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their outward and visible semblance and identity. Gradually,
and, as we think, unwisely, Dickens emancipated himself
from his artistic partnership. He was too apt to forget
those by whose aid he had risen. It is a hard criticism, but
a true one to say that "Dickens was no gentleman;
was not only no gentleman in his nature, his education, or
his feelings, but he had no conception of the gentlemanly
character, and consequently in no one of his numerous works
do we find a gentleman portrayed. The bohemianism of his
early life stuck to him, and he could never entirely rid him-
self of its pollution. In his own line-mingling humour,
pathos, and eccentricity-Dickens was facile princeps, and
needed no extraneous help. Brought up in poverty, among
relations without principle, he emancipated himself, edu-
cated himself, and raised himself to the very pinnacle of
fame. Mr. Forster's biography, admirable as it is in many
respects, has been unjust to Dickens's memory by attributing
to him qualities he never possessed, and against which we
instinctively revolt. And, in his endeavour to make his
hero a perfect man, he has endeavoured, perhaps uncon-
sciously, to depreciate some of those persons to whom
Dickens was most deeply indebted for his early success.
ANCIENT PUNISHMENT.-This extract is from an old
record of the 16th century, viz., "forasmuch as Elyn Davy,
Elizabeth Eden, Johan Michel, Agnes White, Marion
Beckwith and Johan Westhede, that here standen, indited
in the Ward of Portsoken of this citie, some of them for
disorderlies, and some other of theym for common harlots,
and thereof been convicted and atteynted. Therefore it ys
adjudged by the Maior and Aldermen of this citie, after the
laudable laws and ancient customs of the same, that the
said Elyn Davy, &c., shall be brought to Newgate, and the
same day in the market season to be ladde from thens, with
basons and panns afore theym, ray hods on their hedes and
white rodds in their hands, to the pillory in Cornhill, and
there the cause to be proclaymed, and so from thens to
Aldgate, and to be conveied to and through Candlewick
Strete, Watling Strete and Flete Strete to the Temple
barre and there to be voided out of this citie forever, and if
the said Elyn, &c., or any of theym hereafter be found
within this citie they or she so found to be set on the pillory
aforesayd, 3 market days next following, every day by the
space of an hour, and furthermore to have imprisonment
by the space of an year and a day." "Capel. Maior. 1510.

Die Veneus."

CHR. COOKE.

[The Antiquary being intended as a work for future reference, our correspondent, we are sure, will pardon our suggesting that all extracts should be authenticated by reference to the source whence they are taken, without which they lose much of their value. "An old record" is much too vague.-ED.] FRANCOIS DE CHEVERT.-In "Mémoires Secrets pour servir à l'histoire de la République des Lettres en France, depuis 1762, jusqú à nos jours, &c.," under date 11th July,

Chaque grade a été le prix d'une action d'éclat.
Le seul titre de Marechal de France a manqué,
non pas à sa gloire, mais à l'example de ceux
qui voudront le prendre pour modele.

Il étoit né à Verdun-sur-Meuse le 2 Février,
1695. Il mourut à Paris, le 24 Janvier, 1769.

Priez Dieu pour le repos de son Ame." The above epitaph having been written in French, enabled the poor, and those who might strive to emulate a like example, to read that true and honest merit sometimes meets with just acknowledgment and reward; and moreover, to follow the concluding remark in the work (suprà)

66

We

que tout le monde puisse la lire et accorder à cet illustre guerrier la reconnoissance que lui doit tout bon citoyen." Waltham Abbey. J. PERRY. "SCAMELS."-Passage in the "Tempest."- When Caliban saw a prospect of release from his bondage under Prospero, by means of Stephano and Trinculo, he makes extravagant offers of service. He will find crab-apples, pignuts, the jay's-nest, the marmozet, clust'ring filberts, and " 'young scamels from the rock."-Act ii. sc. 2. are yet without any determinant for "scamels." Some say seamels for seamews, but that involves a double blunder; failing it, we are in darkness. I would now suggest that it is a form of the word "chamois," of which Shakespeare appears to have made a diminutive by adding a terminal in "elle," as in madam, ma'amselle, so we should have chamois, cham'selle, plural cham'elles. The prefix "s" need be no difficulty, for we still say shammy-leather, meaning that derived from the chamois: a rupicapra, which is an animal of the antelope kind, but sometimes called "a buck," sometimes "a goat," and the kids are dainty eating. This animal inhabits the loftiest chains of primitive mountain ridges, and the offer to "catch" chamois involves great labour, for the fleetness of an antelope is proverbial, and our most accomplished sportsmen find that to stalk the chamois demands their utmost dexterity. To get them from "the rocks," is to hunt them from their native resorts. A. HALL. be well transferred to the pages of the Antiquary. PRICES OF CORN IN 1587.-The following extracts may

