Chapter I: Front Matter

{217} 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. 73.] SATURDAY, MARCH 22. 1851. [Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.

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CONTENTS.

Page
Suggestions for preserving a Record of Existing Monuments 217

NOTES:--
On the Word "Rack" in Shakspeare's Tempest, by
Samuel Hickson 218
Ancient inedited Poems, No. III., by K. R. H. Mackenzie 219
Folk-Lore:--Moths called Souls--Holy Water for
Hooping Cough--Daffy Down Dilly 220
Dr. Maitland's Illustrations and Enquiries relating to
Mesmerism 220
Minor Notes:--Original Warrant--Gloves--Prince
Rupert--Inscription on a Gun--Richard III.--Lines
by Pope--Origin of St. Andrew's Cross in relation to
Scotland--Snail-eating 220

QUERIES:--
Henry Smith, by T. M'Calmont 222
Minor Queries:--Owen Glendower--Meaning of Gig-Hill--
Sir John Vaughan--Quebecca and his Epitaph--A
Monumental Inscription--Sir Thomas Herbert's
Memoirs of Charles I.--Comets--Natural Daughter
of James II.--Going the Whole Hog--Innocent
Convicts--The San Grail--Meaning of "Slums"--
Bartolus' "Learned Man Defended and Reformed"--
Odour from the Rainbow--Tradesmen's Signs 222
MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:--Supporters borne by
Commoners--Answer to Fisher's Relation--"Drink
up Eisell" 224

REPLIES:--
Scandal against Queen Elizabeth 225
The Mistletoe on the Oak, by James Buckman, &c. 226
Universality of the Maxim, "Lavor come se tu," &c.,
by S. W. Singer 226
Replies to Minor Queries:--Tennyson's In Memoriam--
Bishop Hooper's Godly Confession, &c.--Machell's
MS. Collections for Westmoreland and Cumberland--
Oration against Demosthenes--Borrow's Danish
Ballads--Head of the Saviour--Lady Bingham--
Shakespeare's Use of Captious--Tanthony--Lama
Beads--"Language given to Men," &c.--Daresbury,
the White Chapel of England--Holland Land--Passage
in the Tempest--Damasked Linen--Straw Necklaces--
Library of the Church of Westminster, &c. 227

MISCELLANEOUS:--
Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 230
Books and Odd Volumes wanted 231
Notices to Correspondents 231
Advertisements 231

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SUGGESTIONS FOR PRESERVING A RECORD OF EXISTING MONUMENTS.

When, in the opening Number of the present Volume (p. 14), we called the attention of our readers to the _Monumentarium of Exeter Cathedral_, we expressed a hope that the good services which Mr. Hewett had thereby rendered to all genealogical, antiquarian, and historical inquirers would be so obvious as to lead a number of labourers into the same useful field. That hope bids fair to be fully realised. In Vol. iii., p. 116., we printed a letter from MR. PEACOCK, announcing his intention of copying the inscriptions in the churches and churchyards of the Hundred of Manley; and we this week present our readers with three fresh communications upon the subject.

We give precedence to MISS BOCKETT'S, inasmuch as it involves no general proposal upon the subject, but is merely expressive of that lady's willingness, in which we have no doubt she will be followed by many of her countrywomen to help forward the good work.

In your Number for Feb. 15th, I find MR. EDWARD PEACOCK, Jun., of
Bottesford Moors, Messingham, Kirton Lindsey, wishes to collect church
memorials for work he intends to publish. If he would like the accounts
of monuments in the immediate neighbourhood of Reading, as far as I am
able it would give me pleasure to send some to him.

JULIA R. BOCKETT.

Southcote Lodge, near Reading.

The second makes us acquainted with a plan for the publication of a _Monumenta Anglicana_ by MR. DUNKIN,--a plan which would have our hearty concurrence and recommendation, if it were at all practicable; but which, it will be seen at a glance, must fail from its very vastness. If the _Monumentarium of Exeter_ contains the material for half a moderate-sized octavo volume, in what number of volumes does MR. DUNKIN propose to complete his collection--even if a want of purchasers of the early volumes did not nip in the bud his praiseworthy and well-intentioned scheme?

Your correspondent MR. EDW. PEACOCK, Jun, may be interested in knowing
that a work has some time been projected by my friend Mr. Alfred John
Dunkin of Dartford (whose industry and antiquarian learning render him
well fitted for the task), under the title of _Monumenta Anglicana_,
and which is intended to be a medium for preserving the inscriptions in
every church in the kingdom. There can be no doubt of the high value
and utility of such a work, especially if accompanied by a
well-arranged index of names; and I have no doubt MR. PEACOCK, and
indeed many others of your valued correspondents, will be induced to
{218} assist in the good cause, by sending memoranda of inscriptions to
Mr. Dunkin.

