{613} NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES,
GENEALOGISTS, ETC.
"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.
* * * * *
No. 217.]
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24. 1853.
[Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition 5d.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
NOTES:-- Page
Folk Lore in the Reign of King James I. 613
The Ballad of Sir Hugh, &c. 614
Pennsylvanian Folk Lore: Christmas 615
County Rhymes 615
Legends of the County Clare: Fuenvicouil (Fingal)
and the Giant, by Frances Robert Davies 616
FOLK LORE MISCELLANIES:--Yorkshire Tradition--Custom on St.
Thomas's Day--Custom on Innocents' Day--Marriage Custom at
Knutsford, Cheshire--Folk Lore in Hampshire--Propitiating
the Fairies--Cornish Folk Lore--King Arthur in the Form of
a Raven--St. Clement's Apple Feast in Staffordshire--New
Year's Eve and New Year's Day 617
MINOR NOTES:--Carlist Calembourg--Jewish Custom--Lachlan
Macleane--German Tree--The late Duke 618
QUERIES:--
The Story of Crispin and Crispianus, by J. Davies Devlin 619
MINOR QUERIES:--Barrels Regiment--Okey the Regicide--Lady
Mason's Third Husband--Creation of Knights--Martyn the
Regicide--History of the Nonjurors--Florin and the Royal
Arms--A Mistletoe Query 620
MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS:--Sewell Family--Greek
Epigram--Translations from Æschylus--Prince Memnon's
Sister--"Oh! for a blast," &c.--Robin Hood's
Festival--Church in Suffolk 621
REPLIES:--
Children called Imps 623
The Divining Rod 623
Change of Meaning in Proverbial Expressions, &c. 624
Sneezing, by Francis John Scott, &c. 624
Books burned by the common Hangman, by W.
Fraser, &c. 625
Jews in China, by T.J. Buckton 626
Poetical Tavern Signs 626
The Curfew, by Cuthbert Bede, B.A. 628
PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE:--Photographic Engraving--Collodion
Negatives 628
REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:--"London Labour and the London
Poor"--Felicia Hemans's inedited Lyric--Sir Arthur
Aston--Grammar in relation to Logic--Descendants of
Milton--Pronunciation of Bible Names--Henry I.'s
Tomb--Bells at Berwick-upon-Tweed--Return of Gentry, temp.
Henry VI.--Peter Allan--Burial in an erect Posture--The
Word "Mob"--Gen. Sir C. Napier--To Come--Passage in
Sophocles--Party-Similes of the Seventeenth Century--Judges
styled Reverend--Veneration for the Oak--Rapping no Novelty 629
MISCELLANEOUS:--
Books and Odd Volumes wanted 632
Notices to Correspondents 632
Advertisements 633
* * * * *
Notes.
FOLK LORE IN THE REIGN OF KING JAMES I.
In turning over the pages of an old book of controversial divinity, I
stumbled upon the following illustrations of folk lore; which, as well from
their antiquity as from their intrinsic curiosity, seem worthy of a place
in your columns. They make us acquainted with some of the usages of our
ancestors, who lived in the remoter districts of England early in the reign
of James I. The title of the volume in which they occur is the following:
"The Way to the True Church; wherein the principall Motives persuading
to Romanisme, and Questions touching the Nature and Authoritie of the
Church and Scriptures, are familiarly disputed ... directed to all that
seeks for Resolution; and especially to all his loving Countrymen of
Lancashire, by John White, Minister of God's Word at Eccles. Folio.
London, 1624."
This, however, is described as being "the fifth impression;" the Preface is
dated Oct. 29, 1608; so that we arrive at the conclusion that the usages
and rhymes, to which I now desire to invite the attention of your readers,
were current in the north-west districts of England more than two hundred
and fifty years since.
White is insisting upon "the prodigious ignorance" which he found among his
parishioners when he entered upon his ministrations, and he proceeds thus
to tell his own tale:
"I will only mention what I saw and learned, dwelling among them,
concerning the saying of their prayers; for what man is he whose heart
trembles not to see simple people so far seduced that they know not how
to pronounce or say their daily prayers; or so to pray that all that
hear them shall be filled with laughter? And while, superstitiously,
they refuse to pray in their own language with understanding, they
speak that which their leaders may blush to hear. These examples I have
observed from the common people."
THE CREED.
"Creezum zuum patrum onitentem creatorum ejus anicum, Dominum nostrum
qui sum sops, virgini Mariæ, crixus fixus, Ponchi Pilati audubitiers,
morti {614} by sonday, father a fernes, scelerest un judicarum, finis a
mortibus. Creezum spirituum sanctum, ecli Catholi, remissurum,
peccaturum, communiorum obliviorum, bitam et turnam again."
THE LITTLE CREED.
"Little Creed, can I need,
Kneele before our Ladies knee;
Candle light, candles burne,
Our Ladie pray'd to her deare Sonne,
That we might all to heaven come.
Little Creed, Amen."
"This that followeth they call the 'White Pater-noster:'
"White Pater-noster, Saint Peter's brother,
What hast i' th' t'one hand? white booke leaves.
What hast i' th' t'other hand? heaven yate keyes.
Open heaven yates, and steike [shut] hell yates:
And let every crysome child creepe to its owne mother.
White Pater-noster, Amen."
