Part 2
The writer, no doubt, congratulated himself on avoiding the then common error, in similar cases, of "_This_ church having," &c.; for that asserted, that the very building we were looking at was burned down! But in eschewing one manifest blunder, he fell into ambiguity, and inconclusiveness equally reprehensible. For, as it never was imperative that a parish church should be _always_ confined to a particular spot, we are left in doubt as to where the former one stood; nor, indeed, are we told whether the present building is the parish church. Better thus: "The church of this parish, _which stood on the present site_, having," &c.
Even with this change another seems necessary, for we should then be virtually informed, as we are now, that the church was rebuilt, and opened for divine service, _in one day_![1] Such is the care requisite, when attempting comprehensive brevity, for the simplest historical record intended to go down to posterity. It is no answer to say, that every one apprehends what the inscription means, for that would sanction all kinds of obscurity and blunders. When Paddy tells us of _wooden_ panes of glass and mile-stones; of dividing a thing into three halves; of backing a carriage straight forwards, or of a dismal solitude where nothing could be heard but silence, we all perfectly understand what he means, while we laugh at his unconscious union of sheer impossibilities.
CLARUS.
[Footnote 1: The following arrangement, which only slightly alters the text, corrects the main defects: "The church of this parish, which stood on the present site, was destroyed by fire on [date] and, having been rebuilt, was opened for divine service on [date]."]
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* * * * *
A CAROL OF THE KINGS.
According to one legend, the three sons of Noah were raised from the dead to represent all mankind at Bethlehem. According to another, they slept a deep sleep in a cavern on Ararat until Messias was born, and then an angel aroused and showed them The Southern Cross, then first created to be the beacon of their way.
When the starry signal had fulfilled its office it went on, journeying towards the south, until it reached its place to bend above The Peaceful Sea in memorial of the Child Jesu.
I.
Three ancient men, in Bethlehem's cave, With awful wonder stand: A Voice had call'd them from their grave In some far Eastern land!
II.
They lived: they trod the former earth, When the old waters swell'd:-- The ark, that womb of second birth, Their house and lineage held!
III.
Pale Japhet bows the knee with gold; Bright Shem sweet incense brings: And Ham--the myrrh his fingers hold-- Lo! the Three Orient Kings!
IV.
Types of the total earth, they hail'd The signal's starry frame:-- Shuddering with second life, they quail'd At the Child Jesu's name!
V.
Then slow the patriarchs turn'd and trod, And this their parting sigh-- "Our eyes have seen the living God, And now, once more to die!"
H. OF M.
* * * * *
SIR W. SCOTT AND SIR W. NAPIER.
Some short time ago there appeared in _The Times_ certain letters relative to a song of Sir Walter Scott in disparagement of Fox, said to have been sung at the dinner given in Edinburgh on the acquittal of Viscount Melville. In one letter, signed "W. Napier," it is asserted, on the authority of a lady, that Scott _sang_ the song, which gave great offence to the Whig party at the time.
Now, I must take the liberty of declaring this assertion to be incorrect. I had the honour of knowing pretty intimately Sir Walter from the year 1817 down to the period of his departure for the Continent. I have been present at many convivial meetings with him, and conversed with him times without number, and he has repeatedly declared that, although fond of music, he could not sing from his boyhood, and could not even hum a tune so as to be intelligible to a listener. The idea, therefore, of his making such a public exhibition of himself as to sing at a public meeting, is preposterous.
But in the next place the cotemporary evidence on the subject is conclusive. An account of the dinner was published in the _Courant_ newspaper, and it is there stated "that _one_ song was sung, the poetry of which was said to come from the muse of 'the last lay,' and was sung with admirable effect by the proprietor of the _Ballantyne Press_."
