Chapter I: Front Matter

{385}

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. 54.] SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9. 1850. [Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:-- Page
English and Norman Songs of the Fourteenth Century,
by James Graves. 385
Misplaced Words in Shakspeare's Troilus and Cressida 386
Master John Shorne, by W. J. Thoms 387
Corrigenda of Printer's Errors 388
Folk-lore of Wales: No. 3. Meddygon Myddvai--No. 4.
Trwyn Pwcca 388
Connexion of Words: the Word "Freight" 389
Minor Notes:--Smith's Obituary--George Wither the
Poet, a Printer--Corruption of the Text of Gibbon's
"Decline and Fall"--Traditional Story concerning
Cardinal Wolsey 389

QUERIES:--

Early Sale of Gems, Drawings, and Curiosities 390
Minor Queries:--Quotations wanted--Death of Richard
H.--Sir W. Herschel's Observations and Writings--
Swearing by Swans--Automachia--Poa cynosuwides--
Vineyards--Martin, Cockerell, and Hopkins
Families--Camden's Poem on the Marriage of the
Thames and Isis--National Airs of England--Poor
Pillgarlick--Inscription on a Portrait--Burton's
Parliamentary Diary--Tobacconists--"The Owl is
abroad"--Scandal against Queen Elizabeth--Letters
of Horning--Cromwell poisoned 391

REPLIES:--

Collar of SS. 393
Daniel De Foe, by W. Crafter 395
"Antiquitas Saeculi Juventus Mundi" 395
Replies to Minor Queries:--Sir Gammer Vans--
Hipperswitches--Cat and Bagpipes--Forlot, Firlot,
or Furlet--Sitting during the Lessons--Engelmann's
Bibliotheca Auctor. Class.--News--Derivation of
Orchard 396

MISCELLANEOUS:--

Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 398
Books and Odd Volumes Wanted 398
Notice to Correspondents 399
Advertisements 399

* * * * *

Notes.

ENGLISH AND NORMAN SONGS OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.

In a vellum book, known as _The Red Book of Ossory_, and preserved in the archives of that see, is contained a collection of Latin religious poetry, written in a good bold hand of the 14th century; prefixed to several of the hymns, in a contemporary and identical hand, are sometimes one sometimes more lines of a song in old English or Norman French, which as they occur I here give:

"Alas hou shold y syng, yloren is my playnge
Hou sholdy wiz zat olde man}
} swettist of al zinge."
To leven and let my leman }

* * * * *

"Harrow ieo su thy: p fol amo^r de mal amy."

* * * * *

"Have m^rcie on me frere: Barfote zat ygo."

* * * * *

"Do Do. nightyngale syng ful myrie
Shal y nevre for zyn love lengre karie."

* * * * *

"Have God day me lemon," &c.

* * * * *

"Gaveth me no garlond of greene,
Bot hit ben of Wythones yuroght."

* * * * *

"Do Do nyztyngale syng wel miry
Shal y nevre for zyn love lengre kary."

* * * * *

"Hew alas p amo^r
Oy moy myst en tant dolour."

* * * * *

"Hey how ze chevaldoures woke al nyght."

It is quite evident that these lines were thus prefixed (as is still the custom), to indicate the _air_ to which the Latin hymns were to be sung. This is also set forth in a memorandum at the commencement, which states that these songs, _Cantilene_, were composed by the Bishop of Ossory for the vicars of his cathedral church, and for his priests and clerks,

"ne guttura eorum et ora deo sanctificata polluantur cantilenis
teatralibus turpibus et secularibus: et cum sint cantatores, provideant
sibi notis convenientibus, secundum quod dictamina requirunt."--_Lib.
Rub. Ossor._ fol. 70.

We may, I think, safely conclude that the lines above given were the commencement of the _cantilene teatrales turpes_ et _seculares_, which the good bishop wished to deprive his clergy of all excuse for singing, by providing them with pious hymns to the same airs; thinking, I suppose, like John Wesley in after years, it was a pity the devil should monopolise all the good tunes. I shall merely add that the author of the Latin poetry seems to have been Richard de Ledrede, who filled {386} the see of Ossory from 1318 to 1360, and was rendered famous by his proceedings against Dame Alice Kyteller for heresy and witchcraft. (See a contemporary account of the "proceedings" published by the Camden Society in 1843; a most valuable contribution to Irish history, and well deserving of still more editorial labour than has been bestowed on it.) I have copied the old English and Norman-French word for word, preserving the contractions wherever they occurred.

