Chapter I: Front Matter
NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.
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"When Found, make a note of."--Captain Cuttle.
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No. 7.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1849. [Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.
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CONTENTS.
NOTES:--Marriage Contract of Mary Queen of Scots
Bill of Fare of 1626, by Rev. L.B. Larking
Moneta Sanctae Helenae, by T. Hudson Turner
Translations of Gray's Elegy
On Authors and Books, No. 2, by Bolton Corney
Minor Notes:--Quotations from Pope--Angels' Visits
--Extract from Register of North Runcton--The Norman
Crusader--Lady Jane of Westmoreland
Notes in answer to Queries:--Lobster in Medal of
Pretender--Straw Necklaces
Answers to Minor Queries:--Ancient Motto--Political
Maxim--Annus Trabeationis--Betterton's Duties of
a Player--Betterton's Essay--Incumbents of Church
Livings--Mare de Saham--Reinerius--Whelps--
Cowley or Cowleas
QUERIES:--Berkeley's Theory of Vision
Dr. Johnson and Professor de Morgan
Caracciolli's Life of Lord Clive
Suppressed Passages in Cartwright's Poems
MINOR QUERIES:--Christencat--Hexameter Verses in the
Scriptures
MISCELLANEOUS:--
Notes on Books, Catalogues, Sales, &c.
Books and Odd Volumes wanted
Notices to Correspondents
Advertisements
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MARRIAGE CONTRACT OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AND THE EARL OF BOTHWELL.
[Among the curious documents which have been produced from time to
time before the House of Lords in support of peerage claims, there
have been few of greater historical interest than the one which we
now reprint from the Fourth Part of the Evidence taken before the
Committee of Privileges on the Claim of W. Constable Maxwell,
Esquire, to the title of Lord Herries of Terregles. It is a copy of
the Contract of Marriage between Queen Mary and the Earl of
Bothwell, which, although it is said to have been printed by
Carmichael, in his _Various Tracts relating to the Peerage of
Scotland, extracted from the Public Records_, has not been referred
to by Robertson, or other historians of Scotland, not even by the
most recent of them, Mr. Tytler.
Mr. Tytler tells us that on the 12th of May, 1567, Bothwell was
created Duke of Orkney, "the Queen with her own hands placing the
coronet on his head," and that the marriage took place on the 15th
of May, at four o'clock in the morning in the presence-chamber at
Holyrood; and that on the following morning a paper, with this
ominous verse, was fixed on the palace gate:--
"Mense malas Maio nubere vulgus ait."
The Contract, which is dated on the fourteenth of May, is preserved
in the Register of Deeds in the Court of Session (Vol. IX. p. 86.),
and as the copy produced before the House is authenticated--and
consequently it may be presumed a more strictly accurate one than
that which Carmichael has given--it seems well deserving of being
transferred to our columns, and so made more available to the
purposes of the historian, than it has been found to be in
Carmichael's _Tract_, or is likely to be when buried in a
Parliamentary Blue Book.]
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"Decimo quarto Maij anno domini ts. lxvij,
"Sederunt dni sessionis clericus regri.
"In pns of ye lordis of counsale comperit personale ane ry't excellent ry't heicht and michte princes Marie be ye grace of God queene of Scottis douieier of France on that ane pairt and ane ry't noble and potent prince James duk of Orkney erl Bothule lord Hales crychtoun and Liddisdeall great admiral of the realm of Scotland on y't vy'r p't and gaif in yis contract and appointnament following subscriuit w't y'r handis and desyrit ye samen to be insert in ye bukis of counsale to haif ye strenth force and effect of y'r act and decreit thereupoun the q'lk desyre ye saidis lordis thocht reasonable and y'rfor hes decernit and decernis ye said contract and appointnament to be insert and registret in ye said bukis to haif ye strenth force and effect of y'r act and decreit in tyme to cum et ad perpetuam rei memoriam and hes interponit and interponis y'r autoritie y'rto and ordenis y'r autentik extract of the samen to be deliuerit to the foirsaid partiis and the principale to remane apud registrum Off ye q'lk contract ye tennor followis At Edinburgh ye xiiii. day of May the year of God I'mv'c thrie score sevin yeris it is appointit aggreit contractit and finale concordit betwix ye r't excellent ry't heich and mychte princess Marie be ye grace of God queen of Scottis douarrier of France on that ane pairt and ye ry't noble and potent prince James duke of Orkney erle Bothul lord Hales creychtoun and Liddisdeall great admiral of yis realm of Scotland on y't vy'r p't in manner forme and effect as efter follow is that is to say fforsamekle as her majestie considering w't herself how almyete God hes not onlie placit and constitut hir hienes to reigne over this realme and during hir liftyme to governe ye peple and inhabitants y'r of hir native subjects bot als that of hir royall persoun succession my't be producit to enioy and possess yis kingdome and dominionis y'r of quhen God sall call hir hienes to his mercie out of yis mortale life and how grecousle it hes plesit him alredy to respect her hienes and yis hir realm in geving vnto hir maistie of her mest deir and onlie sone ye prince baith her hienes self and hir heill subjects are detbond to render vnto God immortale prayss and thankis and now hir maistie being destitute of ane husband levand solditerie in ye estate of wedoheid and yet young and of flurisshing aige apt and able to procreat and bring furth ma childreyn hes been pressit and humble requirit to yield vnto sum mariege quhilk petitioun hir grece weying and teking in gud pairt bot cheifle regarding ye preservatioun and continewance of hir posteritie hes condescendit y'r to and mature deliberatioun being had towert psonage ye maist p't of hir nobilite by way of adviss hes humblie preyit hir maistie and thocht bettir that she seuld sefar humble hirself as to accept ane of hir awin borne subiectis in y't state and place that war accustomet w't ye manneris lawis and consuctud of yis cuntre rether yan ony foreyne prince and hir maistie preferrand their aduyse and preyeris with ye welfeir of hir relm to the avansment and promotion qlk hir hienes in pticuler mycht heve be foreyn marriage hes in that point likwis inclinit to ye suit