Notes and Queries, Number 06, December 8, 1849
Chapter 2
"We wol and commaunde you to allowe dailly from hensforth unto our right dere and welbilovede the Lady Lucy into hir chambre the dyat and fare herafter ensuying; Furst every mornyng at brekefast oon chyne of beyf at our kechyn, oon chete loff and oon maunchet at our panatry barre, and a Galon of Ale at our Buttrye barre; Item at dyner a pese of beyfe, a stroke of roste, and a rewarde at our said kechyn, a cast of chete bred at our Panatrye barre, and a Galon of Ale at our Buttry barre; Item at afternone a manchet at our Panatry bar and half a Galon of Ale at our Buttrye barre; Item at supper a messe of Porage, a pese of mutton and a Rewarde at our said kechyn, a cast of chete brede at our Panatrye, and a Galon of Ale at our Buttrye; Item at after supper a chete loff and a maunchet at our Panatry barre, a Galon of Ale at our Buttrye barre, and half a Galon of Wyne at our Seller barre; Item every mornyng at our Wood yarde foure tall shyds and twoo ffagottes; Item at our Chaundrye barre in winter every night oon pryket and foure syses of Waxe with eight candelles white lights and oon torche; Item at our Picherhouse wekely LIX white cuppes; Item at every tyme of our remoeving oon hoole carre for the carriage of her stuff. And these our lettres shal be your sufficient Warrant and discharge in this behalf at all tymes herafter. Yeven under our Signet at our Manour of Esthampstede the xvjth. day of July the xiiijth year of our Reigne. {86}
"To the Lord Steward of our Household, the Treasurer, Comptroller, Cofferer, Clerke of our Grene Clothe, Clerke of our kechyn, and to all other our hed Officers of our seid Houshold and to every of theym."
As to Sir Christopher Hatton, I would refer ANTIQUARIUS, and all other whom it may concern, to Sir Harris Nicolas's ably written _Memoirs of the "Dancing Chancellor"_, published in 1846. Hatton had amble means for the building of Holdenby, as he was appointed one of the Gentlemen Pensioners in 1564, and between that time and his appointment as Vice-Chamberlain in 1577 (five years prior to the period referred to by ANTIQUARIUS), he received numerous other gifts and offices.
JOSEPH BURTT.
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ADVERSARIA
Printers' Couplets.
It may not perhaps be generally known that the early printers were accustomed to place devices or verses along with their names at the end of the books which they gave to the public. Vigneul-Marville, in his _Mélanges d'Histoire et de Littérature_, relates that he found the two following lines at the end of the "Decrees of Basle and Bourges," published under the title of "Pragmatic Sanction," with a Commentary by Côme Guymier,--Andre Brocard's Paris edition, 1507:--
"Stet liber hic, donec fluctus formica marinos Ebibat et totum testudo perambulet orbem."
The printers, it would appear, not only introduced their own names into these verses, but also the names of the correctors of the press, as may be seen in the work entitled, _Commentariis Andreæ de Ysernia super constitutionibus Siciliæ_, printed by Sixtus Riffingerus at Naples in 1472:--
"Sixtus hoc impressit: sed bis tamen ante revisit Egregius doctor Petrus Oliverius. At tu quisque emis, lector studiose, libellum Lætus emas; mendis nam caret istud opus."
G.J.K.
Charles Martel
Mr. Editor,--Perhaps the subjoined note, extracted from M. Collin de Plancy's _Bibliothèque des Légendes_, may not be without its value, as tending to correct an error into which, according to his account, modern historians have fallen respecting the origin of the surname "Martel," borne by the celebrated Charles Martel, son of Peppin of Herstal, Duke of Austrasia, by his Duchess Alphéide[2]:--
"It is surprising," he says, "that almost all our modern historians, whose profound researches have been so highly vaunted, have repeated the little tale of the _Chronicle of St. Denis_, which affirms that the surname of Martel was conferred on Charles for having hammered (_martelé_) the Saracens. Certain writers of the present day style him, in this sense, _Karle-le-Marteau_. The word martel, in the ancient Frank language, never bore such a signification, but was, on the contrary, merely an abbreviation of Martellus, Martin."[3]
From a legend on this subject given by M. de Plancy, it would appear that Charles received the second name, Martel, in honour of his patron saint St. Martin.
