"Sanguineum scutum præcingit balteus albens,Quem variant nigræ sed sine labe notæ.Sic labem ut vitet, mustela Armenica strictumIn ferrum et structos non timet ire rogos.Martia vis animi, vacuum formidine pectus,Cana fides, nulla labe notatus honos.Hæc Crafurdiacæ gentilia symbola stirpis,Artibus his veteres emicuere patres."
"Sanguineum scutum præcingit balteus albens,
Quem variant nigræ sed sine labe notæ.
Sic labem ut vitet, mustela Armenica strictum
In ferrum et structos non timet ire rogos.
Martia vis animi, vacuum formidine pectus,
Cana fides, nulla labe notatus honos.
Hæc Crafurdiacæ gentilia symbola stirpis,
Artibus his veteres emicuere patres."
[2]Mr. Thomas Crawfurd, Professor of Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh.
I subjoin the following translation:
"A blood-red scutcheon with a white belt bound,Which black spots chequer, though no stain is found:Thus will the ermine strive a soil to shun,On steel unsheath'd, and 'mid the flames will run:Great strength of mind, a breast that knows not fear,Fair Faith, and honour from all blemish clear:These kindred qualities the Crawfurds own,—In arts like these of yore their sires have shone."
"A blood-red scutcheon with a white belt bound,
Which black spots chequer, though no stain is found:
Thus will the ermine strive a soil to shun,
On steel unsheath'd, and 'mid the flames will run:
Great strength of mind, a breast that knows not fear,
Fair Faith, and honour from all blemish clear:
These kindred qualities the Crawfurds own,—
In arts like these of yore their sires have shone."
C. S. T. P.
Oxford.
—Should not this society, as a preliminary, protest against the architectural anachronisms of these days—the building churches, for instance, in every, any, or no style of architecture? In one parish the priest erects an Early English church, copied from theOxford Glossary; in the next, something very like a conventicle, with no chancel and no chimes, is built by subscription; in another, the architect is a disciple of Ruskin, and tries the Byzantine style, with a tower like St. Mark's of Venice;—a nice Gordian knot for coming chronologists!
MORTIMERCOLLINS.
—In Hawkesworth'sVoyagesthere occurs the following passage: "The petrels, to which sailors have given the name of Mother Carey's chickens." Who was "Mother Carey;" why was her name given to the petrel; and why have sailors so great an objection to their being killed?
W. B. M.
Dee Side.
—What is known of the Priory of Suwich in Hampshire, of which a handsome seal records the former prosperity?
E. A. S.
—Can any of your correspondents inform me whether William Kempe'sDutiful Invective against the moste Haynous Treasons of Ballard and Babington, &c. &c., has been reprinted in any collection of rare tracts, or otherwise? and also whether hisCensure of a loyall Subiect upon certaine noted Speeches and Behaviour of those 14 notable Traitors(Ballard, Babington, &c.), has also been reprinted?
I should also be glad of references to any other tracts or ballads referring to Babington and his conspiracy.
L. J.
—How is it that Sir Isaac Newton has obtained so world-wide a renown for his discovery of the law of gravitation, when the following passage in theTusculan Disputationsproves it to have been well known to Cicero?
"Qua omnia delata gravitate medium mundi locum semper expetant."
See lib. v. cap. 24.
S. E. B.
Trinity College, Oxford.
—Can any of your readers say, on what authority the Abbé Masscot calls Diotrophes, mentioned in 3 St. John, ver. 9., Bishop of Corinth. The Abbé has left the Roman Church, and joined the branch of Mr. Henry Drummond's Church in France, and is the editor ofLe Recueil Catholique, to advocate the cause of the new church. The passage to which I refer is in the October Number, p. 208., and is given as a proof of his theory: "L'Apostolat supplanté, absorbé par l'Episcopat;" this first order of ministry in the Christian Church having been in abeyance, till it was revived in the person of Mr. Drummond and the other eleven apostles of that Church! In Mant and D'Oyley's Bible it is said that Diotrophes is unknown; and Grotius and Doddridge entertain different opinions about him, but neither speak of him as being a bishop.
ER.
—Can any of your readers inform me why a person in a fretful state is said to begrisly? the far-famed Guzzle being a pattern of meekness and patience. I am aware that Johnson gives the meaning—fearfully,horribly; but this does not seem satisfactory. Infants are often said by their nurses to be "verygrisly."
RUBY.
—Can the disputed question of the birthplace of St. Patrick be settled?Some writers assign Scotland, others England, and others France, as his fatherland. He himself informs us (Confess. sub init.) that he was born atBonavem-Taberniæ. This locality has been supposed by some writers to beKilpatrick, on the mouth of the Clyde, and by othersBoulogne-sur-Mer.
CEYREP.
—There is a carved oak chimney-piece in my possession, of the time of James I., from a mansion at Newcastle-upon-Tyne occupied as the Turk's Head Inn, and taken down about fifteen years ago. In the central compartment is a shield, but the crest is wanting. The quarterings are three stags' heads, and checky; and as the motto has puzzled wiser heads than mine, I beg leave to produce it. One or two of the letters are doubtful, but there is no omission:
"VITATRANOVULAESTOLIM."
I should feel much obliged to any one for deciphering the motto, and still more for discovering the original possessor of this interesting piece of antiquity.
