side, abbord; to be, or lye by the side of; also, to "That give accosting welcome ere it comes," scarcely affects the meaning of the passage; for, as Sir Toby Belch tells us, "Accost is front her, board her, woo her, assail her." Accost, I think, had not its modern (narrowed) signification in Shakespeare's time; though the Twelfth Night passage might indicate a newfashioned use of the word. Twelfth Night has many allusions to the affected language of the time. The Latin costa would be equally the root of coasting and accosting. JOHN ADDIS, JUN. Rustington, Littlehampton. "AS YOU LIKE IT," Act II. Sc. 7.— "Sans teeth, sans eyes," &c. As Shakspeare's originality of idea or expression has given rise to so much discussion, it may be presumptuous to put forward a scrap like that which is now sent to you. Should it be thought of any value, or should it not have been hit upon by any commentator, of which I am not aware, it may perhaps obtain a place among your various collections respecting him. His reading and acquaintance with books has been canvassed by those who are better acquainted with the subject than myself. But it is agreed that the translation of "The Essayes of Michael de Montaigne, by John Florio (I forget his real name), printed at London by Val. Sims for Edward Blount, dwelling in Paule's Churchyard, 1603," was a production not unknown to him. Indeed this was proved by the discovery some years back of a copy of this small folio, containing the autograph of the poet, and now placed among the literary treasures of the British Museum. Turning over the pages of one in my possession the other day, I came upon the following passage in the second book, 12th chapter, p. 306; where is a long rambling dissertation, as usual, of " nium gatherum" amounting to an hundred pages, and hooked upon the simple title of "An Apologie for Reymond Seybond." It is merely the expression that struck me with its similarity to the phrase in the celebrated close of the Stages of Man, and it runs thus in exposition of a passage from Cicero, De Natura Deorum: om "The infinite number of mortall men, concludeth a like number of immortall. The infinite things that kill and destroy, presuppose as many that preserve and profit. As the soules of the Gods, sans tongues, sans eyes, and sans eares, have each one in themselves a feeling of that which the other feele," &c. "CHEVY CHASE." The ballad bearing this title has been a source of serious difficulty to students alike of history or ballad literature. While professing to give an account of a certain contest at Otterbourne, and borrowing remarkable incidents from the historical battle fought at that place, the causes, dimensions, and effects assigned to the struggle are so very dissimilar that the opinion has been started, and strongly pressed by Bishop Percy, that a separate battle is referred to, with which the author of the ballad mixed up the incidents of Otterbourne. My object is to prove the utter worthlessness of the ballad historically, to explain in a novel way the name of the battle, and thence to show the hunting expedition, which forms the chief stumbling-block of commentators, to be a fiction engendered by a curious instance of linguistic corruption. The two versions of the ballad, the older and the more recent, are of course to be found in Percy's Reliques; they agree throughout in stating the facts as follows:-The combat took place at Otterbourne, and was occasioned by the Percy's vow to hunt the Cheviot in spite of Douglas. The result was indecisive, 1447 out of 1500 English bowmen being killed, and 1945 out of 2000 Scotch spearsmen. Douglas was shot dead by an arrow; Percy slain by a lance thrust. Otterbourne was contested on the one side by The only battle that ever took place at or near Douglas, with 2000 foot and 300 lances; on the other, by Harry Hotspur and Ralph, sons of the Percy, commanding 8000 foot and 600 spears. It was occasioned by Northumberland sending his sons to encounter the two Scotch armies which had entered England. The English attacked the enemy's camp between Otterbourne and Newcastle, and were eventually routed with the loss of 1800 men, 1000 others being wounded. The invaders lost only 100 in killed, 200 in prisoners. Douglas was slain by a spear thrust, while Hotspur was captured. I have given this brief summary of the fight, which occurred August 19, 1388, after reading the very full narrative of Froissart, derived from two French knights who had served on the English side in the contest, and from "a knight and two squires of Scotland, of the party of Earl Douglas." The minuteness of this account, the fact that it was obtained from combatants on both sides, and the confirmation afforded by other historians, are a sufficient guarantee for Froissart's accuracy. It will be at once seen from this bare outline that the ballad consists of a pitifully mangled