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Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text.
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{293} NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.
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No. 231.] SATURDAY, APRIL 1. 1854. [Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition 5d.
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CONTENTS.
NOTES:— Page Kennington Common, by the Rev. W. Sparrow Simpson 295 Life and Death 296 Battle of Trafalgar and Death of Nelson 297 Heraldic Anomaly 298 FOLK LORE:—Three Maids—Mother Russel's Post—Shrove Tuesday Custom 299 Stornello 299
MINOR NOTES:—Perspective—"That"—Corporation Enactments—Jacobite Club—Dean Nowell's first Wife— "Oxoniana"—An Epigram falsely ascribed to George Herbert—Ingulph: Bohn's "Antiquarian Library" 300
QUERIES:— Quotations wanted 301 Sir Edmund Plowden, by S. F. Streeter 301 Ancient Clock, and Odevaere's History of it, by Octavius Morgan 302
MINOR QUERIES:—Spielberg, when built?—"Ded. Pavli"— Mantelpiece: Mantelshelf: Mantleboard: Mantell and Brace—Passage in Job—Provincial Glossaries— Chadderton of Nuthurst, co. Lancaster—A marvellous Combat of Birds—Battle of the Gnats—Sandford of Thorpe Salvine, co. York—"Outlines of the History of Theology"—"Mawkin"—"Plain Dealer"—Hymn attributed to Handel—Degrees in Arts—"Goloshes:" "Kutchin-kutchu"—Cornwalls of London—Flasks for Wine-bottles—Froxhalmi, Prolectricus, Phytacus, Tuleus, Candos, Gracianus, and Tounu or Tonnu 302
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REPLIES:— Brydone the Tourist, by John Macray 305 "The Red Cow"—Cromwell's Carriages, &c. 306 Fox-hunting, by F. M. Middleton 307 Weather Rules, by E. MacCulloch, &c. 307 Bingham's Antiquities 308 Ancient Tenure of Lands 309
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MISCELLANEOUS:— Notes on Books, &c. 313 Books and Odd Volumes wanted 314 Notices to Correspondents 314
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{295}
LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 1854.
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Notes.
KENNINGTON COMMON.
Before all traces be lost of Kennington Common, so soon to be distinguished by the euphonious epithet of Park, let me put a Query to some of your antiquarian readers in relation thereunto; and suffer me to make the Query a peg, whereon to hang sundry and divers little notes. And pray let no one ridicule the idea that Kennington has its antiquities; albeit that wherever you look, new buildings, new bricks and mortar, plaster and cement, will meet your eye; yet, does not the manor figure in Domesday Book? Is it not dignified by the stately name of Chenintune? Was it not held by Theodoric of King Edward the Confessor? And did it not, in times gone by, possess a royal residence?
Here, at a Danish marriage, died Hardi Knute in 1041. Here, Harold, son of Earl Godwin, who seized the crown after the death of the Confessor, is said to have placed it on his own head. Here, in 1231, King Henry III. held his court, and passed a solemn and a stately Christmas. And here, says Matthew Paris, was held a Parliament in the succeeding year. Hither, says good old Stow, anno 1376, came the Duke of Lancaster to escape the fury of the populace of London, on Friday, February 20, the day following that on which Wicliffe had been brought before the bishops at St. Paul's. The Duke was dining "with one John of Ipres" when the news arrived, borne by a breathless messenger, that the people sought his life. When the Duke "leapt so hastily from his oysters, that he hurt both his legges against the foarme: wine was offered to his oysters, but hee would not drinke for haste; he fledde with his fellowe Syr Henry Percy, no man following them; and entring the Thamis, neuer stinted rowing vntill they came to a house neere the manor of Kenington (besides Lambeth), where at that time the Princesse was, with the young Prince, before whom hee made his complaint." Doubtless, Lambeth Marsh was then what its name imports. Hither also came a deputation of the chiefest citizens to Richard II., June 21, 1377, "before the old King was departed," "to accept him for their true and lawfull King and Gouernor." But the royal residence was destroyed before 1607. "The last of the long succession of royal tenants who inhabited the ancient site," says a writer in the Illustrated London News not long since (I have the cutting, but neglected to note the date of the paper), "was Charles I., when Prince of Wales: his lodging, a house built upon a part of the site of the old palace, is the only existing vestige, as represented in the accompanying engraving (in the Illus. Lond. News), unless earlier remains are to be found in the lower parts of the interior." But I believe that the identity of the site of this ancient mansion (which is situated on the western side of Lower Kennington Lane), with part of the site of the old palace, is not quite so certain as the writer appears to intimate. In 1720, however, the manor gave the title of Earl to William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, second son to George II.
Kennington Common acquired an unenviable notoriety from being the place of execution for malefactors tried in this part of the county. "After the suppression of the rebellion in Scotland in 1745, many of the insurgents having been convicted of treason at Southwark, here suffered the sentence of the law" (Dugdale's England and Wales, p. 1015.). "Seventeen officers of the rebel army were hanged, drawn, and quartered" on this spot. (Goldsmith's History, continued by Morell, 4to., 1807, vol. ii. p. 165.)
"One of the last executions which took place on Kennington Common was that of seven men; three of whom belonged to a notorious gang of housebreakers, eighteen in number. These men kept shops, and lived in credit: of the three who were executed, one made over a sum of 2000l. to a friend, previous to his trial. They confessed that the profits of their practices, for the five years past, had been upwards of 1500l. a year to each. This was in the year 1765."—From a cutting, sent me by a friend, from the Sunday Times' "Answers to Correspondents," March 13, 1853.
Here too occurred the Chartist meeting, on the memorable 10th of April, 1848.
Now comes my Query. Was there ever a theatre on Kennington Common? In the Biographia Dramatica of David Erskine Baker (edit. 1782, vol. ii. p. 239.), we are told, that the "satyrical comical allegorical farce," The Mock Preacher, published in 8vo. in 1739, was "Acted to a crowded audience at Kennington Common, and many other theatres, with the humours of the mob." Was it acted in a booth, or in a permanent theatre? The words, "many other theatres," almost give one the impression that the latter is indicated.
Many more notes might be added, but I fear lest this paper should already be too local to interest general readers. Suffice it to say, that Clayton Street, close to the Common, takes its name from the Clayton family; one member of which, Sir Robert Clayton, was sometime Master of the Drapers' Company, in whose Hall a fine portrait of him is preserved. Bowling Green Street derives its name from a bowling green which existed not very many years since. And White Hart Street from a field, which was so called certainly as early as 1785. On the Common was "a bridge called Merton Bridge, which formerly was repaired by the Canons of Merton {296} Abbey, who had lands for that purpose." (Lysons' Environs, edit. 4to., 1792, vol. i. p. 327.)
It is due to your readers to state, that the authorities for the statements made in the former part of this paper are these: Lysons' Environs, ut supra, vol. i. pp. 325. 327.; Manning and Bray's Surrey, Lond., 1809, fol., vol. iii. pp. 484-488.; Stow, Annales, edit. 4to., 1601, pp. 432, 433.; and Bibl. Top. Brit., 4to., 1790, vol. ii. "History and Antiq. of Lambeth," p. 89.
W. SPARROW SIMPSON.
Kennington.
* * * * *
LIFE AND DEATH.
I have thrown together a few parallel passages for your pages, which may prove acceptable.
1. "To die is better than to live."
"I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun."—Eccles. iv. 2, 3.
"Great travail is created for every man, and a heavy yoke upon the sons of Adam, from the day that they go out of their mother's womb, till the day that they return to the mother of all things."—Ecclus. xl. 1.: cf. 2 Esdr. vii. 12, 13.
"Never to have been born, the wise man first Would wish; and, next, as soon as born to die."—Anth. Graec.(Posidippus).
In the affecting story of Cleobis and Biton, as related by Herodotus, we read,—
"The best end of life happened to them, and the Deity showed in their case that it is better for a man to die than to live."
[Greek: Diedexe te en toutoisi ho Theos hos ameinon eie anthropoi tethanai mallon e zoein.]—Herod., [Greek: KLEIO]. i. 32.