Another motto, under a coat of arms on some old china, cannot meet with an interpreter:
"VE DAL AM DARO."
C. T.
—In the parish of Eardisland in Herefordshire, I am informed that some charitable person, whose name I could not ascertain, left to certain poor persons, parishioners, the following singular bequest, viz., to each poor person—
13 bushels of wheat13 red herrings13 tennis balls13 pepper corns13 pence.
13 bushels of wheat
13 red herrings
13 tennis balls
13 pepper corns
13 pence.
This was to be distributed on Maunday Thursday. Can any of your correspondents throw light upon this, or mention similar instances of such singular bequests?
H. C. K.
—I should be much obliged if you, or any of your correspondents, could give me some information respecting Sir David Wilkie's picture of "The Blind Fiddler." I believe he painted as many as four, if not more, copies of the original, and that the first picture was finished by him in the year 1807; that in the National Gallery is dated, as I am informed, 1808. What I wish to ascertain is, the real number of the pictures of this subject that Wilkie painted,with their dates; and if possible, in whose hands they are at present.
H. C. K.
—— Rectory, Hereford.
—It seems to be a provincial word, according to Forby, and means "an artificial water-course," from A.-S.lodian,haurire; he also adduces the instance I have named, and also a water-course in Fincham, called in old writings "the Lode ditch." It would be interesting to know if it is used elsewhere than in Norfolk, and it may be Suffolk; but, at all events, I should much like to come at the real meaning.
J. N. C.
—Effie Deans, in theHeart of Mid-Lothian, sings this stanza of a ballad:
"The elfin knight sate on the brae,The broom grows bonnie, the broom grows fair,And by there cam' lilting a lady so gay,And we daurna' gang down to the broom nae mair."
"The elfin knight sate on the brae,
The broom grows bonnie, the broom grows fair,
And by there cam' lilting a lady so gay,
And we daurna' gang down to the broom nae mair."
There is a traditional ballad, very similar, of which the following is the only stanza preserved:
"Ae kings dochter said to anither,Broom blooms bonnie, an' grows sae fair,We'll gae ride like sister and brither,But we'll never gae down to the broom nae mair."
"Ae kings dochter said to anither,
Broom blooms bonnie, an' grows sae fair,
We'll gae ride like sister and brither,
But we'll never gae down to the broom nae mair."
Sir Walter Scott delighted in preserving scraps of old ballads; and perhaps the two fragments above quoted may be part and parcel of the same original. Some friend in the "north countrie" may perhaps settle this point.
EDWARDF. RIMBAULT.
—Can any of your readers inform me, by referring to an old work calledStewart's History of the Stewarts, page 156., whether Ann Stewart therein mentioned, who married Christopher Hall, was a descendant of the daughter of Henry VII.?
JOHN OFGAUNT.
—In looking over a small pamphlet, entitledThe Temple Church, an Account of its Restoration and Repairs, by William Burge, Esq. (8vo. 1843, Pickering), I met with the following passage, which serves me for a peg on which to hang a Query:
"Mr Etty justly observes that 'in St. Peter's at the present day, the organ is a very small one comparatively to the building, and is wheeled about, like the ancient pulpits, to different parts of the church!'"—P. 34.
Are movable organs common in Italy or elsewhere? With regard to pulpits, the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, has two at the present time, placed in one of the small chapels on the north side. They are moved into the choir when required. Besides these, the neighbouring church at Grantchester has a large pulpit, which, tradition says, also once belonged to the same noble edifice. Can any of your correspondents mention other examples of churches or chapels so well supplied?
W. SPARROWSIMPSON, B.A.
—Bishop Berkeley, in hisMinute Philosopher(Dialogue II. vol. i.), makes mention of "an English nobleman who in the prime of life professeth aliberal art, and is the first man of his profession in the world." Who was this nobleman?
J. M.
—I shall be glad to have the opinion of your readers on the derivation of the name of a village, which in early records is spelt "Chalwoldesbury," "Chelwardesbury," "Chilwardesbury," "Chedwoldesby," &c. It is partly on the site of a British or Danish encampment, in a good state of preservation. The soil is chalky, and the country for some short distance round may have been open, but more probably the woods closely surrounded the camp. These particulars may assist in arriving at the derivation of the name, now corrupted into Cholesbury.
W. H. K.
"... That wond'rous stone, which the swallow,Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of its fledglings;Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the swallow!"Longfellow'sEvangeline, Part I. i.
"... That wond'rous stone, which the swallow,
Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of its fledglings;
Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the swallow!"
Longfellow'sEvangeline, Part I. i.
May I ask for information respecting the allusion contained in these lines?
W. S. T.
—Arthur Hopton (Baculum Geodæticum, 1610, preface) says:
"If this hold, it is time to ... take the globe out of the king Ptolomies hand, and there place a poore Siquis, such as forlorne forreiners use to have in Paul's Church."
What does this mean?
M.
—I have in my possession a print representing Mercury in a flying attitude, bearing a female figure in his arms: the latter figure carries a cyathus in her right hand.
The inscription at the bottom of the print is—
"IVSSV RVDOLPHI · II · CÆSARIS AVGVSTI,
ADRIANVS DE VRIES HAGIENSIS FACIEBAT. PRAGUÆ.
OPVS ALTITVDINIS PEDVM OCTO EX ÆRE. 1.5.9.3."
