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Notes and Queries, Number 65, January 25, 1851 by Various

V >> Various >> Notes and Queries, Number 65, January 25, 1851




"The Funeral Tapers (however thought of by some) are of the same
harmless import. Their meaning is, to show that the departed souls are
not quite put out, but having walked here as the Children of the Light,
are now going to walk before God in the Light of the Living. The sun
never rose to the ancients, no, not so much as a candle was lighted,
but of this signification. '_Vincamus_' was their word, whensoever the
Lights came in; [Greek: phos gar ten Niken], etc., for Light (saith
Phavorinus) betokeneth victory. It was to show what trust they put in
the Light, in whom we are more than conquerors. Our meaning is the same
when, at the bringing in of a candle, we use to put ourselves in mind
of the Light of Heaven: which those who list to call superstition do
but 'darken counsel by words without knowledge.' _Job_ xxxviii.
2."--Gregorie's _Works_, 4th ed. p. 110. Lond. 1684.

I believe it is a fact, that in some churches (I hope not many) lamps or
candles are placed on the altar _unlighted_ during divine service. Now I
would not quarrel with persons who have objections to altar lights, &c.,
but I have no patience with that worse than superstition which would place
_unlighted_ candles on the altar,--if they symbolize any thing, it is
damnation, excommunication, misery, and dark woe.

Coming out of a church one time in which unlighted candles were
ostentatiously displayed, I was forcibly reminded of an hieroglyphical of
Quarles--an extinguished taper,--and under it the words, "_Sine lumine
inane_."

"How canst thou be useful to the sight?
What is the taper not endued with light?"

I can hardly refrain from quoting here a beautiful passage from Wordsworth:

"Our ancestors within the still domain
Of vast cathedral, or conventual gloom,
Their vigils kept: when tapers day and night
On the dim altar burn'd continually,
In token that the house was evermore
Watching to God. Religious men were they,
Nor would their reason, tutor'd to aspire
Above this transitory world, allow
That there should pass a moment of the year
When in their land the Almighty's service ceased."

Any communication of interest of the above subject will much oblige

JARLTZBERG.

* * * * *

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

_Handbell before a Corpse_ (Vol. ii., p. 478.).--It is usual, at the
funeral of any member of the University of Oxford, for the University
marshal and bellman to attend in the character of _mutes_. As the
procession moves along, the latter rings his bell at about half-minute
time. I have witnessed it also when the deceased has been one of the family
of a member of the University, and when he has been a matriculated person.
I have never considered it as anything but _a cast of the bellman's
office_, to add more solemnity to the occasion.

[Hebrew: b].

L---- Rectory. Somerset.

_Sir George Downing_ (Vol. ii., pp. 464. 497.).--It may assist your querist
"ALPHA," to be informed that among the monuments to the family of Pengelly,
in the church of Whitchurch near Tavistock, in the county of Devon, is one
to the memory of Ann, wife of Francis Pengelly, and daughter of Sir George
Downing of East Hatley in the county of Cambridge, who died the 23rd of
November, 1702; with the arms of Pengelly impaling Barry of six argent and
gules, over all a wyvern or--for Downing. {69}

Nicholas Downing of Exeter College, vicar of Kingsteignton, in Devon, who
died in 1666, and was buried there, seems to have been of another family,
as he bore a very different coat of arms.

A Lieut. Downing was buried in Charles church, Plymouth, in 1799, but the
arms on his monument are not the same as either of the above.

Other than these, I know of none of the name, ancient or recent, in the
county, and I shall be glad to learn on what ground Sir George Downing's
family is said to be of most ancient origin in Devonshire. The name does
not appear in Westcote, Pole, Prince, Risdon, or the Heralds' visitations,
and the modern authorities state that the family was from Essex or Norfolk.

J.D.S.

The following memorandum I found accidentally on the margin of a MS.
pedigree of Downing, but I am sorry I cannot recall the source from whence
I obtained it. Possibly, however, it may assist "ALPHA" in his enquiry.

