Part 1
{309}
NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.
* * * * *
="When found, make a note of."=--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.
* * * * *
No. 205.] SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1. 1853. [Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition, 5_d._
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
NOTES:-- Page
The Groaning-board, a Story of the Days of Charles II., by Dr. E. F. Rimbault 309
The Etymology of the Word "Awkward" 310
Inedited Poem--"The Deceitfulness of Love," by Chris. Roberts 311
Bale MSS., referred to in Tanner's "Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica," by Sir F. Madden 311
Charles Fox and Gibbon 312
Samuel Williams 312
Shakspeare Correspondence, by Samuel Hickson, &c. 313
MINOR NOTES:--Doings of the Calf's Head Club--Epitaph by Wordsworth--Tailor's "Cabbage"--Misquotations--The Ducking Stool--Watch-paper Inscription 315
QUERIES:--
Birthplace of Gen. Monk, by F. Kyffin Lenthall 316
MINOR QUERIES:--Harmony of the Four Gospels--The Noel Family--Council of Trent--Roman Catholic Patriarchs--The "Temple Lands" in Scotland--Cottons of Fowey--Draught or Draft of Air--Admiral Sir Thomas Tyddeman--Pedigree Indices--Apparition of the White Lady--Rundlestone--Tottenham--Duval Family--Noses of the Descendants of John of Gaunt--General Wall--John Daniel and Sir Ambrose Nicholas Salter--Edward Bysshe--President Bradshaw and John Milton 316
MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS:--Ket the Tanner--"Namby-pamby" 318
REPLIES:--
Editions of Books of Common Prayer, by the Rev. Thomas Lathbury, &c. 318
The Crescent, by J. W. Thomas 319
Seals of the Borough of Great Yarmouth 321
Moon Superstitions, by J. N. Radcliffe and G. William Skyring 321
Latin Riddle, by the Rev. Robert Gibbings 322
"Hurrah!" by Sir J. E. Tennent and J. Sansom 323
PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE:--Process for Printing on Albumenized Paper 324
REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:--Anderson's Royal Genealogies--Thomas Wright of Durham--Weather Predictions--Bacon's Essays: Bullaces--Nixon the Prophet--Parochial Libraries--"Ampers and," &c.--The Arms of De Sissonne--St. Patrick's Purgatory--Sir George Carr--Gravestone Inscription--"A Tub to the Whale"--Hour-glasses in Pulpits--Slow-worm Superstition--Sincere--Books chained to Desks in Churches: Seven Candlesticks--D. Ferrand: French Patois--Wood of the Cross--'Ladies' Arms in a Lozenge--Burial in unconsecrated Ground--Table-turning--"Well's a fret"--Tenet for Tenent 326
MISCELLANEOUS:--
Books and Odd Volumes wanted 330
Notices to Correspondents 330
Advertisements 331
* * * * *
Notes.
THE GROANING-BOARD, A STORY OF THE DAYS OF CHARLES II.
The English public has ever been distinguished by an enormous amount of gullibility.
"Ha ha, ha ha! this world doth pass Most merrily I'll be sworn; For many an honest Indian ass Goes for an unicorn."
So sung old Thomas Weelkes in the year 1608, and so echo we in the year 1853! What with "spirit-rapping," "table-moving," "Chelsea ghosts," "Aztec children," &c., we shall soon, if we go on at the same rate, get the reputation of being past all cure.
In looking over, the other day, a volume in the Museum, marked MS. Sloane 958., I noticed the following hand-bill pasted on the first page:
"At the sign of the Wool-sack, in Newgate Market, is to be seen a strange and wonderful thing, which is an _elm board_, being touched with a hot iron, doth express itself as if it were a man dying _with groans_, and trembling, to the great admiration of all the hearers. It hath been presented before the king and his nobles, and hath given great satisfaction. _Vivat Rex._"
At the top of the bill is the king's arms, and the letters C. R., and in an old hand is written the date 1682. On the same page is an autograph of the original possessor of the volume, "Ex libris Jo. Coniers, Londini, pharmacopol, 1673."
