Part 2
Had our reviewer stepped in at Dunnett's toy-shop, instead of searching all his French dictionaries, he would have learned, I doubt not, that bandalore is still a living toy, just as it was when Moore was young.
At Tunbridge it is still made in their pretty ware; and sufficiently portable for any kind-hearted grandpapa to carry in his pocket.
J. J. R.
_Electric Clock._--It is said that the electric telegraph will annihilate time and space. Of the former we have visible proof. Look at the new clock in West Strand. The minute-hand moves only once in each minute, and then it jumps a whole minute at once, and occupies a second of time in doing so. Now, supposing the clock to indicate true time at the instant of each movement, it is obvious that it must indicate untrue time at every other instant: hence it only indicates true time during one second in each minute, twenty-four minutes in each day, and six days and two hours in the whole year, or less than two years in a century; whilst, during the remaining ninety-eight years and more, it is _annihilating_ true time, by imposing upon an unwary public that which is false!
J. J. R.
_Desirable Reprints._--Will you allow me to commence a series of Notes, which your readers can easily amplify, viz. suggestions of old books deserving to be reprinted, with the authorities quoted recommending them.
1. Glanvil's _Scepis Scientifica_.
"Few books, I think, are more deserving of being reprinted."--Hallam's _Literature of Europe_.
J. M.
_The Earldom of Oxford._--The following is so remarkable a coincidence, that I am sure many of your readers will be obliged to me for bringing it under their notice, particularly those who are interested in heraldry.
The same individual who has been for many years the nearest heir _male_ to Aubery de Vere, twentieth and last earl of Oxford of that family, who died in 1702, has become, by the recent death of Alfred, sixth Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, the nearest heir _male_ to that race also, which title is likewise extinct.
AN M. D.
_Literary Attainments of the Scottish Clergy in the Seventeenth Century._--In a deed granted by Andro Andersone, minister of Loth, in Sutherlandshire, anno 1618, wherein he is designated "Ministro veriti Dei apud Loithe," the instrument is signed with his mark, after which is added, "Cannot wreitt myself."
KIRKWALLENSIS.
* * * * *
Queries.
QUERIES AS TO MR. COLLIER'S "NOTES AND EMENDATIONS."
Query 1. Does MR. COLLIER claim a copyright in the _Emendations on the Text of Shakspeare_ lately published by him, and derived from MS. corrections in his old copy of the folio of 1632? He seems to intimate as much in what he says at p. 13. of his Introduction, when he speaks of a certain phrase never being again seen in any edition of Shakspeare, "unless it be reproduced by some one who, _having no right to use the emendations of our folio 1632_, adheres _of necessity_ to the {154} antiquated blunder, and pertinaciously attempts to justify it."
I doubt much whether he is entitled to any such privilege. If the words as restored were really those of Shakspeare, as is alleged, I do not see how the writer of the MS. corrections could _himself_ claim any property in them; and if _he_ had none, much less can MR. COLLIER have. It would be a pity were the public to be deprived of the benefit of the corrections by the use of them being exclusively confined to MR. COLLIER'S editions.
Query 2. Does the writer of the MS. corrections occasionally give reasons in support of the changes proposed? At p. 306., MR. COLLIER says: "The manuscript corrector _assures us_ that although the intention of the dramatist is evident, a decided misprint has crept into the line."
Again, at p. 305., MR. COLLIER says: "For 'senseless obstinate,' the corrector of the folio 1632 _states that we must substitute_ words," &c. Again, at p. 352.: "A _note_ in the folio 1632, induces us to believe that Shakspeare did not use the term," &c. The MS. corrector is also sometimes made to tell us, that a certain error is the printer's, and another that of the copyist. Perhaps these are only rhetorical forms of expression, to intimate that certain corrections appeared on the margin of the folio 1632, and MR. COLLIER'S own opinion of their propriety.
SCOTUS.
Edinburgh.
* * * * *
HONE'S "HISTORY OF PARODY."