"Sir George Downing was not the son of Calibut Downing, rector of
Hackney, but of Emmanuel Downing, a London merchant, who went to New
England. Governor Hutchinson, in his _History of Massachusetts_, gives
the true account of Downing's affiliation, which has been further
confirmed by Mr. Savage, of Boston, from the public records of New
England."

J.P.C.

_Hulls, the Inventor of Steam-boats_ (Vol. iii., p. 23.).--Your facetious
correspondent, NOCAB, may gain some information relative to his friend
Jonathan Hulls, by going to the British Museum, and asking for the
following book from Mr. Grenville's library.

I will give the full title and Mr. Grenville's note, as it stands in my
Catalogue of the library.

GRENVILLE CATALOGUE (Vol. i. p. 351.)

"Hulls, Jonathan. A Description and Draught of a new-invented Machine
for carrying vessels or ships out of, or into any harbour, port, or
river, against wind and tide, or in a calm. For which his Majesty has
granted letters patent, for the sole benefit of the Author, for the
space of Fourteen years. London, 1737, folding plate.[10] 8vo. R.[11]

"This new invented machine is a steam-boat. It entirely puts an end to
the claims of America to the invention of steam navigation, and
establishes for this country the honour of that important discovery."

HENRY FOSS.

42. Devonshire Street, 12. Jan. 1851.

[Footnote 7: Representing, as well as I remember, a perfect steam-boat.]

[Footnote 8: Meaning Russia binding.]

[We are also indebted to [Curly-pi] for a reply to NOCAB'S query.]

"_The lucky have whole days_" (Vol. i., pp. 231. 351.).--I can inform your
correspondents P.S. and H.H., that the passage in question is correctly
quoted by the latter at p. 351., and that it is to be found in Dryden's
_Tyrannic Love_.

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, West Indies, Nov. 1850

"_Clarum et venerabile nomen_" (Vol. ii., p. 463.).--Your enquirer as to
whence comes "Clarum et venerabile nomen," &c., will find them in Lucan.
Book ix. l. 203.

E.H.

Norwich.

_Occult Transposition of Letters_ (Vol. i., p. 416.; Vol. ii., p.
77.).--_Concert of Nature._--Other examples of these ambiguous verses are
given by J. Baptista Porta, _de Furtivis Literarum Notis_, one of which has
suggested the following lines, as conveying the compliments of the season
to the editor of "NOTES AND QUERIES:" but which, transposed, would become
an unseasonable address:--

"Principio tibi sit facilis, nec tempore parvo
Vivere permittat te Dea Terpsichore.

Si autem conversis dictionibus leges, dicent,--

Terpsichore Dea te permittat vivere parvo
Tempore, nec facilis sit tibi principio."

I beg leave sincerely, to add, in the words of Ausonius (Ep. xxv.),--

"Quis prohibet Salve atque Vale brevitate parata
Scribere? Felicesque notas mandare libellis."

This magnificent epistle inculcating--

"Nil mutum Natura dedit: non aeris ales
Quadrupedesve silent," &c.

should be compared with the celebrated stanza of Spenser's _Faerie Queen_
(book ii. canto xii. st. 71.), beginning with

"The joyous birds shrouded in cheareful shade;"

and with D'Israeli's animated defence, in his _Amenities_ (vol. ii. p.
395.) of these charming verses against the [Greek: plemmeles] and
tasteless, the anti-poetical and technical, criticism of Twining, in his
first _Dissertation on Poetical and Musical Imitation_.

T.J.

_Darby and Joan_ (Vol. iii., p. 38.).--I never heard of the tradition
mentioned by H. I can only suppose that the poet referred to was the first
person who introduced the ballad at the manor-house. Helaugh Nichols, an
excellent authority in such matters, whose trade traditions, through the
Boyers, father and son, went back a century and a half, tells us that the
ballad was supposed to have been written by Henry Woodfall, while an
apprentice to Darby. The Darbys were printers time out of mind--one Robert
Darby was probably an assistant to Wynkyn de Worde, who certainly left a
legacy to a person of that name. The Woodfalls, too, can be traced up as
printers for nearly two centuries. _The_ Darby, and Joan, his wife, were
probably John Darby, printer, in Bartholomew Close, who was {70} prosecuted
in 1684 for printing "Lord Russell's Speech," and died in 1704. _The_
Woodfall, the printer, is understood to have been Henry Woodfall,
afterwards "Woodfall without Temple Bar," grandfather of Henry Sampson, the
printer of _Junius' Letters_, and great-great-grandfather of the present
excellent printer of the same name.