"Another Prayer:
"I blesse me with God and the rood,
With his sweet flesh and precious blood;
With his crosse and his creed,
With his length and his breed,
From my toe to my crowne,
And all my body up and downe,
From my back to my brest,
My five wits be my rest;
God let never ill come at ill,
But through Jesus owne will,
Sweet Jesus, Lord. Amen."
"Many also use to weare vervein against blasts; and when they gather it
for this purpose, firste they crosse the herbe with their hand, and
then they blesse it thus:
"Hallowed be thou, Vervein,
As thou growest on the ground,
For in the Mount of Calvary,
There thou wast first found.
Thou healedst our Saviour Jesus Christ,
And staunchedst his bleeding wound;
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
I take thee from the ground."
These passages may be seen in the "Preface to the Reader," § 13., no page,
but on the reverse of Sig. A 4.
It might at first appear somewhat strange that these interesting remnants
of early belief should have escaped the notice of your numerous
correspondents, whose attention has for so long a period been directed to
this inquiry: but this may be accounted for if we remember that the volume
in which they occur is one which would seem, _primâ facie_, least likely to
afford any such materials. It is one of those uninviting bulky folios of
which the reigns of James and Charles I. furnish us with so many specimens.
Here we might fairly expect to discover abundant illustrations of patristic
and scholastic theology, of learning and pedantry, of earnest devotion, and
ill-temper no less earnest; but nothing whereby to illustrate the manners
or customs, the traditions, or the popular usages or superstitions, of the
common people. This may be a hint for us, however, to direct our attention
to a class of literature which hitherto has scarcely received the attention
to which it would appear to be entitled; and I would venture to express my
conviction, that if those who are interested in the illustration of our
popular antiquities were to give a little of their time to early English
theology, the result would be more important than might at first be
anticipated.
L. B.
* * * * *
THE BALLAD OF SIR HUGH, ETC.
The fact mentioned by your correspondent C. CLIFTON BARRY, at p. 357., as
to the affinity of Midland songs and ballads to those of Scotland, I have
often observed, and among the striking instances of it which could be
adduced, the following may be named, as well known in Northamptonshire:
"It rains, it rains, in merry Scotland;
It rains both great and small;
And all the schoolfellows in merry Scotland
Must needs go and play at ball.
"They tossed the ball so high, so high,
And yet it came down so low;
They tossed it over the old Jew's gates,
And broke the old Jew's window.
"The old Jew's daughter she came out;
Was clothed all in green;
'Come hither, come hither, thou young Sir Hugh,
And fetch your ball again.'
"'I dare not come, I dare not come,
Unless my schoolfellows come all;
And I shall be flogged when I get home,
For losing of my ball.'
"She 'ticed him with an apple so red,
And likewise with a fig:
She laid him on the dresser board,
And stickéd him like a pig.
"The thickest of blood did first come out,
The second came out so thin;
The third that came was his dear heart's blood,
Where all his life lay in."
I write this from memory: it is but a fragment of the whole, which I think
is printed, with variations, in Percy's _Reliques_. It is also worthy of
remark, that there is a resemblance also between the words which occur as
provincialisms in the same district, and some of those which are used in
Scotland; e.g. _whemble_ or _whommel_ (sometimes not aspirated, and
pronounced _wemble_), to turn upside down, as a dish. This word is Scotch,
although they do not pronounce the b any more than in _Campbell_, which
sounds very much like _Camel_.
B. H. C.
* * * * *
{615}
PENNSYLVANIAN FOLK LORE: CHRISTMAS.
This anniversary holds the same rank in the middle, southern, and western
states as Thanksgiving Day in the eastern states or New England, where,
owing to the Puritan origin of the bulk of the inhabitants, Christmas is
not much celebrated. In Pennsylvania many of the usages connected with it
are of German origin, and derived from the early settlers of the Teutonic
race, whose descendants are now a very numerous portion of the population.
The Christmas Tree is thus devised: It is planted in a flower-pot filled
with earth, and its branches are covered with presents, chiefly of
confectionary, for the younger members of the family.
When bed-time arrives on Christmas Eve, the children hang up their
stockings at the foot of their beds, to receive presents brought them by a
fabulous personage called _Krishkinkle_, who is believed to descend the
chimney with them for all the children who have been good during the
previous year. The word _Krishkinkle_ is a corruption of _Christ-kindlein_,
literally _Christ-infant_, and is understood to be derived from the fact
that a representation of the Infant Saviour in the manger formed part of
the decorations prepared for the children at Christmas.
If the children have not been good during the year previous, instead of
finding sugar-plums and other presents in their stockings on Christmas
morning, they discover therein a birch-rod. This is said to have been
placed there by _Pelsnichol_, or Nicholas with the fur, alluding to the
dress of skins in which he is said to be clad. Some make _Pelsnichol_
identical with _Krishkinkle_, but the more general opinion is that they are
two personages, one the rewarder of the good, the other the punisher of the
bad.
The functions ascribed to Krishkinkle in Pennsylvania are attributed to
Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus in the State of New York, first settled by
the Hollanders. The following poem, written by Clement C. Moore, LL.D., of
New York, describes the performances of St. Nicholas on Christmas Eve, and
is equally applicable to our Krishkinkle:
"_A Visit from St. Nicholas._
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her kerchief and I in my cap
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash;
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of day to the objects below;
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled and shouted and call'd them by name,
'Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer! now, Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Dunder and Blixen!
To the top of the stoop[1], to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!'
As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys and St. Nicholas too;
And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dress'd all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnish'd with ashes and soot.
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back;
And he look'd like a pedlar just opening his pack.