"As for all other living creatures, there is not one but, by a secret instinct of nature, knoweth his owne good and whereto he is made able.... Man onely knoweth nothing unlesse hee be taught. He can neither speake nor goe, nor eat, otherwise than he is trained to it: and, to be short, apt and good at nothing he is naturally, but to pule and crie. And hereupon it is that some have been of this opinion, that better it had been, and simply best, for a man never to have been born, or else speedily to die."—Pliny's Nat. Hist. by Holland, Intr. to b. vii.
"Happy the mortal man, who now at last Has through this doleful vale of misery passed; Who to his destined stage has carry'd on The tedious load, and laid his burden down; Whom the cut brass or wounded marble shows Victor o'er Life, and all her train of woes. He, happier yet, who, privileged by Fate To shorter labour and a lighter weight, Received but yesterday the gift of breath, Order'd to-morrow to return to death. But O! beyond description, happiest he Who ne'er must roll on life's tumultuous sea; Who with bless'd freedom, from the general doom Exempt, must never face the teeming womb, Nor see the sun, nor sink into the tomb! Who breathes must suffer; and who thinks must mourn; And he alone is blessed who ne'er was born."—Prior's Solomon, b. iii.
The proverbs, "God takes those soonest whom He loveth best," and, "Whom the gods love die young," have been already illustrated in "N. & Q." (Vol. iii., pp. 302. 377.). "I have learned from religion, that an early death has often been the reward of piety," said the Emperor Julian on his death-bed. (See Gibbon, ch. xxiv.)
2. "Judge none blessed before his death."[1]
"Ante mortem ne laudes hominem," saith the son of Sirach, xi. 28.
Of this sentiment St. Chrysostom expresses his admiration, Hom. li. in. S. Eustath.; and heathen writers afford very close parallels:
[Greek: Prin d' an teleutese epischeein mede kaleein ko olbion all' eutuchea,] says Solon to Croesus (Herod., [Greek: KLEIO.] i. 32.): cf. Aristot., Eth. Nic. ch. x., for a comment on this passage.
Sophocles, in the last few lines of the Oedipus Tyrannus, thus draws the moral of his fearful tragedy:
"[Greek: Hoste thneton ont', ekeinen TEN TELEUTAIAN idein] [Greek: HEMERAN episkopounta, meden' olbizein, PRIN AN] [Greek: TERMA TOU BIOU perasei, meden algeinon pathon.]"
Elmsley, on this passage, gives the following references: Trach. I. Soph. Tereo, fr. 10.; ibid. Tyndar. fr. 1.; Agam., 937.; Androm., 100.; Troad., 509.; Heracl., 865.; Dionys. ap. Stob., ciii. p. 560.; Gesn., cv. p. 431.; Grot. To which I may add the oft-quoted lines,—
"Ultima semper Expectanda dies, homini dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet."
In farther illustration of this passage from Ecclus., let us consider the Death of the Righteous.
"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his," exclaims the truth-compelled and reluctant prophet, Numb. xxiii. 10.
The royal Psalmist, after reflecting on the prosperity of the wicked in this world, adds:
"Then thought I to understand this, But it was too hard for me, Until I went into the sanctuary of God: Then understood I the end of these men."—Ps. lxxiii.
And again:
"I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green bay-tree; {297} Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not; Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, And behold the upright, For the end of that man is peace."—Ps. xxxvii. 35-37.: cf. the Prayer-Book version.
The prophet Isaiah declares:
"The righteous man is taken away because of the evil; He shall go in peace, he shall rest in his bed; Even the perfect man, he that walketh in the straight path."—Ch. lvii., Bp. Lowth's Trans.
"Sure the last end Of the good man is peace! How calm his exit! Night-dews fall not more gently to the ground, Nor weary worn-out winds expire so soft. Behold him! in the evening tide of life, A life well spent, whose early care it was His riper years should not upbraid his green: By unperceived degrees he wears away; Yet, like the sun, seems larger at his setting! High in his faith and hopes, look how he reaches After the prize in view! and, like a bird That's hamper'd, struggles hard to get away! Whilst the glad gates of sight are wide expanded To let new glories in, the first fair fruits Of the fast-coming harvest."—Blair's Grave.
"How blest the righteous when he dies! When sinks the weary soul to rest! How mildly beam the closing eyes! How gently heaves the expiring breast!
"So fades the summer cloud away; So sinks the gale when storms are o'er; So gently shuts the eye of day; So dies a wave upon the shore.
"Life's duty done, as sinks the clay, Light from its load the spirit flies; While heaven and earth combine to say, 'How blest the righteous when he dies!'"—Mrs. Barbauld.
"An eve Beautiful as the good man's quiet end, When all of earthly now is passed away, And heaven is in his face."—Love's Trial.
"He sets As sets the Morning Star, which goes not down Behind the darken'd West, nor hides obscured Among the tempests of the sky, but melts away Into the light of heaven."
"As sweetly as a child, Whom neither thought disturbs nor care encumbers, Tired with long play, at close of summer's day Lies down and slumbers."
A holy life is the only preparation to a happy death, says Bishop Taylor. And we have seen how much importance even heathen minds attached to peace at the last. Truly, as Kettlewell said while expiring, "There is no life like a happy death."
"Consider," says that excellent writer, Norris of Bemerton, "that this life is wholly in order to another, and that time is that sole opportunity that God has given us for transacting the great business of eternity: that our work is great, and our day of working short; much of which also is lost and rendered useless through the cloudiness and darkness of the morning, and the thick vapours and unwholesome fogs of the evening; the ignorance and inadvertency of youth, and the disease and infirmities of old age: that our portion of time is not only short as to its duration, but also uncertain in the possession: that the loss of it is irreparable to the loser, and profitable to nobody else: that it shall be severely accounted for at the great judgment, and lamented in a sad eternity."—"Of the Care and Improvement of Time," Miscel., 6th edit., p. 118.
EIRIONNACH.
[Footnote 1: Cf. Sir Thos. Browne's Christian Morals, sect. ix.]
* * * * *
BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR AND DEATH OF NELSON.
The following unpublished letter, as a historical document, is worth preserving in the pages of "N. & Q." It relates to the important national events of the battle of Trafalgar and death of Nelson. The writer was, at the time, a signal midshipman in the service, and only about thirteen years of age. He was a native of Glasgow, and died many years since, much respected.
H.M.S. Defence, At anchor off Cadiz, 28 Oct. 1805.
My dear Betty [the writer's sister],
I have now the pleasure of writing you, after a noble victory over the French and Spanish fleets, on the 21st October, off Cape Spartel. We have taken, burnt and sunk, gone on shore, &c., twenty-one sail of the line. The names I will let [you] know after. On the 19[th] our frigates made the signal; the Combined Fleets were coming out; so as we were stationed between the frigate and our fleet, we repeated ditto to Lord Nelson. It being calm we could not make much way, but in the course of the night we got a strong breeze, and next morning our frigate made the signal for them, being all at sea. So on the afternoon of the 20[th] we saw them to leeward; but it was blowing fresh and very hazy, so Lord Nelson made our signal for a captain; so our captain went on board, and Lord Nelson told Captain Hope he expected he would keep sight of them all night. So on the morning of the 21st we observed them to leeward about two miles, so we made the signal to Lord Nelson how many the bearings, and everything; so brave Nelson bore down immediately; and at twelve o'clock Lord Nelson broke the south^d line, and brave Admiral Collin[g]wood the north; and at two o'clock we were all in action. We were the last station'd ship; so when we went down we had two Frenchmen and one Spaniard on us at one time. We engag'd them forty-six minutes, when the "Achille" and "Polyphemus" came up to our assistance. The Spaniard ran away; we gave him chase, and fought him {298} one hour and forty-six minutes, when he struck, and we boarded him, and have him safe at anchor, as we have not had a good wind. I am sorry to say poor Lord Nelson was wounded the second broadside. He went down and got his wounds dress'd, and he was wound'd a second time, and he just lived to hear of the victory. The ship we took, her name is the "San Ildifonzo," eighty-two guns, and a very fine ship, new. I don't think we will save more than twelve sail of them: but we have sunk, burnt, drove on shore, twenty-one sail of the line in all; and if we had not had a gale of wind next day we would have taken every one of them. We were riding close in shore with two anchors a-head, three cables on each bower, and all our sails were shot to pieces, ditto our rudder and stern, and mainmast, and everything; but, thank good, I am here safe, though there was more shot at my quarters than any other part of the ship. We are now at anchor, but expect to go to Gibraltar every day. I hope in good you are all in health: I was never better in all my life. My comp^{ts} to all friends [&c. ...] and my dear father and mother.
