THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
VOL. XVII, NO. 475.] SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1831. [PRICE 2d.
* * * * *
[Illustration: THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH'S COTTAGE, WINDSOR.]
THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH'S COTTAGE, WINDSOR.
They who draw their notions of royal enjoyment from the tinsel of its
external trappings, will scarcely believe the above cottage to have been
the residence of an English princess. Yet such was the rank of its
occupant but a few years since, distant as may be the contrast of courts
and cottages, and the natural enjoyment of rural life from the
artificial luxury--the painted pomp and idle glitter of regal state.
The above cottage stands in the grounds of Grove House, adjoining the
churchyard of Old Windsor. It was built under the superintendent taste
of the Princess Elizabeth,[1] second sister of the present King, and now
known as the Landgravine of Hesse Homburg. To the decoration of this
cottage the Princess paid much attention: it is quite in the
_ornée_ style; and its situation is so beautiful as to baffle all
embellishment.
Grove House, the seat of Lady Dowager Onslow, of whom the Princess
purchased the whole property, was built by Mr. Bateman, uncle to the
eccentric Lord Bateman. This gentleman made it a point in his travels
to notice everything that pleased him in the monasteries abroad; and,
on his return to England, he built this house; the bedchamber being
contrived, like the cells of monks, with a refectory, and every other
appendage of a monastery; even to a cemetery, and a coffin, inscribed
with the name of a supposititious ancient bishop. Some curious Gothic
chairs, bought at a sale of the curiosities in this house, are now at
Strawberry Hill.
Old Windsor gives rise to many more interesting reminiscences; and few
who "suck melancholy from a song" would exchange its sombre churchyard
for the gayest field of fancy. We may be there anon.
[1] Born May 22, 1770; married April 7, 1818, to Frederick Joseph
Lewis, Landgrave of Hesse Homburg, who died April 2, 1829 aged 61.
* * * * *
ENGLISH SUPERSTITION.
(_For the Mirror._)
Sir Walter Scott, in his history of _Demonology and Witchcraft_,
has omitted a tradition which is still popular in Cheshire, and which
from its close resemblance to one of the Scottish legends related by
that writer, gives rise to many interesting conjectures respecting the
probable causes of such a superstition being believed in countries with
apparently so little connexion or intercourse, as Cheshire and Scotland.
The facts of Sir Walter's narration are as follow: vide _Demonology
and Witchcraft_, p. 133.
"A daring horse jockey having sold a horse to a man of venerable and
antique appearance, had a remarkable hillock on the Eildon Hills, called
Lucken Hare, appointed as the place where, at twelve o'clock at night,
he should receive the price. He came, the money was paid in an ancient
coin, and he was invited by the purchaser to view his residence. The
trader followed his guide through several long ranges of stalls, in each
of which a horse stood motionless, while an armed warrior lay equally
still at his charger's feet. 'All these men,' said the wizard in a
whisper, 'will awaken at the battle of Sheriffmoor.' A horn and a sword
hung suspended together at one extremity of the chamber. The former the
jockey seized, and having sounded it, the horses stamped, the men arose
and clashed their armour; while a voice like that of a giant pronounced
these words:--
"Woe to the coward that ever he was born,
Who did not draw the sword before he blew the horn."
Subsequent to this, Sir Walter proceeds to the relation of another
kindred tradition, the incidents of which do not materially differ from
those of the preceding. The scene of the Cheshire legend is placed in
the neighbourhood of Macclesfield, in that county, and the sign of a
public-house on Monk's Heath may have arrested the attention of many
travellers from London to Liverpool. This village hostel is known by the
designation of the Iron Gates. The sign represents a pair of ponderous
gates of that metal, opening at the bidding of a figure, enveloped in
a cowl; before whom kneels another, more resembling a modern yeoman
than one of the 12th or 13th century, to which period this legend is
attributed. Behind this person is a white horse rearing, and in the back
ground a view of Alderley Edge. The story is thus told of the tradition
to which the sign relates:
_The Iron Gates, or the Cheshire Enchanter._
A farmer from Mobberley was riding on a white horse over the heath,
which skirts Alderley Edge. Of the good qualities of his steed he was
justly proud; and while stooping down to adjust its mane, previously to
his offering it for sale at Macclesfield, he was surprised by the sudden
starting of the animal. On looking up he perceived a figure of more than
common height, enveloped in a cowl, and extending a staff of black wood
across his path. The figure addressed him in a commanding voice; told
him that he would seek in vain to dispose of his steed, for whom a
nobler destiny was in store, and bade him meet him when the sun had set,
with his horse, at the same place. He then disappeared. The farmer
resolving to put the truth of this prediction to the test, hastened on
to Macclesfield Fair, but no purchaser could be obtained for his horse.
