Notes and Queries/Series 1/Volume 1/Number 10
NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION
FOR
LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC,
"When found, make a note of."—Captain Cuttle.
CONTENTS.
| Notes:— | ||
| Travelling of Old in England | 145 | |
| Song by Dr. Strode, &c., by E. F. Rimbault | 146 | |
| Otloh the Scribe | 147 | |
| Wives of Ecclesiastics | 147 | |
| Nat. Lee's Certificate in favour of Verses | 149 | |
| The expression "Mutual Friend," by Rev. Dr. Kennedy | 149 | |
| Gray's Elegy, Polyglot Editions of | 150 | |
| Notes upon Cunningham's London, by E. F. Rimbault | 150 | |
| On Authors and Books, No. 3., by Bolton Corney | 151 | |
| Cartwright's Poems | 151 | |
| Miscellanies:— | ||
| Oliver Cromwell's Birth-The Lawyer's Patron Saint—V. Bourne to David Cook—A Nation's Ballad-Makers—Ogilby's Britannia—A Mess—Coffee—To endeavour Oneself—Countess of Pembroke's Letter—Peal of Bells—Dowts of Holy Scrypture—Weeping Cross | 151 | |
| Queries:— | ||
| The Book of the Mousetrap | 154 | |
| Was the Lacedæmonian Black Broth Black | 155 | |
| Reheting, Rehetours, by Rev. J. H. Todd, D.D. | 155 | |
| Minor Queries:—Ancient Motto—Ordination Pledges—Scutter's Atlas Novus—Miss Warneford—Beaufoy's Ringer's Guide—Hordys—Germain's Lips—Sir Walter de Bitton—A Fool or a Physician—Caerphili Castle—Father—Queries in Church History—Colinæus, &c. | ||
| Miscellaneous:— | ||
| Notes on Books, Catalogues, Sales, &c. | 158 | |
| Books and Odd Volumes Wanted | 159 | |
| Notices to Correspondents | 159 | |
| Advertisements | 160 | |
TRAVELLING OF OLD IN ENGLAND.
I do not know any where a more distinct account of the commencement and progress of a journey in England, two centuries ago, than is given in Taylor's (the Water-poet) narrative, in prose and verse, of his travels from London to the Isle of Wight, while Charles I. was there. It is short, as well as clear, and the stages, and the time it took to perform them, are one after another pointed out. Moreover, he states that the journey was performed in a public coach drawn by four horses, and conducted by two coachmen. There were four passengers besides Taylor, and they started from the Rose, near Holborn Bridge, in the Southampton coach (which came weekly to that inn), on Thursday, 19th October, 1647, and arrived on the same evening, at 5 o'clock, at Staines. They remained all night at the Bush, and next morning proceeded by Bagshot to Alton, where they put up at the White Hart, and again slept. On Saturday they again set off early, and by dint of "fiery speed" and "foaming bits," they reached the Dolphin at Southampton that day. The Rose, at the foot of Holborn Hill, which I can remember forty years ago, and from which the party set out, has disappeared; but the Bush, at Staines, and the Dolphin, at Southampton, still remain. A small part of Taylor's information is 151 given in marginal notes, but his text, which, in fact, contains all that illustrates the point at issue, is the following:—
And merrily from London made our courses.
We wheel'd the top of the heavy hill call'd Holborn,
(Up which hath been full many a sinful soul borne,)
And so along we jolted past St. Giles's,
Which place from Brentford six, or near seven, miles is.
To Staines that night at five o'clock we coasted,
Where, at the Bush, we had bak'd, boild, and roasted.
Bright Sol's illustrious rays the day adorning,
We past Bagshot and Bawwaw Friday morning.
That night we lodg'd at the White Hart at Alton,
And had good meat—a table with a salt on.
Next morn we rose with blushing-cheek'd Aurora;
The ways were fair, but not so fair as Flora,
For Flora was a goddess and a woman,
And, like the highways, to all men was common.
Our horses, with the coach which we went into,
Did hurry us amain, through thick and thin too,
With fiery speed, the foaming bits they champ'd on,
And brought us to the Dolphin at Southampton."
The tract from which I quote was printed in 1648 for the author, who was paid for it, as appears by his title-page, in the following manner:—
"When John Taylor hath been from London to the Isle of Wight and returned again, and at his return he do give, or cause to be given, to me a book or pamphlet of true news, and relations of passages, at the Island, and to and fro in his journey, I do promise to give him, or his assignes, the sum of what I please in lawful money of England, provided that the said sum be not under six pence.'
This, as many are aware, was a usual mode with Taylor and some others to pay themselves for their expeditions: the Water-poet made many journeys of the kind, as may be seen by the list of his works in the folio of 1630, in which, of course, his Travels from London to the Isle of Wight, in 1647, and various others subsequently printed, could not be included. There is no English author who gives us such minute and curious information respecting old customs, edifices, and peculiarities, as Taylor, the Water-poet, the contemporary and friend of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and of nearly all our poets and dramatists from the close of the reign of Elizabeth to the Restoration. Sartorius.
As your correspondent G. G. seems fond of inquiring into the modus itinerandi of bygone days, and thinks a series of travelling hand-bills would be interesting, I send you two, copied from an original news-book almost two centuries old, and which I believe have never been reprinted. They are interesting, as showing not only the snail-like pace at which our ancestors were content to travel, but also how much they were willing to give for the tardy infliction.
G. M.
"AN ADVERTISEMENT.
"From the 26th day of April, 1658, there will continue to go stage coaches from the George Inn without Aldersgate, London, unto the several cities and towns, for the rates, and at the times, hereafter mentioned and declared.
"Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
"To Salisbury in two days for xxs. To Blandford and Dorchester in two days and half for xxxs. To Burput in three days for xxxs. To Exmaster, Hunnington, and Exeter, in four days for xls. To Stamford in two days for xxs. To Newark in two days and a half for xxvs. To Bawtrey in three days for xxxs. To Doncaster and Ferribridge for xxxvs. To York in four days for xls. "Mondays and Wednesdays to Ockinton and Plimouth for ls. Every Monday to Helperby and Northallerton for xlvs. To Darneton Ferryhil for ls. To Durham for lvs. To Newcastle for iiil. Once every fortnight to Edinburgh for ivl. a peece, Mondays. Friday to Wakefield in four days for xls.
"All persons who desire to travel unto the cities, towns, and roads, herein hereafter mentioned and expressed, namely, to Coventry, Litchfield, Stone, Namptwich, Chester, Warrington, Wiggan, Chorley, Preston, Gastang, Lancaster, and Kendal; and also to Stamford, Grantham, Newark, Tuxford, Bawtrey, Doncaster, Ferribridge, York, Helperby, Northallerton, Darneton, Ferryhill, Durham, and Newcastle, Wakefield, Leeds, and Hallifax; and also to Salisbury, Blandford, Dorchester, Barput, Exmaster, Hunnington and Exeter, Ockinton, Plimouth and Cornwall; let them repair to the George Inn at Holborn Bridge, London, and thence they shall be in good coaches with good horses, upon every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at and for reasonable rates."—From Mercurius Politicus for Thursday, April 8th, 1658.
"The post-masters on Chester road petitioning, have received orders, and do accordingly publish the following Advertisement:—
"All gentlemen, merchants, and others, who have occasion to travel between London and Westchester, Manchester, and Warrington, or any other town upon the road, for the accommodation of trade, dispatch of business, and ease of purse, upon every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, betwixt six and ten of the clock at the house of Mr. Christopher Charteris, at the sign of the Harts Horns in West Smithfield, and post-master there, and at the post-master of Chester, at the post-master of Manchester, and at the post-master of Warrington, may have a good and able single horse, or more, furnished, at threepence the mile, without charge of a guide; and so likewise at the house of Mr. Thomas Challenor, post-master at Stone in Staffordshire upon every Tuesday, and Thursday, and Saturday mornings to go into London; and so likewise at all the several post-masters upon the road, who will have all such set days so many horses with furniture in readiness to furnish the riders without any stay, to carry them to or from any the places aforesaid in four days, as well to London, as from thence, and to places nearer in less time, according as their occasions shall require, they ingaging at first stage where they take horse, for the safe delivery of the same to the next intermediate stage, and not to ride that horse any further, without consent of the post-master by whom he rides, and so from stage to stage on their journey's end.
"All those who intend to ride this way, are desired to give a little notice beforehand, if conveniently they can, to the several post-masters where they first take horse, whereby they may be furnished with so many horses as the riders shall require with expedition.
"This undertaking began the 28th of June, 1658, at all the places abovesaid, and so continues by the several post-masters."—From Mercurius Politicus for Thursday, 24th June, 1658.
SONG IN FLETCHER'S PLAY OF "THE NICE VALOUR"—THE EX-ALE-TATION OF ALE, A POEM ATTRIBUTED TO BEAUMONT.
Many of your readers will remember the beautiful song in Fletcher's play of The Nice Valour, act iii. scene 3., beginning—
As short as are the nights
Wherein you spend your folly!
There's nought in this life sweet,
If man were wise to see 't,
But only melancholy,
Oh, sweetest melancholy!"
Milton was indebted to it for the idea of his Il Penserose; and Hazlitt calls it "the perfection of this kind of writing."
