Chapter L: B. L

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BISHOP BURNET.

Having but recently become acquainted with your useful and learned work (for _scire ubi aliquid invenire possis, magna pars eruditionis est_), I have been much interested in looking over the earlier volumes. Allow me to add a couple of links to your _catena_ on Bishop Burnet. The first is the opinion of Hampton, the translator of Polybius; the other is especially valuable, it being nothing less than the portrait of Burnet drawn by himself, but certainly not with any idea of its being suspended beside the worthies of his "Own Time," for the edification of posterity.

Hampton's testimony is as follows:

"His personal resentments put him upon writing history. He relates the
actions of a persecutor and benefactor; and it is easy to believe that
a man in such circumstances must violate the laws of truth. The
remembrance of his injuries is always present, and gives venom to his
pen. Let us add to this, that intemperate and malicious curiosity which
penetrates into the most private recesses of vice. The greatest of his
triumphs is to draw the veil of secret infamy, and expose to view
transactions that were before concealed from the world; though they
serve not in the least either to embellish the style or connect the
series of his history, and will never obtain more credit than, perhaps,
to suspend the judgment of the reader, since they are supported only by
one single, _suspected_ testimony."--_Reflections on Ancient and Modern
History_, 4to.: Oxford, 1746.

Let me now refer you to a document, written with his own hand, which sets the question of {60} Burnet's truthfulness and impartiality in his delineations of character completely at rest.

From the Napier charter-chest, "by a species of retributive justice," there has recently risen up in judgment against him _a letter of his own, proving his own character_. It is, I regret, too long for insertion in your pages _in extenso_, but no abstract can give an adequate idea of its contents. It is, in fact, so mean and abject as almost to overpass belief. I must refer your readers to Mr. Mark Napier's _Montrose and the Covenanters_, vol. i. pp. 13-21. All the reflections of the Whig historian Dalrymple, all the severe remarks of Swift and Lord Dartmouth, as to Burnet's dishonesty and malice, would now seem well bestowed upon a writer so despicable and faithless, and the credit of whose statements, when resting _on his own sole authority_, must be totally destroyed. This curious epistle was written, in an agony of fear, on a Sunday morning, during the memorable crisis of the Rye-House plot, and while Lord Russell was on the eve of his execution. Addressed to Lord Halifax, it was intended to meet the eye of the King. It evidently proves the writer's want of veracity in divers subsequent statements in his history. The future bishop also protests that he never will accept of any preferment, promises never more to oppose the Court, and intimates an intention to paint the King in the fairest light--"if I ever live to finish what I am about;" _i.e._ the _History of his Own Time_, in which the villanous portrait of Charles afterwards appeared.

"Here, then," says Mr. Napier, "is Burnet _Redivivus_; and now the
bishop may call Montrose a coward or what he likes, and persuade the
world of his own super-eminent moral courage, if he can. For our own
part, after reading the above letter, we do not believe one malicious
word of what Burnet has uttered in the _History of his Own Time_
against Charles I. and Montrose; and he has therein said nothing about
them that is not malicious. We do not believe that the apology for
Hamilton, which he has given to the world in the memoirs of that House,
is by any means so truthful an exposition of the character of that
mysterious marquis as the letters and papers entrusted to the bishop
enabled him to give. We feel thoroughly persuaded that Bishop Burnet,
in that work, as well as in the _History of his Own Time_, reversed the
golden maxim of Cicero, '_Ne quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non
audeat_.' The marvellous of himself, and the malicious of others, we
henceforth altogether disbelieve, when resting on the sole authority of
the bishop's historical record, and will never listen to when retailed
traditionally and at second-hand from him. Finally, we do believe the
truth of the anecdote, that the bishop, 'after a debate in the House of
Lords, usually went home and altered everybody's character as they had
pleased or displeased him that day;' and that he kept weaving in secret
this chronicle of his times, not to enlighten posterity or for the
cause of truth, but as a means of indulging in safety his own
interested or malicious feelings towards the individuals that pleased
or offended him. So much for Bishop Burnet, whose authority must
henceforth always be received _cum nota_."

WM. L. NICHOLS.