In vain he reduced his price to half; many admired, but no one was
willing to be the possessor of so promising a steed. Summoning,
therefore, all his courage, he determined to brave the worst, and at
sunset reached the appointed place. The monk was punctual to his
appointment. Follow me, said he, and led the way by the _Golden
Stone_, _Stormy Point_, to _Saddle Bole_.[2] On their arrival at this
last named spot, the neigh of horses seemed to arise from beneath their
feet. The stranger waved his wand, the earth opened and disclosed a pair
of ponderous iron gates. Terrified at this, the horse plunged and threw
his rider, who kneeling at the feet of his fearful companion, prayed
earnestly for mercy. The monk bade him fear nothing, but enter the
cavern, and see what no mortal eye ever yet beheld. On passing the gates
he found himself in a spacious cavern, on each side of which were horses,
resembling his own, in size and colour. Near these lay soldiers accoutred
in ancient armour, and in the chasms of the rock were arms, and piles of
gold and silver. From one of these the enchanter took the price of the
horse in ancient coin, and on the farmer asking the meaning of these
subterranean armies, exclaimed, "These are caverned warriors preserved
by the good genius of England, until that eventful day, when distracted
by intestine broils, England shall be thrice won and lost between sunrise
and sunset. Then we awakening from our sleep, shall rise to turn the fate
of Britain. This shall be when George, the son of George, shall reign.
When the Forests of Delamere shall wave their arms over the slaughtered
sons of Albion. Then shall the eagle drink the blood of princes from the
headless _cross_ (query corse.) Now haste thee home, for it is not
in thy time these things shall be. A Cestrian shall speak it, and be
believed." The farmer left the cavern, the iron gates closed, and though
often sought for, the place has never again been found.
The latter part of the monk's prophecy has been fulfilled. Nixon, the
well-known Cheshire seer foretold the same events in nearly the same
words; but the belief in his dreams of futurity, has been much
diminished by the decease of our late monarch. Recourse has been had, as
in other works of greater moment, to various readings, and the probable
mistakes of early transcribers, and many emendations have been proposed
to supply the place of the name of George, but _adhuc sub judice lis
est_. The Cestrian rustics of the neighbouring villages, still
believe that at midnight the neighing of horses is audible under
Alderley Edge.
H.
[2] All places in the neighbourhood of Alderley Edge and Mobberley.
* * * * *
ANTIQUARIAN SCRAPS.
(_To the Editor._)
I went the other day over the ruins of St. Dunstan's, and whilst gaping
about, saw over one of the portals (inside) an old harp, with an
inscription, which, as far as I could make it out, ran thus:--
St. Dunstan's harp against a wall,
Upon a pin did hang'a,
The harp itself, with ly' and all,
Untouched by hand did twang'a.
The harp was supposed to play by itself on St. Dunstan's Day: ly' means
lyre.
Can any of your intelligent correspondents inform me why there is an
elder tree in all the Palace Gardens?
There is at the back of Old London Bridge, on this side, a street called
"Labour in Vain Hill:" not from the height, but from a stone, on which
are engraved two figures washing a blackamoor.
GEO. ST. CLAIR.
_Dean-street, Soho._
* * * * *
I do not know where your indefatigable correspondent _Zanga_
discovered his curious "Historical Fact," detailed in No. 471 of _The
Mirror_: it is highly amusing, but unfortunately void of truth. The
wife of the first Earl of Clarendon was Frances, daughter of Sir Thomas
Aylesbury, Bart. (now extinct) one of the Masters of Request; by whom he
had issue four sons--viz. Henry, his successor; Lawrence, created Earl
of Rochester; Edward, who died unmarried; and James, who was drowned
while going to Scotland in the Gloucester frigate: also two
daughters--viz. Ann, wife of James, Duke of York, afterwards James II.,
and Frances, married to Thomas Knightly, created a Knight of the Bath.
HENRY CARR.
* * * * *
SELECT BIOGRAPHY.
* * * * *
MEMOIR OF TAM O'SHANTER.
(_For the Mirror._)
Thomas Reid, so celebrated as Tam O'Shanter by Burns, was born in the
Kyle of Ayrshire. His first entrance into active life was in the
capacity of ploughboy to William Burns, the father of the poet, whom
Thomas described as a man of great capacity, as being very fond of an
argument, of rigid morals, and a strict disciplinarian--so much so, that
when the labours of the day were over, the whole family sat down by the
blazing "ha' ingle," and upon no pretence whatever could any of the
inmates leave the house after night. This was a circumstance that was
not altogether to Thomas's liking. He had heard other ploughboys with
rapture recount scenes of rustic jollity, which had fallen in their way,
while out on nocturnal visits to the fair daughters or servant girls of
the neighbouring farmers--scenes of which he was practically ignorant.
And more--he had become acquainted with a young woman he had met at
Maybole Fair; and having promised to call upon her at her father's
house, owing to his master's regularity of housekeeping, he had found it
totally impracticable.
To have one night's sport was his nightly and daily study for a long
time. It so happened that his mistress about this time was brought to
bed. Thomas hailed the bustle of that happy period as a fit time to
compass his long meditated visit. Mrs. Burns lay in the _spence_.
The gossips were met around the kitchen fire, listening to the howling
of the storm which raged without, and thundered down the chimney: it was
a January blast. Thomas kept his eye upon his master, who, with clasped
"hands and uplifted eyes, sat in the muckle chair in the ingle neuk," as
if engaged in supplication at the Throne of Grace for the safety of his
wife and child. Thomas drew his chair nearer the door, and upon some
little bustle in the kitchen, he reached the hallen, and was just
emerging into darkness, when the hoarse voice of the angry Burns rung
in the ears of the almost petrified ploughboy, "Where awa', Tam?"