I am Your affectionate brother, (Signed) CHARLES REID.
You must excuse this letter, as half our hands are on board our prize, and have had no time. I have been two days writing this; five minutes one time and ten minutes another time, and so on. We are just getting under way for Gibraltar.
Now for the French and Spanish ships taken, burnt, run on shore, &c. &c.:
Bucentaure, 80, taken. French. Santiss' Trinidada, 130, sunk. Spanish. Santa, taken, but afterwards got into Cadiz. Rayo, 110, sunk. French. Bahama, 74, taken. French. Argonauta, 80, sunk and burnt. Neptuna, 90, on shore. San Ildifonzo, 80, taken by the Defence. Algazeras, 74, on shore; Swiftsure, 74, Gib.; Berwick, 74, Gib. All English ships taken by the French last war. Intrepid, 74, burnt. Aigle, 80, on shore. Tonguer, 80, on shore [MS. uncertain]. De ..., 74, Gibraltar [ditto]. Argonauta, 74, Gib. Redoubtable, 74, sunk. Achell, 74, burnt. Manareo, 74, on shore. San Augustino, 74, Gibraltar.
There is not one English ship lost, but a number lost their masts. (Signed) C. R.
The writer had a brother, Andrew Reid, who bore a commission in the ships of Captain Parry in the first Arctic expedition.
G. N.
* * * * *
HERALDIC ANOMALY.
I beg to call the attention of the heraldic readers of "N. & Q." to a singular custom of displaying their coats of arms, peculiar to the Knights of St. John, of the venerable Language of England.
It is well known that the members of this valiant brotherhood, throughout Europe, bear their paternal shield alone, surmounted, as the badge of their profession, with the particular device of the order, that is, On a chief, gules, a cross argent. The English knights, with their paternal coat, bore also, party-per-pale, that of their mothers, with the chief of the order over both, a strange heraldic anomaly!
I have somewhere read, but where, for lack of a "note," I cannot recollect, that in making their proofs of nobility previous to their admission into the order, unlike the other Languages, the cavalier of England gave in only the names of their father and mother, but at the same time it was requisite that these two names should be able to prove a nobility of two hundred years each.
Perhaps the custom of bearing the paternal shield impaled with the maternal sprung from these proofs.
In the British Museum, Harl. MSS. 1386., may be seen three examples of this custom, in a paper entitled, A Note of certain Knights of Rhodes, "in prioratu Sancti Johannis Jerusalem."
1. Sir Thomas Docwra, Grand Prior of England, A.D. 1504, a knight not more renowned as a valiant man-at-arms, "preux et hardi," than as a skilful diplomatist; and who, on the death of Fabricio Caretto, A.D. 1520-1, was thought worthy to be put in competition for the Grand Mastership with the celebrated Villiers de L'Isle Adam, and, as Vertot tells us, only lost that dignity by a very trifling majority. His paternal coat—Sable, a cheveron engrailed argent, between three plates, on each a pale, gules—is impaled with that of his mother, Alice, daughter of Thomas Green, of Gressingham, in Yorkshire; Argent, a bugle-horn sable, stringed gules, between three griffins' heads, erased, of the second; over all, the chief of the order.
2. Sir Lancelot Docwra, near kinsman to Sir Thomas, and son of Robert Docwra, of Docwra-Hall, in Cumberland. His arms are impaled with—Or, a cross flory sable—the coat armour of his mother, Jane, daughter of Sir John Lamplugh, of Lamplugh, in the same county; one "of a race," as Denton says, "of valorous gentlemen, successively for their worthiness knighted in the field, all, or most part of them." The chief of the order also surmounts his shield.
3. The third is the shield of Sir John Randon; Gules, a bend checquy or and azure, impaling Argent, a frette, and on a chief, gules, three escallops of the field; over all, the chief of the order. {299}
If any readers of "N. & Q." could furnish me with more examples, I should be much obliged.
JOHN O' THE FORD.
Malta.
* * * * *
FOLK LORE.
Three Maids.—There is a spot on the road from Winchester to Andover called the "Three Maids." They are I believe nameless. Tradition says that they poisoned their father, and were for that crime buried alive up to their necks. Travellers passing by were ordered not to feed them; but one compassionate horseman as he rode along threw the core of an apple to one, on which she subsisted for three days. Wonderful is it to state that three groups of firs sprung up miraculously from the graves of the three maids. Thus their memories have been perpetuated. The peasantry of Winchester and its neighbourhood for the most part accredit the story, and I see no reason for disbelieving the first part of it myself. Does any one know of a like punishment being awarded in olden times, when the tender mercies of the law were cruel and arbitrary?
Mother Russel's Post.—Whilst I am on the subject of folk lore I may as well add, that on the road to Kings Sombourn, of educational renown, there is a spot where four roads meet. Report says that a certain Mother Russel, who committed suicide, was buried there. A little girl in this village was afraid to pass the spot at night on account of the ghosts, which are supposed to haunt it in the hours of darkness. The rightful name of the place is "Mother Russel's Post."
EUSTACE W. JACOB.
Crawley.
Shrove Tuesday Custom (Vol. ix., p. 65.).—The Shrove Tuesday custom mentioned by MR. ELLIOTT as existing at Leicester, and an account of which he quotes from Hone's Year-Book, has been abolished within the last few years. There is, I believe, still a curious custom on that day at Ludlow, the origin and meaning of which has never, so far as I am aware, been discovered and stated.
"The corporation," I quote from a history of the town, "provide a rope, three inches in thickness, and in length thirty-six yards, which is given out at one of the windows of the Market House as the clock strikes four, when a large body of the inhabitants, divided into two parties, commence an arduous struggle, and as soon as either party gains the victory by pulling the rope beyond the prescribed limits, the pulling ceases, &c.
* * * * *
"Without doubt this singular custom is symbolical of some remarkable event, and a remnant of that ancient language of visible signs, which, says a celebrated writer, 'imperfectly supplies the want of letters to perpetuate the remembrance of public or private transactions.' The sign in this instance has survived the remembrance of the occurrence it was designed to represent, and remains a profound mystery. It has been insinuated that the real occasion of this custom is known to the corporation, but that, for some reason or other, they are tenacious of the secret."
The local historian then mentions an "obscure tradition," but as it is not in agreement with my own opinion, I omit it.
S. P. Q.
* * * * *
STORNELLO.
Verses, the rhymes of which return after the fashion of those printed in "N. & Q." (Vol. vi., p. 603., and Vol. vii., p. 174.), are commonly current among the peasants of Tuscany, and in many instances form the materials of their popular songs. It is probable that this description of rhyme originated in the "bel paese la dove 'l si suona." They usually turn on a combination of three words, as in those quoted in Vol vii. of "N. & Q." And the name stornello, as will be readily perceived, is derived from tornare, to return. I send you a specimen of one of them, which has a certain degree of historical interest attached to it, from its connexion with the movement of 1848. It was difficult to walk through the streets of Florence in those days without hearing it carolled forth by more than one Florentine Tyrtaeus. Now, I need hardly say, "we never mention it—its name is never heard." The patriot-flag was a tricolor of white, red, and green, a nosegay of which colours a youth has brought to his mistress. She sings as follows:
"E gli diro che il verde, il rosso, il bianco Gli stanno ben con una spada al fianco. E gli diro che il bianco, il verde, il rosso, Vuol dir che Italia il duro giogo ha scosso. E gli diro che il rosso, il bianco, il verde E un terno che si giuoca e non si perde."
