Chapter D: M. Moir, quoted in Dubl. Univ. Mag., Oct. 1852

3. "But she is vanish'd to her shady home
Under the deep, inscrutable; and there
Weeps in a _midnight_ made of her own hair."
Hood, _Hero and Leander_, cxvi.

"Within the _midnight_ of her hair,
Half-hidden in its deepest deeps," &c.
Barry Cornwall, _The Pearl Wearer_.

"But, rising up,
Robed in the long _night_ of her deep hair, so
To the open window moved."
Tennyson, _Princess_, p. 89.

4. "He who for love hath undergone
The worst that can befall,
Is happier thousandfold than one
Who never loved at all."
M. Milnes, _To Myrzha, on returning_.

"I hold it true, whate'er befall,
I feel it when I sorrow most,--
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all."
Tennyson, _In Memoriam_, xxvii.

5. Boileau, speaking of himself, when set in his youth to study the law, says that his family--

"... Palit, et vit en frémissant
Dans la poudre du greffe un poëte naissant."

While Pope, in his _Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot_, speaks of--

"Some clerk, foredoom'd his father's soul to cross,
Who pens a stanza when he should engross."

HARRY LEROY TEMPLE.

P.S.--At p. 123. of Vol. vi. are inserted some other parallels, noted by me in the course of my reading. For one of these so inserted, that relating {152} to Sylla, I was taken to task (see Vol. vi., p. 208.) by P. C. S. S. Now, the parallel between the two passages ("_Parallel_, resemblance, conformity continued through many particulars, likeness," Johnson's _Dictionary_) is this: Both verses endeavour to picture the mingled red and white of the "human face divine" (one satirically, the other eulogistically), by comparing their combined effect to that of the red hue of fruit seen through a partially superfused white medium--meal over mulberries, cream over strawberries. If there is not sufficient "resemblance" or "likeness" in the two (in the opinion of P. C. S. S.) to justify me in placing them _alongside of one another_ ([Greek: parallêla]), I really cannot help it.

I have now ascertained that the words

"Sylla's a mulberry sprinkled with meal"

are to be found in Langhorne's _Plutarch_, as a translation of the original Greek quoted by P. C. S. S.

[Footnote 1: Continued from Vol. iv., p. 435.; Vol. vi., p. 123.]

* * * * *

ANTIQUITY OF THE POLKA: A NOTE FOR THE LADIES.

The description of the _lavolta_ in Sir John Davies's poem on dancing, _The Orchestra_ (1596), shows that it must have closely resembled the dance which we fondly boast of as one of the great inventions of the nineteenth century. It runs as follows:

"Yet is there one, the most delightful kind,
A lofty jumping, or a leaping round,
Where arm in arm two dancers are entwined,
And whirl themselves with strict embracements bound;
And still their feet an anapæst do sound;
An anapæst is all their music's song,
Whose first two feet are short, and third is long."

The "anapæst" is conclusive; it points exactly to the peculiar nature of the polka, the pause on the _third_ step. Moreover, it appears, that as there is no especial figure for the polka, so there was none for the lavolta; for it is classed among those dances

"Wherein that dancer greatest praise has won,
Which, with best order, can all orders shun;
For everywhere he wantonly must range,
And turn and wind with unexpected change."

Who can doubt after that? The polka was certainly danced before Queen Elizabeth!

To this valuable historical parallel I may add that the galliard and coranto also were apparently danced _ad libitum_ (observing only a particular measure), just as our waltz and galop also are:

"For more diverse and more pleasing show,
A swift, a _wandering_ dance, he [Love] did invent,
With _passages uncertain_ to and fro,
Yet with a certain answer and consent,
To the quick music of the instrument."

B. R. I.

* * * * *

SEVEN SCORE SUPERSTITIOUS SAYINGS.

My common-place books contain a goodly number of superstitious sayings, noted down as heard at different times and in various places, chiefly during the last ten or twelve years. I have made a selection from them, the greater portion of which will probably come under the printer's eye for the first time, should they be considered a fitting addition to the interesting records of Folk Lore in the pages of "N. & Q." I reserve my comment or attempted illustration for future opportunities.

_First Score._

1. _Adder._ "Look under the deaf adder's belly, and you'll find marked, in mottled colours, these words:

'If I could hear as well as see,
No man of life [sic] should master me!'"

(This saying was related to me by a friend, a native of Lewes, Sussex, where it is common.)

2. _Adder-skin._ "It'll bring you good luck to hang an ether-skin o'er the chimbly [chimney-piece]." (Heard in Leicestershire.)

