of Fascombe, in the parish of Ashelworth, was missed therefrom the
next morning, and the usual inquiries set afoot, as to what could have
become of him. He had, it seems, been shod (all fours) a few days
before, and _as usual_ got pinched in a foot. Feeling, no doubt, a
lively sense of proper shoeing, and desirous of relieving the cause of
pain, he contrived to unhang the gate of his pasture with his mouth,
and make the best of his way to the smithy, a distance of a mile and a
half from Fascombe, waiting respectfully at the door until the bungling
_artist_ got up. The smith relates that he found him there at opening
his shed; that the horse advanced to the forge and held up his ailing
foot; and that he himself, upon examination, discovered the injury,
took off the shoe, and replaced it more carefully, which having done,
the sagacious creature set off at a merry pace homewards. Soon after,
Mr. Lane's servants passed by the forge in quest of the animal, and
upon inquiry, received for answer--"Oh, he has been here and got shod,
and is gone home again."
MAN WITHOUT HANDS.
The following account is extracted from a letter sent to the Rev. Mr.
Wesley by a person named Walton, dated Bristol, October 14, 1788:--
"I went with a friend to visit this man, who highly entertained us at
breakfast, by putting his half-naked foot upon the table as he sat,
and carrying his tea and toast between his great and second toe to
his mouth, with as much facility as if his foot had been a hand, and
his toes fingers. I put half a sheet of paper upon the floor, with a
pen and ink-horn: he threw off his shoes as he sat, took the ink-horn
in the toes of his left foot, and held the pen in those of his right.
He then wrote three lines, as well as most ordinary writers, and as
swiftly. He writes out all his own bills, and other accounts. He then
showed how he shaves himself with a razor in his toes, and how he combs
his own hair. He can dress and undress himself, except buttoning his
clothes. He feeds himself, and can bring both his meat or his broth to
his mouth, by holding the fork or spoon in his toes. He cleans his own
shoes; can clean the knives, light the fire, and do almost every other
domestic business as well as any other man. He can make his hen-coops.
He is a farmer by occupation; he can milk his own cows with his toes,
and cut his own hay, bind it up in bundles, and carry it about the
field for his cattle. Last winter he had eight heifers constantly to
fodder. The last summer he made all his own hay-ricks. He can do all
the business of the hay-field (except mowing), as fast and as well,
with only his feet, as others can with rakes and forks. He goes to the
field and catches his horse; he saddles and bridles him with his feet
and toes. If he has a sheep among his flock that ails anything, he can
separate it from the rest, drive it into a corner, and catch it when
nobody else can. He then examines it, and applies a remedy to it. He is
so strong in his teeth, that he can lift ten pecks of beans with them.
He can throw a great sledge-hammer as far with his feet as other men
can with their hands. In a word, he can nearly do as much without, as
others can with, their arms. He began the world with a hen and chicken;
with the profit of these he purchased an ewe; the sale of these
procured him a ragged colt (as he expressed it) and then a better;
after this he raised a few sheep, and now occupies a small farm."
THE THIEF CAUGHT IN HIS OWN TRAP.
A man having, some years since, stolen a sheep at Mitcham, in Surrey,
tied its hind legs together, and put them over his forehead to carry it
away, but in getting over a gate the sheep, it is thought, struggled,
and, by a sudden spring, slipped its feet down to his throat; for they
were found in that posture, the sheep hanging on one side of this gate
and the man dead on the other.
COSTUME OF THE LADIES IN THE TIME OF THE PLANTAGENETS.
The ladies' costume may be seen to advantage in the annexed engraving
from the Sloane MSS., No. 3983. A wimple or gorget is wrapped round
the neck, and is fastened by pins at the sides of the face, which are
covered above the ears; a gown of capacious size, unconfined at the
waist and loose in the sleeves, trails far behind in the dirt. The
under-garment, which is darker, has sleeves that fit closely; and
it appears to be turned over, and pinned up round the bottom. The
unnecessary amount of stuff that was used in ladies' robes rendered
them obnoxious to the satirists of that period.
[Illustration: [++] proud woman who wore a white dress.]
