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The Castelle of Barnard stondith stately apon Tese.-LELAND.

The moon is in her summer glow,;
But hoarse and high the breezes blow
And, racking o'er her face, the cloud
Varies the tincture of her shroud;
On Barnard's towers, and Tees's stream,
She changes as a guilty dream,
When Conscience, with remorse and fear,
Goads sleeping Fancy's wild career.
Her light seems now the blush of shame,
Seems now fierce Anger's darker flame,
Shifting that shade, to come and go,
Like Apprehension's hurried glow.
Then Sorrow's livery dims the air,
And dies in darkness, like Despair.
Such varied hues the warder sees
Reflected from the woodland Tees,
Then from old Baliol's tower looks forth
Sees the clouds mustering in the north,
Hears, upon turret-roof and wall,
By fits the splashing rain-drop fall
Lists to the breeze's boding sound,
And wraps
his shaggy mantle round.

SIR WALTER SCOTT's Rokeby.

THE chronicle of Mickleton states that "Guy Baliol came into England with the Conqueror, and to him gave William Rufus the barony of Bywell, in Northumberland, and the forests of Teesdale and Narwood with the lordship of Middleton in Teesdale and Gainford, with also their royalties, franchises, and immunities." Barnard Castle did not then exist, but the commanding situation attracted the notice of Barnard, the son of Guy he reared his castle on the lofty cliff which overhangs the Tees, called it after his own name, BARNARD's VOL. XXV.

CASTLE, and made it the head and seat of his barony and feudal government. Peasants and retainers gathered for protection and favour around and under the walls of their chieftain's fortress. Barnard and his descendants granted to the increasing population common rights and civil immunities; and a borough and market town arose under the shelter of these powerful barons, separate from and independent of the wide patrimony of St. Cuthbert. A son of the same name succeeded to the patrimony in 1167. Of him it is related that, in 1174, he joined Robert de Stutevile, and other northern barons, in relieving Alnwick castle, then besieged by William, king of Scotland. "Towards morning, when they had proceeded about twenty-five miles from Newcastle, so thick a fog arose as to render the march dubious or dangerous; but sensible of the advantages of speed and decision, Stay or turn who will,' said Baliol, if I go alone, yet will I onward. Fortune favoured the enterprise; the mist suddenly dispersed, and the towers of Alnwick glittered before them in the morning sun. William of Scotland was observed at some distance in the open field, with of his troops, fearless of any surprise, were plundering the no stronger escort than a party of sixty horse, whilst most country in scattered parties. After a short but gallant resistance, the Lion of Scotland was led away prisoner, and delivered to King Henry at Northampton."

In the turbulent reign of King John, this castle held out against the barons in favour of the sovereign. In 1116, the occupier, Hugh Baliol, was joined in commission with Philip de Ulcotes, then guardian of the bishopric, to defend the northern marches of Teesdale against

778

an expected invasion of the Scots. In August, 1216, Alexander of Scotland entered England as an ally of Louis of France (to whom the pope had granted John's kingdom); he swept through Cumberland with a powerful army, and reconnoitred Baliol's strong-hold. "Whilst Alexander and his attendants were surveying the rocky strength of the fortress, a man on the battlements discharged a shaft from a cross-bow, which 'strake Eustace Vesey (Alexander's brother-in-law) on the forehead with such might that he fell dead to the ground. At this fatal accident, the Scots immediately drew off their forces." In the service of King John, ("among whose faults that of forgetting to reward the services of his adherents could not justly be counted,") Baliol seems to have acquired some habits which he did not find it convenient to relinquish. "Certain it is," says Dugdale, "that Hugh Baliol benefited himself not a little in those troublesome times of King John; for when all was quiet, at the entrance of Henry III., he could not forbear his wonted course of plundering." This is only one of the numerous illustrations of the general corruption of morals among all classes of society that always accompanies civil war.

