Minor Queries.

"TheCrispintrade! What better trade can be?Ancient and famous, independent, free!No other trade a brighter claim can find;No other trade display more share of mind!No other calling prouder names can boast,—In arms, in arts,—themselves a perfect host!All honour, zeal, and patriotic pride;To dare heroic, and in suffering tried!But first and chief—and as such claims inspire—Our Patron Brothers, who doth not admire?CrispinandCrispianus! they who soughtSafety with us, and at the calling wrought:Martyrs to Truth, who in old times were castLorn outcasts forth to labour at thelast!Mould the stout sole, sew with the woven thread,Make thegood fit, and win their daily bread.This was their strait and doing—this their doom;They sought our shelter, and they found a home!Helpless and hapless, wandering to and fro,Weary they came and hid them from the foe;Two high-born youths, to holy things impell'd,Hunted from place to place, though still they heldTheir sacred faith, and died for it, and threwThe glory of that death on all who made the Shoe!"Such is the story—so behaved our trade;And then the Church its zealous homage paid,And made their death-day holy, as we seeStill in the Calendar, and still to be!And long the Shoemaker has felt the claim,And proved him joyful at such lofty fame;For theirs it was by more than blood allied,Alike they worshipp'd, and alike they died!Nor minded how the Pagan nipp'd their youth—They are not dead who suffer for the Truth!The skies receive them, and the earth's warm heartIn grateful duty ever plays its part,Embalms their memory to all future time,And thus, in love, still punishes the crime;Sees, though the corse be trampled to the dust,The murder'd dead have retribution just!"Where are they now who wrought this fiendish wrong?We hate the actors, and have hated long.And where are they, the victims? Always here;We feel their glory, and we hold it dear!Oh yes, 'tis ours! that glory still is ours,And, lo! how breaks it on these festive hours;Each heart is warm, each eye lit up with pride,'Tis sanction'd in our loves and sanctified!Far o'er the earth—the Christianised—where'erThe Saviour's name is hymn'd in daily prayer,The winds of heaven their memories tender waft,Commix'd with all the sorceries of thecraft.The little leather artizan—the boyTo whom the shoe is yet but as a toy,A thing to smile and look at, ere the daySeverer task will make it one ofpay(A constant duty and a livelihood),—He, the young Crispin, emulous and good,Is told of the Prince Martyrs—sometimes Royal!(The trade, in its devotion, being so loyal,It fain would stretch the fact or trifle still,Eager, as 'twere, to get on highest hill.)Through the fair France, through Germany, and Spain,The blue-skied Italy, the Russias twain,And farther still, across the Western Main.There is the story known, engraft, 'tis true,With things, as often is, of weight undue;Yet still's enough, when sifted to the most,To make the trade rejoice, and as a toast,Now, as is wont, and ever to be given,Hail to the memory of our friends in heaven!CrispinandCrispianus—they, the two,Who, like ourselves, have made the Boot and Shoe!"

"TheCrispintrade! What better trade can be?

Ancient and famous, independent, free!

No other trade a brighter claim can find;

No other trade display more share of mind!

No other calling prouder names can boast,—

In arms, in arts,—themselves a perfect host!

All honour, zeal, and patriotic pride;

To dare heroic, and in suffering tried!

But first and chief—and as such claims inspire—

Our Patron Brothers, who doth not admire?

CrispinandCrispianus! they who sought

Safety with us, and at the calling wrought:

Martyrs to Truth, who in old times were cast

Lorn outcasts forth to labour at thelast!

Mould the stout sole, sew with the woven thread,

Make thegood fit, and win their daily bread.

This was their strait and doing—this their doom;

They sought our shelter, and they found a home!

Helpless and hapless, wandering to and fro,

Weary they came and hid them from the foe;

Two high-born youths, to holy things impell'd,

Hunted from place to place, though still they held

Their sacred faith, and died for it, and threw

The glory of that death on all who made the Shoe!

"Such is the story—so behaved our trade;And then the Church its zealous homage paid,And made their death-day holy, as we seeStill in the Calendar, and still to be!And long the Shoemaker has felt the claim,And proved him joyful at such lofty fame;For theirs it was by more than blood allied,Alike they worshipp'd, and alike they died!Nor minded how the Pagan nipp'd their youth—They are not dead who suffer for the Truth!The skies receive them, and the earth's warm heartIn grateful duty ever plays its part,Embalms their memory to all future time,And thus, in love, still punishes the crime;Sees, though the corse be trampled to the dust,The murder'd dead have retribution just!

"Such is the story—so behaved our trade;

And then the Church its zealous homage paid,

And made their death-day holy, as we see

Still in the Calendar, and still to be!

And long the Shoemaker has felt the claim,

And proved him joyful at such lofty fame;

For theirs it was by more than blood allied,

Alike they worshipp'd, and alike they died!

Nor minded how the Pagan nipp'd their youth—

They are not dead who suffer for the Truth!

The skies receive them, and the earth's warm heart

In grateful duty ever plays its part,

Embalms their memory to all future time,

And thus, in love, still punishes the crime;

Sees, though the corse be trampled to the dust,

The murder'd dead have retribution just!

"Where are they now who wrought this fiendish wrong?We hate the actors, and have hated long.And where are they, the victims? Always here;We feel their glory, and we hold it dear!Oh yes, 'tis ours! that glory still is ours,And, lo! how breaks it on these festive hours;Each heart is warm, each eye lit up with pride,'Tis sanction'd in our loves and sanctified!Far o'er the earth—the Christianised—where'erThe Saviour's name is hymn'd in daily prayer,The winds of heaven their memories tender waft,Commix'd with all the sorceries of thecraft.The little leather artizan—the boyTo whom the shoe is yet but as a toy,A thing to smile and look at, ere the daySeverer task will make it one ofpay(A constant duty and a livelihood),—He, the young Crispin, emulous and good,Is told of the Prince Martyrs—sometimes Royal!(The trade, in its devotion, being so loyal,It fain would stretch the fact or trifle still,Eager, as 'twere, to get on highest hill.)Through the fair France, through Germany, and Spain,The blue-skied Italy, the Russias twain,And farther still, across the Western Main.There is the story known, engraft, 'tis true,With things, as often is, of weight undue;Yet still's enough, when sifted to the most,To make the trade rejoice, and as a toast,Now, as is wont, and ever to be given,Hail to the memory of our friends in heaven!CrispinandCrispianus—they, the two,Who, like ourselves, have made the Boot and Shoe!"

