Notes and Queries, Number 184, May 7, 1853
V >>
Various >> Notes and Queries, Number 184, May 7, 1853
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they
are listed at the end of the text.
{445}
NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES,
GENEALOGISTS, ETC.
* * * * *
"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.
* * * * *
No. 184.]
Saturday, May 7, 1853.
[Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition 5d.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
NOTES:-- Page
Old Popular Poetry: "Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough,
and William of Clowdesly," by J. Payne Collier 445
Witchcraft, by Rev. H. T. Ellacombe 446
Spring, &c., by Thomas Keightley 448
Notes and Queries on Bacon's Essays, No. III., by
P. J. F. Gantillon, B.A. 448
Shakspeare Correspondence, by S. W. Singer, Cecil
Harbottle, &c. 449
MINOR NOTES:--Local Rhymes, Norfolk--"Hobson's
Choice"--Khond Fable--Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton,
Bart.--Anagrams 452
QUERIES:--
Seal of William d'Albini 452
Forms of Judicial Oath, by Henry H. Breen 453
MINOR QUERIES:--Passage in Boerhaave--Story of
Ezzelin--The Duke--General Sir Dennis Pack--Haveringemere--Old
Pictures of the Spanish Armada--Bell
Inscription--Loselerius Villerius, &c.--The
Vinegar Plant--Westminster Parishes--Harley Family--Lord
Cliff--Enough--Archbishop Magee--Carpets
at Rome--Nursery Rhymes--Gloves at Fairs--Mr.
Caryl or Caryll--Early Reaping-machines 453
MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS:--"Diary of a
Self-Observer"--Jockey--Boyle Lectures 456
REPLIES:--
The Discovery and Recovery of MSS., by Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie 456
"The Whippiad" 457
Spontaneous Combustion, by Shirley Hibberd 458
Major-General Lambert, by Edgar MacCulloch 459
The "Salt-peter-man," by J. Deck 460
Metrical Psalms and Hymns, by J. Sansom 460
The Sign of the Cross in the Greek Church 461
PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES AND QUERIES:--New Developing
Fluid--Photographic Tent--Mr. Wilkinson's simple
Mode of levelling Cameras--Antiquarian Photographic
Club 462
REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:--Erroneous Forms of
Speech: Mangel Wurzel--The Whetstone--Charade--Parochial
Libraries--Judge Smith--Church Catechism--Charade
attributed to Sheridan--Gesmas and
Desmas--Lode--Epitaphs imprecatory--Straw-bail--How
to stain Deal--Detached Belfry Towers 463
MISCELLANEOUS:--
Notes on Books, &c. 465
Books and Odd volumes wanted 465
Notices to Correspondents 466
Advertisements 466
* * * * *
Notes.
OLD POPULAR POETRY: "ADAM BELL, CLYM OF THE CLOUGH, AND WILLIAM OF
CLOWDESLY."
I have very recently become possessed of a curious printed fragment, which
is worth notice on several accounts, and will be especially interesting to
persons who, like myself, are lovers of our early ballad poetry. It is part
of an unknown edition of the celebrated poem relating to the adventures of
Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough, and William of Cloudesly.
There are (as many of your readers will be aware from Ritson's small
volume, _Pieces of Ancient Popular Poetry_, 8vo. 1791) two old editions of
_Adam Bell, &c._, one printed by William Copland, without date, and the
other by James Roberts in 1605. The edition by Copland must have preceded
that by Roberts by forty or fifty years, and may have come out between 1550
and 1560; the only known copy of it is among the Garrick Plays (at least it
was so when I saw it) in the British Museum. The re-impression by Roberts
is not very uncommon, and I think that more than one copy of it is at
Oxford.
