Chapter XIII: Appendix: A
The life and death of St. George, as generally accepted, are so different to the details given by Gibbon in his "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," that we give, as a foil, a sketch of the latter as well. From Gibbon it would appear that George, surnamed the Cappadocian, was born in Cilicia in a fuller's shop, that he raised himself from this obscure origin by his talents as a parasite, and that those whom he so shamelessly flattered and assiduously fawned on repaid their worthless dependent by procuring for him lucrative contracts to supply the army with bacon and other stores. Herein he accumulated, as some other army contractors have done since, a vast sum of money by the basest acts of fraud and corruption, until matters became so bad and his shortcomings so notorious that he absconded with his ill-gotten gains. After the disgrace attached to this had in some measure subsided, we next find him embracing, with real or affected zeal, the doctrines of Arianism, and on the death of the Archbishop Athanasius the prevailing faction promoted the ex-contractor to the vacant chair. He had scarcely been established in this high and responsible office ere he sullied the dignity of his position by acts of the greatest cruelty against those who differed from him, and by the development anew of the keenest avarice. He asserted for himself the right to various important monopolies, and impoverished the State while he enriched himself by alone supplying salt, paper, and various other necessaries. The people at length rose in rebellion, and on the accession of Julian he lost the high support that had hitherto, by aid of the civil and military power of the State, maintained him in his position. He was ignominiously dragged in chains to the public prison, and the mob, impatient of the delays of the law, or apprehensive that he might use his wealth and influence to stifle inquiry, presently forced open the gates and tore him to pieces. The Church was at that time an arena of fierce dissension between the Arians and Athanasians, and his followers, conveniently ignoring the facts of his life, asserted that the rival party in the Church had stirred up the strife against him. He received the just reward of his tyranny, or possibly the saintly crown of the martyr for his faith, in the year 361, and in 494 Pope Gelasius formally and officially admitted his claim to a position amongst the saints of the Church. We find him held in great reverence in the sixth century in Palestine, Armenia, and Rome. His fame was brought home from the East by the Crusaders, and his popularity in England dates from that time. So much party feeling has clustered around the matter, and so many learned authorities have been drawn up on one side or the other, that we can only feel that no real verdict one way or the other is now possible.
B.
As we have already in the body of the text given in full detail the accepted prose version of the conflict of St. George with the dragon, it seemed scarcely advisable to repeat these details in metrical form. As we feel, at the same time, that such old ballads will probably possess interest for some, at least, of our readers, we, instead of banishing the story from our book entirely, dismiss it to the Appendix merely, where it can be equally readily read or ignored in accordance with individual tastes. The ballad, as given in Dr. Percy's "Reliques," is based on ancient black-letter copies in the Pepys Collection. In the original the poem is forty-four verses long, but we content ourselves with those that relate to the combat with the dragon, and leave out those that affect what may be termed the politics of the court, the promise of the maiden to the hero, the subsequent endeavours to evade the bargain, and the various consequences to St. George and others that arose from this breach of faith:--
"Of Hector's deeds did Homer sing,
And of the sack of stately Troy,
What griefs fair Hélena did bring,
Which was Sir Paris' only joy:
And by my pen I will recite
St. George's deeds, an English knight.
Against the Sarazens so rude
Fought he full well and many a day;
Where many gyants he subdued,
In honour of the Christian way:
And after many adventures past
To Egypt land he came at last.
Now as the story plain doth tell,
Within that countrey there did rest
A dreadful dragon fierce and fell,
Whereby they were full sore opprest,
Who by his poisonous breath each day,
Did many of the city slay.
The grief whereof did grow so great
Throughout the limits of the land,
That they their wise men did entreat
To show their cunning out of hand;
Which way they might this fiend destroy,
That did the country thus annoy.
The wise men all before the king
This answer framed incontinent;
The dragon none to death might bring
By any means they could invent:
His skin more hard than brass was found,
That sword nor spear could pierce nor wound.
When this the people understood,
They cryed out most piteouslye,
The dragon's breath infects their blood,
That every day in heaps they dye:
Among them such a plague it bred,
The living scarce could bury the dead.
No means there were, as they could hear,
For to appease the dragon's rage,
But to present some virgin dear,
Whose blood his fury might assuage;
Each day he would a maiden eat,
For to allay his hunger great.
This thing by art the wise men found,
Which truly must observed be;
Wherefore throughout the city round
A virgin pure of good degree
Was by the king's commission still
Taken up to serve the dragon's will.
Thus did the dragon every day
Untimely crop some virgin flower,
Till all the maids were worn away,
And none were left him to devour:
Saving the king's fair daughter bright,
Her father's only heart's delight.
Then came the officers to the king
That heavy message to declare,
Which did his heart with sorrow sting;
She is, quoth he, my kingdom's heir:
O let us all be poisoned here,
Ere she should die, that is my dear.
Then rose the people presently,
And to the king in rage they went;
They said his daughter deare should dye,
The dragon's fury to prevent:
Our daughters all are dead, quoth they,
And have been made the dragon's prey:
And by their blood we rescued were,
And thou hast saved thy life thereby;
And now in sooth it is but faire,
For us thy daughter so should die.
O save my daughter, said the king;
And let ME feel the dragon's sting.
Then fell fair Sabra on her knee,
And to her father dear did say,
O father strive not thus for me,
But let me be the dragon's prey;
It may be for my sake alone
This plague upon the land was thrown.
'Tis better I should dye, she said,
Than all your subjects perish quite;
Perhaps the dragon here was laid,
For my offence to work his spite:
And after he hath sucked my gore
Your land shall feel the grief no more.
What hast thou done, my daughter dear,
For to deserve this heavy scourge?
It is my fault, as may appear,
Which makes the gods our state to purge:
Then ought I die, to stint the strife,
And to preserve thy happy life.
Like madmen, all the people cried,
Thy death to us can do no good;
Our safety only doth abide
In making her the dragon's food.
Lo, here I am, I come, quoth she,
Therefore do what you will with me.
Nay stay, dear daughter, quoth the queen,
And as thou art a virgin bright,
Thou hast for vertue famous been,
So let me cloath thee all in white;
And crown thy head with flowers sweet,
An ornament for virgins meet.
And when she was attired so,
According to her mother's mind,
Unto the stake she then did go;
To which her tender limbs they bind:
And being bound to stake and thrall
She bade farewell unto them all.
Farewell, my father dear, quoth she,
And my sweet mother meek and mild;
Take you no thought nor weep for me,
For you may have another child:
Since for my country's good I dye,
Death I receive most willinglye.
The king and queen and all their train
With weeping eyes went then their way,
And let their daughter there remain,
To be the hungry dragon's prey;
But as she did there weeping lye,
Behold St. George came riding by.
And seeing there a lady bright
So rudely tyed unto a stake,
As well became a valiant knight,
He straight to her his way did take:
Tell me, sweet maiden, then quoth he,
What caitiff thus abuseth thee?
And, lo, by Christ his cross I vow,
Which here is figured on my breast,
I will revenge it on his brow,
And break my lance upon his chest:
And speaking thus whereas he stood,
The dragon issued from the wood.
The lady that did first espy
The dreadful dragon coming so,
Unto St. George aloud did cry
And willed him away to go;
Here comes that cursed fiend, quoth she,
That soon will make an end of me.
St. George then looking round about,
The fiery dragon soon espied,
And like a knight of courage stout,
Against him did most fiercely ride;
And with such blows he did him greet,
He fell beneath his horse's feet.
For with his lance that was so strong,
As he came gaping in his face,
In at his mouth he thrust along,
For he could pierce no other place;
And thus within the lady's view
This mighty dragon straight he slew.
The favour of his poisoned breath
Could do this holy knight no harm;
Thus he the lady saved from death,
And home he led her by the arm:
Which when King Ptolemy did see,
There was great mirth and melody."
C.
In Hippeau's comments on the non-reliability of much of the natural history of Guillaume he points out that not only was it difficult for these early writers to ascertain the truth, but that the truth in its lower sense was not really much striven after or valued. He says--"N'oublions pas que les pères de l'Église se préoccupèrent toujours beaucoup plus de la pureté des doctrines qu'ils avaient à développer, que de l'exactitude scientifique des notions sur lesquelles ils les appuyaient. L'object important pour nous, dit Saint Augustin (Ps. cii., àpropos de l'aigle, qui disait-on, brise contre la pierre l'éxtrémité de son bec devenue trop long) est de considérer la signification d'un fait et non d'en discuter l'authenticité.
"Dans la vaste étendue des Cieux, au sien des mers profondes, sur tous les points du globe terrestre, il n'est pas un phénomène, pas une étoile, pas un quadrupède, pas un oiseau, pas une plante, pas une pierre, qui n'éveille quelque souvenir biblique, qui ne fournisse la matière d'un enseignement moral, qui ne donne lieu à quelqu' effusion du coeur, qui n'ait à révéler quelque secret de Dieu."
