swelled at last to twenty volumes folio; these becoming scarce, a
collection of the most valuable questions and answers was
reprinted under the title of _The Athenian Oracle_, in 4 vols.
8vo. The fourth volume contains a Supplement, to which is prefixed
"The History of the Athenian Society," and an "Essay upon
Learning." It was projected by the celebrated John Dunton, who
says, "My first project was the _Athenian Gazette_. As the
Athenian Society had their first meeting in my brain, so it has
been kept ever since religiously secret: but I will now oblige the
reader with a true discovery of the _question-project_, and of the
several persons that engaged in it." These were his
brother-in-law, the Rev. Samuel Wesley and Mr. Richard Sault, who
were occasionally assisted by Dr. Norris. The work was also
countenanced by several of the most eminent writers of the age;
and was honoured in particular with a commendatory poem by Swift.
Some curious notices respecting Dunton and his numerous literary
projects will be found in the _Life and Errors of John Dunton_, 2
vols. 8vo., 1818; and in Nichols' _Literary Anecdotes_, vol. v.
pp. 59-83.]
Replies.
FRENCH REVOLUTIONS FORETOLD.
(Vol. v., p. 100.)
A remarkable instance of foresight relative to the fate of some of the
French sovereigns appears in an epistle of Erasmus to King Francis I.:
"Prætexunt fidei titulum, sed revera aliud agunt; moliuntur
tyrannidem, etiam in capita Principum. Huc tendunt per cuniculos.
Nisi Princeps ipsorum voluntati per omnia paruerit, dicetur fautor
Hæreticorum; et destitui poterit per Ecclesiam; hoc est, per
aliquos conjuratos Pseudomonachos et Pseudotheologos."
Richer, Doctor of the Sorbonne, after having alluded to this passage,
uses the following very striking language:
"Cæterum regno Franciæ his artibus everso, (quod omen Deus
avertat,) reliquis Monarchiis Christianis quæ supererunt eadem
manet pestis; ut prophetia Apostoli, _de iniquitatis mysterio_, et
politicarum Potestatum ruina atque interitu, complementum
sortiatur; cujus pestis et ruinæ complementum in dies singulos
Bullæ Coenæ Domini et Directorii Inquisitorum arcanis promovetur.
_Tumque demum, in fine sæculorum, seditiones, conspirationes, et
bella plusquam civilia fervebunt, propter Potestatum sæculi
exarmatorum imbecillitatem atque impotentiam; quæ nec sibi ipsis,
nec aliis, sufficienter consulere poterunt; quia omnes imperare,
et nemo parere volet_: quibus de bellis consule caput 24.
Matthæi."
_Apologia pro Joanne Gersonio_, pp. 203-4. Lugd. Bat. 1676.
R. G.
GRIMESDYKE.
(Vol. iv. _passim._)
NAUTICUS is informed that in Norfolk one of the hundreds, or
subdivisions of the county, is called _Grimshoo_ or _Grimshow_, after
(as it is supposed) a Danish leader of the name of _Grime_ or _Gryme_.
He was undoubtedly either _Præsitus Comitatus_ or _Centuriæ Præpositus_
of that part of the country, and gave his name to the hundred as
hundred-greeve, which name it still retains. In about the centre of this
hundred is a very curious Danish encampment, in a semicircular form,
consisting of about twelve acres.
In this space are a great number of large deep pits, joined in a regular
manner, one near to another, in form of a quincunx, the largest in the
centre, where the general's or commander's tent was placed. These pits
are so deep and numerous as to be able to conceal a very great army. At
the east end of this entrenchment is a large tumulus, pointing towards
Thetford, from which it is about five or six miles distant; and which
might possibly have served as a watch tower, or place of signal: and
here the hundred court used to be called. This place also is known by
the name of _The Holes_, or _Grimes-graves_. This part of the country,
being open, was a great seat of war between the Saxons and Danes, as
appears from many tumuli throughout this hundred, erected over the
graves of leaders who fell in battle; or as tokens of victory, to show
how far they had led their armies and conquered.--See _Blomfield_ in
loco.
J. F. F.
West Newton.
To the various instances already recorded in "N. & Q.," of ancient
earthworks having received the name "Grimesdyke," the following may be
added.
One on Cranbourne Chase, Dorset; three in Berkshire, viz., one near
Silchester, one near Oare, where also are Grimsbury, and Grimsbury
Forest; another, intersected by the Thames, near Wallingford; another
near Witney, Oxfordshire.
