"Sitting where they durst not soar."
"Sitting where they durst not soar."
Amidst such a number of book-learned correspondents as you have, surely I may "lay the flattering unction to my soul" that some interesting discoveries could be made.
Collins is well worthy of all that can be done for his memory, for if hisOde on the Passionsand hisOde to Eveningbe not true poetry, I fear that the English language has not much poetry to produce.
RT.
Warmington.
Being employed upon an entirely new biography ofHenry Purcell, I am most anxious to procure all the information in my power relative to the various portraits extant of this "famous musician." Granger's list is very imperfect, but having by my own researches considerably extended it, I submit it to your readers for perusal, in the hope that those who are versed in the lore of "print" or "picture collecting" may correct errors, or point out omissions.
Paintings and Drawings.
1. Head of Purcell, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Lately in the possession of E. Bates, Esq., of Somerset House.
2. Half-length, said (but evidently erroneously) to have been painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Now in the meeting-room of the Royal Society of Musicians, Lisle Street, Soho.
3. Half-length, originally used as a sign at the tavern known by the name of "The Purcell's Head," in Wych Street, Strand. Query, where is it at present?
4. Portrait of Purcell when a very young man, formerly among Cartwright's pictures in Dulwich College. Query, what has become of it?
5. An original portrait by Closterman. In his hand is a miniature of Queen Mary. Formerly in the collection of Charles Burney, Mus. Doc., at whose sale it was sold, in 1814, for 18l.18s.I cannot trace this picture.
6. Crayon drawing, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, from the first-mentioned painting. Formerly in Mr. Bartleman's collection.
Engravings.
1. An engraving by T. Cross, prefixed as frontispiece to hisTwelve Sonatas, 1683.
2. Ditto, by R. White, from a painting by Closterman. Frontispiece to theOrpheus Britannicus.
3. Ditto, engraved by W. N. Gardiner, from a drawing by S. Harding, taken from the original picture in Dulwich College, 1794.
4. Ditto, by T. Holloway, from the crayon drawing by Sir Godfrey Kneller.
5. An etching inscribed "Henry Purcell," but without the name of painter or engraver.
6. A small engraving, by Grignion, in Sir John Hawkins'sHistory of Music.
7. An engraving by W. Humphries, after Sir Godfrey Kneller. Frontispiece to Novello's edit. of Purcell'sSacred Music.
EDWARDF. RIMBAULT.
In the report made by the Committee of the Royal Society, it is stated that the Committee had "consulted the Letters and Letter-books in the custody of the Royal Society, and those found among the Papers of Mr.John Collins....;" thus leaving it doubtful whether Collins's papersthenbelonged to the Society, or, it may be, meaning to distinguish them as not so belonging.
In the preface to theAnalysis per Quantitatum Series... by William Jones (father of his more celebrated namesake), London, 1711, 4to., which contains some of the matter published in 1712 in theCommercium Epistolicum, occurs the following passage:—
"Etenim secundus jam agitur annus ex quo ScriniaD. Collinsii(qui, uti notum est, amplissimum cum sui sæculi Mathematicis commercium habuit) meas in manus inciderint; et in illis plurima reperi à cunctis fere totiusEuropæeruditis ipsi communicata; et inter ea non pauca, quæ a Viro Cl. D.Newtonoscripta fuerint."
This is hardly language which could be used with reference to papers lodged in the custody of the Society: it would seem as if Jones, in 1709 or 1710, became the owner or borrower of papers, till then in private hands exclusively. Can any evidence be brought forward as to the manner in which Jones and the Royal Society, or either, obtained these papers? I believe the Royal Society itself can give no information.
A. DEMORGAN.
—What is the derivation of the wordmadrigal?
NEMO.
—Can any of your correspondents inform me what is the origin of the expression so frequently quoted, "Experto crede Roberto?"
W. L.
—I understand a Chronological Institute has been formed in London. Can you inform me where a prospectus can be obtained?
F. B. RELTON.
—What is the derivation of the wordbuzz,i.e.empty the bottle; and how came it to have that extraordinary meaning?
W.
—Can any of your correspondents throw light on themeasureof the "Old Scots March," which appears to have been beat with triumphant success as to many of the onslaughts, infalls, and other martial progresses of Gustavus's valiant brigades?
Grose has given what he styles "The English March," as ordered to be beat by Prince Henry. And as a pendant, the recovery of "The Scots March" would be very desirable.
J. M.
—Is the place of this eminent artist's sepulture now known? His death (by the plague) in 1554 was probably a release from neglect and poverty. When he was compelled to give up his painting-rooms at the palace, after Henry's decease, he is conjectured to have resided in Bishopsgate street.
EDWARDF. RIMBAULT.
—In the catalogue which Mr. Cole, of Scarborough, printed in 1829, of books in his private collection, he mentions a copy of Lord Byron'sMarino Faliero, 1821, bound in a unique style, and having, inserted in a recess, on the front cover, a finely finished head of the noble poet, on ivory, in high relief, of beautiful Italian carving. Can any of your correspondents tell me who is now the possessor of this work of art?
W. S. G.
Newcastle-on-Tyne.
—On the north side of the tower of Trumpington Church, Cambridgeshire, there is a curious recess in the basement story, which I have not met with anywhere else, or seen fully accounted for. It is sufficiently capacious for a man to stand in, having an arched entrance six feet in height, with a turning to the westward of about two feet, and is formed completely within the thickness of the wall. The village tradition, that it was formerly used as a confessional, founded on the existence of an opening into the interior part of the tower, now blocked up, has long been disesteemed. In the volume by the Cambridge Camden Society, on the Churches in Cambridgeshire, it is said to have been made for an ecclesiastic to stand in, to ring the Sanctus bell. A round hole, lined with wood, in the roof of the niche, evidently intended for a bell-rope, and chafings upon the upper part of the little aperture, such as the friction of one would produce, are very convincive of its having been used forsome suchpurpose. But when we consider that the Sanctus bell, except when a hand one, was "suspended on the outside of the church, in a small turret over the archway leading from the nave into the chancel,"[5]the probability that it was made for the purpose above-mentioned seems very much weakened. I shall feel obliged for a reference to any other instance, or a more satisfactory explanation.
