Title: Notes and Queries, Number 11, January 12, 1850
Author: Various
Release date: March 1, 2004 [eBook #11653]
Most recently updated: December 26, 2020
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Joshua Hutchinson and PG Distributed
Proofreaders. Produced from page scans provided by Internet Library
of Early Journals.
| No. 11. | Saturday, January 12, 1850. | Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d. |
About ten years since, I remember seeing, in the hands of a London bookseller, a curious MS. purporting to be the "Household Book of Receipts and Expences of Sir Edward Dering, Bart., of Surrenden Dering, Kent, from Lady-Day, 1648, to April, 1652." It was a think folio, in the original binding, entirely in the hand-writing of the distinguished baronet.
Sir Edward was the only son of Sir Edward Dering, the first baronet, by his second wife, Anne, daughter of Sir John Ashburnham, of Ashburnham, Sussex, Knt. He succeeded to the baronetcy upon the death of his father, in 1644, and married Mary, daughter of Daniel Harvey, Esq., of Combe, Surrey, who was brother of the famous Dr. Harvey, the discoverer of the circulations of the blood.
The volume commences at Lady-day, 1648, with the gifts of his grandmother Cramond, and his uncles Dr. Harvey and Eliab Harvey. Nov. 8. 1648, is a memorandum of receipts of "the full remainder of the three thousand pounds he was to pay me on my marriage." The receipts close March 25. 1652, with "a note of what money I have received for rent, wood, &c.; in effect, what I have to live upon, for four years, 1413l. 8s." The expenses begin at the same period; and among the earliest is, "given my wife, in gold, 100l." Under the date Aug. 4. 1648, we read, "Item: paid Mr. Edward Gibbes, to the use, and by the appointment of my sister Dorothy, it being her portion, 1200l." Dorothy was probably Sir Edward's only sister, by the same mother, Sir Edward, the first baronet's second wife. Her sun of life soon set; for Feb. 21. 1650, a whole page is occupied with items of mourning "at the death of my deare and only sister, the Lady Darell."
Independently of the frequent notices of relatives, almost serving as a family history, there are entries of high interest to the general historian and the antiquary. The costs of every article of use and virtue are set down in full, and a few of the items (which I find in my Common-place Book) will serve as a specimen of the general contents:—
"1648. July 31. It. for seeing two plaies with my
wife, &c., coach hire, &c., 1l. 6s.
— Sept. 2. It. paid the upholsterer for a
counterpayne to the yellow
petuana bed 3l. 10s.
— Sept. 7. Paid Mr. Winne, for a tippet of
sables for my wife 14l.
— Nov. 23. For a copy of Marg. Dering's
office 9s.
— Dec. 23. It. paid Mr. Le Neve, in part for
my wife's picture 3l.
— Mar. 8. It. a velvet saddle furniture for
my wife, 13l. It. black sattin,
for a gown for her, 7l. It. two
diamond rings 13l.
"1649. April 16. It. given seeing Rechampton-House 6s.
— April 28. It. paid Mr. Le Neve, the remainder
due for my wife's picture,
3l. 4s. It. paid him for a {162}
picture of the king. 2l. It. paid
him for a new frame to my
grandmother's — 6s.
"1649. May 9. Item, given at John Tradeskin's
[Tradescant] — 2s. 6d.
— June 1. Paid Mr. Lawes, a month's
teaching of my wife — 1l. 10s.
— Sept 1. It. spent at Tunbridge Welles, in
19 dayes stay — 26l, 8s.
"1650. April 8. It. paid Mr. Lilly [Sir Peter] for
my wife's picture — 5l.
"1651. April 21. It. paid Mr. Lelie for my picture,
5l. It. paid him for my wife's
picture, being larger, 10l. It.
given Mr. Lelie's man, 5s.
— April 23. It. paid Frank Rower for a frame
for my wife's picture 4l.
— Aug. 7. Spent in Spring Gardens, and
coach hire thither — 17s.
— Sept. 3. Baubles at Bartholomew fayre, 4s.
— Oct. 3. It. given the Scots prisoners, 8s.
— Nov. 13. It. paid for bringing a great cake
from Richborow — 3s.
— March 9. Twelve paire of gloves given my
Valentine, the Lady Palmer
1l. 12s.
— March 22. It. paid Mr. Lilly for Mrs.
Montague's picture, the larger size
10l.
The entry concerning the Celebrated Henry Lawes, Milton's Tuneful Harry, is very interesting, and is well illustrated by the following dedication, prefixed to Lawes' Second Book of Ayres and Dialogues, 1655:—
"To the Honourable the Lady Dering, Wife to Sir Edward Dering, of Surenden Dering, Bart.
"Madam,—I have consider'd, but could not finde it lay in my power, to offer this Book to any but your Ladiship. Not only in regard of that honour and esteem you have for Musick, but because those Songs which fill this Book have receiv'd much lustre by your excellent performance of them; and (which I confesse I rejoice to sepak of) some, which I esteem the best of these ayres, were of your own composition, after your noble husband was pleas'd to give the words. For (although your Ladiship resolv'd to keep it private) I beg leave to declare, for my own honour, that you are not only excellent for the time you spent in the practice of what I set, but are yourself so good a composer, that few of any sex have arriv'd to such perfection. So as this Book (at least a part of it) is not Dedicated, but only brought home to your Ladiship. And here I would say (could I do it without sadness), how pretious to my thoughts is the memory of your excellent Mother (that great example of prudence and charity), whose pious meditations were often advanc'd by hearing your voice. I wish all prosperity to your Ladiship, and to him who (like yourself) is made up of Harmony; to say nothing of the rest of his high accomplishments of wisdome and learning. May you both live long, happy in each other, when I am become ashes; who, while I am in this world, shall be ever found, Madame,
"Your Ladiship's humble Admirer
"and faitnful Servant,
"HENRY LAWES."
The Derings appear to have been great lovers and patrons of music; and one of their family, Richard, practised the art as his profession. This excellent musician was educated in Italy; and, when his education was completed, he returned to England with great reputation. He resided in his own country for some time, but, upon a very pressing invitation, went to Brussels, and became organist to the convent of English nuns there. From the marriage of Charles I., until the time when that monarch left England, he was organist to the Queen. In 1610 he was admitted to the degree of Bachelor in Music at Oxford, and died in the communion of the Church of Rome, about the year 1657.
A piece of topographical history was disclosed at the recent trial of a cause at Westminster, which it may be worth while to record among your "Notes." The Dean and Chapter of Westminster are possessed of the manor of Westbourne Green, in the parish of Paddington, parcel of the possessions of the extinct Abbey of Westminster. It must have belonged to the Abbey when Domesday was compiled; for, though neither Westbourne nor Knightsbridge (also a manor of the same house) is specially named in that survey, yet we know, from a later record, viz. a Quo Warranto in 22 Edward I., that both of those manors were members, or constituent hamlets, of the vill of Westminster, which is mentioned in Domesday among the lands of the Abbey. The most considerable tenant under the abbot in this vill was Bainiardus, probably the same Norman associate of the Conqueror who is called Baignardus and Bainardus in other parts of the survey, and who gave his name to Baynard's Castle.
The descent of the land held by him of the abbot cannot be clearly traced: but his name long remained attached to part of it; and, as late as the year 1653, a parliamentary grant of the Abbey or Chapter lands to Foxcrafte and another, describes "the common field at Paddington" as being "near a place commonly called Baynard's Watering."
In 1720, the lands of the Dean and Chapter in the same common field are described, in a terrier of the Chapter, to be the occupation of Alexander Bond, of Bear's Watering, in the same parish of Paddington.
The common field referred to, is the well-known piece of garden ground lying between Craven {163} Hill and the Uxbridge road, called also Bayswater Field.
We may therefore fairly conclude, that this portion of ground, always remarkable for its springs of excellent water, once supplied water to Baynard, his household, or his cattle; that the memory of his name was preserved in the neighbourhood for six centuries; and that his watering-place now figures on the outside of certain green omnibuses in the streets of London, under the name of BAYSWATER.
Being a subscriber to Mr. O'Donovan's new translation of The Annals of the Four Masters, I beg to inform your correspondent, "A HAPLESS HUNTER" (No. 6, p. 92.), that the copy which I possess begins with the year 1172; consequently, it is hopeless to refer to the years 1135 and 1169. In 1173 the death of Mulmurry Mac-Murrough is recorded; as also of Dermot O'Kaelly, from whom the family name of Kelly is derived; but I do not find any notice of the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough.