bushell..

...

& rye

pays

:

a

E. H. W. DUNKIN. and ye gretest part of last yeare before-goinge, so yt many Thys year Ao 1587, the pryce of corne was as followeth, poore peple weare supposed to dye for lacke of bredde, notwithstanding greatt store in the handes of hard-harted carles, yt styll raysed the p'ce untyle harvest at the wyche tyme, ye p'ce of corne begane to fall. The p'ce of rye at vs. ixd, ye bushell, grotes at iiis. ye pecke, pese at xii. xiiis. iiijd. the bushell, wheat at xvis. iiijd. the b'shell, haver ye bushell, byg at vis ye bushell, halfermalte at vs. vid. ye bushell, but the next somer wheate was at iiis. iva. the at iiii sye bushell, otes iis ye bushell, byg at 3s. 4d. ye bushell.-Par. Reg. S. Oswald's, Durham. 1587. Mdm. that in this yeare was a great dearth of corne The writer of the account in the above useful work says-sold for tenne shillings and sixpence a bushell. Rie at nine in the realme of England. In so much that wheate was On a élevé depuis peu à St. Eustache, paroisse où M. de shillings and sixpence a bushell. Pease at seaven shillings Chevert est enterré, un monument à son honneur, mais dans une simplicité convenable à ce grand homme. Il consiste en son médaillon, sans aucun ornement. Au bas est une pierre noire, sur laquelle est inscrite l'epitaphe suivante :"Ci git Francois de Chevert, Commandeur, Grand-Croix de l'Ordre Royal et Militaire de St. Louis, Chevalier de l'Aigle Blanc de Pologne.

1771, there is an account of a memorial erected to the memory of M. de Chevert, which is particularly interesting for the "plain and unvarnished tale" given, as inscribed upon the stone.

Gouverneur de Givet et Charlemont,
Lieutenant-général des Armées du Roi.
Sans Ayeux, sans fortune, et sans appui.
Orphelin dès l'enfance.

Il entra au service à l'âge de 11 ans. Il
s'est élevé malgré l'envie, à force de mérite.

*Vol. V1, p. 279.

a bushell.

Mdm. that the 29th of July, in the yeare above written, being Satturday, wheate was at 15 a bushell, rie at 149. a bushell, bigge at 8, a bushell, and haver at 19s a loade. -Par. Reg. S. Nicholas, Durham. CRUIKSHANK ILLUSTRATIONS.-I observe you have adopted as your motto, "We want nothing but facts." There is one fact in regard to which I am personally interested, and which you will oblige, if you will allow me, to make known through the pages of the Antiquary. This is that the illustration contained in the present Christmas number of the magazine entitled London Society, and referred to in the advertisements of the public prints as the "coloured frontispiece,' designed by George Cruikshank is not by me. This is the work of the son of

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my nephew, Percy Cruikshank, whose baptismal name and surname being identical with my own gives rise to much confusion. This awkwardness I have sought to avert by suggesting to my nephew that he should induce his son to interpolate the name Percy between his Christian and surnames. This would prevent the public from being misled, and so remove every chance of possible misconception. It is most unfair to the public, to the son of my nephew, and to myself, that this kind of confusion should be allowed to continue.

263, Hampstead-road.

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

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"I am not aware that the fragment represented below has ever been engraved. It is copied from a drawing in my possession presented to me, with his usual liberality, by Mr. Dominie Colnaghi, and on the back of which is written the following description :

This very unfavourable likeness of Queen Elizabeth is taken from a fragment of her last broad pieces in the possession of Horace Walpole, Esq.; it is universally supposed that the die was broken by her command, and that some workman of the Mint cut out this morsel, which contains barely the face.'

