Part 2
"Not long after I looked in upon another aged man, who had been confined to his bed upwards of four months, gently dropping into his grave without any other apparent complaint than old age. He was a fine, hearty old man, with a constitution which kept him lingering on beyond expectation. 'Well,' I said, 'how are you this morning?' 'Oh, Sir, I have had a sad night. I hoped, when you left me, I should drop asleep and never wake more in this world.' 'Yes, poor fellow,' said his sister, who stood by his bedside, 'he does not seem able to die; we think we must move him to another bed.' 'Another bed! Why so?' 'Why, he does not seem able to die, and we think there must be wild feathers in his bed.' The old man evidently thought with his sister, that his bed had something to do with the protraction of his life. He died, however, at length without being moved. It is needless to remark, that the superstition would no doubt have been confirmed, and the flickering lamp of life might have been extinguished a few hours sooner, had they carried into effect their proposal to drag him from one bed to another, or to lay him upon the floor. The woman who helped to lay out the corpse came to see me, and I took the occasion to ask if she knew the belief, that a person could not die whilst lying upon game-feathers. She assured me that she knew it to be the case, and that in two instances, when she had attended persons who could not die, they had taken them out of their beds, and they had expired immediately. I found all expostulation in vain; no argument could shake so strong a conviction, and I have no doubt that this strange notion is extensively entertained by the peasantry in these southern counties."
I have since been informed that a similar belief exists in Cheshire, in regard to pigeons' feathers.
In the part of Surrey where I reside another popular belief still lingers, noticed elsewhere by writers on superstitions of this nature. On the decease of the head of a family, where bees are kept, some person forthwith goes to the hives and informs the bees of the event. Without this precaution, it is affirmed that they would speedily desert the hives.
ALBERT WAY.
_Charm for Ague._--Looking over some family papers lately, I found the following charm to cure the ague in an old diary; the date on the paper is 1751. In compliance with your motto I send it to you.
"_Charm to cure the Ague._
"When Jesus saw ye cross, whereon his body should be crucified, his body shook, and ye Jewes asked him had he the Ague? he answered and said, 'Whosoever keepeth this in mind or writing shall not be troubled with Fever or Ague; so, Lord, help thy servant trusting in thee. Then say the Lord's prayer.
"This is to be read before it is folded, then knotted, and not opened after."
PEREDUR.
_Old Shoes thrown for Luck_ (Vol. ii., p. 196.).--I may be allowed to quote, from Tennyson's _Lyrical Monologue_--
"For this thou shalt from all things seek, Marrow of mirth and laughter; And wheresoe'er thou move, good luck Shall throw her old shoe after."
W. FRASER.
_Folk Lore of the Kacouss People._--In _Blackwood_, January, 1852, mention is made, in a review of a French Folk Lore book, of the Kacouss, a sort of Breton parias formerly excluded from the society of Christians, and rejected even by the church, which permitted them to attend Divine service only at the door of the temple _under the bells_. What does this _under the bells_ mean; and is anything more known of them than what is stated in that work?
THOMAS LAWRENCE.
Ashby de la Zouch.
BURIALS IN WOOLLEN.
On looking over the parish registers of Mautby, in the county of Norfolk, a few days since, I found thirteen entries of certificates of the enforced observance of this practice, of which the following is a specimen:--
"November the 8th, 1678. Was brought unto me an Affidavit for ye Burial of William the So[=n]e of John Turner in Woollen according to ye late act of Parliament for that purpose.--ANDREW CALL, _Rector_."
The reason is clear--to increase the consumption of wool; but I should much wish to know the date of the aforesaid act of parliament, and to how late a period it extended. I find a comparatively recent trace of it in an original affidavit of the kind, in the varied collection of my friend R. Rising, Esq., of Horsey, which I subjoin in full, as it may be interesting to many readers of "N. &. Q."
"Borough of Harwich in the County of Essex to Wit.