In Mr. Wright's collection of Latin stories, published by the Percy
Society, there is one of the fourteenth century, which is so curious an
instance of monkish satire, and is so apt an illustration of the cut
before us, that I cannot resist presenting it to my readers. It runs
thus:--
"_Of a Proud Woman._--I have heard of a proud woman who wore a white
dress with a long train, which, trailing behind her, raised a dust as
far as the altar and the crucifix. But, as she left the church, and
lifted up her train on account of the dirt, a certain holy man saw a
devil laughing; and having adjured him to tell why he laughed, the
devil said, "A companion of mine was just now sitting on the train of
that woman, using it as if it were his chariot, but when she lifted her
train up, my companion was shaken off into the dirt: and that is why I
was laughing."
CORPULENT MAN. NOTTINGHAM, 1819.
November 10.--Death of Mr. Henry Bucknall, confectioner,
Chandlers-lane, aged forty-nine. He was excessively corpulent, weighing
more than twenty-five stone, and died very suddenly, immediately after
eating a hearty breakfast. In Lord Howe's memorable engagement, on the
1st of June, 1794, he had served as a marine on board the Brunswick.
His interment, at St. Mary's New Burial-ground, on the 14th, drew
together a large concourse of spectators. The coffin was of enormous
size, and nearly equalled the body in weight. It was made of excellent
oak, was 6 feet 8 inches in length, and 2 feet 11 inches across the
breast; the bottom was 2-1/2 inches thick, the sides 1-1/2, and the
lid 1. The whole, including the body, considerably exceeded five
hundred-weight.
TAKING A MAN TO PIECES AND SETTING HIM UP AGAIN.
"Don John, of Austria," says Staveley, "Governor of the Netherlands for
Philip the 2d of Spain, dying at his camp at Buge (Bouges, a mile from
Namur), was carried from thence to the great church at Havre, where his
funeral was solemnised, and a monument to posterity erected for him
there by Alexander Farnese, the Prince of Parma. Afterwards his body
was taken to pieces, and the bones, packed in mails, were privately
carried into Spain, where being set together with small wires, the
body was rejointed again, which being filled or stuffed with cotton,
and richly habited, Don John was presented to the king entire, leaning
on his commander's staff. Afterwards the corpse being carried to the
church of St. Laurence, at the Escurial, was there buried near his
father, Charles V., with a fitting monument for him."
ORNAMENTS OF FEMALE DRESS IN THE TIMES OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS.
[Illustration: [++] Necklace of Beads.]
Fig. 1 is a necklace of beads, each bead being cut so as to represent
a group of several, and give the effect of many small round beads to
what are in reality long and narrow ones. Fig. 2 is a necklace of
simpler construction, consisting of a row of rudely-shaped beads, its
centre being remarkable for containing a rude attempt at representing a
human face, the only thing of the kind Hoare discovered of so ancient
a date in Britain. Fig. 3 is another necklace, consisting of a series
of curious little shells, like the hirlas horn used by the Britons,
which are perforated lengthways, and thus strung together. Fig. 4 is a
pin of iron, supposed to have been used as a fastening for a mantle; it
is ornamented with two movable rings. Fig. 5 is a small gold ornament,
checkered like a chessboard, and suspended from a chain of beautiful
workmanship, which, in taste and execution, bears a striking similarity
to our modern curb-chains. Fig. 6 is an ear-ring, a bead suspended
from a twisted wire of gold. Fig. 7 is a brass ornament, and Fig. 8 a
similar one of gold: such ornaments are usually found upon the breasts
of the exhumed skeletons of our barrows, and were probably fastened on
their clothes as ornaments. Their cruciform character might lead to a
doubt of their high antiquity, if we were not aware of the fact, that
the symbol of the cross was worn, as an amulet or ornament, ages before
the Christian era.
LARGE EEL.
Lately, near Malden, an eel was taken, measuring _five feet six inches
in length, seventeen in girth_, and weighing _26 pounds_, the largest
of the species ever caught, or described in natural history.
PERSEVERING DOG.
A boast being made of the obedience of a Newfoundland dog in fetching
and carrying, the master put a marked shilling under a large square
stone by the road side, and, having ridden on three miles, ordered
the dog to go back and fetch it. The dog set off, but did not return
the whole day. He had gone to the place, and being unable to turn the
stone, sat howling by it. Two horsemen came by and saw his distress,
and one of them alighting removed the stone, and finding the shilling,
put it in his pocket, not supposing that the dog could possibly be
looking for that. The dog followed the horses for upwards of twenty
miles, stayed in the room where they supped, got into the bed-room, got
the breeches in which the fatal shilling had been put, made his escape
with them, and dragged them through mud and mire, hedge and ditch, to
his master's house.
