ever came within our observation. Mr. Charlton, surgeon, of Wylam, near
Newcastle-on-Tyne, having at a late hour been called upon in haste
to give his attendance at Ovingham, borrowed a spirited horse of a
friend, that he might proceed with the least possible delay. He had
not gone above half a mile when he perceived his horse stumble, and
he immediately threw himself from the saddle. It was fortunate he did
so, for the next instant his horse had fallen down a precipice of near
seventy feet; and, incredible as it may seem, the animal sustained no
injury, but immediately dashed into the Tyne, and swam to the opposite
side. Search was made after him, and hearing his master's voice, he was
heard to neigh even across the water in token of recognition, and was
ultimately restored without speck or blemish.
A NATIONAL TASTE FOR GAMING.
It is a remarkable fact that a taste for gaming appears in some cases
to pervade a whole people, and to become one of the chief national
characteristics. No where is this more manifest than among the
inhabitants of the Asiatic Islands.
Games of hazard are the favourites of these islanders. Some of them
they have learned of the Chinese, the most debauched of gamesters, and
others of the Portuguese. The only game of hazard, of native origin,
among the Javanese consists in guessing the number of a certain kind of
beans which the players hold in their hands.
But of all the species of gaming that to which the Indian islanders
are most fondly addicted is betting on the issue of the combats of
pugnacious animals, and particularly the cock. The breed in highest
estimation is the produce of Celebes. The people of Java fight their
cocks without spurs; but the Malays and natives of Celebes with an
artificial spur, in the shape of a small scythe, which, notwithstanding
its barbarous appearance, is in reality less destructive than the
contrivance employed among ourselves.
Quail fighting also is extremely common in Java. The most famous breed
of this bird is found in the island of Lombok; and it is a singular
fact, that the female is used in these bitter but bloodless combats,
the male being comparatively small and timid. Neither do the Javanese
hesitate to bet considerable sums on a battle between two crickets,
which are excited to the conflict by the titillation of a blade of
grass judiciously applied to their noses. They will likewise risk their
money on the strength and hardness of a nut, called _kamiri_; and much
skill, patience and dexterity, are exercised in the selection and
the strife. At other times two paper kites decide the fortune of the
parties; the object of each in this contest being to cut the string of
his adversary. On a favourable day fifty or sixty kites, raised for
this purpose, may sometimes be seen hovering over a Javanese city.
A FRIEND TO PHYSIC.
Mr. Samuel Jessup, who died at Heckington, Lincolnshire, in 1817,
was an opulent grazier and of pill-taking memory. He lived in a
very eccentric way, as a bachelor, without known relatives, and at
his decease was possessed of a good fortune, notwithstanding a most
inordinate craving for physic, by which he was distinguished for the
last thirty years of his life, as appeared on a trial for the amount of
an apothecary's bill, at the assizes at Lincoln, a short time before
Mr. Jessup's death, wherein he was defendant. The evidence on the trial
affords the following materials for the epitaph of the deceased, which
will not be transcended by the memorabilia of the life of any man. In
twenty-one years (from 1791 to 1816) the deceased took 226,934 pills
(supplied by a most highly respectable apothecary and worthy person
of the name of Wright, who resided at Bottesford), which is at the
rate of 10,806 pills a year, or 29 pills each day; but as the patient
begun with a more moderate appetite, and increased it as he proceeded,
in the last five years preceding 1816, he took the pills at the rate
of 78 a-day, and in the year 1814, he swallowed not less than 51,590.
Notwithstanding this, and the addition of 40,000 bottles of mixture,
and juleps and electuaries, extending altogether to fifty-five closely
written columns of an apothecary's bill, the deceased lived to attain
the advanced age of sixty-five years.
AN INCULPATORY EPITAPH.
The following epitaph at West Allington, Devon, is deserving a place in
our record of curiosities, inasmuch as it appears to be a successful
attempt in making a monumental stone, both a memorial of the deceased,
and also a means of reproving the parson of the parish:--
"Here lyeth the Body of
Daniel Jeffery the Son of Michael
Jeffery and Joan his Wife he
was buried y{e} 22 day of September
1746 and in y{e} 18{th} year of his age.
