBOR.
Oxford, March 29. 1851.
_The Mitre and the "Cloven Tongues"_ (Vol. iii., p. 146.).--My attention
has just been directed to the remark of your correspondent L. M. M. R., who
adduces the miracle of the "cloven tongues as of fire" as having supplied
the form of the mitre.
This is an old explanation; but your correspondent does not appear to be
aware that "cloven" has been rejected by high classical authority, as not
being a correct interpretation of the word [Greek: diamerizomenai]. The
exact translation is, "And tongues as of fire appeared, being distributed
to them." The same verb is used in the passage, "They _parted_ my garments
among them,"--parted or distributed--the exact equivalent.
It appears to me that the translators have here made an extraordinary
blunder. They have, I think, mistaken [Greek: diamêrizô] for [Greek:
diamerizô]. For the peculiar meaning of the former verb I beg to refer
those who have not observed it, to Liddell and Scott's _Lexicon_. The
substitution of a letter here ([eta] for [epsilon]) would give to the
Scripture term a significance, which, though analogous to that of the
current translation, is immeasurably distant from the exact interpretation.
HUGHES FRAZER HALLE.
Chudleigh, March 24. 1851.
_Slums_ (Vol. iii., p. 224.).--This word is, I take it, an Americanism,
being an abbreviation of _settlements_.
The _back settlements_ and _back slums_ are used synonymously.
D. Q.
"_God's Acre_" (Vol. ii., p. 56.).--On looking back to some of your old
numbers I find W. H. K. has never been answered with regard to the above
application of the term to churchyards. Longfellow (Liverpool edition,
1850, p. 36.) commences one of his poems thus:
"I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls
The burial-ground _God's Acre_. It is just;
It consecrates each grave within its walls,
And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust."
Whether this may be any help to W. H. K., I know not, but I cannot refrain
from the Query--What is the Saxon phrase alluded to?
W. H. P.
{285}
_Wages in the last Century_ (Vol. iii., p. 143.).--I have a note on this
subject which is at A. A.'s service, extracted from the _Gentleman's
Magazine_ for May 1732, vol. ii p. 771.:--
"WAGES (YEARLY) appointed by the Justices, A.D. 1732, to be taken by
the Servants in the County of Kent.
£ s. d.
Head Ploughman, Waggoner, or Seedsman 8 0 0
His Mate 4 0 0
Best Woman Servant 3 0 0
Second Sort 2 0 0
Second Ploughman 6 0 0
His Mate 3 0 0
Labourers by the Day, in Summer 0 1 2
Ditto, in Winter 0 1 0
_County of Gloucester._
Head Servant in Husbandry 5 0 0
Second Servant 4 0 0
Driving Boy under 14 Years 1 0 0
Head Maid Servant in Dairy, and Cook 2 10 0
Second Maid Servant 2 0 0
Mower in Hay Harvest, without Drink,
per Day 0 1 2
With Drink, per Day 0 1 0
Mower and Reaper in Corn Harvest, with
Diet, per Day 0 1 0
Other Day labourer, from Corn to Hay
Harvest, with Drink only, per Day 0 0 8
With Diet, per Day 0 0 4
Without Diet or Drink, per Day 0 0 10
Carpenter, Wheelwright, and Mason, without
Drink, per Day 0 1 2
With Drink, per Day 0 1 0."
I send the note as I have it in my commonplace book; but I should think
that the periodical from which the above is extracted, contains much that
would suit A. A.'s purpose.
E. S. TAYLOR.
Martham, Norfolk.
_Tradesmen's Signs_ (Vol. iii., p. 224.).--The _projecting_ signs over
tradesmen's shop-doors were removed under the London Paving Act, 6 Geo.
III. c. 26. s. 17. In the _Percy History of London_, i. 179., the act is
erroneously said to have been passed in 1762. From Malcolm's _Anecdotes of
London_, pp. 468, 469., it seems that the clause in question was inserted
in the act in consequence of inquiries by a committee appointed by the
Court of Common Council in 1764. _Mr. Peter Cunningham_, in the "London
Occurrences" prefixed to his _Handbook for London_, says: "1766. The
house-signs of London taken down."
No doubt the existing Metropolitan Paving Acts contain clauses which will
prevent tradesmen from again putting up _projecting signs_.
C. H. COOPER.
Cambridge.
_Standfast's Cordial Comforts, &c._ (Vol. iii., p. 143.).--ABHBA will find
in a catalogue of curious books published by G. Bumstead, 205. High
Holborn, an early edition of Standfast. It is described thus:
"Standfast (R.), A Little Handful of Cordial Comforts, and a Caveat
against Seducers; with the Blind Man's Meditations, and a Dialogue
Between a Blind Man and Death, 12mo. 1684."
This may assist ABHBA in his researches.
Z.
_St. Pancras_ (Vol. ii., p. 496.).--Your correspondent MR. YEOWELL asks
where C. J. Smith's collection of MSS., cuttings and prints, &c. relating
to the parish of St. Pancras, are deposited? It is in the library of
Richard Percival, Esq., 9. Highbury Park, Islington.
Can any of your readers give an account of St. Pancras? He was martyred May
12, 304.
R.
[Has our correspondent looked at the _Calendar of the Anglican Church_,
lately published by Parker of Oxford? A brief notice of St. Pancras
will be found on p. 274. of that useful little work.]
_Lines on "Woman's Will"_ (Vol. i., p. 247.).--Although somewhat late in
the day, I send you the following paragraph from the _Examiner_ of May 31,
1829:
"_Woman's Will._--The following lines (says a correspondent of the
_Brighton Herald_) were copied from the pillar erected on the Mount in
the Dane-John Field, formerly called the Dungeon Field, Canterbury:
'Where is the man who has the power and skill
To stem the torrents of a woman's will?
For if she will, she will, you may depend on't,
And if she won't, she won't so there's an end on't."'
H. C.
Workington.
_Scandal against Queen Elizabeth_ (Vol. ii., p. 393.; Vol. iii., p.
11.).--In _Hubback on the Evidence of Succession_, p. 253, after some
remarks on the word "natural," not of itself in former times denoting
illegitimacy, this passage occurs:
"But as early as the time of Elizabeth the word _natural_, standing
alone, had acquired something of its present meaning. The Parliament,
in debating upon the act establishing the title to the crown in the
Queen's issue, thought it proper to alter the words 'issue lawfully
begotten,' into 'natural-born issue,' conceiving the latter to be a
more delicate phrase. But this created a suspicion among the people,
that the Queen's favourite, Leicester, intended after her death to set
up some bastard of his own, pretending it was born of her, and bred up
privately."--Duke of Buckingham _On Treasons_, cited Amos's
_Fortescue_, p. 154.