When Copland printed the poem, he did not enter it at Stationers' Hall;
comparatively few of his publications, generally of a free, romantic, or
ludicrous character, were licensed, and he was three times fined for not
first obtaining the leave of the Company. Nevertheless, we do find an entry
of a "book" called "Adam Bell," &c., among the memoranda belonging to the
year 1557-8, but it was made at the instance, not of Copland, but of John
Kynge, in this form:
"To John Kynge, to prynte this boke called Adam Bell, &c., and for his
lycense he geveth to the howse"--
What sum he gave is not stated. Again, we meet with another notice of it in
the same registers, under the date of 1581-2, when John Charlwood was
interested in the undertaking. I mention these two entries principally
because neither Ritson nor Percy were acquainted with them; but they may be
seen among the extracts published by the Shakspeare Society in 1848 and
1849. {446}
No impressions by Kynge or Charlwood having come down to us, we have no
means of knowing whether they availed themselves of the permission granted
at Stationers' Hall; and, unless I am deceived, the fragment which
occasions this Note is not from the presses of either of them, and is of an
earlier date than the time of Copland; the type is much better, and less
battered, than that of Copland; at the same time it has a more antique
look, and in several respects, which I am about to point out, it furnishes
a better text than that given by Ritson from Copland's edition, or by Percy
with the aid of his folio manuscript. I am sorry to say that it only
consists of a single sheet; but this is nearly half the production, and it
comprises the whole of the second, and two pages of the third "fit." The
first line and the last of the portion in my hands, testify to the greater
antiquity and purity of the text there found; it begins--
"These gates be shut so wonderly well;"
and it ends,
"Tyll they came to the kynge's palays."
It is "_wonderous_ well" in Copland's impression, and palace is there spelt
"pallace," a more modern form of the word than _palays_. Just afterwards we
have, in my fragment,
"Streyght comen from oure kyng,"
instead of Copland's
"Streyght _come nowe_ from our king."
_Comen_ is considerably more ancient than "come nowe;" so that, without
pursuing this point farther, I may say that my fragment is not only an
older specimen of typography than Copland's impression, but older still in
its words and phraseology, a circumstance that communicates to it
additional interest. I subjoin a few various readings, most, if not all, of
them presenting a superior text than is to be met with elsewhere. Speaking
of the porter at the gate of Carlisle, we are told--
"And to the gate faste he throng."
Copland's edition omits _faste_, and it is not met with in Percy. In
another place a rhyme is lost by an awkward transposition, "he saide" for
_sayd he_; and farther on, in Copland's text, we have mention of
"The justice with a quest of squyers."
instead of "a quest of _swerers_," meaning of course the jury who had
condemned Cloudesly "there hanged to be." Another blunder committed by
Copland is the omission of a word, so that a line is left without its
corresponding rhyme:
"Then Clowdysle cast hys eyen aside,
And sawe his two bretheren _stande_
At the corner of the market-place,
With theyr good bowes bent in theyr hand."
The word I print in Italics is entirely wanting in Copland. It is curious
to see how Percy (_Reliques_, i. 157., ed. 1775) gets over the difficulty
by following no known copy of the original:
"Then Cloudesle cast his eyen asyde,
And saw hys brethren twaine
At a corner of the market-place,
Ready the justice for to slaine."
Cloudesly is made to exclaim, in all editions but mine, "I see comfort,"
instead of "I see _good_ comfort." However, it would perhaps be wearisome
to press this matter farther, and I have said enough to set a few of your
readers, zealous in such questions, rummaging their stores to ascertain
whether any text with which they are acquainted, tallies with that I have
above quoted.
J. PAYNE COLLIER.
* * * * *
WITCHCRAFT.
Observing that you have lately admitted some articles on witchcraft, it may
be interesting to make a note of two or three original papers, out of some
in my possession, which were given to me many years ago by an old general
officer, who served in the American war, and brought them with him to
England about 1776. I send exact copies from the originals.
H. T. ELLACOMBE.
Rectory, Clyst St. George.
