"Brill upon the Hill,
Oakley in the Hole,
Shabby little Ickford,
Dirty Worminghall."
Ingatestow.
Tom Track's Ghost.—The following piece of metrical romance has dwelt in my memory as long as I have been able to remember. I have never seen it in print, nor heard it, at least for some years, from any one else; and have not been able to discover who wrote it:
"Tom Track he came from Buenos Ayres;
And now, thought I, for him who cares:
But soon his coming wrought me woe;
He misled Poll,—as you shall know.
All in the togs that I had bought,
With that ere Tom she did consort,
Which gave my feelings great concern,
And caused a row,—as you shall learn.
So then challenge Tom I did;
We met, shook hands, and took a quid;
I shot poor Tom.—The worse for me;
It brought his ghost,—as you shall see.
Says he, 'I'm Tom Track's ghost, that's flat.'
Says I, 'Now only think on that.'
Says he, 'I'm come to torment you now;'
Which was hard lines,—as you'll allow.
'So, Master Ghost, belay your jaw;
For if on me you claps a claw,
My locker yonder will reveal,
A tight rope's end, which you shall feel.'
Then off his winding-sheet he throwed,
And by his trousers Tom I knowed;
He wasn't dead; but come to mess,
So here's an end,—as you may guess."
The implicatio, the agnitio, and the peripetia are so well worked out, that Aristotle would, I think, be compelled to admit it as an almost perfect specimen of that most ancient kind of drama which was recited by one actor. I refer especially to C. XXII. of the Poetics, which says, that that agnitio is most beautiful which is joined with the peripetia, of which here we have so striking an example. These reasons embolden me to ask if it be worth preserving in "N. & Q," and who was the author?
Tor-Mohun.
Dr. Zachary Grey, in his edition of Hudibras, vol. i. p. 125., relates the following anecdote:
"Mr. Jacob Bobart, Botany Professor of Oxford, did, about forty years ago (in 1704), find a dead rat in the Physic Garden, which he made to resemble the common picture of dragons, by altering its head and tail, and thrusting in taper sharp sticks, which distended the skin on each side till it mimicked wings. He let it dry as hard as possible. The learned immediately pronounced it a dragon, and one of them sent an accurate description of it to Dr. Maliabechi, Librarian to the Grand Duke of Tuscany: several fine copies of verses were wrote upon so rare a subject, but at last Mr. Bobart owned the cheat: however, it was looked upon as a masterpiece of art, and as such deposited in the anatomy schools (at Oxford), where I saw it some years after."
Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." inform me where I can procure the several fine copies of verses, or where they are to be seen, and any other particulars relating to Jacob Bobart?
Where can I procure copies of the following, mentioned in Wood's Athenæ Oxon., vol. iii. p. 757.:
"Poem upon Mr. Jacob Bobards Yew-man of the Guards to the Physic Garden, to the tune of the 'Counter-Scuffle.' Oxon. 1662."
On one side of a sheet of paper.
Also:
"A Ballad on the Gyants in the Physic Garden in Oxon, who have been breeding Feet as long as Garagantua was Teeth."
On one side of a sheet of paper.
The following letter may perhaps have some interest in itself; but I send it for insertion in the pages of "N. & Q." in the hope of obtaining some information about the pictures which it mentions. It is addressed on the back, "The Reverend the Provost and Fellows, Dublin College;" and in the corner, "Pr. Favour of The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Molesworth;" and does not appear to have ever passed through the post.
Reverend Sir, and Gentlemen,
My late dear Husband, the Rev. Dr. Berkeley, Prebendary of Canterbury, son of the late Lord Bishop of Cloyne, having most generously appointed me sole executrix of his will, and having bequeathed to me all his fine collection of pictures, &c., I trouble you with this to beg to know whether a very remarkably fine, universally admired portrait of Bishop Berkeley, in his lawn sleeves, &c., painted by that famous artist Vanderbank, which, together with its frame (now much broken by frequent removals), cost five hundred pounds: the back-ground, the frontispiece to his Lordship's Minute Philosopher, and the broken cisterns from the Prophet Jeremiah: "They have hewn them out broken cisterns." The late Archbishop of Canterbury was perpetually entreating Dr. Berkeley to present it to the Gallery of Lambeth Palace, where there is already a very good portrait of Bishop B.—But justice to my dear excellent son, then living, as Dr. B. told his Grace, precluded a possibility of his complying with his request.