My object in now calling your attention to it, is to point out a copy, hitherto, I believe, unnoticed, among Malone's MSS. in the Bodleian Library. It is entitled, A Song in ye praise of Melancholy, and has appended to it, in the handwriting of Malone, the following note:—
"Dr. Strode, the author of this beautiful little piece, part of which has been ascribed unjustly to Fletcher, because it is sung in his Nice Valour, was born about the year 1600, and died canon of Christchurch in 1644. Milton evidently took the hint of his L'Allegro and Penseroso from it."
The same MS. (marked No. 21. in the Malone Catalogue) contains A Song against Melancholy, beginning—
which I do not remember to have seen in print. It is also ascribed to Dr. Strode by Malone. I have now before me a curious musical MS. in the hand-writing of the celebrated Henry Lawes, containing the music to Dr. Strode's play of The Floating Island, performed by the students of Christ Church, Oxford, on the 29th of August, 1636. It is followed by the two songs in question; and, although the name of the author is not given, the fact of their being written in at the end of Dr. Strode's "tragi-comedy," in some measure confirms Malone's statement.
To turn to a different subject, although in some degree connected with it, I have great doubts as to the authorship of the clever poem entitled Ex-ale-tation of Ale, generally attributed to Fletcher's "brother in letters," Beaumont. The poem, I am aware, is to be found in Beaumont's Poems, and may, on that authority, be assigned to him as its author; but about one third of the pieces there printed as Beaumont's, are referable to other writers, though left undesignated by the editor. I have in my library a copy of the poem in question, which may be thus described:—"The Ex-ale-tation of Ale, the anciant Lickquor of this Realme; or a cleare definition of its efficatious opperation in severall pates, arts, and professions. London, printed by T. Badger, 1646. Small 8vo. 7 leaves." It begins as follows, and contains many variations from the copy given in Ritson's English Songs:—
I met with a friend in Ales-bury Vale;
Hee saw by my face that I was in the case
To speake no great harme of a pot of good ale."
A MS. note on the title-page of this little tract assigns it to Bishop Andrews, but on what authority does not appear. Lord Bacon, indeed, tells us, "The press hath been injurious to the memory of Bishop Andrews, to whom it owed a deep and solemn reverence. It hath sent forth a pamphlet upon an idle subject, under the venerable name of that great man, who was born grave and sober; and still farther to aggravate the injury, it hath given to that idle subject the idler title of The Ex-ale-tation of Ale."—Bacon's Works, vol. i. p. 180. edit. 1730. Perhaps some of your readers can throw light upon this obscure subject. Edward F. Rimbault.
THE SCRIBE OTLOH.
In the note respecting Otloh, on the first page of your eighth number, the name of the well-known Abbot Hilduinus is twice erroneously printed Hilderinus, probably in consequence of my indistinct writing. I will take occasion to add, that Graff, in his Diutiska, does not give the whole of the interesting old German version of Otloh's prayer, but merely corrections of that given by Pez.
It seems that Otloh, in correcting and enlarging Willibald's Life of S. Boniface, gave a large portion of the Saint's letters; and therefore the editors of the Monumenta Germaniæ Historica (vol. ii.) reprinted Willibald's Life, subjoining only Otloh's preface, it being their intention to print the whole of S. Boniface's letters in a subsequent volume. Your readers will have observed that our scribe is not remarkable for the elegance or correctness of his Latinity, and in this preface he adverts to the nodosa et perplexa oratio which his task imposed on him; but he has this Christian consolation: "Habeant amatores sapientiæ sæcularis Tullium; nos imperiti et ignobiles, despecti et contemptibiles, sequamur Christum, qui non philosophos, sed piscatores elegit discipulos." S. W. S.
[The foregoing furnishes, we trust, a satisfactory explanation to the kind remonstrances of our correspondent, "A Sincere Well-Wisher," on the subject of Otloh's incorrect Latinity.]
WIVES OF ECCLESIASTICS.
The following extract will tend to throw some light upon the customs formerly prevailing in this country as to the marriage of priests.
In Parkin's continuation of Blomefield's History of Norfolk, vol. xi. p. 114. (edit. 1810), the following passage occurs:—
"Parish of Randworth. It appears from the register of Langley Abbey, that there was a contest about the church of Pankford's being a chapel belonging to the church of Randworth. One of the witnesses deposed that he had heard it said from more ancient times, that there were two powerful sisters, who enjoyed Randworth and Pankford, and they quarrelled who should take place in Randworth church, that being the church for both townships. Upon which one of the sisters built a wooden oratory in Pankford (where there is now a stone church) but the rector of Randworth had all the profit thereof. At length (as the neighbours said) a woman named Elswyd, having the right of the said church and oratory, married Ralph, chaplain or curate of Stokesby, to whom she gave the said church and oratory. By Elswyd he had a son, Hermer, who enjoyed it."
This Ralph de Stokesby was instituted in the reign of Henry I., and Hermer his son was instituted by William Turbe (or Turbus), Bishop of Norwich. Parkin remarks,—
"The history above-mentioned of Ralph, the chaplain's marriage, and his wife's presenting him to the rectory, is a piece of antiquity highly valuable, as it fully and plainly proves, that in the year 1174, when Turbus, the Bishop of Norwich died, the church of Rome allowed of the marriage of the clergy, and their sons succeeding them in their church preferments, and that there was no positive law, either canon or civil, to hinder it, as their own records and the register of Langley testify. And it is further to be observed that one of the witnesses in this cause deposed, that he knew Ringolf the grandfather, Ralph the son, and Hermerus the grandson, all rectors successively of the church of Randworth with Pankford chapel annexed, and the same thing was also deposed by Ralph, chaplain of Randworth, son of Hermer."
I take the following passage from Henry's History of England, vol. viii. p. 36. (edit. 1814):—
"What were called ipso facto or ipso jure suspensions and deprivations (by which those priests who were guilty of certain irregularities and vices were declared to be suspended from their offices, or deprived of their benefices), came first into use in this period (13th century). The first example we meet with of suspension and deprivation of this kind is in the constitutions of Otho, the Pope's legate, in the synod of London, A.D. 1237. By the 15th of these constitutions it is decreed, that all married priests be ipso jure deprived of their benefices, that all their goods, even those which they had gotten with their wives, be applied to the use of the church, and that their children be incapable of church-preferments. But this was an obstinate plague (as they called it) which for several centuries baffled all the power and cunning of the court of Rome, and required extraordinary methods to drive it out of the church."
C. W. G.
Instances of married priests are by no means of uncommon occurrence in ancient charters, at least down to the end of Edward III.; were it necessary, I could furnish your correspondent with several examples from charters in my possession. The following passage from Sir Roger Twysden's Defence of the Church will, I think, supply a satisfactory answer to your correspondent. It occurs chap. ix. p. 204-5. of Professor Corrie's edition:—
"For permitting of matrimony to the clergy, it is undoubted all here had the liberty of marrying before Lanfranc, in a council held at Worcester (Winchester—note), 1076, did rather advise than command the contrary, which Huntindon (who was himself the son of one in holy orders) says was first prohibited by Anselm, 1102. But 'multi presbyterorum statuta concilii Londoniensis... postponentes, suas feminas retinebant, aut certe duxerant quas prius non habebant,' &c.; so that his constitutions came quickly neglected—priests both marrying and retayning their wives... Divers constitutions were afterwards made by several legates in the point, as by Stephen Langton at Oxford, 1222, registered by Lyndewode; yet it is manifest they did secretly contract marriage, which some are of opinion they continued till towards the end of Edward the Third's reign. This I am the rather induced to believe out of that in Knyghton, that John de Athilwerl, clerk, was slain by his wife and servant in his own house, at Leicester, 1344, for which fact she was burnt and he hanged. Now I conceive, had she been only his concubine, or his servant, she had not sufferred by the judgment of burning for the murder, but hanging only; neither can I interpret the word 'clericus' for other than one in holy orders prohibited marriage by the canons of Rome; though I know 'large loquendo,' as our Lyndewode hath it, 'omnes in ecclesia ad divinum officium ordinati,' are sometimes so styled; of which, such as were 'infra subdiaconatum' might retain their wives, but those who were in 'subdiaconatu,' or above, were to quit them. But the canons yet remaining, made at sundry times from Lanfranc even to Chichele, by the space of more than three hundred years, enough assure us this point of celibate was not easily imposed on the English clergy, and that such as laid it might take it off again."
From the above historical statement we might be prepared for the instances of priests' wives which every now and then occur in old charters. Lambert B. Larking.
If you do not think that enough already has been said upon this subject, I should be glad to direct your attention to a passage from Chaucer cited in Campbell's valuable and most interesting Lives of the Lord Chancellors (vol. i. p. 259.). The noble and learned author gives a conclusive answer to your correspondent's difficulty, when, writing of William of Wickham, he says—
"It has been supposed that he had early taken deacon's orders, because in 1352 he was styled 'clericus,' or clerk; but this designation was given to men in civil employments, although not in the Church, and hitherto he had no ecclesiastical function or benefice. On the 6th of December, 1361, he was admitted to the order of 'acolyte;' he was ordained subdeacon on 12th March, 1362, and priest on 12th June following"
Wm. Hardy.