"The auld doure whalp," muttered Tam, as he shut the door and resumed
his stocking; "I was gaun to the door to see if the win' was tirring the
thack aff the riggin."
"Thou needs na gang to look the night," cried the rigid overseer of
Doonholm, "when it is sae mirk, thou coudna' see thy finger afore thee."
It was indeed "a waefu' nicht." Such a night as this might give rise to
these admirable lines of that bard, about to be ushered into the world--
"That night a child might understand
The deil had business on his hand."
It was a little before the now pensive and thoughtful Burns was given to
understand that a son was born unto him, as
"The wind blew as 'twad blawn its last,
that a horrid crash was heard; a shriek rose from the affrighted women,
as they drew their chairs nearer the fire. "The ghaists and howlets that
nightly cry about the ruins o' Alloway's auld haunted kirk" rose on
every imagination. The gudeman rose from his chair, lighted a lantern,
commanded Thomas to follow him, and left the house. The case was
this--the gable of the byre had been blown down, which, as it was of his
own building, was not of the most durable nature.
In due time the joyful father had his first-born son laid in his arms:
his joy knew no bounds. The _bicker_ was now sent round with
increasing rapidity; and Thomas, then in his fourteenth year, was
carried to his bed, to use his own words, "between the late and the
early, in a gude way, for the first time."--Such was the birth-night
of the poet.
How long Thomas Reid remained in the service of William Burns does not
appear. It is certain, however, that he was with him when Robert first
went to plough, as Thomas has repeatedly told, as an instance of Burns's
early addiction to reading, that he has seen him go to, and return from
plough, with a book in his hand, and at meal-times "_supping his
parritch_" with one hand and holding the book in the other.
It would appear that he had, in process of time, got better acquainted
with his sweetheart at Maybole Fair, for he married her. It was on this
occasion that he rented the Shanter farm, which, with the assistance of
his father-in-law, he stocked and furnished. But fortune went against
him:
"His cattle died, and blighted was his corn;"
and an unfortunate friend, for whom he had become security for
150_l._, failed. Under such a load of ill, he, like many others,
sought for consolation in the "yill cups;" and any errand which served
as a pretext to visit the town of Ayr, renewed his worship to the
"inspiring, bold John Barleycorn;" and he usually returned, like the
Laird of Snotterston,
"O'er a' the ills o' life victorious."
But Thomas had many a domestic squabble. His wife, naturally not of the
sweetest temper, was doubly soured by the misfortunes of the world, and
the dissipation of her helpmate; and often when Tam
"Was gettin' fu' and unco happy,"
she sat at home,
"Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm."
She, like too many in that district at that time, was very
superstitious. Thomas took her by the weak side, and usually arrested
her "light-horse gallop of clish ma-claver" by some specious story of
ghost or hobgoblin adventures, with which he had been detained.
He had now got into such a continued state of dissipation and
irregularity, that he was obliged to leave the farm to the mercy of his
creditors, and opened a small public-house, at the end of the old bridge
on the water of Doon. It was while he was here that Tam O'Shanter made
its appearance. A manuscript copy was sent to Thomas, by post, with this
motto--
Change the name, and the
Story may be told of yourself.
The celebrity of the poem brought numbers to his house, and he sold a
great deal. But his spirit could not brook the brutal taunts and jeers
which every day he was obliged to bear from his customers. He left off
business, and commenced labourer, at which he continued till he got an
offer of a situation as overseer of hedges, on the large estate of
Castle Semple, at that time belonging to William M'Dowall, Esq., M.P.
for Renfrewshire, which he accepted. With short intervals, he remained
there till the day of his death. He was of such a character, that he
considered no man, or class of men, his superior, and no man his
inferior.
Feeling the infirmities of old age approach, Mr. Harvey placed him at
his west gate, as gate-keeper, where he fell into a lingering disease,
which soon put a period to his mortal career. As he had no friends nor
relations (his wife having died about two years before) Thomas had never
cared for to-morrow: he was destitute of the means to support himself
during his illness. The night before he died, he called for a
half-mutchkin of whisky; and (as an acquaintance of his sat by his
bed-side, and who personally informed me) he, taking a glass of it in
his hand, held it between him and the light, and eyed it for some time
with a peculiarly exhilarated expression of countenance, even at such a
crisis;--then, while pleasure sparkled in his eyes, he took his friend
by the hand, and pressing it warmly, exclaimed, "This is the last whisky
I, in all probability, will ever drink, and many and often is the times
I have felt its power. Here's to thee, Jamie, and may thou never want a
drap when thou art dry!" He died the next morning, about eight o'clock.
J.R.S.
* * * * *
THE SKETCH-BOOK.
* * * * *
RECOLLECTIONS OF A WANDERER. NO. V.
_Dawlish's Hole:--An Incident._
The eye looked out upon the watery world--
With fearful glance looked east and west, but all
Was wild and solitary, and the surge
Dashed on the groaning cliff, and foaming rose
And roared, as 'twere triumphing.
N.T. CARRINGTON.