Lansdown Place, Bath.

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A MONASTIC KITCHENER'S ACCOUNT.

(From a volume of memoranda touching the monastery of Whalley, temp. Henry VIII., among the records of the Court of Augmentation.)

"Dyv'se somes of money leid oute by me Jamys More, monke and kechyner
to the late Abbot of Whalley, for and conc'nynge dyv'se caitts bought
by the seid Jamys of dyv'se [p=]sons, as hereaft' dothe [p=]ticlerly
appire by [p=]cells whiche came to thuse of the seid house, and spent
yn the seid house from the last daye of December until the ---- daye of
Marche then next folowynge yn the xxviij^{th} yere of the reign of
Kynge Henry the viij^{th}, whiche somes of money the said Jamys asketh
allowance.

First payde to Edmunde Taillor Fischer
for ---- salt salmons, spent in the seyd
late abbott kechyn syns the tyme of his
accompt xxv^s

Itm. Payde to the seid Edmunde for xj
freshe salmons, bought of the said Edmunde
to thuse, &c. of the seid house,
there spent by the seid tyme xxv^s

Itm. Payde to Will'm Newbbet for fresh
fische iij^s iij^d

Itm. Payde for vj capons, bought at Fastyngeseven
of dyv'se [p=]sons ij^s

Itm. Payde for xxxv hennes, bought of
dyv'se [p=]sons v^s x^d

Itm. Payde for eggs, butter, chese, bought
of dyv'se [p=]sons betwixt Cristmas and
Fastyngsevyn, spent yn the seid house xxiiij^s

Itm. Payde for mustersede v^s

Itm. Bought of Will'm Fische viij potts
hony-pric x^s

Itm. Bought of Anthony Watson vij gallons
hony ix^s iiij^d

Itm. Bought of John Colthirst ij gallons
hony ij^s iiij^d

Itm. Payde to Richard Jackson for xvij^c
sparlyngs ix^s viii^d

Sum of the payments vj^{li} xviij^d (sic in orig.)

Itm. The same Jamys askyth allowance of xiiij^s, whiche
the seid late abbott dyd owe hym at the tyme of his
last accompt, whiche endyd at Cristmas last past, as
yt dothe appire by the accompt of the seid Jamys
More.

Itm. The late abbott of Whalley dyd owe unto the
seid Jamys More, for a grey stagg that the seid
late abbott dyd by of the same Jamys by the space
of a yere syns x^s

By me JAMES MOR."

The advowson of the parish church of Whalley having been bequeathed to the White Monks of Stanlawe (Cheshire), they removed their abbey {61} there A.D. 1206; it being dedicated to the Virgin Mary ("Locus Benedictus de Whalley"), and having about sixty indwellers. (Tanner's _Notitia_.)

ANON.

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THE FAIRIES IN NEW ROSS.

"When moonlight
Near midnight
Tips the rock and waving wood;
When moonlight
Near midnight
Silvers o'er the sleeping flood;
When yew tops
With dew-drops
Sparkle o'er deserted graves;
'Tis then we fly
Through welkin high,
Then we sail o'er yellow waves."

_Book of Irish Ballads._

There lived, some thirty years since, in the eastern part of the suburbs of New Ross, in the county of Wexford, denominated the "Maudlins," a hedge carpenter named Davy Hanlan, better known to his neighbours by the sobriquet of "Milleadh Maide," or "Speilstick." Davy plied his trade with all the assiduity of an industrious man, "and laboured in all kinds of weather" to maintain his little family; and as his art consisted principally in manufacturing carts, ploughs, and harrows (iron ploughs not being then in use) for the surrounding farmers, and doctoring their old ones, the sphere of Davy's avocations was confined to no mean limits.

