Chapter I: Part 1

{401}

NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

* * * * *

No. 82.] SATURDAY, MAY 24. 1851. [Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.

CONTENTS.

NOTES:-- Page

Note upon a Passage in "Measure for Measure" 401

Rhyming Latin Version of the Song on Robin Goodfellow,
by S. W. Singer 402

Folk Lore:--Devonshire Folk Lore: 1. Storms from
Conjuring; 2. The Heath-hounds; 3. Cock scares the
Fiend; 4. Cranmere Pool--St. Uncumber and the
offering of Oats--"Similia similibus curantur"--Cure
of large Neck 404

Dibdin's Library Companion 405

Minor Notes:--A Note on Dress--Curious Omen at
Marriage--Ventriloquist Hoax--Barker, the original
Panorama Painter 406

QUERIES:--

Minor Queries:--Vegetable Sympathy--Court Dress--Dieu
et mon Droit--Cachecope Bell--The Image
of both Churches--Double Names--"If this fair
Flower," &c.--Hugh Peachell--Sir John Marsham--Legend
represented in Frettenham Church--King
of Nineveh burns himself in his Palace--Butchers not
Jurymen--Redwing's Nest--Earth thrown upon the
Coffin--Family of Rowe--Portus Canum--Arms of
Sir John Davies--William Penn--Who were the
Writers in the North Briton? 407

MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:--"Many a Word"--Roman
Catholic Church--Tick--Hylles' Arithmetic 409

REPLIES:--

Villenage 410

Maclean not Junius 411

Replies to Minor Queries:--The Ten Commandments--
Mounds, Munts, Mounts--San Graal--Epitaph on
the Countess of Pembroke 412

MISCELLANEOUS:--

Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 414

Books and Odd Volumes wanted 414

Notices to Correspondents 414

Advertisements 415

* * * * *

Notes.

NOTE UPON A PASSAGE IN "MEASURE FOR MEASURE."

The Third Act of _Measure for Measure_ opens with Isabella's visit to her brother (Claudio) in the dungeon, where he lies under sentence of death. In accordance with Claudio's earnest entreaty, she has sued for mercy to Angelo, the sanctimonious deputy, and in the course of her allusion to the only terms upon which Angelo is willing to remit the sentence, she informs him that he "must die," and then continues:

"This outward-sainted deputy,--
Whose settled visage and deliberate word
Nips youth i' the head, and follies doth emmew,
As falcon doth the fowl,--is yet a devil;
His filth within being cast, he would appear
A pond as deep as hell."

Whereupon (according to the reading of the folio of 1623) Claudio, who is aware of Angelo's reputation for sanctity, exclaims in astonishment:

"The _prenzie_ Angelo?"

To which Isabella replies (according to the reading of the same edition):

"O, 'tis the cunning livery of hell,
The damned'st body to invest and cover
In _prenzie_ guards! Dost thou think, Claudio,
If I would yield him my virginity,
Thou might'st be freed?"

Claudio, still incredulous, rejoins:

"O, heavens! it cannot be."

The word _prenzie_ has given rise to much annotation, and it seems to be universally agreed that the word is a misprint. The question is, what was the word actually written, or intended, by Shakspeare? Steevens and Malone suggested "princely;" Warburton, "priestly;" and Tieck, "precise." Mr. Knight adopts "precise," the reading of Tieck, and thinks "that, having to choose some word which would have the double merit of agreeing with the sense of the passage and be similar in the number and form of the letters, nothing can be more unfortunate than the correction of "princely;" Mr. Collier, on the other hand, follows Steevens and Malone, and reads "princely," observing the Tieck's reading ("precise") "sounds ill as regards the metre, the accent falling on the wrong syllable. Mr. Collier's choice is determined by the _authority_ of the second folio, which he considers ought to have considerable weight, whilst Mr. Knight regards the authority of that edition as very trifling; and the only point of agreement between the two distinguished recent editors is with respect to Warburton's word "priestly," which they both seem to think nearly conveys the meaning of the poet.

I have over and over again considered the several emendations which have been suggested, and it seems to me that none of them answer all the necessary conditions; namely, that the word adopted shall be (1.) suitable to the reputed character of Angelo; (2.) an appropriate epithet to the word "guards," in the reply of Isabella above quoted; (3.) of the proper metre in both {402} places in which the misprint occurred; and (4.) similar in appearance to the word "prenzie." "Princely" does not agree with the sense or spirit of the particular passage; for it is extremely improbable that Claudio, when confined under sentence of death for an absurd and insufficient cause, would use a term of mere compliment to the man by whom he had been doomed. "Precise" and "priestly" are both far better than "princely;" but "precise" is wholly unsuited to the metre in both places, and "priestly" points too much to a special character to be appropriate to Angelo's office and position. It may also be remarked, that both "princely" and "priestly" differ from the number and form of the letters contained in "prenzie."

The word which I venture to suggest is "PENSIVE," a word particularly applicable to a person of saintly habits, and which is so applied by Milton in "Il Penseroso:"

"Come, pensive nun, devout and pure,
Sober, stedfast, and demure."

The word "pensive" is stated by Dr. Johnson to mean "sorrowfully thoughtful, sorrowfully serious," or melancholy; and that such epithets are appropriate to the reputed character of Angelo will be seen from the following extracts:

"I implore her, in my service, that she make friends
To the strict deputy."--_Claudio_, Act I. Sc. 3.

"I have deliver'd to Lord Angelo,
A man of stricture, and firm abstinence."--_Duke_, Act I. Sc. 4.

"Lord Angelo is precise;
Stands at a guard with envy; scarce confesses
That his blood flows, or that his appetite
Is more to bread than stone."--_Duke_, Act I. Sc. 4.

"A man, whose blood
Is very snow-broth; one who never feels
The wanton stings and motions of the sense,
But doth rebate and blunt his natural edge
With profits of the mind, study and fast."--_Lucio_, Act I. Sc. 5.

See also Angelo's portraiture of himself in the soliloquy at the commencement of Act II. Sc. 4.:

"My gravity,
Wherein (let no man hear me) I take pride,
Could I, with boot, change for an idle plume
Which the air beats for vain."