The coast scene near Landwithiel[3] was of so varied and interesting
a character that I was irresistibly led on to examine it very fully
in detail. My sojourn therefore at Mr. Habbakuk Sheepshanks', of the
"Ship-Aground'; (whom I have formerly introduced to the reader) was
prolonged to an extent which sometimes surprised myself, and the various
local stories and traditions of times past, with which mine host,
especially when under the exciting influence of an extra glass of grog,
almost nightly entertained me, essentially contributed to while away
the time. The spot too was so secluded--comparatively unknown: there
is something inseparable from a temperament like mine in so deep a
retirement. To its inhabitants the world and its busy haunts are but as
a tale; yet man in all his varieties is essentially the same. Many a day
have I wandered along the sea-beaten coast--dining perhaps on a headland
stretching far into the sea--or in some secluded little bay, by the side
of a gushing spring; the ocean spread out before me--what object is so
boundlessly or beautifully inspiring? It may be mighty fine philosophy
for those who have passed through the current of life in one untroubled
and unvaried stream, and who have no perception or idea of the deeper
(if I may so express it) feelings of our nature, to call all this
romance; but those who have tasted bitterly of the ills of this world,
and who look back upon times past as doth the traveller in the desert on
viewing from afar the oasis he has left--upon their transitory existence
as a troubled dream--these can feel how deeply solitude amidst the
sublimities of Nature will heal the troubled mind. Is there not a
responsive chord in the hearts of such of my readers? Early one morning,
soon after my arrival at Landwithiel, I proceeded over land to a distant
part of the parish, to visit a ruin situated in a wild and remote spot,
which possessed some degree of historical interest. In the evening I
decided on returning by the coast in order to vary my route. The day
had been clear and sultry, and though the wind blew fresh from the
southward, yet its refreshing influence seemed exhausted by the intense
heat of the sun. In my progress along shore, though it was getting late,
and I was somewhat fatigued, I could not resist the opportunity of
exploring a sort of natural opening or cove in a part of the coast where
the cliffs were unusually precipitous; affording the geologist the
highest gratification; you were reminded indeed of the flat surface of a
stone wall in many parts, which effect the regular stratification of the
rocks contributed to produce; and it required no great stretch of fancy
to imagine it one vast fortification, with loop-holes at regular
intervals--at a short distance from seaward certainly it would be
difficult to divest a stranger of the idea that it was something
artificial. Two high points of rock contracting at their extremities in
a circular direction so as almost to meet, ran into the sandy beach, and
you found on advancing beyond the narrow entrance, a considerable space,
which gradually extended to something like an oblong square, with a
sandy bottom everywhere, surrounded by the same lofty cliffs which
composed the adjacent coast. I was much surprised that I had never heard
of this place before; it had apparently been more the effect of some
natural convulsion than of the encroachment of the sea, and at the
further end was a high mass of shingles, seaweed, and fragments of rock
packed closely together by the tide. On examination I discovered, about
the centre of the shingles, a large stone cross, carved out of a
projecting part near the base of the cliff. It bore simply the initials
W.D. and though the surrounding rocks were thickly covered with seaweed
and barnacles, yet the cross itself was perfectly clean, and bore marks
of recent care. Some singular event had evidently occurred in this
retired and desolate place. I loitered a considerable time in musing and
examining the spot, regardless of the whining and uneasiness of my
Newfoundland dog, Retriever, when I was suddenly and fully aroused by
the sharp echo and plashing of the tide against the rock, within the
entrance of the cove. I now recollected with alarm that it was a spring
flood, and that I had heard the tide sets in on this part of the coast
with extraordinary velocity. I ran hastily forward, expecting to escape
with a mere wetting, along the base of the rocks to an opening which
I had passed about half a mile to the westward. I had just grounds of
alarm. The mouth of the cove as I have already stated, extended some way
abruptly into the beach. On wading to its extremity I found the tide
already breaking in impetuous surf towards the foot of the cliffs, and
it was now so far advanced as to preclude any hope of escape from that
quarter; for the sands shelved in for some way on each side of the
projecting entrance, and if I gained the foot of the cliffs I feared
that I must inevitably be dashed to pieces before reaching the opening.
In the calmest weather on the coast, exposed to all the fury of the
Atlantic, the spring tides come in with a heavy swell; on this occasion
they were aided by the wind, and I had to retreat with precipitation
before an angry and threatening mass of waves, which broke many feet
over the spot I occupied the moment before, with a noise like a
discharge of artillery.
The night was gathering in, and the report of each successive wave,
fraught as it were with my death warrant, struck on my heart like a
funeral knell. Was there no hope of escape in the cove itself? no
difficult path to the rocks aloft? were the questions I rapidly put to
myself. An examination made as well as the darkness of the place
permitted, convinced me that my hopes were vain and transitory. I now
gave way to a sort of momentary despair; every instant was abridging my
chance of life, and the sudden and frightful feeling that you are to be
called on unprepared, to die, rushed on my mind with a choking
sensation. I listened for some time at the entrance of one of the
caverns, which the violence of the sea had excavated in picturesque
confusion round the foot of the cliffs, to the sullen moaning and
dashing of the tide, when my attention was rivetted by the sweet music
of a female voice on the heights above, singing in a wild and elevated
strain. It came over me with a sense so deep and clear, that I listened
for a few minutes as if my life were in every note. At this instant a
fishing boat passed under sail near the mouth of the cove. I shouted
with despair, but my voice was lost in the echo of the rocks; it passed
fleeting by, and with it my last chance of life. The shout had aroused
the strange singer; she arose, advanced to the very extremity of the
precipice, where one quiver would have been certain death, and flinging
her arms towards the ocean, called out as I imagined from her gestures,
to some imagined form. What could this fair apparition mean? I
distinctly saw her tall white figure and hair on the sky line (for the
moon was near rising) fluttering in the wind. She must either be mad or
a spirit, I exclaimed, shouting again and again to her for help; but
either my words were lost in the distance, or she regarded them not, for
she seated herself, and began to sing in the same wild style as before.