J.D.Y.

_Did Bunyan know Hobbes?_ (Vol. ii., p. 518.).--Before this question, put
by JAS. H. FRISWELL, can be answered satisfactorily, it should be shown
that Bunyan was the author of the _Visions of Hell_. In _Chambers' Journal_
for Sept. 7. 1833, n., it is taken for granted that he was, and the passage
alluding to Hobbes is noticed. Your correspondent more justly questions the
fact.

A very intelligent friend of mine, who has devoted much research into the
supposed origin of the _Pilgrim's Progress_, the result of which I hope ere
long will appear, tells me that he is decidedly of opinion that the
_Visions_ in question are not the production of the "prince of dreamers."

He believes the _Visions_ first appeared as Bunyan's in a stereotyped
collection or selection of his works, about 1820-8. Some time after seeing
this, my friend was surprised at meeting with the following little volume,
which is now before me: _The World to Come. The Glories of Heaven, and the
Terrors of Hell, lively displayed under the Similitude of a Vision_. By
G.L., Sunderland. Printed by R. Wetherald, for H. Creighton, 1771. 12mo.
The running title, as far as p. 95., is, _The World to Come; or, Visions of
Heaven_; and on that page commence the _Visions of Hell, and of the
Torments of the Damned_: and here it is the author has _charitably_ placed
Hobbes, with whom the colloquy alluded to by your querist occurs.

I shall not occupy your papers with any remarks on the ignorance betrayed
by G.L. (whoever he may be), both of the writings and character of Hobbes;
but I shall be glad if I can lead to the elucidation of what yet remains a
literary obscurity, and obtains the name of G.L.

F.R.A.

_Mythology of the Stars_ (Vol. iii., p. 23.).--G.I.C. is recommended to
study the ordinary celestial globe, and to make himself familiar with its
_use_, in order to enhance the interest of the spectacle of the sidereal
heavens as seen by the naked eye. He is also particularly referred to the
_Celestial Cycle_, by Capt. Smyth, published by Parker and Co., West
Strand, in 2 vols. 8vo., price 2l. 2s.; a book full of astronomical and
mythological gossip.

G.I.C. will find books on _Astrology_ for sale at Maynard's, No. 8. Earl's
Court, Cranbourn Street, Leicester Square, more readily, perhaps, than any
where else in London.

ROBERT SNOW.

6. Chesterfield Street, Mayfair, Jan. 13. 1851.

_Dodo Queries_ (Vol. i., pp. 261, 262.).--MR. STRICKLAND is informed, that
in the list of Pingre's works, as given in Querard's _France Litteraire,_
there is one with the following title:--

"Memoire sur les Decouvertes faites dans la Mer du Sud, avant les
derniers Voyages des Francais autour du Monde, lu a l'Academie des
Sciences, 1766, 1767, 1778, in. 4."

I have not read Pingre's works, but if they contain any mention of
_Solitaires_, it will probably be found in the _Memoire_ above referred to.

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, W.I., Nov. 1850.

_Holland Land_ (Vol. ii., pp. 267. 345.; Vol. iii., p. 30).--In an ancient
charter, in my possession, bearing date 19 Edw. I.: "Gilebertus dictus ate
Vorde, de Farlegh," and "James, son of the late Philip de Essche,"
quitclaim to James, son of Paulinus de Wynchelse:

"dimidiam acram terre Flandrensis ... in villa de Ickelesham,"

to have and to hold

una cum redditu et servitio mihi (_sic_) pertinentibus de alia dimidia
acra terre Flandrensis."

The _polders_ of Holland are familiar to all travellers, as lands lying
below the level of the sea, once a mere morass, redeemed from that state,
and brought into cultivation by embankments, &c., &c.