L. J.

Plymouth.

The following letter from the REV. E. S. TAYLOR proposes a Society for the purpose:--

I for one shall be happy to co-operate with MR. PEACOCK in this useful
work; and I trust that, through the valuable medium of "NOTES AND
QUERIES," many will be induced to offer their assistance. Could not a
Society be formed for the purpose, so that mutual correspondence might
take place?

E. S. TAYLOR.

Martham, Norfolk.

We doubt the necessity, and indeed the advisability, of the formation of any such Society.

MR. PEACOCK (_ante_., p. 117.) has already wisely suggested, that "in time a copy of every inscription in every church in England might be ready for reference in our National Library," and we have as little doubt that the MS. department of the British Museum is the proper place of deposit for such records, as that the trustees would willingly accept the charge of them on the recommendation of their present able and active Keeper of the Manuscripts. What he, and what the trustees would require, would be some security that the documents were what they professed to be; and this might very properly be accomplished through the agency of such a Society as MR. TAYLOR proposes, if there did not already exist a Society upon whom such a duty might very safely be devolved:--and have we not, in the greater energy which that Society has lately displayed, evidence that it would undertake a duty for which it seems pre-eminently fitted? We allude to the Society of Antiquaries. The anxiety of Lord Mahon, its president, to promote the efficiency of that Society, has recently been made evident in many ways; and we cannot doubt that he would sanction the formation of a sub-committee for the purpose of assisting in collecting and preserving a record of all existing monuments, or that he would find a lack of able men to serve on such a committee, when he numbers among the official or active Fellows of the Society gentlemen so peculiarly fitted to carry out this important national object, as Mr. Hunter, Sir Charles Young, Mr. J. Payne Collier, and Mr. Bruce.

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Notes.

ON THE WORD "RACK" IN SHAKSPEARE'S TEMPEST.

As another illustration of the careless or superficial manner in which the meaning of Shakspeare has been sought, allow me to call attention to the celebrated passage in the _Tempest_ in which the word "rack" occurs. The passage really presents no difficulty; and the meaning of the word, as it appears to me, might as well be settled at once and for ever. I make this assertion, not dogmatically, but with the view of testing the correctness of my opinion, that this is not at all a question of etymology, but entirely one of construction. The passage reads as follows:--

"These, our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabrick of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;
And, like this insubstantial pageant, faded,
Leave not a rack behind."--_Tempest_, Act IV. Sc. 1.

As I have expressed my opinion that this is not at all a question of etymology, I shall not say more in reference to this view of the case than that "rack," spelt as in Shakspeare, is a word in popular and every-day use in the phrase "rack and ruin;" that we have it in the term "rack off," as applied to wine, meaning _to take from the rack_, or, in other words, "to leave a rack" or _refuse_ "behind," racked wine being wine drawn from the lees; and that it is, I believe, still in use in parts of England, meaning _remains_ or _refuse_, as, in the low German, "der Wraek" means the same thing. Misled, however, by an unusual mode of spelling, and unacquainted with the literature of Shakspeare's age, certain of the commentators suggested the readings of _track_ and _trace_; whereupon Horne Tooke remarks:--

"The ignorance and presumption of his commentators have shamefully
disfigured Shakspeare's text. The first folio, notwithstanding some few
palpable misprints, requires none of their alterations. Had they
understood English as well as he did, they would not have quarrelled
with his language."--_Diversions of Purley_, p. 595.

He proceeds to show that _rack_ "is merely the past tense, and therefore past participle, [reac] or [rec], of the Anglo-Saxon verb Recan, _exhalare_, to _reek_;" and although the advocates of its being a particular description of light cloud refer to him as an authority for their reading, he treats it throughout generally as "a vapour, a steam, or an exhalation." But Horne Tooke, in his zeal as an etymologist, forgot altogether to attend to the construction of the passage. What is it that shall "leave not a rack behind?" A rack of what? Not of the baseless fabric of this vision, like which the "cloud-capp'd towers shall dissolve,"--not of this insubstantial pageant, like which they shall have faded,--but of "the cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples, the great globe itself." There is in fact a double comparison; but the construction and the meaning are perfectly clear, and no word will suit the passage but one that shall express a result common {219} to the different objects enumerated. A cloud may be a fit object for comparison, but it is utterly inconsequential; while the sense required can only be expressed by a general term, such as _remains_, a _vestige_, or a _trace_.

