Replies to Minor Queries.
The Olympic Plain (Vol. ix., p. 270.).—I have just seen, in examining the contents of a German periodical, that in May, 1853, a proposal was submitted to the public by Professor Ross, of the University of Halle, for setting on foot a subscription to defray the expense of making excavations in Olympia, thus anticipating, by nearly a year, a recent suggestion to the same effect in "N. & Q." Professor Ross expatiates at considerable length (see Jahrbücher für Philologie und Pädagogik, vol. lxviii. p. 203.) on the advantages to be derived, as regards the arts, the literature, and the history of Greece, from the exploration of so celebrated a spot; but, notwithstanding all his arguments and eloquence, the amount of the subscriptions, after the lapse of nine months, only amounted, in February, 1854, to about 38l. As this sum was so utterly inadequate for the object intended, it was resolved to devote it to excavations in Mykenæ. Professor Ross takes occasion to pay a high tribute of praise to Lord Aberdeen, for the service rendered by his Lordship in discovering the treasury at Mykenæ. The facilities at Olympia for carrying on excavations are stated by Professor Ross to be very great. It is but a few miles distant from the sea, on the banks of a navigable river, and opposite to the very populous island of Zante; so that workmen, and means, and helps of all kinds can easily be procured. It was intended to give the superintendence of the excavations to Professor Alexander Rizo Rangabe, of the University of Athens, who was to be supplied with an adequate staff of artists, &c. Whatever discoveries might be made, were to become the property of the Greek nation. Travellers were to be permitted to visit the excavations during their progress, and to see all that was going on; and it was thought that a considerable number might be attracted to the spot, as the Austrian steamers convey passengers weekly in three or four days from Trieste to the western coast of the Morea.
J. Macray.
Encyclopædia of Indexes, or Table of Contents (Vol. ix., p. 371.).—Your correspondent Thinks I to Myself inquires respecting the desirableness and practicability of forming an "Encyclopædia of Indexes, or Tables of Contents." It was to meet this want (which is very commonly felt) that the publication of the Cyclopædia Bibliographica was undertaken. The work has met your approval, and I have the pleasure of announcing that the volume will be completed on June 1. I think it will meet the desire of your correspondent and many others, who, "in reading up on any subject, wish to know whether any author treats upon it, without being obliged to examine his works, at a great expense of time and labour."
James Darling.
"One New Year's Day" (Vol. ix., p. 467.).—The lines quoted by Mr. Skyring are the opening lines of an old ballad, entitled "Richard of Taunton Dean, or Dumble Dum Deary." It may be found in Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England, edited (for the Percy Society) by J. H. Dixon, Esq., who says:
"This song is very popular with the country people in every part of England, but more particularly so with the inhabitants of Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. There are many different versions."
In the notes to his volume, Mr. Dixon mentions two Irish versions of this ballad, communicated to him by T. C. Croker, Esq., one of which, entitled "Last New Year's Day," is almost verbatim with
the English ballad. The other version (which is given by Mr. D.) is entitled "Dicky of Ballyman."
J. K. R. W.
[This reference renders it unnecessary to insert the versions kindly supplied by E. L. H. and J. A.]
Unregistered Proverbs (Vol. ix., p. 235.).—The following I find among the poor parishioners of Tor-Mohun in Devonshire, and they were new to me. In answer to some remarks of mine on the necessary infirmities of old age, one of them replied, "You cannot have two forenoons in the same day." And on another occasion, in answer to my saying that something ought to be done, although it was not, there came, "Oughts are nothings unless they've strokes to them."
Wm. Fraser, B.C.L.
Orange Blossoms (Vol. viii., p. 341.; Vol. ix., p. 386.).—I have seen it stated that the use of these flowers at bridals was derived from the Saracens, or at least from the East, and that they were thus employed as emblems of fecundity.
Wm. Fraser, B.C.L.
Peculiar Use of the Word "Pure" (Vol. viii., p. 125.).—Your correspondent is evidently not a Gloucestershire man. The word pure is commonly used in that county to express being in good health. I remember an amusing instance, which occurred many years ago. A gentleman, a friend of mine, who resided in an establishment where young ladies were educated, was met one day by an honest farmer; who, after inquiring kindly for his own health, said with equal good nature and simplicity, "I hope, Zur, the ladies be all pure."
Gloucestrensis.
