DUCHESS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Footnote 1:(return)The Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon, &c., Oxf. 1827.Footnote 2:(return)The same.Footnote 3:(return)Southey calls May "the very able competitor of D'Avenant," and describes him as "a man so honourably known by his translation of Lucan, and his Supplement to that poet, that it were to be wished he were remembered for nothing else."—Biog. Sketches.Footnote 4:(return)Athenæ Oxon.Bliss's edit.Footnote 5:(return)In MSS. Ashmol., as quoted inBiog. Britann., from which, and Chalmer'sBiog. Dict., the dates, and such of the facts above given, not otherwise authenticated, areprincipallyderived.Footnote 6:(return)Biographical Sketches,Lond., 12mo. 1787.

The Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon, &c., Oxf. 1827.

The same.

Southey calls May "the very able competitor of D'Avenant," and describes him as "a man so honourably known by his translation of Lucan, and his Supplement to that poet, that it were to be wished he were remembered for nothing else."—Biog. Sketches.

Athenæ Oxon.Bliss's edit.

In MSS. Ashmol., as quoted inBiog. Britann., from which, and Chalmer'sBiog. Dict., the dates, and such of the facts above given, not otherwise authenticated, areprincipallyderived.

Biographical Sketches,Lond., 12mo. 1787.

Although May's version of Cato's soliloquy is immeasurably below Addison's, I am inclined to agree with J. H. L., that, on comparing them, it is more than probable, Addison had May's description of Cato's death in his mind at the same time he penned the justly celebrated soliloquy in the 5th Act of hisCato.

E. B. Price.

Cow Cross.

Thomas May, the author of the Supplement to Lucan(Vol. iii., p. 167), was the secretary and historian of the Long Parliament. He was born at Mayfield in 1595; took the degree of B.A. at Sydney-Sussex College, Cambridge, and afterwards entered Gray's Inn, but devoted himself to literature. He translated Virgil'sGeorgics, Selected Epigrams of Martial, and in 1627 Lucan'sPharsalia; to the latter, in 1630, he supplied an English continuation of his own in seven books; intituled,A Continuation of the Subject of Lucan's Historical Poem till the Death of Julius Cæsar. It was dedicated to Charles. He afterwards published at Leyden a Latin translation of the seven additional books; this was added to the Amsterdam and other editions of Lucan, and has established May's fame as a classic scholar. Andrew Marvell, who saw only an apology for the doings of the tyrannical parliament in the continuation of Lucan's poem, calls May—

"Most servile wit, and mercenary pen,Polydore, Lucan, Allan, Vandal, Goth.Malignant poet and historian both.Go seek the novice statesmen and obtrudeOn them some Roman cast similitude."

"Most servile wit, and mercenary pen,

Polydore, Lucan, Allan, Vandal, Goth.

Malignant poet and historian both.

Go seek the novice statesmen and obtrude

On them some Roman cast similitude."

He died suddenly in the night of 13th Nov., 1650, his death being attributed by Marvell to a little too much indulgence in wine.

"As one pot drunk into the packet-boat,Tom May was hurry'd hence, and did not know't."

"As one pot drunk into the packet-boat,

Tom May was hurry'd hence, and did not know't."

W. Durrant Cooper.

81. Guilford Street.

[We are also indebted toBalliolensisand other correspondents for general replies to this Query; and to W. S. (Richmond) for a reference to Baron Maseres' account of him prefixed to his edition of May'sHistory of the Long Parliament.]

(Vol iii., pp. 224, 249.)

P. C. S. S. believes that a reference to almost any Peerage or work on British genealogy, wouldhave saved Mr.F. B. Reltonthe trouble of addressing the inquiry at Vol. iii., p. 224. Katherine Sedley, daughter of Sir Charles Sedley, commemorated in Johnson's line—

"And Sedley cursed the form that pleased a king"—

was created Countess of Dorchester by James II., and subsequently married David Collyer, first Earl of Pontmore in Scotland. She died in 1692, having had by King James a natural daughter, to whom, by royal warrant, that monarch gave the rank and precedence of a duke's daughter; she was styled Lady Catherine Darnley, and married first, in October 1699, James, third Earl of Anglesey, from whom, on account of alleged cruelty on his part, she was separated by act of parliament in the following year. The earl died in 1701, and his widow married, secondly, in 1705, John Sheffield, first Duke of Normanby and Buckingham. She died on the 13th of March, 1743, and was interred with almost regal pomp in Westminster Abbey. By herfirsthusband (the Earl of Anglesey) she had an only daughter, the Lady Catherine Annesley, married to Mr. William Phipps, father of the first Lord Mulgrave, and, consequently, great-grandfather of the present Marquis of Normanby, who on his recent elevation to that dignity, has, it appears, preferred to take one of the ducal titles of a nobleman from whom he doesnotdescend, and of whose blood there does not flow a single drop in his veins, to the just assumption of the title of one from whom hedoesdescend, and whose sole representative he undoubtedly is.

