Volume 4 — Queries.

BISHOP BRAMHALL AND MILTON.

Perhaps I am convicting myself of the most benighted ignorance by asking some of your learned correspondents to elucidate for me a letter of Bramhall's, which I extract from his works. It was written to his son from Antwerp, and relates to the early years of our great Milton at Cambridge, dated:

"Antwerpe, May. 9/19, 1654.

"That lying abusive book [viz., the Def. Pop. Ang.] was written by Milton himself, one who was sometime Bishopp Chappell's pupil in Christ Church in Cambridge, but turned away by him, as he well deserved to have been, out of the University, and out of the society of men. If Salmasius his friends knew as much of him as I, they would make him go near to hang himself. But I desire not to wound the nation through his sides, yet I have written to him long since about it roundly. It seems he desires not to touch upon this subject."—Works, vol. i. p. 94, Oxford, 1842.

That Milton was rusticated from Cambridge, and besides flogged by Dr. Chappell, there seems little reason to doubt, but it is equally clear that the punishment was only a temporary one, as he again went into residence, and took the degrees of bachelor and master of arts in due course. Whence, then, this sweeping accusation of the great and good Bramhall's, whose character is a sufficient safeguard that he at all events believed what he said? Aubrey relates the story of Milton's being whipped by Dr. Chappell, and afterwards being "transferred to the tuition of one Dr. Tovell, who dyed parson of Lutterworth."[2] Milton himself (Elegiarum Liber, Eleg. I. ad Carolum Deodatum) speaks of his residence in London, and alludes, rather gratefully, to his "exilium" from Cambridge, which he heartily disliked. He also alludes to his being flogged, as there seems a whole world of meaning in Cæteraque:

We then get a short sketch of his employments and amusements in London; and his return to Cambridge is mentioned in the palinode to the last of his elegies:

Having now cleared my way in as brief a manner as possible, I must profess my utter disbelief in the enormities of Milton's life at Cambridge. He was certainly flogged, but then he was only eighteen years old at the time, and we know that flogging was permitted by the statutes of many colleges, and was a favorite recreation amongst the deans, tutors, and censors of the day. Bramhall's letter has indeed been a marvellous stumbling-block in my way, ever since the appearance of the last edition of his works; but I do hope that some of your learned correspondents will dispel the clouds and shadows that surround me, and prove that, at all events, Milton was not worse than his neighbours.

Dr. South and Cowley were never flogged at college, but certainly they were often flogged at school, or they could not speak so feelingly on the subject:

"Those 'plagosi Orbilii' (writes South), those executioners, rather than instructors of youth; persons fitted to lay about them in a coach or cart, or to discipline boys before a Spartan altar, or rather upon it, than to have anything to do in a Christian school. I would give these pedagogical Jehus, those furious school-drivers, the same advice which the poet says Phœbus gave his son Phaëton (just such another driver as themselves), that he should parcere stimulis (the stimulus in driving being of the same use formerly that the lash is now). Stripes and blows are the last and basest remedy, and scarce ever fit to be used but upon such as carry their brains in their backs, and have souls so dull and stupid as to serve for little else but to keep their bodies from putrefaction."—Sermon upon Proverbs, xxii. 6.

And Cowley, in describing the Betula (Angl. birch-tree), how he does paint from nature!

That Milton's character was notorious or infamous at Cambridge has never, to my knowledge, been proved; and there is in his favour this most overwhelming testimony, that he never forfeited the esteem and friendship of the great and good. Was Sir Henry Wotton writing to a man of blighted and blasted reputation when he sent the kind and complimentary letter prefixed to Comus? In that he not merely eulogises the "Dorique delicacy" of Milton's songs and odes, but gives him much kind and considerate advice upon the course he was to pursue in his travels, as well as some introductions to his own friends, and promises to keep up a regular correspondence with him during his absence. Milton was very proud of this letter, and speaks of it in his Defensio Secunda. Again, Milton's associates at Cambridge must have known all about the misdemeanour (whatever it was) that caused his rustication, and yet they permitted him to take a part in, and perhaps to write the preface of, the ever memorable volume which contained the first edition of Lycidas.