"Where are they now who wrought this fiendish wrong?

We hate the actors, and have hated long.

And where are they, the victims? Always here;

We feel their glory, and we hold it dear!

Oh yes, 'tis ours! that glory still is ours,

And, lo! how breaks it on these festive hours;

Each heart is warm, each eye lit up with pride,

'Tis sanction'd in our loves and sanctified!

Far o'er the earth—the Christianised—where'er

The Saviour's name is hymn'd in daily prayer,

The winds of heaven their memories tender waft,

Commix'd with all the sorceries of thecraft.

The little leather artizan—the boy

To whom the shoe is yet but as a toy,

A thing to smile and look at, ere the day

Severer task will make it one ofpay

(A constant duty and a livelihood),—

He, the young Crispin, emulous and good,

Is told of the Prince Martyrs—sometimes Royal!

(The trade, in its devotion, being so loyal,

It fain would stretch the fact or trifle still,

Eager, as 'twere, to get on highest hill.)

Through the fair France, through Germany, and Spain,

The blue-skied Italy, the Russias twain,

And farther still, across the Western Main.

There is the story known, engraft, 'tis true,

With things, as often is, of weight undue;

Yet still's enough, when sifted to the most,

To make the trade rejoice, and as a toast,

Now, as is wont, and ever to be given,

Hail to the memory of our friends in heaven!

CrispinandCrispianus—they, the two,

Who, like ourselves, have made the Boot and Shoe!"

The story as told in these verses is not exactly the same as the one current among the makers of the boot and shoe in our own island, an account in an old book calledThe History of the Gentle Craft(the production, no doubt, of the well-known Thomas Delony) being the basis of the tradition as received now by the British shoemaker. In theGolden Legende, one of the earliest of our printed books, and in Alban Butler'sLives of the Saints, as compiled from the Roman Martyrologies, as also in the inscriptions of some pieces of ancient tapestry formerly belonging to the shoemakers' chapel in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, but, when I saw them, in one of the galleries of the Louvre, is the like version as the one here given. The authority, too, of the Church Calendar of England, even as it still remains after the loppings of the Reformation, is another corroboration thatCrispinandCrispianus, brothers, were early martyrs to the Christian faith, and through that chiefly honoured, and not because the one became a redoubted general and the other a successful suitor to the daughter of some all-potent emperor. In the Delony version—itself, in every probability, a borrowing from the popular mind of the Elizabethan period,—these things are put forth; while in trade paintings and songs the PrinceCrispinis assumed to have a wife or sister, one can hardly tell which, in the person of a princess, the PrincessCrispianus, and who figures as the patron of the women's branch of the shoemakers' art;Crispinhimself presiding over the coarser labour for the rougher sex. This artifice, if not purely historical, is at least very excusable, because so natural, seeing that the duplex principle has such an extensive range; that even the feet themselves come into the world in pairs, and so shoes must be produced after the same fashion—paired, as the shoemakers have done by their adoredCrispinandCrispianus.

It has now but to be stated that the writer of the foregoing lines (a long time now the common property of his fellow-workmen) and this present paragraph, has for many years contemplated the production of something, which might assume even the size of a book, in connexion with the various curious particulars which may be affiliated with this Crispin story, and therefore would be glad to find some of the numerous erudite renders of "N. & Q." helping his inquiries either through the medium of future Numbers, or as might be addressed privately to himself, care of Mr. Clements, bookseller, 22. Little Pulteney Street, Regent Street.

J. Davies Devlin.

Barrels Regiment.—I suppose that to this regiment a song refers which has for its burden,—

"And ten times a day whip the barrels,And ten times a day whip the barrels,Brave boys."

"And ten times a day whip the barrels,

And ten times a day whip the barrels,

Brave boys."

I shall be very much obliged to any one who will tell me where I can find this song, or the circumstances or persons to which it refers. It was probably written about the year 1747.

E. H.

Okey the Regicide.—I should be much obliged for any information relative to the descendants of Colonel John Okey, the regicide, executed April 19, 1662, O.S.

E. P. H.

Clapham.

Lady Mason's Third Husband.—Secretary Davison, in a letter dated London, 23rd December, 1581, and addressed to Lady Mason, requests this lady "to join with his honour her husband" in standing sponsor with Sir Christopher Hatton, or Sir Thomas Skirley, to his son, born a few days before. Sir John Mason, second husband to Lady Mason, died in 1566. Who then was "this honour," her third?

G. S. S.

Creation of Knights.—When were the following knights made?—Sir William Fleming, Sir George Barker, Sir George Hamilton, Sir Edwardde Carteret, Sir William Armourer:—the first by Charles I.; the four following by Charles II.

G. S. S.

Martyn the Regicide.—Was Martyn the regicide married or not? If married, is it known whether he had children? and if any of his children settled in Ireland, and became possessed of property in that country?

E. A. G.

History of the Nonjurors.—What are the best authorities for the history of the Nonjurors and their sufferings? Of course, Lathbury, Hickes'sLife of Kettlewell, &c. are well known. Whence came their adopted motto: "Cætera quis nescit?" Any reader who would communicate any information on these points to C. R. would confer a favour.

C. R.

Florin and the Royal Arms.—What is the authority for placing the national arms (which are by royal proclamations ordered to be bornequarterlyin ratification of the respective unions, and to be borne under one imperial crown) in separate shields? They surely cannot with any heraldic propriety be so arranged. The absurdity was remarked in the reign of the Georges, for by the separation of the coats the arms of the German Dominions of George I. obtained the second place, viz. the dexter side, with France on the sinister, and Ireland at the bottom or fourth place.

