volume—an account of the privy expenses of Charles II., kept by Baptist
May. A few extracts from Malone's transcripts are here subjoined:—
£ _s._ _d._
My Lord St. Alban's bill, 1,746 18 11
Lady Castlemaine's debts, 1,116 1 0
For grinding cocoanuts, 5 8 0
Paid Lady C, play-money, 300 0 0
For a band of music, 50 0 0
For a receipt for chocolate 227 0 0
Lady C, play-money, 300 0 0
Mr. Knight, for bleeding the king, 10 0 0
Mr. Price, for milking the asses, 10 0 0
Lady C, play-money, 300 0 0
To one that showed tumbler's tricks, 5 7 6
For weighing the King, 1 0 0
The Queen's allowance, 1,250 0 0
Lost by the King at play on twelfth-night, 220 0 0
Nell Gwyn, 100 0 0
For 3,685 ribbons for healing, 107 10 4
Lord Landerdale, for ballads, 5 0 0
Paid what was borrowed for the Countess
of Castlemaine, 1,650 0 0
_First Brick House in Philadelphia._
The following editorial announcement is taken from the Philadelphia
_Weekly Mercury_ of November 30th, 1752, because it is a novelty in its
way, and also affords an insight into the degree of communication which
existed at the time between large towns and the provinces:—
"On Monday next the Northern Post sets out from New York, in order to
perform his stage but once a fortnight, during the winter quarter; the
Southern Post changes also, which will cause this paper to come out on
Tuesdays during that time. The colds which have infested the Northern
Colonies have also been troublesome here; few families have escaped the
same, several have been carry'd off by the cold, among whom was David
Brintnall, in the 77th year of his age; he was the first man that had a
brick house in the city of Philadelphia, and was much esteem'd for his
just and upright dealing. There goes a report here that the Lord
Baltimore and his lady are arrived in Maryland, but the Southern Post
being not yet come in, the said report wants confirmation."
_The Pillory in Philadelphia._
Among the local items of news in the _Pennsylvania Gazette_, published
in Philadelphia, and bearing date of November 4th, 1772, is recorded the
following:—
"At the Mayor's Court, held in this city last week, John Underwood, for
counterfeiting and passing counterfeit money, of this province, was
ordered to be whipt, stand in the pillory, and have both his ears cut
off and nailed to the post; others were ordered to be whipt and stand in
the pillory for divers felonies, and five more to receive the discipline
of the post, which was put in execution on Saturday last."
_One Hundred Years too Soon._
The following appears in _Baker's Chronicle, sub anno 1524_:
"In this yeere, through bookes of prognostications, fore-showing much
hurt by waters and floods, many persons withdrew themselves to high
grounds for feare of drowning; specially one Bolton, prior of St.
Bartholomew's, in Smithfield, builded him an house upon Harrow on the
hill, and thither went and made provision for two moneths. These great
waters should have fallen in February, but, no such thing happening, the
astronomers excused themselves by saying, that, in the computation, they
had miscounted in their number an hundred yeeres."
_The Manner of Watchmen Imitating the Clock at Herrnhuth, in Germany._
VIII.—Past eight o'clock! O, Herrnhuth, do thou ponder;
Eight souls in Noah's Ark were living yonder.
IX.—'Tis nine o'clock! ye brethren, hear it striking;
Keep hearts and houses clean, to our Saviour's liking.
X.—Now, brethren, hear, the clock is ten and passing;
None rest but such as wait for Christ's embracing.
XI.—Eleven is past! Still at this hour eleven
The Lord is calling us from earth to heaven.
XII.—Ye brethren, hear, the midnight clock is humming;
At midnight our great Bridegroom will be coming.
I.—Past one o'clock! The day breaks out of darkness;
Great Morning Star appear, and break our hardness.
II.—'Tis two! On Jesus wait this silent season,
Ye two so near related, Will and Reason.
III.—The clock is three! The blessed three doth merit
The best of praise, from body, soul and spirit.
IV.—'Tis four o'clock! When three make supplication,
The Lord will be the fourth on that occasion.
V.—Five is the clock! Five virgins were discarded,
While five with wedding garments were rewarded.
VI.—The clock is six, and I go off my station.
Now, brethren, _watch yourselves for your salvation_.
_Household Rules in the Sixteenth Century._
From Sir J. Harrington's (the translator of Ariosto) rules for servants,
we obtain a very clear conception of the internal government of a
country gentleman's house in 1566—
A servant who is absent from prayers to be fined.
For uttering an oath, 1_d._; and the same sum for leaving a door open.
