Notes And Queries Number 196 July 30 1853 A Medium Of Inter Com

Chapter 2

Chapter 23,680 wordsPublic domain

I should not object to your correspondent A. E. B.'s conjectural emendation, "recuse" for "secure," but that, unless my memory and Ayscough are both deceptive, the word "recuse" is nowhere to be found in Shakspeare; nor, as far as I know, in any dramatist of the age. If it be used by any of the latter, it is probably only in the strict legal meaning, which is quite different from that which A. E. B. would attach to it. This is conclusive with me; for I hold that there is no sounder canon in Shakspearian criticism than never to introduce by conjecture a word of which the poet does not himself elsewhere make use, or which is not at least strongly sanctioned by contemporary employment.

I therefore, as the passage is flat nonsense, return to the well-abused "corrector's" much modester emendation, "wants" for "means."

And now permit one word in defence of this deceased and untoward personage.

I think much of the unpopularity into which he has fallen with a certain class of critics, is owing to their not allowing him fair play.

Suppose a MS. placed in our hands, containing, beyond all doubt, what MR. COLLIER'S corrected second folio is alleged to contain, authoritative emendations of the text: what should we, _a priori_, expect to find in it?

That text is abominably corrupt beyond a doubt; it contains many impossible readings, which must be misprints or otherwise erroneous; it contains also many improbable readings, harsh, strained, mean, inadequate, and the like.

Now it is excessively unlikely that a truly corrected copy, could we find one, would remove all the impossible readings, and leave all the improbable ones.

It is still more unlikely that, in correcting the improbable passages, it would leave those to which Mr. A., or Mr. B., or Mr. C., ay, or all of us together, have formed an attachment from habit, predilection, or prejudice of some kind. Such phrases as "the blanket of the dark," "a man that hath had losses," "unthread the rude eye of rebellion," and many more, have become consecrated in our eyes by habit; they have assumed, as it were, the character of additions to our ordinary vocabulary; and yet I think sound reason itself, and that kind of secondary reason or instinct which long familiarity with critical pursuits gives us, combine to suggest that, _occurring in a corrupt text_, they are probably corruptions; and corruptions in lieu of some very common and even prosaic phrases, such as the corrector substitutes for them, and such as no conjectural critic would venture on.

In short, the kind of disappointment which many of these corrections unavoidably give to the reader, is with me an argument in favour of their genuineness, not against it.

And, lastly, in so very corrupt a text, it is _a priori_ probable that many phrases which appear to need no correction at all, are misprints or {98} mistakes nevertheless. It is probably that the true text of the poet contained many variations utterly unimportant, as well as others of importance, from the printed one. Now here it is precisely, that we find in the corrector what we should anticipate, and what it is difficult to account for on any theory disparaging his authority. What could have induced him to make such substitutions as _swift_ for "sweet," _then_ for "there," _all arose_ for "are arose," _solemn_ for "sorry," _fortune_ for "nature," to quote from a single play, the _Comedy of Errors_, which happens to lie before me,--none of them necessary emendations, most of them trivial, unless he had under his eye some original containing those variations, to which he wished his own copy to conform? It is surely wild guessing to attribute corrections like these to a mere wanton itch for altering the text; and yet no other alternative is suggested by the corrector's enemies.

I am myself as yet a sceptic in the matter, being very little disposed to hasty credulity on such occasions, especially where there is a possibility of deceit. But I must say that the doctrine of probabilities seems to me to furnish strong arguments in the corrector's favour; and that the attacks of professed Shakspearian critics on him, both in and out of "N. & Q.," have hitherto rather tended to raise him in my estimation.

H. M.

_Aristotle's Checks v. Aristotle's Ethics._--

"Only, good master, while we do admire This virtue, and this moral discipline, Let's be no stoicks, nor no stocks, I pray; Or so devote to Aristotle's _checks_, As Ovid be an outcast quite abjur'd." _Taming of the Shrew_, Act I. Sc. 1.

The following are instances of the use of the substantive _check_ by Shakspeare:

"_Orlando._ A man that had a wife with such a wit, might say,--'Wit whither wilt?' "_Rosalind._ Nay, you might keep that _check_ for it, till you met your wife's wit going to your neighbour's bed."

"_Falstaff._ I never knew yet, but rebuke and _check_ was the reward of valour."

"_Antony._ This is a soldier's kiss; rebukable, And worthy shameful _check_ it were to stand On more mechanic compliment."

"_Belarius._ . . . O, this life Is nobler, than attending for a _check_."