"Sarah the Wife of Robert Lyon of the parish of Dovercourt in the Borough aforesaid, husbandman, and Deborah the Wife of Stephen Driver, of the same parish, husbandman (being two credible persons), do make oath that Deborah, the daughter of the said Stephen and Deborah, aged 18 weeks, who was on the 7th day of April instant interred in the parish Churchyard of Dovercourt, in the borough aforesaid, was not put in, wrapped, or wound up, or buried in any Shirt, Shift, Sheet, or Shroud, made or mingled with Flax, Hemp, Silk, Hair, Gold, or Silver, or other than what is made of Sheeps' Wool only; or in any Coffin lined or faced with any Cloth Stuff, or any other thing, whatsoever, made or mingled with Flax, Hemp, Silk, Hair, Gold or Silver, or any other material but Sheeps' Wool only.
"Taken and sworn the fifteenth day of April 1769, before me, one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace. G. DAVIES.
"The mark of x SARAH LYON. The mark of D DEBORAH DRIVER.
"Witness. B. DIDIER."
E. S. TAYLOR.
Minor Notes.
_Unacknowledged Quotations from the Scriptures._--As a compensation for the passages which are often held to be in the Bible, but are not there, it sometimes happens that others are taken from thence, and given to profane authors. Among these is "Multi pertransibunt, et augebitur scientia," which, Daniel xii. 4. notwithstanding, is the motto of the first edition of Montucla's _History of Mathematics_, followed by "--_Bacon._" I have also seen it given to Bacon elsewhere.
M.
_Latin Hexameters on the Bible._--The doggerel Latin hexameters subjoined were made by a Christmas party at Billingbear, eighty years ago. Amongst the contributors I can only point out the names of my father and Sir Thomas Frankland, the sixth baronet, who printed the verses for distribution amongst his friends. I have often found them useful, and they may be perhaps of service to others.
MEMORIA TECHNICA _for the Books of the Bible, arranged in the order in which they occur_.
"Genesis, Exo, Levi, Num, Deutero, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Sam, Sam, King, King, Chron, Chron, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalmæ, Prov, Eccles, Song Solomonis, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lament, Ezekiel, Danielque Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, Matthæus, Marcus, Lucas, John, Acts of Apostles, Rom, Cor, Cor, Gal, Ephes, Phi, Co, Thess, Thess, Timothy, Tim, Tit, Phil, Heb, James, Pet, Pet, John, John, John, Jude, Revelations."
_Apocrypha._
"Esdras, Esdra, Tobit, Judith, Esth, Wisd., Ecclesiastes, Bar, Song, Susan, Idol, Manasses, Maccabe, Maccab."
BRAYBROOKE.
_Epigram on La Bruyère._--The French Academy has been made the butt of more sarcastic sallies than any other institution of equal distinction and respectability. Some of these have been directed against it as a body, such as Piron's epitaph on himself:
"Ci-gît Piron qui ne fut rien, Pas même Académicien."
Others were levelled at the members individually. Of this sort are the lines on La Bruyère:
"Quand La Bruyère se présente, Pourquoi faut-il crier haro? Pour faire un nombre de quarante Ne fallait-il pas un zéro?"
Who was the author of the latter epigram? Since the days of La Bruyère it has been used as a standing gibe against all newly elected Academicians, whose names could be substituted for his, with a due regard to rhythmical propriety.
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia.
_Cock and Bull Story._--As the expression of a "_cock_ and _bull_ story" has sometimes puzzled me, so it may have puzzled others, and I therefore send the following Note, if worthy of notice:
"I have used the expressive proverbial phrase _Cock-on-a-Bell_, familiarly corrupted into Cock-and-a-Bull, in its true and genuine application to the fabulous narratives of Popery. There is some measure of antiquarian curiosity attendant upon it, which may rival the singular metamorphosis of the _Pix und Ousel_ into the familiar sign of the _Pig and Whistle_. During the Middle Ages, as we learn incidentally from Reinerius, _Gallus-super-campanam_ was the ecclesiastical hieroglyphic of a _Romish Priest_: and as the gentlemen of that fraternity dealt somewhat copiously in legends rather marvellous than absolutely true, the contempt of Our English Protestantism soon learned proverbially to distinguish any idle figment by the burlesque name of a _Cock-on-a-Bell_ story, or, as we now say, a _Cock-and-a-Bull story_."--From _An Inquiry into the History and Theology of the Ancient Vallenses and Albigenses_, by George Stanley Faber, B.D., 1838, p. 76. n.
