Chapter XX: Part 20

These clubs, sticks, maces, or whatever they may be called, were about six feet high, and were in parts painted and gilt. The centre one is an elm-sapling, and the natural bumps have been taken advantage of by the artist to model a sort of Moorish head, with ornamental covering; lower down, the knobs are fashioned into terrible heads, in which are mounted glass eyes of various and impossible colours.

Old Walking Sticks.]

No doubt before long these staffs, which might be necessary for the protection of the ladies from the "Mohawks" of the time, will have disappeared, and people will look with curiosity at Hogarth's representation of them. Perhaps good specimens of such objects, which have passed out of use, would be worthy of a place in our national museum. One of the old-fashioned tinder-boxes would be a curiosity there now. Although but a few years have passed since the introduction of lucifer matches, it is no easy matter to get one of those old-fashioned machines.

THE SANCHI TOPE.

Under the name of topes are included the most important class of Buddhist architecture in India. They consist of detached pillars, towers, and tumuli, all of a sacred or monumental character. The word is a corruption of the Sanscrit _sthupa_, meaning a mound, heap, or cairn.

By far the finest as well as the most perfect tope in India is that of Sanchi, the principal one of those opened near Bilsah, in Central India. It is uncertain whether it ever contained relics or not, as it had been dug into in 1819 by Sir Herbert Maddock, since which time it has remained a ruin, and may have been plundered by the natives. At any rate it must have been a spot of peculiar sanctity, judging both from its own magnificence, and from the number of subordinate topes grouped around it. In fact there are a greater number of these monuments on this spot, within a space not exceeding 17 miles, than there are, so far at least as we now know, in the whole of India from the Sutlej to Cape Comorin.

Sanchi Tope.]

The general appearance of the Sanchi Tope will be understood from the annexed view of it. The principal building consists of a dome somewhat less than a hemisphere, 106 feet in diameter, and 42 feet in height, with a platform on the top 34 feet across, which originally formed the basis of the _tee_ or capital, which was the invariable finish of these monuments.

The dome rests on a sloping base, 14 feet in height by 120 in diameter, having an offset on its summit about 6 feet wide. This, if we may judge from the representations of topes on the sculptures, must have been surrounded by a balustrade, and was ascended by a broad double ramp on one side. It was probably used for processions encircling the monument, which seem to have been among the most common Buddhist ceremonials. The centre of this great mound is quite solid, being composed of bricks laid in mud; but the exterior is faced with dressed stones. Over these was laid a coating of cement nearly 4 inches in thickness, which was, no doubt, originally adorned either with painting or ornaments in relief.

The fence by which this tope is surrounded is extremely curious. It consists of stone posts 8 ft. 8 in. high, and little more than 2 ft. apart. These are surmounted by a plain architrave, 2 ft. 4 in. deep, slightly rounded at the top. So far this enclosure resembles the outer circle at Stonehenge; but between every two uprights three horizontal cross-pieces of stone are inserted of an elliptical form, of the same depth as the top piece, but only 9 in. thick in the thickest part. This is the only _built_ example yet discovered of an architectural ornament which is found _carved_ in every cave, and, indeed, in almost every ancient Buddhist building known in India. The upright posts or pillars of this enclosure bear inscriptions indicating that they were all given by different individuals. But neither these nor any other inscriptions found in the whole tope, nor in the smaller topes surrounding it (though there are as many as 250 inscriptions in all), contain any known name, or any clue to their age.

Still more curious, however, than even the stone railing are the four gateways. One of these is shown in our view. It consists of two square pillars, covered with sculptures, with bold elephant capitals, rising to a height of 18 ft. 4 in.; above this are three lintels, slightly curved upwards in the centre, and ending in Ionic scrolls; they are supported by continuations of the columns, and three uprights inserted in the spaces between the lintels. They are covered with elaborate sculptures, and surmounted by emblems. The total height is 33 ft. 6 in. One gateway has fallen, and if removed to this country would raise the character of Indian sculpture, as nothing comparable to it has yet been transported from that part of the world to Europe.

BURIAL PLACES OF DISTINGUISHED MEN.

Chaucer was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, _without_ the building, but removed to the south aisle in 1555; Spenser lies near him. Beaumont, Drayton, Cowley, Denham, Dryden, Howe, Addison, Prior, Congreve, Gray, Johnson, Sheridan, and Campbell, all lie within Westminster Abbey. Shakspeare, as every one knows, was buried in the chancel of the church at Stratford, where there is a monument to his memory. Chapman and Shirley are buried at St. Giles'-in-the-Fields; Marlow, in the churchyard of St. Paul's, Deptford; Fletcher and Massinger, in the churchyard of St. Saviour's, Southwark; Dr. Donne, in Old St. Paul's; Edward Waller, in Beaconsfield churchyard; Milton, in the churchyard of St. Giles', Cripplegate; Butler, in the churchyard of St. Paul's, Covent Garden; Otway, no one knows where; Garth, in the churchyard at Harrow; Pope, in the church at Twickenham; Swift, in St. Patrick's, Dublin; Savage, in the churchyard of St. Peter's, Dublin; Parnell, at Chester, where he died on his way to Dublin; Dr. Young, at Welwyn, in Hertfordshire, of which place he was the rector; Thomson, in the churchyard at Richmond, in Surrey; Collins, in St. Andrew's Church, at Chichester; Gray, in the churchyard at Stoke-Pogis, where he conceived his "Elegy;" Goldsmith, in the churchyard of the Temple Church; Falconer, at sea, with "all ocean for his grave;" Churchill, in the churchyard of St. Martin's, Dover; Cowper, in the church at Dereham; Chatterton, in a churchyard belonging to the parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn; Burns, in St. Michael's churchyard, Dumfries; Byron, in the church of Hucknall, near Newstead; Crabbe, at Trowbridge; Coleridge, in the church at Highgate; Sir Walter Scott, in Dryburgh Abbey; Southey, in Crosthwaite Church, near Keswick.

