In the _Athenæum_ I mentioned the rags in which the pixies generally
appear. In _A Narrative of some strange Events that took place in Island
Magee and Neighbourhood in 1711_, is this description of a spirit that
troubled the house of Mr. James Hattridge:
"About the 11th of December, 1710, when the aforesaid Mrs. Hattridge
was sitting at the kitchen-fire, in the evening, before daylight
going, a little boy (as she and the servants supposed) came in and
sat down beside her, having an old black bonnet on his head, with
short black hair, a half-worn blanket about him, trailing on the
ground behind him, and a _torn_ black vest under it. He seemed to be
about ten or twelve years old, but he still covered his face,
holding his arm with a piece of the blanket before it. She desired
to see his face, but he took no notice of her. Then she asked him
several questions; viz., if he was cold or hungry? If he would have
any meat? Where he came from, and where he was going? To which he
made no answer, but getting up, danced very nimbly, leaping higher
than usual, and then ran out of the house as far as the end of the
garden, and sometimes into the cowhouse, the servants running after
him to see where he would go, but soon lost sight of him; but when
they returned, he would be close after them in the house, which he
did above a dozen of times. At last the little girl, seeing her
master's dog coming in, said, 'Now my master is coming he will take
a course with this troublesome creature,' upon which he immediately
went away, and troubled them no more till the month of February,
1711."
This costume is appropriate enough for an Irish spirit; but here may
possibly be some connexion with the ragged clothes of the Pixies. (Comp.
"Tatrman," _Deutsche Mythol._, p. 470.; and Canciani's note "De
Simulachris de Pannis factis," _Leges Barbar._, iii. p. 108.; _Indic.
Superst._) The common story of Brownie and his clothes is, I suppose,
connected. {515}
In some parts of Devonshire the pixies are called "derricks," evidently
the A.-S. "doeorg." In Cornwall it is believed that wherever the pixies
are fond of resorting, the depths of the earth are rich in metal. Very
many mines have been discovered by their singing.
R.J.K.
THE POOL OF THE BLACK HOUND.
In the parish of Dean Prior is a narrow wooded valley, watered by a
streamlet, that in two or three places falls into cascades of
considerable beauty. At the foot of one of these is a deep hollow called
the Hound's Pool. Its story is as follows.
There once lived in the hamlet of Dean Combe a weaver of great fame and
skill. After long prosperity he died, and was buried. But the next day
he appeared sitting at the loom in his chamber, working diligently as
when he was alive. His sons applied to the parson, who went accordingly
to the foot of the stairs, and heard the noise of the weaver's shuttle
in the room above. "Knowles!" he said, "come down; this is no place for
thee." "I will," said the weaver, "as soon as I have worked out my
quill," (the "quill" is the shuttle full of wool). "Nay," said the
vicar, "thou hast been long enough at thy work; come down at once!"--So
when the spirit came down, the vicar took a handful of earth from the
churchyard, and threw it in its face. And in a moment it became a black
hound. "Follow me," said the vicar; and it followed him to the gate of
the wood. And when they came there, it seemed as if all the trees in the
wood were "coming together," so great was the wind. Then the vicar took
a nutshell with a hole in it, and led the hound to the pool below the
waterfall. "Take this shell," he said; "and when thou shalt have dipped
out the pool with it, thou mayst rest--not before." And at mid-day, or
at midnight, the hound may still be seen at its work.
R.J.K.
POPULAR RHYMES.
The following popular rhymes may perhaps amuse some of your readers.
They are not to be found in the article "Days Lucky or Unlucky," in
Brand's _Popular Antiquities_, or in Sir Henry Ellis's notes (see his
edition, vol. ii. p. 27.), and perhaps have never been printed:--
_Days of the Week.--Marriage._
"Monday for wealth,
Tuesday for health,
Wednesday the best day of all;
Thursday for crosses,
Friday for losses,
Saturday no luck at all."
_Moon._
"Saturday new,
And Sunday full,
Never was fine,
And never wool."
_Days of the Week.--Birth._
"Born of a Monday,
Fair in face;
Born of a Tuesday,
Full of God's grace;
Born of a Wednesday,
Merry and glad;
Born of a Thursday,
Sour and sad;
Born of a Friday,
Godly given;
Born of a Saturday,
Work for your living;
Born of a Sunday,
Never shall we want;
So there ends the week,
And there's an end on't."
_How to treat a Horse._
"Up the hill, urge him not;
Down the bill, drive him not;
Cross the flat, spare him not;
To the hostler, trust him not."
_How to sow Beans._
"One for the mouse,
One for the crow,
One to rot,
One to grow."