A fine of 2_d._ from Michaelmas to Lady Day, for all who are in bed
after seven, or out after nine.
A fine of 1_d._ for any bed unmade, fire unlit, or candle-box uncleaned,
after eight.
A fine of 4_d._ for a man detected teaching the children obscene words.
A fine of 1_d._ for any man waiting without a trencher, or who is absent
at a meal.
For any one breaking any of the butler's glass, 12_d._
A fine of 2_d._ for any one who has not laid the table for dinner by
half-past ten, or the supper by six.
A fine of 4_d._ for any one absent without leave.
For any man striking another, a fine of 1_d._
For any follower visiting the cook, 1_d._
A fine of 1_d._ for any man appearing in a foul shirt, untied shoes, or
torn doublet.
A fine of 1_d._ for any stranger's room left for four hours after he has
dressed.
A fine of 1_d._ if the hall be not cleansed by eight in winter and seven
in summer.
The porter to be fined 1_d._ if the court-gate be not shut during meals.
A fine of 3_d._ if the stairs be not cleaned every Friday after dinner.
All these fines were deducted by the steward at the quarterly payment of
wages.
_Hindoo Oaths._
The Hindoos regard the Ganges as a sacred river. It is a common practice
in British Courts to "swear" Hindoo witnesses upon the waters of the
Ganges, just as Christians are sworn upon the Bible.
_Saturday a Fatal Day to the Royal Family of England._
Saturday has been a fatal day to the royal family of England during the
last hundred and sixty years, as is shown by the following list:—
William III. died Saturday, March 18th, 1702.
Queen Anne died Saturday, August 1st, 1714.
George I. died Saturday, June 10th, 1727.
George II. died Saturday, October 25th, 1760.
George III. died Saturday, January 29th, 1820.
George IV. died Saturday, June 26th, 1830.
Duchess of Kent died Saturday, March 16th, 1861.
Prince Albert died Saturday, December 14th, 1861.
Princess Alice died Saturday, December 14th, 1878.
_Edicts Against Fiddlers._
An idea may be formed of the strictness with which all popular
amusements were prohibited when the Puritans had the ascendency, from
the fact that in 1656-7 Oliver Cromwell prohibited all persons called
fiddlers or minstrels from playing, fiddling or making music in any inn,
ale-house or tavern, etc. If they proffered themselves, or offered to
make music, they were adjudged to be rogues and vagabonds, and were to
be proceeded against as such.
_John O'Gaunt's Will._
Perhaps the shortest deed of land by a will in the world is the
following:—
"I, John of Gaunt,
Do give and do grant
To John of Burgoyne
And the heirs of his loin,
Both Sutton and Potton
Until the world's rotten."
It is by this tenure, it is said, that the estates of Sutton and Potton,
in the county of Bedford, England, are now held by the house of
Burgoyne.
_Eccentric Will._
Mr. Tuke, of Wath, near Rotherham, England, who died in 1810, bequeathed
one penny to every child that attended his funeral (there came from six
to seven hundred); 1_s._ to every poor woman in Wath; 10_s._ 6_d._ to
the ringers to ring one peal of grand bobs, which was to strike off
while they were putting him into the grave. To his natural daughter, £4
4_s._ per annum. To his old and faithful servant, Joseph Pitt, £21 per
annum. To an old woman who had for eleven years tucked him up in bed, £1
1_s._ only. Forty dozen penny loaves to be thrown from the church leads
at twelve o'clock on Christmas day forever. Two handsome brass
chandeliers for the church, and £20 for a set of new chimes.
_Curious Custom at Strasbourg._
At Strasbourg they exhibit a large French horn, the history of which is
as follows:—
About four hundred years ago the Jews formed a conspiracy to betray the
city, and with this identical horn they intended to give the enemy
notice when to attack. The plot, however, was discovered; many of the
Jews were burnt alive; the rest were plundered of their money and
effects, and banished the town. This horn is sounded twice every night
from the battlements of the steeple in gratitude for the deliverance.
The Jews deny the facts of this story, excepting the murdering and
pillaging of their countrymen. They say the whole story is fabricated to
furnish a pretext for the robberies and murders, and assert that the
steeple of Strasbourg, as has been said of the monument of London,
"Like a tall bully lifts the head and lies."
_Tooth-Picks._
In the fourteenth century it was the fashion to carry tooth-picks of
silver suspended round the neck by a chain.