I apply to "N. & Q." in hopes that this "Q." may meet the eye of some erudite correspondent, and draw forth a satisfactory "N."
Was Prague ever decorated with such a group? If the group in question be not a myth, what is the meaning of it? Who is meant by the first line of the inscription?
TECEDE.
—When was the prohibition to play at cards or dice first introduced into apprentices' indentures? It occurs in the form of an indenture for an apprentice inA Book of Presidents, printed about 1566, and compiled by Thomas Phaer, who describes himself as "Solicitour to the King and Queenes Majesties."
EDWARDF. RIMBAULT.
—Can any of your correspondents guide me to a list of the Cursitor Barons, or refer me to any account of their origin and history? I find no such officer named up to the reign of Henry VIII., beyond which I have not yet inquired; nor does any notice occur of them in Madox'sHistory of the Exchequer.
EDWARDFOSS.
—The late John Delafield Phelps, Esq., who died in December, 1842, was well known among the literati as an ardentbibliophile, and a great investigator and accumulator of antiquities. He was one of the original members of the Roxburghe Club, established nearly forty years ago, and had devoted a long life to his favourite pursuits. Having been a native of Gloucestershire, he felt a particular interest in everything which regarded that county, and had in his lifetime collected a great mass of materials for the elucidation of its history, antiquities, &c., in every respect. It is understood that an ample catalogue (raisonnéperhaps) was printed under his direction for circulation among his particular friends, giving great evidence of his assiduity and talents, and of the value of the collection. Participating to a great extent the interest which actuated Mr. Phelps to ascertain a local knowledge of Gloucestershire, I should feel obliged if any reader of the "N. & Q." could inform me what has become of Mr. Phelps's collection; if it remains entire, and if it be accessible by any recommendation to the present possessor?
Δ.(2).
—I have in my possession a small goldbonbonnièreexquisitely enamelled with portraits and landscapes, and bearing the following inscription:
"Huant Le puisné pinxit à Berlin."
Can any of your readers refer me to a work where I shall find any account of this painter?
A. O. O. D.
—What is the meaning of a man, chained hand and foot, placed horizontally beneath the arms of Roberson?
R. S. B.
—Information is requested of John [Ralph] Winterton, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, who translated, revised, and published Gerard'sMeditations and Prayers, Cambridge, 1674, dedicated to John (Dolben), Lord Bishop of Rochester: the second part is called on the title-page the tenth edition. This book measures only four by two inches, and one inch in thickness, and contains 560 pages.
E. D.
[Ralph Winterton, in 1632, translated theConsiderations of Drexelius upon Eternity, in the Preface to which he says, "I left the temple of Hippocrates and the Muses, and betook myself into the sanctuary, towhich consisteth in the due numbering of the days of this short life, by comparing them with the years of eternity; and so I fell upon translating this book of eternity. And this I found, by daily experience, to be the best hypnoticon that ever I used; for it brought me to my rest better than if had taken diacodion." In 1634 he was nominated Professor of Physic in the University of Cambridge; and in 1635 published an edition of the minor Greek poets. The first edition of his translation of Gerard'sMeditations and Prayerswas published in 1631, and in 1640 he translated Gerard'sSumme of Christian Doctrine, 8vo. There is a Latin distich by Winterton among the Additional MSS. in the British Museum, No. 5955.]
—At the sale of the late Mr. Cottingham's Museum of medieval art was sold on the seventh day "a corbel with a figure of a saint with a basket of birds in one hand, in the other a staff." Will you allow me to inquire, through your valuable columns, the name of this saint?
BURIENSIS.
[Joachim, the Father of Mary, is sometimes represented as holding in his hand a basket with two turtle doves in it.—SeeDie Attribute der Heiligen, &c., Hanover, 1843.]
—Why are certain members of the medical profession so called? I have seen "in print" that the Egyptian hieroglyphic for a doctor was aduck. Does this afford a clue?
A. A. D.
[Our EnglishQuack, orQuacksalveras it was originally written, is from the GermanQuacksalber, or rather the DutchKwaksalver; which Bilderdijk, in hisGeslachtlijst der Naamwoorden, states should be more properlyKwabzalver(Iatroliptes), fromKwab, a wen, andzalver, to salve or anoint.]
—Who was Dr. Hieron Mercurialis, the author of a book having the following title:Medicina Practica, seu de cognoscendis, discernendis, et curandis, omnibus humani corporis affectibus, earumque causis indagandis?
W. S.
[Hieron Mercurialis, an eminent and learned physician, was born at Forli, in Romagna, in 1530. During a sojourn of seven years at Rome, he paid great attention to classical literature and the monuments of antiquity, and composed the learned and elegant work which first rendered him celebrated in the literary world,De Arte Gymnastica Libr. sex, printed in 1567. After filling the Professor's chair at Padua for eighteen years, he removed, in 1587, to Bologna, and subsequently to Pisa. He died in his native place in 1606. See Rose'sBiographical Dict.]
—This celebrated royal indulgence of Sabbath-breaking was first issued in 1617, and again in 1633. On its first promulgation, Archbishop Abbott forbad the reading of it in the parish church of Croydon; but in 1637 many clergymen were deprived of their livings for not complying with the royal ordinance. In that year, at least, Lawrence Snelling, Rector of Paul's Cray, was for that offence excommunicated and then deprived.