Mat o' the Mint.

A Mistletoe Query.—Why has mistletoe the privilege of allowing the fair sex to be kissed under its branches, on condition that a berry is plucked off at the time? And also, when was this first allowed?[2]

J. W. Aston(late of Trin. Col.)

Footnote 2:(return)This Query has been incidentally noticed in "N. & Q.," Vol. v., pp. 13. 208.—Ed.

This Query has been incidentally noticed in "N. & Q.," Vol. v., pp. 13. 208.—Ed.

Sewell Family(Vol. viii., p. 521.).—Your correspondent D. N. states, that "nothing farther is known of the family of Lieut.-Col. Sewell, who died in 1803, than that he had a son Thos. Bailey Heath Sewell, Cornet in 32nd Light Dragoons, and Lieutenant 4th Dragoon Guards." Had he referred to Lodge'sPeerage, he would have found that the Honorable Harriet Beresford, fourth daughter of the Most Rev. Wm. Beresford, Lord Archbishop of Tuam, and first Baron Decies, married Jan. 25, 1796, Thos. Henry Bermingham (not Bailey) Daly Sewell, Esq.; and died June 11, 1834, having had three children, viz.:

1. Thomas, formerly Page of Honour to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,circa1829, afterwards a pensioner of Trin. Coll. Dublin, and subsequently Lieutenant 13th Light Infantry; who died at Landour, Bengal, Aug. 1, 1836.

2. Isabella, who married her cousin Major Marcus Beresford, in October, 1828; and died in 1836.

3. Louisa, married to the Hon. Sir W. E. Leeson, and died in 1849 or 1850.

Will D. N. favour me with the dates of the birth and death of the late unfortunate, and, as I believe, ill-used Lieut.-General John Whitelocke, whom he mentions, with the localities where the birth and death occurred?

G. L. S.

[We have submitted our correspondent's communication to D. N., who has kindly forwarded the following reply:"My communication (Vol. viii., p. 521.) I was aware was far from a perfect pedigree of the Sewell family, and my object was to give such notices as might form an outline to be filled up by some one more competently informed. Your correspondent G. L. S. has very well supplied thecætera desunt, where my information terminated with the appointment of Cornet Sewell to a Lieutenancy in the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards. In the London Gazette 13789, June 23, 1795, he is inserted as 'Mr. Bermingham Daly Henry Sewell' to be a cornet in the 32nd Light Dragoons; and as in filling up commissions much accuracy is always considered very essential, I am disposed to regard those Christian names as correct."There was a Rev. George Sewell, Rector of Byfleet, Surrey, Was he a brother of Lieut.-Col. Sewell of the Surrey Light Dragoons?"Did the Right Hon. Sir Thomas Sewell marry a second wife? For I find, inThe Globeof October 9, 1820: 'Died, Saturday, Sept. 16, at Twyford Lodge, Maresfield, Sussex, in her seventy-eighth year, Lady Sewell, widow of the late Right Hon. Sir Thomas Sewell, Master of the Rolls and Privy Councillor, &c.' Now, in Manning'sSurrey, vol. iii. p. 201., it is stated that Lieut.-Col. Sewell died in 1803, in his fifty-eighth year, which would render it impossible for him to be the son of the above-named Lady Sewell. In Horsfield'sSussex, 4to., 1835, vol. i. p. 375., I find a William Luther Sewell, Esq., who most probably was connected by the second marriage, residing at the above Twyford Lodge."I regret that I cannot reply distinctly to the inquiries of G. L. S. respecting the late Lieut.-General Whitelocke. I have ineffectually searched all the various biographical dictionaries to that of the Rev. H. J. Rose in twelve volumes, 1848, inclusive, without having found one that has taken the least notice of him. I had casually heard, some years since, that he had fixed his residence in Somersetshire, and that he had died there; which I find confirmed by a paragraph in theAnnual Register, vol. lxxvi. for 1834 (Chronicle), p. 218., which states that he died 'near Bath,' in February, 1834. With such scanty information on the required points, I would still refer G. L. S. to a work entitledThe Georgian Æra, in 4 vols., London, 1832; where he will find, in vol. ii. p 475., a shortmilitarymemoir of Lieut.-General Whitelocke, which is dispassionately and candidly written, and which accounts very reasonably for the inauspicious result of his military operations. There is one slight error in the account ofThe Georgian Æra, viz. in the date of thefirstappointment of Mr. Whitelocke to a commission in the army, which appears in theLondon Gazette, No. 11938. of December 26, 1778, and runs thus: '14th Foot, John Whitelocke, Gent., to be EnsignviceDay."—I trust some reader of "N. & Q." will furnish us with the dates of the birth and death of Lieut.-General Whitelocke, specifying when they took place, as desired by G. L. S., with an abridgment of deficient particulars in his history. D. N."]

[We have submitted our correspondent's communication to D. N., who has kindly forwarded the following reply:

"My communication (Vol. viii., p. 521.) I was aware was far from a perfect pedigree of the Sewell family, and my object was to give such notices as might form an outline to be filled up by some one more competently informed. Your correspondent G. L. S. has very well supplied thecætera desunt, where my information terminated with the appointment of Cornet Sewell to a Lieutenancy in the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards. In the London Gazette 13789, June 23, 1795, he is inserted as 'Mr. Bermingham Daly Henry Sewell' to be a cornet in the 32nd Light Dragoons; and as in filling up commissions much accuracy is always considered very essential, I am disposed to regard those Christian names as correct.

"There was a Rev. George Sewell, Rector of Byfleet, Surrey, Was he a brother of Lieut.-Col. Sewell of the Surrey Light Dragoons?