"I have no doubt," Mr. Planché says, "that the real cause of offence was the truth of the likeness, to a woman who wished to pass for a Venus of seventy. There is great character in the head, and it is probably the only portrait of Elizabeth towards the close of her reign that can be relied

on."

CHRISTMAS TOAST. Anne, Countess of Northesk, writes (1777):-"The first toast at Peterhead after dinner is-Health, friends, familys, firesides, a happy new year, a merry Christmas, and the Company's inclinations. "In Verse.

"Health, the first blessing in a mortal's frame, With all the sweets that follow Friendship's trainThis be my lot, and with a family blest, A cheerful fireside, and a mind at rest, A happy new year with bright virtue crowned, While Christmas plenty fills my table round; I'll envy none, tho' thousands fill their store, And never think, and never wish for more. My inclinations here I do express, But will be happy, tho' my fate be less." -Lives of the Carnegies, ii. 407, privately printed.

ALISON.

PIN.-I find Mr. Wedgwood, in his able Dictionary of English Etymology, saying under the word "Pull," that "a Glasgow man pronounces which, whuch; pin, pun." I yield at once as regards" which," but I cannot admit the correctness of "pun." A thirty years' residence here enables me to speak with some confidence on the point, and I can safely say that never on any occasion have I heard "pin," so pronounced. "Preen" and "peen" you will hear often enough where pincushions and hair-pins are talked of, but, so far as my experience goes, it is in such

circumstances only that any peculiar pronunciation of the word will be observed. KENTIGERN. Glasgow.

CESAR'S LANDING-PLACE.-In Notes and Queries, for September 28, I ventured to express my doubt of the correctness of the opinion, now perhaps most in favour with scientific men, that Cæsar must have landed at a point considerably westward of Deal; the chief argument advanced by the Astronomer Royal, in his elaborate essay on the subject, being that the tide was setting westward when on his first expedition Cæsar weighed anchor, and ran along shore to his landing place. Most of Sir G. B. Airy's reasons seem to me easily refutable except this one of the tide, his statement respecting which I confess myself unable to understand; and as the subject has not been taken up in Notes and Queries, I shall feel much obliged to any reader of the Antiquary who will enlighten me. Sir G. B. Airy says that on the third day before full moon, at 3 p.m., the tide at Dover sets to the westward. Now, the tide along the coasts of Kent and Sussex sets to the west when falling, and to the east when rising. Take then the year 1846; there was a full moon on August 7, in that year, at 6 a.m.; high water at Dover on the 4th at 8.3 a.m., low water about 2:15 pm, and by 3 or 3.30, the time when Cæsar set sail, according to Mr. Long, the tide was rising, and flowing eastward. Take 1871; full moon, August 30, at 6:24 a.m., high water at Dover on the 27th at 759 a.m., low water at III p.m., therefore tide rising and setting eastward at 3 or 3.30 p.m. So, in 1870, it appears there was low water three days before full moon, on the 8th, at 2'14 p.m., and at 3 the tide was rising and setting to the east. The times of high and low water are computed from those for high water at London-bridge, given in the Companion to the Almanacks for the several years. I will only add that Sir George takes for granted the accuracy of the date of Cæsar's landing, the end of August, B.C. 55, computed by Halley and others, but as Sir John Herschel has shown ("Outlines of Astronomy," 10th ed., 1869, p. 674, &c.), the calendar, down to the year 46 B.C., "the year of confusion," was in disorder inextricable, and even for thirty-six years later; so much so, that whenever, in the relation of any event, "either in ancient history or in modern, previous to the change of style, the time is specified in our modern nomenclature, it is always to be understood as having been identified with the assigned date by threading the mazes (often very tangled and obscure ones) of special and national chronology, and referring the day of its occurrence to its place in the Julian system, so interpreted." FRANCIS J. LEACHMAN, M.A.

20, Compton-terrace, Highbury.

PROFESSOR CONINGTON'S GRAVE.-I lately visited Fishtoft, near Boston, where, at the rectory, the ex-professor spent several of his earlier years, and in the churchyard of which his remains were interred, now more than three years ago; but I was surprised to find no visible record of that fact. There is an inscription on the headstone to the memory of his father, the late rector, but none to himself or brothers who are also interred there. There is no memorial stone or tablet in the church. FILMA.

