Chapter C: M. I

_Enigma on the Letter "I"_ (Vol. v., p. 321.).--Having both Miss C. Fanshawe's enigmas, I send you a copy of that on the letter "I," which is inquired for by E. S. S. W., in case it should not reach you from any other quarter. In an old scrap-book in my possession it stands thus:

"ENIGMA BY LORD BYRON.

"I am not in youth, nor in manhood, nor age,
But in infancy ever am known:
I am stranger alike to the fool and the sage;
And, though I'm distinguish'd in history's page,
I always am greatest alone.

"I am not in the earth, nor the sun, nor the moon:
You may search all the sky, I'm not there;
In the morning and evening, though not in the noon,
You may plainly perceive me: for, like a balloon,
I am always suspended in air.

"I am always in riches; and yet, I am told,
Wealth ne'er did my presence desire.
I dwell with the miser, but not with his gold:
And sometimes I stand in his chimney so cold,
Though I serve as a part of the fire.

"I often am met in political life:
In my absence no kingdom can be.
And they say there can neither be friendship nor strife,
No one can live single, no one take a wife,
Without interfering with me.

"My brethren are many; and of my whole race
Not one is more slender and tall:
And, though not the oldest, I hold the first place;
And ev'n in dishonour, despair, and disgrace,
I boldly appear 'midst them all.

"Though disease may possess me, and sickness, and pain,
I am never in sorrow or gloom:
Though in wit and in wisdom I equally reign,
I'm the heart of all sin, and have long lived in vain,
And ne'er shall be found in the tomb.

"(I.)"

How came Miss Fanshawe's enigmas to be attributed to Lord Byron?

J. SANSOM.

Oxford.

_Mother Carey's Chickens_ (Vol. v., p. 344.).--Navigators meet with the Little Petrel, Storm Finch, or Stormy Petrel, the _Procellaria pellagica_ of Linnæus, in every part of the ocean, diving, running on foot, or skimming over the highest waves with the greatest ease. It seems to foresee the coming storm long ere the seamen can discover any signs of its approach; and they make this known by congregating together under the wake of the vessel, as if to shelter themselves from it, and they thus warn the mariner to guard against the coming danger. At night they set up a piercing cry. This usefulness to the sailor is the obvious cause of the latter having such an objection to their being killed. I am unable to say who Mother Carey was; but I might venture a conjecture why the bird who guards the seaman with such _care_ bears its familiar name.

UNICORN.

The name of "Mother Carey's Chickens" is said to have been originally bestowed upon Stormy Petrels by Captain Carteret's sailors, probably from some celebrated ideal hag of that name. As these birds are supposed to be seen only before stormy weather, they are not welcome visitors.

WM. YARRELL.

_Burnomania_ (Vol. v., p. 127.).--Your correspondent ELGINENSIS has got the "Burnomania" of Dr. William Peebles, the minister of Newton-upon-Ayr, himself one of the minor poets of Scotland by virtue of his _Crisis, or the Progress of Revolutionary Principles_, Edinburgh, 1803 and 1804; and _Poems, consisting of Odes and Elegies_, Glasgow, 1810; all in my collection.

Like the transcendent powers of a living vocalist, the genius of Burns could brook no rival, and for a long period, notwithstanding the futile attempts of the smaller poetical _fry_ to arrest its progress by their Lilliputian shafts, the "Ayrshire Ploughman" maintained a species of monopoly of the public mind and attention.

Dr. Peebles, as a candidate for poetical fame, no doubt found this "Burnomania" sufficiently annoying; he therefore put forth his puny arm, in the publication alluded to by ELGINENSIS, to stem it, and, considering that the poetry of Burns was then in the zenith of its popularity, we need not add that the worthy Doctor's work proved but a _turf_ to the _cataract_, and is only now known as a curiosity.

I may however notice, that Dr. Peebles had a deeper _grudge_ than rivalry to settle with Burns, the satirical poet having aimed at him in the "Holy Fair" and the "Kirk's Alarm;" and should your correspondent seek to know more of the author of his book, he will find him noticed in Paterson's _Contemporaries of Burns_, Edinburgh, 1830.

While upon the subject I may further note, that among many other carpers at the "Burnomania" was James Maxwell, better known as the "Poet in Paisley," who attacked Burns and his friend Lapraik in a _brochure_, entitled "_Animadversions on some Poets and Poetasters of the present Age, especially R----t B----s and J----n L----k, with a Contrast of some of the former Age_: Paisley, Neilson, for the Author, 1788. In this curious piece, which was unknown to Motherwell,--our pair of poets, with all their patrons and friends,--among whom Maxwell is _shocked_ to find both _ministers_ and _elders_,--

"For some of our clergy his poems esteem,
And some of our elders think no man like him,"--

all these, and such like, are severely censured by the moral poet for admiring "this stupid blockhead," besides being menaced with a certain place, to which their favourites are certainly doomed, should they continue to support such arch-enemies of the Kirk and order. How appropriate, then, is the remark of the Rev. Hamilton Paul, one of Burns' warmest admirers and editors, when, _lumping_ all these envious spirits together, he says,--

"Some weak attempts have been made by narrow-minded men to expose
to ridicule this 'Burnomania,' as they term it; but like self-love
converted by the plastic power of the poet into social affection,
it is spreading wider and wider every day."