Not having at present an opportunity of consulting the works of our own modern writers on early French history, I am ignorant if they also have adopted the version given in the _Chronicle of St. Denis_. Mr. Ince, in his little work, _Outlines of French History_, states, that "he received the surname of _Martel_, or the Hammerer, from the force with which he _hammered_ down the Saracens--_martel being the name of a weapon which the ancient Franks used, much resembling a hammer_,--and from his strokes falling numberless and effectual on the heads of his enemies." Query.--Which of the two is the more probable version? Perhaps some one of your numerous correspondents may be enabled to throw addition light on this disputed point.
G.J.K.
[Footnote 2: This same Alphéide, or Alpaïde, as she was frequently called, though but scurvily treated by posterior historians, is honoured by contemporary chroniclers as the second wife of Peppin, _uxor altera_. See Frédégaire.]
[Footnote 3: _Légendes de l'Histoire de France_, par J. Collin de Plancy, p. 149. (notes.) Paris. Mellier Frères.]
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BODENHAM AND LING.
Referring to BOOKWORM's note at p. 29, I beg to observe that the dedication negativing Bodenham's authorship of _Politeuphuia_ is not peculiar to the edition of 1597. I have the edition of 1650, "printed by Ja. Flesher, and are to be sold by Richard Royston, at the Angell in Ivye Lane," in which the dedication is addressed as follows:--"To his very good friend Mr. Bodenham, N.L. wisheth increase of happinesse." The first sentence of this dedication seems to admit that Bodenham was something more than patron of the work:--"What you seriously begun long since, and have always been very careful for the full perfection of, at length thus finished, although perhaps not so well to your expectation, I present you with; as one before all most worthy of the same: bothe in respect of your earnest travaile therein, and the great desire you have continually had for the generall profit."
In Brydges' _Censura Literaria_, Bodenham is spoken of as the _compiler_ of _The Garden of the Muses_, and _editor_ of the _Wit's Commonwealth_, the {87} _Wit's Theatre of the Little World_, and _England's Helicon_. He seems to have less claim to be considered the author of the _Wit's Theatre_ than of the _Wit's Commonwealth_, for in the original edition of the former, "printed by J.R. for N.L., and are to be sold at the West doore of Paules, 1599," the dedication is likewise addressed, "To my most esteemed and approved loving friend, Maister J.B. I wish all happines." After acknowledging his obligations to his patron, the author proceeds: "Besides this History or Theatre of the Little World, suo jure, first challengeth your friendly patronage, by whose motion I undertooke it, and for whose love I am willing to undergoe the heavy burden of censure. I must confesse that it might have been written with more maturitie, and deliberation, but in respect of my promise, I have made this hast, how happy I know not, yet good enough I hope, if you vouchsafe your kind approbation: which with your judgement I hold ominous, and as under which Politeuphuia was so gracious."
I.F.M.
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TRAVELLING IN ENGLAND.
Sir,--I beg to acknowledge the notice which two of your correspondents have taken of my query on this subject. At the same time I must say that the explanations which they offer appear to me to be quite unsatisfactory. I shall be happy to give my reasons for this, if you think it worth while; but, perhaps, if we wait a little, some other solution may be suggested.
For the sake of the inhabitants, I hope that your work is read at Colchester. Is there nobody there who could inform us at what time the London coach started a century ago? It seems clear that it arrived in the afternoon--but I will not at present trespass further on your columns. I am, &c.,
G.G.
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MINOR NOTES.
Ancient Inscribed Alms Dish.
L.S.B. informs us that in the church of St. Paul, Norwich, is a brass dish, which has been gilt, and has this legend round it four times over:--"HER: I: LIFRID: GRECHº: WART."[4]
This seems to be another example of the inscription which was satisfactorily explained in No. 5. p. 73.
[Footnote 4: Blomefeld's _Norfolk_. Folio. 1739. Vol. ii. p. 803.]
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The Bishop that burneth.
