Chapter I: Front Matter

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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. 64.] SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 1851. [Price, with Index to Vol. II., 9d. Stamped Edition, 10d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:-- Page
Authorship of Henry VIII., by Samuel Hickson 33
The Cavalier's Farewell, by F.H. 34
Gray's Elegy, by Henry H. Breen 35
The "Nineveh" Monuments and Milton's Nativity Ode
illustrated from Lucian 35
Minor Notes:--Gaudentia di Lucca--George Wither
the Poet, a Printer--"Preached as a dying man to dying
Men"--Authors of Anonymous Works--Umbrellas 36

QUERIES:--
Sonnet (query, by Milton) on the Library at Cambridge,
by C. Howard Kenyon 37
Burying in Church Walls 37
Minor Queries:--Meaning of Venwell or Venville--
Erasmus and Farel--Early Culture of the Imagination--
Sir Thomas Bullen's Drinking Horn--Peter
Sterry--"Words are Men's Daughters," &c.--Robert
Henryson--Gawyn Douglas--Darby and Joan--
William Chilcot--Benj. Wheeler's Theological Lectures--
Sir Alexander Cumming--Cross between a
Wolf and Hound--Landwade Church, and Moated
Grange--Dr. Bolton, Archbishop of Cashel--Genealogy
of the Talbots, &c. &c. 38

REPLIES:--
Dragons 40
Origin of the Family Name of Bacon, by ProBa ConScientia 41
Replies to Minor Queries:--Cockade--Form of Prayer
for King's Evil--"Aver," Hogs not Pigs--Pilgarlic
--Collar of Esses--Filthy Gingram--The Life and
Death of Clancie--"Rab. Surdam"--"Fronte Capillatâ"
--Taylor's Holy Living--Portrait of Bishop
Henchman--Lines attributed to Charles Yorke--
Rodolph Gualter--"Annoy" used as a Noun--Culprit,
Origin of the Word--Passage in Bishop Butler
--Wat the Hare--The Letter Yogh--Did Elizabeth
visit Bacon in Twickenham Park--Mock-Beggar--
Cardinal Chalmers--Binsey, God help me!--Midwives
Licensed--Dr. Timothy Thristcross--History
of the Bohemian persecution--"Earth has no Rage"
--Couplet in De Foe--Private Memoirs of Queen
Elizabeth--Abbot's House at Bucksden--Bab in the
Bowster--Sir Cloudesley Shovel--Noli me tangere
--Cad 42

MISCELLANEOUS:--
Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 46
Notices to Correspondents 46
Advertisements 47

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NOTES.

AUTHORSHIP OF HENRY VIII.

In my last communication on the subject of _Henry VIII._, I referred to certain characteristic _tricks_ of Fletcher's style of frequent occurrence in that play, and I now beg leave to furnish you with a few instances. I wish it, however, to be understood, that I advance these merely as illustrative specimens selected at random; as there is scarcely a line of the portions of the play I assume to be Fletcher's but would furnish some evidence to a diligent student of this writer's style: and that, although I think each separate instance as strongly characteristic of Fletcher as it is unlike Shakspeare, it is only in their aggregate number that I insist upon their importance.

The first instance to which I call attention is the use of the substantive "one" in a manner which, though not very uncommon, is used by no writer so frequently as Fletcher. Take the following:--

"_So_ great ones."--_Woman's Prize_, II. 2.
"And yet his songs are sad ones."--_Two Noble Kinsmen_, II. 4.

and the title of the play, _The False One_.

Compare with these from _Henry VIII._:--

"This night he make a supper, and a great one."--Act I. 3.
"Shrewd ones."--"Lame ones."--"_so_ great ones."--_Ibid._
"I had my trial,
And must needs say a noble one."--Act II. 1.
"A wife--a true one."--Act III. 1.
"They are a sweet society of fair ones."--Act I. 4.

Fletcher habitually uses "thousand" without the indefinite article, as in the following instances:

"Carried before 'em thousand desolations."--_False One_, II. 9.
"Offers herself in thousand safeties to you."--_Rollo_, II. 1.
"This sword shall cut thee into thousand pieces."--_Knight of Malta_, IV.
2.

In _Henry VIII._ we have in the prologue:

"Of thousand friends."
"Cast thousand beams upon me."--Act IV. 2.

The use of the word "else" is peculiar in its position in Fletcher:--

"'Twere fit I were hang'd else."--_Rule a Wife_, II.
"I were to blame else."--_Ibid._
"I've lost me end else."--Act IV.
"I am wide else."--_Pilgrim_, IV. 1.

In _Henry VIII._, the word occurs in precisely the same position:--

"Pray God he do! He'll never know himself, else."--Act II. 2.
"I were malicious, else."--Act IV. 2.

{34} The peculiarly idiomatic expression "I take it" is of frequent occurrence in Fletcher, as witness the following:--

"This is no lining for a trench, I take it."--_Rule a Wife_, III.
"And you have land i' th' Indies, as I take it."--_Ibid._ IV.
"A fault without forgiveness, as I take it."--_Pilgrim_, IV. 1.
"In noble emulation (so I take it)."--_Ibid._ IV. 2.