"Friends' kindred, neighbour, first it doth embrace;
Our country next, and next all human race."

J. O.

_Cagots_ (Vol. iv., pp. 190. 331. 387.).--THEOPHYLACT will find an account of the _Cagots_ in the _Magasin Pittoresque_ for 1838, where they are stated to be descended from the Goths, their name of _Cagots_ being derived from _caas Goth_ (_chien de Goth_), which corresponds with the derivation given by Scaliger.

In Brittany they were known under the name of _Cacous_ and _Caqueux_: in Guienne and Gascony under that of _Cahets_; in Navarre, _Caffos_; in the mountains of Bearn, &c., as _Cagots_ or _Capots_.

The same work for 1840 contains an account of the _Cretins_; also noticed by Kohl in his _Alpen-Reisen_ (reviewed in _Westminster Review_, July, 1849).

PHILIP S. KING.

_Chantrey's Sleeping Children_ (Vol. ii., pp. 70. 94.).--There is, in Ashbourne Church in Derbyshire, a beautiful figure of a sleeping child by Thomas Banks, R.A., from which it is generally said that Chantrey took the idea of his celebrated monument in Lichfield Cathedral. It is a tradition in Ashbourne, that Chantrey drew the sketch for his sleeping children at an inn in the place, immediately after having seen Banks' sculpture in the parish church. The monument at Ashbourne is to Penelope, daughter of Sir Brooke Boothby, born April 11th, 1785, died Nov. 12th, 1791, and on it there are inscriptions in four languages, English, French, Latin, and Italian. The following description of it, taken from _The History and Topography of Ashbourne_, may be acceptable to some your readers, who may compare it with their recollections of Chantrey's figures:--

"It represents a child of delicate and amiable features, who has
long suffered from slow and incurable disease, lightly, but rather
carelessly, reclining on her right side. The position of the meek
and lovely sufferer shows that she has just assumed it in order to
seek temporary relief from pain, or from the weariness that a
protracted repose, even on the softest materials, eventually
causes. The little patient is extended, in the position just
described, on a marble mattress and pillow, to which the hand of
the sculptor has communicated the apparent texture of the softest
down. The expression of the countenance is slightly indicative of
pain, felt even in the intervals of slumber; and the little hands,
lifted towards the countenance, plainly show that the sufferer has
so placed them, in order that they and the arms may be in some
measure a support to the body, and relieve it from the aching
tenderness caused by long contact with the couch on which it
rests. Around the head is bound, in loose folds, a handkerchief,
which allows the artist greater scope to exhibit the child's
features. The body-costume is a low-fronted frock with short
sleeves, most gracefully sculptured. The whole of the drapery is
in the most finished style, and the ease and softness of the folds
are an admirable proof of the delicate chiselling of the artist.
He has shown his natural and pure taste in the manner in which he
has placed the feet. The entire position of the figure is
faultless; and it represents, with refined fidelity to nature, the
female infant form, patiently and slowly perishing beneath the
steady undermining progress of irresistible decay."

W. FRASER.

_Arkwright_ (Vol. v., p. 320.).--This surname would originally denote the fabricator of such _arks_, or large chests made of strong oaken planks, as are still to be found under that name in most old farmhouses, at least in this neighbourhood, where they are chiefly used for storing meal or flour. The fact of our translators of the Bible having called the sacred chest in the Holy of Holies by this term seems to point to a more general use of the word in their days than at present obtains. Mr. Hunter (_Hallamsh. Gloss._, p. 5.) says that the strong boxes in which the Jews kept their valuables were anciently called their arks (_archas_), and that the word is so found in the _Foedera_, 45 Hen. III. It occurs twice in the Church Accounts of this parish.

"1527. Minatus [=e]. [=p]d. Will[=m]us browne _archas_ et cistas
diffr[=i]gere.

1744. pd. Wm. Yates for setting up _ark_."

Cf. also Lower's _Eng. Surnames_, 2nd ed., p. 92.; and the Latin _arca_, a chest, coffer, or box.

J. EASTWOOD

Ecclesfield, Sheffield.

It is rather curious that the word _wright_ for _carpenter_ is still commonly used in Scotland, but that _Sievewright_ is the only _surname_ in which it appears in that country; while in England it is found in several, although the word itself is there obsolete, unless it is still to be found in the northern counties.