The great fossa and vallum of Lollius Urbicus in Scotland, is called
Graham's and Grime's Dyke. The frequency of its application to various
earthworks in such distant parts of the kingdom may perhaps be
considered sufficient evidence that the name is not derived from that of
any landed proprietor, as suggested by one of your correspondents. I
have no doubt the derivation suggested by your first correspondent,
NAUTICUS, is the true one, viz., that it is of Saxon origin, signifying
Wizard, or the Evil Spirit, which indicates, not only that these
earthworks were in existence in Saxon times, but that their origin was
even then so remote and mysterious that they were supposed to be the
work of supernatural agency. Grimesdyke, described by NAUTICUS as
beginning near Berkhamsted, Herts (not Hants, as misprinted in "N. &
Q."), and running across the Chiltern hills, is mentioned, _temp._ Henry
III., in a charter of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, granting Ashridge to the
fraternity of the Bonhommes:
"Usque ad quoddam fossatum quod dicitur Grymesdich."
If this should meet the eyes of my friend NAUTICUS, wherever in the
broad seas he may happen to be, he will be glad to hear that this
extensive earthwork of antiquity is now undergoing the investigation of
an Archæological Society, of which he is an esteemed member. I may
further remark that the family name of Grimesdike is doubtless from some
ancient place so named, and not these several places from the family.
The armorial bearings of the family would at once suggest this
conclusion. I have not found the name given to any ancient work in
Wales, which of course would not be the case, if it be of Saxon origin.
W. H. K.
POET REFERRED TO BY BACON.
(Vol. iv., p. 257.)
The poet referred to by Bacon is not the author of the _Mirror for
Magistrates_, but ARIOSTO, whose _Orlando Furioso_ was then popular in
the recent translation of Sir John Harrington. The allegory will be
found at the close of the thirty-fourth and commencement of the
thirty-fifth books:
"Further, the Duke did in that place behold,
That when the threads were spent that had been spun,
Their names in brass, in silver, or in gold,
Were wrote, and so into great heaps were done;
From which a man that seemed wondrous old,
With whole loads of these names away did run,
And turn'd again us fast, the way he went,
Nor e'er weary was, nor ever spent.
"A heap of names within his cloak he bore,
And in the river did them all unlade;
Or, to say truth, away he cast them all
Into the stream which Lethe we do call.
"He hurl'd therein full many a precious name,
Where millions soon into the bottom sank,
Hardly in every thousand one was found,
That was not in the gulf quite lost and drown'd.
"Yet all about great store of birds there flew
As vulture, carrion crows, and chatt'ring pyes,
And many more of sundry kind and hue,
Making lewd harmony with their loud cries;
These when the careless wretch the treasure threw
Into that stream, did all they could devise,
What with their talons some, and some with beak,
To save some names, but find themselves too weak.
"Only two swans sustain'd so great a poise,
In spite of him that sought them all to drown,
These two do still take up the names they list,
And bare them safe away, and never misst.
"They caught them ere they to the stream arriv'd,
Then went they, with the names they had recover'd,
Up to a hill, that stood the water nigh,
On which a stately church was builded high.
"This place is sacred to immortal Fame,
And evermore a nymph stood at the gate
And took the names ... ...
Then all about the church she hang'd the same
Before the sacred image, in such rate
As they might then well be assur'd for ever,
Spite of that wretch, in safety to persever.
"But as the swans that there still flying are,
With written names, unto that sacred port,
So here Historians learn'd, and Poets rare,
Preserve then in clear fame and good report."
S. W. SINGER.
JOHNSON'S HOUSE, BOLT COURT.
(Vol. v., p. 176.)
A correspondent discussing the question of the site, or of the continued
existence, of the house in Bolt Court in which Johnson lived and died,
mentions that one person now living called there during the last illness
of our sublime moralist. I believe he refers to Mr. Rogers.
The fact is that there is also a lady, an inhabitant of Piccadilly,
Viscountess Keith, who not only grew from childhood to the age of twenty
in the constant association of the Doctor, but who is also mentioned by
Madame D'Arblay as having been a visitor at Bolt Court in 1784. Whether
the noble lady referred to, at the extraordinary age she has reached
(she was the eldest Miss Thrale), could solve from memory your friend's
doubts as to this classical locality, I know not.
M. A.
I am in a position to assure MR. EDWIN LECHLADE that Dr. Johnson's house
was burnt down in 1819, the premises having been long previously
occupied by the most eminent English printer of his own or any other
time, Mr. Thomas Bensley, to whose energy the world is indebted for the
perfection of the printing machine.
The house of Johnson's friend, Mr. Allen the printer, was not destroyed
by the disastrous fire which reduced to ashes the Doctor's residence;
indeed only one corner of it was injured; and, with that exception, it
stands as it was built shortly after the Great Fire of London.