Worm in Books (Vol. viii., p. 412.).—Alethis is presented with the following recipe from a very curious old French book of receipts and secrets for everything connected with arts and trades. Put some powdered colocynth into a phial, and cover the mouth with parchment pierced with holes. With this the books should be powdered, and from time to time beaten to drive out the powder, when the same process must be repeated.
F. C. H.
Chapel Sunday (Vol. vii., p. 527.).—Not having received an answer to my Query of the origin of the celebration of Chapel Sunday in the Lake district, I would venture a surmise which some Cumbrian antiquary will perhaps correct, if wrong. I take it to be the day in honour of the patron saint of the chapel: and now, when such festivals are little observed, it has been changed to the nearest Sunday. In this thinly populated district, and where, from its mountainous and rugged character, travelling before the formation of the present good roads was neither agreeable nor (probably) safe, "at chapel" was the only time many of the inhabitants saw each other. Meeting, therefore, on so auspicious a day as that of the patron saint, might in "merrie time" of old induce a little festivity.
Prestoniensis.
Bishop Inglis of Nova Scotia (Vol. vii., p. 263.).—According to a short biography in the Documentary History of New York, vol. iii. p. 1066., this prelate was born A.D. 1734. His birth-place is not mentioned. Some letters and other writings by him may be found in the fourth volume of the same work.
Uneda.
Philadelphia.
Gutta Percha made soluble (Vol. ix., p. 350.).—E. B. can procure at any chemist's establishment a solution of gutta percha in chloroform, which may answer the purpose required by him. It is used by medical men as a dressing for abrasion in the skin of bed-ridden persons, and is applied with a camel's-hair brush. It hardens on being applied, and produces an artificial skin, which saves the patient from farther suffering in the place to which it has been applied.
Experto Crede.
Naphtha will render gutta percha soluble; and if needed to be used as a varnish, it is only necessary to make a solution in a closed vessel, and apply it with a brush. The naphtha will evaporate and leave a thin coating of firmly-adhering gutta percha behind.
Shirley Hibberd.
Impe (Vol. viii., pp. 443. 623.).—This epithet has been much discussed, but I think that no reference has been made to the following remarkable instances of its application.
In the Beauchamp Chapel at St. Mary's Warwick is the altar-tomb and effigy of the infant son of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, with a long inscription, which begins:
"Heere resteth the body of the noble impe Robert of Dudley, Baronet of Denbigh, sonne of Robert, Erle of Leycester, nephew and heire unto Ambrose, Erle of Warwike."
In a letter from Edinburgh, dated 5th November, 1578, John Aleyn to the Bishop of Carlisle, writes of "the goodly young Imp their King," who was afterwards our James I.; and the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1585 writes of "my wife and her imps," the lady being his energetic Countess Elizabeth Hardwick, widow of Sir William Cavendish. (See Lodge's Illustrations of British History, vol. ii. pp. 135. 275.)
R. A.
Melford.
"Bothy" (Vol. ix., p. 305.).—For a very complete account of "the Bothy system" in Scotland, see the able and interesting pamphlet of the Rev. Harry Stuart: Agricultural Labourers as they were, are, and should be (Blackwood).
W. C. Trevelyan.
Work on Ants (Vol. ix., p. 303.).—I presume that the work for which Σ. inquires is, Recherches sur les Mœurs des Fourmis indigènes, par P. Huber, Paris, 1810.[[7]]
Ἁλιεύς.
Dublin.
Footnote 7:[(return)]
[Our correspondent Σ. begs us to acknowledge the favour of the communication of Ἁλιεύς, but his inquiry "on the habits of ants" is by an author, a M. Hauhart, and of a much later date than Huber's. He is informed it is to be found in the Transactions of the University of Basle in Switzerland, published with this title, Die Zeitschrift der Basler Hochschule, 1825, p. 62; but he has not been successful in obtaining a sight of that work.]
Jacobite Garters (Vol. viii., p. 586.).—I have lately seen a watch-ribbon, or perhaps garter, with a Jacobite inscription in white letters somewhat like that described by E. L. J., but only about half the length. The middle stripe was red between two blue ones, and yellow edges; there was no attempt at a plaid. The owner had no tradition about it, as connected with any particular incident in Prince Charles' career.