A REGAL HUNTING PARTY.

The following is an account of the destruction of game in Bohemia, by a hunting party of which the Emperor Francis made one, in 1755. There were twenty-three persons in the party, three of whom were ladies; the Princess Charlotte of Lorraine was one of them. The chase lasted eighteen days, and during that time they killed 47,950 head of game, and wild deer; of which 19 were stags, 77 roebucks, 10 foxes, 18,243 hares, 19,545 partridges, 9,499 pheasants, 114 larks, 353 quails, 454 other birds. The Emperor fired 9,798 shots, and the Princess Charlotte 9,010; in all, there were 116,209 shots fired.

ANTIPATHIES.

Certain antipathies appear to depend upon a peculiarity of the senses. The horror inspired by the odour of certain flowers may be referred to this cause. Amatus Lusitanus relates the case of a monk who fainted when he beheld a rose, and never quitted his cell when that flower was blooming. Scaliger mentions one of his relations who experienced a similar horror when seeing a lily. In these instances it is not the agreeableness or the offensive nature of the aroma that inspires the repugnance; and Montaigne remarked on this subject, that there were men who dreaded an apple more than a musket-ball. Zimmerman tells us of a lady who could not endure the feeling of silk and satin, and shuddered when touching the velvety skin of a peach. Boyle records the case of a man who felt a natural abhorrence to honey. Without his knowledge, some honey was introduced in a plaster applied to his foot, and the accidents that resulted compelled his attendants to withdraw it. A young man was known to faint whenever he heard the servant sweeping. Hippocrates mentions one Nicanor who swooned whenever he heard a flute: our Shakspeare has alluded to the effects of the bagpipe. Julia daughter of Frederick, king of Naples, could not taste meat without serious accidents. Boyle fainted when he heard the splashing of water; Scaliger turned pale at the sight of water-cresses; Erasmus experienced febrile symptoms when smelling fish; the Duke d'Epernon swooned on beholding a leveret, although a hare did not produce the same effect. Tycho Brahe fainted at the sight of a fox, Henry the Third of France at that of a cat, and Marshal d'Albert at a pig. The horror that whole families entertain of cheese is generally known. Many individuals cannot digest, or even retain certain substances, such as rice, wine, various fruits, and vegetables.

A YOUNG BUT CRUEL MURDERESS.

On the 3d of July, 1772, was executed at Lisbon, pursuant to her sentence, Louisa de Jesus, for the murder of the thirty-three infants, that were at different times committed to her care by the Directors of the Foundling Hospital at Coimbra; for which (as appears by the sentence published) she had no other inducement but six hundred reals in money, a coverda of baize, and a cradle, that she received with each of them. She was but twenty-two years of age when executed. Going to execution, she was pinched with hot irons, and at the gallows her hands were struck off; she was then strangled, and her body burnt.

BECTIVE ABBEY.

Bective Abbey, the ruins of which form the subject of the annexed engraving differs in its general arrangement from every other monastic structure in the kingdom. It was, in fact, a monastic castle, and, previous to the use of artillery, must have been regarded as a place of great strength. It is for this reason that we select it as one of our "Wonderful Things."

Bective Abbey.]

The ruins are in the immediate neighbourhood of Trim, and about thirty miles from Dublin.

The ruins combine a union of ecclesiastical with military and domestic architecture in a remarkable degree. Their chief feature is a strong battlemented tower, the lower compartment of which is vaulted, placed at the south-west corner of the quadrangular space occupied by the various buildings, and in the centre of which the cloisters remain in excellent preservation. The cloister arches are late in the first pointed style, and are cinque-foiled. The featherings are mostly plain, but several are ornamented with flowers or leaves, and upon one a hawk-like bird is sculptured. A fillet is worked upon each of the clustered shafts, by which the openings are divided, and also upon their capitals. The bases, which are circular, rest upon square plinths, the angles of which are ornamented with a leaf, as it were, growing out of the base of the moulding.

Of the church there are scarcely any remains. As the northern wall of the cloister is pierced with several windows, which have now the appearance of splaying externally, it is extremely probable that it also served as the south wall of the church, no other portion of which can at present be identified. Those buildings which were for the most part devoted to domestic purposes are for the most part situated upon the east side of the quadrangle. Their architectural details are of a character later than those of the tower and of the other portions, but additions and alterations have evidently been made.

NOVEL MODE OF CELEBRATION.

Upon the occasion of the christening of the 21st child of Mr. Wright, of Widaker, near Whitehaven, by the same woman, in the year 1767, the company came from 21 parishes, and the entertainment consisted of 21 pieces of beef, 21 legs of mutton and lamb, 21 gallons of brandy, three times 21 gallons of strong ale, three times 21 fowls, roasted and boiled, 21 pies, &c.

ANTIQUE HEAD ORNAMENT.

Bronze Head Ornament.]