[5]Glossary of Architecture.
R. W. ELLIOT.
—Upon the title-page of a Bible which I have had some years in my possession, I have just discovered, in my own handwriting, the following very beautiful and apposite quotation:—
"Carmen perpetuum primaque ab origine mundi ad tempora nostra."
I have lost all remembrance of the source from which I borrowed this happy thought, so happily expressed; and shall feel much obliged to any one whose better memory can direct me to the mine from which I formerly dug the gem.
HAM.
—Who was the author ofThe Retired Christian, so generally, but I believe erroneously, attributed to Bishop Ken?
S. FY.
—The West India newspapers are filled with the details of General Lopez's second attempt on Cuba, and his subsequent capture and execution. The latter event took place at Havannah on the 1st September, in presence of 8000 troops, and the manner of it is said to have been theGarrote, which is thus described in a Jamaica Journal:—
"The prisoner is made to sit in a kind of chair with a high back, to which his head is fastened by means of an iron clasp, which encloses his neck, and is attached to the back by a screw. When the signal is given, the screw is turned several times, which strangles the victim, and breaks his neck."
The wordGarrotebeing Spanish (derived probably from the French "garrotter"), and the punishment having been inflicted in a Spanish colony, it is to be presumed that we are indebted to the latter nation for the invention of it. Can any of your readers give any information as to the origin and use of this mode of punishment?
HENRYH. BREEN.
—Will any of your correspondents be kind enough to furnishme with a list of the ancient monastic establishments of Scotland? Having communicated with many learned antiquaries, both in England and Scotland, and having failed in obtaining what I desired, I conclude that no complete list exists. Spottiswoode's list, now appended to Keith'sCatalogue of Scottish Bishops, is very imperfect. But there are great facilities now for compiling a perfect list from such works as the publications of the Roxburgh, Bannatyne, and Maitland Clubs, Innes'sOrigines Parochiales, &c. I would like the list to be classed either according to the different counties, or by the respective orders of the religious houses, with a separate list of themitred housesthat had seats in parliament. The list is wanted for publication. Perhaps the writer of "Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals" in theQuarterlymay have compiled such a list.
CEYREP.
—Can you inform me where I can find the pedigree of the Bonds of Clearwell and Redbrook, in the county of Gloucester?
†
—Pray, what has become of the collection of documents relating to Eliza Fenning, which was formerly in the possession of Mr. Upcott?
Is it true that some years after the execution of Eliza Fenning a person confessed that he had committed the offence of which she was found guilty?
ONETWOTHREE.
—In 1711 a valuable essay was published anonymously, entitledThe Character of a True Churchman, in a letter from a gentleman in the city to his friend in the country: London, printed for John Baker, at the Black Boy, in Paternoster Row, 1711. Who is the writer of it?
J. Y.
—What is the origin of calling any huge piece of ordnance "a roaring Meg?"
Burton, in hisAnatomy of Melancholy, says:
"Musica est mentis medecina mæstæ,a roaring megagainst melancholy, to rear and revive the languishing soul."
The earliest edition of theAnatomy of Melancholyis, I believe, the Oxford one of 1624.[6]
[6]The first edition was published in 1621, 4to.—ED.
The large old-fashioned piece of artillery, calledMons Meg, in the castle of Edinburgh, which is so great a favourite with the Scottish common people, is said by Sir Walter Scott to have been "fabricated at Mons in Flanders, in the reign of James IV. or V. of Scotland;" that is, betweenA.D. 1508 and 1514 (note toRob Roy, vol. ii. ch. 10.).
This accounts for theMons; but whence comes theMeg? The tradition of the Edinburgh people is different from that of Sir Walter: and Black, in hisTourist of Scotland, pp. 51. 341., says, it was forged at Threave Castle, a stronghold of the Black Douglases; was used by James II. in 1455; and that it was calledMons Megafter "the man who cast it and his wife." The date in the above must be a mistake, as I believe James II. was killed inA.D.1437.
There is another cannon of similar caliber, and bearing the name ofRoaring Meg, presented by the Fishmongers' Company of London to the city of Londonderry in 1642 (Simpson'sAnnals of Derry, chap. vii. p. 41.).
Can any of your readers explain the origin of the name, and say whether the phrase "A roaring Meg" occurs in any English author earlier than Burton?
W. W. E. T.
Warwick Square, Belgravia.
—In 1513 Sir Richard Pole, a Welsh knight, married Margaret, daughter of George Duke of Clarence, who was drowned in the butt of Malmsey. Can any of your readers assist me in tracing his pedigree? If of Welsh extraction, the name was probably Powell, that is, ap Howel. Or can a connexion be shown with the old family of Pole, Poole, or Pull, of Cheshire?
I. J. H. H.
—In an agreement madeA.D.1103, before Henry I., between the Abbott of Fécamp, in Normandy, and Philip de Braiosâ, the Lord of Bramber, mention is made of a "theoloneum, quod injustè recipiebant homines Philippi, de hominibus de Staningis." What is atheoloneum?
M. T.
—I should feel extremely obliged to any of your correspondents who would refer me to any contemporary notices of Sterne's residence at Paris in 1762. The author ofTristram Shandymust have been somewhat lionized by the Parisian circles, and allusions to his wit probably occur among the many memoirs of the period.