I do not think Major Moor is correct in his application of Tusser's words, "the bishop that burneth," to the lady-bird. Whether lady-birds are unwelcome guests in a dairy I know not, but certainly I never heard of their being accustomed to haunt such places. The true interpretation of Tusser's words must, I think, be obtained by comparison with the following lines from his _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_, quoted in Ellis's _Brand_, iii. 207.:--
"Blesse Cisley (good mistress) that bishop doth ban For burning the milk of her cheese to the pan."
The reference here, as well as in the words quoted by Major Moor, is evidently to the proverb relating to burnt milk, broth, &c.--"the bishop has put his foot in it;" which is considered by Ellis to have had its origin in those times when bishops were much in the habit of burning heretics. He confirms this interpretation by the following curious passage from Tyndale's _Obedyence of a Crysten Man_:--
"If the podech be burned to, or the meate ouer rosted, we saye the Byshope hath put his fote in the potte, or the Byshope hath playd the coke, because the Bishopes burn who they lust, and whosoeuer displeaseth them."
I fear the origin of the appellation "Bishop Barnaby," applied to the lady-bird in Suffolk, has yet to be sought.
D.S.
Iron Manufactures of Sussex.
Sir,--I have made two extracts from a once popular, but now forgotten work, illustrative of the iron manufacture which, within the last hundred years, had its main seat in this county, which I think may be interesting to many of your readers who may have seen the review of Mr. Lower's _Essay on the Ironworks of Sussex_ in the recent numbers of the _Athenæum_ and _Gentleman's Magazine_. The anecdote at the close is curious, as confirming the statements of Macaulay; the roads in Sussex in the 18th century being much in the condition of the roads in England generally in the 17th. "Sowsexe," according to the old proverb, has always been "full of dirt and mier."
"From hence (Eastbourne) it was that, turning north, and traversing the deep, dirty, but rich part of these two counties (Kent and Sussex), I had the curiosity to see the great foundries, or ironworks, which are in this county (Sussex), and where they are carried on at such a prodigious expense of wood, that even in a county almost all overrun with timber, they begin to complain of their consuming it for those furnaces and leaving the next age to want timber for building their navies. I must own, however, that I found that complaint perfectly groundless, the three counties of _Kent_, _Sussex_, and _Hampshire_ (all which lye contiguous to one another), being one inexhaustible storehouse of timber, never to be destroyed, but by a general conflagration, and able, at this time, to supply timber to rebuild all the royal navies in Europe, if they were all to be destroyed, and set about the building them together.
"I left _Tunbridge_ ... and came to _Lewes_, through the deepest, dirtiest, but many ways the richest and most profitable country in all that part of England. {88}
"The timber I saw here was prodigious, as well in quantity as in bigness, and seem'd in some places to be suffered to grow only because it was so far off of any navigation, that it was not worth cutting down and carrying away; in dry summers, indeed a great deal is carried away to Maidstone and other parts on the Medway; and sometimes I have seen one tree on a carriage, which they call here a _tug_, drawn by two-and-twenty oxen, and even then this carried so little a way, and then thrown down and left for other _tugs_ to take up and carry on, that sometimes it is two or three years before it gets to Chatham; for if once the rains come in it stirs no more that year, and sometimes a whole summer is not dry enough to make the roads passable. Here I had a sight which, indeed, I never saw in any other part of England, namely, that going to church at a country village, not far from _Lewes_, I saw an ancient lady, and a lady of very good quality, I assure you, drawn to church in her coach with six oxen; nor was it done in frolic or humour, but mere necessity, the way being so stiff and deep that no horses could go in it."--_A Tour through Great Britain by a Gentleman_. London, 1724. Vol. i. p. 54. Letter II.
Factotum
"He was so farre the _dominus fac totum_ in this _juncto_ that his words were laws, all things being acted according to his desire."--p. 76. of Foulis' _Hist. of Plots of our Pretended Saints_, 2nd edit. 1674
F.M.
Birthplace of Andrew Borde
Hearne says, in Wood's _Athenæ_, "that the Doctor was not born at Pevensey or Pensey, but at Boonds-hill in Holmsdayle, in Sussex."
Should we not read "Borde-hill?" That place belonged to the family of Borde for many generations. It is in Cuckfield parish. The house may be seen from the Ouse-Valley Viaduct.