SINGING COMBAT, GREENLAND.-The following account as to the manner in which the Greenlanders terminate their quarrels is copied from the Habitable World Described, published in London, in 1788, vol. i. p. 67. It would seem as if in some things we might receive a lesson even from a savage people, without religion, and without the knowledge of a God.

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DELTA.

"The most singular thing in Greenland is their singing and dancing combats, by which they decide their quarrels. If a man conceives himself injured, he does not vent his anger in quarrelsome words, nor proceed to any revenge, but composes a satirical poem; this he rehearses so often, with singing and dancing before his family, that they all get it by heart. The man publishes his design of fighting with his antagonist, not with a sword, but a song, and a place of

meeting is appointed. The party challenged attends at the place, encircled with his friends, when the challenger begins his song to the beat of a drum, and chorussed by his party, with Amna ajah. In this song he discharges so many mortifying truths at his adversary, that the standers-by have their fill of laughing. When he has done, the accuser renews his attack, and so on, and he that has the last word gains his cause. On these occasions they will speak cutting truths, but without rudeness or passion. The body of the people present constitute the jury, bestow the laurel, and the two contending parties become good friends." Contrast these proceedings with the still recent usage of what we are proud to call our higher civilization, as exemplified in a foot note to Byron's English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, Paris, 1818. Speaking of Lord Falkland, who had lost his life in one of those brutal transactions termed "affairs of honour," Lord Byron says: "On Sunday night, I beheld him presiding at his own table, in all the honest pride of hospitality; on Wednesday morning, at three o'clock, I saw, stretched before me, all that remained of courage, feeling, and a host of passions. He died like a brave man in a better cause; for had he fallen in like manner on the deck of the frigate to which he was just appointed, his last moments would have been held up by his countrymen as an example to succeeding heroes." DELTA.

INSCRIBED CROSS, ENDELLION, CORNWALL.-Sir John Maclean, in the fifth part of his valuable "History of Trigg Minor," issued to subscribers a few months since, has made known the existence, in the parish of Endellion, of an inscribed cross, though the circular head has been removed. Through the perseverance and ability of the Rev. W. Iago, of Bodmin, the inscription has not remained unexplained, but has been deciphered in such a way as to leave no doubt as to the correctness of the solution. The usual weatherworn and rough condition of these inscribed ancient stones renders it no easy matter in many cases to "make out" the individual letters, and when "made out "it is not always that a meaning can be attached to them. Such is the case with the inscribed cross in Lanherne Nunnery burial-ground, which is of the Saxon type, with interlacing knotwork, yet the letters of the inscription, though remarkably distinct, have hitherto baffled the ingenuity of all who have examined it, to apply to them a meaning. But to proceed with the "Broeagan stone, in the parish of Endellion. Sir John observes-" An incised stone, called "Long Cross," of very great interest, marked with two crosses, formerly stood at the cross roads (to which it has given its name), about midway between Endellion and Port Quin, at the junction of the road from Roscarrock. It was set in a large base, near which, more than thirty years ago, it had been thrown down and was lying prostrate. Eventually, it was removed by the late Mr. Symons, of Gonvena, to Doydon Head, near Port Quin, on the western side of the creek, where he had erected a summer-house, and where the stone yet remains. The base with its square socket still continues in situ. The monolith is 4 feet 3 inches high, I foot wide, and 8 inches thick, and is about the same size throughout; unfortunately, it has been broken about one-third from the bottom. On its face it bears a memorial inscription in Roman characters, which, in consequence of the abrasion of the stone, is almost undecipherable. The first three words, are without doubt, BROEAGAN HIC IACIT; but the two words forming the lower line are very doubtful, though they would appear to be NADOTTI FILIVS. Some of these letters are so close to the edge of the stone, that it is difficult to believe they could ever have been perfect. The inscription is preceded by a large incised cross, and on the upper part of the back of the stone is a plain cross in slight relief. There is also a square socket in the top, in which a head was formerly set.

