Notes and Queries, Number 48, Saturday, September 28, 1850 written by Various
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Various >> Notes and Queries, Number 48, Saturday, September 28, 1850
NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES,
GENEALOGISTS, ETC.
* * * * *
"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.
* * * * *
No. 48.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1850 [Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.
* * * * * {273}
CONTENTS.
NOTES:--
Riots in London. 273
Satirical Poems on William III. 275
Shakspeare's Grief and Frenzy, by C. Forbes. 275
Etymological Notes. 276
Mistakes in Gibbon. by Rev. J.E.B. Mayor. 276
Minor Notes. History of Saracens--Hippopotamus--America--Pascal's
Letters--Parson's Epigram. 277
QUERIES:--
"Orkneyinga Saga". 278
Minor Queries:--Incumbents of Church Livings--York
Buildings Company--Saying ascribed to Montaigne--"Modum
Promissionis"--Roman Catholic Theology--Wife of Edward
the Outlaw--Conde's "Arabs in Spain". 278
REPLIES:--
Cave's Historia Literaria, by Rev. Dr. Maitland. 279
Sir Garamer Vans. 280
Collar of SS., by Dr. Rock. 280
Joachin, the French Ambassador, by S.W. Singer. 280
Remains of James II. 281
Handfasting. 282
Adam of Bremen's Julin, by Dr. Bell. 282
Replies to Minor Queries:--Bess of Hardwick--Bishop
Andrewes--The Sun Feminine--Carpatio--Character
"&"--Walrond Family--Blackguard--Scala Coeli--Sitting
during the Lessons--Aerostation--Pole Money--Wormwood
Wine--Darvon Gatherall--Angels' Visits--Antiquity of
Smoking--"Noli me tangere"--Partrige Family--City
Offices--Harvey and the Circulation of the Blood. 283
MISCELLANEOUS:--
Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 287
Books and Odd Volumes Wanted. 287
Notices to Correspondents. 287
Advertisements. 288
* * * * *
NOTES.
RIOTS OF LONDON.
Seventy years having passed away since the riots of London, there cannot
be many living who remember them, and still fewer who were personally in
contact with the tumultuous throng. Under such circumstances, I venture
to offer for introduction into your useful and entertaining miscellany
some incidents connected with that event in which I was either
personally an actor or spectator--things not in themselves important,
yet which may be to some of your readers acceptable and interesting as
records of bygone days.
The events of 1780, in themselves so terrific, were well adapted to be
written indelibly on the memory of a young, and ardent boy. At any age
they would have been engraved as with an iron pen; but their occurrence
at the first age of my early boyhood, when no previous event had claimed
particular attention, fixed them as a lasting memorial.
The awful conflagrations had not taken place when I arrived in London
from a large school in one of the midland counties in England, for the
Midsummer vacation. So many of my school-fellows resided in the
metropolis, or in a part of the country requiring a passage through
London, that three or four closely-packed post-chaises were necessary;
and to accomplish the journey in good time for the youngsters to be met
by their friends, the journey was begun as near to four o'clock A.M. as
was possible.
The chaises, well crowned with boxes, and filled with joyous youth, were
received at the Castle and Falcon, then kept by a Mr. Dupont, a
celebrated wine merchant, and the friend of our estimable tutor. The
whole of my schoolmates had been met by their respective friends, and my
brother and I alone remained at the inn, when at length my mother
arrived in a hackney-coach to fetch us, and from her we learned that the
streets were so crowded that she could hardly make her way to us. No
time was lost, and we were soon on our way homewards. We passed through
Newgate Street and the Old Bailey without interruption or delay; but
when we came into Ludgate Hill the case was far different; the street
was full and the people noisy, permitting no carriage to pass unless the
coachman took off his hat and acknowledged his respect for them and the
object for which they had congregated. "Hat off, coachee!" was their
cry. Our coachman would not obey their noisy calls, and there we were
fixed. Long might we have remained in that unpleasant predicament had
not my foreseeing parent sagaciously provided herself with a piece of
ribbon of the popular colour, which she used to good effect by making it
up into a bow with a long, streamer and pinning it to a white
handkerchief, which she courageously flourished out of the window of the
hackney-coach. Huzzas {274} and "Go on, coachee!" were shouted from the
crowd and with no other obstruction than the full streets presented, we
reached Beaufort Buildings, in the Strand, the street in which we
resided.