_January Weather._
"When the days lengthen,
The colds strengthen."
Two German proverbial distiches, similar to the last, are given in
Körte's _Sprichwörter_, p. 548.:
"Wenn de Dage fangt an to längen,
Fangt de Winter an to strengen."
"Wenn die Tage langen,
Kommt der Winter gegangen."
With the first set of rhymes, we may compare the following verses on
washing on the successive days of the week, in Halliwell's _Nursery
Rhymes of England_, p. 42. ed. 3.:
"They that wash on Monday
Have all the week to dry;
They that wash on Tuesday,
Are not so much awry;
They that wash on Wednesday,
Are not so much to blame;
They that wash on Thursday,
Wash for shame;
They that wash on Friday,
Wash in need;
And they that wash on Saturday,
Oh! they are sluts indeed."
L.
* * * * *
Minor Notes.
_"Passilodion" and "Berafrynde."_--Have these terms, which play so
memorable a part in the "Tale of King Edward and the Shepherd" {516}
(Hartshorne's _Ancient Metrical Tales_) been explained? The shepherd's
instructions (pp. 48, 49.) seem more zealous than luminous; but it has
occurred to me that _perhaps_ "passelodion," "passilodyon," or
"passilodion" may have some reference to the ancient custom of drinking
from a _peg_-tankard, since [Greek: passalos] means a _peg_, and [Greek:
passalôdia] would be a legitimate pedantic rendering of _peg-song_, or
_peg-stave_, and _might_ be used to denote an exclamation on having
_reached the peg_.
H.G.T.
_Inscription on an Alms-dish._--In Bardsea Church, Island of Furness, is
an alms-dish(?) of a large size, apparently very old, gilt, and bearing
the following inscription:--
"WYLT : GHY : LANGHELEVEN : SOO : ERT : GODT :
ENDE : HOOVT : ZYN : GEBAT : VORWAR."
Bardsea Church is recently erected in a district taken out of Urswick
parish.
Can any of your readers give an explanation of the inscription?
F.B. RELTON.
[This is another specimen of the alms-dishes, of which several have been
described in our First Volume. The legend may be rendered, _If thou wilt
live long, honour God, and above all keep His commandments_.]
_The Use of the French Word "savez."_--About fifty years ago the use of
the French word _savez_, from the verb _savoir_, to know, was in general
use (and probably is so at the present time) among the negroes in the
island of Barbadoes,--"_Me no savez, Massa_," for, "I do not know,
Master (or Sir)." It occurred to the writer at that time as a very
singular fact, because the French had never occupied that island; nor is
he aware of any French negroes having been introduced there. He had also
been informed of its use in other places, but made no note of it. In the
_Morning Herald_ of the 7th instant there is a statement that the
Chinese at Canton, speaking a little English, make use of the same word.
Can any of your readers give an explanation of this?
J.F.
_Job's Luck_.--I send you another version of Job's luck, in addition to
those that have lately appeared in "NOTES AND QUERIES:"
"The devil engaged with Job's patience to battle,
Tooth and nail strove to worry him out of his life;
He robb'd him of children, slaves, houses, and cattle,
But, mark me, he ne'er thought of taking his wife.
"But heaven at length Job's forbearance rewards,
At length double wealth, double honour arrives,
He doubles his children, slaves, houses, and herds,
But we don't hear a word of a couple of wives."
A.M.
_The Assassination of Mountfort in Norfolk street, Strand._--The murder
of Mountfort is related with great particularity in Galt's _Lives of the
Players_, and is also detailed in, if I recollect aright, Mr. Jesse's
_London and its Celebrities;_ but in neither account is the following
anecdote mentioned, the purport of which adds, if possible, to the
blackness of Mohun's character:--
"Mr. Shorter, Horace Walpole's mother's father, was walking down
Norfolk Street in the Strand, to his house there, just before poor
Mountfort the player was killed in that street by assassins hired by
Lord Mohun. This nobleman lying in for his prey, came up and
embraced Mr. Shorter by mistake, saying 'Dear Mountfort.' It was
fortunate that he was instantly undeceived, for Mr. Shorter had
hardly reached his house before the Murder took
place."--_Walpoliana_, vol. ii. p. 97., 2nd ed.
J.B.C.
_The Oldenburgh Horn_ (Vol. ii., p. 417.) is preserved amongst the
antiquities in the Gallery of the King of Denmark at Copenhagen. It is
of silver gilt, and ornamented in paste with enamel. It is considered by
the Danish antiquaries to be of the time of Christian I., in the latter
half of the fifteenth century. There are engraved on it coats of arms
and inscriptions, which show that it was made for King Christian I., in
honour of the three kings, or wise men, on whose festival he used it, at
Cologne.