of hir said nobilitie and yai bemand ye said noble prince now duke of Orkney for ye speciall personage hir maistie well aduisit hes allowit yair motioun and nominatioun and gratiouslie accedit y'r vnto having recent memorie of the notable and worthie actis and gude service done and performit by him to hir ma'tje als weill sen hir returning and arivall in this realme as of befoir in hir hienes minoritie and dureing the tyme of governament of umq'll hir dearest moder of gude memorie in the forth setting of her ma'ties authoritie agains all impugnaris and ganestanders y'r of quhais magnanimitie couraige and constant trewth towert her ma'tie in preservation of hir awn person from mony evident and greit dangers and in conducting of heich and profitable purposes tending to her hienes avancement and establissing of this countre to hir profite and universall obedience hes sa fer movit her and procurit hir favour and affectioun that abuist the common and accustomat gude grace and benevolence quhilk princesses usis to bestow on noblemen thair subjectis weill deserving hir ma'tie wil be content to resaue and tak to hir husband the said noble prince for satisfaction of the hearts of hir nobilitie and people and to the effect that hir ma'tie may be the mair able to govern and rewill this realme in tyme to cum dureing hir liftyme and that issue and succession at Goddis plesure may be producit of hir maist noble persoun quhilkis being sa dear and tender to hit said dearest son efter hir ma'ties deceas may befoir all oyris serve ayd and comfort him Quhairfore the said excellent and michtie princesse and queene and the said noble and potent prince James duke of Orknay sall God willing solemnizat and compleit the band of metrimony aither of them with vther in face of haly kirk w't all gudly diligence and als hir ma'tie in respect of the same metrimony and of the succession at Goddis plesure to be procreat betwix thame and producit of hir body sall in her nixt parliament grant ane ratificatioun w't aviss of hir thrie estates quhilk hir ma'tie sall obtene of the infeftment maid be hir to the said noble prince then erll Boithuill and his airis maill to be gottin of his body quhilkis failzeing to hir hienes and hir crown to returne off all & haill the erldome landis and ilis of Orknay and lordship of Zetland with the holmes skeireis guylandis outbrekkis castells towrs fortalices manner places milns multures woddis cunninghares ffishings as weill in ffresh watters as salt havynis portis raidis outsettis parts pendicles tennentis tennendries service of frie tennents advocation donation and richt of patronage of kirkis benefices & chaplanries of the samyn lyand w'tin the sherifdom of Orknay and ffowdry of Zetland respective with the toll and customs within the saidis boundis togidder with the offices of sherifship of Orknay and ffowdry of Zetland and office of justiciarie w'tin all the boundis als weill of Orknay as Zetland with all priviledges fies liberties and dewities perteining and belanging y'rto and all thair pertinentis erectit in ane haill and frie dukrie to be callit the dukrie of Orknay for evir and gif neid be sall mak him new infeftment thairvpoun in competent and dew form quhilk hir ma'tie promittis in verbo principis and in caiss as God forbid thair beis na airis maill procreat betwix hir ma'tie and the said prince he obleiss his other airis maill to be gotten of his body to renunce the halding of blenchferme contenit in the said infeftment tackand alwyis and ressavand new infeftment of the saidis landis erlldome lordships ilis toll customs and offices abovewryten and all thair pertinents erectit in an dukrie as said is quhilk name and titill it sall alwyis retene notwithstanding the alteratioun of the halding his saidis airis maill to be gotten of his body payand zeirlie thairfore to our said soverane ladies successoris y'r comptrollaris in y'r name and soume of twa thousand pundis money of this realme lykas the samyn wes sett in the tyme of the kingis grace her gracious ffader of maist worthie memorie Mairowir the said noble and potent prince and duke obleiss him that he sall no wayis dispone nor putt away ony of his lands heretages possessiones and offices present nor quhilkis he sall happen to obtene and conquies heireftir dureing the mariage fre the airis maill to be gottin betwix him & her m'tie bot yai to succeid to the same als weil as to the said dukrie of Orknay. Furthermair it is concludit and accordit be hir ma'tie that all signateurs tres and wrytingis to be subscrivit be hir ma'tie in tyme to cum eftir the completing and solemnization of the said mariage other of gifts dispositiones graces privileges or vtheris sic thingis quhatsumevir sal be alsua subscrivit be the said noble prince and duke for his interesse in signe and taken of his consent and assent y'rto as her ma'ties husband. Likas it is alsua aggreit and accordit be the said noble prince and duke that na signateurs tres nor writingis othir of giftis dispositions graces priviledges or others sic thingis concerning the affairs of the realme sall be subscrivit be him onlie and w'tout hir ma'ties aviss and subscription and giff ony sic thing happin the samyn to be of nane availl. And for observing keiping and fulfilling of the premisses and every poynt and article y'r of the said noble and michte princesse and the said noble prince and duke hes bundin and obleissit thame faithfullie to otheris and ar content and consentis that this present contract be actit and registrat in the buiks of counsale and session ad perpetuam rei memoriam and for acting and registring hereof in the samyn buiks her ma'tie ordains hir advocattis and the said noble prince & duke hes maid and constitute m'rs David Borthuik Alex'r Skeyn his prors con't'lie and sea'tie promittand de rato. In witness of the quhilk thing hir ma'tie and the said noble prince and duke hes subscrivit this present contract with thair hands day yeir and place foirsaids befoir thir witnesses ane maist reverend ffader in God Johnne archbishop of Sant Andrews commendator of paisly & George erll of Huntlie lord Gordon and Badzeneth chencelar of Scotland &c. Dauid erll of Craufurd lord Lindsay Andro erll of Rothes lord Leslie Alexander bishop of Galloway commendator of Inchaffray John bishop of Ross Johnne lord fflemyng Johnne lord Hereiss W'm Maitland of Lethington youngar secretar to our soverane ladie sir Johne Bellanden of Auchnoule kny't justice clerk and M'r Robert Crichton of Elioh advocat to hir hienes with oy's diverss."