It is perhaps unnecessary to explain that the singer was the late John Ballantyne, and I have my doubts if the song referred to in the controversy was the one sung upon the occasion. This, however, is merely a speculation arising from the fact, that this was a song not included in Sir Walter Scott's works, which upon the very highest authority I have been informed was sung there, but of which Lord Ellenborough, and not Charles Fox, was the hero. It is entitled "Justice Law," and is highly laudatory of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It has been printed in the _Supplement to the Court of Session Garland_, p. 10., and the concluding verse is as follows:
"Then here's to the prelate of wisdom and fame, Tho' true Presbyterians we'll drink to his name; Long, long, may he live to teach prejudice awe, And since Melville's got justice, the devil take law."
Again I repeat this conjecture may be erroneous; but that Sir Walter never sung any song at all at the meeting is, I think, beyond dispute.
J. M.
* * * * *
Minor Notes.
_Sign of Rain._--Not far from Weobley, co. Hereford, is a high hill, on the top of which is a clump of trees called "Ladylift Clump," and thus named in the Ordnance map: it is a proverbial expression in the surrounding neighbourhood, that when this clump is obscured with clouds, wet weather soon follows, connected with which, many years since I met with the following lines, which may prove interesting to many of your readers:
"When Ladie Lift Puts on her shift, Shee feares a downright raine; But when she doffs it, you will finde The raine is o'er, and still the winde, And Phoebus Sloane againe."
What is the origin of this name having been given to the said clump of trees?
J. B. WHITBORNE.
_Communications with Iceland._--In the summer of 1851 I directed attention to the communications with Iceland. I am just informed that the Danish government will send a war steamer twice next summer to the Faroe Islands and to Iceland, {54} calling at Leith both ways for passengers. The times of sailing will probably be announced towards spring in the public prints. This opportunity of visiting that strange and remarkable island in so advantageous a manner is worthy of notice, as desirable modes of getting there very rarely occur.
The observing traveller, in addition to the wonders of nature, should not fail to note there the social and physical condition, and diseases of the inhabitants. He will there find still lingering, fostered by dirt, bad food, and a squalid way of living, the true leprosy (in Icelandic, _spetalska_) which prevailed throughout Europe in the Middle Ages and which now survives only there, in Norway, and in some secluded districts in central and southern Europe. He will also note the remarkable exemption of the Icelanders from pulmonary consumption; a fact which seems extraordinary, considering the extreme dampness, inclemency, and variability of the climate. But the consumptive tendency is always found to cease north of a certain parallel of latitude.
WM. E. C. NOURSE.
8. Burwood Place, Hyde Park.
_Starvation, an Americanism._--Strange as it may appear, it is nevertheless quite true that this word, now unhappily so common on every tongue, as representing the condition of so many of the sons and daughters of the sister lands of Great Britain and Ireland, is not to be found in _our own_ English dictionaries; neither in Todd's _Johnson_, published in 1826, nor in Richardson's, published ten years later, nor in Smart's--Walker remodelled--published about the same time as Richardson's. It is Webster who has the credit of importing it from his country into this; and in a supplement issued a few years ago, Mr. Smart adopted it as "a _trivial_ word, but in very common, and at present good use."
What a lesson might Mr. Trench read us, that it should be so!
Our older poets, to the time of Dryden, used the compound "hunger-starved." We now say _starved_ with cold. Chaucer speaks of Christ as "He that _starf_ for our redemption," of Creseide "which well nigh _starf_ for _feare_;" Spenser, of arms "which doe men in _bale_ to sterve." (See _Starve_ in Richardson.) In the _Pardoneres Tale_, v. 12799:
"Ye (yea), _sterve_ he shall, and that in lesse while Than thou wilt gon a pas not but a mile; This _poison_ is so strong and violent."
And again, v. 12822:
"It happed him To take the botelle there the poison was, And dronke; and gave his felau drinke also For which anone they _storven_ bothe two."
Mr. Tyrwhit explains, "to die, to perish" and the general meaning of the word was, "to die, or cause to die, to perish, to destroy."
Q.
_Strange Epitaphs._-The following combined "bull" and epitaph may amuse your readers. I copied it in April, 1850, whilst on an excursion to explore the gigantic tumuli of New Grange, Dowth, &c.