_Phantom Menageries._
"The Magick of Kirami, King of Persia, and of Harpocration," printed in
the year 1685, contains the following:—
"The hyena is a four-footed animal, savage and ambiguous; for this
creature is born female, and, after a year, turns male, and then, for
the next year, turns female again, and brings forth and gives suck; and
the gall of this animal, being sweet, has efficacy for a miracle; and a
great miracle is made of it; and this is the composition: Take the eyes
of the fish glaucus, and the right eye of the said hyena, and all that
is liquid of the said hyena; dissolve all together, and pot it up in a
glass vessel, covering it well. If, therefore, you will show a great
miracle, when you have set a light, mix the fat of any creeping thing,
or four-footed beast you please, with a little of the foresaid
composition; if you anoint the wick of the lamp or candle, they will
think it is the beast of which it is the fat, whether of a lion, bull,
serpent, or any other creature. If you put a little of the confection
upon burning coals, in the middle of the house, the beast will appear
whose fat you mixed with it. And you may do the same with birds. And if
you mix a little sea-water with the composition, and sprinkle among the
guests, they will all fly, thinking that the sea is in the midst of
them."
_Curious Law._
The following curious law was enacted during the reign of Richard I.,
for the government of those going by sea to the Holy Land: "He who kills
a man on shipboard, shall be bound to the dead body and thrown into the
sea; if the man is killed on shore, the slayer shall be bound to the
dead body and buried with it. He who shall draw his knife to strike
another, or who shall have drawn blood from him, to lose his hand; if he
shall have only struck with the palm of the hand, without drawing blood,
he shall be thrice ducked in the sea."
_Curious Historical Coincidence._
The following curious historical coincidence has been remarked in the
life of Thomas a-Becket, who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by
Henry II.:—
The dignity was conferred upon him on a Tuesday; Tuesday brought him
face to face with the peers of Northampton; he was banished from England
on a Tuesday; he had a celestial visit on a Tuesday, foretelling his
"martyrdom;" he came home from exile on a Tuesday; he was slain at the
altar on a Tuesday, and was canonized as a saint on a Tuesday.
_Born within the Sound of Bow Bells._
One of the most celebrated peals of bells in London is that of St.
Mary-le-bow, Cheapside, which forms the basis of a proverbial expression
meant to mark emphatically a London nativity. Brand speaks of a
substantial endowment by a citizen for the ringing of Bow-bells every
morning to wake up the London apprentices.
_Refreshments for the Pulpit._
In the books of Darlington parish church, the following items appear,
which show that, in the olden time, provision was made for comforting
the inner man:—
"Six quarts of sack to the minister who preached when he had no minister
to assist, 9_s._; for a quart of sack bestowed on Jillett, when he
preached, 2_s._ 6_d._; for pint of brandy when George Bell preached
here, 1_s._ 4_d._; for a stranger who preached, a dozen of ale. When the
Dean of Durham preached here, spent in a treat in the house, 3_s._
6_d._"
_Birthdays._
It is not generally known that the custom of keeping birthdays is many
thousand years old. It is recorded in the fortieth chapter of Genesis,
twentieth verse: "And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's
birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants."
_Toppling Flower Pots._
An Act of Parliament was passed to "put down" the flower pots, "which
were accustomed to topple on the _walkers'_ heads, from the windows of
houses wherein flower-fanciers dwelt."
_Electioneering in 1640._
In Sir Henry Slingsby's diary is the following entry respecting the
election at Knaresborough, in 1640: "There is an evil custom at such
elections, to bestow wine on all the town, which cost me sixteen pounds
at least."
_Monks Ordered to Shave._
In the year 1200 the Council of Lateran ordered the monks to shave off
their beards, "lest in the ceremony of receiving the sacrament, the
beard might touch the bread and wine, or crumbs and drops fall and stick
upon it."
_Odd Bill for Repairs._
One meets with curious things in the old church registers of England.
The subjoined, in the Record Office of Winchester Cathedral, dated 1182,
is certainly unique. It is a bill for work done:—
_s._ _d._
To soldering and repairing St. Joseph, 0 8
To cleaning and ornamenting the Holy Ghost, 0 6
To repairing the Virgin Mary and cleaning the child, 4 8
To screwing a nose on the Devil, and putting in the hair
on his head, and placing a new joint in his tail, 5 6
_Antiquity of Riddles._
Riddles are of the highest antiquity. The oldest one on record is in the
book of Judges, xiv. 14-18. We are told by Plutarch that the girls of
his time worked at netting or sewing, and the most ingenious made
riddles. The following riddle is attributed to Cleobolus, one of the
seven wise men of Greece, who lived about 570 years before the birth of
Christ:—
"There is a father with twice six sons; these sons have thirty daughters
apiece, parti-colored, having one cheek white and the other black, who
never see each other's faces, nor live more than twenty-four hours."