I shall conclude this "note" by proposing two "Queries:" to such of your contributors as are learned in old English and French song-lore, viz.,

1. Are the entire songs, of which the above lines form the commencements, known or recoverable?

2. If so, is the music to which they were sung handed down?

I shall feel much obliged by answers to both or either of the above Queries, and

"Bis dat, qui cito dat."

JAMES GRAVES.

Kilkenny, Nov. 1. 1850.

* * * * *

MISPLACED WORDS IN SHAKSPEARE'S TROILUS AND CRESSIDA.

In that immaculate volume, the first folio edition of Shakspeare, of which Mr. Knight says: "Perhaps, all things considered, there never was a book so correctly printed"! a passage in _Troilus and Cressida_, Act. v. Sc. 3., where Cassandra and Andromache are attempting to dissuade Hector from going to battle, is thus given:

"_And._ O be perswaded: doe not count it holy,
To hurt by being iust; it is lawful:
For we would count giue much to as violent thefts,
And rob in the behalfe of charitie."

Deviating from his usual practice, Mr. Knight makes an omission and a transposition, and reads thus:

"Do not count it holy
To hurt by being just: it is as lawful,
For we would give much, to count violent thefts,
And rob in the behalf of charity."

with the following note; the ordinary reading is

"'For we would give much _to use_ violent thefts.'"

_To use thefts_ is clearly not Shakspearian. Perhaps _count_ or _give_ might be omitted, supposing that one word had been substituted for another in the manuscript, without the erasure of the first written; but this omission will not give us a meaning. We have ventured to transpose _count_ and omit _as_:

"For we would give much, to count violent thefts."

We have now a clear meaning: it is as lawful because we desire to give much, to count violent thefts as _holy_, "and rob in the behalf of charity."

Mr. Collier also lays aside his aversion to vary from the old copy, and makes a bold innovation: he reads,--

"Do not count it holy
To hurt by being just: it is as lawful,
For us to give much count to violent thefts,
And rob in the behalf of charity."

Thus giving his reasons: "This line [the third] is so corrupt in the folio 1623, as to afford no sense. The words and their arrangement are the same in the second and third folio, while the fourth only alters _would_ to _will_." Tyrwhitt read:

"For we would give much to use violent thefts,"

which is objectionable, not merely because it wanders from the text, but because it inserts a phrase, "to _use_ violent thefts," which is awkward and unlike Shakspeare. The reading I have adopted is that suggested by Mr. Amyot, who observes upon it: "Here, I think, with little more than transposition (_us_ being, substituted for _we_, and _would_ omitted), the meaning, as far as we can collect it, is not departed from nor perverted, as in Rowe's strange interpolation:

"For us to count we give what's gain'd by thefts."

The original is one of the few passages which, as it seems to me, must be left to the reader's sagacity, and of the difficulties attending which we cannot arrive at any satisfactory solution."

Mr. Collier's better judgment has here given way to his deference for the opinion of his worthy friend; the deviation from the old copy being quite as violent as any that he has ever quarrelled with in others.

Bearing in mind MR. HICKSON'S valuable canon (which should be the guide of future editors), let us see what is the state of the case. The line is a nonsensical jumble, and has probably been printed from an interlineation in the manuscript copy, two words being evidently transposed, and one of them, at the same time, glaringly mistaken. The poet would never have repeated the word _count_, which occurs in the first line, in the sense given to it either by Mr. Collier or by Mr. Knight.

Preserving every word in the old copy, I read the passage thus:--

"O! be persuaded. Do not count it holy
To hurt by being just: it is as lawful as
(For we would give much) to commit violent thefts
And rob in the behalf of charity."

"To _count_ violent thefts" here would be sheer nonsense; and when we recollect how easy it is to mistake _comit_ for _count_, the former word being almost always thus written and often thus printed, we must, I think, be convinced that in copying an interlineated MS., the printer _misplaced_ and _misprinted_ that word, and transposed _as_, if the repetition of it be not also an error.--"For," commencing the parenthesis, "we would give much" stands for _cause_. The emphasis should, I think, be {387} laid on _for_; and _commit_ be accented on the first syllable. Thus the line, though of twelve syllables, is not unmetrical; indeed much less prosaic than with the old reading of _count_.

This correction, upon the principle which governs Messrs. Collier and Knight, and which indeed should govern all of us,

"To lose no drop of that immortal man,"

ought to be satisfactory; for it is effected without taking away a letter. The transposition of two evidently _misplaced_ words, and the correction of a letter or two palpably misprinted in one of them, is the whole gentle violence that has been used in a passage which has been, as we see, considered desperate. But, as Pope sings:

"Our sacred Shakspeare,--comprehensive mind!
Who for all ages writ, and all mankind,
Has been to careless printers oft a prey,
Nor time, nor moth e'er spoil'd as much as they;
Let the right reading drive the cloud away,
And sense breaks on us with resistless day."