In another charter, somewhat earlier in date and relating to the same
district, viz. the neighbourhood of Winchelsea, Hamo de Crevecour speaks of
lands in La more in Ideun, which the monks of Robertsbridge, with consent
of his father Hamo, "a mari incluserunt."

I have always supposed that the "terra Flandrensis" of my charter signified
land of the same description as the Dutch polders; the art of thus
redeeming land being probably introduced from the Low Countries. It is not
unlikely that, in that day, lands so brought into cultivation were
designated as "terre Flandrenses," and the term afterwards anglicised into
"Holland Land."

L.B.L.

_Swearing by Swans_ (Vol. ii., p. 392.).--Symbology of the swan.

"Tunc allati sunt in pompatica gloria duo cygni, vel olores, ante
regem, &c. &c.,--vindicaturus."[12]--_Matthaeus Westmonasteriensis_.

Dr. Lingard states that "the vows of chivalry were not taken on the
gospels, but, ridiculous as it may appear, in the presence of a peacock, or
{71} pheasant, or other bird of beautiful plumage."--_History of England_,
Edward I.

"Nec dissimili ingenio Heraldi antiquiores, musicos et cantatores
cygnis[13] donarunt. Ejusque haud ignarus perspicax noster Franciscanus cum
hos a non cantoribus latos observasset, rationem se ait a rege heraldorum
petiisse, eumque duplicem assignasse: hanc quia viri essent pulcherrimi,
illam quia haberent longa colla. Sane candorem animi per cygni effigiem
antiquitus praedicabant, nec insulse igitur corporis. Sed gloriae studium ex
eodem hoc symbolo indicari multi asserunt.

"Cum Edwardus primus," &c. &c.--Spelmanni _Aspilogia_, p. 132.

The Spaniards found that the swan had been employed emblematically in
Mexico, supporting the theory of Hornius that that part of America was
colonised by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, inasmuch as, according to
Bryant, "where the Canaanites or their descendants may have settled, there
will a story be found in reference to swans."

The mythological history of the Cygnus will be found in the latter author's
_Analysis_, and in Hill's _Urania, or a Complete View of the Heavens,
containing the Ancient and Modern Astronomy, in Form of a Dictionary_,
which will perhaps meet the wants of G.I.C. (Vol. iii. p. 24.).

It will not, perhaps, be irrelevant to this subject to advert to the story
of Albertus Aquensis (in _Gesta Dei per Francos_, p. 196.), regarding a
_Goose and a Goat_, which in the second crusade were considered as "divino
spiritu afflati," and made "duces viae in Jerusalem." Well may it be
mentioned by the histoian as "scelus omnibus fidelibus incredibile;" but
the imputation serves to show that the Christians of that age forgot what a
heathen poet could have taught them,--

[Greek: "Eis oionos aristos amynesthai peri patres."]

T.J.

[Footnote 9: With this solecism in the printed _Flores Historiarum_ I find
that a MS. in the Chetham Library agrees, the abbreviative mark used in the
Hundred Rolls of Edward I. for the terminations _us_ and _er_ having been
affixed to this participle.]

[Footnote 10: To the passages I have elsewhere referred to on _The Concert
of Nature_, from Ausonius, Epistle 25., and Spenser's _Faerie Queen_, book
ii. canto xii. st. 71., "divine respondence meet" is made by the last lines
in Tennyson's _Dying Swan_.]

_Swearing by Swans_ (Vol. ii., p. 392.).--The quotation given by your
correspondent E.T.M. (Vol. ii., p. 451.), only increases my desire to
receive a reply to my query on this subject, since he has adduced a
parallel custom. What are the earliest notices of the usage of swearing by
swans and pheasants? Was the pheasant ever considered a _royal_ bird?

R.V.

