Maximin of Tyre, as evidences to the same custom prevailing amongst the
Scythians, and thinks that Strabo alludes to tobacco in India. (See, for
the Scythians, the _Universal History_.) Logan, in his _Celtic Gaul_,
advances that smoking is of great antiquity in Britain. He says that
pipes of the Celts are frequently found, especially at Brannocktown, co.
Kildare, where in 1784 they were dug up in great numbers; that a
skeleton dug out of an ancient barrow, actually had a pipe sticking
between its teeth when found. (From _Anthol. Hibern._, i. 352.) Halloran
says Celtic pipes are found in the Bog of Cullen. In form, these pipes
were very similar to those in use at this day.
Eulia Effendi mentions having found a tobacco pipe, still in good
preservation, and retaining a smell of smoke, embeded in the wall of a
Grecian edifice more ancient than the birth of Mahomet. (_Med. Chir.
Rev._ 1840, p. 335.) This Dr. Cleland proves to be a lie(?). He proves
the same of Chardin, Bell of Antermony, Mr. Murray, Pallas, Rumphius,
Savary, &c.
Masson describes a "chillum," or smoking apparatus, found embedded in an
ancient wall in Beloochistan. (_Travels_, ii. 157.)
Dr. Yates saw amongst the paintings in a tomb at Thebes the
representation of a smoking party. (_Travels in Egypt_, ii. 412.)
There is an old tradition in the Greek Church, said to be recorded in
the works of the early Fathers, of the Devil making Noah drunk with
tobacco, &c. (Johnson's _Abyssinia_, vol. ii. p. 92.)
Nanah, the prophet of the Sikhs, was born 1419. Supposing him fifty when
he published his _Ordinances_, it would bring us to 1469, or 23 years
before the discovery of America by Columbus. In these _Ordinances_ he
forbade the use of tobacco to the Sikhs; but found the habit so deeply
rooted in the Hindû that he made an exception in their favour. (Masson's
_Beloochistan_, vol. i. p. 42.) Should this be true, the Hindû must have
been in the habit of smoking long before the discovery of America, to
have acquired so inveterate a predilection for it.
If the prophecy attributed to Mahomet be not a fabrication of after
times, it is strongly corroborative, and goes to show that he was himself
acquainted with the practice of smoking, viz.
"To the latter day there shall be men who will bear the name of
Moslem, but will not be really such, and they shall smoke a
certain weed which shall be called tobacco."--See Sale's
_Koran_, ed. 8vo. p. 169.
Query. Is tobacco the word in the original? If so, it is a
stumbling-block.
Lieut. Burns, in his _Travels_, has the following curious statement:
"The city of Alore was the capital of a great empire extending
from Cachemere to the sea. This was conquered by the Mahomedans
in the seventh century, and in the decisive battle they are
reported to have brought fire, &c., in their pipes to frighten
the elephants."
Lieut. Burns conjectures that they must have smoked bang, &c., tobacco
being then unknown.
Buchanan's account of the cultivation and preparation of tobacco in
Mysore, carries with it a conviction that these elaborate processes were
never communicated to them by Europeans, nor brought in any way from
America, where they have never been practised. They strike one as
peculiarly ancient and quite indigenous.
The rapid dissemination of tobacco, as also of forms and ceremonies
connected with its use; its already very extensive cultivation in the
remotest parts of the continent and islands of Asia, within a century of
its introduction into Europe, amounts to the miraculous; and
particularly when we see new habits of life, and novelties in their
ceremonies of state, at once adopted and become familiar, to such
otherwise unchangeable people as the orientals are known to be.
Extraordinary also is the fact that the forms and ceremonies adopted
should so precisely coincide (in most respects) with those in use among
the American Indians, and should not be found in any of the intermediate
countries through which we must suppose them to have passed. Who taught
them the presentation of the pipe to guests, a form so strictly observed
by the Red Men of America, &c.? But the "narghile," the "kaleoon," the
"hookah," the "hubble-bubble," whence came they? They are indigenous.
Great stress is laid on the silence of Marco Polo, Rubruquis,--the two
Mahomedans, Drake, Cavendish, and Pigafelta; also of the _Arabian
Nights_, on the subject of smoking,--and with reason; but, after all, it
is negative evidence: for we have examples of the same kind the other
way. Sir Henry Blount, who was in Turkey in 1634, describes manners and
customs very minutely without a single allusion to smoking, though we
know {156} that twenty years previously to that date the Turks were
inveterate smokers. M. Adr. Balbi insists likewise on the prevalence of
the Haïtian name "tambaku" being conclusive as to the introduction of
tobacco from America. This, however, is not exactly the case: in many
countries of the East it has vernacular names. In Ceylon it is called
"dun-kol" or smoke-leaf; in China, "tharr"--Barrow says, "yen."