D.
The palm was by old writers called the phoenix-tree, and in Greek the same word is used to express both the bird and the tree.
"_Sebastian._ Now I will believe
That there are unicorns; that in Arabia
There is one tree, the phoenix' throne; one phoenix
At this hour reigning there.
_Antonio._ I'll believe both;
And what does else want credit come to me,
And I'll be sworn 'tis true; travellers ne'er did lie,
Though fools at home condemn them."--_Tempest._
E.
"The story of Guy is so obscured with fable that it is difficult to ascertain its authenticity. He was the hero of succeeding Earls of Warwick. William Beauchamp called his eldest son after him. Thomas by his last will bequeathed the sword and coat-of-mail of this worthy to his son. Another christened a younger son after him, and dedicated to him a noble tower, whose walls are ten feet thick, the circumference 126, and the height 113 feet from the bottom of the ditch. Another left as an heirloom to his family a suit of arras wrought with his story. His sword and armour, now to be seen in Warwick Castle, were by patent, 1 Henry VIII., granted to William Hoggeson, yeoman of the battery, with a fee of 2d. per day. In the porter's lodge at the castle they still show his porridge-pot, flesh-fork, iron shield, breastplate and sword, horse furniture, walking staff nine feet high, and even a rib of the dun cow which he pretended to have killed on Dunsmore Heath. In short, his fame and spirit seem to have inspired his successors, for from the Conquest to the death of Ambrose Dudley there was scarce a scene of action in which the Earls of Warwick did not make a considerable figure."--_Camden's Britannia_, vol. ii., 1806.
F.
Of the "Bestiary" of Philip de Thaun only one copy of the MS. is known, that in the Cottonian Collection, though of another of his quaint treatises, the "Livre des Créatures," there are seven copies extant. Three of these are in the Vatican Library, and in England one may be seen in the Sloane Library, and another in the Cottonian. The author had as his great patron Adelaide of Louvain, the second queen of King Henry I. He dedicates his "Bestiary" to her in the following lines:--
"Philippe de Thaun into the French language
Has translated the Bestiary, a book of science,
For the honour of a jewel who is a very handsome woman,
Aliz is she named, a queen is she crowned,
Queen is she of England, may her soul never have trouble."
His poems are the earliest examples extant of the Anglo-Norman language; we give herewith an illustration of it, the translation being from the excellent reproduction of the book by Thomas Wright, F.S.A.:--
"En un livre divin, que apelum Genesim,
Iloc lisant truvum quæ Dés fist par raisum
Le soleil e la lune, e esteile chescune.
Pur cel me plaist à dire d'ico est ma materie,
Que demusterai e à clers e à lai,
Chi grant busuin en unt, e pur mei perierunt.
Car unc ne fud loée escience celée;
Pur ço me plaist à dire, ore i seit li veir Sire!"
"In a divine book, which is called Genesis
There reading, we find that God made by reason
The sun and the moon, and every star.
On this account it pleases me to speak, of this is my matter,
Which I will show both to clerks and to laics,
Who have great need of it, and will perish without it.
For science hidden was never praised;
Therefore it pleases me to speak, now may the true Lord be with it."
G.
As the limited space at our disposal prevents anything like an exhaustive account of the wonders narrated by Mandeville and others, we give the titles of some few old works, in case the reader may care to dive into them at greater length than is here at all possible. The first we would mention is Richard Hackluyt's black-letter folio, published in 1589. Its full title runs as follows:--"The Principal Navigations; Voiages and Discoveries of the English Nation, made by Sea or over Land to the most remote and farthest distant Quarters of the earth at any time within the compasse of these 1500 yeeres." Another is "Purchas his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World, Asia, Africa and America and the Ilands adiacent," published in London in the year 1614; a very quaint and interesting old book. The "Ortus Sanitatis" is another very curious old black-letter volume, dealing with animals, plants, &c., and richly illustrated with very remarkable woodcuts. To these we may add Marco Polo's travels in the thirteenth century, detailing the observations of this early traveller on many remarkable places and things seen or heard of by him, chiefly in the East. Struy's "Perillous and most Unhappy Voyages through Moscovia, Tartary, Italy, Greece, Persia, Japan," &c., is another interesting old volume. It was published in the year 1638, and is illustrated by divers curious plates. To this list we need only add the "Natvrall and Morall Historie of the East and West Indies," by Joseph Acosta; 1604. "Intreating of the Remarkable things of Heaven, of the Elements, Mettalls, Plants, and Beasts which are proper to that Country." Where we have given a date it is simply that of the copy that has come under our own cognisance: many of these works were of sufficient popularity to run through several editions, sometimes several years apart; nevertheless the dates we give will give an approximate notion that is decidedly better than nothing. This list might readily be extended tenfold.
H.
The sphinx is described in Bacon's book, "The Wisdom of the Ancients, Written in Latin by the Right Honourable Sir Francis Bacon Knt. Baron of Verulam and Lord Chancellor of England, and done into English by Sir Arthur Gorges Knt." After narrating the story, he expounds it as follows:--"This Fable contains in it no less Wisdom than Elegancy, and it seems to point at Science, especially that which is joyn'd with Practice, for Science may not absurdly be call'd a Monster, as being by the ignorant and rude Multitude always held in Admiration. It is diverse in Shape and Figure by reason of the infinite Variety of Subjects wherein it is conversant. A Maiden Face and Voice is attributed unto it for its gracious Countenance and Volubility of Tongue. Wings are added, because Sciences and their Inventions do pass and fly from one to another, as it were in a Moment, seeing that the Communication of Science is as the kindling of one Light at another. Elegantly also it is feigned to have sharp and hooked Talons, because the Axioms and Arguments of Science do fasten so upon the Mind, and so strongly apprehend and hold it, as that it stir not nor evade, which is noted also by the Divine Philosopher--The Words of the Wise are as Goads and Nails driven far in.
Moreover, all Science seems to be placed in steep and high Mountains, as being thought to be a lofty and high thing, looking down upon Ignorance with a scornful Eye. It may be observed and seen also a great Way, and far in compass, as things set on the Tops of Mountains.
Furthermore, Science may well be feigned to beset the High-way, because which way soever we turn in this Progress and Pilgrimage of Human Life we meet with some Matter or Occasion offered for Contemplation. Sphynx is said to have received from the Muses divers difficult Questions and Riddles, and to propound them unto Men, which remaining with the Muses are free (it may be) from savage Cruelty; for, so long as there is no other end of Study and Meditation than to know, the Understanding is not racked and imprisoned, but enjoys Freedom and Liberty, and even Doubts and Variety find a kind of Pleasure and Delectation. But when once these Enigmas are delivered by the Muses to Sphynx, that is, to Practice, so that it be sollicited and urged by Action and Election and Determination, then they begin to be troublesome and raging, and unless they be resolved and expedited they do wonderfully torment and vex the Minds of Men, distracting, and in a manner rending them into sundry Parts.
Moreover, there is always a twofold Condition propounded with Sphynx her Enigmas. To him that doth not expound them, distraction of Mind, and to him that doth, a Kingdom, for he that knows that which he sought to know hath attain'd the end he aim'd at, and every Artificer also commands over his Work.
Moreover it is added in the Fable, that the Body of Sphynx, when she was overcome, was laid upon an Ass, which indeed is an elegant Fiction, seeing there is nothing so acute and abstruse but, being well understood and divulged, may be well apprehended by a slow Capacity. Neither is it to be omitted that Sphynx was overcome by a Man lame in his Feet; for when Men are too swift of Foot and too speedy of Pace in hasting to Sphynx, her Enigmas, it comes to pass that, she getting the upper Hand, their Wits and Minds are rather distracted by Disputations than that ever they come to command by Works and Effects."
I.
The spaces in the frieze of the Parthenon, known architectively as the metopes, were filled with sculptures illustrating the struggle between the Lapithæ and the Centaurs. Thirty-nine of these slabs remain in their original position in the temple, while seventeen are in the British Museum and one in the Louvre. In their beauty and bold design they are some of the grandest monuments of Greek art. Other very fine examples may be seen in the fragments in our national collection from the frieze of the temple of Apollo Epicurius, near Phigalia, and the Theseum at Athens. There are also two very fine single statues of centaurs in the Capitoline Museum.
J.
