Replies to Minor Queries.
Earth upon Earth, &c.—I think the information which has been elicited in connexion with the so-called "Unpublished Epigram by Sir W. Scott," "N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 498., sufficiently curious to justify an additional reference to the sentiment in question; the more so as I have to mention the name of its putative author. In Montgomery's Christian Poet, 3rd edit. p. 58., he gives, under the title of "Earth upon Earth," five verses, which it would appear are substantially the same as those published by Weaver (whose Funeral Monuments, his only publication, I have not within reach), but they exhibit considerable verbal difference in the verses corresponding with those cited in "N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 576. Montgomery tells us in a note that this extract, given under the name of William Billyng, along with another from a poem entitled "The Five Wounds of Christ," by the same author, were from "a manuscript on parchment of great antiquity, in possession of William Bateman, Esq.," of which a few copies had been printed at Manchester, and "accompanied by rude but exceedingly curious cuts." Now who was William Billyng? And when did he live? Montgomery says "the age of this author is well known." The death of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to whom Weaver (Fun. Mon. 1631) applies the Stratford epigraph, is temp. Edward III. Is Mr. Bateman's MS. in a hand indicating so early a date?
J. H.
Picalyly (Vol. viii., p. 8.).—In Barnaby Rich's Honestie of this Age, p. 37. of the Percy Society reprint, we find this passage:
"But he that some fortie or fifty yeares sithens should haue asked after a Pickadilly, I wonder who could haue understood him, or could haue told what a Pickadilly had beene, either fish or flesh."
Little did the writer think that in future years the name would become a "household word;" though his prophecy as to the meaning of the word has been fulfilled by the appearance of the Query in the pages of "N. & Q."
The editor of the work, Mr. Peter Cunningham, has a long note on the above passage; and I am indebted to him for the following.
"Ben Jonson (Works by Gifford, viii. 370.) speaks of a picardill as a new cut of band much in fashion:
'Ready to cast at one whose band stands still,
And then leap mad on a neat picardill.'
"But Middleton, The World tost at Tennis, 1620, speaks of a pickadill in connexion with the shears, the needle, &c. of the tailor; from which it appears to have been an instrument used for plaiting the picked vandyke collar worn in those days.
"Mr. Gifford, in a note on another passage in Ben Jonson, says:
'Picardil is simply a diminutive of picca (Span. and Ital.), a spear-head; and was given to this article of foppery from a fancied resemblance of its stiffened plaits to the bristled points of these weapons. Blount thinks, and apparently with justice, that Picadilly took its name frown the sale of the 'small stiff collars so called,' which was first set on foot in a house near the western [eastern] extremity of the present street by one Higgins, a tailor.'"
The bands worn by the clergy and judges, &c., at the present day, are lineal descendants of the old picadils, reduced to a more sober cut; and the picked ornament alluded to by your correspondent no doubt derived its name from its resemblance in shape to these tokens of ancient fashion.
H. C. K.
—— Rectory, Hereford.
Mr. Justice Newton (Vol. vii., pp. 528. 600.; Vol. viii., p. 15.).—I did not answer Mr. F. Kyffin Lenthall's first Query, because it was
palpable, from the context, that the "Mr. Justice Newton" he inquired after could not possibly be the Chief Justice who flourished in the fifteenth century; and because I am not aware of any judge of the superior courts of that name, during the time of the Commonwealth, or the years which immediately preceded or followed that period. Indeed, his designation as "Mr. Justice Newton, of the Middle Temple," plainly proves that he could not have been a judge upon the Bench at Westminster. He may perhaps have been a Welsh judge; or, remembering that "Mr. Justice" was the common title for a Justice of the Peace, it is still more probable that he was merely a magistrate of the county in which he resided.
Edward Foss.