T. STERNBERG.
—In Dalyell'sFragments of Scottish History, I find the following:—
"The oldest known English watch was made, it is said, in the sixteenth century. There exists a watch, which, antiquarians allow, belonged to King Robert Bruce."—Preface, p. 3.
Can any correspondent of "N. & Q." give information regarding such an interesting relic of antiquity?
R. S. F.
Perth.
—I have extracted from theDaily Newsof the 5th instant, the following paragraph, which appears to have been quoted from theChelmsford Chronicle, relative to this custom:—
"By ancient charter or usage in Hornchurch, a boar's head is wrestled for in a field adjoining the church; a boar, the property of the parish, having been slaughtered for the purpose. The boar's head, elevated on a pole, and decorated with ribbons, was brought into the ring, where the competitors entered and the prize awarded."
The paragraph goes on further to observe that if the prize be taken bya championout of the parish, the charter is lost. And I shall be glad to know the origin of the custom, and of the notion of the charter or usage, as it is called, being lost if the prize be taken away as before alluded to. I observe that it is noticed in theGentleman's Magazinefor April, 1828, p. 305.
JOHNNURSECHADWICK.
[It may be as well to state, as a clue to the discovery of this ancient custom, that the tithes of Hornchurch belong to New College, Oxford; the warden and fellows of which society are ordinaries of the place, and appoint a commissary, who holds an annual visitation. The lessee of the tithes supplies the boar's head, dressed and garnished with bay leaves, &c. Several curious notices are given by Hone in his works of the custom observed at Christmas at Queen's College, Oxford, of serving up at the first course at dinner, "a fair and large boreshead upon a silver platter with minstralsye;" but he has omitted to furnish the origin of the custom at Hornchurch. Perhaps some Oxonian connected with New College will favour us with a reply.]
—In recent numbers of "N. & Q." there have been several allusions to spectacles, and as I am not aware of any clear and satisfactory data relative to the origin or antiquity of this most important auxiliary to the extension and usefulness of that sense upon which the enjoyment and value of life so much depends, I beg to submit the Query, What is the earliest form in which evidence of the existence of this invaluable optical aid to the human eye presents itself?
H.
[Dr. Johnson expressed his surprise that the inventor of spectacles was regarded with indifference, and has found no biographer to celebrate his deeds. Most authorities give the latter part of the thirteenth century as the period of their invention, and popular opinion has pronounced in favour of Alexander de Spina, a native of Pisa, who died in the year 1313. In the Italian Dictionary,Della Crusca, under the head of "Occhiale," or Spectacles, it is stated that Friar Jordan de Rivalto tells his audience, in a sermon published in 1305, that "it is not twenty years since the art of making spectacles was found out, and is indeed one of the best and most necessary inventions in the world." This would place the invention in the year 1285. On the other hand, Dominic Maria Manni, an eminent Italian writer, attributes the invention to Salvino Armati, who flourished about 1345. (See his Treatise,Degli Occhiali da Naso, inventati da Salvino Armati, 4to. 1738.) On the authority of various passages in the writings of Friar Bacon, Mr. Molyneux is of opinion that he was acquainted with the use of spectacles; and when Bacon (Opus Majus) says, that "this instrument (a plano-convex glass, or large segment of a sphere) is useful to old men, and to those who have weak eyes; for they may see the smallest letters sufficiently magnified," we may conclude that the particular way of assisting decayed sight was known to him. It is quite certain that they were known and used about the time of his death,A.D. 1292.]
—What is the meaning of the wordstoke, with regard to the names of places, as Bishopstoke, Ulverstoke, Stoke-on-Trent, &c.?
W. B.
[Bosworth (Anglo-Saxon Dict.) derives it from "stoc, a place; hence stoke, a termination of the names of places; locus:—Wude stocsylvarum locus, Sim. Dunelm. anno 1123."]
—Our organist is about to add another selection of psalm tunes to the large number already existing. He has been able to assign all the tunes which it comprises to their proper composers, with one exception—the tune called "Doncaster," the author of which he has failed to discover. Will any of your correspondents kindly supply this desideratum?
W. SPARROWSIMPSON, B.A.
[The well-known tune called "Doncaster" was composed by Dr. Edward Miller, for fifty-one years organist of Doncaster Church, but better known as the author ofThe History and Antiquities of Doncaster. See hisCollection of Psalm Tunes for the Use of Parish Churches, 4to. 1790, pp. 32. 46. 106.]
—Can any of your correspondents refer me to a copy of the Assize Sermon preached at Derby by Dr. Sacheverell, and which formed part of the charge against him?
L. J.
[We can favour L. J. with the loan of a copy of this sermon for a week or two. It shall be left for him at our publisher's.]
It would greatly assist the elucidation of this word, if the earliest instances extant of its use, in a chronological sense, could be ascertained.
The dictionary of Facciolatus goes no furtherback than Isidorus the younger, at the end of the sixth century; who perhaps was the first who gave to era the meaning of a cursus of years: before his time, as well as afterwards, it is certain that era was a synonyme of annus.
In recording dates, the Spanish account made no use ofannuseither expressed or understood—erawas an independent word, having numerals in concord with itself: thus it was prima era, secunda era, tertia era, &c. Spelman therefore had sufficient reason to contend that the origin oferamight be Gothic and not Roman, and that it is but a variation of our own wordyear. He says that Isidorus, when dating from the Roman epoch, used the Roman word, but that when dating from the Gothic epoch, he conformed to the idiom of the Goths, "apud quos," he adds, "eram annum significasse ex eo liqueat, quod prisci Saxones (quibus magna Gothis sermonis affinitas) annum 'Ȝear' dicebant—Angli hodie 'year'—Belgi 'iaer.'"