In 1278, John Baliol succeeded at an early age to the vast possessions of his family. From his mother he inherited Devorgill, in Scotland, whence "he derived the very dubious blessing of the nearest claim in blood to the crown of Scotland, after the decease of the Maid of Norway." Under the decision of Edward I. of England, his title was pronounced superior to those of Bruce and Hastings: he was crowned King of Scotland in 1292, and soon after did homage to Edward for his The succeeding events of his life belong to the history of Scotland, rather than to that of his castle.

crown.

On the forfeiture of John Baliol's English estates, in 1296, Anthony Beke, bishop of Durham, seized Barnard Castle and its dependencies in right of his royal purchase. The castle and honour of Barnard were seized by the king and granted to Guy Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, one of the most powerful of the English nobles. Some of the prelates who succeeded Beke resisted this alienation, and sought to recover the severed estates. In the first year of Edward III., parliament acknowledged the claims of the see on Barnard Castle to be just, and writs commanding restitution were issued. These, and repeated orders to deliver up possession to the bishop were never obeyed, and "for five descents, the Beauchamps and their princely successors, the Nevills of Warwick, held, with one slight interruption, full possession of Barnard Castle, which never again became subject to the see of Durham."

The great Earl of Warwick, who fell in Barnet-field, on Easter-day, 1471, left two daughters, Isabel, who married George, duke of Clarence, and Anne, successively wife of Edward, prince of Wales, and of Richard the Third. On the attainder of Clarence, Richard obtained undivided possession of the castle; at his death it fell into the hands of Henry the Seventh, but how long it remained in the possession of the crown is not known. It appears to have been vested in Nevill, earl of Westmoreland, some time before the forfeiture of the last earl, in 1569, when, during the disturbances in the north, which involved in ruin the great houses of Percy and Nevill, Sir George Bowes threw himself into Barnard Castle, which he had defended against the main body of the insurgents for eleven days, and then surrendered for want of provisions, on honourable terms. The delay gave time to the Earls of Warwick and Sussex to advance, and mainly contributed to the speedy suppression of the insurrection. For this eminent service, Sir George Bowes obtained the demesnes under a lease. "What the penury or prudence of Elizabeth had retained, the prodigality of James lavished on a favourite; and, in 161-, the fee of the castle and manor were granted to Robert Carr, Viscount Rochester, afterwards Earl of Somerset, on whose disgrace and condemnation to death, the lordship

was resumed by the crown; and soon after, with Brancepeth, and the other forfeited estates, was settled for the maintenance of Charles, prince of Wales, by demise, for ninety-nine years, to Sir Francis Bacon, and others, with power to grant leases for twenty-seven years, or three lives. In 16-, the surviving grantees assigned the unexpired residue of the term in the demesne lands of Barnard Castle, &c., to Sir John Henry Vane, Knt. This was the first footing that the Vanes obtained in Barnard Castle. In 1640, Sir Henry Vane had a grant from the crown of various privileges annexed to his honour or lordship of Raby and Barnard Castle, under which the lordship is still vested in the Duke of Cleveland, Earl of Darlington."

It appears, however, that in 1630, this fortress was unroofed and totally dismantled. After this date, several entries occur in the court rolls, which prove the ruinous and deserted condition of the castle; orders against encroachments by new buildings in the moat, and prohibitions against carrying away materials for building, or laying rubbish against the wall.

The remains of the castle cover an extent of ground equal to about six acres and three quarters. The most massive portions are at the edge of a steep rock, about eighty feet above the river, in the north-west corner of the principal area, commanding a most beautiful prospect up the river.

The present ruins do not convey an adequate idea of this ancient stronghold in the time of its prosperity. It was inclosed from the town by a strong and high wall, with a gateway from the present market-place, and another to the north from the Flatts. The area entered by the market-place gate does not appear to have had any communication with the chief strongholds and bulwarks of the place, but probably contained the chapel; it is separated from the interior buildings by a deep fosse,

which surrounds the rest of the fortress.