Manners of the Irish (Vol. viii., p. 5.).—In the very curious extract given by your correspondent H., boyranne is very likely to stand for borbhan, the Irish for "lamentation" or "complaint." An Irish landlord knows full well that, even up to the present day, his tenants "keep the bread, and make borbhan." Molchan, I suspect, comes from miolc, whey. Localran stands for loisgrean, corn turned out of the ear. As to the concluding line of the extract, I must leave it to some better Irish scholar than I can boast myself.
"I am the geyest mayed of all that brought the somer houme,"
plainly has reference to the old practice, still prevalent in some parts of Ireland on May-day, when young girls carry about a figure dressed as a baby, singing the Irish song,
"We have brought the summer with us" (See Transactions of the Kilkenny Archæological Society). Ultagh (Ultach) is Irish for an Ulster man, as H. will see by consulting any Irish dictionary, and can have no connexion with Utlagh, the Kilkenny money-lender. Ugteller is of course a misprint for Kyteller. Would that H. would give us his real name and address, or at least allow me to ask whether H. F. H. do not constitute his initials in full.
James Graves.
Kilkenny.
Arms of the See of York (Vol. viii., p. 34.).—I was about to send a note to "N. & Q.," pointing out that Mr. Knight, in his heraldic illustrations to 2 Hen. IV., in his Pictorial Edition of Shakspeare, has given the modern bearings of the see of York to Archbishop Scroope, instead of those which belonged to that date, when I observed a Query from Tee Bee, asking the date and origin of the change of arms which took place. I am sorry that I am unable to give any authority for my statement, but I believe it to be not the less true, that the change in question took place when Cardinal Wolsey came to the see. Nor can I give any farther reason for that change than the notorious jealousy of the Cardinal towards the superior rank of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Up to this period the arms of the two sees were precisely the same, though Tee Bee gives the number of crosses "patée fitchée" on the pall for difference; I should be glad to know whether there is good authority for this statement. The present arms of the see evidently have reference to the dedication of the ancient cathedral church to St. Peter.
H. C. K.
—— Rectory, Hereford.
"Up, Guards, and at 'em!" (Vol. v., p. 426.).—These oft-quoted words have already engaged the attention of the readers of "N. & Q." Your frequent correspondent C. (Vol. v., p. 426.) is of opinion that the Duke did make use of these, or equivalent, words. The following extract I have copied from an article in the June number of Bentley's Miscellany. It will be found at p. 700. as a foot-note to a clever article, one of a series, entitled "Random Recollections of Campaigns under the Duke of Wellington," written by an officer of the second brigade of Guards.
"The expression attributed to the Duke of 'Up, guards, and at them again!' I have good reason for knowing was never made use of by him. He was not even with the brigade of Guards in question at the time they rose from their recumbent position to attack the French column in their front, and therefore could not well have thus addressed them. I never heard this story till long after, on my return to England, when it was related by a lady at a dinner-table; probably it was the invention of some goodly Botherby. I remember denying my belief at the time, and my view has since been sufficiently confirmed. Besides, the words bear no internal evidence of the style either of thought or even expression of him to whom they were attributed."
The invention of the goodly Botherby has prospered!
Cuthbert Bede, B. A.
Coleridge's Christabel—The 3rd Part (Vol. viii., pp. 11, 12.).—Mr. J. S. Warden asks if I am correct in stating the 3rd part of Christabel to be the composition of Dr. Maginn. I can but "give my authority" in a reference to a sketch of Maginn's life, in a new and well-conducted periodical, The Irish Quarterly Review, which, in the number for September, 1852, after giving a most humorous account of a first interview between Blackwood and his wild Irish contributor, who had for more than a year been mystifying the editor by contributions under various signatures, proceeds thus:—
"A few days before the first interview with Blackwood, Maginn had sent in his famous 'Third part of Christabel.' It is only to be found in the Magazine; and as many of our readers must be unacquainted with the poem, we here subjoin it."
The poem follows, containing the lines which led to the first inquiry on this subject.
It was having read the Memoir in The Irish Quarterly which enabled me so promptly to remember where the lines were to be found; but I had long before heard, and never doubted, that the clever parody was composed by Dr. Maginn.
