Replies.
ORIGINAL LETTER OF GENERAL JAMES WOLFE.
(Vol. v., pp. 34. 136. 185.)
I beg to renew my acknowledgments to the various gentlemen who have afforded additional information respecting this brave man. So little has been recorded of his personal history, that every item which can be gleaned is valuable. It is certainly strange that no proper memoir of one so distinguished in arms as Wolfe has yet been written. His career, though short, was brilliant and embraces a period of time, as well as events, which would render a sketch of his life, by a competent writer, singularly interesting. Materials do not seem wanting; the detached pieces of information, and references to sources where more may be obtained, which have already appeared in "N. & Q." since I ventured to start the subject in October last, indicate, that with a little industry and research in proper quarters, Wolfe's history can yet be written to advantage. England's young hero has, in this respect, been too much neglected. Surely this national reproach will not be allowed to continue.
In the Gentleman's Magazine for January last, there is a very interesting letter from Wolfe to a young officer on the subject of military studies, supplied from the rich MS. stores of Mr. Robert Cole. I am enabled to contribute the fragment of another letter from Wolfe, also to a very young officer, pointing out how he ought to conduct himself on entering the army. This fragment was discovered within these few weeks, in the same old military chest where the twelve letters in my possession were found, to which I formerly alluded. This fragment, though neither dated, signed, nor addressed, is in Wolfe's handwriting beyond all doubt. I have compared it with his other letters, and not only do I find the resemblance perfect, but the paper on which the fragment is written is identically the same with several of these letters, the water-mark being the very appropriate one for a soldier, "pro patria." This newly discovered portion of Wolfe's letter is written closely on two pages of a sheet of post paper; and from circumstances I am inclined to think the date must have been in the end of 1757, when he was at Blackheath, soon after his return from the descent on Rochefort, in which he held a command. I am unable, however, to point out the name of the young officer for whose advantage the fragmentary epistle was written; but he was evidently one in whose welfare Wolfe took much interest, and intimate in Wolfe's family. The introductory words, "Dear Huty," seem to be an affectionate abbreviation of the young gentleman's surname; but how the fragment came amongst the papers of Wolfe's other friend, Lieut.-Col. Rickson, to whom the whole of the twelve letters in my possession are addressed, I cannot at present say. Here is an exact copy, viz.:
"Dear Huty,
"By a Letter from my Mother I find you are now an officer in Lord Chs. Hay's Regiment, which I heartily give you Joy of, and as I sincerely wish you success in Life, you will give me Leave to give you a few Hints which may be of use to you in it. The Field you are going into is quite new to you, but may be trod very safely, and soon made known to you, if you only get into it by the proper Entrance. I make no doubt but you have entirely laid aside the Boy and all Boyish amusements, and have considered yourself as a young man going into a manly profession, where you must be answerable for your own conduct. Your character in life must be that of a Soldier, and a Gentleman: the first is to be acquired by application and attendance on your duty; the second, by adhering most strictly to the Dictates of Honour, and the Rules of Good Breeding. To be more particular in each of these points; when you join your Regiment, if there are any Officer's Guard mounted, be sure constantly to attend the Parade, observe carefully the manner of the officers taking their Posts, the exercise of their Espontoon, &c.; when the Guard is marched off from the Parade, attend it to the Place of Relief, and observe the manner and form of Relieving, and when you return to your chamber (which should be as soon as you cou'd, lest what you saw slip out of your Memory), consult Bland's Military Discipline on that Head; this will be the readiest method of learning this part of your Duty, which is what you will be the soonest call'd on to perform.
"When off Duty get a Sergt or a Corporal, whom the Adjutant will recommend to you, to teach you the Exercise of the Firelock, which I beg of you to make yourself as much master of as if you were a simple soldier; the exact and nice knowledge of this will readily bring you to understand all other parts of your Duty, make you a proper judge of the performance of the Men, and qualify you for the post of an Adjutant, and in time many other employments of Credit. When you are posted to your Company, take care that the Sergeants or Corporals constantly bring you the orders; treat those officers with kindness, but keep them at a Distance, so will you be beloved and respected by them; read your orders with attention, and if anything in particular concerns yourself, put it down in your Memorandum Book, which I wou'd have you constantly in your Pocket ready for any Remarks; be sure to attend constantly morning and evening the Roll Calling of the Company, watch carefully the Absentees, and enquire into reasons for their being so, and particularly be watchfull they do not endeavour to impose on you sham Excuses, which they are apt to do with young officers, but will be deterr'd from it by a proper severity in detecting them;——"
Here, unfortunately, the remainder of the sheet has been torn off, and the continuation of the excellent precepts it no doubt contained, is irretrievably lost. Enough has luckily been preserved to show what an admirably disciplined soldier mind Wolfe possessed, taken in conjunction with the outline of military reading, pointed out in the letter contributed by Mr. Cole, already alluded to, and written with the same kindly object (the instruction of youthful officers), probably only a few months prior to the date of the mutilated one.
