Volume 5 / Act 1 — ON A PASSAGE IN HAMLET, ACT I. SC. 4. (Vol. v., p. 169.)

Theobald long since observed—

"I do not remember a passage throughout our poet's works more intricate and depraved in the text, of less meaning to outward appearance, or more likely to baffle the attempt of criticism in its aid."

He then proposes his reading:

observing that "the dram of base" means the alloy of baseness or vice, and that it is frequent with our poet to use the adjective of quality instead of the substantive signifying the thing.

It would be tedious to enumerate all the hapless attempts at emendation which have been subsequently made, but I must be allowed to refer to that adopted by MR. SINGER as long since as the year 1826, when he vindicated the original reading, doubt, from the unnecessary meddling of Steevens and Malone. MR. SINGER thus printed the passage:

Bale was most probably preferred to base as more euphonous, and nearer to the word eale in the first quarto; but MR. S. would now perhaps adopt base, as suggested by the word ease, in the second quarto, for the reasons given by Theobald and your correspondent A. E. B.

It is evident that dout cannot have been the poet's word, for, as your correspondent remarks, the meaning is obviously, that "the dram of base" renders all the noble substance doubtful or suspicious, not that it extinguishes it altogether. This will appear from what precedes:

Under present impressions, therefore, I should prefer, as the least deviation from the old copies, to read:

i.e. doth cast a doubt over all the noble substance, bring into suspect all the noble qualities by the leaven of one dram of baseness. This, according to your correspondent's own showing, is the very sense required by the context, "the base doth doubt to the noble, i.e. imparts doubt to it, or renders it doubtful." And when we recollect the frequent use of the elision o'er for over by the poet, and the ease with which of might be substituted for it by the compositor, I cannot but think it conclusive. To me the proposed reading, "offer doubt," does not convey a meaning quite so clear and unequivocal.

Conjectural emendation of the text of our great poet is always to be made with extreme caution, and that reading which will afford a clear sense, with the slightest deviation from the first editions, is always to be preferred. The errors are chiefly typographical, and often clearly perceptible, but but they are also not unfrequently perplexing.

That MR. COLLIER and MR. KNIGHT, who do not often sin in this way, should on the present occasion have countenanced such a wide departure from the old copies as to read ill and doubt, may well have surprised A. E. B., as it certainly did

PERIERGUS BIBLIOPHILUS.

"THE MAN IN THE ALMANACK." (Vol. v., p. 320.)

Nat Lee's Man i' th' Almanack stuck with Pins has no reference to "pricking for fortunes;" but to the figure of a man surrounded by the signs of the zodiac found in old almanacks, and intended to indicate the favourable, adverse, or indifferent periods for bloodletting. From the various signs are lines drawn to various parts of the naked figure; and these lines give it very much the appearance of being stuck with pins.

I have not ready access to any old English almanacks; but a German one of the early part of the sixteenth century contained the figure as above described, with this inscription:

Surrounding the frame, the words "güt," "mittel," or "böss" are placed against each sign of the zodiac from which the lines are drawn; and underneath the figure are the following verses:

Some former possessor has written on the margin:

Similar figures no doubt occur in our old English almanacks. I will merely add that the figure above described is pasted on the back of the title-page of an edition of Regimen Sanitatis, with an interlineary version in German verse, bearing the following imprint: "Impressum Auguste per Johannem Froschauer, Anno Dm̅ MDij." 4to.

The book also bears a German title which, as it mentions the subject of bloodletting [lassen], I may as well transcribe: ¶ Diss ist das Regiment der Gesuntheyt durch all monat des ganzen iars, wie man sich halten sol mit essen und trincken, und auch von lassen. I presume that the rules for bloodletting which accompany the old almanacks are chiefly derived from this Regimen Sanitatis, which is founded upon that of the school of Salerno, as they form a principal feature in its precepts.

This edition of the book does not appear to have been known to Sir Alexander Croke: I will therefore give the general precepts for the twelve months which are prefixed to it.

