Chapter 4

I certainly expected to find, however, in the "List of the Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries," due attention paid to this circumstance. The one just circulated was therefore referred to, and it would seem to be as full of anomalies as a "Court Guide" or a "Royal Blue Book." We have, indeed, the Knights and Baronets duly titled, and the Peers, lay and spiritual, sufficiently distinguished both by capitals and mode of insertion. All those who have no other title (as D.D. or F.R.S.) recognised by the Society, are courteously designated by the affix "Esq." In this, it will be strange indeed if _all_ be entitled to the appellation in its legitimate sense; or, in other words, if the principle of courtesy does not supersede, amongst the otherwise untitled mass of Fellows, the principle of social rank. To this in itself, as the distinction of "Gent" after a man's name has become derogatory, there cannot be the least objection; for antiquarianism does not palliate rudeness or offensive language.

At the same time, the adoption of this principle should surely be uniform, and invidious distinctions should not be made. The title "Esq.," should not be given to one man, and left out in designating another whose social position is precisely the same. For instance, we find in this list "----, M.D.," and "----, Esq., M.D.," employed to designate two different Doctors in Medicine. We find "----, F.R.S." and "----, Esq., F.R.S." to designate two Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries, who are also Fellows of the Royal. We see one or two D.D.'s deprived of their titles of "Rev.," and, as if to make amends (in point of quantity at least), we have one Fellow with titles at each end of his name that seem incompatible with each other, viz., "Rev. ----, Esq."

Anomalies like these can only be the result of sheer carelessness, or of the ignorance of some clerk employed to make out the list without adequate instructions given to him. It has, in my hearing, been held up as a specimen of invidious distinction to gratify some petty dislike; but this notion is simply absurd, and deserves no notice. At the same time, it betokens a carelessness that it is desirable to avoid.

As a mere question of _dignity_, it appears to me to savour too much of Clapham-Common or Hampstead-Heath grandeur, to add much to our respectability or worldly importance. It would, indeed, be more "dignified" to drop, in the lists, all use of "Esq." under any circumstances; or, if this be objected to, to at least treat "M.A.," "D.D.," "F.R.S." as higher titles, in which the "Esq." may properly be merged, and thus leave the appellation to designate the absence of any higher literary or scientific title.

A good deal of this is irrelevant to the primary object of my letter; but certainly not altogether irrelevant to the dignity of the highest English representative body of archæology, the Society of Antiquaries. I hope, at least, that this irrelevancy will give neither pain nor offence to any one, for nothing could be further from my wish or intention than such an effect. I have only wished to illustrate the necessity for an accurate description of what are really the original, subsequent, and present significations of the words "Esquire" and "Gentleman," and to urge that either some definite rule should be adopted as to their use in official {439} and semi-official cases, or else that they should be discontinued altogether.

BROWN RAPPEE.

April 18.

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FIVE QUERIES.

1. _Lines by Sir John Suckling._--Is Sir John Suckling, or Owen Feltham, the real author of the poem whose first verse runs thus:

"When, dearest, I but think on thee, Methinks all things that lovely be Are present, and my soul delighted; For beauties that from worth arise, Are like the grace of deities, Still present with us though unsighted."

I find it in the twelfth edition of Feltham's Works, 1709, p. 593., with the following title:

"This ensuing copy of the late Printer hath been pleased to honour, by mistaking it among those of the most ingenious and too early lost, Sir John Suckling."

I find it also in the edition of Suckling's Works published at Dublin, 1766. As I feel interested in all that relates to Suckling, I shall be glad to have the authorship of this short poem rightly assigned.

2. What is the origin and exact meaning of the phrase "Sleeveless errand"? It is mentioned as late even as the last century, by Swift, in his poem entitled _Reasons for not building at Drapier's Hill_:

"Who send my mind as I believe, less Than others do on errands sleeveless."

3. What is the origin and derivation of the word "Trianon," the name of the two palaces, Le Grand and Le Petit, at Versailles? and why was it applied to them?

4. What is the correct blazon of the arms of _Godin_; with crest and motto? I have seen an imperfect drawing of the arms, Party per fess, a goblet transpierced with a dagger.