And, lastly, the passage immediately under consideration:

"This outward-sainted deputy,
Whose settled visage and deliberate word,
Nips youth i' the head, and follies doth emmew."--_Isabella_, Act III.
Sc. 1.

Thus much as to the propriety of the word "pensive," in relation to the reputed character of Angelo.

The next question is, whether the word "pensive" is an appropriate epithet to the word "guards." If Messrs. Knight and Collier are correct in construing "guards" to mean the "trimmings or border of robe," this question must be answered in the negative. But it appears to me that they are in error, and that the true meaning of the word "guards," in this particular passage, is "outward appearances," as suggested by Monck Mason; and, consequently, that the expression "pensive guards" means a grave or sanctified countenance or demeanour--"the settled visage and deliberate word" which "nips youth i' the head, and follies doth emmew."

It requires no argument to establish that the word "pensive" is suitable to the metre in both places in which the misprint occurred and it is equally clear that "prenzie" and "pensive" in manuscript are so similar, both in the number, form, and character of the letters, that the one might easily be printed for the other. The two words also have a certain resemblance, in point of sound; and if the word "pensive" be not very distinctly pronounced, the mistake might be made by a scribe writing from dictation.

Referring to Mrs. Cowden Clarke's admirable concordance of Shakspeare, it appears that the word "pensive" is used by Shakspeare in the _text_ of his plays twice; namely, in _Romeo and Juliet_, Act IV. Sc. 1., where Friar Laurence addresses Juliet thus:

"My leisure serves me, pensive daughter, now."

and again, in the Third Part of _Henry VI_., Act IV. Sc. 1., where Clarence is thus addressed by King Edward upon the subject of his marriage with the Lady Grey:

"Now, brother Clarence, how like you our choice,
That you stand pensive, as half mal-content?"

I also find that, according to the stage directions (both ancient and modern) of Act II. Sc 2. of _Henry VIII_. (see Collier's _Shakspeare_, vol. v. p. 534., _note_), the king is described to be found "reading pensively," at a moment when he is meditating his divorce from Katharine of Arragon, not "because the marriage of his brother's wife had crept too near his conscience," but "because his conscience had crept too near another lady."

I might extend the argument by further observations upon the reference last cited, but not without risk of losing all chance of a place in "NOTES AND QUERIES."

Query, Whether pen_s_ive was ever written or printed pen_z_ive in Shakspeare's time? If so, that word would bear a still closer resemblance to "prenzie."

LEGES.

* * * * *

RHYMING LATIN VERSION OF THE SONG ON ROBIN GOODFELLOW.

In the same MS. from which I extracted Braithwait's Latin Drinking Song, the following version {403} of the well-known song on Robin Goodfellow occurs. It is apparently by the same hand. I give the English, as it contains but six stanzas, and affords some variations from the copy printed by Percy; and indeed one stanza not given by him. Peck attributes the song to Ben Jonson, but we know not on what foundation. It must be confessed that internal evidence is against it. The publication of Percy's _Reliques_ had a no less beneficial influence on the literature of Germany than it had on our own; and Voss had given an admirable version of nine stanzas of this song as early as the year 1793. The first stanza will afford some notion of his manner:

"Von Oberon in Feenland,
Dem Koenige der Geister,
Komm' ich, Knecht Robert, abgesandt,
Von meinem Herrn und Meister.
Als Kobolt und Pux,
Wohlkundig des Spuks,
Durchschwarm' ich Nacht vor Nacht.
Jezt misch' ich mich ein
Zum polternden Reihn,
Wohlauf, ihr alle, gelacht, gelacht!"

Although the classic ear may be offended by the "barbarous adjunct of rhyme," and by the solecisms and false quantities which sometimes occur, "et alia multa damna atque outragia," others may be amused with these emulations of the cloistered muse of the Middle Ages. The witty author of _Whistlecraft_ has shown that he had a true relish for them, and has successfully tried his hand, observing at the same time:

"Those monks were poor proficients in divinity,
And scarce knew more of Latin than myself;
Compar'd with theirs, they say that true Latinity
Appears like porcelain compar'd with delf."

Honest Barnaby had no intention of rivalling Horace: his humbler, but not less amusing, prototypes were Walter de Mapes and his cotemporaries. We may accept his own defence, if any is needed:

"That paltry Patcher is a bald translator,
Whose awl bores at the _words_ but not the matter;
But this TRANSLATOR makes good use of leather,
By stitching _rhyme_ and _reason_ both together."

S. W. SINGER.

A SONG ON ROBIN GOODFELLOW.

"From Oberon in faery-land,
The king of ghosts and goblins there,
Mad Robin I, at his command,
Am sent to view the night-sports here.
What revel rout is here about,
In every corner where I go;
I will it see, and merry be,
And make good sport with ho, ho, ho!

"As swift as lightning I do fly
Amidst the aery welkin soon,
And, in a minute's space, descry
What things are done below the moon.
There's neither hag nor spirit shall wag,
In any corner where I go;
But Robin I, their feats will spy,
And make good sport with ho, ho, ho!

"Sometimes you find me like a man,
Sometimes a hawk, sometimes a hound,
Then to a horse me turn I can,
And trip and troll about you round:
But if you stride my back to ride,
As swift as air I with you go,
O'er hedge, o'er lands, o'er pool, o'er ponds,
I run out laughing ho, ho, ho!

"When lads and lasses merry be,
With possets and with junkets fine;
Unknown to all the company,
I eat their cake and drink their wine;
Then to make sport, I snore and snort,
And all the candles out I blow;
The maids I kiss; they ask who's this?
I answer, laughing, ho, ho, ho!

"If that my fellow elf and I
In circle dance do trip it round,
And if we chance, by any eye
There present, to be seen or found,
Then if that they do speak or say,
But mummes continue as they go,[1]
Then night by night I them affright,
With pinches, dreams, and ho, ho, ho!

"Since hag-bred Merlin's time have I
Continued night-sports to and fro,
That, for my pranks, men call me by
The name of Robin Goodfellow.
There's neither hag nor spirit doth wag,
The fiends and goblins do me know;
And beldames old my tales have told;
Sing Vale, Vale, ho, ho, ho!"

