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of the effigy a badge worn by every officer of the court in the sixteenth century. The same thing appears in the brass to Robert Rochester, Sergeant of the Pantry, 1514, in the church of St. Helen, Bishopsgate.

The figure of the lady is the same length as that of her husband. She wears a close-fitting robe, and a narrow girdle; the ends of which, hanging down, support a square of embroidery with "I. H. S." The sleeves are puffed and ribbed, but close fitting and gathered at the wrists. The dress opens at the breast, displaying the partlett beneath, type of the modern habit-shirt. The head-dress is a cap of horseshoe shape, and has a lappet behind-a species of head gear which became historical as the Mary Queen of Scots'

cap.

That Thynne held Protestant views of religious matters is confirmed not only by the above quoted epitaph and will, but also by what Francis Thynne declares of his father's admission of "The Plowman's Tale" into the second edition (1542) of the Collected Works of Chaucer-a poem full of reflections upon the evil lives of the clergy,

and for his interest in which he incurred the dis

pleasure of Cardinal Wolsey and the bishops, who

forced him to omit this tale from his first edition.*

For a complete account of Thynne, see H. J. Todd's Illustrations of Gower and Chaucer; Anthony Wood's Athene Oxonienses; Erasmus, Epistola XV., Ep. XIV.; Blakeway's Sheriffs of Shropshire; B. Botfield's Stemmata Botevilliana.

JUXTA TURRIM.

SHAKSPEARIANA.

SHAKSPEARE, WEBSTER, AND R. PERKINS. 1. "Lafeu. They say miracles are past; and we have our philosophical persons, to make modern and familiar, things supernatural and causeless."-All's Well that Ends Well, Act II. Sc. 3.

That this reading is correct, and that causeless has in it a reflection of the meaning of supernatural, and means "without cause in the ordinary course, or in any of the ordinary laws of nature," is confirmed, I think, by the following passage; where, after the entrance of Isabella's ghost, Francisco di Medicis says:

"Thought, as a subtle juggler, makes us deem
Things supernatural which yet have cause
Common as sickness."

Vittoria Corombona, Dyce's new ed., p. 28. 2. "Constance. O Louis, stand fast, the devil tempts thee here,

In likeness of a new untrimmed bride." King John, Act III. Sc. 1. Nares and Dyce have exemplified the more obscure meaning of this quibbling phrase. The "The Plowman's Tale," is no longer regarded as the work of Chaucer.

more obvious one is explained by another passage from Vittoria Corombona (p. 27), where Monticelso says:

"Come, come, my Lord, untie your folded thoughts, And let them dangle loose as bride's hair."

It is curious that Steevens, in a note on this

last passage, states that brides (and among them Anna Boleyn) formerly walked to church with their hair hanging loose behind, and yet missed the meaning of "untrimmed bride," so far as to give a ludicrous explanation of it.

Is the origin or meaning of this custom known? Looking to the Scotch maiden's snood, may it not be that the loosened hair was intended to denote when the bride could not as yet wear the hair that period between maidenhood and matron life, matron-fashion; but was preparing for it, and casting off the confining band could walk without it, and without shame, before God and man? Or was it simply a custom taken from the six locks of the Roman brides, and justified by St. Paul's phrase (1 Cor. xi. 15), that long hair was the glory of a woman? Should the first conjecture be correct, it would follow that no widow, nor any but a virgin, could on her marriage day appear thus untrimmed; and that this word would, therefore, signify virgin in both its senses.

3. "Nym. I will incense Page to deal with poison; I will possess him with yellowness, for the revolt of mine is

dangerous."-Merry Wives of Windsor, Act I. Sc. 3.

In an after passage Nym, in explanation of his treachery, and as a hint to Page, says: "I love not the humour of bread and cheese." And, in fact, neither he nor Pistol are men enough to seek revenge for revenge sake; but are mere mercenary rogues, who only look upon it as they would on gourds and fullams, or a short knife and a throng, or any such means of beguiling one of a tester. In accordance with this, Nym is made to talk of revenge, but shown to think more of gaining by it; and, in his fantastic way, quibbles and says: "I will possess Page with yellowness, for the revolt of mine, of my yellows, the loss of my gold is dangerous." Yellow-boys, in the slang of our day, is a synonym for guineas; and I was led to the above explanation by finding, in the Cambridge Shakspeare, that the corresponding phrase in the first edition of the play was-" Tll pose him with yellows." It seemed to me likely that, when Shakspeare came to re-write this play, bis quick wit took the conceit at sight of the word

yellows;" though he altered the phraseology, so as to make it less of a verbal and more of a mental pun.