In turning to Malcolm (_Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London_, 4to. 1811, p. 427.), we find the following elucidation of this mysterious exhibition:
"One of the most curious and ingenious amusements ever offered to the publick ear was contrived in the year 1682, when an elm plank was exhibited to the king and the credulous of London, which being touched by a hot iron, invariably produced a sound resembling deep groans. This sensible, and very irritable board, received numbers of noble visitors; and other boards, sympathising with their afflicted brother, demonstrated how much affected they might be by similar means. The publicans in different parts of the city immediately applied ignited metal to all the woodwork of their houses, in hopes of finding sensitive timber; but I do {310} not perceive any were so successful as the landlord of the Bowman Tavern in Drury Lane, who had a mantle tree so extremely prompt and loud in its responses, that the sagacious observers were nearly unanimous in pronouncing it part of the same trunk which had afforded the original plank."
The following paragraph is also given by Malcolm from the _Loyal London Mercury_, Oct. 4, 1682:
"Some persons being this week drinking at the Queen's Arms Tavern, in St. Martin's-le-Grand, in the kitchen, and having laid the fire-fork in the fire to light their pipes, accidentally fell a discoursing of the _groaning-board_, and what might be the cause of it. One in the company, having the fork in his hand to light his pipe, would needs make trial of a long dresser that stood there, which, upon the first touch, made a great noise and groaning, more than ever the board that was showed did; and then they touched it three or four times, and found it far beyond the other. They all having seen it, the house is almost filled with spectators day and night, and any company calling for a glass of wine may see it; which, in the judgment of all, is far louder, and makes a longer groan than the other; which to report, unless seen, would seem incredible."
Among the _Bagford Ballads_ in the Museum (three vols., under the press-mark 643. m.) is preserved the following singular broadside upon the subject, which is now reprinted for the first time:
"A NEW SONG, ON THE STRANGE AND WONDERFUL GROANING-BOARD.
"What fate inspir'd thee with groans, To fill phanatick brains? What is't thou sadly thus bemoans, In thy prophetick strains?
"Art thou the ghost of _William Pryn_, Or some old politician? Who, long tormented for his sin, Laments his sad condition?
"Or must we now believe in thee, The old cheat transmigration? And that thou now art come to be A call to reformation?
"The giddy vulgar to thee run, Amaz'd with fear and wonder; Some dare affirm, that hear thee groan, Thy noise is petty thunder.
"One says and swears, you do foretell A change in Church and State; Another says, you like not well Your master _Stephen's_ fate.[1]
"Some say you groan much like a _whigg_, Or rather like a _ranter_; Some say as loud, and full as big, As _Conventicle Canter_.
"Some say you do petition, And think you represent The woe and sad condition Of Old _Rump Parliament_.
"The wisest say you are a cheat; Another politician Says, 'tis a misery as great And true as _Hatfield's vision_.[2]
"Some say, 'tis a _new evidence_, Or witness of the _plot_; And can discover many things Which are the Lord knows what.
"And lest you should the _plot_ disgrace, For wanting of a name, _Narrative Board_ henceforth we'll place In registers of fame.
"London: Printed for T. P. in the year 1682."
The extraordinary and long-lived popularity of the "groaning-board" is fully evinced by the number of cotemporary allusions: a few will suffice.
Mrs. Mary Astell, in her _Essay in Defence of the Female Sex_, 1696, speaking of the character of a "coffee-house politician," observes:
"He is a mighty listener after prodigies: and never hears of a whale or a comet, but he apprehends some sudden revolution in the state, and looks upon a _groaning-board_, or a speaking-head, as forerunners of the day of judgment."
Swift, in his _Tale of a Tub_, written in the following year (1697), says of Jack:
"He wore a large plaister of artificiall causticks on his stomach, with the fervor of which he would set himself a _groaning_ like the famous _board_ upon application of a red-hot iron."
Steele, in the 44th number of the _Tatler_, speaking of Powell, the "puppet showman," says:
"He has not brains enough to make even wood speak as it ought to do: and I, that have heard the _groaning-board_, can despise all that his puppets shall be able to speak as long as they live."