"Did the Right Hon. Sir Thomas Sewell marry a second wife? For I find, inThe Globeof October 9, 1820: 'Died, Saturday, Sept. 16, at Twyford Lodge, Maresfield, Sussex, in her seventy-eighth year, Lady Sewell, widow of the late Right Hon. Sir Thomas Sewell, Master of the Rolls and Privy Councillor, &c.' Now, in Manning'sSurrey, vol. iii. p. 201., it is stated that Lieut.-Col. Sewell died in 1803, in his fifty-eighth year, which would render it impossible for him to be the son of the above-named Lady Sewell. In Horsfield'sSussex, 4to., 1835, vol. i. p. 375., I find a William Luther Sewell, Esq., who most probably was connected by the second marriage, residing at the above Twyford Lodge.

"I regret that I cannot reply distinctly to the inquiries of G. L. S. respecting the late Lieut.-General Whitelocke. I have ineffectually searched all the various biographical dictionaries to that of the Rev. H. J. Rose in twelve volumes, 1848, inclusive, without having found one that has taken the least notice of him. I had casually heard, some years since, that he had fixed his residence in Somersetshire, and that he had died there; which I find confirmed by a paragraph in theAnnual Register, vol. lxxvi. for 1834 (Chronicle), p. 218., which states that he died 'near Bath,' in February, 1834. With such scanty information on the required points, I would still refer G. L. S. to a work entitledThe Georgian Æra, in 4 vols., London, 1832; where he will find, in vol. ii. p 475., a shortmilitarymemoir of Lieut.-General Whitelocke, which is dispassionately and candidly written, and which accounts very reasonably for the inauspicious result of his military operations. There is one slight error in the account ofThe Georgian Æra, viz. in the date of thefirstappointment of Mr. Whitelocke to a commission in the army, which appears in theLondon Gazette, No. 11938. of December 26, 1778, and runs thus: '14th Foot, John Whitelocke, Gent., to be EnsignviceDay."—I trust some reader of "N. & Q." will furnish us with the dates of the birth and death of Lieut.-General Whitelocke, specifying when they took place, as desired by G. L. S., with an abridgment of deficient particulars in his history. D. N."]

Greek Epigram.—In theBath Chronicleof the 10th of November last, I find the following advertisement:

"The Clergyman of a Town Parish, in which are several crippled persons, at present unable to attend divine worship, will feel very grateful to any gentleman or lady who will give him an old Bath chair for the use of these poor people; two blind men having offered, in this case, charitably to convey their crippled neighbours regularly to the house of God."

Surely this arrangement is not a new idea, and there is, if I mistake not, a Greek epigram that records its success in practice several hundred years ago. Can any of your readers, whose Greek is less faded than mine, refer me to the epigram?

Geo. E. Frere.

[Probably the following epigram is the one floating in the faded memory of our correspondent:"ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ, οἱ δε ΙΣΙΔΩΡΟΥ.Πηρὸς ὁ μέν γυίοις, ὁ δ' ἄρ' ὄμμασιν· ἀμφότεροι δὲΕἰς αὑτοὺς τὸ τύχης ἐνδεὲς ἠράνισαν,Τυφλὸς γὰρ λιπόγυιον ἐπωμάδιον βάρος αἴρων,Ταῖς κείνου φωναῖς ἀτραπὸν ὠρθοβατεῖ,Πάντα δὲ ταῦτ' ἐδίδαξε πικρὴ πάντολμος ἀνάγκη,Ἀλλήλοις μερίσαι τούλλιπὲς εἰς ἔλεον."Anthologia, in usum Scholæ Westmonast.:Oxon. 1724, p. 58.]

[Probably the following epigram is the one floating in the faded memory of our correspondent:

"ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ, οἱ δε ΙΣΙΔΩΡΟΥ.Πηρὸς ὁ μέν γυίοις, ὁ δ' ἄρ' ὄμμασιν· ἀμφότεροι δὲΕἰς αὑτοὺς τὸ τύχης ἐνδεὲς ἠράνισαν,Τυφλὸς γὰρ λιπόγυιον ἐπωμάδιον βάρος αἴρων,Ταῖς κείνου φωναῖς ἀτραπὸν ὠρθοβατεῖ,Πάντα δὲ ταῦτ' ἐδίδαξε πικρὴ πάντολμος ἀνάγκη,Ἀλλήλοις μερίσαι τούλλιπὲς εἰς ἔλεον."Anthologia, in usum Scholæ Westmonast.:Oxon. 1724, p. 58.]

"ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ, οἱ δε ΙΣΙΔΩΡΟΥ.

Πηρὸς ὁ μέν γυίοις, ὁ δ' ἄρ' ὄμμασιν· ἀμφότεροι δὲ

Εἰς αὑτοὺς τὸ τύχης ἐνδεὲς ἠράνισαν,

Τυφλὸς γὰρ λιπόγυιον ἐπωμάδιον βάρος αἴρων,

Ταῖς κείνου φωναῖς ἀτραπὸν ὠρθοβατεῖ,

Πάντα δὲ ταῦτ' ἐδίδαξε πικρὴ πάντολμος ἀνάγκη,

Ἀλλήλοις μερίσαι τούλλιπὲς εἰς ἔλεον."

Anthologia, in usum Scholæ Westmonast.:

Oxon. 1724, p. 58.]

Translations from Æschylus.—Whose translation of the tragedies of Æschylus is that which accompanies Flaxman's compositions from the same? I ought to state that there is merely a line or two under each plate, to explain the subject of each composition, and that my copy is the unreduced size.

Kingston-on-Thames.

[The lines are taken from N. Potter's translation of the Tragedies of Æschylus, 4to., 1777.]

Prince Memnon's Sister.—Who was Prince Memnon's sister, alluded to by Milton inIl Penseroso?

J. W. T.

Dewsbury.

[Dunster has the following note on this line:—"Prince Memnon's sister; that is, an Ethiopian princess, or sable beauty. Memnon, king of Ethiopia, being an auxiliary of the Trojans, was slain by Achilles. (See Virg.Æn.I.489., 'NigriMemnonis arma.') It does not, however, appear that Memnon had any sister. Tithonus, according to Hesiod, had by Aurora only two sons, Memnon and Emathion,Theog.984. This lady is a creation of the poet."]