_The Latine of the foregoing verses_.

"Ab Oberone lemurum
Coemetriorum regulo,
Spectator veni lubricum,
Illius jussu, Robbio;
Quodcunque joci, sit hic loci,
Quocunque vado in angulo,
Id speculabor, et conjocabor,
Sonorem boans, ho, ho, ho!

"Praeceps feror per aerem
Telo trisulco citius,
Et translunaria penetrem
Momento brevi ocyus;
Larvatus frater non vagatur
Quocunque vado in angulo,
Nam Robbio, huic obvio,
Et facta exploro, ho, ho, ho!

"Nunc canis nunc accipiter,
Et homo nunc obambulo,
Nunc equi forma induor
Et levis circumcursito;
{404}
Si quis me prendat, et ascendat,
Velocius aura rapio,
Per prata, montes, vada, fontes,
Risumque tollo, ho, ho, ho!

"Cum juvenes convivio
Admiscent se puellulis,
Ignotus vinum haurio
Et impleor bellariis;
Tunc sterto, strepo, et dum crepo,
Lucernam flatu adventillo,
Haec basiatur; hic quis? clamatur,
Cachinnans reddo, ho, ho, ho!

"Si quando cum consorte larva
In circulum tripudio,
Et observemur nos per arva
Acutiori oculo;
Et si spectator eloquatur
Nec os obhaeret digito,
Nocte terremus et torquemus
Ungue spectris, ho, ho, ho!

"Post incubiginam Merlinum
Nocturni feci ludicra,
Et combibonem me Robbinum
Vocent ob jocularia,
Me daemones, me lemures,
Me novite tenebrio,
Decantant me veneficae;
Vale! Valete! ho, ho, ho!"

[Footnote 1: This line is distinctly so written. We should probably read _or_ instead of _but_. _Mummes_ may mean _mumbling_, muttering.]

* * * * *

FOLK LORE.

DEVONSHIRE FOLK LORE.

1. _Storms from Conjuring_.--A common Devonshire remark on the rising of a storm is, "Ah! there is a conjuring going on somewhere." The following illustration was told me by an old inhabitant of this parish. In the parish of St. Mary Tavy is a spot called "Steven's grave," from a suicide said to have been buried there. His spirit proving troublesome to the neighbourhood, was laid by a former curate on Sunday after afternoon service. A man who accompanied the clergyman on the way was told by him to make haste home, as a storm was coming. The man hurried away home; but though the afternoon had previously been very fine, he had scarcely reached his door before a violent thunderstorm came to verify the clergyman's words.

2. _The Heath-hounds_.--The _brutende heer_ are sometimes heard near Dartmoor, and are known by the appellation of "Heath-hounds." They were heard in the parish of St. Mary Tavy several years ago by an old man called Roger Burn: he was working in the fields, when he suddenly heard the baying of the hounds, the shouts and horn of the huntsman, and the smacking of his whip. This last point the old man quoted as at once settling the question. "How could I be mistaken? why I heard the very smacking of his whip."

3. _Cock scares the Fiend_.--Mr. N. was a Devonshire squire who had been so unfortunate as to sell his soul to the devil, with the condition that after his funeral the fiend should take possession of his skin. He had also persuaded a neighbour to undertake to be present on the occasion of the flaying. On the death of Mr. N., this man went in a state of great alarm to the parson of the parish, and asked his advice. By him he was told to fulfil his engagement, but he must be sure and carry a cock into the church with him. On the night after the funeral, the man proceeded to the church armed with the cock; and, as an additional security, took up his position in the parson's pew. At twelve o'clock the devil arrived, opened the grave, took the corpse from the coffin and flayed it. When the operation was concluded, he held the skin up before him, and remarked: "Well! 'twas not worth coming for after all, for it is all full of holes!" As he said this, the cock crew; whereupon the fiend, turning round to the man, exclaimed: "If it had not been for the bird you have got there under your arm, I would have your skin too." But, thanks to the cock, the man got home safe again.

4. _Cranmere Pool_.--Cranmere Pool, in the centre of Dartmoor, is a great penal settlement for refractory spirits. Many of the former inhabitants of this parish are still there expiating their ghostly pranks. An old farmer was so troublesome to his survivors as to require seven clergymen to secure him. By their means, however, he was transformed into a colt; and a servant boy was directed to take him to Cranmere Pool. On arriving at the brink of the pool, he was to take off the halter, and return instantly without looking round. Curiosity proving too powerful, he turned his head to see what was going on, when he beheld the colt plunge into the lake in the form of a ball of fire. Before doing so, however, he gave the lad a parting salute in the form of a kick, which knocked out one of his eyes.

J. M. (4.)

St. Mary Tavy, May 5. 1851.

_St. Uncumber and the offering of Oats_ (Vol. ii., pp. 286. 342. 381.).--A further illustration of this custom is found in the legend of St. Rhadegund, or at least in the metrical version of it, which is commonly ascribed to Henry Bradshaw. A copy of this very scarce poem, from the press of Pynson, is preserved in the library of Jesus College, Cambridge. We there read as follows:

"Among all myracles after our intelligence
Which Radegunde shewed by her humilite,
One is moost vsuall had in experience
Among the common people noted with hert fre
_By offeryng of otes_ after theyr degre
At her holy aulters where myracles in sight
Dayly haue be done by grace day and nyght.

{405}
"_By oblacion of othes_, halt lame and blynde
Hath ben restored vnto prosperite;
Dombe men to speke aboue cours of kynde
Sickemen delyuered from payne and miserie,
Maydens hath kept theyr pure virginite,
Wyddowes defended from greuous oppression,
And clarkes exalted by her to promocion."

It is also remarkable that a _reason_ exists in the story of this saint for the choice of so strange an offering. As she was escaping from her husband, a crop of _oats_ sprang up miraculously, to testify in her behalf, and to silence the messengers who had been sent to turn her from her purpose.

On this account is there not room for the conjecture that _St. Rhadegund_ is the original St. Uncumber, and that the custom of offering oats at Poules, when a wife was weary of her husband, is traceable to the story of the French queen, who died in 587.