His eyes, how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laugh'd when I saw him, in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And fill'd all the stockings, then turn'd with a jerk;
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle:
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.'"
UNEDA.
Philadelphia.
[Footnote 1: Stoop means, in the language of the New Yorkers, a portico.]
* * * * *
COUNTY RHYMES.
KENT.
"He that will not live long,
Let him dwell at Murston, Tenham, or Tong."
"Dover, Sandwich, and Winchelsea,
Rumney and Rye, the five ports be."
CHESHIRE.
"Chester of Castria took the name,
As if that Castria were the same."
{616}
LINCOLNSHIRE--_Stamford_.
"Doctrinæ studium, quod nunc viget ad vada Boum,
Tempore venturo celebrabitur ad vada Saxi."
"Science that now o'er Oxford sheds her ray,
Shall bless fair Stamford at some future day."
WILTSHIRE--_Salisbury Cathedral_.
"As many days as in one year there be,
So many windows in this church you see.
As many marble pillars here appear,
As there are hours through the fleeting year.
As many gates as moons one here does view
Strange tale to tell, yet not more strange than true."
_Chippenham_--On a Stone.
"Hither extendeth Maud Heath's gift,
For where I stand is Chippenham clift."
SURREY--_Market House, Farnham_.
"You who do like me, give money to end me,
You who dislike me, give as much to mend me."
_Woking_--_Sutton_.
"Beastly 'Oking--pretty Sutton,
Filthy foxglove--bach'lors button."
"'Oking was--Guildford is--Godalming shall be."
SOMERSETSHIRE.
"Stanton Drew,
A mile from Pensford--another from Chew."
PEMBROKESHIRE.
"Once to Rome thy steps incline,
But visit twice St. David's shrine."
"When Percelty weareth a hat,
All Pembrokeshire shall weet of that."
J. EBFF.
Bolt Court.
* * * * *
LEGENDS OF THE CO. CLARE: FUENVICOUIL (FINGAL) AND THE GIANT.
Once upon a time, a Scottish giant who had heard of Fuenvicouil's fame,
determined to come and see which of them was the stronger. Now Fuenvicouil
was informed by his thumb of the giant's intentions, and also that on the
present occasion matters would not turn out much to his advantage if they
fought: so as he did not feel the least bit "blue-mowlded for the want of a
batin'," like Neal Malone, he was at a loss what to do. Oonagh, his wife,
saw his distress, and soon contrived to find out the cause of it; and
having done so, she assured him that if he would leave things to her
management, and strictly obey her directions, she would make the giant
return home faster than he came. Fuenvicouil promised obedience; and, as no
time was to be lost, Oonagh commenced her preparations. She first baked two
or three large cakes of bread, taking care to put the griddle (the iron
plate used in Ireland and Scotland for baking bread on) into the largest.
She then put several gallons of milk down to boil, and made whey of it; and
carefully collected the curd into a mass, which she laid aside. She then
proceeded to dress up Fuenvicouil as a baby; and having put a cap on his
head, tucked him up in the cradle, charging him on no account to speak, but
to carefully obey any signs she might make to him. The preparations were
only just completed, when the giant arrived, and, striding into the house,
demanded to see Fuenvicouil. Oonagh received him politely; said she could
not tell _any more than the child in the cradle_, where her husband then
was; but requested the giant to sit down and rest, till Fuenvicouil came
in. She then placed bread and whey before him till some better refreshments
could be got ready, taking care to give him the cake with the griddle in
it, and serving the whey in a vessel that held two or three gallons. The
giant was a little surprised at the _quantity_ of the lunch set before him,
and proceeded to break a piece off the cake but in vain; he then tried to
bite it, with as little success: and as to swallowing the ocean of whey set
before him, it was out of the question; so he said he was not hungry, and
would wait. He then asked Oonagh what was the favourite feat of strength
her husband prided himself upon. She could not indeed particularise any
one, but said that sometimes Fuenvicouil amused himself with squeezing
water out of that stone there, pointing to a rock lying near the door. The
giant immediately took it up; and squeezed it till the blood started from
his fingers, but made no impression on the rock. Oonagh laughed at his
discomfiture, and said a child could do that, handing at the same time the
lump of curds to "the baby." Fuenvicouil, who had been attentively
listening to all that was going on, gave the curd a squeeze, and some drops
of whey fell from it. Oonagh, in apparently great delight, kissed and
hugged her "dear baby;" and breaking a bit off one of the cakes she had
prepared, began to coax the "child" to eat a little bit and get strong. The
giant amazed, asked, could that child eat such hard bread? And Oonagh
persuaded him to put his finger into the child's mouth, "just to feel his
teeth;" and as soon as Fuenvicouil got the giant's finger in his mouth, he
bit it off. This was more than the giant could stand; and seeing that a
child in the cradle was so strong, he was convinced that the sooner he
decamped before Fuenvicouil's return the better; so he hastened from the
house, while Oonagh in vain pressed him to remain; and never stopped till
he returned to his own place, very happy at having escaped a meeting with
Fuenvicouil.
FRANCES ROBERT DAVIES.
* * * * *
{617}
FOLK LORE MISCELLANIES.
_Yorkshire Tradition._--The following tradition of Osmotherly, in
Yorkshire, was related to me as being current in that county. Can you
inform me if it is authentic?