Whereas several persons, being by authority co[=m]itted to Ipswich Goall
for fellony and witchcraft, and order being given that search should be
made carefully upon their bodyes, to see if there nothing appeared
preternaturall thereon: for that end, on July y^e 4^th, 1692, a Jurie of
one man and eight women were su[=m]oned to attend, and sworne to make
dilligent search, and to give a true account of what they found, viz^t.--
Doctor Philemon Dance,
Mrs. Joha[=n]a Diamond, midwife,
Mrs. Grace Graves,
Mrs. Mary Belcher,
Mrs. Gennet Pengery,
Ann Lovell,
Francis Davis,
Mary Browne,
Who, after search made in particular, give this account, viz^t.--Upon the
body of goodwife Estue they find three unnaturall teats, one under left
arme, and one on the back side of her sholder-blade, one near to her secret
parts on one thigh, which, being pricked throw with a pin, remained without
sense, and did not bleed.
2. Upon y^e veiwing and searching y^e body of Sarah Cloice, there was
nothing unnaturall appeared on her.
3. Upon searching y^e body of Mrs. Bradbury, there was nothing appeared
unnaturall on her, {447} only her brest were biger than usuall, and her
nipples larger than one y^t did not give suck, though her body was much
pined and wasted, yet her brests seemed full.
4. Upon y^e searching y^e body of y^e wife of Giles Cory, there was
severall darke moulds, one of which was upon one of her buttocks, and being
pricked with a pin, it was without sence, and did not bleed.
5. Upon y^e searching y^e body of Widow Hoer, nothing appeared on her
unnaturall, only her body verry much scratched, and on her head a strange
lock of haire, verry long, and differing in color from y^e rest on her
head, and matted or tangled together, which she said was a widow's lock,
and said, if it were cutt off she should die.
6. Upon searching y^e body of Rachell Clenton, there was found an
unnaturall teat on one side, something lower than just under her arme,
which teat having a pin thrust throw it she was not senceable of, till by
scratching her side, pricked her fingers with y^e pin y^t was then in y^e
teat; neither did y^e teat bleed.
There was also ordered, with ye foresaid Doct^r, four other men, viz^t, Mr.
Har. Symonds, Samuel Graves, Sen^r, Thomas Knewlton, and John Pinder, to
search y^e body of Giles Cory, and they returned y^t they, having searched
him, found nothing unnaturall upon him.
The truth of which I heare attest.
(Signed) THO^S WADE, J.P.
* * * * *
Province of Massachusettes Bay,
New England, Essex.
Anno R. R. et Reginae Gulielmi et Mariae Angliae, &c. quarto, annoqu Dom.
1692.
The Jurors for our Sov^n Lord and Ladye the King and Queen present--
That Abigail Barker, wife of Ebenezer Barker of Andiver, in the County of
Essex aforesaid, about two years since, at and in the town of Andiver
aforesaid, wickedly, maliciously, and felloniously, a covenant with the
Devill did make, and signed the Devill's Booke, and by the Devill was
baptized, and renounced her former Christian baptism; and gave herselfe up
to the Devill to serve him, and for the Devill to be her lord and master;
by which wicked and diabollicall couvenant, shee the said Abigaill Barker
is become a detestable witch, contrary to the peace of our Soveraigne Lord
and Lady the King and Queene, their crowne and dignity, and the law in that
case made and provided.
_Sep., '92._ The examination and confession of Abigail Barker, taken before
John Hawthorn, Esq., and other their Majesties Justices:
_Q._ How long have you been in the snare of the Devil?
_A._ Not above two yeares and a half.
_Q._ At what place were you first overtaken?