There a new scene presented itself, which was very impressive to our
young minds. The street was full of soldiers, and the coachman said to
my mother, "I cannot go down." A soldier addressed my mother: "No one,
ma'am, can go down this street:" to whom my mother replied, "I live
here, and am going to my own home." An officer then gave permission for
us, and the coachman with our box, to proceed, and we were soon at our
own door. The coachman, ignorant of the passport which the handkerchief
and ribbon had proved, said, on setting the box down, "You see, ma'am,
we got on without my taking off my hat: for who would take off his hat
to such a set of fellows? I would rather have sat there all the day
long."
The assembling of the military in this street was to defend the
dwellings of Mr. Kitchener and Mr. Heron, both these gentlemen being
Roman Catholics. Mr. Kitchener (who was the father of Dr. Kitchener, the
author of the _Cook's Oracle_) was an eminent coal merchant, whose wharf
was by the river-side southward, behind Beaufort Buildings, then called
Worcester Grounds[1], as the lane leading to it was called Worcester
Lane: but Mr. Kitchener, or his successor Mr. Cox, endeavoured to change
it by having "Beaufort Wharf" painted on their wagons. Thus the name
"Worcester Grounds" got lost; but the lane which bore the same name got
no advantage by the change, for it received the appropriate title of
"Dirty Lane," used only for carts and horses, foot passengers reaching
the wharf by the steps at the bottom of Fountain Court and Beaufort
Buildings.
But to return to my narrative. My parents soon removed us out of this
scene of public confusion, to the house of a relative residing at St.
Pancras: and well do I remember the painful interest with which, as soon
as it got dark, the whole family of my uncle used to go on the roof of
the house and count the number of fires, guessing the place of each. The
alarm was so great, though at a distance, that it was always late before
the family retired to rest. I remained at St. Pancras until the riots
had been subdued and peace restored; and now, though very many matters
crowd my mind, as report after report then reached us, I will leave them
to record only what I personally saw and heard.
Before the vacation was ended, the trials of the prisoners had
proceeded, and I went to a friend's house to see some condemned ones
pass to execution. The house from which I had this painful view has been
removed; the site is now the road to Waterloo Bridge. I believe it was
because a lad was to be executed that I was allowed to go. The mournful
procession passed up St. Catherine's Street, and from the distance I
was, I could only see that the lad in height did not reach above the
shoulders of the two men between whom he sat, who, with him, were to be
executed in Russell Street. Universal and deep was the sympathy
expressed towards the youth from the throng of people, which was
considerable. As it was long before the street was sufficiently cleared
to allow us to return home, the report came that the execution was over,
and that the boy was so light that the executioner jumped on him to
break his neck: and such was the effect of previous sympathy, that a
feeling of horror was excited at the brutality (as they called it) of
the action; but, viewing it calmly, it was wise, and intended kindly to
shorten the time of suffering. While thus waiting, I heard an account of
this boy's trial. A censure was expressed on the government for hanging
one so young, when it was stated that this boy was the only one
executed, though so many were guilty, as an example, as the proof of his
guilt was unquestionable. A witness against him on the trial said, "I
will swear that I have seen that boy actively engaged at several
conflagrations." He was rebuked for thus positively speaking by the
opposite counsel, when he said, "I am quite sure it is the active boy I
have seen so often for I was so impressed with his flagrant conduct that
I cut a piece out of his clothes:" and putting his hand into his pocket,
he pulled out the piece which he had cut off, which exactly fitted to
the boy's jacket. This decided his execution: yet justice was not
vindictive, for very few persons were executed.