Mr. Allen's house stands at the head of Bolt Court; Dr. Johnson's stood
to its left. On the site of the latter was erected, after the
before-mentioned fire, a spacious printing-office, and both are now in
the occupation of Mr. Tyler.
The _Gentleman's Magazine_ (1819, part i., p. 575.), in giving an
account of this fire, says in a note:
"It may be interesting to some of our readers to know that the
house in Bolt Court, formerly the residence of Dr. Johnson, formed
part of Mr. Bensley's office, and is now entirely destroyed. A
view of it is preserved in the _European Magazine_ for 1810."
The _European Magazine_ (1810, vol. lvii. pp. 353-4.) contains, besides
the view above-mentioned, an article to which your correspondent may be
referred, in confirmation of the fact that the house occupied by Dr.
Johnson was the one I have referred to, and was not exactly opposite the
"Dr. Johnson tavern." The view, I am told by one who well recollects the
old house, and is a great lover of Johnsoniana, is a correct
representation of it.
Timperley's _Dictionary of Printers and Printing_, also, in relating the
occurrence of the fire of Messrs. Bensley's premises, states that a part
of it was formerly the residence of Dr. Johnson.
TEE BEE.
In answer to the Query of EDWIN LECHLADE, being in a position to give
you unquestionable information, I will, to quote your correspondent's
words, let the question be set at rest. Of the house in which Dr.
Johnson lived and died, not one brick is left upon another. It was
destroyed totally by fire in 1819; and the partywall between that and
Mr. Allen's house alone remains, being the west wall of that large
residence. When up Bolt Court, you turn to the left through an iron gate
leading to a flight of stone steps to the printing-office now occupied
by Mr. Tyler, and _where those stone steps are_, stood the doctor's
residence. I know of no relic that was saved except the _scraper_, which
was distorted into a curious shape by the action of the fire, and being
firmly fixed in a heavy stone, it lay about the yard for years.
The late well-known printer Mr. Bensley succeeded Mr. Allen there in
business in 1783, going at once to reside in his house _next door_ to
Dr. Johnson, whom, of course, as a close neighbour, he often saw, and
whose funeral he witnessed. After the Doctor's death the
Rev.--Stockdale, of the Church of England, occupied the house; next to
him it was tenanted by a Rev.--Moir, (I believe) a Presbyterian; next,
by one Copley, an old tailor, whom I have teased many times when a boy;
for some of us youngsters having overheard him once in a soliloquy
groaning, "Dear me--and the buttons all wrong!" on passing him it became
a _mot_ among us expressed sufficiently loud to reach his ears, when he
would look unutterable things. He was a worthy but somewhat cross old
man, in very respectable circumstances. His was the last family which
ever occupied the premises as a dwelling-house; I knew him there for
about twenty years. During his abode the freehold was put up for sale by
auction, as well as of Allen's house; Mr. Bensley purchased both. This
was somewhere about 1804-1807. But as Copley had a lease, he did not
vacate till about 1814, when Mr. Bensley appropriated the two houses to
his printing purposes (and there, it may not be unworthy of notice, was
steam-printing first practised),--so occupied the said premises were,
till destroyed by fire in 1819. Mr. Bensley's eldest surviving son
succeeded him in 1820, but did not, in re-constructing the premises,
build on the site of Dr. Johnson's house, though _a part_ thereof has
since been covered. The map--a very fragile, worm-eaten affair--shows
the exact dimensions of the house, the place where the walls stood, &c.
The property remains in Mr. Bensley's family. I have often heard Mr.
Bensley describe the Doctor and his funeral.
The print in the _European Magazine_ is an accurate representation of
the appearance of this ancient and gloomy house in the dark corner; but
it had many comforts, and "a large garden," in which I have been; it is
now all built upon, and has been covered for nearly half a century. Some
yet living may have visited Dr. Johnson there: I have often conversed
with others who are dead that did--the late Mr. Bowyer Nichols, Mr.
Cradock (of Leicestershire), Mr. A. Strahan, and others mentioned in the
Doctor's works, when gratifying their curiosity by showing them over the
house; and it has fallen to my lot to do so to many literary characters.
Indeed as to the place where Dr. Johnson lived and died, there is no
more room for doubt than as to where old London bridge stood. I have
many times been with the late Mr. James Boswell (son of Dr. Johnson's
biographer) in the rather dismal parlour--which spot, it is not to be
wondered at, had a peculiar attraction for _him_.