The Yakuti (and Tungusi?) call it "schaar." The Crim Tartars call it
"tütün." The Koreans give it the name of the province of Japan whence
they first received it. In the Tartar (Calmuc and Bashkir?) "gansa" is a
tobacco-pipe. In America itself tobacco has many names, viz. "goia,"
"gozobba" or "cohobba," "petun," "y'ouly," "yoly," and "uppwoc." Are
there any proofs of its growing wild in America? At the discovery it was
every where found in a state of cultivation. The only mention I have met
with is in Drake's _Book of the Indians_[3], where he says it grew
spontaneously at Wingandacoa[4], and was called by the natives
"uppewoc." Does not this very notice imply something unusual? and might
not this have been a deserted plantation?
The Indians have always looked to Europeans for presents of tobacco,
which they economise by mixing with willow-bark, the uva-ursi, &c., and
there are some tribes totally unacquainted with its use. M'Kenzie says,
the Chepewyans learnt smoking from Europeans, and that the Slave and
Dogrib Indians did not even know the use of tobacco.
In mentioning the silence of early visitors to the East on the subject
of smoking, I might have added equally the silence of the Norwegian
visitors to America on the same subject.
A.C.M.
Exeter, July 25. 1850.
[Footnote 2: There is no positive notice of its introduction into
Turkey, Persia, or Russia?]
[Footnote 3: Book iv., p. 5., ed. 8vo., Boston.]
[Footnote 4: Virginia.]
The tobacco-plant does not appear to be indigenous to any part of Asia.
Sir John Chardin, who was in Persia about the year 1670, relates in his
travels, that tobacco had been cultivated there from time immemorial.
"Honest John Bell" (of Antermony), who travelled in China about 1720,
asserts that it is reported the Chinese have had the use of tobacco for
many ages. Rumphius, who resided at Amboyna towards the end of the
seventeenth century, found it universal over the East Indies, even in
countries where Spaniards or Portuguese had never been. The evidence
furnished by these authors, although merely traditional, is the
strongest which I am aware of in favour of an Asiatic origin for the use
of tobacco.
Mr. Lane, on the other hand, speaks of the "introduction of tobacco into
the East, in the beginning of the seventeenth century of our era,"
(_Arabian Nights_, Note 22. cap. iii.), "a fact that has been completely
established by the researches of Dr. Meyer of Konigsberg, who discovered
in the works of an old Hindostanee physician a passage in which tobacco
is distinctly stated to have been introduced into India by the Frank
nations in the year 1609." (Vide _An Essay on Tobacco_, by H.W. Cleland,
M.D. 4to. Glasgow, 1840, to which I am indebted for the information
embodied in this reply to Z.A.Z., and to which I would beg to refer him
for much curious matter on the subject of tobacco.)
My own impression is, that the common use of _hemp_ in the East, for
intoxicating purposes, from a very early period, has been the cause of
much of the misconception which prevails with regard to the supposed
ante-European employment of "tobacco, divine, rare, super-excellent
tobacco," in the climes of the East.
J.M.B.
* * * * *
"JOB'S LUCK," BY COLERIDGE.
These lines (see Vol. ii., p. 102.) are printed in the collected
editions of the poems of Coleridge. In an edition now before me, 3 vols.
12mo., Pickering, 1836, they occur at vol. ii. p. 147. As printed in
that place, there is one very pointed deviation from the copy derived by
Mr. Singer from the Crypt. The last line of the first stanza runs thus:
"_And_ the sly devil did not take his spouse."
In the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for February, 1848, there is a poem by
Coleridge, entitled "The Volunteer Stripling," which I do not find in
the collected edition above mentioned. It was contributed to the _Bath
Herald_, probably in 1803; and stands there with "S.T. Coleridge"
appended in full. The first stanza runs thus:
"Yes, noble old warrior! this heart has beat high,
When you told of the deeds which our countrymen wrought;
O, lend me the sabre that hung by thy thigh,
And I too will fight as my forefathers fought."
I remember to have read the following version of the epigram descriptive
of the character of the world some twenty or thirty years ago; but
where, I have forgotten. It seems to me to be a better _text_ than
either of those given by your correspondents:
"Oh, what a glorious world we live in,
To lend, to spend, or e'en to give in;
But to borrow, to beg, or to come at one's own,
'Tis the very worst world that ever was known."
J. Bruce.
* * * * *
ECCIUS DEDOLATUS.