3. _Beanfield._ "Sleep in a beanfield all night if you want to have awful dreams, or go crazy." (In Leicestershire.)

4. _Chime-hours._ "A child born in chime-hours will have the power to see spirits." (A Somerset friend.)

5. _Egg-shells._ "Always poke a hole through your eggshell before you throw it away."--Why? "If you don't, the fairies will put to sea to wreck the ships." (Somerset. Query, For fairies, read witches?)

6. _Eyebrows._ "It's a good thing to have meeting eyebrows. You'll never know trouble." (Various places.)

7. _Fern-root._ "Cut a fern-root slantwise, and you'll see a picture of an oak-tree: the more perfect, the luckier chance for you." (Croydon and elsewhere.)

8. _Flowering Myrtle._ "That's the luckiest plant to have in your window. Water it every morning, and be proud of it." (Somerset.)

9. _Harvest Spider._ "The _harvest-man_ has got four things on its back,--the scythe, the rake, the sickle, and [Query the fourth?] It's most unlucky for the reaper to kill it on purpose." (From an Essex man.)

10. _Holly, Ivy, &c._ "All your _Christmas_ should be burnt on Twelfth-day morning." (London, &c.)

11. _Lettuce._ "O'er-much lettuce in the garden will stop a young wife's bearing." (Richmond, Surrey.)

12. _May-baby._ "A May-baby's always sickly. You may try, but you'll never rear it." (Various.)

13. _May-kitten._ "You should drown a May-kitten. It's unlucky to keep it." (Somerset.) {153}

14. _New Moon._ "You may see as many new moons at once through a silk handkerchief, as there are years before you will marry." (Leicestershire.)

15. _Onions._ "In buying onions always go in by one door of the shop, and come out by another. Select a shop with two doorways. These onions, placed under your pillow on St. Thomas's Eve, are sure to bring visions of your true-love, your future husband." (London, &c.)

16. _Parsley._ "Where parsley's grown in the garden, there'll be a death before the year's out. (London and Surrey.)

17. _Ring-finger._ "The ring-finger, stroked along any sore or wound, will soon heal it. All the other fingers are poisonous, especially the fore-finger." (Somerset.)

18. _Salt._ "Help to salt, help to sorrow." (Various.)

19. _Three Dogs._ "If three dogs chase a rabbit or a hare, they can't kill it." (Surrey.)

20. _White Cow._ "A child that sucks a white cow will thrive better." (Wilts.)

J. WESTBY GIBSON.

12. Catherine Street, Strand.

* * * * *

Minor Notes.

_Mormon Etymologies._--W. Richards, "Historian and General Church Recorder" of the Mormons, says:

"Mormon is the name of an ancient prophet, and signifies _more good_.
'Mormonism,' a new coined word by the enemy, signifies ALL TRUTH,
PRESENT, PAST AND FUTURE; and the 'Mormon's' creed is _the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth_. And this creed is what the
devil and all his imps are eternally fighting against, and not against
the believers of that creed only, so far as the _truth influences their
actions_."--_Millenial Star_, 1850, p. 341.

This certainly displays the wisdom of the serpent, if not the meekness of wisdom. Pray preserve it in your cabinet of literary curiosities.

B. H. C.

_Bandalore and Tommy Moore._--

"What this toy was, we have no means of knowing," &c.--_Fraser's Mag._,
January, p. 5.

Had our reviewer stepped in at Dunnett's toy-shop, instead of searching all his French dictionaries, he would have learned, I doubt not, that bandalore is still a living toy, just as it was when Moore was young.

At Tunbridge it is still made in their pretty ware; and sufficiently portable for any kind-hearted grandpapa to carry in his pocket.

J. J. R.

_Electric Clock._--It is said that the electric telegraph will annihilate time and space. Of the former we have visible proof. Look at the new clock in West Strand. The minute-hand moves only once in each minute, and then it jumps a whole minute at once, and occupies a second of time in doing so. Now, supposing the clock to indicate true time at the instant of each movement, it is obvious that it must indicate untrue time at every other instant: hence it only indicates true time during one second in each minute, twenty-four minutes in each day, and six days and two hours in the whole year, or less than two years in a century; whilst, during the remaining ninety-eight years and more, it is _annihilating_ true time, by imposing upon an unwary public that which is false!

J. J. R.

_Desirable Reprints._--Will you allow me to commence a series of Notes, which your readers can easily amplify, viz. suggestions of old books deserving to be reprinted, with the authorities quoted recommending them.

1. Glanvil's _Scepis Scientifica_.

"Few books, I think, are more deserving of being reprinted."--Hallam's
_Literature of Europe_.