CURE FOR CORPULENCE.
A few years ago, a man of about forty years of age, hired himself as a
labourer, in one of the most considerable ale-breweries in the City: at
this time he was a personable man; stout, active, and not fatter than a
moderate-sized man in high health should be. His chief occupation was
to superintend the working of the new beer, and occasionally to set up
at night to watch the sweet-wort, an employment not requiring either
activity or labour; of course, at these times, he had an opportunity of
tasting the liquor, of which, it appears, he always availed himself;
besides this, he had constant access to the new beer. Thus leading a
quiet inactive life, he began to increase in bulk, and continued to
enlarge, until, in a very short time, he became of such an unwieldy
size, as to be unable to move about, and was too big to pass up the
brewhouse staircase; if by any accident he fell down, he was unable to
get up again without help. The integuments of his face hung down to
the shoulders and breast: the fat was not confined to any particular
part, but diffused over the whole of his body, arms, legs, &c., making
his appearance such as to attract the attention of all who saw him. He
left this service to go into the country, being a burthen to himself,
and totally useless to his employers. About two years afterwards he
called upon his old masters in very different shape to that above
described, being reduced in size nearly half, and weighing little
more than ten stone. The account that he gave of himself was, that as
soon as he had quitted the brewhouse he went into Bedfordshire, where
having soon spent the money he had earned, and being unable to work,
he was brought into such a state of poverty, as to be scarcely able to
obtain the sustenance of life, often being a whole day without food;
that he drank very little, and that was generally water. By this mode
of living he began to diminish in size, so as to be able to walk about
with tolerable ease. He then engaged himself to a farmer, with whom he
stayed a considerable time, and in the latter part of his service he
was able to go through very hard labour, being sometimes in the field
ploughing and following various agricultural concerns, for a whole day,
with no other food than a small pittance of bread and cheese. This was
the history he gave of the means by which this extraordinary change was
brought about. He added, his health had never been so good as it then
was.
WORSHIP OF THE SUN AND MOON.
The Sun was first worshipped, probably, as a bright manifestation of
God, but soon began to be regarded as the Deity himself. The Moon,
in the absence of the Sun, and next in splendour, would succeed
it in superstitious attention. And so we find the Romans, as well
as the Saxons, dedicating the first and second days of the week
respectively to these "great lights." Formerly, festivals were held
on the appearance of a New Moon; and in some parts of England it is
still customary to bless it, and in Scotland at the same time to drop
a courtesy. And in times not long past, the influence of the Moon was
considered to be so great as to regulate the growth of air, and the
effect of medicine, and to cause steeples and other elevated buildings
to bend from their upright positions.
A SEA ABOVE THE SKY.
This belief is curiously illustrated by two legendary stories preserved
by Gervase of Tilbury. "One Sunday," he says, "the people of a village
in England were coming out of church on a thick cloudy day, when they
saw the anchor of a ship hooked to one of the tombstones; the cable,
which was tightly stretched, hanging down from the air. The people were
astonished, and while they were consulting about it, suddenly they saw
the rope move as though some one laboured to pull up the anchor. The
anchor, however, still held fast by the stone, and a great noise was
suddenly heard in the air, like the shouting of sailors. Presently a
sailor was seen sliding down the cable for the purpose of unfixing the
anchor; and when he had just loosened it, the villagers seized hold of
him, and while in their hands he quickly died, just as though he had
been drowned. About an hour after, the sailors above, hearing no more
of their comrade, cut the cable and sailed away. In memory of this
extraordinary event, the people of the village made the hinges of the
church doors out of the iron of the anchor, and 'there they are still
to be seen.'--At another time, a merchant of Bristol set sail with
his cargo for Ireland. Some time after this, while his family were at
supper, a knife suddenly fell in through the window on the table. When
the husband returned, he saw the knife, declared it to be his own, and
said that on such a day, at such an hour, while sailing in an unknown
part of the sea, he dropped the knife overboard, and the day and hour
were known to be exactly the time when it fell through the window.
