["_Bate me an ace quoth Bolton_" is an old proverb of unknown origin.
Ray tells us that a _Collection of Proverbs_ having been presented to
Queen Elizabeth, with an assurance that it contained all the proverbs
in the English language. "Bate me an ace, quoth Bolton," said the
queen, implying that the assertion was too strong; and, in fact, that
every proverb was not in the collection. See Nares' _Glossary_, who
quotes the following epigram by H.P., to show the collection referred
to
"_Secundæ Cogitutiones meliores._
"A pamphlet was of proverbs penned by Polton,
Wherein he thought all sorts included were;
Untill one told him _Bate m' an ace quoth Bolton_,
'Indeed,' said he, 'that proverb is not there.'"]
_Hopkins the Witchfinder_ (Vol. ii., p. 392.).--If the inquiry of CLERICUS
relates to Mathew Hopkins the witchfinder general, my friend W.S. Fitch of
Ipswich has some manuscript account of his residence in that town, as a
lawyer of but little {414} note, and his removal to Manningtree, in Essex;
but whether it gives any further particulars of him I am unable to state,
as I have not seen the manuscript.