J. R. R.
_Mary Queen of Scots--Her Monument and Head._--I find in Grose's _Antiquarian Repertory_, 2nd edition, vol. iii. p. 388., an account of a monument which was formerly to be seen in the Church of St. Andrew, at Antwerp, to the memory of Mary Queen of Scots; and it is therein related, on the authority of "an ancient MS.," shown to the author by "a Flemish gentleman of consequence and learning," that two of Mary's attendant ladies, named Barbara Mowbray and Elizabeth Curle, buried the head of their unfortunate mistress there, having been permitted, on leaving England after her execution, to carry her head with them.
Can any of your readers inform me whether this monument still exists, and whether anything is known of a portrait of Mary said to have been placed by these ladies near the monument? Also, whether there is any truth whatever in the above strange story.
C. E. D.
Queries.
THE BOOK OF JASHER.
The inclosed cutting is from the _New Monthly Magazine_ for March 1829. What has become of the translation of the "Book of Jasher" named therein, and was it ever published as promised?
"_Curious Literary Discovery._--The following is a singular discovery, said to be a translation from the original Hebrew manuscript of the Book of Jasher, referred to as a work of credit and reputation in Holy Scripture, first in Joshua x. 13. and again in 2 Sam. i. 18. This book was kept as a memorial of the great events which had happened from the beginning of time, especially to the family and descendants of Abraham, by the Kings of Judah. After the Babylonish captivity, it fell into the possession of the Persian Kings, and was preserved with great care in the city of Gazna: from whence a translation was procured by the great Alcuin, who flourished in the eighth century, at the cost of several bars of gold, presented to those who had the custody of it. He brought this translation to his own country, having employed, with his companions, seven years in pilgrimage; three of which were spent in Gazna, in order to his obtaining this important and interesting work. After his return to England he was made Abbot of Canterbury; and having lived in the highest honour, died in the year 804, leaving this, with other manuscripts, to his friend, a clergyman in Yorkshire. It appears to have been preserved with religious care for many centuries, until, about one hundred years since, it fell into the hands of a gentleman, who certifies that on its cover was the following testimony of our great reformer Wickliffe:--'I have read the Book of Jasher twice over, and I much approve of it as a piece of great antiquity and curiosity; but I cannot assent that it should be made a part of the Canon of Scripture.'--(Signed, Wickliffe.) This gentleman, who conceals his name, communicated it to a Noble Lord, who appears to have been high in office, when a rumour prevailed of a new translation of the Bible. His Lordship's opinion of it was that it should be published, as a work of great sincerity, plainness, and truth; and further, his Lordship added, 'it is my opinion the Book of Jasher ought to have been printed in the Holy Bible before the Book of Joshua.' From that period this invaluable work has lain concealed, until, by an accident, it fell into the hands of the present possessor, who purposes to publish it in a way worthy its excellence for truth, antiquity, and evident originality.--_Daily Paper._"
L. L. L.
[Two editions of this work have been published: the first appeared in 1751, and the other in 1829; both in 4to. The title-page of the latter edition informs us that it was "translated into English from the Hebrew, by Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus of Britain, Abbot of Canterbury, who went a pilgrimage into the Holy Land and Persia, where he discovered this volume, in the city of Gazna." But it appears that this Alcuin of Britain was no other than Jacob Ilive; and, according to Rowe Mores, the whole of it is a palpable forgery. He states, that "the account given of the translation is full of glaring absurdities. Mr. Ilive, in the night-time, had constantly an Hebrew Bible before him, and cases in his closet. He produced the _Book of Jasher_; and it was composed in private, and the same worked off in the night-time in a private press-room."--Rowe Mores' _Diss. on Founders_, p. 64. See also Nichols' _Literary Anecdotes_, vol. i. p. 309.]
Minor Queries.
_Old China._--It was gratifying to see some inquiries respecting Dutch china, which it is to be hoped will lead to a further pursuit of such subjects. Some connoisseur would confer a benefit upon the community if he would be kind enough to give a concise description of the various styles and to point out the distinguishing marks of old china generally, by which its beauties might be appreciated and its value estimated: there is great difficulty in acquiring such information.