J. M.

_The Earldom of Oxford._--The following is so remarkable a coincidence, that I am sure many of your readers will be obliged to me for bringing it under their notice, particularly those who are interested in heraldry.

The same individual who has been for many years the nearest heir _male_ to Aubery de Vere, twentieth and last earl of Oxford of that family, who died in 1702, has become, by the recent death of Alfred, sixth Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, the nearest heir _male_ to that race also, which title is likewise extinct.

AN M. D.

_Literary Attainments of the Scottish Clergy in the Seventeenth Century._--In a deed granted by Andro Andersone, minister of Loth, in Sutherlandshire, anno 1618, wherein he is designated "Ministro veriti Dei apud Loithe," the instrument is signed with his mark, after which is added, "Cannot wreitt myself."

KIRKWALLENSIS.

* * * * *

Queries.

QUERIES AS TO MR. COLLIER'S "NOTES AND EMENDATIONS."

Query 1. Does MR. COLLIER claim a copyright in the _Emendations on the Text of Shakspeare_ lately published by him, and derived from MS. corrections in his old copy of the folio of 1632? He seems to intimate as much in what he says at p. 13. of his Introduction, when he speaks of a certain phrase never being again seen in any edition of Shakspeare, "unless it be reproduced by some one who, _having no right to use the emendations of our folio 1632_, adheres _of necessity_ to the {154} antiquated blunder, and pertinaciously attempts to justify it."

I doubt much whether he is entitled to any such privilege. If the words as restored were really those of Shakspeare, as is alleged, I do not see how the writer of the MS. corrections could _himself_ claim any property in them; and if _he_ had none, much less can MR. COLLIER have. It would be a pity were the public to be deprived of the benefit of the corrections by the use of them being exclusively confined to MR. COLLIER'S editions.

Query 2. Does the writer of the MS. corrections occasionally give reasons in support of the changes proposed? At p. 306., MR. COLLIER says: "The manuscript corrector _assures us_ that although the intention of the dramatist is evident, a decided misprint has crept into the line."

Again, at p. 305., MR. COLLIER says: "For 'senseless obstinate,' the corrector of the folio 1632 _states that we must substitute_ words," &c. Again, at p. 352.: "A _note_ in the folio 1632, induces us to believe that Shakspeare did not use the term," &c. The MS. corrector is also sometimes made to tell us, that a certain error is the printer's, and another that of the copyist. Perhaps these are only rhetorical forms of expression, to intimate that certain corrections appeared on the margin of the folio 1632, and MR. COLLIER'S own opinion of their propriety.

SCOTUS.

Edinburgh.

* * * * *

HONE'S "HISTORY OF PARODY."

A small collection of the political squibs and pamphlets published by Wm. Hone about 1820, has lately come into my possession. An advertisement in several of these announces that the large material collected for his defence had induced him to prepare, and "very speedily" to publish, _A complete History of Parody_, "with extensive graphic illustrations." This on March 20. Again, on October 2, same year, he says: "I take this opportunity of announcing that the work will appear in monthly parts, each containing at least five engravings, and that it will probably be completed in eight deliveries at 5s. each. I pledge myself that the First Part shall be published, without fail, on the 1st January next, and respectfully invite the names of subscribers. The money to be paid on the delivery of each Part."

Lastly, in an "Explanatory Address," appended to No. 1. of his _Every-Day Book_, dated 31st Dec., 1824, Hone says: "_The History of Parody_, with enlarged reports of my three trials, a royal 8vo. volume of 600 pages, handsomely printed, and illustrated by numerous engravings on copper and wood, plain and coloured, is in considerable forwardness. The price will be 2l. 2s., in extra cloth boards," &c.

Thus, though advertised more than four years previously, this work had not yet come out, and indeed, if not mistaken, I think it never appeared at all. Will some of your bibliographical correspondents inform me if my surmise is correct? and if so, what has become of Hone's MSS., and the large collection he made on the subject of parody?

JAMES B. MURDOCH.

162. Hope Street, Glasgow.

* * * * *

THE COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE'S LETTER TO SIR JOSEPH WILLIAMSON.

Sir Joseph Williamson, Secretary of State to Charles II., having presumed to recommend a candidate for her borough of Appleby, she wrote him the following spirited and well-known reply:

"I have been bullied by an usurper: I have been neglected by a court:
but I will not be dictated to by a subject. Your man sha'n't stand.

"ANNE DORSET, PEMBROKE, AND MONTGOMERY."