Mr. S.W. Singer, for an agreeable introduction to whom I am indebted to
"Notes and Queries," having expressed a wish (Vol. ii., {157} p. 122.)
"to see and peruse" the rare and amusing satire, entitled _Eccius
dedolatus, authore Joanne-francisco Cottalembergio, Poeta Laureato_, I
shall willingly forward to him a quarto volume which contains two copies
of it, at any time that an opportunity may present itself. In the
meanwhile, he may not have any objection to hear that these are copies
of distinct impressions; neither of them intentionally recording place
or printer.
Four separate and curious woodcuts decorate the title-page of one
exemplar, which was certainly printed at Basil, apud Andream Cratandrum.
The topmost woodcut, dated 1519, is here misplaced; for it should be at
the bottom of the page, in which position it appears when employed to
grace the title of the facetious _Responsio_ of Simon Hess to Luther.
The second copy is in Gothic letter, and has typographical ornaments
very similar to those used at Leipsic in the same year. A peculiar
colophon is added in the Basle edition; and after the words "Impressum
in Utopia," a quondam possessor of the tract, probably its contemporary,
has written with indignation, "Stulte mentiris!" The duplicate, which I
suppose to be of Leipsic origin, concludes with "Impressum per Agrippun
Panoplium, Regis Persarum Bibliopolam L. Simone Samaritano et D. Juda
Schariottide Consulibus, in urbe Lacernarum, apud confluentes Rhenum et
Istrum."
Professor Ranke, referred to by Mr. Singer, was mistaken in assigning
"March, 1520," as the date of _Eccius dedolatus_. The terms "Acta decimo
Kalendas Marcii" are, I believe, descriptive of Tuesday, the 20th of
February, in that year.
Perhaps Mr. Singer may be able to communicate some tidings respecting
the Apostolic Prothonotary Simon Hess, of whom I have casually spoken.
Natalis Alexander (_Hist. Eccles._, viii. 105. Paris, 1699) attributes
the humorous production which bears his name ("Lege et ridebis,"
declares the original title-page) to Luther himself, amongst whose works
it may be seen (tom. ii, fol. 126-185. Witeb. 1551); and it is a
disappointment to read in Seckendorf, "Hessus _Simon_. Quis hic fuerit,
compertum mihi non est." (_Scholia sive Supplem ad Ind. i. Histor._,
sig. 1. 3. _Francof_. 1692.)
R.G.
* * * * *
Replies to Minor Queries.
_Hiring of Servants_ (Vol. ii., p. 89.).--It was provided by several old
statutes, the first of which was passed in 1349, that all able-bodied
persons who had no evident means of subsistence should put themselves as
labourers to any that would hire them. In the following year were passed
several other acts relating to labourers, by one of which, 25 Edward
III. stat. i. c. i., entitled, "The Year and Day's Wages of Servants and
Labourers in Husbandry," it was enacted that ploughmen and all other
labourers should be hired to serve for the full year, or other usual
terms, and not by the day; and further,
"That such labourers do carry openly in their hands, in market
towns, their instruments of labour, and be there hired in a
public place, and not privately."
For carrying into effect these provisions, it would be necessary to have
certain days, and a fixed place set apart for the hiring of servants. In
the former particular, no days would be so convenient as feast days:
they were well known, and were days commonly computed from; they were,
besides, holidays, and days for which labourers were forbidden to
receive wages (_see_ 34 Edw. III. c. 10. and 4 Henry IV. c. 14.); so
that, although absent from labour, they would lose no part of the scanty
pittances allowed them by act of parliament or settled by justices. As
to the latter requirement, no place was so public, or would so naturally
suggest itself, or be so appropriate, as the market-place.
Thus arose in our own land the custom respecting which W.J. makes
inquiry, and also our statute fairs, or statutes; thus called on account
of their reference to the various "Statutes of Labourers." I was not
aware that any usage to hire on all festivals (for to such, I take it,
your correspondent refers) still existed in England. As to France, I am
unable to speak; but it is not improbable that a similar custom in that
country may be due to causes nearly similar.
Arun.
_George Herbert._--J.R. FOX (Vol. ii., p. 103.) will find in Major's
excellent edition of Walton's _Lives_ the information he requires. At p.
346. it is stated that Mrs. Herbert, the widow of George Herbert, was
afterwards the wife of Sir Robert Cook, of Highnam, in the county of
Gloucester, Knt., eight years, and lived his widow about fifteen; all
which time she took a pleasure in mentioning and commending the
excellences of Mr. George Herbert. She died in the year 1653, and lies
buried at Highnam; Mr. Herbert in his own church, under the altar, and
covered with a gravestone without any inscription.