In one scene of _Henry VIII._, Act I. 3., the expression occurs twice: "One would take it;" "There, I take it."

Of a peculiar manner of introducing a negative condition, one instance from Fletcher, and one from _Henry VIII._ in reference to the same substantive, though used in different senses, will suffice:

"All noble battles,
Maintain'd in thirst of honour, not of blood."--_Bonduca_, V. 1.
"And those about her
From her shall read the perfect ways of honour,
And by those claim their greatness, not by blood."--_Henry VIII._, V. 4.

Of a kind of parenthetical asseveration, a single instance, also, from each will suffice:

"My innocent life (I dare maintain it, Sir)."--_Wife for a Month, IV. 1._
"A woman (I dare say, without vain glory)
Never yet branded with suspicion."--_Henry VIII., III. 1._

"A great patience," in _Henry VIII._, may be paralleled by "a brave patience," in _The Two Noble Kinsmen_: and the expression "aim at," _occurring at the close of the verse_ (as, by the bye, almost all Fletcher's peculiarities do) as seen in Act III. 1.,

"Madam, you wander from the good we aim at,"

is so frequently to be met with in Fletcher, that, having noted four instances in the _Pilgrim_, three in the _Custom of the Country_, and four in the _Elder Brother_, I thought I had found more than enough.

Now, Sir, on reading _Henry VIII._, and meeting with each of these instances, I felt that I remembered "the trick of that voice;" and, without having at present by me any means for reference, I feel confident that of the commonest examples not so many can be found among all the rest of the reputed plays of Shakspeare, as in _Henry VIII._ alone, or rather in those parts of _Henry VIII._ which I reject as Shakspeare's; while of the more remarkable, I think I might challenge the production of a single instance.

My original intention in the present paper was merely to call attention to a few such expressions as the foregoing; but I cannot resist the impulse to quote one or two parallels of a different character:--

_Henry VIII._:
"The dews of heaven fall thick in blessings on her!"--Act IV. 2.

Fletcher:
"The dew of sleep fall gently on you, sweet one!"--_Elder Brother_, IV.
3.
"Blessings from heaven in thousand showers fall on ye!"--_Rollo_, II. 3.
"And all the plagues they can inflict, I wish it,
Fall thick upon me!"--_Knight of Malta_, III. 2.

_Henry VIII._:
"To-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms."--Act III. 2.

Fletcher:
"My long-since-blasted hopes shoot out in blossoms."--_Rollo_, II. 3.

These instances, of course, prove nothing; yet they are worth the noting. If, however, I were called upon to produce two passages from the whole of Fletcher's writings most strikingly characteristic of his style, and not more in expression than in thought, I should fix upon the third scene of the first act of _Henry VIII._, and the soliloquy of Wolsey, Beginning--

"Farewell, a long farewell to all my greatness!"

In conclusion, allow me to remark, that I am quite content to have been anticipated by MR. SPEDDING in this discovery (if discovery you and your readers will allow it to be), for the satisfaction I am thereby assured of in the concurrence of so acute a critic as himself, and of a poet so true as the poet-laureate.

SAMUEL HICKSON.

Dec. 10. 1850.

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THE CAVALIER'S FAREWELL.

The following song is extracted from the MS. Diary of the Rev. John Adamson (afterwards Rector of Burton Coggles, Lincolnshire) commencing in 1658. Can any of your readers point out who was the author?--

"THE CAVALIER'S FAREWELL TO HIS MISTRESS BEING CALLED TO THE WARRS."

1.

"Ffair Ffidelia tempt no more,
I may no more thy deity adore
Nor offer to thy shrine,
I serve one more divine
And farr more great y{^n} you:
I must goe,
Lest the foe
Gaine the cause and win the day.
Let's march bravely on
Charge ym in the Van
Our Cause God's is,
Though their odds is
Ten to one.

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2.

"Tempt no more, I may not yeeld
Although thine eyes
A Kingdome may surprize:
Leave off thy wanton toiles
The high borne Prince of Wales
Is mounted in the field,
Where the Royall Gentry flocke.
Though alone
Nobly borne
Of a ne're decaying Stocke,
Cavaleers be bold
Bravely hold your hold,
He that loyters
Is by Traytors
Bought and sold.

3.

"One Kisse more and yn farewell
Oh no, no more,
I prethee giue me ore.
Why cloudest thou thy beames,
I see by these extreames,
A Woman's Heaven or Hell.
Pray the King may haue his owne,
And the Queen
May be seen
With her babes on England's Throne.
Rally up your Men,
One shall vanquish ten,
Victory we
Come to try thee
Once agen.

Query: Who was the author of the above?

F.H.

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GRAY'S ELEGY.

J.F.M. (Vol. i., p. 101.) remarks, "I would venture to throw out a hint, that an edition of this _Elegy_, exhibiting all the known translations, arranged in double columns, might be made a noble monument to the memory of Gray." It has been asserted that there is scarcely a thought in this _Elegy_ that Gray has not borrowed from some writer, ancient or modern and if this be true, I would take the liberty of adding a hint to that of J.F.M., namely, that the proposed edition should contain a _third_ column, exhibiting all the known plagiarisms in this famous _Elegy_. To begin with the first line--

"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day."