I beg now to transcribe a note Of Mr. Collier's on this passage:--

"'Rack' is vapour, from _reck_, as Horne Tooke showed; and the light
clouds on the face of heaven are the 'rack,' or vapour from the earth.
The word 'rack' was often used in this way."--Coll. _Shaksp._, vol. i.
p. 70.

Mr. Knight appears to incline to the same view; and regarding these as the two latest authorities, and finding in neither of them any reference to the question of construction, I naturally concluded that the point had been overlooked by the commentators. On reference, however, I found to my surprise, that Malone, for the very same reasons, had come to the same conclusion. Had Malone's argument been briefly stated by the "two latest and best editors," I should, of course, have had no occasion to trouble you with this note: and this instance, it appears to me, furnishes additional reasons for enforcing the principle for which I am contending; the neglect of it affecting, in however slight a degree, the sense or correctness of so important and frequently quoted a passage. For my own part, I should have thought that the commonest faith in Shakspeare would have protected any editor, whose avowed object it was to restore the text, from preferring in this instance, to the plain common sense of Malone, the more showy authority of Horne Tooke.

In my last paper I wrote,--"So far as quantity is concerned, to eat a crocodile would be _no_ more than to eat an ox." You have omitted the negative.

SAMUEL HICKSON.

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ANCIENT INEDITED POEMS, NO. III.

In my last communication on this subject, I forgot to remark on the strange title given to the monody on Mr. Browne. May I ask if the name of "Chorus" was thus indiscriminately applied at the time when the poem was composed?

The next poem that I shall give is copied from _Harleian MSS._, 367., art. 60., fol. 158. It is entitled--

"A VERTUOUS WOMAN.

"When painted vice fils upp the rimes
Of these our last depraued times:
And soe much lust by wanton layes
Dispersed is; that beautie strayes
Into darke corners wheere vnseen, 5
Too many sadd berefts haue been.
Aduance my muse to blaze[1] that face
Wheere beautie sits enthroand in grace.
The eye though bright, and quicke to moue,
Daignes not a cast to wanton loue. 10
A comely ffront not husht in hayre,
Nor face be-patcht to make it fayre.
The lipps and cheekes though seemely redd,
Doe blush afresh if by them fedd.
Some wanton youthes doe gaze too much 15
Though naked breasts are hidd from touch.
When due salutes are past, they shunn
A seconde kisse: yea, half vndone
Shee thinkes herselfe, when wantons praise
Her hande or face with such loose phraise 20
As they haue learnt at acts and scenes,
Noe hand in hand with them shee meenes,
Shall giue them boldnes to embalme,
Ther filthie fist in her chast palme.
Her pretious honners overlookes, 25
At her retires the best of bookes.
Whatsoeuer else shee doth forget
Noe busines shall her prayers[2] let.
Those that bee good, shee prizes most,
Noe time with them shee counteth lost. 30
Her chast delights, her mind, aduance
Above Lot-games or mixed dance.
Shee cares not for an enterlude,
Or idly will one day conclude.
The looser toungs that filth disclose 35
Are graueolencie to her nose.
But when a vertuous man shall court
Her virgin thoughts in nuptiall sort:
Her faire depor[t]ment, neyther coy
Nor yet too forward, fits his ioy, 40
And giues his kisses leaue to seale
On her fayre hand his faythfull zeale.
Blest is his conquest in her loue,
With her alone death cann remoue.
And if before shee did adorne 45
Her parents' howse, the cheerefull morne
Reioyceth now at this blest payre,
To see a wife soe chast soe fayre.
They happy liue; and know noe smart
Of base suspects or iealous heart; 50
And if the publike bredd noe feare,
Nor sadd alarms did fill ther care,
From goodnes flowes ther ioy soe cleere
As grace beginnes ther heauen heere."

The poem has no subscription, nor, from the appearance of the paper, should I say there had been one. The comparatively modern phraseology points to a late era. The poem is bound up with a quantity of John Stowe's papers, and I think is in his handwriting, upon comparing it with other papers known to be his in the same book. As it is my chief object (next to contributing to the preservation and publication of these ancient ballads) to obtain data regarding the anonymous productions of the earlier days of England's literature, any remarks, allow me to say, that other contributors will favour our {220} medium of intercommunication with, will be much appreciated by

KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE.