Of the Duchess of Buckingham's inordinate pride, there are some curious stories in Walpole's Letters to Sir Horace Mann (sub anno1743). But perhaps the most remarkable instance of it is to be found in a periodical paper called theBritish Champion, which was published at that time, and which is now not commonly to be met. In the No. for April 7, 1743, there is the following anecdote:—

"I have been informed that a lady of high rank, finding her end approaching, and feeling very uneasy apprehensions of this sort, came at length to a resolution of sending for a clergyman, of whom she had heard a very good character, in order to be satisfied as to some doubts. The first question she asked was whether in heaven (for she made no doubt of going thither) some respect would not be had to a woman of such birth and breeding? The good man, for such he really was, endeavoured to show her the weakness of this notion, and to convince her that there was, where she was going, no acceptance of persons, and much more to the same purpose. This the poor lady heard with much attention, and then said with a sigh, 'Well, if it be so, this heaven must be, after all, a strange sort of a place!'"

P. C. S. S. is unwilling to believe this painful story—the more so, as it must be recollected that the author of the paper was an inveterate Whig, and the Duchess (jure paterno) as inveterate a Jacobite.

P. C. S. S.

Sir Walter Scott, in hisMarmion(Introduction to Canto First), writes of Sir Lancelot of the Lake, that—

"A sinful man and unconfessed,He took the Sangreal's holy quest,And slumbering saw the vision highHe might not view with waking eye."

"A sinful man and unconfessed,

He took the Sangreal's holy quest,

And slumbering saw the vision high

He might not view with waking eye."

In his note on this passage, he refers to the romance of the Morte Arthur, and says:

"One day when Arthur was holding a high feast with his Knights of the Round Table, the Sangreal, a vessel out of which the last Passover was eaten (a precious relic, which had long remained concealed from human eyes, because of the sins of the land), suddenly appeared to him and all his chivalry. The consequence of this vision was that all the knights took on them a solemn vow to seek the Sangreal."

The orthography of the word in the romance itself isSancgreall, which affords us a clue to what I believe to be its true etymology,Sang réel(Sanguis realis), a name it derived from the tradition of its having been employed, not only to hold the paschal lamb at the Last Supper, but also by Joseph of Arimathea to catch the blood and water which flowed from the wounds of our Blessed Lord.

Archdeacon Nares, in hisGlossary, pp. 209. 445., enters largely into the legendary history of the Sangreal, as well as the question of its orthography. He takes some pains to refute the etymology given above, and quotes Roquefort (Dict. de la Langue Romane) to prove that graal orgrealsignifiesa broad open dish. Will any one who has the means of consulting Roquefort inform us, whether he brings forward any instance of the existence of such a word in this sense? or, if so employed, whether such use may not have arisen from the ordinary erroneous orthography? It is a question well worth investigation, which I hope may call some abler pens than mine into exercise.

This holy relic, the object of so much fruitless search to Arthur and his knights, is now safely deposited in the cathedral of Genoa, where all, holy or unholy, may behold it, on making the accustomed offering to its sanctity. Of old, it concealed itself from the eyes of all but those free from mortal sin; but now, the ability to pay five francs puts one in possession of every Christian virtue, and theSacro Catino(as it is called) is exhibited on the payment of that sum. In addition to the authorities quoted by Nares, I would refer to Sir F. Palgrave, inMurray's Handbook to Northern Italy, 1st edition, p. 105.

Sa. Ca.

The St. Graal(Vol. iii. p. 224.).—Your correspondent W. M. K. will find the subject of "the Sangreal's holy quest" treated in the late Mr. Price's elaborate preface to Warton'sHistory of English Poetry(ed. 1840), p. 53; also an account of the MS. at C. C. C., Cambridge, in the same work, vol. i. p. 149.; and a reference to Walter Map's translation of the Latin romance of St. Graal into French, vol. ii. p. 416. See also Sismondi,Lit. of the South of Europe(Bohn, 1846), vol. i. p. 197., and note.

H. G. T.

(Vol. ii., p. 262. Vol. iii., p. 25.)

Your correspondent J. M. G. quotesHudibras, p. i. c. i. l. 147.:

"Where truth in person does appear,Like words congeal'd in northern air."

"Where truth in person does appear,

Like words congeal'd in northern air."

Zachary Grey doesnot, in his note, refer to Mandeville, but he says:

"See an explication of this passage, and a merry account of words freezing in Nova Zembla,Tatler,No. 254.; and Rabelais' account of the bloody fight of the Arimasphians and Nephelebites upon the confines of the Frozen Sea (vol. iv. c. 56. p. 229., Ozell's edit. 1737). To which Mr. John Done probably refers, in his panegyric upon T. Coryat, and his Crudities:'It's not that French which made his giants see,Those uncouth islands, where words frozen be,Till by the thaw next year they've voice again."

'It's not that French which made his giants see,Those uncouth islands, where words frozen be,Till by the thaw next year they've voice again."