account of the battle of Otterbourne: and the Has this been observed by any of the annota- minstrel, besides openly mentioning this place as tors upon Shakespeare? U.U. the scene, has so blended various incidents and names connected with that contest as to destroy all doubt on the subject. Nor was there any other occasion on which a Douglas was slain. The only reason for supposing a separate battle is the much dwelt on hunting-party. Yet why should the least credit be attached to a writer so grossly ignorant of the circumstances of Otterbourne, and so dependent as to borrow whole stanzas from the more ancient and (except where numbers are concerned) very accurate ballad, "The Battele of Otterbourne." Again, the composer places the event in the reign of Henry IV. and "Jamy the Skottishe Kyng," and makes it immediately antecedent to Hombledon; but Richard II. reigned in England, the first "Jamy was not born till ten years after, and Hombledon was not fought till 1402. The writer, therefore, must have lived a very long period subsequent to Otterbourne, or its chronicler, whose last stanza proves him to have composed his poem after 1403. From this disgraceful distortion of the simplest facts we may gather that any event narrated by the writer of our ballad is ipso facto disentitled to our credit. It remains to be seen whether we cannot even find further reasons for setting aside that story of the hunting expedition which affords its title to the ballad, and forms so prominent a feature in it. My own conjecture is that this arose from Otterbourne being styled "The Battle of (the) Chevachées." Chevachées or chevachies (otherwise chivachies) were forays, raids over the border into an enemy's country, in one of which the Scots were engaged at this very time. The word occurs in Chaucer, during whose life Otterbourne was fought. I find it in the eighty-fifth line of the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, where Wright has a note on it. It still exists in the French chevauchée and our chivy. What could be more natural than that the knightly class should style this "The Battle of (the) Chevachées," just as they spoke of the Battle of Spurs and that the Saxon populace, ignorant of these long aristocratic French words, should construe the title into "Battle of (the) ChevyChase "? If we place together the various orthographies of both words, the change becomes astonishingly easy. Thus: Dowlah and Hirondelle have become Sir Roger Dowlas and Iron Devil, and Caton Fidéle has undergone transmutation into a Cat and Fiddle. It is also remarkable that Chevy-Chase is invariably written in the ballad with a hyphen, and not separatim. Hence then, in my belief, arose the idea that the battle of Otterbourne took place during a hunting expedition in Cheviot. The story itself furnishes corroborative testimony. The composer shows his ignorance by speaking of Otterbourne as in Cheviot, although at least a dozen miles distant. Nay, the very vow of Percy would have been unnecessary, or rather a proof of cowardice, for the Cheviots were no less Northumbrian than Scotch, Cheviot itself clearly appertaining to England rather than Scotland. No one can admire more than myself the quaint, martial, racy style of the ballad in its older form, but I cannot side with Bishop Percy in the face of the silence of historians, the self-evident ignorance of the author, and the improbability of the narrative. Very careful investigation satisfied me of the truth of a conjecture which, if correct, settles the whole question, and completely removes an historical difficulty. It has received the unqualified approval of those whose judgment on such a point is more safe and valuable than my own; and I submit it to the readers of "N. & Q.," deprecating any severe censure on an attempted solution, whether true or false, of a question at once interesting and perplexing. E. B. NICHOLSON. Tonbridge. 66 Translated, Imitated, Adapted, and Addrest to the NobiEpigrams of Martial, with Mottoes from Horace: lity, Clergy, and Gentry. With Notes Moral, Historical, Explanatory, and Humorous. By the Rev. Mr. Scott, M.A., late of Trinity College, Cambridge. London: Printed for J. Wilkie, St. Paul's Church-yard, J. Walter, Charing Cross, and H. Parker, Cornhill. MDCCLXXIII." The oddity of this remarkable volume lies in the perfect unreserve with which the author, who is a clergyman, and who publishes his name, alludes to all the current political and private scandal of the time. Not often does one meet are the spellings of ballads. The other has four with plainer speaking. The volume, moreover, forms Chevachies -ées Chivachies -ées. It is impossible for any change to be more simple; while there exist numberless instances of similar corruptions-e. g. lantern into lanthorn, asparagus into sparrowgrass; while the Surajah contains numerous allusions to personages and events of the time