I will trespass yet further on your pages to recite one other incident
of the riots that occurred in connexion with the attack on the King's
Bench prison, and the death of Allen, which made a great stir at the
time. The incident I refer to happened thus:--At the gate of the prison
two sentinels were placed. One of these was a fine-built young man, full
six feet high: he had been servant to my father. On the day Allen was
shot, or a day or two after, he came to my father for protection: my
father having a high opinion of his veracity and moral goodness, took
him in and sheltered him until quiet was restored. His name was M'Phin,
or some such name; but as he was always called "Mac" by us, I do not
remember his name perfectly. He stated that he and his fellow-soldier,
while standing as sentries at the prison, were attacked by an uproarious
mob, and were assailed with stones and brickbats;--that his companion
called loudly to the mob, and said, "I will not fire until I see and
mark a man that throws at us, and then he shall die. I don't want to
kill the innocent, {275} or any one; but he that flings at us shall
surely die." Young Allen threw a brick-bat, and ran off; but Mac said,
his fellow-soldier had seen it, and marked him. The crowd gave way; off
went Allen and the soldier after him. Young Allen ran on, the soldier
pursuing him, till he entered his father's premises, who was a
cow-keeper, and _there_ the soldier shot him. Popular fury turned upon
poor Mac; and so completely was he thought to be the "murderer" of young
Allen that 500l. was offered by the mob for his discovery. But my good
father was faithful to honest Mac, and he lay secure in one of our upper
rooms until the excitement was over.
Allen's funeral was attended by myriads, and a monument was erected to
his memory (which yet remains, I believe) in Newington churchyard,
speaking lies in the face of the sun. If it were important enough, it
deserves erasure as much as the false inscription on London's monument.
As soon as the public blood was cool, "Mac" surrendered himself, was
tried at the Old Bailey, and acquitted.
Should it be in the power of any of the readers of your interesting
miscellany, by reference to the Session Papers, to give me the actual
name of poor "Mac," I shall feel obliged.
SENEX.
September 9. 1850.
[Footnote 1: Mr. Cunningham, vol. i. p. 69., gives an interesting
quotation from Strype respecting Worcester House, which gave the name of
"Worcester Grounds" to Mr. Kitchener's property.]
* * * * *
SATIRICAL POEMS ON WILLIAM III.
Some years since I copied from a MS. vol., compiled before 1708, the
following effusions of a Jacobite poet, who seems to have been "a good
hater" of King William. I have made ineffectual efforts to discover the
witty author, or to ascertain if these compositions have ever been
printed. My friend, in whose waste-book I found them,--a beneficed
clergyman in Worcestershire, who has been several years dead,--obtained
them from a college friend during the last century.
"UPON KING WILLIAM'S TWO FIRST CAMPAGNES.
"'Twill puzzle much the author's brains,
That is to write your story,
To know in which of these campagnes
You have acquired most glory:
For when you march'd the foe to fight,
Like Heroe, nothing fearing,
Namur was taken in your sight,
And Mons within your hearing."
"ON THE OBSERVING THE 30TH OF JANUARY, 1691.
"Cease, Hippocrites, to trouble heaven
How can ye think to be forgiven
The dismall deed you've done?
When to the martyr's sacred blood,
This very moment, if you could,
You'd sacrifice his son."
"ON KING WILLIAM'S RETURN OUT OF FLANDERS.
"Rejoice, yee fops, yo'r idoll's come agen
To pick yo'r pocketts, and to slay yo'r men;
Give him yo'r millions, and his Dutch yo'r lands:
Don't ring yo'r bells, yee fools, but wring yo'r hands."
GRENDON.
* * * * *
SHAKSPEARE'S GRIEF AND FRENZY.