J. H. L.
_Coggeshall Job_ (Vol. iii., p. 167.).--Does J. C. allude to the tradition
that the Coggeshall people placed hurdles in the stream to turn the river,
and chained up the wheelbarrow when the mad dog bit it?
J. H. L.
_Whale caught at Greenwich before the Death of Cromwell_ (Vol. iii., p.
207.).--B. B. wishes a record {286} of the capture of a whale at Greenwich,
immediately previous to Cromwell's death. I take leave to inform him that,
in a tract entitled _A Catalogue of natural Rarities, with great Industry,
Cost and thirty Years' Travel in foreign Countries collected, by Robert
Hubert, alias Forges, Gent., and sworn Servant to his Majesty. And Dayly to
be seen at the Place called the Musick House, at the Miter, near the West
End of St. Paul's Church_, 1664, there is the following item:--
"The vein of the tongue of that whale that was taken up at Greenwich, a
little before Cromwell's death."
W. PINKERTON.
Ham.
_Fronte Capillatâ, &c._ (Vol. iii., pp. 8. 43. 124.).--The following lines
from Tasso's _Amore Fuggitivo_ contain the same figure as the Latin quoted
above:
"Crespe hà le chiome e d'oro,
E in quella guisa appunto,
Che Fortuna si pinge
Ha lunghi e folti in sulla fronte i crini;
Ma nuda hà poi la testa
Agli opposti confini."
ROBERT SNOW.
The lines quoted by your correspondent are from Peacock's "Headlong Hall,"
and are imitated from Machiavelli's "Capitolo dell' Occasione." The whole
air stands thus; the second stanza differing slightly from the version
given by MR. BURT. The lines are very pretty, at least in my opinion.
"LOVE AND OPPORTUNITY.
"Oh! who art thou, so swiftly flying?
My name is Love, the child replied;
Swifter I pass than south-winds sighing,
Or streams through summer vales that glide.
And who art thou, his flight pursuing?
'Tis cold Neglect whom now you see:
The little god you there are viewing,
Will die, if once he's touched by me.
"Oh! who art thou so fast proceeding,
Ne'er glancing back thine eyes of flame?
Mark'd but by few, through earth I'm speeding,
And Opportunity's my name.
What form is that which scowls beside thee?
Repentance is the form you see:
Learn then, the fate may yet betide thee.
She seizes them who seize not me."
W. R. M.
_John Sanderson, or the Cushion-dance_ (Vol. ii., p. 517.).--Though I am
unable to answer your correspondent Mac's inquiry as to the antiquity of
this dance, it may interest him as well as others of the readers of "NOTES
AND QUERIES" to know, that when Walpole made up his mind to abandon his
Excise bill (which met with a still fiercer opposition out of doors than in
the House of Commons), he signified his intention to a party of his
adherents at the supper-table, by quoting the first line of the
accompanying song:--
"This dance it will no further go!"[7]
This, at least, shows the popularity of this dance in the reign of George
II.
H. C.
Workington.
[Footnote 7: This occurred in the year 1733.]
_George Steevens and William Stevens_ (Vol. iii, p. 230.).--The late Sir
J. A. Park wrote _Memoirs of William Stevens_, the Treasurer of Queen
Anne's Bounty, and the biographer of Jones of Nayland. As little
resemblance must have existed between this gentleman and "the Puck of
commentators," George Steevens, as between the two Harveys:
"The one invented Sauce for Fish
The other Meditations."
J. H. M.
_Memoirs of Stevens_ by the late Sir James Allan Park have been published,
and are well worth reading; but this Stevens was not George Steevens, the
Shakespearian commentator, but William, Treasurer of Queen Anne's Bounty,
one of the most meek and humble minded of men.
"He was inferior to none in profound knowledge, and steady practice of
the doctrines and discipline of the Church of England; austere to
himself alone, charitable and indulgent towards others, he attracted
the young by the cheerfulness of his temper, and the old by the
sanctity of his life."
MISS BOCKETT should not confound such a holy character with George
Steevens.
E. H.
_Memoirs of George Steevens, Esq., F.R.S. and F.S.A._ (Vol. iii., p.
119.).--In answer to A. Z. it may be stated that a brief memoir of Mr.
Steevens was given in Nichols's _Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth
Century_, Vol. ii. p. 680.; further anecdotes, and some of his letters, in
vol. v. of Nichols's _Literary Illustrations_; and further letters (his
correspondence with Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore), in vol. vii. of the
latter work; besides many incidental notices, which will be found by
reference to the indexes. On the last occasion a copy of his portrait by
Dance, was attached; and in vol. v. of the _Literary Illustrations_ is an
engraving of his monument by Flaxman, in Poplar Chapel.
N.
_Tradescant_ (Vol. iii., p. 119.).--At what period the elder Tradescant
came into England is not with certainty known, but it is supposed to have
been about the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, or the beginning of that of
James I. He obtained the title of _Royal Gardener_ circa 1629.
It may not be superfluous to mention (on the authority of Allen's _History
of Lambeth_, p. 142.) that formerly the three following lines were on the
monument in Lambeth churchyard, until its {287} reparation by public
subscription in 1773, when they were left out:
"This monument was erected at the charge of _Hester Tradescant_, the
relict of _John Tradescant_, late deceased, who was buried the 25th of
April, 1662."
ALFRED W. H.
Kennington.
_Origin of Harlequins_ (Vol. iii., p. 165.).--Your correspondent and
querist E. L. N. wishes for an account of the Origin of Harlequins. I beg
to refer E. L. N. to an account of the Hellequines, or "La Mesnie
Hellequin," given by M. Paul Paris, in his work on the _Manuscripts
François de la Bib. du Roi_, vol. i. p. 322. M. Paris says:
"On donnoit ce nom (Hellequines) à des espèces de feux follets ou
génies plutôt malfaisants que favorables, et plutôt moqueurs que
malfaisants.... L'origine de la tradition de la Mesnie Hellequin se
perd dans l'obscurité des temps. On l'entendoit surtout bruire dans les
environs de la ville d'_Arles_.... J'ignore la première origine de
cette locution; mais ce qui me semble incontestable, c'est qu'on
confondit facilement la Mesnie Hellequin avec celle '_de la Mort_,'
famille bariolée de rouge et de noir, et dont le manteau de cérémonie
devoit être un grand pan de toile ou linceul. Déjà le lecteur a devancé
la conséquence qu'il faut tirer de tout cela; la Mesnie Hellequin,
partie nécessaire des cortéges effrayants ou grotesques dans le
moyen-âge, est devenue insensiblement, sous la main des arrangeurs,
notre _famille d'Arlequin_. Le costume bariolé d'Arlequin n'est rien
autre que le fantastique costume du représentant de la Mort.... Et, si
ce que je viens de dire est fondé, on ne répètera plus après Ménage
(Gilles), que le mot _Arlequin_ fut pris d'abord, sur la fin du XVI
siècle, par un certain bouffon italien que le Président _Harlay_ avoit
accueilli. Il est certain que le mot _Arlequin_ se trouve
très-anciennement dans un grand nombre de mystères.
