in Hampshire, Prebendary of Salisbury, and lastly Dean of that
church. He died in 1705. The translation and paraphrase in _The
Idea of Christian Love_ is attributed to William Atwood in the
Bodleian Catalogue.]
PLAGUE STONES.
In a recent and valuable report addressed to the General Board of
Health, on the sanitary state of the borough of Dorchester, by a
gentleman to whom I, in common with all the readers of "N. & Q.," have
often been indebted--I mean Robert Rawlinson, Esq.,--an allusion is made
to the existence of "Plague Stones" in different parts of the country.
Briefly recording the principal visitations of plague in Dorchester and
its neighbourhood, he describes these "plague stones" as "stones placed
on the boundary limits of old towns, having a circular or square
dish-like sinking in them, which was filled with water, into which the
town's people dropped the purchase-money in their dealings with the
country people, as was supposed, to prevent infection. _Such stones may
be seen in many places throughout England._" The object of this
communication is, to suggest the propriety of a list of these curious
relics being made, through the medium of your excellent paper. I am not
aware of any such list at present existing. A plague stone is to be
seen, I believe, at Penrith; and another near Manchester, which is, I am
told, called the "Giant's Stone." The name of the latter seems, to my
mind, to point to a more remote period, unless an existing monument of
antiquity bearing that title was during the times of plague converted to
the temporary use of receiving the suspected money in the hollowed dish,
which is made at the top of these "plague stones." By the way, might not
our forefathers have suffered less from the fearful visitations and
devastating epidemics to which so many hundreds of thousands of them
fell victims, if they had been as careful to _wash themselves_
habitually in _aqua pura_ as they were to wash the money which they
received from suspected localities. The custom above alluded to admitted
the powerfully cleansing qualities of water. It would have been good for
them, especially in trying times of plague, if they had not been so
accustomed to "let" the "_well_ alone," as regards their own personal
purification.
J. J. S.
The Cloisters, Temple.
Minor Queries.
_The Cross on Counsels' Briefs._--Can any of your correspondents inform
me as to the origin and present use of the cross on counsels' briefs?
H. EDWARDS.
_Sir James Hayes, of Bedgebury, Kent._--It is mentioned in the
_Gentleman's Magazine_, 1792, p. 21., that on the foundation stone of
Old Bedgebury House in Kent, was found, many years ago, an inscription
recording the building of that house in 1688 by Sir James Hayes, and
Rachel Viscountess Falkland, his wife. Allusion is made in the
inscription to his having attained _great wealth from the depths of the
ocean_; and there was a tradition that he had made his fortune by
_diving_. Can any of your readers supply information upon this subject?
Was he one of the party who under Phipps (the ancestor of the house of
Mulgrave) recovered 200,000_l._ out of a Spanish vessel, sunk of the
coast of Hispaniola in 1687? and where can the full particulars of that
adventure be met with?
J. E. T.
_Authorship of the Song "Oh Nanny," &c._--A question as to the
nationality, if not the authorship, of this celebrated song was
discussed (if I remember aright) not long ago in letters printed in one
of the literary periodicals, probably the _Gentleman's Magazine_, but I
have not a reference at hand. It may be, that the facts I am about to
mention were adverted to in that discussion, and that the words are
admitted to be of English origin, and to have been written by Dr. Percy,
yet I am induced to send you this communication. In the drawing-room at
Ecton House, the mansion of Sam. Isted, Esq., at Ecton, a village about
five miles from Northampton, there was, in 1814, a portrait of the wife
of Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore (father of Mrs. Isted), holding in
her hand a scroll, on which is the celebrated song "Oh Nanny!" she being
the original, and the lines having been addressed to her before marriage
by the bishop. (_Account of a Tour, &c., published in the Scarborough
Repository_, by Cole, 1824.)
Perhaps some correspondent of yours in that vicinity would kindly say
whether the picture remains at Ecton; or, if not, what has become of it?
W. S. G.
Newcastle-on-Tyne.
_Hexameter Poem on English Counties._--Will any of your correspondents
be kind enough to furnish me with a copy of a poem in _hexameter_ verse,
and in an abbreviated form, enumerating the shires or counties in
England? In my early days it was very common in public schools, and I am
enabled to give a portion of one verse, viz.------"Dev. Dors. Gl. Oxfo.
Buck. Hart. Ess."
M.
Dublin.
