Chapter I: Front Matter

{237}

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. 202.]
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10. 1853.
[Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition, 5_d._

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:-- Page

Milton and Malatesti, by Bolton Corney 237

"That Swinney" 238

Tom, Mythic and Material, by V. T. Sternberg 239

Shakspeare Correspondence, by T. J. Buckton, Thos.
Keightley, &c. 240

MINOR NOTES:--Gray: "The ploughman homeward
plods"--Poetical Tavern Signs--"Aquæ in Vinum conversæ.
Vidit et erubuit lympha pudica Deum"--Spurious Edition
of Baily's "Annuities"--"Illustrium Poetarum
Flores"--French Jeux d'Esprit 241

QUERIES:--

Samuel Wilson 242

MINOR QUERIES:--The Rothwell Family--Definition of
a Proverb--Latin Riddle--D. Ferrand: French Patois--"Fac
precor, Jesu benigne," &c.--The Arms of De Sissonne--Sir
George Brown--Professional Poems--"A mockery," &c.--Passage
in Whiston--Shoulder Knots and Epaulettes--The Yew Tree in
Village Churchyards--Passage in Tennyson--"When the Maggot
bites"--Eclipses of the Sun--"An" before "u" long--Reversible
Names--Gilbert White of Selborne--Hoby, Family of; their
Portraits, &c.--Portrait of Sir Anthony Wingfield--Lofcopp,
Lufcopp, or Luvcopp--Humming Ale 243

MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS:--Dr. Richard
Sherlock--Cardinal Fleury and Bishop Wilson--Dr. Dodd
a Dramatist--Trosachs--Quarter 246

REPLIES:--

Jacob Böhme, or Behmen, by J. Yeowell 246

Inscriptions on Bells, by Cuthbert Bede, B.A. 248

Passage in Milton 249

Designed false English Rhymes 249

Attainment of Majority, by Professor De Morgan 250

Lady Percy, Wife of Hotspur (Daughter of Edmund
Mortimer, Earl of March), and Jane Seymour's Royal
Descent 251

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE:--Three New
Processes by Mr. Lyte--Muller's Processes: Sisson's
Developing Solution 252

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:--Alterius Orbis
Papa--"All my eye"--"Clamour your tongues"--Spiked
Maces represented in Windows of the Abbey Church, Great
Malvern--Ampers and--Its--"Hip, hip, hurrah!"--Derivation of
"Wellesley"--Penny-come-quick--Eugene Aram's Comparative
Lexicon--Wooden Tombs and Effigies--Queen Anne's
Motto--Longevity--Irish Bishops as English Suffragans--Green
Pots used for drinking from by Members of the Temple--Shape
of Coffins--Old Fogies--Swan-marks--Limerick, Dublin,
and Cork--"Could we with ink," &c.--Character of
the Song of the Nightingale--Adamson's "Lusitania
Illustrata"--Adamsoniana--Crassus' Saying, &c. 254

MISCELLANEOUS:--

Books and Odd Volumes wanted 258

Notices to Correspondents 258

Advertisements 259

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Notes.

MILTON AND MALATESTI.

About nine years after Milton visited Italy, he thus briefly noticed, in letter to Carlo Dati, his surviving Florentine friends:

"Carolo DATO patricio Florentino.... Tu interim, mi Carole,
valebis, et Cultellino, Francino, Frescobaldo, Malatestæ,
Clementillo minori, et si quem alium nostri amantiorem novisti;
toti denique Gaddianæ academiæ, salutem meo nomine plurimam
dices. Interim vale.--_Londino_, Aprilis 21. 1647."

The above extract is from _The prose works of John Milton_, as printed in 1806, and I shall add to it the translation by Robert Fellowes, A.M., from the same edition:

"To Carolo DEODATI, a Florentine noble.... In the mean time,
my dear Charles, farewell, and present my kind wishes to
Cultellino, Francisco, Trescobaldo, Malatesto, the younger
Clemantillo, and every other inquiring friend, and to all the
members of the Gaddian academy. Adieu.--_London_, April 21.
1647."

Warton states, in a note on the minor poems of Milton, that Mr. Brand discovered, on a book-stall, a manuscript of _La tina_ of Malatesti, _dedicated to Milton while at Florence_, and that he gave it to Mr. Hollis, who sent it in 1758, together with the works of Milton, to the Accademia della Crusca. Warton justly observes, "The first piece would have been a greater curiosity in England." With these facts the information of the most recent biographers of Milton seems to terminate. I am enabled, however, to prove that the work is IN PRINT, and shall transcribe my authority _verbatim_:

"MALATESTI, _Antonio_. LA TINA, equivoci rusticali (in 50
sonetti). Londra, Tommaso Edlin, 1757, in 8ᵒ.

