Part 4

Urban VIII. (Matteo Barberini), 1623-44, had just stripped the dome of the Pantheon of the bronze that adorned it, to construct therewith the baldacchino over the high altar in St. Peter's. The amount of metal obtained, says Venuti, was upwards of 450,250 pounds weight; and upon the principle of robbing Peter to pay Paul, the material thus stolen from the Madonna was dedicated to the service of San Pietro. Bernini was the artist employed, from whose taste, perhaps, little better was to be expected; and the baldacchino, though highly ornamented, richly gilt, and of imposing dimensions, certainly makes the beholder regret that the metal was moved from its original position. It was costly enough too, upwards of 20,000l. having been expended upon its production.

Urban evidently had a practical turn for warfare by no means unusual to the possessors of the "holy see," for we find that the surplusage of the metal was cast into cannon for the defence of St. Angelo.

This pope certainly was _one_ of the most unsparing despoilers of the Coliseum, inasmuch as the huge pile of the Palazzo Barbarini was erected by him with stone supplied solely from that convenient and inexpensive quarry. If, however, we reflect that he did but follow the example of many of his predecessors (Paul II. built the Palazzo di Venezia, and Paul III. the Farnese, from the same exhaustless supply), and that the Coliseum was not only much ruined by the "barbarians" during the various sieges of Rome, but was used as a fortress by the Frangipani in the Middle Ages, the pasquinade quoted by MR. BREEN would hardly have been applicable to Urban's misdeeds in that quarter. Nor was the Coliseum at that time consecrated ground, as it was not till the year 1750 that Benedict XIV., with a view to protect it from future depredation, dedicated it to the memory of the Christian martyrs who had perished in its arena. But the Pantheon, consecrated as early as A.D. 608, under the name of S. Maria Rotonda, had been respected and spared by all, whether Arian or barb-"arian;" and it was reserved for a "Santo Padre" of the seventeenth century to despoil a Christian Church, and himself set an example of sacrilege to the Christian world. Urban was the sole member of the Barberini family (of Florentine extraction) that ever attained the papal tiara. The amount of wealth stated to have been amassed by him during his pontificate appears almost fabulous.

The author of the pasquinade in question is, I believe, unknown.

A. P.

Bayswater.

* * * * *

RESTIVE.

(Vol. v., p. 535.)

I am inclined to think that your correspondents, however deeply they may be versed in "Folk-Lore," are generally not much acquainted with "Horse-Lore." Such, at least, is the opinion that is warranted by the extraordinary nature of the questions (not many in number, it is true) which have been put in relation to that subject, and of the replies that have been given to them. In the case now before us, J. R. has only superficially considered the matter. He takes one out of many definitions "in our dictionaries," and on that takes his stand. He is manifestly in error. The tempting facility of referring all words similar in appearance to the same etymon lies at the root of his mistake; for _restive_, as he will find on more patient investigation, is by our lexicographers (Richardson, for example) classed under a different root from _rest_, used to express _quiescence_, or _repose_. _Restive_, or more properly _restiff_, is equivalent to the French _rétif_, or Italian _restio_; and, as applied to horses, means those which resist the will of their rider. Hence, whether in standing stock still, in running away, in rearing, in plunging, or in kicking, they employ their natural means of defence against the control of the cavalier, and may equally be called _restiff_. In support of this view, take the following quotation, to which others might be added. It is from Grisone, _Ordini di Cavalcare_, 4to., 1550:

"Se il cavallo è restio, il più delle volte procede per colpa del Cavaliero, per una di questi ragioni. Overo il Cavallo è vile, e di poca forza, e essendo troppo molestato si abandona e avvilisce di sorte che accorando non vuole caminare avante; over è superbo, e gagliardo, e dandogli fatica, egli mancandogli un poco di lena, si prevalerà con salti, e con aggrupparsi, e con altre malignità, ò fara pur questo dal principio che si cavalca, di maniera che se allora conoscerà chi il Cavaliero lo teme, {615} prenderà tant' animo, che usando molte ribalderie, si fermerà contra la volontà sua; _e di queste due Specie di Restii_ [which J. R. will be pleased to _note_], la peggior è quella che nasce da viltà, e da poca forza."--Folio 92, verso.