It was a dry, sharp night, in the month of November, and darkness had set in long before Davy left Mount Hanover, two miles distant from his home. At length he started forward, and had already reached the bridge of the Maudlins, when he stopped to rest; for besides his tools he carried a bundle of wheaten straw, which he intended for a more than usually comfortable "shake-down" for his dear rib Winny. The moon had by this time ascended above the horizon, and by its silvery radiance depicted in delicate outline the hills rising in the distance, while the tender rays mixing with, and faintly illumining the gloom of the intermediate valleys, formed a mass of light and shade so exquisitely blended as to appear the work of enchantment. As Davy leaned on the parapet of the bridge, a thrill of alarm involuntarily disturbed his feelings: he was about to depart when he heard a clamorous sound, as of voices, proceeding from that part of the valley on which he still gazed. Curiosity now tempted him to listen still longer, when suddenly he saw a group of dwarfish beings emerging from the gloom, and coming rapidly towards him, along the green marsh that borders the Maudlin stream. Poor Davy was terror-stricken at this unusual sight; in vain he attempted to escape: he was, as it were, spellbound. Instantly the whole company gained the road beside him, and after a moment's consultation they simultaneously cried out, "Where is my horse? give me my horse!" &c. In the twinkling of an eye they were all mounted. Davy's feelings may be more easily imagined than described, and in a fit of unconsciousness his tongue, as it were mechanically, articulated "Where is my horse?" Immediately he found himself astride on a rude piece of timber, somewhat in shape of a plough-beam, by which he was raised aloft in the air. Away he went, as he himself related, at the rate of nine knots an hour, gliding smoothly through the liquid air. No aeronaut ever performed his expedition with more intrepidity; and after about two hours' journeying the whole cavalcade alighted in the midst of a large city, just as

"The iron tongue of midnight had told twelve."

One of the party, who appeared to be a leader, conducted them from door to door, Davy following in the rear; and at the first door he passed them the word, "We cannot enter, the dust of the floor lies not behind the door."[1] Other impediments prevented their ingress to the next two or three doors.

At length, having come to a door which was not guarded by any of these insuperable sentinels which defy the force of fairy assault, he joyfully cried out "We can enter here:" and immediately, as if by enchantment, the door flew open, the party entered, and Davy, much astonished, found himself within the walls of a spacious wine-store. Instantly the heads of wine vessels were broken; bungs flew out; the carousing commenced; each boon companion pledged his friend, as he bedewed his whiskers in the sparkling beverage; and the wassail sounds float round the walls and hollow roof. Davy, not yet recovered from his surprise, stood looking on, but could not contrive to come at a drop: at length he asked a rather agreeable fairy who was close to him to help him to some. "When I shall have done," said the fairy, "I will give you this goblet, and you can drink." Very {62} soon after he handed the goblet to Davy, who was about to drink, when the leader gave the word of command:

"Away, away, my good fairies, away!
Let's revel in moonlight, and shun the dull day."

The horses were ready, the party mounted, and Davy was carried back to the Maudlin bridge, bearing in his hand the silver goblet, as witness of his exploit. Half dead he made his way home to Winny, who anxiously awaited him; got to bed about four in the morning, to which he was confined by illness for months afterwards. And as Davy "lived from hand to mouth," his means were soon exhausted. Winny took the goblet and pledged it with Mr. Alexander Whitney, the watchmaker, for five shillings. In a few days after a gentleman who lived not twenty miles from Creywell Cremony came in to Mr. Whitney's, saw the goblet, and recognised it as being once in his possession, and marked with the initials "M. R.," and on examining it found it to be the identical one which he had bestowed, some years before, on a Spanish merchant. Davy, when able to get out, deposed on oath before the Mayor of Ross (who is still living) to the facts narrated above. The Spanish gentleman was written to, and in reply corroborated Davy's statement, saying that on a certain night his wine-store was broken open, vessels much injured, and his wine spilled and drunk, and the silver goblet stolen. Davy was exonerated from any imputation of guilt in the affair, and was careful, during his life, never again to rest at night on the Maudlin bridge.

PATRICK CODY.

Mullinavat, county of Kilkenny.

[Footnote 1: Every good housewife is supposed to sweep the kitchen floor previously to her going to bed; and the old women who are best skilled in "fairy lore" affirm, that if, through any inadvertence, she should leave the dust thus collected behind the door at night, this dust or sweepings will have the power of opening the door to the fairies, should they come the way. It is also believed that, if the broom should be left behind the door, without being placed standing on its handle, it will possess the power of admitting the fairies. Should the water in which the family had washed their feet, before going to bed, be left in the vessel, on the kitchen floor, without having a coal of fire put into it, if not thrown out in the yard, it will act as porter to the fairies or good people.]