I have looked into many an edition of Shakspeare, but I have not found
one that traced the connexion that I fancy exists between the lines--
_Cassius._ "I did not think you could have been so angry."
_Brutus._ "O Cassius! I am sick of many griefs."
or between
_Brutus._ "No man bears sorrow better.--Portia is dead."
_Cassius._ "How 'scaped I killing when I crossed you so!"
_Julius Caesar_, Act iv. Sc. 3.
which will perhaps better suit the object that I have in view. The
editors whose notes I have examined probably thought the connexion so
self-evident or insignificant as not to require either notice or
explanation. If so, I differ from them, and I therefore offer the
following remarks for the _amusement_ rather than for the _instruction_
of those who, like myself, are not at all ashamed to confess that they
cannot read Shakspeare's music "_at sight_." I believe that both
_Replies_ contain an allusion to the fact that _Anger, grafted on
sorrow, almost invariably assumes the form of frenzy; that it is in
every sense of the word "Madness," when the mind is unhinged, and
reason, as it were, totters from the effects of grief_.
Cassius had but just mildly rebuked Brutus for making no better use of
his philosophy, and now--startled by the sudden sight of his bleeding,
mangled heart--"Portia is--Dead!" pays involuntary homage to the very
philosophy he had so rashly underrated by the exclamation--
"How 'scaped I _killing_ when I crossed you so!"
I wish, if possible, to support this view of the case by the following
passages:--
I. Romeo's address to Balthasar.
"But if thou ... roaring sea."
II. His address to Paris.
"I beseech thee youth ... away!"
_Romeo and Juliet_, Act v. Sc. 3.
III. "The poor father was ready to fall down dead; but he
grasped the broken oar which was before him, jumped up, and
called in a faltering voice,--'Arrigozzo! Arrigozzo!' This was
but for a moment. Receiving no answer, he ran to the top of the
rock; looked at all around, ran his eye over all who were safe,
one by one, but could not find his son among them. Then seeing
the count, who had so lately been finding fault {276} with his
son's name, he roared out,--'Dog, are you here?' And,
brandishing the broken oar, he rushed forward to strike him on
the head. Bice uttered a cry, Ottorino was quick in warding off
the blow; in a minute, Lupo, the falconer, and the boatmen,
disarmed the frantic man; who, striking his forehead with both
hands, gave a spring, and threw himself into the lake.
"He was seen fighting with the angry waves, overcoming them with
a strength and a courage which desperation alone can
give."--_Marco Viconti_, vol. i. chap. 5.
IV. A passage that has probably already occurred to the mind of the
reader, Mucklebackit mending the cable in which his son had been lost:
"'There is a curse either on me or on this auld black bitch of a
boat, that I have hauled up high and dry, and pitched and
clouted sae mony years, that she might drown my poor Steenie at
the end of them, an' be d----d to her!' And he flung his hammer
against the boat, as if she had been the intentional cause of
his misfortune"--_Antiquary_, vol. ii. chap. 13. Cadell, 1829.
V. "Giton praecipue, _ex dolore in rabiem efferatus_, tollit
clamorem, me, utraque manu impulsum, praecipitat super
lectum."--Petron. _Arb. Sat._ cap. 94.
The classical reader will at once recognise the force of the words
"rabiem," "efferatus," "praecipitat," in this passage. The expression
"utraque manu" may not at first sight arrest his attention. It seems
always used to express the most intense eagerness; see
"Ijecit utramque laciniae manum."--Pet. _Arb. Sat._ 14.
"Utraque manu Deorum beneficia tractat."--Ib. 140.
"Upon which Menedemus, incensed at his insolence,
answered,--'Nothing is more necessary than the preservation of
Lucullus;' and thrust him back _with both hands_."--Plutarch,
_Life of Lucullus_.
"Women have a sort of natural tendency to cross their husbands:
they lay hold _with both hands_ [a deux mains] on all occasions
to contradict and oppose them, and the first excuse serves for a
plenary justification."--Montaigne, _Essays_, book 2. chap. 8.