Some years ago there lived in a secluded part of Yorkshire a lady who had
an only son named Os or Oscar. Strolling one day with her child they met a
party of gipsies, who were anxious to tell her the child's fortune. After
being much importuned she assented to their request. To the mother's
astonishment and grief they prognosticated that the child would be drowned.
In order to avert so dreadful a calamity, the infatuated mother purchased
some land and built a house on the summit of a high hill, where she lived
with her son a long time in peace and seclusion. Happening one fine
summer's day in the course of a perambulation to have fatigued themselves,
they sat down on the grass to rest and soon fell asleep. While enjoying
this repose, a spring rose up from the ground, which caused such an
inundation as to overwhelm them, and side by side they found a watery
grave. After this had occurred, the people residing in the neighbourhood
named it Os-by-his-mother-lay, which has since been corrupted into
Osmotherly.
R. W. CARTER.
_Custom on St. Thomas's Day_ (_Dec. 21_).--At Harvington, in
Worcestershire, it is the custom on St. Thomas's Day for persons (chiefly
children) to go round the village begging for apples, and singing the
following rhymes:
"Wissal, wassail through the town,
If you've got any apples, throw them down.
Up with the stocking, and down with the shoe,
If you've got no apples, money will do.
The jug is white, and the ale is brown,
This is the best house in the town."
CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.
_Custom on Innocents' Day_ (_Dec. 28_).--At Norton (near Evesham) it is the
custom on Dec. 28 to ring, first a muffled peal for the slaughter of the
Holy Innocents, and then an unmuffled peal of joy for the deliverance of
the Infant Christ.
CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.
_Marriage Custom at Knutsford, Cheshire._--A singular but pleasing custom
exists among the inhabitants of Knutsford in Cheshire. On the occasion of a
wedding, when the bride has set out for the church, a relative invariably
spreads on the pavement, which is composed of pebbles, before her house, a
quantity of silver sand, there called "greet," in the form of wreaths of
flowers, and writes, with the same material, wishes for her happiness.
This, of course, is soon discovered by others, and immediately, especially
if the bride or bridegroom are favorites, appear before most of the houses
numerous flowers in sand. It is said that this custom arose from the only
church they had being without bells, and therefore, to give notice of a
wedding, they adopted it; and though now there are other churches and a
peal of bells, they still adhere to the above method of communicating
intelligence of such happy events. Why sand should be used I have not been
able to learn, and I should be much obliged for any information on the
point, there being no sandpits in the locality of Knutsford, or such like
reason for its use.
One circumstance I may mention connected with weddings there. On the return
of the party from church, it is usual to throw money to the boys, who, of
course, follow, and if this is omitted, the latter keep up a cry of "a
buttermilk wedding."
RUSSELL GOLE.
_Folk Lore in Hampshire._--In Hampshire the country people believe that a
healing power exists in the alms collected at the administration of the
sacrament, and many of them use the money as a charm to cure the diseases
of the body. A short time ago a woman came to a clergyman, and brought with
her half-a-crown, asking at the same time for five "sacrament sixpences" in
exchange. She said that one of her relations was ill, and that she wished
to use the money as a charm to drive away the disease. This superstition
may have arisen from the once prevalent custom of distributing the alms in
the church to those of the poor who were present at the sacrament.
I have heard that the negroes in Jamaica attach the same "gifts of healing"
to the consecrated bread, and often, if they can escape notice, will carry
it away with them. As no account of this superstition seems to be recorded
in "N. & Q.," perhaps you would like to "make a note of it."
F. M. MIDDLETON.
_Propitiating the Fairies._--Having some years since, on a Sunday
afternoon, had occasion to ride on horseback between two towns in the
eastern part of Cornwall, I met a christening party, also on horseback,
headed by the nurse with a baby in her arms. Making a halt as I approached
her, she stopped me, and producing a _cake_, presented it to me, and
insisted on my taking it. Several years after, when in the Isle of Man, I
had the opportunity of hearing an elderly person relate several pieces of
folk lore respecting the witches and fairies in that island. It had been
customary, within his recollection, for a woman, when carrying a child to
be christened, to take with her _a piece of bread and cheese_, to give to
the first person she met, for the purpose of _saving the child from
witchcraft or the fairies_. Another custom was that of the "Queeltah," or
salt put under the churn _to keep off bad people_. Stale water was thrown
on the plough "to keep it from the _little {618} folks_." A cross was tied
in the tail of a cow "to keep her from _bad bodies_." On May morning it was
deemed of the greatest importance to avoid going to a neighbour's house for
fire; a turf was therefore kept burning all night at home. Flowers growing
in a hedge, especially green or yellow ones, were good to keep off the
fairies. And finally, the last cake was left "behind the turf-flag for the
little people."
J. W. THOMAS.
Dewsbury.
_Cornish Folk Lore: King Arthur in the Form of a Raven._--In Jarvis's
translation of _Don Quixote_, book II. chap. v., the following passage
occurs:
"'Have you not read, sir,' answered Don Quixote, 'the annals and
histories of England, wherein are recorded the famous exploits of King
Arthur, whom in our Castilian tongue we always call King Artus; of whom
there goes an old tradition, and a common one all over that kingdom of
Great Britain, that this king did not die, but that by magic art he was
turned into a raven; and that, in process of time, he shall reign
again, and recover his kingdom and sceptre; for which reason it cannot
be proved, that, from that time to this, any Englishman has killed a
raven?'"