W.C. TREVELYAN.
Wallington, Dec. 19. 1850.
[We avail ourselves of the opportunity afforded by Sir Walter
Trevelyan's communication to add from Vulpius (_Handwörterbuch der
Mythologie_) the following additional references to representations and
descriptions of this celebrated horn--which is there said (p. 184.) to
have been found in 1639:--Schneider, _Saxon. Vetust._ p. 314.;
Winkelmann's _Oldenburgische Chronik._ s. 59.; S. Meyer, _Vom
Oldenburgischen Wunderhorne_, Bremen, 1757.]
_Curious Custom_.--In 1833 the late Record Commissioners issued Circular
Questions to the Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, requesting
various information; among such questions was the following:--"Do any
remarkable customs prevail, or have any remarkable customs prevailed
within memory, in relation to the ceremonies accompanying the choice of
corporate officers, annual processions, feasts, &c., not noticed in the
printed histories or accounts of your borough? Describe them, if there
be such."
To this question the borough of Chippenham, Wilts, replied as
follows:--"The corporation dine together twice a-year, and _pay for it
themselves_!" (_Report of Record Commissioners_, 1837, p. 442.)
J.E.
_Kite_ (_French_, "_Cerf-volant_").--Some years ago, when reading Dr.
Paris' popular work called _Philosophy in Sport made Science in
Earnest_, 5th edition, London, J. Murray, 1842, I observed that the
author could not explain the meaning of the French term "cerf-volant,"
applied to the toy so well known among boys in England as a "kite," and
in Scotland as a "dragon." The following passages will solve this
mystery: {517}
"Cerf-volant. Scarabæus lucanus. Sorte d'insecte volant qui porte
des cornes dentelées, comme celles du cerf.
"Cerf-volant. Ludicra scarabei lucani effigies. On donne ce nom à
une sorte de joüet d'enfans qui est composé de quelques bâtons
croisés sur lesquels on étend du papier, et exposant cette petite
machine à l'air, le moindre vent la fait voler. On la retient et on
la tire comme l'on veut, par le moyen d'une longue corde qui y est
attachée."--See _Dictionnaire de la Langue Françoise_, de Pierre
Richelet; à Amsterdam, 1732.
In Kirby and Spence's _Entomology_, vol. ii. p. 224., they mention "the
terrific and protended jaws of the stag-beetle of Europe, the _Lucanus
Cervus_ of Linnæus."
The "toothed horns" alluded to by Richelet are represented by the pieces
of stiff paper fastened at intervals, and at right angles, to the
string-tail of the toy kite, or dragon, so much delighted in by boys at
certain seasons of the year in England and Scotland.
G.F.G.
Edinburgh.
_Epitaph on John Randal._--As a counterpart to Palise's death, I have
sent a Warwickshire epitaph, taken from Watford Magna churchyard,
written about the same period:
"Here old John Randal lies, who counting by his sale,
Lived three score years and ten, such virtue was in ale;
Ale was his meat, ale was his drink, ale did his heart revive,
And could he still have drunk his ale, he still had been alive."
J.R.
_Playing Cards._--As a rider to THE HERMIT OF HOLYPORT'S Query
respecting his playing cards (Vol. ii., p. 462.), I would throw out a
suggestion to all your readers for notices of similar emblematic playing
cards: whether such were ever used for playing with? what period so
introduced? and where? as both France and Spain lay claim to their first
introduction. I see that Mr. Caton exhibited at one of the meetings of
the Archæological Institute this season a curious little volume of small
county maps, numbered so as to serve as a pack of cards (described more
fully in the _Archæological Journal_ for September, 1850, p 306.), and
which I regret I did not see.
W.H.P.
Wanstead, Dec. 13. 1850.
* * * * *
Queries.
DRAGONS: THEIR ORIGIN.