5. Whose is the line,

"With upward finger pointing to the sky."

I have heard it generally referred to Goldsmith, but cannot find it.

HENRY KERSLEY.

Corpus Christi Hall, Maidstone, April 15. 1850.

* * * * *

QUERIES PROPOSED, NO. I.

The non-appearance of my name as a querist has been rather fortuitous, and it shall now be made evident that I am neither so rich in materials, nor so proud in spirit, as to decline such assistance as may be derived from the information and courtesy of other contributors to the "Notes and Queries."

1. Did the following critical remarks on Shakspere, by Edward Phillips, appear _verbatim_ in the _Thesaurus_ of J. Buchlerus, 1669?

The Bodleian library has the London edition of 1636; and the British Museum that of 1652. Wood cites an edition of 1669. I transcribe from that of 1679.

"Hoc seculo [sc. temporibus Elizabetha reginæ et Jacobi regis] floruerunt--Gulielmus Shacsperus, qui præter opera dramatica, duo poematia _Lucretiæ stuprum à Tarquinio_, et _Amores Veneris in Adonidem_, lyrica carmina nonnulla composuit; videtur fuisse, siquis alius, re verâ poeta natus. Samuel Daniel non obseurus hujus ætatis poeta, etc....

Ex eis qui dramaticè scripserunt, primas sibi vendicant Shacsperus, Jonsonus et Fletcherus, quorum hic facundâ et polita quadam familiaritate sermonis, ille erudito judicio et usu veterum authorum, alter nativa quadam et poetica sublimitate ingenii excelluisse videntur. Ante hos in hoc genere poeseos apud nos eminuit nemo. Pauci quidem antea scripserunt, at parum foeliciter; hos autem tanquam duces itineris plurimi saltem æmulati sunt, inter quos præter Sherleium, proximum à supra memorato triumviratu. Suclingium, Randolphium, Davenantium et Carturitium--enumerandi veniunt Ric. Bromeus, Tho. Heivodus," etc.

2. What are the contents of a work entitled, [Old German script: Schaubune Englischer und Franßofischer Comædianten], printed before 1671?

This work is recorded, but without a date, in the _Historia literaria_ of Simon Paulli, which was printed at Strasbourg in 1671. A statement of its contents would be very acceptable to myself, and to other admirers of our early dramatic literature.

3. Who is the fortunate possessor of the _Lives and characters of the English dramatick poets_ with the marginal marks of Garrick?

The copy in question was sold with the unreserved books of Garrick in 1823, No. 1269. It contained this note:

"All the plays marked thus * in this catalogue, I bought of Dodsley. Those marked thus O, I have added to the collection since. D.G."

Each of the above queries would have admitted further remarks, but I wish to set an example of obedience to the recent editorial injunction on brevity.

BOLTON CORNEY.

* * * * *

MINOR QUERIES.

_Elizabeth and Isabel._--"A.C." inquires whether these names are not varied forms of the same name, and if so, what is the common origin of the two? Camden, in his _Remains_, has--

"ELIZABETH, _Heb._ Peace of the Lord, or quiet rest of the Lord, the which England has found verified in the most honoured name of our late sovereign. Mantuan, playing with it maketh it Eliza-bella; and of Isabel he says 'The same with Elizabeth, if the Spaniards do not mistake, which always translate Elizabeth into Isabel, and the French into Isabeau.'" {440}

_Howard, Earl of Surrey._--Dr. Percy is said, in Watt's _Bibliotheca Britannica_, to have prepared an edition of the poems of the Earl of Surrey, the whole impression of which was consumed in the fire which took place in Mr. Nicholl's premises in 1808. Can any of your readers say whether Dr. Percy had a copy of the sheets, and whether he had prefixed thereto any life of the Earl of Surrey? or did Sir Egerton Brydges ever print any account of Surrey amongst his numerous issues from the Lee or other presses?

G.

_Bulls called William._--In looking into the notes in my Provincial Glossary, I find that bulls are in Somersetshire invariably called _William_. Is this peculiar to that county?

C.W.B.