This Youth When In his sickness lay
did for the minister Send + that he would
Come and With him Pray + But he would not ate{nd}
But When this young man Buried was
The minister did him admit + he should be
Caried into Church + that he might money geet
By this you See what man will dwo + to geet
money if he can + who did refuse to come
pray + by the Foresaid young man."
HUNTING A SHEEP KILLER.
It has been remarked, that when once a dog acquires wild habits, and
takes to killing sheep, he does far more mischief than a wild beast,
since to the cunning of the tamed animal he adds the ferocity of the
untamed. A remarkable case of this sort is mentioned in the following
paragraph, which we have copied from the _Newcastle Courant_ of the
year 1823. It is also curious to note the account of the chase, and of
the joy which the whole country-side seems to have manifested at the
slaughter of the animal.--September 21--A few days ago a dog of a most
destructive nature infested the fells of Caldbeck, Carrock, and High
Pike, about sixteen miles south of Carlisle. Little doubt remains of
its being the same dog which has been so injurious to the farmers in
the northern parts of Northumberland, as no less than sixty sheep or
upwards have fallen victims to its ferocity. It was thought proper to
lose no time in attempting to destroy it, and Tuesday last was fixed
upon. Sir H. Fletcher, Bart., of Clea Hall, offered his pack of hounds,
and several other dogs with about fifty horsemen set out from Hesket
New-market. Several persons with firearms were stationed at different
parts. The dog was descried upon an eminence of Carrock-fell, and on
sight of the pursuers set off by way of Hesket New-market, Stocklewath,
and Barwick-field, then returned by Cowclose, Castle Sowerby, and
attempted to gain the fells again, when Mr. Sewell, farmer at Wedlock,
lying in ambush at Mossdale, fired, and succeeded in shooting him. He
appears to be of the Newfoundland breed, of a common size, wire-haired,
and extremely lean. During the chase he frequently turned upon the dogs
which were headmost, and so wounded several as obliged them to give up
the pursuit. The joy manifested on this occasion was uncommon, insomuch
that on the day following about thirty persons sat down to a dinner
provided at Mr. Tomlinson's, Hesket New-market. Upon the most moderate
computation, excluding the various windings, the chase could not be
less than thirty miles, and occupied no less than six hours.
LONGEVITY.
Henry Jenkins, of Ellerton-upon-Swale, Yorkshire, died 1670, aged 169.
He remembered the battle of Flodden Field, fought between the English
and the Scotch, September 9, 1513, when he was about twelve years old.
He was then sent to Northallerton with a cartload of arrows, but an
older boy was employed to convey them to the army. At Ellerton there
was also living, at the same time, four or five other old men, reputed
to be of the age of one hundred years and thereabouts, and they all
testified that Jenkins was an elderly man when first they knew him.
Jenkins was once butler to Lord Conyers; he perfectly remembered the
Abbot of Fountain's Dale before the dissolution of the monasteries.
In the last century of his life he was a fisherman, and often swam in
the river after he was a hundred years old. In the King's Remembrancer
Office in the Exchequer, there is a record of a deposition in a cause,
taken April, 1665, at Kettlewell, Yorkshire, where Henry Jenkins, of
Ellerton-upon-Swale, labourer, aged 157 years, was produced, and made
deposition as a witness. He was buried at Bolton, Yorkshire. In 1743,
a monument, with a suitable inscription, was erected to perpetuate his
memory.
THE PULPIT OF JOHN KNOX AT ST. ANDREW'S.
John Knox, the great precursor of the Protestant Reformation, having
been driven from Edinburgh by the threats of his opponents, reluctantly
withdrew to St. Andrew's, in the county of Fife, where he continued
with undiminished boldness to denounce the enemies of the reformed
faith. It was in that place that he had first discoursed against the
degeneracy of the Church of Rome, and there he occupied the Pulpit
represented in the accompanying engraving; and the following curious
and characteristic anecdote connected with his preaching in it, is
related in the Manuscript Diary of James Melville, then a student at
the college of St. Andrew's, and subsequently Minister of Anstruther.