(Signed) MARIE Rx.
JAMES DUKE OF ORKNAY.
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BILL OF FARE OF 1626.
If an _actual_ bill of fare in a gentleman's house, anno 1626, be worth your acceptance, as a pendant to the one _prescribed_ in your fourth number, you are welcome to the following extract from the account book of Sir Edward Dering, Knt. and Bart.:--
"A Dinner att London, made when my Lady Richardson, my sister E Ashbornham, and Kate Ashb,--my brother John Ashb, my cosen Walldron and her sister, and S'r John Skeffington, were with me att Aldersgate streete, December 23, 1626. My sister Fr Ashb and cosen Mary Hill did fayle of coming.
Wine 3s. 10d. Stourgeon 7s. a joll of brawne 5s. pickled oystres a barrell 1s. 6d. viniger 3d. Rabbets a couple--larkes a dozen--plovers 3 and snikes 4 7s. Carrowaye and comfites 6d. a Banquet and 2 dozen and a half of glass plates to sett it out in 1l. 3s. Half a doe--which in y'e fee and charge of bringing itt out of Northampton 8s. a warden py that the cooke made--we finding y'e wardens 2s. 4d. ffor a venison pasty, we finding y'e venison 4s. ffor 2 minct pyes 2s. 6d. a breast of veale 2s. 4d. a legg of mutton 2s. ------------ Sum totall expended 3l. 10s. 3d. ------------
The dinner was at y'e first course--
a peece of Brawne. a boiled ducke in white broathe. a boiled haunch of powdered venison. 2 minct pyes. a boyled legge of mutton. a venison pasty. a roast ducke. a powdered goose roasted. a breast of veale. a cold Capon py.
Second course--
a couple of rabbitts. 3 plovers. 12 larks. 4 snikes. pickled oysters--2 dishes. a cold warden py. a joull of Sturgeon.
Complement--
Apples and Carrawayes. wardens bakt and cold. A Cake and Cheese.
A banquett ready in y'e next room.
Mem'd--we had out of y'e country y'e goose, y'e duckes, y'e capon
py, y'e Cake and wardens, and y'e venison; but that is allways p'd
for, though given."
The above seems to have been a family dinner. Sir Edward married, for his second wife, a daughter of Sir Ashbornham, as appears by the following entry:--
"1. January 1624/5, beeing Saturday, at sixe of y'e clocke att
night, atte Whitehall, in y'e Duke of Buckingham's lodgings, I
married Anne Ashbornham, third dâ of Sir Ashbornham, late of
Ashbornham, Kt."
In another entry we have--
"... Dec. 1626, being thursday, Elizabeth Lady Ashbornham widor of
S'r Jno Ashbornham, was married in S't Giles his Church in y'e
feildes, nere London, to S'r Thomas Richardson, K't, then Lo.
cheife Justice of y'e common pleas."
The day of the month is torn out. It would almost seem as if this was the wedding dinner, on the occasion of the marriage of the Chief Justice with Lady Dering's mother; at all events the reunion of the family in London was caused by that event.
Banquet was the name given to a dessert, and it was usually set out in another room.
The large baking pear is still called warden in many counties.
Appended to the above is a bill of the items of the "banquet," with the cost of hire for the glass plates; but it is so hopelessly illegible that I will not venture to give it. Many of the items, as far as I can read them, are not to be found in "the books," and are quite new to me.
Having had no small experience in deciphering hopeless scribblings, I think I may pronounce this to be better left alone than given in its present confused state.
LAMBERT B. LARKING
Ryarsh Vicarage.
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MONETA SANCTÆ HELENÆ.
As a subscriber to your valuable publication, allow me to suggest that it might, from time to time, be open to contributions explaining obscure passages or words, which often occur in the works of mediæval writers, and more especially in early English records. So far as English usages and customs are concerned, the Glossary of Du Cange is of comparatively little value to the English student; many terms, indeed, being wrongly interpreted in all editions of that work. Take, for example, the word "tricesima," the explanation of which is truly ridiculous; under "berefellarii," the commentary is positively comic; and many other instances might be cited. At the same time, it would be presumptuous to speak otherwise than in terms of the highest respect and admiration of Du Cange and his labours. The errors to which I allude were the natural consequences of a foreigner's imperfect knowledge of English law and English customs; still it is to be lamented that they should have remained uncorrected in the later editions of the Glossary; and I take it to be our duty to collect and publish, where feasible, materials for an English dictionary of mediæval Latin. It is in your power materially to advance such a work, and under that impression I venture to send the present "Note."