On the floor of the chancel of Nutfield church, Surrey, are some brass plates representing a man in the ordinary civilian's dress, and a lady in a long gown by his side, neither of them presenting any peculiarities of costume; under them, however, is the following inscription:—
"Orate pro animabus Willielmi Grafton quondam clerici hujus ecclesie et Johanne uxoris ejusdem et Johannis filii eorundem, quorum animabus propitietur deus. Amen."
The man has no tonsure. Over them are two coats of arms, the one bearing Or, a chevron, the other the same impaling a saltire. There is no date on the monument, but, from the costume and execution, it may be placed somewhere about the year 1450. The absence of the tonsure and ecclesiastical dress seem to show that William Grafton did not belong to the higher orders of the clergy; and he most probably either belonged to or discharged the offices of some of the inferior grades, such as clericus, scholaris, or cantor, to whom marriage was permitted. The only objection to this would be in the armorial bearings, which are very good, and would indicate a higher position than that of a mere clerk. A. W. F.
"Clericus is twofold, ecclesiasticus... and laicus, and in this sense is signified a pen-man, who getteth his living in some court or otherwise by the use of his pen."—Coke upon Littleton, 120 a.
J. F. M.
NAT. LEE'S CERTIFICATE.
I have before me a copy of verses regarding which I request some information. The lines are printed upon the two sides of a half sheet of foolscap, and are entitled The Character of an English-Man; no date is appended, but at the end is the following, in Italic type, signed with a name so celebrated, that my attention was instantly fixed by it:—
"I have perused these verses, and find them composed according to the rules of poetry, and therefore think them fitting to be printed."—Nath. Lee.
It is clear, therefore, that the verses were printed before 1591 or 1592, when Nat. Lee died in very abject poverty. The first question, therefore, is, whether Lee was the author of them? and this I answer in the negative, because they are not good enough for him in his worst moments. Take a specimen from the opening:—
An Englishman is noble: by his birth
Hath a fine body, and an aspect rare,
Shines like the stars in Northern Hemisphere;
He being of the purest matter made,
As by the wise Philosopher is said,
Crowns him in the figure of his manhood high,
As the sun is the candle of the sky."
This, though intended seriously, is hardly more burlesque than the line—
which, if I mistake not, is to be found in Tom Thumb. The production closes with some lines headed "The Picture," which, in fact, is a piece of clumsy adulation of the king—most likely Charles II. It begins—
Unto their noble prince in majesty:
So great he is that Greatness can't him raise,
Cloath'd with majesty and celestiall rayes," &c.
It is difficult to say by what "rules of poetry," to use Lee's words, such passages were constructed, and I am sure I only do him justice when I honourably acquit him of the authorship. Who was the guilty party we need not inquire; but what I want to know is, how the distinguished name of Nath. Lee came to be subscribed to the production? Did his poverty and not his will consent, and was he paid some despicable sum for his certificate in favour of such rubbish? On the other hand, did Lee hold any office at any time which rendered his imprimatur necessary, like that of the ordinary licenser of the press? I find nothing of the sort in any of the memoirs of Lee. Perhaps some of your readers can answer my "Queries." Investigator.
THE EXPRESSION "MUTUAL" FRIEND.
Is it too late to make an effectual stand against the solecistic expression "mutual friend," which I see in so many books and periodicals of the present day, and hear from so many mouths, even of persons who must know better?
Mr. Macaulay, in his review of Croker's edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson (Edinburgh Review, vol. liv. p. 12.), strongly objects to the use of the expression "mutual friend," for "common friend." Yet, in spite of his just censure, it seems likely to establish itself in our language, both literary and conversational.
It appears to be unknown to some, and forgotten by others, that the word "mutual" equals "reciprocal," and can only be used of that which passes between two, from each to each. Thus, it is correctly used in such expressions as "mutual love," "mutual hatred," "mutual reproaches," "mutual signs," &c. But, when we speak of a third, as having an equal relation to two others, we properly use the adjective common. The difference will be best illustrated by applying the two epithets severally to one common substantive. Thus, then, "the mutual demands of England and France" mean "what each demands from the other;" but "the common demands of England and France" mean "what they both demand from some other party or parties." "Our mutual esteem" means "the esteem we feel for each other;" "our common esteem," "the esteem we both feel for some other person or persons."
The impropriety of the term "mutual friend" is therefore obvious. We might possibly say of two persons that they are "mutual friends," that is, "friends to each other;" though it would be more proper to say, "they are mutually friendly."
It may perhaps be urged, why offer this resistance to the deflection of one word in our language from its classical meaning, when we have so many Latin words established in senses which the old Romans never knew; as "intention," "prejudice," "civility," "curiosity," and the like? We answer, for this, if for no other reason: that, supposing the expression "mutual friend" to be sanctioned, we shall have this one word "mutual" used in two distinct senses, as = common and as = reciprocal; we shall speak confusedly of our "mutual friendship," i.e. "our friendship to each other," and of "mutual friend," i.e. "a friend to us both." This is to rob language of that metaphysical truth and precision which ought to belong to it. Benj. H. Kennedy.
GRAY'S ELEGY.
Van Voorst's Polyglot Edition.—In reply to the communication of J. F. M. in your Number respecting Gray's Elegy, I beg to state that there was an edition in 1 vol. 8vo. published by Van Voorst in 1839, on every other page of which there is a neat woodcut and the English version of one verse, and on the page facing it a translation in Greek by Professor Cooke beginning,
Latin by Rev. W. Hildyard,
German by Gotter (from the Deutsches Lesebuch, Bremen, 1837):
Italian by Guiseppe Torelli:
And in French by Le Tourneur:
H. C. de St. Croix.
Torri's Polyglot Edition.—There is a polyglot edition of the Elegy published with the following title:—"Elegia di Tommaso Gray sopra un Cimitero di Campagna, tradotta dall' Inglese in più lingue: per cura del dottore Alessandro Torri; royal 8vo., Livorno, 1843."—It contains Italian versions severally by G. Torelli, Domenica Trant (prose), Melch. Cesarotti, G. Gennari, M. Lastri, A. Buttura, P. G. Baraldi, M. A. Castellazzi, Elisabetta Sesler Bonò (prose), M. Leoni, L. Mancini, and Franc. Cavazzocca; those in Latin are by J. Costa, Anstey, G. F. Barbieri, Ben. del Bene, G. Venturi; Hebrew by Venturi; French by Le Mierre, Kérivalant, J. L. Grénus, P. J. Charrin, M. J. De Chénier, and Chateaubriand; German by W. Mason, F. G. Gotter, G. B. Rupprecht, and L. Kosegarten.
Will you allow me to put the following query? Is there not some error, or some obscurity, in the last stanza of the epitaph? If I err in the conjecture, I should be glad to have my mistake corrected; or if the reading as it now stands be faulty, some amendment suggested.
Or draw his frailties from their dread abode;
(There they alike in trembling hope repose)
The bosom of his Father and his God."
If it be said that the abode meant is the bosom of his Father and his God, I ask how can merits and frailties repose in trembling hope there—the frailties alike with the merits? Impossible: put in plain prose, the expression is, to say the least, irreverent. The abode meant I take to be the grave; and if it be asked how can merits and frailties repose even there, it may be answered that they are qualities or adjuncts of the mind, used poetically for the person. A. Grayan.
German Versions of Gray's Elegy.—I know of three translations into German of Gray's Elegy by poets of some note, and I recollect having at different times met with numerous others.
The three are, 1. By Gotter, published in his collected poems, Gotha, 1788. 2. By Seume, in his collected poems, Riga, 1801. 3. By Kosegarten, in his poems, published 1798. All three were, I believe, first published in the Musenalmanach.
The first line quoted by your correspondents is not that of any of the above, they are much closer translations; that by Gotter is almost word for word, without losing a particle of its beauty as a poem. S. W.
[C. B. B. informs us that there is a Latin version of a good part of Gray's Elegy in the Anthologia Oxoniensis (published by Longmans either in 1846 or 1847), by Goldwin Smith, Stowell Fellow of University College, Oxford.]
NOTES UPON CUNNINGHAM'S HANDBOOK FOR LONDON.
Sans Souci Theatre, Leicester Place.—This theatre was originally built by Dibdin, the celebrated sea-song writer, at the back of his music shop in the Strand. It was opened on the 16th of February, 1793. Park, in his Musical Memoirs, i. 175., says, "As a proof of the versatility of Dibdin's genius, it need only be stated that this pretty little theatre was planned, painted, and decorated by himself, and that he wrote the recitations and songs, composed the music to them, and sang and accompanied them on an organised pianoforte of his own invention." Dibdin afterwards rebuilt this theatre in Leicester Place. It was subsequently used for concerts and private performances, and is now the "Hotel de Versailles."
Tottenham Street, Tottenham Court Road.[1]—What is now the theatre in this street was formerly Francis Pasquali's concert-room. It was afterwards purchased by the royal and noble directors of the concerts of ancient music, who enlarged and beautified the building, and erected a splendid box for their Majesties George the Third and his queen. It subsequently became a theatre under the names of the Tottenham Street, Regency, Royal West London, and Queen's Theatre. The architect was, I believe, Michael Novosielski.
Edward F. Rimbault.
- ↑ Not Rathbone Place, as it is called by Mr. Cunningham.
ON AUTHORS AND BOOKS, No. 3.