The annexed engraving represents an exceedingly beautiful bronze relic, apparently of the class of head rings, in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, which was discovered in the year 1747, about seven feet below the surface, when digging for a well, at the east end of the village of Stitchel, in the county of Roxburgh. It bears a resemblance in some respects to relics of the same class in the Christiansborg Palace, yet nothing exactly similar to it has yet been found among Scandinavian relics; while some of its ornamental details closely correspond to those which characterize the British horse furniture and other native relics of this period. One of its most remarkable peculiarities is, that it opens and shuts by means of a hinge, being clasped when closed by a pin which passes through a double catch at a line intersecting the ornament; and so perfect is it that it can still be opened and secured with ease. It is probable that this also should rank among the ornaments of the head, though it differs in some important respects from any other object of the same class. The oval which it forms is not only too small to encircle the head, but it will be observed from the engraving that its greatest length is from side to side, the internal measurements being five and nine-tenth inches by five and one-tenth inches.

RELICS.

At the commencement of the seventeenth century there was a crucifix belonging to the Augustine friars at Burgos in Spain, which produced a revenue of nearly seven thousand crowns per annum. It was found upon the sea, not far from the coast, with a scroll of parchment appended to it, descriptive of the various virtues it possessed. The image was provided with a false beard and a chesnut periwig, which its holy guardians declared were natural, and they also assured all pious visitors that on every Friday it sweated blood and water into a silver basin. In the garden of this convent grew a species of wheat, the grain of which was peculiarly large, and which its possessors averred was brought by Adam out of Paradise. Of this wheat they made small cakes called pancillos, kneaded with the aforesaid blood and water, and sold them to the credulous multitude for a quartillo a piece. These cakes were an infallible remedy for all disorders, and over those who carried them the devil had no power. They sold also blue ribands of the exact length of the crucifix, for about a shilling each, with this inscription in silver letters, "La madi del santo crucifisco de Burgos." These ribands were a sovereign cure for the headache.

LONG MEG AND HER DAUGHTERS.

As there is something remarkable or out of the way in this family of heavy stone, we present it to the reader. This venerable Druidical monument, which is by the country-people called Long Meg and her Daughters, stands near Little Salkeld, in the county of Cumberland. It consists of 67 massy stones, of different sorts and sizes, ranged in a circle of nearly 120 paces diameter; some of these stones are granite, some blue and grey limestone, and others flint; many of them are ten feet high, and fifteen or sixteen feet in circumference: these are called Long Meg's Daughters. On the southern side of this circle, about seventeen or eighteen paces out of the line, stands the stone called Long Meg, which is of that kind of red stone found about Penrith. It is so placed, that each of its angles faces one of the cardinal points of the compass; it measures upwards of eighteen feet in height, and fifteen feet in girth; its figure is nearly that of a square prism; it weighs about sixteen tons and a half. In the part of the circle the most contiguous, four large stones are placed in a square form, as if they had been intended to support an altar; and towards the east, west, and north, two large stones stand a greater distance from each other than any of the rest, seemingly to form the entrances into a circle. It is remarkable that no stone-quarry is to be found hereabouts. The appearance of this circle is much hurt by a stone wall built across it, that cuts off a considerable segment, which stands in the road. The same ridiculous story is told of these stones, as of those at Stonehenge, _i. e._, that it is impossible to count them, and that many persons who have made the trial, could never find them amount twice to the same number. It is added, that this was a holy place, and that Long Meg and her Daughters were a company of witches transformed into stones, on the prayers of some saint, for venturing to prophane it; but when, and by whom, the story does not say. Thus has tradition obscurely, and clogged with fable, handed down the destination of this spot, accompanied with some of that veneration in which it was once undoubtedly held, though not sufficiently to protect its remains from the depredations of avarice; the inclosure and cultivation of the ground bidding fair to destroy them. These stones are mentioned by Camden, who was either misinformed as to, or mis-reckoned their number; unless, which seems improbable, some have been taken away. "At Little Salkeld, (says he,) there is a circle of stones seventy-seven in number, each ten feet high; and before these, at the entrance, is a single one by itself, fifteen feet high. This the common people call Long Meg, and the rest her Daughters; and within the circle, are two heaps of stones, under which they say there are dead bodies buried; and, indeed, it is probable enough that this has been a monument erected in memory of some victory." The history of the British Druidical Antiquities having been thoroughly investigated, since Camden's time, these circles are now universally agreed to have been temples and places of judgment, and not sepulchral monuments. Indeed his editor has, in some measure, rectified his mistake, by the following addition: "But, as to the heaps in the middle, they are no part of the monument, but have been gathered off the ploughed lands adjoining; and (as in many other parts of the county) thrown up here in a waste corner of the field; and as to the occasion of it, both this, and the Rolrick stones in Oxfordshire, are supposed by many, to have been monuments erected at the solemn investiture of some Danish Kings, and of the same kind as the Kingstolen in Denmark, and Moresteen in Sweden; concerning which, several large discourses have been written."

CURIOUS PARTICULARS RELATIVE TO DRESS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

Cloth of gold, satin, and velvet, enriched by the florid decorations of the needle, were insufficient to satisfy the pride of nobles; robes formed of these costly materials were frequently ornamented with embroidery of goldsmiths' work, thickly set with precious stones; and the most absurd and fantastic habits were continually adopted, in the restless desire to appear in new inventions. John of Ghent is represented in a habit divided straight down the middle, one side white, the other half dark blue; and his son, Henry IV., on his return from exile, rode in procession through London in a jacket of cloth-of-gold, "after the German fashion." The dukes and earls who attended his coronation wore three bars of ermine on the left arm, a quarter of a yard long, "or thereabouts;" the barons had but two: and over the monarch's head was borne a canopy of blue silk, supported by silver staves, with four gold bells, "that rang at the corners." "Early in the reign of Richard II. began," says Stowe, "the detestable use of piked shoes, tied to the knees with chains of silver gilt; also women used high attire on their heads with piked horns and long training gowns. The commons also were besotted in excesse of apparel; in wide surcoates reaching to their loines; some in a garment reaching to their heels, close before and sprowting out at the sides, so that on the backe they make men seeme women, and this they call by a ridiculous name--_gowne_. Their hoodes are little, and tied under the chin."