In the Wardrobe Account of the 55th year of Henry the Third, it is stated that among the valuables in the charge of the keeper of the royal wardrobe, there was a silken purse, containing "_monetam Sancte Helene_." It is well known that, during the middle ages, many and various objects were supposed to possess talismanic virtues. Of this class were the coins attributed to the mother of Constantine, the authenticity of which is questioned by Du Cange, in his treatise "_de Inferioris ævi numismatibus_." He observes, also, that the same name was given, vulgarly, to almost all the coins of the Byzantine emperors, not only to those bearing the effigies of St. Helena, but indeed to all marked with a cross, which were commonly worn suspended from the neck as phylacteries; "hence," he subjoins, "we find that these coins are generally perforated." It was quite in accordance with the superstitious character of Henry the Third that coins of St. Helena should be preserved in his wardrobe, among numerous other amulets and relics. But what was the peculiar virtue attributed to such coins? Du Cange, in the same treatise, says, on the authority of "Bosius," that they were a remedy against the "_comitialem morbum_," or epilepsy. The said "Bosius," or rather "Bozius," wrote a ponderous work, "_de Signis Ecclesiæ Dei_" (a copy of which, by the by, is not to be seen in the library of the British Museum, although there are two editions of it in the Bodleian), in which he discourseth as follows:--"Monetæ adhuc aliquot exstant, quæ in honorem Helenæ Augustæ, et inventæ crucis, cum hujusmodi imaginibus excusæ antiquitus fuerunt. Illis est præsens remedium adversus morbum comitialem: et qui hodie vivit Turcarum Rex Amurathes, quamvis a nobis alienus, vim sanctam illarum expertus solet eas gestare; e morbo namque hujusmodi interdum laborat. Nummi quoque Sancti Ludovici Francorum regis mirifice valent adversus nonnullos morbos."--Lib. xv. sig. 68.
This mention of the sultan Amurath carrying these coins about his person as a precaution against a disease to which he was subject, and indeed the whole passage shows a belief in their efficacy was still prevalent in the sixteenth century, when Bozius wrote. It only remains to add, that Du Cange, in his Glossary, does not enumerate the "money of St. Helena" under the word "moneta;" nor does he allude to the coins of St. Louis, which, according to Bozius, were endowed with similar properties.
Having sent you a "Note," permit me to make two or three "Queries." 1. What is the earliest known instance of the use of a beaver hat in England? 2. What is the precise meaning of the term "pisan," so often used, in old records, for some part of defensive armour, particularly in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries? It does not bear any relation to the fabrics of Pisa.
T. HUDSON TURNER.
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TRANSLATIONS OF GRAY'S ELEGY.
Sir,--My best apology for troubling you with such a lengthened Query is, that it will serve, to some extent, as a Note. Will any of your correspondents inform me of any additions to the following list of translations of Gray's _Elegy?_ It may possibly be more incomplete than I am aware of, as it is drawn up, with two exceptions, from copies in my own library only.
Greek:
1. By Professor Cooke, printed with his edition of Aristotle's
_Poetics_, Cantab. 1775. It begins:--
[Greek: "Nux pelei, oud an agros pura kaietai, oud ana komas."]
2. By Dr. Norbury. 4to. Eton. 1793:--
[Greek: "Atgellei kodon barus aeelion katadunta."]
3. By Dr. Sparke, Bishop of Ely. 4to. Lond. 1794:--
[Greek: "Kodon aematos oichomenoio baruktupos aechei."]
4. By Dr. Coote. 4to. Lond. 1794:--
[Greek: "Kodon daeta, phaous tekmor apiontos, epaechei."]
5. By Stephen Weston. 4to. London, 1794:--
[Greek: "Aematos oichomenoio boai chalkos baruaechaes."]
6. By Edward Tew. 4to. Lond. 1795:--
[Greek: "Tael' aechei kodon neon aematos anomenoio."]
There is also a Greek version of the epitaph only, by J. Plumptre, printed with his Greek version of Pope's _Messiah._ 4to. 1795. In a biographical notice of Dr. Sparke, it is stated that he was among the thirteen candidates when the competition took place for the best translation of Gray's _Elegy_ into Greek. Query, what was this competition, and were any of the other versions published?
Latin:
1. By Lloyd. Query, when and where originally published? My copy,
which is among some collections of the late Mr. Haselwood, appears
to have been cut out of a Dublin edition. It begins:--
"Audistin! quam lenta sonans campana per agros."
2. By Signor Gio. Costa. 12mo. In Eblana, 1776:--
"Æs triste ingeminat cedentis signa diei."
3. By Gilbert Wakefield, in his "Poemata partim scripta, partim
reddita." Cambridge, 1776:--
"Vesper adest, lugubre sonat Campanula; tardis."
4. By C.A. et W.H.R. [C. Anstey and W.H. Roberts.] 4to. London,
1778:--
"Ingeminat signum occiduæ Campana diei."
5. The last-mentioned version originally appeared anonymously in a
somewhat different form (4to. Cantab. 1762), the first line
being:--
"Audin' ut occiduæ signum Campana diei."
6. An anonymous version, "by a member of the University of
Cambridge," printed with the French translation of M. Guedon de
Berchere, mentioned below. I have no copy, and do not know the
opening line.
7. By S.N.E. 4to. London, 1824. Query, the name of the author. It
may perhaps appear on the title-page, which is wanting in my
copy:--
"Triste sonans, lentè tinnit campana per agros."
8. By the Rev. J.H. Macauley, in the "Arundines Cami:"--
"Funebris insonuit morituræ nænia lucis."
Italian:
1. By Cesarotti. 8vo. In Padova, 1772:--
"Parte languido il giorno: odine il segno."
