"The Owl is abroad."—On what ground is the fine base song, "The Owl is abroad," attributed to Henry Purcell? Dr. Clarke has done so in his well-known selections from Purcell's works; and Mr. G. Hogarth, in his Memoirs of the Musical Drama, speaking of Purcell's Tempest, says:
"There is a song for Caliban, The Owl is abroad, the Bat and the Toad, which one might suppose Weber to have imagined."
Is it not really the property of John Christopher Smith, the friend of Handel? Amongst the few books of printed music in the British Museum Catalogue is The Tempest, an Opera, composed by Mr. Smith, in which is the base song in question. On the other hand, I do not find it in Purcell's Tempest. If, as I imagine, it belongs to Mr. Smith, it seems peculiarly hard that the credit of the composition should be taken from him, to be given to one who stands in no need of it.
A. R.
Scandal against Queen Elizabeth.—The following note occurs in vol. iv. p. 135. of Burton's Parliamentary Diary:—
"Osborn,—see his works (1673), p. 442,—says, 'Queen Elizabeth had a son, bred in the state of Venice, and a daughter, I know not where or when;' with other strange tales that went on her I neglect to insert, as fitter for a romance than to mingle with so much truth and integrity as I profess."
Is this rumour any where else alluded to? and if so, upon what foundation?
P. T.
Letters of Horning.—What is the meaning of "letters of horning," a term occasionally, though rarely, met with in documents drawn up by notaries? And, à propos, why should "notaries public," with regard to the noun and adjective, continue to place the cart before the horse?
Manleius.