If this picture will be an acceptable present to the Rev. the Provost, and the Gentlemen Fellows of the University of Dublin, it is now offered for their acceptance, as a most grateful acknowledgment for the very high honour[1], they were pleased so graciously to confer on his Lordship's only descendant, the late learned accomplished George Monk Berkeley, Esq. (Gentleman Commoner of Magdalene Hall, in the University of Oxon., and student of the Inner Temple, London), from his very sincerely grateful mother.
Some time after the death of his son, Dr. Berkeley told me that at my death he wished the wonderfully fine portrait of his father to be presented to some place of consequence. I immediately replied, "To Dublin College." He said, "They have one already; perhaps it would be well to leave it as an heir-loom to the Episcopal Palace at Cloyne." I said perhaps the gentlemen of Dublin College would prefer this, esteemed one of the very finest pieces of painting in Europe. The face certainly looks more like a fine cast in wax, than a painting on canvas, as numbers of the best judges have always exclaimed on seeing it.
I request Dr. Berkeley's noble relation, the excellent Lord Molesworth, now on a visit in Ireland, to deliver this, and to learn from the Provost and Gentlemen of the University of Dublin, whether it would be agreeable to them to receive this, and transfer the one they at present have to Dr. Berkeley's highly respected friend, the present Bishop of Cloyne, for the Palace. Lord Molesworth will have the goodness to receive and transmit the answer of the Provost and Gentlemen to her who has the honour to subscribe herself, with the most perfect respect, their
Very sincerely grateful and
(Thro' her unspeakably dear excellent Son)
Most highly obliged,
Eliza Berkeley.
Chertsey, Surrey, England.
The 18th of Feb., 1797.
I cannot find any evidence to prove that this letter was ever so much as received by the University. It came into my possession amongst the papers of a private friend, a late distinguished ornament of the University, whose death has been an irreparable loss to the public, to the Church of England, and to a large circle of friends. No notice of such a letter, or of so liberal a donation, is to be found in the Register of the University, nor is there such a picture in our possession. I have made inquiry also, and find that it is not at Cloyne. The conclusion therefore is, either that Mrs. Berkeley changed her mind, or that from some accident the letter never was presented: at all events, it is certain that the picture of Bishop Berkeley, to which it relates, was never in the possession of the University for whose halls it was intended.
Can any one tell me where it now is; and what was the fate of "the fine collection of pictures" which was the property of Dr. Berkeley of Canterbury, and bequeathed by him to his widow, the writer of the above letter?
This alludes to the honourable degree of LL.B. conferred upon George M. Berkeley by the University of Dublin, Nov. 8, 1788.
Life.—Is it not the general feeling that man, in advancing years, would not like to begin his life again? I have noted that Edgeworth, Franklin, and Sismondi express the contrary.
"The Boy of Heaven."—I have a poem entitled The Boy of Heaven, copied some years ago from a manuscript. Can any of your readers inform me who is the author, whether it has ever appeared in print, or give me any other information respecting it?
Bells.—Can any of your readers inform me why the bells of the Convent of Santa Theresa, at Madrid, alone have the privilege of tolling on Good Friday, in that city? In all Roman Catholic countries the bells on that day are forbidden to be rung; and there is no exception made, even in Rome.
As much has been said about the baptizing of bells, as if it were a custom nearly or entirely obsolete, I beg to say that I was present at the baptizing of a bell in the south-west of France not very long ago; and have no doubt that the great bell at Bordeaux, which is to have the emperor and empress as its sponsors, will undergo the full ceremony.
Captain Ayloff.—Where can I find any notices of Captain Ayloff, one of the coadjutors of Tom Brown in the eccentric Letters from the Dead to the Living?
Robert Johnson.—Perhaps some of your correspondents could give me some information relative to the pedigree of Robert Johnson, Esq., who was a baron of the Exchequer in Ireland in 1704; his parentage and descent; his wife's name and family; his armorial bearings; and date of his birth and death.