_A._ I am at present very much bewildered.--But a little after she said as
followes:--About two yeare and a half agoe she was in great discontent of
mynd, her husband being abroad, and she at home alone; at which tyme a
black man appeared to her, and brought a book with him, to which he put her
finger and made a black mark. She saith, her memory now failes her now more
than ordinary; but said she gave herself up to the Devil to serve him, and
he was her lord and master; and the Devil set a mark upon her legg, which
mark is black and blue, and she apprehends is a witch mark; and said that
she is a witch, and thinks that mark is the cause of her afflicting
persons, though she thought nothing of it then till afterwards she heard of
others having a mark upon them. She sayes, that some tyme after this the
black man carryed her singly upon a pole to 5-mile pond, and there were 4
persones more upon another pole, viz. Mistriss Osgood, Goody Wilson, Goody
Wardwell, Goody Tyler, and Hanneh Tyler. And when she came to the pond the
Devil made a great light, and took her up and dypt her face in the pond,
and she felt the water, and the Devil told her he was her lord and master,
and she must serve him for ever. He made her renounce her former baptisme,
and carryed her back upon the pole. She confesses she has afflicted the
persones that accused her, viz. Sprague, Lester, and Sawdy, both at home
and in the way comeing downe. The manner thus:--The Devil does it in her
shape, and she consents unto, and clinches her hands together, and sayes
the Devil cannot doe it in her shape without her consent. She sayes she was
at a meeting at Moses Tyler's house, in company with Mistriss Osgood, Goody
Wilson, Goody Tyler, and Hanah Tyler. She said the mark above was on her
left legg by her shin. It is about two yeare agoe since she was baptized.
She said that all this was true; and set her hand to the original as a true
confession. _Noate_, that before this her confession she was taken dumb,
and took Mr. Epps about the neck and pulled him down, thereby showing him
how the black man bowed her down; and for one houre's tyme could not open
her lips.
I, underwritten, being appointed by authority to take the above
examination, doe testify upon oath taken in court, that this is a true
coppy of the substance of it to the best of my knowledge.
WM. MURRAY.
6th July, 1692/3.
The above Abigail Barker was examined before their Majesties Justices of
the Peace in Salem.
(Atest.) JOHN HIGGINSON, Just. Peace.
Owned before the Grand Jury.
(Atest.) ROBERT PAYNE, Foreman.
6th January, 1692. {448}
* * * * *
SPRING, ETC.
Our ancestors had three verbs and three corresponding substantives to
express the growth of plants, namely, _spring_, _shoot_, and _sprout_,--all
indicative of rapidity of growth; for _sprout_, (Germ. _spriessen_) is akin
to _spurt_, and denotes quickness, suddenness. The only one of these which
remains in general use is _shoot_: for _sprout_ is now only appropriated to
the young growth from cabbage-stalks; and _spring_ is heard no more save in
_sprig_, which is evidently a corruption of it, and which now denotes a
small slip or twig as we say, sprigs of laurel, bay, thyme, mint, rosemary,
&c.
Of the original meaning of _spring_, I have met but one clear instance; it
is, however, an incontrovertible one, namely,
"Whoso spareth the _spring_ (_i. e._ rod, switch), spilleth his
children."--_Visions of Piers Plowman_, v. 2554., ed. Wright.
Perhaps this is also the meaning in--
"Shall, Antipholus,
Even in the spring of love thy _love-springs_ rot?"
_Com. of Errors_, Act III. Sc. 2.
and in "Time's Glory"--
"To dry the old oak's sap and cherish _springs_."
_Rape of Lucrece._
_Spring_ afterwards came to be used for underwood, &c. Perhaps it answered
to the present _coppice_, which is composed of the springs or shoots of the
growth which has been cut down:
"The lofty high wood and the lower _spring_."
Drayton's _Muses' Elysium_, 10.
"The lesser birds that keep the lower _spring_."
_Id._, note.
It was also used as equivalent to grove:
"Unless it were
The nightingale among the thick-leaved _spring_."
Fletcher's _Faith. Shep._, v. 1.
where, however, it may be the coppice.
"This hand Sibylla's golden boughs to guard them,
Through hell and horror, to the Elysian _springs_."
Massinger's _Bondman_, ii. 1.
In the following place Fairfax uses _spring_ to express the "salvatichi
soggiorni," i. e. _selva_ of his original:
"But if his courage any champion move
Too try the hazard of this dreadful _spring_."
_Godf. of Bull._, xiii. 31.
and in
"For you alone to happy end must bring
The strong enchantments of the charmed _spring_."