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Minor Notes.

_The Duke of Wellington and Marshal Ney. Parallel Passage in the Life of Washington and Major André._--J. R. of Cork (Vol. vi., p. 480.) tells how Wellington was in his youth smitten with the charms of a lady, who, in after-life having appealed to him to save the life of Ney, was not simply unsuccessful in her object but was ordered to quit Paris forthwith. J. B. Burke, in the _Patrician_, vol. vi. p. 372., tells how Washington endeavoured to win the love of Mary Phillipse, and how he failed: how years rolled on, and the rejected lover as Commander-in-Chief of the American forces was supplicated by the same Mary, then the wife of Roger Morris, to spare the life of Andre. The appeal failed, and one of the General's aides was ordered to conduct the lady beyond the lines.

ST. JOHNS.

_St. Bernard versus Fulke Greville._--On lately reading over the fine philosophical poem _Of Humane Learning_, by Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke, I was struck at finding that the 144th stanza was a literal transcript from St. Bernard. Some of your readers may possibly be amused or interested by the discovery:

"Yet some seeke knowledge, meerely to be knowne,
And idle curiositie that is;
Some but to sell, not freely to bestow,
These gaine and spend both time and health amisse;
Embasing arts, by basely deeming so,
Some to build others, which is charity,
But those to build themselves, who wise men be."
_Workes_, p. 50.: Lond. 1633, 8vo.

"Sunt namque qui scire volunt eo fine tantum, ut sciant: et turpis
curiositas est. Et sunt item qui scire volunt, ut scientiam suam
vendant, verbi causa pro pecunia, pro honoribus: et turpis quæstus est.
Sed sunt quoque qui scire volunt, ut ædificentur: et prudentia
est."--S. Bernardi _In Cantica Serm._ xxxvi. Sect 3. _Opp._, vol. i. p.
1404. Parisiis, 1719, fol.

It is no mean eulogy upon Lord Brooke's poem just referred to, to say that it stood high in the estimation of the late Rev. Hugh James Rose, and was quoted approvingly by him in his lectures before the Durham University. My acquaintance with it was first derived from that source, and I am confident that many others of your readers sympathise with the wishes of MR. CROSSLEY, for "a collected edition of the works of the two noble Grevilles" ("N. & Q.," Vol. iv., p. 139.). The facts upon which the tragedy of _Mustapha_ is founded are graphically summed up by Knolles in his _Historie of the Turkes_, pp. 757-65.: London, 1633, fol.

RT.

Warmington.

_St. Munoki's Day._--Professor Craik, in his _Romance of the Peerage_, vol. ii. p. 337., with reference to the date of the death of Margaret Tudor, Queen Dowager of Scotland, gives two authorities, namely, 24th November, 1541, from the _Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents_, and _St. Munoki's_ Day, from the _Chronicle of Perth_, and then says: "I find no saint with a name resembling _Munok_ in the common lists." Now this Note of mine has originated in the belief that I _have found_ such a name in the _Calendar of Saints_, or at any rate one very closely resembling it, if not the identical _Munok_. "St. Marnok, B. patron of Killmarnock in Scotland, honoured on the 25th October in the Scots Calendar." Now "Marnok" is most probably _Munok_, the latter, perhaps, misspelt by a careless scribe in the _Chronicle of Perth_. There is a discrepancy of a month certainly in these two dates, 25th October and 24th November; but that is not very wonderful, as a doubt of the exact day of Queen Margaret's decease evidently exists among historians, for Pinkerton (vol. ii. p. 371.) conjectures June. The above extract regarding St. Marnok is from a {63} curious old work in my possession, published in 1761 in London, and entitled _A Memorial of Ancient British Piety, or a British Martyrology_. It gives also the names of St. Moroc, C., Nov. 8; St. Munnu, Ab., Oct. 21, both saints in the Scottish calendar.