'It's not that French which made his giants see,

Those uncouth islands, where words frozen be,

Till by the thaw next year they've voice again."

W. B. H.

Manchester.

J. M. G. quotes Sir John Mandeville for the story of the congealed words falling like hail from the rigging of his ship in the Arctic regions. I do not remember the passage, but there is one almost identical in Rabelais'Pantagruel, lib. iv. ch. lv., headed—

"Comment en haulte mer Pantagruel ouït diverses parolles desgelées."

In the notes to Bohn's translation it is said:

"Rabelais has borrowed these from theCourtisanof Balthasar de Castillon, of which a French translation was printed in 1539, and from theApologuesof Cælius Caleagnnius of Ferrara, published in 1544."

W. J. Bernhard Smith.

Temple.

(Vol. ii., p. 517.)

Your correspondentMacis mistaken when he says that no words are used in the Scottish dance of "Bab at the Bowster:" I have myself "babbed at the Bowster" within the last few years. Upon that occasion the words sung by the company while dancing round the individual bearing the "bowster" were—

"Wha learn'd you to dance,You to dance, you to dance,Wha learn'd you to danceBab at the bowster brawly?"

"Wha learn'd you to dance,

You to dance, you to dance,

Wha learn'd you to dance

Bab at the bowster brawly?"

To which the "bowster-bearer" replies—

"My mither learned me to dance,Me to dance, me to dance,My mither learned me to danceBab at the bowster brawly."

"My mither learned me to dance,

Me to dance, me to dance,

My mither learned me to dance

Bab at the bowster brawly."

After which, throwing down the "bowster" or cushion before one of the opposite sex, they both kneel upon it, and kiss one anotheraffectionately.

I never heard any words save the above; but a friend from a neighbouring county (Dumbartonshire) informs me, that with them it is sometimes changed into

"Wha gi'ed you the keys to keep,The keys to keep," &c.

"Wha gi'ed you the keys to keep,

The keys to keep," &c.

There are also other variations which I believe I can procure, should they be desired byMacor others. I should perhaps mention, for the benefit of Southrons, that almost all untravelled Scotchmen in conversation use the verbto learnin place of the verbto teach.

Glasgow.

The dance in Scotland called "Bab at the Bowster" is always the winding up at "kirns" and other merrymakings, and is most likely similar to the cushion-dance. The tune to which it is danced has words belonging to it. The beginning lines are—

"There's braw yill,Down at the mill,Bab at the bowster," &c.

"There's braw yill,

Down at the mill,

Bab at the bowster," &c.

L. M. M. R.

(Vol. iii., p. 207.)

Among the papers of an old personal friend and correspondent of the "Sylvanus Urban" of his day,—a clergyman of the good old school, who died a quarter of a century ago, aged eighty-six, I find the inclosed. It may possibly lead to the further elucidation of one of the Notes of B. B. It is unfortunate that no date is attached to it, nor any intimation of its history. Its owner was the intimate friend of Bennet, Bishop of Cloyne, of Dr. Farmer, of Burgess, Bishop of St. David's (afterwards Salisbury), and other eminent divines of his time.

With this MS. was inclosed another, in more modern writing; but, from the orthography, copied from an older paper, headed "Private Amours of Oliver Cromwell." It is very short, and also without date. It is at your service if desired.