Of which the following rough version may serve to give a sufficiently-accurate idea of the meaning, for the benefit of your "country gentlemen" readers:
"And I'll tell him the green, and the red, and the white Would look well by his side as a sword-knot so bright. And I'll tell him the white, and the green, and the red Mean, our country has flung the vile yoke from her head. And I'll tell him the red, and the white, and the green Is the prize that we play for, a prize that we'll win."
"Un terno che si giuoca" is a phrase which refers to the system of the public lotteries, {300} established (so much to their shame) by the Italian governments; and a page of explanation of that system would be needful, to make any literal translation of it intelligible to an English reader.
In conclusion I may say, in reply to the Query of HENRY H. BREEN, that the Popes alluded to in the epigram cited by him as above referred to (Vol. vi., p. 603.), seem evidently to have been Julius II. (Rovere), Leo X. (Medici), Clement VII. (Medici), and Paul III. (Farnese). And the epigram in question says no more than the truth, in asserting that they all four occasioned infinite mischief to France.
T. A. T.
Florence.
* * * * *
Minor Notes.
Perspective.—There is a very common error in drawing walls, the plane of which is parallel to the plane of the picture. An instance of it occurs in the facade of Sennacherib's Palace, Layard's 2nd book on Nineveh, frontispiece. All the horizontal lines in the plane of the picture are drawn parallel. The fact is, that every line above or below the line of the horizon, though really parallel to it, apparently approaches it, as it is produced to the right or left. The reason is obvious. One point in the wall, viz. that on which you let fall a perpendicular from your eye, is nearest to your eye. The perpendicular height of the wall, as drawn through this point, must therefore appear greater than as drawn through any other point more to the right or left. The lines which are really parallel do therefore apparently converge on some point more or less distant, according to the distance of the wall from your eye. Every drawing in which this principle is not considered must, I think, appear out of perspective.
G. T. HOARE.
Tandridge.
"That."—I lately met with the following grammatical puzzle among some old papers. I forget from what book I copied it many years ago. Perhaps it may be new to some of your readers.
"I'll prove the word that I have made my theme, Is that that may be doubled without blame, And that that that thus trebled I may use, And that that that that critics may abuse, May be correct.—Farther, the Dons to bother, Five thats may closely follow one another— For, be it known that we may safely write Or say that that that that that man writ was right; Nay, e'en that that that that that that has followed Through six repeats, the grammar's rule has hallowed, And that that that (that that that that began), Repeated seven times is right! Deny't who can."
McC.
Corporation Enactments.—In the town books of the Corporation of Youghal, co. Cork, among other singular enactments of that body are two which will now be regarded as curiosities. In the years 1680 and 1703, a cook and a barber received their freedom, on condition that they would respectively dress the mayor's feasts, and shave the Corporation, gratis!
ABHBA.
Jacobite Club.—The adherents of the Stuarts are now nearly extinct; but I recollect a few years ago an old gentleman, in London, who was then upwards of eighty years of age, and who was a stanch Jacobite. I have heard him say that, "when he was a young man, his father belonged to a society in Aldersgate Street, called the 'Mourning Bush;' and this Bush was to be always in mourning until the Stuarts were restored." A member of this Society having been met in mourning when one of the reigning family had died, was asked by one of the members how it so happened? His reply was, that he was "not mourning for the dead, but for the living." The old gentleman was father of the Mercers' Company, and his brother of the Stationers' Company: they were bachelors, and citizens of the old school, hospitable, liberal, and charitable. An instance occurred, that the latter had a presentation to Christ's Hospital: he was applied to on behalf of a person who had a large family; but the father not being a freeman, he could not present it to the son. He immediately bought the freedom for the father, and gave the son the presentation! This is a rare act.
The brothers have long gone to receive the reward of their goodness, and lie buried in the cemetery attached to Mercers' Hall, Cheapside.
JAMES REED.
Sunderland.
Dean Nowell's first Wife.—Churton, in his Life of Alexander Nowell, dean of St. Paul's, p. 368., is at a loss to know the name of the dean's first wife. He says:
"Of his first wife nothing farther is known but that he was married, either to her or to his second wife, in or before the year 1561. His surviving wife, Eliz. Nowell, had been twice married before, and had children by both her former husbands. Laurence Ball appears to have been her first husband, and Thomas Blount her second."
The pedigree of Bowyer, in the Visitation of Sussex, in 1633-4, gives the name of the dean's first wife:
"Thomas = Jane, da. and heir of = Alexander Nowell, Bowyer Robert Merry, son dean of St. Paul's. of London. of Thomas Merry 2nd husband." of Hatfield.
Y. S.
"Oxoniana."—To your list of desirable reprints, I beg to add the very amusing work under this title, and originally published in four small {301} volumes about fifty years since, and now become scarce. Additions and corrections would add to the value and interest of a work which preserves many curious traits of past times and of Oxford Dons.
ALPHA.
An Epigram falsely ascribed to George Herbert.—The recent editors of George Herbert have printed as his, among his Latin poems, the last two lines of the 76th epigram of Martial's eighth book:
"Vero verius ergo quid sit, audi: Verum, Gallice, non libenter audis."
J. E. B. MAYOR.
Ingulph: Bohn's "Antiquarian Library."—Will you kindly allow me to avail myself of your columns to correct an error in my translation of "Ingulph," in Bohn's Antiquarian Library? In the note to page 2, the Abbey of Bardney, in Lincolnshire, is confounded with Partney, which was one of its cells. The mistake was not observed till, unfortunately, the sheet had been printed; and it was accidentally omitted among the errata. My authority had, I rather think, been misled by Camden.
HENRY T. RILEY.
31. St. Peter's Square, Hammersmith.
* * * * *
Queries.
QUOTATIONS WANTED.
"Quid levius calamo? Pulvis. Quid pulvere? Ventus. Quid vento? Meretrix. Quid meretrice? Nihil."
"What is lighter than a feather? Dust. The wind more light than either. What is lighter than the wind? Airy, fickle, womankind. What than womankind is lighter? Nothing, nothing—but the writer."
X. Y.
"The knights are dust, Their good swords are rust, Their souls are with the saint, we trust."
C. M. O'CAOIMH.
"Circles are prized, not that abound In greatness, but the exactly round. Thus men are honoured, who excel, Not in high state, but doing well."
G. C. H.
"Ill habits gather by unseen degrees, As brooks to rivers, rivers run to seas."
S.
"The clanging trumpet sounds to arms, And calls me forth to battle: Our banners float 'midst war's alarms, The signal cannons rattle."
T. W.
"Of whose omniscient and all-spreading love, Aught to implore were impotence of mind."
Q.
"He no longer shall dwell Upon that dirty ball, But to heaven shall come, And make punch for us all."
A SEPTUAGENARIAN.
"Sometimes, indeed, an acre's breadth half green, And half strewed o'er with rubbish, may be seen. When lo! a board, with quadrilateral grace, Stands stiff in the phenomenon of space, Proposing still the neighbourhood's increase, By, 'Ground to let upon a building lease.'"
H. W.
"Then what remains, but well our parts to chuse, And keep good humour whatsoe'er we lose."
F. W. J.
"Bachelors of every station, Listen to my true relation."
Also a ballad describing the visit of a countryman and his wife to Oxford. Both of Berkshire origin.
L.
"A fellow feeling makes us wond'rous kind."
W. V.
"Sir John once said a good thing."
[Greek: Xanthos].
* * * * *
SIR EDMUND PLOWDEN.
In your publication (Vol. iv., p. 319.), one of your correspondents has given some interesting particulars relative to Sir Edmund Plowden, New Albion, &c., and expresses the hope that Americans will hereafter do justice to the memory of one really deserving their respect. I am desirous of doing something to vindicate his memory and claims; and to this end should be greatly obliged if your correspondent would favour me with some additional facts. To get at these, I will put some of them in the interrogative form.
When and where was Sir Edmund born?
What is the evidence that he was in America from 1620 to 1630? If so, where (in what localities), and what capacity?
He says that his sister married a son of Secretary Lake, then in office; but Lake was turned out several years before 1630, and Lord Baltimore took his place, I think. Nor was Wentworth made Earl of Strafford till after the time of the petition.
He is said to have served five years in Ireland: in what capacity?
