Chapter 3

"A practice somewhat similar to this prevails in our our times, for in some of the provinces, whenever a notorious criminal is condemned to death, parents bring their sons with them to the place of execution, and, at the moment that he is put to death, they whip their children with rods, so that being thus excited by their own sufferings, and by seeing the punishment inflicted on another for his sins, they may ever bear in mind how necessary it is for them, in their progress through life, to be prudent and virtuous."--_Rev. Gall. et Franc. Script._, vol. iv. p. 277. n.e.

W.B. MACCABE.

SIMILARITY OF TRADITIONS.

Having recently met with some curious instances of the extent to which the same or similar traditions extend themselves, not only in our own country, but in Wales and France, I have "made a note" of them for your service.

_Burying in the church wall_ is supposed to be burying in neutral ground.

In the north wall of the church of Tremeirchion, near the banks of the Elwy, North Wales (described by Pennant, vol. ii. p. 139.), is the tomb of a former vicar, Daffydd Ddu, or the black of Hiradduc, who was vicar of the parish, and celebrated as a necromancer, flourishing about 1340. Of him the tradition is, that he proved himself more clever than the Wicked One himself. A bargain was made between them that the vicar should practise the black art with impunity during his life, but that the Wicked One should possess his body after death, whether he were buried within or without the church; and that the worthy vicar cheated his ally of his bargain by being buried neither within nor without the church, but in the wall itself.

A very similar tradition exists at Brent Pelham, Hertfordshire, with reference to the tomb of Pierce Shonke, which was also in the wall. He is said to have died A.D. 1086. Under the feet of the figure {514} was a "cross flourie, and under the cross a serpent" (Weever, p. 549.), and the inscription is thus translated in Chauncy's _Hertfordshire_, p. 143:

"Nothing of Cadmus nor St. George, those names Of great renown, survives them, but their fames; Time was so sharp set as to make no bones Of theirs nor of their monumental stones, But _Shonke_ one serpent kills, t'other defies, And in this wall as in a fortress lyes."

Whilst in the north wall of Rouen Cathedral is the tomb of an early archbishop, who having accidentally killed a man by hitting him with a soup ladle, because the soup given by the servant to the poor was of an inferior quality, thought himself unworthy of a resting-place within the church, and disliking to be buried without, was interred in the wall itself.

_Miraculous Cures for Lameness._--The holy well _Y fynnon fair_, or Our Lady's Well, near Pont yr allt Gôch, close to the Elwy, has to this day the reputation of curing lameness so thoroughly, that those who can reach it walking on crutches may fling their crutches away on their return home. Welsh people still come several miles over the hills to this holy spring. A whole family was there when I visited its healing waters last month.

The same virtue is ascribed at Rouen to a walk to the altar at St. Katherine's Church, at the top of St. Katherine's Hill, where the cast-off crutches have been preserved. In the latter case something less than a miracle may account for the possibility of going away without crutches; for they may be required to mount to a lofty eminence, and may well be dispensed with on coming down: but as this supposition would lessen the value of a tradition implicitly believed, of course all sensible men will reject it at once.

WM. DURANT COOPER.

81. Guilford Street.

PIXEY LEGENDS.

In reference to your correspondent H.G.T.'s article on _pixies_ (Vol. ii., p. 475.), allow me to say that I have read the distich which he quotes in a tale to the following effect:--In one of the southern counties of England--(all the pixey tales which I have heard or read have their seat laid in the south of England)--there lived a lass who was courted and wed by a man who, after marriage, turned out to be a drunkard, neglecting his work, which was that of threshing, thereby causing his pretty wife to starve. But after she could bear this no longer, she dressed herself in her husband's clothes (whilst he slept off the effects of his drunkenness), and went to the barn to do her husband's work. On the morning of the second day, when she went to the barn, she found a large pile of corn threshed, which she had not done; and so she found, for three or four days, her pile of corn doubled. One night she determined to watch and see who did it, and carrying her intention into practice, she saw a little pixey come into the barn with a tiny flail, with which he set to work so vigorously that he soon threshed a large quantity. During his work he sang,

"Little Pixey, fair and slim, Without a rag to cover him."