_Non è fatta in Londra quest' ediz. nel 1757, ma presso che 80
anni dopo in Venezia, ed in numero di 50 esemplari in carta
velina, due in carta grande inglese da disegno, ed uno, unico,
in_ PERGAMENA.

Il Malatesti aveva regalato una copia di questi graziosissimi
sonetti al celebre inglese Gio. Milton, nell' anno in cui egli
visitava l'Italia. Dopo la morte del Milton pervennero in mano
del sig. Brant, gentiluomo inglese, il quale una copia ne
fece trarre per {238} regalarla a Gio. Marsili, prof. dell'
Università di Padova, che nel 1757 si trovava in Londra. Il MS.
del Marsili servì a questa ristampa che porta in fronte quella
stessa prefazione in inglese che stava nel MS. Marsiliano."

The authority alluded to is the fourth edition of the _Serie dei testi di lingua_ of Bartolommeo Gamba, Venezia, 1839, royal 8vo.--one of the best bibliographical compilations ever produced. I was led to suspect, on glancing at the note, that Gamba himself was the editor of the volume, and now consider it as certain, for _La tina_ appears under his name in the index. As copies of the work must have reached England I hope to see the dedication reprinted, and am sure it would be received as a welcome curiosity.

I cannot commend Mr. Fellowes as a translator of Milton. _To Carolo_ is a solecism; _Deodati_ should be _Dati_; the period which precedes the extract is entirely omitted; and the five names which follow _Charles_, besides being mis-spelt, have the termination which can only be required in Latin composition! I believe we should read Coltellini, Francini, Frescobaldi, Malatesti, and Clementini. On Coltellini and Malatesti there is much valuable information in Poggiali and Gamba.

BOLTON CORNEY.

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"THAT SWINNEY."

(_Continued from_ p. 215.)

Swinney was the devoted servant of all men in power--of all who had been or were likely to be in power--except, perhaps, the peace-makers, who, curiously enough, did not please this minister of peace--of all, perhaps, who subscribed to his publications, or had the means to subscribe; and who, if they did not, might hereafter. Swinney's volume of _Fugitive Pieces_ was dedicated to the Duke of Grafton. A third edition contains additions which show how Swinney's great zeal outran his little discretion. The following verses appeared originally in _The Public Advertiser_ on the 27th of May, 1768, and are bad enough to be preserved as a curiosity:

_"An Extempore Effusion on reading a Scurrilous Invective
against the Duke of G----n [Grafton], published in yesterday's
Newspapers._

Cursed be the Wretch, and blasted rot his name,
Who dares to stab an injured G----n's fame!
Who (while his public virtue stands confest,
And lives within his ROYAL MASTER'S breast)
Can rake for Scandal in his private life,
And widen breaches between man and wife;
Who casts a stone (like some unthinking Elf),
That haply shall recoil against himself!
Anguish, Remorse, and Terror seize his Soul,
And waste it quick where fiends malicious howl;
May those rank pests through which his father fell,
Announce his coming to the Gates of Hell!
And yet, or ere he plunge into the Lake,
Where no cool stream his endless thirst can slake,
May CHRIST in mercy deprecate his doom,
And may to HIM his promised Kingdom come!

"SIDNEY SWINNEY."

Not content with future punishment, the Doctor, in another poem, threatens present vengeance:

"But hark thee, wretch; believe him while he swears;
SID (by the gods) will crop thine asses ears,
Should thou persist a G----n to impeach,
And blast those virtues thou canst never reach."

As Draper had taken Granby under his protection, so Swinney must needs play the chivalrous in defence of Grafton. The dedication of _The Battle of Minden_ is dated 20th May, 1769, and the poet in the _exordium_ goes out of his way to notice, as I suppose, the attacks of Junius:

"His [Sid's] blood recoils with an indignant rage,
'Gainst the base hirelings of a venal age.
Wretches! that spare nor ministers nor kings,
Blend good with bad, profane with sacred things;
Whose vengeful hearts, with wrath and malice curst,
Blast virtuous deeds; and then, with envy burst,
They dart their arrows, innocence traduce,
And load e'en G----n with their vile abuse."