Centaury is so called from an old myth that Chiron, the centaur, cured himself from a wound given by a poisoned arrow by using some plant that Pliny, therefore, calls _Centaurium_; but whether it was this plant, or a knapweed, or any plant at all, or whether there even ever was a centaur named Chiron, or a centaur named anything else, are points we must be content to leave. Linnæus called the plant the _Chironia_; its modern generic name merely signifies red, as most of the flowers in the genus have blossoms of some tint of red; but in the specific name _Centaurium_ we recognise that the old myth still finds commemoration. In some parts of England the rustics corrupt centaury into sanctuary, and the Germans call it the _tausend-gulden-kraut_. This strange name is built upon another corruption, some of the old writers having twisted _Centaurea_ into _Centum aurei_, and the Germans have lavishly multiplied by ten the hundred golden coins. The centaury is said to be a good and cheap substitute for the medicinal gentian, and, as a hair-dye, was for a long time held in repute for the production of a rich golden yellow tint.
"My floure is sweet in smell, bitter my iuyce in taste,
Which purge choler, and helps liuer, that else would waste."
The centaury still figures largely in rustic medicine and in the prescriptions of the herbalists; we have seen the country agents of these latter with armfuls of centaury as large as they could carry. Into all its accredited virtues in mediæval times we need not here go; in fact, if our readers will make out at random a list of some twenty of the ills of suffering mortality, and boldly assert that such ills need not exist at all in a world that also produces centaury, they will be sufficiently near the mark for practical purposes.
K.
A good illustration of this may be seen in Brathwait's book, published in 1621, and entitled "Nature's Embassie, or the Wilde-Man's Measures danced by twelve Satyres," the dance itself being very quaintly represented on the curious old woodcut title.
L.
An old author whose voluminous works on natural history are very interesting and curious, and richly illustrated with engravings at least as quaint in character as the text. The "Historia Monstrorum," was published in folio at Bologna in 1642, and is full of the most extraordinary animal forms. His various works range in date from 1602 to 1668, and are, with one exception--Venice--published either at Bologna or Frankfort. All are very curious, and will well repay our readers if they can get an opportunity of seeing them.
Another book of very similar character is Boiastuau's "Histoires Prodigeuses," published in Paris in 1561, a strange assemblage of curious and monstrous figures.
M.
Bacon, in his "Wisdom of the Ancients," writes as follows:--"The Fable of the Syrens seems rightly to have been apply'd to the pernicious Allurements of Pleasure, but in a very vulgar and gross manner. And therefore to me it seems that the Wisdom of the Ancients have with a farther reach or insight strained deeper Matter out of them, not unlike the Grapes ill press'd; from which though some Liquor were drawn, yet the best was left behind. This Fable hath relation to Men's Manners, and contains in it a manifest and most excellent Parable. For Pleasures do for the most proceed out of the Abundance and Superfluity of all things, and also out of the Delights and jovial Contentments of the Mind; the which are wont suddenly as it were with winged Inticements to ravish and rap Mortal Men: But Learning and Education brings it so to pass as that it restrains and bridles Man's Mind, making it so to consider the Ends and Events of Things as that it clips the Wings of Pleasure. These Syrens are said to dwell in remote Isles: for that Pleasures love Privacy and retired places, shunning always too much Company of People. The Syren's Songs are so commonly understood, together with the Deceits and Danger of them, as that they need no Exposition. But that of the Bones appearing like white Cliffs, and descry'd afar off, hath more Acuteness in it; for thereby it is signify'd that, albeit the Examples of Afflictions be manifest and eminent, yet do they not sufficiently deter us from the wicked Enticements of Pleasures.
As for the Remainder of this Parable, tho' it be not over mystical, yet it is very grave and excellent: For in it we set out three Remedies for this violent enticing Mischief: to wit, Two from Philosophy, and One from Religion. The first Means to shun these inordinate Pleasures is to withstand and resist them in their Beginnings and seriously to Shun all Occasions to entice the Mind, which is signified in that stopping of the Ears; and that Remedy is properly used by the meaner and baser sort of People, as it were Ulysses Followers or Mariners; whereas more heroick and noble Spirits may boldly converse even in the midst of these seducing Pleasures, if with a resolved Constancy they stand upon their Guard and fortify their Minds; and so take greater Contentment in the Trial and Experience of this their approved Virtue, learning rather thoroughly to understand the Follies and Vanities of those Pleasures by Contemplation, than by Submission. Which Solomon avouched of himself when he reckoned up the Multitude of those Solaces and Pleasures wherein he swam, doth conclude with this sentence--Wisdom also continued with me. Therefore these Heroes, and Spirits of this excellent Temper, even in the midst of these enticing Pleasures, can shew themselves constant and invincible and are able to support their own virtuous Inclination against all heady and forcible Perswasions whatsoever; as by the Example of Ulysses, that so peremptorily interdicted all pestilent Counsel as the most dangerous and pernitious Poysons to captivate the Mind: But of all other Remedies in this Case that of Orpheus is most predominant: For they that chaunt and resound the Praise of the Gods confound and dissipate the Voices and Incantations of the Syrens, for Divine Meditations do not only in Power subdue all sensual Pleasures, but also far exceed them in Swiftness and Delight."
N.
"A Scorneful Image or Monstrous Shape of a Marvellous Strange Fygure called Sileni Alcibiadis presentyng ye state and condio of this present world, and inespeciale of the Spirituallte how farre they be from ye perfite trade and life of Criste, wryte in the later tonge by that famous Clerke Erasmus and lately translated into Englyshe." A rare old black-letter book.
O.
"All those airy shapes you now behold
Were human bodies once, and clothed with earthly mould;
Our souls, not yet prepared for upper light,
Till doom's-day wander in the shades of night."
--Dryden, _The Flower and the Leaf_.
P.
Before finally dismissing the Fairies we would just refer our readers to a very curious book amongst the Lansdowne MSS. (No. 231) in the British Museum. It was written by John Aubrey, in the year 1686, and is entitled "Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme." The title, however, is no guide whatever to the character of the book, which seems to be merely a note-book for the writing down, without any apparent system or order, of any curious matters that came before him. Scattered throughout these notes are various references to the Fairies; and though they naturally, to a certain extent, repeat what we have already written, they are perhaps sufficiently interesting to quote, as they were the popular notions current at the time. We can only give them in the disjointed way in which we find them, as they are mixed up with all kinds of other matter.
"Not far from Sr Bennet Hoskyns there was a labouring man that rose up early every day to goe to worke; who for a good while many dayes together found a ninepence in the way that he went. His wife wondering how he came by so much money was afraid he gott it not honestlye; at last he told her, and afterwards he never found any more."
"They were wont to please the Fairies, that they might doe them no shrewd turnes, by sweeping clean the Hearth and setting by it a dish of fair water half sad breade, whereon was sett a messe of milke sopt with white bread. And on the morrow they would find a groat of which if they did speak of it they never had any again. Mrs H. of Hereford had as many groates or 3ds this way as made a little silver cup or bowle of (I thinke) 3lbs value, wh her daughter preserves still."
"In the vestry at Frensham, on the N. side of the chancel, is an extraordinary great kettle or caldron, which the inhabitants say, by tradition, was brought hither by the fairies, time out of mind, from Borough hill, about a mile from hence. To this place, if any one went to borrow a yoke of oxen, money, &c., he might have it for a year or longer, so he kept his word to return it. There is a cave, where some have fancied to hear musick. On this Borough hill is a great stone lying along, of the length of about six feet: they went to this stone and knocked at it, and declared what they would borrow and when they would pay, and a voice would answer when they should come, and that they should find what they desired to borrow at that stone. This caldron, with the trivet, was borrowed here after the manner aforesaid, but not returned according to promise, and though the caldron was afterwards carried to the stone it could not be received, and ever since that time no borrowing there. The people saw a great fire one night not long since, the next day they went to see if any heath was burnt there, but found nothing."
"Some were led away by the Fairies, as was a third riding upon Hackpen with corn led a dance to ye Devises. So was a shepherd of Mr Brown of Winterburn-Basset, but never any afterwards enjoy themselves. He sayd that ye ground opened, and he was brought into strange places underground, where they used musicall Instruments, Viols and Lutes, such (he sayd) as Mr Thomas did play on."
"Virgil speakes somewhere (I think in ye Georgiques) of Voyces heard louder than a Man's. Mr Lancelot Morehouse did averre to me that he did once heare such a loud laugh on the other side of a hedge, and was sure that no Human voice could afford such a laugh."
"In Germany old women tell stories received from their Ancestors that a Water-monster, called the Nickard, doth enter by night the chamber, and stealeth when they are all sleeping the new-born child, and supposeth another in its place, which child growing up is like a monster and commonly dumb. The remedy whereof that the Mother may get her own child again--the mother taketh the Suppositium and whipps it so long with the rod till the sayd Monster, the Nickard, bringes the Mother's own child again, and takes to him the Suppositium, which they call Wexel balg."