This was most extraordinary: a momentary tinge of superstition passed
across my mind, but it was speedily dissipated by the exclusive feelings
of my situation. Slowly did I see the waves dashing forward to their
destined goal, hemming in every chance of escape. I retreated step by
step till I reached the shingles, as if greedy of the space which
measured out to me my last race of life. My existence was in a span.
Great God! I exclaimed, am I then to perish thus--"without a grave,
unkennelled, uncoffined, and unknown"--my once sunny home--those faces
dearer than heart's blood--the days of my childhood passed over my
spirit--my mind was crowded with the images of by-gone days; half an
hour more and this breathing form would be clay. Yet how dreadful a
death! my poor dog howled and looked up in my face as a violent rush of
tide burst against the base of the rocks. Already I imagined the sea
around me, lessening my moments of life inch by inch--the tide bubbling
about my throat as I clung to the rock for help: I fancied I could have
borne any death rather than this lingering misery.
I rallied: my feelings were unmanly. The moon had risen in unclouded
brilliancy, gleaming on the heaving and rippled surface of the dark blue
main; I looked up to the tranquil firmament, and the reflection was
bitter. Pealing along with the voice of the ocean, the wild and lofty
strains from the singular figure aloft, like a gentle brook commingling
its waters with a vast and rapid river--failed not during this time to
keep up my excitement. The sea was now fast covering the shingles; one
chance was yet before me, which the instant I reflected on, I hesitated
not to put into execution. It could at worst be only exchanging one
death for another, and death would have been a boon indeed, rather than
the longer endurance of that deeply agonizing state of suspense. I can
fancy my faithful dog, by his actions, had anticipated this resolution:
his joyful bark as I sprung forward into the waves, still rings in my
ear. He was a dog of prodigious size and strength: holding by his shaggy
neck with one hand, I assisted myself in swimming along by him with the
other, intending after clearing the mouth of the cove, to make for the
opening in the rocks to landward. I felt invigorated with new life,
though the chances against me were still precarious, on account of the
distance, as we went through the plashing waves with the broad expanse
of ocean again before me. The sea was now tolerably calm along shore,
for the tide was far advanced, and I had hardly swam twenty yards from
the mouth of the cove when a Landwithiel fishing-boat came in sight
almost within hail. An involuntary prayer came to my lips; I sung out
with all the energy which the hope of life could produce; she was
alongside in a trice, and in a few minutes I was sailing for Landwithiel
Pier, merrily, at the rate of eight knots an hour. I found on detailing
my adventure, which greatly surprised the fine fellows who picked me up,
that the cove was called Dawlish's Hole; and that the apparition of the
white lady on the rocks was one of flesh and blood, not an airy vision.
"Poor Ellen Dawlish," said Sam Clovelly, my informant, "once the pride
of the parish--poor thing! her day has long since gone by; she is always
worse when the moon's full; but it's a long yarn, sir, and you'll learn
all about her and the wild skipper, as we used to call him, (that's her
husband) far better up at the "Ship-Aground" yonder, than I can tell
you."
The only consequence that resulted from the adventure thus
providentially terminated, was a wet jacket; but a brisk fire, a glass
of grog, and a warm welcome in my host's capacious settle, helped to
banish it from my recollection. My worthy friend, Sam Clovelly, was not
mistaken; my interest, which was deeply awakened, received a strong whet
from the narrative which Mr. Sheepshanks related, and though wearied
with the day's adventure, I did not go to rest till I had heard the
conclusion of his somewhat prolix story. I afterwards happened to know
more, indeed, of the circumstances alluded to; and though the day's
incident was of a frightful nature, yet I look back upon it as the means
of introducing me to the knowledge of events connected with the history
of the last surviving member of an ancient family, to me of deep
interest. I pause: the reader may hear more of the FATE OF WALTER
DAWLISH.
VYVYAN.
[3] Printed by mistake Tor-withiel, in No. II. of these
Recollections: see _Mirror_, vol. xv. p. 356.
* * * * *
OLD POETS.
* * * * *
MELANCHOLY.
Melancholy from the spleen begun,
By passion mov'd into the veins doth run;
Which when this humour as a swelling flood,
By vigour is infused in the blood,
The vital spirits doth mightily appal,
And weakeneth so the parts organical,
And when the senses are disturb'd and tir'd
With what the heart incessantly desir'd,
Like travellers with labour long oppress'd
Finding relief, eftsoons thy fall to rest.
DRAYTON.
* * * * *
LOVE.
Sweet are the kisses, the embracements sweet,
When like desires and affections meet;
For from the earth to heaven is Cupid raised
Where fancies are in equal balance peised.