To this passage he appends the following note, which occupies, in his magnificent typographical volume, a whole quarto page:

"It is observable that this amiable personage [the Duke of
Grafton], and most consummate statesman, has been bespattered
with as much low calumny and abuse, from various quarters, as
if he had been the declared enemy of his country, instead of
having manfully and courageously stood up in support of its
true interests.--S."

Let us consider now, What are the probabilities of Swinney never having spoken to Lord George Sackville?

That he did on that occasion speak to Lord George--that he did ask him "whether or no he was the author of Junius"--may be assumed: and it is very probable that Junius heard of it, at first or at second hand, from Swinney himself; for the impertinent blockhead that would ask such a question, was just the man to tell what he had done, and to think it a good thing. But had he never before spoken to Sackville? Was this a fact or a flourish--an affectation of secret information, like the "sent" and "went" about Garrick--the "every particular next day"--which we now know to have been untrue.

That Swinney had been chaplain to one of the British regiments serving in Germany is manifest from twenty different references in the poem and the notes. I lay no stress on his poetical flights about Euphorbus; but he speaks repeatedly from personal experience--specially refers to circumstances occurring when quartered at a farm-house near Embden--at the camp at Crossdorf--acknowledges personal favours received during the {239} campaign from General Harvey, and on another occasion attentions from Granby. Here, for example, is a poetical picture which brings Swinney vividly before us:

"At Marienbourn, the vaunting army halts,
...
_A pastor_ from the heav'n-devoted train,
Brings hams and fowls, and spreads them on the plain:
The jovial officers their bellies fill,
_Rally their chaplain_, and applaud him still."

Swinney must therefore have served under Sackville; for, as he tells us, Sackville

"by George was made
Good Marlbro's successor"--

and certainly the probabilities are that he must have been personally known to--had before spoken to him. Sackville must at this very time have been particularly anxious about Swinney and his doings, wise or unwise. That fatal battle of Minden had been the ruin of all his hopes--the overthrow of all his ambition. In my opinion, Sackville had been shamefully and shamelessly run down on that occasion; but whether justly or unjustly stripped of his honours and degraded for his conduct, here was a man about to write a poem on the battle, to immortalise those who fought in it; and Sackville must have been keenly alive to what he might say of him. Swinney foreshadowed what his opinion would be in the First Book, where he enumerates Sackville amongst his "choice leaders"--

"Good Marlbro', Sackville, Granby, Waldgrave bold,
Brudenell and Kingsley."

This was published early in 1769.

In the Second Book Lord George is brought prominently forward. The "bewilder'd Ferdinand," "doubtful himself," summons a council of war, and calls first on Sackville for advice.

"Sackville, disclose the secret of thy breast:
Say, shall we linger in ignoble rest?
Shall we retreat? advance, or perish here?
Resolve our queries: state thy judgment clear."

Sackville now plays the "high heroical," and talks through six pages; but to what purpose I am unable to conjecture. There _seems_ to be a great deal of angry remonstrance--of offensive remonstrance:

"When I ask [says Sackville to Ferdinand], didst ever thou consult
A chief, till now, and wait the sage result?
When Aalm's camp was deluged all in rain,
And floods rusht o'er an undistinguisht plain,
To thy flint heart remonstrances were vain:
What, then, avail'd neglected Marlbro's prayers!
His instances? His unremitted cares?
The Elector's stables had sufficient room,
Stalls, without end, anticipate the doom
Of British chargers, forced to march, at noon,
Beneath their riders' weight and scorching sun."

Swinney then gives in a note what he calls the genuine queries proposed by Prince Ferdinand, with Sackville's answer: which answer is nearly as void of distinct meaning as the poetry, but in favour I think of risking a battle. The general purport, however, foreshadows what Swinney's conclusion would have been--that Sackville, the friend of the British soldier, protested against the frauds by which they were robbed and starved; protested against their being called on to do all the work, and run all the risks of the campaign; and disdains to humour or flatter Prince Ferdinand. These were, in brief, the explanations given by Sackville's friends as the cause of his disgrace--Granby the favoured, a gallant soldier indeed, but a mere soldier, being comparatively indifferent about such commissarial matters, and much more easily deceived by the cunning of the selfish Germans and English. This intention is made still more clear in another note, wherein Swinney states:

"We may be enabled to account for a certain disgraceful event,
in some future observation of ours, equally to _the honour
of the person disgraced_, and to the innocent cause of that
disgrace."

