The MANUSCRIPT VOLUME from which the following hitherto
unpublished POEMS are taken, is the property of DAVID
LAING, Esq., LL.D., EDINBURGH, who purchased it, or
perhaps obtained it in exchange many years ago from the Rev. John
Jamieson, D.D., author of the "Scottish Dictionary" and other learned
works--a scholar of full learning and to be held in honour in many
respects. It was parted with to his like-minded friend as containing
the hitherto unprinted 'Psalms,' &c., by SIR JOHN DAVIES; but
no memorial remains to ascertain the quarter from whence Dr. Jamieson
obtained the Volume. Mr. Laing states that, if anything was said at the
time on the subject, it has escaped his recollection; and this cannot
be wondered at, as it must have been from thirty to forty years ago.
Along with eminent Experts I have carefully compared this Manuscript
with undoubted holographs of SIR JOHN DAVIES, preserved in Her
Majesty's State Paper Office (State Papers: Domestic. James I. Vol.
173. No. 54: Oct. 18, 1624, etc., etc.) and among the Harleian MSS. in
the British Museum--the former being preferable as being of the same
year-date with ours: and I feel constrained to pronounce it throughout
non-autograph. There are at least FIVE handwritings in the
volume--as more particularly described _in locis_: but none bears a
resemblance to SIR JOHN DAVIES'. The Manuscript, therefore,
belongs to a class that abounds at the Period, viz, a Scribe's
transcript and which closely resembles that of MS. Speeches and other
writings of DAVIES preserved among the HARLEIAN MSS.
This is further, in accord with SIR JOHN DAVIES' practice,
as appears by 'The Egerton Papers' of Mr. Collier, (Camden Society,
1840, I Vol. 40.) where in a letter to ELLESMERE (pp. 410-16)
he apologizes for his own 'ill hand' and substitutes his 'man's.' The
evidence for DAVIES' authorship of these POEMS is
EXTERNAL and INTERNAL.
(_a_) The existence of the 'Metaphrase of the Psalms'--which composes
the greater portion of the Manuscript--has long been on record. Thus
ANTHONY-A-WOOD in his ATHENÆ states "Besides the
before-mentioned things (as also Epigrams, as 'tis said) which were
published by, and under the name of Sir John Davies, are several MSS.
of his writing and composing, which go from hand to hand, as (I)
Metaphrase of several of K. David's Psalms...." (edn. BLISS
ii., 403.) The original of the Psalms' MS. was in possession of Sir
John's own daughter, the Countess of Huntingdon, as I found in the
Carte MSS. Bodleian, Oxford.
The others are MSS.--some in part since published--which WOOD
describes as formerly in the Library of Sir James Ware, and then in
that of the Earl of Clarendon.
(_b_) The handwriting of the Manuscript is exactly correspondent with
that of its date '1624.' It is uniform from Psalm I. to L.
(_c_) Throughout the 'Psalms' and other Poems, favourite words of
SIR JOHN DAVIES' occur: in part peculiar to him or used in
a peculiar way. I must refer the Student to the Poems themselves for
the great majority of examples: but note here half-a-dozen--all the
references being to our own edition of the previous Poems.
1. '_Withall_': "... that sinne that we are borne _withall_." ('Nosce
Teipsum' page 57, stanza 5th, line 4th.) So in the 'Psalms':
"Be merciful and hear my prayer _withall_."
(Ps. 4th, line 4th.)
2. '_Wight_': "... this World below did need one _wight_." (page 60:
stanza 4th, line 1st.) So in the 'Psalms': "... measures Iustice vnto
euery _wight_." (Ps. 9th, line 16th.)
3. '_gray Winter_': "Here flow'ry Spring-tide and there _Winter
gray_." (page 63, stanza 1st, line 4th.) So in 'A Maid's Hymne in
praise of Virginity': "To whome _graye Winter_ neuer doth apeare."
(line 7th.)
4. '_On_' meaning '_o'er_': "Will holds the royall scepter _on_ the
soul" ('Nosce Teipsum,' page 79, stanza 2nd, line 3rd.) "And _on_ the
passions of the heart doth raigne." (page 79, stanza 2d, line 4th.)
So in the 'Psalms': "Let not my foes trihumph _on_ mee againe." (Ps.
35th, line 37th). "In that my foe doth not trihumph _on_ me." (Ps.
41st, line 22d.)
5. '_Detruded_': "... such as me _detruded_ downe to Hell." (page 110,
stanza 1st, line 1st.) So in the 'Psalms': Therefore although my soule
_detruded_ were euen to Hell's gates.... (Ps. 23rd, line 7th.)
