Buckden (Vol. ii., p. 446.).—Will M.C.R. explain his allusion to "the abbot's house" at Buckden. I am not aware of Buckden having been the seat of a monastic establishment. Perhaps what he calls "the abbot's house" is part of the palace of the bishops of Lincoln.
C.H. Cooper.
Cambridge, December 2. 1850.
True Blue.—Query the origin of the term "True Blue." After the lapse of a few years it seems to have been applied indifferently to Presbyterians and Cavaliers. An amusing series of passages might be perhaps gathered exemplifying its use even to the present time. The colour and "cry" True Blue are now almost monopolised by the Tory party, although there are exceptions—Westmoreland and Yorkshire, for instance.
Viator.
Passage in Hamlet.—In Mr. C. Knight's "Library," "Pictorial," and "Cabinet" editions of Shakspeare, the following novel reading is given without note or comment to say why the universally received text has been altered. It occurs in Hamlet, Act I. Sc. 7.
Ham. "Staid it long?
Hor. "While one with modern haste might tell a hundred."
As Mr. Knight is now publishing a "National" edition of Shakspeare, perhaps you will allow me through your pages to ask for his authority for this change of "moderate" to "modern," in order that his new reading may either be justified or abandoned.
J.J.M.