_Wild Oats, Origin of the Phrase._--Can any of your correspondents
favour me with the origin and definition of the phrase "To sow your wild
oats?" It has never been very clear to me why "oats" should be the grain
selected as emblematical of the dissipations and excesses of youth. They
constitute the food of the inhabitants of the poorest regions only, and
where the absence of all aid from climate and sunshine, renders almost
unceasing toil necessary, in order to obtain a meagre subsistence.
The "oat" appears to me so little the companion of luxury and pleasure,
that I am wholly at a loss to account for the origin of this phrase,
which is in the mouth of every one.
BEAU NASH.
Bath.
_The Dr. Richard Mortons._--I shall feel greatly indebted to any reader
of "N. & Q." who can give me some account of Dr. Richard Morton, a
celebrated physician of Greenwich, _temp._ William and Mary, and of his
son Dr. Richard Morton, who died in 1730. Were they descended from the
Mortons of Severn Stoke, co. Worcester? and what was the precise degree
of their relationship with the Mortons of Slaugham, co. Sussex?
MARK ANTONY LOWER.
_General Lambert_ (Vol. iv., p. 339.).--A correspondent shows the
probability or certainty that the hitherto received opinion as to the
long confinement and death in Guernsey of this old parliamentary general
is not correct. But Mr. Hallam and others who report this, report also
that he was tried with Sir Harry Vane; and that his "submissive
behaviour" was such a contrast to that of his noble fellow-prisoner that
it perhaps influenced his sentence. Where is the proof of his behaviour
to be found? Vane's trial has been published separately. It is also in
the _State Trials_, with the trials of the regicides; but neither there
nor elsewhere can I find the trial of Lambert.
G. L.
_Cross-legged Effigies and Collars of SS._--As some of your
correspondents are sending to "N. & Q." accounts of sepulchral effigies
bearing SS. collars, I should be obliged to them if they would mention
when such effigies are cross-legged. Does any effigy in this attitude
exist _bearing a date_ as late as 1350?
W. H. K.
_The Crooked Billet._--Can any of your readers inform me whether there
be any legend connected with the "Crooked Billet," which is frequently
used in this neighbourhood as a sign to a village inn? The sign itself
is formed of a crooked piece of wood, or two or three pieces joined, and
suspended over the door of the public-house.
T. D.
Gainsbro'.
_Collins the Poet, and his Ode on the Music of the Grecian Theatre._--In
Seward's _Anecdotes of distinguished Persons_ there is a letter from
Collins to Dr. Hayes, professor of music, Oxford, in which, after
alluding to his "Ode on the Passions," he mentions another Ode, which
appears to have been actually written.
"The subject," he states, "is _the Music of the Grecian Theatre_,
in which," he goes on to say, "I have, I hope naturally,
introduced the various characters with which the chorus was
concerned, as Oedipus, Medea, Electra, Orestes, &c. &c. The
composition too is probably more correct, as I have chosen the
ancient tragedies for my models, and only copied the most
affecting passages in them."
The letter is dated "Chichester, November 8, 1750." Collins died in
1756. The Ode is lost; but assuredly every effort should be made to
bring it to light.
SMINTHEUS.
_Bishop Kidder's Autobiography._--In the _Lives of the Bishops of Bath
and Wells_, by the Rev. Stephen Hyde Cassan (Rivingtons, 1829), the
greater portion of the notice there given of that learned writer and
excellent divine, Richard Kidder, bishop of that see from 1691 to 1703,
is derived from an autobiographical memoir, of which Mr. Cassan says,
"the MS., one of undoubted authority, exists in original at Wells." The
reasonable inference from this statement would be, that the MS. is in
the Cathedral Library there; but from what I have recently been able to
ascertain, through the kindness of a gentleman at Wells, it would appear
that Kidder's autobiography is not in the Cathedral Library, nor in the
hands of any individual in that place or its neighbourhood: the
probability therefore is, that it is in some private collection; and as
I believe it contains many particulars connected with the bishop's
personal history, which Mr. Cassan has passed over, I shall be glad if
any of your readers can inform me where it is to be met with. The
bishop's birthplace has been left in some doubt; it has been stated that
he was born at Lewes, at Brighthelmstone, and in Suffolk; in the memoir
referred to, the question is set at rest, for he says that he was born
at East Grinstead, Sussex, in 1633. While upon this subject I would beg
information as to the name and family of the bishop's wife, who was
killed with him in the great storm of Nov. 1703. I learn from the
baptismal registers of their children that her christian name was
_Elizabeth_.
JAS. CROSBY.