In

This area is fenced with a high wall along the edge of the rocks behind Briggate or Bridgegate street. all this length of wall, there appears no cantonment, bastion, or turret; if ever it had any embrasures, they are now totally gone. To the north the wall has a more ancient and fortified appearance. The gateway to the Flatts opens from a large area to the Roman road, which on the one hand communicated with the ford that river, called Street-ford, now corrupted to Stratford; gave name to the village on the Yorkshire banks of the and on the other hand led towards Street-le-ham and

Staindrop. This area, together with that before described, were anciently used to receive the cattle of the

ger.

adjoining country, in times of invasion and public danhalf-round tower, or demi-bastion, and the broken walls The gateway last-mentioned is defended by one show some appearance of maskings and outworks; and at a turn of the wall, towards the south, there was a tower, which by its projection, flanked the wall towards the gate. Over the fosse there was a drawbridge to the gate. In this area are the remains of some edifices, one of which is called Brackenbury's Tower, having deep. vaults, now lying open; but as the ground is covered with a thick old orchard, it is impossible to form any distinct idea of the former state of edifices therein. The chief strongholds of this fortress stand on more elevated ground than any within the areas described; gateways through the cross or intersecting walls; surrounded by a dry ditch or covered way with small commanded the bridge to the west, and perhaps was ditch is terminated on one hand by a sally-port that Briggate street, and the other sally-port to the north; anciently of use to scour the pass under the wall, now the covered way almost surrounding the inner fortress. The area in which the chief erections were arranged is almost circular, and the buildings are of different Towards the orchard the walls are of modern and

eras.

this

superior architecture, supported by strong buttresses defended by a square turret towards the east; to the south the wall appears very ancient and thick, and has been strengthened by trains or lines of large oak

:

beams, disposed in tiers in the centre of the wall at | arches, I enterid straite into Richmondshire, that str. equal distances, so as to render it firm against batter-streaceith up with that ripe to the very hed of Tese." ing engines on each side of the sally-port, to the The present bridge consists of two arches handsomely bridge, within the gate, was a semi-circular demi-bas- groined. The date, E. R. 1569, is on a stone in the tion, loaded with earth to the top, very strong and of wall fronting Briggate. rough mason-work, built chiefly of blue flints; the greatest part of one of the bastions still stands; the other, whose foundation only appears, has long been gone to decay. Here are some of the most ancient parts of the castle, and probably part of the works of the Baliols. The west side of the area contained the principal lodgings; in some parts six stories in height: the state rooms stood on this quarter; two large pointed windows, looking upon the river, seem to be the most modern, together with a bow window hung on corbels in the upper ceilings, of which is the figure of a boar passant, relieved, and in good preservation. Adjoining to these apartments, and in the north-west corner of the fortress, is a circular tower of excellent

masonry, in ashler work, having a vault, the roof of which is plain, without ribs or central pillar. This vault is thirty feet in diameter, and the stairs which conduct to the upper apartments are channelled in the wall. In the adjoining grounds, called the Flatts, in a large reservoir cut in swampy ground, called the Ever, water was collected and conveyed thence in pipes, to supply the garrison and castle inclosed within the walls of the outer areas in times of public danger, for which protection the adjacent lands paid a rent called Castle-guard rent, for the castle ward. By the cognizance of the boar, and the apparent age of the buildings last described, these works were probably by Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Such is the description of this ancient stronghold, accompanied by a plan of the ground plot by Mr. Grose, published by Mr. Hutchinson, in his History of Durham, 1785. Mr. Surtees, in his beautiful work on the same subject, gives a very complete history of this castle, with memoirs of its early lords, and the present appearance of its ruins. From the time when Hutchinson wrote, much of this castle has fallen, and many of the interior buildings have been almost obliterated. The outer area is a pasture, and the space within the inner moat a garden and orchard, inclosed by the shell of the mighty fortress.

Old Leland says, "The castelle of Barnard stondeth stately apon Tese. The first area hath no very notable thing yn it, but the fair chapelle, wher be two

cantuaries."