In 1643 it was ordered by the Lords and Commons that this book should be burnt by the common hangman in Cheapside and other usual places. The Sheriffs of London and Middlesex were required "to assist effectually" in the execution of the order; and all persons were required forthwith to deliver up all copies to the sheriff. The 10th of May was the day fixed for putting this order into execution. Was it complied with generally? I cannot find that any penalty was attached to disobedience. Is the book now scarce? I presume it is accessible in public libraries.
S. S. S.
[The earlier editions ofThe Book of Sportsare now scarce, but may be seen in most public libraries. It was reprinted in 1709, with the following title:The Book of Sports, set forth by James I. and Charles I., with remarks upon the same in vindication of Charles I. 4to. It was also reprinted in theHarleian Miscellany, and inThe Phœnix, vol. i.]
Several of the recent articles of the "N. & Q." having had relation to the wordgroom, I may be allowed to submit to you a most ludicrous misconception of the duties attributed by our continental neighbours to our court-office of "Groom of the Stole," which struck me some years ago. One of the most laborious, and, from his extensive historical knowledge, one of the most competent editors of French memoirs, is M. F. Barrière, whose introductory discourses have been used so frequently by the writers on French subjects in theQuarterly Review, though not always with frank avowal of the obligation. In 1828 he publishedLes Mémoires du Comte de Brienne, a distinguished public man during the minority and early reign of Louis XIV., and there, at p. 372. of the second volume, referring to Brienne's father'sMémoires, tome i. p. 407. (Amsterdam, 1719, 8vo.), produces the following singular misapprehension of our habits and language. In 1624 the elder of these noblemen, it seems, was deputed by Louis XIII. to adjust the preparatory arrangements of our Charles I.'s marriage with Henrietta Maria, the French monarch's sister, who, it was stipulated, should be attended equally by French and English ladies. Among the former are named the Duchess of Chevreuse, the Maréchale de Thémines (wife of the Marshal), and Madame de Saint-Georges, who had been the princess's governess and lady of honour,—a title unknown, it is said, at the English court, but for which theDuke of Buckingham, the representative of Charles, proposed as an equivalent, that of Groom of theStool(sic) "qui revient assez bien à ce qu'on appelerait dans notre langue, le gentilhomme, ou la dame dela chaise-percée. Cette charge est très considérable; elle fait jouir de très grands privilèges," &c. A natural expression of surprise follows this portraiture of a high and regular functionary, whose attributes not even majesty could ennoble or strip of indignity. The transposition of the name and duties of Groom of the Stole has caused this most ridiculous blunder—a double one, indeed, for the office does not belong to female majesty, though it may, as of course at present, form part of a royal consort's household. The living editor of De Brienne, who dwells on these "étranges usages de nos voisins d'outremer," tells us, and it is confirmed by De Brienne himself, that this nobleman felt proud and honoured at the familiarity and confidence of Louis XIV., who often conferred with him on state affairs, enthroned "sur sa chaise-percée." The Duchess of Burgundy, mother of Louis XV., it is known, never hesitated to administer to herself a relieving remedy, not to be pronounced by name in English society, in presence of Louis XIV. and his attendant courtiers; so that these violations of decorum, falsely imputed to our court, were of historical truth at Versailles.
J. R. (Cork).
May notgroombe theliteralEnglish of the Frenchécuyer, and have in the places quoted the same meaning asesquire, which is evidently the Anglicised French?
W. C. TREVELYAN.
Wallington.
As I have reason to believe that several of your readers are interested in this old ballad, I send you an exact transcript of the oral version contained in Mr. Lyle's (notLyte's, as incorrectly printed in my former communication) now rare little volume.
Your correspondent C. W. G. thinks that it relates to some transaction much later than 1622; and possibly he may be right. It may be as well, however, to mention that Mr. J. H. Dixon, who inserted the ballad in hisAncient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England(Percy Society, No. LXII.), thinks otherwise, and, indeed, claims for it an antiquity as high as the reign of Edward III.,A.D. 1377. He suggests that for De la Ware we should read De la Mare, and believes Sir Thomas De la Mare, Speaker of the House of Commons, to have been the hero. Mr. Dixon says:
"All historians are agreed in representing him as a person using 'great freedom of speech,' and which, indeed, he carried to such an extent as to endanger his personal liberty. As bearing somewhat upon the subject of the ballad, it may be observed that De la Mare was a great advocate of popular rights, and particularly protested against the inhabitants of England being subject to 'purveyance;' asserting that 'if the royal revenue was faithfully administered, there could be no necessity for laying burdens on the people.'"
The title of the "Welsh lord, the brave Duke of Devonshire," offers some opposition to Mr. Dixon's hypothesis, as noDukeof Devonshire was created before 1694; but, as Sir Walter Scott observed, upon a friend pointing out an inaccuracy in his "Bonnets of bonnie Dundee," "We cannot always be particular in a ballad." Possibly the name of some other country or place should be substituted for that of "Devonshire." Indeed I remember, some ten years ago, hearing a version of this ballad sung at a village in Staffordshire, where the "minstrel" (for he was a true descendant of the wandering tribe) usedHerefordin the place of Devonshire.