Was he the Robert Johnson who entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1671, as a Fellow Commoner at the age of fourteen? If so, his birthplace was London, and his father's name was also Robert.
Co. Westmeath.
Selling a Wife.—What is the origin of the popular idea, that a man may legally dispose of his spouse by haltering her, and exposing her for sale in a public market? Some time ago the custom appears to have been very prevalent; and only a few months back there was a paragraph in The Times, describing an occurrence of the kind at Nottingham.
French romancers and dramatists have seized upon it as a leading trait of English society; and in their remarkably-faithful delineations of English life it is not unusual to find the blue-beard milord Anglais carting milady to Smithfield, and enlarging upon her points in the cheap-jack style to the admiring drovers.
Jock of Arden.—This worthy of the Robin Hood class of heroes, is understood to figure very prominently in the legendary history of Warwickshire. Where can any references to his real or supposed history be found, and what are the legends of which he is the hero?
Inigo Jones.—Where can a full list of mansions and other important buildings, erected from designs after that great master architect Inigo Jones, be found?
Dean Boyle.—Wanted, the pedigree of Richard Boyle, Dean of Limerick, and Bishop of Leighlin in 1661. He had a brother Roger, also in the church. Was he a grandson of John Boyle of Hereford, eldest brother of Roger, father of Richard, first Earl of Cork? This John married Alice, daughter of Alex. Hayworth, of Burdun Hall, Herefordshire.
Dublin.
Euphormio (Vol. i., p. 27.).—Mention is made of Censura Euphormionis and other tracts, called forth by Barclay's works: where can some account of these be found?
Optical Query.—Last summer the following illusion was pointed out to me at Sandwich, Kent. The ingenious horizontal machine to enable the treadmill to grind the wind, in default of more substantial matter, although certainly revolving only in one direction, say from right to left, at intervals appeared to change its direction and turn from left to right. This change appeared to several persons to take place at the same time, and did not seem to be owing to any shifting of the perpendicular shutters for regulating the resistance of the air. The point from which I viewed it was near the south door of St. Clement's Church. Have any of the readers of "N. & Q." noticed a similar illusion, and can they explain it?
Gloucester.
Archbishop King.—The well-known William King, Archbishop of Dublin, was interred in the graveyard of the parish of St. Mary, Donnybrook, near Dublin, as appears from the following entry in the Register of Burials: "Buried, Archbishop King, May 10th, 1729." There is no stone to mark his grave. I would be glad to know whether there is any monument elsewhere,
I would likewise be glad to know whether there is any good engraving of the archbishop in existence. I have lately procured a copy of a small and rather curious one, engraved by "Kane o' Hara," and "published, Sept. 20th, 1803, by William Richardson, York House, 31. Strand;" and I am informed by a friend that a portrait (of what size I am not aware) was sold by auction in London, 15th February, 1800, for the sum of 3l. 6s. It was described at that time as "very rare."
Donnybrook graveyard, I may add, is rich in buried ecclesiastics, containing the remains of Dr. Robert Clayton, Bishop of Clogher (a man of note in his day), and other dignitaries of our church.
Neal's Manuscripts.—In Neal's History of the Puritans, he frequently refers at bottom of the page to a manuscript in his possession thus (MS. penes me, p. 88.): will any of your readers inform me where this MS. is preserved, and whether I can have access to it? It was evidently a voluminous compilation, as it extended to many hundred pages.
Whence the Word "Cossack?"—Alison says, on the authority of Koramsin (vi. 476.), "The word Cossack means a volunteer or free partisan," &c. (Vide History of Europe, vol. ix. p. 31.) I have found the word "Kasak" in the Gulistan of Saadi, which there means a robber of the kind called rahzán. From the word being spelt in the Gulistan with a ق, it appears to me to be an Arabic word. Can any reader enlighten
A. N. Club
Picts' Houses and Argils.—The Cimmerians, a people mentioned by Herodotus, who occupied principally the peninsula of the Crimea, are distinguished by Prichard from the Cimbri or Kimbri, but supposed by M. Amédée Thierry to be a branch of the same race, and Celtic. Many of their customs are said to present a striking conformity with those of the Cimbri of the Baltic and of the Gauls. Those who inhabited the hills in the Crimea bore the name of Taures or Tauri, a word, Thierry says, signifying mountaineers in both the Kimbric and Gaulish idioms. The tribe of the plains, according to Ephorus, a Greek writer cotemporary with Aristotle, mentioned in Strabo, lib. v., dug subterraneous habitations, which they called argil or argel, a pure Kimbric word, which signifies a covered or deep place:
"Ἔφορός φησιν αὐτοὺς ἐν καταγείοις οἰκίαις οἰκειν ἁς καλοῦσιν ἀργίλλας."