The person commemorated was Edward King, a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge (Milton's own college); and I need not adduce Milton's affecting allusions to their close and intimate friendship. It was for another of the Fellows of Christ's College that Milton at the age of nineteen (the very year after his rustication) wrote the academic exercise Naturam non pati Senium, found amongst his Latin poems. But I will omit a great many arguments of a similar kind, and ask this question, Why has Milton's college career escaped the lash of three of the most sarcastic of writers, Cleveland, Butler, and South, who were his contemporaries? Cleveland must have known him well, as he, as well as Milton, had contributed some memorial verses to King, and party feeling would perhaps have overcome collegiate associations. Nor could their mutual connexion with Golden Grove have saved him from the aspersions of Butler. After the Restoration, Richard Lord Vaughan, Earl of Carbery, appointed the author of Hudibras to the stewardship of Ludlow Castle; and his second wife was the Lady Alice Egerton, who, at the age of thirteen, had acted the Lady in Milton's Comus. It was to her likewise that Bishop Jeremy Taylor dedicated the third edition of the third part of the Life of Christ, as he had dedicated the first edition to Lord Carbery's former wife, whose funeral sermon he preached. I do not remember that Cleveland or Butler have on any occasion satirised Milton; but I do remember that Dr. South has done so, and I cannot understand his silence on the matter if Milton's private character had been notorious. Of course I do not believe the anonymous invective ascribed to a son of Bishop Hall's. Dr. South was not the man to "mince matters," and yet Milton's college life has escaped his sarcasms. What his opinion of Milton was we may learn from his sermon preached before King Charles II. upon Judges xix. 30.

"The Latin advocate (Mr. Milton) who, like a blind adder, has spit so much poison upon the king's person and cause," &c.

"In præfat. ad defensionem pro populo Anglicano (as his Latin is)."—Vol. ii. pp. 201-2. Dublin, 1720. fol.

Any one who can help me out of my difficulty will much oblige me, as Bramhall's letter is a painful mystery, and truth of any kind is always less distressing than vague and shadowy surmises.

RT.

Warmington, Oct. 16, 1851.

THE SEMPILLS OF BELTRUS: ROBERT SEMPILL.

Some few months ago there was published in Edinburgh the first collected and only complete edition of the Poems by the three brothers "Sir James, Robert, and Francis Sempill of Beltrus," better known as the authors of "The Pack-Man's Paternoster; or, a Picktooth for the Pope," "The Life and Death of Habbie Simson, Piper of Kilbarchum," "The Blythsome Wedding," "Maggie Lauder," &c., with biographical notices of their lives. I am now anxious to know if any of your numerous correspondents can inform me if copies of the original editions of the Poems by "Robert Sempill" can be procured, or if they are in any of the public or private libraries in England? The following are what I am in quest of, viz.:

1. The Regentis Tragedie, 1570.

2. The Bischoppis Lyfe and Testament, 1571.

3. My Lorde Methwenis Tragedie, 1572.

4. The Sege of the Castel of Edinburgh, 1573.

Also where any notice as to his family, life, and character can be found.

A collection of Sempill's Poems, with some authentic account of the author, is certainly a desideratum in Scottish literature.

T. G. S.

Edinburgh, Oct. 18. 1851.

DESCENDANTS OF JOHN OF GAUNT.

John of Gaunt, by his third wife Katharine Swynford, left four children, born before his marriage with her, but legitimated by act of parliament. Of these the eldest is thus mentioned in Burke's "Introduction" to the Peerage, p. xxi.:—

"John de Beaufort, Marquess of Somerset and Dorset, who married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, and had a son John, Duke of Somerset, whose only daughter and heir, Margaret, married Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, and was mother of Henry VII."

Query, Was Margaret "only child," as well as only daughter of John Duke of Somerset? or was she not sister to Henry, Edmund, and John, successively Dukes of Somerset? (See Burke's Peerage, "Duke of Beaufort.")

In that case, after the death of this last-named Duke John issueless, she would become "sole heir," as she had always been "sole daughter," of Duke John the First.

Or was she in fact the daughter of this second and last Duke John? At his death the male line of Lancaster became extinct; the royal branch having already failed at the death of Henry VI.

There appears some little confusion in Burke's excellent work, as may be seen by comparing p. xxi. of the Introduction, &c., with the genealogy of the Beaufort family.

A. B.

Clifton.

Minor Queries.

246. Rocky Chasm near Gaëta: Earthquake at the Crucifixion.

—Dr. Basire (who was archdeacon of Northumberland, prebendary of Durham, and chaplain to King Charles the Martyr and King Charles II.), in his account of a tour made by himself and companions in 1649, says:

"Wee landed to see Gaëta, a pleasant, strong, and very antient citty. In it we saw some wonders, especially the thorow rupture of a rocky mountain by an earthquake, which tradition sayes, and Cardinal Baronius publishes to have happened at our Savior's passion: a stupendous sight it is however, and well worth our digression."—Correspondence, &c., of Basire, edited by the Rev. W. N. Darnell, p. 90.

I cannot here consult Baronius, to see whether he gives any references, and should be very glad to be referred to any ancient historian who has noticed the event to which this remarkable chasm is attributed, and to know whether the tradition is preserved by any classical writer. I do not find the chasm in question described by any naturalist, or other traveller, whose writings I have been able to refer to. It is in a locality which abounds with indications of volcanic action. It is said that the Monte Somma was probably not distinct from the present cone of Vesuvius prior to the great eruption in A.D. 79. In Dr. Daubeny's Description of Active and Extinct Volcanos, mention is made of an ancient town beneath the town of Sessa, where a chamber with antique frescoes and the remains of an amphitheatre were disinterred, of the overwhelming of which there is no record, nor is there even a tradition of any eruption having occurred near it in the memory of man.

W. S. G.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

247. Cavalcade.

—Your correspondent MR. W. H. HESLEDEN, in his description of "A Funeral in Hamburgh" (Vol. iv., p. 269.), has twice made use of the word cavalcade in reference to that which would otherwise appear to be a walking procession. He will oblige me (and I dare say others of your readers) by explaining whether the procession was really equestrian, or whether he has any authority for the application of the term to pedestrians. The use of the word cannot have been a mere oversight, since it is repeated. The relation in which it stands makes it very doubtful whether it can, by any possibility, be intended to describe a riding party. If, by any latitude, the word may be otherwise applied, an authority would be interesting. If it is an error, it certainly should not go uncorrected in "NOTES AND QUERIES."

NOCAB.

Harley Street.

248. A Sept of Hibernians.

—Is sept a word of Erse etymology; and, if not, of what other? Has it a specific sense; or is it a general equivalent to clann or treubh?

A. N.

249. Yankee Doodle.

—Can any of your correspondents explain the origin of this song, or state in what book a correct version of it can be found? Likewise, whether the tune is of older date than the song. To some these may appear trite questions; but I can assure you that I have been unable to obtain the information I require elsewhere, and my applications for the song at several music shops, when I was last in London, were unsuccessful.

SAMPSON WALKER.

Cambridge.

250. Seventeenth of November: Custom.

—When at school at Christ's Hospital, many years ago, a curious custom prevailed on the 17th November respecting which I had not then sufficient curiosity to inquire.

Two or more boys would take one against whom they had any spite or grudge, and having lifted him by the arms and legs would bump him on the hard stones of the cloisters.

I have often, since I left the school, wondered what could be the origin of this practice, and more especially as the day was recognised as having some connexion with Queen Elizabeth.

In reading, "Sir Roger de Coverley" with notes by Willis, published in the Traveller's Library, I find at p. 134. what I consider a fair explanation. A full account is there given of the manner in which the citizens of London intended to celebrate, in 1711, the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's accession on 17th November; some parts of which would almost seem to have been copied during the excitement against the papal bull in November 1850.

I have little doubt that originally the unfortunate boy who had to endure the rude bumping by his schoolfellows was intended to represent the pope or one of his emissaries, and that those who inflicted the punishment were looked upon as good Protestants.

Is there any other school where this day is celebrated; and if so, what particular custom prevails there?

The boys always attended morning service at Christ Church on this day.

F. B. RELTON.

251. Chatter-box.

—The derivation of this word would seem very plain, and yet I have some doubts about it. I used to think that we called a person a "chatter-box" because he or she was, metaphorically speaking, a box full of chatter, as we should call another person a bag-of-bones. And this seemed confirmed by the German plaudertasche, or a chatter-bag, till I learnt from Wackernagel, Glossar, that in the Middle High German Tasche = a woman. (See under "Flattertasche.") I believe we meet with the word again in the epithet Maultasche applied to the celebrated Margaret Maultasche, the wife of Louis the Elder; i.e. Margaret, the woman with the large mouth. The word also occurs in the Danish Taske = a girl, a wench. Hence, I conclude that there is no doubt but that the German plaudertasche means a chattering woman. Has our chatter-box the same meaning—i.e. is there a word for woman or female in any of our ancient languages from which box might arise? The only word which occurs to me just now as confirming such a supposition is buxom ("to be bonere and buxom, in bedde and at borde." Ancient Matrimony Service), which is thus = womanly.

J. M. (4)

St. Mary Tavy, Tavistock.

252. Printing in 1449, and Shakspeare.

—As the Esil controversy seems now, if not settled, to be at least lulled, at the risk of stirring up another Shakspearean discussion, I venture to set down a passage in the Second Part of Henry VI., which I have never yet seen satisfactorily explained. It is—

"Act IV. Scene 7.—Cade. ... Thou has most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm, in erecting a grammar-school; and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used; and contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill."

Is this a mere wilful anachronism on Shakspeare's part; or had "that misunderstood politician" Mr. John Cade any ground for this particular accusation against the Lord Treasurer Say? Perhaps some of your correspondents who have contributed the very interesting Notes on Caxton and Printing will elucidate the matter.

W. FRASER.

253. Texts before Sermons.

—What is the origin of, and the authority for our present use of texts of Holy Scripture before sermons? In the Roman Catholic church the custom, I believe, is not the same. The homilies used in the Church of England have no texts. In the ancient Postils, was the gospel for the day again read from the pulpit, or were the hearers supposed to carry it in their minds? It is quite clear that texts are now in most cases merely the pegs whereon the sermon is hung, so to speak, and are not read as passages of Holy Scripture to be expounded to an audience ignorant of the meaning of the sacred volume. Perhaps this Query may draw forth some remarks on the subject.

G. R. M.

254. Paradyse, Hell, Purgatory.

—Can any of your correspondents favour me with the history and uses of three Chambers or Houses in Westminster Hall, which in the reigns of Henry VII. and VIII. bore these portentous names? The custody of them was evidently a source of profit; as there are several grants of it to "squires of the king's body" and others. (See Rymer, xii. 275., xiii. 34.; Rot. Parl. vi. 372.)

Φ.

255. Dead Letter.

—"If the editor of 'NOTES AND QUERIES' will accept an indirect suggestion, we should be glad if he, or some of his learned correspondents, would inform the public of the origin or antiquity of the popular saying by which a thing, under certain circumstances, is designated as a 'dead letter.'"

[Being unwilling that the foregoing Query, which we have taken from an admirable article on the Dead Letters of the Post Office, which appeared in The Times of Tuesday last, should itself become a dead letter, we have transferred it to our columns in hopes that some of our learned correspondents will explain the origin, and show the antiquity of the phrase by instances of its earliest use. We do not believe that it is a Post Office technicality transferred to the vocabulary of every-day life, but that it is in some way connected with "the letter" that "killeth."]

256. Dominus Bathurst, &c.

—Who was "Dominus Bathurst," a Commoner of Winchester in 1688? "Dominus Anvers" and "Dominus Modyford" occur in 1694; who were they?

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

257. Grammar Schools.

—The Editor of the Family Almanack would be glad if any of the readers of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" could inform him whether the Grammar Schools founded in the following places are still open to scholars:—

Neale's School, March, Cambridgeshire; Dilborne, Staffordshire; Kirton in Lindsay, Lincolnshire; Kirton in Holland, Lincolnshire; Nuneaton, Warwickshire; Pilkington School, Prestwich, Lancashire; Royston, Yorkshire; Bolton School, Scorton, Yorkshire; Lovel's School, Stickney, Lincolnshire; Stourbridge, Worcestershire; Tottenham, Middlesex.

Any letter on the subject can be forwarded to the publisher, 377. Strand.

258. Fermilodum.

—I have an antique metal seal in my possession, which is about two inches and a quarter in diameter, having on its exterior circle in small capitals SIGILLVM + CIVITATIS + FERMILODVM. I wish to know if a place with such a seal could be called a City, and want a literal translation of it. My native town was originated by a monastic establishment, and several of the names of the streets have long puzzled the learned, such as May-gate, Colorow (Collicrow), Pill or Peel Muir: a place called the Rhodes is also in the vicinity. Would any of your antiquarian correspondents give derivations of those streets?

H. E.

259. Lord Hungerford.

—Who was the Lord Hungerford who was hanged and degraded (and for what crime?), and who is said in Defoe's Tour (cited in Southey's Commonplace Book, 4th series, p. 429.) to have had a toad put into his coat of arms? Where can such coat of arms be seen?

J. R. RELTON.

260. Consecration of Bishops in Sweden.

—As I see "NOTES AND QUERIES" attracts notice in Sweden, may I ask whether any record exists of the consecration of Bothvidus Sermonis, who was appointed to the see of Strengness by King Gustavus Vasa in 1536?

E. H. A.

Minor Queries Answered.

Effigy of a Pilgrim.

—There is in the parish church of Ashby-de-la-Zouch an effigy, which is very interesting from its extreme rarity; it is placed under a depressed arch in the north wall of the interior of the edifice, and consists of a recumbent figure of a pilgrim habited in a cloak and short boots, which lace in front with six holes just above the instep: his legs are bare, and so is his head, but his cockle hat lies under his right shoulder; his scrip, hanging from his right shoulder to his left side, is tolerably perfect; but his row of beads, suspended from his left shoulder to his right side, is mutilated, as is also his staff; the hands, which were probably raised in prayer, are gone; a collar of SS. hangs from his neck (will this be of any use to MR. E. FOSS, Vol. iv., p. 147.?); the feet of the pilgrim rest against a curious looking animal, which is said to be a dog.

Nothing is known as to whom the effigy represents, and I have not Nichols's Leicestershire by me, to see if he hazards an opinion on the subject. I shall feel much obliged by any of your numerous readers kindly informing me where other effigies of pilgrims are to be found, because if anything is known of them it may possibly help to elucidate this present case of obscurity.

THOS. LAURENCE.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

[Nichols, in his Leicestershire, vol. iii. p 623., has given some account of this effigy from Carter and Burton, together with two sketches of the monument. Carter says, "There is no tradition to determine whom this figure represents; but Mr. Gough thinks that it was some person of authority, perhaps a keeper of the castle, or a bailiff of the town." This monument had been noticed by Mr. Burton, subsequent to the publication of his History; for in the margin of his volume is this MS. note, and a slight sketch of the tomb, when the scrip and staff were more perfect than they are at present:—"On the north side of the church, near to the great north door, lieth in the wall an ancient monument of a Palmer in alabaster, which I guess to be of some of the family of Zouch; which, for the expressing of the manner of the habit, I caused to be cut and inserted." This sketch is also engraved in plate lxxvi. of Nichols's Leicestershire.]

"Modern Universal History."

—At the conclusion of the preface of this History, in vol. xvi. of the first edition, it is stated, "this work is illustrated by the most complete set of maps that modern geography furnishes." My copy is a very fine one, but I do not find any maps whatever in it. Can any of your readers inform me whether such maps exist; and if so, in what volumes, and at what pages, they ought to be? Are they to be obtained separately?

S. QUARTO.

[The maps and charts, thirty-seven in number, to the Modern part of the Universal History, were published separately, in folio, 1766: the volume and page where they are to be inserted are given on each plate.]

Origin of Evil.

—Where shall I find this problem fully discussed?

A. A. D.

[In Abp. King's Essay on the Origin of Evil, translated by Bishop Law, which has passed through several editions.]

Nolo Episcopari.

—Why is this phrase applied to a feigned reluctance in accepting an offer?

A. A. D.

[From a note in Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. i. p. 380., edit. Christian, we learn that "it is a prevailing vulgar error, that every bishop, before he accepts the bishoprick which is offered him, affects a maiden coyness, and answers Nolo episcopari. The origin of these words and the notion I have not been able to discover; the bishops certainly give no such refusal at present, and I am inclined to think they never did at any time in this country."]

Authors of the Homilies.

—Presuming that the authors of the Church Homilies are well known, their writings having been adopted by our church, and set forth and enjoined by authority to be read in all churches, I fear I am only showing great ignorance by asking where I can meet with a list of the writers of those discourses, distinguishing which of the Homilies were written by each author; and if the writers of some of them be unknown, then I should be glad to have the names of such as are known, and the particular Homilies which were written by them.

G. R. C.

[Carwithen, in his History of the Church of England, vol. i. p. 221. note g, speaking of the first book of Homilies, says, "These Homilies were the work of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, Hopkins, and Becon, one of Cranmer's chaplains. There is little but internal evidence by which the author of any particular Homily can be ascertained. The Homily 'Of the Salvation of Mankind,' being the third as they are now placed, was ascribed by Gardiner to Cranmer; and Cranmer never denied that it was his. The eleventh, in three parts, is by Becon; and it is printed among his works published by himself in three volumes folio. It is in the second volume." Consult also Le Bas' Life of Cranmer, vol. i. p. 284., and Soames' Hist. of the Reformation, vol. iii. p. 56.]

Family of Hotham of Yorkshire.

—The family of Hotham, or Hothum, of Boudeby in Yorkshire, acquired large possessions in Kilkenny at an early period, apparently in consequence of an intermarriage with the Le Despencers, lords of a third of the liberty of Kilkenny. Can any reader of "NOTES AND QUERIES" supply me with a pedigree of that family, especially as connecting therewith Sir John Hotham, Bishop of Ossory, 1779-1782? Any particulars respecting the life of that prelate will also be thankfully acknowledged: he is said to have been a member of an old Yorkshire family. (Cotton's Fasti Ecclesiæ Hibernicæ, vol. ii. p. 288.)

JAMES GRAVES.

Kilkenny, Oct. 11. 1851.

[There are several references to the Hotham family in Sims' Index to all the Pedigrees and Arms in the Heralds' Visitations and other Genealogical MSS. in the British Museum, under Yorkshire. Granger (Biographical Hist., vol. ii. p. 217.) has given a short account of Sir John Hotham, Governor of Hull temp. Charles I. See also Gentleman's Mag., vol. lxiv. p. 182., for a notice of Sir Charles; and vol. lxviii. p. 633. for an account of the death of Lady Dorothy Hotham.]

Vogelweide.

—What authority has Longfellow for his legend of Walter of the Bird Meadow? I find this epitaph given as his in Hone:

Has Julius Mosen's Legend of the Crossbill, translated by Longfellow, any more ancient foundation?

MORTIMER COLLINS.

[The epitaph, and a very interesting sketch of the life of Walter Vogelweide, with some ably translated specimens of his poetical compositions, will be found in the late Edgar Taylor's Lays of the Minnisingers, 8vo. London, 1825.]

Meaning of Skeatta.

—What is a silver Skeatta? See Gent. Mag., May, 1851, p. 537.

J. R. RELTON.

[Mr. Akerman, in his very useful Numismatic Manual, p. 227., says, "The word sceatta is by some derived from sceat, a part or portion. Professor White, in a paper read to the Ashmolean Society, remarks, that it is of Mœso-Gothic origin, scatt signifying in the Gospels of Uphilas a pound, a penny, and, indeed, money in general." Ruding observes that, "Whatever might have been the precise value of the sceatta, it was undoubtedly the smallest coin known among the Saxons at the latter end of the seventh century, as appears from its forming part of a proverb: Ne sceat ne scilling, From the least to the greatest."]