Since then, I have come across the word "revolt" in an exactly similar sense in Northward Ho! (Act II. Sc. 2), where Greenshield says:

"I could not have told what shift to have made, for the greatest part of my money is revolted."

Hence it would seem, either that the phrase was (like Nym's humours) one of the known affectations of the day, or that, as in other instances, Webster has industriously remembered "the right happy industry of Master Shakspeare."

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4. Having no other place for it, might I add to these stray jottings a suggestion as to the part played by Richard Perkins in Vittoria Corombona? In the postscript of the play, Webster says:"In particular, I must remember the well-approved industry of my friend Master Perkins, and confess the worth of his action did crown both the beginning and end.”

Now he could not have acted Brachiano: first, because Burbadge played that part; and secondly, because Brachiano dies long before the conclusion of the piece. But, without a doubt, the most difficult character to sustain and express is that of Flamineo; and it is not only an impersonation which would require great care, study, and talent to present in all its varied phases, and to prevent its becoming other than a monstrum informe too horrible to be borne, but in conformity with Webster's words, it is one which is a conspicuous and principal one, from the beginning to the very end. Again S. Sheppard, in his epigram on "Mr. Webster's most excellent Tragedy," as quoted by Mr. Dyce, says:

"Flamineo such another The Devil's darling, murtherer of his brother, His part most strange (given him to act by thee), Doth gain him credit and not calumnie." So that we have a staunch friend and supporter of Webster giving to the actor who took Flamineo and to no other, such praise as Webster himself gives to Perkins and to no other; while he tells us that Webster either wrote the part for him, or gave it to him as its fittest representative. Seeing, therefore, how all these allusions dovetail in one with another, I think it may be reasonably concluded that Perkins played Flamineo.

BENJ. EASY.

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SHAKESPEARE and Ned ALLEYN. -Your correspondent INQUISITOR (antè, p. 203), asks for traces of certain letters of Shakespeare, cautiously suggesting that the mention of them, which he quotes from a periodical of 1802, may have been a hoax. Permit me to follow up the question. The folly of a hoax on such a matter will be pardoned if a hearty discussion of the proper way to discover familiar remains of the great poet can be obtained.

Shakespeare had Sussex connections; the Buckhurst Lord, and Thomas, Earl of Arundel -8

magnificent man,

- must have been among his honored patrons. Ned Alleyn, the noble founder of Dulwich College, his dear friend, had possessions in Sussex, and corresponded with one, or both, of these most learned persons.

The treasures at Knole, in Kent, at Wittyham, at Arundel Castle, at the seat of the Shirleys, Weston, at that of the Ashburnhams, and at a dozen other places in Kent, Surrey, and above all, Sussex, ought to be carefully searched for Shakspeariana. MR. PAYNE COLLIER once worked Alleyn's MSS. at Dulwich College. Is anything more doing with them?

upon

This is an important topic every way. Alleyn belonged to the household of Prince Henry a paragon. Shakespeare hailed his advent. This is clear from passages in two plays. Ben Jonson joins us in the chorus on that head.

It is not too late to discover writings from these heroes of our race, that will surpass in interest the storied stones of Nineveh and the gold SEARCHER. of Australia.

PASSAGE IN 66 HAMLET," Act III. Sc. 4. (3rd S. iv. 121.)-With deference to MR. KEIGHTLEY, there surely is meaning in the line from Hamlet"That monster, Custom, which all sense doth eat," and a meaning which would be entirely inverted by the proposed substitution of create for eat. That Hamlet means to say of "Custom," that it eats, or destroys, our sense, or perception, of what we are accustomed to, seems absolutely proved by the fact, that in the very same scene he has already announced, in other words, such a thought with respect to "Custom":

"Peace, sit you down,

And let me wring your heart; for so I shall,
If it be made of penetrable stuff;

If damned Custom have not braz'd it so,
That it is proof and bulwark against sense."
ALFRED ROFFE.

Somers Town.

SHAKSPEARE JUBILEE (3rd S. iv. 264.)-Foote's description of the Stratford Jubilee of 1769 may be worth reprinting now, by way of warning to commemoration-promoters :

“A Jubilee, as it hath lately appeared, is a public invitation, circulated and urged by puffing, to go post without horses, to an obscure borough without representatives, governed by a mayor and aldermen who are no magistrates, to celebrate a great poet whose own works have made him immortal, by an ode without poetry, music without melody, dinners without victuals, and lodgings without beds; a masquerade where half the people appeared barefaced, a horse-race up to the knees in water, fireworks extinguished as soon as they were lighted, and a gingerbread amphitheatre which, like a house of cards, tumbled to pieces as soon as it was finished."