Passing through the village of Monknewtown, about four miles from Drogheda, I entered a burial-ground surrounding the ivy-clad ruins of a chapel. In the midst of a group of dozen or more tombstones, some very old, all bearing the name of "Kelly," was a modern upright slab, well executed, inscribed,--
"Erected by PATRICK KELLY, Of the Town of Drogheda, Mariner, In Memory of his Posterity." ------ "Also the above PATRICK KELLY, Who departed this Life the 12th August, 1844, Aged 60 years. Requiescat in Pace."
I gave a copy of this to a friend residing at Llanbeblig, Carnarvonshire, who forwarded me the annexed from a tombstone in the parish churchyard there:
"Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Here lie the Remains of THOMAS CHAMBERS, Dancing Master; Whose genteel address and assiduity in Teaching, Recommended him to all that had the Pleasure of his acquaintance. He died June 13, 1765, Aged 31."
R. H. B.
Bath.
* * * * *
Queries.
BUONAPARTE'S ABDICATION.
A gentleman living in the neighbourhood of London bought a table five or six years ago at Wilkinson's, an old established upholsterer on Ludgate Hill.
In a concealed part of the leg of the table he found a brass plate, on which was the following inscription:
"Le Cinq d'Avril, dix-huit cent quatorze, Napoléon Buonaparte signa son abdication sur cette table dans le cabinet de travail du Roi, le 2me après la chambre à coucher, à Fontainebleau."
The people at Wilkinson's could give no account of the table: they said it had been a long time in the shop; they did not remember of whom it had {55} been bought, and were surprised when the brass plate was pointed out to them.
The table is a round one, and rather pretty looking, about two feet and a half in diameter, and supported on one leg. It does not look like a table used for writing, but rather resembles a lady's work-table. The wood with which it is veneered has something the appearance of beef wood.
Wilkinson's shop does not now exist: he used to deal in curiosities, and was employed as an auctioneer.
The gentleman who bought this table is desirous of ascertaining at what time the table still shown at Fontainebleau, as that on which the abdication was signed, was first exhibited: whether immediately after the restoration of the Bourbons, or later, in consequence of a demand for shows of that sort? Whether it is a fact that the Bourbons turned out the imperial furniture from Fontainebleau and other palaces after their return?
The date, "cinq d'Avril," is wrong; the abdication was signed on the 4th. This error, however, leads one to suspect that the table is genuine: as any one preparing a sham table should have been careful in referring to printed documents. From the tenor of the inscription, we may infer that it is the work of a Royalist.
The Marshals present with Napoleon when he signed his abdication were Ney, Oudinot, and Lefevre; and perhaps Caulincourt.
A CANTAB.
University Club.
* * * * *
DEATH WARNINGS IN ANCIENT FAMILIES.
I marvel much that none of your contributors in this line have touched upon a very interesting branch of legendary family folk lore, namely, the supernatural appearances, and other circumstances of a ghostly nature, that are said to invariably precede a death in many time-honoured families of the united kingdoms.
We have all heard of the mysterious "White Ladye," that heralds the approach of death, or dire calamity, to the royal house of Hohenzollern. In like manner, the apparition of two gigantic owls upon the battlements of Wardour is said to give sad warning to the noble race of Arundel. The ancient Catholic family of Middleton have the same fatal announcement made to them by the spectral visitation of a Benedictine nun; while a Cheshire house of note, I believe, that of Brereton, are prepared for the last sad hour by the appearance of large trunks of trees floating in a lake in the immediate vicinity of their family mansion. To two families of venerable antiquity, and both, if I remember right, of the county of Lancashire, the approaching death of a relative is made known in one case by loud and continued knockings at the hall door at the solemn hour of midnight; and in the other, by strains of wild and unearthly music floating in the air.
The "Banshee," well known in Ireland, and in the highlands of Scotland, is, I believe, attached exclusively to families of Celtic origin, and is never heard of below the Grampian range; although the ancient border house of Kirkpatrick of Closeburn (of Celtic blood by the way) is said to be attended by a familiar of this kind.