J.F.M.
Order of Minerva
"We are informed that his Majesty is about to institute a new order of knighthood, called _The Order of Minerva_, for the encouragement of literature, the fine arts, and learned professions. The new order is to consist of twenty-four knights and the Sovereign; and is to be next in dignity to the military Order of the Bath. The knights are to wear a silver star with nine points, and a straw-coloured riband from the right shoulder to the left. A figure of Minerva is to be embroidered in the centre of the star, with this motto, 'Omnia posthabita Scientiæ.' Many men eminent in literature, in the fine arts, and in physic, and law, are already thought of to fill the Order, which, it is said, will be instituted before the meeting of parliament."--_Perth Magazine_, July, 1772.
SCOTUS.
Flaws of Wind
The parish church of Dun-Nechtan, now Dunnichen, was dedicated to St. Causlan, whose festival was held in March. Snow showers in March are locally called "St. Causlan's flaws."
SCOTUS.
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QUERIES ANSWERED.
DORNE THE BOOKSELLER AND HENNO RUSTICUS.
Sir,--Circumstances imperatively oblige me to do that from which I should willingly be excused--reply to the observations of J.I., inserted in page 75. of the last Saturday's Number of the "NOTES AND QUERIES."
The subject of these are three questions proposed by me in your first number to the following effect:--1. Whether any thing was known, especially from the writings of Erasmus, of a bookseller and publisher of the Low Countries named Dorne, who lived at the beginning of the sixteenth century? Or, 2ndly, of a little work of early date callled _Henno Rusticus_? Or, 3dly, of another, called _Of the Sige (Signe) of the End_?
To these no answer has yet been given, although the promised researches of a gentleman of this University, to whom literary inquirers in Oxford have ever reason to be grateful, would seem to promise one soon, if it can be made. But, in the mean time, the knot is cut in a simpler way: neither Dorne, nor _Henno Rusticus_, his book, it is said, ever existed. Permit me one word of expostulation upon this.
It is perfectly true that the writing of the MS. which has given rise to these queries and remarks is small, full of contradictions, and sometimes difficult to be read; but the contractions are tolerably uniform and consistent, which, to those who have to do with such matters, is proved to be no inconsiderable encouragement and assistance. A more serious difficulty arises from the circumstance, that the bookselller used more than one language, and none always correctly. Still it may be presumed he was not so ignorant as to make a blunder in spelling his own name. And the first words of the manuscript are these: "+In nomine domini amen ego Johannes dorne, &c. &c." (In noie domi ame ego Johanes dorne, &c.) From the inspection of a close copy now lying before me, in which all the abbreviations are retained, and from my own clear recollection, I am enabled to state that, to my full belief, the name of "dorne" is written by the man himself in letters at length, without any contraction whatever; and that the altered form of it, "Domr," as applied to that particular person, exists nowhere whatever, except in page 75. of No. 5 of the "NOTES AND QUERIES."
The words "henno rusticus" (heno rusticus) are found twice, and are tolerably clearly written in both cases. Of the "rusticus" nothing need be said; but the first _n_ in "henno" is expressed by a contraction, which in the MS. _very_ commonly denotes that letter, and sometimes the final _m_. How frequently it represents _n_ may be judged from the fact that in the few words already quoted, the final _n_ in "amen," and the first in "Johannes," are supplied by it. So that {89} we have to choose between "henno" and "hemno" rusticus (rather a clown than a gentleman, whatever was his name; and perhaps the treatise, if ever found, will prove to treat merely on rural affairs). And although it may turn out to be perfectly true that "homo rusticus" was the thing meant, as your correspondent suggests, still that is not the question at issue; but rather, amidst the confusion of tongues and ideas which seems to have possessed poor Dorne's brain, what he actually wrote, rather than what he should have written.
Admitting, however, for supposition's sake, that your correspondent is right, that the man was named Dormer, and the book _Homo rusticus_--is there any one who will obligingly favour me with information respecting these, or either of them?