_The Frozen Horn_ (Vol. iii., p. 25.).--I am quite angry with J.M.G. for
supposing my old friend Sir John Maundevile guilty of such a _flam_ as that
which he quotes from memory as the worthy knight's own statement. There is
no such story in the _Voiage and Travaile_: nay more, there is not in the
whole of that "ryght merveillous" book, a single passage given on the
authority of Sir John as eyewitness that is not perfectly credible. When he
quotes Pliny for monsters, the Chronicles for legends, and the romances of
his time for narratives of an extraordinary character, he does so in
evident good faith as a compiler. His most improbable statements, too, are
always qualified with some such phrase as "men seyn, but I have not sene
it." In a word, I believe Sir John Maundevile to have been as truthful in
intention as any writer of his age. I am afraid that J.M.G.'s knowledge of
our old "voiager" is limited to some jest-book of more modern times, which
attributes to him sayings and doings of which he is perfectly guiltless.

MARK ANTONY LOWER.

Lewes.

_Cockade and True Blue_ (Vol. iii., pp. 7. 27.) both owe their origin to
the wars of the Scottish Covenanters; and the cockade appears to have been
first adopted as a distinguishing emblem by the English army at the battle
of Sherra-muir, where the Scotch wore the blue ribbon as a scarf, or on
their bonnets (which was their favourite colour). The English army then, to
distinguish themselves, assumed a black rosette on their hats; which, from
its position, the Scotch nick-named a "cock'ade" (with which our use of the
word "cockscomb" is connected) and is still retained.

An old Scotch song describing, "the Battle of Sherra-muir" (which name it
bears) in verse 2., line 1., speaks of the English as--

"The red-coat lads, wi' black cockades;"

verse 3., describing the Scotch and their mode of fighting, says,--

"But had you seen the philibegs,
And skyrin tartan trews, man,
When in the teeth they dared our Whigs,
And Covenant TRUE-BLUES, man;
In lines extended lang and large,
When bayonets opposed the targe,
And thousands hasten'd to the charge,
Wi' Highland wrath, they frae the sheath
Drew blades o' death, till, out o' breath,
They fled like frighted doos, man."

The song, which is rather a long one, carries you with the army to the
Forth, Dumblane, Stirling, Perth, and Dundee. Oft referring to the "Poor
red-coat," and to the "Angus lads."

BLOWER.

_The Vavasours of Hazlewood (Vol. ii., p. 326.)._--1. It is a well-known
fact that the stone for York minster was given by the Vavasour family. To
commemorate this, there is, under the west window in that cathedral, a
statue of the owner of Hazelwood at that period, holding a piece of stone
in his hand. Hence may have arisen the tradition that the chief of the
family might ride into York minster on horseback.

{72} 2. In feudal times Hazlewood was a fortified castle, having its
regular retainers, &c.

3. Hazlewood Chapel was _the only Roman Catholic parish church_ in England
which did not become a Protestant church at the Reformation.

CHAS. D. MARKHAM.

Jan. 10. 1851.

_"Breeches" Bible_ (Vol. iii., p. 17.).--In quoting from specimens of early
printing, correctness of orthography, even in trivial matters, is
desirable, and therefore I venture, in allusion to the interesting
communication from [Curly-pi] on the subject of the Geneva or "_Breeches_"
Bible, to state that the edition of 1576, in my possession, is "Imprinted
by _Christopher Barkar_" (not Barker), "dwelling in Paternoster Rowe, at
the signe of the Tygres Head."

The text quoted varies also in two or three words from my copy, and it is
probably from the Geneva edition. The English edition of 1576 runs thus,
(Gen. iii. 7.): "Then the eyes of them _both_ were opened, and they _knew_
that they were naked, and they sewed _figge_ tree _leaves_ together, and
made them _selves_ breeches." I am, sir, yours truly,

S.H.H.

_Histoire des Sevarambes_ (Vol. iii., p. 4.).--On the subject of the
authorship of this work I will transcribe a note which I subjoined to a
short account of Isaac Vossius (Worthington's _Diary_, p. 125):--

"Whether the History of the Sevarites, of Sevarambi by Captains Thomas
Liden, published in two parts (London, 1675-9, 12mo.), which is one of
the ablest of the fictions written after the model of More's _Utopia_,
and which has been ascribed to Isaac Vossius by J.A. Fabricius, be his,
is a point yet unsettled. On a careful consideration of the internal
evidence, and a comparison with his avowed publications, so far as such
a comparison can be made between works so dissimilar in character, I
incline to the conclusion that this tract is justly ascribed to Isaac
Vossius."