Oxford.
If some earlier note-taker has not anticipated me, please to inform your correspondent from Malvern Wells that the published portion of the Annals of the Four Masters, by O'Donovan, commences with the year 1172. The earlier portion of the Annals is in the press, and will shortly appear. When it sees the light, your querist will, it is to be hoped, find an answer. A query, addressed personally, to Mr. O'Donavan, Queen's College, Galway, would, no doubt, meet with a ready reply from that learned and obliging Irish scholar and historian.
Kilkenny.
"A HAPLESS HUNTER" will find, in the Statute of Kilkenny (edited by James Hardiman, Esq., M.R.I.A. for the Irish Archaeological Society in 1843), pp. 28, 29, note, two incidental notices of Eva, daughter of Dermot McMorrough; the first, her witnessing a grant made by Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, during his lifetime; and the second, a grant made by her to John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, in the reign of Richard I. (at least sixteen years after her husband's death), "pro salute anime mee et domini comitis Ricardi," &c. Should he not have an opportunity of consulting the work, I shall have much pleasure in furnishing the entire extract, on receiving a line from him.
10. Dorchester Place, Blandford Square.
Giraldus Cambrensis mentions, that MacMurrough, having, in the year 1167, procured letters patent from Henry II., repaired to England, and there induced Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke and Strighul, to engage to aid him, on condition of receiving, in return, the hand of his eldest daughter, Eva, and the heirship of his dominions.—Girald. Camb. p. 761. And further, that Strongbow did not arrive in Ireland until the eve of St. Bartholomew's day, September, 1170; he was joined at Waterford by Eva and her father, and the marriage took place a few days after, and during the sacking of that place.—Ibid. p. 773.
"Strongbow left, by his second wife Eva, one daughter, named Isabella, an infant. * * * Richard the First gave Isabella in marriage to William de la Grace, who thus became Earl of Pembroke, and was created First Earl Marshal of England," &c.—Fenton's Hist. Pembrokeshire.
I have placed this title in my note-books, more than one instance of similarity of thought, incident, or expression that I have met with during a somewhat desultory course of reading. These instances I shall take the liberty of laying before you from time to time, leaving you and your readers to decide whether such similarity be the effect of accident or design; but I flatter myself that they may be accepted as parallel passages and illustrations, even by those who may differ from me in the opinion I have formed on the relation which my "loci inter se comparandi" bear to each other.
In Lady Blessington's Conversations with Lord Byron, pages 176, 177., the poet is represented as stating that the lines—
"While Memory, with more than Egypt's art,
Embalming all the sorrows of the heart,
Sits at the altar which she raised to woe,
And feeds the source whence tears eternal flow!"
suggested to his mind, "by an unaccountable and incomprehensible power of association," the thought—
"Memory, the mirror which affliction dashes to the earth, and, looking down upon the fragments, only beholds the reflection multiplied."
afterwards apparently embodied in Childe Harold, iii. 33.
"Even as a broken mirror, which the glass
In every fragment multiplies; and makes
A thousand images of one that was,
The same, and still the more, the more it breaks."
Now, Byron was, by his own showing, an ardent admirer of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. See Moore's Life of Byron, vol. i. page 144. Notices of the year 1807.
Turn to Burton, and you will find the following passage:—
I am uncharitable enough to believe that Childe Harold owes far more to Burton, than to "the unaccountable and incomprehensible power of association."
I think your correspondent in No. 6. p. 93., starts on wrong premises; he seems to take for granted that such a structure as Belin's Gate really existed. Now the story entirely rests on the assertion of Geoffrey of Monmouth. What amount of credit may be placed on that veracious and most unromantic historian, your correspondent doubtless knows better than myself. Geoffrey says, in the 10th chap. of the 3rd book, that Belin, among other great works, made a wonderful gate on the bank of the Thames, and built over it a large tower, and under it a wharf for ships; and when he died his body was burned, and his ashes put into a golden urn on the top of the tower. Stow seems to doubt it. In Strype's edition, 1720, he says, concerning this gate, "Leaving out the fable thereof faming it to be builded by King Belin, a Briton, long before the incarnation of Christ." Burton, writing 1722, mentions the legend, but adds, "But whether of that antiquity is doubted." and John Brydall, in 1676, mentions it only as a wharf or quay for ships. Now, as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Chronicle is generally allowed by critics to be but a mass of romance and monkish legends, built on a slight foundation of truth, we may suppose this account to partake of the general character of the rest of the work. That some circumstance gave rise to the name is not doubted. "Haply," says Stow, "some person of that name lived near." I look on the name as only a corruption or romantic alteration of the word Baal or Bel; and, as we have every reason to suppose he was worshipped by part of the aborigines of this country, I deem it not improbable that on or near this spot might once have existed a temple for his worship, which afterwards gave a name to the place. It is true Baal generally had his temples placed on the summit of lofty mountains or other eminences. But supposing a number of his votaries to have settled near London, and on the banks of the Thames, nothing would be more likely than, to obviate the natural lowness of the ground, they would raise a tower for the better celebration of the ceremonies attendant on his worship. This might have been the foundation upon which Geoffrey built his story. However, I only suggest this. The real origin of the name I am afraid is too far sunk in oblivion to hold out any hopes of its being rescued at the present day.
If "WILLIAM WILLIAMS" will examine the map of London in 1543, lately engraved from a drawing in the Bodleian Library, he will perceive the "Water Gate,", about which he inquires, defended on the west side by a lofty hexagonal machicolated tower.
In order to forward your views as regards the valuable department of "Notes from Fly-Leaves" I have spent some leisure hours in beating the covers of a portion of my library. I send you the produce of my first day's sport, which, you will observe, has been in the fields of poetry. Make what use of it you think fit, selecting such notes only as you think of sufficient interest for publication.
I. Note in the handwriting of Richard Farmer, in a copy of "Canidia, or the Witches; a Rhapsody in five parts, by R.D." 4to. London, printed by S. Roycroft for Robert Clavell, 1683.
"In Mr. Hutton's Catale P. 65. N. 1552. this strange composition is ascribed to one Dixon. There was a Robert Dixon, an author about the time, and D.D. (Woods's Fasti, v. ii. p. 103.), but it surely must not be given to him! Qu.? This is the only copy I have seen, 1785."
[Lowndes has the work under the name of Robert Dixon, D.D.]
II. Note in the handwriting of James Bindley, in a copy of an English translation of Milton's "Defensio pro Populo Anglicano," printed in the year 1692.
"Translated into English by Richard Washington, Esq., of the Middle Temple."
On another page, however, he has written,
"Mem. in a miscellany called 'Poems on Affairs of State,' 8vo. 5th edit. 1703, at page 223 'In memory of Joseph Washington, Esq., late of the Middle Temple, an elegy written by N. Tate, Servant to their Majesties.' Though Mr. Warton calls him Richard, his name was, I believe, as above, and the translator most likely of this book.—J.B."
To this is added, in the handwriting of the late Mr. Ford, bookseller, formerly of Manchester—
"The note on the opposite side, signed J.B., stands for James Bindley, who may be considered as good authority for what is here asserted. Some curious information will be found relative to the original work in 'Diction. des Livres Condamnés,' &c., par Peignot. tom. ii. p 319."
III. Note in the handwriting of Mr. Ford, in a copy of Fletcher's "Purple Island,", &c. 1633.
"See the lines at the end by Francis Quarles, which are ingenious and poetical. This curious and very rare volume I purchased out of Longman's celebrated catalogue of old English poetry, called 'Bib. Ang. Poet.,' where it will be found marked £2 12s. 6d., which is what it cost me. Mr. Montgomery, the poet, styles
{165}this poem a fantastical allegory describing the body and soul of man, but containing many rich and picturesque passages (v. his 'Christian Poem,' p. 163.) But there is a most excellent critique upon it in the 'Retrosp. Rev.' for Nov. 1820 (v.p. 351.), but see also Headley, who highly praises it. The name of Fletcher ranks high in the list of our poets. He was born in 1584, and was the son of Dr. Giles Fletcher, who was himself a poet; the brother of Giles Fletcher, the author of 'Christ's Victory;' and the cousin of John Fletcher, the celebrated dramatist."
IV. In a note on a copy of "Iter Boreale, with large additions of several other poems, being an exact collection of all hitherto extant; never before published together. The author R. Wild, D.D., printed for the booksellers in London, 1668,"—the author is described as "of Tatenill, near Burton supr Trent." The note is apparently of contemporary date, or a little later.