The poet Cartwright is a remarkable instance of fugitive celebrity. He was esteemed, says Wood, "a fair copy of practic piety, a rare example of heroic worth, and in whom arts, learning, and language made up the true complement of perfection." On the publication of his Comedies, tragi-comedies, with other poems, in 1651, they were recommended to the public by more than fifty copies of verses! After all this flourish of trumpets, the volume never reached a second edition.
The peculiarities of certain copies of this volume have been described by the learned editor of the Athenæ Oxonienses, 1815, etc. I shall state those of my own copy. Sig. **7., which contains the verses of H. Davison and R. Watkins, is marked as a cancel, but has escaped destruction. The verses, however, re-appear, and those of Watkins are augmented.
In the poems, there are three additional leaves after sheet T, which contain verses on the return of queen Henrietta Maria from Holland in 1643, and on the death of Sir Bevill Grenvill in the same year; both in a mutilated state. Now, the verses on the queen were printed in the Oxford collection on that occasion. The authorship of those lines is certain. The verses on Sir Bevill Grenvill were also printed in the collection of 1643, but without the imprint of Oxford, and with the initials only of the contributor. The name, however, was given in a re-publication of the pamphlet in 1684, which was dedicated to the earl of Bath by Henry Birkhead, the only surviving contributor, with the exception of Peter Mew, successively bishop of Bath and Wells, and of Winchester—who lived till 1706.
The passages in question seem to have been omitted as too applicable to other persons, and to more recent times. Bolton Corney.
CARTWRIGHT'S POEMS.
R. is enabled to inform Investigator (p. 108.) that the poems On the Queen's Return from the Low Countries and On the Death of Sir Bevill Grenvill were certainly written by Cartwright; the former having been originally printed, with his naine, in a collection of complimentary verses, in Latin and English, addressed to Henrietta Maria, entitled "Musarum Oxoniensium ἐπιβατήρια serenissimæ Reginarum Mariæ ex Batavia feliciter reduci publico voto D.D.D. Oxoniæ, excudebat Leonardus Lichfield, Academiæ typographus. 1643." 4°. The contributors are Dr. Samuel Fell, Dean of Christchurch, Jasper Maine, R. Meade, &c. I imagine that the "Crown-Martyr" refers to the Earl of Strafford. The other poem also made its first appearance in a complete state in the collection published by the Oxford royalist poets as before, the title of which is as follows:—"Verses on the Death of the Right Valiant Sr Bevill Grenvill, Knight, who was slaine by the Rebells on Lansdowne Hill, neare Bath, July 5. 1643. Printed [at Oxford] 1643." This work was published on the 12th August, little more than a month after the battle was fought. The initials of each contributor are attached to this performance, but the names are given in full in the reprint of 1684 at London, which has an engraving, by Faithorne, of the brave hero of Lansdowne, who
The blank in the line, "Either a ——— or his Excellence," is here supplied by the word "traitor," a compliment certainly never intended for Cromwell, who was not the "great generall" at this time, but would seem rather to belong to the Earl of Essex or Sir William Waller. The various peculiarities that occur in different copies of Cartwright's Poems, 1651, have been noticed in Bliss's edition of Wood's Athenæ, under the Life of Cartwright. Of four copies in the British Museum, the Grenville copy is the only one which contains both the cancelled and uncancelled leaves.
MISCELLANIES.
[Many of our communications assume a form which render them very difficult to be classed under either of our customary divisions. We shall in future throw such papers together under this head.]
Oliver Cromwell's Birth.—As a pendant to the certificate of Cromwell's baptism, printed in No. 9., p. 136., it may be as well to lay before our readers the following entry of the time of his birth, which occurs in John Booker's Astrological Practice Book, Ashmole MS. 183., p. 373.:—"Oliver Cromwell born 25 Apl. 1599, about 3 o'clock A. M., at Huntington."
In another Ashmole MS. 332. 11 b., which is a collection of figures set by Ashmole himself, Oliver Cromwell's birth is assigned to 22nd April, 1599. The figure is designated by Ashmole, in a spirit very different from that of the annotator of the Baptismal Register, "Nativitas illa magna."
Another minute fact in the history of Cromwell is registered in the same MS. 332., fo. 105.: Oliver Cromwell "received the sword in Westminster Hall, 16th December, 1653, 2° 17′ P.M."
These facts are mentioned in Mr. Black's recent catalogue of the Ashmole MSS. pp. 142. 222.
The Lawyers' Patron Saint.—"And now because I am speakeing of Pettyfogers, give me leave to tell you a story I mett with when I lived in Rome. Goeing with a Romane to see some Antiquityes, he showed me a chapell dedicated to one St. Evona, a lawyer of Brittanie, who he said came to Rome to entreat the Pope to give the Lawyers of Brittanie a Patron, to which the Pope replied, That he knew of no Saint but what was disposed of to other Professions. At which Evona was very sad, and earnestly begd of the Pope to think of one for him. At last the Pope proposed to St. Evona that he should goe round the church of St. John de Latera blindfould, and after he had said so many Ave Marias, that the first Saint he layd hold of should be his Patron, which the good old Lawyer willingly undertook; and at the end of his Ave-Maryes he stopt at Saint Michels altar, where he layd hold of the Divell, under St. Michels feet, and cryd out, This is our Saint, let him be our Patron. So being unblindfolded, and seeing what a Patron he had chosen, he went to his lodgings so dejected, that in few moneths after he die'd, and coming to heaven's gates knockt hard. Whereupon St. Peter asked who it was that knockt so bouldly. He replyed, That he was St. Evona the Advocate. Away, away, said St. Peter; here is but one Advocate in heaven; here is no room for you Lawyers. O but, said St. Evona, I am that honest Lawyer who never tooke fees on both sides, or pleaded in a bad cause, nor did I ever set my Naibours together by the Eares, or lived by the sins of the people. Well then, said St. Peter, come in. This news comeing down to Rome, a witty Poet writ upon St. Evona's tomb these words:—
Advocat non Larron,
Haleluiah.'
"This story put me in mind of Ben Johnson goeing throw a church in Surry, seeing poore people weeping over a grave, asked one of the women why they wept. Oh, said shee, we have lost our pretious Lawyer, Justice Randall; he kept us all in peace, and always was so good as to keep us from goeing to law; the best man ever lived. Well, said Ben Johnson, I will send you an Epitaph to write upon his Tomb, which was—
Here lyes a Lawyer an honest man.'"
Carr's Remarks of the Government of the several Parts of Germanie, Denmark, &c. 24mo. Amsterdam, 1688, pp. 80-83.
TO DAVID COOK, A VIGILANT AND CIRCUMSPECT WATCHMAN OF WESTMINSTER, 1716.
(From the Latin of Vincent Bourne.)
Accept a poor poet's retributive lay;
For though only officially you, perhaps, bawl
"Good morrow, my masters and mistresses all,"
Yet while such kind wishes I constantly hear
For "A Merry Old Christmas and Happy New Year,"
I feel as if something was wanting from me,
So, Good morrow, good David, Good morrow to thee!
That divides the night watches, and heralds the day,
And old Time, of all thieves that are known the most sly,
Cannot even in cover of midnight slip by.
No, when darkness o'er all things its mantle has spread,
And e'en supperless poets have crept into bed,
Yourself, and your dog, and your horn-circled light,
Seem at home, and at ease, in the horrors of night.
To discharge their pot-valour on all whom they meet,
Are a terror to you—you'd esteem it good luck
To fall in with the Mohocks just running a muck,
And, whatever your brethren less loyal might do,
You'd "present the king's person"[1] for them to run through.
Pale ghosts might assemble to scare you in vain,
Or hobgoblins come forth from their roost in Cock Lane;
Nay, even the footpad, with bludgeon or knife,
Who demands from all others their "money or life,"
No sooner sees you than he takes to his heels,
And from your sacred person himself only steals.[2]
And fruit-bearing rustics are groping their way,
To "The Garden," through ancle-deep alley or street,
How urbanely you welcome each swain that you meet.
To all and to each you have something to say,
Sometimes more, never less, than a hearty "Good day."
How moonlight, and starlight, and clouds take their turns;
And your kindness most commonly adds to the debt,
By the news of fair weather, or frosty, or wet;
And while we lie dozing, well housed, dry, and warm,
Secure, and unconscious almost of the storm,
You endure its whole rage—you would scorn to retreat,
And own yourself beaten away from your beat.
Meantime as you wander through alley or lane
You enliven your round with some care-killing strain;
And if in rude numbers your song you should frame,
With thoughts rather homely, and rhymes somewhat lame,
You have little to fear—even critical spite
Gives some quarter at least to the songsters of night,
And when you, or the nightingale, warble your lays,
Those who listen at all are most likely to praise.
Each saint in due order of merit is placed;
But chiefly St. Crispin—let no honest muse
That mark of respect to St. Crispin refuse;
And never, oh never, his name be forgot
By the watch that has shoes, or the bard that has not.
Then after your pictures we come to your lines,
And here at the outset your loyalty shines.
To our monarch, as due, the first place you afford,
And for him, and his race, are all blessings implored.
Next come your "Good masters and mistresses all,"
Good enough, I presume, if they come at this call;
And can they do less, when but once in the year
(Though you call every hour) you care if they hear?
Then you give good advice to our maids and our men,
To be honest, and sober, and cleanly—and then
A few rules for the choice of a husband or wife,
With some hints for their subsequent conduct in life.
That whatever we wish for may fall to our shares,
You freely wish us—and I'd willingly learn
What good things we can wish to yourself in return.