A. B. R.
Belmont.
Mitigation of Capital Punishment (Vol. viii., p. 42.).—I am sorry Mr. Gatty takes the phrase "mythic accompaniments" as an imputation on himself. I did not intend it for one, having no doubt that he repeated the story as he heard it. In it were two statements of the highest decree of improbability. One I showed (Vol. v., p. 434.) to be contrary to penal, the other to forensic practice. One Mr. Gatty found to have been only a report, the other to have occurred at a different place and under different circumstances. Had these been stated in the first version, I should not have disputed them. Whittington was thrice Lord Mayor of London—that is history, to which the prophecy of Bow-bells and the exportation of the cat are "mythic accompaniments."
A word as to "disclosing only initials." I think you, as a means of authentification, should have the name and address of every correspondent. You have mine, and may give them to any one who pays me the compliment of asking; but I do not seek farther publicity.
H. B. C.
Oxford.
The Man with the Iron Mask (Vol. vii., pp. 234. 344.).—I think that Mr. James, in his Life and Times of Louis XIV., has, to say the least, shown strong grounds for doubting the theory which identifies this person with Mathioli; and since then several writers have been inclined to fall back, in the want of any more probable explanation, on the old idea that the captive was a twin brother of Louis. What has become of the letter from M. de St. Mars, said to have been discovered some years ago, confirming this last hypothesis? Has any such letter been published, and, if so, what is the opinion of its genuineness?
J. S. Warden.
Gentleman executed for Murder of a Slave (Vol. vii., p. 107.)—Sometime between 1800 and 1805, Lord Seaforth being Governor of Barbadoes, a slaveowner, having killed one of his own slaves, was tried for the murder and acquitted, the law considering that such an act was not murder. Thereupon Lord Seaforth came to England, obtained an act of parliament declaring the killing of a slave to be murder, and returned to Barbadoes to resume his official duties. Soon afterwards another slave was killed by his owner, who was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged for murder under the new act of parliament. At the time appointed the prisoner was brought out for execution, but so strong was public feeling, that the ordinary executioner was not forthcoming; and on the governor requiring the sheriff to perform his office either in person or by deputy, after some excuses he absolutely refused. The governor then addressed the guard of soldiers, desiring a volunteer for executioner, adding, "whoever would volunteer should be subsequently protected as well as rewarded then." One presented himself, and it thenceforth became as dangerous to kill a slave as a freeman in Barbadoes.
G. M. E. C.
Jahn's Jahrbuch (Vol. viii., p. 34.).—Permit me to inform your correspondent E. C. that there is a copy of Jahn's Jahrbücher für Philologie und Pädagogik in the library of Sir Robert Taylor's Institution, Oxford. Although this library is for the use of members of the university, I am sure the curators of the institution will give their permission to consult the books in it, to any gentleman who is properly recommended to them.
J. Macray.
Oxford.
Character of the Song of the Nightingale (Vol. vii., p. 397.).—I imagine that many of the writers quoted by your correspondent lived in places too far removed to the north or west (as is my own case) ever to have heard the nightingale, and are, in consequence, not competent authorities as to a song they can only have described at second hand; but that Shelley was not far wrong in styling it voluptuous, and placing it amidst the luxurious bowers of Daphne, may receive some confirmation from an anecdote told by Nimrod ("Life and Times," Fraser's Magazine, vol. xxv. p. 301.) of the sad effects produced both on morals and parish rates by the visit of a nightingale one summer to the groves of Erthig, near Wrexham.
J. S. Warden.
I accidently met with a scrap of evidence on this point lately, as I was driving at midnight on a sudden call to visit a dying man. The nightingales were singing in full choir, when my servant, an intelligent young man from the country, remarked, "A cheerful little bird the nightingale, Sir. It is beautiful to hear them singing when one is walking alone on a dark night."
Unsophisticated judgment of this sort, when met with unsought, seems to be of real value in a question depending for its decision so much upon the faithful record of impressions.