Thus much for the equestrian part of the subject. With regard to the use of the word _restive_ by the author of the _Eclipse of Faith_, that is purely a matter of taste, which it is unnecessary here to discuss; but I hope that the foregoing opinion of one who in his day passed for the most accomplished horseman of Europe, will suffice to show that, in the passage quoted, the term is not so entirely misapplied as J. R. supposes.

F. S. Q.

* * * * *

MEN OF KENT AND KENTISH MEN.

(Vol. v., p. 321.)

In your answers to Minor Queries (Vol. v., p. 321.) I find it stated, that the inhabitants of the part of Kent lying between Rochester and London being _invicti_, have ever since (the Norman Conquest) been designated as Men of Kent; while those to the eastward, through whose district the Conqueror marched unopposed, are only "Kentish Men."

As I have always understood that the contrary is the case, and that the inhabitants of East Kent are called "Men of Kent," and those in West Kent, "Kentish Men"--because in East Kent the people are less intermixed with strangers than in West Kent, from its proximity to the metropolis--I was desirous of correcting what appeared to me to be a manifest error: but not finding any direct authority on the point, I consulted my friend Charles Sandys, Esq., of Canterbury, as a Kentish antiquary, on the subject. And I now send you a letter from that gentleman, which you are at liberty to print.

GEO. R. CORNER.

Eltham.

"'MEN OF KENT,' AND 'KENTISH MEN.'

"I am not aware that any professed treatise has been written or published upon our provincial distinction of 'Men of Kent' and 'Kentish Men.' That some such traditionary distinction, however, (whatever it may be) has existed from time immemorial in our county, cannot be disputed, and I think it has an undoubted and unquestionable historic origin, which I will endeavour briefly to illustrate.

"The West Kent Men, according to the tradition, are styled 'Kentish Men;' whilst those of East Kent are more emphatically denominated 'Men of Kent.'

"And now for my historical authorities:--

"That the East Kent people were denominated from ancient time 'Men of Kent,' may, I think, be inferred from the ancient Saxon name of its metropolis, [Cant-wara-burh] [_Canterbury_], literally, 'The City of the Men of Kent;' the royal city and seat of government of King Ethelbert at the time of the arrival of St. Augustine (A.D. 597) to convert our idolatrous Saxon ancestors from the worship of Woden and his kindred deities to that of the Saviour of the world.

"St. Augustine, having succeeded in his holy mission, and having been consecrated Archbishop of the Saxons and Angles in Britain, fixed his metropolitical see in the royal city of Canterbury, which had been granted to him by King Ethelbert on his conversion (who thereupon retired to his royal fortress, or Castrum, of Regulbium, _Reculver_). And in that city it has ever since continued for a period of more than twelve centuries.

"The conversion of the Pagan inhabitants of Kent proceeded so rapidly that St. Augustine, with the assistance of King Ethelbert, soon founded another episcopal see at Rochester, and thus divided the Kentish kingdom into two dioceses: the eastern, or diocese of Canterbury; the western, or diocese of Rochester. And thus, I conceive, originated the divisions of East and West Kent: the men of the former retaining their ancient name of 'Men of Kent;' whilst those of the latter adopted that of 'Kentish Men.'

"The Saxon (or Jutish) kingdom of Kent continued a separate and independent kingdom of the Octarchy from the time of Hengist (A.D. 455) until its subjugation by Offa, King of Mercia, in the eighth century, to which it continued tributary until King Egbert reduced all the kingdoms of the Octarchy under his dominion, at the commencement of the ninth century,--and thus became the first King of all England.

"That Kent was separated at an early period into the two divisions of East and West Kent, may be inferred from a charter (Kemble, _Cod. Dipl._ ii. 19.) relating to some property withheld from the church of Canterbury, and which is specially described as having been that "of Oswulf, duke and prince of the province of _East Kent_" ('dux atque princeps provinciæ _Orientalis Cantiæ_') c. A.D. 844.

"The _Saxon Chronicle_ also confirms this view of the matter, thus:

A.D. 853. "Ealhere with the 'Men of Kent' fought in _Thanet_ against the heathen army (Danes)."--Thanet is in _East_ Kent.

A.D. 865. "The heathen army sate down in _Thanet_, and made peace with the 'Men of Kent.' And the 'Men of Kent' promised them money for the peace."

A.D. 902. ... "Battle at the _Holmes_, between the 'Kentish Men' and the 'Danish Men.'--This, I take it, occurred in _West_ Kent.