Strantham.
_Shrine of Edward the Confessor._--Is there any print or drawing, or any
written description, which would show the condition of the _shrine of
King Edward the Confessor_ previously to the great Rebellion, or in any
way throw light upon the various changes, mutilations, and restorations
it has undergone, beyond such as is to be derived from the ordinary
histories of the abbey?
GEO. S. SCOTT.
"_Wise above that which is written._"--Can any of your correspondents
inform me where the words originally occur, "Wise above that which is
written?" I was for a long time under the impression that they were
taken from one of St. Paul's Epistles, or at least were to be found
somewhere in the Bible; but, after having searched Cruden diligently,
though ineffectually, I am pretty sure they are not to be found in Holy
Writ.
I am convinced that most persons share in the opinion I formerly held,
and I have often seen them quoted in sermons just as if they were a
passage of Scripture, though, of course, without giving any reference.
R. C. C.
Oxon.
"_Hoffman_," _a Tragedy by Chettle._--Can any correspondent of the "N. &
Q." throw any light upon the source of the plot of _Hoffman, a Tragedy_,
by Henry Chettle, 4to. 1631? The scene is laid at Dantzig in Prussia;
the hero revenges his father's death, which was caused by the Duke of
Lüneburg and other princes, by means of a red-hot iron crown placed on
his head. He kills the son of the Duke of Lüneburg in the same manner,
and assumes his character; is adopted by the Duke of Prussia, and
avenges himself by the murder of the duke, and others of his father's
judges; is finally discovered, and put to death by means of the iron
crown.
I have in vain searched the German chronicle of the period: from the
geographical localities being well preserved, as well as the German
names (a peculiarity in the old drama), the presumption is, that it has
been taken from an historical source. Mention is made in Menzel's
_History of Germany_, of a Count Jordan who suffered death by means of
an iron crown; and in Goldsmith's _Traveller_, the line of--
"Luke's iron crown and Damon's bed of steel,"
is illustrated by a note in Bohn's edition of that author, of two
brothers, George and Luke Leck, who had created a rebellion in Hungary,
and of one of them suffering death in this manner; but neither of these
two cases apply at all to the subject.
H. B. L.
_Inverted Commas._--When were inverted commas first introduced to
indicate quotations in writing?
S. W. RIX.
_Quotations Wanted._--If the subjoined Queries could be inserted
_early_, it would greatly oblige me. I want them for a work, of which
the first proofs are now before me.
I should be glad if any of the readers of "N. & Q." could refer me to
the precise places from whence the following quotations are made:--
1. "Qui vult plenè et sapidè Christi verba intelligere, oportet ut
totam vitam suam Illi studeat conformare."
2. "Gaudium suum ob renascentes literas non sine metu exprimet,
unus scrupulus habet animum meum, ne sub obtentu priscæ literaturæ
caput erigere tentet paganismus.... Optarim frigidas istas
argutias (humanæ eloquentiæ logicarumque subtilitatum) amputari
prorsus, Christumque illum simplicem et purum restitui, penitusque
humanis mentibus inseri."
_Erasmus._ Query--where?
3. "Cujus vita despicitur, restat ut ejus prædicatio contemnatur."
_S. Gregory._
W. D--N.
_Deacons, a Phrase used by Foxe._--In the martyrology of John Foxe we
read--
"King Edward died, the world being unworthy of him: the Duke of
Northumberland came down to Cambridge with an army of men, having
commission to proclaim Lady Jane queen.... The duke sent for
Doctor Sandys, being vice-chancellor, for Doctor Parker, for
Doctor Bill, and Master Leaver to sup with him. Amongst other
speeches he said, Masters, pray for us, that we speed well; if
not, you shall be made bishops, and we deacons. And even so it
came to pass: Doctor Parker and Doctor Sandys were made bishops;
and he and Sir John Gates, who were then at the table, were made
deacons, ere it was long after, on the Tower-hill."
I should be glad to know the allusion here, and how men who were
executed could be said to be thereby made deacons.