In another curious old book on our shelves, the "Philosophical Grammar" of Benjamin Martin, published in 1753, we find another allusion to the belief in Fairies. The book is written in the question and answer style once so popular, and after a long dissertation on the Animal Kingdom, we come at last to the question, "Pray before we leave this survey of the Animal Creation let me ask your opinion of Griffins, the Phoenix, Dragons, Satyrs, Syrens, Unicorns, Mermaids and Fairies. Do you think there really are any such things in Nature?" The answer is so far to the point, and so interesting in itself as showing the state of mind on the whole subject, that we give it in all its fulness.
"The _Phoenix_ is mentioned by _Pliny_, and other Antients, more credulous than skilful; but has long since been rejected as a vulgar Error. The _Griffin_ and _Harpy_ have had a Place given them in Modern Histories of Nature, but not without great Reproach and Ridicule to the Authors. _Satyrs_, _Syrens_, and _Fairies_, are all Poetical Fictions. The _Scripture_ makes mention of the _Dragon_ and the _Unicorn_, and most _Naturalists_ have affirmed that there have been such Creatures, and given Descriptions of them; but the Sight of these Creatures or credible Relations of them, having been so very rare, has occasioned many to believe there never were any such Animals in Nature; at least it has made the History of them very doubtful. As to _Mer-men_ and _Mer-maids_, there certainly are such Creatures in the Sea as have some distant Resemblance of some Parts of the Human Shape, Mien, and Members; but not so perfectly like them, 'tis very probable, as has been represented. In all such ambiguous Pieces of History 'tis better not to be positive, and sometimes to suspend our Belief, rather than credulously embrace every current Report, or vulgar Assertion which may perhaps expose us to Ridicule.
It makes but little for the Credit of the Histories of _Dragons_, _Unicorns_, _Mer-maids_, &c., that their names are not to be found in the Transactions of our celebrated Royal Society, who, 'tis well known, derive their Intelligence at the best Hand from almost all Parts of the World. At least, I can find no mention of any such Creatures in the seven Volumes of Abridgments by _Lowthorp, Eames, and Jones_.
2. The _Histoire Naturelle de l'Universe_ gives an Account of several Persons who have described the _Unicorn_; and particularly Father _Lobos_, in his Voyage to the _Abyssine Empire_, says, that this Animal is of the Shape and Size of a fine-made and well-proportion'd Horse, of a bay Colour with a black Tail and Extremities; he adds, that the Unicorns of _Tuacua_ have very short Tails; and those of _Ninina_ (a Canton in the same Province) have theirs very long, and their Manes hanging over their Heads. _Vol._ IV. _Page_ 3.
3. _Du Mont_ says, he saw the Head of a Dragon which was set up over the _Water-Gate_ in the City of _Rhodes_; this Dragon was 33 Feet long, and wasted all the Country round, 'till it was slain by _Deodate de Gozon_, a Knight of _St. John_. He says, the _Head_ was like that of an Hog, but much larger; its _Ears_ were like a Mule's, but cut off; the _Teeth_ were extraordinary sharp and long; the _Throat_ wide; its _Eyes_ hollow, and burning like two Coals. It had two little Wings on its Back; its _Legs_ and _Tail_ like those of a Lizard, but strong, and arm'd with sharp and venomous Talons. His Body was cover'd with Scales which was Proof against Arms. See the Manner of his being kill'd in the _Atlas Geographicus_, Vol. III. Page 43, 44.
4. _Ludolphus_, in his _Ethiophic_ History, tells us, that in the _Abyssine Empire_, there are voracious scaly Dragons of the largest Size, tho' not venomous or hurtful otherwise than by the Bite, and they look like the Bark of an old Tree. _Atlas Geographicus_, Vol. IV. Page 614.
5. The _Stories_ of _Mer-maids_, _Satyrs_, &c. had undoubtedly their Original from such Animals as have in some Respects a Likeness to the _human Shape_ and _Features_. Among these the _Monkey_ Kind, the _Orang-Outang_, and the _Quoja Morron_ are the chief on Land; and the Fish call'd the _Mermaid_ (tho' it has nothing of the _Human Form_) and some other unusual Animals in the Sea."
Q.
Where several sons are contemporaneous, and all have the right to bear the paternal arms, they are thus distinguished--the eldest son adds to them what is known as a label; the second, a crescent; the third, a five-pointed star; the fourth, a martlet; the fifth, an annulet; the sixth, a fleur-de-lys; the seventh, a rose; and so on. A very good and easily accessible example of this "differencing" of the arms may be seen in those borne by the Prince of Wales, the silver label stretching across the top of the shield, blazoned in all other respects like those of the Queen, marking the relationship.
R.
Bruce tells us, for instance, that the horned viper, or Cerastes, the "worm of Nile" that was the cause of the death of Cleopatra, has a way of creeping until it is alongside its victim, and then making a sudden sidelong spring at the object of its attack. In his book he narrates a curious instance that came under his notice at Cairo, where several of these reptiles had been placed in a box. "I saw one crawl up the side, and there lie still, as if hiding himself, till one of the people who brought them to us came near him and though in a very disadvantageous position, sticking as it were perpendicularly to the side of the box, he leaped near the distance of three feet, and fastened between the man's forefinger and thumb."
S.
Amongst the things displayed in the case are portions of a wreath from the coffin of Rameses II. (1100-1200 B.C.), composed of sepals and petals of _Nymphæa cærulea_ on strips of leaves of the date-palm, and another wreath made from the _N. Lotus_.
Another wreath is from the coffin of Aahmes I. (1700 B.C.), composed of leaves of willow and flowers of the _Acacia Nilotica_.
There are also two garlands from the tomb of the Princess Nzi Khonsou (1000 B.C.), composed in the one case of willow leaves and the flower heads of the _Centauræa depressa_, and in the other of the _Papaver Rhæas_, the common scarlet poppy so familiar to every one who has ever seen an English cornfield or railway embankment in summer.
There are, in addition, leaves of the wild celery and of the olive and vine, all quite clearly distinguishable.
The ancient Egyptians were exceedingly fond of flowers, and even made rare plants a portion of the tribute exacted from dependent or conquered territories. One old writer tells us that "those flowers, which elsewhere were only sparingly produced, even in their proper season, grew profusely in Egypt at all times, so that neither roses, nor any others, were wanting there, even in the middle of winter." Their living rooms were always adorned with bouquets or growing plants, and the stands that served for holding them have been found in the tombs. On the arrival of guests at a banquet servants came forward with garlands of flowers and placed them round their necks, a custom we may see graphically depicted in the mural painting in the tombs, while a single lotus flower was often placed in the hair.
T.
The Bay enters very largely into the various extraordinary compounds--astrological, medicinal, and the like--of the ancients. Thus--to quote but one instance out of many that might be given--Albertus Magnus, in his treatise "De Virtutibus Herbarum," tells us that if any one gathers some bay leaves and wraps them up with the tooth of a wolf, no one can speak an angry word to the bearer; while, put under the pillow at night, it will bring in a vision before the eyes of a man who has been robbed, the thief and all his belongings. He further goes on to tell us that if set up in a place of worship, none who have broken any contract or agreement will be able to quit the place till this most potent combination be removed. "This last is tried and most true."
[Decoration]
INDEX.
"So essential did I consider an Index to be to every book, that I
proposed to bring a Bill into Parliament to deprive an author, who
publishes a book without an Index, of the privilege of copyright,
and, moreover, to subject him to a pecuniary penalty."
--Campbell's _Lives of the Chief-Justices of England_.