C. H.

St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge.

"_Similia similibus curantur_."--The list proposed by MR. JAMES BUCKMAN (Vol. iii., p. 320.) of "old wives' remedies," based on the above principle, would, I imagine, be of endless length; but the following extract from the _Herbal_ of Sir John Hill, M.D., "Fellow of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Bordeaux," published in 1789, will show at how late a period such notions have been entertained by men of education and even scientific attainment:--

"It is to be observed that nature seems to have set her stamp upon
several herbs, which have the virtue to stop bleedings; this
[cranesbill] and the tutsan, the two best remedies the fields afford
for outward and inward bleedings, become all over as red as blood at a
certain season."

SELEUCUS.

_Cure of large Neck_.--I send you two remedies in use here for the cure of a common complaint, called "large neck." Perhaps they may be worthy of a place in your "Folk Lore."

A common snake, held by its head and tail, is slowly drawn, by some one standing by, nine times across the front part of the neck of the person affected, the reptile being allowed, after every third time, to crawl about for a while. Afterwards the snake is put alive into a bottle, which is corked tightly and then buried in the ground. The tradition is, that as the snake decays the swelling vanishes.

The second mode of treatment is just the same as the above, with the exception of the snake's doom. In this case it is killed, and its skin, sewn in a piece of silk, is worn round the diseased neck. By degrees the swelling in this case also disappears.

ROVERT.

Withyam, Sussex.

* * * * *

DIBDIN'S LIBRARY COMPANION.

A few days since the writer was musing over the treasures of one of the most amiable of the bibliographical brotherhood, when his eye rested on a document endorsed with the following mysterious notification: "A Squib for Dibdin, to be let off on the next Fifth of November." What in the name of Guido Fawkes have we here! Thinking that the explosion in "NOTES AND QUERIES" would do no harm, but perhaps some good, a note was kindly permitted to be taken of it for that publication. It was evidently written soon after the appearance of the _Library Companion._

"_Sundry Errors discovered in the Library Companion, recently put forth
by the Rev. T. F. Dibdin_, F.R.S., A.S. This work exhibits the most
extraordinary instance of gross negligence that has appeared since the
discovery of the profitable art of book-making. In two notes (pp. 37,
38.), comprised in twelve lines, occur _fifteen_ remarkable blunders,
such as any intelligent bookseller could, without much trouble, have
corrected for the Rev. and learned author.

"Henry's _Exposition of the Old and New Testaments_ first appeared
collectively in 1710[2], five[3] vols. folio; but the recent edition of
1810[4], in six vols. 4to., is the best[5], as the last volume
contains[6] additional matter from the author's MSS. left at his
decease.--Dr. Gill's _Exposition of the New Testament_ was published in
1746, &c., three vols. folio; of the Old, in 1748[7], &c., nine[8]
vols. folio; but the work advancing in reputation and price, became
rare, so as to induce Mr. Bagster[9] to put forth a new edition of the
whole, in ten[10] vols. 4to. I recommend the annotations of Gill to
every theological collector, and those who have the quarto edition will
probably feel disposed to purchase Gill's _Body of Practical_[11]
_Divinity_, containing[12] some account of his life, writings, and
character, in two[13] volumes 4to. 1773.[14] These two[15] volumes are
worth about 1l. 15s.[16]"

[Footnote 2: Instead of 1710, read 1707.]

[Footnote 3: This edition is in _six_ volumes.]

[Footnote 4: It bears the date of 1811.]

[Footnote 5: The best edition of Henry's _Commentary_ was elegantly printed by Knapton, in 5 vols. folio, 1761, known as the fifth edition.]

[Footnote 6: This new edition is respectable, except the plates, which had been well worn in Bowyer's _Cabinet Bible_. The _Commentary_ is printed verbatim from the former editions, and has _no_ additional matter from the author's MSS. left at his decease; no mention of anything of the kind is made in the title, preface, or advertisement, until Mr. Dibdin so marvellously brought it to light: upon what authority he makes the assertion remains a mystery. A very considerable number of sets remain unsold in the warehouse of a certain great bookseller. _Query_. Was the Rev. gentleman's pen dipped in gold when he wrote this puff direct?]

[Footnote 7: Not 1748, &c.: it first appeared in 1763, &c.]

[Footnote 8: Nine volumes folio should be _six_ volumes folio.]

[Footnote 9: It was not Mr. Bagster, but Messrs. Mathews and Leigh of the Strand, who put forth the new edition of Dr. Gill's _Exposition_.]

[Footnote 10: It was completed in _nine_ vols. 4to.]

[Footnote 11: The title is _A Body of Doctrinal Divinity_.]

[Footnote 12: Dr. Gill's _Body of Divinity_ was published by _himself_, and has no account of his life, writings, and character.]

[Footnote 13: It was in _three_ vols. 4to, not in two.]

[Footnote 14: Instead of 1773, it was published in 1769-70; nor did any new edition appear for many years, until those recently printed in 3 vols. 8vo., and 1 vol. 4to.]

[Footnote 15: These two vols. should be _three_ vols.]

[Footnote 16: Dr. Gill's _Body of Divinity_ is introduced under the head of "English Bibles!"]

"These glaring errors are made with regard to {406} modern books, and may seriously mislead the bibliomaniacs of the next generation; but what can be expected from an author who, in giving directions for the selection of Hebrew Bibles, forgets the beautiful and correct editions of VANDERHOOGHT and JABLONSKI; who tells us that Frey republished Jahn's[17] edition of the Hebrew Bible in 1812; and who calls Boothroyd's incorrect and ugly double-columned 4to. '_admirable_.'[18]

"The Rev. gentleman fully proves, in the compilation of his volume, that he can dip his pen in gall, as well as allow it to be guided by gold. Dr. Warton's _History of English Poetry_, a very beautiful and correct edition, greatly enlarged from most interesting materials at a very considerable expense, has just issued from the press in 3 vols. 8vo. But 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' It was not published by any of the favoured houses; hence the following ominous notice of it: 'Clouds and darkness rest upon it!'[19] Gentle reader, they are the clouds and darkness of _Cheapside._ It may be possible that some propitious golden breeze had driven all the clouds and darkness from Cornhill, Paternoster Row, the Strand, Pall-Mall, and Bedford Street."