"Of all the benefits I haid that year (1571) was the coming of that
maist notable profet and apostle of our nation, Mr. Jhone Knox, to St.
Andrew's: who, be the faction of the Queen occupying the castell and
town of Edinburgh, was compellit to remove therefra, with a number
of the best, and chusit to come to St. Andrew's. I heard him teache
there the Prophecies of Daniel that simmer, and the winter following;
I haid my pen and my little buike, and tuk away sic things as I could
comprehend. In the opening up of his text he was moderat the space of
an half houre; but when he onterit to application, he made me so to
_grew_ (thrill) and tremble, that I could not hold a pen to wryt. He
was very weak. I saw him every day of his life go _hulie and fear_
(hoolie and fairly--slowly and warily) with a furring of marticks,
(martins) about his neck, a staffe in the ane hand, and gud godlie
Richard Ballanden, his servand, haldin up the uther _oxier_ (arm-pit),
from the Abbey to the Parish-Kirk; and be the said Richart and another
servant lifted up to the Pulpit, whar he _behovit_ (was obliged) to
lean at his first entry: bot er he had done with his sermone he was sa
active and vigourous, that he was lyk to _ding the pulpit in blads_
(beat it into shivers) and flie out of it."
[Illustration [++] Pulpit of John Knox at St. Andrew's.]
The interesting relique commemorated in this curious extract, is
of that stately style of carving which was introduced towards the
close of the sixteenth century in Protestant preaching-places; and
continued, though of a more heavy character, throughout the whole of
the succeeding century. A scroll-bracket remaining on the preacher's
left hand, and some broken pieces at the top of the back, appear to
indicate that it was once more extended, and had probably a canopy or
sounding-board.
THE BIBLE USED BY KING CHARLES THE FIRST ON THE SCAFFOLD.
[Illustration [++] Bible Used by Charles the First on the Scaffold.]
There is so much external evidence of the genuineness of this very
beautiful and interesting relique, that no doubt can exist as to its
perfect authenticity, though the circumstance of the King having a
Bible with him on the scaffold, and of presenting it to Dr. Juxon, is
not mentioned in any contemporaneous account of his death. The only
notice of such a volume, as a dying gift, appears to be that recorded
by Sir Thomas Herbert, in his narrative, which forms a part of the
_Memoirs of the last Two Years of the Reign of that unparalleled Prince
of ever-blessed memory, King Charles I._ London, 1702, 8vo, p. 129, in
the following passage:--"The King thereupon gave him his hand to kiss:
having the day before been graciously pleased under his royal hand,
to give him a certificate that the said Mr. Herbert was not imposed
upon him, but by his Majesty made choice of to attend him in his
bed-chamber, and had served him with faithfulness and loyal affection.
His Majesty also delivered him his Bible, in the margin whereof he
had with his own hand, written many annotations and quotations, and
charged him to give it to the Prince so soon as he returned." That this
might be the book represented in our engraving, is rendered extremely
probable, by admitting that the King would be naturally anxious, that
his son should possess that very copy of the Scriptures which had been
provided for himself when he was Prince of Wales. It will be observed
that the cover of the volume is decorated with the badge of the
Principality within the Garter, surmounted by a royal coronet in silver
gilt, inclosed by an embroidered border; the initials C. P. apparently
improperly altered to an R., and the badges of the Rose and Thistle,
upon a ground of blue velvet: and the book was therefore bound between
the death of Prince Henry in 1612, and the accession of King Charles
to the throne in 1625, when such a coronet would be no longer used by
him. If the Bible here represented were that referred to by Herbert,
the circumstance of Bishop Juxon becoming the possessor of it might
be accounted for, by supposing that it was placed in his hands to be
transmitted to Charles II. with the George of the Order of the Garter
belonging to the late King, well known to have been given to that
Prelate upon the scaffold, January 30th, 1648-9.
LAMBETH WELLS, THE APOLLO GARDENS, AND FINCH'S GROTTO.