_Id._, xviii. 2.
it answers to _selva_.
When Milton makes his Eve say--
"While I
In yonder _spring_ of roses intermix'd
With _myrtles_ find what to redress till noon."
_Par. Lost_, ix. 217.
he had probably in his mind the _cespuglio_ in the first canto of the
_Orlando Furioso_; for _spring_ had not been used in the sense of thickets,
clumps, by any previous English poet. I am of opinion that _spring_ occurs
for the last time in our poetry in the following lines of Pope:
"See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabaean _springs_."
_Messiah_, 93.
Johnson renders the last line--
"Cinnameos cumulos, Nabathaei munera _veris_;"
and this is probably the sense in which the place has generally been
understood. But let any one read the preceding quotations, and reflect on
what a diligent student Pope was of the works of his predecessors, and
perhaps he will think with me.
THOMAS KEIGHTLEY.
* * * * *
NOTES AND QUERIES ON BACON'S ESSAYS, NO. III.
(Vol. vii., pp. 6. 80.)
Essay IX. p. 21. (note _a_). "They used the word 'praefiscini.'" See
_e. g._, Plaut. _Asin._, ii. 4. 84. (Weise):
"Praefiscini hoc nunc dixerim: nemo etiam me adcusavit
Merito meo."
(Leonida boasts of his integrity.)
Ditto, p. 22. (note _c_). "From the _Stichus_ of Plautus," ii. 1. 54.
Ditto, p. 23. "Which has the character of Adrian the Emperor." See _Hist.
Aug. Script._, i. 149., _ut supr._ (Spartian. _Vit. Hadrian._ cap. 15.)
Ditto p. 26. "It was well said." By whom?
Essay X. ditto. "A poor saying of Epicurus." Where recorded?
Ditto, p. 27. "It hath been well said, 'That the arch flatterer,'" &c. By
whom, and where?
Ditto, ditto. "It hath been well said, 'That it is impossible,'" &c. By
whom and where?
Ditto, ditto. "The poet's relation." Ovid. _Heroid._ xvi. 163.
Essay XI. p. 28. "Cum non sis qui fueris," &c. Whence?
Ditto, p 29. "Illi mors gravis incubat," &c. Seneca, _Thyest._ 401. (ed.
Lemaire), Act II. extrem.
Ditto, p. 31. "That was anciently spoken." By whom?
Ditto, ditto. "Tacitus of Galba." Tac. _Hist._, i. 49.
Ditto, ditto. "Of Vespasian." Tac. _Hist._, i. 50.
Essay XII. ditto. "Question was asked of Demosthenes." See Cic. _De Orat._,
III. 56. Sec. 213.
Ditto, p. 32. "Mahomet's miracle." Where recorded?
Essay XIII. p. 33. "The desire of power," &c. Cf. Shaksp. _Hen. VIII._,
III. 2. "By that sin (ambition) fell the angels," &c. {449}
Essay XIII. p. 33. "Busbechius." In Busbequii _Legationes Turciae Epist.
Quatuor_ (Hanoviae, 1605), p. 133., we find this told of "Aurifex quidam
Venetus."--N. B. In the Index (_s. v._ Canis) of an edition of the same
work, printed in London for R. Daniel (1660), _for_ 206 _read_ 106.
Ditto, ditto (note _b_). Gibbon (_Miscellaneous Works_, iii., 544., ed.
1815) says, "B. is my old and familiar acquaintance, a frequent companion
in my post-chaise. His Latinity is eloquent, his manner is lively, his
remarks are judicious."
Ditto, p. 34. "Nicholas Machiavel." Where?
Ditto, p. 35. "AEsop's cock." See Phaedrus, iii. 12.
Essay XV. p. 38. "Ille etiam caecos," &c., Virg. _Georg_. i. 464.
Ditto, ditto. "Virgil, giving the pedigree," &c. _AEn_. iv. 178.