Aahmes I., chaplets from coffin of, 233
"Absalom and Achitophel," Dryden, 126
"Abyssinia, Life in," Parkyns, 14
Achemedis, herb, 199
Acipenser, 158
Acosta, "Natvrall and Morall Historie," 219
Adam, earliest botanist, 181
Adder, wilfully deaf, 67, 148
Addison's "Milton Imitated," 99
Adelaide of Louvain, 218
Adissechen, the thousand-headed, 146
Adolf Dux, article by, 197
Ælian on aspis, 147; on basilisk, 49;
on lion and ram-headed fish, 160;
on unicorn, 9
Æneas Sylvius on barnacle tree, 174
Ætius on basilisk, 49;
on dryinus, 49
"Africa, History of," Leo, 30
Agnus Dei, as a badge, 74
Alaus Magnus on kraken, 150
Albertus Magnus, "De Virtutibus Herbarum," 234;
dragon, 28;
on pigmies, 125
Alchemists and phoenix, 54
Aldrovandus, "Monstrorum Historia," 31, 79, 87, 161
Alimos plant, 197
Amaranth, 177
Amazons, 95
Ambrosia, 183
Amphisbena, 148
Anacramseros plant, 199
Andromeda and Perseus, 19
Annulet as mark of cadency, 232
Anthropophagi, 94
Antipathy between dragon and elephant, 42;
between serpent and stag, 15
Antony and Cleopatra, 91, 188
Apples of Hesperides, 40;
of Istkahar, 196;
of perpetual youth, 196
Apollo Epicurius, temple of, 222
Apuleius, "The Golden Ass," 184
Arabia, home of the phoenix, 50
"Arabian Nights," 7, 40, 69, 132, 140, 196
Archaic pottery, British Museum, 85
Ardoynus on basilisk, 49
Arian _v._ Athanasian, 209
Arimaspian gold, 69
Arimaspians, 98
Arion and the dolphins, 158
Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso," 50, 70
Aristotle on chameleon, 77;
on pigmies, 125
Arms of City of London, 70;
of Prince of Wales, 234;
of William de Valence, 134
Arrowheads or Celts, 108
"Art of Love," King's, 49
Asbestos, 61
Asphodel, 180
Aspis, 147
Assembly of Beaux Esprits, Paris, 10
Ass, Indian, of Ctesias, 7
"As you Like it," 54
"Atlas Geographicus," 231
Aubrey's "Gentilisme and Judaisme," 31, 227
Augustine, St., on the manipulation of facts, 216;
on monsters, 41
Avebury stones, 58
Avicen on basilisk, 49
Bacon on the sphinx legend, 83;
"Wisdom of the Ancients," 220, 224
Badge of Jane Seymour, 53
Balam, the ox, 159
Ballad of dragon of Wantley, 33;
of St. George and dragon, 211
"Bara Bathra," 151
Basil, herb, 200
Basilisk, king of serpents, 48, 91
Barliata, 175
Barnacle goose-tree, 168
Bartolomeo, standard of, 6
Basking shark, 146
Bay tree, 234
Beaumont and Fletcher's "Woman Hater," 48
Beaux Esprits, assembly of, 10
Behemoth legend, 152
Ben Jonson on remora, 159
"Bestiare Divin" of Guillaume, 43
Bestiary of De Thaun, 67, 147, 218
Bewick's books, 2
Bible Herbal of Newton, 183
Bible references to adder, 67;
amaranth, 178;
cockatrice, 46;
dragon, 19;
giants, 129;
leviathan, 152;
mandrake, 193;
unicorn, 4
Bird of paradise, 135
Blemmyes, headless men, 97
Boar, 15, 49
Boiastuau, "Histoires Prodigeuses," 224
"Boke of Husbandry," Fitzherbert, 204
Bolyai, tomb of, 197
Bones preserved in churches, 59
Borghese centaur, 85
Borrowing from the fairies, 228
Boussetti on monsters, 161
Brathwait's "Nature's Embassie," 224
Breydenbach's Travels, 62
Briaræus, 94, 99
Bristol, great bone at, 59
"Britannia," Camden, 217
"Britannica Concha Anatifera," 175
British Museum, centaur, 85, 222;
Lansdowne MSS., 31;
Scythian lamb, 71
Brobdingnag, men of, 99
Browne's "Pseudodoxia Epidemica," 199;
"Vulgar Errors," 31, 69, 190
Brownie, 119
Bruce on the horned viper, 232
Bruynswyke's Herbal, 182
Bryony roots carved into human form, 190
Bucca, 121
Buckland's "Curiosities of Natural History," 60
Buffalo, 12
Burton's "Miracles of Art and Nature," 4, 71, 93, 153, 194
Bury Palliser's "Historic Badges," 6
Bushmen, the modern pigmies, 127
Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage,157, 196;
on nautilus, 155
Cadency in heraldry, 232
Cader Idris, the giant's seat, 131
Cadwallader, ensign of, 33
Caerleon, great bone at, 59
Camden's "Britannia," 217
"Canterbury Tales," 104
Capitoline Museum sculptures, 222
Cassandra's gift, 163
Catacombs of Rome, 5
Cathay and the vegetable lamb, 71
Catoblepas of Pliny, 49
Caxton and the "Legenda Aurea," 22
Cedric the Victorious, 33
Celtic pen-dragon, 33
Celts or arrow-heads, 108
Centaur, 84
Centaury, 85, 222
Cerastes or horned viper, 232
Cetus of De Thaun, 151
"Ceylon," Tennant, 127
Chameleon, 76, 91
Changeful colours of dolphin, 157
Changelings, 110
Chang, the Chinese giant, 130
Chaplets in Egyptian tombs, 178
Charles II., dedication to, 47
Chaucer on Sir Guy of Warwick, 56
Chesterfield, great bone at, 59
"Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," Byron, 157, 196
Chilon, 160
Chimæra, 84, 149
China, the dragon symbol, 27
Chiron the Centaur, 222
"Chronicles," Holingshead, 113
City of London, arms of, 70
Clawed men of Surinam, 97
Clement of Alexandria, 177
Clusius, "Rariorum Plantarum Historia," 181
Coats, the heraldic chimæra, 84
Coca leaf, 195
Cockatrice, 44
Cockeram's "English Dictionary," 198
Coinage, the unicorn, 6
Colebrand the champion, 55
Coleridge on giants, 132
"Comedy of Errors," 90, 91
Comptes Royaux of France, 6
"Comus," Milton, 119
"Coriolanus," 40
"Corona Dedicatoria" of Sylvester, 53
"Cosmography" of Munster, 173
Cotter, the Irish giant, 130
Cottonian MSS., 218
Coventry, great bone at, 58
Crane and pigmy combats, 125
Crescent as a mark of cadency, 232
Crest of Earl Douglas, 64
Crocodile, reference in Job, 154
Ctesias on griffin, 68;
Indian ass, 7;
on pigmies, 126
Cupid and Psyche, 184
"Curiosities of Natural History," Buckland, 60
Cuttle fish, 150
Cwm Pwcca, Brecon, 122
Cyclops, 82, 94, 98
"Cymbeline," 39, 54
Cyoeraeth, 121
Dacien and St. George, 25
Danby, picture by, 184
Dart, 44
Darwin on vampyre bat, 76
Davy Jones's locker, 161
Dead as a door nail, 124
Dead Sea apples, 196
Deaf adder, 67, 148
De Bry's "India Orientalis," 185
Decker on the unicorn, 6
"Decline and Fall of Roman Empire," 22, 209
De Ferry and sea-serpent, 144
Democritus on chameleon, 78
"Description Historique de Macaçar," 186
"Description of 300 Animals," 2, 44
De Thaun, 8, 67, 136, 147, 151, 191, 218
Device of Francis I., 61;
of Henry VII., 33
Devil fish, 150
Devil's candle, 193
"De Virtutibus Herbarum," 234
Diamond softening, 199
Dies, 160
Diocletian the persecutor, 25
Dioscorides on basilisk, 49
Discourses of Virtuosi of France, 10
"Discoverie of Witchcraft," 103
"Display of Heraldry," Guillim, 7
Dodoens, Herbal of, 182
Dog-headed men, 93, 96
Dolphin, 156
Donatus, St., dragon-slayer, 20
Dragon, 2, 16, 133, 192, 211, 229
Dragonhill, Berkshire, 33
Dragonnades, 39
Dragon overthrown, knighthood of, 27
Druids and fairies, 102
Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, 126;
on basilisk, 48;
"Flower and the Leaf," 227;
translation from Ovid, 52
Dryinus of Ætius, 49
Dudaim, 193
Dugdale on Guy of Warwick, 55
Dugong and Manatee, 91
Du Mont and the dragon of Rhodes, 231
Dun cow legend, 55
Eagle gazing on the sun, 133
Eagney or Meto, 197
Earl Douglas, crest of, 64
Eastern Soudan and Uganda, 7
Echeneis or Remora, 158
Echidna, 40, 88
Eden's "Historie of Travayle," 94