S. H. H.

A NARRATIVE CONCERNING CROMWELL'S DEALINGS WITH THE D——L

"On ye3d of Sept., in yemorning, Cromwell took Colonel Lindsey, his intimate friend, and first Capt. of his regiment, to a wood side not far from yearmy, and bid him alight and follow him into that wood, & take particular notice of what he saw & heard."After they had both alighted & secured their horses, & walked some small way into the wood, Lindsey began to turn pale, & to be seiz'd with horrour, from some unknown cause; upon wch Cromwell askt him how he did, or how he felt himself. He answered, that he was in such a trembling & consternation that he never felt yelike in all yeconflicts and battles he had been engaged in: But wether it proceeded from the gloomyness of yeplace, or yetemperament of his body, he knew not. 'How now?' said Cromwell. 'What! trowbled with vapours? Come forward, man.' They had not gon above 20 yards before Lindsey on a sudden stood still and cry'd out, by all that's good he was seized with such unaccountable terrours & astonishment that it was impossible for him to stir one step further. Upon which Cromwell call'd him faint-hearted fool, & bid him stand there & observe or be witness: and then advancing to some distance from him, he met with a grave elderly man, with a roll of parchment in his hand, who deliver'd it to Cromwell, who eagerly perused it. Lindsey, a little recover'd from his fear, heard severall loud words betwixt them: particularly Cromwell said, 'This is but for seven year. I was to have it for 21, and it must and shall be so.' The other told him positively it could not be for above seven; upon which Cromwell cry'd with a great fierceness, it shd be, however, for 14 year; but the other person plorily declared it could not possibly be for any longer time: and if he woud not take it so, there was others that woud accept of it: Upon which Cromwell at last took yeparchment, and returning to Lindsey with great joy in his countenance, he cry'd, 'Now, Lindsey, the battle's our own: I long to be engag'd.' Returning out of the wood, they rode to yearmy. Cromwell with a resolution to engage as soon as possible, & yeother with a design of leaving yearmy as soon. After yefirst charge Lindsey deserted his post, and rode away with all possible speed, day and night, till he came into yecounty of Norfolk, to yehouse of an intimate friend, and minister of that parish: Cromwell, as soon as he mist him, sent all ways after him, with a promise of a great reward to any that w'd bring him alive or dead."Thus far yenarrative of Lindsey himself; but something further is to be remembered to complete & confirm yestory."When Mr. Thorowgood saw his friend Lindsey come into his yard, his horse and himself just tired, in a sort of amaze he said, 'How, now, Colonel; we hear there is like to be a battle shortly. What! fled from your colours?' 'A battle!' said yeother; 'yes, there has bin a battle, and I am sure yeKing is beaten. If ever I strike a stroke for Cromwell again, may I perish eternally, for I am sure he has made a league with yeDevil, and he will have him in due time.' Then, desiring his protection from Cromwell's inquisitors, he went in & related yewhole story, and all the circumstances, concluding with these remarkable words, That Cromwell w'd certainly die that day seven year that the battle was fought."The strangeness of his relation caused Mr. Thorowgood to order his son John, then about 12 years of age, to write it in full length in his common place book, & to take it from Lindsey's own mouth. This common place book, and likewise yesame story writen in other books, I am sure is still preserv'd in yefamily of yeThorowgoods: But how far Lindsey is to be believed, & how far yestory is to be accounted incredible, is left to yereader's faith and judgment, & not to any determination of our own."

"After they had both alighted & secured their horses, & walked some small way into the wood, Lindsey began to turn pale, & to be seiz'd with horrour, from some unknown cause; upon wch Cromwell askt him how he did, or how he felt himself. He answered, that he was in such a trembling & consternation that he never felt yelike in all yeconflicts and battles he had been engaged in: But wether it proceeded from the gloomyness of yeplace, or yetemperament of his body, he knew not. 'How now?' said Cromwell. 'What! trowbled with vapours? Come forward, man.' They had not gon above 20 yards before Lindsey on a sudden stood still and cry'd out, by all that's good he was seized with such unaccountable terrours & astonishment that it was impossible for him to stir one step further. Upon which Cromwell call'd him faint-hearted fool, & bid him stand there & observe or be witness: and then advancing to some distance from him, he met with a grave elderly man, with a roll of parchment in his hand, who deliver'd it to Cromwell, who eagerly perused it. Lindsey, a little recover'd from his fear, heard severall loud words betwixt them: particularly Cromwell said, 'This is but for seven year. I was to have it for 21, and it must and shall be so.' The other told him positively it could not be for above seven; upon which Cromwell cry'd with a great fierceness, it shd be, however, for 14 year; but the other person plorily declared it could not possibly be for any longer time: and if he woud not take it so, there was others that woud accept of it: Upon which Cromwell at last took yeparchment, and returning to Lindsey with great joy in his countenance, he cry'd, 'Now, Lindsey, the battle's our own: I long to be engag'd.' Returning out of the wood, they rode to yearmy. Cromwell with a resolution to engage as soon as possible, & yeother with a design of leaving yearmy as soon. After yefirst charge Lindsey deserted his post, and rode away with all possible speed, day and night, till he came into yecounty of Norfolk, to yehouse of an intimate friend, and minister of that parish: Cromwell, as soon as he mist him, sent all ways after him, with a promise of a great reward to any that w'd bring him alive or dead.

"Thus far yenarrative of Lindsey himself; but something further is to be remembered to complete & confirm yestory.

"When Mr. Thorowgood saw his friend Lindsey come into his yard, his horse and himself just tired, in a sort of amaze he said, 'How, now, Colonel; we hear there is like to be a battle shortly. What! fled from your colours?' 'A battle!' said yeother; 'yes, there has bin a battle, and I am sure yeKing is beaten. If ever I strike a stroke for Cromwell again, may I perish eternally, for I am sure he has made a league with yeDevil, and he will have him in due time.' Then, desiring his protection from Cromwell's inquisitors, he went in & related yewhole story, and all the circumstances, concluding with these remarkable words, That Cromwell w'd certainly die that day seven year that the battle was fought.

"The strangeness of his relation caused Mr. Thorowgood to order his son John, then about 12 years of age, to write it in full length in his common place book, & to take it from Lindsey's own mouth. This common place book, and likewise yesame story writen in other books, I am sure is still preserv'd in yefamily of yeThorowgoods: But how far Lindsey is to be believed, & how far yestory is to be accounted incredible, is left to yereader's faith and judgment, & not to any determination of our own."

