Part 5

"Soon after the good Duke of Gloucester was secretly murthered, five of his menial servants, viz. Sir Roger Chamberlain, Knt., Middleton, Herber, {454} Artzis, Esq., and John Needham, Gent., were condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered; and hanged they were at Tyburn, let down quick, stript naked, marked with a knife to be quartered; and then the Marquess of Suffolk brought their pardon, and delivered it at the place of execution, and so their lives were saved."--P. 77.

The following document from the Patent Rolls of the forty-eighth year of the reign of King Henry III. (skin 5.) affords conclusive evidence of the affirmative:

"Rex omnibus, etc. salutem. Quia Inetta de Balsham pro receptamento latronum et imposito nuper per considerationem curie nostre suspendio adjudicata, et ab horâ nonâ diei Iune usque post ortum solis diei martis sequen. suspensa, viva evasit, sicut ex testimonio fide dignorum accipimus. Nos, divinæ charitatis intuitu, pardonavimus eidem Inetta sectam pacis nostre que ad nos pertinet pro receptamento predicto, et firmam pacem nostrum ei inde concedimus. In cujus, etc. Teste Rege apud Cantuar. XVI^o. die Augusti.

"Convenit cum recordo LAUR. HALSTED, Deput. Algern. May. mil."

Plot, in his _Natural History of Staffordshire_, p. 292., quotes this pardon, and suggests that possibly

"She could not be hanged, upon account that the larynx, or upper part of her windpipe, was turned to bone, as Fallopius (_Oper._, tom. i., _Obs. Anat._, tract. 6.) tells us he has sometimes found it, which possibly might be so strong, that the weight of her body could not compress it, as it happened in the case of a Swiss, who, as I am told by the Rev. Mr. Obadiah Walker, Master of University College, was attempted to be hanged no less than thirteen times, yet lived notwithstanding, by the benefit of his windpipe, that after his death was found to have turned into a bone; which yet is still wonderful, since the circulation of the blood must be stopt, however, unless his veins and arteries were likewise turned to bone, or the rope not slipt close."

Besides the account of Anne Green, Denham, in the 4th book of his _Physico-Theology_, quotes the following instance from Rechelin (_De Aere et Alim. defect._, cap. vii.),--

"Of a certain woman hang'd, and in all appearance dead, who was nevertheless restored to life by a physician accidentally coming in, and ordering a plentiful administration of the spirit of sal ammoniac."

(See also _The Uncertainty of the Signs of Death, and the Danger of precipitate Interments and Dissections demonstrated_, 12mo., London, 1751.)

A paragraph, stating that Fauntleroy, the notorious forger, had survived his execution, and was living abroad, has more than once gone the round of the newspapers. It is sometimes added that his evidence was required in a Chancery suit,--absurdly enough, as, if not _actually_, he was at least _legally_ dead.

The story of Brodie, executed October, 1788, for an excise robbery at Edinburgh, is probably familiar to most. The self-possession and firmness with which he met his fate was the result of a belief in the possibility of his resuscitation:

"It is a curious fact, that an attempt was made to resuscitate Brodie immediately after the execution. The operator was Degravers, whom Brodie himself had employed. His efforts, however, were utterly abortive. A person who witnessed the scene, accounted for the failure by saying that the hangman, having been bargained with for a short fall, his excess of caution made him shorten the rope too much at first, and when he afterwards lengthened it, he made it too long, which consequently proved fatal to the experiment."--_Curiosities of Biography_, 8vo., Glasgow, 1845.

There is a powerfully-written story in _Blackwood's Magazine_, April, 1827, entitled "Le Revenant," in which a resuscitated felon is supposed to describe his feelings and experience. The author, in his motto, makes a sweeping division of mankind:--"There are but two classes in the world--those who are _hanged_, and those who are _not hanged_; and it has been my lot to belong to the former." Many well-authenticated cases might still be adduced; but enough at least has now probably been said upon the subject, to show the possibility of surviving the tender mercies of Professor Calcraft and his fraternity.

WILLIAM BATES.

Birmingham.

In Atkinson's _Medical Bibliography_, A. and B., under the head "Bathurst Rodolphus," is the following:

"Nuremberg, 4to., 1655. On a maid who recovered after being hanged.