When passing through the city of Brünn, in Moravia, rather more than a
year ago, my attention was drawn to the _Lindwurm_ or dragon, preserved
there from a very remote period. This monster, according to tradition,
was invulnerable, like his brother of Wantley, except in a few
well-guarded points, and from his particular predilection in favour of
veal and young children, was the scourge and terror of the
neighbourhood. The broken armour and well-picked bones of many doughty
knights, scattered around the entrance to the cave he inhabited,
testified to the impunity with which he had long carried on his
depredations, in spite of numerous attempts to destroy him. Craftiness,
however, at last prevailed where force had proved of no effect, and the
Lindwurm fell a victim to the skill of a knight, whose name I believe
has been handed down to posterity. The mode adopted by the warrior to
deceive his opponent, was to stuff, as true to nature as possible, with
unslaked lime, the skin of a freshly killed calf, which he laid before
the dragon's cave. The monster, smelling the skin, is said to have
rushed out and instantly to have swallowed the fatal repast, and feeling
afterwards, as may be readily expected, a most insatiable thirst,
hurried off to a neighbouring stream, where he drank until the water,
acting upon the lime, caused him to burst. The inhabitants, on learning
the joyful news, carried the knight and the Lindwurm in triumph into the
city of Brünn, where they have ever since treasured up the memento of
their former tyrant. The animal, or reptile, thus preserved, is
undoubtedly of the crocodile or alligator species, although I regret it
was not in my power to examine it more particularly, evening having set
in when I saw it in the arched passage leading to the town-hall of the
city where it has been suspended. I fear also that any attempt to count
the distinguishing bones would be fruitless, the scaly back having been
covered with a too liberal supply of pitch, with the view to protection
from the weather.
Have any of your readers seen this _Lindwurm_ under more favourable
circumstances than myself, and can they throw any light on the genus to
which it belongs?
May not the various legends respecting dragons, &c., have their origin
from similar circumstances to those of this Brünn Lindwurm, which I take
to leave strong proof of fact, the body being there? Perhaps some of our
correspondents may have it in their power to give further corroborative
evidence of the former existence of dragons under the shape of
crocodiles. The description of the Wantley dragon tallies with that of
the crocodile very nearly.
R.S., Jun.
* * * * *
JOAN SANDERSON, OR THE CUSHION DANCE; AND BAB AT THE BOWSTER.
Can any of your numerous valuable correspondents give me the correct
date, or any clue to it, of the above dance. There is little doubt of
its great antiquity. The dance is begun by a single person (either a
woman or man), who {518} dances about the room with a cushion in his
hand, and at the end of the tune stops and sings:
"This dance it will no further go!"
[_The Musician answers._]
"I pray you, good sir, why say you so?"
[_Man._]
"Because Joan Sanderson will not come to!"
[_Music._]
"She must come to, and she shall come to,
And she must come whither she will or no."
He now lays down the cushion before a woman, on which she kneels, and he
kisses her, singing:
"Welcome, Joan Sanderson, welcome, welcome."
She rises with the cushion, and both dance about, singing:
"Prinkum-prankum is a fine dance,
And shall we go dance it once again,
And once again,
And shall we go dance it once again?"
Then making a stop, the woman sings, as before:
"This dance it will no further go!"
[_Music._]
"I pray you, madam, why say you so?"
[_Woman._]
"Because John Sanderson will not come to."
[_Music._]
"He must come to," &c.
And so she lays down the cushion before a man, who, kneeling, upon it,
salutes her, she singing:
"Welcome, John Sanderson," &c.
Then, he taking up the cushion, they take hands, and dance round,
singing as before: and this they do till the whole company is taken into
the ring. Then the cushion is laid down before the first man, the woman
singing, "This dance," &c. (as before), only instead of "Come to," they
sing "Go fro," and instead of "Welcome, John Sanderson," &c., they sing,
"Farewell, John Sanderson, farewell," &c.: and so they go out, one by
one, as they came in. This dance was at one time highly popular, both at
court and in the cottage, in the latter of which, in some remote country
villages, it is still danced. Selden, in his _Table Talk_, thus refers
to it:
"The court of England is much altered. At a solemn dancing, first
you have the grave measures, then the _Corvantoes_ and the
_Galliards_, and this is kept up with ceremony, at length to
Trenchmore and the Cushion dance; and then all the company dance,
lord and groom, lady and kitchen-maid, no distinction. (Would our
fair Belgravians of 1850 condescend to dance with their
kitchen-maids?) So in our court in Queen Elizabeth's time, gravity
and state were kept up. In King James's time, things were pretty
well. But in King Charles's time there has been nothing but
Trenchmore and the Cushion dance," &c.
I shall also feel obliged for the date of _Bab at the Bowster_, or _Bab
in the Bowster_, as it is called in Scotland. Jamieson, in his
_Dictionary_, describes it as a very old Scottish dance, and generally
the last danced at weddings and merry-makings. It is now danced with a
handkerchief in place of a cushion; and no words are used. That a rhyme
was formerly used, there is little doubt. Query, What were the words of
this rhyme?
MAC.
Charminster.
* * * * *
DID BUNYAN KNOW HOBBES?
