Tredagh.
The Rev. Joshua Marsden.—I should be glad if any of the correspondents of "N. & Q." could furnish any particulars relative to the above gentleman. He was the author of a most exquisite morceau of about forty lines, entitled "What is Time;" in reference to which, a literary periodical of some thirty years ago says:
"If our readers are half as much struck with the following solemn appeal, as we ourselves have been, they will not wonder at its insertion where poetry so rarely finds room."
Braemar.
Bentley's Examination.—I have found this anecdote of Bentley in Bishop Sandford's Memoirs. Is it authentic?
"When the great Bentley, afterwards so distinguished, was examined for Deacon's Orders, he expected that the Bishop would himself examine him; and his displeasure at what he considered neglect, he vented in such answers as the following:
Chaplain. Quid est Fides?
Bentley. Quod non vides.
Chaplain. Quid est Spes?
Bentley. Quod non habes.
Chaplain. Quid est Charitas?
Bentley. Maxima raritas."
Are not these rhymes older than Bentley?
W. Fraser.
Derivation of "Lowbell."—I see Mr. Sternberg, in his "Dialect and Folk-lore of Northamptonshire," gives a new explanation of the puzzling word lowbell, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Woman's Prize, Act I. Sc. 3. It appears that Northamptonshire peasants have a way of their own for punishing offenders against good morals:
"On the first appearance of the culprit in 'strit,' or on 'grin,' the villagers rise en masse, and greet him with a terrible din of tin pots and kettles, &c.; and, amidst the hooting and vociferation of the multitude, he is generally compelled to seek shelter by flight. This is called 'lowbelling,' and the actors are termed 'lowbells,' or 'lowbellers,' forming a tolerable explanation of the lowbell in Beaumont and Fletcher's Woman's Prize, Act I. Sc. 3., which has so long mystified the commentators:
'Petru. If you can carry't so, 'tis very well.
Bian. No, you shall carry it, Sir.
Petru. Peace, gentle Lowbell.'"