MARLOWE.
O learn to love, the lesson is but plain,
And once made perfect, never lost again.
SHAKSPEARE.
* * * * *
BEAUTY.
Such colour had her face as when the sun
Shines in a watery cloud in pleasant spring;
And even as when the summer is begun
The nightingales in boughs do sit and sing,
So the blind god, whose force can no man shun
Sits in her eyes, and thence his darts doth fling;
Bathing his wings in her bright crystal streams,
And sunning them in her rare beauties beams.
In these he heads his golden-headed dart,
In those he cooleth it, and tempereth so,
He levels thence at good Oberto's heart,
And to the head he draws it in his bow.
SIR J. HARRINGTON.
* * * * *
SLANDER.
Against bad tongues goodness cannot defend her,
Those be most free from faults they least will spare,
But prate of them whom they have scantly known,
Judging their humors to be like their own.
IBID.
* * * * *
POSTERITY.
Daughter of Time, sincere Posterity
Always new born, yet no man knows thy birth,
The arbitress of pure Sincerity,
Yet, changeable, (like Proteus on the earth)
Sometime in plenty, sometime joined with dearth.
Always to come, yet always present here,
Whom all run after, none come after near.
Impartial judge of all save present state
Truth's _Idioma_ of the things are past,
But still pursuing present things with hate,
And more injurious at the first than last,
Preserving others while thine own do waste;
True treasurer of all antiquity,
Whom all desire, yet never one could see.
FITZ JEFFREY.
* * * * *
WAR.
The poets old in their fond fables feign,
That mighty Mars is god of war and strife,
The Astronomers think that whereas Mars doth reign,
That all debate and discord must be rife;
Some think Bellona goddess of that life.
Among the rest that painter had some skill,
Which thus in arms did once set out the same:--
A field of gules, and on a golden hill,
A stately town consumed all with flame
On chief of sable taken from the dame,
A sucking babe, oh! born to bide mischance
Begored with blood and pierced with a lance
On high the Helm, I bear it well in mind,
The wreath was silver, powdered all with shot,
About the which, _goutte du sang_, did twine
A roll of sable black, and foul be blot
The crest two hands which may not be forgot,
For in the right a trenchant blade did stand,
And in the left a fiery, burning brand.
GASCOIGNE.
* * * * *
MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.
* * * * *
CUSTOM OF BULL-BAITING AT GREAT GRIMSBY.
The amusement of bull-baiting is of such high antiquity in this country,
that Fitz-Stephen, who lived in the reign of Henry II., tells us it was,
at that early period, the common entertainment of the young Londoners
during the winter season; and Claudian says of the English mastiffs--
"Magnaque taurorum fracturi colla Britanni."
The county of Lincoln is eulogized by Fuller as producing superior
dogs for the sport; and in Grimsby bull-baiting was pursued with such
avidity, that, to increase its importance, and prevent the possibility
of its falling into disuse, it was made the subject of an official
regulation of the magistracy. It had been practised within the borough
from time immemorial, but about the beginning of the reign of Henry
VII., the butchers finding it both troublesome and inconvenient to
provide animals for the public amusement, endeavoured to evade the
requisition; but it was made imperative upon them by the following edict
of the mayor and burgesses, which was incorporated into a code of
ordinances that were made and agreed to on the 23rd of October, 1499,
for the better government of the borough:
"Also, that no Bocher flee or kill no Bull flesche wtin this Burgh, nor
that none be brought to sell bot if the Bull be bayted openlye before
the Mair and his burgesses, peon of forfeitr. of ev'y default
vj _s_. viij _d_. Also that the Bochers of this Francheis, and
al others that kepe slaughter shopes and kill flesche in this Francheis,
to sell, mak onys yerly befor the Mair and his burgesses one
bull-bayting, at convenient Tyme of the yere, according to the custom of
this Francheis befor usyd, upon peyn of fortur of vj _s_. viij _d_."
In the reign of Charles I. an instance occurs of the violation of this
ordinance; and it is formally recorded in the mayor's court book, that a
fine was imposed by the chamberlains on Robert Camm for "killing a bull,
and not first baiting him, according to the custom of the corporation."
These sports were conducted with great cruelty. To make the animal
furious, gunpowder was frequently flashed up his nose, and pepper blown
into his nostrils; and if this failed _to make him show game_, his
flesh was lacerated, and aquafortis poured into the wound. About sixty
years ago a bull was put to the stake at Grimsby; but the animal proving
too tame, one William Hall put a spike or brad into his stick, and
goaded the poor creature until the blood flowed copiously from several
parts of his body; and at length, by continually irritating the
lacerated parts, the bull became enraged, and roaring in the extremity
of his torture, succeeded in tossing his assailant, to the infinite
gratification of his cruel persecutors. It is recorded, to the credit of
Mr. Alderman Hesleden, that during his mayoralty, in 1779, the annual
exhibition was disallowed: from which time the custom declined, although
some instances of this inhuman pastime have subsequently occurred.