2. By Crocchi. Query, when and where originally published? My copy
is from the same source as the Latin version by Lloyd:--
"Il Bronzo vespertin con flebil rombo."
3. By Gennari, printed on the same pages with the Latin version by
Costa:--
"Nunzio del dì che parte intorno suona."
4. By Giannini. 2nd ed. 4to. London, 1782:--
"Piange la squilla 'l giorno, che si muore."
5. By Torelli. 8vo. Cambridge, 1782:--
"Segna la squilla il dì che già vien manco."
The Latin version by Costa, and the Italian by Cesarotti and Torelli, were reprinted by Bodoni in 1793, in 4to., as a supplement to his edition of Gray.
French:
1. By Mons. P. Guedon de Berchere. I have no copy, and do not know
the opening line. Perhaps you will oblige me by inserting it in
your list of books wanted to purchase. It is entitled "Elégie
composée dans un Cimetière de Campagne." 8vo. Hookham, &c. 1778.
2. By L.D. 8vo. Chatham, 1806. Query, what name is represented by
these initials?--
"le Rappel a marqué le jour en son déclin."
3. Prose version. Anonymous. 8vo. A Paris. An vi.:--
"La Cloche du couvre-feu tinte le clas du jour qui expire."
German:
A translation appeared in the _Kaleidoscope_, a weekly paper
published in Liverpool, in May, 1823. It was communicated by a
correspondent who had obtained a copy from the writer in Germany:--
"Des Dorfes Glocke schallt den Moor entlang."
I must frankly avow that I have no present object in seeking information beyond the gratification of curiosity; but I would venture to throw out a hint that an edition of this _Elegy_, exhibiting all the known translations, arranged in double columns, might be made a noble monument to the memory of Gray. The plan would involve the necessity for a folio size, affording scope for pictorial illustration, on a scale capable of doing justice to "the most finished poem in the English language."
J.F.M.
* * * * *
ON AUTHORS AND BOOKS, NO. 2
To revive the memory of estimable authors, or of estimable books, is a pursuit to which a man of leisure may devote himself under the certainty that he can neither want materials to proceed with, not miss the reward of commendation.
It is by the extensive circulation of biographical dictionaries, and the re-productive agency of the press, that the fame of authors and their works is chiefly perpetuated. General biographers, however, relying too much on the intelligence and tact of their precursors, are frequently the dupes of tradition; and the press, like other descriptions of machinery, requires a _double_ motive-power.
A remedy happily presents itself. As it appears, a short note is sufficient to raise inquiry; and inquiry may lead to new fact, or advance critical equity. It may rescue a meritorious author from oblivion, and restore him to his true position on the roll of fame.
It is near a century and a half since Ant. Wood printed a notice of the reverend Thomas Powell, and more than a century since the inquisitive Oldys devoted eighteen pages to an abstract of his _Human industry_;--yet we search in vain for the name of Powell in the dictionaries of Aikin, Watkins, Chalmers, Gorton, &c.--It is even omitted in the _Cambrian biography_ of his countryman William Owen, F.S.A.
An exact transcript of the title of the work, and of the manuscript notes which enrich my own copy of it, may therefore be acceptable:--
"Humane industry; or, a history of most manual arts, deducing the
original, progress, and improvement of them. Furnished with variety
of instances and examples, shewing forth the excellency of humane
wit. [_Anonymous._] London, for Henry Herringman, 1661." 8º.
[_On the title._] "E libris rarioribus Joannis Brand, Coll. Line.
Oxon. 1777."
[_On a fly-leaf._] "This book is ascribed by Wood to Dr. Tho'm.
Powell, canon of St. David's, who was, says he, 'an able
philosopher, a curious critic, and well versed in various
languages.' See an abstract of this scarce book in Oldys's _British
librarian_, p. 42."
"N.B.--The above is the hand-writing of the Rev'd. M'r. Granger,
author of the _biographical history._--I bought it of Mr. Prince,
at Oxford, who purchased his books." [John Brand.]
I have now only to consign the learned Powell to future biographers, and to recommend the volume as one which deserves a place in every choice collection of English books.
BOLTON CORNEY.
* * * * *
MINOR NOTES.
_Quotations from Pope._
D***N**R. (p. 38.), gives, as an instance of misquotation, a passage from Pope, as it appeared in the _Times_, and adds a correction of it. As my _memory_ suggested a version different from both that of the _Times_, and the correction of your correspondent, I turned to Pope (Bowles edition, 1806), and found the passage there, precisely as it is given from the _Times_. Has your correspondent any authority for his reading? No various reading of the lines is given by Bowles.
While on the subject of Pope, I will make a note (as I have not seen it noticed by his commentators), that the well-known line,
"The proper study of mankind is man,"
is literally from Charron (_De la Sagesse_, I. i. ch. 1.)--
"La vraye science et le vray etude de l'homme c'est
l'homme."
F.F.B.
[We may add, that in the Aldine edition of Pope, which was produced
under the editorial superintendence of the Rev. A. Dyce, the lines
are given as quoted from the _Times_, and without any various
reading. See vol. ii. p. 55.]
_Angels' Visits._
Campbell's famous line,
"Like angels visits, few and far between,"
has been clearly shown by a correspondent in another paper, to be all but copied from Blair:--
----"like an ill-used ghost
Not to return;--or if it did, its visits
_Like those of angels, short and far between._"
Blair's _Grave_.
But the same phrase, though put differently, occurs in a religious poem of Norris of Bemerton, who died in 1711:--
"But those who soonest take their flight,
Are the most exquisite and strong,
_Like angels visits, short_ and bright,
Mortality's too weak to bear them long."