"This is the remarkable case of Elizabeth Gren, whom Bathurst and Dr. Willis restored after being executed, _i. e._ hanged, for infanticide. 'Vena incisa refocillata est.'

"These poor creatures are seldom considered as maids, after being hanged for infanticide. A similar recovery also happened to a man who had been executed for murder at York. My father had the body for public dissection. Whether the law then required the body to be hung for one hour or not, I cannot say; but I well remember my father's observation, that it was a pity the wretch had ever been restored, as his morals were by no means improved. Hanging is therefore by no means a cure for immorality, and it will be needless (in any of us) trying the experiment'--P. 255.

H. J.

Sheffield.

There is a record of a person being alive immediately after hanging, in the _Local Historian's Table-book_, vol. ii. pp. 43, 44., and under the date May 23, 1752. It is there stated, Ewan Macdonald, a recruit in General Guise's regiment of {455} Highlanders, then quartered in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, murdered a cooper named Parker, and was executed on September 28, pursuant to his sentence. He was only nineteen years of age, and at the gallows endeavoured to throw the executioner off the ladder. The statement concludes with--"his body was taken to the surgeons' hall and there dissected;" and the following is appended as a foot-note:

"It was said that, after the body was taken to the surgeons' hall, and placed ready for dissection, the surgeons were called to attend a case at the infirmary, who, on their return, found Macdonald so far recovered as to be sitting up. He immediately begged for mercy; but a young surgeon, not wishing to be disappointed of the dissection, seized a wooden mall, with which he deprived him of life. It was farther reported, as the just vengeance of God, that this young man was soon after killed in the stable by his own horse. They used to show a mall at the surgeons' hall, as the identical one used by the surgeon."

ROBERT S. SALMON.

Newcastle-on-Tyne.

The case of Anne Green is attested by a _third_ witness:

"In December, 1650, he was one of the persons concerned in recovering Anne Green to life, who was hanged at Oxford on the 14th, for the supposed murther of her bastard child."--"Memoir of Sir William Petty, Knt.," prefixed to _Several Essays on Political Arithmetic_, p. 3., 4th edit., London, 1755.

CPL.

* * * * *

COLERIDGE'S CHRISTABEL.

(Vol. vii., pp. 206. 292; Vol. viii., pp. 11. 111.)

MR. J. S. WARDEN might well express astonishment at the rash and groundless statement in "Blackwood" (Dec. 1839), that the third part of Christabel which Dr. Maginn sent to that magazine in 1820 "perplexed the public, _and pleased even Coleridge_." How far the "discerning public" were imposed upon I know not; the following extract will show how far the poet-philosopher was "pleased" with the parody.

"If I should finish 'Christabel,' I shall certainly extend it, and give new characters, and a greater number of incidents. This the 'reading public' require, and this is the reason that Sir Walter Scott's poems, though so loosely written, are pleasing, and interest us by their picturesqueness. If a genial recurrence of the ray divine should occur for a few weeks, I shall certainly attempt it. I had the whole of the two cantos in my mind before I began it; certainly the first canto is more perfect, has more of the true wild weird spirit than the last. I laughed heartily at the continuation in 'Blackwood,' which I have been told is by Maginn. It is in appearance, and in appearance _only_, a good imitation. I do not doubt but that it gave more pleasure, and to a greater number, than a continuation by myself in the spirit of the two first (_sic_) cantos (_qu._ would give)."--_Letters, &c._, Moxon, 1836, vol. i. pp. 94-5.

C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

Birmingham.

* * * * *

GENERAL WHITELOCKE.

(Vol. ix., p. 201.)