The absence of the diphthong in era is attributed by Facciolatus to the barbarism of the age; but it is at least equally probable that the diphthong never did really belong to era, but that its claim to it originated in the fanciful derivation from æs, as imagined by Isidorus—or rather from es, as he would spell it, the real corruption being in the latter word: thus, when the diphthong was restored to æs, it would, as a matter of course, be also applied to its supposed affinitive.
The Spaniards, who have the best right to the word, have never adopted the diphthong. With them it is still era, and Scaliger asserts that there is not in all Spain a single inscription in which the diphthong is recognised. Alluding to Sepulveda, he says,—
"Mirum mihi visum hominem doctissimum ac præterea Hispanum, cum tot monimenta extent in Hispania in quibus hujus rei memoria sculpta est, ne unum vidisse—In illis, ut diximus, nunquam æra, semper era, scriptum est."
The practical institution of the Spanish, or era account, was probably, like the Dionysian, long subsequent to its nominal commencement; so that an enquiry into its earliest known record would possess the additional interest of determining whether such were the case or not.
Censorinus, in his comparative enumeration of the various accounts of years—the Julian—the Augustan—the Olympiad—and the Palilian, makes no mention of the Era, which he would scarcely have omitted, had it been then in existence and of imperial institution. Between his time, therefore, which was towards the middle of the third century, and that of Isidorus, the practice of computation by eras most probably arose.
As for its institution by Cæsar Augustus, which rests on the authority of Isidorus; that suggestion, even if free from anachronism, had probably no better foundation than an accidental similitude in sound, and a wish to compliment the bishop of CÆSARAUGUSTA, to whom the epistle containing it was addressed by him of Hispalis. The latter appears to have dealt largely in conjecture in framing his Origines—as, for example, in hora,—
"Hora enim finis est temporis sic et oræ, sunt fines maris, fluminorum, et vestimentorum"—
an analogy which reminds one of the cockney—hedge from edge, because itedgesthe field.
With respect to the initial-letter method of derivation, of which, in the case of era, there are three or four different versions, something has been already said upon that subject, with reference to the alleged derivation of N. E. W. S. in the first volume of "N. & Q." Scaliger called such suggestions puerile and ridiculous, and doubtless they are little better; his castigation of Sepulveda's version was so complete that it may well serve for its modern imitations.
The original meaning of era has been, like our own wordday, expanded into a period of indefinite duration; in that sense it is particularly useful as a general denomination for a running account of years. It is an elegant and convenient expression, and its service to chronological and historical language could be ill dispensed with—it has, moreover, the prescription of long usage in its favour.
But a modern and far more indefensible attempt has been made in the opposite extreme, to deprive era of all duration, and to restrict its meaning to that of a mere initial point—such a meaning, already well supplied by the word epoch, is, in the case of era, opposed alike to reason, analogy, usefulness, and usage.
A. E. B.
Leeds.
Amongst the Egyptians, theSWANwas an emblem of music and musicians:Cygnuswith the Latins was a common synonym forpoeta, and we sometimes use the expression ourselves; thus, Shakspeare is called "theswanof Avon."
This bird was sacred to Apollo, as being endued withDIVINATION, "because, foreseeing his happiness in death, he dies with singing and pleasure:"
"Cygoni non sine causa Apolini dicati sint, quod ab eo divinationem habere videantur, qua providentes quid in morte boni sit, cum cantu et voluptate moriantur."—Tull.Quæst. Tusc.1. c. 30.
"The dying swan, when years her temples pierce,In music-strains breathes out her life and verse,And, chanting her own dirge, tides on her wat'ry hearse."Phineas Fletcher's,Purple Island, CantoI.
"The dying swan, when years her temples pierce,
In music-strains breathes out her life and verse,
And, chanting her own dirge, tides on her wat'ry hearse."
Phineas Fletcher's,Purple Island, CantoI.
Giles Fletcher, in hisTemptation and Victory of Christ, speaks of—
"The immortal swan that did her life deplore."
"The immortal swan that did her life deplore."
An American poet has the following beautiful lines:
"'What is that, mother?''The swan, my love;He is floating down from his native grove,No lov'd one now, no nestling nigh:He is floating down by himself to die.Death darkens his eyes, and unplumes his wings,Yet the sweetest song is the last he sings:Live so, my love, that when death shall come,Swan-like and sweet it may waft thee home.'"G. W. Doane.[7]
"'What is that, mother?'
'The swan, my love;
He is floating down from his native grove,
No lov'd one now, no nestling nigh:
He is floating down by himself to die.
Death darkens his eyes, and unplumes his wings,
Yet the sweetest song is the last he sings:
Live so, my love, that when death shall come,
Swan-like and sweet it may waft thee home.'"
G. W. Doane.[7]
[7]I am not sure whether this gentleman be the American Bishop of New Jersey, or a namesake only.
Tennyson, with all that luxury of dreariness, sadness, and weariness, which characterises his masterpieces, has also sung of "The Dying Swan." I subjoin an extract, wishing your limits would admit of the entire:
"The plain was grassy, wild and bare,Wide, wild, and open to the air,Which had built up everywhereAn under-roof of doleful gray.With an inner voice the river ran,Adown it floated a dying swan,Which loudly did lament.It was the middle of the day.Ever the weary wind went on,And took the reed-tops as it went.
"The plain was grassy, wild and bare,
Wide, wild, and open to the air,
Which had built up everywhere
An under-roof of doleful gray.
With an inner voice the river ran,
Adown it floated a dying swan,
Which loudly did lament.
It was the middle of the day.
Ever the weary wind went on,
And took the reed-tops as it went.
The wild swan's death-hymn took the soulOf that waste place with joyHidden in sorrow: at first to the earThe warble was low, and full, and clear:And floating about the under-sky,Prevailing in weakness, the coronach stoleSometimes afar, and sometimes anear:But anon her awfuljubilantvoice,With a music strange and manifoldFlow'd forth on a carol free and bold."
