Milton's L'Allegro.—Your correspondent (No. 18. p. 286.) has been anticipated by Headley, who suggested, long ago, that the word tale here implied the numbering sheep. When Handel composed his beautiful air, "Let me wander not unseen," he plainly regarded this word in the more poetical sense. The song breathes the shepherd's tale of love (perhaps addressed to "the milkmaid singing blithe") far more than it conveys a dull computation of the number of "his fleecy care." Despite of that excellent commentator, Tom Warton, who adopted Headley's suggestion, it is to be hoped that readers will continue, though it may be in error, to understand the line as your correspondent used to do: an amatory tête-à-tête is surely better suited to "the hawthorn in the dale," than either mental arithmetic, or the study of Cocker.
J.H.M.
DOCTOR DANIEL DOVE OF DONCASTER AND HIS HORSE NOBS—GOLDEN AGE OF MAGAZINES.
It appears from the preface to the last edition of The Doctor, &c. that the story of Dr. Daniel Dove and his horse was one well known in Southey's domestic circle.
A letter is there quoted from Mrs. Southey (then Miss Caroline Bowles), in which she says:—
"There is a story of Dr. D.D. of D. and of his horse Nobs, which has I believe been made into a Hawker's Book. Coleridge used to tell it, and the humour lay in making it as long-winded as possible; it suited, however, my long-windedness better than his, and I was frequently called upon for it by those who enjoyed it, and sometimes I volunteered it, when Coleridge protested against its being told."
While upon the subject of The Doctor, may I direct your attention to the following passage on p. 269. of the one volume edition, which you will admit in many respects accurately describes your "NOTES AND QUERIES"?
"Our Doctor flourished in the golden age of magazines, when their pages were filled with voluntary contributions from men who never aimed at dazzling the public, but each came with his scrap of information or his humble question, or his hard problem, or his attempt in verse.
"In those days A was an antiquary, and wrote articles upon altars and abbeys, and architecture. B made a blunder, which C corrected. D demonstrated that E was in error, and that F was wrong in philology, and neither philosopher nor physician, though he affected to be both. G was a genealogist. H was an herald who helped him. I was an inquisitive inquirer who found reason for suspecting J to be a Jesuit. M was a mathematician. N noted the weather. O observed the stars. P was a poet who peddled in pastorals, and prayed Mr. Urban to print them. Q came in the corner of the page with his query. R arrogated to himself the right of reprehending every one who differed from him. S sighed and sued in song. T told an old tale, and when he was wrong, U used to set him right. V was a virtuoso. W warred against Warburton. X excelled in algebra. Y yearned for immortality in rhyme, and Z in his zeal was always in a puzzle."
Surely, Sir, you have revived the Golden Age of magazines, and long may you flourish.