There is an old ballad in Deloney'sGarland of Good Will, upon the quarrel between the two Dukes of Hereford and Norfolk, in the reign of Richard II. See Hume'sHist. of Eng., chap. xvii.,A.D.1398, for a full account of the transaction. There seems to be some "relationship" between this "combat" and that of the Lord Delaware. At any rate, the following ballad smacks wonderfully (allowing for the march of time, and Mr. Lyle's "smoothing down") of the style of the "ballading silk-weaver," and his cotemporary poetasters.
"LORD DELAWARE."In the Parliament House, a great rout has been there,Betwixt our good King and the Lord Delaware:Says Lord Delaware to his Majesty full soon,Will it please you, my Liege, to grant me a boon?"What's your boon, says the King, now let me understand?It's, give me all the poor men we've starving in this land;And without delay, I'll hie me to Lincolnshire,To sow hemp seed and flax seed, and hang them all there."For with hempen cord it's better to stop each poor man's breath,Than with famine you should see your subjects starve to death.Up starts a Dutch Lord, who to Delaware did say,Thou deservest to be stabb'd! then he turned himself away:"Thou deservest to be stabb'd, and the dogs have thine ears,For insulting our King in this Parliament of peers;Up sprang a Welsh Lord, the brave Duke of Devonshire,In young Delaware's defence, I'll fight this Dutch Lord, my sire."For he is in the right, and I'll make it so appear:Him I dare to single combat, for insulting Delaware.A stage was soon erected, and to combat they went,For to kill, or to be kill'd, it was either's full intent."But the very first flourish, when the heralds gave command,The sword of brave Devonshire bent backward on his hand;In suspense he paused awhile, scann'd his foe before he strake,Then against the King's armour, his bent sword he brake."Then he sprang from the stage, to a soldier in the ring,Saying, Lend your sword, that to an end this tragedy we bring:Though he's fighting me in armour, while I am fighting bare,Even more than this I'd venture, for young Lord Delaware."Leaping back on the stage, sword to buckler now resounds,Till he left the Dutch Lord a-bleeding in his wounds:This seeing, cries the King to his guards without delay,Call Devonshire down: take the dead man away!"No, says brave Devonshire, I've fought him as a man,Since he's dead, I will keep the trophies I have won;For he fought me in your armour, while I fought him bare,And the same you must win back, my Liege, if ever you them wear."God bless the Church of England, may it prosper on each hand,And also every poor man now starving in this land;And while I pray success may crown our King upon his throne,I'll wish that every poor man may long enjoy his own."
"LORD DELAWARE.
"LORD DELAWARE.
"In the Parliament House, a great rout has been there,Betwixt our good King and the Lord Delaware:Says Lord Delaware to his Majesty full soon,Will it please you, my Liege, to grant me a boon?
"In the Parliament House, a great rout has been there,
Betwixt our good King and the Lord Delaware:
Says Lord Delaware to his Majesty full soon,
Will it please you, my Liege, to grant me a boon?
"What's your boon, says the King, now let me understand?It's, give me all the poor men we've starving in this land;And without delay, I'll hie me to Lincolnshire,To sow hemp seed and flax seed, and hang them all there.
"What's your boon, says the King, now let me understand?
It's, give me all the poor men we've starving in this land;
And without delay, I'll hie me to Lincolnshire,
To sow hemp seed and flax seed, and hang them all there.
"For with hempen cord it's better to stop each poor man's breath,Than with famine you should see your subjects starve to death.Up starts a Dutch Lord, who to Delaware did say,Thou deservest to be stabb'd! then he turned himself away:
"For with hempen cord it's better to stop each poor man's breath,
Than with famine you should see your subjects starve to death.
Up starts a Dutch Lord, who to Delaware did say,
Thou deservest to be stabb'd! then he turned himself away:
"Thou deservest to be stabb'd, and the dogs have thine ears,For insulting our King in this Parliament of peers;Up sprang a Welsh Lord, the brave Duke of Devonshire,In young Delaware's defence, I'll fight this Dutch Lord, my sire.
"Thou deservest to be stabb'd, and the dogs have thine ears,
For insulting our King in this Parliament of peers;
Up sprang a Welsh Lord, the brave Duke of Devonshire,
In young Delaware's defence, I'll fight this Dutch Lord, my sire.
"For he is in the right, and I'll make it so appear:Him I dare to single combat, for insulting Delaware.A stage was soon erected, and to combat they went,For to kill, or to be kill'd, it was either's full intent.
"For he is in the right, and I'll make it so appear:
Him I dare to single combat, for insulting Delaware.
A stage was soon erected, and to combat they went,
For to kill, or to be kill'd, it was either's full intent.
"But the very first flourish, when the heralds gave command,The sword of brave Devonshire bent backward on his hand;In suspense he paused awhile, scann'd his foe before he strake,Then against the King's armour, his bent sword he brake.
"But the very first flourish, when the heralds gave command,
The sword of brave Devonshire bent backward on his hand;
In suspense he paused awhile, scann'd his foe before he strake,
Then against the King's armour, his bent sword he brake.
"Then he sprang from the stage, to a soldier in the ring,Saying, Lend your sword, that to an end this tragedy we bring:Though he's fighting me in armour, while I am fighting bare,Even more than this I'd venture, for young Lord Delaware.