"This interesting monument," adds Sir John, "is in very bad condition, and will daily become worse in consequence of the position in which it is now placed, being on a high cliff with its face towards the sea, exposed to all the evil

effects of the storms of the Atlantic, and of the saline atmosphere acting upon a stone which easily disintegrates.' As to the identification of this Broeagan with some historic personage, it has been questioned whether the monument may not "commemorate Brechan, a king of Wales, from whom the district of Brecknock derived its name, who was the father of Saint Endelienta," the foundress of the parish church of Endellion. The names are certainly similar, and as King Brechan must have had an interest in the parish, it is not at all unlikely that he was interred there, and that this stone was inscribed to his memory. E. H. W. DUNKIN.

ALBERT DURER.-We have been favoured with a photogram of one of Albert Durer's engravings, representing the Virgin and Child, which, reproduced by a new process, we present to our readers in this the first number of our new

issue.

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In reply to the query of our correspondent, this beautiful 'engraving" is fully described by Adam Bartsch, in his Peintre Graveur, and is entitled by him La Vierge aux cheveux courts liés avec une bandelette. At the date 1514, inscribed near the monogram, this celebrated artist was at his best.

BRUCE OF CLACKMANNAN'S APOLOGY TO DAME

MARGARET SCHAW. --Sir Bernard Burke's latest book on the Rise of Great Families, contains an anecdote given on the authority of his "friend Alexander Sinclair," which if true deserves to be permanently recorded.

T. C. C.

"Sir John Schaw, of Greenock, a Whig, lost a hawk, supposed to have been shot by Bruce of Clackmannan,

a Jacobite. In Sir John's absence, Lady Greenock sent to Bruce a letter, with an offer of her intercession, on Mr. Bruce signing a very strongly-worded apology. His reply

was :

For the honoured hands of Dame Margaret Schaw, of
Greenock :-

'Madam,—I did not shoot the hawk. But sooner than have made such an apology as your Ladyship has had the consideration to dictate, I would have shot the hawk, Sir John Schaw, and your Ladyship.

I am, Madam,

"Your Ladyship's devoted servant to comand, 'CLACKMANNAN.'" HEREFORDSHIRE NEW YEAR CUSTOMS.-The following customs I think have never yet appeared in print. They are observed at Bromyard and its neighbourhood, although the strict tunes of music, nor the usual correctness of English grammar are not generally adhered to. They are at your

service.

16, Blomfield-terrace, W.

C. GOLDING.

As twelve o'clock, on the 31st of December, draws near, and the last of the Christmas carols are heard without doors, and a pleasurable excitement is playing on the faces of the family around the last Christmas log within, a rush is made to the nearest spring of water, and whoever is fortunate enough to first bring in the "cream of the well," as it is termed, and who first taste of it, have prospect of good luck through the forthcoming year. Also, in the early hours of the New Year, after a funeral service, as it has been termed, have been said over "Old Tom," as the old called, at the public houses and ale and cider stores, the streets are filled with boys and men, singing in loudest tones possible :

"I wish you a Merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year,
A pocket full of money,
And a cellar full of beer,

And a good fat pig

To serve you all the year.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Sat (sic) by the fire,
Pity we poor boys

Out in the mire."

year

"The storm raised in the two kingdoms was too violent to blow over.... It was rightly considered that the point at issue would be thus nowhere more becomingly settled than in the ante-chambers of Windsor or St. James's.

"It was on Monday, February 22, 1864, that the Lords of the Council met at the Council Chamber, Whitehall, for the purpose of hearing this famous cause. It was a dark, gloomy winter's day. The Hall, with lamps burning, presented the appearance of what we may imagine the Court of Chivalry or the Star Chamber to have been. The Lord President, the Earl of Granville, sat as chief judge, and by him the other Lords of the Council, the Lords Kingsdown, Eversley, and Sydney, and the Rt. Hon. Robert Lowe, Viee-President of the Council of Education. There were also in attendance the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General, Sir Roundell Palmer, and Sir R. P. Collier. Ranged at the Bar stood Sir Hugh Cairns and Mr. Serjeant Burke, representing Dublin, and the Lord Advocate Moncreiff, and Mr. Rolt, Q.C., representing Edinburgh. The two civic kings were likewise present. An amusing incident occurred at their meeting. The Lord Provost, Lawson, whose good feeling through the litigation was only equalled by his earnestness in the cause of the city of which he was chief magistrate, expressed a wish that he and his opponent should evince their personal regard by interchanging the usual courtesies. A difficulty, however, arose as to which, with due regard to the question of precedence then sub lite, should first proffer his hand.