The wild swan's death-hymn took the soul
Of that waste place with joy
Hidden in sorrow: at first to the ear
The warble was low, and full, and clear:
And floating about the under-sky,
Prevailing in weakness, the coronach stole
Sometimes afar, and sometimes anear:
But anon her awfuljubilantvoice,
With a music strange and manifold
Flow'd forth on a carol free and bold."
So much for the melody of thedyingswan. That of thelivingswan also requires consideration. Mr. Nicol, in his valuableIceland, Greenland, &c., thus describes theCygnus musicuswhich frequents the lakes and rivers of Iceland:
"The largest and noblest of this class [the natatorial] is undoubtedlyTHE WILD OR WHISTLING SWAN, with pure white plumage, slightly tinged on the head with orange-yellow. This majestic bird is five feet long, and, with extended wings, eight broad. It is rarely seen in Greenland, and appears merely to rest in Faroe, on its journeys to and from Iceland in the spring and autumn. Some of them, however, remain all the winter in the latter,AND DURING THE LONG DARK NIGHTS THEIR WILD SONG IS OFTEN HEARDas they are passing in troops from one place to another. It appears to be a kind of signal or watchword to prevent the dispersion of the party, and is described as remarkably pleasant,RESEMBLING THE TONES OF A VIOLIN, THOUGH SOMEWHAT HIGHER, each note occurring after a distinct interval.THIS MUSIC IS SAID TO PRESAGE A THAW, and hence the Icelanders are well pleased when, in long-continued frosts, it breaks their repose."
He adds in a note, "The account of theMIDNIGHT SONG OF THE SWANis from Olafsen, who says it 'das allerangenehmste zu hören ist,' is very delightful to hear."
Henderson says of the river Nordura in Iceland, near its confluence with the Hrita:
"The bleakness of the surrounding rocks was greatly enlivened by the number ofSWANSthat were swimming andSINGING MELODIOUSLYin the river."—Iceland, 2nd ed. p. 277.
In the Edda we find Njörd, god of the winds and waves, when he came back to the mountains to please his wife, thus singing:
"How do I hate the abode of the mountains! There one hears nothing but the howling of wolves, instead of theSWEET SINGING OF THE SWANSwho dwell on the sea-shores."
Waterton gives an account of the last moments of a favourite swan which he watched, in hopes of catching "some plaintive sound or other, some soft inflection of the voice," but was "disappointed."
GERONIMO.
[8]
I am glad that C. B. has questioned the propriety of the epithet "female monster," which some of your correspondents have applied to Queen Brunehilda. Knowing how the passion and prejudice that characterise party spirit have under our own observation been able to distort facts and blacken characters, we should receive with the greater caution the statements of those who, if they were free, which is hardly possible, from a strong bias, lived in an age when exact information was hardly possible to obtain, and when the most odious calumnies could defy refutation. From the success with which Brunehilda maintained the sovereignty of her husband's kingdom through a long life, I should conclude that she was a woman of great abilities as well as energy; and the terms in which Gregory the Great addresses her, tend to confirm this opinion. And in reference to this it seems somewhat surprising that it should not have struck those who first raised this question, that the evidence of the "wise and virtuous pontiff" was at least as good as that of the historian who might be neither wise nor virtuous. Gregory is surely as powerful to raise Brunehilda, as Brunehilda to pull down Gregory. But the plain fact is, that there is atendency to be hyperbolical in our estimation of crowned heads; in all probability, if one was no monster the other was no saint.
The circumstances in favour of the more favourable view of Brunehilda's character, are sufficiently well attested. That she was the superior in every respect to Fredegunda probably she felt herself, and as probably the latter was made to feel. Gregory of Tours was not merely struck by the beauty of her person and her engaging manner, but he has also remarked upon her good sense and her agreeable conversation. Sisterly affection appears in the first instance to have precipitated her into a conflict that ended but with her life. Her sister's murder was followed by those of Sigebert and Merowig; and it is not a little remarkable that though it is not doubted who was the instigator of these crimes, the name of "monster" is never applied to Fredegunda, but reserved for the familiar appellation of her victim. When we consider how generally vague are the charges against Brunehilda, and, regarding what is otherwise known of her, how improbable, I think some suspicion of an undue leaning on the part of the Frankish historians will not be altogether misplaced. My own opinion is that she was one of those remarkable women who from time to time astonish the world; one, whom for her superior knowledge and acquirements, the rumour of a rude age gifted with supernatural powers. And I am farther inclined to think that in the course of time the characters reported of her from opposite sources became finally so antagonistic, that they came to be considered as those of two distinct persons; and with a reference to the eternal enmity between Fredegunda and herself, she became more world-wide famous than has been hitherto supposed, as both the Criemhilda and Brunehilda of theNibelungen Noth. Many circumstances may be brought forward to support this latter view.
[8]Why do your correspondents adopt the barbarous French corrupted form of this name, "Brunéhaut?"
SAMUELHICKSON.
St. John's Wood.
The answer of our friend MR. OFFORto the inquiry of your correspondent H. H. H. V., Vol. v., p. 59., would have required no remarks but for the paragraph which follows his description of the copies of Coverdale's Bible in his valuable collection. That paragraph was as follows:—
"The introduction of the wordsfrom the Douche and Latynhas never been accounted for; they probably were inserted by the German printer to make the volume more popular, so as to interest reformers by the German of Luther, and Romanists by the Vulgate Latin. The translation is certainly from the Hebrew and Greek, compared with Luther's and the Vulgate."