"Oh! for a blast," &c.—Who was the author of the couplet—

"Oh! for a blast of that dread horn,On Fontarabian echoes borne?"

"Oh! for a blast of that dread horn,

On Fontarabian echoes borne?"

A. J. Dunkin.

[The lines—"O for the voice of that wild horn,On Fontarabia's echoes borne,The dying hero's call,"—are by Sir Walter Scott, and form part of those which excited the horror of the father of Frank Osbaldiston, when he examined his waste-book in search ofReports outward and inward—Corn Debentures, &c. SeeRob Roy, chap. ii. p. 24. ed. 1829.]

[The lines—

"O for the voice of that wild horn,On Fontarabia's echoes borne,The dying hero's call,"—

"O for the voice of that wild horn,

On Fontarabia's echoes borne,

The dying hero's call,"—

are by Sir Walter Scott, and form part of those which excited the horror of the father of Frank Osbaldiston, when he examined his waste-book in search ofReports outward and inward—Corn Debentures, &c. SeeRob Roy, chap. ii. p. 24. ed. 1829.]

Robin Hood's Festival.—Can any of your correspondents refer me to a good account of the festival of Robin Hood, which was so popular with our ancestors, that Bishop Latimer could get no one to come to hear him preach on that day?

In the churchwardens' accounts of St. Helens, Abingdon, published in the first volume of theArchæologia, there is an entry in 1566 of the sum of 18d.paid for "setting up Robin Hood's Bower."

R. W. B.

[The best account of Robin Hood's festival on the first and succeeding days of May is given inRobin Hood: a Collection of all the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, relative to that celebrated Outlaw; [by Joseph Ritson], among the notes and illustrations in vol. i. pp. xcvii—cx. Consult alsoA Lytell Geste of Robin Hode, by John Matthew Gutch, vol. i. pp. 60—64.; and George Soane'sNew Curiosities of Literature, vol. i. pp. 231—236.]

Church in Suffolk.—In restoring a church in Suffolk, apparently of the date of Henry VII., except two Norman doors, the walls were found full of Norman mouldings of about 1100, or not much after. Will you kindly give me a list of the works where I may be likely to find an account of this original church? Davy and Jermyn'sSuffolk, in the British Museum, says nothing about it. The two Norman doors are universally admired, and the church is now Norman still throughout. In the reconstruction of about 1100, the two doors do not seem to have been in any way restored or meddled with.

G. L.

[Our correspondent may probably find some account of this church either in Suckling'sAntiquities of Suffolk, 4to., 2 vols., Gage'sHistory of Suffolk(Thingoe Hundred), 4to., or in H. Jermyn's Collections for a General History of Suffolk, in the British Museum, Add. MSS. 8168—8196.]

(Vol. viii., p. 443.)

"Heere resteth the bodye of the noble Impe, Robert of Duddeley, Baron of Denbigh, sonne of Robert, Earle of Leicester, nephew and heire unto Ambrose, Earle of Warwick, brethren, both sonnes of the mighty Prince John, late Duke of Northumberland, that was cosin and heire to Sir John Grey, Vicount L'Isle, nephew and heire unto the Lady Margaret, Countesse of Shrewsbury, the eldest daughter and coheire of the noble Earle of Warr: Sir Richard Beauchampe here interred; a childe of great parentage, but of farr greater hope and towardnesse, taken from this transitory unto everlasting life in his tender age, at Wanstead in Essex, on Sunday, 19th of July, in the yeare of our Lord God 1584, being the 26th yeare of the happy raine of the most virtuous and godly Princesse, Queene Elizabeth, and in this place layd up among his noble auncestors, in assured hope of the generall resurrection."—Lady's Chapel, St. Mary's Church, Warwick.

H. B.

Warwick.

An inscription on a tomb at Besford, near Pershore, Worcestershire, of the same period as that at Aylesbury (mentioned byMr. Brooks), contains also the wordimp. The tomb at Besford is a most singular one, consisting of two large folding doors fixed against the wall, their panels and the interior being painted over with figures and inscriptions. From the latter, which are of some length, the following extracts will be sufficient to illustrate the subject:

"Animpeentombed heere doth lie.""... elder ... from Christ to straie,When such animpeforeshewes the waie."

"Animpeentombed heere doth lie."

"... elder ... from Christ to straie,When such animpeforeshewes the waie."

"... elder ... from Christ to straie,

When such animpeforeshewes the waie."

The old poetical wordsugared, "Noe sugred word," occurs in the inscription.

The "impe" is supposed to be Richard Harewell, who died in 1576, aged 15 years, to whom a second monument, of alabaster (close by the former), was also erected; a rare circumstance, I should suppose. The Harewells appear to have been a family at the time of the Conquest; the two following lines are a part of one of the inscriptions:

"Of Harewell's blodde ere Conquest made,Knowne to descende of gentle race."

"Of Harewell's blodde ere Conquest made,

Knowne to descende of gentle race."

Nash, in hisHistory of Worcestershire, makes mention of this singular monument, but is anything but correct in giving its inscriptions.

Cuthbert Bede, B. A.

T. W. D. Brookswill find this word used by some modern authors to denote a child. InMoral and Sacred Poetry, selected and arranged by the Rev. T. Willcocks and the Rev. T. Horton (Devonport, W. Byers, 1834), there is at p. 254. a piece by Baillie, addressed "To a Child," the first line of which runs thus:

"Whoseimpart thou, with dimpled cheek?"

And in a poem by Rogers, on the following page, the children of a gipsy are calledimps.

J. W. N. Keys.

Plymouth.

(Vol. viii., pp. 293. 479.)

The inclosed extract from a letter which I have just received from a friend on the subject of the divining rod, will probably interest your readers as an answer to a Query which appeared some weeks ago in your excellent work. You may entirely rely on the accuracy of the facts stated.