This edition is not noticed by Lowndes, nor is another edition (anonymous), of which I have a copy, the date of which is 1605 (printed for R.J., and are to be sold in St. Paul's Churchyard). Of course this date is a mistake, but query what is the real date? Probably 1665. The volume concludes with the 70th page, being identical with the 72nd page of the edition of 1668.
V. Note in the handwriting of Mr. Ford, in a copy of "Waller's Poems," 1645 (after quoting "Rymer on Tragedy," pp. 2. and 79.):—
"The dedicatory epistle in this first and rare edition 'To my Lady,' is omitted in all the subsequent editions, even in Fenton's of 1729 (see Dibdin).—I find it is inserted in Fenton's edition among the speeches and letters; but he adds, in his observations thereon, that it appears not to have been designed for a public dedication, though why or wherefore he assigns no reason; and he further adds, 'I never met with any tradition to what Lady it was originally directed.' It certainly has as much the appearance of having been intended for a dedication, if we may judge from internal evidence, as such sort of things generally have. This is the first genuine edition and very scarce. It is priced in the 'Bib. Ang. Poet.'; at 2 gs. No. 851. The subsequent editions are of no particular value, exception Fenton's elegant and complete edition in 4to., which is worth about the same sum."
VI. Note in a handwriting of the 17th century, in a copy of Cawood's edition of the "Ship of Fools," opposite to the dedication, which is "Venerandissimo in Christo Patri ac Domino, domino Thomæ Cornissh, Tenenensis pontifici, ac diocesis Badonensis Suffraganio vigilantissimo," &c.
"Thomas Cornish, in 1421-2, was made Suffragan Bishop to Rich. Fox, Bp of Bath and Wells, under ye title of 'Episcopus Tynensis,' by wh I suppose is meant Tyne, ye last island belonging to ye republick of Venice in ye Archipelago. See more of him in 'Athenæ Oxoniens,' vol. i. p. 555."
VII. Note by T. Park, in a copy of the third edition of an "Essay on Human Life," by the author of the "Essay on Man," 1736. (Printed for J. Witford.)
"By Lord Pagett. 1st edn 1734. 4to. says Lord Orford. An edn in 8vo. was printed in 1736 'for Fletcher Gyles against Grays Inn in Holbourn,' and was called (as this is) the third; but it gave no delusive intimation in the title that Pope was the author, honestly assigning it to the Right Hon. Lord Pagett. To the preface was added a short postscript."
On another page he has written:
"This is perhaps the most successful imitation of Pope's ethic poem which has been produced. Lord Paget has had the credit of composing it."
In another handwriting there is written:
"From Mr. Newton, a valuable present, June 25. 1760."
Under which Mr. Park has added:
"Qu. from Newton to Cowper, whose handwriting resembles the above."
VIII. I have a little book entitled, "The Original History of Old Robin Gray; with the adventures of Jenny and Sandy: a Scotch Tale;" n.d. printed for H. Turpin. A prose narrative, apparently intended for children, but which Mr. Haslewood has enriched with a number of newspaper cuttings and other illustrations, and has added the following note:—
"Auld Robin Gray; a ballad by the Right Honourable Lady Anne Barnard, born Lady Anne Lindsay of Balcarras; Edin. printed by James Ballantyne and Co. 1825, qto. This is the first authentic edition of this beautiful Scottish ballad, and forms one of the publications by Sir Walter Scott as a member of the Bannatyne Club. The publication gives an interesting account of the authoress—of the origin of the ballad —the ballad—continuation of Auld Robin Gray, all from the same hand; it is to be regretted it is not published for wider circulation. It will, it may be expected, find a vent for the publick at some future period, and some of the gatherings in this volume swell a note or two, if not a page.—See 'Cens. Lib.' vol. ix. p. 323. for another ballad called, 'Continuation of Auld Robin Gray.' Auld Robin gray's Ghaist begins 'Right sweetly sang the nightingale,' among my Scotch songs. The sequel to Auld Robin Gray begins, 'Full five long years' in do."
II. Lord Clarendon.
"This great historian is always too free with his judgments. But the piety is more eminent than the superstition in this great man's foibles."—Bishop Warburton, note, last edition, vol. vii. p. 590.
"It is to be hoped no more chancellors will write our story, till they can divest themselves of that habit of their profession, apologising for a bad cause."—H. Walpole, Note in Historic Doubts.
"Clarendon was unquestionably a lover of truth, {166} and a sincere friend to the free constitution of his country. He defended that constitution in Parliament, with zeal and energy, against the encroachments of prerogative, and concurred in the establishment of new securities for its protection." —Lord Grenville, Note in Chatham Correspondence, vol. i. p. 113.
"We suffer ourselves to be delighted by the keenness of Clarendon's observations, and by the sober majesty of his style, till we forget the oppressor and the bigot in the historian."—Macaulay, Essays, vol. ii. p. 281.
"There is no historian, ancient or modern, with whose writings it so much behoves an Englishman to be thoroughly conversant, as Lord Clarendon."—Southey, Life of Cromwell.
"The genuine text of the history has only been published in 1826," says Mr. Hallam, who speaks of "inaccuracy as habitual to him;" and further, "as no one, who regards with attachment the present system of the English constitution, can look upon Lord Clarendon as an excellent minister, or a friend to the soundest principles of civil and religious liberty, so no man whatever can avoid considering his incessant deviations from the great duties of an historian as a moral blemish on his character. He dares very frequently to say what is not true, and what he must have known to be otherwise; he does not dare to say what is true, and it is almost an aggravation of this reproach, that he aimed to deceive posterity, and poisoned at the fountain a stream from which another generation was to drink. No defence has ever been set up for the fidelity of Clarendon's history; nor can men, who have sifted the authentic material, entertain much difference of judgment in this respect; though, as a monument of powerful ability and impressive eloquence, it will always be read with that delight which we receive from many great historians, especially the ancient, independent of any confidence in their veracity." —Hallam, Constitutional History, 8vo. vol. ii. p.502.
"His style is a little long-winded; but, on the other hand, his characters may match those of the ancient historians; and one thinks they would know the very men if you were to meet them in society. Few English writers have the same precision, either in describing the actors in great scenes, or the deeds which they performed; he was himself deeply engaged in the scenes which he depicts, and therefore colours them with the individual feeling, and sometimes, doubtless, with the partiality of a partisan. Yet, I think he is, on the whole, a fair writer; for though he always endeavours to excuse King Charles, yet he points out his mistakes and errors, which certainly were neither few nor of slight importance."—Scott, Life by Lockhart, vol. v. p. 146.
Other opinions as to the noble writer will be found in the Life of Calamy, and in Lord Dover's Essay; but I have perhaps trespassed too much on your space.
Books by the Yard. —Many of your readers have heard of books bought and sold by weight,— in fact it is questionable whether the number of books sold in that way is not greater than those sold "over the counter,"—but few have probably heard of books sold "by the yard." Having purchased at St. Petersburg, the library left by an old Russian nobleman of high rank, I was quite astonished to find a copy of Oeuvres de Frederic II. originally published in 15 vols., divided into 60, to each of which a new title had been printed; and several hundred volumes lettered outside Oeuvres de Miss Burney, Oeuvres de Swift, &c., but containing, in fact, all sorts of French waste paper books. These, as well as three editions of Oeuvres de Voltaire, were all very neatly bound in calf, gilt and with red morrocco backs. My curiosity being roused, I inquired into the origin of these circumstances, and learnt that during the reign of Catherine, every courtier who had hopes of being honoured by a visit from the Empress, was expected to have a library, the greater or smaller extent of which was to be regulated by the fortune of its possessor, and that, after Voltaire had won the favour of the Autocrat by his servile flattery, one or two copies of his works were considered indispensable. Every courtier was thus forced to have rooms filled with books, by far the greater number of which he never read or even opened. A bookseller of the name of Klostermann, who, being of an athletic stature, was one of the innumerable favourites of the lady, "who loved all things save her lord," was usually employed, not to select a library, but to fill a certain given space of so many yards with books, at so much per volume, and Mr. Klostermann, the "Libraire de la Cour Imperiale," died worth a plum, having sold many thousand yards of books (among which I understood there were several hundred copies of Voltaire), at from 50 to 100 roubles a yard, "according to the binding."