_Bawn.--Mutual._--In vol. iii. p. 506. of Hallam's _Constitutional History of England_, there occurs the following passage in reference to the colonisation of Ulster in 1612, after Tyrone's rebellion:

"Those who received 2000 acres were bound within four years to build a castle and bawn, or strong court-yard; the second class within two years to build a stone or brick house, with a bawn; the third class a bawn only."

What was the bawn, which was equally indispensable to the grantee of 2000, 1500, or 1000 acres? Richardson variously describes the term as almost any kind of dwelling, or "an enclosure of walls to keep cattle from being stolen at night;" in fact, a court-yard. This, however, conveys a very unsatisfactory idea, unless I am justified in supposing that a court-yard was insisted upon, even when a house could not be built, as insuring a future residential settlement, and thereby warding off the evils of absenteeism.

At page 514. of the same volume, I read,--

"Wentworth had so balanced the protestant and recusant parties, employed so skilfully the resources of fair promises and intimidation, that he procured six subsidies to be granted before a prorogation, without any _mutual_ concession from the crown."

Will Dr. Kennedy, or any other strict verbal critic, sanction this use of the word "mutual?"

ALFRED GATTY.

April 6. 1850.

[It is obvious, from the following lines from Swift's poem, _The Grand Question debated whether Hamilton's Bawn should be turned into a Barrack or Malt-house_, 1729, that a Bawn was there used to signify a building, and not an inclosure:--

"This _Hamilton's bawn_, while it sticks in my hand, I lose by the house what I get by the land; But how to dispose of it to the best bidder, For a barrack or malt-house, we now must consider."

And in a foot-note on _Hamilton's bawn_, in the original edition, it is described as "a large old house, two miles from Sir Arthur Acheson's seat."]

_Versicle and Response._--What is the meaning of the following versicle and its response, which occur in both Morning and Evening Prayer?

"Give peace in our time, O Lord, Because there is none other that fighteth for us but only thou, O God!"

Surely the "because" &c. is a _non sequitur_!

ALFRED GATTY.

April 6. 1850.

[In Palmer's _Origines Liturgice_, vol. i. p. 241. (2d edit.), we find the following note on the response, "_Quia_ non est alius," &c.:--"Brev. Eboracens. fol. 264.; Brev. Sarisb. fol. 85." Bishop Lloyd remarks on this verse and response as follows:--"I do not know what Burnet means by stating that this response was made in the year 1549, on the occasion of political occurrences, for this answer is found in all the foreign breviaries, in the Salisbury primer, and in the primer of Hen. VIII. See Burnet's _Hist. Ref._ p. ii. b. 1. anno 1549."]

_Yeoman._--This word, the origin of which Dr. Johnson says is much doubted, in the general acceptation of it meaning signifies a small farmer; though several authorities quoted by Johnson tend to show it also signifies a certain description of servants, and that it is applied also to soldiers, as Yeoman of the Guard. It is not, however, confined to soldiers, for we hear of Yeoman of the Chamber; Yeoman of the Robes; Yeoman of the Pantry; Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod.

I should be glad if any of your readers can give an explanation of the word as used in the latter instances.

P.R.A.

_Pusan.--Iklynton Collar._--Among the royal orders issued on the occasion of the marriage of Henry VI., contained in the fifth volume of Rymer's _Fædera_, p. 142., occurs the following:--

"We wol and charge you, that ye deliver unto oure trusty and well-beloved Squier, John Merston, keeper of our Jewell, a _Pusan_ of golde, called _Iklynton colar_, garnished with iv Rubies, &c., &c."

What is the meaning and derivation of this word _Pusan_, and why called _Iklynton collar_?

E.V.

_Who was Lord Karinthon, murdered 1665?_--Can any of your readers inform me who was the English lord, murdered in France by his Flemish valet, in March, 1665, as stated in the following passage of Gui Patin's _Letters_, tom. iii. p. 519., ed. 1846:--

"Hier, ce 18 Mars, je vis sur le pont Notre Dame, mené à la Grève, un certain méchant malheureux coquin, natif de Flandre, qui avoit poignardé son maître dans Pontoise; c'étoit un seigneur anglois, doint il vouloit avoir la bourse.... Ce seigneur anglois qui fut poignardé dans son lit avoit nom de Milord Karinthon.... Dans le testament de ce bon mais malheureux maître il se trouve qui'il donnoit à ce pendard de valet 20,000 livres."

