[136] Montfaucon, "L'Antiquite Expliquee," i. 362.
[137] A representation of Death by a skeleton appears among the
Egyptians: a custom more singular than barbarous prevailed, of
enclosing a skeleton of beautiful workmanship in a small coffin,
which the bearer carried round at their entertainments; observing,
"After death you will resemble this figure: drink, then! and be
happy." A symbol of Death in a convivial party was not designed to
excite terrific or gloomy ideas, but a recollection of the brevity
of human life.
[138] "The Accidence of Armorie," p. 199.
[139] A woodcut preserved in Mr. Dibdin's Bibliographical Decameron,
i. 35.
[140] My greatly-lamented friend, the late Mr. Douce, has poured
forth the most curious knowledge on this singular subject, of "The
Dance of Death." This learned investigator has reduced _Macaber_ to
a nonentity, but not "The Macaber Dance," which has been frequently
painted. Mr. Douce's edition is accompanied by a set of woodcuts,
which have not unsuccessfully copied the exquisite originals of the
Lyons wood-cutter.
[141] Goujet, "Bib. Francoise," vol. x. 185.
[142] _Tablature d'un luth_, Cotgrave says, is the belly of a lute,
meaning "all in nature must dance to my music!"