"Then he sprang from the stage, to a soldier in the ring,
Saying, Lend your sword, that to an end this tragedy we bring:
Though he's fighting me in armour, while I am fighting bare,
Even more than this I'd venture, for young Lord Delaware.
"Leaping back on the stage, sword to buckler now resounds,Till he left the Dutch Lord a-bleeding in his wounds:This seeing, cries the King to his guards without delay,Call Devonshire down: take the dead man away!
"Leaping back on the stage, sword to buckler now resounds,
Till he left the Dutch Lord a-bleeding in his wounds:
This seeing, cries the King to his guards without delay,
Call Devonshire down: take the dead man away!
"No, says brave Devonshire, I've fought him as a man,Since he's dead, I will keep the trophies I have won;For he fought me in your armour, while I fought him bare,And the same you must win back, my Liege, if ever you them wear.
"No, says brave Devonshire, I've fought him as a man,
Since he's dead, I will keep the trophies I have won;
For he fought me in your armour, while I fought him bare,
And the same you must win back, my Liege, if ever you them wear.
"God bless the Church of England, may it prosper on each hand,And also every poor man now starving in this land;And while I pray success may crown our King upon his throne,I'll wish that every poor man may long enjoy his own."
"God bless the Church of England, may it prosper on each hand,
And also every poor man now starving in this land;
And while I pray success may crown our King upon his throne,
I'll wish that every poor man may long enjoy his own."
EDWARDF. RIMBAULT.
To most persons the discovery by VOKAROSof a family likeness existing between the face on the brass of the Abbess of Elstow, and the portrait of the Marquis of Bristol, after a lapse of three centuries, would probably seem moderately far-fetched; but when this is adduced as "valuable evidence on the disputed point, whether portraits were attempted in sepulchral brasses," a very great demand indeed is made upon our credulity. I have not the means now of referring to the works of Fisher and Rokewode; but I have before me a rubbing of the Elstow brass. Any person tolerably familiar with the subject will at once see that the face of the lady is identical with that which is repeatedly to be found on numerous brass effigies of persons of both sexes at the beginning of the sixteenth century; in fact, it is not very dissimilar to that of the fellow brass of the Abbot at Dorchester, Oxon. If, therefore, we might judge by the likeness, very many brazen-faced gentry of olden time might claim the honour of being ancestors of the noble lord. And so far from its being a disputed point, whether the faces on brasses are attempted likenesses, no one, I think, who has at all studied our monumental brasses, can fail to have come to the conclusion that they werenotintended to be portraits. The great proof of this lies in the obvious similarity in the faces of cotemporary figures which have been produced by the same artists, who, probably from their residing in London, and perhaps in a few other places, very rarely had an opportunity of seeing the persons to be commemorated. The instructions forwarded to the engravers would seem to have been confined to the inscription and other details, chiefly the costume, at least if we may judge from the large brasses at Digswell, Herts, and other similar figures. The ready adoption of unaltered palimpsest effigies may also be cited as an additional proof of the likeness being entirely a matter of indifference; and it is not improbable that many brasses were kept ready made, half-length figures of priests for instance; and files of children, all bearing a strong family likeness, may have been engraved, ready to be cut off on the shortest notice, and laid down at so much per foot. The only approach towards a likeness, if it may be termed such, seems to be the distinction between youth and age, and even that was almost wholly neglected in the fifteenth and earlier half of the sixteenth centuries. The foregoing remarks apply chiefly to brasses before the latter end of the sixteenth century; after that period portraits were evidently not unfrequently attempted. Very rare instances, however, before this time,maybe found. I may specify the effigy of Nich. Canteys, 1431, Margate, Kent.
Mr. Doyle, in his able painting ofCaxton submitting his proof-sheet to Abbot Estney(noticed in "N. & Q." No. 54. p. 398.) has taken the likeness of the Abbot from his brass in Westminster Abbey, which is, I suppose, as good a likeness of the original as any other that can be found; but the members of Queen's College, Oxford, have not been so fortunate. Several years ago, while hunting up a likeness of their founder (Robt. Egglesfield, 1340), they stumbled upon an old brass in the College Chapel, from which a painting and engraving was made purporting to be that of the founder. Recent researches have unfortunately fatally dispelled this illusion, as the effigyin question undoubtedly commemorates Dr. Robt. Langton, who deceased 1518.
H. H.
According to Burke'sPeeragefor 1850, the present Lord Erroll is "the twenty-second High Constable of Scotland; and as such is, by birth, the first subject in Scotland after the blood-royal, having a right to take place of every hereditary honour, which was granted to his lordship's father on the visit of George IV. to North Britain" (in 1822).
In a small treatise,De Jure Prelationis Nobilium Scotiæ, printed by the Bannatyne Club in 1827, from a manuscript in the Advocates' Library, with a preface and numerous additions by Sir Alexander Seton, Lord Pitmedden, I find the following remark, under the head of "Comes de Erroll":—
"The Earle of Erroll claims precedency of all the nobilitie of Scotland nixt to the Chancellour, though of ane ancienter creation than himself, be vertue of his office of Constabulary, of the which that precedency is a priviledge; and to instruct that it is a priviledge, he produces a Report of a Commission that was granted be the King under the Great Seal anno 1631, to take tryall of the priviledges of the Constable; which Report, in the second article thereof, bears that the precedency is due to the Constable next to the Chancellor,but he has never been in possession of it, but only takes place by his antiquity as Earle."