My reason for transcribing this passage is to record the curious fact that
the legend of King Arthur's existence in the form of a raven was still
repeated as a piece of folk lore in Cornwall about sixty years ago. My
father, who died about two years since at the age of eighty, spent a few
years of his youth in the neighbourhood of Penzance. One day, as he was
walking along Marazion Green with his fowling-piece on his shoulder, he saw
a raven at a distance and fired at it. An old man who was near immediately
rebuked him, telling him that he ought on no account to have shot at a
raven, for that King Arthur was still alive in the form of that bird. My
father was much interested when I drew his attention to the passage which I
have quoted above. Perhaps some of your Cornish or Welsh correspondents may
be able to say whether the legend is still known among the people of
Cornwall or Wales.
EDGAR MACCULLOCH.
Guernsey.
_St. Clement's Apple Feast in Staffordshire._--On the feast of St.
Clement's (Nov. 23) the children go round to the various houses in the
villages to which they belong singing the following doggerel:
"Clemany! Clemany! Clemany mine!
A good red apple and a pint of wine,
Some of your mutton and some of your veal,
If it is good, pray give me a deal;
If it is not, pray give some salt.
Butler, butler, fill your bowl;
If thou fillst it of the best,
The Lord'll send your soul to rest;
If thou fillst it of the small,
Down goes butler, bowl and all.
Pray, good mistress, send to me
One for Peter, one for Paul,
One for Him who made us all,
Apple, pear, plum, or cherry,
Any good thing to make us merry;
A bouncing buck and a velvet chair,
Clement comes but once a year;
Off with the pot and on with the pan,
A good red apple and I'll begone."
How the above came to be conglomerated I know not, as there seem to be at
least three separate compositions pressed into St. Clement's service.
I shall be glad to know if any of your contributors can furnish farther
illustrations of St. Clement's apple feast. I believe, in Worcestershire,
St. Catherine and St. Clement unite in becoming the patrons on these
occasions.
G. E. T. S. R. N.
_New Year's Eve and New Year's Day._--Another German custom prevalent in
Philadelphia is the custom of celebrating the departure of the old year and
the arrival of the new by discharges of fire-arms. As soon as the sun sets
the firing commences, and it is kept up all night with every description of
musket, fowling-piece, and pistol. It is called "firing out the old year"
and "firing in the new year."
UNEDA.
Philadelphia.
* * * * *
Minor Notes.
_Carlist Calembourg._--The original of the French _jeu d'esprit_ in Vol.
viii., p. 242., was a Carlist calembourg circulated in the _salons_ about
the middle of 1831:
"La nation n'aime pas Louis-Philippe mais en rit (Henri)."
There was another also very popular:
"In travelling to Bordeaux you must go to Orleans."
V. T. STERNBERG.
_Jewish Custom._--In a recently published music-novel of some merit, called
_Charles Auchester_, occurs the following:
"'I shall treat him as my son, because he will indeed be my
music-child, and no more indebted to me than I am to music, or than we
all are to Jehovah.' _'Sir, you are certainly a Jew, if you say
Jehovah_; I was quite sure of it before, and I am so pleased.'"
There is a great error as to custom here, for the Jews never attempt to
pronounce the "four-lettered" Name, and in reading and speaking always use
instead Adonai or Elohim. And even converted Jews retain for the most part
the same habit. The writer of _Charles Auchester_ can only defend himself
by the example of the writer of {619} _Ivanhoe_, who has made the same
oversight; and a still more glaring one besides in making Isaac the Jew
wish his daughter had been called Benoni, _i.e._ the _son_ of sorrow. The
vowel letters of Jehovah are merely those of Adonai, inserted by the
Massorites; but this is another subject.
W. FRASER.
Tor-Mohun.
_Lachlan Macleane._--This individual, whose claim to the authorship of
Junius has been lately revived, was in Philadelphia ninety-five years ago,
and his name figures there in the accounts of the overseers of the poor,
under date of November 9, 1758:
"By cash received of James Coultass, late sheriff, being a fine paid by
Laughlane McClain for kissing of Osborn's wife (after his commissions
and writing bond were deducted)
£24 : 5 : 0"
This was in Pennsylvania currency; but it was an expensive kiss even in
that, being (besides the commissions and sheriff's charge for writing the
bond) equivalent to sixty-four dollars and fifty cents of our present
currency.
M. E.
Philadelphia.
_German Tree._--The following extract concerning this accessory to
Christmas, which is now so popular, may perhaps be interesting at the
present season. It is taken from the _Loseley Manuscripts_, edited by A. J.
Kempe, F.S.A., 1836, p. 75. note.
"We remember a German of the household of the late Queen Caroline,
making what he termed a _Christmas tree_ for a juvenile party at that
festive season. The tree was a branch of some evergreen fastened on a
board. Its boughs bent under the weight of gilt oranges, almonds, &c.;
and under it was a neat model of a farm-house, surrounded by figures of
animals, &c., and all due accompaniments. The forming Christmas trees
is, we believe, a common custom in Germany: evidently a remain of the
pageants constructed at that season in ancient days."
Is this the first notice of a German tree in England? The adjunct of the
farm-house seems now to be dispensed with in this country.
ZEUS.
_The late Duke._--The following curious coincidence, which lately appeared
in the _Meath Herald_, deserves transplanting to the literary museum of "N.