which a tolerably extensive acquaintance with the gossip literature of the last century does not always help me in deciphering. Thus, I at once recognise Burke under the nickname of the "Irish Jesuit Edmund;" but I am at a loss to guess who "Cream-coloured Tommy" and "Jerry Mungo" were, with several other equally pointed and picturesque personal allusions. Perhaps a few specimens of this reverend epigrammatist's quality may not be unacceptable to the readers of "N. & Q." Here is a hard hit at a noted political character of the period: "To the Right Hon. Richard Rigby, Esq.; when mellow, promising everything; but when sober, performing nothing. "You are full of promises, my friend! When you are drunk all night: And say that everything shall end To all my wishes quite. But in the morn you nothing do, And therefore be advised; Be drunk both night and morning too, Your word will then be prized." Here is a severe blow levelled at an eminent astronomer : "To Mr. Neville Maskelyne.-On an Empty Fellow. ONevill! why do you oppose A vacuum in nature? Since by your head you so disclose You're such an empty creature! " The epigrammatist is particularly severe on Wilkes, Dr. Dodd, Stephen Fox, and the Whig leaders generally. Dodd he plainly stigmatises as a tuft-hunter, a sycophant, and a specious hypocrite. To Wilkes he applies a translation of the epigram of Sannazarius on Cesar Borgia: "Nothing or Cesar,' Borgia would be. True: Since he's at once both Nought and Cesar' too!" An epigram on Lord Holland makes allusion to a dark and dubious transaction in his lordship's career: "To Lord H-l-d. "Would I slip out and fling the Bailiff? As somebody once, 'tis said, did Ayliffe: One Many of the epigrams are not quotable, and but few of them possess any literary merit. supplied to the author by an "unknown hand" seems to me extremely fine: "On the Passage of the Israelites out of Egypt. "When Egypt's King GOD's chosen tribe pursued In crystal walls th' admiring waters stood. When through the desert wild they took their way, The rocks relented, and poured forth a sea. What limits can Almighty Goodness know, When seas can harden, and when rocks can flow?" Is there anything known of the author of this book? D. BLAIR. Melbourne. [With our correspondent we are curious to know a little about the author of these Epigrams. He is clearly the "Rev. William Scott, A.M., late scholar of Eton, and of Trinity College, Cambridge," probably the A.B. 1746, and A.M. 1750, of the Cantabrigienses Graduati, and the author of several pamphlets. At one time he is styled "Morning Preacher at St. Michael's, Wood Street "; and again, "Assistant Morning Preacher at St. Sepulchre's, Snow Hill." He appears to have been a caterer for the booksellers; and by not publishing his Christian name in his early productions, led the public to believe they were from the pen of Mr. James Scott, late Fellow of Trinity College. His work, The Epigrams of Martial, was pubthe same month the following paragraph made its aplished on the first of January, 1773, and on the eighth of pearance in the Public Advertiser: — "We can assure our readers that a book lately published by J. Wilkie in St. Paul's Churchyard, entitled Epigrams of Martial, &c., is not written by the Rev. James Scott, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and now rector of Simonburn in Northumberland; nor does that gentleman know anything either of the work or its author." His next production, A Sermon on Bankruptcy, 1773, is one of Bishop Fleetwood's discourses, with some alterations. (See his Works, p. 728, fol.) His Sermon on the King's Accession, preached on Sunday, Oct. 25, 1772, is dedicated to David Garrick, and as he rightly states in the Dedication, "will be thought, no doubt, as much out of character as dedicating a comedy to an archbishop." In 1774 he published two sermons, entitled "O Tempora! O Mores! or, the best New Year's Gift for a Prime Minister; by the Rev. William Scott, late of Eton," and dedicated it to" Lord North, Prime Minister of England." On its title-page is the following: "N.B. The pulpit was refused at eight of the most capital churches in the city. Above a thousand copies were ordered before it was sent to press; and two hundred more by a gentleman for one of our North-American colonies." After the year 1778 we lose sight of our author.