And amongst the notes appended by Major to these _Lives_, is the
following additional notice of Herbert's burial-place. The parish
register of Bemerton states that
"Mr. George Herbert, Esq., parson of Inggleston and Bemerton,
was buried the 3rd day of March, 1632."
"Thus he lived and thus he died," says Walton, "like a saint, unspotted
of the world, full of almsdeeds, full of humility, and all the examples
of a virtuous life, which I cannot conclude better than with this
borrowed observation:
"'--All must to their cold graves;
But the religious actions of the just
Smell sweet in death, and blossom in the dust.'"
Altered from a dirge written by Shirley, attached {158} to his
_Contention of Ajax and Ulysses for the Armour of Achilles_, Lond. 1659,
8vo. See Percy's _Reliques of English Poetry_, vol. i. p. 284.
J.M.G.
Worcester, July 22.
_Lord Delamere_ (Vol. ii., p. 104.).--In Mr. Thomas Lyte's _Ancient
Ballads and Songs_, 12mo. 1827, is a ballad, taken down from tradition,
entitled _Lord Delamere_. It begins as follows, and though different
from the opening lines given by Mr. Peacock, I am inclined to think that
it is another version of the same ballad:
In the parliament house,
A great rout has been there,
Betwixt our good king
And the Lord Delamere;
Says Lord Delamere
To his Majesty full soon,
Will it please you, my liege,
To grant me a boon?
After nine more stanzas, the editor remarks,
"We have not, as yet, been able to trace out the historical
incident upon which the ballad appears to have been founded, yet
those curious in such matters may consult, if they list,
_Proceedings and Debates in the House of Commons for 1621 and
1622_, where they will find that some stormy debatings in these
several years have been agitated in Parliament regarding the
corn laws, which bear pretty close upon the leading features of
the above."
Edward F. Rimbault.
_Execution of Charles I._ (Vol. ii., p. 72.).--P.S.W.E. is referred to
_An exact and most impartial Accompt of the Indictment, Arraignment,
Trial, and Judgment (according to law), of twenty-nine Regicides, &c._,
1660.
Therein he will find minutes of the trial and _conviction_ of one
"William Hulett, alias Howlett," on the charge of having struck "the
fatal blow." How far the verdict was consistent with the evidence (or,
indeed, the whole proceedings of that court with the modern sense of
justice), abler judges than I have long since determined.
On behalf of the prisoner Hulett, witnesses ("not to be admitted upon
oath against the king") deposed that the common hangman, Richard
Brandon, had frequently confessed (though he had also denied) that _he_
had beheaded the king. One of these depositions, that of William Cox, is
so remarkable that I am induced to transcribe it. If it be true,
"Matfelonensis" is certainly justified in saying, "We need hardly
question that Richard Brandon was the executioner."
"_William Cox_ examined.
"When my Lord Capell, Duke Hamilton, and the Earl of Holland,
were beheaded in the Palace-yard, in Westminster, my Lord Capell
asked the common hangman, said he, 'Did you cut off my master's
head?' 'Yes,' saith he. 'Where is the instrument that did it?'
He then brought the ax. 'Is this the same ax; are you sure?'
said my Lord. 'Yes, my Lord,' saith the hangman, 'I am very sure
it is the same.' My Lord Capell took the ax and kissed it, and
gave him five pieces of gold. I heard him say, 'Sirrah, wert
thou not afraid?' Saith the hangman, 'They made me cut it off,
and I had thirty pound for my pains.'"
William Franks Mathews.
_Charade_ (Vol. ii., p. 120.).--I think I can answer Mr. Gatty's Query
as to the authorship of the charade in question. A schoolfellow of mine
at Charterhouse wrote the following:
"What's that which all love more than life,
Fear more than death or mortal strife;
That which contented men desire,
The poor possess, the rich require,
The miser spends, the spendthrift saves,
And all men carry to their graves?"
This was taken from the original copy, and it was certainly his own
invention while at school, and was written about five years ago. I have
not seen him since, and do not like therefore to give his name.
While on the subject of charades, can any of your correspondents inform
me of either the authorship or the answer of the following:
"Sir Hilary charged at Agincourt--
Sooth! 'twas a fearful day!
The Rufflers of the camp and court
Had little time to pray.
'Tis said Sir Hilary utter'd there
Two syllables, by way of prayer--
The first to all the young and proud
Who'll see to-morrow's sun;
The next, with its cold and quiet cloud,
To those who'll meet a dewy shroud
Before to-day's is gone:
And both together to all bright eyes,
That weep when a warrior nobly dies."