As it may be thought desirable to say something more than I have done, regarding the packet of Wolfe's letters in my custody, I beg to state that the officer to whom they are all addressed, was William Rickson, a native of Pembroke. He was eight years older than Wolfe. They appear to have served together in Flanders. Both were at the battle of Dettigen, and their names appear in the list of promotions consequent on that victory. Rickson and young Wolfe were also in the same regiment, commanded by Wolfe's father, in Flanders. I think it was then known as "Onslows." Both father and son appear to have felt a strong attachment to Rickson: this appears from the letters. On the part of James Wolfe in particular, this attachment was of the most ardent description. In one letter, dated Banff (Scotland), 9th June, 1751, he thus writes to Rickson:
"I believe that no man can have a sincerer regard for you than myself, nor can any man wish to serve and assist you with more ardour;" and "Attachments between men of certain characters do generally arise from something alike in their natures, and should never fall from a certain degree of firmness, that makes them the same all the world over, and incapable of any diminution. I have (as you justly acknowledge) a perseverance in friendship, that time, nor distance, nor circumstance, can defeat,—nay, even neglect can hardly conquer it; and you are just as warm and as near me in North America as you would be upon the spot."
Rickson survived Wolfe eleven years, and I possess the key of the tomb in which his remains repose in Restalrig churchyard, near Edinburgh. A fine miniature of him in his antique regimentals also exists; and it is interesting to contemplate the lineaments of a countenance so familiar to Wolfe, and of a man to whom the latter seems to have communicated his inmost thoughts. There are passages in the letters indicative of this to a degree, that I felt bound in honour not to disclose. Rickson died a lieutenant-colonel in 1770. His antique military chest remained in possession of relatives in Scotland almost forgotten, till about three years ago curiosity prompted the examination of a mass of old papers, covered with dust, lying at the bottom of it. A number of curious documents have thus been brought to light, including a file of letters to Rickson from the Duke of Queensbury (under whose auspices he constructed the military roads in Gallowayshire) and other distinguished personages of the last century, but best of all twelve invaluable letters from the lamented Wolfe, tied up by themselves, probably by Rickson, as memorials of his bosom friend who fell in the arms of victory. It was, as already said, among these old papers that the fragment of the letter above quoted was also found lately, on a more careful inspection of the antique chest in which they lay. I was so much struck with the noble sentiments expressed by Wolfe in the letters, that I ventured to write a short sketch of him from very imperfect materials, which appeared, along with the letters themselves, ad longam, in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine for December, 1849. Had I been aware of some of the facts which have since been contributed to the "N. & Q.," I would have modified certain passages in the narrative. All I aimed at, however, was merely to elucidate the letters which accident placed in my custody. But I now earnestly invite some competent writer to rescue Wolfe's history from the undeserved neglect and obscurity in which it is at present shrouded. I shall cheerfully allow any such party access to the whole letters, under proper guards for their safety, and my address has been left with the Editor accordingly.
Ȝ.
Glasgow.
EARL OF CHEPSTOW.
(Vol. v., pp. 126. 204. 261.)
The seeming difficulty regarded in these communications arises from Hooker's unauthorised translation of "Comes Strigulensis" into "Earl of Chepstone," and in a phrase of ancient parlance appearing a Title of Dignity. The error does not exist in the original work, as Giraldus wrote "Dermutius Morchardi filius, Lagenensium Princeps, Ricardo Comiti Strigulensi, Gilleberti Comitis filio, S."—Camden's Anglica, &c., p. 767.
The town, called in later times Chepstow by the English, and sometimes Cas Gwent, or Castell Gwent, by the Welsh, is clearly Strigul (as shown in Lhwyd's Commentariolum, p. 102. edit. 1731, and Archæologia, vol. xxix. p. 31.); but these names are not precisely equivalent. In early documents the Town, Vill, or Burgh is thus variously named, and the style of the present Court Baron is, "the Honour of Chepstow, alias Striguil;" but in old charters and chronicles the Lordship Marcher, the castle, and the honorary description of its lords, are usually designated by the word "Strigul" (variously written) only; and of this "Hooker alias Vowell" was perhaps ignorant. Giraldus himself is correct, as shown above.