So much for the "story" of the _groaning-board_. As to "how it was done," we leave the matter open to the reader's sagacity.
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
[Footnote 1: This was _Stephen_ College, a joiner by trade, but a man of an active and violent spirit, who, making himself conspicuous by his opposition to the Court, obtained the name of the Protestant joiner. His fate is well known.]
[Footnote 2: Martha Hatfield, a child twelve years old in Sept. 1652, who pretended to have visions "concerning Christ, faith, and other subjects." She was a second edition of the "holy maid of Kent."]
* * * * *
THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "AWKWARD."
Most persons who have given their attention to the formation of words, and have employed their leisure in endeavouring to trace them to their source, must have remarked that there are many words in the English language which show on the {311} part of learned philologists, the compilers of dictionaries, either a strange deficiency in reading, or a want of acquaintance with the older tongues: or perhaps, if we must find an excuse for them, a habit of "nodding."
The word _awkward_ is one of these. Skinner's account is as follows:
"Ineptus, ἀμφαριστερός, præposterus, ab A.-S. æþerd perversus; hoc ab _æ_ præp. loquelari negativa privativa, et _weard_, versus."
Johnson follows Skinner, interpreting _awkward_ in the same way, and with the same derivation; but unfortunately he had met with the little word _awk_, and, not caring to inquire into the origin of it, as it seemed so plain, he explains it as "a barbarous contraction of _awkward_," giving the following example from L'Estrange:
"We have heard as arrant jingling in the pulpits as the steeples; and the professors ringing as _awk_ as the bells to give notice of the conflagration."
Now the real state of the case is, that just as _forward_ and _backward_ are correlatives, so also are _toward_ and _awkward_. We speak of a _toward_ child as one who is quick and ready and apt; while, by an _awkward_ one, we mean precisely the contrary. By the former we imply a disposition or readiness to press on to the mark; by the latter, that which is averse to it, and fails of the right way. Parallel instances, though of course not corresponding in meaning, are found in the Latin _adversus_, _reversus_, _inversus_, _aversus_.
The term _awkward_ is compounded of the two A.-S. words _aweg_ or _awæg_ (which is itself made up of _a_, from, and _wæg_, a way), meaning away, out: "auferendi vim habet," says Bosworth, of which we have an instance in _aweg weorpan_, to throw away; and _weard_, toward, as in _hamweard_, homewards. We thus have the correlatives _to-weard_ and _aweg-weard_, with the same termination, but with prefixes of exactly opposite meanings. In the latter word, the prefix would naturally come to be pronounced as one syllable, and the _g_ as naturally converted into _k_.
The propriety of the use of the word _awkward_ by Shakspeare, in the Second Part of Henry VI., Act III. Sc. 2., is thus rendered apparent:
"And twice by awkward wind from England's bank, Drove back again," &c.,
_i.e._ untoward wind, or contrary: an epithet which editors, while they thought it required an apology, have been unable to explain rightly.
With regard to the word _awk_, I can only say that it is one of very unfrequent occurrence; I have met with it but once in the course of my own reading, so that I am unable to confirm my view as fully as I could wish; still, that one instance seems, as far as it goes, satisfactory enough: it occurs in Golding's translation of Ovid's _Metam._, London, 1567, fol. 177. p. 2.:
"She sprincled us with bitter jewce of uncouth herbes, and strake The _awk_ end of her charmed rod uppon our heads, and spake Woordes to the former contrarie," &c.
The _awk_ end here is, of course, the wrong end, that which was not _towards_ them.
Perhaps some of the readers of "N. & Q." may have met with other instances of the usage of the word. It does not occur in Chaucer nor (I am pretty sure) in Gower.
H. C. K.
* * * * *
INEDITED POEM.--"THE DECEITFULNESS OF LOVE."
The following lines, written about 1600, are, I think, well worthy of preservation in your columns. I believe they have never been published; but if any of your correspondents should have met with them, and can inform me of the author, I shall feel much obliged.
CHRIS. ROBERTS.
Bradford, Yorkshire.