ECCENTRIC FUNERAL.

Mr. John Oliver, an eccentric miller of Highdown Hill, in Sussex, died, aged eighty-three, the 27th of May, 1793. His remains were interred near his mill, in a tomb he had caused to be erected there for that purpose, near thirty years ago; the ground having been previously consecrated. His coffin, which he had for many years kept under his bed, was painted white; and the body was borne by eight men clothed in the same colour. A girl about twelve years old read the burial service, and afterwards, on the tomb, delivered a sermon on the occasion, from Micah 7, 8, 9, before at least two thousand auditors, whom curiosity had led to see this extraordinary funeral.

EGYPTIAN STANDARDS.

The engraving which we here lay before our friends, represents a group of Egyptian standards, as they were used in the army in the time of Pharaoh.

Egyptian Standards.]

Each regiment and company had its own peculiar banner or standard, which were therefore very numerous, and various in their devices. A beast, bird, or reptile, a sacred boat, a royal name in a cartouche, or a symbolic combination of emblems, were the most common forms. As they appear to have been objects of superstitious veneration that were selected for this purpose, they must have contributed greatly to the enthusiasm so highly valued in battle; and instances are common in all history of desponding courage revived, and prodigies of valour performed, on behalf of those objects which were so identified with national and personal honour.

Allusions to standards, banners, and ensigns are frequent in the Holy Scriptures. The four divisions in which the tribes of Israel marched through the wilderness had each its governing standard, and tradition has assigned to these ensigns the respective forms of the symbolic cherubim seen in the vision of Ezekiel and John--that of Judah being a lion, that of Reuben a man, that of Ephraim an ox, and that of Dan an eagle. The post of standard-bearer was at all times of the greatest importance, and none but officers of approved valour were ever chosen for such a service; hence Jehovah, describing the ruin and discomfiture which he was about to bring on the haughty King of Assyria, says, "And they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth."

THE SHREW ASH.

Shrew Ash.]

At that end of Richmond Park where a gate leads to Mortlake, and near a cottage in which resides one of the most estimable gentlemen of the age--Professor Owen--there still lives and flourishes a tree that has been famous for many ages: it is the Shrew Ash, and the above is a correct engraving of it. It stands on rising ground, only a few yards beyond the pond which almost skirts the Professor's lawn. White, in his Natural History of Selborne, describes a shrew-ash as an ash whose twigs or branches, when gently applied to the limbs of cattle, will immediately relieve the pains which a beast suffers from the running of a shrew-mouse over the part affected; for it is supposed that a shrew-mouse is of so baleful and deleterious a nature, that wherever it creeps over a beast, be it horse, cow, or sheep, the suffering animal is afflicted with cruel anguish, and threatened with the loss of the use of the limb. Against this evil, to which they were continually liable, our provident forefathers always kept a shrew-ash at hand, which, when once medicated, would maintain its virtue for ever. A shrew-ash was made potent thus:--Into the body of a tree a deep hole was bored with an auger, and a poor devoted shrew-mouse was thrust in alive, and plugged in, no doubt with several quaint incantations, long since forgotten. The shrew-ash in Richmond Park is, therefore, amongst the few legacies of the kind bequeathed to their country by the wisdom of our ancestors.

Our readers will perceive that across the hollow of the tree near the top there is a little bar of wood. The legend runs that were this bar removed every night, it would be replaced in the same spot every morning. The superstition is, that if a child afflicted with what the people in the neighbourhood call "decline," or whooping-cough, or any infantine disease, is passed nine times up the hollow of that tree, and over the bar, while the sun is rising, it will recover. If the charm fails to produce the desired effect, the old women believe that the sun was too far up, or not up enough. If the child recovers, of course, the fame of the tree is whispered about. There is a sort of shrew-mother to every shrew-ash, who acts as guide and teacher to any young mother who has an afflicted child and believes in the charm. The ash in Richmond Park is still used, and still firmly believed in.

A DRUM MADE OF HUMAN SKIN.

John Zisca, general of the insurgents who took up arms in the year 1419 against the Emperor Sigismund, to revenge the deaths of John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, who had been cruelly burnt to death for their religious tenets, defeated the Emperor in several pitched battles. He gave orders that, after his death, they should _make a drum of his skin_; which was most religiously obeyed, and those very remains of the enthusiastic Zisca proved, for many years, fatal to the Emperor, who, with difficulty, in the space of sixteen years, recovered Bohemia, though assisted by the forces of Germany, and the terror of Crusades. The insurgents were 40,000 in number, and well disciplined.

EARTHQUAKE IN JAMAICA.