_Cashing Lottery Prizes._
In the State Lottery of 1739, tickets, chances and shares were "bought
and sold by Richard Shergold, printer, at his office at the Union
Coffee-house over and against the Royal Exchange, Cornhill." He
advertised that he kept numerical books during the drawing, and a book
wherein buyers might register their numbers at sixpence each; that
_fifteen per cent. was to be deducted_ out of the prizes, which were to
be paid at the bank in fifty days after the drawing. The heavy
percentage demanded occasioned the following epigram:—
"This lottery can never thrive,"
Was broker heard to say,
"For who but fools will ever give
Fifteen per cent. to play?"
A sage, with his accustomed grin,
Replied, "I'll stake my doom,
That if but half the fools come in
The wise will find no room!"
_Lottery for Women in India._
_Advertisement._—BE IT KNOWN, that SIX FAIR PRETTY YOUNG LADIES, with
two sweet and engaging young children, lately imported from Europe,
having roses of health blooming on their cheeks and joy sparkling in
their eyes, possessing amiable manners and highly accomplished, whom the
most indifferent cannot behold without expressions of rapture, are to be
RAFFLED FOR next door to the British gallery. SCHEME: _Twelve tickets_
at twelve rupees each; the highest of the three throws takes the most
fascinating, &c., &c.—_Calcutta Newspaper of September 3rd_, 1818.
_Ancient Lottery._
In 1612, King James I., "in special favour for the plantation of English
colonies in Virginia, granted a Lottery to be held at the west end of
St. Paul's; whereof one Thomas Sharplys, a taylor of London, had the
chief prize, which was four thousand crowns in fair plate."—_Baker's
Chronicles._
_Child Played For._
In October, 1735, a child of James and Elizabeth Leesh, of
Chester-le-street, in the county of Durham, was _played for at cards_,
at the sign of the Salmon, one game, four shillings against the child,
by Henry and John Trotter, Robert Thomson and Thomas Ellison, which was
won by the latter two and delivered to them accordingly.—_Syke's Local
Records_, page 79.
_Lotteries._
The change in public opinion respecting lotteries is strikingly
illustrated by the following entry in the day-book kept by the Rev.
Samuel Seabury, father of the first Protestant Episcopal Bishop in the
United States: "June, 1768. The ticket number 5866, by the blessing of
God, in the Lighthouse and Public Lottery of New York, appointed by law,
Anno Domini, 1763, drew in my favor £500 0_s._ 0_d._, of which I
received £425 0_s._ 0_d._, which, with the deduction of fifteen per
cent., makes £500, for which I now record to my Posterity my thanks and
praise to Almighty God the giver of all good gifts. Amen!"
_Babes in the Wood._
This popular legend was a disguised recital of the reported murder of
his young nephews by Richard III. Throughout the tale there is a marked
resemblance to several leading facts connected with the king and his
brother's children, as well as a correspondence with historical details.
In an old black-letter copy of the ballad there is a rude
representation of a stag, which is significant, because a stag was the
badge of the unfortunate Edward V.
_A Little Bird Told Me._
This expression comes from Ecclesiastes x. 20: "For a bird of the air
shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter."
_Dead Drunk for Twopence._
From the "Gentleman's Magazine" (1736), we learn that at some of the
taverns where the poorer classes drank to excess, the signs bore the
following inscription: "_Drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence,
clean straw for nothing._" This record gives reality to the inscription
in Hogarth's print of "Gin-lane."
_How the Prophecy of the Destruction of Bath came About._
On the 30th of March, 1809, the destruction of the city of Bath was to
have been effected by a convulsion of the earth, which should cause
"Beaconhill to meet Beechen Cliff." This inauspicious juncture was said
to have been foretold by an old woman who had derived her information
from an angel. This reported prophecy rendered many of the inhabitants
uneasy, and instigated crowds of visitors to quit the city. The
portentous hour—twelve o'clock—passed, and the believers were ashamed
of their credulity. The alarm is said to have originated with two noted
cock-feeders, who lived near the before-mentioned hills; they had been
at a public house, and, after much boasting on both sides, made a match
to fight their favorite cocks on Good Friday; but fearing the
magistrates might interfere, if it became public, they named the cocks
after their respective walks, and in the agreement it was specified that
"Mount Beacon would meet Beechen Cliff, precisely at 12 o'clock on Good
Friday." The match was mentioned with cautions of secresy to their
sporting friends, who repeated it in the same terms, and with the same
caution, until it came to the ears of some credulous beings, who took
the words in their plain sense; and, as stories seldom lose by being
repeated, each added what fear or fancy framed, until the report became
a marvellous prophecy, which in its intended sense was fulfilled; for
the cocks of Mount Beacon and Beechen Cliff met and fought, and left
their hills behind them on their ancient sites, to the comfort and joy
of multitudes who had been disturbed by the epidemical
prediction.—_Hone._
_Drop-Letter Retort._
An old gentleman by the name of Page, having found a young lady's glove
at a watering place, presented it to her with the following couplet:—
"If you from your glove take the letter G,
Your glove leaves love, which I devote to thee."