PERIERGUS BIBLIOPHILUS.

October, 1850.

* * * * *

MASTER JOHN SHORNE.

If proof were wanted how little is now known of those saints whose names were once in everybody's mouth, although they never figured in any calendar, it might be found in the fact that my friend, Mr. Payne Collier, whose intimate knowledge of the phrases and allusions scattered through our early writers is so well known and admitted, should, in his valuable _Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company_ (1557-1570), have illustrated this entry,--

"1569-70. Rd. of Thomas Colwell, for his lycense for the pryntinge of a
ballett intituled 'Newes to Northumberlande yt skylles not where, to
Syr John Shorne, a churche rebell there' ... iiij^d."

by a note, from which the following is an extract:--

"Sir John Shorne no doubt is to be taken as a generic name for a shaven
Roman Catholic priest."

Reasonable, however, as is Mr. Collier's conjecture, it is not borne out by the facts of the case. The name Sir John Shorne is not a generic name, but the name of a personage frequently alluded to, but whose history is involved in considerable obscurity. Perhaps the following notes may be the means, by drawing forth others, of throwing some light upon it. In Michael Wodde's _Dialogue_, quoted by Brand, we read--

"If we were sycke of the pestylence we ran to Sainte Rooke; if of the
ague, to Sainte Pernel or Master John Shorne."

Latimer, in his _Second Sermon preached in Lincolnshire_, p. 475. (Parker Society ed.), says,--

"But ye shall not think that I will speak of the popish pilgrimages,
which we were wont to use in times past, in running hither and thither
to Mr. John Shorn or to our Lady of Walsingham."

On which the editor, the Rev. G. E. Corrie, remarks that he was--

"A saint whose head quarters were probably in the parish of Shorn and
Merston near Gravesend, but who seems to have had shrines in other
parts of the country. He was chiefly popular with persons who suffered
from ague."

Mr. Corrie then gives an extract from p. 218. of the _Letters relating to the Suppression of Monasteries_, edited by Mr. Wright for the Camden Society; but we quote from the original, Mr. Corrie having omitted the words given in our extract in Italics:--

"At Merston, Mr. Johan Schorn stondith blessing a bote, whereunto they
do say he conveyd the devill. He ys moch sowzt for the agou. _If it be
your lordeschips pleasur, I schall sett that botyd ymage in a nother
place, and so do wyth other in other parties wher lyke seeking ys._"

In that extraordinary poem _The Fantassie of Idolatrie_, printed by Fox in his edition of 1563, but not afterwards reprinted until it appeared in Seeley's edition (vol. v. p. 406.), we read--

"To Maister John Shorne
That blessed man borne;
For the ague to him we apply,
Whiche jugeleth with a _bote_
I beschrewe his herte rote
That will truste him, and it be I."

The editor, Mr. Cattley, having explained _bote_ "a recompense or fee," Dr. Maitland, in his _Remarks on Rev. S. R. Cattley's Defence of his Edition of Fox's Martyrology_, p. 46., after making a reference to Nares, and quoting his explanation, proceeds:

"The going on pilgrimage to St. John Shorne is incidentally mentioned
at pages 232. and 580. of the FOURTH volume of Fox, but in a way which
throws no light on the subject. The verse which I have quoted seems as
if there was some relic which was supposed to cure the ague, and by
which the juggle was carried on. Now another passage in this same fifth
volume, p. 468., leads me to believe that this relic really was, and
therefore the word 'bote' simply means, a boot. In this passage we
learn, that one of the causes of Robert Testwood's troyble was his
ridiculing the relics which were to be distributed to be borne by
various persons in a procession upon a relic Sunday. St. George's
dagger having been given to one Master Hake, Testwood said to Dr.
Clifton,--'Sir, Master Hake hath St. George's dagger. Now if he had his
horse, and St. Martin's cloak, and _Master John Shorne's boots_, with
King Harry's spurs and his hat, he might ride when he list.'"

That there is some legend connected with Master John Shorne and "his bote, whereunto they do say he conveyd the devill," is evident from {388} a fact we learn from the _Proceedings of the Archaeological Institute_, namely, that at the meeting on the 5th Nov. 1847, the Rev. James Bulwer, of Aylsham, Norfolk, sent a series of drawings exhibiting the curious painted decorations of the rood screen in Cawston Church, Norfolk, amongst which appears the singular saintly personage bearing a boot, from which issues a demon. An inscription beneath the figures gives the name "Magister Johannes Schorn." It is much to be regretted that fuller details of this painting have not been preserved in the Journal of the Institute.