The report here referred to is given in Nisbet'sHeraldry, vol. ii. p. 67. In the eighth chapter of Sir George Mackenzie's treatise on "Precedency" (p. 534. of the second volume of his works), your correspondent will find some interesting information regarding the ancient office of High Constable. In the course of his remarks the learned author says:
"Next to these (i.e.the Chancellor, Justice-General, Chamberlain, High Steward, Panetarius, and Buttelarius) are named, in the laws of King Malcolm Canmore (1057-1093), the Constable and Marishal; but now the Constable and Marishal take not place as officers of the Crown, but according to their creation as Earls: the reason thereof I conceive to be, because of old offices did not prefer those who possessed them, but they took place according to their creation; whereas now the Privy Seal precedes all Dukes, and the Secretary takes place before all of his own rank; but the Constable and Marishal, being now the only two officers of the Crown that are heritable in Scotland, continue to possess as they did formerly. But in France, England, and all other places, the Constable and Marishal take place as officers of the Crown; and it seems very strange that these, who ride upon the King's right and left hand when he returns from his Parliaments, and who guard the Parliament itself, and the honours, should have no precedency by their offices; and yet I cannot deny, but that of old other Earls were placed before them; for in the former Charter granted by King Alexander, Malcolm Earl of Fife is placed before them. And I conceive their precedency has not risen of late to the same proportion with others, because, of late, our armies have been commanded by other officers, and so there was little use for the Constable and Marishal."
E. N.
Seeing a fresh notice of this great book in No. 124. of "N. & Q.," I venture to forward a few particulars concerning Bowyer, who was an old friend, even of between thirty and forty years' standing. He is long since gone to his rest; he has left neither widow nor child, scarcely a distant relative, so that the following can neither "give offence nor grieve." He has often told me particulars of his early career. Being a poor youth in search of employment, and withal moody enough at his prospects, he was one day walking down Newgate Street, and pausing to look at a print or two in a shop-window, it struck him he could take a likeness; so he went home to his indifferent lodging, having procured implements suitable, seated himself before a glass, and took his own portrait, which he considered was as successful as a first effort could be. Encouraged thereby, he was soon employed to paint others, and such note did he acquire that his miniatures were carried into court-circles, so that he became a sort of celebrity in that line, and Queen Charlotte appointed him her official miniature-painter—if such be the proper term.
He soon struck out much more important occupation, planning various publications, the most promising of which was his large edition of Hume'sHistory of England; and this was so ponderous an undertaking that it was only at last disposed of by a lottery. His fondness for taking portraits never left him, and a very few years before his death he gratified my family by volunteering to paint a miniature of my father, and a capital likeness it was. He was much pleased with one of his successes, of which he has more than once told me with great glee. Just before George III. was secluded finally from public view, he and another artist, an old acquaintance, went one Sunday together to the Chapel-Royal at Windsor, and during the service each sketched the King onone of his nails: they adjourned to an inn, and while the impression was yet fresh, transferred to a sheet of paper the likeness of the venerable monarch. On returning with it to London, Bowyer sent it for the inspection of the Prince Regent, who was so pleased with this rough pencil-drawing, that he sent word back he would never part with it, and begged to know Bowyer's price. The latter said105l., which the Prince Regent immediately forwarded.
I once found Bowyer drawing at a table, a wig placed on a stick before him, and he was taking the likeness of a very old friend, who was dead and gone, from memory. In this attempt he entirely succeeded, even to the surprise of all who knew the deceased.
About ten years ago a little book, calledHenry VIII. and his Contemporaries, by B. Bensley, contained, concerning the earlier impressions of the Bible, the following note:—
"I trust to be pardoned for introducing a little anecdote relative to the Bible, exactly three hundred years after the period about which I am writing, that is not the less appropriate for being likewise illustrative ofepiscopal shrewdness. [The text is recording an instance of the then Bishop of London being bitten in an arrangement with a bookseller.] The most splendid Bible ever issued was that published by Macklin, printed by my late father, and the execution of which even his son may say, would alone hand down his name to posterity.Bowyer, publisher of another great national work—the folio edition of Hume'sHistory of England, also a splendid specimen of my father's typography—had a copy of Macklin's Bible, which he employed his leisure during many years to illustrate, having the best opportunities, from his pursuits as an artist, publisher of prints, &c. On the completion of his labours, he valued the massy product, consisting of an immense number of prints, at 2500l.; and, after unsuccessful efforts to procure a purchaser, he put it up to be raffled for, issuing proposals to the nobility and gentry, &c. Among others, an agedbishopsent his name as a subscriber to this kind of lottery, and shortly after called at the rooms in Pall Mall to pay the two guineas; but, before he did so, he drew Mr. Bowyer apart, and gravely told him he could not quite make out how, by paying that sum, he couldensurepossession of the great work. Upon its being explained to his lordship, that he could only take a chance with 1249 others, he expressed surprise and vexation, and declined to pay two guineas for the chance, which hethen, probably, saw was objectionable in a moral point of view, as a species of gambling! The parties are all long since dead."
B. B.
Pembroke.