Who were Viscount Musherry, Lord Monson, Sir Thomas Denby, (Claiborne I know of), Capt. Balls; besides Sir John Laurence, Sir Bowyer {302} Worstley, Barrett, &c.? Where did these parties "die, in America," in 1634?
Is the Latin original of the character in existence? There is an omission in the bounds given in the paper referred to: can I get an extract from the original entry of limits?
Did the charter ever pass the Great Seal?
Would it be valid, if only passed under the private seal?
Can the date of the grant to Danby be ascertained?
Are there any memoranda of Plowden's six years' residence as Governor of New Albion (I have some of his residence in Virginia)?
Can I get more definite facts about the misconduct of Francis?
The license for alienation, &c. is stated to have been obtained 15th of Charles, 1646; but the 15th of Charles was 1640. When did he arrive to attend to his property, and when was he imprisoned in the Fleet?
Who was Beauchamp Plantagenet, the author of the tract on New Albion, published in 1648?
Who were Robert Evelin, Captain Young, and Master Miles, mentioned in that tract?
Can you give me any additional facts, dates especially, of events and births, deaths, &c.?
I know not into whose hands these Queries will come; but I can say that, if they are answered, the cause of historic truth and justice will be served; and I shall have the aid I want towards correcting the misrepresentations and errors that have been accumulating for years on this point.
S. F. STREETER, Sec. Md. Hist. Soc.
Baltimore Md., March 2, 1854.
P. S.—I should like to inquire, through your publication, if any one can give me the family of Mr. Claiborne; and any facts in his history not stated in our works?
* * * * *
ANCIENT CLOCK, AND ODEVAERE'S HISTORY OF IT.
As a portion of the history of the magnificent clock, which came into my possession last year, is connected with Holland, I think it probable that I may, through the means of "N. & Q." and the Navorscher, be able to obtain the information respecting it which I desire. I shall therefore be very much obliged if you will give this communication a place.
It will be necessary to give a brief description of the clock, so as to enable parties on the other side of the water to recognise and identify it. The clock, which is of copper richly gilt, and elaborately engraved, stands about four feet high, independent of the pedestal. It is of architectural design, and is divided into three stories, having detached columns at each corner. The two lower stories contain the dials in the front. The upper story exhibits the groups of moving silver figures, which strike the quarters, hours, and move in procession whilst a tune is played by a chime of bells. The whole is surmounted by a dome, on which is placed a silver cock, which flaps his wings and crows when the clock strikes. It was made by Isaac Hahrecht (the artist who made the great clock in the cathedral at Strasburg), according to the inscription on it, in the year 1589: and is evidently a model of that celebrated work condensed into a single tower, since it performs all the feats of that clock. Its reputed history, as given in a printed account of it, is, that it was made for Pope Sixtus V., and was for more than two hundred years in the possession of the Court of Rome. It afterwards came into the possession of William I., King of the Netherlands, who authorised Odevaere the antiquary, now deceased, to investigate everything concerning it, and to give a description of it. What I should wish to know is, who was this Odevaere, and where is his description of it to be found? With regard to the history of the clock, I should wish to know the authority for the statement of its having been made for the Pope, when and how it came to leave the Vatican; how it became the property of the King of Holland; when and why it ceased to belong to the crown of Holland; and under what circumstances it came over to this country, where it was exhibited in 1850?
If any of the readers of "N. & Q.," or the Navorscher, can give me any information respecting it, I shall feel greatly obliged.
OCTAVIUS MORGAN.
9. Pall Mall.
* * * * *
Minor Queries.
Spielberg, when built?—When and by whom was the prison of Spielberg, in Moravia, built? Has it been used exclusively as a state prison?
M. J. S.
"Ded. Pavli."—Can you give me any information respecting a tract entitled—
"Ded. Pavli Antiquarius, Theologia, et contra Perciocas Thologo Rvmaetatis nostrae scholas Philippi Melanchthonis declamativncvla. Et quaedam alia lectv dignissima."
F. COLEMAN.
16. Great St. Helens.
Mantelpiece: Mantelshelf: Mantelboard: Mantell and Brace.—What is the origin of this word, and whence came the thing? It must originally have had a use and a meaning, before it became a haven of rest for hyacinth-glasses, china monsters, Bohemian glass vases, and a thousand nick-nacks and odds and ends of drawing-room {303} furniture, as it now is with us. It had, no doubt, some real work to do before it became what we are pleased to term ornamental.
C. D. LAMONT.
Greenock.
Passage in Job.—The REV. MOSES MARGOLIOUTH will much oblige the writer, and some of his friends, by giving in "N. & Q." a literal translation of Job xix. 26. The authorised version is:
"And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God."
The marginal reference gives:
"After I shall awake, though this body be destroyed, yet out of my flesh shall I see God."
C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.
Birmingham.
Provincial Glossaries.—In an article in the 79th volume of the Edinburgh Review, on the provincialisms of the European languages, the writer says:
"There are some very copious early English vocabularies lying in manuscript in the Cathedral libraries of Durham, Winchester, and Canterbury; in the British Museum, King's College, and other depositories, deserving collection."
Will any of your learned readers inform me of the dates of the MSS. referred to, and by whom the collections were made? I would recommend them to the notice of the Camden Society.
FRA. MEWBURN.
Chadderton of Nuthurst, co. Lancaster.—What crest did this family bear, and when did the family become extinct?
J. B.
A marvellous Combat of Birds.—In the Phoenix Britannicus, by J. Morgan, London, 4to., p. 250.[2], there is an account of—
"The wonderful battle of stares (or starlings), fought at Cork on Saturday 12th, and Monday 14th, October, 1621."
And this narration relates, that on the Sunday, October 13, the intervening day, the starlings absented themselves to fight at Woolwich, in Kent!!
Without vouching for the fact, or calling in question the prowess of this "Irish Brigade," I leave it to be confirmed or refuted by any reader of the "N. & Q."—comme bon lui semblera.
[Greek: S].
P. S.—I would, a propos to the above subject, thank any reader of your miscellany to point out to me a work by a M. Hanhart (I believe is the name), which I think is upon Les Moeurs des Fourmis indigenes, in which are given some particulars of regular conflicts between ants. I am not aware of the exact title of the book, but I have seen an account of it in some Edinburgh periodical, if I am not mistaken.
[Footnote 2: At p. 252. of the same article is an account of the battle of the gnats, noticed by MR. E. W. JACOB.—ED.]
Battle of the Gnats.—In reading Stowe's Chronicles of England, I hit upon the following passage recorded in the reign of King Richard II., p. 509.:
"A fighting among gnats at the King's Maner of Shine, where they were so thicke gathered, that the ayre was darkned with them: they fought and made a great battaile. Two partes of them being slayne, fel downe to the grounde; the thirde parte hauing got the victorie, flew away, no man knew whither. The number of the deade was such that might be swepte uppe with besomes, and bushels filled weyth them."
This is a curious incident, and I have never heard of anything of the sort taking place in modern times. Would some of your readers who study natural history be good enough to give me another instance? I am at present inclined to think that the account is one of the many myths which Stow doubtless believed.
EUSTACE W. JACOB.
Sandford of Thorpe Salvine, Co. York.—Wanted, the arms and crest of the Sandfords of Thorpe Salvine. Also any particulars of the family, from the commencement of their residence at High Ashes, in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, co. Lancashire, until the termination of that residence. Were they of the same family with Sandford, Baron Mount Sandford?
J. B.
"Outlines of the History of Theology," 8vo., London, 1844, said to be privately printed. Any information as to the author, &c. will oblige
JOHN MARTIN.
Woburn Abbey.
"Mawkin."—Is this word, which signifies here "a scarecrow," merely a Norfolk pronunciation of mocking? i. e. an imitation of a man—composed of coat, hat, &c. hung upon a cross bar of wood?
J. L. S.
"Plain Dealer."—Can any one of your readers inform me where I can see a copy of Aaron Hill's Plain Dealer, as originally published, and before it was collected and printed in two volumes?
D.
Hymn attributed to Handel.—Can any of your readers give information concerning a hymn which commences thus:
"We'll proclaim the wond'rous story Of the mercies we receive, From the day-spring's dawn in glory, To the fading hour of eve."