Thistle of Scotland.—R.L. will find the thistle first introduced on coins during the reign of James V., although the motto "Nemo me impune lacessit" was not adopted until two reigns later. —See Lindsay's Coinage of Scotland, Longman, 1845.
Miry-Land Town. In the Athenaeum, in an article on the tradition respecting Sir Hugh of Lincoln, the Bishop of Dromore's version of the affair is thus given:—
"The rain rins doun through Mirry-land toune,
Sae dois it doune the Pa';
Sae dois the lads of Mirry-land toune.
Quhan they play at the Ba'."
In explanation of part of this stanza, Dr. Percy is stated to have considered "Mirry-land toune" to be "probably a corruption of Milan (called by the Dutch Meylandt) town," and that the Pa' {167} was "evidently the River Po, though the Adige, not the Po, runs through Milan;" and it is observed that it could not have occasioned Dr. Jamieson much trouble to conjecture as he did that "Mirry-land toune" was a corruption of "Merry Lincolne," and that, in fact, in 1783, Pinkerton commenced his version of the ballad thus—
"The bonnie boys o' merry Lincoln;"
and it is added, very truly, that with all his haste and petulance, Pinkerton's critical acumen was far from inconsiderable. Now, there appears to me to have been a very simple solution of the above words, so simple that perhaps it was beneath the critical acumen of the said commentators. My note on the subject is, that Mirry-land toune means nothing more than Miry-, Muddy-land Town, a designation that its situation certainly entitles it to; and Pa' is certainly not the Po, but an abbreviated form of Pall, i.e. a place to play Ba' or ball in, of which we have a well-known instance in Pall Mall.
Since writing the above, I recollect that Romsey, in Hampshire, has been designated "Romsey-in-the-Mud."
Richard Greene of Lichfield.—H.T.E. is informed that there is a medal or token (not difficult to obtain) of this zealous antiquary. Obv. his bust, in the costume of the period; legend, "Richard Greene, collector of the Lichfield Museum, died June 4, 1793, aged 77." Rev. a Gothic window, apparently; legend, "West Porch of Lichfield Cathedral, 1800."
The Lobster in the Medal of the Pretender.—The "Notes" by your correspondents, Mr. Edward Hawkins and Mr. J.B. Yates, relative to this medal, are very curious and interesting, and render it probable that the device of the Lobster has a religious rather than a political allusion. But it strikes us that the double introduction of this remarkable emblem has a more important signification than the mere insidious and creeping characteristics of Jesuitism. The lines beneath the curious print in Brandt's Stultifera Nuvis throw no light on the meaning of the Lobster. We think the difficulty yet remains unsolved.
Marescautia.—Your correspondent "D.S." who asks (in No. 6.) for information upon the word "Marescautia," may consult Du Cange with advantage, s. v. "Marescallus;" the "u," which perhaps was your correspondent's difficulty, being often written for "l," upon phonotypic principles. It was anciently the practice to apportion the revenues of royal and great monastic establishments to some specific branch of the expenditure; and as the profits of certain manors, &c., are often described as belonging to the "Infirmaria," the "Camera Abbatis," &c., so, in the instance referred to by "D.S." the lands at Cumpton and Little Ongar were apportioned to the support of the royal stable and farriery.
Macaulay's "Young Levite.—The following is an additional illustration of Mr. Macaulay's sketch, from Bishop Hall's Byting Satyres, 1599:—
"A gentle squire would gladly entertaine
Into his house some Trencher-chapelaine;
Some willing man, that might instruct his sons,
And that would stand to good conditions.
First, that he lie upon the truckle-bed,
While his young master lieth o'er his head;
Second, that he do, upon no default,
Never to sit above the salt;
Third, that he never change his trencher twise;
Fourth, that he use all common courtesies,
Sit bare at meales, and one half rise and wait;
Last, that he never his young master beat,
But he must aske his mother to define
How manie jerks she would his breech should line;
All these observ'd, he could contented be,
To give five markes, and winter liverie."
Travelling in England.—I forward you a note on this subject, extracted, some years ago, from a very quaintly-written History of England, without title-page, but apparently written in the early part of the reign of George the First. It is among the remarkable events of the reign of James the First:—
"A.D. 1621, July the 17th, Bernart Calvert of Andover, rode from St. George's Church in Southwark to Dover, from thence passed by Barge to Callais in France, and from thence returned back to Saint George's Church the same day. This his journey he performed betwixt the hours of three in the morning and eight in the afternoon."
This appears to me such a surprising feat, that I think some of your correspondents may be interested in it; and also may be able to append farther information.
Warning to Watchmen.—The following Warning, addressed to the Watchmen of London on the occasion of a great fire, which destroyed nearly 100 houses in the neighbourhood of Exchange Alley, Birchin Lane, the back of George Yard, &c., among which were Garraway's, The Jerusalem Coffee House, George and Vulture, Tom's, &c. &c., is extracted from the London Magazine for 1748, and is very characteristic of the then state of the police of the metropolis:—
"Mr. Touchit's Warning to the Watchmen of London. From the Westminster Journal, April 2nd, No. 331. (1748).
"Whereas it has been represented to me, Thomas Touchit, Watchman Extraordinary of the City of Westminster, that the Watchmen of London were very remiss during the dreadful Fire on Friday morning, March 25, in not giving timely Notice of that Calamity over their several Beats, whereby the Friends of many {168} of the unhappy Sufferers, who would have flown to their Assistance, were ignorant of their Distress till it was too late to do them Service; and also that most of the said Watchmen, on other Occasions, are very negligent, whence it happens that many Robberies, Burglaries, and other Offences, which their Care might prevent, are committed; and that even some of them are in Fee with common Harlots and Streetwalkers, whom they suffer at unseasonable Hours, unmolested to prey on the Virtue, Health and Property of His Majesty's Liege Subjects: Be it known to the said Watchmen, and their Masters, that, having taken the Premises into Consideration, I intend whenever I set out from Spring Gardens with my invisible Cap, my irradiating Lanthorn, and my Oken Staff of correction, to take the City of London, under Leave of the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, into my Rounds, and to detect, expose, and punish all Defaulters in the several Stands and Beats: Whereof this fair Warning is given, that none may be surprized in Neglect of Duty, I being determined to shew no Favour to such Offenders."
Euston Square, 12th Dec. 1849.
Aelfric's Colloquy.—Permit me to correct a singular error into which the great Anglo-Saxon scholars, Messrs. Lye and B. Thorpe, have been betrayed by some careless transcriber of the curious Monastic Colloquy by the celebrated Aelfric. This production of the middle ages is very distinctly written, both in the Saxon and Latin portions, in the Cotton MS. (Tiberius, A 3, fol. 58b.) Mr. Lye frequently cites it, in his Saxon Dictionary, as "Coll. Mon.," and Mr. Thorpe gives it entire in his Analecta Anglo-Saxonica. The former loosely explains higdifatu, which occurs in the reply of the shoewright (sceowyrhta), thus—"Calidilia, sc. vasa quoedam.—Coll. Mon." —and Mr. Thorpe prints both higdifatu and calidilia. Higdifatu is manifestly vessels of hides, such as skin and leather bottles and buckets. The ig is either a clerical error of the monkish scribe for y, or the g is a silent letter producing the quantity of the vowel. "I buy hides and fells," says the workman, "and with my craft I make of them shoes of different kinds; leathern hose, flasks, and higdifatu." The Latin word in this MS. is casidilia, written with the long straight s. Du Cange explains capsilis to be a vessel of leather, and quotes Matt. Westmon.: "Portans cassidile toxicum mellitum."—Gloss. tom. ii. col. 387. The root caps, or cas, does not appear to have any Teutonic correspondent, and may merit a philological investigation.
Humble Pie.— the proverbial expression of "eating humble pie," explained by A.G., will be found also explained in the same manner in the Appendix to Forby's Vocabulary, where it is suggested that the correct orthography would be "umble pie," without the aspirate. Bailey, in his valuable old Dictionary, traces the word properly to umbilicus, the region of the intestines, and acknowledges in his time the perquisite of the game-keeper.
Oxford.
By Hook or by Crook.—You have noted the origin of Humble Pie. May I add a note of a saying, in my opinion also derived from forest customs, viz. "By hook or by crook?" Persons entitled to fuel wood in the king's forest, were only authorised to take it of the dead wood or branches of trees in the forest, "with a cart, a hook, and a crook."