Having seen several of the rude and miserable buildings underground in the Orkneys, called Picts' houses, I should like to know something of these argils or argillæ, but suppose them to be calculated for the requirements of a more advanced state of society than that of the dwellers in Picts' houses. Perhaps some of your correspondents could give information on this matter. For the above, vide Introduction to Amédée Thierry's Histoire des Gaulois, &c., 1828, p. 57.
The Drummer's Letter.—The letter from the drummer to the corporal's wife in The Sentimental Journey (it is hardly possible to give a precise reference to any part of this little work) ends thus:
"Je suis, Madame,
"Avec toutes les sentimens les plus respectueux et les plus tendres, tout à vous,
"Jaques Rocque."
Why is the first of the adjectives agreeing with les sentimens in the wrong gender? The blot may be a trifling one, but I think I may say that it defaces every copy of this well-known billet-doux. I have seen many editions of The Sentimental Journey, some by the best publishers of the time in which they lived, and I find the same mistake in all: I do not know of a single exception. If Sterne wrote toutes, it must have been by accident; there is nothing to prove that he wished to make the poor drummer commit the solecism, for the rest of his letter is not only correctly, but even elegantly written.
Temple.
The Cardinal Spider.—I have read somewhere an account of a singular species of spider, which is of unusually large size, and is said to be found only in Hampton Court Palace.
It is supposed by superstitious persons that the spirits of Cardinal Wolsey and his retinue still haunt the palace in the shape of spiders; hence the name "Cardinal."
Can any of your correspondents inform me where such an account is to be met with, as I have forgotten the name of the book in which I have seen it?
Norwich.
New England Genealogical Society, &c.—Can any of your correspondents inform me where I can address a letter to, for Dr. Jenks, Secretary to the New England Genealogical Society? And where can I see a copy of Farmer's New England Genealogical Register, 1829, and The New England Genealogical Register and Magazine for 1847, mentioned by your correspondent T. Westcott, "N. & Q.," Vol. vi., p. 495.?
Dr. John Hartcliffe, Dr. Wm. Cokayne, Dr. Samuel Kettilby.—Can any of your correspondents tell me whether John Hartcliffe, D.D., Fellow of King's, Cambridge, and Head-master of Merchant Taylors' from 1681 to 1686, is the Dr. Hartcliffe whom James II. wishes to instal illegally in the Provostship of King's, as he attempted to impose a President on Magdalen, Oxon?
I should be glad also to know whether there is any continuation of Ward's Lives of the Gresham Professors, reaching to the present time; and, in particular, the dates of the appointments or deaths of William Cokayne, D.D., Professor of Astronomy, and William Roman, B.C.L., Professor of Geometry?
Likewise, of what faculty was Samuel Kettilby, D.D., Professor; and when did he die?
Merchant Taylors'.
[It was Dr. John Hartcliffe, of Merchant Taylors', that wished to become Provost of King's College: but the mandate was obtained from King William, not from James II. Hartcliffe's Discourse against Purgatory, 1685, which Anthony à Wood thinks was publicly burnt in France, was not likely to recommend him to the favour of the latter king. The affair of the Provostship is thus stated by Cole (Hist. of King's College, vol. iv. Addit. MSS. 5817.)—"On the death of Dr. Copleston, Hartcliffe made a great stir, in order to become Provost, and actually obtained a mandate of King William to the society to choose him; but he was far from being agreeable to the Fellows of the college, who, when they heard he was in town, and upon what errand he came, directly shut up the college gates, and proceeded to an election, when Dr. Roderick was chosen, with the odds of ten votes to one. This being transacted in the infancy of King William's reign, he chose not to stir much in it; but after having shown the Fellows, by the very petition they made to him, which was presented by Mr. Newborough and Mr. Fleetwood, that he had a right to present, he dismissed them." A biographical notice of Dr. Hartcliffe is given in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. i. pp. 63, 64., and in Wood's Athenæ (Bliss), vol. iv. p. 790.