The earliest mention of _Master John Schorne_ is in the indenture for roofing St. George's Chapel at Windsor, dated 5th June, 21 Henry VII. (1506), printed in the _Reliquiae Antiquae_, vol. ii. p. 115., where it is covenanted

"That the creastes, corses, beastes, above on the outsides of Maister
John Shorne's Chappell, bee done and wrought according to the other
creastes, and comprised within the said bargayne."

WILLIAM J. THOMS.

* * * * *

CORRIGENDA OF PRINTER'S ERRORS.

In my note on Conjectural Emendation (Vol. ii., p. 322.), your printer, in general so very correct, has by a fortunate accident strengthened my argument, by adding one letter, and taking away another. Should my note be in existence, you will find that I wrote distinctly and correctly Mr. Field's praenomen _Barron_, and not _Baron_. And I have too much respect for my old favourite, honest George _Wither_, to have written _Withers_, a misnomer never used but by his adversaries, who certainly did speak of him as "one Withers." I should not have thought it necessary to notice these insignificant errata, but for the purpose of showing _Printer's errors_ do and will occur, and that Shakspeare's text may often be amended by their correction. You will recollect honest George's punning inscription round his juvenile portrait:

"I GROW AND WITHER BOTH TOGETHER."

PERIERGUS BIBLIOPHILUS.

* * * * *

FOLK LORE OF WALES.

_No. 3. Meddygon Myddvai_.--On the heights of the Black Mountains, in Caermarthenshire, lies a dark-watered lake, known by the name of _Lyn y Van Vach_. As might be predicated, from the wild grandeur of its situation, as well as from the ever-changing hues which it takes from the mountain shadows, many a superstition--gloomy or beautiful--is connected with its history. Amongst these may be reckoned the legend of the _Meddygon Myddvai_ or "surgeons of Myddvai." Tradition affirms that "once upon a time" a man who dwelt in the parish of Myddvai led his lambs to graze on the borders of this lake; a proceeding which he was induced to repeat in consequence of his visits being celebrated by the appearance of three most beautiful nymphs, who, rising from the waters of the lake, frequently came on shore, and wandered about amongst his flock. On his endeavouring, however, to catch or retain these nymphs, they fled to the lake and sank into its depths, singing--

"Cras dy fara,
Anhawdd ein dala!"

which may be rendered [eater of] "hard baked bread, it is difficult to retain us!" Difficulties, however, but increased the determination of the shepherd; and day after day he watched beside the haunted lake, until at length his perseverance was rewarded by the discovery of a substance resembling unbaked bread, which floated on the water: this he fished up and ate, and on the following day he succeeded in capturing the nymphs: on which he requested one of them to become his wife; to this she consented, on condition that he should be able to distinguish her from her sisters on the following day. This was no easy task, as the nymphs bore the most striking resemblance to each other; but the lover noticed some trifling peculiarity in the dress of his choice, by means of which he identified her. She then assured him that she would be to him as good a wife as any _earthly_ maiden could be, until he should strike her three times without a cause. This was deemed by the shepherd an impossible contingency, and he led his bride in triumph from the mountain; followed by seven cows, two oxen, and one bull, which she had summoned from the waters of the lake to enrich her future home.

Many years passed happily on, and three smiling children--afterwards the "surgeons of Myddvai"--blessed the shepherd and his Undine-like bride; but at length, on requesting her to go to the field and catch his horse, she replied that she would do so presently; when striking her arm three times he exclaimed, _Dos, dos, dos_; Go, go, go. This was more than a free dweller in the waters could brook; so calling her ten head of cattle to follow her, she fled to the lake, and once more plunged beneath its waters.

Such is the legend; of which reason vainly expresses its disbelief, as long as the eye of faith can discern physical proofs of its truth in the deep furrow which, crossing the mountain in detached portions, terminates abruptly in the lake; for it seems that when the two oxen were summoned by their mistress, they were ploughing in the field; and at their departure, they carried the plough with them, and dragged it into the lake.

The nymph once more appeared upon the earth; for as her sons grew to manhood, she met them {389} one day in a place which, from this circumstance, received the name of _Cwm Meddygon_, and delivered to each of them a bag, containing such mysterious revelations in the science of medicine, that they became greater in the art than were ever any before them.

Though so curiously connected with this fable, the "surgeons of Myddvai" are supposed to be historical personages, who, according to a writer in the _Cambro-Briton_, flourished in the thirteenth century, and left behind them a MS. treatise on their practice, of which several fragments and imperfect copies are still preserved.