"'Numquid me velis,' ecrivoit Jean Raulin, mort en 1514, 'antiquam
illam familiam Harlequini, revocare, ut videatur mortuus inter mundanæ
curiæ nebulas et caligines equitare?'"
By the above extracts, which I fear you will find too long, harlequinades
would seem rather to be derived from the wanton pranks of sprites than the
coarse gambols of buffoons; and this derivation would certainly best agree
with the accepted character of the modern harlequin.
H. C. C.
"_Predeceased_" and "_Designed_" (Vol. iii., p. 143.).--The former word is
used in an active sense by Shakspeare, in his "Rape of Lucrece:"
"If children _predecease_ progenitors,
We are their offspring, and they none of ours."
"Designed," in the sense of "designated," is employed by Locke:
"'Tis not enough to make a man a subject, to convince him that there is
regal power in the world; but there must be ways of _designing_ and
knowing the person to whom the regal power of right belongs."
COWGILL.
"_Quadrijugis invectus equis," &c._ (Vol. ii., p. 391.).--These lines, in
which "veriis" and "antesolat" are, of course, misprints for "variis" and
"antevolat," apply with such peculiar exactness to Guido's celebrated
Aurora, at the Rospigliosi Palace, that I cannot but think the painting has
given rise to the lines. Besides, in the ancient mythology, the Horæ are
said to be _three_ in number, daughters of Jupiter and Themis, and one of
their offices was harnessing the horses of the Sun. It is unlikely,
therefore, that any classic author would mention them as being seven in
number.
C. I. R.
_St. John's Bridge Fair_ (Vol. iii., p. 88.).--Perhaps in the county of
Northampton, and in the city of Peterborough, where a fair, commencing
October 2d, is still called "Bridge Fair." The parish church of
Peterborough is dedicated to St. John Baptist; but a fair on the saint's
day would be too near the other, and probably more ancient fair, which is
held on old St. Peter's Day, to whom the cathedral church is dedicated.
ARUN.
_Anticipations of Modern Ideas by Defoe_ (Vol. iii., pp. 137. 195.).--It is
a singular fact, to which I do not remember a reference has hitherto been
made, that Defoe, in his _Life and Adventures of Captain Singleton_, has
foreshadowed the discovery by recent travellers of a great inland lake in
the South of Africa. He describes his adventurous hero and companions,
during their attempt to cross this vast continent from Mozambique to
Angola, as having, on the ninth day of their journey, come in "view of a
great lake of water."
"The next day," he adds, "which was the tenth from our setting out, we
came to the edge of this lake, and happily for us, we came to it at the
south point of it, for to the north we could see no end of it; so we
passed by it, and travelled three days by the side of it."--_Life,
Adventures, and Piracies of Captain Singleton_, chap. vi.
According to a rough calculation by one of the party, they were, a few days
before reaching it, 700 miles from the coast of Mozambique, and 1500 from
the Cape of Good Hope. Now Messrs. Murray and Oswell, the enterprising
travellers to whom we owe the discovery of this vast South African lake,
describe it as being in longitude 24° East, latitude 19° South; a position
not very wide apart from that indicated in Defoe's amusing fiction.
T. C. SMITH.
_Lord Howard of Effingham_ (Vol. iii., p. 244.).--I submit that the
passages quoted by your correspondent are not sufficient evidence to lead
us to conclude that that nobleman _ever_ was a Protestant. As to the
"neglect of reverence to the Holy Sacrament," it is only said that the
priests might pretend _that_ as a cause; and it is not to be supposed that
an ambassador would so far forget himself as to show any disrespect to the
religion of the {288} prince he was sent to. Besides, it is likely that
Lord Howard was chosen for the embassy as being a Catholic, and therefore
more acceptable to a prince of the same religion.
2nd. Fuller's words only refer to testimony on a disputed fact, on which
Catholic evidence the effect quoted by him would have peculiar weight.
3rd. The words to Garnet, who had declared his innocence and abhorrence of
the imputed crime, are such as a Catholic would be most likely to use.
4th. The word "_our_," in the royal instructions, is the word of form, and
resembles the editorial "_we_." In royal instructions to Mr. Shiel at
Florence, Mr. Wyse at Naples, or Mr. More O'Ferrall at Malta, her Majesty
would use the words "our religion;" would that imply that any or all of
those gentlemen were Protestants?
After all, Lord Howard may have conformed to the court religion after the
period of the Armada: occasional conformity was frequent at the period.
KERRIENSIS.
_Separation of the Sexes in Church_ (Vol. ii., p. 94.; Vol. iii., p.
94.).--In _Collectanea Topographica, &c._, vol. iii. p. 134., is printed
the "Account of the Proctors of the Church of Yeovil, co. Somerset, 36 Hen.
VI. 1457-8." The learned editor says:
"The first item is remarkable, as affording an instance of seats being
made subject to sale at so early a period;" and proceeds: "it may be
observed that the two sexes must have sat in different parts of the
church, as, with only one exception, the seats are let to other persons
of the same sex as before."
LLEWELLYN.
_Separation of the Sexes in Time of Divine Service_ (Vol. ii., p. 94.).--A
proof of the correctness of the remark advanced in this note is afforded by
the practice followed in the little church of Covington, Huntingdonshire,
where a few of the old open seats remain towards the western end, in which
each sex still sits on its proper side, although the custom does not hold
with respect to the pews which some of the farmers and others have erected
for themselves at the eastern end.
ARUN.
_Separation of the Sexes at Church._--Many of your correspondents have
taken up the separation of the living at church, but none have alluded to
the dead. I extract the following from a deed of the 34th of Elizabeth:--
"But also in the two severall vawtes or towmbes in the sayd chappell,
and in the sowthe syde of the same, and in the wall of the sayd church,
ffor themselves only to bury in; that is to say, in the upper of the
same, standing eastwards, to bury the deade bodyes of the men, being
ancestors of the sayd A. B.; and in the lower, standing westwards, to
bury the deade bodies of the women, being wyves or children female of
his, the said A. B.'s ancestors."
Perhaps some of your correspondents can tell us whether such separate
vaults were customary?
_Vox Populi Vox Dei_ (Vol. i., p. 370.).--Your correspondent DANIEL ROCK
states these words to have been chosen by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Simon Mepham, as his text for the sermon he preached when Edward III. was
called to the throne; and in your Notices to Correspondents, Vol. iii., p.
254., you repeat the statement.