Should you and your dog ever call at my door,
You'll be welcome, I promise you, nobody more.
May you call at a thousand each year that you live,
A shilling at least may each householder give;
May the "Merry Old Christmas" you wish us befal,
And yourself, and your dog, be the merriest of all!
Rufus.
Ballad-Makers and Legislators.—The aphorism inquired after by C.U.B.E.R. (p. 124.), is from Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun's very curious paper, entitled "An Account of a Conversation concerning a right Regulation of Governments,.... in a Letter to the Marquiss of Montrose, &c..... from London, the first of December, 1703. Edinburgh, printed in the year MDCCIV." But Fletcher does not give it as his own. After reporting a remark by Sir Christopher Musgrave, to the effect that even the poorer sort of both sexes in London were daily tempted to all manner of lewdness by infamous ballads sung in every corner of the streets, to which the Earl of Cromarty is made to reply, "One would think this last were of no great consequence," he adds: "I said, I knew a very wise man so much of Sir Christopher's sentiment, that he believed, if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation. And we find that most of the ancient legislators thought they could not well reform the manners of any city without the help of a lyric, and sometimes of a dramatic, poet. But in this city the dramatic poet, no less than the ballad-maker, has been almost wholly employed to corrupt the people, in which they have had most unspeakable and deplorable success."—Fletcher's
Political Works, 12mo., p. 266. Glasgow, 1749.
I stated this in the Penny Cyclopædia, vol. x. p. 310., some years ago. G. L. C.
J. S. furnishes us with a similar reference to Fletcher of Saltoun; as does also Melanion, who adds, "to whom does Fletcher allude?" I have, in a note-book, the following notice of Lord Wharton:—
"Lord Wharton used to boast that he effected a revolution which cost a monarch three crowns by a song [Lilliburlero]; but what bard has yet been able to uphold a tottering and decrepit state by the magic of his poesy?" —Note on Hudibras, Part I. Canto ii. line 399., in an edition, with notes by Grey and others; published by T. M'Lean. London, 1819.
I cannot say that I envy him the boast. Three crowns and ——— a song! Why, it's the line-of-battle ship and the teredo! the towering Falcon and the mousing Owl!
Ogilby's Britannia.—The frequent references by Macaulay, in his graphic History, to Ogilby's Britannia, have awakened public attention to this neglected but "noble description of Britain," as it is deservedly entitled by Bishop Nicholson; and in No.5. of your invaluable "Notes and Queries," a desire is expressed for the second volume of the edition of 1675. It will be sufficient to state that the work never proceeded beyond the first volume, although it was the intention of the author to have furnished views of English cities in Vol. II., and a topographical description of the whole kingdom in Vol. III. Bishop Nicholson, in his Historical Library, refers to an edition of the Britannia of 1612, which is manifestly an error, as the author at that time was barely twelve years of age; and in the Anecdotes of British Topography, allusion is made to an edition of 1674, which is doubtless a misquotation of the date. The subject is one of little interest, beyond the fact of correcting an error and satisfying a correspondent that (even in trivial matters) there are those who will gladly communicate information through these pages.
J. G.
A Mess.—Agreeably to the spirit of your motto, I have "made a note" of the following parallel passages:—
Biron. Guilty, my lord, guilty; I confess, I confess.
King. What?
Biron. That you three fools lacked me fool, to make up the mess;
He, he, and you, and you, my liege, and I,
Are pick-purses in love, and we deserve to die.
O! dismiss this audience, and I shall tell you more.
Dumain. Now the number is even.
Biron. True, true; we are four.
Love's Labour's Lost. Act. IV. Scene 3.
"Avarice is the mother; she bryngs forth bribe taking, and bribe-taking perverting of judgement there lackes a forth thinge to make upp the Messe."—Larimer's Fifth Sermon.
Robert Snow.
[Our correspondent furnishes the earliest instance yet recorded of a proverbial saying which Nares has explained in his Glossary, as arising from the custom of arranging the guests at dinners and great feasts in companies of four, which were called Messes, and were served together; from which the word Mess came to mean a set of four in a general way, in which sense it occurs in the title-page of a vocabulary published in London in 1617, "Janua linguarum quadrilinguis, or a Messe of tongues, Latine, English, French, and Spanish:" the editor of which, in his address to the English reader, says, there being already three languages he translated them into French "to make up the Messe."]
Coffee.—"1637. There came in my tyme to the College, Oxford, one Nathaniel Conopios, out of Greece. He was the first I ever saw drink coffee, which custom came not into England till thirty years after."—Evelyn's Diary.
To endeavour oneself.—P. C. S. S. begs leave to observe, in answer to the question of G. P. in the eighth number, that the use of the verb "endeavour" which G. P. cites, is also to be found in Shakspeare's Twelfth Night, Act IV. Sc. 2.:—
Malvolio, Malvolio, thy wits the Heavens restore! endeavour thyself to sleep, and leave thy vain bibble-babble."
Countess of Pembroke's Letter.—With reference to Mr. Cunningham's third query in your second number, I beg to refer him to p. 294. of Nicholson and Burn's History of Cumberland, 4to. London, 1727, and to Martin's History of Thetford, 4to. 1779 p. 292*, where he will find some allusion to the Countess Anne and Sir J. Williamson; and it is possible that the Original Letter from the Countess my be amongst the MSS. which Sir
J. Willimason gave to the Library of Queen's College, Oxford. The letter is quoted in Collins' Peerage, 5th edition, 1779, but The World was printed in 1768. J. B.
Peal of Bells.—I believe many persons are at a loss to know what is meant by a Peal; but I think, with the kind assistance of a ringing friend I am able to answer Mr. Gatty's question, published in your eighth number. The term is generally applied to any ringing of bells together, no matter whether of ten minutes or ten hours duration. Bells are first raised, either singly, or in peal (that is, in ringing order); they may then be set or not, as the ringers please, or rung in changes or round ringing, and then ceased by setting or falling, and then would end a peal in common parlance. But the term is known and used by all scientific ringers for a performance of above 5000 changes; any portion of changes under that number is called either a short or long touch, in some places a piece of ringing, by others a flourish on the bells, &c.
While on the subject of bells, I beg leave to ask your correspondent "Cephas" whether the ringing he speaks of in his letter as being so common in his locality in this month of December, is generally known by the name he gives it—Advent Bells? H. T. Ellacombe.
Dowts of Holy Scripture.—The book of the Dowts of Holy Scryptur, concerning which Buriensis has asked for information, seems to have been a copy of the 'Liber Quæstionum Veteris et Novi Testamenti, formerly ascribed to S. Augustin. R. G.
Weeping Crosse.—Can any of your correspondents explain the origin of the figure contained in the following passage, or refer me to a similar use of it? It occurs in Florio's Translation of Montaigne, book iii. ch. 5.
"Few men have wedded their sweethearts, their paramours, or mistresses, but have come home by Weeping Crosse, and ere long repented their bargain."
G. H. B.
[Nares tells us, on the authority of Howell's English Proverbs, p. 36.—
"He that goes out with often losse,
At last comes home by Weeping Crosse,"
that to return by Weeping Cross was a proverbial expression for deeply lamenting an undertaking, founded on a quibbling allusion to certain places so designated, where penitents are supposed formerly to have more particularly offered their devotions. There remain three places which still bear the name of Weeping Cross; one between Oxford and Banbury, another very near Stafford, where the road turns off to Walsall, and a third near Shrewsbury.]
QUERIES.
THE BOOK OF THE MOUSETRAP.
Query for the Curators of the Bodleian.
In that very singular and caustic book Il Vocabolario Cateriniano of Girolamo Gigli (which was suppressed by a papal bull, and the author banished forty miles from Rome by a decree of the pope, dated the 21st August, 1717), at fo. cciij. is the following curious passage:—
"The Florentines have, better than the inhabitants of the other Tuscan provinces, widely spread their idiom by means of commerce. . . . And to this purpose I remember to have read (but, from the treachery of my memory, for the moment I know not where) that, for the propagation of Florentine writings, the cheese-merchants of Lucardo kept in their pay many writers to copy the best authors of the best age, and with these enveloped their buttery bantlings[1], in order that in the ports of the east and of the north, wherever such merchandize was marketable, the milk of the Florentine cows and that of the Florentine Muses might gain credit together. And this is so true, that at Oxford, in the celebrated Bodleian Library, is still preserved a Dante, correctly copied from the first MS. text, which had been used carefully to envelope a consignment of cheese at the time when the Bardi were merchants in England. It was known as the Lucardian Dante. The keepers of the great library, kept always beside it two mousetraps, on account of the persecution of this Cheesy Codex by the mice, so that at length it was called, in English, the Book of the Mousetrap."
Now quere? is there any tradition in the Bodleian respecting this Mousetrap Dante? and does it still retain its cheesy flavour, so as to require the protection of a trap if still there? I know, to my cost, that hungry mice find unctuous hogskin binding very attractive, and, when hardly pressed for subsistence, will feed upon parchment or vellum, whether cheesy or not. Aretino's profane exclamation,—
"Guardatemi da' topi or che son unto,"
might have been the invocation of many a well-thumbed greasy volume.
Periergus Bibliophilus.
- ↑ Bambolini Burrati.
WAS THE LACEDÆMONIAN BLACK BROTH BLACK?