General Whitelocke being on a visit to Aboyne Castle, in this county, the seat of the late Marquis of Huntley, then Earl of Aboyne, and a public market being held in the neighbourhood, the Earl, the General, and some other visitors, were seen sauntering amongst the cattle and the tents of the fair. Amongst the attenders of the country markets at that period was a woman of the name of Tibby Masson, well known in this city for her masculine character and deeds of fearlessness. Tibby had accompanied her husband, who was a soldier, to South America; and, along with him, had been present at the unfortunate siege of Buenos Ayres; and, as a trophy of her valour, she brought with her an enormous-sized silver watch, which she declared she had taken from the person of a Spanish officer who lay wounded in the neighbourhood of the city after the engagement. Tibby was standing by her "sweetie" (confectionary) stall in the Aboyne Market when the Earl and Whitelocke, and the other gentlemen, were passing, and she at once recognised her old commander. They stopped, and the General tasted some of her "sweeties," and saucily declared that they were abominably bad. Upon which Tibby immediately retorted: "They are a great deal better than the timmer (wooden) flints that you gave our soldiers at Bonny's Airs." On hearing this, the consternation of Whitelocke and his friends can more easily be imagined than described. They all fled from the field with the utmost rapidity, leaving Tibby completely victorious; and the General, so far as is known, never again visited Aberdeenshire.

B. B.

Aberdeen.

I have not access to a file of newspapers, but have been frequently told by an old pensioner, who served under General Whitelocke: "We marched into _Bowsan Arrys_ (as he pronounced Buenos Ayres) without ere a flint in our muskets."

L. G.

The subjoined charade, which I have seen years ago, is perhaps preferable:

"My first is an emblem of purity, My next against knaves a security; My whole is a shame To an Englishman's name And branded will be to futurity."

{456}

I have also seen a sort of parody upon the above applied to Waterloo:

"My first, tho' it's clear, Will oft troubl'd appear, My next's an amusement so clever; My whole is a name, Recorded by fame, To the glory of England for ever."

M. J. C.

If the _jeu d'esprit_ on the above name be worthy of preservation, the more correct version of it is as follows:

"My first is the emblem of purity, My second is used for security; My whole is a name, Which, if I had the same, I should blush to hand down to futurity."

The authorship was ascribed (I believe with truth) to a lady of the name of Belson.

M. (2)

The following is the correct version:

"My first is an emblem of purity, My second the means of security; My whole is a name, Which, if mine were the same, I should blush to hand down to futurity."

N. L. J.

General Whitelocke died at Clifton, in his house in Princes Buildings.

ANON.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Gravelly Wax Negatives._--The only remedy I am acquainted with is to use the paper within twenty-four hours after excitement. I have tried the methods of Messrs. Crookes, Fenton, and How; in every case I was equally annoyed with gravel, if excited beyond that time; in fact, I believe all the good wax negatives have been taken within twelve hours. The Rev. Wm. Collings, who has produced such excellent wax negatives, 24 in. × 18 (several were sent to the late Exhibition of the Photographic Society), informs me the above is quite his experience, and that he excites his papers for the day early in the morning. The cause lies, I believe, in the fault of homogeneity of the waxed paper, arising from unevenness in the structure of the paper exaggerated by the transparency of the wax, partly, perhaps, from a semi-crystallizing of the wax in cooling, and also from its being adulterated with tallow, resin, &c. As a consequence of this, the paper is filled with innumerable hard points; the iodizing and exciting solutions are unequally absorbed, and the actinic influence acting more on the weak points, produces under gallic acid a speckled appearance, if decomposition has gone to any length in the exciting nitrate by keeping. The céroléine process, by its power of penetrating, will, I hope, produce an homogeneous paper, and go far to remove this annoyance.

In answer to a former Query by MR. HELE, Whatman's paper of 1849 is lightly sized, and not hard rolled, so that twenty minutes' washing in repeated water sufficed to remove the iodide of potassium, and if long soaked the paper became porous, often letting the gallic acid through in the development. I have lately been trying Turner's and Sandford's papers; they require three or four hours' repeated washing to get rid of the salts, being very hard rolled. Many negatives on Turner's paper, especially if weak, exhibit a structural appearance like linen, the unequal density gives almost exactly the same gravelly character as wax, as the positive I inclose, taken from such a negative, shows. Not only ought collodion to be "structureless," as MR. SHADBOLT well expresses it, but likewise all the other substrata of iodide of silver.

T. L. MANSELL.

Guernsey.

_Photographic Experience._--The plan proposed by DR. MANSELL, in the last Number of "N. & Q.," for comparison of photographic experiences, will, I am sure, prove of much practical advantage and I therefore lose no time in filling up the table published in your paper:

1. Eight minutes' exposure. 2. South Wales. 3. Mr. Talbot's original receipt. 4. Turner. 5. 3/8 inch. 6. 2 inches. 7. 3 inches. Focal length, 17 inches. Maker, Ross.