_Deceitfulness of Love._
Go, sit by the summer sea, Thou, whom scorn wasteth, And let thy musing be Where the flood hasteth. Mark how o'er ocean's breast Rolls the hoar billow's crest; Such is his heart's unrest Who of love tasteth.
Griev'st thou that hearts should change? Lo! where life reigneth, Or the free sight doth range, What long remaineth? Spring with her flow'rs doth die; Fast fades the gilded sky; And the full moon on high Ceaselessly waneth.
Smile, then, ye sage and wise; And if love sever Bonds which thy soul doth love, Such does it ever! Deep as the rolling seas, Soft as the twilight breeze, But of _more_ than these Boast could it never!
* * * * *
BALE MSS., REFERRED TO IN TANNER'S "BIBLIOTHECA BRITANNICO-HIBERNICA."
Most persons who consult this laborious and useful work will probably have been struck and puzzled by the frequent occurrence of two references given by the Bishop as his authorities, namely, "MS. Bal. Sloan." and "MS. Bal. Glynn." {312} To answer, therefore (by anticipation), a Query very likely to be made on this subject, I have to state, that by "MS. Bal. Sloan." Tanner refers to a manuscript work in two volumes, in Bale's handwriting, formerly in Sir Hans Sloane's collection, and numbered 287, but presented by him to the Bodleian Library; as appears by a letter from Hearne to Baker (in MS. Harl. 7031. f. 142.), dated August 6, 1715, in which he writes:
"We have _Bale's accounts of the Carmelites_, in two volumes, being not long since given to our public library by Dr. Sloane."
In the original MS. Sloane Catalogue, the work was thus entered: _Joannes Balæus de sanctis et illustribus viris Ordinis Carmelitarum, et eorum Scriptis: Joannis Balæi Annales Carmelitarum_. Another volume, partly, if not wholly, in Bale's handwriting, relative to the Carmelite Order, existed formerly in the Cottonian Library, under the press-mark Otho, D. IV., but was almost entirely destroyed in the fire which took place in 1731.
By "MS. Bal. Glynn.," or (as more fully referred to under "Adamus Carthusiensis") "MS. Bale penes D. Will. Glynn.," Tanner undoubtedly means a printed copy of Bale's _Scriptorum Illustrium Majoris Brytanniæ Catalogus_, with marginal notes in manuscript (probably by Bale himself) which was preserved in the library of Sir William Glynne, Bart., of Anbrosden. I learn this from Tanner's original Memoranda for his _Bibliotheca_, preserved in the Additional MSS. 6261. 6262., British Museum; in the former of which, ff. 122--124., is a transcript of the "MS. notæ in margine Balei, penes D. Will. Glynne." The Glynne MSS. are described in the _Catt. MSS. Angliæ_, fol. 1697, vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 49.; but the copy of Bale, here mentioned, is not included among them. These MSS. are said to be preserved at present in the library of Christ Church College, Oxford; and it is somewhat singular, that no account of the MSS. in this college should have been printed, either in the folio Catalogue of 1697, or in the valuable Catalogue of the MSS. in the college libraries recently published. Perhaps some of the correspondents of "N. & Q." may communicate information on this head.
F. MADDEN.
* * * * *
CHARLES FOX AND GIBBON.
The following is taken from the fly-leaves of my copy of Gibbon's _Rome_, 1st vol. 1779, 8vo.:
"The following anecdote and verses were written by the late Charles James Fox in the first volume of _his_ Gibbon's _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_.
"The author of this work declared publicly at Brookes's (a gaming-house in St. James' Street), upon the delivery of the Spanish Rescript in June, 1779, that there was no salvation for this country unless six of the heads of the cabinet council were cut off and laid upon the tables of both houses of parliament as examples; and in less than a fortnight he accepted a place under the same cabinet council.
"ON THE AUTHOR'S PROMOTION TO THE BOARD OF TRADE IN 1779. By the Right Hon. C. J. Fox.
"King George in a fright Lest Gibbon should write The story of Britain's disgrace, Thought no means more sure His pen to secure Than to give the historian a place.
"But his caution is vain, 'Tis the curse of his reign That his projects should never succeed; Tho' he wrote not a line, Yet a cause of decline In our author's example we read.