"_Iago._ However, this may gall him with some _check_.

"_Desdemona._ And yet his trespass, in our common reason . . . . is not almost a fault To incur a private _check_."

These instances may show that the word in question was a favourite expression of the poet. It is true there was a translation of the Ethics of Aristotle in his time, _The _Ethiques_ of Aristotle_. If he spelt it _ethiques_, no printer would have blundered and substituted _checks_.

Judge Blackstone suggested _ethicks_, but Johnson and Steevens kept to _checks_. And Johnson, in his _Dictionary_, _sub voce_ Devote, quotes the passage, but which, by a strange printer's misreading, is referred to "_Tim._ of Ath." instead of _Tam. of Sh._ in Todd's edit. of _Johnson's Dictionary_ (1818).

W. N.

Pall Mall.

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EPITAPH AND MONUMENTS IN WINGFIELD CHURCH, SUFFOLK.

I am not aware if the following epitaph has yet appeared in print; but I can safely assert that it really has a sepulchral origin; unlike those whose doubtful character causes them to be placed by your correspondent MR. SHIRLEY HIBBERD among the "gigantic gooseberries" ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 190.). I copied it myself from a gravestone in the churchyard of the village of Wingfield, Suffolk. After the name, &c. of the deceased is the following verse:

"Pope boldly says (some think the maxim odd), 'An honest man's the noblest work of God;' If Pope's assertion be from error clear, The noblest work of God lies buried here."

Wingfield Church itself is an interesting old place, but has been a good deal mauled in times past; and the brasses, of which there were once several, are all gone. It is, I believe, a good deal noted for a parvise, or room over the porch, from which, by an opening in the wall, a view of the altar is obtained. There are two or three piscinas in different parts of the church, and a sedilla near the altar. The most interesting objects are, however, three altar tombs, with recumbent figures of the Earls of Suffolk; the earliest, which is of wood, representing either the first or second peer of the family, with his spouse. The next in date is that of the celebrated noble who figures in Shakspeare's _Henry VI._ The monument is, if I recollect right, of alabaster. The figure is attired in complete armour, and was originally painted; a good deal of the colour still remaining. This and the following monument are partly let into the wall, and are surmounted by beautiful Gothic canopies. The third is, I believe, also of alabaster, and is the effigy of (I think) the nephew of Margaret of Anjou's earl, and who lies by the side of his wife, one of Edward IV.'s family.

It is very likely that all I have been writing is no news to any one. In that case I have but to ask your pardon for troubling you with such a worthless Note.

PICTOR.

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ORIGINAL ROYAL LETTERS TO THE GRAND MASTERS OF MALTA.

In searching through the manuscripts now filed away in the Record Office of this island with Dr. Villa, who has charge of them, and for whose assistance in my search I am greatly indebted, I have been gratified by seeing several original letters, addressed by different monarchs of England to the Grand Masters of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Each of the royal letters in the following list bears the signature of the writer:

* The letter of George I. is countersigned "Carteret;" those of George II. by "Harrington," "H. Fox," and "Bedford." None of the other letters in the above list bear any signature but that of the king or queen who wrote them. Among the letters of Henry VIII., addressed to Villiers de L'Isle Adam, there is one of much interest. I refer to that of the earliest date, in which his majesty strongly recommended the Grand Master to accept of Tripoli, on the coast of Barbary, and the islands of Malta and Gozo, as a residence for the convent, which Charles V. had offered him. The importance of Malta as a military station was known in England three hundred years ago. L'Isle Adam (with the exception of La Valetta), the most distinguished of all the Maltese Grand Masters, died on the 21st of August, 1534. The last letter of Henry VIII., addressed to him, came to his successor, Nicholas Cotoner. On the mantle which covered the remains of this great man these few words were inscribed,--"Here lies Virtue triumphant over Misfortune."]

Intending in a short time to examine these royal letters more closely, and hoping to refer to them again in "N.& Q.," I refrain from writing more at length on the present occasion.

W. W.

La Valetta, Malta.

P.S.--Perhaps the following chronological table, referring to the Maltese Grand Masters who are mentioned in the above Note, may not be uninteresting to the readers of "N. & Q.":

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Minor Notes.

_Meaning of "Clipper."_--I have more than once been asked the meaning and derivation of the term _clipper_, which has been so much in vogue for some years past. It is now quite a nautical term, at least among the fresh-water sailors: and we find it most frequently applied to yachts, steamers, fast-sailing merchant vessels, &c. And in addition to the colloquial use of the word, so common in praising the appearance or qualities of a vessel, it has become one quite recognised in the official description given of their ships by merchants, &c. Thus we often see an advertisement headed "the well-known clipper ship," "the noted clipper bark," and so forth. This use of the word, however, and its application to _vessels_, is somewhat wide of the original.