Egede and the sea-serpent, 144
Egg-talisman, 147
Egyptian form of sphinx, 82;
love of flowers, 235
Egyptian representations of giraffe, 63
Eikon Basilike, 202
El Dorado and Sir W. Raleigh, 95
Elephant, 15, 79;
antipathy between dragon and, 42
Elf-bolts, 109
Elizabeth, Queen, badge of, 53
El Kazwini, Arab writer, 7
"Elysium," Felicia Hemans', 177
Empusa, 14
Enchanter's nightshade, 193
"English Cyclopædia of Natural History," 7
"English Dictionary" of Cockeram, 198
"English Parnassus" of Poole, 103, 120
Enmity between stag and serpent, 15
Epitaph on Gryphius, 70
Erasmus on headless men, 97;
Sileni Alcibiadis, 228
Ethiopia, unicorns in, 4
Exodus, reference to unicorn in, 5
"Faculties of Nourishment," Galen, 180
Fairies, 99, 227
Fairy rings, 104
Falstaff, on fairies, 110;
the salamander, 64
Fanesii of Scandinavia, 98
Father Pigafetta on dragons, 30
Fauns and satyrs, 86
Featley's recantation, 31
Felicia Hemans' "Elysium," 177
Ferrer de Valcebro on the Barliata, 175
Ferry, Laurent de, on sea-serpent, 144
_Field_, extract from, 65
Field of the cloth of gold, 61
Fire-drake, 147
"Fire-worshippers," Moore, 193
Fish nun, 159
Fitzherbert's "Boke of Husbandry," 204
Fletcher's "Purple Island," 51
Fleur-de-lys as mark of cadency, 232
"Flower and the Leaf," Dryden, 227
Foersch on upas tree, 185
Forty-leaved plant, 197
Four-footed serpents, 71
Francisci Boussetti on sea-monsters, 161
Friar's lantern, 123
Fuller's "Holy State," 132
Galen on aspis, 147;
on basilisk, 49;
"Faculties of Nourishment," 180
Garcias ab Horto, on unicorn, 9
Gargoyles of draconic form, 28
Ge and Tartaros, rebellion of, 131
Gelasius, Pope, and St. George, 210
Gelotaphilois, herb, 199
Generation of the cockatrice, 44
"Gentilisme and Judaisme" of Aubrey, 31
"Gentleman's Magazine," extract from, 117
Geography of Strabo, 125
George, St., and dragon, 23, 31, 209-211
"Gerania" of Joshua Barnes, 127
Gerarde, "History of Plants," 168, 180;
asphodel, 180;
barnacle goose-tree, 168;
mandrake, 189
Gervaise, "Description de Macaçar," 186
Gervase, on fairies, 102
Ghoul, 75
Giant Colebrand, 55
Giants, 128
Giants' Causeway, 130
Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of Roman Empire," 22, 209
Gillius the compassionate, 156
Giraffe or seraffa, 63
Giraldus Cambrensis on barnacle trees, 175
Glanvil, on griffin, 68;
on salamander, 60
Gnomes, 119
Godes-andsacan, 20
"Golden Ass" of Apuleius, 184
Golden fruit of the Hesperides, 40
Graham's "Sketches of Perthshire," 121
Greek form of sphinx, 82
Greene on the apples of the Hesperides, 40
Green, Matthew, "The Spleen," 132
Grevinus on basilisk, 49
Griffin, 2, 68, 229
Groats from Fairyland, 109, 120, 228
Gryphius, device of, 70
Guerino, Meschino, 98
Guild processions in Middle Ages, 86
Guiana, Hartsinck on, 97;
Sir W. Raleigh on, 95
Guillaume, "Bestiare Divin," 43
Guillim, "Display of Heraldry," 7, 41, 46, 88, 134
"Gulliver's Travels," 132
Guy of Warwick and the Dun Cow, 55, 217
Hackluyt's "Voyages," 97, 219
Halliwell on anthropophagi, 94
Hameh-bird, 140
"Hamlet," satyr, 86
"Handmayd to Religion," 31
Harpy, 48, 86, 230
Harrington and the sea-serpent, 142
Hartsinck on Guiana, 97
Headless men, 94
Hemans, Felicia, poem by, 177
Heraldic bird-forms, 134;
dolphin, 156
"Herball to the Bible" of Newton, 189
Herbert's "Jacula Prudentum," 132;
"Relations of some yeares Travaile," 186
Herb Viva, 198
Hercules and the pigmies, 126
"Henry IV.," 74, 112, 123
"Henry VI.," 54, 91
"Henry VIII.," 54, 56, 147
Heraldic cockatrice, 46;
dolphin, 156;
griffin, 70;
Pegasus, 73;
phoenix, 53;
unicorn, 4
"Heraldry, display of," by Guillim, 7, 41, 46
Herodotus, griffin, 69;
phoenix, 50, 52;
pigmies, 125
Hesiod, chimæra, 84;
harpy, 87
Hesperides, garden of the, 40
Heylin on St. George, 31
Hilary, St., dragon-slayer, 20
Hindu sacred groves, 177
Hippeau on Guillaume, 44, 216
Hippice, 199
"Histoire Naturelle," 231
"Histoires Prodigeuses," Boiastuau, 224
"Historia Monstrorum," 31, 79, 87, 161, 224
"Historic Badges," Palliser, 6
"Historie of Travayle" of Eden, 94
"History of Africa," John Leo, 30
"History of Ethiopia," Ludolphus, 231
"History of Plants," 168, 180
Hog-faced gentlewoman, 92
Holingshead's "Chronicles," 113
Holland's edition of Pliny, 155
Hollerius, 201
Hollybush, Miles Coverdale, 183
"Holy State," Fuller, 132
"Holyday devotions," 31
Home of the pigmies, 126
Homer, ambrosia, 183;
asphodel, 180;
centaur, 85;
harpy, 87;
"Iliad," 125, 184;
"Odyssey," 177
Hondius and Sir W. Raleigh, 95
"Honour, Titles of," Selden, 32
Hoole's "Orlando Furioso," 50
Horned viper or cerastes, 232
Hudibras, quotation from, 168
"Humana Physiognomonia," of Porta, 93
Humma-bird, 136
Huppe-bird, 136
Hydra, 149
Ibis, 137
Idolatrous groves, 177
Ignis fatuus, 122
Iliad, 125, 184
Indian ass, 7;
serpent legend, 163
"India Orientals," of De Bry, 185
Invisibility of fairies, 103
Iormungandur the encircler, 146
Isaiah, reference to cockatrice, 46
Isidore on onocentaur, 85
Jack-o'-Lantern, 122
Jack the Giant-killer, 128
"Jacula Prudentum," by Herbert, 132
Jane Seymour, badge of, 53
Java and its upas trees, 184
Jeremiah, cockatrice, 46;
dragon, 41
"Jerusalem Delivered," Tasso, 99
Jewish tradition, 152, 159
Job, leviathan, 152;
unicorn, 5
Jodocus Hondius, 95
John Leo, "History of Africa," 30
John of Arragon, salamander device of, 61
Johnson on Gerarde, 172
Joshua Barnes, the "Gerania," 127
Juvenal, pigmy combats, 125
Kadmos, founding of Thebes, 38
Kalli Naga, 20
Kalpa Tarou tree, 176
Kelpies, 102, 121
Kerzereh flowers, 188
Kew, lotus chaplets at, 179, 233;
upas tree at, 185
Keymis on Guiana, 96
"King Henry IV.," 74, 112, 123, 190
"King Henry VI.," 54, 91, 190
"King Henry VIII.," 54, 56
"King Lear," 39
"King Richard III.," 40, 45
"King's Art of Love," 49
Knockers, 117
Kobold, 119
Koempfer on upas tree, 186
Koran, the fish nun, 159;
the lote tree, 176;
the ox Balam, 159
Kraken, 149
Kuchlein's illustrations, 98
Kyonjik sculptures, 177
Label as a mark of cadency, 232
Ladon and the Hesperides, 40
"Lalla Rookh," 107, 135
"L'Allegro" of Milton, 120, 123
Lamia, 13
Lane's "Arabian Nights," 7, 40, 69
Languedoc and its dragon, 21
Lansdowne MSS. in British Museum, 31, 227
Lapithæ and Centaurs, 222
Laurence Keymis on Guiana, 96
Laurent de Ferry and sea-serpent, 144
"Legenda Aurea" of Voraigne, 22
Legends of the Talmud, 152, 159
Leo, "History of Africa," 30
Leviathan, 152, 159
"Life in Abyssinia," Parkyns, 14
Lig-draca, 20
Lilliput, men of, 99, 126
Lion, 3
Lion-headed fish, 160
"Lives of the Saints," 22
Livre des Créatures, De Thaun, 218
Lobel and Pena's book, 175
Lobos, Father, and the unicorn, 231
Lomie, 71
London, arms of City of, 70
Long-eared men or Fanesii, 98
Lote tree of Koran, 176
Lotophagia, 177
Loup-garou or wehr-wolf, 75
Loup, St., dragon-slayer, 20
Louvre, Borghese centaur, 85, 222
Lucian on asphodel, 180
Ludolphus, "History of Ethiopia," 231
Lurlei of the Rhine, 90
Lyte and Dodoens, herbal of, 182
Mab, the fairy queen, 103, 120