The prelate by whom the sermon was preached was not Simon Mepham, but his
predecessor, Walter Reynolds, who was Archbishop of Canterbury when the
second Edward was deposed, and when Edward III. was crowned, on February 1,
1327. This Walter Reynolds died on November 16, 1327, and Simon Mepham was
appointed his successor on December 11, 1327. John Toland, in his _Anglia
Libera_, p. 114., has this reference to the sermon which was preached by
the Archbishop Reynolds on the occasion of the king's coronation:
"To Edward I. succeeded his son Edward II., who growing an intolerable
tyrant, was in a parliament summoned by himself formally accused of
misgovernment, and on his own acknowledging the truth of this charge,
solemnly deposed. When his son, Edward III., was elected with universal
consent, Walter, the Archbishop of Canterbury, preached the coronation
sermon, and took these words for his text, "_Vox populi Vox Dei_, the
voice of the people is the voice of God,"--so little did they dream in
those days of the divine right of monarchy, or that all power did not
originally derive from the people, for whom and by whom all governments
are erected and maintained."
Sir Harris Nicolas in his _Synopsis of the Peerage,_ and Dugdale in his
_Monasticon_, give the name of this Archbishop as Walter Reynolds. Sir
Richard Baker, in his _Chronicle_, describes him as Walter Reginald; and in
Hume's _England_ he is called Walter de Reynel.
ST. JOHNS.
_Mazer Wood_ (Vol. iii., p. 239.).--The Querist asks, "Has the word Mazer
any signification in itself?"
It is used to signify a cup. Vide Walter Scott's _Lord of the Isles_, where
Robert Bruce is speaking:
"Bring here, he said, the Mazers four,
My noble fathers loved of yore."
And it is probably derived from the Irish "Maeddher," a standing cup,
generally of _wood_, of a quadrangular form, with a handle on each of the
sides. The puzzle was how to drink out of it, which was done from the
angles. A silver "Maeddher" was presented to Lord Townshend when leaving
Ireland, who puzzled many of his English friends by placing it before them
filled with claret. Uninitiated persons usually attempted to drink from the
flat side, and poured the wine over their clothes. I think another was
presented to Lord Normanby when in Ireland. We see _gutta percha_ {289}
cups and buckets everywhere now-a-days. Perhaps such an utensil might have
been among the dishes, &c. mentioned in the Catalogue of the Tradescant
Museum.
KERRIENSIS.
[See a curious note on Mazers, used as large drinking-cups, or goblets,
in Walter Scott's _Poetical Works_, p. 488., edit. 1848.]
_Traditions from remote Periods through few Hands_ (Vol. iii., p.
237.).--The following facts may not be uninteresting on this subject.
The late Maurice O'Connell of Derrynane, co. Kerry, died early in 1825, and
would have completed 99 years on the 31st of March in that year. The writer
hereof has heard him tell anecdotes derived from the conversation of Daniel
M^cCarthy, of the same co., who died about 1740, aged at least 108 years.
This Daniel M^cCarthy was commonly known by the nick-name of "Dhonald
Bhin," or "Yellow Dan," and was the first man that ran away from the battle
of Aughrim. There is a short account of him in Smith's _History of Kerry_,
in which he is mentioned as lately deceased. You have thus a period of over
200 years, the traditions of which might be derived through three persons,
the survivor of whom, your correspondent, is but middle aged. I remember
being told in the co. Clare, circiter 1828, of an individual then lately
deceased, who remembered the siege of Limerick by General Ginkle, and the
news of the celebrated treaty of Limerick. It is to be wished that your
readers who reside in, or may visit Ireland, would take an interest in this
subject. I am certain that in remote parts of the country much curious
tradition could be thus brought to light; and it would be interesting to
compare the accounts of great public events, as remembered and handed down
by the peasantry, with those which we take on the faith of historians.
As relating to this subject, I may refer to the allusion made in page 250.
of the same Number to the Countess of Desmond, who was said to have lived
to so great an age. I have seen the picture alluded to at Glanlearne in
Valencia, the seat of the knight of Kerry; and it must have been taken at a
comparatively early period of life, as the Earl of Desmond was outlawed,
and his estates confiscated, in the reign of Elizabeth. Some record of how
this old lady's jointure was provided for might yet be discovered, and the
period of her decease thus ascertained.
KERRIENSIS.
_Latin Epigram on the Duchess of Eboli_ (Vol. iii., p. 208.).--This
beautiful epigram, which C. R. H. has somewhat mutilated even in the two
lines which he gives of it, was written by Jerome Amaltheus, who died in
1574, the year in which Henry III. of France came to the throne; so that it
is unlikely at least that the "Amor" was meant for Mangirow, his "minion."
In the edition of the poems of the three brothers Amalthei, which I
possess, and which was printed at Amsterdam in 1689, the epigram runs--
"DE GEMELLIS FRATRE ET SORORE LUSCIS.
"Lumine Acon, dextro, capta est Leonilla sinistro,
Et potis est forma vincere uterque Deos.
Blande puer, lumen, quod habes concede _puellæ_,
Sic tu cæcus Amor, sic erit illa Venus."
I have seen it thus translated:
"One eye is closed to each in rayless night,
Yet each has beauty fit the gods to move,
Give, Acon, give to Leonill _thy_ light,
She will be Venus, and thou sightless Love."
The relationship between the Duchess of Eboli and Mangirow I do not
remember. Were they brother and sister? or was she ever known as Leonilla?
Among Jerome Amaltheus's other epigrams I find several about this "Acon;"
and one, entitled "De duabus Amicis," begins--
"Me _lætis Leonilla oculis_, me _Lydia torvis_
Aspicit."
The mistress of Philip II. (who here, by the by, seems to have recovered
her lost eye) would hardly have been the mistress of an Italian poet.
H. A. B.
Trin. Coll. Cam.
"_Harry Parry, when will you marry_" (Vol. iii., p. 207.).--E. H. has
omitted the last line, which, however, is well known. May it not have the
same meaning as the lines in the "Marquis de Carabas" of Béranger:
"Et tous vos tendrons,
Subiront l'honneur
Du droit du seigneur?"
The nursery rhyme may have been sung to the young Baron to teach him his
feudal privileges, as the lines--
"Hot corn, baked pears,
Kick nigger down stairs,"
are used to inculcate the rights of a white man on the minds of infant
cotton planters in the Southern States.
J. H. L.
_Visions of Hell_ (Vol. iii., p. 70.).--In solving the Query propounded by
F. R. A. as to "whether Bunyan was the author of the _Visions_?" it is very
necessary that all the editions should be known of and collated. I have one
not yet referred to, styled _The Visions of John Bunyan, being his last
Remains, giving an Account of the Glories of Heaven, the Terrors of Hell,
and of the World to come_, London, printed and sold by J. Hollis, Shoemaker
Row, Blackfriars, pp. 103., with an address to the reader, subscribed "thy
soul's well-wisher, John Bunyan," without date. "Thomas Newby, of Epping,
Essex," is written in it; he might have been only the first owner of the
book, which was certainly published before the year 1828 or 20, but I
should say not much earlier.