Mr. Surtees remarks, that though the "fair chapelle" has totally perished, the ground plot as described by Leland, and the division of the outward and inner area, may be still most distinctly traced. The fortress stood probably in all its princely strength when Sir George Bowes in 1569, stood a siege of eleven days against the whole power of the insurgent earls; but, if ballad authority be evidence, it seems not easy to understand what is intended by the outer walls of "lime and bricke." Perhaps on the whole it is most reasonable to suppose that the insurgents got possession of the outer area, but were baffled before the chief strength of the place, or citadel, as it might be termed, within the inner moat.

The baron to his castle fed,

To Barnard Castle then fled hee;
The uttermost walls were earthe to im,

The earles have won them presentlie.
The uttermost walles were lime and bricke;
But though they won them soon anone,
Long ere they won the innermost walls,

For they were cut in rocks of stone.
Immediately under the command of the castle is the
bridge which connects the long winding street of Brig-
gate with Yorkshire. Leland says: "From Barnardes
Castelle over the right fair bridge on Tese of three

Immediately without the north wall of the castle are the Flatts, now inclosed and cultivated, with the Ewer, or reservoir, mentioned by Hutchinson. "The view from this natural terrace is magnificent. To the left is the ruined castle, crowning its rocky steep, and the old bridge; westward, the woody river-valley is seen for miles, and Tees; in front and across the river the eye is relieved by beyond are the blue distant hills, near the sources of the resting on the neat scattered village of Starfforth, with its simple church, surrounded by upland inclosures of green pasturage; and westward, on the deep woods of Lartington, backed by the wild distant moorlands.

"The whole of the banks beneath and beyond the Flatts are a scene of continued beauty. The Tees rushes broad and wild, whirling in eddies of surf, or roaring over masses beneath high shelving banks, covered with native oak and of solid stone, covering the mill-dam with foam and spray, hazel, and intersected by the Woolhouse Beck, and smaller streams falling rapidly from the hill. On the Yorkshire side, a small water, descending from the romantic deep dale, and emerging from the woods of Lartington, throws its slender streamlet into the Tees."

The author of the Tour in Teesdale describes these wild scenes in beautiful and animated language:When you reach the tangled dell at the end of the terrace (the Flatts), wind down a small track to the rivulet, side to a small inclosure,-part of an ancient park, in the and take the road through a fine hanging wood by the Tees true character of Shakspere's forest scenes, where his outlaws revel and his fairies sport; keep the river, and you will gain a most truly solemn and sequestered spot, completely closed in by wood, and undisturbed by any sound save the remotely-dashing water. The wild forms of the venerable oaks that skirt the old moss-covered wall of the inclosure; the noble height of the opposite hill, covered to the summit with lofty trees; the glassy smoothness of the river at your feet; and the scattered masses of rock in its channel, impress you with delicious awe. Ascend the hill, and go through a ploughed field, along a carriage road, to a thatched helm or shed in a little wild coppice, (in themselves à pleasing picture,) and you will enjoy a most enchanting scene; but seek for a small oak beyond, near a serpentine path, rather below the summit of the hili, on the brow of the river, and you command at once a view each way. I shall not pretend to describe it; the pen and pencil must alike fail.

The following is what Mr. Surtees appropriately terms "a cabinet picture," by the same artist:—

Walk over the Mains, a large pasture on the contrary side of the town to the Flatts; cross it towards the miil, and follow the Tees to the Abbey Bridge. A segment of the arch is seen, deeply shaded by the hanging woods on each side of the river, which, considerably below, presents an unbroken lake-like surface, but within a hundred yards recovers its rough impetuous character, and foams over opposing rocks towards the bridge. Endeavour to get on the rocks, and pass under the bridge, to the distance of about a hundred and fifty yards, till you are opposite to a large mass of rock in the mid-stream; turn round, and, through the majestic arch, the ruins of Egleston Abbey appear like a framed picture. Climb the hill, and return by the fields to the high road. As you approach, you have another and perhaps the best view of the abbey, and an extensive and diversified country. Go down to the bridge which looks on two fine avenues of wood and rock, both up and down the river; one terminated by the tower of Barnard Castle, and taking in the ruins and a rude bridge over a small rivulet; the other closed by the house at Rokeby.