Gig Hill(Vol. iii., p. 222.).—Perhaps your correspondent is mistaken in saying that "there is no indication of anything in the land to warrant the name." At least, the very fact of its being a hill is suspicious. If I could venture to affront you with a pun, I should say, that it seems to me very natural that thetopof a hill should look like agig. Mercy on us! do words wear out so fast? Why, I have not reached three-score, and did not I "whip my gig" when I was an "infant"?—not an infant born in a remote province, sucking in archaism with my mother's milk, playing with heirloom toys, and calling them by obsolete names, but a smart little cockney, born and bred in the parish of St. Andrew, Holborn, where, no doubt, there were gig-whipping brats plenty. In the crowded state of your columns, you would not thank me for enlarging on the top-hic, or I should really feel disposed to enter into a dissertation on the nature and characteristic differences of whipping-tops, humming-tops, peg-tops, and gigs. As to the latter, it certainly occurs to me, now that the question is raised, that I have not seen such a thing for a long time; though I fancygigslying in the shop-windows, as they did at a period when I was more likely to observe them; and if they have become so far forgotten, it may be worth while, for the sake of Shakspeare, to say that they were generally (as far as I remember always) made of horn; and therefore, when Holofernes says "Go, whip thy gig" (which means just the same as Mr. Oldbuck's "Sew your sampler, monkey!"), Moth replies, "Lend me yourhornto make one, and I will whip about your infamycircum circa; a gig of a cuckold's horn!" It is enough to add that the gig was made of the tip of the horn, and looked, while spinning, like an inverted extinguisher. It was hollow, but my impression is that there was sometimes lead at the bottom of the inside. Even with the ballast, it was a ticklish, volatile, kickety thing, much more difficult to set up and to keep up than the sober whipping-top, and bearing somewhat the same relation to one in bulk and motion,that a ship's gig may do to herself, or a gig on land to a coach. As to Gig Hill, however, unless it has a conical top, some other explanation must be sought.

N. B.

[C., E. H., and numerous other correspondents, have also kindly replied to this Query.]

Epigram against Burke(Vol. iii., P. 243.).—

"Oft have I heard that ne'er on Irish ground,A poisonous reptile ever yet was found;Nature, though slow, will yet complete her work,She has saved her venom to create a Burke."

"Oft have I heard that ne'er on Irish ground,

A poisonous reptile ever yet was found;

Nature, though slow, will yet complete her work,

She has saved her venom to create a Burke."

The author of these lines was Warren Hastings himself; his private secretary (Mr. Evans) sat by his side during the trial, and saw him write the above. My authority is a niece of Mr. Evans, who formed one of her uncle's family at the period of the trial.

N. M.

Engraved Portrait(Vol. iii., p. 209.).—This is the portrait of Samuel Clarke, the ejected minister of Bennet Fink, London. I have three impressions of this engraving now before me. Two of these are in an illustrated Granger, and are in different states, the earlier one having no shading in the background. The third copy is prefixed to—

"A Collection of the Lives of Ten Eminent Divines, Famous in their Generations for Learning, Prudence, Piety, and painfuless in the work of the Ministry, &c. By Sa. Clarke, Preacher of the Gospel in St. Bennet Fink, London, 1662." 4to.

Very likely the same plate had been previously used for some other of Clarke's numerous publications. At the end of the verses beneath the portrait, my copies have "P.V.A.M.fecit," which, I suppose, are the initials of Peter Vinke.

John I. Dredge.

A full and interesting account of this worthy divine is given inGranger, vol. v. p. 73.; and the quatrain will be found annexed to a brief account of the same portrait in Ames'sEnglish Heads, p. 43.

J. F. Y.

Salgado's Slaughter-house(Vol. ii., p. 358.).—Your correspondent asks, Who was Salgado? and his question has not yet, I believe, been answered. James Salgado, whose name does not appear in any biographical dictionary, though it deserves to do, and whose pieces are unnoticed in Peck's Catalogue, though they should certainly not have been omitted, was a Spanish priest, who renounced the Roman Catholic belief, and was imprisoned by the Inquisition, and after undergoing many sufferings made his escape to England in the latter part of the reign of Charles II. His history is contained inAn Account of his Life and Sufferings, in a 4to. tract in my possession, entitled,A Confession of Faith of James Salgado, a Spaniard, and sometimes a Priest in the Church of Rome, London, 1681, 4to. Watt and Lowndes both notice some of his pieces, but their lists are very imperfect, and do not comprise the tract, of which your correspondent gives the title, and which is also in my possession, and several others which I have noted in my copy of myConfession, but which it is perhaps unnecessary to enumerate here.

James Crossley.

Mathew's (not Matthew's) Mediterranean Passage(Vol. iii., p. 240.).—I have a copy of this work, and shall have pleasure in forwarding it toMercuriifor perusal, if he will address a note to me, which the publisher of "Notes and Queries" will forward.

Nibor.

Oxford, March 29. 1851.