A small collection of the political squibs and pamphlets published by Wm. Hone about 1820, has lately come into my possession. An advertisement in several of these announces that the large material collected for his defence had induced him to prepare, and "very speedily" to publish, _A complete History of Parody_, "with extensive graphic illustrations." This on March 20. Again, on October 2, same year, he says: "I take this opportunity of announcing that the work will appear in monthly parts, each containing at least five engravings, and that it will probably be completed in eight deliveries at 5s. each. I pledge myself that the First Part shall be published, without fail, on the 1st January next, and respectfully invite the names of subscribers. The money to be paid on the delivery of each Part."
Lastly, in an "Explanatory Address," appended to No. 1. of his _Every-Day Book_, dated 31st Dec., 1824, Hone says: "_The History of Parody_, with enlarged reports of my three trials, a royal 8vo. volume of 600 pages, handsomely printed, and illustrated by numerous engravings on copper and wood, plain and coloured, is in considerable forwardness. The price will be 2l. 2s., in extra cloth boards," &c.
Thus, though advertised more than four years previously, this work had not yet come out, and indeed, if not mistaken, I think it never appeared at all. Will some of your bibliographical correspondents inform me if my surmise is correct? and if so, what has become of Hone's MSS., and the large collection he made on the subject of parody?
JAMES B. MURDOCH.
162. Hope Street, Glasgow.
* * * * *
THE COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE'S LETTER TO SIR JOSEPH WILLIAMSON.
Sir Joseph Williamson, Secretary of State to Charles II., having presumed to recommend a candidate for her borough of Appleby, she wrote him the following spirited and well-known reply:
"I have been bullied by an usurper: I have been neglected by a court: but I will not be dictated to by a subject. Your man sha'n't stand.
"ANNE DORSET, PEMBROKE, AND MONTGOMERY."
This statement is taken from _A Sermon preached at the Funeral of Anne, Countess of Pembroke, &c._, by Bishop Rainbow; with _Biographical Memoirs_ (1839), page of the _Memoir_ xiii. In a note, it is observed that--
"Mr. Lodge questions the genuineness of this letter, which appears to have been first published in _The World_ in 1753."
I concur with Mr. Lodge. The style of the letter is quite modern: the verb "bully" seems also quite a modern coinage and the signature varies from the usual setting forth and sequence of titles contained in the inscriptions which the Countess placed over the gateways of her castles, as she repaired them, and which ran thus, the peerages being placed in the order of their creation, viz.: "Countess Dowager of Pembroke, Dorset, and Montgomery." In support of the genuineness of the letter, it may be urged that Sir Joseph Williamson, from an early period after the Restoration until 1674, when he became Secretary of State, held various offices about the Court that might have thus brought him into collision with the Countess; that he was not a very scrupulous man; that he was the "son of a clergyman somewhere in _Cumberland_;" and that his highest promotion took place before the death of the Countess in 1675. (For some account of him, see Evelyn's _Memoirs_, Index.) To this it may be added, that the letter accords with her courageous spirit. Can no earlier authority be given for it than that of _The World_ in 1753?
J. K.
[Although this subject has been already briefly discussed in our columns (see Vol. i., pp. 28. 119. 154.), we think it of sufficient interest to be renewed, now that our increased circulation will bring it under the notice of so many more readers; among whom, {155} perhaps one may be found in a position to solve the mystery in which the authenticity of this oft-quoted letter is at present involved.]
* * * * *
Minor Queries.
_Mediæval Parchment._--In what way did mediæval illuminators prepare their parchment? For our modern parchment is so ill prepared, that it gets crumpled as soon as wet chalk for gilding, or any colour, is laid on it; whilst the parchment in mediæval MSS. is quite smooth and level, as if it had not been moistened at all.
Should a full answer to this Query take up too much of your valuable space, I should be satisfied with the titles of any works on the art of "illumination," in which special mention is made of the way of preparing parchment.
F. M. (A Maltese.)
"_Mater ait natæ._"--Where can the following lines, thus "Englished by Hakewill," be found?
"Mater ait natæ, dic natæ, filiâ, natam Ut moneat natæ plangere[2] filiolam."
"The aged mother to her daughter spake, Daughter, said she, arise; Thy daughter to her daughter take, Whose daughter's daughter cries."
My object in asking the above question is for the purpose of discovering if such a relationship ever existed.
W. W.
Malta.
[Footnote 2: "plangere" corrected from "piangere".--Transcriber.]