& Q.":
"From the fact of the Mornington family having been so connected by
property, &c. with the parish of Trim, in which town the late Duke
spent so many of his early days, and commenced his career in life by
being elected, when scarcely twenty-one years of age, to represent the
old borough of Trim, the following coincidence is worth relating. On
the news of the death of the Duke reaching Trim, the Very Rev. Dean
Butler caused the chime of bells to be rung in respect to his memory;
and the large bell, which was considered one of the finest and sweetest
in Ireland, hardly had tolled a second time for the occasion when it
suddenly broke, became mute, and ceased to send forth its notes.
Whether this was to be attributed to neglect of the ringer, or regret
for the great man of the age, it is hard to say; but, very odd as it
may appear to be, on examining the bell, it was found to be cast by
Edmund Blood, 1769, the very year the Duke was born. Thus this fine
bell commenced its career with the birth of the Duke, and ceased to
sound at his death. The parish of Trim is now getting the bell recast,
and the old metal is to be seen at Mr. Hodges, Abbey Street, Dublin."
J. YEOWELL.
* * * * *
Queries.
THE STORY OF CRISPIN AND CRISPIANUS.
_A Recitation for the 25th of October, and other Convivial Meetings of
Shoemakers._
"The CRISPIN trade! What better trade can be?
Ancient and famous, independent, free!
No other trade a brighter claim can find;
No other trade display more share of mind!
No other calling prouder names can boast,--
In arms, in arts,--themselves a perfect host!
All honour, zeal, and patriotic pride;
To dare heroic, and in suffering tried!
But first and chief--and as such claims inspire--
Our Patron Brothers, who doth not admire?
CRISPIN and CRISPIANUS! they who sought
Safety with us, and at the calling wrought:
Martyrs to Truth, who in old times were cast
Lorn outcasts forth to labour at the _last_!
Mould the stout sole, sew with the woven thread,
Make the _good fit_, and win their daily bread.
This was their strait and doing--this their doom;
They sought our shelter, and they found a home!
Helpless and hapless, wandering to and fro,
Weary they came and hid them from the foe;
Two high-born youths, to holy things impell'd,
Hunted from place to place, though still they held
Their sacred faith, and died for it, and threw
The glory of that death on all who made the Shoe!
"Such is the story--so behaved our trade;
And then the Church its zealous homage paid,
And made their death-day holy, as we see
Still in the Calendar, and still to be!
And long the Shoemaker has felt the claim,
And proved him joyful at such lofty fame;
For theirs it was by more than blood allied,
Alike they worshipp'd, and alike they died!
Nor minded how the Pagan nipp'd their youth--
They are not dead who suffer for the Truth!
The skies receive them, and the earth's warm heart
In grateful duty ever plays its part,
Embalms their memory to all future time,
And thus, in love, still punishes the crime;
Sees, though the corse be trampled to the dust,
The murder'd dead have retribution just!
{620}
"Where are they now who wrought this fiendish wrong?
We hate the actors, and have hated long.
And where are they, the victims? Always here;
We feel their glory, and we hold it dear!
Oh yes, 'tis ours! that glory still is ours,
And, lo! how breaks it on these festive hours;
Each heart is warm, each eye lit up with pride,
'Tis sanction'd in our loves and sanctified!
Far o'er the earth--the Christianised--where'er
The Saviour's name is hymn'd in daily prayer,
The winds of heaven their memories tender waft,
Commix'd with all the sorceries of the _craft_.
The little leather artizan--the boy
To whom the shoe is yet but as a toy,
A thing to smile and look at, ere the day
Severer task will make it one of _pay_
(A constant duty and a livelihood),--
He, the young Crispin, emulous and good,
Is told of the Prince Martyrs--sometimes Royal!
(The trade, in its devotion, being so loyal,
It fain would stretch the fact or trifle still,
Eager, as 'twere, to get on highest hill.)
Through the fair France, through Germany, and Spain,
The blue-skied Italy, the Russias twain,
And farther still, across the Western Main.
There is the story known, engraft, 'tis true,
With things, as often is, of weight undue;
Yet still's enough, when sifted to the most,
To make the trade rejoice, and as a toast,
Now, as is wont, and ever to be given,
Hail to the memory of our friends in heaven!
CRISPIN and CRISPIANUS--they, the two,
Who, like ourselves, have made the Boot and Shoe!"
The story as told in these verses is not exactly the same as the one
current among the makers of the boot and shoe in our own island, an account
in an old book called _The History of the Gentle Craft_ (the production, no
doubt, of the well-known Thomas Delony) being the basis of the tradition as
received now by the British shoemaker. In the _Golden Legende_, one of the
earliest of our printed books, and in Alban Butler's _Lives of the Saints_,
as compiled from the Roman Martyrologies, as also in the inscriptions of
some pieces of ancient tapestry formerly belonging to the shoemakers'
chapel in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, but, when I saw them, in one
of the galleries of the Louvre, is the like version as the one here given.
The authority, too, of the Church Calendar of England, even as it still
remains after the loppings of the Reformation, is another corroboration
that CRISPIN and CRISPIANUS, brothers, were early martyrs to the Christian
faith, and through that chiefly honoured, and not because the one became a
redoubted general and the other a successful suitor to the daughter of some
all-potent emperor. In the Delony version--itself, in every probability, a
borrowing from the popular mind of the Elizabethan period,--these things
are put forth; while in trade paintings and songs the Prince CRISPIN is
assumed to have a wife or sister, one can hardly tell which, in the person
of a princess, the Princess CRISPIANUS, and who figures as the patron of
the women's branch of the shoemakers' art; CRISPIN himself presiding over
the coarser labour for the rougher sex. This artifice, if not purely
historical, is at least very excusable, because so natural, seeing that the
duplex principle has such an extensive range; that even the feet themselves
come into the world in pairs, and so shoes must be produced after the same
fashion--paired, as the shoemakers have done by their adored CRISPIN and
CRISPIANUS.