The answer to the query respecting the meaning of "per serjantiam Marescautiae," is the Serjeantry of Farriery, i.e. shoeing of the king's horses. In Maddox, vol. i. p. 43. you will find a very full account of the office of Marescallus.
"Written on board the Berwick, a few days before Admiral Parker's engagement with the Dutch fleet, on the 5th of August, 1781. By DR. TROTTER.
"'Tis sung on proud Olympus' hill
The Muses bear record,
Ere half the gods had drank their fill
The sacred nectar sour'd.
"At Neptune's toast the bumper stood,
Britannia crown'd the cup;
A thousand Nereids from the flood
Attend to serve it up.
"'This nauseous juice,' the monarch cries,
'Thou darling child of fame,
Tho' it each earthly clime denies,
Shall never bathe thy name.
"'Ye azure tribes that rule the sea,
And rise at my command,
Bid Vernon mix a draught for me
To toast his native land.'
"Swift o'er the waves the Nereids flew,
Where Vernon's flag appear'd;
Around the shores they sung 'True Blue,'
And Britain's hero cheer'd.
"A mighty bowl on deck he drew,
And filled it to the brink;
Such drank the Burford's2 gallant crew,
And such the gods shall drink.
"The sacred robe which Vernon wore
Was drenched within the same;
And hence his virtues guard our shore,
And Grog derives its name."
[The gallant correspondent to whom we are indebted for the foregoing satisfactory, because early and documentary, evidence of the etymology of the now familiar term GROG, informs us that there is a still earlier ballad on the subject. We trust that he will be enabled to recover that also, and put it on record in our columns.]
Barnacles.—In a Chorographical Description of West, or Il-Jar Connaught, by Rhoderic O'Flaherty, Esq., 1684, published by the Irish Archaeological Society in 1846, the bernacle goose is thus mentioned:—
"There is the bird engendered by the sea out of timber long lying in the sea. Some call them clakes, and soland geese, and some puffins; others bernacles, because they resemble them. We call them girrinn."
Martin, in his Western Isles of Scotland, says:—
"There are also the cleek geese. The shells in which this fowl is said to be produced, are found in several isles sticking to trees by the bill; of this kind I have seen many,— the fowl was covered by a shell, and the head stuck to the tree by the bill,— but never saw any of them with life in them upon the tree; but the natives told me that they had observed them to move with the heat of the sun."—See also Gratianus, Lucius, Ware's Antiquities, &c.
Eating sea-birds on fast days is a very ancient custom. Socrates mentions it in the 5th century: "Some along with fish eat also birds, saying, that according to Moses, birds like fish were created out of the waters." Mention is made in Martin's Western Isles, of a similar reason for eating seals in Lent. Cormorants, "as feeding only on fish," were allowable food on fast days, as also were otters.
Vondel's Lucifer.—I cannot inform your correspondent F. (No. 9 p. 142.), whether Vondel's Lucifer has ever been translated into English, but he will find reasons for its not being worth translating, in the Foreign Quarterly Review for April, 1829, where the following passage occurs:—
"Compare with him Milton, for his Lucifer gives the fairest means of comparison. How weak are his highest flights compared with those of the bard of Paradise! and how much does Vondel sink beneath him in his failures! Now and then the same thought may be found in both, but the points of resemblance are not in passages which do Milton's reputation the highest honour."
The scene of this strange drama is laid in Heaven, and the dramatis personæ are as follows:—
Beelzebub } Belial } Disobedient Officers. Apollion } Gabriel (Interpreter of God's secrets). Troop of Angels. Lucifer. Luciferists (Rebellious Spirits). Michael (Commander-in-chief). Rafael (Guardian Angel). Uriel (Michael's Esquire). Act I. Scene 1. Beelzebub, Belial, Apollion, &c.
I give this from the original Dutch now before me.
Dutch Version of Dr. Faustus.—Can any of your correspondents give me information as to the author of a Dutch History of Dr. Faustus, without either author's name or date, and illustrated by very rude engravings? There is no mention of where it was printed, but at the bottom of the title-page is the following notice:—
"Compared with the high Dutch copy, and corrected in many places, and ornamented with beautiful copper plates."3
There is also a promise of a Latin copy soon to follow.
[The first German chap-book upon Faust appeared in 1587. A translation of it into Dutch was published as early as 1592, at Emmerich. It was again printed at Delft in 1607; and there have been several editions since that date. The curious history of this romance has been well investigated by H. Düntzer, Die Sage von Doctor Johannes Faust, in the 5th volume of Das Kloster; and even more fully by the Freiherr v. Reichlien Meldegg, in the 11th volume of the same work.]
To Fettle.—Your correspondent L.C.R. (p. 142) is referred to the late Mr. Roger Wilbraham's Cheshire Glossary, or (as he modestly termed it) An Attempt, &c. This work, privately printed in 1820, is the republication, but with very considerable additions, of a paper in the Archaeologia, vol. xix.
The explanation of the present word is an instance of this expansion.
Your correspondent and Mr. W. agree as to the meaning of this verb, viz. "to mend, to put in order any thing which is broken or defective." Being used in this sense, Mr. W. differs from Johnson and Todd, and he is inclined to derive Fettle from some deflection of the word Faire, which comes from Latine Facere. I must not crowd your columns further, but refer to the Glossary.
May I point out rather a ludicrous misprint (doubtless owing to an illegible MS.) at p. 120. For Mr. Pickering's Lives, read Series of Aldine Poets.
To Fetyl, v. n. To join closely. See G. factil. ligamen.—Wyntown.
Fettil, Fettle, s. Energy, power.—S.B.
To Fettle, v. a. To tie up.—S.
Fettle, adj. 1. Neat, tight.—S.B. 2. Low in stature, but well-knit.—S.B.
Fetous, adj. Neat, trim.
Fetously, adv. Featly.
Jamieson's Dictionary, abridged 8vo. edition. Fettle, v. To put in order, to repair or mend any thing that is broken or defective.
I am inclined to consider it as from the same root as Feat,—viz. Sue Got. fatt, apt, ready. Swed. fatt, disposed, inclined; fatta, to comprehend.—Brockett's Glossary.
Ptolemy of Alexandria.—Your correspondent, "QUERY," wishes to be informed what works of Ptolemy have been translated. The following, as far as I can learn, is a list of them, viz.:—
"The Compost of Ptholomeus, Prynce of Astronomye, translated out of the Frenche into Englysshe." London, printed by Robert Wyer, no date, 12mo. There is also another edition of the same work, London, printed by T. Colwell, without date, 12mo.
"The Bounding of Greece-Land, according to Ptolomeus; Englished out of the Greek, by Thos. Wilson." London, 1570, 4to.
N.B. This is included in Wilson's translation of Demosthenes' Olynthiacs.
"The Geography of Ptolemy, so far as it relates to Britain; in Greek and English, with observations by J. Horsley." London, 1732, folio.
N.B. This forms a part of the Britannia Romana.
"Quadripartite; or Four Books concerning the Influence of the Stars, faithfully rendered into English, from Leo Allatius; with Notes, explaining the most difficult and obscure Passages, by John Whalley." London, 1701 and 1786, 12mo.
"Tetrabiblos, or Quadripartite; being Four Books, of the Influence of the Stars, newly translated from the Greek Paraphrase of Proclus; with a Preface, explanatory Notes, and an Appendix containing Extracts from the Almagest of Ptolemy, and the whole of his Colloquy, &c. by J.M. Ashmand." London, 1822, 8vo.
I am indebted to Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica for the titles of the first three of these works. The others I have in my possession.
Old Street.
There are several real or pretended translations of the astrological work—some certainly pretended—and Ptolemy's name is on many astrological titlepages which do not even pretend to translate. The Geography, as far as Britain is concerned, is said to be in Dr. Henry's History of Great Britain, 1788. Some works in harmonics appear in lists as translations or close imitations of Ptolemy, as John Keeble's, 1785, Francis Styles, Phil. Trans. vol. li. Various dissertations on minor pieces exist: but there is no English translation of the Almagest, &c., though it exists in French (see Smith's Biograph. Dict. art. PTOLEMY). If an English reader wants to know Ptolemy's astronomical methods and hypotheses, nothing will suit him better than Narrien's History of Astronomy.
