Minor Queries Answered.
Poet referred to by Bacon.
—To what poet does Bacon refer in the following passage of the Advancement of Learning?—
"The invention of one of the late poets is proper, and doth well enrich the ancient fiction: for he feigneth that at the end of the thread or web of every man's life there was a little medal containing the person's name, and that Time waited upon the shears; and as soon as the thread was cut, caught the medals, and carried them to the river of Lethe; and about the bank there were many birds flying up and down that would get the medals, and carry them in their beak a little while, and then let them fall into the river," &c.—Vol. ii. p. 112. in B. Montagu's edition of Bacon.
E.
[We are inclined to think that Bacon's reference was to the Mirror for Magistrates, and will probably be found in connexion with the following lines:
"A little wren in beake with laurell greene that flew,
Foreshew'd my dolefull death, as after all men knew.">[
The Violin.
—Which is the best work hitherto published on the history and construction of the violin?
MUSICUS.
[Certainly the best work on the history of this favourite instrument is the amusing little volume published by Mr. George Dubourg, in 1836, under the title of The Violin, being an Account of that leading Instrument, and its most eminent Professors, from its earliest Date to the present Time: including Hints to Amateurs, &c.]
Sir Thomas Malory, Knt.
—I should feel obliged if any of your correspondents could give me any information relative to Sir Thomas Malory, Knt., who translated into English The most Ancient and Famous History of the renowned Prince Arthur, King of Britaine? Also any particulars relative the original author of that work?
M. P. S.
Inverness.
[Consult Herbert's edition of Ames's Typographical Antiquities, vol. i. pp. 59-61. 134.; Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, vol. i. pp. 241-255.; and Wharton's History of English Poetry.]
Archbishop of Spalatro.
—In a note to the account of Chelsea College, in Lysons' Environs of London, which contains a list of the first fellows of the college, called by Archbishop Laud "Controversy College," of which Dr. Sutcliffe was founder and provost, I read—
"Many vacancies having occurred by the promotion of some of the fellows above-mentioned to bishoprics, and by the death of others, King James, by his letters patent, Nov. 14, 1622, substituted others in their room, among whom was the celebrated Archbishop of Splalato, then Dean of Windsor."
I wish to ask who this archbishop was? and should be glad to learn any further particulars respecting him, especially as to whether he ever acted as a bishop in England? Splalato is, I presume, an error of the press for Spalatro.
W. FRAZER.
[Mark Antony de Dominis, born about 1561, was educated among the Jesuits, and was Bishop of Segni, and afterwards Archbishop of Spalatro. Bishop Bedell met with him at Venice, and corrected, previous to publication, his celebrated work De Republica Ecclesiastica. When Bedell returned to England, Dominis came over with him. Here he preached and wrote against the Romanists, and the king gave him the Deanery of Windsor, the Mastership of the Savoy, and the rich living of West Ildesley in Berkshire. De Dominis's wish seems to have been to re-unite the Romish and English churches. He returned to Rome in 1622, where he abjured his errors, but on the discovery of a correspondence which he held with some Protestants, he was thrown into prison, where he died in 1625. He was a man of great abilities and learning, although remarkable for a fickleness in religious matters. He was author of a work entitled De Radiis Visus et Lucis in Vitris Perspectivis et Iride Tractatus, and was the first person, according to Sir Isaac Newton, who had explained the phenomena of the colours of the rainbow. We are also indebted to him for Father Paul's History of the Council of Trent, the manuscript of which he procured for Archbishop Abbot.—See Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, s.v. DOMINIS.]
Play of "The Spaniards in Peru."—John Heywood.
—Who was the author of The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru, expresst by Instrumentall and Vocall Musick, and by Art of Perspective in Scenes, &c., said to have been represented in the Cock Pit, in Drury Lane, at three in the afternoon punctually, 1658? Thus it stands in Jacob, but is not mentioned by Langbaine. The author of the British Theatre, however, mentions a remarkable circumstance in regard to it, which is, that Oliver Cromwell, who had prohibited all theatrical representations, not only allowed this piece to be performed, but even himself actually read and approved of it.
Also, what are the exact dates of the birth and death of John Heywood, in Henry VIII.'s time?
JAMES F. HASKINS.
[Sir William Davenant was the author of The Spaniards in Peru, which was subsequently incorporated in his piece, Playhouse to be Let. See his Works, fol. 1673, p. 103.; also Genest's Account of the English Stage, vol. i. p. 38.]
Selion.
—I have frequently met with the word "selion" in deeds relating to property in various parts of the Isle of Axholme, co. Lincoln. The term is used in the description of property; for instance, "All that selion piece or parcel of land situate, &c." It does not signify any particular quantity, for I have known it applied to fields of all sizes, from five acres down to a quarter of an acre. Will some of your numerous correspondents furnish an explanation of the word, and from whence derived?
L. L. L.
North Lincolnshire.
[Selion of land, or selio terræ, is derived from the French seillon, a ridge of land, or ground arising between two furrows, and contains no certain quantity, but sometimes more or less. Therefore Crompton says, that a selion of land cannot be in demand, because it is a thing uncertain.]