Strutt says, that in some of the market towns of England, the
_bull-rings_ to which the unfortunate animals were fastened are
remaining to the present time. At Grimsby, the arena where this brutal
ceremony was performed, is still distinguished by the name of the
"Bull-ring." The ancient stone and ring were removed about thirty years
since; but the chain is still in possession of the chamberlains, who
pass it annually to their successors; and it is sometimes applied to the
purpose of fastening up a gate, when a distress is made on a field
belonging to the corporation for rent; but its primitive use is wholly
superseded by the abolition of the amusement.
_Gentleman's Magazine._
* * * * *
NOTES OF A READER.
* * * * *
KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE: OR, THE PLAIN WHY AND BECAUSE.
Part IV.--_Zoology--Birds._
This portion illustrates the Economy of Birds, with a few of the most
attractive varieties, under European and British, and Foreign Birds.
We quote from the "General Economy;" premising that the present Part
contains about 250 such illustrations, or _Why and Because_.
Why are birds usually classed according to the forms of their bills and
feet? Because those parts are connected with their mode of life, food,
etc., and influence their total habit very materially. _Blumenbach._
Why have birds little power of suction?
Because of the narrowness and rigidity of their tongue; as may be seen
when they drink, having to hold up their heads, and depend upon the
weight of the water for transmitting it into the craw.--_Rennie._
Why are birds said to be "poised" in the air?
Because the centre of gravity of their bodies is always below the
insertion of their wings, to prevent them falling on their backs, but
near that point on which the body is, during flight, as it were,
suspended. The positions assumed by the head and feet are frequently
calculated to accomplish these ends, and give to the wings every
assistance in continuing the progressive motion. The tail also is of
great use, in regulating the rise and fall of birds, and even their
lateral movements.--_Fleming._
Why do birds fly?
Because they have the largest bones of all animals, in proportion to
their weight; and their bones are more hollow than those of animals that
do not fly. Air-vessels also enable them to blow out the hollow parts of
their bodies, when they wish to make their descent slower, rise more
swiftly, or float in the air. The muscles that move the wings of birds
downwards, in many instances, are a sixth part of the weight of the
whole body; whereas, those of a man are not in proportion one-hundredth
part so large.
Why are birds covered with feathers?
Because, by this addition to the non-conducting appendices of the skin,
birds are enabled to preserve the heat, generated in their bodies, from
being readily transmitted to the surrounding air, and carried off by its
motions and diminished temperature.--_Fleming._
Why are the strongest feathers of birds in the pinions and tail?
Because the pinion-feathers may form, when the wing is expanded, as it
were, broad fans, by which the bird is enabled to raise itself in the
air and fly; whilst its tail feathers direct its course.--_Blumenbach._
Why do birds moult?
Because they may be prepared for winter; this change being analogous to
the casting of hair in quadrupeds. During summer, the feathers of birds
are exposed to many accidents. Not a few spontaneously fall; some of
them are torn off during their amorous quarrels; others are broken or
damaged; whilst, in many species, they are pulled from their bodies to
line their nests. Hence, their summer dress becomes thin and suitable.
Previous to winter, however, and immediately after incubation and
rearing of the young is finished, the old feathers are pushed off in
succession by the new ones, and thus the greater part of the plumage of
the bird is renewed.--_Fleming._
Why do birds sing?
Because of the receptacles of air already mentioned but particularly by
the disposition of the larynx, which in birds is not, as in mammifera
and amphibia, placed wholly at the upper end of the windpipe; but, as it
were, separated into two parts, one placed at each extremity. Parrots,
ravens, starlings, bullfinches, &c., have been taught to imitate the
human voice, and to speak some words: singing birds also, in captivity,
readily adopt the song of others, learn tunes, and can even be made
to sing in company, so that it has been possible actually to give a
little concert by several bullfinches. In general, however, the song
of birds in the wild state appears to be formed by practice and
imitation.--_Blumenbach._
Why do the notes of different species of birds vary?
Because, probably, of the structure of the organs of each species
enabling them more easily to produce the notes of their own species,
than those of any other, and from the notes of their own species being
more agreeable to their ears. These conditions, joined to the facility
of hearing the song of their own species, in consequence of frequenting
the same places, determine the character of the acquired language of the
feathered tribes.--_Fleming._
Why are birds equally dispersed in spring over the face of the country?
Because, during that amorous season, such a jealousy prevails between
the male birds, that they can hardly bear to be seen together in the
same hedge or field. Most of the singing and elation of spirits, of that
time, seem to be the effect of rivalry and emulation.--_G. White._
Why is August the most mute month, the Spring, Summer, and Autumn
through?
Because many birds which become silent about Midsummer, reassume their
notes in September; as the thrush, blackbird, woodlark, willow-wren,
&c.--_G. White._
Why do birds congregate in hard weather?
Because, as some kind of self-interest and self-defence is, no doubt,
their motive, may it not arise from the helplessness of their state in
such rigorous seasons; as men crowd together, when under great
calamities, they know not why? Perhaps approximation may dispel some
degree of cold; and a crowd may make each individual appear safer from
the ravages of birds of prey and other damages.--_G. White._
Why do we so often fail in rearing young birds?
Because of our ignorance of their requisite food. Every one who has made
the attempt, well knows the various expedients he has resorted to, of
boiled meats, bruised seeds, hard eggs, boiled rice, and twenty other
substances that Nature never presents, in order to find a diet that will
nourish them; but Mr. Montagu's failure, in being able to raise the
young of the curl-bunting, until he discovered that they required
grasshoppers, is a sufficient instance of the manifest necessity there
is for a peculiar food in one period of the life of birds.--_Knapp._
Why have most noctural birds large eyes and ears?