P. P.
"The Three Pigeons" (Vol. ix., p. 423.).—I think Washington Irving, in his Life of Goldsmith, satisfactorily explains the origin of the song in She Stoops to Conquer, which your correspondent G. Taylor supposes was suggested by the inn at Brentford, mentioned by Dr. Rimbault. The American biographer says that Goldsmith and his companion Bryanton
"Got up a country club at the inn at Ballymahon, of which Goldsmith soon became the oracle and prime wit; astonishing his unlettered associates by his learning, and being considered capital at a song and story. From the rustic conviviality of the inn at Ballymahon, and the company which used to assemble there, it is surmised that he took some hints in afterlife for his picturing of Tony Lumpkin and his associates, 'Dick Muggins the exciseman, Jack Slang the horse doctor, Little Aminadab that grinds the music-box, and Tom Twist that spins the pewter-platter.' Nay, it is thought that Tony's drinking-song at the 'Three Jolly Pigeons' was but a revival of one of the convivial catches at Ballymahon."
And the author farther remarks, that
"Though Goldsmith ultimately rose to associate with birds of a finer feather, his heart would still yearn in secret after the 'Three Jolly Pigeons.'"
If this be correct, as it most likely is, the song referred to, and the scene it illustrates, were not suggested by the inn at Brentford.
B. M.
Philadelphia.
The alehouse situate at Lishoy in Ireland, where Goldsmith's father was vicar, was, no doubt, "The Three Pigeons" of She Stoops to Conquer. There is a sketch of it in the Tourist's Handbook for Ireland, p. 175. The author refers to Mr. John Forster's Life of Goldsmith, which I have not at hand.
Thompson Cooper.
Cambridge.
Corporation Enactments (Vol. ix., p. 300.).—It is an easy, but generally an unsafe thing to quote from quotations. Abhba should have referred to The Dublin Penny Journal, vol. i. p. 226., for his extracts from the Town Books of the Corporation of Youghal, co. Cork; and, even then, might have made farther reference to Crofton Croker's Researches in the South of Ireland, p. 160., whence the paragraph (unacknowledged) was introduced into The Dublin Penny Journal. Mr. Croker, moreover, fell into error with respect to the dates of these curious enactments, which were long antecedent to 1680 and 1703. I have seen them in the original (Book A), and vouch for the accuracy of the subjoined:
"1613-14. Thomas Geoffry made a freeman (being a barber), on condition that he should trim every freeman for sixpence per ann.
"1622. John Bayly made free, on condition to dress the dinners of the several Mayors."
I may give you some farther extracts from a MS. Note Book relative to this corporation at a future period.
Samuel Hayman, Clk.
South Abbey, Youghal.
The Passion of our Lord dramatised (Vol. ix., p. 373.).—A drama on the Passion of Christ (the first specimen of the kind that has descended to our days) is attributed to St. Gregory of Nazianzum, but is more probably the production of Gregory of Antioch (A.D. 572). It is described by most of the ecclesiastical writers: Tillemont, Baillet, Baronius, Bellarmin, Dupin, Vossius, Rivet, Labbæus, Ceillier, Fleury, &c.
In 1486, when La Mistère de la Passion, or the Passion of our Saviour, was exhibited at Antwerp, the beholders were astonished by five different scaffolds, each having several stages rising perpendicularly: paradise was the most elevated, and it had two stages. But even this display was eclipsed by another exhibition of The Passion, where no fewer than nine scaffolds were displayed to the wondering gaze of the people.
In 1556, according to Strype (Life of Sir Thos. Pope, Pref. p. vii.), the Passion of Christ was represented at the Grey Friers in London, on Corpus Christi Day, before the Lord Mayor, the Privy Council, and many great persons of the realm. Again, the same historian informs us (Ecclesiastical Memorials, iii. c. xlix.) under the date 1557:
"The Passion of Christ was acted at the Grey Friers on the day that war was proclaimed against France, and in honour of that occasion."
It is generally considered that the last miracle play represented in England was that of Christ's Passion, in the reign of James I., which Prynne informs us was—
"Performed at Elie House in Holborne, when Gondomar lay there, on Good Friday at night, at which there were thousands present."
Busby's idea, "that the manner of reciting and singing in the theatres formed the original model of the Church service," is as absurd as it is untenable.
Edward F. Rimbault.