Accuracy of References.—In connection with the article on "Misquotations," in No. 3. p.38., will you impress upon your correspondents the necessity of exact references? It is rather hard when, after a long search, a sought reference has been obtained, to find that the reference itself is, on examination, incorrect. To illustrate my position: at p. 23., in an article relating to Judge Skipwyth, and at p. 42., in an article relating to the Lions in the Tower, references to certain "pp." of the Issue Rolls of the Exchequer. Now if any person with these references were to search the Issue Rolls, he would be much surprised to find that the Rolls are rolls, and not books, and that "pp." is not the correct reference. The fact is that neither of your correspondents are quoting from the Rolls themselves, but from a volume, published in 1835, under the direction of the Comptroller General of the Exchequer, by Mr. F. Devon, called Issue Roll of Thomas de Brantingham, Bishop of Exeter, Lord High Treasurer of England, &c. 44 Edward III.
And while on the subject, permit me to remark, with reference to the article on the Domestic Expenses of Queen Elizabeth (page 41.), that there are plenty of such documents in existence, and that the only test of their value and authenticity is a reference to where they may be found, which is wanting in the article in question.
A Peal of Bells.—In No. 8 of your interesting and valuable journal, I find a query, from the REV. A. GATTY, relative to a peal of bells. Now the science of bell-ringing being purely English, we can expect to find the explanation sought for, only in English authors. Dr. Johnson says peal means a "succession of sounds;" and in this way it is used by many old writer, thus:—
"A peal shall rouse their sleep."—MILTON.
And again Addison:—
"Oh for a peal of thunder that would make
Earth, sea, and air, and heaven, and Cato tremble."
Bacon also hath it:—
"Woods of oranges will smell into the sea perhaps twenty miles; but what is that, since a peal of ordnance will do as much, which moveth in a small compass?"
It is once used by Shakespeare, Macbeth:—
"Ere to black Hecate's summons
The shard-borne beetle, with drowsy hums,
Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note."
Will not ringing a peal, then, mean a succession of sweet sounds caused by the ringing of bells in certain keys? Some ringers begin with D flat; others, again, contend they should begin in C sharp.
In your last number is a query about Scarborough Warning. Grose, in his Provincial Glossary, give the meaning as "a word and a blow, and the blow first;" it is a common proverb in Yorkshire. He gives the same account of its origin as does Ray, extracted from Fuller, and gives no notion that any other can be attached to it.
I should be very glad to have some distinct information on the above subject, especially in explanation of any repositories of human bones in England? Was the ancient preservation of these skeleton remains always connected with embalming the body?—or drying it, after the manner described by Captain Smythe, R.N., to be still practised in Sicily?—and, in cases in which dry bones only were preserved, by what process was the flesh removed from them? for, as Addison says, in reference to the catacombs at Naples, "they must have been full of stench, if the dead bodies that lay in them were left to rot in open niches." The catacombs at Paris seem to have been furnished with bones from the emptyings of the metropolitan churchyards. In some soils, however, the bones rot almost as soon as the flesh decays from them.
There are, possibly, many bone-houses in England. I have seen two of considerable extent, one at Ripon Minster, the other at Rothwell Church, in Northamptonshire; and at both places skulls and thigh bones were piled up, in mural recesses, with as much regularity as bottles in the bins of a wine-cellar. At Rothwell there was (twenty years ago) a great number of these relics. The sexton spoke of there being 10,000 skulls, but this, no doubt, was an exaggeration; and he gave, as the local tradition, that they had been gathered from the neighbouring field of Naseby. A similar story prevails at Ripon, viz. that the death-heads and cross-bones, which are arranged in the crypt under the Minster, are the grisly gleanings of some battle-field.
Now, if these, and other like collections, were really made after battles which took place during any of the civil wars of England, some details would not be unworthy of the notice of the picturesque historian; e.g., was it the custom in those unhappy days to disinter, after a time, the slightly-buried corpses, and deposit the bones in the consecrated vault?—or was this the accidental work of some antiquarian sexton of the "Old Mortality" species?—or was the pious attention suggested by the ploughman's later discoveries—
"Agricola, incurvo terram molitus aratro," &c.?
Any report from the places where there happen to be bone-houses, together with the local tradition assigning their origin, would I think, throw light on an interesting and rather obscure subject.
Ecclesfield, Dec. 31. 1849.
In answer to the question of "MELANION" (in No. 5 p. 73.), it may be sufficient to refer him to the Spanish editions with notes, viz. that of Pellicer in 1800; the 4th edition of the Spanish Academy in 1819; and that of D. Diego Clemencin in 1833, where he will find the discrepancies he mentions pointed out. In the first edition of 1605 there was another instance in the same chapter, which Cervantes corrected in the edition of 1608, but overlooked the other two. It was one of those lapses, quas incuria fudit, which great writers as well as small are subject to. Clemencin laughs at De los Rios for thinking it a chracteristic of great geniuses so to mistake; and at the enthusiasm of some one else, who said that he preferred the Don Quixote with the defects to the Don Quixote without them.
Having answered one query, I presume I may be permitted to propose one, in which I feel much interested.
Is the recently published BUSCAPIÉ the work of Cervantes? We have now been favoured with two translations, one by Thomasina Ross, the other by a member of the University of Cambridge, under the title of The Squib, or Searchfoot; the latter I have read with some attention, but not having been able to procure the Spanish original, I should be glad to have the opinion of some competent Spanish scholar who has read it, as to its genuineness. My own impression is that it will prove an ingenious (perhaps innocent?) imposture. The story of its discovery in a collection of books sold by auction at Cadiz, and its publication there by Don Adolfo de Castro, in the first place, rather excites suspicion. My impression, however, is formed from the evident artificial structure of the whole. Still, not having seen the original, I confess myself an imperfect judge, and hope that this may meet the eye of one competent to decide.
I have read the various notices in Nos. 3, 5, and 6. on the subject of these dishes. I have an electrotype copy from such a dish, the original of which is in Manchester. The device is like No. 4. of those of CLERICUS (No. 3. p. 44.); but two circles of inscription extend round the central device (the Grapes of Escol), in characters which are supposed to be Saracenic. The inner inscription is five times, the outer seven times, repeated in the round. I see by the Archaeological Journal, No. 23, for Sept. 1849 (pp.295-6.), that at the meeting of Archaeological Institute, on the 1st June last, Mr. Octavius Morgan, M.P., exhibited a collection of ancient salvers or chargers, supposed to be of latten; several ornamented with sacred devices and inscriptions, including some remarkable examples of the curious florid letter, forming legends, which have so long perplexed antiquaries in all parts of Europe. Mr. Morgan arranged the devices in four classes, the first being chargers or large {172} dishes, supposed by him to have been fabricated at Nuremburg. The northern antiquary, Sjöborg, who has written much on the subject, calls them baptismal or alms dishes. Their most common devices are, Adam and Eve (probably the No. 3. of CLERICUS), St. George, and the Grapes of Eschol (No. 4. of CLERICUS). On one of those exhibited was the Annunciation (No. 2. of CLERICUS). On these facts I wish to put the following queries:—
1. Are Sjöborg's works known to any of your readers?
2. In what language does he suppose the characters to be?
[While we are very happy to promote the inquiries of our correspondent, we think it right to apprise him that the opinions of the Swedish antiquary whom he has named, are received with great caution by the majority of his archæological brethren.]
Cupid Crying.—I shall be obliged if you, or any of your correspondents, can tell me who was the author of the epigram, or inscription, of which I subjoin the English translation. I am sure I have seen the Latin, but I do not know whose it was or where to find it; I think it belongs to one of the Italian writers of the fifteenth or sixteenth century:—
"CUPID CRYING.
"Why is Cupid crying so?—
Because his jealous mother beat him.—
What for?—For giving up his bow
To Coelia, who contrived to cheat him.
"The child! I could not have believed
He'd give his weapons to another.—
He would not; but he was deceived:
She smiled; he thought it was his mother."
Was not Sir George Jackson "Junius?"—Among the names which have been put forward as claimants to be "Junius," I beg to propose the name of SIR GEORGE JACKSON, who was, I believe, about that time Secretary to the Admiralty. I shall be glad to know what obstacles are opposed to this theory, as I think I have some presumptive evidence (I do not call it strong), which seems to show either that he was "Junius," or a party concerned.
[We insert this communication, knowing that our correspondent is likely to possess such evidence as he alludes to, and in the hope that he will be induced to bring it forward.]
Ballad of Dick and the Devil.—About the middle of the seventeenth century, occasionally resided, on the large island in Windermere, a member of the ancient but now extinct family of Philipson, of Crooke Hall. He was a dashing cavalier, and, from his fearless exploits, had acquired among the Parliamentarians the significant, though not very respectable, cognomen of "Robin the Devil."