_No. 4. Trwyn Pwcca._--Many years ago, there existed in a certain part of Monmouthshire a Pwcca, or fairy, which, like a faithful English Brownie, performed innumerable services for the farmers and householders in its neighbourhood, more especially that of feeding the cattle, and cleaning their sheds in wet weather; until at length some officious person, considering such practices as unchristian proceedings, laid the kindly spirit for three generations, banishing him to that common receptacle for such beings--the Red Sea. The spot in which he disappeared obtained the name of _Trwyn Pwcca_ (Fairy's nose); and as the three generations have nearly passed away, the approaching return of the Pwcca is anxiously looked forward to in its vicinity, as an earnest of the "good time coming."

The form which tradition assigns to this Pwcca, is that of a handful of loose dried grass rolling before the wind (such as is constantly seen on moors); a circumstance which recalls to mind the Pyrenean legend of the spirit of the Lord of Orthez, mentioned by Miss Costello, which appeared as two straws moving on the floor. Query, Has the name of "Will o' the Wisp" any connexion with the supposed habit of appearing in this form?

SELEUCUS.

* * * * *

CONNEXION OF WORDS--THE WORD "FREIGHT."

The word employed to denote _freight_, or rather the _price of freight_, at this day in the principal ports of the Mediterranean, is _nolis_, _nolo_, &c. In the Arabian and Indian ports, the word universally employed to denote the same meaning is _nol_. Are these words identical, and can their connexion be traced? When we consider the extensive commerce of the Phoenicians, both in the Mediterranean and Indian seas, that they were the great merchants and carriers of antiquity, and that, in the words of Hieron, "their numerous fleets were scattered over the Indian and Atlantic oceans; and the Tyrian pennant waved at the same time on the coasts of Britain and on the shores of Ceylon"--it is natural to look to that country as the birthplace of the word, whence it may have been imported, westward to Europe, and eastward to India, by the same people. And we find that it is a pure Arabic word, [Arabic: nwl] _nawil_ and [Arabic: nwln] _nawlun_, or _nol_ and _nolan_, both signifying _freight_ (price of carriage), from the root [Arabic: nwh] _noh, pretium dedit, donum_. I am not aware that the word _freight_ (not used in the sense of cargo or merchandise, but as the _price_ of carriage of the merchandise, _merces pro vectura_) is to be found in the Old Testament, otherwise some light might be thrown on the matter by a reference to the cognate Hebrew word.

But here an interesting question presents itself. The word _freight_ in Greek is [Greek: naulos] or [Greek: naulon], and in Latin _naulum_. Have these any connexion with the Arabic word, or are they to be traced to an independent source, and the coincidence in sense and sound with the Arabic merely accidental? If distinct, are the words now in use in the Mediterranean ports derived from the Greek or the Arabic? If the words be not identical, may not the Greek be derived from the Sanscrit, thus [Sanskrit: nau], _nau_, or in the pure form [Sanskrit: nawah], _nawah_, or resolved, _naus_, a ship or boat; [Sanskrit: nauyayin], _nauyayin_ quasi _nouyayil_, or abbreviated _naul_, that which goes into a ship or boat, _i.e._ freight, fare, or, by metonyme, the price of freight, or passage-money. It is to be noted that _nolis_, though in general use in the Mediterranean ports (Marseilles, for example) to denote the price of freight, or of carriage, is not so in the northern parts of France. At Havre the word is _fret_, the same as our _freight_, the German _fracht_, viz. that which is _carried_ or _ferried_, and, by metonyme, as before, the _price_ of carriage.

J. SH.

Bombay.

* * * * *

Minor Notes.

_Smith's Obituary._--One of the publications of the Camden Society for the year 1849 is the _Obituary of Richard Smyth_ (extending from 1627 to 1674), edited by Sir Henry Ellis. It is printed from a copy of the Sloane MS. in the Brit. Mus., No. 886., which is itself but a transcript, later than Smyth's time. The editor states that "where the original manuscript of the obituary is deposited is not at present known."

I am glad at being able to supply the information here wanted. The original manuscript is in the _University Library_ at Cambridge, marked Mm. 4. 36. It consists of twenty-nine leaves, foolscap folio; and, except that the edges and corners of the leaves are occasionally worn by frequent perusal, is otherwise in excellent condition. It is well and clearly written, but the latter part of it marks the alteration of the hand by the advancing years of the writer. There are many variations in {390} the orthography, and some omissions, in the Camden Society's publication, but perhaps not more than may be accounted for by supposing the Sloane copy to have been made by a not very careful transcriber.

Here again is seen the valuable use which might be made of your excellent publication. Had a "Hue and Cry" been made in the "NOTES AND QUERIES" after the original MS. of this obituary, information might have been immediately given which would have added greatly to the value of this number of the Camden Society's publications.