Such were the popular dietetics, and the almanacks were made the vehicle of communicating them. As late as the year 1659, Edmund Gayton, author of the Festivous Notes on Don Quixote, put forth a book in verse entitled The Art of Longevity, or a Dietetical Institution. He had graduated in physic at Oxford, but in his book he plays the part of a Merry Andrew more than that of a physician. The book, however, is curious as well as rare.

S. W. SINGER.

EPIGRAM ON DR. FELL. (Vol. v., pp. 296. 333.)

Your correspondent E. F. may very probably have been informed, by ladies intimate with the Sheridan family, that Tom Sheridan composed the lines on Dr. Fell, respecting whose author and subject inquiries were made by a querist in page 296.; but it is nevertheless quite untrue. My memory of those lines goes back to a date earlier than Tom Sheridan's capacity for writing an epigram; and this on Dr. Fell may be found, if memory does not deceive me, in the Elegant Extracts in Verse, of a date at least as early as Tom Sheridan's work. The subject of the epigram was Dr. Fell, who held the deanery of Christ Church with the bishopric of Oxford, in the times of Charles II. and James II. Its author probably put it into circulation anonymously, as is usual with such brief specimens of personal satire.

As lodged in my memory, the third line was,—

That Dr. Fell, with some learning and a character for loyalty, had somewhat in him which a discerning observer could not like, is become notorious since the publication of his correspondence with the obsequious and unprincipled Earl of Sunderland respecting Locke, whom James II. wished the Dean to deprive of the income he received as a student of Christ Church. (See Appendix to Fox's History of Early Part of Reign of James II.) Dr. Fell there tells the Earl that he had long watched Mr. Locke, and made "strict inquiries," but that no person had ever heard him speak a word against the government. He adds, that language disparaging Locke's political friends had frequently been used for the treacherous purpose of provoking such replies as might have been used to his ruin, but hitherto all in vain; and that, as he had withdrawn to the Continent, some other plan must now be adopted. He accordingly proposes a mode of ensnaring him, subjoining, that if the King would simply order his expulsion, the mandate should be obeyed, without asking for any proof of his deserving such a sentence. This was accordingly done; but in two short years the circumstances of all the parties were changed. The Bishop and Dean was gone to appear before Him who has said, "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment;" the King had withdrawn to the Continent, expelled by his own terrors, and deprived of his inheritance; Locke was returning to his native land, to be counted one of its chief ornaments; the Earl of Sunderland had betrayed his master, and was desiring to be allowed to do any dirty work for another.

H. W.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Verses in Prose.

—I consider the following not to be an instance of casual versification by prose authors:

"Fides antiquitatis religione firmatur. Stato tempore in sylvam,

"omnes ejusdem sanguinis populi legationibus coëunt."

Tacit. Germ. cap. 39.

But I consider it to be a quotation from some lost Roman poet. It is too lofty and sonorous to be casual, though such quotations are unusual to the historian.

A. N.

Stops, when first introduced (Vol. v., pp. 1. 133., &c.).

—In order to assist SIR HENRY ELLIS in his inquiry into the use of stops in the early days of typography, I examined some of the earlier specimens of printing which my library afforded, and made the following notes. P. T. had not found the semicolon earlier than 1636, with the exception of Gerard's Herbal, 1597. It is, however, probable that the communication of A. J. H. (p. 164.), by which it appears that the semicolon was used in 1585, may render my notes of no use. However, I send my contribution, such as it is.

In an edition of Latimer's Sermons, small 4to., black letter, judged to be the edition of 1584, the stop in question is not found. The note of interrogation is very curiously formed,—a colon surmounted by a comma, thus [,:] I might also observe that, to one of such limited knowledge as myself, the paging is singular,—only one numeral on each leaf.

In Caroli Sigonii de Republica Hebræorum, libri vij, Hanoviæ, 1608, no semicolon occurs. But in Purchas' Pilgrimage, 1613, all the four stops are used. So also in The Spanish Mandevile of Myracles, 1618.

S. S. S.

Rev. Nathaniel Spinckes (Vol. v., p. 273.).

—Anne Spinckes married Anthony Cope, Esq., second son of Sir John Cope, fifth baronet, but had no issue.—See Debrett's Baronetage.

S. L. P.

Oxford and Cambridge Club.

"'Twas they," &c. (Vol. v., p. 10.).—

AMICUS asks where this couplet is to be found. It appears to me that it has been derived from an imperfect translation of the last two lines of Martial's epigram, L. iv. Ep. 44., in which he describes the effects of a recent eruption of Vesuvius:

It is a petit morçeau of heathen blasphemy, in supposing that the gods ought to repent of what they have done.

W. N. D.

Madrigal, Meaning of (Vol. v., p. 104.).

—NEMO will find all that I could collect upon this subject in the introduction to my Bibliotheca Madrigaliana, published by J. Russell Smith, 8vo., 1847.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

Absalom's Hair (Vol. iv., pp. 131. 243.).

—In answer to P. P., who says that "Absalom's long hair had nothing to do with his death, his head itself, and not the hair upon it, having been caught in the boughs of the tree," RT. refers to the "respectable antiquity" of the popular tradition. In the Vulgate edition of the Bible (Venetiis, 1760, ex Typographia Balleoniana) there is a rude woodcut, evidently of much older date than 1760, in which Absalom is represented as hanging by his hair. Perhaps some of your correspondents can mention similar woodcuts of a far earlier date.

In a family Bible (black letter, 1634), I find the following MS. note on 2 Sam. xiv. 26.: "And when he polled his head ... he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight;" which suggests a solution of the difficulty which has puzzled many commentators, who, to make Absalom's hair of the full weight, have to suppose that it was plastered with pomatum and sprinkled with gold dust:

"Ye lesser shekel weighed a quarter of an ounce, ye greater half an ounce. We cannot therefore suppose yt ye loppings of Absalom's hair weighed either 50 or 100 oz. But yt wn it was cut off his servts might have sold it for 12lb 10s or 25lb to ye Ladys of Jerusalem, who were ambitious of adorning yr heads wth ye Hair of ye beautifull Absalom: wth ye locks of ye Ks son...."

It is recorded that when Absalom was buried "they laid a very great heap of stones on him." Was this in detestation and abhorrence (cf. Joshua vii. 26., viii. 29.), or in honourable memory of a prince and chief? If the former, did it give rise to the custom of flinging stones in the graves of malefactors?

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

Bowbell (Vol. v., pp. 28. 140. 212.).

—Several of your correspondents have pointed out instances of the use of the word Bowbell as nearly synonymous with Cockney. The following lines are, I believe, of earlier date than any which have been quoted on this subject; but it is not quite clear in what sense the word Bowbell is there used.

They are from a satirical poem by John Skelton, who died in 1529; and the subject of them is Sir Thomas More.

JUVENIS.

Quid est Episcopus? (Vol. v., p. 255.).

—I know not to whom Bingham may refer these words in the edition of 1843; but in that of 1840 he expressly refers them to "the author of the Questions upon the Old and New Testament, under the name of St. Austin." But, the spurious book being part of the collection printed as S. Augustini Opera, the reference "Aug.," &c. very properly occurs there "at the foot of the page."

A. N.

Nightingale and Thorn (Vol. iv., pp. 175. 242.).

—As an addition to the examples already adduced concerning this fable, I give the following:

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

The Article "An" (Vol. v., p. 297.).

—"Hospital" is to be found with the prefix "an" in Addison, and probably in the works of all other writers who need the word and the prefix; but, as to there being only six words beginning with h to which the case of the said prefix will apply, I cannot assent to the assertion. Witness the following words, which will form decided exceptions to a supposed rule of that kind:—Harangue, hereafter, historical, hour, hostler, hyperbole, hypothesis, hysteric. Can any one speak these words in succession with the prefix "a" to each without impediment? I trow not.

C. I. R.

The six words mentioned by NIL NEMINI, that begin with the letter h, and have the article "an" prefixed, are not quite the same as those I was taught at school. This is my list "Heir, honest, honour (including honourable), hour, herb, and hospital."

CUTHBERT BEDE.

The Countess of Desmond (Vol. v., p. 323.).

—Having succeeded in eliciting notices of various pictures of Oliver Cromwell attributed to Cooper, without discovering the original miniature bequeathed to Richard Burke by Sir Joshua Reynolds, I am tempted to mention that I once saw a portrait of the Countess of Desmond, hitherto not described by any of her biographers, but very much resembling the Windsor picture and Penant's engraved print, though evidently the work of an inferior artist. The portrait in question was a short time in my father's possession, soon after the year 1800, having been delivered to him by the executor of Mrs. Elizabeth Berkeley, an eccentric old lady, well known as a correspondent of the Gentleman's Magazine, who left the picture, with many others, to Lord Braybrooke. But it was soon claimed by a Mr. Grimston of Sculcoates, in Yorkshire, who seemed to be entitled to a great portion of the collection, and my father was glad to be allowed to retain two fine views of Venice, painted by Canaletti for Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, who was the father of Mrs. Berkeley's husband, and which are still at Audley End. Perhaps this statement made from memory at the end of fifty years may be of no value, but it shows the existence of another likeness of the person always described as the Countess of Desmond, and as it came originally from the collection of an Irish prelate, it probably, like the lady herself, belonged to the Emerald Isle.

BRAYBROOKE.

Friday at Sea (Vol. v., pp. 200. 330.).

—Stranger still to your correspondent W. FRASER and the readers of "N. & Q." must the assurance be that the "Birkenhead" troop-ship (whose disastrous loss was accompanied by such a terrific sacrifice of life), sailed from Portsmouth harbour on the 2nd January last—the identical day (being a Friday) on which the lamented Capt. Symons in the "Amazon" left this port, no more to return. Can we wonder that uneducated minds, usually prone to superstitious observances, should at least marvel at these strange coincidences?

H. W. S. TAYLOR.

Southampton.

Marriage of Mrs. Claypole (Vol. v., p. 298.).

—In an old annual obituary for 1712, there is mention made of the Protector's family, and of the marriage of Mrs. Claypole. I think it gives the date required by B. N., but the phraseology is rather old-fashioned, and may be open to a second interpretation. I send you the extract entire:—

"Elizabeth (and not Mary, as stated in your note) became the wife of John Claypole, Esquire, of Northamptonshire, made Master of the Horse to the Protector, one of his House of Lords, a Knight and Baronet, on July 16th, 1657, he being then Clerk of the Hanaper; the said Elizabeth dyed August 7th, 1658, and was buried in Henry VII.'s chappel in a vault made on purpose."

There is no mention of the writer's name in the volume, but I have found such of the details respecting the Cromwell family as I examined to coincide with the received authorities.

T. O'G.

Dublin.

Rev. John Paget (Vol. iv., p. 133.; Vol. v., pp. 66. 280. 327.).

—Will the following facts, taken from Oldfield and Dyson's History and Antiquities of Tottenham, 1790, pp. 48-50., be of any use to CRANMORE? He is quite right as to the substitution of the baptismal name James to the Baron of the Exchequer, instead of John, as Dugdale has it: for he is called "James Pagitt, Esq.," in the inscription to his memory in Tottenham Church. He was a baron from 1631 till his death in 1638.

The authors describe him as "son of Thomas of the Inner Temple, London, son of Richard Crawford, in the county of Northampton, son of Thomas of Barton Seagrave, &c., in the said county." He married three wives: 1. Katherine, daughter of Dr. Lewin, Dean of the Arches; 2. Bridget, daughter of Anthony Bowyer; and 3. Margaret, daughter of Robert Harris of Lincoln's Inn. The latter we find, in Ashmole's Antiquities of Berks, vol. iii. p. 88., had been married twice before, and that her father was of Reading.

Baron Paget had no children by his last two wives; but by his first, besides two daughters, he had two sons: Justinian of Hadley, Middlesex, custos brevium of the Court of King's Bench; and Thomas.

If CRANMORE can communicate to me any details of his history, I shall feel obliged by his doing so.

EDWARD FOSS.

Mary Queen of Scots and Bothwell's Confession (Vol. iv., p. 313.).

—ÆGROTUS refers, I presume, to a document which he will find in a little volume entitled, Les Affaires du Comte de Bodnée, published at Edinburgh by the Bannatyne Club in 1829. The narrative was written in the old French, at Copenhagen. The original is still preserved in the Royal Library of the Castle of Drottningholm in Sweden. Bothwell wrote it on "la vielle des Roys," 1568, and appears to have given it to the Chevalier de Dauzay, the French ambassador, to be communicated to the King of Denmark. Dauzay received it on the 13th of January, 1568, and placed it before the ministers of the King on the 16th of January. M. Mignet, in his history, throws discredit on this confession, styling it "a very adroit narrative" (L'Histoire de Marie Stuart, vol. i. appendix H.); though such a self-crimination, at such a time, would seem to any impartial mind to weigh strongly in favour of the ill-fated young queen, whose character it tends to exculpate.

F. S. A.

Introduction of Glass into England (Vol. v., p. 322.).

—It is impossible to determine at what period the use of glass utensils for domestic purposes was first introduced into this country; but being manufactured by the Egyptians and Phœnicians, we may very probably owe the introduction of it to them. Window glass appears to have been used in the churches of France as early as the sixth century; and according to Bede, artificers skilled in the art of glass-making were invited into England by Abbot Benedict in the seventh century; and the churches or monasteries of Wearmouth and Garrow were glazed and adorned by his care. Wilfrid, Bishop of Worcester, about the same time took similar steps for substituting glass in lieu of the heavy shutters which were then in use; and great astonishment was excited, and supernatural agency suspected, when the moon and stars were seen through a material which excluded the inclemency of the weather. York Cathedral was glazed about the same time; and in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, when a great stimulus was given to the erection of religious edifices, glass was generally employed in the windows. It appears to have been used in domestic architecture but very sparingly, till a much later period, when it came to be gradually adopted in the residences of the wealthy. As late as the middle of the sixteenth century it was recommended, in a survey of the Duke of Northumberland's estates, that the glass in the windows should be taken down, and laid by in safety during the absence of the Duke and his family, and be replaced on his return; as this would be attended with smaller cost than the repair rendered necessary by damage or decay. In Ray's Itinerary it is mentioned that in Scotland, even in 1661, the windows of ordinary houses were not glazed, and those only of the principal chambers of the King's palaces had glass; the lower ones being supplied with shutters, to admit light and air at pleasure.

Plate glass for mirrors and coach windows was introduced into England by the second Duke of Buckingham, who brought over workmen from Venice, and established a manufactory at Lambeth, where the works were carried on successfully according to the process in use at Venice.

The first manufactory for cast plate glass, according to the process invented by Abraham Thévart, was established in 1773, at Prescot in Lancashire, by a society of gentlemen, to whom a royal charter was granted, under the name of the "British Plate Glass Company."

D. M.

Maps of Africa (Vol. v., p. 236.).

—As your correspondent has no faith in Spruner, but appears to have confidence in Kiepert, it may serve him to be informed that there is a General Map of Africa by Kiepert published in 1850, and that Drs. Barth and Overweg, the travellers in Africa, have this map with them: also, that Kiepert published a map of Algiers, Fez, and Morocco, Tunis, Tripoli, &c. There is also another map by Kiepert, of the Roman Empire in the first centuries of the Christian era, which includes the northern coast of Africa.

S. W.

Cromwell's Skull (Vol. v., p. 275.).

—In answer to J. P., I beg to inform him that the skull of Cromwell is in the possession of W. A. Wilkinson, Esq., of Beckenham, Kent, at whose house a relation of mine saw it. I have no doubt that Mr. Wilkinson would feel pleasure in stating the arguments on which the genuineness of the interesting relic is based.

L. W.