The Mitre and the "Cloven Tongues"(Vol. iii., p. 146.).—My attention has just been directed to the remark of your correspondent L. M. M. R., who adduces the miracle of the "cloven tongues as of fire" as having supplied the form of the mitre.

This is an old explanation; but your correspondent does not appear to be aware that "cloven" has been rejected by high classical authority, as not being a correct interpretation of the wordδιαμεριζόμεναι. The exact translation is, "And tongues as of fire appeared, being distributed to them." The same verb is used in the passage, "Theypartedmy garments among them,"—parted or distributed—the exact equivalent.

It appears to me that the translators have here made an extraordinary blunder. They have, I think, mistakenδιαμηρίζωforδιαμερίζω. For the peculiar meaning of the former verb I beg to refer those who have not observed it, to Liddell and Scott'sLexicon. The substitution of a letter here (ηforε) would give to the Scripture term a significance, which, though analogous to that of the current translation, is immeasurably distant from the exact interpretation.

Hughes Frazer Halle.

Chudleigh, March 24. 1851.

Slums(Vol. iii., p. 224.).—This word is, I take it, an Americanism, being an abbreviation ofsettlements.

Theback settlementsandback slumsare used synonymously.

D. Q.

"God's Acre" (Vol. ii., p. 56.).—On looking back to some of your old numbers I find W. H. K. has never been answered with regard to the above application of the term to churchyards. Longfellow (Liverpool edition, 1850, p. 36.) commences one of his poems thus:

"I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which callsThe burial-groundGod's Acre. It is just;It consecrates each grave within its walls,And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust."

"I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls

The burial-groundGod's Acre. It is just;

It consecrates each grave within its walls,

And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust."

Whether this may be any help to W. H. K., I know not, but I cannot refrain from the Query—What is the Saxon phrase alluded to?

W. H. P.

Wages in the last Century(Vol. iii., p. 143.).—I have a note on this subject which is at A. A.'s service, extracted from theGentleman's Magazinefor May 1732, vol. ii p. 771.:—

"Wages(Yearly) appointed by the Justices,A.D.1732, to be taken by the Servants in the County of Kent.

I send the note as I have it in my commonplace book; but I should think that the periodical from which the above is extracted, contains much that would suit A. A.'s purpose.

E. S. Taylor.

Martham, Norfolk.

Tradesmen's Signs(Vol. iii., p. 224.).—Theprojectingsigns over tradesmen's shop-doors were removed under the London Paving Act, 6 Geo. III. c. 26. s. 17. In thePercy History of London, i. 179., the act is erroneously said to have been passed in 1762. From Malcolm'sAnecdotes of London, pp. 468, 469., it seems that the clause in question was inserted in the act in consequence of inquiries by a committee appointed by the Court of Common Council in 1764.Mr. Peter Cunningham, in the "London Occurrences" prefixed to hisHandbook for London, says: "1766. The house-signs of London taken down."

No doubt the existing Metropolitan Paving Acts contain clauses which will prevent tradesmen from again putting upprojecting signs.

C. H. Cooper.

Cambridge.

Standfast's Cordial Comforts, &c.(Vol. iii., p. 143.).—Abhbawill find in a catalogue of curious books published by G. Bumstead, 205. High Holborn, an early edition of Standfast. It is described thus:

"Standfast (R.), A Little Handful of Cordial Comforts, and a Caveat against Seducers; with the Blind Man's Meditations, and a Dialogue Between a Blind Man and Death, 12mo. 1684."

This may assistAbhbain his researches.

St. Pancras(Vol. ii., p. 496.).—Your correspondentMr. Yeowellasks where C. J. Smith's collection of MSS., cuttings and prints, &c. relating to the parish of St. Pancras, are deposited? It is in the library of Richard Percival, Esq., 9. Highbury Park, Islington.

Can any of your readers give an account of St. Pancras? He was martyred May 12, 304.

[Has our correspondent looked at theCalendar of the Anglican Church, lately published by Parker of Oxford? A brief notice of St. Pancras will be found on p. 274. of that useful little work.]

Lines on "Woman's Will"(Vol. i., p. 247.).—Although somewhat late in the day, I send you the following paragraph from theExaminerof May 31, 1829:

"Woman's Will.—The following lines (says a correspondent of theBrighton Herald) were copied from the pillar erected on the Mount in the Dane-John Field, formerly called the Dungeon Field, Canterbury:'Where is the man who has the power and skillTo stem the torrents of a woman's will?For if she will, she will, you may depend on't,And if she won't, she won't so there's an end on't."'

'Where is the man who has the power and skillTo stem the torrents of a woman's will?For if she will, she will, you may depend on't,And if she won't, she won't so there's an end on't."'

'Where is the man who has the power and skill

To stem the torrents of a woman's will?

For if she will, she will, you may depend on't,

And if she won't, she won't so there's an end on't."'

H. C.

Workington.