GASTROS.

Cambridge, Oct. 28. 1850.

_George Wither the Poet, A Printer._--In the "_Premonition_ to the Reader" prefixed to George Wither's _Britain's Remembrancer_, 12mo. 1628, the author acquaints us with some circumstances relative to his work which are not generally known. While craving some apology for his writing, Wither observes:

"It is above two years since I laboured to get this booke printed, and
it hath cost me more money, more pains, and much more time to publish
it, than to compose it, for I was faine to imprint every sheet thereof
_with my owne hand_, because I could not get allowance to doe it
publikely."

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

_Corruption of the Text of Gibbon's "Decline and Fall."_--A corruption, which seems to have arisen from an attempt at emendation, has crept into Note 17. on the 55th chapter of Gibbon's _History_. _Root_ is twice printed instead of _roof_ in the later editions, including, Mr. Milman's. "What comes from the roof," may not be very intelligible; still _roof_ is the word in the original edition of Gibbon, where it corresponds to _toit_ in Gibbon's authority, Fleury, and to _tectum_ in Fleury's authority.

J. E. B. MAYOR.

_Traditional Story concerning Cardinal Wolsey._--In David Hughson (Dr. Pugh's) _Walks through London and the surrounding Suburbs_, 12mo. 1817, vol. ii. p. 366., I find the following:--

"Passing on to _Cheshunt_: here is a plain brick edifice, in which
Cardinal Wolsey is said to have resided. It has been nearly rebuilt
since his time, but is still surrounded by a deep moat. In the upper
part of this house, called Cheshunt House, is a room, the door of which
is stained with blood: the tradition is--an unfortunate lady became a
victim to the Cardinal's jealousy, and that he dispatched her with his
own hand. If so, it is unaccountable that the murderer should have
suffered those marks of his violence to have remained."

Is there any _old_ authority for this charge against the Cardinal?

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

* * * * *

Queries.

EARLY SALE OF GEMS, DRAWINGS, AND CURIOSITIES.

At the risk of showing my ignorance, I wish to have it removed by answers to my present Queries.

I have before me a printed catalogue of a collection of antiques, drawings, and curiosities, which were to be sold by auction not far from a century and a half ago. It is upon a sheet of four pages, rather larger than foolscap, which it entirely fills. It seems to me a remarkable assemblage of valuable relics, and it is thus headed:--

"A catalogue, being an extraordinary and great collection of antiques,
original drawings, and other curiosities, collected by a gentleman very
curious ... will be sold by auction at Covent Garden Coffee House, in
the Little Piazza, on Wednesday next, being the 9th instant June,
1714."

This is the oldest English catalogue of the kind that I happen to have met with, and my first question upon it is, is there any older? Next, if the fact be known, who was the "gentleman very curious" who owned the collection?

We are farther informed by the auctioneer (whose name is not given), that "The antiques are all in precious stones, most of them engraved by the greatest masters of the old Greeks and Romans; the drawings are of the oldest and the best Italian masters;" and it is advertised, besides, that "the aforesaid rarities may be seen on Monday the 7th, Tuesday the 8th, and Wednesday till the time of sale, which will begin at 11 o'clock in the morning for the antiques, and at 6 o'clock in the evening for the drawings." After a statement that the "conditions of sale are as usual," we come to the list of the gems, under the heads of "Names of the Jewels," and "What they represent." There are fifty-one lots of those that are "set in silver for seals," and they are upon cornelian, beril, sardonix, jasper, &c. For the purpose of identification (if possible) I will quote two or three:--

"3. Sardonix--The head of Anacreon.
17. Cornelian--Pallas crowning Hercules.
30. Beryl--The Trojan Horse, as in Fortuna Lyceto.
51. A cornelian ring, with the head of Lais of Corinth, engraved by Mr.
Christian."

To these succeed twelve lots of "stones not set," including a "Head of Christ," a "Gadetian Droll," the "Entry of Severus, the Emperor, into Britain," &c. Then we come to 22. "Camejus, for the most part modern;" and to 10. "Other extraordinary Rarities," including

4. "The Picture of Mathew of Leyden, King of the Anabaptists, done in
miniature by Holbein.
7. A box with 8 Calcedonies set in gold, in which are engraved the
Passion of our Saviour," &c.

{391}

The "antiques set in gold, being rings or seals," are thirty-seven in number; among them

"8. Ennius the poet, with this motto, _Sine lucto memento_, a seal. "19. Homer deified, a seal. "34. A double seal of Charles I., King of England, and Henrietta, daughter of Henry IV. of France, &c., with a motto of _Castus Amor vinxit_. Engraved by _Simon Monuntum Preclarissimum_."