WE are more disposed to make candid allowances for the defects of our own age than for those of preceding times.

HONEST loss is preferable to shameful gain; for, by the one a man is a sufferer but once; by the other, always.

THAT state of life is most happy, where superfluities are not required, and necessaries are not wanting.-PLUtarch.

60

SEA-STARS.

The heavens

Were thronged with constellations, and the seas Strewn with their images.-JAMES MONTGOMERY.

of

"As there are stars in the sky, so are there stars in the sea," says the naturalist to whom we are indebted for the first work ever published for the express purpose This naturalist elucidating the history of star-fishes. was John Henry Link, an apothecary of Leipsic, who rendered himself remarkable by his botanical and zoological acquirements. He published the work in question in 1733, in the form of a handsome folio volume, containing figures of numerous species and varieties of the animals, with short descriptions attached.

Star-fishes, or sea-stars, are so common on most shores, that few persons can have visited the sea-side without observing some of the ordinary kinds left on the Band at the receding of the tide, or lying among rocks below high-water mark. The bodies of these animals consist of five or more rays, proceeding from a centre; hence, by the children of fishermen, they are sometimes called by such names as "five fingers," "dead man's hands," &c. In some places, these harmless animals appear to be the objects of superstition and dread; and such feelings are doubtless enhanced by the wild stories of sailors, who, in returning from tropical countries, describe star-fishes of such enormous growth, that they are capable of entangling and drawing down a ship's boat.

Such accounts will be further noticed when we come to speak of the different species to which they more particularly refer; but in commencing a description of sea-stars, it may be desirable to take a less common, but most interesting species, to which the attention of naturalists has been particularly drawn, in consequence of new discoveries respecting its structure, and the changes to which it is subject.

I. THE ROSY FEATHER-STAR.

Comatula rosacea. (LINK.)

THE Rosy Feather-Star, so called by Professor Forbes, in his recent History of British Štar-Fishes, is the only animal of its kind at present inhabiting our seas; and as belonging to the almost extinct order of Crinoid star-fishes, it is an object of much interest among naturalists. The words of the Professor himself will best convey to our readers an idea of the former importance of these animals in the economy of the world, as evidenced by the fossil remains with which our country

abounds.

Now scarcely a dozen kinds of these beautiful animals live in the seas of our globe, and individuals of these kinds

are comparatively rarely to be met with: formerly they were among the most numerous of the ocean's inhabitants, —so numerous, that the remains of their skeletons constitute great tracts of the dry land as it now appears. For miles and miles we may walk over fragments of the Crinoidea; fragments which were once built up in animated forms, encased in living flesh, and obeying the will of creatures among the loveliest of the inhabitants of the ocean. Even in their present disjointed and petrified state, they excite the admiration, not only of the naturalist, but of the common gazer; and the name of Stone-lily, popularly applied to them, indicates a popular appreciation of their beauty. To the philosopher they have long been subjects of contemplation as well as of admiration. In him they raise up a vision of an early world,—a world, the potentates of which were not men, but animals,-of seas, on whose tranquil surface myriads of convoluted nautili sported, and in whose depths millions of lily-stars waved wilfully on their slender stems.

The most curious part of the history of the featherstar is this; that in the early stages of its growth it is mounted on a stalk, and gradually increases and unfolds at its extreme end; but when its growth is complete, it is cast off from the parent stem, and commences a free and separate existence in the star-like form in which it is usually found.