"Macaçar; Description Historique du Royaume de," 186
"Macbeth," 39
Magrath, the giant, 130
Maid of Orleans and the mandrake, 189
Mallwyd, great bone at, 59
Manatees and Dugongs, 91
Mandeville on griffin, 68;
headless men, 97;
pigmies, 196;
vegetable lamb, 71
Mandrake, 188
Man-eater and Rompo, 12
Mansfield Parkyns' "Life in Abyssinia," 14
Manticora, 13
Maori traditions, 127
Marcel, St., dragon-slayer, 21
Marco Polo's travels, 219
Marks of abatement and augmentation, 88;
of cadency, 134
Martha, St., dragon-slayer, 21
Martial, St., dragon-slayer, 21
Martin, St., dragon-slayer, 20
Martin's "Philosophical Grammar," 229
Martlet, 134, 232
Mary Stuart, badge of, 204
Matthew Green, "The Spleen," 132
Matthiolus, herbal of, 181
McQuahee and the sea-serpent, 143, 145
"Measure for Measure," 131
Mediæval dragon recipes, 29;
festivals, 98
"Merchant of Venice," 196
Mermaid, 90, 160, 231
Metamorphoses, 202
Meto or Eagney, 197
Metopes of Parthenon, 222
Michovius on griffin-land, 69
"Midsummer Night's Dream," 39, 90, 120
Miles Coverdale, Hollybush, 183
Milton, amaranth, 178;
Arimaspians, 98;
chimæra, 84;
gorgon, 84;
griffin, 69;
harpy, 87;
hydra, 84;
"L'Allegro," 120, 123;
"Paradise Lost," 98, 123, 178;
Will o' the wisp, 123
"Milton imitated," Addison, 99
Mimosa sensitiva, 198
Minotaur, 48
"Miracles of Art and Nature," Burton, 4, 71, 93, 153, 194
Monacella, St., bone of, 59
Money, fairy, 109, 120, 227, 228
"Monstrorum Historia" of Aldrovandus, 31, 79, 87, 161, 224
Monuments of Egypt, 63
Moore, "Fire worshippers," 193;
Kerzereh flower, 188;
"Lalla Rookh," 107, 135;
"Paradise and the Peri," 54, 136;
"Veiled Prophet of Khorassan," 188
More Hall of Wantley, 34
Mountain fish, 149
Mouse, 16
"Much Ado about Nothing," 87
Munster's "Cosmography," 173
Murphy the Irish giant, 130
Musical tastes of the dolphin, 158
Narcissus, possibly the asphodel, 180
National Library, Paris, 44
"Natural History of Norway," Pontoppidan, 145
"Nature's Embassie," Brathwait, 223
"Natvrall and Morall Historie" of Acosta, 219
Naud the pen-dragon, 33
Nautilus, 155
Nech of Scandinavia, 121
Nectar of the gods, 183
Newton's "Bible Herbal," 183, 189
Newts spitting fire, 64
Nicander on the aspis, 147
Nickard, 229
"Night Thoughts," Young, 126
Nineveh and Persepolis, sculptures at, 19
Ninina, unicorns of, 231
Nis, 119
Nixies, 102
Nova Hispania, flora of, 197
Nun, the fish, 159
"Nuremburg Chronicle," 97
Nymphs, 119
Nzi Khonsou, the princess, 233
Oats, fairy, 100
Oberon, 103
Octavianus the reliable, 175
Octopus, 150
Odysseus, the Lotophagi, 177;
the Sirens, 89
Og, the king of Bashan, 129
Ojibiway legend of the serpent, 163
Olaus Magnus and the sea-serpent, 143
Onocentaur, 85
Ophyasta, herb, 199
Oppian, pigmy combats, 125
Order of the dragon, 22;
of the dragon overthrown, 27
Oribasius on the basil, 201
Origin of fairies, 101
"Orlando Furioso," of Ariosto, 50, 70
Orpheus and the Sirens, 89
"Ortus sanitatis," 219
Osiris the judge, 178
"Othello," 189
Ovid on ambrosia, 183;
phoenix, 52
Owen, Professor, on sea-serpents, 145
Ox Balam, the, 159
Ox, wild, 15
Oyle of castor, 153
Palliser's "Historic Badges," 6
Palm-tree emblem, 194, 202
Pan, 124
Paracelsus on the phoenix, 54
"Paradise Lost," Milton, 98, 123
"Paradise and the Peri," Moore, 54, 136
Parker on poisonous trees, 187
Parkinson's "Theater of Plants," 172, 180, 190
Parkyns' "Life in Abyssinia," 14
Parthenon sculptures, 85, 222
Paulus Venetus on unicorn, 9
Peccata Naturæ, 42
Pedal sunshades, 98
Pegasus, 73
Pelican legend, 133
Pelion on Ossa, 131
Pen-dragon, 33
Pennant Melangell, great bone at, 59
Percy's "Reliques of Antient English Poetry," 34, 56, 211
"Peregrine Pickle" of Smollett, 162
"Pericles," 40, 87
Persepolis, sculptures at, 19
Perseus and Andromeda legend, 19
"Perthshire, Sketches of," 121
Pheg of the Tsi-hiai, 152
Philip de Thaun, 8, 67, 191
Philostratus on the pigmies, 125
"Philosophical Grammar," Martin, 229
Phoca, Pooka, or Pwcca, 121, 133
Phoenix, 50, 134, 217, 229
Phoenix-tree, 217
Pigafetta on dragons, 30
Pigmies, 124
Pink centaury, 85
Pliny on basilisk, 48;
bay-tree, 201;
chameleon, 78;
dolphin, 156;
dragon, 29, 42;
Echeneis, 158;
Fanesii, 98;
giant, 130;
kraken, 149;
nautilus, 155;
phoenix, 51;
pigmies, 125;
salamander, 60;
serpent's eggs, 147;
sphinx, 82;
stag, 15;
unicorn, 9;
wolf, 11
Plutarch's giant, 130
Poison-detecting cups, 4, 6, 7
Poison of salamander, 62
Polonius and the whale, 152
Polyphemus, the foe of Ulysses, 99
Pomum Adami, 196
Pontoppidan, Kraken, 150;
"Natural History of Norway," 145
Poole's "English Parnassus," 103
Pope, nautilus, 155;
"Rape of the Lock," 119
Pope Pius II. on barnacle trees, 175
Porpoises as sea-serpents, 144
Porta's "Humana Physiognomonia," 93
Potto, 16
Prester John, 126
Prince of Wales, arms of, 232
Prior on the chameleon, 77
"Proper study of mankind is man," 81
Psalms, reference to adder, 67;
leviathan, 154;
unicorn, 5
"Pseudodoxia Epidemica," 199
Puck, 102
Purchas Pilgrimage, 219
"Purple Island" of Fletcher, 51
Python, 20
Queen Elizabeth, badge of, 53
Queen Mab, 103, 120
Quentin Durward, Scott, 12
Raleigh, Sir W., voyage to Guiana, 95
Rameses II., 179, 233
Ram-headed fish, 160
"Rape of the Lock," 119;
of Lucrece, 70
"Rariorum Plantarum Historia" of Clusius, 181
Red-dragon ensign, 33
Red lion, 3
Reginald Scot on witchcraft, 103
Regulus, 46
"Relations of some yeares Travaile," 186
"Reliques of Antient English Poetry," 34, 56, 211
"Reminiscences," Taylor, 145
Remora, 158
Resurrection, phoenix type of, 50
Rhinoceros horn cups, 7
Rhodes, dragon of, 231
Ribbon fish, 145
Richardson on phoenix, 54
Riddle of the sphinx, 83
Robin Goodfellow, 102, 119
Roc, 69, 137
Romanus, St., dragon-slayer, 20
"Romeo and Juliet," 40, 45, 190
Rompo or man-eater, 12
Rondelet's sea-monsters, 161
Rose as mark of cadency, 232
Royal arms, supporters of, 6
Royal Society, Proceedings of, 10, 71, 230
Rustic beliefs as to newts, &c., 64
Sacred trees, 177
Sagittarius, 85
Saint George and the dragon, 23, 211
Saint Mary Redcliff, large bone at, 59
Saints as dragon-slayers, 20, 21
Salamander, 60
Sanguis huppæ, 137
Satyrs, 86, 229
Saxo Grammaticus on barnacle tree, 174
Saxon martyrology, 32
Scaliger on basilisk, 49
Scoresby's "Voyages," 92
Scot, Reginald, on witchcraft, 103
Scotland and the unicorn, 6
Scott, elf-possession, 113;
friar's lantern, 123;
wolf, 12
Sketches of Nineveh and Persepolis, 19, 128
Scythian lamb, 71
Sea bishop, 161;
elephant, 72, 145;
hare, 200;
horse, 72;
lion, 160;
monk, 161;
serpent, 48, 141
Selden's "Titles of Honour," 32
Sensitive plant, 198
Seraffa of Breydenbach, 63
Serpent worship, 141, 163
Shakespeare, basilisk, 48;
cockatrice, 45;
dragon, 39;
fire-drake, 147;
griffin, 70;
harpy, 87;
mandrake, 188;
Pegasus, 73;
phoenix, 53, 218;
pigmies, 126;
will-o'-the-wisp, 123;
unicorn, 217
Sigonius on basilisk, 49
Sileni Alcibiadis, 226
Sindbad the Sailor, 69, 138
Siren, 14, 89, 224, 229
Sirena, 18
Sirenia, 92
Sir Walter Raleigh and Guiana, 95
"Sketches of Perthshire," 121