It has been attributed to Handel. On what authority?
W. P. STORER.
Olney, Bucks.
{304}
Degrees in Arts.—In the diploma of Master of Arts which I obtained from the University of Edinburgh, occur the words:
"Cunctaque consecutum esse Privilegia, Immunitates, Jura, quae hic aut usquam alibi Bonarum Artium Magistris concedi solent."
What are (or rather were, for I suppose they do not now exist) these privilegia, immunitates, and jura?
ANNANDALE.
"Goloshes"—"Kutchin-kutchu."—What is the origin of goloshes, as the name of water-proof shoes? It is, of course, of American derivation. But has it any connexion with the tribe of North American Indians, the Goloshes? They are the immediate neighbours of those tribes of Esquimaux who form water-proof boats and dresses from the entrails of the seal; and a confusion of names may easily have occurred.
The expedition of Sir John Richardson to the Arctic shores, which suggests the above Query, also gives rise to another. Did any of your readers ever amuse themselves, as children, by performing the dance known as kutchin kutchu-ing; which consists in jumping about with the legs bent in a sitting posture? If so, have they not been struck with a philological mania, on seeing his picture of the Kutchin-Kutcha Indians dancing; in which the principal performer is actually figuring in the midst of the wild circle in the way described. Is not the nursery term something more than a mere coincidence?
SELEUCUS.
Cornwalls of London.—Perhaps some reader of "N. & Q." may be able to inform me what were the arms, crest, and motto of the Cornwalls of London? One of the family, John Cornwall, was a Director of the Bank of England in 1769.
F. C.
Beverley.
Flasks for Wine-bottles.—When, and under what circumstances, did the common use of flasks in this country, for holding wine, go out? Hogarth died in 1764, and in none of his pictures, I believe, is the wine-bottle, in its present shape, to be seen. On the other hand, I have never found any person able to remember the use of flasks, or indeed any other than the wine-bottle in its present shape. The change must have been rapidly effected between 1760 and 1790. Of course I am aware that certain wines, Greek, I believe, are still imported in flasks.
HENRY T. RILEY.
Froxhalmi, Prolectricus, Phytacus, Tuleus, Candos, Gracianus, and Tounu or Tonnu.—Can any of your correspondents suggest the meaning of these words, or either them? They are not in the recent Paris edition of Ducange.
HENRY T. RILEY.
* * * * *
Minor Queries with Answers.
Postmaster at Merton College.—Can you tell me whether there is any known derivation for the term "Postmaster," as applied to part of the members on the Foundation of Merton College, Oxford? Also, What connexion there is between this word and the Latin for it, which is seen on the college plate, in the words "In usum Portionistarum?"
J. G. T.
Ch. Ch.
[It seems probable that these postmasters formerly occupied one of the postern gates of the college. Hence we find Anthony a Wood, in his Life, August 1, 1635, says, "A fine of 30li. was set by the warden and fellowes of Merton College. When his father renewed his lease of the old stone-house, wherein his son A. Wood was borne (called antiently Portionists' or Postmasters' Hall), for forty yeares," &c. Again, April 13, 1664: "A meeting of the warden and fellowes of Merton College, where the renewing of the leases belonging to the family, concerning the housing (Portionists' Hall and its appurtenances) against Merton College, was by them proposed." Fuller, in his Church Hist., book III. cent. xiii. sect. 8., has given the origin of postmasters. "There is," says he, "a by-foundation in Merton College, a kind of college in the college, and this tradition goeth of their original:—Anciently there was, over against Merton College, a small unendowed hall, whose scholars had so run in arrears, that their opposite neighbours, out of charity, took them into their college (then but nine in number) to wait on the fellows. But since, they are freed from any attendance, and endowed with plentiful maintenance.... Bishop Jewel was a postmaster, before removed hence to be fellow of Corpus Christi." Consult also Oxoniana, vol. ii. pp. 15-22. The Portionistae, or Postmasters, did not reside in the college till the latter end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but in a hall opposite to it, which had been provided for the use of the college by Peter de Habinton, or Habendon, the first warden. It afterwards became the property of the father of Anthony a Wood, and beneath its roof that distinguished antiquary was born, December 17, 1632. The second brother of Anthony became one of the postmasters of Merton College.]
"Lyra Apostolica."—Can you inform me who were the writers in the Lyra Apostolica who assumed the letters [alpha], [beta], [gamma], [delta], [epsilon], [zeta]?
TYRO.
[We have heard the initials attributed to the following writers:—[alpha], Bowden; [beta], R. H. Froude; [gamma], John Keble; [delta], J. H. Newman; [epsilon], Isaac Williams; [zeta], Wilberforce.]
East Dereham Manor.—Is it true that "the manor of East Dereham of the Queen" was wrested from the See of Ely by Queen Elizabeth's celebrated threat of "unfrocking?"
S. Z. Z. S.
[The memorable unique epistle from the maiden Majesty of England only deprived Dr. Cox, at that time, of his town-house and fair gardens, called Ely {305} Place, on Holborn Hill, reserving to himself and his successors free access, through the gate-house, of walking in the garden, and leave to gather twenty bushels of roses yearly therein! During the life of Dr. Cox an attempt was made by Elizabeth on some of the best manors belonging to the See of Ely; but it was not till that of his successor, Dr. Martin Heton, that Dereham Grange, with other manors, were alienated to the Crown. See Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. i. p. 466.]
Quakers executed in North America.—Were there not several Quakers hanged in North America on account of their religious opinions? And can you inform me where an account of the circumstances attending this persecution (if there ever was such an one) can be found?
ALFRED CONDER.
[Three Quakers were executed at Boston in 1659, viz. William Robinson, merchant of London; Marmaduke Stevenson of Yorkshire; and Mary Dyar. An account of the cruelties inflicted upon them is given in Sewell's History of the Quakers, edit. 1725, pp. 219-227.; also in a pamphlet entitled A Declaration of the sad and great Persecution and Martyrdom of the People of God, called Quakers, in New England, for the Worshipping of God: London, printed for Robert Wilson, in Martin's-le-Grand, 1661. It will be found among the King's Pamphlets in the British Museum.]
Inscription in Fulham Church.—I should esteem it a favour if any one of your numerous correspondents would furnish me with a correct copy of the inscription to the memory of the son of Colonel Wm. Carlos, who so nobly defended Charles II. at the battle of Worcester.
J. B. WHITBORNE.
["Here lieth William Carlos of Stafford, who departed this life, in the twenty-fifth yeare of his age, the 19th day of May, 1668.
'Tis not bare names that noble fathers give To worthy sonnes: though dead, in them they live; For in his progeny, 'tis Heaven's decree, Man only can on earth immortall bee; But Heaven gives soules w^h grace doth sometymes bend Early to God their rice and Soveraigne end. Thus, whilst that earth, concern'd, did hope to see Thy noble father living still in thee, Careless of earth, to heaven thou didst aspire, And we on earth, Carlos in thee desire."
Arms: an oak on a fesse, three regal crowns.]
Hero of the "Spanish Lady's Love."—Was Sir John Bolle, of Thorpe Hall, near Louth, the hero of the Spanish Lady's Love? The Bolle pedigree is in Illingworth's History of Scampton.
S. Z. Z. S.
[According to Ormerod's Cheshire, vol. iii. p. 333., Sir Urian Legh, of Adlington, disputes the fact of being the hero of that romantic affair. "Sir Urian Legh was knighted by the Earl of Essex at the siege of Cadiz, and during that expedition is traditionally said to have been engaged in an adventure which gave rise to the well-known ballad of 'The Spanish Lady's Love.' A fine original portrait of Sir Urian, in a Spanish dress, is preserved at Bramall, which has been copied for the family at Adlington." So that between these two chivalrous knights it is difficult to decide which is the famed gallant. From the care exercised by Mr. Illingworth in collecting all the anecdotes and notices of the Bolle family, the presumptive evidence seems to favour his hero.]
"Bothy."—In the March Number of Blackwood's Magazine, 1854, the word "bothy" is frequently used in an article called "News from the Farm." Will some one of your numerous correspondents give me a little account of "the bothy system?"