BLOWEN.
{290}
_"Laus tua non tua Fraus," &c._ (Vol. i., p. 416.). _Verse
Lyon._--Puttenham's _Arte of English Poesie_, published in 1589, contains
an earlier allusion to this epigram than any of those mentioned by your
correspondents at Vol. ii., p. 77., and assigns to Pope Alexander [Qy. VI.]
the doubtful honour of being the subject of it. The passage is at p. 11.,
and is as follows:--
"Another of their pretie inuentions was to make a verse of such wordes
as lay their nature and manner of construction and situation might be
turned backward word by word, and make another perfit verse, but of
quite contrary sence, as the gibing monke that wrote of Pope Alexander
these two verses:
'Laus tua non tua fraus, virtue non copia rerum,
Scandere te faciunt hoc decus eximium:'
which if ye will turne backward, they make two other good verses, but
of a contrary sence, thus:
'Eximium decus hoc faciunt te scandere, rerum
Copia, non virtus, fraus tua, non tua laus;'
and they call it _Verse Lyon_."
Query, Why? and where else is Verse Lyon alluded to?
J. F. M.
[Is not "_Verse Lyon_" Puttenham's translation of _Leonine Verse_?]
_Passage from Cymbeline_ (Vol. ii., p. 135.).--
"Some jay of Italy,
Whose mother was her _painting_, hath betrayed him."--Act III. Sc. 4.
The word _painting_ (your correspondent's stumbling-block) evidently means
resemblance--resemblance of character, and as such exactly corresponds to
the German word _Ebenbild_, an image or painting, which is used in the same
sense; _e.g._ _Sie hat das Ebenbild ihres Mutters_, "She is the very image
of her mother."
CRANMORE.
Rue de Cerf, 6. Brussels.
_Engraved Warming-pans_ (Vol. iii., pp. 84. 115.).--As an earlier instance
of this custom, it may be worth notice that I have one which was purchased
some years ago at the village of Whatcote in Warwickshire; it is engraved
with a dragon, and the date 1601. I think it probable that it originally
came from Compton Wyniatt, the ancient seat of the Earls [now Marquis] of
Northampton; the supporters of the Compton family being dragons, and
Whatcote being the next village to Compton Wyniatt.
SPES.
_Symbolism of the Fir-cone_ (Vol. i., p. 247.).--The Fir-cone on the
Thyrsus--a practice very general throughout Greece, but which is very
prevalent at Athens, may perhaps, in some degree, account for the connexion
of the Fir-cone (surmounting the Thyrsus) with the worship of Bacchus.
Incisions are made in the fir-trees for the purpose of obtaining the
turpentine, which distils copiously from the wound. This juice is mixed
with the new wine in large quantities; the Greeks supposing that it would
be impossible to keep it any length of time without this mixture. The wine
has in consequence a very peculiar taste, but is by no means unpleasant
after a little use. This, as we learn from Plutarch, was an ancient custom
(_Sympos. Quæst._ iii. and iv. p. 528. edn. Wytten); the Athenians,
therefore, might naturally have placed the Fir-cone in the hands of
Bacchus. ("Lord Aberdeen's Journals," Appendix to Walpole's _Memoirs of
Turkey, &c._, vol. i. p. 605.)
F. B. RELTON.
_Dr. Robert Thomlinson_ (Vol. i., p. 350.).--The gentleman who is very
anxious for the communication of any matter illustrative of the life of the
doctor, his family, &c., will find considerable useful and interesting
information relating to him, his widow, and brother, by referring to the
under-mentioned _Reports from the Commissioners for inquiring concerning
Charities_:
5th Report, pages 67. 69.; 23rd Report, pages 56. 450.; 31st Report, pages
754. 757.
There is a slight allusion to the doctor in the _Returns of Corporate
Offices and Charitable Funds, &c._, p. 375.
H. EDWARDS.
_Touching for the Evil_ (Vol. iii., p. 93.).--St. Thomas Aquinas refers the
practice of touching for the evil by French kings to _Clovis_. See a work
published in 1633, by Simon Favoul, entitled, _Du Pouvoir que les Rois de
France ont de guérir les Ecrouelles_; also a work by Du Laurens, entitled,
_De Mirabili Strumas sanandi vi, regibus Galliarum Christianis divinitus
concessa, libri duo_, Paris, 1609, in 8vo.
Edward the Confessor is said to have been the first English king who
touched for the evil. Consequently the English can hardly be said to have
owed their supposed power to their pretensions to the crown of France.
E. J. R.
[We are indebted to MR. J. B. DITCHFIELD and MR. JOSEPH SULLEY for very
elaborate notices of the custom of the French kings touching for the
evil; but the principal facts contained in those communications have
already been laid before our readers by MR. COOPER (Vide No. 69. p.
148. et seq.)]
_Drax Free School_ (Vol. ii., p. 199.).--It appears by the will of Charles
Read, dated July 30, 1669, that that gentleman had at his own charge
erected a school-house at Drax, which he designed for a free school, and
for the habitation of a schoolmaster, to instruct the children of the
inhabitants of that parish gratis, to read, write, and cast accounts, and
in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, as occasion should require; and that he had
erected six almshouses at Drax, for six aged and impotent people at that
parish, and the lodgment of six poor boys; and for the support and
maintenance of the said school, master, alms people, and poor boys, he
directed his executors to lay out 2000l. in {291} the purchase of freehold
land of 120l. per annum in or near Drax, to be conveyed to trustees to let
such land at the best improved rent, for the purposes and uses mentioned in
his will; and he appointed the lord mayor and aldermen of York, visitors of
the school and almshouses.
At the time of the inquiry by the charity commissioners, the estates
purchaser in pursuance of the directions of Mr. Read's will amounted to 391
acres of land, let at 542l. per annum, and there was an accumulation of
stock of 12,700l. in the Three per Cents, the whole income being 924l. 9s.
6d. per annum.
MR. DYSON will find a copious account of this school, &c., in the following
Reports of the Commissioners: XXI. p. 598.; XXXII. part 2d. p. 828.; and
the latter gives a full detail of proceedings in Chancery, and other
matters connected with the administration of the trust.
HENRY EDWARDS.
_Enigmatical Epitaph on the Rev. John Mawer_ (Vol. iii., pp. 184.
248.).--Perhaps it may be of service to J. H. to know that _Arthur
Llewellyn Tudor Kaye Mawer_, referred to by J. T. A., was a short time ago
an assistant bookseller at Oxford, and may be heard of by addressing a line
to Mr. Vincent, Herald Office, or Mr. Wheeler, bookseller, Oxford.
NIBOR.
_Treatise by Engelbert, Archbishop of Treves_ (Vol. i., p. 214.).--MR.