The next day the good woman made a complete suit of miniature clothes, and hung them up behind the barn door, and watched to see what _pixey_ would do. I forgot to mention that he hung his flail behind the door when he had done with it.

At the usual time the pixey came to work, went to the door to take down his flail, and saw the suit of clothes, took them down, and put them on him, and surveyed himself with a satisfied air, and sang

"Pixey fine, and pixie gay. Pixey now must fly away."

It then flew away, and she never saw it more.

In this tale the word was invariably spelt "pixey."

TYSIL.

_Pixies._--The _puckie_-stone is a rock above the Teign, near Chagford. In the _Athenæum_ I mentioned the rags in which the pixies generally appear. In _A Narrative of some strange Events that took place in Island Magee and Neighbourhood in 1711_, is this description of a spirit that troubled the house of Mr. James Hattridge:

"About the 11th of December, 1710, when the aforesaid Mrs. Hattridge was sitting at the kitchen-fire, in the evening, before daylight going, a little boy (as she and the servants supposed) came in and sat down beside her, having an old black bonnet on his head, with short black hair, a half-worn blanket about him, trailing on the ground behind him, and a _torn_ black vest under it. He seemed to be about ten or twelve years old, but he still covered his face, holding his arm with a piece of the blanket before it. She desired to see his face, but he took no notice of her. Then she asked him several questions; viz., if he was cold or hungry? If he would have any meat? Where he came from, and where he was going? To which he made no answer, but getting up, danced very nimbly, leaping higher than usual, and then ran out of the house as far as the end of the garden, and sometimes into the cowhouse, the servants running after him to see where he would go, but soon lost sight of him; but when they returned, he would be close after them in the house, which he did above a dozen of times. At last the little girl, seeing her master's dog coming in, said, 'Now my master is coming he will take a course with this troublesome creature,' upon which he immediately went away, and troubled them no more till the month of February, 1711."

This costume is appropriate enough for an Irish spirit; but here may possibly be some connexion with the ragged clothes of the Pixies. (Comp. "Tatrman," _Deutsche Mythol._, p. 470.; and Canciani's note "De Simulachris de Pannis factis," _Leges Barbar._, iii. p. 108.; _Indic. Superst._) The common story of Brownie and his clothes is, I suppose, connected. {515}

In some parts of Devonshire the pixies are called "derricks," evidently the A.-S. "doeorg." In Cornwall it is believed that wherever the pixies are fond of resorting, the depths of the earth are rich in metal. Very many mines have been discovered by their singing.

R.J.K.

THE POOL OF THE BLACK HOUND.

In the parish of Dean Prior is a narrow wooded valley, watered by a streamlet, that in two or three places falls into cascades of considerable beauty. At the foot of one of these is a deep hollow called the Hound's Pool. Its story is as follows.

There once lived in the hamlet of Dean Combe a weaver of great fame and skill. After long prosperity he died, and was buried. But the next day he appeared sitting at the loom in his chamber, working diligently as when he was alive. His sons applied to the parson, who went accordingly to the foot of the stairs, and heard the noise of the weaver's shuttle in the room above. "Knowles!" he said, "come down; this is no place for thee." "I will," said the weaver, "as soon as I have worked out my quill," (the "quill" is the shuttle full of wool). "Nay," said the vicar, "thou hast been long enough at thy work; come down at once!"--So when the spirit came down, the vicar took a handful of earth from the churchyard, and threw it in its face. And in a moment it became a black hound. "Follow me," said the vicar; and it followed him to the gate of the wood. And when they came there, it seemed as if all the trees in the wood were "coming together," so great was the wind. Then the vicar took a nutshell with a hole in it, and led the hound to the pool below the waterfall. "Take this shell," he said; "and when thou shalt have dipped out the pool with it, thou mayst rest--not before." And at mid-day, or at midnight, the hound may still be seen at its work.

R.J.K.

POPULAR RHYMES.

The following popular rhymes may perhaps amuse some of your readers. They are not to be found in the article "Days Lucky or Unlucky," in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_, or in Sir Henry Ellis's notes (see his edition, vol. ii. p. 27.), and perhaps have never been printed:--

_Days of the Week.--Marriage._

"Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health, Wednesday the best day of all; Thursday for crosses, Friday for losses, Saturday no luck at all."