WICCAMECUS.
_Extract from Parish Register of North Runcton, Norfolk_.
Sir,--As a pendant to the extracts from the register of East Peckham, Kent, in your third number, I send the following, which I copied some time ago from one of the register books of the parish of North Runcton, Norfolk, and which may prove interesting to some of your readers.
C.W.G
"Jun. 12. 1660.
"Reader,--Lest whatever pseudography (as there is much thereof)
occurring to thy intentionall or accidentall view of the following
pages in this book should prove offensive to thee, I thought good
to give thee an account of what hath occasioned the same, viz. In
the woful days of the late usurper, the registring of births, not
baptisms, was injoyned and required, to give a liberty to all the
adversaries of Pedobaptisme, &c., and, besides some circumstances,
too unhandsome for the calling and person of a minister, were then
allso annexed to him that was to keep a register of all, &c.; and
so it came to passe, that persons of no learning, for many places,
were chosen by y'e parish, and ministers declined the office.
NATH ROWLES."
_The Norman Crusader_.
"The Norman Crusader," in the horse-armoury in the Tower of London, or a part of it, came from Green's Museum. He obtained the hauberk from Tong Castle. At the dispersion of the Museum, the hauberk was purchased by Bullock, of Liverpool (afterwards of the Egyptian Hall), in whose catalogue for 1808 it appears as a _standing_ figure, holding a brown bill in the right hand, and resting the left upon a heater shield.
Bullock at this time added the chauses.--In 1810, the "London Museum" was opened at the "Egyptian Temple" (Hall), the figure as before; but, in the catalogue for 1813, we have the man _and horse_ standing in front of the gallery, and named "The Norman Crusader."
At the "decline and fall" of Bullock's Museum, Mr. Gwennap purchased the Crusader for, it is said, 200 guineas; and after being put in thorough repair, it was placed in the "Aplotheca," Brook Street, Mr. Gwennap, jun. adding the sword.
During its repair, it was discovered that the armour was not originally made for a horse, but for an elephant; and, on inquiry, it appeared that Bullock had purchased it, together with other curiosities, of a sailor, had taken it to pieces, and formed the armour for the horse.
At the sale of Gwennap's collection, "The Norman Crusader" was knocked down by Geo. Robins to a Mr. Bentley, for 30_l_., and he being unable to _polish_ it, as he had intended, sold it to the authorities at the Tower for one hundred guineas, where it is exhibited as "The Norman Crusader."
NASO.
_Lady Jane of Westmoreland._
Sir,--On page 206. of Mr. Collier's second volume of _Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company,_ the following entry occurs:--"1585-6. Cold and uncoth blowes, of the lady Jane of Westmorland." And on page 211., "A songe of Lady Jane of Westmorland." Mr. Collier considers these entries to refer to the same production.
The name of Lady Jane of Westmoreland does not occur in Park's edition of _Royal and Noble Authors_; but it would clearly be entitled to a place there, if we can ascertain who she was.
I have little doubt she was Jane, daughter of Thomas Manvers, first Earl of Rutland, and first wife of Henry Nevill, fifth Earl of Westmoreland, by whom she was mother of Charles, Earl of Westmoreland, one of the chiefs of the northern rebellion.
Collins, under the title "Rutland," states that _Anne_, daughter of Thomas, first Earl of Rutland, married Henry, Earl of Westmoreland; but under the title "Abergavenny" he states that the same Henry, Earl of Westmoreland, married _Jane_, daughter of Thomas, first Earl of Rutland. The last statement I presume to be the correct one.
I can find no other person, at the period in question, to whom the title of Lady Jane of Westmoreland could have been attributed; and her sister Frances, who also married a Henry Nevill (fourth Lord Abergavenny of that name), is known to have been an authoress. An account of her will be found in the first volume of the _Royal and Noble Authors_, by Park. Lady Frances Abergavenny (whose work is entered on page 52. of Mr. Collier's second volume), had an only daughter, who married Sir Thomas Fane, and from this marriage the present Earl of Westmoreland is descended.
Q.D.
* * * * *
NOTES IN ANSWER TO QUERIES.
_The Lobster in the Medal of the Pretender._
Your correspondent, Mr. B. NIGHTINGALE, desires an answer to his Query (in your No. 4), Why is the figure of _a Lobster_ introduced into the impression upon the rare medal struck 20th June, 1688, in contempt or ridicule of Prince James Edward, the newly-born son of King James II.?
A reference to the two following works will, perhaps, supply the answer:--
1st. In Philemon Holland's translation of Pliny's _Natural History_ (a great authority at the time) this passage occurs in book ix. cap. 30.:--
"Lobsters, so long as they are secure of any fear and danger, go
directly straight, letting down their hornes at length along their
sides; ... but if they be in any fear, up go their hornes
straight--and then they creep byas and go sidelong."
And in the next chapter (31.):--
"Crabs" (which were often confounded with lobsters) "when they will
be afraid, will recule backward, as fast as they went forward."
2nd. In the celebrated work of Sebastian Brandt, entitled _Stultifera Naxis_ (which went through many editions after its first appearance in 1494), is an engraving of a fool, wearing cap and bells, seated astride on the back of a lobster, with a broken reed in his hand, and a pigeon flying past him as he stares vacantly at it with open mouth. The following lines are attached:--
DE PREDESTINATIONE
"Qui pretium poseit quod non meruisse videtur,
Atque super fragilem ponit sua brachia cannam
Illius in dorso Cancrorum semita stabit;
Devolet inque suum rictum satis assa Columba."