While it is not uncommon to find animals (among the zoophytes, for instance,) which remain fixed to one spot during the whole period of their existence, and on the other hand, to find others that are free and locomotive in their first stages, and afterwards become permanently fixed; it is quite a new fact, and one without parallel in the whole range of the organized part of creation, that "an animal growing for a period, like a flower, fixed by its stem," should drop from its pedicel and become, during the remainder of its life, free and locomotive. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that when Mr. Thomson first discovered the young animal in its first or fixed state of existence, he supposed it to belong to those which are permanently fixed, and named it in accordance with that supposition. After discovering his mistake he writes, "When I formerly described the young of the Comatula as a new species of Pentacrinus, no person could have suspected so anomalous and unexpected a result as that it was the young state of this curious starfish, an animal not only free, but leading the most vagrant life of any of the tribe with which it has been associated by naturalists, at one time crawling about among submarine plants, at others floating to and fro, adhering to thin fragments by means of its dorsal claspers, or even swimming about after the manner of the meduse."

It will now be interesting to describe the appearance of the feather-star in its perfect or free state as it is usually seen, and for this purpose we shall endeavour to simplify the scientific account of Professor Forbes, in which he describes the specimens taken by himself in the Irish Sea. The adult animal, then, consists of a cup-shaped calcareous base, having on the outside of the cup a number of slender, jointed, simple arms, and on the inside, a soft body, which is the stomach of the animal, with a membrane, and other appendages. The arms are five in number, but as each arm separates into two parts very near to the base, the animal appears to have ten arms. The arms are not all exactly alike, but are of two kinds. One kind has fourteen joints, and a thick, blunt, curved, claw, which is smaller than the joints, and has a horny lusre: the other kind has eighteen rough joints, and an almost straight claw, which is larger than the joints preceding it. All the arms are pinnated or winged, that is having a number of small, slender arms, or filaments, proceeding from the sides of the principal arm. In a full-grown feather-star there are thirty-four of these pinna on each side of each arm. The stomach of the animal is thin and membranous, and has an opening in the centre. From the side of the stomach proceeds an intestine which winds round the body, and has a laterally-placed opening. The membrane, or skin which covers the stomach, is also the

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covering of the arms, and branches out to the extremity | The stalk is very long, when compared with the body of of the pinnæ. This membrane forms a series of canals, the animal. extending over the whole under-surface of the animal. The margins of these canals are everywhere studded with brown spots, supposed to be the ovaries of the animal. Every other portion of the animal's body is a deep rose-colour.

The

The singular part of the history of this animal is the deposition of its eggs on the stems and branches of corallines, and the attachment of the young animals thereto during the early stages of their progress. Mr. Thomson says that it is strongly to be suspected that the animal is gifted with the power of placing the eggs in appropriate situations, otherwise we should find them indiscriminately on fuci, shells, stones, &c., which does not appear to be the case. However this may be, the attached ova of the feather-star is first perceived as a flattened oval disk, which afterwards gives exit to an obscurely pointed head, in which may already be detected the incipient formation of the arms, mouth, &c. change of the young animal from its stalked to its perfect form, although never having been witnessed, was considered established by the arguments of the discoverer, founded on the examination of a variety of specimens. But in the introduction to Professor Forbes's work, the feather-star is distinctly stated to be in its youth fixed and pedunculate, like a zoophyte; in its adult state free and star-like, and the author adds, "When dredging in Dublin Bay in August, 1840, with my friends Mr. R. Ball and Mr. W. Thomson, we found numbers of the phytocrinus or polype state of the feather-star, more advanced than they had ever been seen before; so advanced that we saw the creature drop from its stem and swim about a true comatula; nor could we find any difference between it and the perfect animal, when examining it under the microscope."

These animals in their free state frequent both deep and shallow water: those of the largest size are usually found in deep water. In swimming they move about their arms in the same way as the meduse, raising themselves from the bottom, and swimming very rapidly. Professor Forbes has observed that they effect the movement by advancing the arms alternately, five at a time.

The feather-star is found in many parts of the British coast. It was found at Milford Haven by Mr. Miller; in other parts of Wales by Mr. Adams; on the west coast of Scotland by Pennant; and at Penzance by Llwyd. It is also abundant on the Dublin coast, at Cork, and on the shores of Antrim and Down. The two species of comatula, usually described in our zoological works, are now believed to be the same animal of different ages, or in different states of preservation, and as identical with the species described by Lamarck as Comatula mediterranea.