6. '_Center_' meaning '_Earth_': "Suruey all things that on this
_center_ here." (page 25th, stanza 1st, line 4th.) So in the 'Psalms':
"And all that dwell on his round _Center_ here." (Ps. 23rd, line 16th.)
It were easy to multiply these instances from the 'Psalms' and the
other Poems.
(_d_) The secular Poems contain personal allusions that authenticate
their authorship. In the 'Elegie of Loue' and in the lines "To the
Kinge vpon his Ma^{ties} first comming into England" these are of
singular interest and value. The latter harmonizes with the fact that
SIR JOHN DAVIES proceeded North to meet the King: and it has
a direct reference to his 'Nosce Teipsum.' Speaking of his Muse he
exclaims,
"Thy sight had once an influence divine
Which gave it power the Soul of man to vew."
Another personal allusion is found in his address to the "Ladyes of
Founthill" in his native Wilts.
(_e_) The "Verses sent to the Kinge with ffiges" is inscribed "by Sir
John Davis" and the "Elegiacal Epistle" which immediately follows these
'Verses' naturally closes a Volume containing the compositions of our
Worthy. 'Davis' is his own spelling in the 1608 edition of 'Nosce
Teipsum,' and in Davison's 'Rhapsody.'
(_f_) Exclusive of the 'Psalms'--the Davies' authorship of which admits
of no doubt--the other Poems have Sir John Davies' characteristics in
choice of subjects and style, and specific wording, as above. 'Elegie'
is herein used as in the title-page of 'Nosce Teipsum.'
The Manuscript is a thin folio of forty-one leaves and one page: but
_verso_ of 35th leaf consists of Memoranda headed "The State of England
before the Conquest, briefely. By Henry, Lord Hastings, amongst his
Notes found": and leaves 36 and 37 and page 38 (_verso_ blank) contain
'Notes' on "William Bastarde, the Norman Conquerour of England." The
former is in a handwriting different from all the rest: the latter
the same as the Poems that follow "Part of an Elegie in prayse of
Marriage." There are a number of contemporary and of more recent blank
leaves. It is bound in dark calf, with tooled ornament in the centre.
In preparing this Manuscript for the Press, my anxious endeavour
has been faithfully to reproduce the original: only I have extended
the contractions 'w^{h} and w^{ch}' for 'with' and 'which' and
'o^{r}. y^{r}' for 'our' and 'your' and the like. I have
somewhat modified the capitals: but in the Divine names (nouns and
pronouns) and impersonations, have employed capitals. The punctuation
of the Manuscript is almost _nil_: I have adopted present usage on a
uniform principle; and also the apostrophe of the possessive case, &c.
Only one point perplexed me a little, viz. the sign of the plural. At
the period a peculiar form represented 'es' as denoting plural, but
examination showed our Manuscript as using it with 'e' immediately
before. Hence it is apparent the Scribe used it arbitrarily. My rule
has been to represent it simply by 's' for our plural, except in the
cases--pointed out where they occur--in which 'es' as an additional
syllable is required for the rhythm. Throughout, the orthography is
literally preserved: and besides six collations of my transcript
with the Original, by myself, I have had the advantage of a minute
comparison by my experienced and erudite friend, the late John Bruce,
Esq., of London, and in part by W. Aldis Wright, Esq., M.A., Trinity
College, Cambridge. So that our first publication of the Manuscript
may be relied on as absolutely true to the Original. It may be added
that I have adhered to the order in which the several Poems are given,
with the single exception of placing the anonymous very noticeable
'Elegiacal Epistle' on the death of Davies last. The two short pieces
that precede it in our Volume, occupy in the MS. the closing page,
which is a kind of fly-leaf.
I feel assured that every admirer of Sir John Davies will agree with
me that a deep debt of gratitude is due to Mr. Laing for his generous
consent to have the Manuscript included in our editions of the 'Poems.'
Independent of the interest attaching to their illustrious authorship
the 'Psalms' seem to me to possess rare merits, being as a whole
strikingly faithfull to the Original, and not para-phrastic--hence
Anthony-a-Wood's 'Metaphrase'--simple yet picturesque, 'smooth' but
melodious, and in every quality infinitely superior to the attempts
of BACON, JEREMY TAYLOR, ROUS, and others.
Some of the Versions must find a place in the Church's Psalmody and
Hymnology.
I must not omit to acknowledge the courteous attention of Mr. W.
Carew Hazlitt in informing me of the existence and ownership of the
Manuscript. Anything further requiring to be said, will be found in the
footnotes. G.
_Hitherto Unpublished Poems._