I would also suggest that the character of the object copied should be included in the above table. My answer supposes a light-coloured building, of an ordinary sandstone colour. A view comprising foliage would require a much longer time for its full development. In working on the sea-coast, I find that the dark slate rocks of north Cornwall require an exposure in the camera half as long again as the blue mountain limestone cliffs of South Wales, which abound in actinic power.

J. D. LLEWELYN.

Pen-ller-gaer.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Turkish Language_ (Vol. ix., p. 352.).--Your correspondent HASSAN, who would much gratify our friends the Turks if he would spell his signature with one _s_ only, will find the object of his inquiry in a little book just published by Clowes, Military Publisher, Charing Cross, _Turkish and English Words and Phrases, for the Use of the British Army and Navy in the East_, price 1s. The pronunciation is given in the Roman character, and according to the plainest English rules.

OSMANLI.

_Dr. Edward Daniel Clarke's Charts of the Black Sea_ (Vol. ix., p. 132.).--A reply respecting these important Charts, and their value, was given by the First Lord of the Admiralty in the House of Commons on March 6, in consequence of an inquiry made by Mr. French. Sir James Graham {457} is stated by _The Times_ of the following day to have said on that occasion:

"The Charts alluded to by the hon. gentleman were most valuable, and had been made use of; but subsequent observations, and farther surveys, had in a great measure superseded them at the present time."

ELLUM.

_Aristotle on living Law_ (Vol. ix., p. 373).--Your correspondent H. P. asks where Aristotle says that a judge is a living law, as the law itself is a dumb judge. The first part of this antithesis is in _Eth. Nic._, v. 4. § 7.:

"[Greek: Ho gar dikastês bouletai einai hoion dikaion empsuchon.]"

"The judge wishes to be justice incarnate."

Your correspondent, however, probably had in his mind the passage of Cicero, _de Leg._, iii. 1.:

"Videtis igitur, magistratûs hanc esse vim, ut præsit, præscribatque recte et utilia et conjuncta cum legibus;--vereque dici, magistratum legem esse loquentem, legem autem mutum magistratum."

The commentators compare an antithetical sentence attributed to Simonides,--that a picture is a silent poem, and that a poem is a speaking picture.

L.

_Christ's or Cris Cross Row_ (Vol. viii., p. 18.).--The Alphabet. See _The Romish Beehive_, 319.:

"In Bacon's _Reliques of_ +---+ _Rome_, p. 257., describing the hallowing of churches, | A | among other ceremonies is the following: 'There | B | must be made in the +-----+ C +-----+ pavement of the | D E F G H I K | church a crosse +-----+ L +-----+ of ashes and sand wherein | M | the whole Alphabet, or Christ's Crosse, shall | O | be written in Greek and Latin letters.' | P | | Q | "Sir Thos. More, in | R | his Works, p. 606. H, says, 'Crosse Rowe was printed | S | on cards for learners.' I first went to school | T | at a dame's, and had a Horn-Book (as it was | V | called), in which was the Alphabet in a form | U | something like that here given, and the dame | W | called me and other beginners to learn our | X | 'Cris Cross Row;' at that time the term was | Y | used, that is, about seventy years since." | Z | +---+

GODDARD JOHNSON.

_Titles to the Psalms in the Syriac Version._--MR. T. J. BUCKTON (Vol. ix., p. 242.) observes, in reference to the superscription [Hebrew: LMNTSCH BNGYNT], "For the chief performer on the neginoth," that "the Syriac and Arabic versions omit this superscription altogether, from _ignorance_ of the musical sense of the words." And lower down he speaks as if [Hebrew: NCHYLWT] were expressed in the Syriac by the word "church." I do not question the accuracy of MR. B.'s renderings of the Hebrew words, for they have been admitted for centuries; but I wish to observe that the translator of the Syriac should not be lightly charged with ignorance of Hebrew, as I can testify from an extensive acquaintance with that venerable version. I therefore cannot allow that the words were omitted by the translator for that reason. Besides, whenever he found a word untranslateable, he transferred it as it was. Nor do I admit that _nehiloth_, in Psalm v., is translated by the term "church." And this leads me to remark, what seems to have been overlooked by most writers, viz. that the Syriac version _omits_ uniformly the titles of the Psalms as they are found in Hebrew[9]. The inscriptions contained in the common editions of these Psalms form no part of the translation. One of them refers to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus! They are not always the same. I am acquainted with at least _three different sets_ of these headings contained in the Syriac MSS. in the British Museum. Erpenius omitted them altogether in his edition of the Psalter, and Dathe's follows his; for which very substantial reasons are given by him in the "Præf. ad Lect." of his _Psalterium Syriacum_, pp. 36, 37., Halæ, 1768.