The word in former times meant merely a hackney, or horse adapted for the road. The owners of such animals naturally valued them in proportion to their capabilities for such service, among which great speed in trotting was considered one of the chief: fast trotting horses were eagerly sought after, and trials of speed became the fashion. A horse then, which was pre-eminent in this particular, was termed a _clipper_, _i.e._ a _hackney, par excellence_.

The original of the term is perhaps the following: _Klepper-lehn_ was a feudal tenure, so termed among the old Germans, where the yearly due from the vassal to the lord was a _klepper_, or, in its stead, so many bushels of oats: and the word _klepper_, or _kleopper_, is explained by Haltaus. _Glos. Germ. Med. Aevi_, 1758:

"Equus qui corripit gradum, et gressus duplicat. Nomen habet a celeri correptorum passuum sonitu."

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

_Anathema, Maran-atha._--Perhaps the following observation on these words may be as instructive to some of the readers of "N. & Q." as it was to me. Maran-atha means "The Lord cometh," and is used apparently by St. Paul as a kind of motto: compare [Greek: ho kurios engus], Phil. iv. 5. The Greek word has become blended with the Hebrew phrase, and the compound used as a formula of execration. (See Conybeare and Howson's _Life and Epistles of St. Paul_, p. 64., note 4.)

F. W. J.

_Convocation and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts._--

"When the committee I have mentioned was appointed, March 13, 1700, to consider what might be done towards _propagating the Christian Religion as professed in the Church of England in our Foreign Plantations_; and the committee, composed of very venerable and experienced men, well suited for such an inquiry, had sat several times at St. Paul's, and made some progress in the business referred to them, a charter was presently procured to place the consideration of that matter in other hands, where it now remains, and will, we hope, produce excellent fruits. But whatever they are, they must be acknowledged to have sprung from the overtures to that purpose first made by the lower house of Convocation."--_Some Proceedings in the Convocation of 1705 faithfully represented_, p. 10. of Preface.

W. FRASER.

Tor-Mohun.

_Pigs said to see the Wind._--In _Hudibras_, Independant says to Presbyter:

"You stole from the beggars all your tones, And gifted mortifying groans; Had lights when better eyes were blind, _As pigs are said to see the wind_."--Pt. 3. c. ii. l. 1105.

That most delightful of editors, Dr. Zachary Grey, with all his multifarious learning, leaves us here in the lurch for once with a simple reference to "Hudibras at Court," _Posthumous Works_, p. 213.

Is this phrase merely an hyperbolic way of saying that pigs are very sharp-sighted, or is it an actual piece of folk-lore expressing a belief that pies have the privilege of seeing "the viewless wind?" I am inclined to take the latter view. Under the head of "Superstitions," in Hone's _Year-Book_ for Feb. 29, 1831, we find:

"Among common sayings at present are these, _that pigs can see the wind_," &c.

The version I have always heard of it is--

"Pigs can see the wind 'tis said, And it seemeth to them _red_."

EIRIONNACH.

_Anecdote of the Duke of Gloucester._--Looking through some of the Commonwealth journals, I met with a capital _mot_ of this spirited little Stuart.

"It is reported that the titular Duke of Gloucester, being informed that the Dutch fleet was about the Isle of Wight, he was asked to which side he stood most addicted. The young man, apprehending that his livelihood depended on the parliament, and that it might be an art to circumvent him, turning to the governor, demanded of him how he did construe 'Quamdiu se bene gesserit.'"--_Weekly Intelligencer._

SPERIEND.

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Queries.

LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL.

Can any of your correspondents inform me where the virtuous and patriotic William Lord Russell was buried? It is singular that neither Burnet, who attended him to the scaffold, nor his descendant Lord John Russell in writing his life, nor Collins's _Peerage_, nor the accounts and letters of his admirable widow, make any allusion to his {101} remains. At last I found, in the _State Trials_, vol. ix. p. 684., that after the executioner had held up the head to the people, "Mr. Sheriff ordered his Lordship's friends or servants to take the body and dispose of it as they pleased, being given them by His Majesty's favour." Probably, therefore, it was buried at Cheneys; but it is worth a Query to ascertain the fact.