If MR. OFFORwill look at "the Prologue to the Translation of the Bible—Myles Coverdale unto the Christian Reader," in that copy of his, which he describes with the delight of an amateur of rare editions as having "several uncut leaves," he may read in its first page, how Coverdale confesses, with that humility which especially adorned his character, that "his insufficiency in the tongues" made him loath to undertake the task. He then touchingly alludes to Tyndale's adversity, suppressing his name, while he speaks of his "ripe knowledge," and laments the hindrances to his completing the translation of the Scriptures. But "to help me herein," he proceeds, "I have had sundry translations, not only in Latin, but also of the Dutch [i.e.German] interpreters, whom because of their singular gifts and special diligence in the Bible, I have been the more glad to follow for the most part, according as I was required." And again he says, "Lowly and faithfully have I followed mine interpreters."
My attention was drawn to this subject nearly thirty years ago by the strange inaccuracies in Bishop Marsh's account of the sources of our authorised version; in which he had assumed that Tyndale could not translate from the Hebrew, which there is the clearest evidence that he knew well; and that he therefore translated from the German, of which language it is almost equally certain that he was ignorant.
I saw, on the other hand, that Coverdale honestly confessed that his own translation was a secondary one, from the German and the Vulgate. He named the language, but not the translator, Luther, for the same reason that in two references to Tyndale's ability he desisted from naming him, viz., that his translation was to be dedicated to Henry VIII., who hated both their names.
To test the different sources from which Tyndale and Coverdale formed their respective translations, nothing more is necessary than to open any chapter in the Hebrew and German Bibles; and whilst the translators from either will of course be found to agree in the broad meaning of any verse, there will be delicate distinctions in rendering idiomatic forms of speech, which will be decisive of the question. Having preserved my collation of some verses in Genesis xli., I find the following:
Ver. 1. First word,וַיְהִי, literally,And it was. An introductory expression fairly represented by the GreekΕγενετο δε. Tyndale,And it fortuned. Luther and the Vulgate have omitted it, and therefore so has Coverdale.
וְהִנֵּה, lit.And behold; Luther,Wie; Coverdale,How that.
על-היאר, LXX,Επι του ποταμου; Tyndale,By a river's side; Luther,Am Wasser; Coverdale,By a water side. Here the Greek preserves the emphatic articleה, which pointed to the Nile; the Latin necessarilylose it, Tyndale neglects it, Coverdale copies Luther's vague expression. Our authorised version has correctly,By the river.
Ver. 2.מן-היאר עלת, literally,Out of the river ascending; LXX,Εκ του ποταμου ανεβαινον; Vulg.,De quo ascendebant; Luther,Aus dem Wasser steigen; Coverdale,Out of the water there came; Tyndale,There came out of the river.
Ver. 3.וַתַּעֲמֹדְנָה, Tyndale,And stode, which is quite literal; Vulg.,Et pascebantur; Luther,Und traten; Coverdale,And went.
Ver. 7.וְהִנֵּה חֲלוֹם, lit.And behold a dream; Vulg.,Post quietem; Tyndale,And see, here is his dream; Luther,Und merckte daß es ein Traum war; Coverdale,And saw that it was a dream.
Such instances might be multiplied to any extent. Their effect upon my mind was to convince me that Coverdale did not even know the Hebrew letters when he published his version of the Bible. In fact, the Jews being then expelled from England, and the only Hebrew Lexicon, that of Xantes Pagninus, having probably not arrived here, it was scarcely possible for an Englishman to master the Hebrew tongue, without going abroad to obtain access to learned Jews, as Tyndale did, and as Coverdale himself did after the appearance of his Bible; and then, as I think Mr. Pearson has afforded some evidence, he may have become acquainted with Hebrew.
If H. H. H. V. desires to know more of Coverdale, he can find all that late researches have been able to discover in the first volume of Mr C. Anderson'sAnnals of the English Bible, and in the biographical notice of Coverdale prefixed to the Parker Society's edition of hisRemains, by the Rev. G. Pearson. But when that gentleman describes Coverdale's portion of Matthew's Bible, and says that the book of Jonah is of Tyndale's version, he has made a mistake. Perhaps I may be allowed to say, that the question, whether Tyndale put forth any version of Jonah, isadhuc sub judice. At any rate, I can say, from collation, that the Jonah in Matthew's Bible is identical with that which Coverdale put forth in his own version.
The account of our early versions in Macknight'sIntroduction to the Epistlesis very erroneous; and that prefixed to D'Oyley and Mant's Bible, published by the Christian Knowledge Society, is far from being correct.
HENRYWALTER.
For much curious information upon these subjects, I would refer your correspondents to a rather scarce and privately printed tract or volume, entitledObservations touching the Antiquity and Dignity of Serjeant-at-Law, 1765. I am not sure that it was not subsequently reprinted and published. The author was Mr. Serjeant Wynne. He says:
"The first introduction of rings themselves on this occasion (of making serjeants) is as doubtful as that of mottoes. They are taken notice of by Fortescue in the time of Hen. VI., and in the several regulations for general calls in Hen. VIII. and Queen Elizabeth's time. The antiquity of them, therefore, though not to be strictly ascertained, yet being thus far indisputable, makes Sir H. Spelman's account rather extraordinary (seeGloss.tit.Serv. ad Legem); but whatever is the antiquity of these rings, that of mottoes seems to fall short of them at least a century. That in the 19 & 20 Eliz. (1576-77) may perhaps be the first; because, till that time, they are nowhere mentioned.
"When Dugdale speaks (p. 136.) of the posies 'that were usual,' he must be understood to speak of the usage of his own time."