These accidents, Gervase thinks, are a clear proof of there being a sea
above hanging over us."--_St. Patrick's Purgatory. By Thos. Wright._
1844.
THE PAPYRUS.
Paper as we now have it, that is to say, paper made of the pulp of
fibrous materials, pressed into thin sheets, dried, and, when intended
for writing or printing purposes, sized, is of comparatively modern
introduction to Europe and Western Asia; although the Chinese appear to
have formed paper out of silk pulp, mixed with the inner pith of the
bamboo, as early at least as 95 A.D.:--not from time immemorial, as
some authors have stated, because the circumstance is well attested,
that in the time of Confucius, the Chinese wrote with a style on the
inner bark of trees.
[Illustration: Papyrus Roll, from a Specimen in the British Museum.]
Before the invention of paper, the surfaces employed for writing upon
were numerous. Surfaces of lead or other metal; tables covered with
wax, skins of animals,--(parchment in fact)--all were used; but no one
of these was ever so extensively employed as the Egyptian papyrus,
whenever the latter material could be obtained. So soon, however, as
the Saracens in the seventh century conquered Egypt, the exportation of
papyrus was at an end; and writing surfaces became so scarce in Europe
that many ancient documents of great value were erased in order to
render them adapted for being written on once more. Thus perished many
treasures of antiquity.
As the Saracens closed the avenue of supply for the ancient papyrus,
so they compensated to Europe for this deprivation by discovering the
manufacture of ordinary paper--at least paper made in the ordinary
modern fashion,--though the material was cotton, not linen. This
discovery was made some time anterior to the year 706 A.D., for at
that period a manufactory of paper existed at Samarcand. In the
eighth century the Saracens conquered Spain, and introduced into the
Peninsula, amongst other arts, that of the manufacture of paper, which
art was a long time finding its way into other parts of Europe,--in
Italy not until the eleventh or twelfth century. The vast amount of
papyrus which must have been employed in Italy, may be inferred
from the number of rolls or _scapi_ of this substance discovered in
Herculaneum and Pompeii; also from a perusal of many existing documents
bearing directly or indirectly on this branch of commerce. Even so late
as the commencement of the sixth century, Cassiodorus congratulated the
world on the abolition, by King Theodoric, of the high duty on papyrus
from Egypt; and he spoke in high flown terms of the great utility of
the material. The latest papyrus roll known is of the twelfth century,
containing a brief of Pope Paschal II., in favour of the Archiepiscopal
see of Ravenna.
[Illustration: Syrian Papyrus Without Flowers.]
[Illustration: Syrian Papyrus With Flowers.]
The various species of papyrus plants belong to the natural order
"Cyperaceae," or sedges, of botanists; a main characteristic of which is
a certain triangularity of stem. The method of constructing a writing
surface from these stems was as follows:--The available portion being
cut off (it was seldom more than twelve inches in length), and split,
or, more properly speaking, unfolded into thin sheets, which were glued
together transversely in such a manner that the original length of the
papyrus stem became the breadth of the future sheet; the length of
which might be increased at the pleasure of the operator. Frequently
the manufactured scrolls were more than thirty feet long. As different
methods prevail in the manufacture of our ordinary paper, so in like
manner there were different processes of fashioning the papyrus into
shape. The rudest manufacture appears to have been that of Egypt, and
the best papyrus sheets appear to have been made in Rome during the
Augustine AEra. The preceding sketch represents a papyrus roll, copied
from a specimen in the Egyptian Room of the British Museum.
Considering the numerous pieces entering into the composition of the
roll, of which our illustration represents a portion, the lines of
juncture are remarkably well concealed, only a sort of grain being
visible. The surface, moreover, is smoothed, and its colour very
much like that of India paper. The hieroglyphics are coloured as is
usual, red is the predominant tint, and the colours are no less well
demarcated and separate than they would have been on glazed paper.
Our preceding wood-cuts represent the Sicilian or Syrian papyrus,
hitherto termed _cyperus papyrus_, in two states of development--one
with flowers, the other without. In order that inflorescence may take
place, the plant requires to be well supplied with water.
EXECUTION IN 1733.