_Moon._

"Saturday new, And Sunday full, Never was fine, And never wool."

_Days of the Week.--Birth._

"Born of a Monday, Fair in face; Born of a Tuesday, Full of God's grace; Born of a Wednesday, Merry and glad; Born of a Thursday, Sour and sad; Born of a Friday, Godly given; Born of a Saturday, Work for your living; Born of a Sunday, Never shall we want; So there ends the week, And there's an end on't."

_How to treat a Horse._

"Up the hill, urge him not; Down the bill, drive him not; Cross the flat, spare him not; To the hostler, trust him not."

_How to sow Beans._

"One for the mouse, One for the crow, One to rot, One to grow."

_January Weather._

"When the days lengthen, The colds strengthen."

Two German proverbial distiches, similar to the last, are given in Körte's _Sprichwörter_, p. 548.:

"Wenn de Dage fangt an to längen, Fangt de Winter an to strengen."

"Wenn die Tage langen, Kommt der Winter gegangen."

With the first set of rhymes, we may compare the following verses on washing on the successive days of the week, in Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes of England_, p. 42. ed. 3.:

"They that wash on Monday Have all the week to dry; They that wash on Tuesday, Are not so much awry; They that wash on Wednesday, Are not so much to blame; They that wash on Thursday, Wash for shame; They that wash on Friday, Wash in need; And they that wash on Saturday, Oh! they are sluts indeed."

L.

* * * * *

Minor Notes.

_"Passilodion" and "Berafrynde."_--Have these terms, which play so memorable a part in the "Tale of King Edward and the Shepherd" {516} (Hartshorne's _Ancient Metrical Tales_) been explained? The shepherd's instructions (pp. 48, 49.) seem more zealous than luminous; but it has occurred to me that _perhaps_ "passelodion," "passilodyon," or "passilodion" may have some reference to the ancient custom of drinking from a _peg_-tankard, since [Greek: passalos] means a _peg_, and [Greek: passalôdia] would be a legitimate pedantic rendering of _peg-song_, or _peg-stave_, and _might_ be used to denote an exclamation on having _reached the peg_.

H.G.T.

_Inscription on an Alms-dish._--In Bardsea Church, Island of Furness, is an alms-dish(?) of a large size, apparently very old, gilt, and bearing the following inscription:--

"WYLT : GHY : LANGHELEVEN : SOO : ERT : GODT : ENDE : HOOVT : ZYN : GEBAT : VORWAR."

Bardsea Church is recently erected in a district taken out of Urswick parish.

Can any of your readers give an explanation of the inscription?

F.B. RELTON.

[This is another specimen of the alms-dishes, of which several have been described in our First Volume. The legend may be rendered, _If thou wilt live long, honour God, and above all keep His commandments_.]

_The Use of the French Word "savez."_--About fifty years ago the use of the French word _savez_, from the verb _savoir_, to know, was in general use (and probably is so at the present time) among the negroes in the island of Barbadoes,--"_Me no savez, Massa_," for, "I do not know, Master (or Sir)." It occurred to the writer at that time as a very singular fact, because the French had never occupied that island; nor is he aware of any French negroes having been introduced there. He had also been informed of its use in other places, but made no note of it. In the _Morning Herald_ of the 7th instant there is a statement that the Chinese at Canton, speaking a little English, make use of the same word. Can any of your readers give an explanation of this?

J.F.

_Job's Luck_.--I send you another version of Job's luck, in addition to those that have lately appeared in "NOTES AND QUERIES:"

"The devil engaged with Job's patience to battle, Tooth and nail strove to worry him out of his life; He robb'd him of children, slaves, houses, and cattle, But, mark me, he ne'er thought of taking his wife.

"But heaven at length Job's forbearance rewards, At length double wealth, double honour arrives, He doubles his children, slaves, houses, and herds, But we don't hear a word of a couple of wives."

A.M.