J. Y.

Hoxton.

[Footnote 17: Frey republished Vanderhooght's Hebrew Bible in 1811.]

[Footnote 18: Note on page 24.]

[Footnote 19: Note on page 667.]

* * * * *

Minor Notes.

_A Note on Dress._--Dress is mutable, who denies it? but still old fashions are retained to a far greater extent than one would at first imagine. The Thames watermen rejoice in the dress of Elizabeth: while the royal beefeaters (buffetiers) wear that of private soldiers of the time of Henry VII.; the blue-coat boy, the costume of a London citizen of the reign of Edward VI.; the London charity-school girls, the plain mob cap and long gloves of the time of Queen Anne. In the brass badge of the cabmen, we see a retention of the dress of Elizabethan retainers: while the shoulder-knots that once decked an officer now adorn a footman. The attire of the sailor of William III.'s era is now seen amongst our fishermen. The university dress is as old as the age of the Smithfield martyrs. The linen bands of the pulpit and the bar are abridgments of the falling collar.

Other costumes are found lurking in provinces, and amongst some trades. The butchers' blue is the uniform of a guild. The quaint little head-dress of the market women of Kingswood, Gloucestershire, is in fact the gipsy hat of George II. Scarlet has been the colour of soldiers' uniform from the time of the Lacedemonians. The blue of the army we derived from the Puritans; of the navy from the colours of a mistress of George I.

TORRO.

_Curious Omen at Marriage_.--In Miss Benger's _Memoirs of Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia_, it is mentioned that,--

"It is by several writers observed that, towards the close of the
ceremony, _certain coruscations of joy_ appeared in Elizabeth's face,
which were afterwards supposed to be sinister presages of her
misfortunes."

In a note, Echard is alluded to as the authority for this singular circumstance.

Can any of your readers explain _why_ such a _coruscation of joy_ upon a wedding day should forebode evil? or whether any other instances are on record of its so doing?

H. A. B.

_Ventriloquist Hoax_ (Vol. ii., p. 101.).--The following is extracted from _Admirable Curiosities, Rarities, and Wonders in England, Scotland, and Ireland, by R. B., Author of the History of the Wars of England, &c._, Remarks of London, &c., 12mo., 1684, p. 137. It may serve as a pendant to the ventriloquist hoax mentioned by C. H., Vol. ii., p. 101.:--

"I have a letter by me, saith Mr. Clark, dated July 7, 1606, written by
one Mr. Bovy to a minister in London, where he thus writes: 'Touching
news, you shall understand that Mr. Sherwood hath received a letter
from Mr. Arthur Hildersham, which containeth this following narrative:
that at Brampton, in the parish of Torksey, near Gainsborough in
Lincolnshire, an ash-tree shaketh both in the body and boughs thereof,
and there proceed from thence sighs and groans, like those of a man
troubled in his sleep, as if it felt some sensible torment. Many have
climbed to the top thereof, where they heard the groans more plainly
than they could below. One among the rest being a-top, spoke to the
tree; but presently came down much astonished, and lay grovelling on
the earth speechless for three hours, and then reviving said,
_Brampton, Brampton,_ thou art much bound to pray.' The author of this
news is one Mr. Vaughan, a minister who was there present and heard and
saw these passages, and told Mr. Hildersham of it. The Earl of Lincoln
caused one of the arms of the ash to be lopped off, and a hole to be
bored into the body, and then was the sound or hollow voice heard more
audibly than before; but in a kind of speech which they could not
comprehend nor understand."

K. P. D. E.

_Barker, the original Panorama Painter._--Mr. Cunningham, at p. 376. of his admirable _Handbook of London,_ says that Robert Barker, who originated the Panorama in Leicester Square, died in 1806. Now, Barker, who preceded Burford, and eventually, I think, entered into partnership with him, married a friend of my family, a daughter of the Admiral Bligh against whom had been the mutiny in the _Bounty_. I remember Mr. Barker, and his house in Surrey Square, or some small square on the Surrey side of London Bridge; also its wooden rotunda for painting in; and this, too, at the time when the picture of Spitzbergen was in progress {407} and you felt almost a chill as the transparent icebergs were splashed on.

If there have not been two Messrs. Barker connected with the Panorama, Mr. Cunningham must be incorrect in his date, for I was not in existence in 1806.

A. G.

Ecclesfield.

* * * * *

MINOR QUERIES.

_Vegetable Sympathy._--I have been told that Sir Humphrey Davy asserted that the shoots of trees, if transplanted, will only live as long as the parent stock--supposing that to die naturally. How is this to be accounted for, if true?

A. A. D.

_Court Dress_--When was the present court dress first established as the recognised costume for state ceremonials? and if there are extant any orders of the Earl Marshal upon the subject, where are they printed?

HENCO.

_Dieu et mon Droit._--When was this first adopted as the motto of our sovereigns? I have heard widely different dates assigned to it.

LEICESTRENSIS.

_Cachecope Bell._--In the ancient accounts of the churchwardens of the parish of St. Mary-de-Castro, Leicester, and also in those of St. Martin in the same town, the term "cachecope," "kachecope," "catche coppe," or "catch-corpe-bell," is not of unfrequent occurrence: _e. g._, in the account for St. Mary's for the year 1490, we have:

"For castynge ye cachecope bell, js.

"It. To Thos. Raban for me'dyng ye kachecope bell whole, iiijd."

I have endeavoured in vain to ascertain the meaning and derivation of the word, which is not to be found in Mr. Halliwell's excellent _Dictionary of Archaic Words_. Can you enlighten me on the subject?

LEICESTRENSIS.

_The Image of both Churches._--A curious work, treating largely of the schism between the Catholics and Protestants in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was printed at Tornay in 1623, under the following title: _The Image of bothe Churches, Hierusalem and Babel, Unitie and Confusion, Obedience and Sedition, by P. D. M._ What is the proof that this was written by Dr. Matthew Paterson?