This statement is taken from _A Sermon preached at the Funeral of Anne, Countess of Pembroke, &c._, by Bishop Rainbow; with _Biographical Memoirs_ (1839), page of the _Memoir_ xiii. In a note, it is observed that--

"Mr. Lodge questions the genuineness of this letter, which appears to
have been first published in _The World_ in 1753."

I concur with Mr. Lodge. The style of the letter is quite modern: the verb "bully" seems also quite a modern coinage and the signature varies from the usual setting forth and sequence of titles contained in the inscriptions which the Countess placed over the gateways of her castles, as she repaired them, and which ran thus, the peerages being placed in the order of their creation, viz.: "Countess Dowager of Pembroke, Dorset, and Montgomery." In support of the genuineness of the letter, it may be urged that Sir Joseph Williamson, from an early period after the Restoration until 1674, when he became Secretary of State, held various offices about the Court that might have thus brought him into collision with the Countess; that he was not a very scrupulous man; that he was the "son of a clergyman somewhere in _Cumberland_;" and that his highest promotion took place before the death of the Countess in 1675. (For some account of him, see Evelyn's _Memoirs_, Index.) To this it may be added, that the letter accords with her courageous spirit. Can no earlier authority be given for it than that of _The World_ in 1753?

J. K.

[Although this subject has been already briefly discussed in our
columns (see Vol. i., pp. 28. 119. 154.), we think it of sufficient
interest to be renewed, now that our increased circulation will bring
it under the notice of so many more readers; among whom, {155} perhaps
one may be found in a position to solve the mystery in which the
authenticity of this oft-quoted letter is at present involved.]

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

_Mediæval Parchment._--In what way did mediæval illuminators prepare their parchment? For our modern parchment is so ill prepared, that it gets crumpled as soon as wet chalk for gilding, or any colour, is laid on it; whilst the parchment in mediæval MSS. is quite smooth and level, as if it had not been moistened at all.

Should a full answer to this Query take up too much of your valuable space, I should be satisfied with the titles of any works on the art of "illumination," in which special mention is made of the way of preparing parchment.

F. M. (A Maltese.)

"_Mater ait natæ._"--Where can the following lines, thus "Englished by Hakewill," be found?

"Mater ait natæ, dic natæ, filiâ, natam
Ut moneat natæ plangere[2] filiolam."

"The aged mother to her daughter spake,
Daughter, said she, arise;
Thy daughter to her daughter take,
Whose daughter's daughter cries."

My object in asking the above question is for the purpose of discovering if such a relationship ever existed.

W. W.

Malta.

[Footnote 2: "plangere" corrected from "piangere".--Transcriber.]

_Fox of Whittlebury Forest._--In Mr. Jessie's _Life of Beau Brummel_, I met with a passage which spoke about the "well-known fox of Whittlebury Forest." Can any of your readers kindly inform me in what the celebrity of this animal consists, that Mr. Jessie takes for granted is so well known?

A FOX HUNTER.

_Names and Numbers of British Regiments_ (Vol. iv., p. 368.; Vol. vi, p. 37.).--I feel disappointed that none of your numerous and well-informed readers have responded to my inquiries on this subject. Hoping, however, that answers may still be obtained, I venture to repeat the questions for the _third_ time, viz.:

1. What was the origin of giving British regiments the _name_ of a certain officer, instead of _numbering_ them as at present?

2. If in honour of an officer commanding the corps, was the name changed when that officer died or removed to another regiment; or what was the rule?

3. _When_ did the present mode of _numbering_ regiments begin; and by whom was it introduced?

4. What was the rule or principle laid down in giving any regiment a certain _number_? Was it according to the length of time it had been embodied?

5. What is the guide now, in identifying a _named_ with a _numbered_ regiment? For example, at the battle of Culloden, in 1746, "Wolfe's," "Barrell's," and "Howard's Foot" were engaged. Now, what is the rule for ascertaining the _numbers_ of these, and other old regiments, in the British army at the present day?

I shall feel greatly obliged by the above information.

Z.

Glasgow.

_Daughters of St. Mark._--How many were adopted as daughters of the Republic of St. Mark? Catherine Cornaro was one, and, I believe, Bianca Capello another. I think there were but one or two more: but who were they?

ROSA.

_Kentish Fire._--What is the origin of the term "Kentish fire," signifying energetic applause?

ROSA.

_Optical Phenomenon._--On the afternoon of the 20th January, at one o'clock, as I stood on the beach of Llandudno Bay, North Wales, I observed a rainbow, from the circumference of which passed a number of bright pencils of light, apparently converging to a point near the invisible centre of the rainbow. What is the explanation of this phenomenon?