J. A. H.

"However the pretended effect of the divining rod may be attributed to knavery and credulity by philosophers who will not take the trouble of witnessing and investigating the operation, any one who will pay a visit to the Mendip Hills in Somersetshire, and the country round their base, may have abundant proof of the efficacy of it. Its success has been very strikingly proved along the range of the Pennard Hills also, to the South of the Mendip. The faculty of discovering water by means of the divining rod is not possessed by every one; for indeed there are but few who possess it in any considerable degree, or in whose hands the motion of the rod, when passing over an underground stream, is very decided; and they who have it are quite unconscious of their capability until they are made aware of it by experiment.

"I saw the operation of the rod, or rather of a fork, formed of the shoots of the last year, held in the hands of the experimentor by the extremities, with the angle projecting before him. When he came over the spot beneath which the water flowed, the rod, which had before been perfectly still, writhed about with considerable force, so that the holder could not keep it in its former position; and he appealed to the bystanders to notice that he had made no motion to produce this effect, and used every effort to prevent it. The operation was several times repeated with the same result, and each time under the close inspection of shrewd and doubting, if not incredulous, observers. Forks of any kind of green wood served equally well, but those of dead wood had no effect. The experimentor had discovered water, in several instances, in the same parish (Pennard), but was perfectly unaware of his capability till he was requested by his landlord to try. The operator had the reputation of a perfectly honest man, whose word might be safelytrusted, and who was incapable of attempting to deceive any one—as indeed appeared by his open and ingenuous manner and conversation on this occasion. He was a farmer, and respected by all his neighbours. So general is the conviction of the efficacy of the divining rod in discovering both water and the ores of calamine or zinc all over the Mendip, that the people are quite astonished when any doubt is expressed about it. The late Dr. Hutton wrote against the pretension, as one of many instances of deception founded upon gross ignorance and credulity; when a lady of quality, who herself possessed the faculty, called upon him, and gave him experimental proof, in the neighbourhood of Woolwich, that water was discoverable by that means. This Dr. Hutton afterwards publicly acknowledged.

"The above I suppose will suffice for your present purpose; I could, however, say a great deal more, for I wrote a very long account many years ago to our friend ——, of what I have now only briefly stated. That letter was treated by certain scientific friends of his with contempt; but when I afterwards saw poor Dr. Turner, he said he would go down to Somerset to see it himself; but alas! he did not live to carry his intention into effect."

(Vol. viii., pp. 464, 465.)

Very hesitatingly I venture to express dissent fromMr. Keightley'singenious suggestion of a change of meaning in the proverb "Tread on a worm and it will turn." I support my dissent, however, by the following lines from Shakspeare:

"Who 'scapes the lurking serpent's mortal sting?Not he that sets his foot upon her back.The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on;And doves will peck in safe-guard of their brood."Third Part ofKing Henry VI., Act II. Sc. 2.

"Who 'scapes the lurking serpent's mortal sting?

Not he that sets his foot upon her back.

The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on;

And doves will peck in safe-guard of their brood."

Third Part ofKing Henry VI., Act II. Sc. 2.

King Henry says, Withhold revenge, dear God!

Clifford replies, The lion, the bear, the serpent, the smallest worm, and doves, if injured, will make an effort at revenge or defence. It is clear that Shakspeare uses the wordwormas meaning, not a venomous serpent, but the most defenceless of reptiles.

Again, I do not think thatMr. Keightley'squotation from Schiller'sWallenstein's Todsupports his view. I am not a German scholar, but I find that the translator ofWallenstein's Tod(I believe Lord Ellesmere) has translated or paraphrased the lines quoted byMr. Keightleyas follows:

"But nature gave the very worm a sting,When trampled on by man, to turn again."

"But nature gave the very worm a sting,

When trampled on by man, to turn again."

The sense of the passage (spoken by Butler) requires that "wurm" should be understood to mean a harmless despised reptile, not a venomous serpent.

It seems that Schiller had Shakspeare in his mind when he wrote the lines in question; indeed, they are almost a copy of Shakspeare's line. I consider them as parallel passages.

It may not be irrelevant to observe thatwormin some places still means a serpent; but I believe it has usually a prefix, as "hag-worm" in Westmoreland and the West Riding of Yorkshire; so also in the latter "slow-worm" means a species of small snake or viper found on some of the moors. (For "slow-worm," see "N. & Q.," Vol. viii., pp. 33. and 479.) I have been told that "blind-worm" in Surrey means a viper. I conclude with a Query, DoesWurmin modern German ever mean a serpent?

F. W. J.

"To put a spoke in one's wheel," is not singular in itsdouble entendre(Vol. viii., pp. 262. 351. 464.). "There is no love lost between them" is in a similar predicament. We now speak of no love being lost between A. and B., when we would intimate that the warmth of their mutual affection may be accurately represented by 32° Fahrenheit. That this has not always been the meaning of the phrase, the following verse from the old ballad ofThe Children in the Woodwill testify:

"Sore sick he was, and like to die,No help that he could have;His wife by him as sick did lie,And both possess'd one grave.No love between these two was lost,Each was to other kind;In love they lived, in love they died,And left two babes behind."

"Sore sick he was, and like to die,

No help that he could have;

His wife by him as sick did lie,

And both possess'd one grave.

No love between these two was lost,

Each was to other kind;

In love they lived, in love they died,

And left two babes behind."

R. Price.

St. Ives.

(Vol. viii., p. 366.)

A collection of "facts, theories, and popular ideas" upon this subject would fill a volume. I send, however, a few extracts, &c., which may interest your correspondentMedicus:

"Et n'esternuay point regardant le soleil.""And did not sneeze as he looked upon the sun."Ronsard, tom. v. p. 158., quoted in Southey'sCommon Place Book, 3rd series, p. 303.

"Et n'esternuay point regardant le soleil."