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

_Double Names._--Perhaps some one would explain why so many persons formerly bore two names, as "Hooker _alias_ Vowel." Illegitimacy may have sometimes caused it: but this will not explain those cases where the bearers ostentatiously set forth both names. Perhaps they were the names of both parents, used even by lawfully born persons to distinguish themselves from others of the same paternal name.

T.

"_If this fair flower_," &c.--Would you kindly find a place for the lines which follow? I have but slender hopes of discovering their author, but think that their beauty is such as to deserve a reprint. They are not by Waller; nor Dryden, as far as I know. I found them in a periodical published in Scotland during the last century, and called _The Bee_.

"Lines supposed to have been addressed, with the present of a white
rose, by a Yorkist, to a lady of the Lancastrian faction.

'If this fair flower offend thy sight,
It in thy bosom bear:
'Twill blush to be outmatched in white
And turn Lancastrian there!'"

I observe that amongst the many "Notes" and quotations on the subject of the supposed power of prophecy before death, no one has cited those most beautiful lines of Campbell in "Lochiel's Warning:"

"'Tis the _sunset_ of life gives me mystical lore,
And coming events cast their shadows before."

W. J. BERNHARD SMITH.

Temple.

_Hugh Peachell--Sir John Marsham._--Can any of your correspondents give me information respecting one Hugh Peachell, of whom I find the following curious notice in a bundle of MSS. in the State Paper Office, marked "_America and West Indies, No._ 481A."

"St. Michael's Toune in ye Barbados, Sept. 30. [1670]. Jo Neuington,
Addrese w. Mr. James Drawater, Merch^t at Mr. Jo. Lindapp's, at ye
Bunch of Grapes in Ship yard by Temple barre.--All ye news I can write
from here is, y^t one Hugh Peachell, who hath been in this Island
allmost twenty years and lived w^{th} many persons of good esteem, and
was last with Coll. Barwick. It was observed that he gained much
monyes, yet none thrived lesse than hee; and falling sicke about 3
weeks since, was much troubled in his conscience, but would not utter
himself to any but a minister, who being sent for He did acknowledge
himself ye person y^t cut of ye head of King Charles, for w^{ch} he had
100^{lbs} and w^{th} much seeming penitence and receiving such comforts
as the Devine, one parson Leshely, an emminent man here, could afford
him, he dyed in a quarter of an hour afterwards. This you may report
for truth, allthough you should not have it from any other hand. He had
100^{lbs} for ye doing of itt. There is one Wm. Hewit condemned for ye
same, I think now in Newgate; he will be glad you acquaint him of this
if he have it not allready."

Oldmixon, in his _British Empire in America_, mentions a Sir John Marsham of Barbados; was he a knight or baronet, and when did he die?

W. DOWNING BRUCE, F.S.A.

Middle Temple.

_Legend represented in Frettenham Church._--Perhaps some one of your numerous readers may {408} be able to give an explanation of the following legend, for such I suppose it to be:--

In the parish church of Frettenham, co. Norfolk, several alabaster carvings were discovered some years ago, near the chancel arch, having traces of colour. The most perfect, and the one which had most claims to merit as a piece of sculpture, represented a very curious scene. A horse was standing fixed in a kind of stocks, a machine for holding animals fast while they were being shod. But it (the horse) had only three legs: close by stood a Bishop, or mitred Abbot, holding the horse's missing fore quarter, on the hoof of which a smith was nailing a shoe. Of course the power which had so easily removed a leg would as easily replace it.

The details of the story may be very safely conjectured to have been--a Bishop or high church dignitary is going on a journey or pilgrimage; his horse drops a shoe; on being taken to a smith's to have it replaced, the animal becomes restive, and cannot be shod even with the help of the stocks; whereupon the bishop facilitates the operation in the manner before described. One feels tempted to ask why he could not have replaced the shoe without the smith's intervention.

What I want to know is, of whom is this story told? I regret that not having seen the carving in question, I can give no particulars of dress, &c., which might help to determine its age; nor could my informant, though he perfectly well remembered the subject represented. He told me that he had often mentioned it to people likely to know of the existence of such a legend, but could never gain any information respecting it.

C. J. E.

King's Col. Cambridge, May 9. 1851.

_King of Nineveh burns himself in his Palace_.--In a review of Mr. Layard's work on Nineveh (_Quarterly_, vol. lxxxiv. p. 140.) I find the following statement:

"The act of Sardanapalus in making his palace his own funeral pyre and
burning himself upon it, is also attributed to the king who was
overthrown by Cyaxares."

May I ask where the authority for this statement is to be found?

X. Z.

_Butchers not Jurymen_.--

"As the law does think it fit
No butchers shall on juries sit."--Butler's _Ghost_, cant. ii.

The vulgar error expressed in these lines is not extinct, even at the present day. The only explanation I have seen of its origin is given in Barrington's _Observations on the more Ancient Statutes_, p. 474., on 3 Hen. VIII., where, after referring in the text to a statute by which surgeons were exempted from attendance on juries, he adds in a note:

"It may perhaps be thought singular to suppose that this exemption from
serving on juries is the foundation of the vulgar error, that a surgeon
or butcher from the barbarity of their business may be challenged as
jurors."

Sir H. Spelman, in his _Answer to an Apology for Archbishop Abbott_, says,--

"In our law, those that were exercised in slaughter of beasts, were not
received to be triers of the life of a man."--_Posth. Works_, p. 112.;
_St. Trials_, vol. ii. p. 1171.

So learned a man as Spelman must, I think, have had some ground for this statement, and could scarcely be repeating a vulgar error taking its rise from a statute then hardly more than a hundred years old. I hope some of your readers will be able to give a more satisfactory explanation than Barrington's.

E. S. T. T.

_Redwing's Nest_.--I trust you will excuse my asking, if any of your correspondents have found the nest of the redwing? for I lately discovered what I consider as the egg of this bird in a nest containing four blackbirds' eggs. The egg answers exactly the description given of that of the redwing thrush, both in Bewick and Wood's _British Song Birds;_ being bluish-green, with a few largish spots of a dark brown colour. The nest was not lined with mud, as is usually the case with a blackbird's, but with moss and dried grass.

Has the egg of the redwing been ever seen in this situation before?