_Fox of Whittlebury Forest._--In Mr. Jessie's _Life of Beau Brummel_, I met with a passage which spoke about the "well-known fox of Whittlebury Forest." Can any of your readers kindly inform me in what the celebrity of this animal consists, that Mr. Jessie takes for granted is so well known?
A FOX HUNTER.
_Names and Numbers of British Regiments_ (Vol. iv., p. 368.; Vol. vi, p. 37.).--I feel disappointed that none of your numerous and well-informed readers have responded to my inquiries on this subject. Hoping, however, that answers may still be obtained, I venture to repeat the questions for the _third_ time, viz.:
1. What was the origin of giving British regiments the _name_ of a certain officer, instead of _numbering_ them as at present?
2. If in honour of an officer commanding the corps, was the name changed when that officer died or removed to another regiment; or what was the rule?
3. _When_ did the present mode of _numbering_ regiments begin; and by whom was it introduced?
4. What was the rule or principle laid down in giving any regiment a certain _number_? Was it according to the length of time it had been embodied?
5. What is the guide now, in identifying a _named_ with a _numbered_ regiment? For example, at the battle of Culloden, in 1746, "Wolfe's," "Barrell's," and "Howard's Foot" were engaged. Now, what is the rule for ascertaining the _numbers_ of these, and other old regiments, in the British army at the present day?
I shall feel greatly obliged by the above information.
Z.
Glasgow.
_Daughters of St. Mark._--How many were adopted as daughters of the Republic of St. Mark? Catherine Cornaro was one, and, I believe, Bianca Capello another. I think there were but one or two more: but who were they?
ROSA.
_Kentish Fire._--What is the origin of the term "Kentish fire," signifying energetic applause?
ROSA.
_Optical Phenomenon._--On the afternoon of the 20th January, at one o'clock, as I stood on the beach of Llandudno Bay, North Wales, I observed a rainbow, from the circumference of which passed a number of bright pencils of light, apparently converging to a point near the invisible centre of the rainbow. What is the explanation of this phenomenon?
C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.
Birmingham.
_Cardinal Bentivoglio's Description of England._--A MS. of this interesting work exists among Bishop Tanner's MSS. in the Bodleian Library. Has it ever been printed? The account is said to have been drawn up with great care and accuracy, and betrays no sinister views.
Did Cardinal Bentivoglio visit England in person, or how did he collect his information?
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
_Remarkable Signs._--Can any of the learned contributors of the "N. & Q." oblige a CONSTANT READER with the probable meanings or origins of the following signs, all of which are to be found in the London Directories:
Anti-Gallican (four taverns of this name). Bombay Grab. Essex Serpent. Fortune of War (five). George and Guy (two). Moonrakers (two). Grave Maurice (two). Sun and Thirteen Cantons (two).
J. E.
Fleet Street.
_Old Fable._--There is a fable in the _Vicar of Wakefield_ of two brothers, a dwarf and giant, going out to battle, and sharing the victory but not the wounds.
There is another, perhaps a sequel to it, which relates that the dwarf, "tot bellorum superstitem," {156} was choked in the fraternal embrace, with the sorry consolation that it was "the giant's nature to squeeze hard."
Are these fables wholly modern or not? I have thought that some such are the key to Juvenal's meaning:
"Malim fraterculus esse gigantis;"
to the ordinary construing of which there are positive objections.
J. E. G.
_Tide Tables._--Can you, or any of your subscribers, give me a rule for ascertaining the heights of tides and times of high water, the establishment of the port, and rise of springs and neaps, being known? One divested of algebraic formulæ would be preferred: say--
Establishment 10 h. 58 m. Springs' rise 8½ feet. Neaps' " 2 feet.
R.
Lancaster.
_Passage in Ovid._--In speaking of the rude and unscientific state of the early Romans, in the third book of his _Fasti_, Ovid has the following verses:
"Libera currebant, et inobservata per annum Sidera: constabat sed tamen esse Deos. Non illi coelo labentia signa tenebant; Sed sua: quæ magnum perdere crimen erat." V. 111-114.
The idea expressed in this passage is that the primitive Romans cared more about war than astronomy. They did not observe the stars, though they believed them to be deities. The pun upon the word _signa_--constellations and military standards--is worthy of notice. But what is the meaning of _libera_, in the first verse? Is it nearly equivalent to _inobservata_, and does it denote the absence of the prying curiosity of men? It cannot be intended that the courses of the stars were less regular before they were the subjects of observation, than after the birth of astronomy.