"His book well describes How corruption and bribes O'erthrew the great empire of Rome; And his writings declare A degeneracy there, Which his conduct exhibits at home."
G. M. B.
* * * * *
SAMUEL WILLIAMS.
The obituary of the past week records the death of Samuel Williams, a self-taught artist, whose pencil and graver have illustrated very many of the most popular works during the last forty years, and to whose productions the modern school of book-illustrations owes its chief force and character. Samuel Williams was born Feb. 23, 1788, at Colchester in Essex; and during his very earliest years, his self-taught powers were remarkable, as he could draw or copy with the greatest ease anything he saw; and he would get up at early dawn, before the other members of the family were stirring, to follow the bent of his genius. His boyish talents attracted much notice, and, had he not been very diffident, would have brought him before the world as a painter. In 1802, he was apprenticed to Mr. J. Marsden, a printer in Colchester, and thenceforward his pencil was destined to be employed in illustrating books. Whilst yet a lad, he etched on copper a frontispiece to a brochure entitled the _Coggeshall Volunteers_; and this was a remarkable production, as he had never seen etching or engraving on copper; and he about the same time taught himself engraving on wood, executing numerous little cuts for Mr. Marsden: amongst others, a frontispiece to a _History of Colchester_. So much was his talent seen by parties calling at his employer's, that Mr. Crosby, a publisher of some note in his day, promised that, when his apprenticeship ended, he {313} should draw and engrave for him a natural history; and this promise was faithfully performed, and a series of three hundred cuts given to him immediately. Besides these, he executed numerous commissions for Mozley, Darton and Harvey, Arliss's _Pocket Magazine_, and other works; in all which a strong natural feeling and vigorous drawing were leading characteristics.
In 1809 he visited London for a short time, and returned to Colchester; and resided there till 1819, when he settled in London. In 1822, Mr. C. Whittingham published an edition of _Robinson Crusoe_, the illustrations to which are drawn and engraved by the subject of this notice; and the freedom of handling, as compared with cotemporary works, was conspicuous. After these, Trimmer's _Natural History_, published by Whittingham; the illustrations to Wiffin's _Garcilasso de la Vega_; and other works, showed his talents as a designer as well as engraver.
In 1825, William Hone started his _Every-Day Book_, employing Mr. Williams to make the drawings for the "Months," and other illustrations; and the peculiar style, like pen-and-ink sketches, attracted much notice, the freedom and ease of these drawings being greatly admired; and some of our present artists confess to having been first taught by copying the free off-hand sketches in Hone's _Every-Day Book_. A second volume followed in 1846, and the _Table Book_ in 1847; in 1848 the _Olio_ was published, and afterwards the _Parterre_; both works remarkable for their spirited illustrations. Several of the engravings to the _London Stage_, 1847, displayed great variety of expression in the figures and faces. Howitt's _Rural Life of England_, Selby's _Forest Trees_, Thomson's _Seasons_ (the edition published by Bogue), Miller's _Pictures of Country Life_, all drawn and engraved by him, exhibit exquisite rural "bits," in which, like Bewick, Samuel Williams could express with the graver the touch of his pencil, thus far excelling his cotemporaries. The _Memorials of the Martyrs_ was the last work on which he exercised his double skill. Of works not drawn by himself, Wiffin's _Tasso_ shows some of his best efforts; but as for years past he had been engaged on most of the best works of the day, it is impossible to specify all. Had he devoted his time to painting, which the constant employment with pencil and graver prevented, he would have taken high rank as a painter of rural life, as his pictures of "Sketching a Countryman," and "Interior of a Blacksmith's Shop," exhibited in the Royal Academy when at Somerset House, testify, as they are marked by perfect drawing and admirable expression. Some miniatures on ivory, painted in his very youthful days, are marvellous for close manipulation and correct likeness. After a long and painful illness, borne with great fortitude, Mr. Williams expired on the 19th September, his wife having predeceased him not quite six weeks, leaving behind him four sons.
J. T.
* * * * *
SHAKSPEARE CORRESPONDENCE.