With reference, rather than in reply to, your correspondent "R. O.'s" speculations upon coffee, permit me to put a Query, which may, perhaps, surprise both him and you—whether the Lacedæmonian black broth was black? because, if this can be shown to be questionable, the notion of its being mixed with coffee falls to the ground of course.
The phrase is ζωμὸς μέλας; ζωμὸς being the liquid produced from any meat or edible substance cut in pieces, and boiled or stewed with water over the fire, so that it may signify gravy, as well as broth. We find also that called white, ζωμὸς λενκὸς, supposed to be made from or for eels, a favourite dish with the Athenians.
What the Lacedæmonian diet was, we gather from the amusing gossip of Athenæus, and therein something, en passant, of the composition of their ζωμὸς. Whether any better cookery book exists, I know not. The passage is to be found in book iv. chapter xix., and the following translation is offered with much diffidence, from some difficulties in the original not affecting the question of the ζωμός:—
"With regard to the meal called pheiditia (spare-meals), Dicæarchus gives the following account, in the work called Tripoliticus:—'In the first place, the meal is laid for each person separately, without reference to the others; he has a cake as large as he will, and a full cup is placed by him, to repeat his draught as often as he pleases; on all occasions the meat given to all is the same swine's flesh, boiled; and sometimes nothing at all but a little bit of meat, weighing as nearly as possible a quarter of a pound; and nothing more at all except the liquor (or gravy) from these rations (ὁ ἀπὸ τούτων ζωμὸς), which is sufficient in quantity to supply all the company through the whole meal. If there is any thing more than this, it is an olive, a bit of cheese, or a fig, or any thing that may happen to be given to them, as a fish, a hare, a pigeon, or any thing of this sort.'"
From this passage it would appear that the ζωμὸς is the liquor in which the meat had been boiled; and this being generally the flesh of swine (a phrase I use advisedly, as there is no hint of its having been salted), the produce must have been more than sufficiently disagreeable to those not accustomed to it. Monsieur Soyer himself could hardly have used such stock either for soupe maigre, or in his cookery for the poor, though it may have been strong, and therefore dark in colour, whence the epithet. But I am sure your correspondent "R. O." will agree with me, that, if to such a decoction coffee were added, it would form a composition de diable, against which, in an equal degree, ancient and modern stomachs would rebel, which would resemble nothing ever heard of before but Don Quixote's balsam of Fierabrass. There is said to be something on the "black broth" in Pollux, lib. vi.; but that book I have not at hand at present. W.
REHETING—REHETOURS—WHAT DO THESE WORDS MEAN?
Dear Sir,—In the Glossary at the end of Tyrwhitt's edit, of the Canterbury Tales of Chaucer, there are the following remarks under the words Rehete as a verb, and Reheting as a noun substantive:—
"Rehete v. Fr. Rehaiter. To revive, to cheer. R." [i. e. Romaunt of the Rose] "6509. Reheting. n. T." [i e. Troilus and Creseide] "iii. 350. according to several MSS., And all the reheting of his sikes sore. Some MSS. and most of the printed editions read Richesse instead of Reheting. Gloss. Ur. Richesse, though almost as awkward an expression as the other, is more agreeable to the corresponding passage in the Filostrato:—
'E sospir chegli avea a gran dovicia,'
and one can hardly conceive that it could come from any hand but that of the author. I can make no sense of reheting: but at the same time I must allow that it is not likely to have been inserted by way of a gloss."
I have met with the word Rehetour in the following passages of Wycliffe's writings; I quote them in the hope that some of your learned readers may be able to throw light on the origin and meaning of the word. In the treatise Of the Chirche and hir Membris, Wycliffe, speaking of the new orders of monks and friars, says:—
"Who may denye that ne this noumbre of thes officeris is now to myche, & so this stiward" [viz. the Pope] "hath chargid this hous" [i.e. the Church] "with newe rehetours to harm of it; and sith Poul techith in bileve that thei shulden not be charious to the chirche, it semith bi good resoun, that this stiward passith his power, and failith in governaunce of the chirche, agen the reule that Crist hath taugt, & so he is not Cristis stiward, but stiward of anticrist. What man can not se that a stiward of an erthli lorde, whanne many servaunts don amys, holdith hem stille, & bryngith inne new that don worse bi a litil tyme, failith foule in his offiss, & so servauntis upon servauntis weren charious to this hous, & if her first offiss was good, & this is now al, other the chaunging of these rehetours shulde do harm to this hous: and thus it stondith in the chirch, of thes new servauntes that ben brout inne, & newe lawes ben made to hem, & newe customs that thei bringen inne," &c.
Again, in another part of the same tract, still alluding to the same subject, he says:—
"Lord what stiward wer he that wolde ordeyne newe rehetours to ete mennes mete, & do hem harm azens Crist's ordenaunce."
Here the word Rehetour seems to be used in the sense of a person dependent on or chargeable to a great man's house or family. But its exact meaning and origin etymologically I do not know, and would be very thankful to any of your readers who would inform me.
The Complement to the Dictionary of the French has the word Rehaitier, which it marks as obsolete, and explains "Encourager, Reprendre de la force, de l'audace." This, however, throws no light on the word as used by Wycliffe and Chaucer.
The word appears to have been in use in Scotland; and Jamieson, in his Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, gives the following instances of its use, but throws no additional light on its etymology or real meaning:—
"Rehatoure, Rehator, s.
'Now lat that ilk rehatoure wend in hy,
The blak hellis biggingis to vesy,
Vnder the drery depe flude Acheron.'
Doug. Virgil, 467. 53.
"Improbus, Maffei.
"Rudd conjectures that it signifies, 'mortal enemy,' from Fr. rehair, to hate extremely. Dunbar uses the phrase 'bawd rehator,' Evergreen, ii. 60.; and Kennedy in his reply, 'ranegald rehator,' ibid. p. 68.
"Conjecture might supply various sources of derivation: as Ital. rihauúta, revenge; regattare, to contend, to put every thing in disorder; reatura, guilt. But both the determinate sense and etymology are uncertain.
"To Rehete, v. a. To revive, to cheer.
'With kynde countenance the renk couth thame rehete.'—Gawan and Gol. iv. 13.
"Chaucer, id. Fr. rehait-er.
Mr. Halliwell, in his Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, &c. gives the following explanations of Rehete and Reheting:—
"Rehete. (1.) To revive; to cheer; to encourage. (A. N.) 'Him would I comforte and rehete.' Rom. Rose, 6509.
'Thane the conquer our kyndly carpede to those lordes,
Rehetede the Romaynes with realle speche.'
Morte Arthure, MS. Lincoln, f. 55.
"(2.) To persecute. (A. S.)
"Reheting. Burning; smarting." (A. S.)}}
Without stopping to inquire how the same word can signify revive, cheer, mortal enemy, encourage, persecute, burning, smarting, I think it must be admitted that the passages I have quoted from Wycliffe's Treatise on the Church are not explained by any of the foregoing attempts to discover the etymology and meaning of the word in question.
As I hope shortly to bring out the treatise referred to, along with two other tracts by Wycliffe, which have never yet been printed, I shall feel greatly obliged to any of your readers who will kindly supply me with the information I seek for in this communication. J. H. Todd.
MINOR QUERIES.
Ancient Motto.—Can any one tell me in what author may be found this motto, "Nullis fraus tuta latebris"? B.
Ordination Pledges.—Is there any book, either a standard work or a modern manual, which gives a complete list of all the oaths, subscriptions, and declarations, which are required of the clergy at their several ordinations and appointments? Clericus.
[As we presume Clericus is acquainted with Hodgson's Instructions for the Use of Candidates for Holy Orders, we insert his query in the hopes that some of our correspondents will furnish Clericus with the further information he requires.]
M. Scutters "Atlas Novus."—I shall feel obliged by you, or any "to whom these presents shall come," affording me some information respecting a work and its author, of which no mention is made in any bibliographical or biographical work which I have consulted.
The book is in two enormous folio volumes, without any printed title, date, place, or publisher's name; but in the elaborately engraved frontispiece, which serves as a title, is inserted "Atlas Novus, sive Tabulae Geographicæ, totius Orbis faciem, partes, imperio, regna et provincias exhibentes, exactissiina cura juxta recentissimas observationes aeri incisae et venuin expositae à Matthaeo Scutter, Sac. Cæs. Majest. Geogr. Augustæ Vindelicorum." It contains 385 maps, plans of cities, fortifications, views of buildings, costumes, and genealogical tables, chronological notices of popes, kings, &c., carefully coloured; and apparently published after 1744. It is, in every point of view, a most curious and valuable publication; and I am surprised to find no notice of it in any book to which I have referred. W. B. D. D. Turnbull.
Miss Warneford and Mr. Cresswell.—In the reign of Queen Anne or George I. there was living in or about Soho Square a lady of considerable fortune, a Miss Warneford; a Mr. Cresswell sought to make her his wife. A pamphlet was published at the time giving a full account of the affair. Can any gentleman favour me with the correct title and date of it?
B.
Beaufoys Ringers True Guide.—A tract was published in 1804 (12mo. p. 24.), entitled The Ringers' True Guide, by S. Beaufoy. Does any reader possess a copy or know where one may be seen, or who was the publisher?
B.