The Earthquake of Jamaica, in 1692, is one of the most dreadful that history has to record. It was attended with a hollow rumbling noise like that of thunder, and in less than a minute all the houses on one side of the principal street in the town of Port Royal sank into a fearful gulf forty fathoms deep, and water came roaring up where the houses had been. On the other side of the street the ground rose up and down like the waves of the sea, raising the houses and throwing them into heaps as it subsided. In another part of the town the street cracked along all its length, and the houses appeared suddenly twice as far apart as they were before. In many places the earth opened and closed again, so that several hundred of these openings were to be seen at the same time; and as the wretched inhabitants ran out of their tottering dwellings, the earth opened under their feet, and in some cases swallowed them up entirely; while in others, the earth suddenly closing, caught them by the middle, and thus crushed them to death. In some cases these fearful openings spouted up cataracts of water, which were attended by a most noisome stench. It is not possible for any place to exhibit a scene of greater desolation than the whole island presented at this period. The thundering bellowing of the distant mountains, the dusky gloom of the sky, and the crash of the falling buildings gave unspeakable horror to the scene. Such of the inhabitants as were saved sought shelter on board the ships in the harbour, and remained there for more than two months, the shocks continuing with more or less violence every day. When, at length, the inhabitants were enabled to return, they found the whole face of the country changed. Very few of the houses which had not been swallowed up were left standing, and what had been cultivated plantations were converted into large pools of water. The greater part of the rivers had been choked up by the falling in of detached masses of the mountains, and spreading over the valleys, they had changed what was once fertile soil into morasses, which could only be drained by cutting new channels for the rivers; while the mountains themselves had changed their shapes so completely, that it was conjectured that they had formed the chief seat of the earthquake.

CURIOUS EXTRACTS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD BOOK OF LADY MARY, DAUGHTER OF THE KING, IN VARIOUS YEARS, FROM THE 28TH TO THE 36TH OF HENRY VIII. ROYAL MSS. BRIT. MUS.

"Item, geven to George Mountejoye drawing my Layde's Grace to his Valentine, xl{s}.

"Item, geven amongs the yeomen of the King's guard bringing a Leke to my Lady's Grace on Saynt David's Day, xv{s}.

"Item, geven to Heywood playeng an enterlude with his children before my Lady's Grace, xl{s}.

"Item, payed for a yerde and a halfe of damaske for Jane the fole, vij{s}.

"Item, for shaving of Jane fooles hedde, iiij{d}.

"Payed for a frountlet lost in a wager to my Lady Margaret, iiij{li}.

"Item, payed for a brekefast lost at bolling by my Lady Mary's Grace, x{s}."

GIVING DOLES.

A bishop of Durham, in the reign of Edward III, had every week eight quarters of wheat made into bread for the poor, besides his alms-dishes, fragments from his table, and money given away by him in journeys. The bishop of Ely, in 1532, fed daily at his gates two hundred poor persons, and the Lord Cromwell fed the same number. Edward, earl of Derby, fed upwards of sixty aged poor, besides all comers, thrice a week, and furnished, on Good Friday, two thousand seven hundred people with meat, drink, and money. Robert Winchelsey, archbishop of Canterbury, gave, besides the daily fragments of his house, on Fridays and Sundays, to every beggar that came to his door, a loaf of bread of a farthing value; in time of dearth he thus gave away five thousand loaves, and this charity is said to have cost his lordship five hundred pounds a year. Over and above this he gave on every festival day one hundred and fifty pence to as many poor persons, and he used to send daily meat, drink, and bread unto such as by age and sickness were not able to fetch alms from his gate; he also sent money, meat, apparel, &c., to such as he thought wanted the same, and were ashamed to beg; and, above all, this princely prelate was wont to take compassion upon such as were by misfortune decayed, and had fallen from wealth to poor estate. Such acts deserve to be written in letters of gold.

FEMALE ORNAMENT OF THE IRON PERIOD.

Beaded Torc.]

One of the most beautiful neck ornaments of the Teutonic or Iron Period ever found in Scotland is a beaded torc, discovered by a labourer while cutting turf in Lochar Moss, Dumfriesshire, about two miles to the north of Cumlongan Castle; and exhibited by Mr. Thomas Gray, of Liverpool, at the York meeting of the Archaeological Institute. We here annex an engraving of it. The beads, which measure rather more than an inch in diameter, are boldly ribbed and grooved longitudinally. Between every two ribbed beads there is a small flat one formed like the wheel of a pulley, or the vertebral bone of a fish. The portion which must have passed round the nape of the neck is flat and smooth on the inner edge, but chased on the upper side in an elegant incised pattern corresponding to the ornamentation already described as characteristic of this period, and bearing some resemblance to that on the beautiful bronze diadem found at Stitchel in Roxburghshire, figured on a subsequent page. The beads are disconnected, having apparently been strung upon a metal wire, as was the case in another example found in the neighbourhood of Worcester. A waved ornament, chased along the outer edge of the solid piece, seems to have been designed in imitation of a cord; the last tradition, as it were, of the string with which the older necklace of shale or jet was secured. Altogether this example of the class of neck ornaments, to which Mr. Birch has assigned the appropriate name of beaded torcs, furnishes an exceedingly interesting illustration of the development of imitative design, in contradistinction to the more simple and archaic funicular torc, which, though continued in use down to a later period, pertains to the epoch of primitive art.

CURIOUS LANTERN.

In 1602, it is related that Sir John Harrington, of Bath, sent to James VI King of Scotland, at Christmas, for a new year's gift, a dark lantern. The top was a crown of pure gold, serving also to cover a perfume pan; within it was a shield of silver, embossed, to reflect the light; on one side of which were the sun, moon, and planets, and on the other side, the story of the birth and passion of Christ, as it was engraved by David II King of Scotland, who was a prisoner at Nottingham. On this present, the following passage was inscribed in Latin--"Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."

ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN BROOCH.

Shell-Shaped Brooch.]

The characteristic and beautiful ornament, usually designated the shell-shaped brooch, and equally familiar to Danish and British antiquaries, belongs to the Scoto-Scandinavian Period. In Scotland many beautiful examples have been found, several of which are preserved in the Museum of Scottish Antiquaries. From these we select the one represented in the annexed engraving, as surpassing in beauty of design and intricacy of ornament any other example of which we are aware. It consists, as usual, of a convex plate of metal, with an ornamental border, surmounted by another convex plate of greater depth, highly ornamented with embossed and perforated designs, the effect of which appears to have been further heightened by the lower plate being gilded so as to show through the open work. In this example the gilding still remains tolerably perfect. On the under side are the projecting plates, still retaining a fragment of the corroded iron pin, where it has turned on a hinge, and at the opposite end the bronze catch into which it clasped. The under side of the brooch appears to have been lined with coarse linen, the texture of which is still clearly defined of the coating of verd antique with which it is now covered. But its peculiar features consist of an elevated central ornament resembling a crown, and four intricately-chased projections terminating in horses' heads. It was found in September, 1786, along with another brooch of the same kind, lying beside a skeleton, under a flat stone, very near the surface, above the ruins of a Pictish house or burgh, in Caithness. It measures nearly four and a half inches in length, by three inches in breadth, and two and two-fifth inches in height to the top of the crown. Like many others of the same type, it appears to have been jewelled. In several examples of these brooches which we have compared, the lower convex plates so nearly resemble each other, as to suggest the probability of their having been cast in the same mould, while the upper plates entirely differ.

STREET CRIES OF MODERN EGYPT.

The cries of the street hawkers in Egypt at the present day are very singular, and well deserve a place in our repertory of curiosities. The seller of _tir'mis_ (or lupins) often cries "Aid! O Imba'bee! aid!" This is understood in two senses: as an invocation for aid to the sheykh El-Imba'bee, a celebrated Moos'lim saint, buried at the Imba'beh, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Cairo; in the neighbourhood of which village the best tir'mis is grown; and also as implying that it is through the aid of the saint above mentioned that the tir'mis of Imba'beh is so excellent. The seller of this vegetable also cries, "The tir'mis of Imba'beh surpasses the almond!" Another cry of the seller of tir'mis is, "O how sweet are the little children of the river!" This last cry, which is seldom heard but in the country towns and villages of Egypt, alludes to the manner in which the tir'mis is prepared for food. To deprive it of its natural bitterness, it is soaked, for two or three days, in a vessel full of water; then boiled, and, after this, sewed up in a basket of palm-leaves (called _furd_), and thrown into the Nile, where it is left to soak again, two or three days; after which, it is dried, and eaten cold, with a little salt. The seller of sour limes cries, "God make them light [or easy of sale]! O limes!" The toasted pips of a kind of melon called '_abdalla'wee_, and of the water-melon, are often announced by the cry of "O consoler of the embarrassed! O pips!" though more commonly, by the simple cry of "Roasted pips!" A curious cry of the seller of a kind of sweetmeat (hhala'wee), composed of treacle fried with some other ingredients, is, "For a nail! O sweetmeat!" He is said to be half a thief: children and servants often steal implements of iron, &c., from the house in which they live, and give them to him in exchange for his sweetmeat. The hawker of oranges cries, "Honey! O oranges! Honey!" and similar cries are used by the sellers of other fruits and vegetables; so that it is sometimes impossible to guess what the person announces for sale; as, when we hear the cry of "Sycamore-figs! O grapes!" excepting by the rule that what is for sale is the least excellent of the fruits, &c., mentioned; as sycamore-figs are not so good as grapes. A very singular cry is used by the seller of roses: "The rose was a thorn: from the sweat of the Prophet it opened [its flowers]." This alludes to a miracle related of the Prophet. The fragrant flowers of the hhen'na-tree (or Egyptian privet) are carried about for sale, and the seller cries, "Odours of paradise! O flowers of the hhen'na!" A kind of cotton cloth, made by machinery which is put in motion by a bull, is announced by the cry of "The work of the bull! O maidens!"

THE BLACK PESTILENCE.

The black pestilence of the fourteenth century caused the most terrific ravages in England. It has been supposed to have borne some resemblance to the cholera, but that is not the case; it derived its name from the dark, livid colour of the spots and boils that broke out upon the patient's body. Like the cholera, the fatal disease appeared to have followed a regular route in its destructive progress; but it did not, like the cholera, advance westward, although, like that fearful visitation, it appears to have originated in Asia.

The black pestilence descended along the Caucasus to the shores of the Mediterranean, and, instead of entering Europe through Russia, first appeared over the south, and, after devastating the rest of Europe, penetrated into that country. It followed the caravans, which came from China across Central Asia, until it reached the shores of the Black Sea; thence it was conveyed by ships to Constantinople, the centre of commercial intercourse between Asia, Europe, and Africa. In 1347 it reached Sicily and some of the maritime cities of Italy and Marseilles. During the following year it spread over the northern part of Italy, France, Germany, and England. The northern kingdoms of Europe were invaded by it in 1349, and finally Russia in 1351--four years after it had appeared in Constantinople.