It is said that Apollonarius of Laodicea (A.D. 362), and Gregory of Nazianzum not much later, dramatised our Lord's Passion. Many, however, regard the Christus Patiens, ascribed to Gregory, as spurious. The Passion of our Lord was represented in the Coliseum at Rome as much as six centuries ago. The subject was a favourite one in Italy. In France, "The Fraternity of the Passion of our Saviour" received letters patent from Charles VI. in 1402. Their object was to perform moralities or mysteries, i. e. plays on sacred subjects. In 1486, the Chapter of the Church at Lyons gave sixty livres to those who had played the mystery of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. In 1518, Francis I. confirmed by letters patent the privileges of the Confrères de la Passion: one of their pieces, reprinted in 1541, is entitled Le Mystère de la Passion de N. S. J. C. The same subject was common in Spain and Germany. In England the Coventry mysteries, &c. partook of the same character. The Cotton MS. (Vespasian, b. viii.) and the Chester Whitsun plays (Harleian MS. 2013.) would probably afford information which I cannot now give. So late as 1640, Sandys wrote a tragedy, on a plan furnished by Grotius, upon Christ's Passion. A little research would give H. P. a number of similar facts.
B. H. C.
If your correspondent wishes for authority for the fact of our blessed Lord's Passion being dramatised, he will find an example in Gregor. Naz., the editio princ. of which I have before me, entitled Χρίστος πάσχων, Rom. 1542.
J. C. J.
See the true account and explanation of the service of the Passion, in Cardinal Wiseman's Lectures on the Offices of Holy Week, 1854, 8vo., Dolman.
W. B. T.
Hardman's Account of Waterloo (Vol. ix., pp. 176. 355.).—Lieutenant Samuel Hardman was present with the 7th Hussars at the cavalry actions of Sahagun (Dec. 21, 1808) and Benevente (Dec. 29, 1808), previous to his appointment, May 19, 1813, as Cornet, Royal Waggon Train, "from serjeant-major, 7th Light Dragoons." I was in error in stating that he was appointed "Lieutenant and Adjutant, Dec. 15, 1814, in the 10th Hussars, in which he had commenced his military career." The 10th and 15th Hussars were in action at Sahagun and Benevente, but Mr. Hardman never served in the 10th Hussars until December 1814.
Query, Why is Sahagun not to be found on the appointments of the 10th Hussars, as well as on those of the 15th Hussars, as both regiments were engaged with the enemy on that occasion?
G. L. S.
Aristotle (Vol. ix., p. 373.).—See Aristotle's Ethics, bk. v. ch. iv.
B. H. C.
Papyrus (Vol. ix., p. 222.).—If R. H. means the growing plant, it is to be found in most botanical gardens.
P. P.
Bell at Rouen (Vol. viii., p. 448.; Vol. ix., p. 233.).—A portion of the great George d'Ambois is preserved in the Museum of Antiquities at Rouen, where I saw it four years ago.
Cpl.
Word-minting (Vol. ix., pp. 151. 335.).—Your correspondent J. A. H. cannot have seen Richardson's Dictionary, where he will find the word derangement, in the sense of madness, illustrated by an instance from Paley, Evidences, prop. 2.
Cpl.
Coleridge's Christabel (Vol. vii., pp. 206. 292.; Vol. viii., pp. 11. 111.; Vol. ix., p. 455.).—My Query relative to Christabel (Vol. vii., p. 292.) seems to have been lost sight of, and has not as yet received a reply. Will you kindly permit me to renew it?
In the European Magazine for April, 1815, there appeared a poem entitled "Christobell: a Gothic tale. Written as a sequel to a beautiful legend of a fair lady and her father, deceived by a witch in the guise of a noble knight's daughter." It is dated "March, 1815," and signed "V.," and was reprinted in Fraser's Magazine for January, 1835. It commences thus:
"Whence comes the wavering light which falls
On Langdale's lonely Chapel-walls?
The noble mother of Christobell
Lies in that lone and drear chapelle."
Query, What is known of the history and authorship of this poem?
It will be observed from the dates, that the sequel appeared in print before Christabel was published by Coleridge.
J. M. B.
Garrick's Funeral Epigram (Vol. vii., p. 619.).—Bishop Horne was, I believe, the author of these verses; at least I have seen them in a volume published by him, entitled (I think) Miscellanies: and I think they are stated to be his in Jones' Life of Horne. But I have neither work at this moment before me to refer to.
Geo. E. Frere.
Roydon Hall, Diss.