On one of these characteristic adventures, he rode, heavily armed, into the large old church at Kendal, with the intention of there shooting an individual, from whom he had received a deeply resented injury. His object, however, was unaccomplished, for his enemy was not present; and in the confusion into which the congregation were thrown by such a warlike apparition, the dauntless intruder made his exit, though subjected to a struggle at the church door. His casque, which was captured in the skirmish that there took place, is yet to be seen in the church, and the fame of this redoubtable attempt, which was long held in remembrance through the country side, excited the poetic genius of a rhymer of the day to embody it in a ballad, entitled "Dick and the Devil," which is now rare and difficult to be met with.
As my endeavours to light on a copy have been unavailing, and my opportunities for research are limited, perhaps some one of your numerous readers who may be versed in the ballad poetry of the age of my hero, will kindly take the trouble to inform me whether he has ever met with the ballad in question, or direct me to where it may most likely be found.
I trust that from the obliging communications of some of your valuable literary correspondents, I may be so fortunate as to meet with the object of my query.
Dec. 27. Ambleside.
Erasmus' Paraphrase on the Gospels.—I have in my charge the mutilated remains of an old black-letter copy of Erasmus' Paraphrase on the Gospels, not of any great value perhaps, but interesting to me from its having been chained from time immemorial (so to speak) to one of the stalls in our parish church; it is only perfect from Mark, fol. lxiiii. to John fol. cxiii., but I should be glad to know the date, &c. of its publication. Presuming, therefore, that one of the objects of your interesting publication is to aid in solving the minor difficulties of persons like myself, who have no means of consulting any large collection of books, I have the less scruple in forwarding the accompanying "Notes" from my copy, for the guidance of any one who will be at the trouble of comparing them with any copy to which he may have access.
The spelling of the word "gospel" varies throughout; thus, in Mark, fols. lxiiii-lxxii., xci., xciv., xcv., xcvii., and xcviii. it is "ghospel;" on lxxiii-lxxvi., lxxviii., it is "gospell;" on the rest "gospel." So also throughout St. Luke, which occupies cc. foll., it varies in like manner, "ghospell" {173} being there the more common form. The initial letter to St. Luke represents Jacob's dream; on the first page of fol. vi. of St. Luke the translator's preface ends, "Geven at London the last day of Septembre, in the yere of our Lorde M.D.XLV." On fol. xiii. of the same, Erasmus' own preface ends, "Geven at Basill the xxii. dai of August ye yere of our Lord, M.D." (the rest effaced). On the first page of fol. viii. of St. John's Gospel the preface ends, "Geven at Basile the yere of our Lord, M.D.XXIII. the v daye of Januarye." If these notes are sufficient to identify my copy with any particular edition, it will afford a real pleasure to
Iland Chest.—In some wills of Bristol merchants of the latter part of the 16th century, I have met with the bequest of a chattel called an "Iland Chest:" thus, ex.g. "Item: to Edmond Poyley I give the Iland chest in the great chamber wherein his linen was." Mention is made of the like article in two or three other instances. An explanation of the word and an account of the kind of chest will much oblige.
D'Israeli on the Court of Wards.—D'Israeli, in his article upon "Usurers of the Seventeenth Century" (Curios. of Lit. iii. 89. old ed.), which is chiefly upon Hugh Audley, a master of the Court of Wards and Liveries, speaks of that court as "a remarkable institution, on which I purpose to make some researches." Can any of your readers inform me if D'Israeli acted upon this resolve, and, if so, where the results of labours are to be found?
Ancient Tiles.—Two birds, back to back, with heads turned to each other, were common on ancient tiles. What are they intended to represent or to emblemise?
Pilgrimage of Kings, &c.—Blind Man's Buff —Muffin—Hundred Weight, &c.— 1. Can your readers oblige me with the name of the author and the date of a work entitled The Pilgrimage of Kings and Princes, of which I possess an imperfect copy—a small quarto? 2. What is the etymology of the game Blind Man's Buff? I am led to doubt whether that was the old spelling of it, for in a catalogue now before me I find a quarto work by Martin Parker, entitled The Poet's Blind Man's Bough, or Have among you my Blind Harpers, 1641. 3. What is the origin of the word muffin? It is not in Johnson's Dictionary. Perhaps this sort of tea-cake was not known in his day. 4. By what logic do we call one hundred and twelve pounds merely a hundred weight? 5. I shall feel still more obliged if your readers can inform me of any works on natural history, particularly adapted for a literary man to refer to at times when poetical, mythological, scriptural, and historical associations connected with animals and plants are in question. I am constantly feeling the want of a work of the kind to comprehend zoological similes and allusions, and also notices of customs and superstitions connected with animals, when reading our old poets and chroniclers. Even the most celebrated zoological works are of no use to me in such inquiries.
Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham.—Having employed my leisure for many years in collecting materials for the biography of the famous Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham, I am baffled by the conflicting and contradictory accounts of,—(1.) The title by which he became possessed of the Vesci estates; (2.) When and by what authority he took upon him the title of "King of the Isle of Man;" and (3.) How he became dispossessed of that title, which it is well known that Edward II. bestowed upon Gaveston; and whether that circumstance did not induce him to take part with the confederate barons who eventually destroyed that favourite.
Other incongruities occur in my researches, but the above are the most difficult of solution.
I am, dear Sir,
Curious Welsh Custom.—A custom prevails in Wales of carrying about at Christmas time a horse's skull dressed up with ribbons, and supported on a pole by a man who is concealed under a large white cloth. There is a contrivance for opening and shutting the jaws, and the figure pursues and bites every body it can lay hold of, and does not release them except on payment of a fine. It is generally accompanied by some men dressed up in a grotesque manner, who, on reaching a house, sing some extempore verses requesting admittance, and are in turn answered by those within, until one party or the other is at a loss for a reply. The Welsh are undoubtedly a poetical people, and these verses often display a good deal of cleverness. This horse's head is called Mari Lwyd, which I have heard translated "grey mare." Llwyd certainly is grey, but Mari is not a mare, in Welsh. I think I have heard that there is some connection between it and the camel which often appears in old pictures of the Magi offering their gifts. Can any of your readers inform me of the real meaning of the name, and the origin of the custom, and also whether a similar custom does not prevail in some parts of Oxfordshire?
Fall of Rain in England.— Can you give me any information respecting the fall of rain in England? I mean the quantity of rain that has fallen in various parts of the island, from month {174} to month, during the last ten, fifteen, or twenty years. If any of your correspondents can do that, or can give me a list of works, periodical or otherwise, in which such information is to be found, they will greatly oblige me.
Can any of your correspondents inform me who is the author of the following lines?—
"Though with forced mirth we oft may soothe a smart,
What seemeth well, is oft not well, I ween;
For many a burning breast and bleeding heart,
Hid under guise of mirth is often seen."
Rev. J. Edwards on Metals for Telescopes.—I shall feel obliged if any of your correspondents can inform me where I can find a paper, called "Directions for making the best Composition for the Metals of reflecting Telescopes, and the Method of grinding, polishing, and giving the great Speculum the true parabolic figure," by the Rev. John Edwards, B.A.
I saw it some years ago in on old journal or transactions, but Capt. Cuttle's maxim not having been then given to the world, and being now unable to make a search, I avail myself of your valuable publication.
Colonel Blood's House.—The notorious Colonel Blood is said to have resided at a house in Peter Street, Westminster. Tradition points out the corner of Tufton Street. Can any of your readers give me information as to the correctness of this statement?
John Lucas's MS. Collection of English Songs.—Ames, the author of the Typographical Antiquities, is said to have had in his possession a folio MS. volume of English Songs or Ballads, composed or collected by one John Lucas, about the year 1450. If this MS. is in private hands, the possessor would confer an essential service on the antiquarian public by informing them of its contents.
Theophania.—I send you a copy, verbatim et literatim, of the title-page of an old book in my possession, in the hope that some one of your correspondents may be able to furnish me with information respecting its author. I believe the work to be a very scarce one, having never seen or heard of any other copy than my own.
"Theophania; or severall Modern Histories Represented by way of Romance; and Politickly Discours'd upon: by an English Person of Quality.
"Stat. Theb,
Nec divinam Sydneida tenta
Séd longe sequere, & Vestigia semper adora.
"London, printed by T. Newcomb, for Thomas Heath and are to be sold at his Shop in Russel-street, near the Piazza of Covent Garden, 1655."