A.D. 999. "The army (Danes) went up along the Medway to _Rochester_, and then the '_Kentish_ forces' stoutly joined battle ... and full nigh {616} all the 'West Kentish men' they ruined and plundered."

A.D.[11] 1009. "Then came the vast hostile army (Danes) to _Sandwich_, and they soon went their way to _Canterbury_; and all the people of '_East Kent_' made peace with the army, and gave them 3000 pounds."

"Thus, I trust, I have satisfactorily shown from our ancient annals, that the distinction between 'Kentish Men' and 'Men of Kent,' existed at a period long anterior to the Norman Conquest, and is distinctly recognised in the foregoing historical passages. And its origin may, I think, be attributed to the ancient division of the Jutish kingdom of Kent into the two dioceses of _Canterbury_ and _Rochester_.

"Our Gavelkind Tenure and free Kentish customs, of which I have attempted a history in my recently published _Consuetudines Kanciæ_, gave rise to our well-known old provincial song of 'The Man of Kent,' its burthen being:

"Of Briton's race--if one surpass, 'A Man of Kent' is He."

CHARLES SANDYS, F.S.A.

Canterbury.

[Footnote 11: "A.D." corrected from "A.B."--Transcriber.]

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Speculum Christianorum, &c._ (Vol. v., p. 558.).--In case no fuller information should be forthcoming on this tract, allow me to refer MR. SIMPSON to Ames's _Typographical Dictionary_, p. 113., where is an account of what is apparently another edition of the above, printed by William Machlinia, or Macklyn, about the year 1480. The title runs thus: _Incipit liber qui vocatur Speculum Xpristiani_. It is a short exposition of the common topics of divinity of that time, for the most part in Latin, but there is some English which is chiefly in rhyme. The first English lines are--

"In heauen shall dwelle alle cristen men That knowe and kepe goddes byddynges ten."

At the end, after--

"Explicit liber qui vocatur specul[=u] Xpr[=i]ani, Sequitur exposicio oracionis dominice c[=u] quodam bono notabili et sept[=e] capitalia vicia c[=u] aliquibus ramis eor[=u]."

Afterwards--

"Sequuntur monita de verbis beati Ysidori extracta ad instruend[=u] homin[=e] qualiter vicia valeat euitare et in bonis se debeat informare."

The whole concludes with this colophon:

"Jste Libellus impressus est [=i] opulentissima Ciuitate Londoniarum per me Willelmum de Machlinia ad instanciam necnon expensas Henrici Vrankenbergh mercatoris."

The author is said to be John Watton in the Catalogue of MSS. in England and Ireland, C.C.C., Oxon. n. clv. p. 53.

J. EASTWOOD.

_Smyth's MSS. relating to Gloucestershire_ (Vol. v., p. 512.).--A querist writes to know where any of these may be seen.

The original manuscript (three vols. folio) was given to the library of the College of Arms, through the hands of Sir Charles Young, by the Rev. R. W. Huntley of Boxwell Court, about 1835, who became possessed of it by a legacy from a descendant of Mr. Smyth. There is another copy in the "Evidence Room," at Berkeley Castle; and another in the library of Smyth Owen, Esq., a descendant from the author, at Condover Hall, Shropshire. There is another copy in the possession of the Hon. Robert Berkeley at Spetchley Park, Worcestershire. And an imperfect copy was sold at the sale at Hill Court, Gloucester, in 1846. It was bought by a bookseller for Mr. Pigott of Brockley; it was resold in 1849, but to whom I could never find out. This last is also in three vols.; two of these match in the binding, but the third does not: the leather of this odd vol. is thickly studded with the _portcullis_. The imperfection of this set consists in being _unfinished_ in many parts. Mr. Huntley's is considered the first copy of that at the castle; and that at Condover was probably Mr. Smyth's own. The Hill Court copy seems to be about the same date.

The _Abstracts and Extracts_ of these MSS. as published by Fosbroke in 1821, are but a tantalising meagre sample of the very rich store of genealogical and historical information which the originals contain.

H. T. ELLACOMBE.

Clyst St. George, Devon.

_M. Barrière and the Quarterly Review_ (Vol. v., pp. 347. 402.).--As I see that J. R. (of Cork) has resumed his correspondence with "N. & Q.," I beg leave to call his attention to his statement, and to my inquiry under the above references: any one or two instances of what is stated to be "so frequent" a practice will suffice.