—Your correspondent A. N. will find, probably, that the "Exeter Controversy," to which Gifford alludes, was that between John Agate, of St. Mary Arches Church, in Exeter, and John Withers, a Presbyterian. The controversy commenced in 1707, and was carried on with great violence till 1715. The tracts are numerous, but many very scarce. Agate's chief tract was entitledPlain Truth, and is in three parts, Exon, 1708. Withers replied in a work of three parts also:Truth Try'd, or Mr. Agate's pretended Plain Truth proved an Untruth, Exon, 1708-9-10. This of course called forth a rejoinder, and so on. Although carried on with great personalities, the controversy shows considerable ability on both sides. I possess almost all the tracts, and shall be happy to send a list to A. N., if required. Withers, Trosse, and Pierce are all well-known Dissenting names in the history of Exeter at the beginning of last century, when that city was the stronghold of Arianism.
RICHARDHOOPER.
—The passage quoted by your correspondent J. M. can refer to one man only, viz. Thomas Wedgewood. His introduction to that gentleman, and his brother Josiah, is related by Cottle. (Recollections of Coleridge, 1837, vol. i. p. 305.) Coleridge might well call the former his "munificent co-patron;" for we learn from Cottle that these brothers, soon after making the poet's acquaintance, settled upon him 150l.per annum, in order to prevent him sinking the man of letters in the Unitarian minister. Cottle adds:
"Mr. C. was oppressed with grateful emotions to these his liberal benefactors. He always spoke, in particular, of the late Mr. Thomas Wedgewood as being one of the best talkers, and as possessing one of the acutest minds of any man he had known."
The following details, which J. M. will not find in any book, may be interesting, to him:—Joseph Wedgewood, the illustrious potter, lived atEtruria, in Staffordshire; for such was the appropriate name of the house he built for himself. He had six children,—three sons, John, Thomas, and Josiah; and three daughters, Sarah, Catherine, and ****. John married a Miss Allen (one of four Devonshire lasses), who was accounted one of the most accomplished and excellent ladies in the county. Joshua married another of the sisters. Thomas never married. He was indisposed, both from ill health and taste, towards the pottery business, and took to philosophy. He was endowed with a rare genius, and enjoyed the society of the firstliteratiof his day. But he died while he was still a man ofpromise.
Of his sisters, Sarah was an accomplished lady with a strong intellect, which captivated Basil Montagu, without reciprocity. Catherine was a first-rate horse-woman. The third daughter married the celebrated Dr. Darwin, of Shrewsbury. All of them, I believe, are dead.
C. MANSFIELDINGLEBY.
Birmingham.
—Bishop Hall, in hisCases of Conscience(Decade iii. Case 2. Lond. 1654), alludes to the fact of Satanic compacts, as indeed do many others of our old divines.The master work on the subject is, I believe, that entitledDisquisitiones Magicæby Martinus Delrio. Let me particularly refer your correspondent R. S. F. to Lib. ii. of said volume, Quæst. 4. pp. 99., &c., and to Lib. v. sect. xvi. pp. 759., &c. (Coloniæ Agrippinæ, 1633, 4to.)
In turning over the leaves fortuitously, I stumbled upon the name of Catherine de Medicis, and perhaps in a connexion that will render the legend of the steel box not incredible:
"Sic ille ipse, Bodino non ignotus, faciebat Italus Parisiis, tam carus Catharinæ Mediceæ, qui chirothecis, globulis, vel pulveribus suave fragrantibus, alios solo necabat odore illæsus ipse, et hoc pacto à se interfectam Navarræ Reginam Albretham, veneni vi per nares in cerebrum penetrante, gloriabatur. Vera causa est, hæc ex pacto fieri per dæmonem," &c.
Lib. iii. pars i. quæst. 3. sect. 2. p. 394.
RT.
Warmington.
—I can confirm what MR. WAYsays on this word. I have looked for the word in all the dictionaries and glossaries I could lay my hands upon, both in this country and abroad, but in vain. Singular enough, however, I have found it in the small edition of Bailey, and in Dr. Ash'sDictionary.
In reading the other day Victor Hugo'sNotre Dame, I met with the wordPignon, which has exactly the same signification as the Welsh wordPiniwn, the gable or pine end of a house. Is the French word derived from the Welsh, or the Welsh from the French? or is the coincidence in sound and sense purely accidental? Perhaps some of your Welsh correspondents can explain this.
E. JONES.
Aberayron, Cardiganshire.
—Acts xiv. 17.Ὑετὸςdoes not occur, according to the Indexes, in Sophocles, Euripides, or Pindar.
The style of the Hellenizing Jews was sometimes very poetical, as in the Wisdom of Solomon: but in one of the most inflated passages in that book, it does not go so far asοὐρανόθεν. It says onlyἀπ' οὐρανῶν. Nor does Wetstein quoteοὐρανόθενfrom any author but Homer. Hesiod might have been added (Passow), but that is the same thing. It seems a word unfit for prose.
Καιρὸς καρποφόροςis quoted by Wetstein fromAchmet.
C. B.
Rex Lucifer.—It would be a most horrid barbarism to impute to such a Latin poet as Milton the use of this word for the devil; although in his theological poem he may have adopted that popular and discreditable gloss upon Isaiah xiv. The palace of the light-bringing king is no other than that known to our earliest school-days, in Ovid 1. ad fin. 2. ad init. Phaëthon passes the "positos sub ignibus Indos," and then "patrios adit impiger ortus," where