Ancient MS. Account of Britain.—I find the following note in Cooper's Thesaurus Linguæ Romanæ et Britannicæ, Impressum Londini, 1573, under the word Britannia:—
"About 30 yeares since it happend in Wilshire, at Juy church, about twoo miles from Salisbury, as men digged to make a foundation, they founde an hollowe stone covered with another stone, wherein they founde a booke, having in it little above xx leaves, (as they sayde) of verye thicke velume, wherein was some thing written. But when it was shewed to priestes and chanons, which were there, they would not read it. Wherefore after they had tossed it from one to another (by the meanes whereof it was torne) they did neglect and cast it aside. Long after, a piece thereof happened to come to my handes; which notwithstanding it was al to rent and defaced, I shewed to mayster Richarde Pace, then chiefe Secretarie to the kinges most Royall maiestie, whereof he exceedingly reioysed. But because it was partly rent, partly defaced and bloured with weate which had fallen on it, he could not find any one sentence perfite. Notwithstanding after long beholding, hee showed mee, it seemed that the sayde booke contayned some auncient monument of this Ile, and that he perceyved this word Prytania to bee put for Brytannia. But at that time he said no more to me."
Cooper's conjecture founded on this is that Britain is derived from the Greek word Prytania, which, according to Suidas, "doth," with a circumflexed aspiration, "signifie metalles, fayres, and markets." "Calling the place by that which came out of it, as one would say, hee went to market, when he goeth to Antwarpe," &c. Has this been noticed elsewhere?
The announcement recently made in The Athenæum of the intention of the Government to print in a neat and inexpensive form, a series of Calendars or Indices of the valuable historical documents in the State Paper Office, cannot but be very gratifying to all students of our national history—in the first place, as showing an intention of opening those documents to the use of historical inquirers, on a plan very different from that hitherto pursued; and, in the next, it is to be hoped, as indicating that the intention formerly announced of placing the State Paper Office under the same regulation as the Record Offices, with the drawback of fees for searches, is not to be persevered in.
To the citizens of London, to its occasional visitants, as well as to the absent friends and relatives of those who dwell within its walls, Mr. Archer's projected work, entitled Vestiges of Old London, a series of finished Etchings from original Drawings, with Descriptions, Historical Associations and other References, will be an object of especial interest. The artistical portion will, we believe, be mainly founded on the collection of {175} drawings in the possession of William Twopeny, Esq., while the literary illustrations will be derived entirely from original sources, and from the results of careful observation and inquiry.
It is said to have been a rule with Charles Fox to have every work bound in one volume if possible, although published in two or three. The public have long felt the convenience of such an arrangement; and the great booksellers have very wisely gratified their wishes in that respect. The handsome "monotome" edition of The Doctor is doubtless well known to our readers. The success of that experiment has, we presume, induced Messrs. Longman to announce the Complete Works of the Rev. Sydney Smith, and Mr. Macaulay's Critical Essays, in the same cheap and convenient form. We believe, too, that another (the sixth) edition of that gentleman's History of England from the Accession of James II., is on the eve of publication.
Those of our readers who take an interest in that widely spread and popular subject, The Dance of Death, will remember that one of the most exquisite works of art in which expression is given to the idea on which this pictorial morality is founded, is the Alphabet Dance of Death—so delicately engraved on wood, (it is sometimes said by Holbein, who designed it,) but really by H. Lutzelburger, that the late Mr. Douce did not believe it could ever be copied so as to afford any adequate impression of the beauty of the original. A German artist, Heinrich Loedel, has, however, disproved the accuracy of this opinion; and the amateur may now, for a few shillings, put himself in possession of most admirable copies of a work which is a masterpiece of design, and a gem in point of execution, and of which the original is of the extremest rarity. There are two editions of this Alphabet; one published at Gottingen, with an accompanying dissertation by Dr. Adolf Ellisen; and the other at Cologne, with corresponding borders by Georg Osterwald.
The revised and much enlarged edition of Dr. Lingard's History of England, handsomely printed in ten large octavo volumes, is, we understand, nearly ready for publication.
Mr. M.A. Lower, whose Curiosities of Heraldry and English Surnames are no doubt well known to many of our readers, is preparing for publication a Translation, from a MS. in the British Museum, of The Chronicle of Battel Abbey from the vow of its Foundation by William the Conqueror, to the Year 1176, originally compiled in Latin, by a Monk of the Establishment.
Mr. Thorpe, 13. Henrietta Street, has just issued "A Catalogue of most choice, curious, and excessively rare Books, particularly rich in Early Poetry, Mysteries, Pageants, and Plays, and Romances of Chivalry." This Catalogue is also extremely rich in Madrigals set to Music, by eminent Composers of Queen Elizabeth's reign— and contains an unrivalled series of Jest Books, and also of Song Books.
WANTED TO PURCHASE
(In continuation of Lists in former Nos.)
M'CULLUM'S OBSERVATIONS ON H.R.H. THE DUKE OF KENT'S SHAMEFUL PERSECUTION SINCE HIS RECAL FROM GIBRALTAR, &c. London, 1809. [Ten shillings will be given for a clean and perfect copy.]
DALTON'S (EDWARD) DOUBTING'S DOWNFALL. [Ten shillings, if a pamphlet, twenty shillings, if a book, will be given for a clean and perfect copy.]
HOLLOWAY'S LETTER AND SPIRIT. Oxon. 1543.
PHILLIP'S DIVINE VISIONS OF ENGELBRECHT. Northampton. 1780.
KENNET, A BRAND PLUCKED FROM THE BURNING. 1718.
BORDELION (ABBE) GOMGAM, OC L'HOMME PRODIGIEUX. 2 vols. Amsterdam.
LINGUET. PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS ON MONACHISM. 1776.
PRIESTS UNMASKED. 6 vols. 1767.
ENCHIRIDION LEONIS PAPÆ.
MACNAB'S THEORY OF THE UNIVERSE. 1818.
*.* Letters stating particulars and lowest price, carriage free, to be sent to Mr. Bell, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.
A.B. will not be surprised at our omitting his quotations from Eugene Aram's curious account of the Melsupper and Shouting the Churn, when he learns that they are already to be found in Brand's Popular Antiquities (vol. ii ed. 1849), and in Hampson's Medii Ævi Kalendarium (vol i). We have no doubt some of our correspondents will furnish A.B. with a list of Eugene Aram's published writings.
S.T.P. There would be no objection to the course proposed, if a sufficient number of subscribers should desire it, except that it could not take a retrospective effect.
Will MELANDRA enable us to communicate with him by letter?
COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED. —J.U.G.G.—-G.H.B. —-J.R.W.—-R.V.—-M.A.L.—-P.C.S.S. —-H.W.—-B.W.—-Hermes.—- J.H.T.—-Archæus. —-J.I.—-W.—-R.H.—- E.V.—-Alpha. —-Arthur Griffinhoof, jun.—-Clericus.—-Hibernicus. —-G.H.B.—-Etoniensis.—-J.R.P.—-A Bibliopolist—- P. O'C.—-C.F.—-F.E. —-E.V.—-S.W.S.
We have again to explain to correspondents who inquire as to the mode of procuring "NOTES AND QUERIES," that every bookseller and newsman will supply it, if ordered, and that gentlemen residing in the country may be supplied regularly with the Stamped Edition, by giving their orders direct to the publisher, MR. GEORGE BELL, 186. Fleet Street, accompanied by a Post Office order for a Quarter (4s. 4d.).
An neat Case for holding the Numbers of "NOTES AND QUERIES," until the completion of each volume, is now ready, price 1s. 6d., and may be had, by Order, of all Booksellers and Newsmen.
We are again compelled to omit many Notes, Queries, and Answers to Queries, as well as Answers to Correspondents.
Nearly ready.
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OLD LONDON ILLUSTRATED
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On Saturday, the 29th ult., was published, fcap. 8vo., price 5s.
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"Science in Fable."
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A Polyglot Edition of this volume, with inter-paged Translations in the Greek, Latin, German, Italian, and French Languages. Price 12s.
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Footnote 1:(return)The successor of the Sir Edward Dering, from whose Household Book the Rev. Lambert B. Larking communicated the interesting entries in No. 9. p. 130.
Footnote 3:(return)Uyt den Hoogduitschen Exemplar overgezien, en op veele plaatzen Gecorrigeert, en met schoone Kopere Figuuren vercierd.
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, January 12. 1850.