"Marmout, deceived by the seemingly careless winter attitude of
the allies, left Ciudad Rodrigo unprotected within their reach
and Wellington jumped _with both feet_ upon the devoted fortress
of Napier," _Pen. War_, vol. iv. p. 374.
Any apology for the unwarrantable length of this discursive despatch,
would, of course, only make matters worse.
C. FORBES.
Temple.
* * * * *
ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES.
1. _Gnatch._--"The covetous man dares not gnatch" (Hammond's
_Catechism_). From this, and the examples in Halliwell's _Dictionary_,
the sense seems to be "to move." Is it related to "gnake?"
2. _Pert._--I lately met with an instance of the use of this word in the
etymological sense _peritus_: "I beant peart at making button-holes,"
said a needlewoman.
3. _Rococo._--A far-fetched etymology suggests itself. A wealthy noble
from the north might express his admiration for the luxuries of Paris by
the Russian word [Cyrillic: roskosha], or Polish _roskosz_. A Frenchman,
catching the sound, might apply it to anything extravagant enough to
astonish a barbarian.
4. _Cad._--The letters from Scotland ascribed to a Captain Burtt,
employed in surveying the forfeited estates, give an account of the
"cawdies," or errand boys, of Edinburgh.
5. _Fun_, perhaps Irish, _fonamhad_, jeering, mockery (Lhuyd,
_Archaeologia Britannica_).
6. _Bumbailiff._--The French have _pousse-cul_, for the follower or
assistant to the sergeant.
7. Epergne, perhaps _epargne_, a save-all or hold-all. Here seems no
more difficulty in the transfer of the name than in that of chiffonier,
from a rag-basket to a piece of ornamental furniture.
8. _Doggrel._--Has the word any connexion with _sdrucciolo_?
9. _Derrick._--A spar arranged to form an extempore crane. I think
Derrick was the name of an executioner.
10. _Mece_, A.-S., a knife. The word is found in the Sclavonic and
Tartar dialects. I thinly I remember some years ago reading in a
newspaper of rioters armed with "pea makes." I do not remember any other
instance of its use in English.
F.Q.
* * * * *
MISTAKES IN GIBBON.
The following references may be of use to a future editor of Gibbon; Mr.
Milman has not, I believe, rectified any of the mistakes pointed out by
the authors cited.
In the Netherlands ... 50,000 in less than fifty years were ...
sacrificed to the intolerance of popery. (Fra Paolo, _Sarpi
Conc. Trid._ 1. i. p. 422. ed. sec. Grotius, in his _Annal.
Belq._ 1. v. pp. 1G, 17. duod., including _all_ the persecutions
of Charles V, makes the number 100,000. The supposed
contradiction between these two historians supplied Mr. Gibbon
with an argument by which he satisfied himself that be had
completely demolished the whole credibility of Eusebius's
history. See conclusion of his 16th book.) [Mendham's _Life of
Pius V._, p. 303. and note; compare p. 252., where Gibbon's
attack on Eusebius is discussed.]
In Forster's _Mahometanism Unveiled_, several of Gibbon's statements are
questioned. I have not the book at hand, and did not think the
corrections very important when I read it some time {277} back. The
reader who has it may see pp. 339. 385. 461-2. 472. 483. 498. of the
second volume.
In Dr. Maitland's _Dark Ages_, p. 229. seq. note, a gross blunder is
pointed out.
See too the _Gentlemans Magazine_, July, 1839, p. 49.
Dr. Maitland, in his _Facts and Documents relating to the ancient
Albigenses and Waldenses_, p. 217. note, corrects an error respecting
the _Book of Sentences_.