One word more, and I have done; though perhaps you will think that too much has been said already upon a subject not of general interest; and indeed I cannot but feel this, as well as how painful it is to differ, even in opinion, with one towards whom nothing can be due from me but respect and affection. But the direct inference from your correspondent's remarks (although it is fully my persuasion he neither designed nor observed it) is, that my difficulties are no difficulties at all, but mistakes. To these we are all liable, and none more so than the individual who is now addressing you, though, it is to be hoped, not quite in the awful proportion which has been imputed to him. And let it stand as my apology for what has been said, that I owe it no less to my own credit, than perhaps to that of others, my kind encouragers and abettors in these inquiries, to vindicate myself from the charge of one general and overwhelming error, that of having any thing to do with the editing of a MS. of which my actual knowledge should be so small, that out of _three_ difficulties propounded from it contents, _two_ should be capable of being shown to have arisen from nothing else but my inability to read it. I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
W.
Trin. Coll. Oxon. Dec. 5, 1849.
[We have inserted the foregoing letter in compliance with the writer's wishes, but under a protest; because no one can entertain a doubt as to his ability to edit in a most satisfactory manner the work he has undertaken; and because also we can bear testimony to the labour and conscientious painstaking which he is employing to clear up the various obscure points in that very curious document. The following communication from a valued correspondent, in answering W.'s Query as to _Henno Rusticus_, confirms the accuracy of his reading.]
HENNO RUSTICUS.
The query of your correspondent W. at p. 12, No. 1. regards, I presume, _Henno Comediola Rustico Ludicra, nunc iterum publicata_; Magdeburg, 1614, 8vo.? If so, he will find it to be identical with the _Scænica Progymnasmata h. e. Ludicra Præexercitamenta_ of Reuchlin, first printed at Strasburg in 1497, and frequently reprinted during the first part of the sixteenth century, often with a commentary by Jacob Spiegel.
A copy, which was successively the property of Mr. Bindley and Mr. Heber, is now before me. It was printed at Tubingen by Thomas Anselm in 1511. I have another copy by the same printer, in 1519; both in small 4to.
Reuchlin, while at Heidelberg, had amused himself by writing a satirical drama, entitled _Sergius seu Capitis Caput_, in ridicule of his absurd and ignorant monkish opponent. This he purposed to have had represented by some students, for the amusement of his friends; but Dalberg, for prudent reasons, dissuaded its performance. It being known, however, that a dramatic exhibition was intended, not to disappoint those who were anxiously expecting it, Reuchlin hastily availed himself of the very amusing old farce of _Maistre Pierre Patelin_, and produced his _Scænica Progymnasmata_, in which the _Rustic Henno_ is the principal character. It varies much, however, from its prototype, is very laughable, and severely satirical upon the defects of the law and the dishonesty of advocates.
Its popularity is evinced by the numerous editions; and, as the commentary was intended for the instruction of youth in the niceties of the Latin language, it was used as a school-book; the copies shared the fate of such books, and hence its rarity. It is perhaps the earliest comic drama of the German stage, having been performed before Dalberg, Bishop of Worms (at Heidelberg in 1497), to whom it is also inscribed by Reuchlin. It seems to have given the good bishop great pleasure, and he requited each of the performers with a gold ring and some gold coin. Their names are recorded at the end of the drama.
Melchior Adam gives the following account:--
"Ibi Comoediam scripsit, _Capitis Caput_ plenam nigri salis & acerbitatis adversus Monachum, qui ejus vitæ insidiatus erat. Ibi & alteram Comoediam edidit _fabulam Gallicam_, plenam candidi salis; in qua forensia sophismata præcipue taxat. Hanc narrabat hac occasione scriptam & actam esse. Cum alteram de Monacho scipsisset, fama sparsa est de agenda Comoedia, quod illo tempore inusitatum erat. Dalburgius lecta, illius Monachi insectatione, dissuasit editionem & actionem, quod eodem tempore & apud Philipum Palatinum Franciscanus erat _Capellus_, propter potentiam & malas artes invisus nobilibus & sapientibus viris in aula. Intellexit periculum Capnio & hanc Comoediam occultavit. Interea tamen, quia flagitabatur actio, alteram dulcem fabellam edit, & repræsentari ab ingeniosis adolescentibus, quorum ibi extant nomina, curat."