Oxoniensis.
Walthamstow.
Mr. Cuthbert Bede gives, in his list of epithets of the nightingale, "solemn," as used by Milton, Otway, Graingle. How the last two employ the term I do not know, perhaps they
copied from Milton; but he uses it, not as an epithet exactly, but to express the frequency of the bird's appearance. "Night, her solemn bird," means the customary attendant of the night: solemn being used in the classical sense, and derived front soles. So Virgil, "Solemnes tum forte dapes et tristia dona ante urbem in luco," &c.
The word solemn probably acquired its present signification from the staid manner in which Englishmen go through their customary ceremonies. "They took their pleasure sadly," as Froissart has it.
Sydney Gedge, B.A.
Mysterious Personage (Vol. viii., p. 34.).—There is no mystery about the legitimate claimant of the British throne. He is the Duke of Modena, lineally descended from Henrietta of England, youngest daughter of Charles I.: she married Philip Duke of Orleans, son of Louis XIII. and Anne of Austria, and had two daughters; Louisa married to Charles II. of Spain (she died without issue), and Anna Maria, married to Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia. Their son Charles Emanuel III. succeeded in 1730, and was succeeded by his son Victor Amadeus III. He was succeeded by his eldest son Charles Emanuel IV., who died without issue, and was succeeded by his brother Victor Emanuel, who left twin daughters, the elder of whom, Mary Beatrice, married Francis Duke of Modena, while the crown of Sardinia passed to her father's heirs male. The Duchess Mary Beatrice of Modena has left two sons, the elder of whom (born June 14, 1819) is the direct, undoubted heir of the House of Stuart.
L. M. M. R.
Ken: "The Crown of Glory" (Vol. vii., p. 597.).—This work was properly rejected by Mr. Round in his edition of Bishop Ken's Works; and in the preface he gives the reasons for so doing. The absence of certain forms of expression was the chief test relied on. The book is so excellent, and the prayers so warm and Ken-like, that its exclusion indicates much critical acumen on the part of Mr. Round. Subsequently to the publication of this collection, it was ascertained that the prayers and other parts of The Crown of Glory were taken from a book of Dean Brough, of Gloucester, entitled Sacred Principles, which was published, I believe (I am writing at a distance from my books), in 1661.
W. D——n.
Pennycomequick, adjoining Plymouth (Vol. viii., p. 8.).—In days gone by, when the boundaries of the town were much more circumscribed than at the present day, a well-known old female (a perfect character in her way) had long fixed her abode in a curiously built hut-like cot in the locality in question; the rusticity of which, together with the obliging demeanour of its tenants, had gradually induced the good folk of Plymouth to make holiday bouts to this retired spot for the purpose of merry-making. As years rolled on, the shrewd old dame became a general favourite with the pleasure-seekers; the increasing frequency of these pic-nics suggesting to her an opportunity which might be turned to good account, viz. that of providing her visitors with the cheap requisite, boiling water, for the brewing their sober afternoon's beverage, at the low rate of a penny a head. Still later in the evening of life, shrugging herself closely in her old scarlet cloak, which had served her well for better than half a century, she would, with much apparent gusto, recount to her pleased auditory how many a time and often she had made the "penny come quick," by the above-recited inexpensive vocation; until at length her saying became a by-word in the neighbourhood, and universal consent fixed on the ever-happy octogenarian's triplet as a fitting appellation for the then nameless and retired little nook, but now thickly studded grounds, of Pennycomequick.
That equally simple occurrences have frequently given rise to the names of places, is shown by other remarkable titles of localities not far distant from Pennycomequick, such as those of "The Bold Venture," and of "No Place."
Henry H. Hele.
Ashburton.
Your correspondent R. H. B. is informed that the name of this village is Welsh, viz. Pen y cwn gwich, and signifies a village at the head of a valley.
H. C. K.
—— Rectory, Hereford.
