(_For The Mirror_.)
Dr. Plot, in his _History of Staffordshire_, says, "The following
service is due from the Lord of Essington, in Staffordshire, to the
Lord of Hilton, about a mile distant, viz. that the Lord of the Manor
of Essington, shall bring a goose every New year's day, and drive it
round the fire in the hall at Hilton, at least three times, whilst
_Jack of Hilton_ is blowing the fire. Now Jack of Hilton is a little
hollow image of brass, of about twelve inches high, kneeling upon his
left knee, and holding his right hand upon his head, having a little
hole in the place of the mouth, about the bigness of a great pin's
head, and another in the back about two-thirds of an inch diameter, at
which last hole it is filled with water, it holding about four pints
and a quarter, which when set to a strong fire, evaporates after the
same manner as in an _Aeolipile_, and vents itself at the smaller hole
at the mouth in a constant blast, blowing the fire so strongly that it
is very audible, and makes a sensible impression on that part of the
fire where the blast lights, as I found by experience, May 26, 1680.
After the Lord of Essington, or his deputy, or bayliffe, has driven
the goose round the fire (at least three times) whilst this image
blows it, he carries it into the kitchen of Hilton Hall, and delivers
it to the cook, who having dressed it, the Lord of Essington, or his
bayliffe, by way of further service, brings it to the table of the
Lord paramount of Hilton and Essington, and receives a dish of meat
from the said Lord of Hilton's table, for his own mess."
The Aeolipile, in hydraulics, is an instrument consisting of a hollow
metallic ball, with a slender neck or pipe, arising from it. This
being filled with water, and thus exposed to the fire, produces a
vehement blast of wind.
This instrument, Des Cartes and others, have made use of, to account
for the natural cause and generation of wind; and hence its name,
Aeolipile, _pila Aeoli_, Aeolus's ball.
In Italy it is said that the Aeolipile is commonly made use of to cure
smoky chimneys; for being hung over the fire, the blast arising from
it carries up the loitering smoke along with it. This instrument was
known to the ancients, and is mentioned by Vitruvius.
Some late authors have discovered the extraordinary use to which the
frauds of the heathen priesthood applied the Aeolipile, viz. the
working of sham miracles. Besides _Jack of Hilton_, which had been
an ancient Saxon, image, or idol, Mr. Weber shows, that _Pluster_, a
celebrated German idol, is also of the Aeolipile kind, and in virtue
thereof, could do noble feats: being filled with a fluid, and then
set on the fire, it would be covered with sweat, and as the heat
increased, would at length burst out into flames.
An Aeolipile of great antiquity, made of brass, was some years since
dug up on the site of the Basingstoke Canal, and presented to the
Antiquarian Society of London. Instead of being globular, with a bent
tube, it is in the form of a grotesque human figure, and the blast
proceeds from its mouth.