It has now but to be stated that the writer of the foregoing lines (a long
time now the common property of his fellow-workmen) and this present
paragraph, has for many years contemplated the production of something,
which might assume even the size of a book, in connexion with the various
curious particulars which may be affiliated with this Crispin story, and
therefore would be glad to find some of the numerous erudite renders of "N.
& Q." helping his inquiries either through the medium of future Numbers, or
as might be addressed privately to himself, care of Mr. Clements,
bookseller, 22. Little Pulteney Street, Regent Street.
J. DAVIES DEVLIN.
* * * * *
Minor Queries.
_Barrels Regiment._--I suppose that to this regiment a song refers which
has for its burden,--
"And ten times a day whip the barrels,
And ten times a day whip the barrels,
Brave boys."
I shall be very much obliged to any one who will tell me where I can find
this song, or the circumstances or persons to which it refers. It was
probably written about the year 1747.
E. H.
_Okey the Regicide._--I should be much obliged for any information relative
to the descendants of Colonel John Okey, the regicide, executed April 19,
1662, O.S.
E. P. H.
Clapham.
_Lady Mason's Third Husband_.--Secretary Davison, in a letter dated London,
23rd December, 1581, and addressed to Lady Mason, requests this lady "to
join with his honour her husband" in standing sponsor with Sir Christopher
Hatton, or Sir Thomas Skirley, to his son, born a few days before. Sir John
Mason, second husband to Lady Mason, died in 1566. Who then was "this
honour," her third?
G. S. S.
_Creation of Knights._--When were the following knights made?--Sir William
Fleming, Sir George Barker, Sir George Hamilton, Sir Edward {621} de
Carteret, Sir William Armourer:--the first by Charles I.; the four
following by Charles II.
G. S. S.
_Martyn the Regicide._--Was Martyn the regicide married or not? If married,
is it known whether he had children? and if any of his children settled in
Ireland, and became possessed of property in that country?
E. A. G.
_History of the Nonjurors._--What are the best authorities for the history
of the Nonjurors and their sufferings? Of course, Lathbury, Hickes's _Life
of Kettlewell_, &c. are well known. Whence came their adopted motto:
"Cætera quis nescit?" Any reader who would communicate any information on
these points to C. R. would confer a favour.
C. R.
_Florin and the Royal Arms._--What is the authority for placing the
national arms (which are by royal proclamations ordered to be borne
_quarterly_ in ratification of the respective unions, and to be borne under
one imperial crown) in separate shields? They surely cannot with any
heraldic propriety be so arranged. The absurdity was remarked in the reign
of the Georges, for by the separation of the coats the arms of the German
Dominions of George I. obtained the second place, viz. the dexter side,
with France on the sinister, and Ireland at the bottom or fourth place.
MAT O' THE MINT.
_A Mistletoe Query._--Why has mistletoe the privilege of allowing the fair
sex to be kissed under its branches, on condition that a berry is plucked
off at the time? And also, when was this first allowed?[2]
J. W. ASTON (late of Trin. Col.)
[Footnote 2: This Query has been incidentally noticed in "N. & Q.,"
Vol. v., pp. 13. 208.--ED.]
* * * * *
Minor Queries with Answers.
_Sewell Family_ (Vol. viii., p. 521.).--Your correspondent D. N. states,
that "nothing farther is known of the family of Lieut.-Col. Sewell, who
died in 1803, than that he had a son Thos. Bailey Heath Sewell, Cornet in
32nd Light Dragoons, and Lieutenant 4th Dragoon Guards." Had he referred to
Lodge's _Peerage_, he would have found that the Honorable Harriet
Beresford, fourth daughter of the Most Rev. Wm. Beresford, Lord Archbishop
of Tuam, and first Baron Decies, married Jan. 25, 1796, Thos. Henry
Bermingham (not Bailey) Daly Sewell, Esq.; and died June 11, 1834, having
had three children, viz.:
1. Thomas, formerly Page of Honour to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
_circa_ 1829, afterwards a pensioner of Trin. Coll. Dublin, and
subsequently Lieutenant 13th Light Infantry; who died at Landour, Bengal,
Aug. 1, 1836.
2. Isabella, who married her cousin Major Marcus Beresford, in October,
1828; and died in 1836.
3. Louisa, married to the Hon. Sir W. E. Leeson, and died in 1849 or 1850.
Will D. N. favour me with the dates of the birth and death of the late
unfortunate, and, as I believe, ill-used Lieut.-General John Whitelocke,
whom he mentions, with the localities where the birth and death occurred?
G. L. S.
[We have submitted our correspondent's communication to D. N., who has
kindly forwarded the following reply:
"My communication (Vol. viii., p. 521.) I was aware was far from a
perfect pedigree of the Sewell family, and my object was to give such
notices as might form an outline to be filled up by some one more
competently informed. Your correspondent G. L. S. has very well
supplied the _cætera desunt_, where my information terminated with the
appointment of Cornet Sewell to a Lieutenancy in the 4th (Royal Irish)
Dragoon Guards. In the London Gazette 13789, June 23, 1795, he is
inserted as 'Mr. Bermingham Daly Henry Sewell' to be a cornet in the
32nd Light Dragoons; and as in filling up commissions much accuracy is
always considered very essential, I am disposed to regard those
Christian names as correct.