Scandal against Queen Elizabeth(Vol. ii., p. 393.; Vol. iii., p. 11.).—InHubback on the Evidence of Succession, p. 253, after some remarks on the word "natural," not of itself in former times denoting illegitimacy, this passage occurs:

"But as early as the time of Elizabeth the wordnatural, standing alone, had acquired something of its present meaning. The Parliament, in debating upon the act establishing the title to the crown in the Queen's issue, thought it proper to alter the words 'issue lawfully begotten,' into 'natural-born issue,' conceiving the latter to be a more delicate phrase. But this created a suspicion among the people, that the Queen's favourite, Leicester, intended after her death to set up some bastard of his own, pretending it was born of her, and bred up privately."—Duke of BuckinghamOn Treasons, cited Amos'sFortescue, p. 154.

J. H. L.

Coggeshall Job(Vol. iii., p. 167.).—Does J. C. allude to the tradition that the Coggeshall people placed hurdles in the stream to turn the river, and chained up the wheelbarrow when the mad dog bit it?

J. H. L.

Whale caught at Greenwich before the Death of Cromwell(Vol. iii., p. 207.).—B. B. wishes a recordof the capture of a whale at Greenwich, immediately previous to Cromwell's death. I take leave to inform him that, in a tract entitledA Catalogue of natural Rarities, with great Industry, Cost and thirty Years' Travel in foreign Countries collected, by Robert Hubert, alias Forges, Gent., and sworn Servant to his Majesty. And Dayly to be seen at the Place called the Musick House, at the Miter, near the West End of St. Paul's Church, 1664, there is the following item:—

"The vein of the tongue of that whale that was taken up at Greenwich, a little before Cromwell's death."

W. Pinkerton.

Ham.

Fronte Capillatâ, &c.(Vol. iii., pp. 8. 43. 124.).—The following lines from Tasso'sAmore Fuggitivocontain the same figure as the Latin quoted above:

"Crespe hà le chiome e d'oro,E in quella guisa appunto,Che Fortuna si pingeHa lunghi e folti in sulla fronte i crini;Ma nuda hà poi la testaAgli opposti confini."

"Crespe hà le chiome e d'oro,

E in quella guisa appunto,

Che Fortuna si pinge

Ha lunghi e folti in sulla fronte i crini;

Ma nuda hà poi la testa

Agli opposti confini."

Robert Snow.

The lines quoted by your correspondent are from Peacock's "Headlong Hall," and are imitated from Machiavelli's "Capitolo dell' Occasione." The whole air stands thus; the second stanza differing slightly from the version given byMr. Burt. The lines are very pretty, at least in my opinion.

"LOVE AND OPPORTUNITY."Oh! who art thou, so swiftly flying?My name is Love, the child replied;Swifter I pass than south-winds sighing,Or streams through summer vales that glide.And who art thou, his flight pursuing?'Tis cold Neglect whom now you see:The little god you there are viewing,Will die, if once he's touched by me."Oh! who art thou so fast proceeding,Ne'er glancing back thine eyes of flame?Mark'd but by few, through earth I'm speeding,And Opportunity's my name.What form is that which scowls beside thee?Repentance is the form you see:Learn then, the fate may yet betide thee.She seizes them who seize not me."

"LOVE AND OPPORTUNITY.

"Oh! who art thou, so swiftly flying?My name is Love, the child replied;Swifter I pass than south-winds sighing,Or streams through summer vales that glide.And who art thou, his flight pursuing?'Tis cold Neglect whom now you see:The little god you there are viewing,Will die, if once he's touched by me.

"Oh! who art thou, so swiftly flying?

My name is Love, the child replied;

Swifter I pass than south-winds sighing,

Or streams through summer vales that glide.

And who art thou, his flight pursuing?

'Tis cold Neglect whom now you see:

The little god you there are viewing,

Will die, if once he's touched by me.

"Oh! who art thou so fast proceeding,Ne'er glancing back thine eyes of flame?Mark'd but by few, through earth I'm speeding,And Opportunity's my name.What form is that which scowls beside thee?Repentance is the form you see:Learn then, the fate may yet betide thee.She seizes them who seize not me."

"Oh! who art thou so fast proceeding,

Ne'er glancing back thine eyes of flame?

Mark'd but by few, through earth I'm speeding,

And Opportunity's my name.

What form is that which scowls beside thee?

Repentance is the form you see:

Learn then, the fate may yet betide thee.

She seizes them who seize not me."

W. R. M.

John Sanderson, or the Cushion-dance(Vol. ii., p. 517.).—Though I am unable to answer your correspondent Mac's inquiry as to the antiquity of this dance, it may interest him as well as others of the readers of "Notes and Queries" to know, that when Walpole made up his mind to abandon his Excise bill (which met with a still fiercer opposition out of doors than in the House of Commons), he signified his intention to a party of his adherents at the supper-table, by quoting the first line of the accompanying song:—

"This dance it will no further go!"[7]

This, at least, shows the popularity of this dance in the reign of George II.