C. {441}

_Christian Captives._--Where can any information be obtained respecting the Christian captives taken by the Barbary pirates--the subscriptions raised for their relief, by briefs, &c., and what became of the funds?

R.W.B.

_Ancient Churchyard Customs._--In an article in _The Ecclesiologist_ on churchyards and churchyard crosses,--but not having the volume by me, I am unable to give an exact reference,--it is stated,

"In them (churchyards) prayers are not now commonly poured forth to God nor are doles distributed to His poor; the epitsphium is no longer delivered from the steps of the churchyard cross, nor does the solemn lamprophoria symbolize the life of the deceased."

I shall be much obliged for a fuller account of these ancient customs, more particularly of the last two, and for notes of any allusions to them in old books. I may say the same with reference to the following extract from the _Handbook of English Ecclesiology_, p. 190.:

"Under this head may also be mentioned the _Funa'l_ or _Deadlight_, which was lighted in some churchyards at night."

STOKE.

_"Rotten Row" and "Stockwell" Street._--"R.R.," of Glasgow, inquires the etymology of these names, which, occurring both in Scotland and in England, and at a time when the countries were almost always at war, would scarcely have been copied by the one from the other. He rejects, as of course, the etymology of the former from its passing by the buildings which were old and "rotten;" neither does he favour the belief that the original word was "Routine" Row, so called from the processions of the church passing in that direction.

* * * * *

REPLIES.

EARLY STATISTICS.--CHART, KENT.

(No. 21. p. 329.)

The Registrar-General, in his Eighth Report, enters at length into the causes which have brought about the variations in the number of marriages, and consequently, as I need scarcely say, of births. In comparing the marriage returns since 1754, which are given in the report, with the history of events since that period, he certainly makes it clear, to use his own words, that "The marriage returns in England point out periods of prosperity little less distinctly than the funds measure the hopes and fears of the money-market." (p. 26. 8vo. edit.)

And that

"The great fluctuations in the marriages of England are the results of peace after war, abundance after dearth, high wages after want of employment, speculation after languid enterprise, confidence after distrust, national triumphs after national disasters." (p. 27.)

During the civil wars, the diminishing influences indicated in the reverse of this statement were at work with an intensity unequalled in any other period of our modern history, so that there can be no doubt that our then "unhappy divisions" did most materially retard the numerical increase of the population, as well as the progress of science and the useful arts. Such is the inevitable consequence of war: of civil war in a tenfold degree. And our parish register books, all of which I doubt not show similar facts, place this in the most unfavourable light; for, through the spread of nonconformity, the unsettled state of the times, and the substitution during the protectorate of the registration of births which might or might not be communicated to the elected parish register, for that of baptisms which the parish priest would both celebrate and register, the names of very many of those born into the world would be altogether omitted from these records. It may be interesting to show the effects of some of these causes by the subjoined extracts from the registers themselves, which I transcribe from the _Chronicon Mirabile_ of the late Sir Cuthbert Sharpe.--(Vide pp. 17. 18. 22. 23. 70. 121. and 156.)

_Staindrop, Durham._--"1644. From this time to 1646, through want of a Minister, and carelessness of ye Cleark, during ye wars, much of ye Register is lost, only here and there a name registered."

"1652. June 14. Mem. From this time till August there was noe Minister, soe that ye children were carried to other parishes to be baptized."

_St. Helen's Aukland, Durham_, A.D. 1633.--"Mr. John Vaux, our minister, was suspended.... Mr. Robert Cowper, of Durham, served in his place, and left out divers christenings unrecorded, and regestered others disorderly."

_Gainford, Durham._--"Courteous Reader, this is to let thee understand that many children were left unrecorded or redgestered, but the reason and cause was this; some would and some would not, being of a fickle condition, as the time was then; this being their end and aim, to save a groate from the poor Clarke, so they would rather have them unredgestered--but now ... it is their design to have them redgestered."