A. S. A.

Punjaub.

_Epitaph in Chesham Churchyard._--

"As an
Encouragement
to Regularity, Integrity,
and good Conduct,
This Stone
was erected at the general Expense
of the Inhabitants of
this Town and Parish
to perpetuate the Memory of
MATTHEW ARCHER,
who served the Office of Clerk with
the utmost Punctuality and Decorum
for upwards of Thirty Years.
He died 15th December, 1793."

F. B. RELTON.

_Gentlemen Pensioners._--

"On Saturday last, the Secretary to the Band of Gentleman Pensioners
did, by order of the Duke of Montague their Captain, dispatch circular
letters to the said gentlemen, signifying his Grace's pleasure to
revive the ancient rules and orders that were practised at the time of
the first institution of the Band in the reign of King Henry VII., viz.
that five of the said Gentleman Pensioners shall attend constantly
every day in the antechamber of the palace where His Majesty shall be
resident, from ten in the forenoon till three in the afternoon, the
usual time of His Majesty's retiring to go to dinner; and on every
Drawing Room night from eight to twelve."--_Weekly Journal_, Jan. 4,
1735.

E.

_Marlborough; Curious Case of Municipal Opposition to County Magistracy._--Shortly after the invasion of the elder Pretender, the corporation of Marlborough so far defied the royal authority as to drive the quarterly county sessions from the town; and high legal opinions were not wanting to fortify the position thus assumed by the borough, on the ground, namely, of its municipal charter, which secured to the town a court of its own.

Now, we all know that in early times a borough's court-leet exempted the burgesses from the jurisdiction of the sheriff's "tourn," and that up till the period of the Municipal Reform bill, many charters still existed, verbally sustaining such right of exemption; but the Queries which I wish to put are the following. First, Though the crown's representative had no jurisdiction, had he not a right to enter, and sit on cases foreign to the borough? Secondly, What are the earliest instances of county quarter sessions sitting in independent boroughs? Thirdly, Were the cases numerous of similar acts of resistance at the period alluded to, viz. the reign of George I.?

I take this occasion to state that I am drawing to conclusion a history of Silkely Hundred, which includes Marlborough and Lord Ailesbury's seat; and shall feel grateful for any information relating to the Pretender's influence in that district. That it must have been considerable may be argued from the Ailesbury alliance by marriage with the young Pretender.

J. WAYLEN.

Devizes.

_Wet Season in 1348._--Accidentally looking into Holinshed a few days ago, I found that our present unusually wet season is not without a parellel, indeed much exceeded; as on that occasion the harvest must have been a complete failure, and dearth and disease consequently ensued. Providence, however, has kindly blessed us with an average harvest; and, exclusive of the disasters attendant upon storms and floods, I trust we shall escape any further visitation. I annex an extract of the passage in Holinshed:

"In this 22 yeare [of Edward III., A.D. 1348], from Midsummer to
Christmasse, for the more part it continuallie rained, so that there
was not one day and night drie togither, by reason whereof great flouds
insued, and the ground therewith was sore corrupted, and manie
inconueniences insued, as great sickenes, and other, insomuch that in
the yeare following, in France, the people died wonderfullie in diverse
places. In Italie also, and in manie other countries, as well in the
lands of the infidels as in Christendome, this grieuous mortalitie
reigned, to the great destruction of people. About the end of August,
the like dearth began in diuerse places of England, and especiallie in
London, continuing so for the space of twelue moneths following. And
vpon that insued great barrennesse, as well of the sea as the land,
neither of them yielding such plentie of things as before they had
done. Wherevpon vittels and corne became scant and hard to come
by."--_The Chronicles of Raphaell Holinshed_, fol., vol. iii. p. 378
(black letter).

[Phi].

_General Wolfe._--It may interest many of your readers to know that a portrait of General Wolfe, by Ramsay, 1758, is to be sold by Messrs. Christie and Manson, at their rooms, 8. King Street, St. James's Square, on Saturday, February 12.

The picture is marked No. 300 in the catalogue of the first two days' sale. It formed part of the collection of a gentleman lately deceased, whom I had the pleasure of knowing.