Under these circumstances there can be little doubt that Sidney Swinney, D.D., was the party alluded to by Junius; as little, I think, that Swinney had before, and long before, spoken to Lord George Sackville,--must have been dear to Sackville, as one of the few who had served under, and yet had a kind word to say for him,--had said it indeed, and was about to repeat it emphatically. That Swinney was the fool Junius asserted, the extract already given must have abundantly proved; but I will conclude with one other, in which he not only anticipated Fitzgerald, but anticipated the burlesque exaggerations in the "Rejected Addresses:"

"Horse, Foot, Hussars, or ere they march review'd.
...
The Foot, that form the first and second line,
All smartly drest, like Grecian heroes shine;
Their bold cock'd hats, their spatterdashers white,
And glossy shoes, attract his ravish'd sight."

T. S. J.

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TOM, MYTHIC AND MATERIAL.

"All _Toms_ are alike," quoth the elegant Pelham; and if we were asked to define the leading idea of him, we should describe a downright honest John Bull, essentially manly, but withal a bit--perhaps a large bit--of a dullard. His masculinity is unquestionable. A male cat, as every body knows, is a _Tom_-cat; a romping boy-like girl is a _Tom_-boy, or a _Tom_-rig; a large nob-headed pin is a _Tom_-pin; and in many provincial dialects the great toe is, _par excellence_, the _Tom_-toe. Last, not {240} least, there is the nectar of St. Giles, the venerable Old _Tom_. In proof of his stupidity we can adduce a goodly show of epithets--_Tom_-fool, _Tom_-neddy, _Tom_-noddy, _Tom_-cull, _Tom_-coney, _Tom_-farthing, &c. We know, indeed, there are people who hold that even in these instances _Tom_ is merely the masculine prefix to distinguish the _he_-fool (_i. e._ the _Tom_-fool) from the Molly or _she_-fool of the ancient mumming. But the race of Toms must not lay this flattering unction to their souls, for the hypothesis won't stand. The very monosyllable itself, like "Sammy," has a strong twang of the bauble in it. An open truth-loving fellow is a _Tom_ Tell-truth; but, on the other hand, all tinkers--a sadly libelled race of men--are invariably _Tom_-tinkers, as all tars have been _Jack_-tars from time immemorial. In some of the old-fashioned country games at cards the knave is called _Tom_; and the wandering mendicants who used to levy black-mail, under the plea of insanity, were Mad _Toms_, or "_Toms_-o'-Bedlam." "Tom all alone" is a northern _sobriquet_ for the Wandering Jew, who, the last time we heard of him, was caught stealing gingerbread nuts at Richmond Fair. In the legendary division there is the notorious _Tom_-Styles--the depredatory _Tom_ the piper's son (legitimate issue of _Tom_ Piper, the musician of the old Morris Dance)--the fortunate _Tom_ Tidler of the original diggings, and that heroic little liege of Queen Mab, the knight of the thumb. _Tom_-Tumbler was a saltatory fiend in the days of Reginald Scott; and _Tom_ Poker still devours little folks in Suffolk, without doubt (thinks Forby) a descendant of the Sui.-G. _tompte poecke_, or house-goblin. As for the ignominious _Tom_ Tiler (North Country for hen-pecked husband) we cannot allow him to belong to the family; for who can imagine a hen-pecked Tom! he must have been a wretched individuality, a suffering, corporeal Tiler.

Tom also bestows his name on divers other things, animate and inanimate. Among fishes there are _Tommy_-Loach, _Tommy_-Bar, and _Tom_-Toddy (the Cornish name of the tod-pole). The Long-_Tom_ and the _Tom_-tit are both ornithological Toms. Tom Tailor is a child's name for the Harry-long-legs--another singular instance, by the way, of Christian names applied to animals. _Tom_-trot reminds one of pre-pantaloon orgies, and is (I think) something in the brandy-ball line. Finally, we may remark, that a large proportion of her Majesty's subjects are in the habit of conferring the endearing name upon the staff of life itself. "Navvies," agricultural labourers, and such like gentry, are accustomed to divide all human food into two classes, which they euphonically denominate respectively _Todge_ and _Tommy_; the former comprising spoon-meat, and the latter all hard food which requires mastication. But this, we think, is not a case of Tom _per se_, but rather referable to the Camb.-Brit. _tama_, which has exactly the same acceptation.