_Lowestoft, Suffolk_, 1644 ... "For some time following there was in this Town neither Minister nor Clarke, but the inhabitants were inforced to procure now one and then another to baptize their children, by which means there was no Register kept, only those few hereafter mentioned weare by myself baptized in those intervalls when I enjoyed my freedom."

_Hexham, Northumberland_, c. 1655.--"Note y't Mr. Will. Lister, Minister of S't. John Lees in those distracted times, did both marry and baptize all that made ther application to him, for w'ch he was sometimes severely threatened by y'e souldiers, and had once a cockt pistoll held to his breest, &c., so y't its no wond'r y't y'e {442} Registers for these times are so imperfect, and besides, they are extremely confused."

In the Preface to the _Enumeration Abstract of the Census of_ 1841, pp. 34-37., your correspondent will find information and statistics relative to the estimated population of England and Wales, 1570-1750, compiled from the parish registers, and--

"calculated on the supposition, that the registered baptisms, burials, and marriages, on an average of three years, in 1570, 1600, 1630, 1670, 1700, and 1750, bore the same proportion to the actual population as in the year 1801."

From the Table, pp. 36, 37, it appears, that whilst the population (estimated) in the thirty years 1600-1630 increased upwards of 16 percent., in the forty years 1630-1670 it increased a mere trifle over 3 per cent. only. In no fewer than twenty English counties, the population, estimated as before, was absolutely less in 1670 than in 1630; and in Kent, the county in which Chart is situate, the decrease is striking: population of Kent in 1630, 189,212; in 1670, 167,398; in 1700, 157,833; in 1750, 181,267; and in 1801, the enumerated population was 307,624.

Your correspondent might also find it useful to consult Sir William Petty's _Political Arithmetic_, the various documents compiled at the different censuses, and the Reports of the Registrar-General.

ARUN.

* * * * *

PARISH REGISTER STATISTICS.--CHART, KENT.

Your correspondent "E.R.J.H." (No. 21. p. 330.) inquires whether any general statistical returns, compiled from our early parish registers, have been published. It must be a matter of regret to all who are acquainted with the value of these national records--which for extent and antiquity are unequalled in any other country--that this question cannot be answered affirmatively. By the exertions of the late Mr. Rickman, their importance, in a statistical point of view, has been shown, but only to a very limited extent. In 1801, being entrusted with the duty of collecting and arranging the returns of the first actual enumeration of the population, he obtained from the clergyman of each parish a statement of the number of baptisms and burials recorded in the register book in every tenth year from 1700, and of marriages in every consecutive year from 1754, when the Marriage Act of George II. took effect. The results were published with the census returns of 1801; but, instead of each parish being separately shown, only the totals of the hundreds and similar county divisions, and of a few principal towns, were given. In subsequent "Parish Register Abstracts" down to that of 1841, the same meagre information has been afforded by an adherence to this generalising system.

In 1836, with a view of forming an estimate of the probable population for England and Wales at certain periods anterior to 1801, Mr. Rickman, acting upon the result of inquiries previously made respecting the condition and earliest date of the register books in every parish, applied to the clergy for returns of the number of baptisms, burials, and marriages registered in three years at six irregular periods, viz. A.D. 1570, 1600, 1630, 1670, 1700, and 1750. The clergy, with their accustomed readiness to aid in any useful investigation, responded very generally to the application, and Mr. Rickman obtained nearly 3000 returns of the earliest date required (1570), and nearly 4000 (from not much less than half the parishes of England) as far back as 1600; those for the more recent periods being tolerably complete from all the counties. The interesting details thus collected have not been published; nor am I able to say where the original returns, if still extant, are deposited. In pursuance of this design, however, Mr. Rickman proceeded with these materials to calculate the probable population of the several counties on the supposition that the registered baptisms, &c., in 1570, 1600, and at the other assigned periods, bore the same proportion to the actual population as in 1801. The numerical results are embodied in a table which appears in the _Census Enumeration Abstract_ for 1841 (Preface, pp. 36, 37.), and it is stated that there is reason for supposing the estimate arrived at to be an approximation to the truth.