"And did not sneeze as he looked upon the sun."Ronsard, tom. v. p. 158., quoted in Southey'sCommon Place Book, 3rd series, p. 303.

"And did not sneeze as he looked upon the sun."

Ronsard, tom. v. p. 158., quoted in Southey's

Common Place Book, 3rd series, p. 303.

Here, not to sneeze appears to be looked on as an ill omen.

Ammianus has an epigram upon one whose nose was so long that he never heard it sneeze, and therefore never saidΖεῦ σῶσον, God bless.—Notes on the Variorum Plautus(ed. Gronov., Lugd. Bat.), p. 720.

Athenæus, says Potter in hisArchæologia Græca, proves that the head was esteemed holy, because it was customary to swear by it, and adore as holy the sneezes that proceeded from it. And Aristotle tells us in express terms that sneezing was accounted a deity: "Τὸν Πταρμὸν θεὸν ἡγούμεθα"—Archæol. Græc.(5th ed.), p. 338.

"Oscitatio in nixu letalis est, sicutSternuisse a coitu abortivum."Quoted from Pliny by Aulus Gellius,Noct. Att.III. xvi. 24.

"Oscitatio in nixu letalis est, sicut

Sternuisse a coitu abortivum."

Quoted from Pliny by Aulus Gellius,

Noct. Att.III. xvi. 24.

Erasmus, in hisColloquies, bids one say to him who sneezes, "Sit faustum ac felix," or "Servet te Deus," or "Sit salutiferum" or "Bene vertat Deus."

"Quare homines sternutant?"Respondetur, ut virtus expulsiva et visiva, per hoc purgetur, et cerebrum a sua superfluitate purgetur, etc. Etiam qui sternutat frequenter, dicitur habere forte cerebrum."—Aristotelis Problemata: Amstelodami, anno 1690.

"Quare homines sternutant?

"Respondetur, ut virtus expulsiva et visiva, per hoc purgetur, et cerebrum a sua superfluitate purgetur, etc. Etiam qui sternutat frequenter, dicitur habere forte cerebrum."—Aristotelis Problemata: Amstelodami, anno 1690.

Query whether from some such idea of the beneficial effect of sneezing, arose the practice of calling for the divine blessing on the sneezer?

When Themistocles was offering sacrifice, it happened that three beautiful captives were brought him, and at the same time the fire burnt clear and bright, and a sneeze happened on the right hand. Hereupon Euphrantides the soothsayer, embracing him, predicted the memorable victory which was afterwards obtained by him, &c.

There is also mention of this custom (the observation of sneezing) in Homer, who has introduced Penelope rejoicing at a sneeze of her son Telemachus:

"Οὐχ ὁράας ὅ μοι υἱὸς ἐπέπταρεν"

Sneezing was not always a lucky omen, but varied according to the alteration of circumstances—"Τῶν πταρμῶν οἱ μὲν εἰσὶν ὠφέλιμοι, οἱ δὲ βλαβεροί," "Some sneezes are profitable, others prejudicial"—according to the scholiast upon the following passage of Theocritus, wherein he makes the sneezing of the Cupids to have been an unfortunate omen to a certain lover:

"Σιμιχίδα μὲν ἔρωτες ἐπέπταρον."

If any person sneezed between midnight and the following noontide it was fortunate, but from noontide till midnight it was unfortunate.

If a man sneezed at the table while they were taking away, or if another happened to sneeze upon his left hand, it was unlucky; if on the right hand, fortunate.

If, in the undertaking any business, two or four sneezes happened, it was a lucky omen, and gave encouragement to proceed; if more than four, the omen was neither good nor bad; if one or three, it was unlucky, and dehorted them from proceeding in what they had designed. If two men were deliberating about any business, and both of them chanced to sneeze together, it was a prosperous omen.—Archæol. Græc.(5th ed.), pp. 339, 340.

Francis John Scott.

Tewkesbury.

The custom your correspondentMedicusalludes to, of wishing a person "good health," after sneezing, is also very common in Russia. The phrases the Russians use on these occasions are—"To your good health!" or "How do you do?"

J. S. A.

Old Broad Street.

(Vol. viii., pp. 272. 346.)

To the list of these literaryauto da fé'swe may well add the burning of Bishop Burnet's famousPastoral Letter, which was censured by the House of Commons, January, 1692, and was burned by the common hangman. The offence contained in it was the ascribing the title of William III. to the crown of England to a right of conquest. A recollection of this gives additional point to the irony of Atterbury in attacking Wake:

"William the Conqueror is another of the pious patterns he recommends, 'who would suffer nothing,' he says, 'to be determined in any ecclesiastical causes without leave and authority first had from him.'... His present majesty is not William the Conqueror; and can no more by our constitution rule absolutely either in Church or State than he would if he could: his will and pleasure is indeed a law to all his subjects; not in a conquering sense, but because his will and pleasure is only that the laws of our country should be obeyed, which he came over on purpose to rescue, and counts it his great prerogative to maintain; and contemns therefore, I doubt not, such sordid flattery as would measure the extent of his supremacy from the Conqueror's claim."—Atterbury'sRights, Powers, and Privileges of Convocation, pp. 158—160.

Atterbury never misses a hit at Burnet when he can conveniently administer one, and the Bishop endeavours to smile even while he winces:

"He writes with just and due respect of the king and the present constitution. This has come so seldom from that corner that it ought to be the more considered. I will not give that scope to jealousy as to suspect that this was an artifice; but accept it sincerely," &c.—The Bishop of Sarum'sReflections on the Rights, Powers, &c.. p. 4.

W. Fraser.

Tor-Mohun.

The following, may come under the list wanted byBalliolensis:

"The covenant itself, together with the act for erecting the high court of justice, that for subscribing the engagement, and that for declaring England aCommonwealth, were ordered to be burned by the hands of the hangman. The people assisted with great alacrity on this occasion."—From Hume, Reign of Charles II., edit. London, 1828, p. 762.