_Friday, March 9_--Was executed at Northampton, William Alcock, for the
murder of his wife. He never own'd the fact, nor was at all concerned
at his approaching death; refusing the prayers and assistance of any
persons. In the morning he drank more than was sufficient, yet sent and
paid for a pint of wine, which being deny'd him, he would not enter
the cart before he had his money return'd. On his way to the gallows
he sung part of an old song of "Robin Hood," with the chorus, "Derry,
derry, down," &c., and swore, kick'd, and spurn'd at every person that
laid hold of the cart; and before he was turn'd off, took off his
shoes, to avoid a well known proverb; and being told by a person in the
cart with him, it was more proper for him to read, or hear somebody
read to him, than so vilely to swear and sing, he struck the book out
of the person's hands, and went on damning the spectators and calling
for wine. Whilst psalms and prayers were performing at the tree he did
little but talk to one or other, desiring some to remember him, others
to drink to his good journey, and to the last moment declared the
injustice of his case.
DOG FRIENDSHIP.
At Bishops Stortford there were two dogs, which belonged to nobody, and
lived upon the quay of the river or canal there. They took the greatest
delight in rat hunting, and when the maltsters went about at night to
see that all was safe, these dogs invariably followed them. Their mode
of proceeding was very ingenious. As soon as the door of the malt-house
was unlocked, one rushed in and coursed round the warehouse, not
chasing any rat which might start, but pursuing its way among the malt.
The other stood at the door and snapped at the rats as they endeavoured
to escape. The one standing at the door was known to kill six rats,
all of which had rushed to the door at the same time. The next room
they came to, they would change posts; the one which hunted before,
now standing at the door and seizing the prey. By this means the dogs
killed in the malting-houses of one maltster alone, upwards of 2,000
rats in the course of one year. One of them on one occasion killed
sixty-seven in less than five minutes. They seemed to pursue the sport
simply for their amusement.
ALL HUMBUGS.
Just as a strolling actor at Newcastle had advertised his benefit, a
remarkable stranger, no less than the _Prince Annamaboo_, arrived, and
placarded the town that he granted audiences at a shilling a-head. The
stroller, without delay, waited on the proprietor of the _Prince_, and
for a good round sum prevailed on him to command his Serene Highness
to exhibit his august person on his benefit night. The bills of the
day announced that between the acts of the comedy _Prince Annamaboo_
would give a lively representation of the _scalping operation_, sound
the _Indian war-whoop_ in all its melodious tones, practice the
tomahawk exercise, and dine _a la cannibal_. An intelligent mob were
collected to witness these interesting exploits. At the conclusion of
the third act, his _Highness_ marched forward flourishing his tomahawk,
and shouting, "_Ha, ha!--ho, ho!_" Next entered a man with his face
blacked, and a piece of bladder fastened to his head with gum; the
_Prince_, with an enormous carving-knife, began the scalping part of
the entertainment, which he performed in a truly _imperial_ style,
holding up the piece of bladder as a token of triumph. Next came the
war-whoop, an unearthly combination of discordant sounds; and lastly,
the banquet, consisting of raw beef-steaks, which he rolled up into
rouleaus, and devoured with right royal avidity. Having finished
his delicate repast, he wielded his tomahawk in an exulting manner,
bellowed "_Ha, ha!--ho, ho!_" and made his exit. The _beneficiaire_
strolling through the market-place the following-day, spied the most
puissant _Prince Annamaboo_ selling penknives, scissors, and quills,
in the character of a Jew pedlar. "What!" said the astonished _Lord
Townley_, "my _Prince_, is it you? Are you not a pretty circumcised
little scoundrel to impose upon us in this manner?" Moses turned round,
and with an arch look, replied, "_Princh_ be d--d! I _vash_ no Princh;
I _vash_ acting like you. Your troop _vash_ Lords and Ladies last
night; and to-night dey vil be Kings, _Prinches_, and Emperor! I _vash
humpugs_, you _vash humpugs_, all _vash humpugs_!"
REDUCING WEIGHT.
A gentleman, of great respectability in the mercantile world, who
weighed thirty-two stone nine pounds, put himself upon a strict diet of
_four ounces of animal food_, _six ounces_ of bread, and _two pounds
of liquid_, in twenty-four hours. In one week he lost thirty pounds
weight, and in six months he was diminished the astonishing quantity of
one hundred and thirty-four pounds. His health and spirits were much
improved, and considering his remaining size of twenty-three stone, he
was very active.
ANECDOTE OF A SERPENT.