C. T.
_Pagoda, Joss House, Fetiche._--No such word as _Pagoda_ is known in the native languages: _Dewal_, according to Mr. Forbes (_Orient. Mem._ vol. i. p. 25.), is the proper name. I have read somewhere or another that _Pagoda_ is a name invented by the Portuguese from the Persian "Pentgheda," meaning _a temple of idols_. _Joss_, applied to the Chinese temples, seems to be the Spanish _Diós_ (Deus), as _diurnal_ becomes _journal_.
"The Fetiche of the African (says Mr. Milman) is the Manitou of the American Indian. The word _Fetiche_ was first, I believe, brought into general use in the curious volume of the President de Brosses' _Du Culte des Dieux Fétiches_. The word was formed by the traders to Africa from the Portuguese _Fetisso_, chose fée, enchantée, divinée, ou rendant des Oracles." De B. p. 18.--_History of Christianity_ (3 vols. 1840), vol. i. p. 11.
Query, Is this word the same as a common word in Ireland (upon which Banim founded a tale), ycleped _fetch_, which answers to the Scotch _wraith_?
EIRIONNACH.
"_And Eva stood and wept alone._"--A good many years ago I deciphered on the marbled paper cover of one of my school-books the lines of which the following are what I yet retain in memory:
"And Eva stood, and wept alone, Awhile she paused, then woke a strain Of intermingled joy and pain.
Yes, O my mother! thou art fled. And who on this lone heart will shed The healing dew of sympathy, That stills the bosom's deepest sigh? Yes! thou art fled, but if 'tis given To spirits in the courts of heaven To watch o'er those they love (for this Must heighten even angels' bliss), If blessing so refined and pure Our mortal frailty can endure, Oh! may my mother's spirit mild Watch over and protect her child."
I have never since, through a tolerably extensive course of reading, met with the poem to which these lines belong, and have inquired of others, without more success. Can any of your correspondents inform me of the name of the poem, and of its author?
S. S. WARDEN.
_Hearne's Confirmation.--Baxter's Heavy Shove.--Old Ballad._--In _Narratives of Sorcery and Magic_, by Thomas Wright, Esq. (1851), vol. ii. p. 163., mention is made of a work by the associate of the notorious Hopkins, the "Witch-finder General," one John Hearne, entitled, _A Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft_ (1648). I should esteem it a great favour if any of the numerous readers of your valuable journal can inform me where a copy of Hearne's work is to be found, as it appears to be wanting in the British Museum, and several other of the public libraries. I already happen to possess a copy of Matthew Hopkins's _Discovery of Witches_, 4to. (1647), an extraordinary little work, which Sir Walter Scott acknowledges he was acquainted with but by name.
There is a tract, too, by the celebrated author of the _Saints' Rest_, which I never yet could put eyes on, though I have for some years "collected" rather largely; I allude to Baxter's _Heavy Shove_, mentioned at page 99. of Lackington's "Life," and in one or two other works; but among a very large collection of old editions of Baxter's works possessed by me, it is not to be discovered. If any of your correspondents can enlighten me upon the subject I shall be much gratified.
Though I have collected rather extensively among the ballad lore of this country, I am sorry to say I never could find out from what particular ballad the annexed stanza is derived. It is to be found, as an epigraph, in _Poetical Memoirs_, by the late James Bird, 8vo. (1823):
"Brunette and fayre, my heart did share, As last a wyfe I tooke: Then all the wayes of my younge dayes, I noted in a booke!"
_Old English Ballad._
CHARLES CLARK.
Great Totham Hall, Essex.
_Gunpowder Mills._--When and where were the first gunpowder mills erected in this country? This Query was made in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for October, 1791, and does not appear to have been answered. I think I have waited long enough for a reply, and almost fear the Query must have been forgotten.
W.
_Macfarlane of that Ilk._--Who is the present heir-male of this family? The latest account of it that I have been able to discover is contained in Douglas's _Baronage of Scotland_ (1798).
E. N.
_Armorial Bearings._--In the _Court Manual of Dignity and Precedence_ it is stated, that in the year 1798, when the subject of armorial bearings was before Parliament, 9458 families in England, and 4000 in Scotland, were _proved_ entitled to arms. Are any of the relative parliamentary papers still in existence, and where are they to be found? I have been unable to discover them in Hansard.
