292
NOTES AND QUERIES. m a i. A. 9, 1910.
' THE LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN, S A
POEM (11 S. i. 226). In The Contemporary
Review, April, 1884, pp. 513-23, appeared
' The Ballad of the Midnight Sun, 1883,* by
Harriet Eleanor Hamilton King (Mrs.
Hamilton King). The first stanza reads :
The still white coast at Midsummer,
Beside the still white sea, Lay low and smooth and shining
In this year eighty-three ; The sun was in the very North,
Strange to see.
This evidently is the poem required.
W. SCOTT.
THE "PRINCE FRED" SATIRE (11 S. i. 148). At p. 79, vol. i. of ' A Collection of Epitaphs and Monumental Inscriptions, l published 1806, will be found the following:
In the churchyard of Storrington, in the county of
Sussex.
Here lies the body of Edward Hide ; We laid him here because he died.
We had rather
It had been his father.
If it had been his sister,
We should not have miss'd her.
But since 'tis honest Ned
No more shall be said.
A correspondent at 2 S. x. 2, in a foot-note, printed the lines quoted by Thackeray, and stated that they were written by a Jacobite.
At 3 S. v. 258 it is said that Prof. Smyth in his ' Lectures on Modern History ' calls the satire on Prince Fred a good version of a French epigram ; and at p. 386 of the same volume an epigram, " Colas est mort de maladie," is quoted from ' Les Epigrammes de Jean Ogier Gombauld,* 1658.
R. J. FYNMORE.
The form of the satire may be French in origin. It was certainly used in France in the eighteenth century. If my memory is accurate an epigram of this nature is given in the correspondence of Madame du Deffand with the Duchess of Choiseul, the Abbe Barthelemy, and M. Cranfurt. T. T.
I have somewhere read that this satire on Prince Fred was written by Miss Hollo, a sister or daughter of the then Lord Hollo.
M. N. G.
BECKET' s PERSONAL HABITS (11 S. i. 147). See the contemporary Life by Edward Grim, in ' Vita S. Thomae,' ed. Giles, Oxon, 1845, vol. i. p. 82. Here the body is described as " vermiculis scaturiens. n See also ' Passio Quarta,' in vol. ii. of the same, p. 161, where again the vermin are described as v&rmiculi. The term would rather suggest
the larvae of common flies, which are some-
times found about neglected sores ; but
most likely it here denotes what are known
as "body-lice," which would be sure to
abound under hair-cloth that was seldom
changed. It is mentioned to the saint's
credit that when he was at Pontigny he
wore sackcloth next his skin, and was over-
run with lice. The sackcloth was changed
but once every forty days, ' ' pur vers et pur
suur " for worms and sweat (B. Gouk.,
29 Dec., p. 369, referring to Guerner de Pont
S. Max.rce). J. T. F.
Durham.
The original authority for the condensed statement quoted is the contemporary biography of Becket by Edward Grim. See the text in J. C. Robertson's ' Materials for the History of Becket l in " The Master of the Rolls " series, ii. 442 ; see too Robert- son's ' Life of Becket J (1859), p. 30, note b.
W. A. B. COOLIDGE.
In ' Historical Memorials of Canterbury * (pp. 99, 100) Dean Stanley gives a vivid account of the disrobing of the martyred archbishop. He relates the discovery of the haircloth and its habitants, and quotes the admiring " See, see what a true monk he was, and we knew it not ! " He cites various authorities. ST. SWITHIN.
Becket's partiality for beer, whisky (?), and wine was far more venial. Was the whole- some drink, ' ' bright and clear, of vinous colour and superior taste,' 1 contained in iron-bound casks, whisky or beer ? Fitz Stephen says that it was a decoction made from the strength of corn, therefore probably beer. When Becket was leaving France the King (Louis) said to the Archbishop : " Stay with us, and the wine and wealth of France shall be at your disposal." R. B.
Upton.
[THE REV. F. JAERATT, THE REV. L. PHILLIPS, MR. ALAN STEWART, and G. H. W. also thanked for replies. ]
" SPINNEY" (11 S. i. 145, 257). It is im- possible to derive spinney from the Latin spinetum directly, because in that case the t would have been preserved. The loss of t proves the French origin at once ; compare valley, volley, chimney, money, journey, tourney, attorney, covey all with the characteristic French -ey. It is odd that such an elementary fact should still remain unknown. Spinney is common in twenty- six dialects, including Yorkshire.
WALTER W, SKEAT.
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