QUERIES.

NICHOLAS BRETON'S "CROSSING OF PROVERBS."

Although my query respecting William Basse and his poem, "Great Britain's Sun's Set," (No. 13. p. 200), produced no positive information touching that production, it gave an opportunity to some of your correspondents to communicate valuable intelligence relating to the author and to other works by him, for which I, for one, was very much obliged. If I did not obtain exactly what I wanted, I obtained something that hereafter may be extremely useful; and that I could not, perhaps, have obtained in any other way than through the medium of your pleasant and welcome periodical.

I am now, therefore, about to put a question regarding another writer of more celebrity and ability. Among our early pamphleteers, there was certainly none more voluminous than Nicholas Breton, who began writing in 1575, and did not lay down his pen until late in the reign of James I. A list of his pieces (by no means complete, but the fullest that has been compiled) may be seen in Lowndes's Bibl. Manual; it includes several not by Breton, among them Sir Philip Sidney's Ourania, 1606, which in fact is by a person of the name Backster; and it omits the one to which my present communication refers, and regarding which I am at some loss.

In the late Mr. Heber's Catalogue, part iv. p. 10., I read as follows, under the name of Nicholas Breton:—

"Crossing of Proverbs. The Second Part, with certaine briefe Questions and Answeres, by N.B., Gent. Extremely rare and very curious, but imperfect. It appears to contain a portion of the first part, and also of the second; but it appears to be unknown."

Into whose hands this fragment devolved I know not; and that is one point I am anxious to ascertain, because I have another fragment, which consists of what is evidently the first sheet of the first part of the tract in question, with the following title-page, which I quote totidem literis:—

"Crossing of Proverbs. Crosse-Answeres. And Crosse-Humours. By B.N., Gent. At London, Printed for John Wright, and are to be solde at his Shop without Newgate, at the signe of the Bible, 1616."

It is in 8vo., as Heber's fragment appears to have been; but then the initials of the author are given as N.B., whereas in my fragment they stand B.N., a usual inversion with Nicholas Breton; the brief address "To the Reader" is also subscribed B.N.; and then begins the body of the work, thus headed: "Crosse and Pile, or, Crossing of Proverbs." It opens as follows:

And so it proceeds, not without humour and point, here and there borrowing from known sources, as in the following:—

However, my object is not to give specimens of the production further than are necessary for its identification. My queries are, 1st, Who bought Mr. Heber's fragment, and where is it now to be found? 2nd, Are any of your correspondents aware of the existence of a perfect copy of the work?

I naturally take a peculiar interest about Nicholas Breton, because I have in my possession an unknown collection of amatory and pastoral poems by him, printed in quarto in 1604, in matter and measure obvious imitations of productions in "The Passionate Pilgrim," 1599, imputed to Shakespeare, and some of which are unquestionably by Richard Barnfield.

Any new information regarding Breton and his works will be most acceptable to me. I am already in possession of undoubted proof that he was the Nicholas Breton whose epitaph is on the chancel-wall of the church of Norton, in Northamptonshire, a point Ritson seems to have questioned.

J. Payne Collier.

March 30. 1850.

THE SWORD CALLED CURTANA.

In the wardrobe account for the year 1483, are "iij swerdes, whereof oon with a flat poynte, called curtana, and ij other swords, all iij swords covered in a yerde di of crymysym tisshue cloth of gold."

The name of curtana for many ages continued to be given to the first royal sword in England. It existed as long ago as the reign of Henry III., at whose coronation (A.D. 1236) it was carried by the Earl of Chester. We find it at the coronations of Edward II. and Richard II.; also in the time of Henry IV., Richard III., and Henry VII.; and among the royal arms of Edward VI. we read of "a swerde called curtana."

Can any of your readers explain the origin of the name curtana, a sword so famous that it carries us back to the days of ancient chivalry, when it was wielded by the Dane Uggiero, or by the still more famed Orlando.

Edward F. Rimbault.

IS THE DOMBEC THE DOMESDAY OF ALFRED?

I beg to propose the following "Query":—Is the Dombec, a work referred to in the Laws of Edward the Elder, the same as what has been called the Domesday or Winchester Book of Alfred the Great? I incline to think that it is not, and shall be much obliged to any of your correspondents, learned in the Anglo-Saxon period of our history, who will give himself the trouble of resolving my doubts.

Sir Henry Spelman, in his Glossary voce Dombec, calls it the Liber Judicialis of the Anglo-Saxons; and says it is mentioned in the first chapter of the laws of Edward the Elder, where the king directs his judges to conduct themselves in their judicial proceedings as on [Old English: thaere dom bec stand], that is, as is enjoined in their Dome Book.—"Quod," he continues, "an de præcedentium Regum legibus quæ hodie extant, intelligendum sit: an de alio quopiam libro hactenus non prodeunte, incertum est."

But this uncertainty does not seem to have attached itself to the mind of Sir William Blackstone; for in the third section of the Introduction prefixed to his Commentaries on the Laws of England, he informs us that our antiquaries "tell us that in the time of Alfred, the local customs of the several provinces of the kingdom were grown so various, that he found it expedient to compile his Dome Book, or Liber Judicialis, for the general use of the whole kingdom." This book is said to have been extant so late as the reign of King Edward IV., but is now unfortunately lost. It contained, we may probably suppose, the principal maxims of the common law, the penalties for misdemeanors, and the forms of judicial proceedings. Thus much may be at least collected from that injunction to observe it, which we find in the Laws of King Edward the Elder, the son of Alfred.—"Omnibus qui reipublicæ præsunt etiam atque etiam mando, ut omnibus æquos se præbeant judices, perinde ac in judiciali libro (Saxonice, [Old English: dom bec]) scriptum habetur: nec quidquid formident quin jus commune (Saxonice, [Old English: folcrihte]) audactes libereque dicant."

But notwithstanding this, it appears to me by no means conclusive, that the Dombec referred to in the Laws of Edward the Elder and the Liber Judicialis of Alfred are the same; on the contrary, Alfred's Liber Judicialis seems to have been known not under the name of Dombec, but under that of the Winchester Roll, from the circumstance of its having been principally kept at Winchester: and Sir Henry Spelman says, the Domesday Book of William the Conqueror was sometimes called Rotulus Wintoniæ, a similitudine antiquoris, from its resemblance to an older document preserved at Winchester. And he quotes Ingulphus Abbot of Croyland, who says, "Iste rotulus (i.e. the Domesday Book of William) vocatus est Rotulus Wintoniæ, et ab Anglicis pro sua generalitate, omnia tenementa totius terræ integre continente Domesday cognominatur." And the he proceeds, "Talem rotulum et multum similem; ediderat quondam Rex Alfredus, in quo totam terram Angliæ per comitatus, centurias, et decurias descripserat, sicut prænotatur. Qui quidem Rotulus Wintoniæ vocatus est, quia deponebatur apud Wintoniam conservandus," &c.

Here is nothing said of this work being called [Old English: dom bec]: neither does Spelman, in his enumeration of the works of Alfred, give the least intimation that any one of his collections of laws was called [Old English: dom bec].

We know, indeed, that Alfred compiled a code of laws for his subjects; but whether any part of them has been preserved, or how much of them is embodied in subsequent codes, cannot now be determined. Asser mentions that he frequently reprimanded the judges for wrong judgments; and Spelman, that he wrote "a book against unjust magistrates," but any complete body of laws, if such was ever framed by Alfred, is now lost; and that attributed to him in Wilkin's Leges Anglo-Saxon, is held in suspicion by most writers.

For these reasons, and considering that Sir William Blackstone's knowledge of English history was rather superficial, I incline to the belief, that the [Old English: dom bec] referred to in the laws of Edward the Elder, was some collection of laws made prior to the time of Alfred: this might clearly be the case, as Sharon Turner informs us that the Saxon laws were committed to writing as early as the commencement of the 7th century.

The opinions of your learned correspondents on this disputed point may be of much interest to many of your readers, and to none more than to

George Munford.

East Winch.

MINOR QUERIES.

MSS. of the Wycliffite Translations of the Scriptures.—The Add. MS. 15,521., in the British Museum, contains a copy of Lewis's edition of the Wycliffite New Testament, printed in 1731, with manuscript notes by Ames and Lewis, and the former has transcribed into it some additional prologues, prefixed to each book of the New Testament, which had not been printed by Lewis, and were taken by Ames from a MS. of the New Testament, written in 1424, and in 1731 in the possession of Thomas Granger. It would be very desirable to learn what became of this MS. subsequently. Granger died in the following year, but the MS. does not appear in the sale catalogue of his library, nor is it found in the catalogue of Ames's own library, dispersed in 1760. Any information relative to this remarkable copy of the New Testament, would be very acceptable to the Editors of the Wycliffite Versions of the Scriptures, who are now, after a literary labour of more than twenty years, about to bring the work to a conclusion. They would also feel much obliged by the communication of any notices of MSS. of the Wycliffite versions, existing in private hands, exclusive of those copies of which they already possess descriptions, existing in the libraries of the following individuals:—Mrs. Allanson of Farn, Flintshire, the Earl of Ashburnham, Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., Sir Peregrine Ackland, Bart., Sir David Dundas, H.M. Judge Advocate, Dr. Cardwell, Principal of St. Alban's Hall, Oxford, and Thomas Bannister, Esq.

F. Madden.

British Museum, March 28.

Why are Gloves not worn before Royalty?—Can any of your readers inform me what is the origin of the custom observed at Court, of persons in the royal presence not wearing gloves? Is it a matter of pure etiquette, or does the observance of it derive its origins from barbarous times, when chivalry was little else than barbarism in armour?

F.E.

Law Courts at St. Albans.—Can any of your correspondents give me the reference to a communication in the Gentleman's Magazine (between, I think, the years 1815 and 1836), in which a passage in Massinger, which alludes to lawyers going to St. Albans, is illustrated by an inscription in the nave of St. Alban's Abbey Church, which records that the courts were held there on account of the sweating-sickness in the reign of Elizabeth?

Σ.

Richard Haley, or Hales.—Milton Pedigree.—I should feel obliged by any particulars respecting Richard Haley, or Hales, of Idlestreete, otherwise Ilstreyd, in com. Hertford, yeoman; my object being to ascertain the nature of some transaction he had with Milton, in July 1674, referred to in a bond which the former executed, dated the 27th of that month, for performance of the covenants contained in an indenture of even date.

Is any thing known of Richard Milton, who signs his name as the attesting witness to the releases given by two of the poet's daughters for their share of his estate? Is there any pedigree of the family of Sir Christopher Milton, the poet's brother, drawn up with sufficient apparent accuracy to exclude the probability of Richard Milton being his son? I have referred to the pedigree in the British Museum (Harl. MS. 5802. fo. 19b.), which makes no mention of the letter; but it is evidently so imperfect a notice, as to be of little authority one way or other.

J.F.M.

Sapcote Motto.—Over the old gatehouse of Elton, co. Hunts., built by the family of Sapcote, is their coat of arms, namely, "three dove-cotes;" and upon a scroll, surrounding the lower part of the shield, is carved a motto, evidently French, and as evidently cut by a person ignorant of that language. So far as I can decypher it, the letters appear to be

Possibly the first and last letters s are only flourishes. I shall be glad of any suggestion as to its meaning.

I have not been able to find the Sapcote motto on record; and I believe the Carysfoot family, the possessors of Elton, and the Duke of Bedford, the heir in blood, to be ignorant of what this scroll is intended to represent.

Erminois.

Athenæum Club.

Scala Coeli.—In a will, dated 12 Hen. VIII., the testator directs that there shall be four trentals of Saint Gregory said for his soul at London at "Scala Coeli." Can any of your readers explain what place is meant by "Scala Coeli?"

A Subscriber.

Illustrations of Gresset's "Vert Vert," painted on Enamel, &c.—In a Paris edition of Gresset's Works (Janet et Cotelle, 1823), in the preface is the following passage.—

"Vert-vert fut bientôt dans toutes les mains. Le suffrage de la multitude se joignit à celui des connoisseurs; la mode, qui est aussi en possession de donner son suffrage, s'empressa de parer les ajustemens d'invention récente, du nom de l'illustre perroquet; les vases d'ornement, les vases usuels qui sortoient des fabriques françoises, retraçoient presque tous quelques épisodes du petit poëme. Un artist dont le nom est venu jusqu'à nous, Raux, en peignit sur émail les sujets les plus marquants; et tandis qu'on faisoit passer dans une version latine les vers élégants du poëte jésuite, M. Bertin, ministre d'état, le gratifioit d'un magnifique cabaret de Sèvres, dont toutes les pièces reproduisoient les aventures de son héros, ce qui fit dire à Gresset, qu'on le traduisoit aussi en porcelaine de Sèvres."

The Query I wish to make is, Have any of these illustrations or designs from Gresset's poem of Vert-vert, painted on enamel china, or earthenware of any sort, of French or any other manufacture, come to light of late years? or more lately still, among the articles that have been dispersed among various buyers of almost all nations, in the sales within these few weeks effected at Paris?

Robert Snow.

Urbanus Regius.—A friend of mine, a delightful old lady, fresh, genial, and inquisitive, has in her possession an old volume, a family heir-loom, which is not the less dear to her for being somewhat dingy and dilapidated, and touching which she would gladly receive such information as your correspondents can supply.

It is made up of three apparently distinct treatises; the first (of which several leaves are wanting) on the twelve articles of the Apostles' Creed. The second is "The ryght foundation, and pryncypall common places of the hole godly Scripture," &c., by Doctor Urbanus Regius. Prefixed is an epistle to Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury (evidently Cranmer), to whom "Hys dayly oratoure, Gwalter Lynne (the writer of the epistle), wyssheth lyfe euerlastynge." Between this second treatise and the third, and apparently belonging to the latter, is a title-page with the following inscription:

"Imprinted for Gwalter Lynne, dwelling upon Somers Kaye, by Byllinges gate. In the yeare of oure Lorde. MDXLVIII. And they by [sic] to be solde at Poules church yarde at the north doore, In the signe of the By-bell, By Richard Jugge."

This last treatise is in smaller type than the others, and has no general designation: it contains chapters on various subjects, e.g. "The Signification of Baptism," &c.

Query 1. Is this volume well known? 2. Who were Urbanus Regius and Walter Lynne?

G.P.

March 16. 1850.