The motto which Serj. Wynne notices as of the earliest occurrence in 19 & 20 Eliz., wasLex regis præsidium. The earliest of subsequent date appear to be as follow:
13 Car. II.Adest Carolus Magnus.
2 Jac. II.Deus, rex, lex, (at the call of Christopher Milton, the poet's brother, John Powell, and others).
3 Jac. II.Rege lege.
1 Wm. & Mary.Veniendo restituit rem.
12 Wm.Imperium et libertas.
2 Anne.Deo et regina.
5 Anne.Moribus, armis, legibus.
9 Anne.Unit et imperat.
1 Geo.Plus quam speravimus.
10 Geo.Salvâ libertate potens.
20 & 21 Geo. II.Mens bona, fama, fides.
Serjeant Wynne brings his list of the Serjeants called down to the year 1765, and gives in most cases the mottoes, which were not confined, it would seem, to individuals, but adopted by the whole call. He remarks, that in late years they have been strictly classical in their phrase and often elegant in their application,—whether in expressing the just idea of regal liberty—in a wish for the preservation of the family—or in a happy allusion to some public event, and, at the same time, a kind of prophetic declaration of its success. At p. 117. will be found an account of the expense and weight of the rings, which, upon the occasion referred to, were 1,409 in number, and the expense 773l.I will not occupy further space, but refer your correspondents to the work of Serjeant Wynne.
G.
The custom of Serjeants-at-law presenting rings on their creation was used in (and probably before) the reign of Henry VI. (SeeFortescue De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, cap. 50,; and see instances and particulars in the reigns at Henry VIII., Edward VI., Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth in Dugdale'sOrigines Juridiciales, 2ndedit., pp. 116. 118. 122. 123. 124. 130.) Mottoes were used as early as 1606, but I am not prepared to say they originated at that period, though I do not observe any mention of them in Dugdale's accounts of the ceremonies at the creation of Serjeants of an earlier date. The following mottoes may interest some of your readers:
Sir Edward Coke, 1606.Lex est tutissima cassis.
Sir John Walter and Sir Thomas Trevor, 1625.Regi legi servire libertas.
Sir Henry Yelverton, 1625.Stat lege corona.
Sir Robert Berkeley, 1627.Lege Deus et rex.
Robert Callis, 1627.Regis oracula legis.
Sir George Vernon, 1627.Rex legis regnique patronus.
Sir James Weston, 1631.Servus regi serviens legi.
Sir Robert Heath, 1631.Lex regis vis regis.
Sir George Jeffreys, 1680.A Deo rex a rege lex.
Sir Michael Foster, 1736.Nunquam libertas gratior.
Sir William Blackstone, 1770.Secundis dubiisque rectus.
Sir Alexander Thomson, 1787.Reverentia legum.
William Cockell, 1787.Stat lege corona.
On Serjeant Cockell's call, "in consequence of a late regulation no rings were given to the judges, the bar, or to the attornies."
Some of the older, and most of the modern, law reporters, mention the mottoes on the rings given by the serjeants.
C. H. COOPER.
Cambridge.
T. P. is informed that the custom of Serjeants-at-law presenting rings with mottoes prevailed long beforeA.D. 1670. In theJournal of the Arch. Institute, vol. vii. p. 196., he will find mention of a mediæval ring of the kind, described as "A Serjeant-at-law's gold ring, the hoop 3/8 of an inch in width, and of equal thickness, inscribedLex regis præsidium."
CEYREP.
On June 8, 1705, fifteen Serjeants-at-law took the customary oaths at the Chancery Bar, and delivered to the Lord Keeper a ring for the Queen, and another for his H.R.H. Prince George of Denmark, each ring being worth 6l.13s.4d.The Lord Keeper, Lord Treasurer, Lord Steward, Lord Privy Seal, Lord High Chamberlain, Master of the Household, Lord Chamberlain, and the two Chief Justices, received each a ring of the value of 18s.; the Lord Chief Baron, Master of the Rolls, the Justices of either Bench and two Chief Secretaries each one worth 16s.; the Chief Steward and Comptroller each a ring valued at 1l.; the Marshal, Warden of the Fleet, every Serjeant-at-Law, the Attorney-General, and Solicitor-General, each a ring worth 12s.; the three Barons of Exchequer a ring worth 10s.; the two Clerks of the Crown, the three Prothonotaries, the Clerks of the Warrants, the Prothonotary of Queen's Bench, and the Chirographer, each a ring worth 5s.; each Filazer and Exigenter, the Clerk of the Council, and the Custos Brevium, each a ring that cost 2s.6d.The motto on the rings was this, "Moribus, armis, legibus."
MACKENZIEWALCOTT, M.A.
48. Jermyn Street.
It is capable of demonstration that Christianity was introduced into the Orkney Islands, or at least that missionaries were sent there, long previous to the invasion of Harold Harfagre. Your correspondent W. H. F. mentions that Depping, in theHistoire des Expéditions Maritimes des Normands, states that Sigurd, the second nominally, though really the first earl, expelled the Christians from Orkney, and he requests to know Depping's authority; as the circumstance is not alluded to by Torfæus, the Orkneyinga-Saga or Snorro Sturleson, and has been "either overlooked by Barry, or unknown to him."
The well-known "Diploma or Genealogical Deduction of the Earls of Orkney," written by the bishop of that diocese in the year 1406, and printed in Wallace'sAccount of Orkney, and in the appendices to Barry'sHistory, and the Orkneyinga-Saga, is generally looked upon, from the circumstances under which it was drawn up, as an authentic document of considerable historical value. It is there mentioned, that the Norsemen found the islands inhabited by the Peti and the Papé, whom they exterminated. But I transcribe the words of the Diploma:
"Hæc terra sive insularum patria Orcadie fuit inhabitata et culta, duabus nacionibus scilicet Peti et Pape, que due genera naciones fuerant destructe radicitus, ac penitus per Norwegenses de stirpe sive de tribu strenuissimi principis Rognaldi, qui sic sunt ipsias naciones aggressi, quod posteritas ipsarum nacionum Peti et Pape non remansit."