Lord Byron, in his notes to the third canto of _Don Juan_, says that this was adopted from the following passage in Dante's _Purgatory_, canto viii.:

---- "si ode squilla di lontano
Che paja 'l giorno pianger che si muore."

And it is worthy of notice that this passage corresponds with the first line of Giannini's translation of the Elegy, as quoted by J.F.M.:--

"Piange la squilla 'l giorno, che si muore."

I must add, however, that long before Lord Byron thought of writing _Don Juan_, Mr. Cary, in his excellent translation of the Italian poet, had noticed this plagiarism in Gray; and what is more, had shown that the principal thought, the "giorno che si muore," was borrowed by Dante from Statius's

"Jam moriente die."

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, West Indies, Nov. 1850.

[The preceding communication was accompanied by several others, and by
the following gratifying letter, which we print as a fresh proof that
our paper is fulfilling the object for which it was instituted, namely,
that of promoting literary intercourse between men of letters
throughout the world and that it is as favourably received by our
fellow countrymen abroad, as it has been by those who are enabled to
receive it wet from the press:--

"Owing to the difficulty of procuring the early numbers of 'NOTES AND
QUERIES,' especially at this distance from Britain, I have been
compelled to wait for its publication in a collected form. I am now in
possession of the first volume, and beg leave to offer you a few Notes
which have occurred to me on perusing its contents. I am fully sensible
of the disadvantage of corresponding with you from so remote a corner
of the globe, and am prepared to find some of my remarks anticipated by
other correspondents nearer home; but having deeply suffered from the
literary isolation consequent upon a residence of twenty-one years in
this country, I shall gladly submit to any disadvantage which shall not
involve a total exclusion from the means of inter-communication so
opportunely afforded by your excellent periodical.

"HENRY H. BREEN."]

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THE NINEVEH MONUMENTS AND MILTON'S NATIVITY ODE ILLUSTRATED FROM LUCIAN.

Layard in his _Nineveh_, vol. ii., p. 471., in his description of "the sacred emblems carried by the priests," says, they are principally the fruit or cone of the pine.

"... and the square utensil which, as I have already remarked, appears
to have been of embossed or engraved metal, or of metal carved to
represent wicker work, or sometimes actually of wicker work."

He adds, that M. Lajard "has shown the connection between the cone of the cypress and the worship of Venus in the religious systems of the East;" that it has been suggested that "the square vessel held the holy water," that, "however this may be, it is evident from their constant occurrence on Assyrian monuments, that they were very important objects in religious ceremonies. Any attempt to explain their use and their typical {36} meaning, can at present be little better than ingenious speculation."

There is a passage in Lucian _De Dea Syria_, § 13., which may serve to elucidate this feature in the Nineveh marbles. He is referring to the temple of Hierapolis and a ceremony which Deucalion was said to have introduced, as a memorial of the great flood and the escaping of the waters:

[Greek: "Dis ekastou eteos ek thalassês ydôr es ton nêon apikneetai;
pherousi de ouk irees mounon alla pasa Syriê kai Arabiê, kai perêthen
tou Euphrêteô, polloi anthrôpoi es thalassan erchontai, kai pantes ydôr
pherousai, ta, prôta men en tôi nêôi ekchrousi,"] &c.

"Twice every year water is brought from the sea to the temple. Not only the priests, but" all Syria and Arabia, "and many from the country beyond the Euphrates come to the sea, and all bring away water, which they first pour out in the temple," and then into a chasm which Lucian had previously explained had suddenly opened and swallowed up the flood of waters which had threatened to destroy the world. Tyndale, in his recent book on Sardinia, refers to this passage in support of a similar utensil appearing in the Sarde paganism.

It may be interesting to refer to another passage in the _Dea Syria_, in which Lucian is describing the splendour of the temple of Hierapolis; he says that the deities themselves are really present:--

[Greek: "Kai Theoi de karta autoisi emphanees; idrôei gar dê ôn para
sphisi ta xoata,"]

When the very images sweat, and he adds, are moved and utter oracles. It is probable Milton had this in recollection when, in his noble _Nativity Ode_, he sings of the approach of the true Deity, at whose coming

"... the chill marble seems to sweat,
While each peculiar power foregoes his wonted seat."

L.I.M.

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MINOR NOTES.

_Gaudentio di Lucca._--Sir James Mackinstosh, in his _Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy_, adverts to the belief that Bishop Berkeley was the author of _Gaudentio di Lucca_, but without adopting it.

"A romance," he says, "of which a journey to an Utopia, in the centre
of Africa, forms the chief part, called _The Adventures of Signor
Gaudentio di Lucca_, has been commonly ascribed to him; probably on no
other ground than its union of pleasing invention with benevolence and
elegance."--_Works_, vol. i. p. 132. ed. 1846.

Sir J. Mackintosh, like most other modern writers who mention the book, seems not to have been aware of the decisive denial of this report, by Bishop Berkeley's son, inserted in the third volume of Kippis's _Biographia Britannica_.