The following estimate of deaths was considered far below the actual number of victims:--

Florence lost 60,000 inhabitants
Venice " 10,000 "
Marseilles " in one month 56,000 "
Paris " " 50,000 "
Avignon " " 60,000 "
Strasburg " " 16,000 "
Basle " " 14,000 "
Erfurth " " 16,000 "
London " " 100,000 "
Norwich " " 50,000 "

Hecker states that this pestilence was preceded by great commotion in the interior of the globe. About 1333, several earthquakes and volcanic eruptions did considerable injury in upper Asia, while in the same year, Greece, Italy, France, and Germany suffered under similar disasters. The harvests were swept away by inundations, and clouds of locusts destroyed all that floods had spared, while dense masses of offensive insects strewed the land.

As in the recent invasion of cholera, the populace attributed this scourge to poison and to the Jews, and these hapless beings were persecuted and destroyed wherever they could be found. In Mayence, after vainly attempting to defend themselves, they shut themselves up in their quarters, where 1,200 of them burnt to death. The only asylum found by them was Lithuania, where Casimir afforded them protection; and it is, perhaps, owing to this circumstance that so many Jewish families are still to be found in Poland.

THE DUCHESS OF LAUDERDALE.

Few mansions are more pleasantly situated than Ham House, the dwelling of the Tollemaches, Earls of Dysart. It stands on the south bank of the Thames, distant about twelve miles from London, and immediately opposite to the pretty village of Twickenham. It was erected early in the seventeenth century; the date 1610 still stands on the door of the principal entrance. Its builder was Sir Thomas Vavasour, and it subsequently came into the possession of Katherine, daughter of the Earl of Dysart, who married first Sir Lionel Tollemache, and for her second husband Earl, afterwards Duke, of Lauderdale.

The Duchess of Lauderdale was one of the "busiest" women of the busy age in which she lived. Burnet insinuates that, during the life time of her first husband, "she had been in a correspondence with Lord Lauderdale that had given occasion for censure." She succeeded in persuading him that he was indebted for his escape after "Worcester fight" to "her intrigues with Cromwell. She was a woman," continues the historian, "of great beauty, but of far greater parts. She had a wonderful quickness of apprehension, and an amazing vivacity in conversation. She had studied, not only divinity and history, but mathematics and philosophy. She was violent in everything she set about,--a violent friend, but a much more violent enemy. She had a restless ambition, lived at a vast expense, and was ravenously covetous, and would have stuck at nothing by which she might compass her ends." Upon the accession of her husband to political power after the Restoration, "all applications were made to her. She took upon her to determine everything; she sold all places; and was wanting in no method that could bring her money, which she lavished out in a most profuse vanity."

This Duchess of Lauderdale--famous during the reigns of four monarchs--the First and Second James, and the First and Second Charles, and through the Protectorship of Cromwell--refurnished the house at Ham, where she continued to reside until her death at a very advanced age.

Among other untouched relics of gone-by days, is a small ante-chamber, where, it is said, she not only condescended to receive the second Charles, but, if tradition is to be credited, where she "cajoled" Oliver Cromwell. There still remains the chair in which she used to sit, her small walking cane, and a variety of objects she was wont to value and cherish as memorials of her active life, and the successful issue of a hundred political intrigues.

Chair of the Duchess of Lauderdale.]

MODERN EGYPTIAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

The durwee'shes, who constitute a sort of religious mendicant order in Egypt, often make use of, in their processions and in begging, a little tubl, or kettle-drum, called _ba'z_; six or seven inches in diameter; which is held in the left hand, by a little projection in the centre of the back, and beaten by the right hand, with a short leather strap, or a stick. They also use cymbals, which are called _ka's_, on similar occasions. The ba'z is used by the Moosahh'hhir, to attract attention to his cry in the nights of Rum'ada'n. Castanets of brass, called _sa'ga't_ are used by the public female and male dancers. Each dancer has two pairs of these instruments. They are attached, each by a loop of string, to the thumb and second finger, and have a more pleasing sound than castanets of wood or ivory. There are two instruments which are generally found in the hharee'm of a person of moderate wealth, and which the women often use for their diversion. One of these is a tambourine, called _ta'r_, of which we insert an engraving. It is eleven inches in diameter. The hoop is overlaid with mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, and white bone, or ivory, both without and within, and has ten circular plates of brass attached to it, each two pairs having a wire passing through their centres. The ta'r is held by the left or right hand, and beaten with the fingers of that hand and by the other hand. The fingers of the hand which holds the instrument, striking only near the hoop, produce higher sounds than the other hand, which strikes in the centre. A tambourine of a larger and more simple kind than that here described, without the metal plates, is often used by the lower orders. The other instrument alluded to in the commencement of this paragraph is a kind of drum, called _dar'abook'keh_. The best kind is made of wood, covered with mother-of-pearl and tortoise-shell, &c. One of this description is here represented with the ta'r. It is fifteen inches in length, covered with a piece of fishes' skin at the larger extremity, and open at the smaller. It is placed under the left arm; generally suspended by a string that passes over the left shoulder; and is beaten with both hands.

REMARKABLE OAKS.

The oaks most remarkable for their horizontal expansion, are, according to Loudon, the following:--"The Three-shire Oak, near Worksop, was so situated, that it covered part of the three counties of York, Nottingham, and Derby, and dripped over seven hundred and seventy-seven square yards. An oak between Newnham Courtney and Clifton shaded a circumference of five hundred and sixty yards of ground, under which two thousand four hundred and twenty men might have commodiously taken shelter. The immense Spread Oak in Worksop Park, near the white gate, gave an extent, between the ends of its opposite branches, of an hundred and eighty feet. It dripped over an area of nearly three thousand square yards, which is above half an acre, and would have afforded shelter to a regiment of nearly a thousand horse. The Oakley Oak, now growing on an estate of the Duke of Bedford, has a head of an hundred and ten feet in diameter. The oak called _Robur Britannicum_, in the Park, at Rycote, is said to have been extensive enough to cover five thousand men; and at Ellerslie, in Renfrewshire, the native village of the hero Wallace, there is still standing 'the old oak tree,' among the branches of which, it is said, that he and three hundred of his men hid themselves from the English."