H. C.

Workington.

Footnote 7:(return)This occurred in the year 1733.

This occurred in the year 1733.

George Steevens and William Stevens(Vol. iii, p. 230.).—The late Sir J. A. Park wroteMemoirs of William Stevens, the Treasurer of Queen Anne's Bounty, and the biographer of Jones of Nayland. As little resemblance must have existed between this gentleman and "the Puck of commentators," George Steevens, as between the two Harveys:

"The one invented Sauce for FishThe other Meditations."

"The one invented Sauce for Fish

The other Meditations."

J. H. M.

Memoirs of Stevensby the late Sir James Allan Park have been published, and are well worth reading; but this Stevens was not George Steevens, the Shakespearian commentator, but William, Treasurer of Queen Anne's Bounty, one of the most meek and humble minded of men.

"He was inferior to none in profound knowledge, and steady practice of the doctrines and discipline of the Church of England; austere to himself alone, charitable and indulgent towards others, he attracted the young by the cheerfulness of his temper, and the old by the sanctity of his life."

Miss Bockettshould not confound such a holy character with George Steevens.

E. H.

Memoirs of George Steevens, Esq., F.R.S. and F.S.A.(Vol. iii., p. 119.).—In answer to A. Z. it may be stated that a brief memoir of Mr. Steevens was given in Nichols'sLiterary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, Vol. ii. p. 680.; further anecdotes, and some of his letters, in vol. v. of Nichols'sLiterary Illustrations; and further letters (his correspondence with Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore), in vol. vii. of the latter work; besides many incidental notices, which will be found by reference to the indexes. On the last occasion a copy of his portrait by Dance, was attached; and in vol. v. of theLiterary Illustrationsis an engraving of his monument by Flaxman, in Poplar Chapel.

Tradescant(Vol. iii., p. 119.).—At what period the elder Tradescant came into England is not with certainty known, but it is supposed to have been about the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, or the beginning of that of James I. He obtained the title ofRoyal Gardenercirca 1629.

It may not be superfluous to mention (on the authority of Allen'sHistory of Lambeth, p. 142.) that formerly the three following lines were on the monument in Lambeth churchyard, until itsreparation by public subscription in 1773, when they were left out:

"This monument was erected at the charge ofHester Tradescant, the relict ofJohn Tradescant, late deceased, who was buried the 25th of April, 1662."

Alfred W. H.

Kennington.

Origin of Harlequins(Vol. iii., p. 165.).—Your correspondent and querist E. L. N. wishes for an account of the Origin of Harlequins. I beg to refer E. L. N. to an account of the Hellequines, or "La Mesnie Hellequin," given by M. Paul Paris, in his work on theManuscripts François de la Bib. du Roi, vol. i. p. 322. M. Paris says:

"On donnoit ce nom (Hellequines) à des espèces de feux follets ou génies plutôt malfaisants que favorables, et plutôt moqueurs que malfaisants.... L'origine de la tradition de la Mesnie Hellequin se perd dans l'obscurité des temps. On l'entendoit surtout bruire dans les environs de la ville d'Arles.... J'ignore la première origine de cette locution; mais ce qui me semble incontestable, c'est qu'on confondit facilement la Mesnie Hellequin avec celle 'de la Mort,' famille bariolée de rouge et de noir, et dont le manteau de cérémonie devoit être un grand pan de toile ou linceul. Déjà le lecteur a devancé la conséquence qu'il faut tirer de tout cela; la Mesnie Hellequin, partie nécessaire des cortéges effrayants ou grotesques dans le moyen-âge, est devenue insensiblement, sous la main des arrangeurs, notrefamille d'Arlequin. Le costume bariolé d'Arlequin n'est rien autre que le fantastique costume du représentant de la Mort.... Et, si ce que je viens de dire est fondé, on ne répètera plus après Ménage (Gilles), que le motArlequinfut pris d'abord, sur la fin duXVIsiècle, par un certain bouffon italien que le PrésidentHarlayavoit accueilli. Il est certain que le motArlequinse trouve très-anciennement dans un grand nombre de mystères."'Numquid me velis,' ecrivoit Jean Raulin, mort en 1514, 'antiquam illam familiam Harlequini, revocare, ut videatur mortuus inter mundanæ curiæ nebulas et caligines equitare?'"

"'Numquid me velis,' ecrivoit Jean Raulin, mort en 1514, 'antiquam illam familiam Harlequini, revocare, ut videatur mortuus inter mundanæ curiæ nebulas et caligines equitare?'"

By the above extracts, which I fear you will find too long, harlequinades would seem rather to be derived from the wanton pranks of sprites than the coarse gambols of buffoons; and this derivation would certainly best agree with the accepted character of the modern harlequin.

H. C. C.

"Predeceased" and "Designed" (Vol. iii., p. 143.).—The former word is used in an active sense by Shakspeare, in his "Rape of Lucrece:"

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