C.

"_I do not know what the truth may be_" (Vol. v., p. 560.).--The lines run thus in the _Lay of the Last Minstrel_, Canto II. 22.:

"I cannot tell how the truth may be, I say the tale as 'twas said to me."

J. EASTWOOD.

[J. M.--D. P. WATERS--NASO--L. X. R.--W. J. B. S.--B. R. J.--MARY, &c., have also furnished us with Replies to this Query.]

_Optical Phenomena_ (Vol. v., p. 441.).--You have not yet published any satisfactory reply to the optical Query of N. B., at p. 441. of the present volume. I apprehend there is not much difficulty in finding the solution. I attribute the phenomenon to the refraction of light through a stratum of air that is more dense than the surrounding air. Every solid is coated by such a stratum. This is the well-known fact of _adhesion_ {617} alluded to by Liebig, in his _Letters on Chemistry_, 1st series [2nd edit. by Gardner, p. 16.]

C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

_Stoup_ (Vol. v., p. 560.).--In answer to the inquiry of CUTHBERT BEDE, I beg to inform him that an _exterior_ stoup, in excellent preservation, is to be found on the outer wall of the south porch of Hungerton Church, Leicestershire. The inquiry confirms the belief I have always entertained, that examples of exterior stoups are rarely met with in the ecclesiastic architecture of England.

KT.

Aylestone.

_Seventh Son of a Seventh Son_ (Vol. v., p. 532.).--The note which appears in p. 532. has induced me to look out a rare old printed copy of "The Quack Doctor's Speech," which is in my possession, and which was spoken by the witty Lord Rochester, in character, and mounted on a stage; it is altogether a very humorous and lengthy address, partaking of the licence of language not uncommon to the courtiers of that period, abounding in much technical phraseology, and therefore unsuited for an introduction into your pages _in extenso_. The titles assumed, however, are in character with the pretensions claimed by virtue of being the seventh begotten son of a seventh begotten father; and may perhaps prove an interesting addition to the collection of instances recorded by your correspondent HENRY EDWARDS:

"Gentlemen,

"I, Waltho Van Clauterbauck, High German Doctor, Chymist and Dentrificator--Native of Arabia Deserta, Citizen and Burgomaster of the City of Brandipolis--Seventh son of a Seventh son, unborn Doctor of above sixty years' experience, having studied over Galen, Hypocrates, Albumazer, and Paracelsus, am now become the Æsculapius of this age. Having been educated at twelve Universities, and travelled through fifty-two Kingdoms, and been Counsellor to the Counsellors of several grand Monarchs, natural son of the wonder working chymical Doctor Signior Hanesio, lately arrived from the farthest parts of Utopia, famous throughout all Asia, Europe, Africa, and America, from the Sun's oriental exaltation to his occidental declination, out of mere pity to my own dear self and languishing mortals, have by the earnest prayers and entreaties of several Lords, Dukes, and honourable Personages been at last prevailed upon to oblige the World with this Notice, &c. &c.

"Veniente occurrite morbo--Down with your dust. Principiis obsta--No cure no money. Querenda Pecunia Premium--Be not sick too late.

"You that are willing to render yourselves immortal, Buy this pacquet, or else repair to the sign of the Pranceis, in Vico vulgo dicto Ratcliffero, something south-east of Templum Dancicum, in the Square of Profound Close, not far from Titter Tatter Fair; and you may hear, see, and return Re-infecta."

KT.

Aylestone.

At my father's school was a Yorkshire lad, who was to be educated classically, because he was intended for the medical profession. The cause assigned was, that "he was the seventh son of a seventh son;" and the seventh son of a seventh son "_maks the bigg'st o' doctors_."

C. C. C.

_The Number Seven_ (Vol. v., p. 533.).--MR. HENRY EDWARDS is quite right in his conjecture that the number _seven_, so often used in the Old and New Testament, is generally put to mean "several," "many," or an indefinite number. Hence the number seven was esteemed a sacred, symbolical, and mystical number. There were seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, seven days in the week, seven sacraments, seven branches on the candlestick of Moses, seven liberal arts, seven churches of Asia, seven mysterious seals, seven stars, seven symbolic trumpets, seven heads of the dragon, seven joys and seven sorrows of the blessed Virgin, seven penitential psalms, seven deadly sins, seven canonical hours, &c. &c.