L.
_Roger Pele, Abbot of Furness._--Is anything known of the antecedents of Roger Pele, last abbot of Furness, who, after years of trouble and persecution, was at length constrained to execute a deed, dated 5th April, 28 Hen. VIII., whereby he did "freely and hollie surrender, giff, and graunt unto the Kynges highnes and to his heyres and assignes for evermore ... all his interest and titill in the said monasterie of ffurness, and of and in the landes, rentes, possessions, revenous, servyce, both spirituall and temporall," &c.? This deed is, I believe, given at length in the Cotton MSS., Cleopatra E. IV. fol. 244.
Roger Pele was elevated about 1532, and became rector of Dalton, a village near his old abbey, 9th Nov., 29 Hen. VIII. This rectory he held, I believe, during the remainder of his life, in spite of all the efforts made to dispossess him. (See Beck's _Annales Furnessienses_, p. 346. et seq.)
What was the origin and early history of this man, remarkable for the firmness and ability which so long baffled all the power and might of Henry, whose vengeance pursued him even into obscurity.
ABBATI.
_Curtseys and Bows._--Why do ladies curtsey instead of bow? Is the distinction one which obtains generally; and what is the earliest mention of curtseys in any writer on English affairs?
E. S.
Hampton Court.
_Historical Proverb._--I have frequently in youth heard the proverb, "You may change _Norman_ for a worser (worse) horse." This sounds like the wise saying of some unpatriotic Saxon, when urged to revolt against the conquering invaders. If so, it is an interesting relic of the days when "Englishrie," though suppressed, yet became peacefully victorious in transmuting the intruders into its own excellent metal.
J. R. P.
_Bishop Patrick's "Parable of a Pilgrim."_--Can any of your contributors inform me of any bibliographical notice of Bishop Patrick's _Parable of a Pilgrim_? Its singular title, and the suggested plagiarism of Bunyan, lately attracted my attention; but I incline to the belief that we may still regard the _Pilgrim's Progress_ to be as original as it is extraordinary. Patrick's work appears to have been written in 1663, while Bunyan was not committed to prison until 1660, and was released in 1673: having written, or at least composed, his extraordinary work during the interval. Bunyan might therefore have seen and read Patrick's book; but, from a careful comparison of the two works, I am satisfied in my own mind that such a supposition is unnecessary, and probably erroneous. I may add that Patrick honestly confesses, that not even his own work is entirely original, but was suggested by an elder "Parable of the Pilgrim" in Baker's _Sancta Sophia_.
GEORGE WM. BELL.
_Dr. Parr's Dedications._--Dr. Parr has dedicated the three parts of _Bellendences de Statu_ respectively to Burke, Lord North, and Fox, subscribing each dedication with the letters A. E. A. O. Can any of your correspondents explain them?
BALLIOLENSIS.
"_Königl. Schwedischer in Teutschland geführter Krieg_, 1632-1648, von B. Ph. v. Chemnitz."--As is known, the first two parts of this important work were printed in 1648 and 1653. The continuation of the original manuscript exists now in the Swedish Record Office, with the exception, unfortunately, of the third part. The Curator of the Royal Library in Hanover, however, J. Dan, {157} Grueber, testifies, in his _Commercium Epistolare Leibnitianinum_, Pars 1^{ma}, p. 119., Hanoviæ, 1745, in 8vo., that the missing part was then in that library:
"Tertius tomus excusus non est, quippe imperfectus; Manuscriptum tamen quoad absolutus est, inter alia septentrionis cimelia nuper repertum, Bibliothecæ Regiæ vindicavimus."