Hordys—Gold Florens—Kilkenny.—In that most curious volume, published by the Camden Society in 1843, viz., Proceedings against Dame Alice Kyteler, prosecuted for Sorcery in 1324, by Richard de Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory, p. 14., the bishop appears in court before Arnold Le Poer, Seneschal of Kilkenny, with the consecrated host in his hands, whereon the seneschal irreverently commands him to be placed at the bar, "cum suo hordys quern port at in manibus." I have not been able to find the word hordys in any dictionary or glossary to which I have access. Can you, or any of your correspondents, help me with an explanation of the word? The editor, Mr. Wright, takes no notice of it.
At p. 29. of the same work florens of gold are mentioned. Query, was such a coin in circulation in England or Ireland about 1324?
Mr. Wright says, there can be no doubt that this is a contemporary narrative of the affair. Query, if so, why does the writer term Kilkenny a city, "in civitate Kilkenniæ," page 1.? Kilkenny was not raised to the dignity of a city till the reign of James I., 1609. In all authentic documents previous to that date the style "Villa Kilkenniæ" is used. J. G.
Germain's Lips.—Can any of your correspondents state the origin of the proverb, "As just as Germain's lips"? It occurs in Calfhill's Answer to Martiall, p. 345. ed. Parker Soc. In the Sermons and Remains of Bishop Latimer, published by the same society (p. 425.), this phrase is thus extended:—"Even as just as Germain's lips, which came not together by nine mile, ut vulgo dicunt." Is it possible that the following words of Bishop Barlow can be a various reading or corruption of the saying? "Now heere the Censurer makes an Almaine leape, skipping 3 whole pages together."—Answer to a Catholike Englishman, p. 231., Lond. 1609.
R. G.
[Ben Jonson, in his Devil is an Ass, speaks of
"And take his Almain-leap into a custard;"
which is explained by the commentators as a "dancing leap." "Germain's lips" is, as it seems to us, a phrase quite unconnected with it.]
Sir Walter de Bitton.—Sir Walter de Bitton is said by Burke in his Commoners, vol. iv. p. 120., to have been knighted by Henry III. I shall be much obliged to any gentleman who may be able to give a reference to authority for such a fact, or to any notices respecting the said Sir Walter. The date of his death is given 1227.
B.
A Fool or a Physician.—Can any of your readers inform me who first had the hardihood to enunciate, as his own, the proposition, that "After the age of thirty, a man is either a fool or a physician?" I believe that we owe that saying, as well as the beautiful, though now sadly hackneyed, metaphor of "the parasitical adoration of the rising, and contempt of the setting sun," the one to the shrewd observation, the other to the fancy, of the same mind—that of the imperial Macchiavel, Tiberius—"Let us render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's."—See Tacit. Ann. 6.
C. Forbes.
Temple, Dec. 24. 1849.
Caerphili Castle—The use of the Samolus and Selago by the Druids.—Can any Welsh scholar inform me of the derivation of the name of Caerphili Castle, near Cardiff? This is the Welsh spelling of it; in English it is generally spelt Caerphilly. I have seen a derivation of it from Caer-phûli, the Castle of Haste; but is there such a word as phûli, or rather pûli, in Welsh? Cliffe, in his Book of South Wales, follows a Mr. Clarke, in deriving it from Caer-Pwll, the Castle of the Pool; but this does not seem satisfactory. Is any thing known of the early history of this castle? Mr. Cliffe says, "Daines Barrington, in an essay published seventy or eighty years ago, attributed the erection of the present structure to Edward I. merely because it had been recorded that that monarch had passed through South Wales; but there is no reason to doubt, after an examination of authorities, that Gilbert de Clare, the last but one of that name, was the founder,
circa 1270." What authority has he for saying this?
I should also be glad of any information as to the manner in which the plants Samolus and Selago were used in the Druidic mysteries. Pwcca.
Father—when did Clergymen cease to be so called?—Laicus desires to be informed at about what period the clergy of the Church of England discontinued the appellation of Father; whether it was done at once, by some resolution, or other measure, or did it gradually fall into disuse?
Queries in Church History.—"S. of M." wishes to be informed at what date (as nearly as can be determined) the Bishop of Rome was acknowledged Supreme Head of the Catholic Church; and the most authentic History of the Church from the 1st to the 10th century?
[The Editor has great pleasure in promoting such inquiries as the above, and in inserting Queries tending to promote them; but, with a view to the replies, he ventures to suggest that where a question involves the settlement of a good many disputed points, the best answer would be a concise statement of the opinions which have been held by those who have discussed such points at large, and a reference to their works. He would be very glad to have all the disputed facts of history discussed at full length in his columns, but it is obvious that their narrow limits render this impossible.]
Colinæus.—In a copy of Horace (1539), and of Valerius Flaccus (1532), both bearing the name of Colinæus, I find a slight difference in the device and motto on the title-page. In the Valerius Flaccus the motto is, "Hanc aciem sola retundit virtus," and is written on a scroll coming from the mouth of Time; while in the Horace, the motto is "Virtus sola aciem retundit istam," and is placed on a tablet below the figure.
I wish to inquire if this difference could warrant a doubt as to the authenticity of either; and secondly, whether anything is known of the origin of that motto? G. H. B.
Ballad on Jemmy Dawson.—In the European Magazine for January, 1801, is a paper on the origin of Shenstone's ballad of Jemmy Dawson, in which the writer says,—
"A ballad is said to have been cried about the streets different from Shenstone's, which we should be glad to see, if it is in existence."
Does any of your readers know any thing about it?
In the April number of the same volume is a ballad commencing,—
"Blow ye bleak winds around my head,"
which is there said to have been the origin of Shenstone's ballad, but it is not the one cried about the streets. The latter was set to music by Dr. Arne, and printed in the first part of his Lyric Harmony. Edward F. Rimbault.
Defoe's Tour through Great Britain—Etymology of Armagh.—In your sixth number some extracts are given "from a once popular, but now forgotten work," A Tour through Great Britain, by a Gentleman, 1724. I have an edition of it dated 1753, which was sent me by a respectable London bookseller as one of the works of Defoe. Can you or any of your friends inform me whether it is really to be attributed to that writer?
Perhaps also one of your philological correspondents, acquainted with the Gaelic or Celtic language, might favour me with his opinion as to the etymology and meaning, if any, of Armagh in Ireland. D. S. Y.
Master of the Revels.—The list of Masters of the Revells, communicated by Dr. Rimbault in your last number, p. 143., does not answer a Query, which I entertained some months ago, with reference to the following passage from the Common-place Book of Charles, Duke of Dorset (the poet), printed in the Gentleman's Magazine for January, 1849:—
"Master of the Revells.—Sir Henry Herbert, in a tryal he had with my father to prove the antiquity of the Master of the Revells office, produced a very old man, who deposed that a long time since a smal company of players represented a cobler and his daughters upon the stage; the cobler complained in the Star Chamber; the Master of the Revells, for licencing this, was fined, and put out of his office, and the players whipped. This I had from Mr. C. K. M. R. and T. S."—(Brit. Museum, Harl. MS.)
Of these initials, I imagine M. R. to stand for Master of the Revells. Can any of your correspondents say whether I am right?—explain who Mr. C. K. was?—or continue the catalogue of the Masters of the Revells from Sir Henry Herbert downwards? J. G. N.
NOTES ON BOOKS, CATALOGUES, SALES, ETC.
The Alfred Committee have issued their proposals for a "Jubilee Edition of the complete Works of King Alfred the Great," to be published by subscription, in four volumes, imperial 8vo., price three guineas. They are to be accompanied by introductory essays, notes, illustrations, and an English translation, which will be furnished by the following well-known scholars:—Messrs. Akerman, Britton, Cardale, Kemble, Thorpe, Tupper, Wright, Rev. J. Erie, S. Fox, Rev. Drs. Bosworth, Giles, and Pauli.
We have received from J. Miller, of 43. Chandos Street, his December Catalogue of "Capital Second-hand Books in every Department of Literature," all recently purchased; and also from Bernard Quarritch, of 16. Castle Street, Leicester Square, his twelfth Catalogue, containing some curious articles in Heraldry, Genealogy, British and Foreign History, and Antiquities, Fine Arts, &c.
Messrs. L. Sotheby and Co., of Wellington Street, commence their bibliopolic campaign on Monday next, with the sale of the valuable library of a gentleman deceased, which contains fine sets of the Chronicles of Holinshed, Grafton, Hall, &c.; the Archæologia, in 34 vols., Grose's Antiquities, and other works of the same character. This sale will occupy three days. On Thursday and the two following days they will be occupied with the sale of the valuable library of the lute John Poynder, Esq., of South Lambeth, comprising most of the best editions of English history and theology; the collected works of the English poets and dramatists, including the First Four Editions of Shakspeare. Of these we may remark, that the copy of the Second Edition is the only one seen by Malone or Boaden with the name of Apsley in the imprint. Many of the books are illustrated with autograph letters and notes of distinguished authors. Many contain, also, autographs of learned men, through whose collections the volumes have passed. Among the latter, by far the most interesting is a copy of Aratus, of the edition printed at Paris in 1519, 4to., which formerly belonged to the author of Paradise Lost, who has written on the fly-leaf—
"Jo. Milton, pre. 2s. 6d. 1631;"
and, on the title-page, the pentameter—
"Cum sole et luna semp' Aratus erit."