"Gibbon, speaking of this _Book of Sentences_, in a note on his
54th chapter, says, 'Of a list of criminals which fills nineteen
folio pages, only _fifteen_ men and _four_ women were delivered
to the secular arm.' Vol. v. p. 535. I believe he should have
said _thirty-two_ men and _eight_ women; and imagine that he was
misled by the fact that the index-maker most commonly (but by no
means always) states the nature of the sentence passed on each
person. From the book, however, it appears that forty persons
were so delivered, viz., twenty-nine Albigenses, seven
Waldenses, and four Beguins."
The following mistake was pointed out by the learned Cork correspondent
of the _Gentleman's Magazine_, I think in 1838; it has misled the writer
of the article "Anicius", in Smith's _Dictionary of Ancient Biography_,
and is not corrected by Mr. Milman (Gibbon, chap. xxxi. note 14 and
text):--
"During the first five ages, the name of the Anicians was
unknown. The earliest date in the annals of Pighius is that of
M. Anicius Gallus, Tr. Plebis A.U.C. 506. Another Tribune, Q.
Anicius, A.U.C. 508, is distinguished by the epithet
Praenestinus."
We learn from Pliny, _H.N._ xxxiii. 6., that Q. Anicius Praenestinus was
the colleague as curule aedile of Flavius, the famous _scriba_ of Appius
Caecus, B.C. 304, A.U.C. 450. (See Fischer, _Roem. Zeittafeln_, p. 61-2.)
Pliny's words are--
"[Flavius] tantam gratiam plebis adeptus est ... ut aedilis
curulis crearetur cum Q. Anicio Praenestino."
Gibbon's chapter on Mahomet seems to be particularly superficial; it is
to be hoped that a future editor will correct it by the aid of Von
Hammer's labours.
J.E.B. MAYOR.
Marlborough College.
* * * * *
MINOR NOTES
_"Ockley's History of the Saracens," and unauthentic Works._--At the end
of a late edition of Washington Irving's _Life of Mahomet_, those "who
feel inclined to peruse further details of the life of Mahomet, or to
pursue the course of Saracenic history," are referred to _Ockley_.
Students should be aware of the character of the histories they peruse.
And it appears, from a note in Hallam's _Middle Ages_ (vol. ii. p.
168.), that Wakidi, from whom Ockley translated his work, was a "mere
fabulist," as Reiske observes, in his preface to Abulfeda.
Query, Would it not be well, if some of your more learned correspondents
would communicate to students, through the medium of "NOTES AND
QUERIES," a list of such books as are genuine but not authentic; and
authentic but not genuine, or altogether spurious? or would point out
the sources from which such information can be obtained?
P.H.F.
_The Hippopotamus._--Your correspondent L. (Vol. ii., p. 35.) says,
"None of the Greek writers appear to have seen a live hippopotamus:" and
again, "The hippopotamus, being an inhabitant of the Upper Nile, was
imperfectly known to the ancients." Herodotus says (ii. 71.) that this
animal was held sacred by the Nomos of Papremis, but not by the other
Egyptians. The city of Papremis is fixed by Baehr in the west of the
Delta (ad ii. 63.); and Mannert conjectured it to be the same as the
later Xois, lying between the Sebennytic and Canopic branches, but
nearer to the former. Sir Gardner Wilkinson says, several
representations of the hippopotamus were found at Thebes, one of which
he gives (_Egyptians_, vol. iii. pl. xv.). Herodotus' way of speaking
would seem to show that he was describing from his own observation: he
used Hecataeus, no doubt, but did not blindly copy him. Hence, I think,
we may infer that Herodotus himself saw the hippopotamus, and that this
animal was found, in his day, even as far north as the Delta: and also,
that the species is gradually dying out, as the aurochs is nearly gone,
and the dodo quite. The crocodile is no longer found in the Delta.
E.S. JACKSON
_America._--The probability of a short western passage to India is
mentioned in _Aristotle de Coelo_, ii., near the end.
F.Q.
_Pascal's Lettres Provinciales._--I take the liberty of forwarding to
you the following "Note," suggested by two curious blunders which fell
under my notice some time ago.