-ED.] ENGLISH ADHERENTS OF THE HOUSE OF STUART. Of Francis Turner, Bishop of Ely, it is said :"There can be no doubt that after Francis Turner's return to England he carried on a secret correspondence with the Court of St. Germains, and was deep in Sir John Fenwick's plot. While that bold Northumbrian baronet stood at bay, nearly hunted to the death, the government blood-hounds were keen on the scent of one Grascome, a nonjuring clergyman, who had hitherto though the most active of all the pamphleteers who stirred defied all their efforts in tracking his whereabouts. Alup the fire of insurrection in those times, Grascome walked invisible through all plots. At last he was ascertained to be in the house of a French silkweaver in Spitalfields. The Prince of Orange's messengers surrounded the house with an armed force, then went in and captured a gentleman, who gave his name as Harris. He was, however, identified by several persons there as the deprived Bishop of Ely, Dr. Francis Turner. When he was questioned, and asked to give an account of himself, the bishop said very coolly, 'that he had no other account to give but that he came there to dine, for he did not live there, his lodgings were at Lincoln's Inn.' When he found that the government officials meant to detain him, he wrote to Secretary Vernon (who details this odd adventure in his letter to the Duke of Shrewsbury [Earl of Shrewsbury ]), and demanded his freedom, alleging 'that he held a pass to go to France if he chose, but he had made no attempt to avail himself of it.' Secretary Vernon and the other State Minister, Windebanke (to whom the bishop likewise appealed), referred him to Sir William Trumbull. The oddity of the case was, that the Bishop of Ely knew as well they did that the Prime Minister, Shrewsbury, was himself deep in the plot, and was only watching the signs of the times to declare for King James II. The result was that Sir William Trumbull set the dauntless clerical Jacobite at liberty. He retired to his lodgings in Lincoln's Inn, where he rested perdu, varying the monotony of seclusion by occasional visits to Moor-park, that fair oasis in the Southern Highlands of England, cultivated and improved by Sir William Temple. All the doings therein were completely isolated from the rest of the island, excepting the near town of Farnham, by the deep sands of the wild Surrey heaths. Here Francis Turner was received with great affection by that mysterious statesman Sir William Temple. We can trace the Christian prelate's influence for good on the mind of Temple's protégé, Jonathan Swift. His noble ode to Truth, written in memory of Sancroft, is endorsed as composed at the request of Dr. Turner, Bishop of Ely." So far Miss Strickland, in her Lives of the Seven Bishops, and your correspondent would observe that the English adherents of the House of Stuart have been underrated in their services in favour of the Scotch and Irish followers of the same noble house. One may instance General Monk's great service in restoring King Charles II. Next in order comes the Duke of Berwick, whose successful enterprise in setting the crown of Spain on the rightful claimant's head, the Duke of Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV., made the Bourbon family compact possible. Then Lord Chatham's (who, under the name of patriot, was no doubt a concealed Jacobite; his frequent attacks on the employment of Hanoverian troops in this country show his leaning) measure in attacking Canada, and taking it from the French, resulted in France and Spain joining to support American independence, and wrested the American colonies-now the fine country of United States-out of the hands of the House of Hanover. Washington was the descendant of a Royalist who fought for King Charles I.; and Lord Mahon mentions in his History of England that, when the Scotch in the neighbourhood of New York offered to raise the standard of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, a paper among the Stuart Papers states that his answer was "for them to mind their own business;" that is, that the then representative of the Stuart family wished them to side with Washington, which no doubt they did. And, lastly, let us not forget Dean Swift, whose Drapier Letters to the People of Ireland kept them from a useless insurrection, and paved the way, with William Pitt's union of England and Ireland, to the measure, afterwards carried by Daniel O'Connell, of Catholic Emancipation, and seating the Irish Catholic members in the English House of Commons; thus creating a powerful body of Irish Catholic members in support of the English Catholics, always great adherents of the House of Stuart. This measure (the Catholic Emancipation) would have been of no use if William Pitt, the worthy son of Lord Chatham, had not by the union of Ireland with England abolished the Irish Parliament, because Ireland was commanded by the English fleet. Y. C. FATA MORGANA IN THE JAPYGIAN PENINSULA. Have travellers in Italy found this natural phenomenon anywhere else than at the Straits of Messina? In travelling over the Japygian peninsula, which I have in a late number of "N. & Q." (3rd S. xi. 516) mentioned in respect to artificial mounds, I heard the natives speak of what they called "Mutate," and on questioning them as to what they meant, I found that this was only another name for what is known as the "Fata Morgana." At Nardo and Galateo, and more