Among the numerous public places of amusement which arose upon the
success of Vauxhall Gardens, which were first opened about 1661, was
one in Lambeth Walk, known as Lambeth Wells. This place was first
opened on account of its mineral waters, which were sold at a penny
per quart. The music commenced at seven o'clock in the morning, and
the price of admission was three pence. A monthly concert under the
direction of Mr. Starling Goodwin, organist of St. Saviour's Church
Southwark, was afterwards held here, and Erasmus King, who had been
coachman to the celebrated Dr. Desaguliers, read lectures and exhibited
experiments in natural philosophy, the price of admission being raised
to sixpence.
This place was open before 1698, and existed as late as 1752, when "A
Penny Wedding after the Scotch fashion, for the benefit of a young
couple," was advertised to be kept there.
Lambeth Wells at length becoming a public nuisance, the premises were
shut up, and ultimately let as a Methodist Meeting-house. The music
gallery was used as a pulpit; but the preacher being greatly disturbed
in his enthusiastic harangues, he was obliged to quit, when the
premises were converted to various purposes, except the dwelling, which
is now known by the sign of the Fountain public-house.
On the site of Messrs. Maudslay's factory, in the Westminster Road,
formerly stood the Apollo Gardens. This place of amusement was opened
in 1788, by an ingenious musician named Clagget, who published, in
1793, a small quarto pamphlet, entitled "Musical Phenomena: An Organ
made without Pipes, Strings, Bells, or Glasses; the only Instrument in
the world that will never require to be re-tuned. A Cromatic Trumpet,
capable of producing just Intervals, and regular Melodies in all Keys,
without undergoing any change whatever. A French Horn answering the
above description of the Trumpet."
The Apollo Gardens had one spacious room elegantly fitted up, and
decorated in taste suitably to its intention. The gardens consisted
of a number of elegant pavilions or alcoves, well adapted for the
accommodation of different companies; they were ornamented chiefly with
a succession of paintings, relating to romantic histories, particularly
the different adventures of Don Quixote. It had a fine orchestra
erected in the centre of the gardens. The place being ultimately
converted into a receptacle for loose and dissolute characters, the
magistracy very properly suppressed it about the year 1799.
In Gravel Lane, Southwark, was Finch's Grotto, a public garden and
place of amusement, so named from William Finch, the proprietor. The
Grotto was opened to the public in 1770 upon the plan of Vauxhall
gardens. An orchestra and a band of musicians, added to the rural
character of the place, and drew a numerous body of visitors.
Very little is known about the Grotto, but it is supposed to have been
closed early in the present century.
THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS, OR, ORNITHORYNCHUS PARADOXUS.
[Illustration [++] Duck-billed Platypus.]
Of the genus _Ornithorynchus_ only one species--the _Paradoxus_--has
yet been discovered in the whole world, and it is, therefore, one of
the great curiosities of animal life. It appears to be a union of a
quadruped and a bird, and is only to be found in New Holland, where it
inhabits the reeds by the side of rivers. Our engraving represents it
very accurately. It is about twenty inches long, having a flattened
body, somewhat like the otter, and is clothed with a dark soft fur.
The elongated nose very much resembles the beak of a duck, like which
these animals feed upon water insects, shell-fish, and aquatic plants.
The feet are five-toed and webbed, and in the fore-feet this membrane
extends beyond the nails: the male is armed with a spur on each hind
leg. This curious animal, in which a duck's beak is united to the body
of a quadruped, rolls itself up like a hedgehog, when it sleeps in its
burrows on the banks of the streams whence its food is derived.
ORIGIN OF BOLTON ABBEY.
About midway up the Vale of Bolton, amidst the gloomy recesses of
the woods, the Wharfe, which is otherwise a wide and shallow river,
is suddenly contracted by two huge rocks, which approach each other
so nearly, that the country folk, or rather the villagers, call it
the _Strid_, because adventurous people stride or leap from one rock
to the other. In ancient days, the whole of this valley belonged to
Baron Romillie, whose eldest son having died, left a younger brother,
of the name of EGREMONT, sole heir of the domains and inheritance of
this family. One day, however, when this young man, familiarly called
the "Boy of Egremont," was returning from hunting with the hounds in
the _leash_, he, as he had done many times before, was going to leap
the _Strid_, when, just as he had attempted it, the hounds held back,
and precipitated him headlong into the deep and awful chasm, which the
impetuous fall of water (thus produced by the sudden contraction of the
river) had worn in the base of the two rude rocks, and he was never
seen afterwards. The Baron, being now left childless, built the Abbey,
and endowed it with the domains of Bolton.