On a reconsideration of the subject, I see no reason to alter this opinion.
Morhof, who always attributed it to Isaac Vossius (see Polyhistor, vol. i.
p. 74., edit. 1747), was thoroughly versed in the literary history,
including the English, of the period, and was not likely to have been
mistaken. Vossius lived in England from 1670 to 1688, when he died. I have
seen several English letters of his, though his general correspondence was
in Latin or French, and he seems quite able to have written it, as far as
the language is concerned. Vairasse appears to have translated it into
French but to have had no other part in it. I may observe, that the
publication in English, London, 1738, is a retranslation from the French,
not a reprint of the original work of 1675-9.

JAMES CROSSLEY.

_Verses attributed to Charles Yorke_ (Vol. ii., p. 7.; and Vol. iii., p.
43.).--These lines, "Stript to the naked soul," have been frequently
printed, indeed so lately as in Lord Campbell's _Lives of the Chancellors_,
at the end of the Life of Charles Yorke, as his, but without any
observation. What is most singular is, that the excellent editor of Bishop
Warburton's _Literary Remains_ has overlooked the fact that they are driven
in that prelate's correspondence with Bishop Hurd as Pope's. (See
_Letters_, p. 362., edit. 1809, 8vo.) Warburton observes, "The little poem
is certainly his." He remarks in a letter to Yorke--

"You have obliged me much (as is your wont) by a fine little poem of my
excellent and endeared friend, Mr. Pope, and I propose to put in into
use."--_Letters from Warburton to C. Yorke_. 1812, 4to. p. 64.

Warburton then gave them to Ruffhead, who inserted them in his _Life of
Pope_, from which they were transferred in Bowles's editions of _Pope's
Works_ (vol. ii. p. 406), and in the supplementary volume to _Pope's Works_
(1807, 4to.). The extraordinary circumstance is, that they had appeared as
far back as 1753 in the miscellaneous works of Aaron Hill, published in
1753, in 4 vols. 8vo., and are included in that collection as his own.
Roscoe observes (Life of Pope, in vol. i. of his edition of _Pope's Works_,
p. 361., edit. 1824), without, however appearing to have been fully
acquainted with the facts of the case:

"These verses are not the production of Pope, as might indeed readily
have been perceived, but of Aaron Hill."

I must confess I cannot agree with the remark. If the point be to be
decided by internal evidence, the verses are surely Pope's. The collection
of A. Hill's miscellaneous works was a posthumous one for the benefit of
the family, and includes several other poems, which were certainly not
written by him. Little stress, therefore, can be laid upon the fact of the
lines being included in this collection, which seems to have comprised
whatever was found amongst Hill's papers, without any nice examination or
scrutiny. My conclusion is, that the verses are Pope's; and it is at all
events certain that they are not Charles Yorke's.

JAMES CROSSLEY.

_Archbishop Bolton of Cashel_ (Vol. iii., p. 39.).--He was born at
Burrishool, in the county of Mayo, about 1678; graduated at Trinity
College, Dublin; was ordained deacon in 1702; priest in 1703; became a
prebendary of St. Patrick's, Dublin, in 1707; chancellor of that cathedral
in 1714; vicar-general of the diocese of Dublin in 1720; vicar of Finglas,
near Dublin, in the same year; praecentor of Christ Church, Dublin, in 1722;
bishop of Clonfert in the same year; bishop of Elphin in 1724; archbishop
of Cashel in 1729; to which diocese he bequeathed his valuable library.

He died in January, 1744, and was buried at St. Werburgh's Church, in
Dublin.

{73} See my _Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae_, vols. i., ii., and iv., for a few
more particulars, if required.

H. COTTON.

Thurles, Ireland, Jan. 20. 1851.

_Erasmus and Farel_ (Vol. iii., p. 38.).--In my _Life of Calvin_, p. 46., I
mention that Erasmus named Farel, _Phallicus_; and infer that he probably
did so from some manifestation of amorous propensities on the part of that
reformer.

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