The author last quoted also informs us that when a freshly-caught feather-star is plunged into cold fresh water, it dies in a state of contraction; but if not killed in this way, or in spirits, it breaks itself into pieces. When dying, it gives out a most beautiful purple colour, tinging the liquid in which it is killed. This colour can be retained for a long time in spirits. The fact was long since noticed by Bartholinus, who observed it at Naples.

In common with various other animals, the featherstar is infested by its own peculiar parasitical pest. This is a minute nondescript animal resembling a flat scale, which runs about with considerable rapidity over the arms of the feather-star, and which has been observed occasionally to protrude a flexible tubular proboscis. The disk, or body of this creature, is surrounded by a number of moving tentacula, and is also furnished with five pair of short members ending in a hooked claw.

Our illustration being a highly magnified representation of the comatula, will give some idea of the appearance of the feather-stars in the early stages of their growth, while they are seated on their respective stalks.

Professor Forbes found it to consist of eighteen joints. Under the microscope it appeared of a granular texture. When compressed between plates of glass, and highly magnified, the substance of the column, as well as that of the body of the animal, presented a beautiful reticulated appearance, in consequence of the separation of the plates of calcareous matter with which it was studded. These plates were mostly pentagonal. They are themselves composed of lesser particles, having apparently the same form. This peculiar granular texture is seen in the calcareous substance of other Echinodermata, and is favourable to the spheroidal growth of these creatures.

ON THE LANGUAGE OF UNEDUCATED
PEOPLE.
I.

WHILE we are commenting on Shakspeare, mending or marring his text, the dialect of the hour passes by our ears unheeded. The language of every country is as subject to change as the inhabitants, property, building, &c.; tering castles, and poring over fragmentary inscriptions just and while antiquaries are groping for the vestiges of totrisen from the grave;-why not advert also to Words and Phrases, which carry with them the like stamp of age?

Thus writes the ingenious Samuel Pegge in his Anecdotes of the English Language, which chiefly regard the local dialect of London and its neighbourhood, and are highly amusing and clever. From these anecdotes we propose to make such a selection as may show the origin of some of the "colloquial barbarisms," as they were called by Dr. Johnson, which still maintain their hold on the lower orders of people; but which, according to our authority, are, in many cases, far from being inaccurate, and may well be considered as old, unfortunate, and discarded words and expressions, which are now turned out to the world at large by persons of education, (without the smallest protection,) and acknowledged only by the humbler orders of mankind; who seem charitably to respect them as decayed gentlefolks that have known better days.

The English language has been variously mixed and modified from different sources, with which, were we well acquainted, we should find that many common unobserved words are not without their fundamental meanings, however contemptible they may appear to us in this age of refinement. Bishop Wilkins remarks, that all languages which are vulgar, or living languages, are subject to so many alterations, that in the course of time they will appear to be quite another thing than they were at first. And the truth of this remark may be easily proved by any one who will open a volume penned by one of our old English writers.

Such being the case, the humbler classes are to be looked on, not only without contempt, (when they adhere to the old expressions of their forefathers,) but actually with respect, as preserving on their lips a great deal of antiquarian lore. This of course applies to such expressons as can be justified from the charge of inaccuracy, and have merely gone out of polite usage on account of some caprice of fashion.

There have been at different periods in the history of the English language, persons of superior intellect, who adhered by choice to the ancient dialect of their forefathers in preference to the refinements which had been subsequently introduced. Such a person was Spenser, who, writing in the reign of Queen Elizabeth when the language was reputed to be in a state of refinement, yet both in his Pastorals and in his Faëry Queen imitated the language of Chaucer, on the conviction that it was stronger and more energetic than that of his own time. Warton says of him, that "he laboured to restore, as to their rightful heritage, such good and natural English words as have been a long time out of use, and almost

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