_The Assassination of Mountfort in Norfolk street, Strand._--The murder of Mountfort is related with great particularity in Galt's _Lives of the Players_, and is also detailed in, if I recollect aright, Mr. Jesse's _London and its Celebrities;_ but in neither account is the following anecdote mentioned, the purport of which adds, if possible, to the blackness of Mohun's character:--

"Mr. Shorter, Horace Walpole's mother's father, was walking down Norfolk Street in the Strand, to his house there, just before poor Mountfort the player was killed in that street by assassins hired by Lord Mohun. This nobleman lying in for his prey, came up and embraced Mr. Shorter by mistake, saying 'Dear Mountfort.' It was fortunate that he was instantly undeceived, for Mr. Shorter had hardly reached his house before the Murder took place."--_Walpoliana_, vol. ii. p. 97., 2nd ed.

J.B.C.

_The Oldenburgh Horn_ (Vol. ii., p. 417.) is preserved amongst the antiquities in the Gallery of the King of Denmark at Copenhagen. It is of silver gilt, and ornamented in paste with enamel. It is considered by the Danish antiquaries to be of the time of Christian I., in the latter half of the fifteenth century. There are engraved on it coats of arms and inscriptions, which show that it was made for King Christian I., in honour of the three kings, or wise men, on whose festival he used it, at Cologne.

W.C. TREVELYAN.

Wallington, Dec. 19. 1850.

[We avail ourselves of the opportunity afforded by Sir Walter Trevelyan's communication to add from Vulpius (_Handwörterbuch der Mythologie_) the following additional references to representations and descriptions of this celebrated horn--which is there said (p. 184.) to have been found in 1639:--Schneider, _Saxon. Vetust._ p. 314.; Winkelmann's _Oldenburgische Chronik._ s. 59.; S. Meyer, _Vom Oldenburgischen Wunderhorne_, Bremen, 1757.]

_Curious Custom_.--In 1833 the late Record Commissioners issued Circular Questions to the Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, requesting various information; among such questions was the following:--"Do any remarkable customs prevail, or have any remarkable customs prevailed within memory, in relation to the ceremonies accompanying the choice of corporate officers, annual processions, feasts, &c., not noticed in the printed histories or accounts of your borough? Describe them, if there be such."

To this question the borough of Chippenham, Wilts, replied as follows:--"The corporation dine together twice a-year, and _pay for it themselves_!" (_Report of Record Commissioners_, 1837, p. 442.)

J.E.

_Kite_ (_French_, "_Cerf-volant_").--Some years ago, when reading Dr. Paris' popular work called _Philosophy in Sport made Science in Earnest_, 5th edition, London, J. Murray, 1842, I observed that the author could not explain the meaning of the French term "cerf-volant," applied to the toy so well known among boys in England as a "kite," and in Scotland as a "dragon." The following passages will solve this mystery: {517}

"Cerf-volant. Scarabæus lucanus. Sorte d'insecte volant qui porte des cornes dentelées, comme celles du cerf.

"Cerf-volant. Ludicra scarabei lucani effigies. On donne ce nom à une sorte de joüet d'enfans qui est composé de quelques bâtons croisés sur lesquels on étend du papier, et exposant cette petite machine à l'air, le moindre vent la fait voler. On la retient et on la tire comme l'on veut, par le moyen d'une longue corde qui y est attachée."--See _Dictionnaire de la Langue Françoise_, de Pierre Richelet; à Amsterdam, 1732.

In Kirby and Spence's _Entomology_, vol. ii. p. 224., they mention "the terrific and protended jaws of the stag-beetle of Europe, the _Lucanus Cervus_ of Linnæus."

The "toothed horns" alluded to by Richelet are represented by the pieces of stiff paper fastened at intervals, and at right angles, to the string-tail of the toy kite, or dragon, so much delighted in by boys at certain seasons of the year in England and Scotland.

G.F.G.

Edinburgh.

_Epitaph on John Randal._--As a counterpart to Palise's death, I have sent a Warwickshire epitaph, taken from Watford Magna churchyard, written about the same period:

"Here old John Randal lies, who counting by his sale, Lived three score years and ten, such virtue was in ale; Ale was his meat, ale was his drink, ale did his heart revive, And could he still have drunk his ale, he still had been alive."