As to the style of "Earl of Strigul," Dugdale admits the use of it by Richard Fitz-Gilbert, who occurs as "Comes Strigulensis" above, and as "Ricardus Comes de Striguil Dermuciigener," in Ralph de Diceto (p. 590.). His descendant Gilbert Marescall is also termed "Counte de Strogoile" in the petition of Margaret, daughter of Thomas de Brotherton, at the coronation of Richard II. (Vincent's Corrections, p. 345.) There is a stronger instance in Selden's Titles of Honour (p. 617. edit. 1631), correctly cited from Hoveden, and mentioning the fact of William Marshall and Geoffrey Fitz-Peter being severally girded "gladio Comitatus de Striguil et gladio Comitatus de Essex," at the coronation of King John, with remarks on their previous rank as earls, their administration of earldoms, but their non-investiture, and their sitting at the royal table in consequence of this investiture.
Nevertheless, it is laid down in the third Report on the Dignity of a Peer, p. 146., that such expressions are to be considered vague. It refers, for instance, any description of Roger de Montegomeri, as Earl of Arundel (if such exists), to residence; adding, "that is, he was an earl, and from his residence was denominated Earl of Arundel, as the Earls of Pembroke were denominated Earls of Strigul, a castle which appears to have been built by William Fitz-Osborn, Earl of Hereford, and which had no connexion with the county of Pembroke."
As to the immediate parentage of Earl Richard Fitz-Gilbert, proof will be readily found in the Foundation Charters of St. Neot's Priory and Tintern Abbey, in Gorham's St. Neot's, p. cv.; Monasticon, vol. v. p. 267.
GEO. O.
S. P. near Chepstow.
DEATHS FROM FASTING.
(Vol. v., p. 247.)
In the parish church of Tenby there is an emaciated figure, lightly wrapped in a winding-sheet, which is supposed to represent Tully, Bishop of St. David's, of whose death a tradition, similar to that related by BURIENSIS, is current. I should mention that there is also in the same church another monument of a bishop (as is shown by the still distinguishable mitre and crozier), which is also stated to be his. I have been informed that where a monument was surmounted by a representation of an emaciated corpse (emblematic of the poverty of spirit in which the original was supposed to live and die), it was usual to erect a second effigy, representing the departed as he actually appeared to his fellow men. This last sentence I must however put in the form of a Query, in the hope that some of your correspondents may answer it with special reference to the supposed tomb, or tombs, of Bishop Tully?
SELEUCUS.
There are two monuments of the description respecting which BURIENSIS desires information in the county of Devon. One against the south wall of the chancel of Feniton Church, is an elegant altar tomb ornamented with quatrefoils, on which lies the effigy in a shroud, tied at the head and feet. This may be assigned to the thirteenth century, but nothing appears to indicate whether it is the monument of a priest or of one of the Malherbe family, who were the lords of the soil. The other similar monument is in the north aisle of the choir of Exeter Cathedral, and is of later date. The skeleton figure lies on a slab in a recess under an obtuse arch, all highly decorated with tracery, panels, and foliage. This is said to be to the memory of Canon Parkhouse, buried in 1540. See Gough. Sepulch. Mon. Introd. p. 111.; and Britton's Exeter Cathedral, p. 139., and plate xxii.
J. D. S.
In the north aisle of Exeter Cathedral there is an instance similar to that mentioned by your correspondent, BURIENSIS, of a monument with the figure of a human skeleton lying at full length on a winding sheet. The following inscription is over the arch:
"Ista figura docet: nos omnes premeditari
Qualiter ipsa nocet: mors quando venit dominari."
Tradition ascribes it to Bishop Lacy's tomb, and the vergers even at the present day inform visitors that it was erected to commemorate his attempt to fast during Lent. It is an exquisite piece of work. An engraving of it may be found in Britton's Exeter Cathedral. I have heard that there is a similar monument in Salisbury Cathedral, and it appears probable, from there being more than one, that it was a favourite device to represent the instability of human grandeur.
EXONIENSIS.
There is a tradition similar to that related by BURIENSIS, and alike unfounded, concerning Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln, who is buried on the north side of the choir of Lincoln cathedral in a chapel of his own foundation. On the floor is an image of a decayed skeleton-like body; on the tomb above, his effigy arrayed in his episcopal robes.