particularly at Manduria, they assured me that at dawn, when the atmosphere is perfectly calm, or when a "scirocco" is just beginning to blow, the appearances at times are very remarkable, exhibiting, if we can believe them, beautiful representations of castles, plains with cattle and flocks, men on horseback, and, what must be striking, the edges of the figures are often fringed with the prismatic colours. The figures are constantly changing, and hence no doubt the origin of the "Mutate" which the natives apply to it. I am not able to confirm this from personal observation, nor have I been able to find any mention of the phenomenon in any English work. Perhaps some of your correspondents can refer me to one. The only allusion to it that I have seen is in Antonii de Ferrariis Galatei De Situ Japygiæ Liber (Lycii, 1727). He says: name "In his paludibus (agri Neritini) ut in campis Mandurii et Galesi et Cupertini phasmata quædam videntur, quas mutationes aut mutata dicunt vulgus. . . . . Videbis quandoque urbes et castella et turres, quandoque pecudes et boves versicolores et aliarum rerum species seu idola, ubi nulla est urbs, nullum pecus, ne dumi quidem. Mihi voluptati interdum fuit videre hæc ludicra, hos lusus naturæ. Hæc non diu permanent, sed ut vapores, in quibus apparent, de uno in alium locum et de unâ formâ in aliam permutantur, unde fortasse mutata nominantur." I have observed in another part of Italy some approach to the "mirage" which is here described. At early dawn, on my way through the Caudine Forks towards Benevento, thick mists rested on the lower valleys; as the sun rose and the mist began to be dissipated, the villages seemed to be raised by the refracted light into the heavens. It no doubt requires a peculiar vapoury state of the atmosphere to produce the refraction necessary to cause such appearances. C. T. RAMAGE. All this obviously refers to some member of Parliament who was unfortunate enough to put the cart before the horse, evidently to the great amusement of some hearer who "made a note of it. WALTER W. SKEAT. FALSE QUANTITY IN BYRON'S "DON JUAN."Not only in Clarke's, but Murray's edition, I find the following line: "And so Zoe spent her's, as most women do." I have corrected my copies as follows, till the true or a better reading is announced: "And so too Zoe spent her's as most women do." SILVER FONT.-The font at Canterbury was of silver, and was sometimes sent for to Westminster on the occasion of a royal christening. Simpson refers to Harl. MS. 6079, which I had not time to consult. W. H. S. WASHINGTON'S MASONIC APRON.-At a recent masonic celebration in Winchester, Virginia, the masonic apron worn by the orator, W. H. Travers, Esq., formerly belonged to General Washington, having been presented to him by General Lafayette. This apron has the flags of France and the United States combined, beautifully wrought upon it in silver and gold, forming by their combination the principal masonic emblems. It was sent to Mount Nebo Lodge, of Winchester, Virginia, by a member of the Washington family, in 1811, and has been ever since carefully preserved by the brethren. W. W. STUFFING THE EARS WITH COTTON.-It is an odd coincidence that this phrase, which was used in the condemned cells of Newgate during the chaplaincy of the excellent and book-loving Rev. H. S. Cotton, to express the exhortations of the minister of religion to the condemned criminal, was used with an exactly similar meaning by Henry IV. of France. When it suited the humour or the policy of that monarch to turn Catholic for a time, his confessor was the Abbé Coton; and Henry was accustomed to say of the confessor's pious counsels, that they were "stuffing his ears with Coton." The immediate authority for this anecdote is Steinmetz's History of the Jesuits, but it is the common property of all the writers upon the times of Henry IV. D. BLAIR. Melbourne. AN OLD DON-JUANIC RHYME. In his translation of Don Quixote, Shelton (or his reviser, Captain Stevens, edit. 1700), commences his version of Abtissidora's farewell to her impracticable knight-errant thus "Now, in the name of the devil, Why, Sir Knight, so uncivil, To be gone, and take never a leave of us? So, with whip and with spur, The ribs and the flanks of your furious Bucephalus,” E. L. S. LINES FROM A CANADIAN PAPER.-I enclose an imperfect copy of a few lines from a Canadian newspaper, of date 1833. They were probably taken from L'Ami du Peuple, printed in Montreal. As the lines express attachment to our government as well as patriotic feeling, I would send copies of "N. & Q." to an old friend in Canada should you think them worthy of a place. I think that the perusal of the lines will be gratifying to readers of the paper, if it be still in circulation after so long an interval: *** Canada, terre chérie, "Nos pères, sortis de la France, Et leurs enfans en leur vaillance CONSTANT READER. |