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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. XL MARCH 28, 100.3.
ZODIAC (9 th S. xi. 188). There is no lack
either of theories or books. Many useful
notes are supplied in the late Mr. James
Fowler's paper in Archceologia, xliv. 137-224.
Miss Rolleston's ' Mazzaroth ' and the volumes
by Mr. Robert Brown may be consulted. Many
pages of 'N. & Q.' could easily be filled with
references alone. W. C. B.
LUCK MONEY (9 th S. xi. 127, 196). On 5 April, 1895, little, ragged, barefooted, hand- some boys ran after the carriages on the way up and down Vesuvius, scrambling for small coins. When a boy secured one he first spat on it for luck, and then cut capers and exhibited the wildest delight. I think it must be quite a common practice.
J. T. F. Durham.
SIR SIMONDS D'EwEs's PORTRAIT OF SIR R. COTTON (9 th S. xi. 167). I have lately heard of two portraits of persons connected with the Cotton family, and I report them in case MR. CLARENCE or any one else may like to know of them. One is labelled "Eliz. Stuart Cotton Daug tr of Sir Jno. Cotton Wife of Thos. Bowdler Nat. 1717 Ob. 1796," and the other "Henrietta Maria Bowdler Nat. 1707 Ob. 1778." GEO. SEABORNE.
Hengoed, near Cardiff.
"THOU UNRELENTING PAST" (9 th S. xi. 188).
In reply to MR. J. P. CARR, the verses quoted are to be found in the works of the American poet William Cullen Bryant (A.D. 1794-1878), who was for fifty years editor of the New York Evening Post. Messrs. Routledge & Sons publish a good edition, with a memoir of the author by R, H. Stoddard. Some grand poems will be found therein.
F. W. NUNN.
The two verses quoted are the first and fourth of a poem of fourteen verses by the American poet William Cullen Bryant, en- titled ' To the Past.' A cheap edition of his works was published in 1844 by William Smith, 113, Fleet Street. Should your corre- spondent have any difficulty in obtaining it, I shall have much pleasure in sending him a MS. copy of the poern.
EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road.
GREEN AN UNLUCKY COLOUR (9 th S viii 121, 192 ; ix. 234, 490 ; x. 32, 133, 353 ; xi 32)' i55 ' Dicfcionar yof the Bible,' vol. iii., s.v. Willows, the following passage is quoted showing how the willow has changed its cha- racteristic marks :
1 ^remarkable ' as Mr. Johns ('The Forest of Britain,' vol. m. p. 240) truly says, 'for
having been in different ages emblematical of
two directly opposite feelings, at one time being
associated with the palm, at another with the
cypress. 1 After the Captivity, however, this tree
became the emblem of sorrow, and is frequently
thus alluded to in the poetry of our own country ;
and ' there can be no doubt,' as Mr. Johns continues,
' that the dedication of the tree to sorrow is to be
traced to the pathetic passage in the Psalms' [i.e..
Psalm cxxxvii. 2J.-W. H."
There is the old song " All round my hat I wear a green willow," and in the 'Reliques of Ancient English Poetry ' may be found the poems 'Willow, Willow, Willow,' and 'The Willow Tree,' a pastoral dialogue : WILLY.
How now, shepherde, what meanes that ?
Why that willow in thy hat ?
Why thy scarffes of red and yellowe
Turn'd to branches of greene willowe ? And coining to modern times, in ' The Bride of Lammermoor,' the probable date of which is about 1708, we read :
" Even the boy Henry was made the instrument of adding to his sister's torments. One morning he rushed into the room with a willow branch in his hand, which he told her had arrived that instant from Germany for her special wearing." Chap. xxix.
Again, there was the old song of fifty years since, " I '11 hang my harp on a willow tree." In ' The Christian Year ' is a beautiful poem for the First Sunday after Epiphany, based upon the text " They shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses " (Isaiah xliv. 4) :
See the soft green willow springing Where the waters gently pass,
Every way her free arms flinging O'er the moist and reedy grass.
JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.
QUEEN ANNE (9 th S. x. 325, 431). According to an old blason,
King William thinks all ; Queen Mary talks all ; Prince George drinks all ; And Princess Ann eats all.
From this one would judge that Anne's intemperance was of a kind teetotalers would condone. It may, however, have induced dyspepsia and its occasional con- sequence. Let us hope not, however; let there be no scandal about Queen Anne.
ST. SWITHIN.
BYRON (9 th S. x. 305).
"Jeunes filles, pleurez ! La Grece a perdu un defenseur, le monde un poete divin, moi un ami, et vous vous n'avez plus de pere."
The stanzas of which the above forms the concluding portion by their structure and sentiment disclose their French origin ; there is nothing to show that they are a transla-