It appears, then, to me, that the design of the medallist was to hold up to the exceration of the English people the machinations of Father Petre, who (together with Sunderland) guided the councils of the king at the juncture. The Jesuits, like the crustaceous fish above-mentioned, were alleged to accomplish their dark and crooked designs by creeping and sedulously working their way straight forward through the mud, until some real danger presented itself, and then _reculing_ with equal adroitness.
At this time, too, the bigoted and superstitious adherents of James had been offering their vows at every shrine, and even making pilgrimages, to induce Heaven to grant a male heir to the throne, and thus exclude the Protestant daughters of the king. The premature and unexpected event, therefore, of the birth of a son, was pronounced by James's friends to have been predestined by the special grace of the Most High. All this, I apprehend, was intended to be typified by the figure of the _Jesuit Petre riding upon a Lobster_.
JOS. BROOKS YATES
_Straw Necklaces--Method of keeping Notes, &c._
Sir,--As I see this matter is not yet explained, I venture a suggestion. Wheat straw was an emblem of peace among heathen nations; in it the first-fruits brought by Abaris the Hyperborean to Delos were wrapped; and when commerce, or rather trade by barter, had rendered transmission from hand to hand practicable, wheat straw was still used. With the worship of Diana the offering of wheat straw passed over to Thrace, where it was a recognition of that goddess as the patron of chastity. In Judea the wheat harvest was later than that of barley, the Jews therefore offered a sheaf of the latter grain as first-fruits; it is, however, extraordinary that Moses orders barley-meal as the offering for jealousy (Numbers, v 15.), though the price of barley was but half that of wheat. It seems as if there were the same connection between this peace-offering and that of the first-fruits with the Jews, that we see between the offering to Diana and the first-fruits of the Hyperboreans; both may have been derived from Egypt, in the learning of which, we are told, Moses was skilled. The straw necklace or chaplet of Erasmus' pilgrim might be worn to secure him from molestation in travelling, or it may refer to the patroness of Walsingham, the Virgin Mary.
I dare say many persons have thought with me, that a poet's promise of a "belt of straw" to his love, was not a very complimentary one; one possible meaning never struck me till this moment: it may be a compliment unconsciously drawn from a heathen source, and perpetuated, like so many of our old-world customs, among a class of people the least likely to understand the meaning.
Another corroboration of Macaulay's Young Levite may be found in _The Tatler_, No. 255, sixty years later than Burton.
I beg to suggest a method of keeping "Notes," which I have found useful. I have a blank book for each quarter of the world, paged alphabetically; I enter my notes and queries according to the subject for which they are most likely to be required; if relating to mere geography or history, under the name of place or person. I also keep a list (with dates) of all the books I read, with a note of any use to be made of them; I also keep a list of all books to be read, and the reasons for reading them. I tried various ways of keeping my notes, and found no classification so easy for reference as the plan I have mentioned; it may not, however, suffice to those whose reading is much more extensive than mine; I mention it as a _working_ plan.
F.C.B.
* * * * *
ANSWERS TO MINOR QUERIES
_Ancient Motto_
Sir,--In your Sixth Number, p. 93, J.E.M. wishes to know whence the motto, "Si quis amicum absentum rodere delectat," &c. is taken.
Allow me to refer your correspondent to Horace, Sat. I. iv. 81 sqq.
"Absentem qui rodit amicum,
Qui non defendit, alio culpante,
* * * * *
hic niger est, hanc tu, Romane, caveto."
The inscription would seem to be but an adaptation of Horace's maxim.
C.B.B.
_Political Maxim--when first used._
The political maxim, or phrase, inquired after by C. is Burke's. It occurs in his celebrated _Thoughts on the Cause of the present Discontent_, published in 1770, in the course of his defence of party, a few pages from the end. A short extract will show the connection in which it is introduced:--
"No man, who is not inflamed by vain-glory into enthusiasm, can
flatter himself that his single, unsupported, desultory,
unsystematic endeavours are of power to defeat the subtle designs
and united cabals of ambitious citizens. When bad men combine, the
good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied
sacrifice, in a contemptible struggle."
I have some suspicion that the maxim may be found, with probably a slight variation of expression, repeated in one of Burke's later tracts. But this is certainly its first appearance.
G.L.C.
Old Brompton, Dec. 8. 1849.
_Annus Trabeationis._
Sir Harris Nicholas, in his _Chronology of History_, p. 4, gives "annus Trabeationis" as one way in which the year of our Lord is designated in ancient documents. Would any of your readers favour me with the meaning of the word Trabeatio?
G.P.
[Our correspondent will find, on referring to Mr. Hampson's useful
work, _Medii Ævi Kalendarium_, vol. ii. s. v. Annus Trabentionis,
"According to Du Cange, this is the year of the crucifixion--'Annus
Trabeationis Christi (annus quo Christus _trabi_ affixus est);' but
according to _L'Art de vérifier les Dates_, it is the same as the
year of the Incarnation." Mr. Hampson adds, "the import of the word
is the year of the Crucifixion, and cannot well be reconciled with
that of the Incarnation." But, upon referring to Du Cange, s. v.
_Trabeatio_, our correspondent will find that Du Cange regards it
as the year of the Incarnation--"_Trabeatio_ autem, non a _trabe_,
quà Crux intelligi posset, sed a _trabea_ togæ species,
deducitur"--quoting, as his authority for this interpretation, a
sermon of St. Fulgentius on St. Stephen, in which he says, "Heri
enim Rex noster _Trabea carnis_ indutus."]