F. M. MIDDLETON.
[A bothy is a cottage or hut where labouring servants are lodged, and is sometimes built of wood, as we read in the Jacobite Relics, ii. 189.:
"Fare thee well, my native cot, Bothy of the birken tree! Sair the heart, and hard the lot, O' the lad that parts wi' thee."
Bothies, or detached houses, in which the unmarried farm-servants sleep and prepare their victuals, and of which there is a considerable number in Perthshire, though convenient and beneficial in some respects, have not, certainly, contributed to the formation of virtuous habits. These servants are often migratory, removing frequently at the expiration of the year, according as humour or caprice may dictate, and, like birds of passage, taking their departure to other lands.]
"Children in the Wood."—Was Weyland Wood in Norfolk the scene of the "Children in the Wood?"
S. Z. Z. S.
[The following account of this tradition is given in Beauties of England and Wales, vol. xi. p. 269., Norfolk:—"Near the town of Watton is Weyland Wood, vulgarly called Wailing Wood, from a tradition that two infants were basely murdered in it by their uncle; and which furnished the story of a beautifully pathetic and well-known ancient ballad, entitled "The Children in the Wood, or the Norfolk Gentleman's Last Will and Testament," preserved in Percy's Reliques.]
* * * * *
Replies.
BRYDONE THE TOURIST.
(Vol. ix., pp. 138. 255.)
In reply to H. R. NEE F., I beg to state that the writer of the remarks alluded to, on Brydone's Tour in Sicily and Malta, was the Rev. Robert Finch, M.A., formerly of Balliol College in this University, and who died about the year 1830. When I met with Mr. Finch's honest and somewhat blunt expression of opinion, recorded in a {306} copy which once belonged to him, of Brydone's Tour, I was quite ignorant of the hostile criticisms that had appeared at different times on that once popular work; but knowing Mr. Finch's high character for scholarship, and a knowledge of Italy, I thought his remark worth sending to a publication intended, like "N. & Q.," as "A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, Antiquaries," &c., who are well able to examine a Note of the kind; and either to accept it as valid, or to reject it as untenable. On referring now to some standard works, in order to discover the opinions of learned men respecting Mr. Brydone's Tour, the first work I looked into was the Biographie Universelle (in eighty-three volumes, and not yet completed, Paris, 1811-1853), in vol. lix. of which the following observations occur, under the name of BRYDONE (Patrice):
"On lui a reproche d'avoir sacrifie la verite au plaisir de raconter des choses piquantes. On l'avait accuse aussi d'avoir, par son indiscretion, suscite a l'Abbe Recupero, Chanoine de Catane, une persecution de la part de son eveque. Cette indiscretion n'eut pas heureusement un resultat aussi facheux; mais ses erreurs sur plusieurs points sont evidentes; il donne 4000 toises de hauteur a l'Etna qui n'en a que 1662; il commet d'autres fautes qui ont ete relevees par les voyageurs venus apres lui. Bartels (Briefe ueber Kalabrien und Sicilien, 2te Auflage, 3 Bd., 8vo., Goetting. 1791-92) est meme persuade que le voyage au sommet de l'Etna, chef-d'oeuvre de narration, n'est qu'un roman, et cet avis est partage par d'autres."
Goethe says (Werke, Band xxviii. pp. 189, 190.: Stuttgart, 1830) that when he inquired at Catania respecting the best method of ascending Mount Etna, Chevalier Gioeni, the professor of natural history there, gave him the following advice and information:
"Als wir den Ritter um die Mittel befragten wie man sich benehmen muesse um den Aetna zu besteigen, wollte er von einer Wagniss nach dem Gipfel, besonders in der gegenwaertigen Jahreszeit gar nichts hoeren. Ueberhaupt, sagte er, nachdem er uns um Verzeihung gebeten, die hier ankommenden Fremden sehen die Sache fuer allzuleicht an; wir andern Nachbarn des Berges sind schon zufrieden, wenn wir ein paarmal in unserm Leben die beste Gelegenheit abgepasst und den Gipfel erreicht haben. Brydone, der zuerst durch seine Beschreibung die Lust nach diesem Feuergipfel entzuendet, ist gar nicht hinauf gekommen."
From these quotations it is evident, that Mr. Finch was not singular in the belief he entertained; and certainly the scepticism of men so eminent as Professor Gioeni, Dr. Barthels, and Messrs. Eyries and Parisot (the French writers whose names are attached to the Memoir in the Biog. Univ.), must be grounded on reasons deserving of attention. An ordinary reader of Brydone would accept the account of his ascent with implicit confidence; but when veteran professors, scientific men, and experienced travellers and scholars refuse to believe that he reached the summit of Etna, the most probable mode of accounting for their incredulity is, perhaps to suppose, that in their opinion he had mistaken some other part of the mountain for the real summit. Not having met with any detail of their reasons for disbelief, I am only able to state their bare assertion. In my opinion, the beautifully glowing and poetical description of the magic scene beheld by Brydone from the mountain—a description, the perusal of which, in youth, remains for ever after imprinted on the memory, like a passage from Addison or Gibbon, could only have been written by an actual spectator.
JOHN MACRAY.
Oxford.
* * * * *
"THE RED COW"—CROMWELL'S CARRIAGES, ETC.
(Vol. ix., p. 87.)
I have known "The Red Cow," at the top of Granham Hill, near Marlborough, for fifty years, but do not recollect ever to have heard of any particular origin for the sign.
The old carriages at Manton were built about a century and a half ago, perhaps not so much, for one of the Baskerville family, on the occasion of his being sheriff of the county to which he belonged, probably Wilts or Hereford. There are two of them: one a square coach, and the other a very high phaeton. The Baskerville arms—Ar. a chevron gu. between three hurts, impaling, quarterly, one and four, or, a cross moline az, two and three, gu. a chevron ar. between three mallets or—are painted on the panels. As I have no ordinary of arms at hand, I cannot ascribe this impalement; but will trust to some more learned herald among your correspondents to determine who the lady was? When her name, perhaps Moleyns or Molyneaux, is ascertained, reference to a Baskerville pedigree would probably determine the husband, and the precise date of the carriages, which could not have belonged to the Protector.
O. Cromwell's arms were, Sable, a lion rampant ar. There were also two families styled Williams alias Cromwell: one of which bore, Gu. three cheverons ar. between as many lions rampant or; the other, Sa. a lion rampant ar., the same as Oliver's coat, and probably derived by him from the Williams family.
I have wandered from "The Red Cow," but I will not omit to hazard an idea for the consideration of GLYWYSYDD. Marlborough has changed its armorial bearings several times; but the present coat, containing a white bull, was granted by Harvey, Clarenceux in A.D. 1565. Cromwell was attached to Cowbridge and its cow by family {307} descent; so he was to Marlborough by congeniality of sentiment with the burghers. Query, Whether, in affection to the latter, he granted to the town a new coat, some such as the following: Gules, a bull passant argent, armed or, impaling a cow passant regardant gules: and so might originate "The Red Cow" upon Granham Hill. History is entirely silent upon this point; but if such a combination were ever given to Marlborough, it is quite certain that Harvey's grant was resumed at the Restoration. I have quite forgotten to remark, that there is a suburb at Marlborough called Cowbridge—a fact which seems to strengthen my hypothesis.
A cow may be borne by some name, but at present I only recollect that of Vach: to which is accorded, Ar. three cows' heads erased sable. Bulls and oxen occur frequently; as in Fitz-Geffrey, Cowley, Bull, Oxley, Oxcliffe, Oxendon, &c. Bulls' heads belong to the families of Bullock, Hillesdon, Fleming, Barbor, Frend, Gornay, Bullman, and Williams, a baronet, &c.
PATONCE.
* * * * *
FOX-HUNTING.
(Vol. viii., p. 172.)