K. P. D. E.
I would remind your correspondent BURIENSIS of the splendid monument in Winchester cathedral, beneath which are deposited the remains of Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester, and founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who died here on the 14th of September, 1528. In an oblong niche, under the third arch, lies the figure of Bishop Fox, represented as an emaciated corpse in a winding-sheet, with his feet resting on a skull. It is a tradition of the vergers that he died whilst endeavouring to imitate the example of Our Lord by a fast of forty days.
The figure of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, is also represented, like that of Fox, as a skeleton; and the same tale of a forty days' fast traditionally delivered by the same authorities.
E. S. S. W.
Winton.
BURNING FERN BRINGS RAIN.
(Vol. v., p. 242.)
Your correspondent μ asks whether any traces of such a popular belief exist at present.
In the Highlands of Scotland, where at this season the heather is burned by the shepherds, the belief is general among the people; I may add that it is a belief founded on observation. In Australia a hot wind blowing from the north caused (in part at least) by bush fires in the interior, is invariably succeeded by rain from the opposite part.
It would not be difficult, perhaps, to assign a satisfactory reason for a meteorological fact, which by a misnomer is dubbed "Folk Lore."
W. C.
It is believed in the neighbourhood of Melrose that burning the heather brings rain.
It must be remarked that Tweeddale runs mainly west and east; that the heather-covered hills are all to the west of this place. West wind brings rain.
†
In the north of England, and in Scotland, and probably in all moorland districts of the country, it is the practice of shepherds in spring, when the heather is dry enough, to set fire to it and burn large tracts of it, in order to get rid of the old woody plants. The young heather which springs up from the roots produces much better and more palatable food for the sheep. In this process, which takes place at the same time in a whole district (viz. when there has been no rain for some time), the whole air becomes loaded with smoke, and a very misty state of the atmosphere is produced. It is the general belief throughout the south of Scotland and in the Cheviot range, that this burning "doth draw downe rain."
Luckily this season, though there has been much moor burning, the general expectation has been agreeably disappointed, and the weather has now continued perfectly dry for several weeks, and appears likely to do so for some time to come, to the great delight of the farmers, as most propitious for sowing their grain of all kinds.
J. SS.
Lammermuir.
THE FISH CALLED "VENDACE."
(Vol. iii., p. 301.)
A short time since, an eminent naturalist directed my attention to Yarrell's History of British Fishes (2 vols. 8vo. 1836, and Supplement, 1839), with reference to this curious fish.
Mr. Yarrell does not attempt to identify the vendace with any foreign species, nor to answer the question, who introduced them in Lochmaben? However, his account of the other species of the genus Coregonus in Great Britain is well worth giving.
The species of the genus Coregonus are numerous in Europe, and several of them are so similar to each other that they are often confounded.
"Some writers have even considered the Vendisse of Lochmaben as the same with the Powan of [Loch Lomond] Perthshire, the Schelly of Cumberland, the Gwyniad of Wales, and the Pollan of Ireland. This is not the case, for the Pollan of Ireland is distinct from the two species of Coregonus found in Great Britain."
"The Gwyniad is very numerous in Ulswater and other large lakes of Cumberland, where on account of its large scales it is called the Schelly. The fish is not unlike a herring in appearance; the Welsh term Gwyniad has reference to their silvery white colour."
Izaak Walton notices it at the end of chap. xiii.:
"Nor would I have you ignorant of a rare fish called a Guiniad," &c.
The Pollan is principally found in Loch Neagh, also in Loch Derg and Loch Erne. Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, says:
"The habits of this fish do not, with the exception of having been in some instances taken with the artificial fly, differ in any marked respect from those of the Vendace of Scotland, or the Gwyniad of Wales, and are in accordance with such species of Continental Europe as are confined to inland waters, and of whose history we have been so fully informed by Bloch."
In 1835, Mr. Thompson published some observations on this species. The earliest notice of it that he has seen, occurs, he says, in Harris's History of County Down, 1744.
"The Vendace or Vendis (Coregonus Willughbii); Vendace, Jardine; Vangis and Juvangis, Penn, Brit. Zool., vol. iii. p. 420.; Vendace, Knox, Trans. R.S.E., vol. xii. p. 503.