_Betterton's Duties of a Player._
Sir,--Betterton's _Instructions on the Art of Playing and Public Speaking_, queried in your 5th Number, were published by the well-known dramatic critic, Charles Gildon, and form a portion of his _Life of Betterton_. As this work is little known, I shall quote the title at length:--"The Life of Mr. Thomas Betterton, the late eminent Tragedian, wherein the Action and Utterance of the Stage, Bar, and Pulpit, are distinctly considered; with the judgment of the late ingenious Monsieur de St. Evremond, upon the Italian and French Music and Operas, in a Letter to the Duke of Buckingham. To which is added, The Amorous Widow, or the Wanton Wife, a Comedy, written by Mr. Betterton, now first printed from the Original Copy. _London, Printed for Robert Gosling, at the Miter, near the Inner Temple Gate in Fleet Street_, 1710. 8vo." Gildon was intimately acquainted with Betterton, and he gives an interesting account of a visit paid to that great actor, the year before his death, at his country house at Reading. It was on this occasion that Gildon came into the possession of Betterton's manuscripts. Thirty-one years after the publication of Betterton's Life, Curll, the notorious bookseller, put forth a mutilated copy of the _Instructions on Playing_, in a work bearing the following title:--"The History of the English Stage, from the Restauration to the Present Time, Including the Lives, Character, and Amours, of the most Eminent Actors and Actresses; with Instructions for Public Speaking, wherein the Action and Utterance of the Bar, Stage, and Pulpit, are distinctly considered. By Thomas Betterton. _London, Printed for E. Curll, at Pope's Head in Rose-Street, Covent Garden_, 1741. 8vo." From this title it would appear (as indeed Curll wished it) that Betterton was the author of the entire work; but he is only accountable for the brief _Instructions for Public Speaking_, which, as before stated, were pillaged from Gildon.
Reverting to Colley Cibber's _Lives_, I beg to point out a curious and rare tract in connection with them, entitled, "A Brief Supplement to Colley Cibber, Esq.; his Lives of the Late Famous Actors and Actresses. By Anthony (vulgò Tony) Aston. Printed for the Author. 8vo. pp. 24." The copy now before me, which was Isaac Reed's, sold at his sale for 2_l_. 5_s_. It is reprinted in a literary journal called _The Cabinet_, and in Bell-chambers' excellent edition of Cibber's _Apology_.
Whilst on the subject of the stage, I should be glad if any of your correspondents could inform me what has become of "Dick Leveridge's History of the Stage and Actors in his own Time?" Leveridge himself informed Oldys that he had compiled such a work, and Oldys, with his usual care, noted the fact in one of his numerous memorandum books. I have been long engaged in a history of _The Life and Times of Henry Purcell_, and the said MS., if it could be recovered, would, without doubt, enlighten us much upon the subject of Purcell's career as a dramatic composer.
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
_Betterton's Essay._
The "best piece" of Betterton, for which T.J.L. inquires (p. 68.), is contained in his Life, printed by Gosling, 1710; in fact, this is merely a vehicle to introduce the treatise, the Life filling only from p. 5. to 11, and thus concluding:--"He was bury'd with great decency in Westminster Abbey."
"The year before his death, (he) being at his country house in
Reading, my friend and I travelled that way.... One day, after
dinner, we retired to his garden, and fell into the discourse of
acting." Thus is introduced his _Essay_, &c., continuing to p.
174, where it abruptly ends thus:--"After this discourse, we took
our leaves of Mr. Betterton, and returned to London. I was pleased
with his story," &c.
My copy is dedicated to Richard Steele, Esq., by Charles Gildon, and has prefixed to it the beautiful portrait of Betterton, engraved by Vander Gucht, from Kneller's picture, and, at its close (but separately paged), "The Amorous Widow or the Wanton Wife, now first printed from the original copy," 1710. E.
_Incumbents of Church Livings._
A correspondent in Number 4, writes to inquire for information relative to the "names and birthplaces of incumbents of church livings prior to 1680, and the patrons of them."
It may slightly help his investigations to know that there is a Latin MS. in the British Museum, numbered Additional MSS. 12,483, with the title "Ecclesiastical Visitation of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, held in March and April 1543, by Nicholas Harpisfelde, Official of the Archdeacon of Winchester," folio, containing the names of the incumbents and churchwardens of the livings in those counties.
W.M. KINGSMILL.
Westminster, December 1849.
_Mars de Saham--Portum Pusillum._
The first appears to be Soham, in Cambridgeshire; described in _Liber Eliensis_ as "terra de Saham, quæ est ad stagnum juxta Ely." Does "mare" stand for "stagnum," "palus," "mariscus," or our English "mere?" Can Portum Pusillum be Littleport, in the same country?
J.F.M.
_Reinerius--Inquisition in France._
Sir,--Faber, in his work on the Waldenses, quotes _Reinerius_, _in Biblio. Patrum_. I have in vain looked in modern biographical dictionaries for any account of Reinerius, so am constrained to inquire of some of your readers, who and what he was, or to beg the favour of a reference to some accessible account of him. I think Faber says he was an inquisitor; and this is the extent of the information which I have been able to collect respecting him.
I wish also to inquire whether his work on Heretics (his only work, I presume) has been published in any other and more accessible form than that in which it was referred to by Faber; and, particularly, whether it has ever been translated into English.
I have often wished to know whether the tribunal of the Inquisition was ever established elsewhere in France than at Toulouse. Can any of your correspondents enlighten me on the point, and give me references in proof?
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Notes and Queries, Number 07, December 15, 1849Chapter I: Front Matter
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