C. T. A.

Lyndon.

_Earth thrown upon the Coffin_.--Is there anything known respecting the origin of the ceremony of throwing earth upon the coffin at funerals? The following note is from a little German tale, _Die Richtensteiner_, by Van der Velde, a tale of the time of the Thirty Years' war. Whether the ceremony is still performed in Germany as there described, I do not know.

"Darauf warfen, nach der alten, frommen Sitte, zum letzten Lebewohl,
der Wittwer, und die Waisen drei Haende voll Erde auf den Sarg hinunter
... Alle Zuschauer drangten sich nur um das Grab ... und aus hundert
Haenden flog die Erde hinab auf den Sarg."

J. M. (4.)

_Family of Rowe_.--Lysons, in his work _Environs of London_, gives an extract from the will of Sir Thomas Rowe, of Hackney, and, as his authority, says in a note:--

"_Extracts of Wills in the Prerogative Office_, by E. Rowe Mores, Esq.,
in the possession of Th. Astle, Esq., F.R.A.S."

Can any of your numerous readers inform me in whose possession the above now is? And whether, wherever it is, it is open to inspection?

TEE BEE.

_Portus Canum_.--Erim, one of the biographers of Becket, states that the archbishop's murderers {409} (_S. Thom. Cantuar_., ed. Giles, vol. i. p. 65.), having crossed from France, landed at _Portus Canum_. It has been conjectured that this means Hythe, which is close to Saltwood Castle, where the knights were received by Ranulph de Broc (_English Review_, December, 1846, p. 410.). Is the conjecture right? I believe Hasted does not notice the name.

J. C. R.

_Arms of Sir John Davies_.--Can any of your correspondents inform me what were the arms, crest, and motto (if any), borne by Sir John Davies, the eminent lawyer and poet? In a collection which I have made of the armorial bearings of the families of Davies, Davis, and Davys, amounting to more than fifty distinct coats, there occur the arms of _three_ Sir John Davies or Davys, but there is nothing to distinguish which of them was _the_ Sir John.

LLAW GYFFES.

_William Penn_.--Will MR. HEPWORTH DIXON, or some of your correspondents, be so good as to send a reply to this Query?

What was the name, and whose daughter was the lady to whom William Penn (the son of William Penn and Miss Springett) was married?

A. N. C.

_Who were the Writers in the North Briton?_--The _Athenaeum_ of Saturday, May 17, contains a very interesting article on the recently published _Correspondence of Horace Walpole with Mason_, in which certain very palpable hits are made as to the identity of Mason and Junius. In the course of the article the following Query occurs:

"In the second Part of the folio edition of the _North Briton_
published by Bingley, in the British Museum, are inserted two folio
pages of manuscript thus headed:--

'The Extraordinary
NORTH BRITON.
By W. M.'

This manuscript is professedly a copy from a publication issued June
3rd, 1768, by Staples Steare, 93. Fleet Street, price three-pence. It
is a letter addressed to Lord Mansfield, and an appeal in favour of
Wilkes, on whom, the writer says, judgment is this day to be
pronounced. It is written somewhat in the style of Junius. The satire
is so refined that the reader does not at first suspect that it is
satire,--as in Junius's _Letters_, wherein the satirical compliments to
the King have been mistaken for praise, and quoted in proof of
inconsistency.

"Who was this 'W. M.'? Who were the writers in the _North Briton?_--not
only 'The Extraordinary' _North Briton_, published by Steare, but the
genuine _North Briton_, published by Bingley. These questions may
perhaps be very simple, and easily answered by persons better informed
than ourselves."

As the inquiries of your correspondent W. M. S. (Vol. iii., p. 241.) as to the Wilkes MSS. and the writers of the _North Briton_ have not yet been replied to, and this subject is one of great importance, will you allow me to recall attention to them?

F. S. A.

* * * * *

Minor Queries Answered.

"_Many a Word_."--Your correspondent's observations are perfectly correct: we daily use quotations we know not where to find. Perhaps some of your friends may be able to reply whence

"Many a word, at random spoke
Will rend a heart that's well-nigh broke."

S. P.

[The lines will be found in Walter Scott's _Lord of the Isles_, Canto
V. St. 18.

"O! many a shaft, at random sent
Finds mark the archer little meant!
And many a word, at random spoken
May soothe or wound a heart's that broken!"]

_Roman Catholic Church_ (Vol. iii., p. 168.).--Many thanks for your reference to the _Almanach du Clerge de France_; but as I have failed to obtain the requisite information through my booksellers, might I beg the additional favour of knowing what is the cost of the book, and where it can be procured?

E. H. A.

[The _Almanach_ to which our correspondent refers is or was published
by _Gaume freres a Paris_, and sold also by Grand, rue du
Petit-Bourbon, 6, in the same city. Its price, judging from the size of
the book, is about a couple of francs.]

_Tick_ (Vol. iii., p. 357.).--MR. DE LA PRYME'S suggestion as to the origin of the expression "going tick" is ingenious; nevertheless I take it to be clear that "tick" is merely an abbreviation of ticket. (See Nares's _Glossary_, and Halliwell's _Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words_, under "Ticket.") In addition to the passages cited by them from Decker, Cotgrave, Stephens, and Shirley, I may refer to the Act 16 Car. II. c. 7. s. 3., which relates to gambling and betting "upon ticket or credit."

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge, May 3. 1851.

[In the _Mirrour for Magistrates_, p 421., we read:--

"Of _tickle credit_ ne had bin the mischiefe."

"Tickle credit," says Pegge, "means easy credit, alluding to the
credulity of Theseus."--_Anonymiana_, cent. ii. 44. Mr. Jon Bee, in his
_Sportsman's Slang Dictionary_, gives the following definition:--

"_Tick_", credit in small quantities; usually _scored_ up with chalk
(called _ink_ ironically), which being done with a sound resembling
'tick, tick, tick,' gives the appellation 'going to _tick_,' '_tick_ it
up,' 'my _tick_ is out,' 'no more _tick_!'"]