There is _no_ kind of foundation for assigning Dr. Johnson's residence
to that where Cobbett lived or wrote--it was a mere joke. As to the
"Johnson's Head" tavern, it was an upholsterer's manufactory at the time
of Dr. Johnson's death. I myself knew an old man of the name of _Hale_
residing in it, and carrying on that occupation so early as 1800, who
had doubtless been there before Dr. Johnson's death; his son followed
him, and continued till about 1826-1830 in those premises. By the same
token (as Paddy says), while now addressing "N. & Q." (though nearly 300
miles from the spot) I am writing at a table Hale sen. made for me in
that house in 1818.
The greater part of Mr. Bensley's extensive premises was _twice_ burned
down; but on neither occasion was Allen's house destroyed. It yet
stands, though so altered and improved as not to resemble the original
edifice. Mr. Tyler's counting-house, by the iron gate at the S. W.
corner, however, is left just as used by Allen (except a passage cut off
at the end), the panelling, &c., just the same, being the _only_ part
remaining unaltered: there was then, of course, no door out to the stone
steps, as there stood Dr. Johnson's parlour. In this counting-house, no
doubt, Dr. Johnson often was; and in the adjoining parlour he often fed.
It was a very old-fashioned room, as I well remember it upwards of half
a century ago. His better parlour, or drawing-room, was large and
handsomely furnished for the period, with three windows, and two ancient
pier-glasses fixed to tables, gilt and adorned according to the taste of
the times. Mr. Bensley bought these and a few other household matters,
which remained _in statu quo_ till 1805-1808.
I have seen some prints of the inside of Dr. Johnson's house, which do
not give a very accurate idea of the appearance of the rooms, &c.; but,
I repeat it, the view of the front in the _European Magazine_ is
excellent.
The celebrity of Dr. Johnson may induce you to insert this, which,
without that influence, I am aware would be too tedious.
B. B.
COOPER'S MINIATURE OF CROMWELL.
(Vol. iv., p. 368.; Vol. v., p. 189. &c.)
It is only within a few months that the existence of the "N. & Q."
became known to me. It seemed likely to be such an useful and amusing
publication, from the description I received of it from a literary
friend (now appointed vice-consul to the Isle of Mytilene), that I lost
no time in becoming a subscriber; and I am rejoiced to add, that my
expectations have not been disappointed, though I have not had time to
read the Notes or attend to the Queries as fully as I could have wished
till very lately.
However, I have now observed amongst the Replies, Vol. v., p. 189., a
Note relating to the miniature of Cromwell by Cooper, with several
references to other Notes and Queries upon the same subject, originating
with a Query from LORD BRAYBROOKE in Vol. iv., p. 368. If the following
appears to you worthy of insertion, pray use it.
I have a beautiful miniature of Oliver Cromwell, painted with very great
care, and which has every appearance of being an original by Cooper. I
remember it all my life in my father's (Lord Holland's) room at Holland
House; and on his death in 1840, it was left by him to his friend and
mine, John Allen, late master of Dulwich College, who died in 1843, and
left it with his books to me.
Cromwell is painted in armour, with a remarkably clean, plain,
turned-down shirt collar; his usual countenance, somewhat stern, but
full of the expression of good sense and intelligence; reddish hair, and
a small portion of it under the lower lip. On the back is written in my
father's handwriting:
"This miniature was given to me when at school by Lady Diana
Beauclerk, who assured me that it was an original by Cooper, and
that it had been long in the possession of the Beauclerk family,
who had it from Charles II. (Signed) VASSALL HOLLAND."
Lady D. Beauclerk, herself distinguished as an artist, was the daughter
of the Duke of St. Albans, a lineal descendant of Charles II.
There is an engraving from a miniature of Cromwell in Carlyle's life of
him, said to be in the possession of Archdeacon Berners, which I believe
to be also by Cooper. It is larger than mine, and even better painted. I
have seen it, but cannot recollect where or when.
C. FOX, MAJOR-GENERAL.
Addison Road.
P.S.--I have left my miniature with my friend Mr. Domenic Colnaghi at
Pall Mall East, for the inspection of any of your correspondents. It
will be there till the _31st March_.
THE QUEEN OF THE ISLE OF MAN.
(Vol. v., p. 132.)
In an interesting communication from MR. WM. SIDNEY GIBSON in a late
Number of your publication there occurs the following statement, to
which I beg to add a few remarks. He says:
"After the death of Magnus, the island was seized by Alexander
III. of Scotland. A daughter and heiress of Reginald sued for it
against John Baliol, before Edward I. of England, as lord
paramount of Man.
"_Rot. Parl._, 31 Edw. I."