The volume is also enriched with the poet's autograph corrections and emendations, and a few others by Upton, the learned editor of Epictetus.
There is scarcely a query in literary and political history which has more completely baffled those who have endeavoured to solve it than the authorship of Junius. The subject is one which still excites great curiosity, and Mr. Bohn has no doubt done wisely in including in his Standard Library "Junius's Letters, with all the Notes of Woodfall's Edition, and important Additions." The first volume contains the Original Letters complete; a second will contain the Illustrations, and conclude the work.
Mr. J. G. Bell, of 10. Bedford Street, Covent Garden, has just issued—
"Biblioteca Splendidissima, a Catalogue of Valuable and Interesting Books, mostly enriched with extra Prints, Autographs, Manuscripts, &c., with an amazing gathering of Prints, Newspaper Cuttings, and Collections, and a Choice List of Autographs and Autograph Letters."
Mr. Brown, of 130 and 131. Old Street, St. Luke's, has just issued—
"A Catalogue of English Theological Books, Ancient and Modern, now forming a small portion of his Stock."
Mr. Oliver Lasbury, of 10. Park Street, Bristol, the successor of Mr. Strong, has also put forth—
"A Catalogue of Useful and Valuable Books of every description, including Selections from the Library of S. H. Smyth Pigott, Esq., Brockley Hall, Rev. F. Lyte, and many other Collections recently dispersed."
BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES
WANTED TO PURCHASE.
(In continuation of Lists in former Nos.)
- Arnold's Life. 2 vols.
- Arthur Young's Tour in the North of England.
- Select Letters of Cicero. Edited by Sturtnius.
Odd Volumes.
- Robertson's Works. With Life by Lynam. 8vo. London, 1826. Vol. I.
- Cooper's (C. P.) Account of the Public Records. 8vo. 1832. Vol. I.
⁂ Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, carriage free, to be sent to Mr. Bell, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
1, 2, 3 and 4. have been reprinted, so that our Subscribers have now an opportunity of completing their Sets.
Communications received.—D. S. Y.———B.———H. J. M.———One that intends,&c.———J. G.———C. H. C.———Ceredwyn.———Pwcca.———C. P. F.———W. J Brown.——— Naso.———Roydon.———J. H. M.———ם א———S. A. M.———A. T. (Bath).———C. B.———A. G.———Q. D.———W. J. (with thanks).———R. J. S.———E. V.———R. H.———Alpha.———H. L. B.
S. L. will no doubt find the information he desires respecting the several London Charities named in his communication in Mr. Sampson Low's valuable little History of the Charitable Institutions of the Metropolis, of which a new edition is, we believe, on the eve of publication.
We have again to explain to correspondents who inquire as to the mode of procuring "Notes and Queries," that every bookseller and newsman will supply it, if ordered, and that gentlemen residing in the country may be supplied regularly with the Stamped Edition, by giving their orders direct to the publisher, Mr. George Bell, 186. Fleet Street, accompanied by a Post Office order for a Quarter (4s. 4d.).
A neat Case for holding the Numbers of "Notes and Queries" until the completion of each volume, is now ready, price 1s. 6d., and may he had, by Order, of all Booksellers and Newsmen.
The interesting and valuable Library of the late John Poynder,
Esq., of South Lambeth.
MESSRS. S. LEIGH SOTHEBY and Co., Auctioneers of Literary Property and Works illustrative of the Fine Arts, will SELL by AUCTION, by order of the Executor at their House, Wellington Street, Strand on Thursday, January 10th, and two following days, the valuable LIBRARY of the late John Poynder, Esq., of South Lambeth, in which are the first four editions of the collected Works of Shakspeare, of which the first and excessively rare edition is an unusually tall copy. The Library is rich in the best editions of English History and Theology, Works of the English Poets and Dramatists, and in general English Literature. It also contains a great many volumes rendered remarkable on account of their being illustrated with the autograph annotations of distinguished authors, or having therein the autographs of learned men, through whose collections the volumes have passed. Among these is one of peculiar interest, as bearing the autograph and notes by the illustrious John Milton.
To be viewed Two Days prior, and Catalogues had at the place of sale.
THE CAMDEN SOCIETY FOR THE PUBLICATION OF EARLY HISTORICAL AND LITERARY REMAINS.
I.
INEDITED LETTERS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH AND KING JAMES VI. From the Originals in the possession of the Rev. Edward Ryder, of Oaksey, Wilts, and from a MS. formerly belonging to Sir P. Thompson. Edited by John Bruce, Esq., Treas. S.A.
II.
THE CHRONICLE OF THE ABBEY OF PETERBOROUGH; from a MS. in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries. Edited by Thomas Stapleton, Esq., F.S.A.
These are to be followed by
III.
THE CHRONICLE OF QUEEN JANE and of Two Years of Queen Mary. Edited by J. G. Nichols, Esq., F.S.A. (nearly ready).
IV.
WALTER MAPES' "DE NUGIS CURIALIUM;" a Treatise on the Political Affairs of his Times, written in 1181. Edited by Thomas Wright, Esq., M.A. (nearly ready).
William J. Thoms, Secretary.
Applications from Members who have not received their copies may be made to Messrs. Nichols, 25. Parliament Street, Westminster, from whom Prospectuses of the Society (the annual subscription to which is 1l.) may be obtained, and to whose care all communications for the Secretary should be addressed.
BOOK CATALOGUES.—W. Brown has just published his English Theological Catalogue for January, containing many valuable and scarce books, in good condition. It will be sent post free on receipt of four postage stamps.
W. Brown's Scientific Catalogue is also on the eve of publication. Gentlemen wishing to have it as soon as published, will be good enough to send their address, and enclose four postage stamps to prepay it.
Beside the works contained in these Catalogues, W. Brown begs to inform book-buyers generally, that he has the largest stock of second-hand books on sale in the world, and will be glad to give a "Note" in answer to any "Query" at any time.
London: W. Brown, 130 and 131. Old Street.
THE SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY—THE CHANDOS PORTRAIT.—The Engraving from the Chandos Portrait of Shakespeare, by Mr. Cousins, A.R.A., is now ready for delivery to Subscribers who have paid their Annual Subscription of 1l. for the years 1848 and 1849. Members in arrear or persons desirous to become members, are requested to forward their subscriptions to the Agent, Mr. Skeffington Bookseller, 192. Piccadilly, immediately, in order that the limited number of Prints may be delivered previously to the obliteration of the plate.
By order of the Council, F. G. Tomlins, Secretary.
Illustrated with numerous Woodcuts, 8vo., 10s. 6d.
THE PRIMEVAL ANTIQUITIES OF
DENMARK.
By J. J. A. Worsaae, M.R.S.A., of Copenhagen.
Translated and applied to the Illustration of similar Remains in England; by William J. Thoms, Esq., F.S.A., Secretary of the Camden Society.
John Henry Parker, Oxford, and 377. Strand, London.
GOTHIC ORNAMENTS: being A Series of Examples of Enriched Details and Accessories of the Architecture of Great Britain. Drawn from existing Authorities. By James K. Colling, Architect.
The particular object of this work is "to exhibit such a number of examples of foliage and other ornamental details of the different styles as clearly to elucidate the characteristic features peculiar to each period; and drawn sufficiently large in scale to be practically useful in facilitating the labours of the Architect and Artist."
The first volume consists of 104 plates, 19 of which are highly finished in colours. The second volume, which will complete the work, is now in progress, and will be finished during 1850.
2 vols. fcap. 8vo., with 240 Figures, price 9s.
ON THE HISTORY AND ART OF WARMING AND VENTILATING Rooms and Buildings by Open Fires, Hypocausts, German, Dutch, Russia, and Swedish Stoves, Steam, Hot Water, Heated Air, Heat of Animals, and other methods; with Notices of the Progress of Personal and Fireside Comfort, and of the Management of Fuel. By Walter Bernan, Civil Engineer.
"Since Stuart's 'Anecdotes of the Steam Engine,' there has been no such bit of delicious mechanical gossip as this little book of Mr. Bernan. . . . For six months or more every year, we must depend much more on the resources of science and the practical arts for our health and comfort, than on the natural climate; in short, we must create our own climate. To help us to the means of doing this appears to be one of the objects of these little volumes, in which, as we have shown, are collected a multitude of expedients of all times and nations, collected with research, selected with judgment, and skilfully arranged and described. The interest with which one reads is sustained and continuous, and you devour a two-volume inventory of stoves, grates, and ovens, with the voracity of a parish school-boy, and then ask for more"—The Athenæum.
Nearly ready, 8vo., with etched Frontispiece, by Wehnert, and
Eight Engravings,
SABRINAE COROLLA: a Volume of Classical Translations with original Compositions contributed by Gentlemen educated at Shrewsbury School.
Among the Contributors are the Head Masters of Shrewsbury, Stamford, Repton, and Birmingham Schools; Andrew Lawson, Esq., late M.P.; the Rev. R. Shilleto, Cambridge; the Rev. T. S. Evans, Rugby; J. Riddell, Esq., Fellow of Haliol College, Oxford; the Kev. E. M. Cope, H. J. Hodgson, Esq., H. A. J. Munro, Esq., W. G. Clark, Esq., Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, and many other distinguished Scholars from both Universities.
This Work is edited by three of the principal Contributors.
George Bell, 186. Fleet Street.