"Septenarius numerus est numerus universitatis," says J. de Voragine. See also, Bede, Duranti, and Rhabanus Maurus, on the mystical explanation of this number. A curious French MS. belonging to the latter part of the thirteenth century has a singular illustration of the number seven. It is a miniature: a wheel cut into seven rays, and composed of seven concentric cordons. The rays form seven compartments, divided into as many cordons, containing in each cordon one of the seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer, one of the seven sacraments, one of the seven spiritual arms of justice, one of the seven works of mercy, one of the seven virtues, one of the seven deadly sins, and one of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.

CEYREP.

_Commentators_ (Vol. v., pp. 512. 570.).--The original verses are Young's:--

"How commentators each dark passage shun, And hold their farthing candle to the sun. _The Love of Fame_, Satire vii.

L. X. R.

_Banning or Bayning Family_ (Vol. v., p. 536.).--This surname is traced in Ireland on _record_ from the time of Richard II., while the native annalists represent it with that Milesian prefix which old Alvary so ingraciously attaints--"_O datur ambiguis_." These annalists mark Patrick "O'Bainan" Bishop of Connor in 1152, and Gelasius "O'Banan" Bishop of Clogher in 1316. The records that I have alluded to spell the name "Bannyn," or "Banent." In 1620 Creconnaght "Bannan" was seised of lands in Ulster; and in the army raised for the service of King James, while in this country in 1689, William Bannan was a quartermaster in Colonel Nicholas Purcel's regiment of {618} horse. I have reason myself to know that two families of "Banon" still exist here.

JOHN D'ALTON.

Dublin.

_Tortoiseshell Tom Cat_ (Vol. v., p. 465.).--I always thought the tortoiseshell tom cat was an animal of very rare occurrence; but I was not aware, until I read the Note of your correspondent W. R., that it was unknown in natural history. The late (and highly respected) Mr. John Bannister, familiarly called "Jack Bannister," wrote, more than forty years ago, a humorous and witty _jeu d'esprit_ on this subject: this was composed for his "Budget," a species of entertainment from which the late Mr. Matthews took the idea of his "At Home;" an entertainment exhibiting a most extraordinary range of talent, and must be fresh in the memory of most of your readers. It supposes the auctioneer, "Mr. Catseye," in the Great Room in "Cateaton Street," and opens thus:

"Oh! what a story the papers have been telling us About a little animal of wond'rous price; Who but an auctioneer would ever think of selling us, For two hundred yellow-boys, a trap for mice?" &c. &c.

Having, humorously described the company assembled, and enlarged on the "beauty and rarity" of the animal, it thus concludes:

"Now louder and warmer the competition growing, Politeness nearly banished in the grand _fracas_; Two hundred, two hundred and thirty-three--a-going! Gone! Never cat of _talents_ surely met avidly such _éclat_! E'en nine or ten fine gentlemen were in the fashion caught as well, As ladies in their bidding for this purring piece of tortoiseshell. And the buyer bore him off in triumph, after all the fun was done, And bells rang, as if Whittington had been Lord Mayor of London; Mice and rats flung up their hats, to find that cats so scarce were, And mouse-trap makers raised their prices cent. per cent.!"

M. W. B.

_A Tombstone cut by Baskerville_ (Vol. v., p. 209.).--A correspondent complains that on visiting Edgbaston Church he was unable to obtain a sight of the tombstone, which he much wished to see. Since I read his Note, I have met with the following, which I copy from Pye's _Modern Birmingham_, 1819. After speaking of a monument in Handsworth Church, Birmingham, to the late Matthew Boulton, the writer proceeds:

"The other is a humble tombstone, remarkable as being one of the last works cut by his own hand, with his name at the top of it, of that celebrated typographer, Baskerville; but this, being neglected by the relations of the deceased, has been mutilated, although the inscription is still perfect, but so much overgrown with moss and weeds, that it requires more discrimination than falls to the lot of many passing travellers, to discover the situation of this neglected gem. To those who are curious it will be found close to the wall, immediately under the chancel window. This precious relic of that eminent man is deserving of being removed at the expense of the parish, and preserved with the greatest care, withinside the church.... There is only one other of his cuttings known to be in existence, and that has lately been removed and placed withinside the church at Edgbaston--"

Which is subsequently thus described: