LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 1871. CONTENTS.-N° 166. NOTES: "O rare Ben Jonson!" 183 A French Mystery-Play in 1815, 184-Manx Bishops, Ib.- The Completion of St. Paul's Cathedral, 185- Pigeon Post to Paris Foote and "Chrysal" - Shongles Dis-spirit - Mar's Year The Nile-Captain Cook Thrushes - Craven Say-Priory of Coldingham, 1538-Ballad Printers' Sucingcessions-Lion Shillings-Bismarck anticipated: "Stewing in their own Gravy," 185. QUERIES: Correspondence between Queen Anne and Madame de Maintenon-" Après moi le Déluge ": Archbishop Leighton Bacon's Queen Counselship - G. Camphausen-Miss Farren's House in Green Street Benjamin's Franklin's Laurel Wreath Governors of Jamaica: Hancocke of Combmartin - Hampton Family - Clan McAlpin Merks, Bishop of Carlisle, temp. Richard II. -Mutton and Capers "Owl! that lovest the boding Sky"- Plough-bote The Poppa Bai, or Queen of Misrule-Shakespeare: Epitaph on Sir Thomas Stanley-A Spitten Laird "Hero of the Warming-pan " -Winnel, or Wynnell, 188. REPLIES: The "Blue Laws" of Connecticut, 191 Ecstatics: the "Ecstatica" of Caldaro, 193-"Es" and "En," Ib.- Finderne Flowers, 194- Lady Anne Grimston's Grave in Tewin Churchyard Becket's Murderers: Somersetshire Traditions - Stamp on Picture Canvas Mahommedanism - Bartolomao Diaz, the Discoverer of the Cape Route - The Deaf Old Woman - Story ascribed to Theodore Hook - Lord Plunket - Cinderella and the Glass Slipper - Old Prints of Stonehenge - New Zealand Medal A Black-country Legend: "The Percy Anecdotes Thomas Hood - Dryden's Agreement for his Virgil, &c., 195. Notes on Books, &c. Notes. "O RARE BEN JONSON!" In my recently published little volume, Memorials of Temple Bar, with some account of Fleet Street, I have copied on p. 99 a very interesting document kindly lent to me for that purpose by its fortunate possessor, Mr. John Carter of 17, Fleet Street. The manuscript is simply endorsed "Thomas Cooke his bill 1619," but as it relates to the poet Ben Jonson I presume the readers of "N. &Q" will not object to its reproduction, and at the same time accept a few notes in explanation: - "Mensis Jenevar Anno Regis Jacobi Decimo "Thomas Cooke, one of the Gromes of the Prince his chamber, being sent in his Highnes service by ve comand of Mr Welter Alexander, Gentellman Usher, Daily Waiter to the Prince his Highnes, of two Message two severall tymes from the Court at Whithaell into London by Cripellgatt, to warn Mr Ben Johnson the Poet, and the Players at the Blackfriers to atend Hys Highnes that night following at Court, wch. severall services being done, he returned each tyme with answer, also being sent another tyme by the lyke comand to the honorabl. the lorde Hubarde wth letters, wch service being done he returned answer to the Court aforesaid, for wch services he praieth to have alowance for his boot hier and charges to and fro for thre jornies to be 4 s octed by the honarbl Sir Robert Cary Knyght Chamberlin to ye Prince Hys Highnes and to be paid by the worshipfull Mr Addams Newton, Recever Generail of Hys Highnes Tresurer." Oldys, mentioning Ben Jonson's ownership in the Fortune Theatre, "the new house neere Goulding lane," relates that he lived in Bartholomew Close, in a house inhabited in his (Oldys) time by a letter-founder named James. If Oldys is correct, it is certain that, although the Close is not in Cripplegate parish, it warrants the messenger styling it "by Cripellgatt," that being to him, as to other Londoners, a distinguishing landmark. But if Thomas Cooke went to the playhouse, which was in the parish, his description would be correct. Next, touching the spelling of the name, it is worthy of remark that Gifford notes-" He knew his own name, and persisted in writing it correctly, though some of his best friends misspelt it." We see evidence of this in many contemporary documents, including Manningham's Diary (Harl. MS. 5353), where it is spelt "Ben Johnson." About the period of this "warning," several notable events were taking place in the life of our poet. In the summer of 1618 he made a tour into Scotland, visiting many friends, including the poet Drummond. Gifford says he stayed at Hawthornden from the beginning to the end of April, 1619, arriving in London in May, though others state he stayed there several months. In July he received his degree of M.A. from Christ Church, Oxford, and somewhat later succeeded as poet laureate. It is also worthy of remark that while in the North the annual mask had been performed in London, and but ill received, his friend writing him, "Your absence was regretted." Such being the case, is it to be wondered at that this "warning" should be of certain interest, and certainly historical? There is one other subject worth noticing, and that is the Blackfriars' Theatre and "the players." In 1615-16 the corporation of London succeeded in preventing the erection of a new theatre there by Rossiter, for it had and has a great antipathy to theatres within its jurisdiction, and the only way the promoters could possibly escape was to erect the playhouse within the privileged sanctuaries of the black and white friars' monasteries. Having managed to prevent the erection of a new building, the corporation, three years later, tried to suppress the theatre entirely, and on Jan. 21twelvemonths before the date of our messenger's charge-Lord Mayor Sir Sebastian Harvey (who, curiously enough, became related some years later Dulwich College) issued his proclamation, which, to Edward Alleyn, the player and founder of after reciting the privy council order of 1600 limiting the theatres to two, declared that under the title of a "private" house it had been made a "public" playhouse, "into which there is daily so great a resort of people, and so great multitudes of coaches, whereof many are hackneycoaches, bringing people of all sorts, that some times all the streets cannot contain them." But even this prohibition was of little avail, for by patent under the great seal, dated March 27, 1619-20, two months after the date of our document, the king licensed his "well-beloved servants to act not only at the Globe on the Bankside, but at the private house situate in the precincts of the Blackfriars"; being in fact a renewal of the patent granted to Shakespeare and others on May 19, 1603. There was in this patent of 1619 this proviso-that performances do take place "when the infection of the plague shall not weekly exceed the number of fortie by the certificate of the Lord Mayor of London for the time being." It will thus be seen that at the period of our messenger's visit to Jonson and the players the Blackfriars' Theatre was experiencing a remarkable trial for existence. Without quoting further respecting Ben Jonson's life, it is curious this document should have remained so long buried; and, interesting and genuine as it is, is it too much to ask where may be found other MSS. equally as interesting and illustrative of a life so pleasingly associated with London ? T. C. NOBLE. Great Dover Street, S.E. A FRENCH MYSTERY-PLAY IN 1815. The following is a literal copy of a play-bill preserved by an English family of rank, some members whereof were living in France at the time. It is one of those many little trifles which so unconsciously accumulate during a residence abroad, and which, when happily undestroyed, bring back such varied memories: "Par Permission de MM. les Maire et Adjoints de cette Ville. THÉÂTRE D'ÉDUCATION, OU ÉCOLE de Mœurs. Avec les Costumes, Décorations et Musique analogues au sujet. MM. Vous êtes prévenus qu'il est arrivé en cette Ville des Artistes-Mécaniciens, qui auront l'honneur de donner aujourd'hui, Dimanche, trois décembre 1815, et jours suivans, alternativement, la Représentation des MYSTÈRES GLORIEUX ET TRIOMPHANS DE LA RÉSURRECTION DE NOTRE SEIGNEUR JésusCHRIST, Drame en cinq actes, dans lequel des figures mouvantes et parlantes paraîtront et joueront sur la scène. Dans le premier acte.-On verra Joseph d'Arimathie chez Pilate, lui demandant la permission de donner la sépulture à Jésus, et le désespoir de Pilate. Dans le second.-On verra descendre de la croix le Sauveur du monde, par Nicodème et Joseph d'Arimathie, ensuite placé dans un sépulchre; Jésus ressuscitera triomphant au milieu de la garde, soldats du GrandPrêtre. Dans le troisième.-On verra Jésus apparaissant à deux de ses disciples, sur le chemin d'Emmaüs, sans en être connu. Dans le quatrième.—Il apparaîtra ensuite à ses disciples réunis et renfermés secrètement. Ici il confondra l'incrédulité de Thomas, et prédira son ascension; ensuite on le verra monter au ciel, en leur promettant le Saint-Esprit. Dans le cinquième.-On verra la descente du Saint-Esprit, en forme de colombe et de langue de feu, sur les Apôtres assemblés dans le Cénacle. L'artiste prévient qu'il donnera des représentations en ville, chez les personnes qui le feront appeler. Le spectacle sera terminé par des Feux arabesques, où l'on verra les Monumens les plus remarquables de la Capitale, et autres objets curieux; Louis XVIII, Roi de France et de Navarre; Charles-Philippe, Comte d'Artois, Frère du Roi; Marie-Thérèse, Duchesse d'Angoulême; Louis-Antoine, Duc d'Angoulême; Charles-Ferdinand, Duc de Berri; Louis, Prince de Condé, l'Etoile du Bon heur de la France; la Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur; François II, Empereur d'Autriche, Roi de Hongrie et de Bohême; Alexandre Ier, Empereur de toutes les Russies, Roi de Pologne; Georges-Frédéric-Auguste, Prince Régent d'Angleterre; Frédéric-Guillaume III, Roi de Prusse; le Pape Pie VII, Souverain-Pontife; Ferdinand VII, Roi d'Espagne. C'est dans une Salle de l'Auberge de la Serpe, rue de la Serpe, No 9. On commencera à six heures précises.-La Salle sera très-bien chauffée. Prix des places: Premières, huit sous; Secondes, quatre sous. 66 66 J'ai l'honneur de vous saluer, Unfortunately, the name of the town has not been recorded. As "les Costumes, Décorations et Musique" are so positively stated to have been analogues au sujet," it is a pity that no description by a spectator has come down to us. The character and order of the princes and potentates (generalised as objets curieux") may also be observed with advantage, remembering that the date is six months after Waterloo. All criticism upon the treatment of the subject I leave to your dramatical or theological readers, merely observing that the actors appear to have been such as are now called Marionnettes. W. C. B. MANX BISHOPS. The succession of Manx bishops is as difficult to make out as the runes on their monumental slabs. It is possible that the various conquerors of Man and the Isles may have occasionally set up bishops of their own, irrespective of existing claims; but I think a little patient investigation would succeed in making out a regular succession. In Le Neve's Fasti Eccles. Ang. (Hardy's edition, Oxford, 1854), it is asserted that John Dunkan' died in 1380; and it is conjectured that, on his death, the sees of Sodor and Man were divided, as the Scotch rejected the bishops elected under the influence of England. This may or may not be; but he is unfortunate in his facts regarding the first bishop, whom he designates John, about whom he has discovered nothing more than that he was appointed on two commissions (12 Ric. II.) to treat with the sons of John, late Lord of the Isles (Rym. vii. 592). Now this John was no other than John Dunkan, who continued to be Bishop of Sodor or the Isles till 1395, when he was translated by Boniface IX. to the see of Down, which he occupied for many years, dying in 1412 (Irish Eccl. Record., i. 267). A similar commission was entrusted to him (6 Hen. IV., Rym. iv. 89). Again, Le Neve has this entry: "John Grene alias Sprotton occurs as bishop here in 1448 and 1454." "Now were these names used indifferently for the same person? I think not, from the reference to Dugdale's Warwickshire, which I have examined; but reference is also made to Reg. Kemp. Cant. and Reg. Boothe Ebor., which I have not examined. In Dugdale's Warwickshire (ed. Thomas), under "Dunchurch," there are these two entries: "b. Joh. Grene, cap. xxii. Nov. 1414," "c. D. Joh. Insulens. Episc. titulo Comende, ix. Feb. 1449 (cum quo ad hoc auctoritate Apostolica sufficienter et legitime dispensatum)." The references are "b. Arundel f. 142 b, c. Bo. f. 10. a." Both incumbents were presented by the patron D. Episc. Cov. and Lich. Sproton was a Dominican, and, on the authority of a MS. quoted in the Theatrum Dominicanum, is said to have been appointed by Boniface IX., the same who translated John Dunkan to the see of Down: "Jo. Sproton ord. Praed. Episcop. Sodoren. in Scotia Provinc. Nidrosien. a Bonifacio IX. Cal. Octob. an. 3, qui fuit a Gloriosae Virginis partu Milesimus trecentesimus nonagesimus secundus." This date 1392 does not agree with that already given, 1395, for the translation of John Dunkan. Any scholar who has an opportunity of searching the archives of the see of Lichfield, or of consulting the episcopal registers already referred to, might throw light both on the individuality of Sproton and Grene and on the date of Dunkan's translation. A. E. L. THE COMPLETION OF ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.* As many of the readers of "N. & Q.” are interested in this subject, I must crave a short space in order to say that the most important point-on which may be said to depend the ultimate success of all future operations in this great national work-viz. the position of the organ, has been decided as only it should have been. The organ will be placed in the vestibule of the choir, near its original position, but divided-as at Westminster, only with many advantages over the organ there-against the blank walls where now stand the Nelson and Cornwallis monuments. The cases will be sufficiently large to allow of considerable additions, so that one organ will be sufficient for both choir and dome services. It is See 4th S. vi. 40, 65, 165. to be hoped that no mere sentiment about the old organ case will be allowed to mar what should be one of the most ornamental features of the cathedral. The case, as it now stands, is not, I believe, Sir Christopher Wren's, several, if not all, of the figures having been added to it since his time. If allowed to start from the ground and to run up to nearly the springing of the roof, the organ need be of no great bulk, and if properly treatednot in the "box of whistles" style-can be made to add to the intended splendour of the choir. After Easter we may hope to see the demolition of that eyesore, the transept organ. Could not the marble columns on which it stands be pressed into the service of the baldachino? I do hope the Chapter will think twice before they sanction the erection of the old return-stalls (happily to be removed from their present position) in the vestibule. As much of the misbehaviour on the part of the congregation at St. Paul's is owing to their being able neither to see nor hear under the present arrangement, it seems to me that what is required is two choirs-one for the ordinary and the other for the special services, but so contrived that, on the latter occasions, the whole cathedral may be thrown open, and yet the proper ritual arrangements maintained. If the eagle were removed one bay west, the conductor at the special services might stand at it in full sight of the choir and organist, and thus the originally intended double use of the lectern would be restored. The Committee should at once order the washing-out of the decoration of the easternmost cupola of the choir. Its sham panelling is most offensive, and, moreover, the very design itself does mischief, as people naturally ask, with a shrug of the shoulders, if scene-painters' work is to be the result of the expenditure of a quarter of a million of money. In a future note I should much like to touch on the stained glass and mosaic work in the church. I will at present confine myself to saying that it all appears too dark and heavy. Y. C. E. "I was much interested yesterday in an explanation of the pigeon system kindly given to me at the Central Telegraph Office. The microscopic telegrams sent from Tours were at first printed on thin paper by the ordinary system of photographic reduction; but the paper was too though they measure no more than three inches long and heavy-a pigeon could carry only five of the little sheets, two inches broad. To get over this difficulty the despatches were photographed on pieces of collodion of the same size as the paper, each little bit containing thirty columns, and averaging 20,000 words-that is to say, about the contents of thirteen leaded columns of a London newspaper. From fourteen to eighteen of these tiny leaves were put into a quill and tied to a pigeon's tail, several copies of the same leaves being sent by different pigeons, so as to diminish the risk of loss. When the bird reached Paris the quill was immediately forwarded to the telegraph station, where the leaves were read through a microscope to a clerk, who wrote out the despatches for each person. But this was a terribly slow process; it permitted the employment of only one reader and only one writer, which was insufficient for copying some 30,000 telegrams of ten words each. So, after a few days, the leaves were successively placed in a large microscope, to which electric light was adapted; and the magnified image of each leaf was projected on a white board, from which it was copied by as many clerks, taking a column each, as could manage to get sight of it from the writing table. This, however, was still too slow, and the final improvement was invented. Instead of throwing the image on the white board, it was photographed straight off upon a large sheet of collodion; direct positive proofs being obtained, without any intervention of a negative, by the substitution of black for white, and vice rersâ. The collodion sheets were cut up, and the pieces were distributed to a hundred clerks; so that all the cargo of a pigeon was copied and sent out in a single day. The explanation which I received was accompanied by a practical illustration of the working of the process; and when I left I was presented, to my very great satisfaction, with an original pigeon despatch of the 11th of November. I shall carefully preserve that strange little memorial of the siege." J. H. P. FOOTE AND "CHRYSAL."-It has often occurred to me that, amongst other interesting matter "made a note of" and preserved in your pages, it might be desirable, before too late, to draw up some notices of the characters drawn in Foote's comedies, and in The Adventures of a Guinea. As a long time has now intervened, and the individuals themselves have passed out of recollection, there can hardly be anything painful to relatives in recording who they were. I myself have some notices, drawn from the magazines of the period, of parties whom Foote meant to satirise and allusions designed to tell; and am informed that there are to be found in some work illustrations of the narratives given in The Adventures of a Guinea, but this I have not been fortunate enough to meet with. W. (1.) [This is a very excellent suggestion; but, as far as The Adventures of a Guinea is concerned, has been anticipated by Davis in his Olio, where a key to the characters in Chrysal will be found.] SHONGLES.-In Sir G. Cornewall Lewis's Life and Letters, somewhere about the 110th pagefor the book is not in my possession now-mention is made by that sound scholar and most truehearted and conscientious statesman of the word shongle as in use in Herefordshire (called shongow in Devonshire), and signifying a handful of corn. I think he did not know whence the word came, but my recollection is not distinct. It occurred to me the other day to ask my man when driving me out, Owen McKeon being a "Hibernus Hibernorum," what was the meaning of the word, and he promptly replied "a handful of corn;" "but he called it in the Devonshire way-shongo. So the word is pure Celtic, as I understand it. On the same occasion, promising me an early spring from the severity of the weather before Christmas, he said the blackbirds were silent, and that foretokened an early spring; "for," said he, "when the blackbird sings before Christmas, she will cry before Candlemas." This piece of MEATH. folk lore comes from DIS-SPIRIT. — Of how entire a change some words undergo in the lapse of time, we have not a more pertinent example than that afforded in this word dis-spirit. As now used it means to deprive of spirit; formerly it meant the direct opposite-to infuse spirit. Thus Fuller says (Holy State, book iii. chap. xviii. s. 5) :— "Proportion an hour's meditation to an hour's reading of a staple author.-This makes a man master of his learning, and dis-spirits the book into the scholar." As true is it of the meaning of words as of words themselves "Ut silvæ foliis pronos mutantur in annos; "As leaves on trees do with the turning year, THE NILE.-There is not the slightest allusion to the overflowing of the Nile in the Bible. In consequence of this omission many think that the books attributed to Moses could not have been written by him, as the peculiar circumstances of such an inundation and the various expedients resorted to by the inhabitants of Egypt during its continuance must have here and there undesignedly cropped out in the sacred narrative, as the historian was resident on the spot. Perhaps, however, there was at that time no overflow, and the river was kept within its banks, or when it rose was guided into channels made for the irrigation of the land, and was thus under complete control. Many learned men think the pyramids, though used as places of sepulture for their kings, were mainly subservient for this purpose, and that the hieroglyphical inscriptions will some day clear up the obscurity that at present hangs over those apparently useless structures, and prove that they were designed for utility. G. E. Bath. CAPTAIN COOK THRUSHES.-As I was quitting church one Sunday this spring, my clerk remarked that the winter had been very fatal to small birds, especially to the Captain Cook thrushes. On my expressing my ignorance as to what they were, he informed me that there were two kinds of thrushes," one we call storm-throstles" (i. e. missel thrushes), "the others Captain Cook thrushes, because Captain Cook brought them here from foreign parts." Is the notion common, and how did it arise? I should add that the clerk in question is "no scholar"; he cannot in fact read or write, and is merely an ornamental feature of our service, retained in compliance with popular prejudice in East Lincolnshire, where people have not yet learnt to regard the possibility of "parson and clerk" being ever disunited. I will conclude this discursive note by remarking anent parish clerks, that although Blackstone says they must be "sufficient for their office," I strongly recommend parsons who wish to teach their people to respond, to set up on the first opportunity a clerk who (for a time at least) must necessarily be dumb. PELAGIUS. CRAVEN SAYING.-We have in Wharfdale a proverb or saying that has always been a puzzle to me. It is "Winnot there be skrikes [shrieks] i' Oberon?" It is used when anything extraordinary is about to occur that is likely to produce excitement. We have a village in Langstrothdale called Hubberholm, and Oberon may be a corruption of the name. But I am not aware that any event ever occurred there to connect it with "skrikes." Can Oberon mean Holborn in London, and is the saying an imported one? The late William Story of Linton used to utter it frequently, and he was of gypsy origin. I shall be glad of information as to whether the saying exists in other localities, and in what particular form. STEPHEN JACKSON. PRIORY OF COLDINGHAM, 1538.—The late Dr. Carr, in his interesting History of Coldingham, the preparation of which gave him a vast amount of trouble and involved much research, was unable to trace the surname of one of the abbots, having found nothing about him excepting that he was called Adam. Having had access to a deed executed by "Adam," with the consent of the convent, I am able not only to supply this omission, but to furnish a list of the names of the consenting monks. In 1538 the prior of Coldingham was Adam Blacader, now spelt Blackadder; the sub-prior was Alexander Lyndsay. Monks:-James Spenss, Adam Ransaman, William Lermocht, James Canta, Jacobus Redpeth, Willelmus Huid [Hood], Willelmus Barne, Georgius Pylmer. The surnames of most of these individuals still exist in the Merse. The Hoods, Redpaths, Lermonths, Runcimans, Lyndsays, Spens, and Blackadders are common enough. A person of the name of Pilmore lives at present in Berwick-onTweed, and Barnes was recently to be found at Carham. Canta, however, is puzzling. The Whitadder, originally called in old charters White-water, flows into the Tweed on the west of Gainslaw; and there is a bridge over it near that place which at present is called "Canty's Bridge," the origin of which name I have never seen explained. May it not have been so called from some one of the name of Cant or Canta? J. M. In one of BALLAD PRINTERS' SUCCESSIONS. my interviews with the late Mr. Pitts, the ballad printer, he stated that his business was a very ancient one. He was the successor of Marshall, who succeeded the Aldermary printer (I forget his name), whose business had descended from the houses of Coles, Vere, Wright, and others. Mr. Pitts's statement went to show that from the reign of Elizabeth to that of William IV. there had been amongst the ballad_printers of London a regular business descent. I question whether, in the above respect, the "Row" can compete JAMES HENRY DIXON. with the "Dials." LION SHILLINGS.-The shilling of George IV. with the lion on the obverse is not only the subject of catch bets as the shilling with "two heads" on it, but of a modern superstition that a person having a lion shilling in his pocket will be lucky and not want money. Many respectable persons in the metropolis have indulged in this superstition, and of late years lion shillings have been scarce in circulation, having been absorbed for purposes of superstition. Of late they are coming rather freely into circulation, considering their date, and are often in good condition. Speculatively I attribute this to the prevalence of dangling spade guineas and other coin amulets at the watch-chain, one superstition growing out of another. If this supposition be right we shall have an example not only of the growth of a modern and recent superstition in our day, as I pointed out to the Ethnological Society, but we may witness HYDE ČLARKE. its quiet extinction. BISMARCK ANTICIPATED: "STEWING IN THEIR OWN GRAVY.”—I have found this phrase applied by the great Chancellor of the North German Confederation in an unexpected quarter, Ned Ward's London Spy, in a chapter in which he exactly describes a modern Turkish bath at the Hummums in Covent Garden. The author, speaking of the keeper thereof, says:— |