No one appears to have continued Ward's Lives of the Gresham Professors. Maitland, in his History of London, has brought the history of the institution down to 1755. Dr. Ward himself had prepared a new edition, containing considerable additions, which was presented to the British Museum by his residuary legatee. Among the Additional MSS. also will be found a large mass of papers and correspondence relating to the Lives. From one document, entitled "Minutes relating to the Lives of the Professors of Gresham College, being Additions to the printed Work," we extract the following notice of "William Cokayne, who was the son of George Cokayne, of Dovebridge in Devonshire, clerk. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, in London, and from thence elected probationer Fellow of St. John's College, where he was matriculated 9th July, 1736. He commenced A.M. 9th July, 1744; made Junior Proctor 1750; and B.D. 4th July, 1751." The date of his appointment as Astronomy Professor is not given; but his resignation, in 1795, will be found in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxv. p. 711. He appears to have died in 1798 (see Ib., vol. lxviii. p. 641.), when the Rev. Joseph Monkhouse succeeded him as Rector of Kilkhampton, co. Cornwall.
The MS. "Minutes" also contain a notice of William Roman, the thirteenth Geometry Professor, "who was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, London, and from thence elected to St. John's College, Oxford, in 1740, being matriculated as the son of Richard Roman, of London, Gent., ætat. 17. He commenced B.C.L., May 5th, 1747; Deacon at Christ Church, 21st Sept., 1746; Priest at Christ Church, 20th Sept., 1747." No date of his appointment, but he was Professor in 1755, when Maitland wrote his account of the college. Dr. Samuel Kettilby succeeded the Rev. Samuel Birch as Geometry Lecturer, and died June 25, 1808.—See Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxxviii. p. 657.]
"Haulf Naked."—In poring over an old deed the other night, I stumbled upon the above name, which I take to be that of a manor in the county of Sussex. Is it so? and, if so, by what name is the property now known?
[In Dallaway's Western Sussex, art. Washington, vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 133., is the following entry:—"In 1310, Henry Balduyne sold to Walter de Halfenaked one messuage, two acres of arable, and two acres of meadow, in Washington and Sullington. Ped. fin. 3 Edw. II."]
(Vol. vii., p. 363.)
Etymologists are a race who frequently need to be drawn up with a somewhat tight rein. Our Celtic fellow-subjects will not, perhaps, be much gratified by Mr. Crossley's tracing the first indications of their paternal tongue to the family of Cain; and as every branch of that family was destroyed by the deluge, they may marvel what account he can give of its reconstruction amongst their forefathers. But as his manner of expressing himself may lead some of your readers to imagine that he is explaining Cain, Lamech, Adah, Zillah, from acknowledged Hebrew meanings of any parts of those words, it may be as well to warn them that the Hebrew gives no support to any one of his interpretations. If fancy be ductile enough to agree with him in seeing a representation of a human arm holding a sling with a stone in it in the Hebrew letter called lamed, there would still be a broad hiatus between such a concession, and the conclusion he seems to wish the reader to draw from it, viz. that the word lamed must have something to do with slinging, and that consequently lamed must be a slinger. The Hebrew scholar knows that lamed indisputably signifies to teach; and though perhaps he may not feel sure that the Hebrew consonant l obtained its name from any connexion with that primary meaning of the root lamed, he will not think it improbable that as the letter l, when prefixed to a noun or verb, teaches the reader the construction of the sentence, that may have been the reason for its being so named.
As to a legend not traceable to within some thousand years of the facts with which it claims to be connected, those may take an interest in it who like so to do. But as far as we may regard Lamech's address to his wives in the light of a philological curiosity, it is interesting to observe how naturally the language of passion runs into poetry; and that this, the most ancient poetry in existence, is in strict unison with the peculiar character of subsequent Hebrew poetry; that peculiarity consisting of the repetition of clauses, containing either the same proposition in a slightly different form, or its antithesis; a rhyme of thoughts, if we may so say, instead of a rhyme of sounds, and consequently capable of being preserved by a literal translation.