Ditto, p. 39. "That kind of obedience which Tacitus speaketh of." Bacon
quotes, from memory, Tac. _Hist_., ii. 39., "Miles alacer, qui tamen jussa
ducum interpretari, quam exsequi, mallet."
Ditto, ditto. "As Machiavel noteth well." Where?
Ditto, p. 40. "As Tacitus expresseth it well." Where?
Ditto, p. 41. "Lucan," i. 181.
Ditto, ditto. "Dolendi modus, timendi non item." Whence?
Ditto, ditto. "The Spanish proverb." What is it? Cf. "A bow long bent at
last waxeth weak;" and the Italian, "L'arco si rompe se sta troppo teso."
(Ray's _Proverbs_, p. 81., 4th edit., 1768.)
Ditto, p. 43. "The poets feign," &c. See _Iliad_, i. 399.
Ditto, ditto (note _y_). "The myth is related in the _Works and Days of
Hesiod_," vv. 47-99., edit. Goettling.
Ditto, p. 44. "Sylla nescivit." Sueton. _Vit. Caes._, 77.
Ditto, p. 45. "Galba." Tac. _Hist_., i. 5.
Ditto, ditto. "Probus." Bacon seems to have quoted from memory, as we find
in Vopiscus (_Hist. Aug. Script., ut supr._, vol. ii. 679. 682.), as one of
the _causae occidendi_, "Dictum ejus grave, Si unquam eveniat salutare,
Reip. brevi milites necessarios non futuros."
Ditto, ditto. "Tacitus saith." _Hist_., i. 28.
P. J. F. GANTILLON, B.A.
(_To be continued._)
* * * * *
SHAKSPEARE CORRESPONDENCE.
_The Passage in King Henry VIII., Act III. Sc._ 1. (Vol. vii., pp. 5. 111.
183. 494.).--MR. INGLEBY has done perfectly right to "call me to account"
for a rash and unadvised assertion, in saying that we must interpolate
_been_ in the passage in _King Henry VIII._, Act III. Sc. 2., after _have_;
for even that would not make it intelligible. So far I stand corrected. The
passages, however that are cited, are not parallel cases. In the first we
have the word _loyalty_ to complete the sense:
" . . . . . My loyalty,
Which ever has [been] and ever shall be growing."
In the second, the word _deserved_ is clearly pointed out as being
understood, from the occurrence of _deserve_ after _will_:
"I have spoken better of you than you have [deserved] or will deserve at my
hands."
I will assist MR. INGLEBY'S position with another example from _Rich. II._,
Act V. Sc. 5.:
" . . . . . like silly beggars,
Who sitting in the stocks, refuge their shame,
That many have [sat] and others must sit there."
And even from a much later writer, Bolingbroke:
"This dedication may serve for almost any book that has, is, or shall
be published."
Where we must supply _been_ after _has_. But in the passage I attempted,
and I think successfully, to set right, admitting that custom would allow
of the ellipsis of the participle _been_, after the auxiliary _have_, to
what can "am, have, and will be" possibly refer?
" . . . . . I do professe
That for your highness' good, I euer labour'd
More then mine owne, that am, haue, and will be."
What? Add _true_ at the end of the line, and it mars the verse, but make
the probable correction of _true_ for _haue_, and you get excellent sense
without any ellipsis. I am as averse to interpolation or alteration of the
text, when sense can by any rational supposition be made of it, as my
opponent, or any true lover of the poet and the integrity of his language,
can possibly be; but I see nothing rational in refusing to correct an
almost self-evident misprint, which would redeem a fine passage that
otherwise must always remain a stumbling-block to the most intelligent
reader. We have all I trust but one object, _i. e._ to free the text of our
great poet from obvious errors occasioned by extremely incorrect printing
in the folios, and at the same time to strictly watch over all attempts at
its corruption by unnecessary meddling. This, and not the displaying of our
own ingenuity in conjectures, ought to be our almost sacred duty; at least,
I feel conscious that it is mine.
S. W. SINGER.
"That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain."
_Hamlet_.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6