Because large eyes are necessary to collect every ray of light, and
large concave ears to command the smallest degree of sound or noise.
Why do stale eggs float upon water?
Because, by keeping, air is substituted for a portion of the water of
the egg, which escapes.--_Prout._
Why has the breast-bone of all birds which fly, a long ridge or keel?
Because muscles are attached to it, to facilitate their flight.
Why is the plumage of aquatic birds kept dry?
Because the small feathers next the bird fall over each other like the
tiles of a roof, and thus throw off the water.
* * * * *
FESTIVALS, GAMES, AND AMUSEMENTS.
BY HORATIO SMITH, ESQ.
(_National Library_--Vol. v.)
The readers of _The Mirror_ will doubtless expect in its pages some
notice of the present work; although it belongs to a Series, which as
yet possesses but few attractions for our attention. The title of the
volume before us, and the name of its author, however, led us to expect
better things; and sorry are we to have little but disappointment to
report to the reader.
Mr. Smith sets out by telling us, in his _Preface_, that he has
only been able to produce a _mediocre_ book, and at once shows that
his task has been by no means a grateful one. He talks of compilation
and selection as if they were the very drudgery of literature, although
in the present instance he has executed both so indifferently. He speaks
of _condensing_ into "one little volume," whereas the plan adopted
by him has but little of the labour of condensation, his book being
little but slice upon slice, like preserved fruit, instead of being
thoroughly mixed and reduced like jelly. With Strutt's Sports and
Pastimes, and Ellis's Edition of Brand's Popular Antiquities before him,
he might have produced a volume of exhaustless interest and value, set
with hundreds of foot-note references, which he has made but few and far
between. Nay, with the example of Brand before him (for we see that he
is occasionally quoted), it is difficult to conceive how Mr. Smith could
overlook so important a point as the distinct acknowledgment of his
authorities.
A slight analysis of Mr. Smith's volume will show the reader that our
animadversions are not uncalled for.--Thus, upwards of one hundred pages
are devoted to the Festival Games and Amusements of the Jews, Greeks,
and Romans, meanly as Mr. Smith talks of "learned lore and antiquarian
pedantry." Then follow twenty-two pages on, not of, Modern Festivals,
&c.: from thence we quote two pages on the amusements of Londoners:--
"In addition to peculiar and extensive privileges of hunting, hawking,
and fishing, the Londoners had large portions of ground allotted to them
in the vicinity of the city, for such pastimes as were best calculated
to render them strong and healthy. The city damsels had also their
recreation on the celebration of these festivals, dancing to the
accompaniment of music, and continuing their sports by moonlight. Stow
tells us that in his time it was customary for the maidens, after
evening prayers, to dance and sing in the presence of their masters and
mistresses, the best performer being rewarded with a garland. Who can
peruse the recapitulation of London sports and amusements, even so late
as the beginning of the last century, without being struck by the
contrast it presents in its present state, when, as a French traveller
observes, it is no longer a city, but a province covered with houses? In
the whole world, probably, there is no large town so utterly unprovided
with means of healthful recreation for the mass of the citizens. Every
vacant and green spot has been converted into a street; field after
field has been absorbed by the builder; all the scenes of popular resort
have been smothered with piles of brick; football and cricket-grounds,
bowling-greens, and the enclosures of open places, set apart for archery
and other pastimes, have been successively parcelled out in squares,
lanes, or alleys; the increasing value of land, and extent of the city,
render it impossible to find substitutes; and the humbler classes who
may wish to obtain the sight of a field, or inhale a mouthful of fresh
air, can scarcely be gratified, unless, at some expense of time and
money, they make a journey for the purpose. Even our parks, not unaptly
termed the lungs of the metropolis, have been partially invaded by the
omnivorous builder; nor are those portions of them which are still open
available to the commonalty for purposes of pastime and sport. Under
such circumstances who can wonder that they should lounge away their
unemployed time in the skittle-grounds of ale-houses and gin-shops? or
that their immorality should have increased with the enlargement of the
town, and the compulsory discontinuance of their former healthful and
harmless pastimes? It would be wise to revive, rather than seek any
further to suppress them: wiser still would it be, with reference both
to the bodily and moral health of the people, if, in all new inclosures
for building, provision were legally made for the unrestricted enjoyment
of their games and diversions, by leaving large open spaces to be
appropriated to that purpose.
"Upon a general review of our present prevailing amusements, it will be
found, that if many have been dropped, at least in the metropolis, which
it might have been desirable to retain, several also have been
abandoned, of which we cannot by any means regret the loss; while those
that remain to us, participating in the advancement of civilization,
have in some instances become much more intellectual in their character,
and in others have assumed more elegant, humane, and unobjectionable
forms. Bull and bear-baiting, cock-throwing and fighting, and such like
barbarous pastimes, have long been on the wane, and will, it is to be
hoped, soon become totally extinct. That females of rank and education
should now frequent such savage scenes, seems so little within the scope
of possibility that we can hardly credit their ever having done so, even
in times that were comparatively barbarous."