[Our correspondent is certainly mistaken in supposing this poem to be
in Stowe's handwriting. We have the best possible authority for
assuring him that it is not.]

[Footnote 1: _Blason_, describe.]

[Footnote 2: We have here an instance of the use of the word _prayers_ as a dissyllable.]

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FOLK LORE.

_Moths called Souls._--While I am upon this subject, I may as well mention that in Yorkshire the country-people used in my youth, and perhaps do still, call night-flying white moths, especially the _Hepialus humuli_, which feeds, while in the grub state, on the roots of docks and other coarse plants, "souls." Have we not in all this a remnant of "Psyche?"

F. S.

[This latter paragraph furnishes a remarkable coincidence with the
tradition from the neighbourhood of Truro (recorded by MR. THOMS in his
Folk lore of Shakspeare, _Athenaeum_ (No. 1041.) Oct. 9. 1847) which
gives the name of _Piskeys_ both to the _fairies_ and to _moths_, which
are believed by many to be _departed souls_.]

_Holy Water for the Hooping Cough_ (vol. iii., p. 179.).--In one of the principal towns of Yorkshire, half a century ago, it was the practice for persons in a respectable class of life to take their children, when afflicted with the hooping cough, to a neighbouring convent, where the priest allowed them to drink a small quantity of holy water out of a silver chalice, which the little sufferers were strictly forbidden to touch. By Protestant, as well as Roman Catholic parents, this was regarded as a remedy. Is not the superstition analogous to that noticed by MR. WAY?

EBORACOMB.

_Daffy Down Dilly._--At this season, when the early spring flowers are showing themselves, we hear the village children repeating these lines:--

"Daff a down dill has now come to town,
In a yellow petticoat and a green gown."

Does not this nursery rhyme throw light upon the character of the royal visitor alluded to in the snail charm recorded by F. J. H. (p. 179.)?

EBORACOMB.

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DR. MAITLAND'S ILLUSTRATIONS AND ENQUIRIES RELATING TO MESMERISM.

I know more than one person who would second the request that I am about to make through "NOTES AND QUERIES" to DR. MAITLAND, that he would publish the remaining parts of his _Illustrations and Enquiries relating to Mesmerism_: he would do so, I know, at once, if he thought that anybody would benefit by them; and I can bear witness to Part I. as having been already of some use. It is high time that Christians should be decided as to whether or no they may meddle with the fearful power whose existence is is impossible to ridicule any longer. DR. MAITLAND has suggested the true course of thought upon the subject, and promised to lead us along it; but it is impossible at present to use anything that he has said, on account of its incompleteness. In tracing the subject through history, DR. MAITLAND would no doubt mention the "[Greek: Omphalopsuchoi], or Umbilicani," of the fourteenth century, whose practices make a page (609.) of Waddington's _History of the Church_ read like a sketch of Middle-age Mesmerism, contemptuously given. Also, in Washington Irving's _Life of Mahomet_, a belief somewhat similar to theirs is stated to have been preached in the seventh century (_Bohn's Reprint in Shilling Series_, p. 191.) by a certain Moseilma, a false prophet.

I may add that Miss Martineau's new book, _Letters of the Development of Man's Nature, by Atkinson and Martineau_, which cannot be called sceptical, for its unbelief is unhesitating, is the immediate cause of my writing to-day.

A. L. R.

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Minor Notes.

_Original Warrant._--The following warrant from the original in the Surrenden collection may interest some of your correspondents, as bearing upon more than one Query that has appeared in your columns:--

"Forasmuch as S^r John Payton, Knight, Lieutenant of the Tower, hath
heretofore receaved a warrant from the Lls. of the counsell, by her
Ma^{ts} commandment, for the removinge of Wright the Preist out of the
Tower, to Framingham Castle, and for that, since then, it is thought
more convenient, that he be removed to the Clincke--Theise therefore
shalbe to require now (sic) to enlarge him of his imprisonment in the
Tower, and to deliver him prisoner into the hands of the L. Bishop of
London, to be committed by his Lp. to the Clincke, because it is for
her M^{ts} speciall service,--for doinge whereof, this shalbe your
warrant.

"From the court at
"Oatlands this 29
"of September, 1602.
"RO. CECYLL.

"To Mr. Anthony Deeringe,
"Deputy Lieutenant of the Tower of London."

"2. October, 1602.

"I have receyed Mr. Wryght from Mr. Derynge, Deputy Lieutenant, and
have comitted him to the Clincke according the direction from Mr.
Secretary above expressed.

"RIC. LONDON."