I observe a querist wishes to know the artist of the portrait of Bunyan
prefixed to his works. I can only myself conjecture Cooper, the
miniature painter, but I am also curious about the great author of _The
Pilgrim's Progress_.
First, is Bunyan really the author of "Heart's Ease in Heart's Trouble,"
and the "Visions of Heaven and Hell," published in his works, and
perhaps, excepting "Grace Abounding," the most popular of his received
miscellanies? I think not. My reasons are these. The style is very
different, and much poorer than his best works. In the "Progress," when
he quotes Latin, he modestly puts a side-note [The Latin that _I
borrow_]. In the two tracts mentioned he flashes out a bit of Latin two
or three times where he might have much better used English, or in a
superfluous way. Also it is curious to know that in his "Visions of
Hell" he meets Leviathan Hobbes, the philosopher of Malmesbury. The
passage is curious, for if true, and written by Bunyan, it proves him to
be personally acquainted with Hobbes. I extract it. After hearing his
name called out, Epenetus (the author and visitant of the infernal
regions) naturally inquires who it is that calls him. He is answered,--
"I was once well acquainted with you on earth, and had almost
persuaded you to be of my opinion. I am the author of that
celebrated book, so well known by the title of _Leviathan_!
"'What! the great Hobbes,' said I, 'are you come hither? _Your voice
is so much changed, I did not know it._'"
The dialogue which ensues is not worth quoting, as it is from our
purpose. But I would ask when was the time when Bunyan "was nearly
persuaded to be of Hobbes' opinion?" If he is the author and speaks the
truth (and he is notoriously truthful), it must have been in early
youth; but surely the philosopher of Malmesbury could not know an
obscure tinker. Bunyan cannot speak metaphorically, for he had not read
the _Leviathan_, since he mentions that his only reading in early life,
_i.e._ when he was likely to have embraced freethinking, was the
_Practice of Piety_, and the _Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven_, his wife's
dowry. {519} Moreover, he notes particularly the _change of voice_, a
curious circumstance, which testifies personal acquaintance. Hobbes died
in 1679; Bunyan in 1688. Were they intimate?
JAS. H. FRISWELL.
* * * * *
Minor Queries.
_Boiling to Death._--Some of your correspondents have communicated
instances where burning to death was inflicted as a punishment; and
MR. GATTY suggests that it would prove an interesting subject
for inquiry, at what period such barbarous inflictions ceased. In Howe's
_Chronicle_ I find the two following notices:
"The 5th of Aprill (1532) one Richard Rose, a cooke, was boiled in
Smithfielde, for poisoning of divers persons, to the number of
sixteen or more, at ye Bishop of Rochester's place, amongst the
which Benet Curwine, gentleman, was one, and hee intended to have
poisoned the bishop himselfe, but hee eate no potage that day,
whereby hee escaped. Marie the poore people that eate of them, many
of them died."--Howe's _Chronicle_, p. 559.
"The 17th March (1542) Margaret Dany, a maid, was boiled in
Smithfield for poisoning of three households that shee had dwelled
in."--Howe's _Chronicle_, p. 583.
Query, was this punishment peculiar to cooks guilty of poisoning? And
when did the latest instance occur?
L.H.K.
_Meaning of "Mocker."_--To-day I went into the cottage of an old man, in
the village of which I am curate, and finding him about to cut up some
wood, and he being very infirm, I undertook the task for him, and
chopped up a fagot for his fire.
During the progress of my work, the old fellow made the following
observation:--
"Old Nannie Hawkins have got a big stick o' wood, and she says as I
shall have him for eight pence. If I could get him, I'd soon
_mocker_ him."
Upon my asking him the meaning of the word _mocker_, he informed me it
meant to _divide_ or _cleave in pieces;_ but, not being "a scholar" as
he termed it, he could not tell me how to spell it, so I know not
whether the orthography I have adopted is correct or not.
Can any of your readers give me a clue to the derivation of this word? I
certainly never heard it before.
I ought perhaps to state, that this is a country parish in
Herefordshire.
W.M.
Pembridge, Dec. 16.
_"Away, let nought to love displeasing"._--Is it known who was the
author of the song to be found in Percy's _Reliques_, and many other
collections, beginning--
"Away, let nought to love displeasing."
The first collection, so far as I know, in which it appears is entitled
_Miscellaneous Poems by several Hands_, published by D. Lewis, London,
1726; and in this work it is called a translation from the ancient
British. Does this mean a translation of an ancient poem, or a
translation of a poem written in some extant dialect of the language
anciently spoken in Britain? Either would appear to me incredible.