The Drawings come last, and are divided into seven _Porta Folios_, containing respectively 21, 23, 30, 23, 24, 26 and 42 specimens. In the first two no names of the masters are given: in the third, they are all assigned to various artists, including Emskirk (I spell names as I find them), Paulo Veronesa, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Tintorett, Giulio Romano, &c. The fourth portfolio has only one name to the 23 lots, viz. Tintorett; and Filippo Bellin is the only master named in the fifth portfolio. In the sixth, we meet with Tintorett, Perugino, Mich. Ang. Bonaroti, Annibal Caracci, Paulo Brill, and Raphael. Of the 42 drawings in Portfolio 7. all have names annexed to them, excepting eight; and here we read those of Guido Reni, Gio Bellini, Andrea Mantegna, Corregio, Andrea del Sarto, Tadeo Zuccaro, &c.

I may have gone into more detail than was necessary; but, besides the Queries I have already put, I want to know if any of these gems, cameos, antiques, or drawings are now known to be in existence; and, if possible, where they are to be found.

A CURIOSITY HUNTER.

* * * * *

MINOR QUERIES.

_Quotations wanted._--I shall be greatly obliged to any of the correspondents of your most interesting and useful publication who will kindly inform me in what authors the following passages are to be found, and will, if it can be done without too much trouble, give me the references necessary for tracing them:--

"Par un peu de sang bien repandu,
L'on en epargne beaucoup."

And

"Quadrijugis invectus equis Sol aureus extat,
Cui septem veriis circumdant vestibus Horae:
Lucifer antesolat: rapidi fuge lampada Solis,
Aurora, umbrarum victrix, neo victa recedas."

The latter I have only seen subjoined to a print of Guido's celebrated Aurora, at Rome; and I should have supposed it might have been written for the occasion, had I not been told, upon authority in which I put confidence, that it is to be found in some classic author. If so, the lines may possibly have given rise to the painting, and not the painting to the lines.

DAWSON TURNER.

Yarmouth, October 28. 1850.

_Avidius Varus._--Can you, or any of your readers, tell me who _Avidius Varus_ was, referred to in the following passage:

"Sed _Avidii Vari_ illud hic valeat:
'Aut hoc quod produxi testium satis est, aut nihil satis.'"

I find reference made to him as above, in one of the Smith manuscripts; but I cannot discover his name in any catalogue or biographical dictionary. Is he known by any other name?

J. SANSOM.

_Death of Richard II._--By what authority has the belief that Richard II. died in Pontefract Castle, in Yorkshire, arisen? Every history that I have consulted (with the exception, indeed, of Lord Lyttleton's) coolly assumes it as a fact, in the teeth of the contemporary Froissart, who says plainly enough--

"Thus they left the _Tower of London where he had died_, and paraded
the streets at a foot's pace till they came to
Cheapside."--_Froissart's Chronicles_, translated by Johnes, vol. vii.
p. 708.

It is barely possible that our modern historians may have been misled by Shakspeare, who makes Pontefract the scene of his death.

Another circumstance which militates against the received story, is the fact that all historians, I believe, agree that his _dead body_ was conveyed to burial from the Tower of London. Now, it seems odd, to say the least, that if he really died at Pontefract, and his corpse was removed to London, that no one mentions this removal--that Froissart had not heard of it, although, from the nature of the country, the want of good roads, &c., the funeral convoy must have been several days upon the road. Can any one give me any information upon this question? I may just say that, of course, no reliance can be placed on the fact of the "very identical tower" in which the deposed king died being shown at Pontefract.

H. A. B.

_Sir W. Herschel's Observations and Writings._--Will you permit me to propose the following Queries in your excellent paper.

1. I have a note to the following effect, but it is without date or reference. The late Sir W. Herschel, during an examination of the heavens in which he was observing stars that have a proper motion, saw one of the 7.8 magnitude near the 17th star 12 hour of Piazzi's Catalogue, and noted the approximate distance between them; on the third night after, he saw it again, when it had advanced a good deal, having gone farther to the eastward, and towards the equator. Bad weather, and the advancing twilight, prevented Sir William's getting another observation. Meantime the estimated movement in three days was 10" in right ascension, and about a minute, or rather less, towards the north. "So slow a motion," he says, {392} "would make me suspect the situation to be beyond Uranus." What I wish to inquire is this: has it been established by calculation whether the new planet discovered by Adams and Le Verrier was or was not the star observed at the time and in the place specified by Sir William Herschel?

2. Have Sir W. Herschel's contributions to the _Philosophical Transactions_ ever been published in a separate form? and if so, where they can be obtained?