W. D--N.
_The Count de Vordac._--When did the Count de Vordac, a general in the
army of the Emperor of Germany, die? His memoirs are scarce; the copy
which I have is reprinted at Paris in 1709. He was an Italian, bred for
the church, which he relinquished for the profession of arms. He was
born about 1660; his memoirs break off abruptly in 1695 when in midlife,
and he was serving under our William III. He closes his memoirs with an
account of his being at the siege of Namur, which he says cost his own
party dear, and himself more particularly. It is very probable he fell
at this siege if he continued his narrative while in the camp. His
memoirs are curious and very entertaining. I find there that he was much
esteemed at Vienna, and his conduct in rescuing the wife of one of the
German nobility from a horrible imprisonment with the corpse of the man
of whom her lord was jealous, is full of interest as well as horror,
from the mode in which it was accomplished. He was personally acquainted
with William III., who entrusted him with important commands. His
narrative makes the reader anxious to know something of his subsequent
history, if he were not a victim to the sword before the close of the
war of which he spoke.
CYRUS REDDING.
Minor Queries Answered.
_Hoare's Charity._--Inside the cover of a copy of _The Whole Duty of
Man_ (8vo., London, 1727, John Baskett) now before me, is pasted a slip
of paper, containing a coat of arms, "Sable, a double eagle expanded or
(?) in a bordure argent," surrounded by mantling, and surmounted by
helmet and crest; below this is the following:--
"The gift of HENRY HOARE, Esq., who died March 12, 1724-5, aged
forty-seven, and by his last Will and Testament hath vested the
su[=m]e of two thousand pounds in trustees, who are to apply the
yearly interest, rents, and profits arising out of the said
su[=m]e to the purchasing, dispensing, and giving away, yearly,
Bibles, Common Prayer-Books, and such other books as are intirely
agreeable to the principles and doctrine of the Church of England,
as now by law established, and most conducive to the advancement
of Christian faith and piety in the world."
I shall be glad to learn whether this charity is still bestowed, and
where: any particulars relative to the original donor will be
acceptable. Permit me to add the Query,--Is mine the first edition of
_The Whole Duty of Man_? if not, when was it first published, and who
was the author?
W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.
[Mr. Henry Hoare was a son of Sir Richard Hoare, Lord Mayor of
London, and an intimate friend of that worthy man, Robert Nelson,
author of the _Companion for the Festivals and Fasts of the Church
of England_; a work which Dr. Johnson recommends as being a most
valuable help to devotion, and as having had the greatest sale of
any book ever printed in England, except the Bible. Mr. Hoare's
name occurs in several parts of Robert Nelson's will, viz. "I give
and bequeath to Mr. Henry Hoare, of London, goldsmith, one of my
executors, 200_l._, upon trust to distribute 100_l._, part
thereof, in such manner as shall be directed by the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge; and the other 100_l._ to be
employed by him in promoting parochial libraries.... I give and
bequeath to Mrs. Jane Hoare, wife of the said Mr. Henry Hoare, two
pair of little silver candlesticks for her closet." It is also
worthy a note in our pages that the first legacy received by the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge was that of Robert
Nelson's, which is thus entered on the minutes of the
Society:--"3d Feb. 1714-15. Mr. Hoare reported, that Mr. Nelson,
lately deceased, had ordered him by his will, as one of his
executors, to pay 100_l._ to the Society for promoting their
designs; and also 50_l._ towards supporting the charity-school at
St. George's Chapel." The name of Mr. Henry Hoare occurs among the
list of subscribers in the first volume of Jeremy Collier's
_Ecclesiastical History_, fol. 1708; and some of his letters to
John Strype, the historian, will be found among the Additional
MSS. in the British Museum, No. 5853. No biographical notice of
Mr. Henry Hoare appears to have been preserved. See Herbert's
_History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies_, vol. ii. p. 285.,
for a notice of his gift to the Goldsmiths' Company.
The first edition of _The Whole Duty of Man_ was published in
1657. Like the enigmatical Junius, its authorship still remains a
problem; but we believe it is now generally supposed to be written
either by Lady Packington or Archbishop Sterne. Our correspondent
will find the question discussed in the Rev. W. B. Hawkins's
Introduction to Pickering's edition of this work, published in
1842; as well as in the valuable communication of J. E. B. Mayor,
Esq., of Marlborough College, in our second volume, p. 292.]
_Dr. Sacheverell's "Sermon at Derby."_--Can any of your correspondents
furnish me with information as to the various editions which were
published of Dr. Henry Sacheverell's _Sermon at Derby_ in 1709? I am
anxious to ascertain how many editions were issued, with their dates and
other particulars.