"The elaborate reports and pleadings of the Kings of Arms were placed before the lords on the council table, and at eleven o'clock Sir Hugh Cairns opened the case for Dublin. is His powerful and exhaustive address, which lasted more than two hours, put forth all the arguments tending to establish the superiority of the Irish capital. The Lord Advocate, Moncreiff, replied with singular ingenuity and eloquence, and fought gallantly for Edinburgh. At three o'clock the court broke up, and the judgment they had arrived at was announced a few days after. It was to the effect that neither city had established precedence one over the other, and that they were to be considered ex æquo-to be, as it were, bracketed together for second place.

EDINBURGH AND DUBLIN: CONTEST FOR PRECEDENCE (1863). At the request of one of our Edinburgh correspondents we print the following from the account given by Ulster King of Arms. The mock solemnity with which Sir Bernard relates this contest brings to mind the well-known description, by Dibdin, of the sale of the first edition of Bocaccio's Decameron.-ED.

"As the Lord Provost conjectured, the susceptibilities of Scotland were deeply touched by this loss of position, by this depreciation, as it were, of their national prestige. The country was stirred to the centre by patriotic agitation. Public meetings were held, Scottish M.P.'s were appealed to, and Government put under the most influential pressure, The Scottish motto, Nemo me impune lacessit,' everywhere repeated, reached Whitehall. Garter King of Arms was at length referred to, and that heraldic authority supported the pretensions of Scotland. The citizens of Dublin, and the people of Ireland generally, were no less excited than the Scots had been, and they resolved on making every exertion to regain what they deemed their right-the second position for their city in the United Kingdom. Old memories came back upon them; the times were not forgotten when Dublin --still the metropolis of a separate kingdom-was the seat of an independent Parliament, long after Edinburgh had become, as they deemed it, a provincial town; when Dublin more than rivalled London in the graces and hospitality of society, and when her streets and squares were crowded with a resident nobility.

"Years have elapsed since this memorable precedence battle was fought, and both cities seem to approve of the royal policy which gave victory to neither, but placed them co-equal, side by side, next to "famous London town," to typify in their harmony the well-knit union of the kingdom. A less judicious judgment might have turned international rivalry into international animosity."

two

FOLK LORE.-In the more sequestered districts of the south-west of Scotland, when a cow drops a calf, care is always taken, immediately after, to have a handful of oatmeal mixed with salt placed upon her back. To ask the goodwife what benefit can possibly accrue from the mola salsa thus applied would, of course, be a bootless question, just as it would have been for the sceptic of thousand or more years ago to have quizzed a pontifex regarding the hidden virtues of the like mixture, when sprinkled on the head of a hostia major, about to be sacrificed to Jupiter or Ceres. Have not our forefathers done so from time immemorial? is an argument admitting of no satisfactory reply. The custom, if I mistake not, has altogether a very ancient look about it. Is it not somewhat curious to find salt holding the prominent place it does in so many of the old-world heathen practices, and still prevalent in our midst? A. B. C.

Dumfriesshire, N.B.

EAR NAILED TO A POST.-In No. 1848 of the Edinburgh Evening Courant, January 12th-13th, 1736, is the following announcement :-Last week one Blackadder was sentenced by the Lords of Session to be pilloried, and to have his ear nail'd to a Post on the 21st Instant, for the Crime of wilful Perjury, in a Process depending before their Lordships concerning the Estate of Tulliallen,

D.

OLD BALLAD.-The following delectable old ballad, from recitation, in Forfarshire, is at least a hundred years old, and, as far as I know, not in print :

There was a lady in the West,
About the age o' twenty,

And she had sweethearts o' the best,
Baith lords an' squires a plenty.

Her youthfu' charms an' beauty bricht
Was far an' near admired,

But she adored her father's clerk

No grander she required.