Again, many old manor-houses are known to have been haunted by a friendly, good-natured sprite, ycelpt a "Brownie," whose constant care it was to save the household domestics as much trouble as possible, by doing all their drudgery for them during the silent hours of repose. Who has not heard, for instance, of the "Boy of Hilton?" Of this kindly race, I have no doubt, many interesting anecdotes might be rescued from the dust of time and oblivion, and preserved for us in the pages of "N. & Q."
I hope that the hints I have ventured to throw out may induce some of your talented contributors to follow up the subject.
JOHN O' THE FORD.
Malta.
* * * * *
THE SCARLET REGIMENTALS OF THE ENGLISH ARMY.
When was the English soldier first dressed in red? It has been said the yeomen of the guard (_vulgo_ Beef-eaters) were the company which originally wore that coloured uniform; but, seventy years before they were established, viz. temp. Henry V., it appears the military uniform of his army was red:
"Rex vestit suos _rubro_, et parat transire in Normaniam."--_Archæolog. Soc. Antiquar._, Lond., vol. xxi. p. 292.
William III. not only preferred that colour, but he thought it degrading to the dignity of his soldiers that the colour should be adopted for the dress of any inferior class of persons; and there is an order now extant, signed by Henry, sixths Duke of Norfolk, as Earl Marshal, dated Dec. 20, 1698,
"Forbidding any persons to use for their liveries scarlet or red cloth, or stuff; except his Majesty's servants and _guards_, and those belonging to the royal family or foreign Misters."
William IV., who had as much of true old English feeling as any monarch who ever swayed the English sceptre, ordered scarlet to be the universal colour of our Light Dragoons; but two or three years afterwards he was prevailed upon, from some fancy of those about him, to return to the blue again. Still, it is well known that dressing our Light Dragoons in the colour prevailing {56} with other nations has led to serious mistakes in time of action.
A.
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Minor Queries.
_Berkhampstead Records._--Where are the records of the now extinct corporation of Great Berkhampstead, co. Herts, incorporated 1618? And when did it cease to exercise corporate rights, and why?
J. K.
"_The secunde personne of the Trinetee_" (Vol. viii., p. 131.).--What does the "old English Homily" mean by "a womanne who was the secunde personne of the Trinetee?"
J. P. S.
_St. John's, Oxford, and Emmanuel, Cambridge._--Can your readers give me any information respecting Thomas Collis, B.A., of St. John's College, Oxford, ordained priest by Richard (Reynolds), Bishop of Lincoln, at Buckden, 29th May, 1743? What church preferment did he hold, where did he die, and where was he buried?
Also of John Clendon, B.D., Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, who was presented to the vicarage of Brompton-Regis, Somerset, by his College, in or about the year 1752? His correspondence with the Fellows of Emmanuel is amusing, as giving an insight into the every-day life of Cambridge a century ago. You shall have a letter or two ere long as a specimen.
THOMAS COLLIS.
Boston.
"_Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre._"--Some years ago, at a book-stall in Paris, I met with a work in one volume, being a dissertation in French on the origin and early history of the once popular song, "Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre." It seemed to contain much information of a curious and interesting character; and the author's name, if I remember rightly, is Blanchard. I have since made several attempts to discover the title of the book, with the view of procuring a copy of it, but without success. Can any of your readers assist me in this matter?
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia.
_Prelate quoted in Procopius._--In the 25th note (a), chap. xl., of Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, there is a quotation from Procopius. Can any of your readers conjecture who is meant by the "learned prelate now deceased," who was fond of quoting the said passage.
[Sigma].
_The Alibenistic Order of Freemasons._--Can any of your readers, masonic or otherwise, inform me what is meant by this order of Freemasons? The work of Henry O'Brien of the _Round Towers of Ireland_ is dedicated to them, and in his preface they are much eulogised.
H. W. D.
_Saying respecting Ancient History._--In Niebuhr's _Lectures on Ancient History_, vol. i. p 355., I find--
"An ingenious man once said, 'It is thought that at length people will come to read ancient history as if it had really happened,' a remark which is really excellent."
Who was this "ingenious man"?
J. P.
_An Apology for not speaking the Truth._--Can any of your correspondents kindly inform me where the German song can be found from which the following lines are taken?