My attention was drawn to this omission by the discovery of the decapitated man found at Nuneham Regis ("N. & Q.," Vol. vi., p. 386.), and from observing that the then proprietor of the place appears to have been half-sister to Lady Russell, viz. daughter of the fourth Lord Southampton, by his second wife Frances, heiress of the Leighs, Lords Dunsmore, and the last of whom was created Earl of Chichester. But a little inquiry satisfied me this could not have been Lord Russell's body; among other reasons, because it was very improbable he should be interred at Nuneham, and because the incognito body had a peaked beard, whereas the prints from the picture at Woburn represent Lord Russell, according to the fashion of the time, without a beard.

But who then was the decapitated man? He was evidently an offender of consequence, from his having been beheaded, and from the careful embalming and the three coffins in which his remains were inclosed. The only conjecture I see hazarded in your pages is that of MR. HESLEDEN (Vol. vi., p. 488.), who suggests Monmouth; but he has overlooked the fact stated in the original communication of L. M. M. R., that Nuneham only came into the possession of the Buccleuch family through the Montagues, _i.e._ by the marriage of Henry, third Duke of Buccleuch, to Lady Elizabeth Montagu; the present proprietor, Lord John Scott, being their grandson. This marriage took place in 1767, or eighty-two years after Monmouth's execution, and thirty-three years after the death of his widow, the Duchess of Buccleuch and Monmouth, who is supposed to have caused the body to be removed from Tower Hill.

Notwithstanding the failure of heirs male in three noble families within the century, viz. the Leighs, the Wriothesleys, and the Montagus, the present proprietor is their direct descendant, and there are indications in the letter referred to, that the place of interment of his ancestors, as well as of this singular unknown, will no longer be abandoned to be a depository of farm rubbish.

W. L. M.

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ANCIENT FURNITURE--PRIE-DIEU.

Perhaps some of the readers of "N. & Q." will be able to give me some information as to the use of an ancient piece of furniture which I have met with. At Codrington, a small village in Gloucestershire, in the old house once the residence of the family of that name, now a farm-house, they show you in the hall a piece of furniture which was brought there from the chapel when that part of the building was turned into a dairy. It is a cupboard, forming the upper part of a five-sided structure, which has a base projecting equally with the top, which itself hangs over a hollow between the cupboard and the base, and is finished off with pendants below the cupboard. The panel which forms the door of the cupboard is wider than the sides. All the panels are carved with sacred emblems; the vine, the instruments of the Passion, the five wounds, the crucifix, the Virgin and child, and a shield, with an oak tree with acorns, surmounted by the papal tiara and the keys. The dimensions are as follows:

Depth from front to back, 2 feet 4-1/2 inches.

Height, 4 feet 8 inches.

Height of cupboard from slab to pendants, 2 feet 6 inches.

Height of base, 9-1/2 inches.

Width of side panels, 1 foot 8 inches; of centre panel, 1 foot 10-1/2 inches.

Width of the door of the cupboard, 1 foot 5 inches.

The door has carved upon it a scene representing two men, one an old man sitting upon a chair, the other a young one falling back from a stool; a table separates them and in the next compartment (for an arcade runs through the group) a female figure clasps her hands, as if in astonishment. This I can hardly understand. But the panel with the papal ensigns I think may throw some light on the use of the whole. In the year 1429, John Codrington of Codrington obtained a bull from Pope Martin V. to have a portable altar in his house, to have mass celebrated when and where he pleased. I find that such a portable altar ought to have "a suitable frame of wood whereon to set it." Such altars are frequently mentioned, though I believe very few remain; but I never could hear of the existence of anything to show what the frame would be. It occurs to me as possible that this piece of furniture may have been used for the purpose. The whole question of portable altars is an interesting one, and if this account should by the means of "N. & Q." fall into the hands of any one who is acquainted with the subject, I hope he would consider it worth a communication.

For some time I was at a loss for another instance; however, I have just received from a friend, who took interest in the subject, a sketch of something almost identical from the disused chapel at Chillon in the Canton Vaud. Of this I have not the measurements, but it stands about breast-high. It is there called a "prie-dieu," and is said to have belonged to the Dukes of Savoy, but the size is very unusual for such a use. I send sketches of each of the subjects of my Query, {102} and hope that, if this should be thought worthy of a place in "N. & Q.," some one will be able and willing to afford some information about them. I would add as a farther Query, the question of the meaning of the battle-axe and pansy, which appear on the "prie-dieu" at Chillon. Is it a known badge of the Savoy family?

R. H. C.

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Minor Queries.