CURIOUS ADVERTISEMENT.

A few years ago the following actually appeared in one of the London papers: certainly a most economical speculation for the use of soul and body:--

"Wanted, for a family who have bad health, a sober, steady person, in the capacity of doctor, surgeon, apothecary, and man-midwife. He must occasionally act as butler, and dress hair and wigs. He will be required sometimes to read prayers, and to preach a sermon every Sunday. A good salary will be given."

CHANGES OF MOUNT ETNA.

Signor Maria Gemmellario has given, from a meteorological journal kept at Catania, a very interesting view of the successive changes of Mount Etna, at a period in which it was in the phase of moderate activity; and no description could convey so accurate a conception of the ever-changing phenomena.

On the 9th of February, 1804, there was a sensible earthquake. Etna smoked ninety-seven days, but there was no eruption nor any thunder.

On the 3rd of July, 1805, there was an earthquake. Etna smoked forty-seven days, and emitted flame twenty-eight days. There was an eruption in June, but no thunder.

There were earthquakes on the 27th of May and 10th of October, 1806. The mountain smoked forty-seven days, flamed seven, and detonated twenty-eight: little thunder.

On the 24th of February and 25th of November, 1807, there were earthquakes. Etna smoked fifty-nine days: little thunder.

In August, September, and December, 1808, earthquakes were frequent. Etna smoked twelve days, flamed one hundred and two, and often detonated. Thunder storms were frequent.

From January to May, and during September and December, 1809, there were thirty-seven earthquakes. The most sensible shock was on the 27th of March, when the mountain ejected lava on the western side. This eruption lasted thirteen days, and part of the Bosco di Castiglione was injured. The mountain smoked one hundred and fifty-two days, flamed three, and detonated eleven. Little thunder.

On the 16th and 17th of February, 1810, there were four earthquakes. On the 27th of October, Etna was in a state of eruption on the eastern side, and the lava flowed into the Valle del Bue. There were about twenty thunder storms.

1811, no earthquakes, but the mountain continued until the 24th of April to eject lava from the east. At this time the Mount St. Simon was formed. No thunder.

Earthquake on the 3rd and 13th of March, 1813. The mountain smoked twenty-eight days. On the 30th of June, and on the 5th of August, St. Simon smoked. There were twenty-one thunder storms.

On the 3rd of November, 1814, there was an earthquake, preceded by a discharge of sand from that part of the mountain called Zoccolaro. There were twelve thunder storms.

On the 6th of September, 1815, there was an earthquake. The mountain smoked forty-two days, and there were eleven thunder storms. On the 6th, 7th, and 11th of January the lightning was tremendous.

1816, no earthquakes. On the 13th of August a part of the interior side of the crater fell in. Ten thunder storms.

There was an earthquake on the 18th of October, 1817. The mountain smoked twenty-two days. There were eight thunder storms.

During 1818 there were twenty-five earthquakes. The most violent was in the neighbourhood of Catania, on the 20th of February. The mountain smoked twenty-four days. No thunder.

CHARITY INSTEAD OF POMP.

According to the "Annual Register" for August, 1760, there were expended at the funeral of Farmer Keld, of Whitby, in that year, one hundred and ten dozen of penny loaves, eight large hams, eight legs of veal, twenty stone of beef (fourteen pounds to the stone), sixteen stone of mutton, fifteen stone of Cheshire cheese, and thirty ankers of ale, besides what was distributed to about one thousand poor people, who had sixpence each in money given them.

THE BEDFORD MISSAL.

One of the most celebrated books in the annals of bibliography, is the richly illuminated Missal, executed for John, Duke of Bedford, Regent of France, under Henry VI.; by him it was presented to that king, in 1430. This rare volume is eleven inches long, seven and a-half wide, and two and a-half thick; contains fifty-nine large miniatures, which nearly occupy the whole page, and above a thousand small ones, in circles of about an inch and a-half diameter, displayed in brilliant borders of golden foliage, with variegated flowers, etc.; at the bottom of every page are two lines in blue and gold letters, which explain the subject of each miniature. This relic, after passing through various hands, descended to the Duchess of Portland, whose valuable collection was sold by auction, in 1786. Among its many attractions was the Bedford Missal. A knowledge of the sale coming to the ears of George III., he sent for his bookseller, and expressed his intention to become the purchaser. The bookseller ventured to submit to his majesty the probable high price it would fetch. "How high?" exclaimed the king. "Probably, two hundred guineas," replied the bookseller. "Two hundred guineas for a Missal!" exclaimed the queen, who was present, and lifted her hands up with astonishment. "Well, well," said his majesty, "I'll have it still; but since the queen thinks two hundred guineas so enormous a price for a Missal, I'll go no further." The biddings for the Royal Library did actually stop at that point; a celebrated collector, Mr. Edwards, became the purchaser by adding three pounds more. The same Missal was afterwards sold at Mr. Edwards' sale, in 1815, and purchased by the Duke of Marlborough, for the enormous sum of L637 l5s. sterling.

CALICINATED RINGS.

Calicinated Ring.]