"There was a Rev. George Sewell, Rector of Byfleet, Surrey, Was he a
brother of Lieut.-Col. Sewell of the Surrey Light Dragoons?
"Did the Right Hon. Sir Thomas Sewell marry a second wife? For I find,
in _The Globe_ of October 9, 1820: 'Died, Saturday, Sept. 16, at
Twyford Lodge, Maresfield, Sussex, in her seventy-eighth year, Lady
Sewell, widow of the late Right Hon. Sir Thomas Sewell, Master of the
Rolls and Privy Councillor, &c.' Now, in Manning's _Surrey_, vol. iii.
p. 201., it is stated that Lieut.-Col. Sewell died in 1803, in his
fifty-eighth year, which would render it impossible for him to be the
son of the above-named Lady Sewell. In Horsfield's _Sussex_, 4to.,
1835, vol. i. p. 375., I find a William Luther Sewell, Esq., who most
probably was connected by the second marriage, residing at the above
Twyford Lodge.
"I regret that I cannot reply distinctly to the inquiries of G. L. S.
respecting the late Lieut.-General Whitelocke. I have ineffectually
searched all the various biographical dictionaries to that of the Rev.
H. J. Rose in twelve volumes, 1848, inclusive, without having found one
that has taken the least notice of him. I had casually heard, some
years since, that he had fixed his residence in Somersetshire, and that
he had died there; which I find confirmed by a paragraph in the _Annual
Register_, vol. lxxvi. for 1834 (_Chronicle_), p. 218., which states
that he died 'near Bath,' in February, 1834. With such scanty
information on the required points, I would still refer G. L. S. to a
work entitled _The Georgian Æra_, in 4 vols., London, 1832; where he
will find, in vol. ii. p 475., a short _military_ memoir of
Lieut.-General Whitelocke, which is dispassionately and candidly
written, and which accounts very reasonably for the inauspicious result
of his military operations. There is one slight error in the account of
_The Georgian Æra_, viz. in the date of the {622} _first_ appointment
of Mr. Whitelocke to a commission in the army, which appears in the
_London Gazette_, No. 11938. of December 26, 1778, and runs thus: '14th
Foot, John Whitelocke, Gent., to be Ensign _vice_ Day."--I trust some
reader of "N. & Q." will furnish us with the dates of the birth and
death of Lieut.-General Whitelocke, specifying when they took place, as
desired by G. L. S., with an abridgment of deficient particulars in his
history. D. N."]
_Greek Epigram._--In the _Bath Chronicle_ of the 10th of November last, I
find the following advertisement:
"The Clergyman of a Town Parish, in which are several crippled persons,
at present unable to attend divine worship, will feel very grateful to
any gentleman or lady who will give him an old Bath chair for the use
of these poor people; two blind men having offered, in this case,
charitably to convey their crippled neighbours regularly to the house
of God."
Surely this arrangement is not a new idea, and there is, if I mistake not,
a Greek epigram that records its success in practice several hundred years
ago. Can any of your readers, whose Greek is less faded than mine, refer me
to the epigram?
GEO. E. FRERE.
[Probably the following epigram is the one floating in the faded memory
of our correspondent:
[Greek: PHILIPPOU, hoi de ISIDÔROU.]
[Greek: Pêros ho men guiois, ho d' ar' ommasin; amphoteroi de]
[Greek: Eis hautous to tuchês endees êranisan,]
[Greek: Tuphlos gar lipoguion epômadion baros airôn,]
[Greek: Tais keinou phônais atrapon ôrthobatei,]
[Greek: Panta de taut' edidaxe pikrê pantolmos anankê,]
[Greek: Allêlois merisai toullipes eis eleon.]
_Anthologia, in usum Scholæ Westmonast._:
Oxon. 1724, p. 58.]
_Translations from Æschylus._--Whose translation of the tragedies of
Æschylus is that which accompanies Flaxman's compositions from the same? I
ought to state that there is merely a line or two under each plate, to
explain the subject of each composition, and that my copy is the unreduced
size.
H.
Kingston-on-Thames.
[The lines are taken from N. Potter's translation of the Tragedies of
Æschylus, 4to., 1777.]
_Prince Memnon's Sister._--Who was Prince Memnon's sister, alluded to by
Milton in _Il Penseroso_?
J. W. T.
Dewsbury.
[Dunster has the following note on this line:--"Prince Memnon's sister;
that is, an Ethiopian princess, or sable beauty. Memnon, king of
Ethiopia, being an auxiliary of the Trojans, was slain by Achilles.
(See Virg. _Æn._ I. 489., '_Nigri_ Memnonis arma.') It does not,
however, appear that Memnon had any sister. Tithonus, according to
Hesiod, had by Aurora only two sons, Memnon and Emathion, _Theog._ 984.
This lady is a creation of the poet."]
_"Oh! for a blast," &c._--Who was the author of the couplet--
"Oh! for a blast of that dread horn,
On Fontarabian echoes borne?"
A. J. DUNKIN.
[The lines--
"O for the voice of that wild horn,
On Fontarabia's echoes borne,
The dying hero's call,"--
are by Sir Walter Scott, and form part of those which excited the
horror of the father of Frank Osbaldiston, when he examined his
waste-book in search of _Reports outward and inward_--Corn Debentures,
&c. See _Rob Roy_, chap. ii. p. 24. ed. 1829.]