And farther on he states:
"From sundry records it appears that Edward II. and Edward III.
committed its custody to various persons, and the latter at length
conferred his right to it upon William Montacute, Earl of
Salisbury, in consideration, probably, of that valiant earl having
by his arms regained the island from the Scots, who had resumed
possession, and of the circumstance that his grandmother, the wife
of Simon de Montacute, was sister and heiress of one of the former
kings of Man, and related to the lady who had claimed it as her
inheritance on the death of Magnus."
Now, I think MR. GIBSON, on reflection, will agree with me in concluding
that the wife of Simon de Montacute, and the lady who claimed the island
on the death of Magnus, were one and the same person. There is no
document, I believe, of the kind he refers to, of the "31st" of Edw. I.;
but in the "21st" of Edw. I., which date is probably intended, there is
amongst the Scotch Rolls (anno 21 Edw. I. m. 4.) a citation from Edward
I., as supreme lord of Scotland, directed to John Baliol, King of Scots,
to answer the complaint of _Aufrica_, cousin and heiress of Magnus, late
King of Man, &c. This is in the year 1292-3; and a few years later we
again meet with _Aufrica_, for amongst the ancient charters in the
British Museum is one marked "V. 73." It is a deed by which "_Aufrica_,
heiress of the land of Man," gives up her right therein "to her noble
and potent husband, Simon de Montagu." This deed is dated at
Bridgewater, on Thursday the Vigil of the Annunciation, 1305; _i.e._
March 24, 1306.
In this charter (V. 73.) she calls herself _Aufrica de Connought_: and
this is rather curious, for in a volume of pedigrees in the British
Museum, in the handwriting of Robert Glover, Somerset Herald (Bib. Harl.
807.), she is said to be the daughter of Fergus, Lord of Galloway
(Galway?), and Queen of Man. _Galway_ it is in another MS. in the same
collection (MSS. Harl. 1074. folio 22.), where she is styled "Aufrica,
Reyne de Man," and daughter of Fergus, Lord of Galway. In both these
MSS. she is said to be the wife of Simon de Montagu, who is styled "Roy
de Man par sa femme."
F. C. M.
Replies to Minor Queries.
_Old Scots March_ (Vol. v., p. 104.).--The following quotation from a
"Dissertation on Scottish Music," by Mr. Tytler, of Woodhouselee (the
grandfather of the historian), contained in the _Transactions of the
Society of Scottish Antiquaries_, vol. i. p. 486., although not an
answer to his Query, may perhaps prove interesting to J.M.:--
"To the wandering harpers we are certainly indebted for that
species of music which is now scarcely known, I mean _the Port_.
Almost every great family had a _Port_ that went by the name of
the family. Of the few that are still preserved are, _Port
Lennox_, _Port Gordon_, _Port Seton_, and _Port Athole_, which are
all of them excellent in their kind. The _Port_ is not of the
martial strain of the _march_, as some have conjectured; those
above named being all in the plaintive strain, and modulated for
the harp.
"The _pibroch_, the march or battle-tune of the _Highland clans_,
with the different strains introduced of the _coronich_, &c., is
fitted for the _bagpipe_ only: its measure, in the _pas grave_ of
the _Highland piper_, equipped with his flag and military ensigns,
when marching up to battle, is stately and animating, rising often
to a degree of fury."
Although anxious to do so, I have never yet been able to meet with any
of the _ports_ here referred to.
E. N.
_Elizabeth, Equestrian Figure of_ (Vol. iv., p. 231.).--The "unnatural
gait" which MR. LAWRENCE inquires about, is known in Spain as the "paso
Castiliano;" and supplies the place of the more familiar trot, which the
Spanish horses are rarely broken into.
I did not see the piece of plate alluded to, but probably the horse was
a Spanish (Andalusian) jennet, which would account for the peculiarity
of the pace. I cannot explain how this step is taught, but Spanish
horses fall into it at once on being touched with the spur, and
simultaneously curbed; and they perform long journeys thus, at the rate
of five miles an hour, with little fatigue to themselves or their
riders. Does not the dromedary also _pace_ in the same way?
G. W. T.
_Meaning of Stickle_ (Vol. iv., p. 209.).--MR. RELTON'S supposition that
the word _stickle_ is used for a _pool_, is at variance with the common
usage of the word in Devonshire, where only I have met with it. It is
there used to describe the shallow swift running water immediately below
a pool. It is thus equivalent to the word _rapids_. It is by no means
obsolete, or a mere technical term of the "patient anglers." The
opposition in the line quoted, "Near to some _stickle_ or _deep_ bay,"
would alone have been a good reason to doubt whether it could be the
same as _pool_.
G. W. T.