To which the lady returned the following answer:—
"If from your page you take the letter P,
Your page is age, and that won't do for me."
_Dean Swift's Marriage Ceremony._
Dean Swift was applied to, at a late hour on a stormy night, after he
had gone to bed, by a run-away couple, to be married. He answered the
call from his upper chamber window. He told them that as he was
undressed, the weather very threatening, and they, he presumed, in a
hurry, he would marry them as they stood. After asking the necessary
questions, he said—
"Under this window, in stormy weather,
I marry this man and woman together;
Let none but Him who rules the thunder
Put this man and woman asunder."
_Pious Guide-Posts._
In olden times the guide-posts not only pointed out the road, but
furnished texts and maxims upon which to meditate. The following
inscriptions were upon guide-posts in Devonshire, England:—
_To Woodbury, Topsham, Exeter._—Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and
all her paths are peace.
_To Brixton, Ottery, Honiton._—O hold up our goings in thy paths, that
our footsteps slip not.
_To Otterton, Sidmouth, A. D. 1743._—O that our ways were made to
direct, that we might keep thy statutes.
_To Budleigh._—Make us to go in the paths of thy commandments, for
therein is our desire.
_A Bogus Dragon._
A curious anecdote of Jacob Bobart, keeper of the physic garden of
Oxford, England, occurs in one of Grey's notes to _Hudibras:_ "He made a
dead rat resemble the common picture of a dragon, by altering its head
and tail, and thrusting in taper sharp sticks, which distended the skin
on each side till it resembled wings. He let it dry as hard as possible.
The learned immediately pronounced it a dragon, and one of them sent an
accurate description of it to Dr. Magliabecchi, librarian to the Grand
Duke of Tuscany; several fine copies of verses were written on so rare a
subject. At last Mr. Bobart owned the cheat; however, it was looked upon
as a master-piece of art, and, as such, was deposited in the museum."
_Donation to a Fair._
On one occasion Oliver Wendell Holmes sent a letter to the post-office
of a ladies' fair at Pittsfield. On the first page he wrote—
"Fair lady, whoso'er thou art,
Turn this poor leaf with tenderest care,
And hush, Oh hush, thy breathing heart—
The _one_ thou lovest will be there."
On turning the "poor leaf" there was found a one dollar bill with the
subjoined verse—
"Fair lady, lift thine eyes and tell
If this is not a truthful letter?
This is the one (1) thou lovest well,
And nought (0) can make thee love it better."
_Confectionery Decorations._
Probably the ancients exceeded us in the art of decorating
confectionery. After each course in solemn feasts there was a
"subtilty." Subtilties were representations of castles, giants, saints,
knights, ladies and beasts, all raised in pastry, upon which legends and
coat-armor were painted in their proper colors. At the festival, on the
coronation of Henry VI., in 1429, there was a "subtilty" of St. Edward
and St. Louis, "armed, and upon either his coat-armor, holding between
them a figure of King Henry, standing also in his coat-armor, and an
inscription passing from both, saying, 'Beholde twoe perfecte kynges
vnder one coate-armoure.'"—_Fabyan-Dallaway's Heraldic Inq._
_Superscription to a Letter._
A letter upon which the following was written, passed through the
Atlanta (Ga.) post-office:—
"Steal not this for fear of shame—
There is no money in the same;
True, it does a check contain,
But 'tis for baggage on a train."
_In Search of a Looking-Glass._
"When I was last in Lisbon, a nun made her escape from the nunnery. The
first thing for which she inquired, when she reached the house in which
she was to be secreted, was a looking-glass. She had entered the convent
when only five years old, and from that time had never seen her own
face."—_Southey._
_Bleeding for Nothing._
"Whereas, the majority of Apothecaries in Boston have agreed to pull
down the price of Bleeding to sixpence, let these certifie that Mr.
Richard Clarke, Apothecary, will bleed anybody at his shop,
gratis."—_Stamford Mercury_, March 28th, 1716.
_An Astonished Lawyer._