LENGTH OF LIFE WITHOUT BODILY EXERCISE.
The Rev. William Davies, Rector of Staunton-upon-Wye, and Vicar of
All Saints, Hereford, died 1790, aged 105. The life of this gentleman
displays one of the most extraordinary instances of departure from all
those rules of temperance and exercise, which so much influence the
lives of the mass of mankind, that is, probably to be found in the
whole records of longevity. During the last thirty-five years of his
life, he never used any other exercise than that of just slipping his
feet, one before the other, from room to room; and they never after
that time were raised, but to go down or up stairs, a task, however, to
which he seldom subjected himself. His breakfast was hearty; consisting
of hot _rolls well buttered_, with a plentiful supply of tea or coffee.
His dinner was substantial, and frequently consisted of a variety of
dishes. At supper he generally eat hot roast meat, and always drank
wine, though never to excess. Though nearly blind for a number of
years, he was always cheerful in his manners, and entertaining in his
conversation, and was much beloved by all who knew him. He had neither
gout, stone, paralysis, rheumatism, nor any of those disagreeable
infirmities which mostly attend old age; but died peaceably in the
full possession of all his faculties, mental and corporeal, save his
eyesight. Like most long livers he was very short of stature.
EXTRAORDINARY FASHION IN CIGARS.
A taste for tobacco in some form or other seems to extend over the
whole inhabitable globe. In this respect it matters not whether nations
are civilized or uncivilized; and however completely they may differ
from each other in everything else, they all agree in a fondness for
"the weed." In the mode, however, of indulging in the luxury, there is
the greatest diversity, and no where is this more strikingly manifested
than in the Philippine Islands.
"It is not till evening that the inhabitants of the higher class begin
to stir; till that time they are occupied in eating, sleeping, and
smoking tobacco, which is no where more general than on the island of
Luzon; for children, before they can walk, begin to smoke segars. The
women carry their fondness for it to a greater height than the men;
for, not content with the usual small segars, they have others made
for them, which are a foot long and proportionably thick. These are
here called the women's segars, and it is a most ludicrous sight to see
elegant ladies taking their evening walk, with these burning brands in
their mouths."
How widely does the fashion in Luzon differ from the fashion at Paris!
NOVEL WAY OF PURCHASING A HUSBAND.
The following paragraph, which we have copied from a magazine of 1790,
not only gives us a curious instance of female determination in the
pursuit of a husband, but tells us of the price which human hair was
worth at the period when ladies wore such monstrous head-dresses of
false curls.
"An Oxfordshire lass was lately courted by a young man of that country,
who was not willing to marry her unless her friends could advance
50_l._ for her portion; which they being incapable of doing, the lass
came to London to try her fortune, where she met with a good chapman
in the Strand, who made a purchase of her hair (which was delicately
long and light), and gave her _sixty pounds_ for it, being 20 ounces
at 3_l. an ounce_; with which money she joyfully returned into the
country, and bought her a husband."
GLOVES.--ORIGIN OF "PIN MONEY."
Gloves were very common as New Year's gifts. For many hundreds of years
after their introduction into England in the 10th century, they were
worn only by the most opulent classes of society, and hence constituted
a valuable present. They are often named in old records. Exchange of
gloves was at one period a mode of investiture into possession of
property, as amongst the ancient Jews was that of a shoe or sandal; and
"glove-money" is to this day presented by High Sheriffs to the officers
of their courts, upon occasion of a maiden assize, or one in which
no cause is tried. Pins, which at the commencement of the sixteenth
century displaced the wooden skewers previously in use, became a
present of similar consequence; and at their first introduction were
considered of so much importance in female dress, that "pin-money" grew
into the denomination of dower, which, by the caution of parents, or
justice of a consort, was settled upon a lady at her marriage.
HABITS AND HABITATIONS OF THE DYAKS OF BORNEO.