The following pamphlets appeared at the time:

"An Ode upon dedicating a Building and erecting a Statue to Shakspeare at Stratford-upon-Avon, by David Garrick."

"Shakspeare's Garland; being a Collection of new Songs, Ballads, Roundelays, Catches, Glees, and Comic Serenatas, performed at the Jubilee at Stratford-uponAvon: the Music by Dr. Arne, Mr. Barthelemon, Mr. Ailwood, and Mr. Dibdin."

Garrick's ode is reprinted at length in the Annual Register for 1769.

JOB J. BARDWELL WORKARD, M.A.

An amusing and interesting account of this will be found in the History and Antiquities of Stratford-upon-Avon by R. B. Wheeler (Stratford-onAvon, no date, ?1806), which contains "A particular Account of the Jubilee celebrated at Stratford in honour of our immortal Bard." At the end of which is appended" Shakspeare's Garland, being a Collection of Songs, Ballads, Roundelays, Catches, Glees, Comic Serenatas, &c., performed at the Jubilee."

In Bohn's Lowndes, p. 2317, is a list of "Shakespeare Jubilee Publications." T. B. H.

EMMEW (3rd S. iv. 263.) I fear that very many will disagree with MR. KEIGHTLEY as to the certainty of his change of emmew to enew in"Nips youth i' the head, and follies doth emmew, As falcon doth the fowl."

Measure for Measure (Claudio), III. 1. Whoever has observed how game will not rise, but lie close, or huddle together for shelter, or how small birds seek covert and cease their twitterings when a hawk is circling above them, will at once understand the force of emmew in this passage; and how Angelo's sharp swoops on "follies," Pompeys and Pompeys' mistresses, ended either in his emmewing them in prison, or in their emmewing themselves, not merely in the suburbs, their generally tolerated covert, but in its baths. The quotation from Nash, to my mind, shows clearly that enew was not Shakspeare's word, nor could give his meaning, for Angelo's swoops were too sudden and certain; there was no playing with his prey. In all probability also the em of emmew is not so much the causal prepositive en- as the euphonic variant of in-mew, to mew up closely, like "insheltered and embayed" (Othello), or that sweet breath, Which was embounded in this beauteous clay." King John. BENJ. EASY.

--

BACKARE (3rd S. iv. 203.)—I cannot at all agree with MR. THOS. KEIGHTLEY in his suggestion that this word is a corruption of the French bigarré, "brindle," and has primarily nothing to do with the Anglo-Saxon back. Is it not probable that the address of Mortimer to his sow, as occurring in the

Roister Doister, has reference to the proverbial obstinacy and stupidity of pigs when it is attempted to drive them singly? The quotations from Heywood's Epigrams and the Taming of the Shrew unquestionably point to the word back as the essential part of the etymology of backarè. In a very interesting note by Mr. T. Rodd (Pictorial Shakspeare, Illustrations to King Lear, III. 4), backarè is considered as a term of somewhat cognate meaning with aroint, whose etymology is supposed to be from ar or aer, a very ancient word common to the Greek (?) and Gothic languages, in the sense of to go," and hynt, i. e. "hind" or "behind." The two words, it is said, occur in the German Version of Luther(?) (Luke iv. 8). Hynt ar me thu Sathanas. Are not these words Gothic? The term aroint_then=“go behind," and backarè = “go back." (See further remarks in Mr. Rodd's note.) W. H.

66

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volume before it found its present secure restingThe following adventures which befel this very place, are, I think, worthy of a place in the first rank of bibliographical romance.