Though Chalmers (Caledonia, vol. i. p. 261.) is rather inclined to discredit the above account, it seems probable that those Papé were missionaries or priests, who were also found, under precisely the same name, in Iceland when that island was colonised by the Norsemen (Pinkerton'sEnquiry, vol. ii. p. 297.). I have not my copy of Depping at present by me, and therefore am unable to say whether he explains his use of the wordChristiansin his mention of their expulsion. It may be that, without going into detail, he accepted, as proved, the identity of the Papé and the priests, and believed himself warranted in making the assertion. But perhaps he might have had some otherauthority of which I am ignorant, as he attributes the expulsion (according to W. H. F.) to Sigurd, whereas the words of the Diploma are, "per Norwegenses de stirpe sive de tribu strenuissimi principis Rognaldi," by no means limiting the deed to his (Rognald's) immediate successor, though inferentially accusing Sigurd of participation. A careful consideration of the entire passage in Depping, and of his general style, may tend to show whether he relied merely on the Diploma, or whether he had some more definite authority.
I may mention, that though it has escaped W. H. F.'s observation, he will find, by referring to pp. 87. 116. 133., Headrick's edition, that Barry did not overlook the early Christianising of the Orkneys, and the extirpation of the Papé; although, seeing that the former is matter of history, and the latter was not a mere tradition in 1406, but derived from a more trustworthy source ("sicutcronicenostre clare demonstrant"), he is scarcely distinct enough, or decided in his inferences. It would be interesting to know what were those "cronice" appealed to by the bishop.
A. H. R.
Caithness.
MR. J. B. COLMANhas directed attention to the special act of attainder passed in 22 Hen. VIII. in order to punish Richard Roose for poisoning the family of the Bishop of Rochester; but I have reason to believe that he is wrong in his assertion that, prior to that statute, "there was no peculiarity in the mode of punishment" for the crime in question. In theChronicle of the Grey Friars of London, which I am now engaged in editing for the Camden Society, I find an instance of the like punishment being inflicted for the same crime in the 13th Hen. VIII.:
"And this yere was a man soddyne in a cautherne (sc.a cauldron) in Smythfelde, and lett up and downe dyvers tymes tyll he was dede, for because he wold a poyssynd dyvers persons."
I would therefore beg to inquire whether MR.COLMANhas taken a correct view of the statute of 22 Hen. VIII. as prescribing a new punishment,retrospectiveto the case of Richard Roose; and whether the act was not, so far as he was concerned, simply one of attainder, to deprive the culprit of the "advantage of his clargie," whereby he might otherwise have escaped the legal punishment already provided for the crime. Having declared Roose attainted of high treason, the statute proceeds to enact that all future poisoners shall also be debarred of the benefit of clergy, and immediately committed to death by boiling. Roose's own case is recorded in theGrey Friars' Chroniclewith the same horrible circumstances as those related in the former instance, of his life being gradually destroyed:
"He was lockyd in a chayne and pullyd up and downe with a gybbyt at dyvers tymes tyll he was dede."
A third instance occurs in 1542, when—
"The x day of March was a mayde boyllyd in Smythfelde for poysynyng of dyvers persons."
This last is the same case which is cited by L. H. K. in your Vol. ii., p. 519. If my view of the statute of 22 Hen. VIII. be the right one, it still remains to be ascertained when this barbarous punishment was first adopted; and is it certain that it ceased with the reign of Hen. VIII.?
JOHNGOUGHNICHOLS.
There appears to have occurred in Scotlandoneinstance at least of this barbarous mode of executing justice. In his Notes to Leyden's Ballad ofLord Soulis(in theMinstrelsy of the Border), Sir Walter Scott says:—
"The tradition regarding the death of Lord Soulis, however singular, is not without a parallel in the real history of Scotland. The same extraordinary mode of cookery was actually practised (horresco referens) upon the body of a Sheriff of the Mearns. This person, whose name was Melville of Glenbervie, bore his faculties so harshly, that he became detested by the Barons of the country. Reiterated complaints of his conduct having been made to James I. (or, as others say, to the Duke of Albany), the monarch answered, in a moment of unguarded impatience, 'Sorrow gin the Sheriff were sodden, and supped in broo!' The complainers retired, perfectly satisfied. Shortly after, the Lairds of Arbuthnot, Mather, Laureston, and Pattaraw, decoyed Melville to the top of the hill of Garvock, above Lawrencekirk, under pretence of a grand hunting party. Upon this place (still called theSheriff's Pot), the Barons had prepared a fire and a boiling cauldron, into which they plunged the unlucky Sheriff. After he wassodden(as the king termed it) for a sufficient time, the savages, that they might literally observe the royal mandate, concluded the scene of abomination by actually partaking of the hell-broth.
"The three Lairds were outlawed for this offence; and Barclay, one of their number, to screen himself from justice, erected the kaim (i.e.the camp, or fortress) of Mathers, which stands upon a rocky and almost inaccessible peninsula, overhanging the German Ocean. The Laird of Arbuthnot is said to have eluded the royal vengeance, by claiming the benefit of the law of clan Macduff. A pardon, or perhaps a deed of replegiation, founded upon that law, is said to be still extant upon the records of the Viscount of Arbuthnot.
"The punishment of boiling," adds Sir Walter, "seems to have been in use among the English at a very late period, as appears from the following passage in Stowe'sChronicle:—'The 17th March (1524) Margaret Davy, a maid, was boiled at Smithfield for poisoning of three households that she had dwelled in.'"
According to tradition, however, the boiling, orbroilingrather, of the Wizard-Earl Soulis, was still more frightful:—