Longevity (Vol. vii., pp. 358. 504. 607.).—May I be permitted a word with your correspondent A. I., and at the same time assist Mr. Hughes in his laudable attempt "to convert him to the faith?" To do this, it will not be necessary for me to search either in annual or parish registers, or to decipher half-defaced inscriptions on marble monuments or humble headstones.
A lady is now living, or was two months ago, in Williamsburg, State of South Carolina, by the name of Singleton, who is known to be in the one hundred and thirty-first year of her age:
"Her mental faculties are still unimpaired, and she retains all her senses except that of sight, of which she was deprived at the advanced age of ninety-nine years by an attack of the measles. Her bodily energy exhibits no diminution for many years, she being still able to walk briskly about the room. She has outlived all her children: her oldest descendant living being a granddaughter, over sixty years old. The first granddaughter of this granddaughter, if now living, would be over sixteen years of age."
W. W.
Malta.
Arms: Battle-axe (Vol. vii., p. 407.).—The undermentioned families bore three battle-axes
simply, their coats of arms varying only in metal and colour:
Aynisworthe.
Bainbrige.
Batten.
Daueys.
Daverston.
Gyves.
Gibbes.
Hall.
Hakelett.
Lewston.
Stephen Hoby (the earliest ancestor of the Bisham family of whom any record is preserved), married ——, the daughter and heiress of —— Bylmore, whose arms were—Gu. three halberds (long-handled battle-axes) in pale ar. handled or.: hence, no doubt, the three battle-axes in connexion with the Hoby or Hobby name at Bisham Church. William Hoby, of Leominster, the tenth in descent from the above-mentioned Stephen, married Catherine, sole daughter and heiress of John Forden alias Fordayne, by Gwentwynar, daughter and heiress of Sir Griffith Vahan alias Vaughan, Knight Banneret; who was, as I am led to think, of Denbigh or its neighbourhood. I shall be happy to find I have thrown any light upon the Query of A. C.
H. C. C.
Sir G. Browne, Bart. (Vol. vii., p. 528.)—Your correspondent Newbury is in error in styling this George Browne a baronet, nor was he of West Stafford or Wickham. He was the sole son and heir of Sir George Browne, Knight, of Wickhambreux, co. Kent, Caversham, co. Oxford, and Cowdray in Midhurst, co. Sussex; which last estate devolved on this family by the will of William Fitzwilliam, Earl of Southampton, the son of Lucy (daughter and co-heiress of John Nevill, Marquess of Montagu) by her first husband, Sir Thomas Fitzwillam of Aldwark, co. York; which Lucy became the wife of Sir Anthony Browne, who was knighted at the battle of Stoke, June 6, 1487, and succeeded as above-mentioned to the Cowdray estate.
George Browne, who married Elizabeth or Eleanor, the daughter of Sir Richard Blount, was of Wickhambreux, Caversham, and also of West Shefford in co. Berks; his name appears as thus in the Visitation of this county anno 1623. Of the nineteen children, he had three sons whose names are not given, and who died in the Royal cause during the civil wars: but as Richard, the third son, is expressly mentioned, he certainly was not one of the three killed in the service of King Charles I. Sir George Browne, second, but eldest surviving son, was made a K.B. at the coronation of King Charles II.; and was celebrated by Pope in his "Windsor Forest." He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis Englefield, the second baronet of Wootton Bassett, co. Wilts, and died s. p. m. George, the eldest born, died an infant. Henry, the fourth son, died unmarried March 19, 1668, and was buried at West Shefford; and John, the fifth son, was of Caversham, and created a baronet May 19, 1665. He married the widow of —— Bradley, and was the ancestor of the baronets of Caversham, extinct in 1774. Three daughters, whose names are not given, became nuns. Eleanor, another daughter, died unmarried, Nov. 27, 1662, and was buried at West Shefford: and Elizabeth was the wife of John Yate of West Hanney, co. Berks; and who died Jan. 26, 1671, before his wife.
H. C. C.