But when her father hears o' this,
An' he, alone, does meet her,
"Will you disgrace my blood," he says,
"You fond and foolish creature,

"By weddin' o' a servant slave,

Has neither birth nor breedin'?
A portion of me you shall not have
If this be your proceedin'."
"Dear honoured father," she replied,
"It's you must use your pleasure,
For I adore my dearest joy

Abune a' worldly treasure.
"With him I hope to live an' die,
To him I have consented;
Sure Heaven will my wants supplie,
If that I be contented."
Her father in a passion flew

"No clerk should e'er enjoy her."

(Desunt.)

It was in a parlour there alone
Where a loaded piece was lyin';
He took the piece all in his han'
An' then at her let flyin'.
He shot into the lady's breast,
An' sune she lay before him;
It was the hin'most words she spak',
"I must an' will adore him!"

And when he sees what he has done,
"What! have I slain my dauchter?"
He took a rappier in his hand,

And slew himself thereafter.

Her mother cam' into the room,

An' baith their deaths stood viewin';
Her tender heart did quickly brak'—
Ambition was their ruin.

Her love cam' in among the rest,
His hands wi' sorrow wringin'
To see his youthfu' lady's breast,
From which the blood was springin'.
"How could her wicked father be
Sae damned base and cruel ?
O could n' he laid the blame on me,
An' so ha'e spared my jewel!"
He took the piece all in his hand,
Cryin'" Here I'll stay no longer!
I'll cut the tender threed o' life,

Nor from my true love sunder."
So they were both laid in one grave,
Like lovers that were loyal.

May Heaven preserve all those in love,
And send them no such trials!

Rude as it is, this old ballad, repeated with the wailing sadness of Scots reciters, has no doubt brought tears from the eyes of many a gathering round the winter fire. ALISON.

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[In a small volume entitied "A Compendious History of England, from the Invasion of the Romans," &c., London, 1789, p. 154, speaking of the reign of Henry VIII., the author says: "About the fifteenth year of his reign several new things were introduced into England, which occasioned the following_verse" (see above). "For before this time," he continues, "the English drank no other malt-liquor than ale, into which was put ground ivy instead of hops."-ED.] (1.) "When nature convolves and turns night into day, And old Terra Firma's great axel gives way, We'll turn up our glass as we slide down the brae, And finish the last of our bottle."

(2.)

"Not drunk is he who from the floor
Can rise alone and still drink more;
But drunk is he who prostrate lies
Without the power to drink or rise."

[No. 1, we believe is from a poem called the Drunkard's Revel, written by a drawing-master in Dundee, named Mudie, a man of considerable talent, but who did not always turn it to the best purposes.

No. 2, occurs in a volume entitled Monarchs Retired from Business.-ED.]

LORD JUSTICE SELWYN.-Among your numerous correspondents I observe the names of several gentlemen connected with the Bar. Can any of these by possibility inform me regarding the degree of relationship which subsisted between the late Lord Justice Selwyn and the family of the late Sir II. Willock, of Castleneau, Mortlake? B. (2.)

RIVER LOSSIE, N. B.-What is the derivation of the name of this river? BON ACCORD. Aberdeen.

ARMS OF PLAYFAIR.-In Burke's Dictionary of Heraldry are mentioned several coats of arms (as many as four or five) belonging to the name of Playfair. When were these granted, and where can I meet with reliable information regarding them? No coat of arms is assigned to any individual of the name by Nisbet, or is found in any other work on heraldry with which I am acquainted. From what source can Burke have copied them? TRESSURE.

St. Andrews, N.B.

ABBEY CHURCH, PAISLEY.-Some years ago I visited this venerable structure. In passing out through some entrance or doorway, near to what is called the "sounding aisle," I observed a sculptured coat of arms on one of the inside walls, about which I should like to obtain some information. The charge was three cups. This is about all that I remember of its appearance. I think, but am quite uncertain, the man who showed me over the abbey said the arms to which I refer were those of some abbot of the name of Shaw. Will any of your Scotch readers, who may be better informed, kindly describe this coat in the ordinary terms of heraldic nomenclature, and also favour me with some brief account of the owner? Otherwise, if any of your correspondents would refer me to any printed work where such account may be found, I shall feel greatly obliged. A

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