On a copy ofLa Défense de la Réformation, &c., par I. Claude, à La Haye, 1683, I noted the following about thirty years ago as a striking passage, but cannot now recollect from whence I took it. This book was condemned by the Pope to be burned, on which circumstance the editor of an old edition of it very appositely observes:

"Books have souls as well as men, which survive their martyrdom, and are not burnt, but crowned by the flames that encircle them. The Church of Rome has quickly felt there was nothing combustible but the paper. The truth flew upward like the angel from Manoah's sacrifice, untouched by the fire, and unsullied by the smoke, and found a safe refuge at the footstool of the God of Truth."

G. N.

(Vol. viii., p. 515.)

The only people known as descendants of any of the ten tribes are the Spomerim, or Samaritans; whose chief peculiarity is, that they acknowledge as sacred only the five books of Moses: for, although other books held sacred by the Jews are known to them, such books are not written in the same ancient alphabetic character as those of the Samaritan Pentateuch. The ten tribes were then taken captiveB.C. 721 (2 Kings xvii. 24—41.). The inference is, therefore, that all the books, from Joshua to Malachi inclusive, had not been composed or admitted into the holy canon till after that date. The criterion then for ascertaining whether the Chinese Jews are descended from the ten tribes, appears to be their adherence to the Pentateuchaloneas sacred. I. The Chinese Jews have not the ancient Hebrew character, but the comparatively modern square Chaldee one, as in our printed Bibles. II. Gozani states that the Jews of Kaafung Foo, in Honan, had some traditions from the Talmud. The Mishnah, constituting the text of the Talmud, is manifestly a compilationsubsequentto the closing of the Jewish canon; the quotations from the books following those of Moses being constantly in use therein. III. On Gozani mentioning Jesus the Messiah, the Chinese Jew said they had a knowledge of Jesus the son of Sirach. As, however, the book of the last-named writer is unknown in Hebrew, Gozani, who was ignorant of that language, may have mistaken him for Jesus (=Joshua) the son of Nun, with which book the Chinese Jew was acquainted.[3]In either case,morebooks than the Pentateuch were undoubtedly held sacred by these Chinese Jews; therefore the connexion with the ten tribes (house of Israel), as distinct from the house of Judah (the Jews properly so called), cannot be inferred. The authorities for the Samaritans are Scaliger, Ludolf, Prideaux, Jahn, Huntington, Winer, Schnurrer, and Kitto. For the eastern Jews: Josephus, Peritsol, Manasseh, Basnage, Büsching; Fathers Ricci, Aleni, Gozani, and other Jesuits, in theLettres édifiantes et curieuses, vol. xviii.; and theChinese Repository, vol. i. pp. 8. 44., vol. iii. p. 175.

Circumcision is too general a practice in the hotter regions of the south and east, to permit such practice to be deemed proof of Jewish descent, unless corroborated by other customs peculiar to the Jews. Besides the physiological characteristics of the native Australians preclude us from deducing their natural descent from either theJewsor the ten tribes.

T.J. Buckton.

Lichfield.

Footnote 3:(return)The opprobrious name of Christ amongst the Jews is Jesus son of Sadta, which Gozani may have mistaken for Sirach; indeed,—the Chinese pronunciation of Hebrew is quite peculiar, as they cannot pronounce, for instance, the lettersb,r,th, naming them respectivelyp,l,z.

The opprobrious name of Christ amongst the Jews is Jesus son of Sadta, which Gozani may have mistaken for Sirach; indeed,—the Chinese pronunciation of Hebrew is quite peculiar, as they cannot pronounce, for instance, the lettersb,r,th, naming them respectivelyp,l,z.

(Vol. viii., pp. 242. 452.)

I made a note of the following specimen of poetical tavern sign, in one of Mr. Mark Lemon's Supplements toThe Illustrated London News(Dec. 27, 1851). I here transcribe it to add toMr. Warde'scollection:

"The following is a literal copy of a sign conspicuously displayed in front of a small public-house in the village of Folkesworth,[4]near Stilton, Hunts. It contains as much poetry as, perhaps, the rustic Folkesworth folks are worth; and doubtless they think it to be (in the Stilton vernacular) 'quite the cheese:'[A rude figure of a Fox.]'I . HAM . A . CUNEN . FOXYOU . SEE . THER . HISNO . HARME . ATCHEDTO . ME . IT . IS . MY . MRS.WISH . TO . PLACE . MEHERE . TO . LET . YOU . NOHE . SELS . GOOD . BEERE.'"The Captain Rawlinson of the district has deciphered this inscription, and conjectures its meaning to be as follows:'I am a cunning fox, you see;There is no harm attach'd to me;It is my master's wish to place me here,To let you know he sells good beer.'"

[A rude figure of a Fox.]'I . HAM . A . CUNEN . FOXYOU . SEE . THER . HISNO . HARME . ATCHEDTO . ME . IT . IS . MY . MRS.WISH . TO . PLACE . MEHERE . TO . LET . YOU . NOHE . SELS . GOOD . BEERE.'

[A rude figure of a Fox.]

'I . HAM . A . CUNEN . FOXYOU . SEE . THER . HISNO . HARME . ATCHEDTO . ME . IT . IS . MY . MRS.WISH . TO . PLACE . MEHERE . TO . LET . YOU . NOHE . SELS . GOOD . BEERE.'

'I . HAM . A . CUNEN . FOX

YOU . SEE . THER . HIS

NO . HARME . ATCHED

TO . ME . IT . IS . MY . MRS.

WISH . TO . PLACE . ME

HERE . TO . LET . YOU . NO

HE . SELS . GOOD . BEERE.'

"The Captain Rawlinson of the district has deciphered this inscription, and conjectures its meaning to be as follows:

'I am a cunning fox, you see;There is no harm attach'd to me;It is my master's wish to place me here,To let you know he sells good beer.'"

'I am a cunning fox, you see;

There is no harm attach'd to me;

It is my master's wish to place me here,

To let you know he sells good beer.'"

Cuthbert Bede, B.A.

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