SANSON may probably find the information he desires in the reprint of
Bishop Cosin's _History of Popish Transubstantiation_, London, 1840, in
which the references are verified, and the quotations given in full length.
T. J.
_King John at Lincoln_ (Vol. iii., p. 141.).--There is no question of Matt.
Paris alluding here to the old prophecy which forbade a king's wearing his
crown in Lincoln, or, as some think, even entering the city. Although he
makes John the first to break through the superstition, yet the same is
attributed to his predecessor Stephen, who is described by H. Huntingdon as
entering the city fearlessly--"prohibentibus quibusdam superstitiosis."
This was after the great disasters of Stephen's reign; but as the
succession eventually departed from his line, Lord Lyttleton observes that
the citizens might nevertheless be strengthened in their credulity; and
Henry II. certainly humoured it so far as to wear his crown only in the
suburb of Wigford. John seems to have been very partial to the place, and
visited it repeatedly, as did many of his successors. Many parallel
superstitions might, no doubt, be gathered, as that of Oxford, and
Alexander the Great at Babylon, &c.
B.
Lincoln.
_Haybands in Seals_ (Vol. iii., p. 186.).--In your paper for March 8. I
observe a Query by MR. M. A. LOWER respecting seals. It appears that MR.
LOWER has in his possession one or two seals, temp. Henry VII., which are
impressed on haybands, that is to say, the wax is encircled by a twisted
wisp of hay, or split straw; and, if I rightly understand MR. LOWER, no
device is apparent on the wax, but some ends of the hay or straw protrude
from the surface of it. Under these circumstances MR. LOWER states his
opinion that such seals belonged to mediæval gentlemen who occupied their
time in fattening stock,--simply graziers.
It may be interesting to some of your correspondents, and especially to MR.
LOWER, to know that a few seals, both pendent and impressed on the
parchment itself, within haybands, may be found of as early a date as the
reign of Edward II. From that time the fashion become very prevalent: in
the reigns of Richard II., Henry IV., Henry V., Henry VI., and, indeed,
down to the period of Elizabeth, it was the common practice to secure the
wax impression in this manner. Almost all the impressions of the Privy Seal
of Henry V., called "the Eagle," are made on haybands. It is needless to
give further examples, as they must be well known to all antiquaries who
have studied the history of seals. It is not from the examination of a few
specimens of early seals that a general conclusion is to be rationally
drawn; and it is to be hoped that MR. LOWER may, even yet, be induced to
abandon his singular theory of graziers' seals.
T. HUDSON TURNER.
If your correspondents on this subject will refer to the first volume of
_Kalendars and Inventories of his Majesty's Exchequer_, published by the
Commissioners of Public Records, they will find in the Introduction,
written by Sir Francis Palgrave, at page cxlvii., a fac-simile
representation of a letter upon paper from James IV. of Scotland to Henry
VII., dated July 12, 1502, showing the seal encircled by a rush ring. At
page cxxxvii. it is stated that in the fifteenth century a rush ring
surrounding the fragile wax was not unfrequently used for the purpose of
preserving it.
S. S. S.
_Aver_ (Vol. iii., pp. 42. 157.).--Spelman, in his _Glossary_, derives
_averia_ from _averare_ pro laborare. _Averare_ he derives from the French
_ouvre_ and _ouvrage_, "vel potius a Latino _operare_, _o_ et _p_, ut
solent, in _a_ et _u_, conversis." "Hence," he says, "our ancestors called
beasts of burden _averia_, and the Scotch called them _avaria_." In
Northumberland, he elsewhere adds, "they call a lazy, sluggish horse 'a
faulse aver,' or 'afer.'"
_Averum_ signified goods and chattels, and personal property in general,
and, in this sense, is derived from the French _avoir_. It also signified
the royal treasure, as appears from the following extract front the will of
Philip Augustus, sub anno {292} 1190. After directing his rents, services,
and oblations to be brought annually to Paris, he adds--
"In receptionibus averi nostri, Adam clericus noster presens erit, et
eas scribet, et singuli habeant singulas claves de singulis archis in
quibus reponetur averum nostrum in templo."
The following story, which illustrates P.'s Query, is told by Blackstone:--
"Sir Thomas More (when a student on his travels) is said to have
puzzled a pragmatic professor at Bruges, who gave a universal challenge
to dispute with any person in any science: in omni scibili, et de
quolibet ente. Upon which Mr. More sent him this question, 'Utrum
averia carucæ, capta in vetito namio, sint irreplegibilia, Whether
beasts of the plough, taken in withernam, are incapable of being
replevied:'"
--a question likely enough to pose any man except an English lawyer.
CUDYN GWYN.
_Aver_ or _Aiver_ is a word in common use in the south of Scotland for a
_horse_. In Burns's poem entitled "The Dream," there is this couplet:
"Yet aft a ragged cowte's been known
To mak a noble aiver."
J. SS.
_Aver_ (Vol. iii., p. 42.).--Your correspondents G. M. and D. 2. are at
cross purposes. The latter is unquestionably right in his opinion about
_haver cake_, _haver_ in that instance being the German _Hafer_, Sw.
_Havre_, &c., as held by Brockett (_North Country Words_) and Carr (_Craven
Glossary_). But _aver_, _averium_, on which G. M. descants, is altogether a
different word. As D. 2. requires the authority of a dictionary, allow me
to refer him to Lacombe, _Dictionnaire du vieux Langage François_, where he
will find:
"AVOIRS, animaux domestiques de la basse cour."
"AVERLANDS, marchand de chevaux."
And in the second, or supplementary volume of the same work:
"'AVERS,' bestiaux qui nantissent une ferme à la campagne."
See also Jamieson (_Scottish Dictionary_):
"AVER, a cart-horse."
A suggestion may also be gathered from Webster under AVERAGE.
F. S. Q.
In the _Chronicle of Jocelyn de Brakelond_, at p. 29. of Tomlins's
translation, mention is made of one Beodric,
"Lord of that town, whose demesne lands are now in the demesne of the
Cellarer. And that which is now called _Averland_ was the land of the
rustics."
Again, at p. 30.:
The Cellarer was used freely to take all the dung-hills in every
street, for his own use, unless it were before the doors of those who
were holding _averland_; for to _them only_ was it allowable to collect
dung and to keep it."
To this a note is appended to the effect that
"Averland seems to have been ancient arable land so called, held by
rustic drudges and villans."
At p. 29. the said Cellarer is stated
To have _aver-peni_, to wit, for each thirty acres two pence."[8]
Roquefort, in his _Glossaire de la Langue Romane_, gives _Aver_, from
_avoir_: "Bestiaux qui nantissent une ferme de campagne;" and _Avè_, "un
troupeau de brebis," from _ovis_.