As no answer to the Query on "Fox-hunting" has yet appeared in "N. & Q.," I venture to send the following extracts from an article in the Quarterly Review, March 1832, on "The Management of Hounds and Horses," by Nimrod. It appears that "the first public notice of fox-hunting" occurs in the reign of Richard II., who gave permission to the Abbot of Peterborough to hunt the fox:
"In Twice's Treatise on the Craft of Hunting, Reynard is thus classed:
'And for to sette young hunterys in the way To venery, I cast me fyrst to go; Of which four bestes be, that is to say, The Hare, the Herte, the Wulf, and the wild Boar: But there ben other bestes, five of the chase, The Buck the first, the seconde is the Do; The Fox the third, which hath hard grace, The ferthe the Martyn, and the last the Roe.'
"It is indeed quite apparent, that until at most a hundred and fifty years ago, the fox was considered as an inferior animal of the chase; the stag, buck, and even hare, ranking before him. Previously to that period, he was generally taken in nets or hays, set on the outside of his earth: when he was hunted, it was among rocks and crags, or woods inaccessible to horseman: such a scene in short, or nearly so, as we have drawn to the life in Dandie Dinmont's primitive chasse in Guy Mannering. It is difficult to determine when the first regularly appointed pack of hounds appeared among us. Dan Chaucer gives the thing in embryo:
'Aha, the fox! and after him they ran; And eke with staves many another man. Ran Coll our dogge, and Talbot, and Gerlond, And Malkin with her distaff in her hond. Ran cow and calf, and eke the very hogges, So fered were for the barking of the dogges, And shouting of the men and women eke, They ronnen so, hem thought her hertes brake.'
"At the next stage, no doubt, neighbouring farmers kept one or two hounds each; and, on stated days, met for the purpose of destroying a fox that had been doing damage to their poultry yards. By and bye, a few couple of strong hounds seem to have been kept by the small country esquires or yeomen who could afford the expense, and they joined packs. Such were called trencher hounds, implying that they ran loose about the house, and were not confined in kennel."
These are but short extracts, but they comprise the whole of what is said on the first origin of fox-hunting. The rest of the article treats of the quality and breed of horses and hounds.
FREDERICK M. MIDDLETON.
* * * * *
WEATHER RULES.
(Vol. viii., pp. 50. 535.)
St. Vincent's Day, Jan. 22.—In Brand's Popular Antiquities, Bohn's edition, vol. i. p. 38., is to be found the following notice of this day:
"Mr. Douce's manuscript notes say: 'Vincenti festo si Sol radiet, memor esto;' thus Englished by Abraham Fleming:
'Remember on St Vincent's Day, If that the Sun his beams display.'
"[Dr. Foster is at a loss to account for the origin of this command, &c.]"
It is probable that the concluding part of the precept has been lost; but a curious old manuscript, which fell into my hands some years since, seems to supply the deficiency. The manuscript in question is a sort of household book, kept by a family of small landed proprietors in the island of Guernsey between the years 1505 and 1569. It contains memoranda, copies of wills, settlements of accounts, recipes, scraps of songs and parts of hymns and prayers; some Romanist, some Anglican, some of the Reformed Church in France. Among the scraps of poetry I find the following rhymes on St. Vincent's Day; the first three lines of which are evidently a translation of the Latin verse above quoted, the last containing the to be remembered:
"Prens garde au jour St. Vincent, Car sy ce jour tu vois et sent Que le soleil soiet cler et biau, Nous erons du vin plus que d'eau."
These lines follow immediately after the rhymed prognostications to be drawn from the state of the weather on St. Paul's Day, Jan. 28. As these {308} verses differ from those quoted in Brand, from an Almanack printed at Basle in 1672, I here give the Guernsey copy:
"Je te donneray ugne doctryne Qui te vauldra d'or ugne myne; Et sordement sur moy te fonde, Car je dure autant que ce monde: Et sy te veulx byen advertir Et que je ne veulx point mentir. De mortaylle guerre ou chertey, [A line appears to be lost here] Si le jour St. Paul le convers Se trouve byaucob descouvert, L'on aura pour celle sayson Du bled et du foyn a foyson; Et sy se jour fait vant sur terre, Ce nous synyfye guerre; S'yl pleut ou nege sans fallir Le chier tans nous doet asalir; Si de nyelle faict, brunes ou brouillars, Selon le dyt de nos vyellars, Mortalitey nous est ouverte."
Another line appears to be omitted here; then follow immediately the lines on St. Vincent's Day.
EDGAR MACCULLOCH.
Guernsey.
The following is copied from an old manuscript collection of curiosities in my possession. I should be glad to know the author's name, and that of the book[3] from which it is taken:—
"Observations on Remarkable Days, to know how the whole Year will succeed in Weather, Plenty, &c.
"If it be lowering or wet on Childermas or Innocence Day, it threatens scarcity and mortality among the weaker sort of young people; but if the day be very fair, it promiseth plenty.
"If New Year's Day, in the morning, open with dusky red clouds, it denotes strifes and debates among great ones, and many robberies to happen that year.
"It is remarkable on Shrove Tuesday, that as the sun shine little or much on that day, or as other weather happens, so shall every day participate more or less of such weather till the end of Lent.
"If the sun shines clear on Palm Sunday, or Easter Day, or either of them, there will be great store of fair weather, plenty of corn, and other fruits of the earth.
"If it rains on Ascension Day, though never so little, it foretells a scarcity to ensue that year, and sickness particularly among cattle; but if it be fair and pleasant, then to the contrary, and pleasant weather mostly till Michaelmas.
"If it happen to rain on Whitsunday, much thunder and lightning will follow, blasts, mildews, &c. But if it be fair, great plenty of corn.
"If Midsummer Day be never so little rainy, the hazel and walnut will be scarce, corn smitten in many places; but apples, pear and plums will not be hurt.
"If on St. Swithin's Day it proves fair, a temperate winter will follow; but if rainy, stormy, or windy, then the contrary.
"If St. Bartholomew Day be misty, the morning beginning with a hoar frost, then cold weather will soon ensue, and a sharp winter attended with many biting frosts.
"If Michaelmas Day be fair, the sun will shine much in the winter; though the wind at north-east will frequently reign long, and be very sharp, and nipping."
RUBY.
[Footnote 3: The Shepherd's Kalendar, by Thomas Passenger. See "N. & Q." Vol. viii., p. 50., where many of his observations are quoted.—ED.]
* * * * *
BINGHAM'S ANTIQUITIES.
(Vol. ix., p. 197.)
I beg to send to your correspondent MR. RICHARD BINGHAM the following replies to his seven Queries.
1. If there be any use in verifying so slight a verbal reference to Panormitan, one of whose huge folios, Venet. 1473, I have examined in vain, perhaps the object might be attained by the assistance of such a book as Thomassin's Vetus et Nova Ecclesiae Disciplina, in the chapter "De Episcopis Titularibus," tom. i.
2. Bishop Bale's description of the monks of Bangor is to be found in his Scriptor. Britann. Catal. Compare Richard Broughton's True Memorial of the ancient State of Great Britain, pp. 39. 40, ed. an. 1650.
3. I should think in his Colloquies, and most probably in the Peregrinatio Religionis ergo. Erasmus, in his Modus orandi Deum, also observes that "quidam in concionibus implorant opem Virginis," and condemns the "vestigia veteris Paganismi." (sigg. u and s 2, Basil, 1551.)
4. Respecting the existence of what is called the Epistle of St. Athanasius to Eustathius, Cardinal Bona was right and Bingham in error. Vide St. Athan., Opp. ii. 560, ed. Bened.
5. Bingham was seriously astray in consequence of his misunderstanding Bona, who does not by any means refer to Pamelius, but to the anonymous author of the Antiquitatum Liturgicarum Syntagma, who is believed to have been Florentius Vanderhaer. If Pamelius is to be introduced at all, the reference in Bingham should be, not to "tom. iii. p. 307.," but to i. 328-30. I would remark too that, in the heading of one of the extracts subjoined, "ex Vita Ambrosiana," should be "ex Ritu Ambrosiano."
6. Joannes Semeca did not flourish A.D. 1250, but died in 1243. Suicer wrongly refers to "Dist. IV. cap. iv.," and Harding, more inaccurately, to "Dist. IV. can. iv." (Bp. Jewel's Works, {309} ed. Jelf, i. 419.) Cap. xxviii. is the one intended, and there is no corruption whatsoever. |
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