The story has never, so far as I know, been published; and originally formed part of a letter written on bibliographical matters by the Rector of Pilham, in 1847, to the Rev. S. R. Maitland. By the kind permission of the latter gentleman, I have been allowed to copy it:

and asked an old widow named Naylor whether she had "In June, 1844, a pedlar called at a cottage at Blyton, any rags to sell. She said, 'No!' but offered him some old paper; and took from a shelf The Book of St. Alban's and others, weighing 9 lbs., for which she received nine pence. The pedlar carried them through Gainsboro', tied up in a string, past a chemist's shop, who, being used to buy old paper to wrap drugs in, called the man in; and, struck by the appearance of The Boke, gave him three shillings for the lot. Not being able to read the colophon, he took it to an equally ignorant stationer and offered it to him for a guinea; at which price he declined it, but proposed that it should be exposed in his window as a means of eliciting some information about it. It was accordingly placed there, with the label-"Very offered 2s. 6d. for it. This excited the suspicion of the old curious work." A collector of books went in, and vendor. Soon after Mr. Bird, the Vicar of Gainsboro', went in and asked the price, wishing to have a very early specimen at a reasonable price; not knowing, however,

the great value of the book. While he was examining the book, Stark, a very intelligent bookseller, came in, to whom Mr. Bird at once ceded the right of pre-emption. Stark betrayed such visible anxiety that the vendor, Smith, declined settling a price. Soon after, Sir C. came in, and took the book to collate; and brought it back in the morning, having found it imperfect in the middle, and offered 51. for it. Sir Charles had no book of reference to guide him to its value; but in the mean time, Stark had employed a friend to obtain for him the refusal of it, and had undertaken to give a little more than Sir Charles might offer. On finding that at least 52. could be got for it, Smith went to the owner and gave him two guineas, and then proceeded to Stark's agent

and sold it for 74. 7s. Stark took it to London, and sold

it to the Rt. Hon. T. Grenville for 70 or 80 guineas.

"It must now be stated how it came to pass, that a book without covers of such extreme age was preserved. About fifty years since, the Library of Thonock Hall, in the parish of Gainsboro', the seat of the Hickman family, underwent great repairs; and the books were sorted over by a most ignorant person, whose selection seems to have been determined by the coat. All books without covers were thrown into a great heap, and condemned to all the purposes which Leland laments in the sack of the Conventual Libraries by the visitors. But they found favour in the eyes of a literate gardener, who begged leave to take what he liked home. He selected a large quantity of Sermons before the House of Commons, local pamphlets, tracts from 1680 to 1710, opera books, &c., &c. He made a list of them, which was afterwards found in his cottage; and No. 43, was Cotarmouris.' The old fellow was something of a herald, and drew in his books what he held to be his coat. After his death, all that could be stuffed into a large chest were put away in a garret; but a few favourites, and The Boke among them, remained on the shelves of the kitchen for years, till his son's widow grew so stalled of dusting them that she determined to sell them."

Here ends the material part of the story. The volume was afterwards splendidly bound, and is now the only copy in the British Museum.

11, Abchurch Lane.

WILLIAM BLADES.

CHRISTIAN NAMES.

In its critique on The History of Christian Names, by Miss Yonge, The Times (Oct. 22) mentions some of its omissions, and further says,

"Many an unhappy child, when school-life has been made a torment to him through the name which he has received at baptism, would rejoice if the practice prevailed in the English Church, which is common among Romanists, of assuming a new name at confirmation. It seems doubtful whether this has ever been done among us; but the industrious correspondents of Notes and Queries might, perhaps, be able to discover one or two examples of it. The surname, we all know, can be altered with ease, even when an obstinate Lord-Lieutenant would stop the way; but Christian names appear to be by law unchangeable."

With regard to its omissions, the reviewer says, "We once knew a Shadrach in the West of England." I also knew one in Worcestershire, where he now lives as a country gentleman, whose name, when we were at school together, was commonly

abbreviated to "Shade." Then Miss Yonge says (according to The Times reviewer, for I have not yet seen her book) that "the only known river names are Tiberius and Jordan," and Derwent and Rotha. But, besides the Thames Darrell of Ainsworth's fiction, I might mention Mr. Severn Walker of Worcester, the able and active honorary secretary to the Worcester Diocesan Architectural Society. Then there was Sabrina Sidney (the Shrewsbury orphan, named after the Severn), who was selected and educated to be the model wife of the eccentric Thomas Day, the author of Sandford and Merton. Has Miss Yonge given any Christian names taken from towns and villages wherein the children were born, or where were the family estates? I know of more than one such instance. Or, of Christian names from seasons of the year? as Spring Rice, and Winter Jones. And, although I suppose that the Christian name of "Christmas' is not very common, yet it so happens that in this little village from whence I write this note, two out of its twelve houses are ruled over by a Christmas, here from opposite ends of the county, and not the two men living two doors apart, having come being of kin. One of the men is my gardener, and procures his cabbage plants, &c. from Christmas Q-, a famous market gardener, who lives four miles off. Then there are Christian names as imaginative as that given by Sydney Smith to his daughter:

"Being now in possession of a daughter, it became necessary to give her a name: and nobody would believe the meditations, the consultations, and the comical discussions he held on this important point. At last he determined Memoirs, vol. i. p. 22. to invent one; and Saba was the result."-Sydney Smith's

I have quoted this as a heading to my tale of "Mareli," in The Curate of Cranston, where Mareli is supposed to be a girl so named after her two godmothers, Mary and Elizabeth, neither of whom would permit her name to come second; in which conjuncture the father hit upon the idea of coining the one name of Mareli out of the two sponsorial names. Although the incidents of the sketch are purely fictitious, yet it was a fact (as I was assured on good authority) that a girl was named Mareli for the above reasons; and it was upon this hint that I framed the sketch. I also headed that sketch with a second quotation, from an article on "Curiosities of Registration" in Chambers's Journal; I neglected to note the date, but it was prior to 1862:

"No names are too absurd for parents to give their children. Here are innocents stamped for life as 'Kidnum Toats,' Lavender Marjoram,' Patient Pipe,' 'Tais one called Eli Lama Sabacthani Pressnail."" litha Cumi,' Fussy Gotobed,' and, strangest of all, here

The Times' reviewer says, "Tabitha Cumi People" was registered a few years since.

CUTHBERT BEDE.

Minor Notes.

BOATING PROVERBS.-The expression-"We are in the same boat". appears to be as old as the time of Clemens. In his Epistle to the Church of Corinth, he writes:

“Εν γὰρ τῷ αὐτῷ ἐσμὲν σκάμματι,

Καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ἀγὼν ἐπικείται.” While on the subject of boating proverbs, I may mention a curious, and purely local one, which I heard on the banks of the Loire. Some one was approaching in a showy and stately manVoilà! il vient en quatre bateaux!" The explanation of this was, that a full and wealthier line of boats on the river was usually composed of four, united in one convoy.

ner :

66

FRANCIS TRENCH.

Islip. INSCRIPTION ON AN OLD HOUSE IN LINCOLN.May the God that gives us life and breath, Preserve our Queen Elizabeth. The above is at present hidden by recent improvements. It is written from and memory therefore the spelling is modern.

A LORD OF A MANOR.

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HIGHLAND LOVE 108 YEARS AGO.-The follow

ing brief record of the conduct of "a fickle fair one," and the cool manner in which it was treated by "the swain," may interest some of the readers of " N. & Q."

“1755, Aug. 24. [The church-session]. Received advice that the purpose of marriage betwixt Peter Wright, in Milltown of Auchollie, and Helen Gray, in Balno, is flowen up upon the bride's side, consequently she has forfeited her pledge, which is a crown; and that the said Peter Wright is again contracted in order to marriage with Barbara Smith, in Upper Achollie, yesternight." In this case 66 a crown" (the forfeited security) means 5s. Scots money, or 5d. sterling; and the singular graphic expression of "flowen up" appears to be of the same import as that of the saying of "the swine's run throw't," now in common use among the lower classes in Scotland in like circumstances; and of those of "it's all up," or, "the match is broken off," among the better educated. The extract is from the old Session Records of the gairn, Aberdeenshire, in which is situated the united parishes of Glenmuick, Tullich, and GlenPrince of Wales's "Highland home" of Birkhall.

A. J.

REV. JOSEPH WILKINSON.-This gentleman may be mentioned as an instance of neglected biography. He was of Queen's College, Oxford; B.A. Nov. 21, 1786. On August 5, 1803, he was presented to the consolidated rectories of East and West Wrotham, in the county of Norfolk, on the presentation of the Right Hon. Thomas Wallace; and, on May 23, 1817, became perpetual curate and sequestrator of Breckles, in the same county. He was also chaplain to the Duke of Gordon. He died Oct. 10, 1831, in the sixtyseventh year of his age; and was buried at Thetford St. Mary, in Suffolk, where is a monument Nov. 20, 1817, aged sixty. His works are:commemorating him and Mary his wife, who died

1. "Select Views in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire." London, folio, 1812.

land, and Lancashire." Folio, 1812.
2. "Picturesque Tour through Cumberland, Westmore-

3. "The Architectural Remains of the Ancient Town and Borough of Thetford, in the Counties of Norfolk and Suffolk; tending to illustrate Martin's and Blomefield's Histories of Thetford: twenty-five Plates, etched by H. Davy, from Drawings by the Rev. Joseph Wilkinson.” London, folio and 4to, 1822.

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