And Lamech said unto his wives,—
"Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech,
For I have slain a man to my wounding,
And a young man, to my hurt.
If Cain shall be avenged seventy-fold,
Truly Lamech, seventy and seven-fold."
The construction is more favourable to the belief that the man of line third is the same as the young man of the parallel clause, than that he had slain two; the word rendered hurt is properly a wheal, the effect of a severe strife or wound.
As to the etymologies of the names mentioned by Mr. Crossley, we gather from God's words that she called her first son Cain, an acquisition (the Latin peculium expresses it more exactly than any English word), because she had gotten (literally acquired, or obtained possession of) a man. As for Lamech, or more properly Lĕmĕch, its etymology must be confessed to be uncertain; but there is a curious and interesting explanation of the whole series of names of the patriarchs, Noah's forefathers, in which the name of the other Lemech, son of Methusaleh, is regarded as made up of Lĕ, the prefixed preposition, and of mech, taken for the participle Hophal of the verb to smite or bruise. Adah, אדה, is ornament; Zillah, צלה may mean the shade under which a person reposes; or if the doubling of the l is an indication that its root is צלל, it may mean a dancer.
Allow me, in reference to Mr. Crossley's remarks, to say, that from the accidental resemblance of the Hebrew and Celtic words Lamech and Lamaich, no philological argument can be drawn of identical meaning, any more than from the fact that the words Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazar, or Belteshassar[2], are significant in Russian and Sclavonian, as well as in Chaldee. Lamache in Arabic means (see Freytag) "levi intuitu et furtim adspicere aliquem;" also to shine, as lightning, or a star. Lamech, therefore, is an appropriate designation for a man known to prowl about for plunder and murder, and whose eye, whether taking aim or not, would give a sudden and furtive glance.
The word lamed signifies, in Hebrew, teaching; the word Talmud is from the same root. It is the same in Syriac and Chaldee. The original significant of these three languages is to be found in the Arabic Lamada: "Se submisit alicui; humiliter se gessit erga aliquem." (Freytag.) No argument can be drawn from the shape of the letter ל (lamed), because, although popularly so called, it is not a Hebrew letter, but a Chaldee one. The recent discoveries, published in Layard's last work, demonstrate this fact; Mr. Layard falls into the mistake of calling the basin inscriptions Hebrew, although Mr. Ellis, who had translated them, says expressly that the language is Chaldee (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 510.), one of them only being Syriac (p. 521.). Chaldee and Syriac, indeed, differ from each other as little as Chaucer's and Shakspeare's English, although the written characters are wholly distinct.
Davis, in his Celtic Researches, has done all that was possible, taking a very limited view, however, in fixing upon certain linguistic resemblances in some ancient tongues to the Celtic; but a clear apprehension of the proper place which the Celtic language and its congeners hold in comparative philology, can only be learnt from such works as Adelung's Mithridates, and Adrien Balbi's Atlas Ethnographique du Globe.
The accidental resemblances are curious. Thus, Nebucadnetzar is in Russian nebê kazenniy Tzar, "A Lord or Prince appointed by heaven;" or, nebu godnoi Tzar, "A Prince fit for heaven." Belshatzar is also in Russian bolszoi Tzar, "A great Prince;" and Belteshtzar, Daniel's Chaldean pagan name, is byl têsh Tzar, "he was also a Prince," i. e. "of the royal family."
The interpretation of Hessius (Geschichte der Patriarchen, i. 83.) is preferred by Rosenmüller:
"Ex hujus Doctissimi Viri sententia Lamechus sese jactat propter filios suos, qui artium adeo utilium essent inventores: Cainum progenitorem suum propter cædem non esse punitum, multo minus se posse puniri, si vel simile scelus commisisset. Verba enim non significant, cædam ab eo revera esse paratam, sed sunt verba hominis admodum insolentis et profani. Ceterum facile apparet, hæc verba a Mose ex quodam carmine antiquo inserta esse: tota enim oratio poeticam quandam sublimitatem spirat."