J.R.

_Playing Cards._--As a rider to THE HERMIT OF HOLYPORT'S Query respecting his playing cards (Vol. ii., p. 462.), I would throw out a suggestion to all your readers for notices of similar emblematic playing cards: whether such were ever used for playing with? what period so introduced? and where? as both France and Spain lay claim to their first introduction. I see that Mr. Caton exhibited at one of the meetings of the Archæological Institute this season a curious little volume of small county maps, numbered so as to serve as a pack of cards (described more fully in the _Archæological Journal_ for September, 1850, p 306.), and which I regret I did not see.

W.H.P.

Wanstead, Dec. 13. 1850.

* * * * *

Queries.

DRAGONS: THEIR ORIGIN.

When passing through the city of Brünn, in Moravia, rather more than a year ago, my attention was drawn to the _Lindwurm_ or dragon, preserved there from a very remote period. This monster, according to tradition, was invulnerable, like his brother of Wantley, except in a few well-guarded points, and from his particular predilection in favour of veal and young children, was the scourge and terror of the neighbourhood. The broken armour and well-picked bones of many doughty knights, scattered around the entrance to the cave he inhabited, testified to the impunity with which he had long carried on his depredations, in spite of numerous attempts to destroy him. Craftiness, however, at last prevailed where force had proved of no effect, and the Lindwurm fell a victim to the skill of a knight, whose name I believe has been handed down to posterity. The mode adopted by the warrior to deceive his opponent, was to stuff, as true to nature as possible, with unslaked lime, the skin of a freshly killed calf, which he laid before the dragon's cave. The monster, smelling the skin, is said to have rushed out and instantly to have swallowed the fatal repast, and feeling afterwards, as may be readily expected, a most insatiable thirst, hurried off to a neighbouring stream, where he drank until the water, acting upon the lime, caused him to burst. The inhabitants, on learning the joyful news, carried the knight and the Lindwurm in triumph into the city of Brünn, where they have ever since treasured up the memento of their former tyrant. The animal, or reptile, thus preserved, is undoubtedly of the crocodile or alligator species, although I regret it was not in my power to examine it more particularly, evening having set in when I saw it in the arched passage leading to the town-hall of the city where it has been suspended. I fear also that any attempt to count the distinguishing bones would be fruitless, the scaly back having been covered with a too liberal supply of pitch, with the view to protection from the weather.

Have any of your readers seen this _Lindwurm_ under more favourable circumstances than myself, and can they throw any light on the genus to which it belongs?

May not the various legends respecting dragons, &c., have their origin from similar circumstances to those of this Brünn Lindwurm, which I take to leave strong proof of fact, the body being there? Perhaps some of our correspondents may have it in their power to give further corroborative evidence of the former existence of dragons under the shape of crocodiles. The description of the Wantley dragon tallies with that of the crocodile very nearly.

R.S., Jun.

* * * * *

JOAN SANDERSON, OR THE CUSHION DANCE; AND BAB AT THE BOWSTER.

Can any of your numerous valuable correspondents give me the correct date, or any clue to it, of the above dance. There is little doubt of its great antiquity. The dance is begun by a single person (either a woman or man), who {518} dances about the room with a cushion in his hand, and at the end of the tune stops and sings:

"This dance it will no further go!"

[_The Musician answers._]

"I pray you, good sir, why say you so?"

[_Man._]

"Because Joan Sanderson will not come to!"

[_Music._]

"She must come to, and she shall come to, And she must come whither she will or no."

He now lays down the cushion before a woman, on which she kneels, and he kisses her, singing:

"Welcome, Joan Sanderson, welcome, welcome."

She rises with the cushion, and both dance about, singing:

"Prinkum-prankum is a fine dance, And shall we go dance it once again, And once again, And shall we go dance it once again?"

Then making a stop, the woman sings, as before:

"This dance it will no further go!"

[_Music._]

"I pray you, madam, why say you so?"

[_Woman._]

"Because John Sanderson will not come to."

[_Music._]

"He must come to," &c.

And so she lays down the cushion before a man, who, kneeling, upon it, salutes her, she singing:

"Welcome, John Sanderson," &c.