I quote from recollection, so perhaps have omitted part, but believe it
to be pretty correct. I heard it at the same time as the one quoted in
No. 31., and believe both to be hoaxes, as no answer I have heard
(including that given in No. 35.) can be considered satisfactory. The
former charade was attributed at the time to the late Archbishop of
Canterbury, and it was reported that a reward of 100l. was promised for
the correct answer, and I know that a clergyman sent him an answer with
that belief. Among the answers suggested was "Tapir," taken in its
various significations, which I think was as near the mark as "Church,"
as given in No. 35.
I have never heard any answer suggested to Sir Hilary's dissyllabic
prayer.
B.H.C.
_Discursus Modestus_ (Vol. i., pp. 142. 205.).--Such of your readers as
have been making inquiries and suggestions respecting _Discursus
Modestus_ will {159} be glad to hear that a copy exists in the British
Museum. Its title is as follows:
"A Sparing Discoverie of ovr English Iesuits, and of Fa.
Parson's proceedings vnder pretence of promoting the Catholick
Faith in England: for a caueat to all true Catholicks, ovr very
louing brethren and friends, how they embrace such very
uncatholike, though Iesuiticall deseignments. Eccles. 4. _Vidi
calumnias quæ sub sole geruntur, et lachrymas innocentium, et
neminem consolatorem_.--Newly imprinted, 1601."
At the end of the Preface are the initials W.W., making it clear that
Watson, the author of _Important Considerations_ and the _Quodlibets_,
was the writer, and accounting for the connection which seemed to exist
between the _Discursus_ and the _Quodlibets_.
The two passages quoted by Bishop Andrewes (_Resp. ad Apol._ pp. 7.
117.) are to be found in p. 13. But the question now arises, from what
earlier book the quotations are taken, as they both appear in the
_Sparing Discovery_ in Latin, and not in English? Did the Jesuits
publish a work containing such statements? or are we to accept them as
their opinions only on the authority of so bitter an opponent as Watson?
James Bliss.
"_Rapido contrarius orbi_" (Vol. ii., p. 120.) is in one of the finest
passages in Ovid:
"Nitor in adversum nec me qui cætera vincit
Impetus, et rapido contrarius evehor orbi."
C.B.
_"Isabel" and "Elizabeth."_--At pages 439. and 488. of Vol. i., "Notes
and Queries," are questions and answers on the names of "Isabel" and
"Elizabeth."
The following, from the _Epigrammaton Joannis Dunbari_, Lond. 1616, may
amuse some of your readers:
"AD. FREDERICUM PRINCIPEM PALATIN. RH.
"Selectam Elector sibi quando elegit Elisam:
Verè Electoris nomine dignus erat."
"AD ELISHABETHAM EIUS SPONSAM.
"El Deus est, ish vir, requiem Beth denique donat:
Hine meritò Elisabeth nobile nomen habet.
Scilicet illa Deo est motore, et Principe primo,
Principis una sui lausque, quiesque viri."
Scotus.
_Hanap_ (Vol. i., p. 477.).--"A cup raised on a stem, either with or
without a cover." (_Arch. Journ._ vol. ii. 1846, p. 263., where may be
found an interesting account of old drinking vessels, &c., many of them
curiously named.)
Jarltzberg.
_Cold Harbour_ (Vol. ii., p. 60.).--There is a place bearing that
designation at Gosport, running along side of Portsmouth harbour,
between the town of Gosport and the Royal Clarence Victualling-yard. I
am at present aware of none other.
J.R. Fox.
* * * * *
MISCELLANEOUS
NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.
The "Percy Society" has just issued _The Anglo-Saxon Passion of St.
George_, from a manuscript in the Cambridge University Library. It is a
work highly creditable to the Society; and in the interesting
Introduction prefixed to it by the Editor, the Rev. C. Hardwick, M.A.,
Fellow of St. Catharine's Hall, he has gratified our national prejudices
by showing the favour which the Saint from whom we take
"Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George"
enjoyed in England before the Norman Conquest. Mr. Hardwick's brief
notice of the Anglo-Saxon allusions to Saint George is complete and most
satisfactory.
Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, of 191. Piccadilly, will sell, on Tuesday
and Wednesday next, the Miscellaneous Collections of the late Rev. J.
Sundius Stamp, including several thousand Autograph Letters of ever
period and class. We need scarcely add that the autographs are classed
and catalogued with Messrs. P. and S.'s usual tact.
We have received the following catalogues:--Bernard Quaritch's (16.
Castle Street, Leicester Square) Catalogue of Italian and French Books;
William Brown's (130. and 131. Old Street, St. Luke's) Catalogue of
Books connected with Wesleyan Methodism.
* * * * *
BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES
WANTED TO PURCHASE.