The sense of these two verses (Gen. iv. 23, 24.) is, according to Dathe:
"Si propter viri aut juvenis cædem vulnera et plagæ mihi intendantur, cum de Caino pœna septuplex statuta fuerit, in Lamecho id fiet septuagies septies."
Herder, in his Geist der ebräischen Poesie (i. 344.) says:
"Carmen hoc Lamechi laudes canere gladii a filio inventi, cujus usum et præstantiam contra hostiles aliorum insultus his verbis prædicet: Lamechi mulieres audite sermonem meum, percipite dicta mea: Occido jam virum, qui me vulneravit, juvenem, qui plagam mihi infligit. Si Cainus septies ulciscendus, in Lamecho id fiet septuagies septies."
Birmingham.
The legend of the shooting of Cain by Lamech is detailed in The Creation of the World, with Noah's Flood, a Cornish mystery, translated into English by John Keigwin, and edited by Davies Gilbert, Esq. The legend and translation, in parallel columns, are given also at pp. 15, 16. of Mr. Gilbert's "Collections and Translations respecting St. Neot," prefixed to descriptive account (in 4to., with sixteen coloured plates) of the windows of St. Neot's Church in Cornwall, by Mr. Hedgeland, who restored them, 1805-1829, at the expense of the Rev. Richard Gerveys Grylls, patron, and formerly incumbent of the living.
St. Neot's, Huntingdonshire.
(Vol. vii., p. 376.)
Saltpetre-man.—An explanation of this title may be found in a proclamation of King Charles I. (1625):
"For the Maintaining and Increasing of the Saltpetre Mines of England, for the Necessary and Important Manufacture of Gunpowder."
This proclamation states:
"That our realm naturally yields sufficient mines of saltpetre without depending on foreign parts; wherefore, for the future, no dovehouse shall be paved with stones, bricks, nor boards, lime, sand, nor gravel, nor any other thing whereby the growth and increase of the mine and saltpetre may be hindered or impaired; but the proprietors shall suffer the ground or floors thereof, as also all stables where horses stand, to lie open with good and mellow earth, apt to breed increase of the said mine. And that none deny or hinder any saltpetre-man, lawfully deputed thereto, from digging, taking, or working any ground which by commission may be taken and wrought for saltpetre. Neither shall any constable, or other officer, neglect to furnish any such saltpetre-man with convenient carriages, that the King's service suffer not. None shall bribe any saltpetre-man for the sparing or forbearing of any ground fit to be wrought for saltpetre," &c.
It would appear that the saltpetre-man abused his authority, and that the people suffered a good deal of annoyance from the manner in which this absurd system was carried out; for two years afterwards we find that another proclamation was published by the King, notifying, "that the practice of making saltpetre in England by digging up the floors of dwelling-houses, &c. &c., tended too much to the grievance of his loving subjects ... that notwithstanding all the trouble, not one third part of the saltpetre required could be furnished." It proceeds to state that Sir John Brooke and Thomas Russell, Esq., had proposed a new method of manufacturing the article, and that an exclusive patent had been granted to them. The King then commands his subjects in London and Westminster, that after notice given, they "carefully keep in proper vessels all human urine throughout the year, and as much of that of beasts as can be saved." This appeared to fail; for at the end of the same year, the "stable" monarch proclaimed a return to the old method, giving a commission to the Duke of Buckingham, and some others, to "... break open ... and work for saltpetre," as might be found requisite; and in 1634, a further proclamation was issued renewing the old ones, but excepting the houses, stables, &c. of persons of quality.
During the Commonwealth the nuisance was finally got rid of; for an act was passed in 1656, directing that "none shall dig within the houses, &c. of any person without their leave first obtained."
Bury, Lancashire.