E. N.
_Scologlandis and Scologi._--In the _Collections of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff_, published by the Spalding Club, and under the heading "Ellon," p. 310., there is given an
"Inquisicio facta super terris Ecclesie de Ellon. A.D. 1387,"
in which occur several times the two words _Scologlandis_ and _Scologi_. Neither of these words are found in Ducange; the nearest approach to either being _Scolanda_, which is considered to be equivalent to _Scrut landa_, namely, lands the revenue of which is to be applied to the providing of church vestments. I should be much obliged by any of your correspondents favouring me with their opinion as to the meaning of _Scologlandis_ and _Scologi_, which are used in the "Inquisicio" as follows:
"... Qui jurati deposuerunt quod terre Ecclesiastice de Ellon que dicuntur le _Scologlandis_....
"... Item quod heres cujuslibet _Scologi_ defuncti intrare consuevit hereditatem suam."
G. J. R. G.
_Ednowain ap Bradwen._--Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." give me information respecting this person, or the family descended from him, which is supposed to have lived in North Wales during the reign of Henry VII.? His armorial badge is figured in p. 250. of Enderbie's _Cambria Triumphans_, and is described as _Gules, three snakes braced, Arg._ There is an ancient font in our church, which, when restored to it in the year 1841, after having been put to vile uses for many years, did bear this badge, _but it does not bear it now_. The gentleman who undertook the direction of the repair of the sculpture on the font, not having been inspired by the Professor of History at Oxford with a due reverence for antiquities, ordered Samuel Davies, a stone-mason (who is still living in this town), to make the three snakes as much like one dragon as he could. This he attempted to do by chiselling away the head of one snake, inlaying in its place the head of a dragon; and making the other heads and tails into legs with claws. The result of these operations has been a dragon of a _very_ singular appearance. There is a portcullis with chains sculptured on one of the eight sides of the font; and it has been conjectured that the motive to the conversion of the _three snakes, braced_, into a dragon, was to make it appear probable that the font had been presented to the church by Henry VII.
AP JOHN.
Wrexham.
_Mummy Wheat._--As you have afforded space for a Query on "Wild Oats," you will not, I hope, deny me a corner for one on Mummy Wheat.
In the year 1840, a letter appeared in _The Times_, signed "Martin Farquhar Tupper," which detailed minutely the sowing, growing, and gathering of some mummy wheat. Mr. Tupper, it seems, had received the grains of wheat from Mr. Pettigrew, who had them from Sir Gardner Wilkinson, by whom they were found on opening an ancient tomb in the Thebaid. Mr. Tupper took great pains to secure the identity of the seed, and had no doubt that he had gathered the product of a grain preserved since the time of the Pharaohs. The long vitality of seeds has been a popular belief; I was therefore surprised to find that that interesting fact is now pronounced to be no fact at all. It appears, in _The Year-Book of Facts for 1852_, that Prof. Henslowe stated to the British Association, that "the instances of plants growing from seeds found in mummies were all erroneous." Can any one tell me how this has been proved?
H. W. G.
Elgin.
_The Trusty Servant at Winchester._--The singular emblematic picture of a "Trusty Servant," in the vestibule of the kitchen of Winchester College, is too well known to require a description. I remember once hearing a gentleman refer to some author as giving a description of a similar figure, and speaking of such representations as of great antiquity. Unfortunately I took no _note_ of it at the time, and I now hope to recover the reference by a _query_; and shall feel obliged to any of your correspondents who may be able to furnish me with an answer: "Who was the author referred to?"
M. Y. R. W.
_Anecdote._--Can you tell me the names of the clergyman and noble lord referred to in the following anecdote?
"A noble lord distinguished for a total neglect of religion, and who, boasting the superior excellence of some water works which he had invented and constructed, added, that after having been so useful to mankind, he expected to be very _comfortable_ in the next world, notwithstanding his ridicule and disbelief of religion. 'Ah,' replied the clergyman, 'if you mean to be _comfortable_ there, you must take your _waterworks_ along with you.'"--Daniel's _Sports_, Supplement, p. 305.
H. N. E.
_St. Augustine._--What is the best edition of his _Confessions_. Dupin mentions his six Treatises on Man. Do these exist, and do they appear in any edition of St. Augustine's works?
E. A. H. L.