Skimker, Mistress, 92
Sloane Library, 218
Smollett's "Peregrine Pickle," 162
Solinus on basilisk, 49
Sourd story from the _Field_, 65
South Kensington Museum, 184
Sowing of dragon's teeth, 38
Spenser's "Visions of the World's Vanity," 159
Sphinx, 82, 220
Spirits of the mine, 117
"Spleen," Matthew Green, 132
Squier's "Serpent Worship," 163
Stag, 14
Standard of Bartolomeo d'Alviano, 6
Staple Hill stone ring, 58
Star as mark of cadency, 232
Stephen, arms of King, 85
"Stirpium Adversaria Nova," 175
Strabo on pigmies, 125
Stronsay, sea monster at, 146
Struy's Voyages, 219
Stuttgard anthropophagi, 98
Suchenwirt on battle-cries, 32
Supporters of the Royal Arms, 4, 6
Surinam, clawed men of, 97
Sylene and its dragon, 22
Sylphs, 119
Sylvester's "Corona Dedicatoria," 53
Symbol, dragon as a, 28;
stag as a, 15
Symbolism of phoenix, 50, 55
Tacitus, Dead Sea apples, 196;
phoenix, 55
Tailed men, 93
Talmud, legends of the, 152, 159
"Taming of the Shrew," 73
Tartarian lamb, 71
Tartaros and Ge, rebellion of, 131
Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered," 99
Tausend-gulden-kraut, 224
Tavernier on birds of paradise, 135
Taylor's "Reminiscences," 145
"Tempest," fairy-rings, 108;
harpy, 87;
phoenix, 218;
unicorn, 218
Templars, device of the, 74
Tennant's "Ceylon," 127
Tertullian on phoenix, 50
"Theater of Plants," Parkinson, 172, 190
"Theatrum Botanicum," 180
Thebes, founding of, by Kadmos, 38
Theocritus, on wolf, 11
Theseum at Athens, 224
Thevet on unicorn, 9
"Three hundred animals," 2, 44
Throne of Tippoo Sultan, 136
"Titles of Honour," Selden, 32
"Toilers of the Sea," Victor Hugo, 150
Tomb of Bolyai, 197
Travellers' tales, 195, 216
"Travels," Breydenbach, 62
Tree of Life, 176
Tree of the Imagination, 176
Trichrug, the giant's chair, 130
Tritons, 90
"Troilus and Cressida," 39
Tsi-hiai and the pheg, 152
Tuacua, unicorns of, 231
Turner, barnacle geese, 175;
herbal, 182
"Twelfth Night," 45
Typhon, 20
"Uganda and the Eastern Soudan," 7
Ulysses and Polyphemus, 99
Umdhlebi tree, 187
Unicorn, 3, 62, 217, 229
Upas tree, 184
Upton on the harpy, 88
Vampyre, 14, 74
Vartomannus on unicorn, 9
Vatican Library, 218
Vegetable lamb, 71
"Veiled Prophet of Khorassan," 188
Venetus, Paulus, on unicorn, 9
Veran, St., dragon-slayer, 20
"Vertuose Boke of Distyllacyon," of Bruynswyke, 182
Victor Hugo, "Toilers of the Sea," 150
Victor, St., dragon-slayer, 20
Virgil, centaur, 84;
evil eye, 47;
harpy, 88;
wolf, 11
Virtuosi, discoveries of, 10
Vishnu, 20
"Visions of the World's Vanity," Spenser, 159
Viva, herb, 198
Voraigne's "Legenda Aurea," 22
"Voyages," Hackluyt, 97;
Raleigh, 95;
Scoresby, 92;
Struy, 219
Vulcan and the Cyclops, 99
"Vulgar Errors," Sir Thomas Browne, 31, 69
Wantley, dragon of, 33
"Warwickshire" of Dugdale, 55
Water fairies, 102
Waterton on vampyre bat, 76
Weasel and cockatrice combat, 45
Wehr-wolf or loup-garou, 75
Wexel balg, 229
Whale bones in churches, 60
White Horse Hill, Berkshire, 33
Wild boar, 15;
ox, 15
William de Valence, arms of, 134
Will o' the wisp, 122
Winged serpent, 19
"Wisdom of the Ancients," Bacon, 219, 224
Witches, 103
Wolf, 11, 30
"Woman Hater," Beaumont and Fletcher, 48
Wright on De Thaun, 218
Wynkyn de Worde, 22
Xanthus, monument from, 87
Ylio of De Thaun, 68
Young's "Night Thoughts," 126
Zeus, ambrosial locks of, 184;
rebellion against, 131
Zodiac, the Sagittarius, 85
Zululand, poisonous trees in, 187
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON.
Transcriber's Note
Archaic and variant spelling is preserved as printed.
Minor punctuation errors have been repaired.
Hyphenation has been made consistent in the main body of the text, but is preserved as printed in quoted matter.
Page 132 includes the phrase "... but enough has been quoted to show how valuable these personages have in poesy and general literature." It seems that there is a word missing following 'have,' but as there is no way to determine with certainty what that word should be, it is preserved as printed.
The following amendments have been made on the assumption that the originals were typographic errors:
Page 9--Solimus amended to Solinus--... Pliny, Ælian,
Solinus, and Paulus ...
Page 14--Laimæ amended to Lamiæ--The Lamiæ, who took the
forms ...
Page 42--aminals amended to animals--... had not happened in
the creation of animals ...
Page 62--frigidty amended to frigidity--The story of the
extreme frigidity ...
Page 98--Julias amended to Julius--... the counterfeit
presentments of Julius Cæsar, ...
Page 103--mischeivous amended to mischievous--... was the
sweet but mischievous Mab ...
Page 110--changlings amended to changelings--The references
in that play to changelings ...
Page 122--powerfull amended to powerful--... we find the
following powerful illustrative passage, ...
Page 126--Liliputians amended to Lilliputians--... as the
Lilliputians did Gulliver.
Page 149--Chimera amended to Chimæra--... as to call the
Chimæra and Hydra fables, ...
Page 150--sufficienly amended to sufficiently--... when the
heat became sufficiently great to awaken ...
Page 171--adoining amended to adjoining--... and all those
parts adjoining do so ...
Page 182--my amended to me (confirmed against title page of
original publication)--At London by me Gerard Dewes, ...
On page 238, the index entries following Hercules and up to Herodotus are out of order. There are also two entries for Heraldic. This has all been preserved as printed.
Entries in the Table of Contents, List of Illustrations and Index have been made consistent with the main body text as follows:
Page vii--Dragonades amended to Dragonnades--... The
Dragonnades ...
Page ix--Gerard's amended to Gerarde's--... from Gerarde's
"Herbal," ...
Page 1--Dragonades amended to Dragonnades--... The
Dragonnades ...
Page 235--Achmedis amended to Achemedis--Achemedis, herb, 199
Page 235--Achipenser amended to Acipenser--Acipenser, 158
Page 236--Bousetti amended to Boussetti--Boussetti on
monsters, 161
Page 236--Brittannica amended to Britannica--"Britannica
Concha Anatifera,", 175
Page 237--Cocatrice amended to Cockatrice--Cockatrice, 44
Page 237--Royeaux amended to Royaux--Comptes Royaux of
France, 6
Page 238--index entries adjusted so that first mention of
Gervase becomes Gervaise.
Page 238--omitted page number added to entry for Heraldic
dolphin--Heraldic ... dolphin, 156; griffin, ...
Page 238--Prudentium amended to Prudentum--Herbert's "Jacula
Prudentum," 132; ...
Page 239--Pallisir amended to Palliser--"Historic Badges,"
Palliser, 6
Page 239--Joducus amended to Jodocus--Jodocus Hondius, 95
Page 240--Nixes amended to Nixies--Nixies, 102
Page 240--Nuremberg amended to Nuremburg--"Nuremburg
Chronicle," 97
Page 242--Rondolet's amended to Rondelet's--Rondelet's
sea-monsters, 161
Page 242--Sinbad amended to Sindbad--Sindbad the Sailor, 69,
138
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Myth-LandChapter XIII: Appendix: A
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