But this manuscript is no longer to be found there. Is it possible it may have been removed to England, and still to be found in one of the public collections? An answer to any of the above questions would deeply oblige
G. E. KLEMMING, Librarian in the Royal Library at Stockholm.
"_Officium Birgittinum Anglice._"--
"Integrum Beatæ Virginis Officium quod à S. Birgitta concinnatum, monialibus sui ordinis in usu publico fecit, Anglice ab anonymo quodam conversum, Londini prodiit ante annum 1500 in folio, ex Caxtoni, uti videtur, prælo editum."
is the notice of the above translation occurring in an old Swedish author. Information is requested as to whether any more detailed account can be obtained of the book referred to.[3] For any such the Querist will be especially thankful: if it should be possible to procure a copy of the same, his boldest hopes would be exceeded. If no English translation of S. Birgitta's revelations, or of the prayers and prophecies extracted therefrom--the latter known under the name of _Onus Mundi_, should exist, either in print or in old manuscript, this, in consideration of the very general circulation which these writings obtained in the Middle Ages, would be a very peculiar exception. The book named at the head of this Query would appear to be a translation of the _Breviarium S. Birgittæ._
G. E. KLEMMING, Librarian in the Royal Library at Stockholm.
[Footnote 3: [See Wharton, in his Supplement to Usher, _De Scripturis et Sacris Vernaculis_, p. 447., edit. 1690.--ED.]]
_Campbell's Hymn on the Nativity._--The hymn, of which the following are the first two verses, is said to have been written by Campbell. Can any correspondent of "N. & Q." say which Campbell is the author, and when and where the hymn was first printed?
"When Jordan hush'd his waters still, And silence slept on Zion's hill, When Bethlehem's shepherds thro' the night Watch'd o'er their flocks by starry light,
"Hark! from the midnight hills around, A voice of more than mortal sound In distant hallelujahs stole, Wild murmuring o'er the raptur'd soul."
H. S. S.
* * * * *
Minor Queries with Answers.
_When Our Lord falls in Our Lady's Lap._--Seeing that Good Friday in this year falls on Lady Day, may I beg to ask if any of your contributors could inform me where the following old saying is to be met with, viz.:
"When Good Friday falls in a Lady's lap, To England will happen some mishap,"
or to whom the prophecy (I hope a false one) may be attributed? I have seen it some years since, and have lately been asked the origin of the saying.
J. N. C.
Hull.
[Our correspondent has not quoted this old proverb correctly. It is thus given by Fuller (_Worthies of England_, vol. i. p. 115. ed. 1840):
"When Our Lady falls in Our Lord's lap Then let England beware a sad { clap { mishap,
_alias_
Then let the clergyman look to his cap."
But Fuller shows that it refers to Easter Day, not Good Friday, falling on the 25th March, when he remarks:--"I behold this proverbial prophecy, or this prophetical menace, to be not above six score years old, and of Popish extraction since the Reformation. It whispereth more than it dares speak out, and points at more than it dares whisper; and fain would intimate to credulous persons as if the Blessed Virgin, offended with the English for abolishing her adoration, watcheth an opportunity of revenge on this nation. And when her day (being the five-and-twentieth of March, and first of the Gregorian year) chanceth to fall on the day of Christ's resurrection, then being, as it were, fortified by her Son's assistance, some signal judgment is intended to our state, and churchmen especially."
He then gives a list of the years on which the coincidences had happened since the Conquest, to which, if our correspondent is curious on the subject, we must refer him. Can he, or any other of our readers, furnish any proof of the existence of this proverb before the Reformation, or the existence of a similar proverb on the Continent?]
_Hobnail-counting in the Court of Exchequer._--I shall feel obliged by your informing me from what circumstance originates the yearly custom of the lord mayor of London counting six horse-shoes and sixty-one hobnails at the swearing in of the sheriff?
A CONSTANT READER.
Chertsey.
[The best explanation of this custom will be found in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1804, where we read: "The ceremony on this occasion in the Court of Exchequer, which vulgar error supposed to be an unmeaning farce, is solemn and impressive, nor have the new sheriffs the least connexion either with chopping of sticks, or counting of hobnails. The tenants of a manor in Shropshire are directed to come forth and do their suit and service; on which the senior alderman below {158} the chair steps forward and chops a single stick, in token of its having been customary for the tenants of that manor to supply their lord with fuel. The owners of a forge in the parish of St. Clement (which formerly belonged to the city, and stood in the high road from the Temple to Westminster, but now no longer exists) are then called forth to do their suit and service; when an officer of the court, in the presence of the senior alderman, produces six horse-shoes and sixty-one hobnails, which he counts over in form before the cursitor baron, who on this particular occasion is the immediate representative of the sovereign."]