"When first on earth the truth was born, She crept into a hunting-horn; The hunter came, the horn was blown, But where truth went, was never known."
W. W.
Malta.
_Sir John Morant._--In the fourth volume of Sir John Froissart's _Chronicles_, and in the tenth and other chapters, he mentions the name of a Sir John Morant, Knight, or Sir John of Chatel Morant, who lived in 1390-6. How can I find out his pedigree? or whether he is an ancestor of the Hampshire family of Morants, or of the Rev. Philip Morant?
H. H. M.
Malta.
_Portrait of Plowden._--Is any portrait of Edmund Plowden the lawyer known to exist? and if so, where?
P. P. P.
_Temperature of Cathedrals._--Can any of your readers favour me with a report from observation of the greatest and least heights of the thermometer in the course of a year, in one of our large cathedrals?
I am informed that Professor Phillips, in a geological work, has stated that the highest and lowest temperatures in York Minster occur about five weeks after the solstices; but it does not appear that the altitudes are named.
T.
_Dr. Eleazar Duncon._--Dr. Eleazar Duncon was of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, D.D., anno 1633, Rector of Houghton Regis same year, Chaplain to King Charles I., Prebendary of Durham. He is supposed to have died during the interregnum. Can any of your correspondents say when or where?
D. D.
_The Duke of Buckingham._--Do the books of the Honorable Society of the Middle Temple disclose any particulars relating to a "scandalous letter," believed to have been written by "a Templar" to George Villiers, the Great Duke of Buckingham, in 1626, the year before his grace was assassinated by Felton; which letter was found by a servant of the inn in a Temple drinking-pot, by {57} whom it was handed over to the then treasurer of the Society, Nicholas Hide, Esq.? and was the author of such scandalous letter ever discovered and prosecuted?
CESTRIENSIS.
_Charles Watson._--Can any of your readers give me any account of Charles Watson, of Hertford College, Oxford, author of poems, and _Charles the First_, a tragedy?
I believe a short memoir of this author was to have appeared in _Blackwood's Magazine_ (the second volume, I think); it was never published, however.
A. Z.
_Early (German) coloured Engravings._--I have six old coloured engravings, which I suppose to be part of a series, as they are numbered respectively 1, 2, 4, 11, 12, 14. They are mounted on panels; and on the back of each is a piece of vellum, on which some descriptive verses in old German have been written. The ink retains its blackness; but dirt, mildew, and ill usage have rendered nearly all the inscriptions illegible, and greatly damaged the pictures; yet, through the laborious colouring and the stains, good drawing and expression are visible. Perhaps a brief description may enable some of your readers to tell me whether they are known.
Nos. 1. and 11. are so nearly obliterated, that I will not attempt to describe them. No. 2. seems to be St. George attacking the dragon. The inscription is:
"Hier merke Sohn gar schnell und bald, Von grausam schwartzen Thier im Wald."
No. 4. A stag and a unicorn:
"Man ist von Nöthin dass ihr wiszt, Im Wald ein Hirsch und Eikhorn ist."
No. 12. An old man with wings, and a younger wearing a crown and sword. They are on the top of a mountain overlooking the sea. The sun is in the left corner, and the moon and stars on the right. The perspective is very good. Inscription obliterated.
No. 14. The same persons, and a king on his throne. The elder in the background; the younger looking into the king's mouth, which is opened to preternatural wideness:
"Sohn in dein Abwesen war ich tod, Und mein Leben in grosser Noth; Aber in dein Beysein thue ich leben, Dein Widerkunfft mir Freudt thut geben."
The inscription is long, but of the rest only a word here and there is legible. Any information on this subject will oblige,
H.
* * * * *
Minor Queries with Answers.
_History of M. Oufle._--Johnson, in his _Life of Pope_, says of the _Memoirs of Scriblerus_:
"The design cannot boast of much originality: for, besides its general resemblance to _Don Quixote_, there will be found in it particular imitations of the _History of M. Oufle_."
What is the _History of M. Oufle?_
L. M.