Raynouard, in the _Nouveau Choix des Poésies des Troubadours_, vol. ii.,
which commences the _Lexique Roman_, derives "Aver" also from _Avoir_; to
signify possession generally I take it. 2dly, Troupeau,
"E play mi quan li corredor
Fan las gens e 'ls _avers_ fugir."
("Et il me plaît quand les coureurs
Font fuir les gens et les troupeaux.")
_Bertrand de Born, Be m Play._
Barbazan, in his short _Glossary_, derives the word from _Avarus_.
H. C. C.
[Footnote 8: "Averpenny was a sum paid as a composition for certain rustic
services."]
I would inform D. 2. and others (Vol. iii., p. 42.) that _aver_, or
_haver-cake_, which he states to be the name applied in North Yorkshire to
the thin oat-cake in use there, is evidently derived from the Scandinavian
words, _Hafrar_, _Havre_, _Hafre_, oats.
G. E. R. GORDON.
Stockholm.
"_The Sword Flamberg_" (Vol. iii., p. 168.)--AN ENGLISH MOTHER is informed
that "Flamberge," or "Floberge," is the name of the sword won in battle
from the Saracen admiral Anthenor by Mangis d'Aygremont, the hero of the
romance of that name. Ancient swords were frequently "flamboyant," or with
waved edges; more especially those used for purposes of state. The Dukes of
Burgundy bore a two-handed sword of this form. Indeed, "flaming swords," as
they were called, were worn down to the time of our Charles II., and
perhaps later. It is rather singular that the ordinary synonyma for a sword
should be "brand." The name of the weapon taken from King Bucar by the Cid
was "Tizona," or the Fire-brand.
The flamboyant type may possibly be of Eastern origin. The krisses of the
Malays, at the present day have serpentine blades.
W. J. BERNHARD SMITH.
Temple.
_Cockade_ (Vol. iii., pp. 7. 196.).--The _cockade_ was simply the knot of
the riband that served to _cock_ the broad flapped hat worn by military men
in the seventeenth century, and which in fine weather, or going into
action, &c., they used to _cock_, by means of hooks, laces, and ribands. We
see still in the {293} cocked-hats of coachmen and beadles, the traces of
these old ligaments. Hence the phrase to _cock one's hat_. Let me add one
or two remarks on other points of dress arising out of old military habits.
In old times coats were of the shape we now call frocks, and _lined_
throughout, generally with a different colour from the outside. When a
person in one of these coats was going about any active work, and
particularly into fight, he doubled back his sleeves, and folded back the
collar, which, being of a different colour, came to be what we now call the
_facings_ of military uniforms. The French, truer to their origin, still
call them the "_revers_." So also on such occasions the broad skirts of the
frock coat used to be hooked back not to impede the movements of the lower
limbs, and thence the swallow tails of military uniforms. So also the high
jack-boots, that covered the knees, used, in walking, to be turned down,
and the inside being of a lighter colour, gave the idea of what are called
_top-boots_.
C.
* * * * *
Miscellaneous.
NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.
In the belief that the time has arrived when the history of our national
architecture must be reconsidered, with a view to a revision of the classes
or periods into which it has hitherto been divided, Mr. Sharpe has just put
forth a handsomely illustrated volume, under the title of _The Seven
Periods of English Architecture defined and illustrated_. Mr. Sharpe's
proposal is, that these seven periods should be thus formed:--three
belonging to the division _Romanesque_, under the titles of Saxon, Norman,
and Transitional Periods; and the remaining four to the _Gothic_, viz. the
Lancet, Geometrical, Curvilinear, and Rectangular Periods. We must, of
course, refer our readers who desire to know the principles upon which Mr.
Sharpe proposes this great change to the work itself, which is plain and to
the purpose.
Mr. Bohn some time since became the purchaser of a large number of the
copper-plates of Gillray's _Caricatures_. Having had impressions taken, and
arranged them in one large volume, he sought the assistance of Mr. Wright,
who had just then published his _History of the House of Hanover,
illustrated by Caricatures_, and Mr. R. H. Evans, the well-known
bibliopole, towards an anecdotical catalogue of the works of this clever
satirist: and the result of the labours of these gentlemen has just been
published under the title of _Historical and Descriptive Account of the
Caricatures of James Gillray, comprising a Political and Humorous History
of the latter Part of the Reign of George III._ The volume will be found
not only an interesting key to Mr. Bohn's edition of Gillray, and a guide
to those who may be making a separate collection of his works, but a
pleasant illustration of the wit and satire which lashed the politicians
and amused the public
"In the old time when George the Third was king."
Those who know the value of those historical researches which Sir F.
Palgrave has already given to the world, will be glad to hear that the
first volume of his _History of Normandy and of England_ will probably be
published before the close of the present month. In this first volume,
which is described in the advertisement as containing the general relations
of Mediæval Europe, the Carlovingian Empire, and the Danish Expeditions
into Gaul, we understand the learned author has treated those expeditions
at considerable length, and enters very fully into that of the decline of
the Carlovingian Empire,--a portion of the work as important, as it is in a
great measure new, to the English reader. Not the least valuable part of
the book will be Sir Francis Palgrave's account of the nature and character
of the Continental Chronicles, which form the substratum of his work, but
which, existing only in the great collections of Duchesne, Bouquet, Pertz,
&c., are generally very imperfectly known to English students.
Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson will sell, on Monday next, a collection of
very rare and interesting Autograph Letters, more particularly illustrative
of the period of the Civil Wars. On the same day they will also commence a
Four-days' Sale of valuable Books, and Books of Engravings, chiefly from
the library of a gentleman deceased, including the original edition of
Stuart and Revett's _Athens_, a copy of Merian's _Topographia Germaniæ_
containing nearly one thousand engravings, and many other works of high
character.
BOOKS RECEIVED.--_Boswell's Life of Johnson, Illustrated_, vol. i. This is
the first volume of the _National Illustrated Library_, which the
projectors describe "as an endeavour to bestow upon half-crown volumes for
the _many_ the same typographical accuracy, and the same artistic ability,
hitherto almost exclusively devoted to high-priced books for the _few_." In
choosing _Boswell's Johnson_ for their first work, the projectors have
shown excellent judgment; and we are bound to add that the book is not only
well selected, but neatly printed, and illustrated with a number of
excellent woodcuts.--_Illustrations of Medieval Costume in England, &c._,
Part II. This second part deserves the same praise for cheapness as its
predecessor.--_The Cape and the Kafirs_, the new volume of Bohn's cheap
series, is a well-timed reprint of Mrs. Ward's _Five Years in Kafirland_,
with some little alteration and abridgment, and the addition of some
information for intending emigrants, from information supplied by published
official reports.