"But little is known of this delicate fish," says Mr. Yarrell, "beyond what has been published by Sir William Jardine, Bart., in the 3rd volume of the Edinb. Journal of Nat. and Geog. Science, and by Dr. Knox. The Vendace is only known in the lochs in the neighbourhood of Lochmaben, in Dumfriesshire. Sir W. Jardine says, 'The story that it was introduced into these lochs by the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, is mentioned by Pennant in his description of the Gwyniad, (and it is likely that his information was derived from this vicinity,) and is still in circulation. That the fish was introduced from some continental lake, I have little doubt, but would rather attribute the circumstance to some of the religious establishments which at one time prevailed in the neighbourhood, and which were well known to pay considerable attention both to the table and cellar. The introduction must have taken place by means of spawn: the fish themselves could not be transported alive even a few miles. They are not confined to the castle loch, but are found in several others, some of which have no communication with that where they are thought peculiar. In general habits, the Vendace nearly resemble the Gwyniad, and indeed most of the allied species of the genus."
Mr. Yarrell gives representations of two magnified specimens of their food.
JARLTZBERG.
MACARONIC POETRY.
(Vol. v., p. 166.)
Perhaps some of the correspondents of "N. & Q." who take an interest in this style of composition are not acquainted with the two following productions, which appeared at Oxford several years ago, the author of the first being an accomplished first-class man, and, I think, a member of Worcester College:
1. "Viæ per Angliam ferro stratæ." (The Railroads);
2. "Poema Canino-Anglico-Latinum, super adventu recenti serenissimarum Principum." (The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria.)
The perusal of MR. CORNISH'S curious communication (Vol. v., p. 251.) also reminds me of the subjoined clever and amusing verses which were written by a talented friend and schoolfellow, whose premature decease occurred about two years ago, and which appear to be well worthy of publication. It will be seen that the words, which are all Latin, are quite unconnected and unmeaning, but when separated or united they become converted into our own language, or rather into a mixture of English and Irish. I have thought it absolutely necessary to annex a key.
MI MOLLE ANNI.
An Irish Ballad.
O pateo tulis aras cale fel O,
Hebetis vivis id, an sed "Aio puer vello!"
Vittis nox certias in erebo de nota olim,—
A mite grate sinimus tonitis ovem:
"Præ sacer, do tellus, hausit," sese,
"Mi Molle anni cano te ver ægre?"
Ure Molle anu cano te ver ægre.
Vere truso aio puellis tento me;
Thrasonis plano "cum Hymen" (heu sedit),
"Diutius toga thyrso" Hymen edidit;—
Sentior mari aget O mare nautis alter id alas!
Alludo isto terete ure daris pausas anas.
"O pater hic, heu vix en" ses Molle, and vi?
Heu itera vere grates troche in heri.
Ah Moliere arti fere procaciter intuitis!
Vos me! for de parte da vas ure arbuteis.
Thus thrasonis planas vel huma se,
Vi ure Molle anu cano te ver ægre.
Betæ Molle indulgent an suetas agile,—
Pares pector sex, uno vimen ars ille;
"Quietat ure servis Jam," sato heras heu pater,
"Audio do missus Molle, an vatis thema ter?
Ara mi honestatis, vetabit, diu se,—
O mare, mi dare, cum specto me:
Ago in a væ æstuare, vel uno more illic,
O mare, mi dare, cum pacto ure pater hic."
Beavi ad visu civile, an socia luse,
Ure Molle an huma fore ver ægre.
Key.
MY MOLLY AND I.
O Paty O'Toole is a rascally fellow,
He beat his wife's head, and said, "I hope you are well, O!"
With his knocks, Sir, she has in her body not a whole limb,—
A mighty great sin I must own it is of him.
"Pray say, Sir, do tell us, how is it," says he,
"My Molly and I cannot ever agree?"
Your Molly and you cannot ever agree:
Very true, so I hope you will listen to me;
The rason is plain, "O come, Hymen" (you said it),
Do ye tie us togather. So Hymen he did it.
Since your marriage to Mary now 'tis alter'd, alas!
All you do is to trate your dear spouse as an ass.
"O Patrick! you vixen," says Molly, and why?
You hit her a very great stroke in her eye.
Ah Molly! her heart I fear proke as 'twere in two it is!
Woes me! for departed away sure her beauty is.
Thus the rason is plain, as well you may see,
Why your Molly and you cannot ever agree.
Be to Molly indulgent and swate as a jelly,—
Pay respect to her sex, you know women are silly:
"Quite at your service, I am," say to her as you pat her,
"How d'ye do, Misses Molly, and what is the matter?
Arah, my honey! stay, 'tis, wait a bit, d'ye see;—
O Mary, my dary, come spake to me:
A-going away is't you are, well you no more I'll lick,
O Mary, my dary, come pack to your Patrick."
Behave, I advise you, and so shall you see,
Your Molly and you may for ever agree.
E. N.