B. H. C.

[Footnote 9: Except the words "of David:" I am not sure about these.]

"_Old Rowley_" (Vol. ix., p. 235.).--The nickname of "Old Rowley," as applied to Charles II., seems to be derived from Roland, and has reference to the proverbial saying, "A Roland for an Oliver;" the former name being given to Charles, in contradistinction to the Protector's name of Oliver. Roland and Oliver were two celebrated horses, or, as some say, two pages of Charlemagne possessing equal qualities and hence, "I'll give you a Roland for your Oliver" was tantamount to "I'll give you as good as you send."[10]

N. L. J.

[Footnote 10: [See "N. & Q.," Vol. ii., p. 132.]]

_Wooden Effigies_ (Vol.ix., p. 17.).--I beg to refer your readers to two figures which are in excellent preservation, and I am not aware that they have ever obtained public notice. In the church at Boxted, near Sudbury, Suffolk, which is the burial-place of the ancient family of Poley of Boxted Hall, are, with several other interesting monuments, the effigies of William Poley and Alice Shaa, his wife.

He is in armour, with a beard, and the lady in the dress of her day, with a long pendant from her girdle, having suspended a small thick book and the arms of Poley impaling Shaa on the cover. At her feet a greyhound to fill up the space, in consequence of the lady being short, and their heads on the same line. There is an inscription in relief on the cushion on which the lady rests her head, which states that he died 17th December, 1587, and the lady March 7, {458} 1579. The figures rest on a tomb of masonry, and fill the recess of a window, with iron railing to protect them. Their are painted black, so that the nature of the wood is not apparent.

Alice Shaa was the only daughter and heiress of her father, and the eldest son of this William and Alice was Sir John Poley, Knt. (See Morant's _Essex_, vol. i. pp. 151. 217. &c.)

R. A.

Melford.

_Abbott Families_ (Vol. ix., pp. 105. &c.).--MR. ADAMS having very satisfactorily afforded the required information concerning Samuel Abbott, I shall still feel very greatly obliged if any other gentleman can throw any light upon the Archbishop's descendants, especially Sir Maurice's sons and their issue. I have in my possession an old will of an ancestress, sealed with the crest of Bartholomew Barnes, of London, merchant, whose daughter was second wife and mother to Sir Maurice's children, viz., Bartholomew, George, Edward, and Maurice. Did any of them leave a son called James, born about 1690 or 1700?

I. T. ABBOTT.

Darlington.

* * * * *

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

Every reader of the _Archæologia_ knows so well the great value of the papers contained in it (too few in number) by the Rev. John Webb, that he will be sure that any work edited by that gentleman will be edited with diligence, intelligence, and learning. Such is the _Roll of the Household Expenses of Richard de Swinfield, Bishop of Hereford, during part of the Years 1289 and 1290_, which he has just edited for the Camden Society, in a manner every way worthy of his reputation, which is that of one of the best antiquaries of the day. The present volume contains only the Roll, its endorsement, and an appendix of contemporary and explanatory documents, the whole being richly annotated by the editor. Another volume will contain his introduction, glossary, &c. On its completion we shall again call attention to a work which is so creditable both to Mr. Webb and to the Camden Society.

The third volume of the cheap and handsome library edition of _The Works of Oliver Goldsmith_, edited by Peter Cunningham, F.S.A., which forms a portion of _Murray's British Classics_, contains I. _The Bee_; II. _Essays_; III. _Unacknowledged Essays_; and IV. _His Prefaces, Introductions, &c._