CATALOGUES RECEIVED.--J. Miller's (43. Chandos Street) Catalogue No. XX. of
Books Old and New; T. Kerslake's (3. Park Street, Bristol) Catalogue of
Books lately bought; W. S. Lincoln's (Cheltenham House, Westminster Road)
Sixty-seventh Catalogue of Low-priced books, mostly Second-hand; Williams
and Norgate's (14. Henrietta Street, Covent Garden) Catalogue No. III. of
Foreign Second-hand Books, and Books at reduced prices.
* * * * *
BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES WANTED TO PURCHASE.
THE COMPLAYNT OF SCOTLAND, edited by Leyden. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1801.
THOMS' LAYS AND LEGENDS OF VARIOUS NATIONS. Parts I. to VII. 12mo. 1834.
{294}
PASSIONAEL EFTE DAT LEVENT DER HEILIGEN. Folio. Basil, 1522.
CARTARI--LA ROSA D'ORO PONTIFICIA. 4to. Rome, 1681.
BROEMEL, M. C. H., FEST-TANZEN DER ERSTEN CHRISTEN. Jena, 1705.
PULLEN'S ETYMOLOGICAL COMPENDIUM. 8vo.
COOPER (C. P.), ACCOUNT OF PUBLIC RECORDS. 8vo. 1822. Vol. I.
LINGARD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Sm. 8vo. 1837. Vols. X. XI., XII., XIII.
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E. T. C. _Our correspondent will find, on referring to our First Vol._, p.
445., _that the so-called French original of_ "Not a drum was heard," _is
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THE QUARTERLY REVIEW, NO. CLXXVI., is just published.
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1. POULTRY LITERATURE.
2. WOMEN IN FRANCE--MADAME DE MAINTENON.
3. JULIUS CÆSAR--MERIVALES'S ROMAN HISTORY.
4. THE REPUBLIC IN THE KING'S COACHES.
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SKETCHES OF THE POETICAL LITERATURE OF THE PAST HALF CENTURY. In Six
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4. LAMANISM IN TARTARY AND THIBET.
5. VICTOR COUSIN.
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8. THE DEFEAT OF ITALY.
9. ULTRAMONTANE DOUBTS.
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JOHN MILLER'S CATALOGUE of BOOKS.--The New Number for APRIL is ready this
day, and can be had _Gratis_, on application. Amongst others, it contains a
large Selection of Books on Painting and the Fine Arts, from the Library of
the late Sir M. A. Shee, President of the Royal Academy; a few articles
from the late Duke of Cambridge's Collection; Works on Political Economy
and History; Books of Ballads; the Drama, &c. &c.
JOHN MILLER, 43. Chandos Street, Trafalgar Square.
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{295}
Just published, in One thick Volume, 8vo. cloth, 12s.
WILLIAM PENN; an HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY, from New Sources. With an extra
Chapter on "The Macaulay Charges." By WILLIAM HEPWORTH DIXON. With a
Portrait.
"Within the compass of an octavo volume Mr. Dixon has compressed a
great variety of facts, many original, and all skilfully arranged, so
as to produce an authentic moral portrait of his hero. The literary
merits of the volume include great research, and a narrative at once
consecutive and vivid.... It makes an undeniable exposure of blunders
committed by Mr. Macaulay in reference to its hero, which will go far
to compromise his character as a historian."--_Athenæum._
London: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193. Piccadilly.
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THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE for April contains, among other articles:--The
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IV. of the History of Nell Gwyn.--Unpublished Poems of Alex. Gill.--The
Dukes of Guise.--Chalcondyles and the English.--Bishop Stanley--Original
Letter of Pres. John Adams.--Saint Francis and the Franciscans.--The Bell
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and OBITUARY, including Memoirs of the Marquess of Northampton, Countess of
Charleville, Lord Berners, Lord Bexley, Sir F. Lawley, Sir Wm. Owen Barlow,
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STOCK of THEOLOGICAL BOOKS of Messrs. IVES and SWAN, late of
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and such taste and judgment as will enable him to quit, when occasion
requires, the dry details of a professional inquiry, and to impart to
his work as he proceeds, the grace and dignity of a philosophical
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London: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, and LONGMANS.
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THE GREEK CHURCH; a Sketch. By the Author of "Proposals for Christian
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{296}
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MURRAY'S ENGLISH HANDBOOKS.
* * * * *
I.
Early in April will be published, as a Pocket Volume, 16mo.,
HANDBOOK OF MODERN LONDON; Or, LONDON AS IT IS, IN 1851: giving full
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including the various
Palaces.
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Principal Streets.
Hospitals and Asylums.
Clubs.
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Theatres.
Public Monuments.
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Conveyances, &c.
*** The aim of this Work is to describe those Features of the Metropolis
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well as to give some general hints as to Hotels, Lodgings, &c.; in other
words, it is intended to make "MURRAY'S HANDBOOK OF MODERN LONDON" on the
plan adopted with so much success in "MURRAY'S CONTINENTAL HANDBOOKS."
* * * * *
II.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY: Its ART, ARCHITECTURE, and ASSOCIATIONS. By PETER
CUNNINGHAM, F.S.A. New Edition. 16mo.
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III.
THE BRITISH MUSEUM: Its ANTIQUITIES and SCULPTURE. By W. S. W. VAUX, F.S.A.
Woodcuts. Post 8vo. (In April.)
* * * * *
IV.
THE GALLERIES OF PICTURES IN AND NEAR LONDON. Including THE NATIONAL
GALLERY; WINDSOR CASTLE; HAMPTON COURT; DULWICH GALLERY; SOANE'S MUSEUM;
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By MRS. JAMESON. Post 8vo. 10s.
* * * * *
V.
HANDBOOK OF LONDON: PAST and PRESENT. By PETER CUNNINGHAM, F.S.A.
Containing full Descriptions of all the
Remarkable Old Inns, Coffee Houses, and Taverns.
Town Houses of the Old Nobility.
Old London Sights.
Ancient Theatres and Crosses.
The Hostels of Church Dignitaries.
Privileged Places for Debtors.
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Burial Places of Eminent Individuals.
Second Edition, revised. Post 8vo. 16s.
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VI.
WINDSOR AND ETON: THE CASTLE, ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, and ETON COLLEGE. By
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HANDBOOK OF ENGLAND AND WALES; giving an Account of the Places and Objects
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PART I.
THE EASTERN COUNTIES: ESSEX, SUFFOLK, NORFOLK, CAMBRIDGE, and LINCOLN.
(Nearly ready.)
PART VII.
DEVON AND CORNWALL. (Ready.)
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their Political Relations, as will, it is hoped, render it useful to all
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* * * * *
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
* * * * *
Printed by THOMAS CLARK SHAW, of No. 8. New Street Square, at No. 5. New
Street Square, in the Parish of St. Bride, in the City of London; and
published by GEORGE BELL, of No. 186. Fleet Street, in the Parish of St.
Dunstan in the West, in the City of London, Publisher, at No. 186. Fleet
Street aforesaid.--Saturday, April 12. 1851.
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