L. J.
[We think our correspondent will not be able to obtain the
information he requires, owing to the great demand at the time for
the two Sermons for which the Doctor was prosecuted. Mr. Lathbury
states (_History of the Nonjurors_, p. 237) that "of the Sermon
'Perils among False Brethren,' no less than forty thousand copies
were sold in a few weeks." We have also now before us two copies
of the Derby Sermon, both printed in 1709, 8vo., but no intimation
on the title-page of their being different editions, which they
evidently are, on an examination of their typographical
composition. The Bodleian contains a quarto edition of the latter
Sermon, 1710.]
_Lucas Lossius._--I have an old 12mo. volume with the following
title-page:
"Annotationes Scholasticæ _in Evangelia Dominicalia et_ ea quæ in
Festis IESV CHRISTI, et Sanctorum ejus præcipuis, leguntur in
Ecclesia, _per totius Anni circulum_: non inutile futuræ
puerilibus Scholis.
"_His adjectæ sunt in singula Evangelia Disticha, Argumenta,
Doctrinæ Summariæ, Loci et_ _Ob_jectiones præterea, cum brevibus
ac veris earum solutionibus Dialecticis, exercendæ adolescentiæ
causa.
"_Collecta et dictata à Luca Lossio, in Schola Lunæburgensi._
"(*) [right pointing hand symbol] (*)
"Adiecimus et iam recens erudita Evangeliorum Dominicalium et
Festivalium Disticha, inundæ memoriæ causa, à Vuendelino Helbachio
conscripta.
"(*)
"_Franc. Apud Hæred. Christ. Egen._
M.D.LXXVIII."
The words, and parts of words, in Italics are rubricated.
As I live at a distance from any large library, and have consulted in
vain such biographical works as my own scanty shelves afford, I shall be
greatly obliged to any of your correspondents who have access to our
public libraries, to inform me who Lucas Lossius was, and where any
account of him may be met with? Also, who Wendelinus Helbachius,
Stigelius, and Bernardus Bomgardius were, whose "Disticha" are
interspersed throughout the volume? In the "Epistola Nuncupatoria"
mention is made of "Joannis Stigelij, Poetæ clarissimi, nostra ætate,"
and of "M. Bernardi Bomgardij, Ludimoderatoris Vlzeniani;" but I cannot
find any account of these worthies.
I ought to add that each Sunday or Saint's Day is preceded by a curious
woodcut representing the subject of which the Gospel treats.
R. BN.
[Lucas Lossius, of Lunenburg, was a Lutheran divine and
schoolmaster, well skilled in music, who published at Nuremberg,
in 1553, _Erotemata Musicæ practicæ_, and together with
Melancthon, the Lutheran ritual, _Psalmodia, seu Cantica sacra
veteris ecclesiæ selecta_. At the period of the Reformation, the
Lutherans preserved more of the ancient hymns and music of the
church in their services than the Calvinists. Some account of
Lossius is given in Hawkins's _History of Music_, vol. iii. p.
102. There is an edition of _Annotationes Scholasticæ_, with the
curious woodcuts printed in the year 1560, at Leipsic.]
_The "Athenian Oracle."_--Can you inform me who were the authors of the
"Athenian Oracle," or, in other words, the members of the "Learned
Society" who conducted this work? You may feel some interest in it as a
kind of prototype and progenitor of your own "N. & Q." Your work, as I
apprehend, does not profess to solve and answer so many nice puzzling
points in divinity, philosophy, love, &c., as that of the _Oracle_,
which furnishes us with a curious picture of the wants, opinions, and
manners of the age in which it appeared; but _yours_, though neither
dipping so deeply nor ranging so widely, ought to be highly prized as
the exponent of the demands of our times more improved, enlightened, and
not less inquisitive, and as affording to some of your correspondents
far from the great metropolis of letters, a ready channel for
information, much to their instruction and pleasure. Pardoning this
digression, the copy of the _Athenian Oracle_ I possess is in 3 vols.
8vo., purporting to be an entire collection of all the valuable
questions and answers in the old Athenian Mercuries, &c., by a member of
the Athenian Society; London, printed for Andrew Bell at the Cross Keys
and Bible in Cornhill, near Stocks Market, the second volume 1703, the
first and third 1704. The copy bears an autograph on the fly-leaf; "Ex
Libris Thomas Browne, Ex Dono plurim; M'ri Guil Carstairs Acad.
Edinburg. primarij professoris Cui omnia (two words obscure) Ed. Nov.
23, 1706." The historical celebrity of Carstairs is a _small feather in
the cap_ of the copy, but unimportant to some farther knowledge from you
of the book and its authors, the former having often supplied much
rational fireside entertainment.
N.
Glasgow.