_Hylles' Arithmetic_.--Having seen it mentioned in the public papers that a copy of the first edition of Cocker's _Arithmetic_ (considered unique) was lately sold at an exceedingly high price by Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, I am induced to send you a {410} copy of the title-page of an arithmetical work in my possession which seems a curiosity in its way; but whether unique or not, my slender bibliographical knowledge does not enable me to determine. It is as follows:

"The Arte of Vulgar Arithmeticke, both in Integers and Fractions,
_devided into two Bookes, whereof the first is called Nomodidactus
Numerorum_, and the second _Portus Proportionum_, with certeine
Demonstrations, reduced into so plaine and perfect Method, _as the like
hath not hetherto beene published in English_. _Wherevnto_ is added a
third Booke, entituled _Musa Mercatorum_: comprehending all the most
necessarie and profitable Rules _vsed in the trade of Merchandise_. In
all which three Bookes, the Rules, Precepts, and Maxims are _onely
composed in meeter for the better retaining of them in memorie_, but
also the operations, examples, demonstrations, and questions, _are in
most easie wise expounded and explaned, in the forme_ of a dialogue,
for the reader's more cleere vnderstanding. _A knowledge pleasant for
Gentlemen, commendable for Capteines_ and Soldiers, profitable for
Merchants, and generally _necessarie for all estates and degrees_.
Newly collected, digested, and in some part deuised by a _welwiller to
the Mathematicals_."

"_Ecclesiasticus_, cap. 19.

"Learning unto fooles is as fetters on their feete and manicles vpon
their right hand; but to the wise it is a Iewell of golde, and like a
Bracelet vpon his right arme.

"_Boetius_. I. _Arith_. cap. 2.

"_Omnia quaecunque a primaeua natura constructa sunt, Numerorum
videntur racione formata. Hoc enim fuit principale in animo conditoris
exemplar_. Imprinted at London by _Gabriel Simson_, dwelling in Fleete
Lane, 1600."

The volume (which is a small quarto of 270 folios) is dedicated "To the Right Honorable sir Thomas Sackuill, Knight, Baron of Buckhurst, Lord Treasurer of England," &c. &c., by Thomas Hylles.

Perhaps one or other of your correspondents will kindly inform me whether this volume is a rarity, and also oblige me with some information regarding Thomas Hylles, its author.

SN. DAVIE, Jun.

[Professor De Morgan, in his "_Arithmetical Books from the Invention of
printing to the present Time_," describes Hylles' work "as a big book,
heavy with mercantile lore;" and the author as being, "in spite of all
his trifling, a man of learning." A list of the author's other works
will be found in Watt's _Bibliotheca Britannica_, and Lowndes's
_Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature_, under the word _Hills_
(Thomas). See also Ames's _Typographical Antiquities_.]

* * * * *

Replies.

VILLENAGE.

(Vol. iii., p. 327.)

Your correspondent H. C. wishes to know whether bondage was a reality in the time of Philip and Mary; and, if so, when it became extinct. It was a reality much later than that, as several cases in the books will show. Dyer, who was appointed chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1559, settled several in which man claimed property in his fellow-man, hearing arguments and giving judgment on the point whether one should be a "villein regardant" or a "villein in gross." Lord Campbell, in his _Lives of the Chief Justices_, gives the following, tried before Dyer, _C.J._:

"A. B., seised in fee of a manor to which a villein was regardant, made
a feoffment of one acre of the manor by these words: 'I have given one
acre, &c., and further I have given and granted, &c., John S., my
villein.' Question, 'Does the villein pass to the grantee as a villein
in gross, or as a villein appendant to that acre?' The Court being
equally divided in opinion, no judgment seems to have been
given."--_Dyer_, 48 b. pl. 2.

Another action was brought before him under these circumstances:--Butler, Lord of the Manor of Badminton, in the county of Gloucester, contending that Crouch was his villein regardant, entered into certain lands, which Crouch had purchased in Somersetshire, and leased them to Fleyer. Crouch thereupon disseised Fleyer, who brought his action against Crouch, pleading that Butler and his ancestors were seised of Crouch and his ancestors as of villeins regardant, from time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. The jury found that Butler and his ancestors were seised of Crouch and his ancestors until the first year of the reign of Henry VII.; but, confessing themselves ignorant whether in point of law such seisin be an actual seisin of the defendant, prayed the opinion of the Court thereon. Dyer, _C.J._, and the other judges agreed upon this to a verdict for the defendant, for "the lord having let an hundred years pass without redeeming the villein or his issue, cannot, after that, claim them." (_Dyer_, 266. pl. 11.)

When Holt was chief justice of the King's Bench, an action was tried before him to recover the price of a slave who had been sold in Virginia. The verdict went for the plaintiff. In deciding upon a motion made in arrest of judgment, Holt, _C.J._, said,--"As soon as a negro comes into England he is free: one may be a villein in England, but not a slave." (_Cases temp. Holt_, 405.)

As to the period at which villenage in England became extinct, we find in _Litt_. (sec. 185.):--

"Villenage is supposed to have finally disappeared in the reign of
James I., but there is great difficulty in saying when it ceased to be
lawful, for there has been no statute to abolish it; and by the old
law, if any freeman acknowledged himself in a court of record to be a
villein, he and all his after-born issue and their descendants were
villeins."

Even so late as the middle of the eighteenth century, when the great Lord Mansfield adorned {411} the bench, it was pleaded "that villenage, or slavery, had been permitted in England by the common law; that no statute had ever passed to abolish this _status_;" and that "although _de facto_ villenage by birth had ceased, a man might still make himself a villein by acknowledgment in a court of record." This was in the celebrated case of the negro Somersett, in which Lord Mansfield first established that "the air of England had long been too pure for a slave." In his judgment he says,--

"... Then what ground is there for saying that the _status_ of slavery
is now recognised by the law of England?... At any rate, villenage has
ceased in England, and it cannot be revived."--_St. Tr._, vol. xx. pp.
1-82.

And Macaulay, in his admirable _History of England_, speaking of the gradual and silent extinction of villenage, then, towards the close of the Tudor period, fast approaching completion, says:

"Some faint traces of the institution of villenage were detected by the
curious as late as the days of the Stuarts; nor has that institution
ever to this hour been abolished by statute."

TEE BEE.