H. C. K.

_Swearing by Swans._--

"At the banquet held on this occasion, he vowed before God and the
_swans_, which according to usage were placed on the table, to punish
the Scottish rebels."--Keightley's _History of England_, vol. i. p.
249. ed. 1839.

What authority is there for this statement respecting the swans? What was the origin and significance of the usage to which allusion is here made?

R. V.

Winchester.

_Automachia._--I am the possessor of a little book, some 21/2 inches long by 11/2 wide, bound in green velvet, entitled _Automachia, or the Self-conflict of a Christian_, and dedicated

"To the most noble, vertuous, and learned lady, the Lady Mary Nevil,
one of the daughters of the Right Honourable the Earl of Dorcet, Lord
High Treasurer of England."

The book commences with an anagram on the lady's name:

"Add but an A to Romanize your name
_Another Pallas_ is your anagram,
Videlicet
Maria Nevila
Alia Minerva."

And then follow some "Stanzes Dedicatory," subscribed--

Most deuoted to your honourable vertues.--J. S."

On the last page is--

"London, printed by Milch Bradwood, for Edward Blount, 1607."

The _Automachia_ is a poem of 188 lines, in heroic metre, and is followed by a shorter poem, entitled "A Comfortable Exhortation to the Christian in his Self-conflict."

Do any of your correspondents know of the existence or authorship of this little work? It is not in the British Museum, nor could the curators of the library there, to whom it was shown, make out anything about it.

The discovery of its authorship might tend to throw some light on that of "The Pedlar's Song," attributed to Shakspeare, and appearing in Vol. i., p. 23. of "NOTES AND QUERIES." The song contains the line--

"Such is the sacred hunger for gold."

And in the _Automachia_ I find the "auri sacra fames" described as--

"Midas' desire, the miser's only trust,
The sacred hunger of Pactolian dust."

A. M.

_Poa cynosuwides._--_Poa cynosuwides_, the sacred grass of India, is mentioned in Persoon's _Synopsis_, as also an Egyptian plant: does it appear on the Egyptian monuments? Theophrastus, quoted in the _Praeparatio Evangelica_ of Eusebius, mentions the use of a certain [Greek: poa] in the ancient sacrifices of Egypt.

F. Q.

_Vineyards._--Besides those at Bury St. Edmonds and Halfield, are there any other pieces of land bearing this name? and if so, when were they disused for their original purpose?

CLERICUS.

_Martin, Cockerell, and Hopkins Families._--Can any one give information respecting the families of Martin, Cockerell, and Hopkins, in or near Wivenhoe, Essex?

CLERICUS.

_Camden's Poem on Marriage of the Thames and Isis._--I should esteem it a favour if any reader of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" would inform me where I can find a Latin poem of Camden's on the "Marriage of the Thames with the Isis." In his work styled _Britannia_ (which was enlarged by Richard Gough, in 3 vols., fol. Lond. 1789), in vol. i. p. 169., under Surrey, Camden himself quotes two passages; and in vol. ii., under Middlesex, p. 2., one passage, from the above-mentioned poem. I have in vain made many endeavours to find the _entire poem_. I have examined the original work, as well as all the translations of _Britannia, sive Florentissimorum Regnorum Angliae, etc., chorographica descriptio; Gulielmo Camdeno, authore_, Londini, 1607, folio. All these contain the quotations I have specified, but no more, and I am anxious to see the whole of the poem.

||S.

_National Airs of England._--Among the national gleanings which are sent to your journal, I have not seen any that relate to the traditional music of England. We allow our airs to be stolen on all sides, and, had not Mr. Chappell acted the part of a detective, might never have recovered our own property. Ireland has taken "My Lodging is on the cold Ground" and "The Girls we leave behind us," while Scotland has laid claim to all her own _at least_, and Germany is laying violent hands on "God save the Queen."

Under these circumstances, would it not be a good thing, for those who have the power, to communicate the simple air of any song which appears native to our country, together with the words? I fancy that in this way we should gain many hints, besides musical ones, highly interesting to your readers.

? (3.).

{393}

P.S. It has struck me that the origin of the word _mass_ may be found in the custom, referred to in an early number of "NOTES AND QUERIES," of messing persons together at dinner in former times.

_Poor Pillgarlick._--Whence comes the expression, "Poor Pilgarlick," and how should the words be spelt?

H. P.

Exeter.

_Inscription on a Portrait._--Can any of your correspondents explain the meaning of the following inscription:--

io par. pla
vx

placed at the top left-hand corner of an old portrait in my possession, supposed to be that of Philip II. of Spain?