J. O. treats The Lord Coke, his Speech and Charge, with a Discoverie of the Abuses and Corruptions of Officers, 8vo. London: N. Butter, 1607, as a genuine document; but it is not so; and, lest the error should gain ground, the following account of the book, from the Preface, by Lord Coke, to the seventh part of his Reports, is subjoined:
"And little do I esteem an uncharitable and malicious practice in publishing of an erroneous and ill-spelled pamphlet under the name Pricket, and dedicating it to my singular good lord and father-in-law, the Earl of Exeter, as a charge given at the assizes holden at the city of Norwich, 4th August, 1606, which I protest was not only published without my privity, but (beside the omission of divers principal matters) that there is no one period therein expressed in that sort and sense that I delivered: wherein it is worthy of observation, how their expectation (of scandalizing me) was wholly deceived; for behold the catastrophe! Such of the readers as were learned in the laws, finding not only gross errors and absurdities on law, but palpable mistakings in the very words of art, and the whole context of that rude and ragged style wholly dissonant (the subject being legal) from a lawyer's dialect, concluded that inimicus et iniquus homo superseminavit zizania in medio tritici, the other discreet and indifferent readers, out of sense and reason, found out the same conclusion, both in respect of the vanity of the phrase, and for that I, publishing about the same time one of my commentaries, would, if I had intended the publication of any such matter, have done it myself, and not to have suffered any of my works pass under the name of Pricket; and so unâ voce conclamaverunt omnes, that it was a shameful and shameless practice, and the author thereof to be a wicked and malicious falsary."
Exon.
(Vol. vii., p. 329.)
The allusion is to the well-known Jacobite badge of the white rose, which was regularly worn on June 10, the anniversary of the Old Pretender's birthday, by his adherents. Fielding refers to the custom in his Amelia:
"On the lovely 10th of June, under a serene sky, the amorous Jacobite, kissing the odoriferous Zephyr's breath, gathers a nosegay of white roses to deck the whiter breast of Celia."—Amelia, edit. 1752, vol. i. p. 48.
The following lines are extracted from a collection of considerable merit, now become uncommon, the authors of the different papers in which were Dr. Deacon and Dr. Byrom, and which is entitled Manchester Vindicated (Chester, 1749, 12mo.). The occasion was on a soldier snatching a white rose from the bosom of a young lady on June 10, 1747:
I.
"Phillis to deck her snowy breast
The rival-flowers around display'd,
Thraso, to grace his war-like crest
Of orange-knots a huge cockade,
That reds and whites, and nothing else,
Should set the beaux against the belles!
II.
"Yet so it was; for yesterday
Thraso met Phillis with her posies,
And thus began th' ungentle fray,
'Miss, I must execute those roses.'
Then made, but fruitless made, a snatch,
Repuls'd with pertinacious scratch.
III.
"Surpriz'd at such a sharp rebuke,
He cast about his cautious eyes,
Invoking Vict'ry and the Duke,
And once again attack'd the prize;
Again is taught to apprehend,
How guardian thorns the rose defend.
IV.
"Force being twice in vain apply'd,
He condescended then to reason;
'Ye Jacobitish ——,' he cry'd
'In open street, the love of treason
With your white roses to proclaim!
Go home, ye rebel slut, for shame!'
V.
"'Go you abroad to Flanders yonder,
And show your valour there, Sir Knight;
What bus'ness have you here, I wonder,
With people's roses, red or white?
Go you abroad, for shame,' says Phillis,
'And from the Frenchmen pluck their lilies.'
VI.
"'Lilies!' says Thraso, 'lilies too!
The wench, I find, would be a wit,
Had she command of words eno',
And on the right one chanced to hit:
For pity, once, I'll set her clear:
The laurels, you would say, my dear.'
VII.
"'No, but I would not, Sir; you know
What laurels are no more than I,
Upon your head they'll never grow,
My word for that, friend, and good-bye:
He that of roses robs a wench,
Will ne'er pluck laurels from the French.'"
(Vol. vii., pp. 262. 340.)
A tradition of similar character with that mentioned by E. G. R., and noticed by J. H. L., is reported to have occurred between the parishes of Shipdham and Saham Tony in Norfolk, of a corpse being found on the common pasture of Shipdham, which parish refused to bury it, and the parish of Saham Tony, therefore, was at the expense thereof, and claimed a considerable piece of the common pasture from Shipdham, in consequence of the neglect of the latter parish.
A fine continues to be paid by Shipdham to Saham to this time; and although many entries are made of such payments in the early parish accounts, beginning A.D. 1511, yet in no instance is it said the reason or cause of these payments being annually made. The said payments are not always of the same amount; they are sometimes paid in money and sometimes in kind, as the following instances show.
The first entry I meet with is in 1511: