Full text of "The every-day book and Table book : or, Everlasting calendar of popular amusements, sports, pastimes, ceremonies, manners, customs, and events, incident to each of the three hundred and sixty-five days, in past and present times; forming a complete history of the year, months, and seasons, and a perpetual key to the almanac ... for daily use and diversion. With four hundred and thirty-six engravings"

f>e Clog 3 perpetual aimanacfe.

jrplamrtr in tTje preface.

THE

EYERY-DAY BOOK

TABLE BOOK;

OR,

EVERLASTING CALENDAR OF POPULAR AMUSEMENTS,

SPORTS, PASTIMES, CEREMONIES, MANNERS,
CUSTOMS, AND EVENTS,

INCIDENT TO

of tf>e

^unfcretf an* btxty-ffbe

IN PAST AND PRESENT TIMES ;

FORMING A

COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE YEAR, MONTHS, AND SEASONS,

AND A

PERPETUAL KEY TO THE ALMANAC;

/NCt/tlDINU

ACCOUNTS OP THK WEATHER, RULES FOR HEALTH AND CONDUCT, REMARKABLE AND
IMPORTANT ANECDOTES, FACTS, AND NOTICES, IN CHRONOLOGY, ANTIQUITIES, TOPO-
GRAPHY, BIOGRAPHY, NATURAL HISTORY, ART, SCIENCE, AND GENERAL LITERATURE ;
DERIVED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES, AND VALUABLE ORIGINAL COMMU-
NICATIONS, WITH POETICAL ELUCIDATIONS, FOR DAILY USE AND DIVERSION.

BY WILLIAM HONE

I tell of festivals, and fairs, and plays,

Of merriment, and mirth, and bonfire blaze ;

I tell of Christmas-mummings, new year's day,

Of twelfth-night king and queen, and children's play ;

I tell of valentines, and true-love's-knots,

Of omens, cunning men, and drawing lots :

I tell of brooks, of blossoms, birds and bowers,

Of April, May, of June, and July-flowers ;

I tell of May-poles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes,

Of bridegrooms, brides, and of their bridal cakes ;

I tell of groves, of twilights, and I sing

The court of Mab, and of the fairy king.

HERRTCK.

WITH FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX ENGRAVINGS.

IN THREE VOLUMES?

VOL. II.

LONDON :
PRINTED FOR THOMAS TEGG,

73, CHE APS IDE.

LONDON :
J. BADDON, PRIHTBIt, CA8TLK STREET, FINSBI'Ry.

trt

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

r I 1 HE EARL OF DARLINGTON,

LORD LIEUTENANT AND VICE-ADMIRAL OF THE COUNTY
PALATINE OF DURHAM, &c. &c. &c.

MY LORD,

To YOUR LORDSHIP as an encourager of the old country sport?
and usages chiefly treated of in my book, and as a maintainer of the ancient
hospitality so closely connected with them, which associated the Peasantry
of this land with its Nobles, in bonds which degraded neither

I RESPECTFULLY DEDICATE THIS VOLUME ;

not unmindful of your Lordship's peculiar kindness to me under difficulties,
and not unmoved by the pride which I shall have in subscribing myself,

MY LORD,

YOUR LORDSHIP'S HIGHLY HONOURED,
. MOST OBEDIENT,

AND VERY HUMBLE SERVANT,

WJMJAM HONE.

Atomy 27, 1827.

PREFACE.

BEFORE remarking on the work terminating with this vo.ume, some notice should be
token of its Frontispiece.

I. The " Clog" or " Perpetual Almanack" having been in common use with our
ancient ancestors, a representation and explanation of it seemed requisite among
the various accounts of manners and customs related in the order of the calendar.

Of the word "clog," there is no satisfactory etymology in the sense here used, which
signifies an almanack made upon a square stick. Dr. Robert Plot, who published the
" History of Staffordshire," in 1686, instances a variety of these old almanacks then
in use in that county. Some he calls " public," because they were of a large size,
and commonly hung at one end of the mantle-tree of the chimney ; others he calls
'* private," because they were smaller, and carried in the pocket. For the better
understanding of the figure? on these clogs, he caused a family clog " to be represented
in piano, each angle of the square stick, with the moiety of each of the flat sides be-
longing to it, being expressed apart." From this clog, so represented in Dr. Plot's
history, the engraving is taken which forms the frontispiece now, on his authority,
about to be described.

There are 3 months contained upon each of the four edges ; the number of the days
in *hem are represented by the notches ; that which begins each month has a short
,pread ; ng stroke turned up from it ; every seventh notch is of a larger size, and stands
for Sunday, (or rather, perhaps, for the first day of each successive natural week in
the year.)

Against many of the notches there are placed on the left hand several marks or
symbols denoting the golden number or cycle of the Moon, which number if under 5,
is represented by so many points, or dots ; but if 5, a line is drawn from the notch, or
day, it belongs to, with a hook returned back against the course of the line, which, if
cut off at due distance, may be taken for a V, the numeral signifying 5. If the golden
number be above 5, and under 10, it is then marked out by the hooked line, which is
5 ; and with one point, which makes 6 ; or two, which makes 7 ; or three, for 8 ; or
four, for 9; the said line being crossed with a broad' stroke spreading at each end,
which represents an X, when the golden number for the day, over against which it is
put, is 10; points being added (as above over the hook for 5,) till the number arises
to 15, when a hook is placed again at the end of the line above the X, to show us that
number.

The figures issuing from the notches, towards the right hand, are symbols or hiero-
glyphics, of either, 1st, the offices, or endowments of the saints, before whose festivals
they are placed ; or 2dly, the manner of their martyrdoms ; or 3dly, their actions,
vr the work or sport, in fashion about the time when their feasts are kept.

For instance: 1. from the notch which represents January 13th,' on the feast of St.
Hilary, issues a cross or badge of a bishop, as St. Hilary was ; from March 1st, a harp,
showing the feast of St. David, by that instrument ; from June 29th, the keys for St.
Peter, reputed the Janitor of heaven ; from October 25th, a pair of shoes for St
Crispin, the patron of jshoe-makers. Of class 2, are the axe against January '25th, the
feast of St. Paul, who was beheaded with an axe; the ? \ord igainst June 24th,

Yin PREFACE.

the feast of St. John Baptist, who was beheaded ; the gridiron against August 10th, the
feast of St. Lawrence, who suffered martyrdom on one ; a wiieel on the 25th of Novem
her, for St. Catherine, and a decussated cross on the last of that month, for St. An.
drew, who are said also to have suffered death by such instruments. Of the 3d kind, are
the star on the 6th of January, to denote the Epiphany ; a true lover's knot against the
14th of February, for Valentine's-day ; a bough against the 2d of March, for St.
Ceadda, who lived a Hermit's life in the woods near Litchfield ; a bough on the 1st of
May, for the May-bush, then usually set up with great solemnity ; and a rake on the
llth of June, St. Barnabas'-day, importing that then it is hay-harvest. So, a pot is
set against the 23d of November, for the feast of St. Clement, from the ancient custom
of going about that night to beg drink to make merry with : for the purification, an-
nunciation, and all other feasts of our lady, there is always the figure of a heart : and
lastly, for December 25th, or Christmas-day, a horn, the ancient vessel in which the
Danes use to wassail, or drink healths ; signifying to us, that this is the time we ought
to rejoiae and make merry.

II, Respecting this second volume of the Every-Day Book, it is scarcely necessary
to say more than that it has been conducted with the same desire and design as the
preceding volume ; and that it contains a much greater variety of original information
concerning manners and customs. I had so devoted myself to this main object, as to
find no lack of materials for carrying it further ; nor were my correspondents, who had
largely increased, less communicative : but there were some readers who thought the
work ought to have been finished in one volume, and others, who were not inclined to
follow beyond a second ; and their apprehensions that it could not, or their wishes
that it should not be carried further, constrained me to close it. As an " Everlasting
Calendar" of amusements, sports, and pastimes, incident to the year, the Every-Day
Book is complete ; and I venture, without fear of disproof, to affirm, that there is not
such a copious collection of pleasant facts and illustrations, " for daily use and diver-
sion," in the language ; nor are any other volumes so abundantly stored with original
designs, or with curious and interesting subjects so meritoriously engraven.

III. Every thing that I wished to bring into the Every-Day Book, but was compelled
Co omit from its pages, in order to conclude it within what the public would deem a
reasonable size, I purpose to introduce in my Table Book. In that publication, I have
the satisfaction to find myself aided by many of my " Every-Day " correspondents, to
whom I tender respectful acknowledgments and hearty thanks. This is the more due
to them here, because I frankly confess that to most I owe letters ; I trust that those
who have not been noticed as they expected, will impute the neglect to any thing
rather than insensibility of my obligations to them, for their valuable favours.

Although I confess myself to have been highly satisfied by the general reception of
the Every-Day Book, and am proud of the honour it has derived from individuals of
high literary reputation, yet there is one class whose approbation I value most especi-
ally. The " mothers of England " have been pleased to entertain it as an every-day
assistant in their families ; and instructors of youth, of both sexes, have placed it in
school-libraries : this ample testimonial, that, while engaged in exemplifying " man-
ners," I have religiously adhered to " morals," is the most gratifying reward I could
hope to receive.

February, 1827. W. HONE

THE

EVERY-DAY BOOK.

JANUARY.

Then came old January, wrapped well
In many weeds to keep' the cold away ;
Yet did he quake and quiver like to quell ,
And blow his nayles to warm them if he may ;
For they were numb'd with holding all the day
An hatchet keene, with which he felled wood,
And from the trees did lop the needlesse spray ;
Upon a huge great earth-pot steane he stood,
From whose wide mouth there flowed forth the Romane flood.

Spenser
JUtO ! was the first entry by entries to the days, and months, and sea-

merchants and tradesmen of our fore-
fathers' days, in beginning their new
account-books with the new year. LAUS
DEO ! then, be the opening of this T ;o-
ume of the Every-Day Book, wherein we
lake further " note of time." and make
Vet.

sons, in " every varied posture, place,
and hour/''

JANUARY,
mentioned,*

besides the
was called by

names already
the Anglo-

* In vol. i. p. 2.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK.-JANUARY 1,

Saxons Giuli aftera, signifying the second
Giul, or Yule, or, as \ve should say, the
second Christmas.* Of Yule itself much
will be observed, when it can be better
said.

To this month there is an ode with a
verse beautifully descriptive of the Roman
symbol of the year :f

Tis he ! the two-fac'd Janus comes in view ;
Wild hyacinths his robe adorn,
And snow-drops, rivals of the morn

He spurns the goat aside,

But smiles upon the new

Emerging year with pride :
And now unlocks, with agate key,
The ruby gates of orient day.

CLIMATE.

Mr. Luke Howard is the author of a
highly useful work, entitled " The Climate
of London, deduced from Meteorological
Observations, made at different places in
the neighbourhood of the Metropolis :
London, 1818." 2 vols. 8vo. Out of this
magazine of fact it is proposed to extract,
from time to time, certain results which
may acquaint general readers with useful
knowledge concerning the weather of our
latitude, and induce the inquisitive to
resort to Mr. Howard's book, as a careful
guide of high authority in conducting their
researches. That gentleman, it is hoped,
will not deem this an improper use of his
labours : it is meant to be, as far as re-
gards himself, a humble tribute to his
talents and diligence. With these views,
under each month will be given a state of
the weather, in Mr. Howard's own words :
and thus we begin.

JANUARY WEATHER

The Sun in the middle of this month
continues about 8 h. 20 m. above the hori-

zon. The Temperature rises in the day,
on an average of twenty years, to 40-28*
and falls in the night, in the open country
to 31-36 the difference, 8'92, repre-
senting the mean effect of the sun's rays
for the month, may be termed the solar
variation of the temperature.

The Mean Temperature of the month, if
the observations in this city be included,
is 36-34. But this mean has a range, in
ten years, of about 10-25, which may be
termed the lunar variation of the tempera-
ture. It holds equally in the decade,
beginning with 1797, observed in Lon-
don, and in that beginning with 1807, in
the country. In the former decade, the
month was coldest in 1802, and warmest
in 1812, and coldest in 1814. I have
likewise shown, that there was a tendency
in the daily variation of temperature
through this month, to proceed, in these
respective periods of years, in opposite
directions. The prevalence of different
classes of winds, in the different periods,
is the most obvious cause of these pe-
riodical variations of the mean tempera-
ture.

The Barometer in this month rises, on
an average of ten years, to 3-40 in., and
falls to 28-97 in. : the mean range is there-
fore 1-43 in.; but the extreme range in
ten years is 2;38 in. The mean height
for the month is about 29-79 inches.

The prevailing Winds are the class from
west to north. The northerly predomi-
nate, by a fourth of their amount, over the
southerly winds.

The average Evaporation (on a total of
30-50 inches for the year) is 0-832 in.,
and the mean of De Luc's hydrometer 30.

The mean Rain, at the surface of the
earth, is 1-959 in. ; and the number of
days on which snow or rain falls, in this
mouth, averages 14, 4.

A majority of the Nights in this month
have constantly the temperature at or
below the foregoing point.J

Long ere the lingering dawn of that blythe morn
Which ushers in the year, the roosting cock,
Flapping his wings, repeats his larum shrill ;
But on that morn no busy flail obeys
His rousing call ; no sounds but sounds of joy
Salute the ear the first-foot's entering step,
That sudden on the floor is welcome heard,
Ere blushing maids have braided up their hair ;
The laugh, the hearty kiss, the good new year

Sayers. t See vol. i. p. ]. j Howard on Climul*.

The first vUitant who enters a house on New-year's day is called \hejlrst-foot.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 1.

Pronounced with honest warmth. In village, grange,
And burrow town, the steaming flaggon, borne
From house to house, elates the poor man's heart,
And makes him feel that life has still its joys.
The aged and the young, man, woman, child,
Unite in social glee ; even stranger dogs,
Meeting with bristling back, soon lay aside
Their snarling aspect, and in sportive chace,
Excursive scour, or wallow in the snow.
With sober cheerfulness, the grandam eyes
Her offspring round her, all in health and peace ;
And, thankful that she's spared to see this day
Return once more, breathes low a secret prayer,
That God would shed a blessing on their heads.

1 .

The Saints of the Roman calendars and
martyr ologies.

So far as the rev. Alban Butler, in his
every-day biography of Roman catholic
saints, has written their memoirs, their
names have been given, together with
notices of some, and especially of those
retained in the calendar of the church of
England from the Romish calendar.
Similar notices of others will be offered in
continuation ; but, on this high festival in
the calendar of nature, particular or fur-
ther remark on the saints' festivals would
interrupt due attention to the season, and
therefore we break from them to observe
that day which all enjoy in common,

$*to gear's? Bap.

Referring for the " New-year's gifts,"
the " Candlemas-bull," and various ob-
servances of our ancestors and ourselves,
to the first volume of this work, wherein
they are set forth " in lively pourtraie-
ture," we stop a moment to peep into the
" Mirror of the Months," and inquire
" Who can see a new year open upon
him, without being better for the pros-
pect without making sundry wise reflec-
tions (for any reflections on this subject
must be comparatively wise ones) on the
step he is about to take towards the goal
of his being ? Every first of January that
we arrive at, is an imaginary mile-stone
on the turnpike track of human life ; at
once a resting place for thought and me-
ditation, and a starting point for fresh
exertion in the performance of our jour-
ney. The man who does not at least
propose to himself to be better this year
than he was last, must be either very

Grahame

good, or very bad indeed ! And only to
vropose to be better, is something; if
nothing else, it is an acknowledgment of
our need to be so, which is the first step
towards amendment. But, in fact, to
propose to oneself to do well, is in some
sort to do well, positively ; for there is no
such thing as a stationary point in human
endeavours ; he who is not worse to-day
than he was yesterday, is better ; and he
who is not better, is worse."

It is written, " Improve your time," in
the text-hand set of copies put before us
when we were better taught to write than
to understand what we wrote. How often
these three words recurred at that period
without their meaning being discovered !
How often and how serviceably they have
recurred since to some who have obeyed
the injunction ! How painful has reflec-
tion been to others, who recollecting it,
preferred to suffer rather than to do!

The author of the paragraph quoted
above, expresses forcible remembrance of
his youthful pleasures on the coming in
of the new year. " Hail! to thee, JANU-
ARY! all hail! cold and wintry as thou
art, if it be but in virtue of thy first day.
THE DAY, as the French call it, par excel-'
lence, ' Le jour de Tan.' Come about
me, all ye little schoolboys that have
escaped from the unnatural thraldom of
your taskwork come crowding about
me, with your untamed hearts shouting
in your unmodulated voices, and your
happy spirits dancing an untaught mea-
sure in your eyes! Come, and help me
to speak the praises of new-year's day '.
your day one of the three which have,
of late, become yours almost exclusively,
and which have bettered you, and have
been bettered themselves, by the change.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 1.

Christmay-day, which was ; New-year's-
day, which is; and Twelfth-day, which
is to be; let us compel them all three
into our presence with a whisk of our
imaginative wand convert them into one,
as the conjurer does his three glittering
balls and then enjoy them all together,
with their dressings, and coachings, and
visitings, and greetings, and gifts, and
" many happy returns" with their plum-
puddings, and mince-pies, and twelfth-
cakes, and neguses with their forfeits,
and fortune-tellings, and blindman's-buffs,
and sittings up to supper with their
pantomimes, and panoramas, and new
penknives, and pastrycooks' L'hops in

short, with their endless round of ever
new nothings, the absence of a relish for
which is but ill supplied, in after life, by
that feverish lingering and thirsting after
excitement, which usurp without filling
its place. Oh ! that I might enjoy those
nothings once again in fact, as I can in
fancy ! But I fear the wish is worse than
an idle one ; for it not only may not be,
but it ought not to be. u We cannot
have our cake and eat it too," as the
vulgar somewhat vulgarly, but not less
shrewdly, express it. And this is as it
should be; for if we could, it would
neither be worth the eating nor the
having.''*

WASSAIL!

Health, my lord king, the sweet Rowena said,
Health, cry'd the chieftain, to the Saxon maid ;
Then gayly rose, and 'midst the concourse wide,
Kis&'d her hale lips, and plac'd her by his side :
At the soft scene such gentle thoughts abound,
That health and kisses 'mongst the guests went round
From this the social custom took its rise,
We still retain, and must for ever prize.

Now, on New-year's- day as on the pre-
vious eve, the wassail bowl is carried
from door to door, with singing and mer-
riment. In Devonshire,

A massy bowl, to deck the jovial day,
Flash'd from its ample round a sunlike ray.
Full many a cent'ry it shone forth to grace
The festive spirit of th* Andarton race,
As, to the sons of sacred union dear,
It welcomed with lambs' woo/ the rising year.
Polwhele.

Mr. Brand says, " It appears from
Thomas de la Moore,* and old Havillan,f
that u-as-haile and drinc-heil weve the

* Vita Edw. II. f la Architren. lib. 2.

usual ancient phrases of quaffing among
the English, and synonymous with the
' Come, here's to you,' and I'll pledge
you/ of the present day."

In the " Antiquarian Repertory," a
large assemblage of curious communica-
tions, published by Mr. JefFery, of Pall-
mall, in 4 vols. 4to. there is the followino
paper relating to an ancient carving re-
presented in that work, from whence the
above engraving is taken. The verses
beneath it are a version of the old lines
in Robert, of Gloucester's chronicle, by
Mr. Jeffery's correspondent.

Mirror of the Months.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 1.

For the Antiquarian Repertory. hearth with their cheerful neighbours,

In the parish of Berlen, near Snodland, and then in the spicy wassell-bowl (which
in the county of Kent, are the vestiges of testifies the goodness of their hearts)
a very old mansion, known by the name drowned every former animosity an ex-
of Groves. Being on the spot before the ample worthy modern imitation. Wassell,
began to pull down the front, was the word ; Wassell, every guest return-
ed as he took the circling goblet from his
friend, whilst song and civil mirth
brought in the infant year. This annual
custom, says Geoffrey of Monmouth, had
its rise from Rouix, or Rowen, or as some
will have it, Rowena, daughter of the
Saxon Hengist; she, at the command of
her father, who had invited the British
king Voltigern to a banquet, came in the
presence with a bowl of wine, and wel-
comed him in these words, Louerd king
wass-heil ; he in return, by the help of an
interpreter, answered, Drinc heile; and,
if we may credit Robert of Gloster,

l)in antt Sttte $ia attoune antf glafc ttronfee ijtre fyil
tljat foaS tfjo in fl)iS lautf ti)e berSt foa&f)*tt
in language of J^ajrojme tf)at toe mtgjt ebere tfotte
So toell ije pattf) tf)e Me about, tf)at je is gut borgute.

with such sort of work before the four-
teenth century. T. N.

workmen

I had the curiosity to examine its interior
remains, when, amongst other things well
worth observation, appeared in the large
oak beam that supported the chimney-
piece, a curious piece of carved work, of
which the preceding is an exact copy. Its
singularity induced me to set about an
investigation, which, to my satisfaction,
was not long without success. The large
bowl in the middle is the figure of the
old wassell-bowl, so much the delight of
our hardy ancestors, who, on the vigil of
the new year, never failed (says my
author) to assemble round the glowing

Thomas De Le Moor, in his " Life of
Edward the Second," says partly the
same as Robert of Gloster, and only
adds, that Wass-haile and Drinc-hail
were the usual phrases of quaffing amongst
the earliest civilized inhabitants of this
island.

The two birds upon the bowl did for
some time put me to a stand, till meeting
with a communicative person at Hobar-
row, he assured me they were two hawks,
as I soon plainly perceived by their bills
and beaks, and were a rebus of the
builder's name. There was a string from
the neck of one bird to the other, which,
it is reasonable to conjecture, was to note
that they must be joined together to
show their signification ; admitting this,
they were to be red hawks. Upon in-
quiry, I found a Mr. Henry Hawks, the
owner of a farm adjoining to Groves ; he
assured me, his father kept Grove farm
about forty years since, and that it was
iuilt by one of their name, and had been
m his family upwards of four hundred
years, as appeared by an old lease in his
possession.

The apple branches on each side of the
bowl, I think, means no more than that
they drank good cider at their Wassells.
Saxon words at the extremities of the
beam are already explained ; and the
mask carved brackets beneath correspond

The following pleasant old song, in-
serted by Mr. Brand, from Ritson's col-
lection of " Antient Songs," was met with
by the Editor of the Every-day Book, in
1819, at the printing-office of Mr. Rann,
at Dudley, printed by him for the Was-
sailers of Staffordshire and Warwick-
shire. It went formerly to the tune of
" Gallants come away.

A CARROLL FOR A WASSELL-BOWL.

A jolly Wassel-Bowl,

A Wassel of good ale,
Well fare the butler's soul,
That setteth this to sale 5

Our jolly Wassel.
Good Dame, here at your door

Our Wassel we begin,
We are all maidens poor,
We pray now let us in,

With our WasseL
Our Wassel we do fill

With apples and with spice,

Then grant us your good will

To taste here once or twice

Of our good WasseL
If any maidens be

Here dwelling in this house,
They kindly will agree
To take a full carouse

Of our Wassr 1.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 1.

But here they let us stand

All freezing in the cold ;
Good master, give command,

To enter and be bold,

With our Wassei

Much joy into this hall

With us is entered in,
Our master first of all,

We hope will now begin,

Of our Wassei .

And after his good wife

Our spiced bowl will try,
The Lord prolong your life,

Good fortune we espy,

For our Wassei.

Some bounty from your hands,

Our Wassei to maintain .
We'll buy no house nor lands

With that which we do gain,

With our Wassei.

This is our merry night

Of choosing King and Queen r

Then be it your delight

That something may be seen
In our Wassei.

It is a noble part

To bear a liberal mind,
God bless our master's heart,

For here we comfort find,

With our Wassei.

And now we must be gone,
To seek out more good cheer ;

Where bounty will be shown,
As we have found it here,

With our Wassei.

Much joy betide them all, "^

Our prayers shall be still,
We hope and ever shall,

For this your great good will,
To our Wassei.

From the " Wassail " we derive, per-
haps, a feature by which we are distin-
guished. An Englishman eats no more
than a Frenchman; but he makes yule-
tide of all the year. In virtue of his
forefathers, he is given to " strong drink."
He is a beer-drinker, an enjoyer of " fat
ale ;" a lover of the best London porter
and double XX, and discontented unless
he can get " stout." He is a sitter withal.
Put an Englishman " behind a pipe" and
a full pot, and he will sit till he cannot
stand. At first he is silent ; but as his
liquor gets towards the bottom, he inclines
towards conversation ; as he replenishes,
his coldness thaws, and he is conversa-
tional ; the oftener he calls to " fill again,''
ihe more talkative he becomes; and when

thoroughly liquefied, his loquacity is de-
luging. He is thus in public-house par-
lours: he is in parties somewhat higher,
much the same. The business of dinner
draws on the greater business of drinking,
and the potations are strong and fiery;
full-bodied port, hot sherry, and ardent
spirits. This occupation consumes five
or six hours, and sometimes more, after
dining. There is no rising from it, but
to toss off the glass, and huzza after the
" hip ! hip ! hip \" of the toast giver. A
calculation of the number who customa-
rily " dine out" in this manner half the
week, would be very amusing, if it were
illustrated by portraits of some of the
indulgers. It might be further, and more
usefully, though not so agreeably illus-
trated, by the reports of physicians, wives,
and nurses, and the bills of apothecaries.
Habitual sitting to drink is the " besetting
sin" of Englishmen the creator of their
gout and palsy, the embitterer of their
enjoyments, the impoverisher of their
property, the widow-maker of their wives.

By continuing the " wassail" of our an-
cestors,we attempt to cultivate the body as
they did ; but we are other beings, culti-
vated in other ways, with faculties and
powers of mind that would have astonished
their generations, more than their robust
frames, if they could appear, would asto-
nish ours. Their employment was in
hunting their forests for food, or battling
in armour with risk of life and limb. They
had no counting-houses, no ledgers, no
commerce, no Christmas bills, no letter-
writing, no printing, no engraving, no
bending over the desk, no " wasting of the
midnight oil " and the brain together, no
financing, not a hundredth part of the
relationships in society, nor of the cares
that we have, who " wassail" as they did,
and wonder we are not so strong as they
were. There were no Popes nor Addi-
sons in the days of Nimrod.

The most perfect fragment of the " was-
sail" exists in the usage of certain cor-
poration festivals. The person presiding
stands up at the close of dinner, and
drinks from a flaggon usually of silver
having a handle on each side, by which
he holds it with each hand, and the toast-
master announces him as drinking " the
health of his brethren out of the * loving
cup.' The loving cup, which is the an-
cient wassail-bowl, is then passed to the
guest on his left hand, and by him to his
left-hand neighbour, and as it finds its
way round the r-cvm to each guest in his

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 1.

turn, so each stands up and drinks to the
president " out of the loving cup."

The subsequent song is sung in Glou-
cestershire on New-year's eve :

Wassail ! Wassail ! over the town,
Our toast it is white, our ale it is brown :
Our bowl it is made of a maplin tree,
We be good fellows all ; I drink to thee.

Here's to *****, and to his right ear,
God send our maister a happy New Year ;
A happy New Year as e'er he did see
With my Wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

Here's to * * * *, f and to his right eye,
God send our mistress a good Christmas pie :
A good Christmas pie as e'er I did see
With my Wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

Here's to Filpail, J and her long tail,
God send our measter us never may fail
Of a cup of good beer ; I pray jou draw near,
And then you shall hear our jolly wassail.

Be here any maids, I suppose here be some ;

Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone

Sing hey O maids, come trole back the pin,

And the fairest maid in the house, let us all in.

Come, butler, come bring us a bowl of the best :
I hope your soul in Heaven may rest :
But if you do bring us a bowl of the small,
Then down fall butler, bowl, and all.

Of this usage in Scotland, commencing
on New-year's eve, there was not room in
the last sheet of the former volume, to in-
clude the following interesting communica-
tion. It is, here, not out of pi ace, because,
in fact, the usage runs into the morning
of the New Year.

DAFT DAYS. HOGMANY.

Jo the Editor of the Every-Day Book.

Sir,

The annexed account contains, I believe,

the first notice of the acting in our Daft

Days. I have put it hurriedly together,

but, if of use, it is at your service.

I am, Sir, &c.

JOHN WOOD REDDOCK.
Falkirk, December, 1825.

During the early ages of Christianity,
when its promulgation among the barba-

rous Celts and Gauls had to contend with
the many obstacles which their ignorance
and superstition presented, it is very
probable that the clergy, when they were
unable entirely to abolish pagan rites,
would endeavour, as far as possible, to
twist them into something of a Christian
cast ; and of the turn which many heathen
ceremonies thus received, abundant in-
stances are afforded in the Romish
church.

The performance of religious MYSTE-
RIES, which continued for a long period,
seems to have been accompanied with
much licentiousness, and undoubtedly
was grafted upon the stock of pagan ob-
servances. It was discovered, how-
ever, that the purity of the Christian reli-
gion could not tolerate them, and they
were succeeded by the MORALITIES, the
subjects of which were either historical, or
some existing abuse, that it was wished

* The name of some horse.

t The name of another horse.

I The name of a cow.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 1.

to aim a blow at. Of this we have an in-
teresting instance in an account given by
sir William Eure, the envoy of Henry
the Eighth to James the Fifth, in a letter
to the lord privy seal of England, dated
26th of January 1 540, on the performance
of a play, or morality, written by the cele-
brated sir David Lindsay. It was enti-
tled The Satire of the Three Estates, and
was performed at Linlithgow, " before
the king, queene, and the whole counsaill,
spirituall and temporall," on the feast of
Epiphany. It gives a singular proof of
the liberty then allowed, by king James
and his court witnessing the exhibition of
a piece, in which the corruptions of the
existing government and religion were
treated with the most satirical severity.

The principal dramatis persona were a
king, a bushop, a burges man, " armed in
harness, with a swerde drawn in his
hande," a poor man, and Experience,
" clede like ane doctor." The poor man
(who seems to have represented the peo-
ple) "looked at the king, and said he was
not king in Scotland, for there was an-
other king in Scotland that hanged Johne
Armstrong with his fellows, Sym the
laird, and mony other mae." He then
makes ' a long narracione of the oppres-
sion of the poor by the taking of the corse-
presaunte beits, and of the herrying of
poor men by the consistorye lawe, and of
mony other abusions of the spiritualitie
and church. Then the bushop raised and
rebuked him, and defended himself. Then
the man of arms alleged the contrarie, and
commanded the poor man to go on. The
poor man proceeds with a long list of the
bushop's evil practices, the vices of clois-
ters, &c. This is proved by EXPERIENCE,
who, from a New Testament, showes the
office of a bishop. The man of arms and
burges approve of all that was said against
the clergy, and allege the expediency of a
reform, with the consent of parliament.
The bushop dissents. The man of arms
and burgea said they were two and he but
one, wherefore their voice should have the
most effect. Thereafter the king in the
play ratified, approved, and confirmed all
that was rehearsed."

None of the ancient religious observ-
ances, which have escaped, through the
riot of time and barbarism, to our day,
have occasioned more difficulty than that
which forms the subject of these remarks.
It is remarkable, that in all disputed ety-
mological investigations, a number of
words got as explanatory, are so pro-

vokingly improbable, that decision is ren-
dered extremely difficult. With no term
is this more the case, than HOGMENAY. So
wide is the field of conjecture, as to the
signification of this word, that we shall
not occupy much space in attempting to
settle which of the various etymologies is
the most correct.

Many complaints were made to the
Gallic synods of the great excesses com-
mitted on the last night of the year and
first of January, by companies of both
sexes dressed in fantastic habits, who ran
about with their Christmas boxes, calling
tire lire, and begging for the lady in the
straw both money and wassels. The chief
of these strollers was called Rollet Follet.
They came into the churches during the
vigils, and disturbed the devotions. A
stop was put to this in 1598, at the repre-
sentation of the bishop of Angres ; but
debarred from coming to the churches,
they only became more licentious, and
went about the country frightening the
people in their houses, so that the legisla-
ture having interfered, an end was put to
the practice in 1668.

The period during the continuance of
these festivities corresponded exactly with
the present daft days, which, indeed, is
nearly a translation of their French name
f$tes de fous. The cry used by the ha-
chelettes during the sixteenth century has
also a striking resemblance to the still
common cry " hogmenay trololay gi'us
your white bread and nane o' your grey,"
it being " au gui menez, Rollet Follet, au
gui menez, tire" lire, mainte du blanc et
point du bis."

The word Rollet is, perhaps, a corrup-
tion of the ancient Norman invocation of
their hero, Rollo. Gui, however, seems to
refer to the druidical custom of cutting
branches from the mistletoe at the close of
the year, which were deposited in the
temples and houses with great ceremony.
A supposition has been founded upon
the reference of this cry to the birth of our
Saviour, and the arrival of the wise men
from the east ; of whom the general belief
in the church of Rome is, that they were
three in number. Thus the language, as
borrowed from the French may be " hom-
me est ne, trois rois allois !" A man is
born, three kings are come !

Others, fond of referring to the dark
period of J;he Goths, imagine that this
name had*ts origin there. Thus, minne
was one of the cups drunk at the feast of
Yule, as celebrated in the times of hea-

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 1.

thenism, and oel is the general term for
festival. The night before Yule was called
hoggin-nott, or hogenat, signifying the
slaughter night, and may have originated
from the number of cattle slaughtered on
that night, either as sacrifices, or in pre-
paration for the feast on the following
day. They worshipped the sun under the
name Thor. Hence, the call for the ce-
lebration of their sacrifices would be
" Hogg-minne ! Thor ! oel ! oel !" Re-
member your sacrifices, the feast of Thor !
the feast !

That the truth lies among these various
explanations, there appears no doubt; we
however turn to hogmenay among our-
selves, and although the mutilated legend
which we have to notice remains but as a
few scraps, it gives an idea of the exist-
ence of a custom which has many points
of resemblance to that of France during
the fetes dufous. It has hitherto escaped
the attention of Scottish antiquaries.

Every person knows the tenacious ad-
herence of the Scottish peasantry to the
tales and observances of auld lang syne.
Towards the close of the year many super-
stitions are to this day strictly kept up
among the country people, chiefly as con-
nected with their cattle and crops. Their
social feelings now get scope, and while
one may rejoice that he has escaped diffi-
culties and dangers during the past year,
another looks forward with bright antici-
pation for better fortune in the year to
come. The bannock of the oaten cake gave
place a little to the currant loaf and bun,
and the amories of every cottager have
goodly store of dainties, invariably includ-
ing a due proportion of Scotch drink. The
countenances of all seem to say

" Let mirth abound ; let social cheer
Invest the dawnin' o' the year,
Let blithsome Innocence appear

To crown our joy,
Nor envy wi' sarcastic sneer,

Our bliss destroy.

When merry Yuleday comes, I trow
You'll scantlings find a hungry mou ;
Sma* are our cares, our stomacks fu*

O' gusty gear
An' kicksliaws, strangers to our view

Sin' fairnyear.

Then tho' at odds wi' a' the warl,
Among oursels we'll never quarrel
Though discard gie a canker'd snarl

To spoil our glee,
As lang's there pith into the barrel

We'll drink and gree !"
Ferguson's Daft Days.

It is deemed lucky to see the new moon
with some money (silver) in tne pocket.
A similar idea is perhaps connected with
the desire to enter the new year rife 6*
roughness. The grand affair among the
boys in the town is to provide themselves
v?iih fausse faces, or masks ; and those with
crooked horns and beards are in greatest
demand. A high paper cap, with one of
their great grandfather's antique coats,
then equips them as a guisard they thus
go about the shops seeking their hogme-
nay. In the carses and moor lands, how-
ever, parties of guisards have long kept up
the practice in great style. Fantastically
dressed, and each having his character al-
lotted him, they go through the farm
houses, and unless denied entrance by
being told that the OLD STYLE is kept, per-
form what must once have been a con-
nected dramatic piece. We have heard
various editions of this, but the substance
of it is something like the following :

One enters first to speak the prologue
in the style of the Chester mysteries, call-
ed the Whitsun plays, and which appear
to have been performed during the may-
oralty of John Arneway, who filled that
office in Chester from 1268 to 1276. It
is usually in these words at present

Rise up gudewife and shake your feathers ;

Dinna think that we're beggars,

We are bairns com'd to play

And for to seek our hogmenay ;

Redd up stocks, redd up stools,

Here comes in a pack o' fools.*

Muckle head and little wit stand behint the
door,

But sic a set as we are, ne'er were here be-
fore.

One with a sword, who corresponds
with the Rollet, now enters and says :

Here conies in the great king of Macedon,
Who has conqtier'd all the world but Scot-
land alone.
When I came to Scotland my heart grew so

cold

To see a little nation so stout and so bold,
So stout and so bold, so frank and so free I
Call upon Galgacus to fight wi' me

If national partiality does not deceive
us, we think this speech points out the
origin of the story to be the Roman in-
vasion under Agricola, and the name of
Galgacus (although Galacheus and Sain^

* The author of Waverly, in a note to the Abbot,
mentions three Moralities played during the time of
the reformation The Abbot of Unreason, The Bt)
Bishop, and the Pepe o' Fools may not pack o'joolt
be a corruption of this last i

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK^-JANUARY 1.

Lawrence are sometimes substituted, but
most probably as corruptions) makes the
famous struggle for freedom by the Scots
under that leader, in the battle fought at
the foot of the Grampians, the subject of
this historical drama.

Enter Galgacus.
Here comes in Galgacus wha doesna fear

my name ?
Sword and buckler by my side, I hope to win

the game !

They close in a sword fight, and in the
"hash smash" the chief is victorious.
He says :
Down Jack ! down to the ground you must

Oh O ! what's this I've done ?
I've killed my brother Jack, my father's

only son !
Call upon the doctor.

Enter Doctor (saying)
Here comes in the best doctor that ever
Scotland bred.

Chief. What can you cure ?
The doctor then relates his skill in sur-
gery.

Chief. What will ye tak to cure this
man?

Doctor. Ten pound and a bottle of
wine.

Chief. Will six not do ?
Doctor. No, you must go higher.
Chief. Seven?

Doctor. That will not put on the pot,
&c.

A bargain however is struck, and the
Doctor says to Jack, start to your feet and
stand !

Jack. Oh hon, my back, I'm sairly
wounded.

Doctor. What ails your back ?
Jack. There's a hole in't you may turn
your tongue ten times round it !
Doctor. How did you get it?
Jack. Fighting for our land.
Doctor. How mony did you kill ?
Jack. I killed a' the loons save ane,
but he ran, he wad na stand.

Here, most unfortunately, there is a
" hole Vthe ballad,' a hiatus which irre-
parably closes the door upon our keenest
prying. During the late war with France
Jack was made to say he had been " fight-
ing the French," and that the loon who
took leg bail was no less a personage than
NAP. le grand ! Whether we are to re-
gard this as a dark prophetic anticipation
of what did actually take place, seems

really problematical. The strange event-
ful history however is wound up by the
entrance of Judas with the bag. He says :

Here comes in Judas Judas is my name,
If ye pit nought sillar i'my bag, for gude-

sake mind our wame !
When I gaed to the castle yett and tint at

the pin,
They keepit the keys o' the castle wa , and

, wad na let me iu.
I've been i' the east carse,
I've been i* the west carse,
IVe been i' the carse o' Cowrie,
Where the clouds rain a' day wi' peas and

wi' beans !
And the farmers theek houses wi' needles

and prim!

I've seen geese ga'in* on pattens !
And swine fleeing i' the air like peelings o'

onions !
Our hearts are made o' steel, but our body's

sma' as ware,
If you've ouything to gi' us, stop it in there!

This character in the piece seems to
mark its ecclesiastical origin, being of
course taken from the office of the betrayer
in the New Testament ; whom, by the way,
he resembles in another point ; as extreme
jealousy exists among the party, this per-
sonage appropriates to himself the contents
of the bag The money and ivassel, which
usually consists offarles of short bread, or
cakes and pieces of cheese, are therefore
frequently counted out before the whole.

One of the guisards who has the best
voice, generally concludes the exhibition
by singing an " auld Scottish sang." The
most ancient melodies only are consi-
dered appropriate for this occasion, and
many very fine ones are often sung that
have not found their way into collections :
or the group join in a reel, lightly tripping
it, although encumbered with buskins of
straw wisps, to the merry sound of the
fiddle, which used to form a part of the
establishment of these itinerants. They
anciently however appear to have been ac-
companied with a musician, who played
the kythels, or stock-and-horn, a musical
instrument made of the thigh bone of a
sheep and the horn of a bullock.

The above practice, like many customs
of the olden time, is now quickly falling
into disuse, and the revolution of a few
years may witness the total extinction of
this seasonable doing. That there does
still exist in other places of Scotland the
remnants of plays performed upon similar
occasions, and which may contain many
interesting allusions, is very likely. Thji

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY f.

noticed above, however, is the first which
we remember of seeing noticed in a par-
ticular manner.

The kirk of Scotland appears formerly
to have viewed these festivities exactly as
the Roman church in France did in the
sixteenth century ; and, as a proof of this,
and of the style in which the sport was an-
ciently conducted in the parish of Falkirk,
we have a remarkable instance so late as
the year 1 702. A great number of farmers'
sons and farm servants from the " East
Carse " were publicly rebuked before the
session, or ecclesiastical court, for going
about in disguise upon the last night of
December that year, " acting things un-
seemly ;" and having professed their sor-
row for the sinfulness of the deed, were
certified if they should be found guilty of
the like in time coming, they would be
proceeded against after another manner.
Indeed the scandalized kirk might have
been compelled to put the cutty stool in
requisition, as a consequence of such pro-
miscuous midnight meetings.

The observance of the old custom of
" first fits " upon New-year's day is kept
up at Falkirk with as much spirit as any
where else. Both Old and New Style
have their " keepers," although many of
the lower classes keep them in rather a
" disorderly style." Soon as the steeple
clock strikes the ominous tivelve, all is
running, and bustle, and noise; hot-pints
in clear scoured copper kettles are seen
in all directions, and a good noggin to the
well-known toast, " A gude new year, and
a merry han'sel Monday," is exchanged
among the people in the streets, as well
as friends in the houses. On han'sel
Monday O. S. the numerous colliers in
the neighbourhood of the town liave a
grand main of cocks ; but there is nothing
in these customs peculiar to the season.

Falkirk, 1825. J. W. R.

ANNUAL JOCULAR TENURE.

The following are recorded particulars
of a whimsical custom in Yorkshire, by
which a right of sheep-ivalk is held by the
tenants of a manor :

Hutton Conyers, Com, York.

Near this town, which lies a few miles
from Ripon, there is a large common,
called Hutton Conyers Moor, whereof
William Aislabie, esq. of Studley Royal,
(lord of the manor of Hutton Conyers,)
is lord of the soil, and on which there is a

large coney-warren belonging to the lord.
The occupiers of messuages and cottages
within the several towns of Hutton Co-
nyers, Baldersby, Rainton, Dishforth, and
Hewick, have right of estray for their sheep
to certain limited boundaries on the com-
mon, and each township has a shepherd.

The lord's shepherd has a preeminence
of tending his sheep on every part of the
common ; and wherever he herds the
lord's sheep, the several other shepherds
are to give way to him, and give up their
hoofing-place, so long as he pleases to
depasture the lord's sheep thereon. The
lord holds his court the first day in the
year, to entitle those several townships to
such right of estray ; the shepherd of each
township attends the court, and does
fealty, by bringing to the court a large
apple-pie, and a twopenny sweetcake,
(except the shepherd of Hewick, who
compounds by paying sixteen pence for
ale, which is drank as after mentioned,)
and a wooden spoon ; each pie is cut in
two, and divided by the bailiff, one half
between the steward, bailiff, and the te-
nant of the coney-warren before men-
tioned, and the other half into six parts,
and divided amongst the six shepherds of
the above mentioned six townships. In
the pie brought by the shepherd of Rain-
ton an inner one is made, filled with
prunes. The cakes are divided in the
same manner. The bailiff of the manor
provides furmety and mustard, and deli-
vers to each shepherd a slice of cheese
and a penny roll. The furmety, well
mixed with mustard, is put into an earthen
pot, and placed in a hole in the ground,
in a garth belonging to the bailiff's house;
to which place the steward of the court,
with the bailiff, tenant of the warren, and
six shepherds, adjourn with their respective
wooden spoons. The bailiff provides
spoons for the stewards, the tenant of the
warren, and himself. The steward first
pays respect to the furmety, by taking a
large spoonful, the bailiff has the next
honour, the tenant of the warren next,
then the shepherd of Hutton Conyers, and
afterwards the other shepherds by regular
turns ; then each person is served with a
glass of ale, (paid for by the sixteen pence
brought by the Hetvick shepherd,) and the
health of the lord of the manor is drank ;
then they adjourn back to the bailiffs
house, and the further business of the
court is proceeded in.

Each pie contains about a peck of
flour, is about sixteen or eighteen inches

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY I.

diameter, and as large as will go into the a plentiful dinner in the servants' hall ;

mouth of an ordinary oven. The bailiff' and after dinner they also receive prizes

of the manor measures them with a rule, " "" '

and takes the diameter ; and if they are

not of a sufficient capacity, he threatens

to return them, and fine the town. If

they are large enough, he divides them

with a rule and compasses into four equal

parts ; of which the steward claims one,

the warrener another, and the remainder

Li divided amongst the shepherds. In

respect to the furmety, the top of the dish

in which it is put is placed level with the

surface of the ground ; all persons present

are invited to eat of it, and those who do

not, are not deemed loyal to the lord.

Every shepherd is obliged to eat of it, and

for that purpose is to take a spoon in his

pocket to the court ; for if any of them

neglect to carry a spoon with him, he is

to lay him down upon his belly, and sup _ . . - -_

the furmety with his face to the pot or On the head of each bald P ated tree -

dish at which time it is usual by way of Now wild duck and wid abound

sport, for some of the bystanders to dip Snipes sit by the half frozen rills

his face into the furmety; and sometimes Where woodcocks are frequently found,

a shepherd, for the sake of diversion, will That sport such amazing long bills.

purposely leave his spoon at home.*

The winds blow out shrilly and hoarse,

And the rivers are choking with ice ;
And it comes as a matter of course,
That Wallsends are rising in price.

for their good conduct as teachers, and
their diligence as scholars.

I am, &c.

J.S.

ODE TO THE NEW YEAR.
BY

A Gentleman of Literary Habits and Means.
For the Every-day Book.

All hail to the birth of the year,
See golden haired Phoebus afar ;
Prepares to renew his career,
And is mounting his dew spangled car.

Stern Winter congeals every brook,
That murmured so lately with glee ;
And places a snowy peruke,

NEW-YEAR S DAY IN SUSSEX.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.

Sir,

A practice which well deserves to be
known and imitated is established at
Maresfield-park, Sussex, the seat of sir
John Shelley, bart. M. P. Rewards are
annually given on New-year's day to such
of the industrious poor in the neighbour-
hood as have not received parish relief,
and have most distinguished themselves
by their good behaviour and industry, the
neatness of their cottages and gardens,
anil their constant attendance at church,
&c. The distribution is made by lady
Shelley, assisted by other ladies ; and it
is gratifymg to observe the happy effects
upon the character and disposition of the
poor people with which this benevolent
practice has been attended during the few
years it has been established. Though
the highest reward does not exceed two
guineas, yet it has excited a wonderful
spirit of emulation, and many a strenuous
effort to avoid receiving money from the
parisn. Immediately as the rewards are
given, all (he children belonging to the
Sunday-school and national-school lately
established in the parish, are set down to

* Bloum's Dug. Antiq. by Beckwith.

Alas ! for the poor ! as unwilling
I gaze on each famishing group ;
I never miss giving a shilling,
To the parish subscription for soup.

The wood pigeon, sacred to love,
Is wheeling in circles on high ;
How charming he looks in the grove '
How charming he looks in the pie '

Now gone is St. Thomas's day,
The shortest, alas ! in the year.
And Christmas is hasting away,
With its holly and berries and beer,

And the old year for ever is gone,
With the tabor, the pipe, and the dance ;
And gone is our collar of brawn,
And gone is the mermaid to France.

The scythe and the hour glass of time,
Those fatal mementos of woe,
Seem to utter in accents sublime,
" We are all of us going to go !"

We are truly and agreeably informet
by the " Mirror of the Months," thai
" Now periodical works put on their best
attire ; the old ones expressing their deter-
mination to become new, and the new

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 2, 3.

ones to become old ; and each makes a
point of putting forth the first of some
pleasant series (such as this, for example !),
which cannot fail to fix the most fugitive
of readers, and make him her own for
another twelve months at least."

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.

Under this head it is proposed to place
the " Mean temperature of every day in
the Year for London and its environs, on
an average of Twenty Years," as deduced
by Mr. Howard, from observations com-
mencing with the year 1797, and ending
with 1816.

For the first three years, Mr. Howard's
observations were conducted at Plaistow,
a village about three miles and a half
N. N. E. of the Royal Observatory at
Greenwich, four miles E. of the edge of
London, with the Thames a mile and a
half to the S., and an open level country,
for the most part well-drained land,
around it. The thermometer was attached
to a post set in the ground, under a Por-
tugal laurel, and from the lowness of this
tree, the whole instrument was within
three feet of the turf; it had the house
and offices, buildings of ordinary height, to
the S. and S.E. distant about twenty yards,
but was in other respects freely exposed.

For the next three years, the observa-
tions were made partly at Plaistow and
partly at Mr. Howard's laboratory at
Stratford, a mile and a half to the N.W.,
on ground nearly of the same elevation.
The thermometer had an open N. W.
exposure, at six feet from the ground,
close to the river Lea.

The latter observations were made at
Tottenham-green, four miles N. of London,
which situation, as the country to the N. W.
especially is somewhat hilly and more
wooded, Mr. Howard considers more
sheltered than the former site; the elevation
of the ground is a trifle greater, and the
thermometer was about ten feet from the
general level of the garden before it, with
a very good exposure N., but not quite
enough detached from the house, having
been affixed to the outer door-case, in a
frame which gave it a little projection,
and admitted the air behind it.

On this day, then, the average of these
twenty years' observations gives

Mean Temperature ... 36-57.

It is, further, proposed to notice certain
astronomical and meteorological pheno-
mena ; the migration and singing of
birds ; the appearance of insects ; the
leafing and flowering of plants ; and other
particulars peculiar to animal, vegetable,
and celestial existences. These observa-
tions will only be given from sources
thouMighly authentic, and the authorities
will be subjoined. Communications for
this department will be gladly received.

Sanuarp 2.

St. Concord.

Is said, by his English biographer Butler,
to have been a sub-deacon in a desert,
martyred at Spoletto, about the year 178 ;
whereto the same biographer adds, " In
the Roman Martyrology his name occurs
on the first, in some others on the second
of January." The infallible Roman church,
to end the discord, rejects the authority
of the " Roman Martyrology," and keeps
the festival of Concord on the second of
January.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 35 92.

Sfamtarp 3

THE RIDDLE OF THE YEAR,

By Cleobnlus.

There is a father with twice six sons ;
these sons have thirty daughters a-piece,
party-coloured, having one cheek white
and the other black, who never see each
other's face, nor live above twenty-four
hours.

Cleobulus, to whom this riddle is attri-
buted, was one of the seven wise men of
Greece, who lived about 570 years before
the birth of Christ,

Riddles are of the highest antiquity;
the oldest on record is in the book of
Judges xiv. 14 18. We are told by
Plutarch, that the girls of his times worked
at netting or sewing, and the most inge-
nious " made riddles."

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature . . . 35 60.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK.-JANUARY 4, 5.

Sfanuarp 4.

Prepare for Twelftf^day.
The " Mirror of the Months," a reflector
of " The Months" by Mr. Leigh Hunt,
enlarged to include other objects, adopts,
" Above all other proverbs, that which
says, ' There's nothing like the time pre-
sent/ partly because * the time present '
is but a periphrasis for Now !" The se-
ries of delightful things which Mr. Hunt
links together by the word Now in his
" Indicator," is well remembered, and his
pleasant disciple tells us, " Now, then,
the cloudy canopy of sea-coal smoke that
hangs over London, and crowns her queen
of capitals, floats thick and threefold ; for
fires and feastings are rife, and everybody
is either ' out ' or * at home ' every night.
Now, if a frosty day or two does happen
to pay us a flying visit, on its way to the
North Pole, how the little boys make
slides on the pathways, for lack of ponds,
and, it may be, trip up an occasional
housekeeper just as he steps out of his
own door; who forthwith vows vengeance,
in the shape of ashes, on all the slides in
his neighbourhood, not, doubtless, out of
vexation at his own mishap, and revenge
against the petty perpetrators of it, but
purely to avert the like from others I
Now the bloom-buds of the fruit-trees,
which the late leaves of autumn had con-
cealed from the view, stand confessed,
upon the otherwise bare branches, and,
dressed in their patent wind-and-water-
proof coats, brave the utmost severity of
the season, their hard, unpromising out-
sides, compared with the forms of beauty
which they contain, reminding us of their
friends the butterflies, when in the chry-
salis state. Now the labour of the hus-
bandman is, for once in the year, at a
stand ; and he haunts the alehouse fire,
or lolls listlessly over the half-door of the
village smithy, and watches the progress
of the labour which he unconsciously en-
vies ; tasting for once in his life (without
knowing it) the bitterness of that ennui
which he begrudges to his betters. Now,
melancholy-looking men wander * by
twos and threes' through market-towns,
with their faces as blue as the aprons that
are twisted round their waists ; their in-
effectual rakes resting on their shoulders,
and a withered cabbage hoisted upon a
pole ; and sing out their doleful petition
of ' Pray remember the poor gardeners,
who can get no work !' "

Now, however, not to conclude mourn-
fully, let us remember that the officers
and some of the principal inhabitants of
most parishes in London, preceded by
their beadle in the full majesty of a full
great coat and gold laced hat, with his
walking staff of state higher than him-
self, and headed by a goodly polished
silver globe, go forth from the vestry
room, and call on every chief parishioner
for a voluntary contribution towards a
provision for cheering the abode of the
needy at this cheerful season : and now
the unfeeling and mercenary urge " false
pretences" upon " public grounds," with
the vain hope of concealing their private
reasons for refusing " public charity :"
and notv, the upright and kind-hearted
welcome the annual call, and dispense
bountifully. Their prosperity is a blessing.
Each scattereth and yet increaseth ; their
pillows are pillows of peace ; and at the
appointed time, they lie down with their
fathers, and sleep the sleep of just men
made perfect, in everlasting rest.

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature ... 36- 42.

TWELFTH-DAY EVE.

Agricultural Custom.
In the parish of Pauntley, a village on
the borders of the county of Gloucester,
next Worcestershire, and in the neigh-
bourhood, " a custom, intended to pre-
vent the smut in wheat, in some respect
resembling the Scotch Beltein, prevails."
" On the eve of Twelfth-day all the ser-
vants of every farmer assemble together
in one of the fields that has been sown
with wheat. At the end of twelve lands,
they make twelve fires in a row with
straw ; around one of which, made larger
than the rest, they drink a cheerful glass
of cyder to their master's health, and suc-
cess to the future harvest ; then, returning
home, they feast on cakes made of cara-
ways, &c. soaked in cyder, which they
claim as a reward for their past labours in
sowing the grain.''*

Credulity and Incredulity.
In the beginning of the year 1825, the
flimsiest bubbles of the most bungling

* Rudge's Gloucester.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. DECEMBER 5.

projectors obtained the public confidence;
at the close of the year that confidence
was refused to firms and establishments
of unquestionable security. Just before
Christmas, from sudden demands greatly
beyond the amounts which were ready
for ordinary supply, bankers in London
of known respectability stopped pay-
ment ; the panic became general through-
out the kingdom, and numerous country
banks failed, the funds fell, Exchequer
bills were at a heavy discount, and public
securities of every description suffered
material depression. This exigency ren-
dered prudence still more circumspect,
and materially retarded the operations
of legitimate business, to the injury of all
persons engaged in trade. In several
manufacturing districts, transactions of
every kind were suspended, and manu-
factories wholly ceased from work.

EXCHEQUER BILLS.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.

Sir, ,

As just at this time it may be interest-
ing to many of your readers, to know the
origin of Exchequer bills; I send you the
following account

In the years 1696 and 1697, the silver
currency of the kingdom being, by clip-

Sing, washing, grinding, filing, &c. re-
uced to about half its nominal value,
acts of parliament were passed for its
being called in, and re-coined ; but
whilst the re-coinage was going on ex-
chequer bills were first issued, to supply
the demands of trade. The quantity of
silver re-coined, according to D'Avenant,
from the old hammered money, amount-
ed to 5,725,933^. It is worthy of remark,
that through the difficulties experienced
by the Bank of England (which had been
established only three years,) during the
re-coinage, they having taken the clipped
silver at its nominal value, and guineas
at an advanced price, bank notes were in
1697 at a discount of from 15 to 20 per
cent. "During the re-coinage," says

treasure, which the war and our losses at
sea had drawn out of the nation."

I am, &c.
J. G.

THE CHRISTMAS DAYS.
A Family Sketch.

Bring me a garland of holly,

Rosemary, ivy, and bays ;
Gravity's nothing but folly,

Till after the Christmas day

Fill out a glass of Bucellas ;

Here ! boys put the crown on my

head :

Now, boys ! shake hands be good fel-
lows,
And all be good men when I'm dead.

Come, girls, come ! now for your kisses.

Hearty ones louder loud louder '
How Fm surrounded with blisses !

Proud men may here see a prouder.

Now, you rogues, go kiss your mother :
Ah ! ah ! she won't let you ? pho !

pho !
Gently there, there now ! don't smo

ther :
Old lady ! come, now I'll kiss you.

Here take the garland, and wear it ;

' Nay, nay ! ' but you must, and you

shall ;
For, here's suck a kiss! come, don't fear it;

If you do turn round to the wall.

A kiss too for Number Eleven,

The Newcome the young Christmas

berry

My Alice ! who makes my girls seven,
And makes merry Christmas more
merry.

Another good glass of Bucellas,
While I've the crown on my head ;

Laugh on my good girls, and good fel-
lows,
Till it's off then off to bed.

D'Avenant, "all great dealings were
transacted by tallies, bank-bills, and gold-
smiths' notes. Paper credit did not only
supply the place of running cash, but December 30, 1825.
greatly multiplied the kingdom's stock ;
for tallies and bank-bills did to many
uses serve as well, and to some better than
gold and silver ; and this artificial wealth
which necessity had introduced, did
make us less feel the want of that real

Hey ! now, for the Christmas holly,

Rosemary, ivy, and bays ;
Gravity's nothing but folly,

Till after the Christmas days.

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature. . . 37 47.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JA NUAKY 6.

;v\

The bean found out, and monarch crown d,
He dubs a fool, and sends him round,
To raise the frolic when it's low
Himself commands the wine to flow.
Each watches for the king to quaff,
When, all at once, up springs the laugh ;
They cry " The king drinks !" and away
They shout a long and loud huzza!
And when it's ended conies the dance,
And thus is Twelfth-night spent in France.

Sanuarp 6.

Epiphany. Old Chrtstmas-dav.
Holiday at the Public-offices.

TWELFTH-DAY.

It is only in certain rural parts of
France that the merriments represented
above still prevail. The engraving is
from an old print, " I. Marriette ex."
inscribed as in the next column.

" L'HlVER.

Les Divertissements du Roi-boit.

Loin dicy mille soins facheux,
Que porte avec soy la coronne ;
Celle qua table Bacrhus donne
Ne fit Jamais de malheureux."

This print may be regarded a faithful
picture of the almost obsolete usage.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 6.

During the holidays, and especially on
Twelfth-night, school-boys dismiss " the
cares and the fears" of academic rule ; or
they are regarded but as a passing cloud,
intercepting only for an instant the sun-
shine of joy wherewith their sports are
brightened. Gerund-grinding and pars-
ing are usually prepared for at the last

moment, until when " the master's chair"
is only u remembered to be forgotten."
There is entire suspension of the autho-
rity of that class, by whom the name of
" Busby" is venerated, till " Black Mon-
day" arrives, and chaises and stages con-
vey the young Christmas-keepers to the
" seat of government."

n. 54.

29n

Him ! sui generis, alone,

Busby ! the great substantive noun !

Whose look was lightning, and whose word

Was thunder to the boys who heard,

Is, as regards his long vocation,

Pictured by this his great location.

Look on it well, boys, and digest

The symbols ! learn and shun the rest !

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 6.

The name of Busby '.not the musical
d octor,but a late magisterial doctor of West-
minster school celebrated for severe dis-
cipline, is a "word of fear" to all living
who know his fame ! It is perpetuated
by an engraved representation of his

morning, fell asleep in his memento ; and
when he awoke, added, with aloud voice,
The king drinketh." This mal-apropos
exclamation must have proceeded from a
foreign ecclesiastic : we have no account
of the ceremony to which it refers having

chairTsaYd^oTaVbeen designed by sir prevailed in merry England.

Peter Lily, and presented by that artist

to king Charles II. The arms, and each

arm, are appalling ; and the import of the

otherdevices are, or ought to be, known by

every tyro. Every prudent person lays

in stores before they are wanted, and Dr.

Busby's chair may as well be " in the

house" on Twelfth-day as on any other ;

not as a mirth-spoiler, but as a subject

which we know to-day that we have " by

us," whereon to inquire and discuss at ~

An excellent pen-and-ink picture of
"Merry England"* represents honest
old Froissart, the French chronicler, as
saying of some English in his time, that
" they amused themselves sadly after the
the fashion of their country ;" Hprpnn tho

more convenient season. Dr. Busby was
a severe, but not an ill-natured man. It
is related of him and one of his scholars,
that during the doctor's absence from his
study, the boy found some plums ^ in it,

whereon the

portrayer of Merry England observes,
" They have indeed a way of their own.
Their mirth is a relaxation from gravity,
a challenge to ' Dull Care' to ' be gone ;'
and one is not always clear at first, whe-
ther the appeal is successful. The cloud
may still hang on the brow ; the ice may
not thaw at once. To help them out in
their new character is an act of charity.

and being moved by lickerishness, began Any thing short of hanging or drowning
to eat some ; first, however, he waggishly ig sometn i n g to begin with. They do not
cried out, I publish the banns of matn- enter into their amu sements the less
mony between my mouth and these Doggedly because they may plague others,
plums; if any here present know just They like a thing the better for hitting
cause or impediment why they should not them ft Qn the k nuc kies, for making their
be united, you are to declare it, or here-
after hold your peace ;" and then he ate.
But the doctor had overheard the procla-
mation, and said nothing till the next
morning, when causing the boy to be
" brought up," and disposed for punish-

blood tingle. They do not dance or
sing, but they make good cheer ' eat,
drink, and are merry. 7 No people are
fonder of field-sports, Christmas gambols,
1 or practical jests. Blindman's - buff,
hunt-the-slipper, hot-cockles, and snap-

ment, he grasped the well-known instru-
ment, and said, " I publish the banns of
matrimony between this rod and this boy:
if any of you know just cause or impedi- ......... ____________

ment why they should not be united, you pi ura -p U{ J(iing, the spiced ale and roasted
" -

dragon, are all approved English games,

publish the banns ot ^^ Q f i au gh a ble surprises and ' hair-
breadth 'scapes/ and serve to amuse the
winter fireside after the roast beef and

are to declare it." The boy himself call- cra ^ thrown (hissing-hot) into the foam-

ed out, "I forbid the banns!" "For i ng tankard. Punch (not the liquor, but

what cause ?" inquired the doctor. " Be- tne p u pp e t) is not, I fear, of English ori-

cause," said the boy, the parties are not gin . but there j s no p i ac e, I take it, where

agreed !" The doctor enjoyed the vali- he finds himself more at home or meets a

dity of the objection urged by the boy s more ; oyous welcome, where he collects
wit, and the ceremony was not performed.
This is an instance of Dr. Busby's admi-

ration of talent : and let us hope, in be-
half of its seasonableness here, that it was
at Christmas time.

The King drinks.

We recur once more to this subject, for
the sake of remarking that there is an ac-
count of a certain curate, '' who having
taken his preparations over evening, when
all men cry (as the manner is) The king
Jrinketh, chanting his masse the next

greater crowds at the corners of streets,
where he opens the eyes or distends the
cheeks wider, or where the bangs and

blows, the uncouth gestures, ridiculous
anger and screaming voice of the chief
performer excite more boundless merri-
ment or louder bursts of laughter among
all ranks and sorts of people. An Eng-
lish theatre is the very throne of panto-
mime ; nor do I believe that the gallery
and boxes of Drury-lane or Covent-gar

* Tr, the New Monthly Magazine, Dec. 1825

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 6.

den filled on the proper occasions with
holiday folks (big or little) yield the palm
for undisguised, tumultuous, inextinguish-
able laughter to any spot in Europe. I
do not speak of the refinement of the
mirth (this is no fastidious speculation)
but of its cordiality, on the return of these
long-looked-for and licensed periods ; and
I may add here, by way of illustration,
that the English common people are a
sort of grown children, spoiled and sulky,
perhaps, but full of glee and merriment,
when their attention is drawn off by some
sudden and striking object.

" The comfort, on which the English lay
so much stress, arises from the same
source as their mirth. Both exist by con-
trast and a sort of contradiction. The
English are certainly the most uncomfort-
able of all people in themselves, and
therefore it is that they stand in need of
every kind of comfort and accommoda-
tion. The least thing puts them out of
their w<ty, and therefore every thing must
be in its place. They are mightily of-
fended at disagreeable tastes and smells,
and therefore they exact the utmost neat-
ness and nicety. They are sensible of
heat and cold, and therefore they cannot
exist, unless every thing is snug and
warm, or else open and airy, where they
are. They must have all appliances
and means to boot.' They are afraid of
interruption and intrusion, and therefore
they shut themselves up in m-door enjoy-
ments and by their own firesides. It is
not that they require luxuries (for that
implies a high degree of epicurean indulg-
ence and gratification,) but they cannot
do without their comforts ; that is, what-
ever tends to supply their physical wants,
and ward oif physical pain and annoy-
ance. As they have not a fund of ani-
mal spirits and enjoyments in themselves,
they cling to external objects for support,
and derive solid satisfaction from the ideas
of order, cleanliness, plenty, property,
and domestic quiet, as they seek for di-
version from odd accidents and grotesque
surprises, and have the highest possible
relish not of voluptuous softness, but of
hard knocks and dry blows, as one means
of ascertaining their personal identity."

Twelfth-day, in the times of chivalry,
was observed at the court of England by
grand entertainments and tournaments.
The justings were continued till a period
little favourable to such sports.

In the reign of James I., when his son

prince Henry was in the 16th year of his
age, and therefore arrived to the period
for claiming the principality of Wales and
the duchy of Cornwall, it was granted to
him by the king and the high court of
parliament, and the 4th of June following-
appointed for his investiture : "the Christ-
mas before which," sir Charles Cornwallis
says, " his highnesse, not onely for his
owne recreation, but also that the world
might know what a brave prince they
were likely to enjoy, under the name of
Meliades, lord of the isles, (an ancient
title due to the first-borne of Scotland,)
did, in his name, by some appointed for
the same purpose, strangely attired, ac-
companied with drummes and trumpets,
in the presence, before the king and
queene, and in the presence of the whole
court, deliver a challenge to all knights of
Great Britaine." The challenge was to
this effect, " That Meliades, their noble
master, burning with an earnest desire to
trie the valour of his young yeares in
foraigne countryes, and to know where
vertue triumphed most, had sent them
abroad to espy the same, who, after their
long travailes in all countreyes, and re-
turne," had nowhere discovered it, " save
in the fortunate isle of Great Britaine :
which ministrincr matter of exceeding joy
to their young Meliades, who 'as they
said) could lineally derive his pedegre'e
from the famous knights of this isle, was
the cause that he had now sent to present
the first frurts of his chivalrie at his ma-
jesties' feete ; then after returning with a
short speech to her majestic, next to the
earles, lords, and knights, excusing their
lord in this their so sudden and shoi>
warning, and lastly, to the ladies ; they,
after humble delivery of their chartle con-
cerning time, place, conditions, number
of weapons and assailants, tooke their
leave, departing solemnly as they entered."
Then preparations brgan to be made
for this great fight, and each, was happy
who found himself admitted for a defend-
ant, much more an assailant. " At last
to encounter his highness, six assailants,
and fifty-eight defendants, consisting of
earles, barons, knights, and esquires, were
appointed and chosen ; eight defendants
to one assailant, every assailant being to
fight by turnes eight severall times fight-
ing, two every time with push and pike
of sword, twelve strokes at a time ; after
which, the barre for separation was to be
let downe until a fresh onset." The sum-
mons ran in these words :

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 6.

" To our verie loving good ffreind sir

Gilbert Houghton, knight, gea^e theis

with speed :

" After our hartie commendacions unto
you. The prince, his highnes, hath
comanded us tosignifie to you that whereas
he doth intend to make a challenge in his
owne person at the Barriers, with sixe
other assistants, to bee performed some
tyme this Christmas; and that he hath
made choice of you for one of the defend-
ants (whereof wee have comandement to
give you knowledge), that theruppon you
may so repaire hither to prepare yourselfe,
as you may bee fitt to attend him. Here-
unto expecting your speedie answer wee
rest, from Whitehall this 25th of Decem-
ber, 1609. Your very loving freindes,
Notingham. | T.Suffolke. '| E.Worcester."

On New-year's Day, 1610, or the day
after, the prince's challenge was pro-
claimed at court, and " his highnesse, in
his own lodging, in the Christmas, did
feast the carles, barons, and knights, as-
sailants and defendants, untill the great
Twelfth appointed night, on which this
great fight was to be performed."

On the 6th of January, in the evening,
" the barriers" were held at the palace of
Whitehall, in the presence of the king and
queen, the ambassadors of Spain and
Venice, and the peers and ladies of the
land, with a multitude of others assembled
in the "banqueting-house : at the upper
end whereof was the king's chair of state,
and on the right hand a sumptuous pa-
vilion for the prince and his associates,
from whence, " with great bravery and
ingenious devices, they descended into
the middell of the roome, and there the
prince performed his first feats of armes,
that is to say, at Barriers, against all
conimers, being assisted onlie with six
others, viz. the duke of Lenox, the earle
of Arundell, the earle of Southampton,
the lord Hay, sir Thomas Somerset, and
sir Richard Preston, who was shortly after
created lord Ding well."

To answer these challengers came fifty-
six earles, barons, knights, and esquiers.
They were at the lower end of the roome,
where was erected " a very delicat and
pleasant place, where in privat manner
they and their traine remained, which
was so very great that no man imagined
that the place could have concealed halfe
so many. From thence they issued, in
comely order, to the middell of the roome,
where sate the king and the queene, and
the court, " to behold the barriers, with

the several showes and devices of each
combatant." Every challenger fought
with eight several defendants two several
combats at two several weapons, viz. at
push of pike, and with single sword,
" The prince performed this challenge with
wonderous skill and courage, to the great
joy and admiration of the beholders," he
" not being full sixteene yeeres of age
untill the 19th of February." These feats,
and other " triumphant shewes," began
before ten o'clock at night, and continued
until three o'clock the next morning,
" being Sonday." The speeches at " the
barriers" were written by Ben Jonson.
The next day (Sunday) the prince rode in
great pomp to convoy the king to St James*,
whither he had invited him and all the
court to supper, whereof the queen alone
was absent ; and then the prince bestowed
prizes to the three combatants best de-
serving ; namely, the earl of Montgomery,
sir Thomas Darey (son to lord Darey),
and sir Robert Gourdon.* In this way
the court spent Twelfth-night in 1610.

On Twelfth-night, 1753, George II.
played at hazard for the benefit of the
groom porter. All the royal family who
played were winners, particularly the
duke of York, who won 3000/. The
most considerable losers were the duke
of Grafton, the marquis of Hartington,
the earl of Holderness, earl of Ashburn-
ham, and the earl of Hertford. The prince
of Wales (father of George III.) with
prince Edward and a select company,
danced in the little drawing room till
eleven o'clock, and then withdrew.-)-

Old Christmas-day.

According to the alteration of the
style, OLD Christmas-day falls on
Twelfth-day, and in distant parts is even
kept in our time as the festival of the na-
tivity. In 1753, Old Christmas-day was
observed in the neighbourhood of Wor-
cester by the Anti-Gregorians, full as
sociably, if not so religiously, as formerly
In several villages, the parishioners so
strongly insisted upon having an Old-
style nativity sermon, as they term it,
that their ministers could not well avoid
preaching to them : and, at some towns,
where the markets are held on Friday,
not a butter basket, nor even a Goose,
was to be seen in the market-place the
whole day.|

* Mr. Nichols's Progresses of James I.

t- Gentleman'* Magazine. t Ibid.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 7.

To heighten the festivities of Christmas,
1825. the good folks of" London and its
environs" were invited to Sadler's Wells,
by the following whimsical notice, printed
and distributed as a handbill

< SOVEREIGNS WILL BETAKEN,

during the Christmas holidays, and as long
as any body will bring them to SADLER'S
WELLS ; nay so little fastidious are the
Proprietors of that delectable fascinating
snuggery, that, however incredible it may
appear, they, in some cases, have actually
had the liberality to prefer Gold to Paper.
Without attempting to investigate their
motives for such extraordinary conduct,
we shall do them the justice to say, they
certainly give an amazing quantum o
amusement, All in One Night, at the
HOUSE ON THE HEATH, where, be-
sides the THREE CRUMPIES, AND
THE BARON AND HIS BROTHERS,
an immense number of fashionables are
expected on MERLIN'S MOUNT, and
some of the first Cambrian families will
countenanceHARLEQUIN CYMRAEG,
in hopes to partake of the Living Leek,
which being served up the last thing be-
fore supper, will constitute a most excel-
lent Christmas carminative, preventing
the effects of night air on the crowds who
will adorn this darling little edifice. In
addition to a most effective LIGHT COM-
PANY engaged here, a very respectably
sized Moon will be in attendance to light
home a greater number of Patrons than
ever this popular petted Palace of Panto-
mime is likely to produce. We say no-
thing of warmth and comfort, acquired by
recent improvements, because these mat-
ters will soon be subjects of common con-
versation, and omit noticing the happi-
ness of Half-price, and the cheering qua-
lities of the Wine-room, fearful of wound-
ing in the bosom of the Manager that
innate modesty which is ever the conco-
mitant of merit ; we shall therefore con-
clude, by way of invitation to the dubi-
ous, in the language of an elegant writer,
by asserting that the Proof of the Pud-
ding it in VERBUM SAT."

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature- - - 37 12.

Sanuarg 7.

1826. Distaff's Day*

STANZAS ON THE NEW YEAR.

I stood between the meeting years,

The coming and the past,
And I ask'd of the future one,

Wilt thou be like the last ?

The same in many a sleepless night.

In many an anxious day ?
Thank Heaven ! I have no prophet's eye

To look upon thy way !

For Sorrow like a phantom sits

Upon the last Year's close.
How much of grief, how much of ill,

In its dark breast repose I

Shadows of faded Hopes flit by,

And ghosts of Pleasures fled :
How have they chang'd from what they
were !

Cold, colourless, and dead.

I think on many a wasted hour,

And sicken o'er the void ;
And many darker are behind,

On worse than nought employ'd.

Oh Vanity ! alas, my heart !

How widely hast thou stray d
And misused every golden gift

For better purpose made '

I think on many a once-loved friend

As nothing to me now ;
And what can mark the lapse of time

As does an alter'd brow ?

Perhaps 'twas but a careless word
That sever'd Friendship's chain ;

And angry Pride stands by each gap,
Lest they unite again.

Less sad, albeit more terrible,

To think upon the dead,
Who quiet in the lonely grave

Lay down their weary head.

For faith and hope, and peace, and trust,

Are with their happier lot :
Though broken is their bond of love,

At least we broke it not.

Thus thinking of the meeting years,

The coming and the past,
I needs must ask the future one,

Wilt thou be like the last ?

* See vol. i. p. 1

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 8.

There came a sound, but not of speech,

That to my thought replied,
" Misery is the marriage-gift

That waits a mortal bride :

' But lift thine hopes from this base earth,

This waste of worldly care,
And wed thy faith to yon bright sky,

For Happiness dwells there !"

L. E. L *

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 35 85.

Sanuarp 8,

1826. First Sunday after Epiphany.
CHRONOLOGY.

Ou the 8th of January, 1753, died sir
Thomas Burnet, one of the judges of the
court of Common Pleas, of the gout in
his stomach, at his house in Lincoln's-inn
fields. He was the eldest son of the cele-
brated Dr, Gilbert Burnet, bishop of
Salisbury ; was several years consul at
Lisbon; and in November, 1741, made
one of the judges of the Common Pleas,
in room of judge Fortescue, who was ap-
pointed master of the rolls. On No-
vember 23, 1745, when the lord chancellor,
judges, and association of the gentlemen
of the law, waited on his majesty with
their address, on occasion of the rebellion,
he was knighted. He was an able and up-
right judge, and a great benefactor to the
poor.f

THE NEW YEAR NEW MOON

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.

Sir,

Encouraged by your various expres-
sions of willingness to receive notices of
customs not already " imprinted" in your
first volume, I take the liberty of pre-
senting the first of several which I have
not yet seen in print.

I am, sir,

Your constant reader,
Chelsea. J. Q. W.

* New Monthly Magazine, January, 1826.
t Gentleman's Magazine.

MONEY AND THE MOON.

Gentle reader,

If thou art not over-much prejudiced
by the advances of modernization, (I like
a long new-coined word,) so that, even in
these " latter days," thou dost not hesi-
tate to place explicit reliance on ancient,
yet infallible " sayings and doings/' (an-
cient enough, since they have been handed
down to us by our grandmothers and who
would doubt the weight and authority of
so many years ? and infallible enough,
since they themselves absolutely believed
in their " quite-correctness,") I will tell thee
a secret well worth knowing, if that can
be called a secret which arises out of a
well-known and almost universal custom,
at least, in " days of yore." It is neither
more nor less than the possession through-
out " the rolling year" of a pocket never
without money. Is not this indeed a
secret well worth knowing ? Yet the
means of its accomplishment are exceed-
ingly simple (as all difficult things are
when once known.) On the first day of
the first new moon of the new year, or so
soon afterwards as you observe it, all that
you have to do is this : on the first
glance you take at " pale Luna's silvery
crest" in the western sky, put your hand
in your pocket, shut your eyes, and turn
the smallest piece of silver coin you pos-
sess upside down in your said pocket.
This will ensure you (if you will but trust
its infallibility!) throughout the whole
year that " summum bonum " of earthly
wishes, a pocket never empty. If, how-
ever, you neglect, on the first appearance
of the moon, your case is hopeless ; never-
theless and notwithstanding, at a future
new moon you may pursue the same
course, and it will be sure to hold good
during the then current month, but not a
" whit" longer.

This mention of the new moon and its
crest brings to mind a few verses I wrote
some time ago, and having searched my
scrap-book, (undoubtedly not such a one
as Geoffery Crayon's,} I copied them from
thence, and they are heie under. Although
written in the " merry merry month
of May," they may be read in the " dreary
dark December," for every new moon
presents the same beautiful phenomenon.

A Simile.

Hast thou ne'er marked, when first the crescent moon

Shines faintly in the western horizon,

O'er her whole orb a slight soft blush o'erspread,

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 9.

As though she were abashed to be thus seen

From the sun's couch with silver steps retreating ?

Hast thou ne'er marked, that when by slow degrees,

Night after night, her crescent shape is lost,

And steadily she gains her stores of light,

Till half her form resplendently proclaims

An envious rival to the stars around

Then mark'st thou not, that nought of her sweet blush

Remains to please the gazer's wistful sight,

And that she shines increasingly in strength,

Till she is fulLorb'd, mistress of the sky?

So is it with the mind, when silently

Into the young heart's void steals timorous love.

Then enter with it fancy's fairy dreams,

Visions of glory, reveries of bliss ;

And then they come and go, till comes, alas !

Knowledge, forced on us, of the " world without !"

How soon these scenes of beauty disappear !

How soon fond thought sinks into nothingness !

How soon the mind discovers that true bliss

Reposes not on sublunary things,

But is alone when passion's blaze is o'er

In that high happy sphere, where love's supreme.

Here it may not be out of place to en-
deavour to describe, as familiarly as pos-
sible, the cause of the lunar appearance.

justices at Westminster-hall, for personat-
ing various characters and names, and
defrauding numbers of people, in order to

Hold a piece of looking-glass in a ray of support his extravagance. It appeared

sunshine, and then move a small ball
through the reflected ray : it is easy to
conceive that both sides will be illumined ;
that side towards the sun by the direct
sunbeam, and the side towards the mirror,
though less powerfully, by the reflected
sunbeam. In a somewhat similar manner,
the earth supplies the place of the mirror,
and as at every new moon, and for several
days after the moon is in that part of her
orbit between the earth and the sun, the
rays of the sun are reflected from the
earth to the dark side of the moon, and
consequently to the inhabitants of that
part of the moon, (if any such there be,
and query why should there not be such ?)
the earth must present the curious appear-
ance of a full moon of many times the
diameter which ours presents.

J. O. W.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature . . <. 36 05.

Sanuarp 9.

1826. Plough Monday.
The first Monday after Twelfth day.*

by the evidence, that he had cheated a
tailor of a suit of velvet clothes, trimmed
with gold; a jeweller of upwards of 100/.
in rings and watches, which he pawned ;
a coachmaker of a chaise ; a carver and
cabinet-maker of household goods ; a
hosier, hatter, and shoemaker, and, in
short, some of almost every other business,
to the amount of a large sum. He some-
times appeared like a gentleman attended
with livery servants ; sometimes as a no-
bleman's steward ; and, in the summer
time, he travelled the west of England, in
the character of Doctor Rock ; and, at the
same time, wrote to London for goods, in
the names of the Rev. Laroche, and the
Rev. Thomas Strickland. The evidence
was full against him ; notwithstanding
which, he made a long speech in his own
defence. He was sentenced to six months'
hard labour in Bridewell, and, within that
time, to be six times publicly whipped.

Such offences are familiar to tradesmen
of the present times, through many perpe-
trators of the like stamp ; but all of them
are not of the same audacity as Stroud,
who, in the month following his convic-
tion, wrote and published his life, wherein
he gives a very extraordinary account of

CHRONOLOGY. - .

On the 9th of January, 1752, William hls adventures, but passes slightly over

Stroud was tried before the bench o or palliates his blackest crimes "

_ bred a haberdasher of small

* See vol. i. p. 7 . Fleet-

He was
wares in
feet, married his mistress's sister

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 10.

before his apprenticeship determined, set
up in the Poultry, became a bankrupt, in
three months got his certificate signed,
and again set up in Holborn , where he
lived but a little while before he was
thrown into the King's Bench for debt,
and there got acquainted with one Play-
stowe, who gradually led him into scenes
of fraud, which he afterwards imitated.
Playstowe being a handsome man, usually
passed for a gentleman, and Stroud for
his steward ; at last the former, after many
adventures, married a girl with 4000/.,
flew to France, and left Stroud in the
lurch, who then retired to Yorkshire, and
lived some time with his aunt, pretending
his wife was dead, and he was just on the
brink of marrying advantageously, when
his real character was traced. He then
went to Ireland, passed for a man of
fashion, hired an equipage, made the most
of that country, and escaped to London.
His next grand expedition was to the
west of England, where he still personated
the man of fortune, got acquainted with a
young lady, and pursued her to London,
where justice overtook him ; and, instead
of wedlock, bound him in the fetters of
Bridewell.

On the 24th of June, 1752, Stroud re-
ceived " his last and severest whipping,

from the White Bear to St. James's church
Piccadilly."*

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature . . . 36-12.

Sannarp 10.

Winter in London.

On the 10th of January, 1812, it is
observed, that London was this day in-
volved, for several hours, in palpable
darkness. The shops, offices, &c., were
necessarily lighted up ; but, the streets not
being lighted as at night, it required nc
small care in the passenger to find his
way, and avoid accidents. The sky
where any light pervaded it, showed the
aspect of bronze. Such is, occasionally,
the effect of the accumulation of smoke
between two opposite gentle currents, or
by means of a misty calm. The fuliginous
cloud was visible, in this instance, from a
distance of forty miles. Were it not for
the extreme mobility of our atmosphere,
this volcano of a hundred thousand mouths
would, in winter, be scarcely habitable !f

* Gentleman's Magazine,
t Howard on Climate,

Winter in the Country.

All out door work

Now stands ; the waggoner, with wisp-wound feet,
And wheelspokes almost filled, his destined stage
Scarcely can gain. O'er hill, and vale, and wood,
Sweeps the snow-pinioned blast, and all things veils
In white array, disguising to the view
Objects well known, now faintly recognised.
One colour clothes the mountain and the plain,
Save where the feathery flakes melt as they fall
Upon the deep blue stream, or scowling lake,
Or where some beetling rock o'erjutting hangs
Above the vaulty precipice's cove.
Formless, the pointed cairn now scarce o'ertops
The level dreary waste ; and coppice woods,
Diminished of their height, like bushes seem.
With stooping heads, turned from the storm, the flocks
Onward still urged by man and dog-, escape
The smothering drift ; while, skulking at a side,
Is seen the fox, with close downfolded tail,
Watching his time to seize a straggling prey j
Or from some lofty crag he ominous howls,
And makes approaching night more dismal aM.

Grahamc.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK JANUARY 10.

in fyt C&arartfr of JHr. ifeton.

" Just popp'd in, you know !"

LETTER

from
PA U L PRY.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.
Sir,

I hope I don't intrude I have
called at Lud gate-hill a great many
times to see you, and made many kind
inquiries, but I am always informed you
are " not at home ;" and what's worse, I
never can learn when you'll be " at home ;"
I'm constantly told, " it's very uncertain."
This looks very odd; I don't think it
correct. Then again, on asking your
people what the Every-Day Book is all
about ? they say it's about every thing ;
but that you know is no answer is it ?
I want something more than that. When
I tell 'em so, and that I'm so much en-
gaged I haven't time to read, they say the
book is as useful to people engaged in
business as to people out of business as

if / was in business ! I wish to acquaint
every body, that I am not in business, and
never was in business, though I've a dea
of business to do; but then it's for my
own amusement, and that's nobody's
business, you know as I also told 'em.
They say it's impossible to describe the
contents of the book, but that all the par-
ticulars are in the Index ; that's just what
I wanted ; but behold ! it is " not out"
that is, it is not in I mean not in the
book you take. Excuse my humorsome-
ness : I only wish to know when I can
get it ? They say in a few days, but, bless
you, I don't believe 'em ; for though I let
'em know I've a world of things to com-
municate to you, when you've time to sec
me, and let me ask you a few questions,
they won't credit me, and why should I
credit them I was not born yesterday,
I assure you. I'm of a very ancient
stock, and I've some notion you and I
are kinsmen don't you think we are ?
I dare say there's a likeness, for I'm sure

51 THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 10. 52

we are of the same disposition ; if you again, I'll be Liston ! They shall be

aren't, how can you find out so much matched, however, if you'll help me. I've

" about every thing." If I can make out copied out my song, and if you'll print it

that you are one of the Pry family, it will in the Every-Day Book, it will drive 'em

be mutually agreeable won't it ? How mad. I wish, of all things, that Mr.

people will stare won't they? Cruikshank could see me in the charactei

I suppose you've heard how I've been of Liston he could hit me I know don't

used by Mr. Lislon my private charac- you think he could ? just as I am

ter exposed on the public stage, and the "quite correct" like he did "Guy Faux"

whole town roaring at the whole of the last 5th of November. I never laughed

Pry family. But we are neither to be so much in all my life as when I saw that.

cried down nor laughed down, and so I'd Bless you, I can mimic Liston all to

have let the play -goers know,if the managers nothing. Do get your friend George to

had allowed me to sing a song on New- your house some day any day he likes

year's night, in imitation of Mr. Liston it's all one to me, for I call every day ;

when he's a playing me. Will you be- and as I'm an " every-day" man, you

lieve it they burst out a laughing, and know, why you might pop me at the head

would not let me go on the boards they of the song in your Every-Day Book

said the audience would suppose me to be that's a joke you know I can't help

the actor himself; what harm would that laughing so droll ! I've enclosed the

have done the theatre? can you tell? song, you see.
They said, it would hurt Mr. Liston's

feelings never Considering mv feelings ! [The wish of this correspondent is complied with,
It r . , ,, .,f . .1 c and the manner wherein, it is presumed, he would

Jt ever 1 try to Serve them Or their theatre have sung the song, is hinted at parenthetically.]

MR. PAUL FRY'S SONG,

Intended to have been sung by him at the Theatre,
In the Character of MR. LISTON,

ON NEW YEAR'S EVE.

TUNE Mr. Liston's.

(Pryingly} I hope I don't intrude !
{Fearfully.') I thought I heard a cough
(Apologetically.} I hope I am not rude
( Confidentially.} I say the Year's going off !

(Inquisitively.} Where can he be going to ?
(Ruminatively} It's very odd ! it's serious !
(Self -satisf actively} I'm rather knowing too !
(Insinuatively.} But isn't it mysterious ?

(Comfortably.} J Twas better than the other
(Informingly.} The one that went before ;
(Consolingly.} But then there'll be another
( Delightedly} And that's one comfort more !

(Alarmedly} I'm half afraid he's gone I
(Kindlily.} Must part with the old fellow !
(Hastily.} Excuse me I must run (Exit.}
(Returns.} Forgot my umbrella.

(Determinedly} I'll watch the new one though,
(Circumspectly.} And see what he'll be at (Exit.}
(Returns.} Beg pardon didn't bow (Bows and exit,}
'Returns.} Bid pardon left my hat

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 11.

(Lingeringfy.) It's always the wish of Paul,
(Seriously.) To be quite correct and right
(Respectfully.} Ladies and gentlemen all
(Retreatingly.) I wish you very good night !

(Recollectlvely.) And ladies and gentlemen all !
(Inter jectively.} You laugh so much, I declare
(Vexedly.} I'm not Mr. Listen ! I'm Paul /
(Lastly.) I wish you a happy New Year \(Exit finally :

If you print this in the Every-Day
Book it will send Listen into fits it will
kill him won't it ? But you know that's
all right if he takes me off I've a right
to take him off haven't I ? I say, that's
another joke isn't it? Bless you, I
co'd do as good as that for ever. But I
want to see you, and ask you how you go
on ? and I've lots of intelligence for you
such things as never were known in
this world all true, and on the very best
authority, you may take my word for it.
Several of my relations have sent you
budgets. Though they know you won't
publish their names unless they like it,
they don't choose to sign 'em to
their letters for private reasons, why
don't you print 'em ? They cann't give up
their authors you know, (that's impossi-
ble,) but what does that signify ? And
then you give 'em so much trouble to call
and make inquiries not that they care
about that, but it looks so. However, I'm
in a great hurry and so you'll excuse me.
Mind though I shall pop in every day
till I catch you. I hope you'll print the
song it's all my own writing, it will do
for Listen, depend on it. What a joke
isn't it a good one ?

Pryory Place, Yours eternally,
January 6, 1826. PAUL PRY.

P. S. Don't forget the Index I want
to learn all the particulars multum in
parvo all quite correct.

P. S. I'm told you've eleven children
is it true ? What day shall you have an-
other ?
would
don't
curious.

t true : w nat day snail you nave an-
er ? _ to-day ? Twelfthrfay 1 that
uld be zjoke wouldn't it? I hope I
i't intrude. I don't wish to seem

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 36 07.

Sfanuarp n.

Feast Week.

This is a term in many parts of Eng-
and for an annual festivity celebrated on

the occasion described in the subjoined
communication.

For the Every-Day Book.

THE FEAST WEEK.

This festival, so called, is supposed to
be nearly coeval with the establishment
of Christianity in this island. Every
new church that was founded was dedi-
cated to some peculiar saint, and was
naturally followed by a public religious
celebration, generally on the day of that
saint, or on the Sunday immediately fol-
lowing. Whatever might be the origin,
the festival part is still observed in most
of the villages of several of the midland
and other counties. It is a season much
to be remembered, and is anticipated
with no little pleasure by the expecting
villagers. The joyful note of preparation
is given during the preceding week ; and
the clash, and splash, and bustle of
cleansing, and whitewashing, and dust-
ing, is to be seen and heard in almost
every cottage. Nor is the still more im-
portant object of laying in a good solid
supply for a hungry host of visitors for-
gotten. Happy those who can command
a ham for the occasion. This is a great
favourite, as it is a cut-and-come-again
dish, ready at hand at all times. But this
is mostly with the tip-topping part. Few
but can boast of a substantial plum-
pudding ! And now the important day
is arrived. The merry bells from the
steeple announce the event ; and groups
of friends and relations, not forgetting
distant cousins and children, are seen
making their way, long before the hour
of dinner, to the appointed spot. This is
Sunday ; and in the afternoon a portion
of these strangers, clean and neatly
dressed, are seen flocking to the village
church, where the elevated band in the
gallery, in great force both in noise and
number, contribute lustily to their edifi-
cation, and the clergyman endeavours to
improve the solemnity of the occasion by
an appropriate address. During the
early part of the ensuing week, the feast

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 12.

is kept up with much spirit : the village
presents a holiday appearance, and open-
housekeeping, as far as may be, is the
order of the day ; the bells at intervals
send forth an enlivening peal ; all work
is nearly suspended ; gay stalls of ginger-
bread and fruit, according to the season
of the year, together with swings and
roundabouts, spread out their allurements
to the children ; bowls, quoits, and nine-
pins, for the men ; and the merry dance in
the evening, for the lasses. Fresh visitors
keep dropping in ; and almost all who
can make any excuse of acquaintance are

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 35-62.

Sfanuarp 12.

Leeches unhurt by Frost.
Among the cold-blooded animals whicl
resist the effects of a low temperature,
we may reckon the common leech, which
is otherwise interesting to the meteorolo-
gist, on account of its peculiar habits and
movements under different states of the
atmosphere. A group of these animals
left accidentally in a closet without a fire,

acknowledged, and are hospitably enter- du "ng the frost of 1816, not only sur-
vived, but appeared to suffer no iniury
from being locked up in a mass of ice for
many days.*

tained, according to the means of their
village friends. As the week advances,
these means gradually diminish ; and as
an empty house has few attractions, by
the end of the week the bustle ceases,
and all is still and silent, as if it had
never been.

SWEEPING RHETORIC.

Certain rewards allowed by act of
parliament to firemen, turncocks, and

Man naturally requires excitement and otl \ ei ; s .' wn fir st appear with their engines

relaxation ; but "it is essentially necessary and im plements at premises sworn to be

that they should be adapted to his situa- n ** were claimed at the public office,

tion and circumstances. The feast week, Marlboroiigh-street, in this month, 1826,

however alluring it may appear in descrip- and resist ed on the ground that the

tion, is in reality productive of greater chimn ey, which belonged to a brewery,

evil than good. The excitement lasts too and was more than ei g nt y feet high, was

long, and the enjoyment, whatever it not > and COVL \d not be on fire. A witness

may be, is purchased at the sacrifice of to **** end > 8 ave a lively specimen of

too great expense. It is a well-known fam i liar statement and illustration. He

fact, that many of the poor who have ^egan by telling the magistrate, that he

exerted every effort to make this profuse, w . as a sweep-chimney by profession a

but short-lived display, have scarcely P iece f information very unnecessary, for
bread to eat for weeks after. But there was as black an d sooty a sweep as ever

no alternative, if they expect to be mounte d a chimney-top, and then went

received with the same spirit of hospitality
by their friends. The alehouses, in the
interim, are too often scenes of drunken-
ness and disorder; and the labouring man
who has been idle and dissipated for a
week, is little disposed for toil and tem-
perance the next. Here, then, the illu-
sion of rural simplicity ends ! These
things are managed much better where
one fair day, as it is called, is set apart
in each year, as is the case in many coun-
ties ; the excitement, which is intense for
ten or twelve hours, is fully sufficient for
the purpose ; all is noise and merriment,
and one general and -simultaneous burst
and explosion, if it may be so expressed,
takes place. You see groups of happy
faces. Every one is willing " to laugh
he knows not why, and cares not where-
fore ;" and one day's gratification serves
him for every days pleasing topic of re-
ference for weeks to come.

S. P.

on in this fashion" This here man,
(pointing to the patrol,) your wortship,
has told a false affidavit. I knows that
ere chimley from a hinfant, and she
knows my foot as well as my own mother.
The way as I goes up her is this I goes
in all round the boiler, then I twistes in
the chimley like the smoke, and then up
I goes with the wind, for, your wortship,
there's a wind in her that would blow you
out like a feather, if you didn't know her
as well as I do, and that makes me al-
ways go to the top myself, because there
isn't a brick in her that doesn't know my
foot. So that you see, your wortship, no
soot or blacks is ever in her : the wind
won't let 'em stop : and besides they
knows that I go up her regular. So that
she always keeps herself as clean as a new
pin. I'll be bound the sides of her is as
clean this minute as I am (not saying
much for the chimney); therefore, your

* Howard on Climate.

THE E VERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 12.

wortship, that ere man as saw two yards
of fire coming out of her, did not see no
such thing, I say ; and he has told your
wortship, and these here gentlemen pre-
sent, a false affidavit, I say. I was brought
up in that chimley, your wortship, and I
can't abear to hear such things said lies
of her; and that's all as I knows at pre-
sent, please your wortship."*

AMUSEMENTS.

The London Christmas evenings of
1826, appear to have been kept out of
doors, for every place of entertainment
was overflowing every night.

At this season, from six o'clock in the
evening, a full tide of passengers sets in
along every leading street to each of the
theatres. Hackney coaches drawl, and
cabriolets make their way, and jostle each
other, and private carriages swiftly roll,
and draw up to the box door with a
vigorous sweep, which the horses of hired
vehicles are too aged, or too low in con-
dition to achieve. Within a hundred
yards of either playhouse, hands are con-
tinually thrust into each coach window,
with " a bill of the play," and repeated
cries of " only a penny !" The coach-
door being opened, down fall the steps
with a sharp clackity-clack-click, and the
companies alight, if they can, without the
supernumerary aid of attendant pliers, who
offer their over-ready arms to lean upon,
and kindly entreat " Take care, sir !
mind how you step ma'am this way if
you please this way," all against your
will, and ending with " I hope you'll
please to remember a poor fellow !" the
" poor fellow" having done nothing but
interrupt you. When past the " pay
place/' great coats, umbrellas, shawls or
other useful accompaniments to and from
"the house," though real encumbrances
within it, may be safely deposited with
persons stationed for their reception, who
attach tickets to them, and deliver corres-
ponding numbers, which ensure the return
of your property on your coming out ; six-
pence or a shilling being a gratuity for the
accommodation. Then, when the whole is
over, there is the strict blockade of
coaches further than the eye can reach ;
servants looking out for the parties they
came with, and getting up their masters'
carriages ; and a full cry of hackney coach-
men and their representatives, vociferating

* The Time*, 5th January, 1826.

" Want a coach, sir? Here's your coach
sir ! Which is it, sir ? Coach to the city,
sir ! West end, sir ! Here ! Coach to the
city ! Coach to Whitechapel ! Coach to
Portman-square ! Coach to Pentonville !
Coach to the Regent's Park ! This way !
this way ! Stand clear there ! Chariot, or
a coach, sir? No chariots, sir, and all the
coaches are hired ! There's a coach here,
sir just below ! Coachman, draw up !"
and drawing up is impossible, and there
is an incessant confusion of calls and
complaints, and running against each
other, arising out of the immediate wants
of every body, which can only be succes-
sively gratified. Pedestrians make their
way home, or to the inns, as fast as pos-
sible, or turn in to sup at the fish-shops,
which, in five minutes, are more lively
than their oysters were at any time.
"Waiter! Waiter! Yes, sir ! Attend to
you directly, sir ! Yours is gone for, sir !
Why, I've ordered nothing ! It's coming
directly, sir ! Ginger-beer why this is
poison ! Spruce why this is ginger-beer !
Porter, sir ! I told you brandy and water!
Stewed oysters ! I ordered scolloped !
When am I to have my supper ? You've
had it, sir I beg your pardon, sir, the
gentleman that sat here is gone, sir!
Waiter ! waiter !" and so on ; and he who
has patience, is sure to be indulged with
an opportunity of retaining it, amidst
loud talking and laughter ; varied views
of the new pantomime ; conflicting testi-
mony as to the merits of the clown and
the harlequin ; the " new scenery, dresses,
and machinery;" likings and dislikings
of certain actresses ; " the lovely v Miss
So-and-so, or " that detestable" woman,
Mrs. Such-an-one, that clever fellow,
" Thing-a-merry," or that stupid dog,
" What-d'ye-call-um." These topics fail-
ing, and the oysters discussed, then are
stated and considered the advantages of
taking something "to keep 'em down ;'' the
comparative merits of Burton, Wind-
sor, or Edinburgh ale; the qualities of
porter ; the wholesomeness of smoking ;
the difference between a pipe and a segar,
and the preference of one to the other ;
whether brandy or rum, or the clear spi-
rit of juniper, is the best preservative of
health ; which of the company or their
friends can drink most; whether the last
fight was " a cross," and who of all the men
in the fancy is most "game ;" whether the
magistrates dare to interfere with " the
ring ;" whether if fighting should be " put
an end to" Englishmen will have half

the courage
years ago
isted ;

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 12.

they had three hundred
before prize fighting ex-
whether Thurtell was not

sitters after the play, till they adjourn to
" spend the evening" at the " flash-and-
foolish" houses which " keep it up" all

good one" to the last, and whether there's night in the peculiar neighbourhood of

a better " trump" in the room. On these the public office, Bow-street. This is

points, or to points like these, the con- more than mere animal gratification, as

versation of an oyster room is turned by the police reports exemplify.

Capital oysters, I declare !
Excellent spruce, and ginger beer !
Don't you take vinegar ? there's the bread
We'll just have a pipe and then to bed.

Why should not this be deemed a real
scene, and as respectable as that just de-
scribed. It is quite as lively and as in-
tellectual. The monkey eats, and accord-
ing to many accounts can catch fish as
well as man. It is told of this animal,
that from love of the crab and experience
of his claws, he gently shakes his tail be-
fore the hole of the crab, who, as soon as
he begins to *' pull him by his long tail,"

is drawn out by that dependancy and falls
a prey to his decoyer. It is related that a
party of officers belonging to the 25th
regiment of infantry, on service at Gibral-
tar, amused themselves with whiting fish-
ing at the back of the rock till they were
obliged to shift their ground from being
pelted from above, they did not know
by whom. At their new station they
caught plenty of fish, but the drum having

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 13.

unexpectedly beat to arms, they rowed
hastily ashore, and drew their boat high
and dry upon the beach. On their re-
turn they were greatly surprised to find it
in a different position ashore, and some
hooks baited which they had left bare. In
the end it was ascertained that their pelt-
ers while they were fishing were a party
of young monkeys. They were driven off
by two or three old ones who remained se-
cretly observing the whiting fishing of the
officers till they had retired. The old mon-
keys then launched the boat, put to sea,
baited their hooks, and proceeded to work
The few fish they caught,they hauled up with
infinite gratification, and when tired they
landed, placed the boat as nearly as they
could in its old position, and went up the
rock with their prey. General Elliot,
while commander at Gibraltar, never
suffered the monkeys with which the rock
abounds to be molested or taken.

The faculty of imitation in monkeys is
limited, but not so in man ; a remark-
able instance of this is lately adduced
in a pleasant little story of perhaps the
greatest performer on our stage.

Garrick.

At a splendid dinner-party at lord

's they suddenly missed Garrick, and

could not imagine what was become of
him, till they were drawn to the window
by the convulsive screams and peals of
laughter of a young negro boy, who was
rolling on the ground in an ecstasy of de-
light to see Garrick mimicking a turkey-
cock in the court yard, with his coat-tail
stuck out behind, and in a seeming flutter
of feathered rage and pride. Of our party
only two persons present had seen the
British Roscius ; and they seemed as will-
ing as the rest to renew their acquaint-
ance with their old favourite. This anec-
dote is new : it is related by the able
writer of a paper concerning " Persons
one would wish to have seen,"* as an in-
stance of Garrick's singleness of purpose
when he was fully possessed by an idea.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 34 45.

13.

1826, Hilary Cambridge Term begins.
St. VERONICA.

Some curious circumstances are con-
nected with the name of this saint, who
appears to have been a poor ignorant
girl, born near Milan, where she worked
in the fields for her living. Conceiving a
desire to become a nun, she sat up at
night to learn to read and write, which,
her biographer says, for want of an in-
structor, was a great fatigue to her. He
proceeds to tell us, that she was relieved
from labour of that kind in the following
manner: " One day, being in great
anxiety about her learning, the mother of
God, in a comfortable vision, bade her
banish that anxiety, for it was enough if
she knew three letters." So Veronica
became a nun, seeking " the greatest
drudgery," desiring " to live always on
bread and water," and dying " at the
hour which she had foretold, in the year
1497, and the fifty-second of her age.
Her sanctity was confirmed by miracles."
We gather this from Alban Butler, who
subjoins, by way of note, thus :

" The print of the holy face of our
Saviour on a linen cloth is kept in St.
Peter's church at Rome, with singular
veneration. Some private writers and
churches have given the name of St.
Veronica to the devout woman who is
said to have presented this linen to our
divine Redeemer, but without sufficient
warrant."

Before saying any thing concerning the
earlier St. Veronica, or " this linen "
whereon Romish writers allege Christ
impressed his own portrait by wiping his
face with it, mention may be made of
another portrait of him which Romish
writers affirm he miraculously executed
in the same manner, and sent to Abgarus,
king of Edessa, in the way hereafter
related. They have further been so care-
ful as to publish a print of this pretended
portrait, with representations around il-
lustrating the history they tell of it. An
engraving from it immediately follows.
The Latin inscription beneath their print
is placed beneath the present engraving

* In the New Monthly Magazine, Jan. 1826.

THE EVERY-D/VY BOOK. JANUARY 13.

Cftrfeti Bomfnf.

Ex ipsomet Divino Exemplari AD ABGARUM missa Genuas in Ecelesia S'. 1 Bartolomcei
Clericorum Reg. S 1 . 1 Pauli Summa Veneratione asservato

amiratfe&tme

No circumstance is more remarkable
than the existence of this pretended re-
semblance, as an object of veneration in
the Romish church. Being one of the
greatest curiosities in its numerous cabi-
nets of relics, it has a place in this work,
which, while it records manners and cus-
toms, endeavours to point out their origin,

and the means by which they have been
continued. Nor let it be imagined that
these representations have not influenced
our own country ; there is evidence to the
contrary already, and more can be adduced
if need require, which will incontestably
prove that many of our present popular
customs are derived from such sources.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 14.

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature . . . 35 27.

Sanuarg 14.

1826. Oxford Hilary Term begins.

SAILORS.

Mariners form a distinct community,
with peculiar manners, little known to
their inland fellow countrymen, except
through books. In this way Smollett has
done much, and from Mr. Leigh Hunt's
* Indicator," which may not be in every
one's hands, though it ought to be, is ex-
tracted the following excellent descrip-
tion:

SEAMEN ON SHORE.

And tirst of the common sailor. The
moment the common sailor lands, he goes
tc see the watchmaker, or the old boy at
the Ship. His first object is to spend his
money : but his first sensation is the
strange firmness of the earth, which he
goes treading in a sort of heavy light way,
half waggoner and half dancing master,
his shoulders rolling, and his feet touching
and going; the same way, in short, in
which he keeps himself prepared for all
the rolling chances of the vessel, when on
deck. There is always, to us, this ap-
pearance of lightness of foot and heavy
strength of upper works, in a sailor. And
he feels it himself. He lets his jacket fly
open, and his shoulders slouch, and his
hair grow long to be gathered into a
heavy pigtail ; but when full dressed, he
prides himself on a certain gentility of
toe ; on a white stocking and a natty
shoe, issuing lightly out of the flowing
blue trowser. His arms are neutral,
hanging and swinging in a curve aloof;
his hands, half open, look as if they had
just been handling ropes, and had no
object in life but to handle them again.
He is proud of appearing in a new hat
and slops, with a belcher handkerchief
flowing loosely round his neck, and the
corner of another out of his pocket. Thus
equipped, with pinchbeck buckles in his
shoes (which he bought for gold) he puts
some tobacco in hi* mouth, not as if he
v/ere going to use it directly, but as if he
stuffed it in a pouch on one side, as a
pelican does fish, to employ it hereafter :
and so, with Bet Monson at his side, and
No. 55.

perhaps a cane or whanghee twisted
under his other arm, sallies forth to take
possession of all Lubberland. He buys
every thing that he comes athwart, nuts,
gingerbread, apples, shoe-strings, beeu
brandy, gin, buckles, knives, a watch,
(two, if he has money enough,) gowns
and handkerchiefs for Bet, and^his mother
and sisters, dozens of " superfine best
men's cotton stockings," dozens of " su-
perfine best women's cotton ditto," best
good check for shirts (though he has too
much already), infinite needles and thread
(to sew his trowsers with some day), a
footman's laced hat, bear's grease to make
his hair grow (by way of joke), several
sticks, all sorts of jew articles, a flute
(which he can't play and never intends),
a leg of mutton which he carries some-
where to roast, and for a piece of which
the landlord of the Ship makes him pay
twice what he gave for the whole ; in
short, all that money can be spent upon,
which is every thing but medicine gratis ;
and this he would insist on paying for.
He would buy all the painted parrots on
an Italian's head, on purpose to break
them, rather than not spend his money.
He has fiddles and a dance at the Ship,
with oceans of flip and grog ; and gives
the blind fiddler tobacco for sweetmeats,
and half a crown for treading on his toe.
He asks the landlady with a sigh, after
her daughter Nance who first fired his
heart with her silk stockings ; and finding
that she is married and in trouble, leaves
five crowns for her; which the old lady
appropriates as part payment for a shil-
ling in advance.* He goes to the port
playhouse with Bet Monson, and a great
red handkerchief full of apples, ginger-
bread nuts, and fresh beef; calls out for
the fiddlers and Rule Britannia; pelts
Tom Sikes in the pit ; and compares
Othello to the black ship's cook in his
white night-cap. When he comes to
London, he and some messmates take a
hackney-coach, full of Bet Monsons and
tobacco pipes, and go through the streets
smoking and lolling out of window. He
has ever been cautious of venturing on
horseback ; and among his other sights in
foreign parts, relates with unfeigned as-
tonishment how he has seen the Turks
ride, " Only," says he, guarding against
the hearer's incredulity, " they have sad-
dle-boxes to hold 'em in, fore and aft ;
and shovels like for stirrups." He will
tell you how the Chinese drink, and the
NEGURS dance, and the monkies pelt you

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 4

with cocoa-nuts; and how king Domv
would have built him a mud hut and
made him a peer of the realm, if he would
have stopped with him and taught him to
make trowsers. He has a sister at a
" school for young ladies," who blushes
with a mixture of pleasure and shame at
his appearance; and whose confusion he
completes, by slipping fourpence into her
hand, and saying out loud that he has " no
more copper" about him. His mother
and elder sisters at home doat on all he
says and does, telling him however that
he is a great sea-fellow, and was always
wild ever since he was a hop-o'-my-thumb
no higher than the window-locker. He
tells his mother she would be a duchess
in Paranaboo; at which the good old
portly dame laughs and looks proud.
When his sisters complain of his romping,
he says that they are only sorry it is not
the baker. He frightens them with a
mask made after the New Zealand fashion,
and is forgiven for his learning. . Their
mantle-piece is filled by him with shells
and shark's teeth ; and when he goes to sea
again, there is no end of tears, and God'
bless you, and home-made gingerbread.

His officer on shore does much of all
this, only, generally speaking, in a higher
taste. The moment he lands he buys
quantities of jewellery and other valu-
ables, for all the females of his acquaint-
ance ; and is taken in for every article.
He sends in a cart load of fresh meat to
the ship, though he is going to town next
day ; and calling in at a chandler's for
some candles, is persuaded to buy a
dozen of green wax, with which he lights
up the ship at evening ; regretting that
the fine moonlight hinders the effect of
the colour. A man, with a bundle be-
neath his arm, accosts him in an under-
tone ; and, with a look in which respect
for his knowledge is mixed with an
avowed zeal for his own interest, asks if
his honour will just step under the gang-
way here, and inspect some real India
shawls. The gallant lieutenant says to
himself, " this fellow knows what's what
by his face ;" and so he proves it by being
taken in on the spot. When he brings
the shawls home, he says to his sister
with an air of triumph, " there Poll,
there's something for you ; only cost me
twelve, and is worth twenty, if it's worth
a dollar." She turns pale " Twenty
what, my dear George ? Why, you
haven't given twelve dollars for it, I
hope 1" " Not I, by the Lord."" That's

lucky ; because you see, my dear George,
that all together is not worth more thau
fourteen or fifteen shillings." " Fourteen
or fifteen what ! Why, it's real India, en't
it ? Why the fellow told me so ; or I'm
sure I'd as soon'' (here he tries to hide
his blushes with a bluster) " I'd as soon
have given him twelve douses en the
chaps as twelve guineas." " Twelve
GUINEAS," exclaims the sister; and then
drawling forth " Why my DEAR
George," is proceeding to show him what
the articles would have cost him at Con-
dell's, when he interrupts her by request-
ing her to go and choose for herself a tea-
table service. He then makes his escape
to some messmates at a coffee-house, and
drowns his recollection of the shawls in
the best wine, and a discussion on the
comparative merits of the English and
West Indian beauties and tables. At the
theatre afterwards, where he has never
been before, he takes a lady at the back
of one of the boxes for a woman of qua-
lity: and when after returning his long
respectful gaze with a smile, she turns
aside and puts her handkerchief to her
mouth, he thinks it is in derision, till
his friend undeceives him. He is intro-
duced to the lady ; and ever afterwards,
at first sight of a woman of quality (with-
out any disparagement either to those
charming personages), expects her to give
him a smile. He thinks the other ladies
much better creatures than they are taken
for ; and for their parts, they tell him, that
if all men were like himself, they would
trust the sex again : which, for aught we
know, is the truth. He has, indeed, what
he thinks a very liberal opinion of ladies
in general ; judging them all, in a manner,
with the eye of a seaman's experience.
Yet he will believe nevertheless in the
" true-love" of any given damsel whom
he seeks in the way of marriage, let him
roam as much, or remain as long at a
distance as he pleases. It is not that he
wants feeling; but that he has read of it,
time out of mind, in songs ; and he
looks upon constancy as a sort of exploit,
answering to those which he performs at
sea. He is nice in his watches and linen.
He makes you presents of cornelians, an-
tique seals, cocoa-nuts set in silver, and
other valuables. When he shakes hands
with you, it is like being caught in a
windlass. He would not swagger about
the streets in his uniform, for the world.
He is generally modest in company,
though liable to be irritated by what he

THE EVERY- DAY BOOK. JANUARY 15.

thinks un gentlemanly behaviour. He is
also liable to be rendered irritable by
sickness ; partly because he has been
used to command others, and to be served
with all possible deference and alacrity ;
and partly, because the idea of suffering
pain, without any honour or profit to get
by it, is unprofessional, and he is not
accustomed to it. He treats talents un-
like his own with great respect. He often
perceives his own so little felt that it
teaches him this feeling for that of others.
Besides, he admires the quantity of in-
formation which people can get, without
travelling like himself; especially when
he sees how interesting his own becomes,
to them as well as to every body else.
When he tells a story, particularly if full
of wonders, he takes care to maintain his
character for truth and simplicity, by qua-
lifying it with all possible reservations,
concessions, and anticipations of objec-
tion ; such as " in case, at such times as,
so to speak, as it were, at least, at any
rate." He seldom uses sea-terms but
when jocosely provoked by something
contrary to his habits of life ; as for in-
stance, if he is always meeting you on
horseback, he asks if you never mean to
walk the deck again ; or if he finds you
studying day after day, he says you are
always overhauling your log-book. He
makes more new acquaintances, and for-
gets his old ones less, than any other man
in the busy world ; for he is so compelled
to make his home every where, remem-
bers his native one as such a place of
enjoyment, has all his friendly recollec-
tions so fixed upon his mind at sea, and
has so much to tell and to hear when he
returns, that change and separation lose
with him the most heartless part of their
nature. He also sees such a variety of
customs and manners, that he becomes
charitable in his opinions altogether ; and
charity, while it diffuses the affections,
cannot let the old ones go. Half the se-
cret of human intercourse is to make al-
lowance for each other.

When the officer is superannuated or
retires, he becomes, if intelligent and in-
quiring, one of the most agreeable old
men in the world, equally welcome to the
silent for his card-playing, and to the
conversational for his recollections. He
is fond of astronomy and books of voy-
ages ; and is immortal with all who know
him, for having been round the world, or
seen the Transit of Venus, or had one of
his finger? carried off by a New Zealand

hatchet, or a present of feathers from an
Otaheitean beauty. If not elevated by
his acquirements above some of his hum-
bler tastes, he delights in a corner-cup-
board holding his cocoa-nuts and punch-
bowl; has his summer-house castellated
and planted with wooden cannon; and
sets up the figure of his old ship, the Bri-
tannia or the Lovely Nancy, for a statue
in the garden ; where it stares eternally
with red cheeks and round black eyes, as
if in astonishment at its situation.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 36 20.

Sfanuarp 15.

Changes of Climate.

An opinion has been long entertained,
that there are vicissitudes in the climate and
temperature of the air unknown to former
times, and that such variations exist in
America as well as in Europe. It is said
that the transatlantic changes have been
more frequent, and the heat of the sun
not so early or so strongly experienced
as formerly. In America, these altera-
tions are attributed to a more obvious
cause than uncertain hypothesis, and at
not many degrees distance. For instance,
the ice in the great river St. Lawrence, at
Quebec, did not break up till the first
week in May, 1817, when it floated down
the stream in huge masses, and in vast
quantities; these, with other masses from
the coast of Labrador, &c. spread a
general coldness many degrees to the
southward. But a few weeks before the
snow fell in some parts of New England,
and New York, to a considerable depth,
and there were severe frosts. The vessels
from England and Ireland, which arrived
at Quebec, all concurred in their accounts
of the dangers which they encountered,
and the cold which they suffered. In
fine, it would appear that the ice in those
regions had accumulated to so alarming a
degree, as to threaten a material change
in all the adjacent countries, and to verify
the theory of some who imagined that the
extreme cold of the north was gradually
making encroachments upon the extreme
heat of the south. They have remarked,
in confirmation of their opinions, that the
accounts of travellers and navigators,
furnish strong reasons for supposing that
the islands of ice in the higher northern
latitudes, as well as the glaciers on the

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 15.

Alps, continue perpetually to increase in
bulk. At certain times, in the ice moun-
tains of Switzerland, there occur fissures,
which show the immense thickness of the
frozen matter ; some of these cracks have
measured three or four hundred ells deep.
The great islands of ice, in the northern
seas bordering upon Hudson's Bay, have
been observed to be immersed one

Reasonings of this kind are supported
by the greatest names, and countenanced
by the authentic reports of the best in-
formed travellers. Mr. Bradley attribute?
the cold winds and wet weather, which
sometimes happen in May and June, to
the solution of ice islands accidentally
detached and floating from the north.
Mr. Barham, about the year 1718, in his

hundred fathoms beneath the surface of voyage from Jamaica to England, in the

the sea, and to have risen a fifth or sixth
part above the surface, measuring, at the
same time, about a mile and a half in
diameter. It has been shown by Dr.
Lyster, that the marine ice contains some
salt, and less air, than common ice, and

beginning of June, met with some of
those islands, which were involved in such
a fog that the ship was in danger of strik-
ing against them. One of them measur-
ed sixty miles in length.

On the 22d of December, 1789, there

that it therefore is more difficult of solu-.. was an instance of ice islands having been
tion. From these premises, he endea- wafted from the southern polar regions,
vours to account for the perpetual aug- It was on these islands that the Guardian
mentation of those floating islands. By a struck, at the commencement of her
celebrated experiment of Mr. Boyle, it passage from the Cape of Good Hope
has been demonstrated that ice evaporates towards Botany Bay. These islands

were wrapt in darkness, about one hun-
dred and fifty fathoms long, and above
fifty fathoms above the surface of the
waves. In the process of solution, a
fragment from the summit of one of them

very fast, in severe frosty weather, when
the wind blows upon it ; and as ice, in a
thawing state, is known to contain six
times more cold than water, at the same
degree of sensible coldness, it is easy to
conceive that winds sweeping over islands
and continents of ice, perhaps much
below northing on Fahrenheit's scale, and
rushing thence into our latitudes, must

broke off, and plunging into the sea,
caused a tremendous commotion in the
water, and dense smoke all around it
These facts were strongly urged upon

bring most intense degrees of cold along public attention in the autumn of 1817,*
with them. If to this be added the as grounds of not only curious and inter-
quantity of cold produced by the evapo- esting, but likewise of highly important
ration of the water, as well as by the speculation. A supposed change in the
solution of ice, it can scarcely be doubted temper, and the very character of our
but that the arctic seas are the principal seasons, was deemed to have fallen within
source of the cold of our winters, and the observation of even young men, or at
that it is brought hither by the regions least middle-aged men ; and upon this
of the air blowing from the north, and supposition, it was not deemed extrava-
which take an apparently easterly direc- gant to anticipate the combined force of
tipn, by their coming to a part of the the naval world employed in navigating
surface of the earth, which moves faster the immense masses of ice into the more
than the latitude from which they origi- southern oceans ; while to render the
nate. Hence, the increase of the ice in notion more agreeable, and to enliven the
the polar regions, by increasing the cold minds of such as might think such matters
of our climate, adds', at the same time, to of speculation dull or uninteresting, the
the bulk of the glaciers of Italy and project was laid before them in a versified

garb, characterising the arctic region*

There in her azure coif, and starry stole,

Grey Twilight sits, and rules the slumbering pole ;

Bends the pale moon-beams round the sparkling coast,

And strews, with livid hands, eternal frost !

There, Nymphs ! alight, array your dazzling powers,

With sudden march alarm the torpid hours;

On ice-built isles expand a thousand sails,

Hinge the strong helm, and catch the frozen gales ;

The winged rocks to feverish climates guide,

Where fainting zephyrs pant upon the tide ;

Switzerland.

* See M. Chronicle, 4 Oct.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 16.

7-1

Pass where to Ceuta Calpe's thunder roars,
And answering echoes shake the kindred shores ;
Pass where with palmy plumes Canary smiles,
And in her silver girdle binds her isles ;
Onward, where Niger's dusky Naiad laves
A thousand kingdoms with prolific waves,
Or leads o'er golden sands her threefold train
In steamy channels to the fervid main,
While swarthy nations crowd the sultry coast,
Drink the fresh breeze, and hail the floating frost ;
Nymphs ! veil'd in mist, the melting treasures steer,
And cool with artic snows the tropic year.
So from the burning line, by monsoons driv'n,
Clouds sail in squadrons o'er the darken'd heav'n ,
Wide wastes of sand the gelid gales pervade,
And ocean cools beneath the moving shade.

Darwin.

NATUKALISTS . CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature ... 35 05.

Sanuarp 16.

110GMANY.

Mr. Reddock's paper on this subject,
at page 13. has elicited the following
fetter from a literary gentleman, concern-
mg a dramatic representation in England
similar to that which Mr. Reddock in-
stances at Falkirk, and other parts of
North Britain. Such communications are
particularly acceptable; because they show
to what extent usages prevail, and wherein
they differ in different parts of the coun-
try. Tt will be gratifying to every one
who peruses this work, and highly so to
the editor, if he is obliged by letters from
readers acquainted with customs in their
own vicinity, similar to those that
they are informed of in other counties,
and particularly if they will take the
trouble to describe them in every particu-
lar. By this means, the Every- Day Book
will become what it is designed to be
made, a storehouse of past and present
manners and customs. Any customs of
any place or season that have not already
appeared in the worK, are earnestly solicited
from those who have the means of fur-
nishing the information The only con-
dition stipulated for, as absolutely indis-
pensable to the insertion of a letter re-
specting facts of this nature, is, that the
name and address of the writer be com-
municated to the ediior, who will subjoin
such signature as the writer may choose
Ms letter should bear to the eye of the
public. The various valuable articles of

this kind which have hitherto appeared in
the work, however signed by initials or
otherwise, have been so authenticated to
the editor's private satisfaction, and he
is thus enabled to vouch for the genuine-
ness of such contributions.

To the Editor of the Everyday Book.

Sir,

In your last number appeared a very
amusing article touching some usages and
customs in Scotland, and communicated
from Falkirk. In the description of the
boys' play, ingeniously suggested as
typical of the Roman invasion under
Agricola, we, however, read but a varied
edition of what is enacted in other parts
besides Scotland, and more particularly
in the western counties, by those troops
of old Father Christmas boys, which
are indeed brief chronicles of the times.
I mean, those paper-decorated, brick-
dust-daubed urchins, 'yclept Mummers.

To be sure they do not begin,
" Here conies in the king of Macedon ;"
but we have instead,

" Here comes old Father Christmas,
Christmas or Christmas not,
I hope old Father Christmas never will be
forgot."

And then for the Scottish leader Galgacus,

we find,

" Here comes in St. George, St. George

That man of mighty name,

With sword and buckler by my side

1 hope to tvin the game."

These *' western kernes " have it, you see,
Mr. Editor, " down along," to use their
own dialect, with those of the thistle.
Then, too, we havi a fight. Oh ! how

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 16.

beautiful to my boyish eyes were their
wooden swords and their bullying gait !
then we have a fight, for lo

" Here's come I, the Turkish knight,
Come from the Sol dan's land to fight,
And be the foe's blood hot and bold
With my sword I'll make it cold."

A vile Saracenic pun in the very minute
of deadly strife. But they fight the
cross is victorious, the crescent o'erthrown,
and, as a matter of course, even in our
pieces of mock valour, duels we have
therein the doctor is sent for ; and he is
addressed, paralleling again our players of
" Scotia's wild domain," with

'* Doctor, doctor, can you tell
What will make a sick man well ?"

and thereupon he enumerates cures which
would have puzzled Galen, and put Hip-
pocrates to a " non-plus ;" and he finally
agrees, as in the more classical drama of
your correspondent, to cure our unbeliever
for a certain sum.

The " last scene of all that ends this
strange eventful history'' consists in the
entrance of the most diminutive of these
Thespians, bearing, as did .ZEneas of old,
his parent upon his shoulders, and reciting
this bit of good truth and joculation (per-
mitting the word) by way of epilogue :

*' Here comes I, little Johnny Jack,
With my wife and family at my back,
Yet, though my body is but small,
I'm the greatest rogue amongst ye all ;
This is my scrip so for Christmas cheer
If you've any thing to give throw it in here*"

This may be but an uninteresting tail-
piece to your correspondent's clever com-
munication, but still it is one, and makes
the picture he so well began of certain
usages more full of point.

I doat upon old customs, and I love
hearty commemorations, and hence those
mimics of whom I have written I mean
the mummers are my delight, and in the
laughter and merriment they create I for-
get to be a critic, and cannot choose but
laugh in the fashion of a Democritus,
rather than weep worlds away in the style
of a Diogenes.

I am, &c. &c.

J. S. jun.

Little Chelsea,
Jan. 4, 1826.

In the preface to Mr. Davies Gilbert's
work on "Ancient Christmas Carols,"
there is an account of Cornish sports,

with a description of a " metrical play, v
which seems to be the same with which
is the subject of the preceding letter.

Being on the popular drama, and as
the topic arose in Mr. Reddock's commu-
nication from Scotland, a whimsical dra-
matic anecdote, with another of like kin
from that part of the kingdom, is here sub-
joined from a Scottish journal of this
month in the year 1823.

New Readings of Burns.

We were lately favoured with the peru-
sal of a Perth play -bill, in which Tarn
O'Shanter, dramatized, is announced for
performance as the afterpiece. A ludi-
crous mistake has occurred, however, in
the classification of the Dramatis Per-
sonce. The sapient playwright, it would
appear, in reading the lines

" Tarn had got planted unco richt,

Fast by an ingle bleezin* finely,

Wi' reaman' swats that drank divinely,"

very naturally conceiving ream an' swats,
from the delectable style of their carous-
ing, to be a brace of Tarn's pot compa-
nions, actually introduced them as such,
as we find in the bill that the characters
of " Ream" and " Swats" are to be per-
sonated by two of the performers !

This reminds us of an anecdote, con-
nected with the same subject, which had
its origin nearer home. Some time ago
we chanced to be in the shop of an elderly
bookseller, when the conversation turned
upon the identity of the characters intro-
duced by Burns in his Tarn O'Shanter.
The bibliopole, who had spent the early
part of his life in this neighbourhood, as-
sured us that, " exceptin' Kerr, he kent
every body to leuk at that was mention-
ed, frae Tarn himsel' doun to his mare
Maggie." This being the first time we
had ever heard Mr. Kerr's cognomen al-
luded to, in connection with Tarn O'Shan-
ter, we expressed considerable surprise,
and stated that he undoubtedly must have
made a mistake in the name. "It may
be sae, but its a point easily sattled," said
he, raxing down a copy of Burns from
the shelf. With " spectacles on nose,"
he turned up the poem in question. "Ay,
ay," said he, in an exulting tone, " I
thocht I was na that far wrang

" Care mad to see a man sae happy,
E'n drowned himself amang the happy."

Now, I kent twa or three o' the Kerr's

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 17.

that leev't in the town-head, but I never
could fin' out whilk o' them Burns had in
his e'e when he wrote the poem."*

To Thespian ingenuity we are under
an obligation for an invention of great
simplicity, which may be useful on many
occasions, particularly to literary persons
who are too far removed from the press
to avail themselves of its advantages in
printing short articles for limited distribu-
tion.

A Dramatic Printing Apparatus.
Itinerant companies of co edians fre-
quently print their play-bills by the fol-
lowing contrivance : The form of letter is
placed on a flat support, having ledges at
each side, that rise within about a thir-
teenth of an inch of the inked surface of
the letter. The damped paper is laid
upon the letter so disposed, and previously
inked, and a roller, covered with woollen
cloth, is passed along the ledges over its
surface ; the use of the ledges is to pre-
vent the roller from rising in too obtuse
an angle against the first letters, or going
off too abruptly from the last, which would
cause the paper to be cut, and the im-
pression to be injured at the beginning
and end of the sheet. The roller must
be passed across the page, for if it moves
in the order of the lines, the paper will
bag a little between each, and the impres-
sion will be less neat.^-

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 35 * 65.

Sfanuarp 17.

Snow, fyc.

On the 16th and 17th of January, 1809,
Mr. Howard observed, that the snow ex-
hibited the beautiful blue and pink shades
at sunset which are sometimes observ-
able, and that there was a strong evapora-
tion from its surface. A circular area, of
five inches diameter, lost 150 grains troy,
from sunset on the 15th to sunrise next
morning, and about 50 grains more by the
following sunset; the gauge being exposed
to a smart breeze on the house top. The
curious reader may hence compute for
himself, the enormous quantity raised in
those 24 hours, without any visible lique-

* Ayr Courier.

f Dr. Aikin's Athenaeum.

faction, from an acre of snow : the effects
of the load thus given to the air were soon
perceptible. On the 17th, a small bril-
liant meteor descended on the S. E.
horizon about 6 p. m. On the 18th,
though the moon was still conspicuous,
the horns of the crescent were obtuse.
On the 1 9th appeared the Cirrus cloud,
followed by the Cirrostratus. In the
afternoon a freezing shower from the east-
ward glazed the windows, encrusted the
walls, and encased the trees, the garments
of passengers, and the very plumage of
(he birds with ice. Birds thus disabled
were seen lying on the ground in great
numbers in different parts of the country.
Nineteen rooks were taken up alive by
one person at Castle Eaton Meadow,
Wilts. The composition of this frozen
shower, examined on a sheet of paper,
was no less curious than these effects. It
consisted of hollow spherules of ice, filled
with water ; of transparent globules ol
hail ; and of drops of water at the point
of freezing, which became solid on touch-
ing the bodies they fell on. The ther-
mometer exposed from the window indi-
cated 30,5. This was at Plaistow. The
shower was followed by a moderate fall
of snow. From this time to the 24th,
there were variable winds and frequent
falls of snow, which came down on the
22d in flakes as large as dollars, with
sleet at intervals. On the 24th a steady
rain from W. decided for a thaw. This
and the following night proved stormy :
the melted snow and rain, making about
two inches depth of water on the level,
descended suddenly by the rivers, and the
country was inundated to a greater extent
than in the year 1795. The River Lea
continued rising the whole of the 26th,
remained stationary during the 27th, and
returned into its bed in the course of the
two following days. The various chan
nels by which it intersects this part of the
country were united in one current, above
a mile in width, which flowed with great
impetuosity, and did much damage. From
breaches in the banks and mounds, the
different levels, as they are termed, of
embanked pasture land, were filled to the
depth of eight or nine feet. The cattle,
by great exertions, were preserved, being
mostly in the stall ; and the inhabitants,
driven to their upper rooms, were relieved
by boats plying under the windows. The
Thames was so full during this time, that
no tide was perceptible; happily, how-
ever, its bank suffered no injury; and the

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 17.

recession of the water from the levels pro-
ceeded with little interruption till the 23d
of February, when it nearly all subsided.
No lives were lost in these parts ; but
several circumstances concurred to render
this inundation less mischievous than it
might have been, from the great depth o.
snow on the country. It was the time of
neap tide ; the wind blew strongly from
the ivestward, urging the water down the
Thames ; while moonlight nights, and a
temperate atmosphere, were favourable to
the poor, whose habitations were filled
with water. On the 28th appeared a
lunar halo of the largest diameter. On
the 29th, after a fine morning, the wind
began to blow hard from the south, and
during the whole night of the 30th it raged
with excessive violence from the west,
doing considerable damage. The baro-
meter rose, during this hurricane, one-
tenth of an inch per hour. The remainder
of the noon was stormy and wet, and it

closed with squally weather ; which, with
the frequent appearance of the rainbow,
indicated the approach of a drier atmo-
sphere, a change on few occasions within
Mr. Howard's recollection more desirable.
Numerous inundations, consequent on
the thaw of the 24th, appear to have pre-
vailed in low and level districts all along
the east side of the island : but in no
part with more serious destruction of pro-
perty, public works, and the hopes of the
husbandman, than in the fens of Cam-
bridgeshire : where, by some accounts.
60,000, by others above 150,000 acres of
land, were laid under deep water, through
an extent of 15 miles. It is a fact worth
preserving, that about 500 sacks filled
with earth, and laid on the banks of the
Old Bedford river, at various places,
where the waters were then flowing over,
proved effectual in saving that part of the
country from a general deluge.

It's a custom at Highgate, that all who go through,
Must be sworn on the horns, sir ! and so, sir, must you !
Bring the horns ! shut the door ! now, sir, take off your hat !-
When you come here again, don't forget to mind that !

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 17.

" Have you been sworn at Highgate ?"
is a question frequently asked in every
r>art of the kingdom ; for, that such a cus-
tom exists in this village is known far and
near, though many who inquire, and are
asked, remain ignorant of the ceremony.
As the practice is declining, diligence has
been exercised to procure information on
the spot, and from every probable source,
concerning this remarkable usage.

The village of Highgate take its name
from the gate across the public road into
London, opposite the chapel, which is
sometimes erroneously called the church,
for it is, in fact, only a chapel of ease to
Hornsey church. This road runs through
land belonging to the bishopric of Lon-
don, and was made, by permission of the
bishop in former times, probably when the
whole of this spot, and. the circumjacent
country, was covered with wood, and part
of the great forest of Middlesex, which,
according to Matthew Paris, was infested
by wolves, stags, boars, and other wild
beasts, besides robbers. This gate, from
being on the great northern eminence to-
wards London, was called the A/j^A-gate ;
as the land became cleared of wood, houses
arose near the spot, and hence the village
now called Highgate. It seems probable,
that the first dwelling erected here was
the gate-house. The occupier of the inn
of that name holds it under a lease from
the bishop, under which lease he also
farms the bishop's toll. In the year 1 769
the old gate-house, which extended over
the road, was taken down, and the present
common turnpike-gate put up. So much,
then, concerning Highgate, as introduc-
tory to the custom about to he related.

" Swearing on the horns," which now
is " a custom more honoured in the breach
than in the observance," prevailed at
Highgate as a continual popular amuse-
ment and private annoyance. An old and
respectable inhabitant of the village says,
that sixty years ago upwards of eighty
stages stopped every day at the Red Lion,
and that out of every five passengers three
were sworn. It is a jocular usage of the
place, from beyond the memory of man,
especially encouraged by certain of the
villagers, to the private advantage of pub-
lic landlords. On the drawing up of
coaches at the inn-doors, particular invi-
tations were given to the company to
alight, and after as many as could be col-
lected were got into a room for purposes of
refreshment, the subject of being " sworn
at Highgate" was introduced, and while

a little artifice easily detected who had
not taken the oath, some perhaps express-
ed a wish to submit to the ceremony. It
often happened however, that before these
facts could be ascertained "the horns"
were brought in by the landlord, and as
soon as they appeared, enough were usually
present to enforce compliance. "The
horns," fixed on a pole of about five feet
in height, were erected, by placing the
pole upright on the ground, near the
person to be sworn, who was required
to take off his hat, and all present having
done the same, the landlord then, in a loud
voice, swore in, the " party proponent."
What is called the oath is traditional, and
varies verbally in a small degree. It has
been taken down in writing from the lips
of different persons who administer it, and
after a careful collation of the different
versions the following may be depended on
as correct. The landlord, or the person
appointed by him to "swear in," pro-
claims a'oud

" Upstanding and uncovered ! Si-
lence !" Then he addresses himself to
the person he swears in, thus :

" TAKE NOTICE what I now say unto
you, for that is the first word of your
oath mind that! You must acknow-
ledge me to be your adopted Father, I
must acknowledge you to be my adopted
son (or daughter.) If you do not call me
father you forfeit a bottle of wine, if I do
not call you son, I forfeit the same. And
now, my good son, if you are travelling
through this village of Highgate, and you
have no money in your pocket, go call for
a bottle of wine at any house you think
proper to go into, and book it to your fa-
ther's score. If you have any friends with
you, you may treat them as well, but if
you have money of your own, you must
pay for it yourself. For you must not
say you have no money when you have,
neither must you convey the money out
of your own pocket into your friends'
pockets, for I shall search you as well as
them, and if it is found that you or they
have money, you forfeit a bottle of wine'
for trying to cozen and cheat your poor
old ancient father. You must not eat
brown bread while you can get white, ex-
cept you like the brown the best ; you
must not drink small beer while you can
get strong, except you like the small the
best. You must not kiss the maid while you
can kiss the mistress, except you like the
maid the best, but sooner than lose a
good chance you may kiss them both.

THE L\ EUY-DAY EOOK.-JANUARY 17.

And now, my good son, fo: a word or two
of advice. Keep from all houses of ill
repute, and every place of public resort
for bad company, Beware of false
friends, for they will turn to be your foes,
and inveigle you into houses where you
may lose your money and get no redress,
Keep from thieves of every denomination.
And now, my good son, I wish you a safe
journey through Highgate and this life.
I charge you, my good son, that if you
know any in this company who have not
taken this oath, you must cause them to
take it, or make each of them forfeit a
bottle of wine, for if you fail to do so you
wLl forfeit a bottle of wine yourself. So
now, my son, God bless you ! Kiss the
horns or a pretty girl if you see one here,
which you like best, and so be free of
Highgate !"

If a female be in the room she is usually
saluted, if not, the horns must be kissed :
the option was not allowed formerly. As
soon as the salutation is over the swearer-
in commands " silence V and then ad-
dressing himself to his new-made " son,"
he says, "I have now to acquaint you
with your privilege as a freeman of this
place. If at any time you are going
through Highgate and want to rest your-
self, and you see a pig lying in a ditch you
have liberty to kick her out and take her
place; but if you see three lying together
you must only kick out the middle one
and lie between the other two ! God
save the kgig !" This important privi-
Jege of the freemen of Highgate was first
discovered by one Joyce a blacksmith,
who a few years ago kept the Coach and
Horses, and subjoined the agreeable in-
formation to those whom " he swore in."

When the situation of things and per-
sons seems to require it, the " bottle of
wine" is sometimes compounded for by a
modus of sundry glasses of " grog," and in
many cases a pot of porter.

There is one circumstance essential for
a freeman of Highgate to remember, and
" that is the first word of his oath, mind
that .'" If he fail to recollect that, he is
subject to be resworn from time to time,
and so often, until he remember that. He
is therefore never to forget the injunction
before he swears, to take notice what is
said, " for that is the first word of your
oath mind that /" Failure of memory
is deemed want of comprehension, which
is no plea in the high court of Highgate

" mind that /" That is, that that " that,"
is " that"

There is no other formality in the ad-
ministration or taking of this oath, than
what is already described ; and the only
other requisite for " a stranger in High"
gate" to be told, is, that now in the year
1826, there are nineteen licensed houses
in this village, and that at each of these
houses the " horns" are kept, and the oath
administered by the landlord or his
deputy.

To note the capabilities of each house,
their signs are here enumerated, with the
quality of horns possessed by each.

1. THE GATE-HOUSE is taken first in
order, as being best entitled to priority,
because it has the most respectable ac-
commodation in Highgate. Besides the
usual conveniences of stabling and beds,
it has a coffee-room, and private rooms
for parties, and a good assembly-room.
The horns there are Stag's.

2. Mitre, has Stag's horns.

3. Green Dragon, Stag's horns.

4. Red Lion and Sun, Bullock's horns.
The late husband of Mrs. Southo, the

present intelligent landlady of this house,
still lives in the recollection of many
inhabitants, as having been a most face-
tious swearer in.

5. Bell, Stag's horns. This house now
only known as the sign of the " Bell,"
was formerly called the " Bell and Horns."
About fifty years ago, it was kept by one
Anderson, who had his " horns" over his
door, to denote that persons were sworn
there as well as at the Gate-house.
Wright, the then landlord of the " Red
Lion and Sun," determined not to be
outrivalled, and hung out a pair of bul-
lock's horns so enormous in size, and
otherwise so conspicuous, as to eclipse
the " Bell and Horns ;" at last, all the
public houses in the village got " horns,"
and swore in. It is within recollection
that every house in Highgate had " the
horns" at the door as a permanent sign.

6. Coach and Horses, . Ram's horns.

7. Castle, Ram's horns.

8. Red Lion, .... Ram's horns.

9. Wrestler's, .... Stag's horns.

10. Bull, Stag's horns.

11. Lord Nelson, . . . Stag's horns.

12. Duke of Wellington, . Stag's horns.
This house is at the bottom of Highgate

Hill, towards Finchley, in the angle
formed by the intersection of the old road

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK.-- JANUARY 17.

over the hill, and the road through the
archway to Holloway. It therefore com-
mands the Highgate entrance into Lon-
don, and the landlord avails himself of
his " eminence" at the foot of the hill, by
proffering his " horns" to all who desire
to be free of Highgate.

13. Crown, . Stag's herns. This is
the first public house in Highgate coming
from Holloway. i

14. Duke's Head, . . Stag's horns.

15. Cooper's Arms, . . Ram's horns.

16. Rose and Crown, . Stag's horns.

17. Angel, .... .* Stag's horns.

18. Flask, Ram's horns.

This old house is now shut up. It is

at the top of Highgate Hill, close by the
pond, which was formed there by a hermit,
who caused gravel to be excavated for the
making of the road from Highgate to
Islington, through Holloway. Of this
labour old Fuller speaks, he calls it a
" t*,vo-handed charity, providing water on
the hill where it was wanting, and cleanli-
ness in the valley which before, especially
in winter, was passed with difficulty."

19. Fox and Crown . Ram's Horns.
This house, commonly called the " Fox v
and the " Fox under the Hill," is nearly
at the top of the road from Kentish Town
to Highgate, and though not the most
remarked perhaps, is certainly the most
remarkable house for " swearing on the
horns." Guiver, the present landlord,
(January 1826) came to the house about
Michaelmas 1824, and many called
upon him to be sworn in ; not having
practised he was unqualified to indulge
the requisitionists, and very soon finding,
that much of the custom of his house de-
pended on the "custom of Highgate," and
imagining that he had lost something by
his indifference to the usage, he boldly
determined to obtain " indemnity for the
past, and security for the future." There-
upon he procured habiliments, and an
assistant, and he is now an office-bearer
as regards the aforesaid "manner" of High-
gate, and exercises his faculties so as to
dignify the custom. Robed in a domino
with a wig and mask, and a book wherein
is written the oath, he recites it in this
costume as he reads it through a pair of
spectacles. The staff with " the horns" is
held by an old villager who acts as clerk,
and at every full stop, calls aloud,
" Amen !" This performance furnishes
the representation of the present engrav-
ing from a sketch by Mr. George Cruik-
shank. He has waggishly misrepresented

one of the figures, which not being tha
landlord, who is the most important cha-
racter, no way affects the general fidelity
of the scenes sometimes exhibited m the
parlour of the Fox and Crown.

It is not uncommon for females to be
"sworn at Highgate." On such occa-
sions the word " daughter" is substituted
for "son," and other suitable alterations
are made in the formality. Anciently there
was a register kept at the gate-house,
wherein persons enrolled their names
when sworn there, but the book unac-
countably disappeared many years ago. 1
Query. Is it in Mr. Upcott's collection of
autographs ?

There seems to be little doubt, that the
usage first obtained at the Gate-house ;
where, as well as in other public houses,
though not in all, at this time, deputies
are employed to swear in. An old inha-
bitant, who formerly kept a licensed
house, says, " In my time nobody came
to Highgate in any thing of a carriage,
without being called upon to be sworn in.
There was so much doing in this way at
one period, that I was obliged to hire a
man as a ' swearer-in :' I have sworn in
from a hundred to a hundred and twenty
in a day. Bodies of tailors used to come
up here from town, bringing five or six
new shopmates with them to be sworn ;
and I have repeatedly had parties of la-
dies and gentlemen in private carriages
come up purposely to be made free of
Highgate in the same way."

Officers of the guards and other regi-
ments repeatedly came to the Gate-house
and called for " the horns." Dinner parties
were formed there for the purpose of ini-
tiating strangers, and as pre-requisite for
admission to sundry convivial societies,
now no more, the freedom of Highgate
was indispensable.

Concerning the origin of this, custom,
there are two or three stories. One is,
that it was devised by a landlord, who had
lost his licence, as a means of covering
the sale of his liquors ; to this there seems
no ground of credit.

Another, and a probable account, is, to
this effect That Highgate being the place
nearest to London where cattle rested on
their way from the north for sale in Smith-
field, certain graziers were accustomed to
put up at the Gate-house for the night,
but as they could not wholly exclude

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 18.

stnmjers, who like themselves were tra-
velling on their business, they brought an
ox to the deer, and those who did not
choose to kiss its horns, after going
through the ceiemony described, were not
deemed fit members of their society.

It is imagined by some, because it is so
stated in a modern book or two as likely,
that the horns were adopted to swear
this whimsical oath upon, because it was
tendered at the parish ofHorns-ey, where-
in Highgate is situated.

The reader may choose either of these
origins ; he has before him all that can be
known upon the subject.

An anecdote related by Mrs. Southo of
the Red Lion and Sun, may, or may not,
be illustrative of this custom. She is a
native of Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire,
where her father kept the Griffin, and she
says, that when any fresh waggoner came
to that house with his team, a drinking
horn, holding about a pint, fixed on a
stand made of four rams' horns, was
brought out of the house, and elevated
above his head, and he was compelled to
pay a gallon of beer, and to drink out of
the horn. She never heard how the usage
originated ; it had been observed, and
the stand of rams' horns had been in the
nouse, from time immemorial.

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature ... 35 52.

18.

St. Priscian.
In the church of England calendar.

OLD TWELFTH DAY.

This is still observed in some parts of
England

Don Sebastian.

In default of holiday making by the
editor, who during the Christmas season
has been employed in finishing the
index es,which will be in the readers' hands
in tew days to enable them to complete
tl e "rst volume of this work, he has now
a>id then turned to his collections to re-
li n e the wearisomeness of his occupation,
ind finding the following anecdote in

The Times" of Dec. 1825, he subjoins

from his stores an illustration of the
curious fact it relates to. " It may be
mentioned," The Times says, " as a sin-
gular species of infatuation, that many
Portuguese residing in Brazil as well as
Portugal, still believe in the coming of
Sebastian, the romantic king, who was
killed in Africa about the year 1578, in a
pitched battle with the emperor Muley
Moluc. Some of these old visionaries
will go out, wrapped in their large cloaks,
on a windy night, to watch the move-
ments of the heavens, and frequently, if
an exhalation is seen flitting in the air,
resembling a falling star, they will cry
out, " there he comes !" Sales of horses
and other things are sometimes effected,
payable at the coming of king Sebastian.
It was this fact that induced Junot, when
asked what he would be able to do with
the Portuguese, to answer, what can I do
with a people who are still waiting for
the coming of the Messiah and king Se-
bastian ?"

This superstitious belief is mentioned
in a MS. Journal of a Residence at Lis-
bon in 1814, written by an individual
personally known to the editor, who ex-
tracts from the narrative as follows :

It is the daily practice at Lisbon for
the master of the family to cater for the
wants of his table himself. According to
ancient usage, he must either employ and
pay a porter to carry home his purchases
at market, or send a servant for them. A
certain doctor, well known to be a lover
of fish, and an enthusiastic expectant of
Don Sebastian, was watched several days
in the fish market by some knavish youths,
who contrived a trick upon him. One
morning, they observed him very intent
upon a fine large fish, yet disagreeing
with the fishmonger as to its price. One
of these knaves managed to inform the
man, if he would let the doctor have the
fish at his own price he would pay the
difference, and the fishmonger soon con-
cluded the bargain with the doctor. As
soon as he was gone, one of the party,
without the fishmonger's knowledge, in-
sinuated down the fish's throat a scroll of
parchment curiously packed, and shortly
afterwards, the doctor's servant arrived
for his master's purchase. On opening
the fish, in order to its being cooked, the
parchment deposit was found, and the
credulous man, to his astonishment and
delight, read as follows :

"Worthy and well-beloved Signor

, respected by the saints and now

THE EVKRY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 19.

revered by men. From our long observ-
ation of thine heart's integrity, and in
full knowledge of thy faith and firm be-
lief, thou art selected as the happy instru-
ment of our return ; but know, most
worthy Signer, the idea of a white
horse in clouds of air, is a mere fable
invented by weak men. It will be fai
otherwise, but be thou circumspect and
secret, and to thee these things will be
explained hereafter. Know, that by the
element of water, by which we make this
known, we shall return. Not far from
Fort St. Juliana is a spot thou knowest
well, a smooth declivity towards the sea ;
it is there we first shall touch the shore
of our loved Portugal to-morrow's night
at twelve. Be thou there alone, and
softly gliding on the water's surface a
small boat shall appear. Be silent and re-
main quiet on our appearance, for until we
can join our prayers with thine thou must
not speak ; load not thyself with coin, for
soon as dawn appears a troop of goodly
horse from Cintra's Road will rise upon
thy view. But be not destitute of where-
with to bear thine expense. All thy future
life shall be thy prince's care.

"SEBASTIAN."

The trick succeeded ; for the next day
the doctor left Lisbon as privately as pos-
sible, while his trepanners who had watch-
ed him quickly followed, two in a boat
hired for the purpose, and two on shore,
to make a signal. The boat arrived at
the appointed hour, and the doctor ex-
pected nothing less than the landing of
the long expected and well-beloved Sebas-
tian. It reached the shore, and by those
who stepped out and their confederates
concealed on the beach, the doctor was
eased of some doubloons he had with
him, received a cool dip in the water, and
was left on the beach to bewail his folly.
The story soon got wind, and now (in
1814) there are wags who, when they
observe the doctor coming, affect to see
something in the sky ; this hint con-
cerning Don Sebastian's appearance is
usually intimated beyond the reach of the
doctor's cane.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 36 12.

Sanuarp 19.

Feast of Lanthorns.

This is a festival with the Chinese on
the fifteenth day of the first month of their
year. It is so called from the great num-
ber of lanthorns hung out of the houses,
and in the streets ; insomuch that it ra-
ther appears a season of madness, than of
feasting. On this day are exposed lant-
horns of all prices, whereof some are said
to cost two thousand crowns. Some of
their grandees retrench somewhat every
dr.y out of their table, their dress, their
equipage, &c. to appear the more magni-
ficent in lanthorns. They are adorned with
gilding, sculpture, painting, japanning,
&c. and as to their size, it is extravagant ;
some are from twenty-five to thirty feet
diameter; they represent halls and cham-
bers. Two or three such machines toge-
ther would make handsome houses. In
lanthorns of these dimensions the Chinese
are able to eat, lodge, receive visits, have
balls, and act plays. The great multi-
tude of smaller lanthorns usually consist
of six faces or lights, each about four feet
high, and one and a half broad, framed
in wood finely gilt and adorned; over
these are stretched a fine transparent silk,
curiously painted with flowers, trees, and
sometimes human figures. The colours
are extremely bright; and when the
torches are lighted, they appear highly
beautiful and surprising.

'French Lark Shooting.

To the gentleman whose letter from
Abbeville, descriptive of " Wild fowl
shooting in France," is on p. 1575 of
vol. I., the editor is indebted for another
on " Lark shooting," which is successfully
practised there by a singular device un-
known to sportsmen in this country.*

* To his former letter J. J. H. are printed as
in'.tiaL by mistake, inctcad of J. H. H.

THE EVERY-DAY ROOK. JANUARY 19.

Boating m Jfrawe

As far-off islanders,

Innocent of trade, unskilled in commerce,
To whom a glass or toy unknown before
Is wonderful, give freely, flocks and fruits
To gain mere baubles ; so, these silly birds
Attracted by the glisten of the twirler,
Hover above the passing strange decoy,
Intent to gaze, and fall the gunnel's prey.

Abbeville.
Dear Sir,
If I do not send you your wished for

Partridge and quail shooting cease in
this delightful part of the world about the
middle of October, for by that time the

wood cuts I at least keep my promise of partridges are so very wild and wary that

letting you hear from me. I told you in
my last you should have something about

there is no getting near them. The rea-
son of this is, that our fields here are all

our krk-shooting, and so you shall, and open without either hedge or ditch, and

at this time too ; though I assure you
writing flying as I almost do, is by no
means so agreeable to me as snooting fly-
ing, which is the finest sport imaginable.
When I come home I will tell you all

when the corn and hemp are off, the stub-
ble is pulled up so close by the poor peo-
ple for fuel, that there is no cover for par-
tridges ; as to the quails, they are all
either " killed off," or take their depar-

about it, for the present I can only ac- ture for a wilder climate ; and then there

luaint you with enough to let

the secret of the enjoyment that

rou into
should

always find in France, if I had no other
attraction to the country. I must " level"
at once, for I have no time to spare, and
so " here goes," as the boy says.

is nothing left for the French gentry to
amuse themselves with but lark-shooting.
These birds are attracted to any given
spot in great numbers by a singular con-
trivance, called a miroir. This is a small
machine, made of a piece of mahogany,

THE EVEUY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 20.

shaped like a chapeau bras, and highly
polished ; or else it is made of common
wood, inlaid with small bits of looking
glass, so as to reflect the suns rays up-
wards. It is fixed on the top of a thin
iron rod, or upright spindle, dropped
through an iron loop or ring attached to
a piece of wood, to drive into the ground
as here represented.

By pulling a string fastened to the
spindle, the miroir twirls, and the reflect-
ed light unaccountably attracts the larks,
who hover over it, and become a mark for
the sportsman. In this way I have had
capital sport. A friend of mine actually
shot six dozen before breakfast. While he
sat on the ground he pulled the twirler
himself, and his dogs fetched the birds as
they dropped. However, I go on in the
common way, and employ a boy to work
the twirler. Ladies often partake in the
amusement on a cold dry morning, not by
shooting but by watching the sport. So
many as ten or a dozen parties are some-
times out together, firing at a distance of
about five hundred yards apart, and in
this way the larks are constantly kept on
the wing. The most favourable mornings
are when there is a gentle light frost, with
little or no wind, and a clear sky for
when there are clouds the larks will not
approach. One would think the birds
themselves enjoyed their destruction, for
the fascination of the twirler is so strong,
as to rob them of the usual " fruits of ex-
perience." After being fired at several
times they return to the twirler, and form
again into groupes above it. Some of
them even fly down and settle on the
ground, within a yard or two of the as-
tonishing instrument, looking at it "this

way and that way, and all ways together,"
as if nothing had happened.

Larks in France fetch from three to four
sous a piece. In winter, however, when
they are plentiful, they are seldom eaten,
because here they are always dressed with
the trail, like snipes and woodcocks ; but
for this mode of cooking they are not fit-
ted when the snow is on the ground,
because they are then driven to eat turnip-
tops, and other watery herbs, which com-
municate an unpleasant flavourto the trail.
Were you here at the season, to eat larks in
their perfection, and dressed as we dress
them, I think your praise of the cooking
would give me the laugh against you, if
you ever afterwards ventured to declaim
against the use of the gun, which, next to
my pencil, is my greatest hobby. I send
you a sketch of the sport, with the boy at
the twirler do what you like with it.

I rather think I did not tell you in my
last, that the decoy ducks, used in wild-
fowl shooting, are made of wood >any
stump near at hand is hacked out any
how for the body, while a small limb of
any tree is thrust into the stump for the
duck's neck, and one of the side branches
left short makes his head. These ducks
answer the purpose with their living pro-
totypes, who fly by moonlight, and have
not a perfect view, and don't stay for dis-
tinctions, like philosophers.

It will not be long before I'm off for
England, and then, &c.

I am, &c.

J. H. H.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 37*02.

Sfanuarp 20.

Fabian.
In the church of England calendar.*

DEDICATION.

The dedication of each day in the year,
by the Romish church, in honour of a
saint, which converts every day into a fes-
tival, is a fact pretty well known to the
readers of the Every-Day Book. It is
also generally known, that in certain al-
manacs every part of the human body is
distributed among the days throughout
the year, as subjects of diurnal influence ;
but it is not perhaps so well known, that

* See vol. i. p. 135.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK JANUARY 2i.

every joint of each finger on each hand
was appropriated to some saint. The
proof of this is supplied by two very old
prints, from engravings on wood, at the
British Museum. They are among a col-
lection of ancient wood cuts pasted in a
folio volume. It would occupy too much
room to give copies of these representa-
tions in fac-simile : the curiously inclined,
who have access to the Museum print-
room, may consult the originals ; general
readers may be satisfied with the follow,
ing description :

Right Hand.

The top joint of the thumb is dedicated
to GOD ; the second joint to the Virgin ;
the top joint of \heforefinger to Barna-
bas, the second joint to John, the third
to Paul; the top joint of the second fin-
ger to Simeon Cleophas, the second
joint to Tathideo, the third to Joseph ;
the top joint of the third finger to Zac-
cheus, the second to Stephen, the third to
Luke ; the top joint of the little finger
to Leatus, the second to Mark, the third
joint to Nicodemus.

Left Hand.

The top joint of the thumb is dedicated
to Christ, the second joint to the Virgin;
the top joint of the fore finger to St.
James, the second to St. John the evange-
list, the third to St. Peter ; the first joint
of the second finger to St. Simon, the se-
cond joint to St. Matthew, the third to St.
James the great; the top joint of the
third finger to St. Jude, the second joint
to St. Bartholomew, the third to St. An-
drew; the top joint of the little finger to
St. Matthias, the second joint to St. Tho-
mas, the third joint to St. Philip.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 36 . 92.

Sfanuarg 21.

St. Agnes.

In the church of England calendar.*
How to sleep well in cold weather.

Obtain a free circulation of the blood
by walking, or other wholesome exercise,
so as to procure a gentle glow over the
entire surface of the body. Hasten to
your chamber, undress yourself quickly,
and jump into bed without suffering
its temperature to be heightened by the

* See vol. i. p. 141.

machine called a -warming-pan. Your
bed will be warmed by your own heat,
and if you have not eaten a meat supper,
or drank spirits, you will sleep well and
warm all night. Calico sheets are adapted
to this season blankets perhaps are bet-
ter; but as they absorb perspiration they
should be washed before they come into

use with sheets in summer time.

Extraordinary sleeper.

Samuel Clinton, of Timbury, near Bath,
a labouring man, about twenty-five years
of age, had frequently slept, without inter-
mission, for several weeks. On the 13th
of May, 1694, he fell into a profound
sleep, out of which he could by no means
be roused by those about him ; but after
a month's time, he rose of himself, put on
his clothes, and went about his business
as usual. From that time to the 9th of
April following he remained free from
any extraordinary drowsiness, but then
fell into another protracted sleep. His
friends were prevailed on to try what re-
medies might effect, and accordingly he
was bled, blistered, cupped, and scarified,
but to no purpose. In this manner he
lay till the 7th of August, when he awak-
ed, and went into the fields, where he
found people busy in getting in the har-
vest, and remembered that when he fell
asleep they were sowing their oats and
barley. From that time he remained well
till the 17th of August, 1697, when he
complained of a shivering, and, after some
disorder of the stomach, the same day fell
fast asleep again. Dr. Oliver went to see
him ; he was then in an agreeable warmth,
but without the least sign of his being
sensible ; the doctor then held a phial of
sal-ammoniac under his nose, and in-
jected about half an ounce up one of his
nostrils, but it only made his nose run
and his eyelids shiver a little. The doc-
tor then filled his nostrils with powder of
white hellebore, but the man did not dis
cover the least uneasiness. About ten
days after, the apothecary took fourteen
ounces of blood from his arm without his
making the least motion during the ope-
ration. The latter end of September Dr.
Oliver again visited him, and a gentle-
man present ran a large pin into his arm
to the bone, but he gave not the least sign
of feeling. In this manner he lay till the
19th of November, when his mother hear-
ing him make a noise ran immediately to
him, and asked him how he did, and what
^e would have to eat? to which he re-

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 22.

plied, " very well, I thank you ; I'll take
some bread and cheese." His mother,
overjoyed, ran to acquaint his brother that
he was awake, but on their goiug up stairs
they found him as fast asleep as ever.
Thus he continued till the end of Janu-
ary, at which time he awoke perfectly well
and very little altered in his flesh, and
went about his business as usual.*

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature ... 37

35.

Sanuarp 22.

St. fincent.
In the church of England calendar.^

on tfce

The Hyde-park river which no river is,

The Serpentine which is not serpentine
When frozen, every skater claims as his,

In right of common, there to intertwine
With countless crowds, and glide upon the ice.

Lining the banks, the timid and unwilling
Stand and look on, while some the fair entice

By telling, " yonder skaters are quadrilling"
And here the skatelesshire the " best skates" for a shilling.

Vol.. 1156.

Phil. Tr*n.

t See vol. i. p. 15J.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 22.

100

A hard frost is a season of holidays in
London. The scenes exhibited are too
agreeable and ludicrous for the pen to
describe. They are for the pencil; and
Mr. Cruikshank's is the only one equal
to the series. In a work like this there
is no room for their display, yet he has
hastily essayed the preceding sketch in a
short hour. It is proper to say, that how-
ever gratifying the representation may be
to the reader, the friendship that extorted
it is not ignorant that scarcely a tithe of
either the time or space requisite has
been afforded Mr. Cruikshank for the sub-
ject. It conveys some notion however of
part of the doings on u the Serpentine in
Hyde-park" when the thermometer is
below " freezing," and every drop of wa-
ter depending from trees and eaves be-
comes solid, and hangs

" like a diamond in the sky."
The ice-bound Serpentine is the resort of
every one who knows how or is learning
to skate, and on a Sunday its broad sur-
face is covered with gazers who have " as
much right" to be on it as skaters, and
therefore " stand" upon the right to in-
terrupt the recreation they came to see.
This is especially the case on a Sunday.
The entire of this canal from the wall of
Kensington-gardens to the extremity at
the Knightsbridge end was, on Sunday
the 15th of January, 1826, literally
a mob of skaters and gazers. At one
period it was calculated that there were
not less than a hundred thousand persons
upon this single sheet of ice.

The coachmen on the several roads, par-
ticularly on the western and northern
roads, never remembered a severer frost
than they experienced on the Sunday
night just mentioned. Those who recol-
lected that of 1814, when the Thames
was frozen over, and booths raised
on the ice, declared that they did not
feel it so severely, as it did not come
on so suddenly. The houses and trees in
the country had a singular appearance on
the Monday, owing to the combination of
frost and fog; the trees, and fronts of
houses, and even the glass was covered
with thick white frost, and was no more
transparent than ground-glass.

Butchers, in the suburbs, where the frost
was felt more keenly than in the metro-
polis, were obliged to keep their shops
shut in order to keep out the frost ; many
of them carried the meat into their par-
lours, and kept it folded up in cloths

round the fires, and unfolded it as their
customers came in and required it. The
market gardeners also felt the severity of
the weather it stopped their labours, and
some of the men, attended by their wives,
went about in parties, and with frosted
greens fixed at the tops of rakes and hoes,
uttered the ancient cry of " Pray re-
member the gardeners ! Remember the
poor frozen out gardeners '."*

The Apparition.

Twas silence all, the rising moon
With clouds had veil'd her light,

The clock struck twelve, when, lo ! I saw
A very chilling sight.

Pale as a snow-ball was its face,

Like icicles its hair;
For mantle, it appeared to me

A sheet of ice to wear.

Tho' seldom given to alarm,

I'faith, I'll not dissemble,
My teeth all chatter'd in my head,

And every joint did tremble.

At last, I cried, " Pray who are you,

And whither do you go V
Methought the phantom thus replied,

*' My name is Sally Snow ;

" My father is the Northern Wind,
My mother's name was Water ;

Old parson Winter married them,
And I'm their hopeful Daughter.

" I have a lover Jackey Frost,
My dad the match condemns ;

I've run from home to-night to meet
My love upon the Thames."

I stopp'd Miss Snow in her discourse,

This answer just to cast in,
" I hope, if John and you unite,

Your union wo'n't be lasting !

" Besides, if you should rnarry him,
But ill you'd do, that I know ;

For surely Jackey Frost must be
A very slippery fellow."

She sat her down before the fire,

My wonder now increases ;
For she I took to be a maid,

Then tumbled into pieces !

For air, thin air, did Hamlet's ghost,
His foremost cock-crow barter ;

But what I saw, and now describe,
Resolv'd itself to water.

* Morning Herald, 16th January, 1826.

101

TEiE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 22.

102

GREAT FROST, 1814.

The severest and most remarkable
frost in England of late years, commenced
in December, 1813, and generally
called " the Great Frost in 1814,'' was
preceded by a great fog, which came on
with the evening of the 27th of Decem-
ber, 1813. It is described as a darkness
that might be felt. Cabinet business of
great importance had been transacted,
and lord Castlereagh left London about
two hours before, to embark for the con-
tinent. The prince regent, (since George
IV.) proceeding towards Hatfield on a
visit to the marquis of Salisbury, was
obliged to return to Carlton-house, after
being absent several hours, during which
period the carriages had not reached be-
yond Kentish-town, and one of the out-
riders fell into a ditch. Mr. Croker, se-
cretary of the admiralty, on a visit north-
ward, wandered likewise several hours in
making a progress not more than three or
four miles, and was likewise compelled to
put back. It was " darkness that might be
felt."

On most of the roads, excepting the
high North-road, travelling was performed
with the utmost danger, and the mails
were greatly impeded.

On the 28th, the Maidenhead coach
coming to London, missed the road near
Hartford bridge and was overturned.
Lord Hawarden was among the passen-
gers, and severely injured.

On the 29th, the Birmingham mail
was nearly seven hours in going from the
Post-office to a mile or two below Ux-
bridge, a distance of twenty miles only :
and on this, and other evenings, the short
stages in the neighbourhood of London
had two persons with links, running by
the horses' heads. Pedestrians carried
links or lanterns, and many, who were
not so provided, lost themselves in the
most frequented, and at other times well-
known streets. Hackney-coachmen mis-
took the pathway for the road, and the
greatest confusion prevailed.

On the 31st, the increased fog in the
metropolis was, at night, truly alarming.
It required great attention and thorough
knowledge of the public streets to pro-
ceed any distance, and persons who had
material business to transact were un-
avoidably compelled to carry torches.
The lamps appeared through the haze like
small candles. Careful hackney-coach-
men got off the box and led their horses,
while others drove only at a walking

pace. There were frequent meetings of
carriages, and great mischief ensued.
Foot passengers, alarmed at the idea of
being run down, exclaimed, " Who is
coming ?" " Mind !" Take care !"
&c. Females who ventured abroad were
in great peril ; and innumerable people
lost their way.

After the fogs, there were heavier
falls of snow than had been within the
memory of man. With only short inter-
vals, it snowed incessantly for forty-eight
hours, and this after the. ground was
covered with ice, the result of nearly four
weeks continued frost. During this long
period, the wind blew almost continually
from the north and north-east, and the
cold was intense. A short thaw of about
one day, rendered the streets almost im-
passable. The mass of snow and water
was so thick, that hackney-coaches with
an additional horse, and other vehicles,
could scarcely plough their way through.
Trade and calling of all kinds in the
streets were nearly stopped, and consi-
derably increased the distresses of the
industrious. Few carriages, even stages,
could travel the roads, and those in ~the
neighbourhood of London seemed de-
serted. From many buildings, icicles, a
yard and a half long, were seen suspended .
The water-pipes to the houses were all
frozen, and it became necessary to have
plugs in the streets for the supply of all
ranks of inhabitants. The Thames, from
London Bridge to Blackfriars, was com-
pletely blocked up at ebb-tide for nearly
a fortnight Every pond and river near
the metropolis was completely frozen.

Skating was pursued with great avidity
on the Canal in St. James's, and the Ser-
pentine in Hyde-park. On Monday the
10th of January, the Canal and the Basin
in the Green-park were conspicuous for
the number of skaters, who administered
to the pleasure of the throngs on the
banks ; some by the agility and grace of
their evolutions, and others by tumbles
and whimsical accidents from clumsy at-
tempts. A motley collection of all orders
seemed eager candidates for applause.
The sweep, the dustman, the drummer,
the beau, gave evidence of his own good
opinion, and claimed that of the belles who
viewed his movements. In Hyde-park, a
more distinguished order of visitors
crowded the banks of the Serpentine.
Ladies, in robes of the richest fur, bid de-
fiance to the wintry winds, and ventured
on the frail surface. Skaters, in gicat

103

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 22.

104

numbers, of first-rate notoriety, executed
some of the most difficult movements of
the art, to universal admiration. A lady
and two officers, who performed a reel
with a precision scarcely conceivable, re-
ceived applause so boisterous as to terrify
the fair cause of the general expression,
and occasion her to forego the pleasure she
received from the amusement. Two ac-
cidents occurred: a skating lady dislo-
cated the patella or kneepan, and five
gentlemen and a lady were submerged in
the frosty fluid, but with no other injury
than from the natural effect of so cold an
embrace.

On the 20th, in consequence of the
great accumulation of snow in London, it
became necessary to relieve *he roofs of
the houses by throwing off the load col-
lected upon them. By this means the
carriage-ways in the middle of the streets
were rendered scarcely pastble; and the
streams constantly flowing from the open
plugs, added to the general mass of ice.

Many coach proprietors, on the northern
and western roads, discontinued to run
their coaches. In places where the roads
were low, the snow had drifted above car-
riage height. On Finchley-common, by
the fall of one night, it lay to a depth
of sixteen feet, and the road was impass-
able even to oxen. On Bagshot-heath
and about Esher and Cobham the road
was completely choked up. Except the
Kent and Essex roads, no others were
passable beyond a few miles from London.
The coaches of the western road remained
stationary at different parts. The Windsor
coach was worked through the snow at
Colnbrook, which was there sixteen feet
deep, by employing about fifty labourers.
At Maidenhead-lane, the snow was still
deeper ; and between Twyford and Read-
ing it assumed a mountainous appear-
ance. Accounts say that, on parts of
Bagshot-heath, description would fail to
convey an adequate idea of its situation.
The Newcastle coach went off the road
into a pit upwards of eight feet deep, but
without mischief to either man or horse.
The middle North-road was impassable
at Highgate-hill.

On the 22d of January, and for some
time afterwards, the ice on the Serpentine
in Hyde-park bore a singular appear-
ance, from mountains of snow which
sweepers had collected together in dif-
ferent situations. The spaces allotted for

the skaters were in circles, squares, and
oblongs. Next to the carriage ride on the
north side, many astonishing evolutions
were performed by the skaters. Skipping
on skates, and the Turk-cap backwards,
were among the most conspicuous. The
ice, injured by a partial thaw in some
places, was much cut np, yet elegantly
dressed females dashed between the hil-
locks of snow, with great bravery.

At this time the appearance of the
river Thames was most remarkable. Vast
pieces of floating ice, laden generally with
heaps of snow, were slowly carried up
and down by the tide, or collected where
the projecting banks or the bridges re-
sisted the flow. These accumulations
sometimes formed a chain of glaciers,
which, uniting at one moment, were at
another cracking and bounding against
each other in a singular and awful manner
with loud noise. Sometimes these ice
islands rose one over another, covered
with angry foam, and were violently im-
pelled by the winds and waves through
the arches of the bridges, with tremen-
dous crashes. Near the bridges, the
floating pieces collected about mid-water,
or while the tide was less forcible, and
ranged themselves on each other ; the
stream formed them into order by its
force as it passed, till the narrowness of
the channel increased the power of the
flood, when a sudden disruption taking
place, the masses burst away, and floated
off. The river was frozen over for the
space of a week, and a complete Frost
Fair held upon it, as will be mentioned
presently.

Since the establishment of mail-coaches
correspondence had not been so inter-
rupted as on this occasion. Internal
communication was completely at a stand
till the roads could be in some degree
cleared. The entire face of the country
was one uniform sheet of snow ; no trace
of road was discoverable.

The Post-office exerted itself to have
the roads cleared for the conveyance of
the mails, and the government interfered
by issuing instructions to every parish in
the kingdom to employ labourers in re-
opening the ways.

In the midland counties, particularly
on the borders of Northamptonshire and
Warwickshire, the snow lay to a height

1J5

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 22.

106

altogether unprecedented. AtDunchurch,
a small village on the road to Birming-
nara, through Coventry, and for a few
miles round that place, in all directions,
the drifts exceeded twenty-four feet, and
no tracks of carriages or travellers could
oe discovered, except on the great road,
for many days.

The Cambridge mail coach coming
to London, sunk into a hollow of
the road, and remained with the snow
drifting over it, from one o'clock to nine
in the morning, when it was dragged out
by fourteen waggon horses. The pas-
sengers, who were in the coach the whole
of the time, were nearly frozen to death.

On the 26th, the wind veered to the
south-west, and a thaw was speedily dis-
cernible. The great fall of the Thames
at London-bridge for some days presented
a scene both novel and interesting. At
the ebbing of the tide, huge fragments of
ice were precipitated down the stream
with great violence, accompanied by a
noise, equal to the report of a small piece
of artillery. On the return of the tide,
they were forced back ; but the obstacles
opposed to their passage through the
arches were so great, as to threaten a
total stoppage to the navigation of the
river. The thaw continued, and these
appearances gradually ceased.

On the 27th, 28th, and 29th, the roads
and streets were nearly impassable from
floods, and the accumulation of snow.
On Sunday the 30th a sharp frost set in,
and continued till the following Saturday
evening, the 5th of February.

The Falmouth mail coach started from
thence for Exeter, after h;iving proceeded
a few miles was overturned, without ma-
terial injury to the passengers. With the
assistance of an additional pair of horses
it reached the first stage ; affer which all
endeavours to proceed were found per-
fectly useless, and the letters were sent to
Bodmin by the guard on horseback. The
Falmouth and Plymouth coach and its
passengers were obliged to remain at St.
Austell.

At Plymouth, the snow was nearly four
feet high in several of the streets.

At Liverpool, on the 17th of January,
Fahrenheit's thermometer, in the Athe-
naeum, stood at fifteen degrees ; seven
below the freezing point. From the ice
accumulated in the Mersey, boats could

not pass over. Almost all labour with-
out doors was at a stand.

At Gloucester, Jan. 17. The severity
of the frost had not been exceeded by
any that preceded it. The Severn was
frozen over, and people went to Tewkes-
bury market across the ice on horseback.
The cold was intense. The thermometer,
exposed in a north-eastern aspect, stood
at thirteen degrees, nine below the freez-
ing point. On the eastern coast, it stood
as low as nine and ten ; a degree of cold
unusual in this county.

Bristol, Jan. 18. The frost continued
in this city with the like severity. The
Floating Harbour from Cumberland basin
to the Feeder, at the bottom of Avon-
street, was one continued sheet of ice ;
and for the first time in the memory of
man, the skater made his appearance
under Bristol-bridge. The Severn was
frozen over at various points, so as to bear
the weight of passengers.

At Whitehaven, Jan. 18, the frost had
increased in severity. All the ponds and
streams were frozen ; and there was
scarcely a pump in the town that gave
out water. The market was very thinly
attended-, it having been found in many
parts impossible to travel until the snow
was cut.

At Dublin, Jan. 14, the snow lay in a
quantity unparalleled for half a century.
In the course of one day and night, it
descended so inconceivably thick and
rapid, as to block up all the roads, and
preclude the possibility of the mail coaches
being able to proceed, and it was even
found impracticable to send the mails on
horseback. Thus all intercourse with the
interior was cut off, and it was not until
the 18th, when an intense frost suddenly
commenced, that the communication was
opened, and several mail bags arrived
from the country on horseback.

The snow in many of the narrow streets
of Dublin, after the footways had been in
some measure cleared, was more than six
fe^t. It was nearly impossible for any
carriage to force a passage, and few ven-
tured on the hazardous attempt. Acci-
dents, both distressing and fatal, occurred.
In several streets and lanes the poorer
inhabitants were literally blocked up in
their houses, and in the attempt to go
abroad, experienced every kind of misery.
The number of deaths from cold and
distress were greater than at any other
period, unless at the time of the plague.
There were eighty funerals on the Sunday

107

THE EVERY DAY-BOOK JANUARY 22.

108

before this date. The coffin -makers in
Cook-street could with difficulty com-
plete their numerous orders : and not a
few poor people lay dead in their wretched
rooms for several days, from the impos-
sibility of procuring assistance to convey
them to the Hospital-fields, and the great
difficulty and danger of attempting to
open the ground, which was very uneven,
and where the snow remained in some
parts, twenty feet deep.

From Canterbury, January 25, the
communication with the metropolis was
not open from Monday until Saturday
preceding this date, when the snow was
cut through by the military at Chatham-
hill, and near Gravesend ; and the stages
proceeded with their passengers. The
mail of the Thursday night arrived at
Canterbury late on Friday evening, the
bags having been conveyed part of the
distance upon men's shoulders. The bags
of Friday and Saturday night arrived
together on Sunday morning about ten
o'clock.

Dalrymple, North Britain, January
29. Wednesday, the 26th, was an epoch
ever to be remembered by the inhabitants
of this village. The thaw of that and the
preceding day had opened the Doon,
formerly " bound like a rock," to a con-
siderable distance above this ; and the
melting of the snow on the adjacent hills
swelled the river beyond its usual height,
and burst up vast fragments of ice and
congealed snow. It forced them forward
with irresistible impetuosity, bending
trees like willows, carrying down Skel-
ton-bridge, and sweeping all before it.
The overwhelming torrent in its awful
progress accumulated a prodigious mass
of the frozen element, which, as if in
wanton frolic, it heaved out into the fields
on both sides, covering acres of ground
many feet deep. Alternately loading
and discharging in this manner, it came
to a door or two in the village, as if to
apprize the inhabitants of its powers.
The river having deserted its wonted
channel, endeavoured to make its grand
entry by several courses successively in
Saint Valley, and finding no one of them
sufficient for its reception, took them
altogether, and overrunning the whole
holm at once, appeared here in terrific
grandeur, between seven and eight o'clock
in the evening, when the moon retreated
behind a cloud, and the gloom of night
added to the horrors of the tremendous
scene. Like a sea, it overflowed all the

gardens on the east side, from the cross
to the bridge, and invaded the houses
behind by the doors and windows, ex-
tinguishing the fires in a moment, lifting
and tumbling the furniture, and gushing
out at the front doors with incredible
rapidity. Its principal inroad was by
the end of a bridge. Here, while the
houses stood as a bank on either side, it
came crashing and roaring up the street
in full career, casting forth, within a few
yards of the cross, floats of ice like mill-
stones. The houses on the west side
were in the same situation with those on
the east. At one place the water was
running on the house-eaves, at another
it was near the door-head, and midway
up the street, it stood three feet and a
half above the door. Had it advanced
five minutes longer in this direction, the
whole village must have been 'inundated.

During this frost a great number of
the fish called golden maids, were picked
up on Brighton beach and sold at good
prices. They floated ashore quite blind,
having been reduced to that state by the

Annexed are a few of the casualties
consequent on this great frost. A woman
was found frozen to death on the High-
gate-road. She proved to have been a
charwoman, returning from Highgate,
where she had been at work, toPancras.

A poor woman named Wood, while
crossing Blackheath from Leigh to the
village of Charlton, accompanied by her
two children, was benighted, and missed
her way. After various efforts to extri-
cate herself, she fell into a hole, and was
nearly buried in the snow. From this,
however, she contrived to escape, and
again proceeded ; but at length, being
completely exhausted, and her children
benumbed with cold, she sat down on
the trunk of a tree, where, wrapping her
children in her cloak, she endeavoured by
loud cries to attract the attention of some
passengers. Her shrieks at length were
heard by a waggoner, who humanely
waded through the snow to her assistance,
and taking her children, who seemed in
a torpid state, in his arms, he conducted
her to a public-house ; one of the infants
was frozen to death, and the other was
recovered with extreme difficulty.

As some workmen were clearing away
the snow, which was twelve feet deep, at

109

THE EVERY DAY-BOOK. JAW OAR Y 22.

11G

Kipton, on the border of Northampton- mass as to render it immovable by the
shire, the body of a child about three tide.

years old was discovered, and imme- On Tuesday, February 1, the river
diately afterwards the body of its mother, presented a thoroughly solid surface over
She was the wife of a soldier of the 16th that part which extends from Blackfriars
regiment, returning home with her infant Bridge to some distance below Three
after accompanying her husband to the Crane Stairs, at the bottom of Queen-
place of embarkation. It was supposed street, Cheapside. The watermen placed
they had been a week in the snow. notices at the end of all the streets lead-

There was found lying in the road ing to the city side of the river, an-
leading from Longford to Upham, frozen nouncing a safe footway over, which
to death, a Mr. Apthorne, a grazier, at attracted immense crowds, and in a short
Coltsworth. He had left Hounslow at time thousands perambulated the rugged
dusk on Monday evening, after having plain, where a variety of amusements
drank rather freely, and proposed to go were provided. Among the more curious
that night to Marlow. of these was the ceremony of roasting a

On his return from Wakefield market, small sheep, or rather toasting or burning
Mr. Husband, of Holroyd Hall, was it over a coal fire, placed in a large iron
frozen to death, within little more than pan. For a view of this extraordinary
a hundred yards of the house of his spectacle, sixpence was demanded, and
nephew, with whom he resided. willingly paid. The delicate meat, when

Mr. Chapman, organist, and master of done, was sold at a shilling a slice, and
the central school at Andover, Hants, termed " Lapland mutton." There were
was frozen to death near Wallop, in that a great number of booths ornamented
county. with streamers, flags, and signs, and

A young man named Monk, while within them there was a plentiful store
driving a stage-coach near Ryegate, was of favourite luxuries with most of the
thrown off the box on a lump of frozen multitude, gin, beer, and gingerbread.
snow, and killed on the spot. The thoroughfare opposite Three Crane

Stairs was complete and well frequented.

The thermometer during this intense It was strewed with ashes, and afforded
frost was as low as 7 and 8 of Fahren- a very safe, although a very rough path,
heit, in the neighbourhood of London. Near Blackfriars Bridge, however, the
There are instances of its having been way was not equally severe ; a plumber,
lower in many seasons, but so long a named Davis, having imprudently ven-
continuance of very cold weather was tured to cross with some lead in his
never experienced in this climate within hands, sank between two masses of ice,
the memory of man. and rose no more. Two young women

nearly shared a similar fate; they were

4frOSt jf&UT 1814* rescued from their perilous situation by

the prompt efforts of two watermen.

On Sunday, the 30th of January, the Many a fair nymph indeed was em-
immense masses of ice that floated from braced in the icy arms of old Father
the upper parts of the river, in conse- Thames ; three young quakeresses had
quence of the thaw on the two preceding a sort of semi-bathing, near London
days, blocked up the Thames between Bridge, and when landed on terra-firma,
Blackfriars and London Bridges ; and made the best of their way through the
afforded every probability of its being Borough, amidst the shouts of an ad-
frozen over in a day or two. Some ad- miring populace. From the entire ob-
venturous persons even now walked on struction the tide did not appear to ebb
different parts, and on the next day, for some days more than one half the
Monday the 31st, the expectation was usual mark.

realized. During the whole of the after- On Wednesday, Feb. 2, the sports were
noon, hundreds of people were assembled repeated, and the Thames presented a
on Blackfriars and London Bridges, to complete " FROST FAIR." The grand
see people cross and recross the Thames " mall" or walk now extended from Black-
on the ice. Atone time seventy per- friars Bridge to London Bridge; this was
sons were counted walking from Queen- named the " City-road," and was lined
hithe to the opposite shore. The frost on each side by persons of all descriptions,
of Sunday night so united the vast Eight or ten printing presses were erected

Ill

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 22.

and numerous pieces commemorative of
the "great frost" were printed on the
ice. Some of these frosty typographers
displayed considerable taste in their spe-
cimens. At one of the presses, an orange-
coloured standard was hoisted, with the
tvatch-word " ORANGE BOVEW," in large
characters. This was in allusion to the
recent restoration of the stadtholder to
the government of Holland, which had
been for several years under the dominion
of the French. From this press the fol-
lowing papers were issued.

" FROST FAIR.

" Amidst the arts which on the THAMES ap-
pear,

To tell the wonders of this icy year,

PRINTING claims prior place, which at one
view

Erects a monument of THAT and You."

Another :

" You that walk here, and do design to tell
Your children's children what this year be-
fell,

Come, buy this print, and it will then be seen
That such a year as this has seldom been."

Another of these stainers of paper ad-
dressed the spectators in the following
terms , " Friends, now is your time to
support the freedom of the press. Can
the press have greater liberty ? here you
find it working in the middle of the
Thames ; and if you encourage us by
buying our impressions, we will keep it
going in the true spirit of liberty during
the frost." One of the articles printed
and sold contained the following lines :

" Behold, the river Thames is frozen o'er,
Which lately ships of mighty burden bore ;
Now different arts and pastimes here you see,
But printing claims the superiority."

The Lord's prayer and several other
pieces were issued from these icy printing
offices, and bought with the greatest
avidity.

On Thursday, Feb. 3, the number of
adventurers increased. Swings, book-
stalls, dancing in a barge, suttling-booths,
playing at skittles, and almost every ap-
pendage of a fair on land, appeared now on
the Thames. Thousands flocked to this
singular spectacle of sports and pastimes.
The ice seemed to be a solid rock, and
presented a truly picturesque appearance.
The view of St. Paul's and of the city
with the white foreground had a very sin-
gular effect ; in many parts, mountains
of ice upheaved resembled lhe rude in-
terior cf a stone quarry.

Friday, Feb. 4. Each day brought a,
fresh accession of " pedlars to sell their
wares; "and the greatest rubbisn of all
sorts was raked up and sold at double and
treble the original cost. Books and toys,
labelled " bought on the Thames," were
in profusion. The watermen profited
exceedingly, for each person paid a toll of
twopence or threepence before he was
admitted to " Frost Fair j" some douceur
was expected on the return. Some of
them were said to have taken six pounds
each in the course of a day.

This afternoon, about five o'clock, three
persons, an old man and two lads, were
on a piece of ice above London-bridge,
which suddenly detached itself from the
main body, and was carried by the tide
through one of the arches. They laid
themselves down for safety, and the
boatmen at Billingsgate, put off to their
assistance, and rescued them from their
impending danger. One of them was
able to walk, but the other two were car-
ried, in a state of insensibility, to a public-
house, where they received every atten-
tion their situation required.

Many persons were on the ice till late
at night, and the effect by moonlight was
singularly novel and beautiful. The bo-
som of the Thames seemed to rival the
frozen climes of the north.

Saturday, Feb. 5. This morning augured
unfavourably for the continuance of
"FROST FAIR." The wind had veered
to the south, and there was a light fall of
snow. The visitors, however, were not
to be deterred by trifles. Thousands
again ventured, and there was still much
life and bustle on the frozen element ; the
footpath in the centre of the river was
hard and secure, and among the pedes-
trians were four donkies ; they trotted a
nimble pace, and produced considerable
merriment. At every glance, there was a
novelty of some kind or other. Gaming
was carried on in all its branches. Many
of the itinerant admirers of the profits
gained by E O Tables, Rouge et Noir,
Te-totum, wheel of fortune, the garter,
&c. were industrious in their avocations,
and some of their customers left the lures
without a penny to pay the passage over
a plank to the shore. Skittles was played
by several parties, and the drinking tents
were filled by females and their compa-
nions, dancing reels to the sound of fid-
dles, while others sat round large fires,
drinking rum, grog, and other spirits.
Tea, coffee, and eatables, were provided

113

THE E VERY-DAY BOOK, JANUARY 22.

114

in abundance, and passengers were invited
to eat by way of recording their visit.
Several tradesmen, who at other times
were deemed respectable, attended with
their wares, and sold books, toys, and
trinkets of almost every description.

Towards the evening, the concourse
thinned ; rain began to fall, and the ice to
crack, and on a sudden it floated with
the printing presses, booths, and merry-
makers, to the no small dismay of pub-
licans, typographers, shopkeepers, and
sojourners.

A short time previous to the general
dissolution, a person near one of the
printing presses, handed the following
jeu d 'esprit to its conductor; request-
ing that it might be printed on the
Thames.

To Madam Tabitha Thaw.

" Dear dissolving dame,
" FATHER FROST and SISTER SNOW
have Boneyed my borders,- formed an idol
of ice upon my bosom, and all the LADS
OF LONDON come to make merry : now as
you love mischief, treat the multitude
with a few CRACKS by a sudden visit, and
obtain the prayers of the poor upon both
banks. Given at my own press, the 5th
Feb. 1814. THOMAS THAMES."

The thaw advanced more rapidly than
indiscretion and heedlessness retreated.
Two genteel-looking young men ven-
tured on the ice above Westminster
Bridge, notwithstanding the warnings of
the watermen. A large mass on which
they stood, and which had been loosened
by the flood tide, gave way, and they
floated down the stream. As they passed
under Westminster Bridge they cried
piteously for help. They had not gone
far before they sat down, near the edge ;
this overbalanced the mass, they were
precipitated into the flood, and over-
whelmed for ever.

A publican named Lawrence, of the
Feathers, in High Timber-street, Queen-
hithe, erected a booth on the Thames
opposite Brook's-wharf, for the accom-
modation of the curious. At nine at night
he left it in the care of two men, taking
away all the liquors, except some gin,
which he gave them for their own use.

Sunday, Feb. 6. At two o'clock this
morning, the tide began to flow with
great rapidity at London Bridge ; the
thaw assisted the efforts of the tide, and
the booth last mentioned was violently
hurried towards Blackfwars Bridge. There

were nine men in it, but in their alarm
they neglected the fire and candles, which
communicating with the covering, set it
in a flame. They succeeded in getting
into a lighter which had broken from its
moorings. In this vessel they were
wrecked, for it was dashed to pieces
against one of the piers of Blackfriars
Bridge : seven of them got on the pier
and were taken off safely ; the other two
got into a barge while passing Puddle-
dock.

On this day, the Thames towards high
tide (about 3 p. m.) presented a miniature
idea of the Frozen Ocean ; the masses of
ice floating along, added to the great
height of the water, formed a striking
scene for contemplation. Thousands of
disappointed persons thronged the banks ;
and many a 'prentice, and servant maid,
" sighed unutterable things," at the sud-
den and unlocked for destruction of
" FROST FAIR."

Monday, Feb. 7. Immense fragments
of ice yet floated, and numerous lighters,
broken from their moorings, drifted in
different parts of the river ; many of them
were complete wrecks. The frozen ele-
ment soon attained its wonted fluidity,
and old Father Thames looked as cheerful
and as busy as ever.

The severest English winter, however
astonishing to ourselves, presents no views
comparable to the winter scenery of more
northern countries. A philosopher and
poet of our own days, who has been also
a traveller, beautifully describes a lake in
Germany :

Christmas out of doors at Ratzburg.
By S. T. COLERIDGE, Esq

The whole lake is at this time one mass
of thick transparent ice, a spotless mirror
of nine miles in extent ! The lowness of
the hills, which rise from the shores of the
lake, preclude the awful sublimity of Al-
pine scenery, yet compensate for the want
of it, by beauties of which this very low-
ness is a necessary condition. Yesterday
I saw the lesser lake completely hidden
by mist ; but the moment the sun peeped
over the hill, the mist broke in the mid-
dle, and in a few seconds stood divided,
leaving a broad road all across the lake;
and between these two walls of mist the
sunlight burnt upon the ice, forming a
road of golden fire, intolerably bright!
and the mist walls themselves partook of

115

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 22.

116

the blaze in a multitude of shining co-
lours. This is our second post. About a
month ago, before the thaw came on,
there was a storm of wind ; -during the
whole night, such were the thunders and
howlings of the breaking ice, that they
have left a conviction on my mind, that
there are sounds more sublime than any
sight can be, more absolutely suspending
the power of comparison, and more utterly
absorbing the mind's self-consciousness in
its total attention to the object working
upon it Part of the ice, which the vehe-
mence of the wind had shattered, was
driven shoieward, and froze anew. On
the evening of the next day at sunset, the
shattered ice thus frozen appeared of a
deep blue, and in shape like an agitated
sea ; beyond this, the water that ran up
between the great islands of ice which
had preserved their masses entire and
smooth, shone of a yellow green ; but all
these scattered ice islands themselves were
of an intensely bright blood colour they
seemed blood and light in union ! On
some of the largest of these islands, the
fishermen stood pulling out their immense
nets through the holes made in the ice for
this purpose, and the men, their net poles,
and their huge nets, were a part of the
glory say rather, it appeared as if the rich
crimson light had shaped itself into these
forms, figures, and attitudes, to make a
glorious vision in mockery of earthly
things.

The lower lake is now all alive with
skaters and with ladies driven onward
by them in their ice cars. Mercury surely
was the first maker of skates, and the
wings at his feet are symbols of the in-
vention. In skating, there are three pleas-
ing circumstances the infinitely subtle
particles of ice which the skaters cut up,
and which creep and run before the skate
like a low mist and in sunrise or sunset
become coloured ; second, the shadow of
the skater in the "water, seen through the
transparent ice ; and third, the melan-
choly undulating sound from the skate
not without variety ; and when very many
are skating together, the sounds and the
noises give an impulse to the icy trees,
and the woods all round the lake trinkte.

In the frosty season when the sun
Was set, and visible for many a mile,
The cottage windows through the twilight
blazed,

heeded not the summons ; happy time

It was indeed for all of us, to me
It was a time of rapture ! clear and loud
The village clock tolled six ! I wheel'd about
Proud and exulting, like an untired horse
That cared not for its home. All shod with

steel

We hissed along the polished ice, in games
Confederate, imitative of the chase
And woodland pleasures, the resounding

horn,
The pack loud bellowing and the hunted

hare.
So through the darkness and the cold we

flew,

And not a voice was idle ; with the din,
Meanwhile the precipices rang aloud,
The leafless trees and every icy crag
Tinkled like iron, while the distant hills
Into the tumult sent an alien sound
Of melancholy not unnoticed, while the

stars
Eastward, were sparkling clear, and in the

west
The orange sky of evening died away.

Not seldom from the uproar I retired
Into a silent bay, or sportively
Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous

throng

To cut across the image of a star
That gleamed upon the ice ; and oftentimes
Where we had given our bodies to the wind,
And all the shadowy banks on either side
Came sweeping through the darkness, shun-
ning still

The rapid line of motion, then at once
Have I, reclining back upon my heels,
Stopped short ; yet still the solitary cliffs
Wheeled by me even as if the earth had

rolled

With visible motion her diurnal round !
Behind me did they stretch in solemn

train
Feebler and feebler, and I stood and

watched
Till all was tranquil as a summer sea.

Wordsworth.

The earliest notice of skating in Eng-
land is obtained from the earliest descrip-
tion of London. Its historian relates
that, " when the great fenne or moore
(which watereth the walles of the citie on
the north side) is frozen, many young
men play upon the yce." Happily, and
probably for want of a term to call it by,
he describes so much of this pastime in
Moorfields, as acquaints us with their
mode of skating : " Some," he says,
" stryding as wide as they may, doe slide
swiftly," this then is sliding ; but he pro-
ceeds to tell us, that " some tye bones to

117

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 23.

118

their feete, and under their heeles, and
shoving themselves by a little picked
staffe doe slide as swiftly as a birde flyeth
in the air, or an arrow out of a crosse-
bow."* Here, although the implements
were rude, we have skaters ; and it seems
that one of their sports was for two to
start a great way off opposite to each
other, and when they met, to lift their
poles and strike each other, when one or
both fell, and were carried to a distance
from each other by the celerity of their
motion. Of the present wooden skates,
shod with iron, there is no doubt, we ob-
tained a knowledge from Holland.

The icelanders also used the shank-
bone of a deer or sheep about a foot long,
which they greased, because they should
not be stopped by drops of water upon
them, f

It is asserted in the " Encyclopaedia
Britannica," that Edinburgh produced
more instances of elegant skaters than
perhaps any other country, and that the
institution of a skating club there contri-
buted to its improvement. " I have
however seen, some years back," says
Mr. Strutt, " when the Serpentine river
was frozen over, four gentlemen there
dance, if I may be allowed the expression,
a double minuet in skates with as much
ease, and I think more elegance, than in
a ball room ; others again, by turning and
winding with much adroitness, have rea-
dily in succession described upon the ice
the form of all the letters in the alphabet."
The same may be observed there during
every frost, but the elegance of skaters on
that sheet of water is chiefly exhibited in
quadrilles, which some parties go through
with a beauty scarcely imaginable by
those who have not seen graceful skating.
In variety of attitude, and rapidity of
movement, the Dutch, who, of" necessity,
(journey long distances on their rivers and
canals, are greatly our superiors.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 36 35.

Sanuarp 23.

1826. Hilary Term begins.

LARKING.

It appears that our ingenious neigh-
bours, the French, are rivalled by the
lark-catchers of Dunstaple, in the mode
of attracting those birds.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.

6, Bermondsey New Road-
Sir, January 18, 1826.

In the present volume of your Every-
Day Book, p. 93, a correspondent at Ab-
beville has given an account of lark-
shooting in that country, in which he
mentions a machine called a miroir, as
having been used for the purpose of at-
tracting the birds within shot. Perhaps
you are not aware that in many parts of
England a similar instrument is employed
for catching the lark when in flight, and at
Dunstaple. At that place, persons go
out with what is called a larking glass,
which is, if I may so term it, a machine
made somewhat in the shape of a cucum-
ber. This invention is hollow, and has
holes cut round it, in which bits of look-
ing-glass are fitted ; it is fixed on a pole,
and has a sort of reel, from which a line
runs; this line, at a convenient distance, is
worked backward and forward, so as to
catch the rays of the sun : the larks seeing
themselves in the glass, as some think,
but more probably blinded by the glare
of it, come headlong down to it, a net is
drawn over them, and thus many are
taken, deceived like ourselves with glit-
tering semblances. Yes ! lords as we deem
ourselves of the creation, we are as easily
lured by those who bait our passions or
propensities, as those poor birds. This
simple truth I shall conclude with the fol-
lowing lines,, which, be they good, bad,
or indifferent, are my own, and such as
they are I give them to thee :

As in the fowler's glass the lark espies

His feath'ry form from 'midst unclouded skies;

And pleased, and dazzled with the novel sight,

Wings to the treacherous earth his rapid flight.

So, in the glass of self conceit we view

Our soul's attraction, and pursue it too,

* Fitzstephen.

* Fosbroke's Diet, of Antiquities.

119 THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 24, 25. 12C

In every shape wherein it may arise,

In gold, or land, or love before our eyes.

And in the wary net are captive ta'en,

By the sure hand of woman, or of gain. S. R. Jackson.

Samiarp 24.

The scenes and weather which some-

r'ATURALiSTs' CALENDAR. times prevail on the Vigil of St. Paul
M- an Temperature ... 36 57. are described in some verses inserted
by Dr. Forster in his " Perennial Ca-
lendar."

St. Pants Eve.

Winter's white shrowd doth cover all the grounde,

And Caecias blows his bitter blaste of woe ;
The ponds and pooles, and streams in ice are bounde,

And famished birds are shivering in the snowe.
Still round about the house they flitting goe,

And at the windows seek for scraps of foode
Which Charity with hand profuse doth throwe,

Right weeting that in need of it they stoode,
For Charity is shown by working creatures' goode.

The sparrowe pert, the chaffinche gay and cleane,

The redbreast welcome to the cotter's house,
The livelie blue tomtit, the oxeye greene,

The dingie dunnock, and the swart colemouse ;
The titmouse of the marsh, the nimble wrenne,

The bullfinch and the goldspinck, with the king
Of birds the goldcrest. The thrush, now and then.

The blackbird, wont to whistle in the spring,
Like Christians seek the heavenlie foode St. Paul doth bring.

the origin of this custom, is stated by Stow

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. to the following purport.

Mean Temperature ... 36 60. Mentioning the opinion already noticed,

which, strange to tell, has been urged

P ever s i nce his time, he says in its refuta-

J tiorl) But true it i s i have read an

Conversion of St. Paul* ancient deed to this effect," and the " ef-

This Romish festival was first adopted f ect" is, that in 1274, the dean and chapter

by the church of England in the year of St - P aul s granted twenty-two acres of

1662, during the reign of Charles II. nd, part of their manor of Westley, in

<, p ^ r> Essex, to sir William Baud, knt., for the

T. AULS AY. purpose of being enclosed by him within

Buck and Doe in St. Paul's Cathedral. his park of Curingham ; in consideration

Formerly a buck's head was carried in whereof he undertook to bring to them on

procession at St. Paul's Cathedral. This the feast day of the Conversion of St. Paul,

by some antiquaries is presumed to have in winter, a good doe, seasonable and

been the continuation of a ceremony in sweet; and upon the feast of the comme-

more ancient times when, according to moration of St. Paul in summer, a good

certain accounts, a heathen temple existed buck, and offer the same to be spent (or

on that site. It is remarkable that this divided) among the canons resident ; the

notion as to the usage is repeated by wri- doe to be brought by one man at the hour

ters whose experience in other respects of procession, and through the procession

has obtained them v/ell-earned regard : to the high altar, and the bringer to have

nothing ; the buck to be brought by all

* See vol. i. p. 175. his men in like manner, and they to be

121

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 26.

122

paid twelve pence only, by the chamber-
lain of the church, and no more to be re-
quired. For the performance of this
annual present of venison, he charged his
lands and bound his heirs; and twenty
seven years afterwards, his son, sir Walter,
confirmed the grant.

The observance of this ceremony, as to
the buck, was very curious, and in this
manner. On the aforesaid feast-day of
the commemoration, the buck being
brought up to the steps of the high altar
in St. Paul's church at the hour of proces-
sion, and the dean and chapter being ap-
parelled in their copes and vestments,
with garlands of roses on their heads, they
sent the body of the buck to be baked;
and having fixed the head on a pole,
caused it to be borne before the cross in
their procession within the church, until
they issued out of the west door. There
the keeper that brought it blew " the
death of the buck/' and then the homers
that were about the city answered him in
like manner. .For this the dean and
chapter gave each man fourpence in
money and his dinner, and the keeper that
brought it was allowed during his abode
there, meat, drink and lodging, at the dean
and chapter's charges, and five shillings in
money at his going away, together with a
loaf of bread, with the picture of St. Paul
on it. It appears also that the granters of
the venison presented to St. Paul's ca-
thedral two special suits of vestments, to
be worn by the clergy on those two
days; the one being embroidered with
bucks, and the other with does.

The translator of Dupre's work on the
"Conformity between modern and ancient
ceremonies," also misled by other autho-
rities, presumed that the " bringing up a
fat buck to the altar of St. Paul's with
hunters, horns blowing, &c. in the middle
of divine service," was of heathen deriva-
tion, whereas we see it was only a provi-
sion for a venison feast by the Romish
clergy, in return for some waste land of
one of their manors.

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.
Mean Temperatare . . .35 -10.

Sanuarp 26.

" St. George hf was for England".

So says a well-known old ballad, and
we are acquainted, by the following com-
munication, that our patron saint still

appears in England, through his personal
representatives, at this season of the year.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.
Sir,

I send you an account of the Christ-
mas drama of " St. George," as acted in
Cornwall, subscribing also my name and
address, which you properly deem an in-
dispensable requisite. I thereby vouch
for the authenticity of what I send you.
Having many friends arid relations in the
west, at whose houses I have had fre-
quent opportunities of seeing the festi-
vities and mixing in the sports of their
farm, and other work-people, at the joy-
ous times of harvest home, finishing the
barley mow, (of which more hereafter it
agreeable,) Christmas, &c. In some of
the latter it is still customary for the mas-
ter of the house and his guests to join at
the beginning of the evening, though this
practice, I am sorry to say, is gradually
wearing out, and now confined to a few
places. I have " footed if away in sir
Roger de Coverley, the hemp-dressers,&c.
(not omitting even the cushion dance,)
with more glee than I ever slided through
the chaine anglaise, or demi-queue de chat,
and have formed acquaintance with the
master of the revels, or leader of the pa-
rish choir, (generally a shrewd fellow,
well versed in song,) in most of the
western parishes in Cornwall ; and from
them have picked up much information
on those points, which personal observa-
tion alone had not supplied to my satis-
faction.

You may be sure that "St. George"
with his attendants were personages too
remarkable not to attract much of my at-
tention, and I have had their adventures
represented frequently ; from different
versions so obtained, I am enabled to
state that the performances in different
parishes vary only in a slight degree from
each other.

St. George and the other tragic per-
formers are dressed out somewhat in the
style of morris-dancers, in their shirt-
sleeves, and white trowsers much deco-
rated with ribands and handkerchiefs,
each carrying a drawn sword in his hand,
if they can be procured, otherwise a cud-
gel. They wear high caps of paste-
board, adorned with beads, small pieces
of looking-glass, coloured paper, &c. ; se-
veral long strips of pith generally hang
down fiom the top, with small pieces

123

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 26.

124

of different coloured cloth, strung on them :
f he whole has a very smart effect.

Father Christmas is personified in a
grotesque manner, as an ancient man,
wearing a large mask and wig, and a
huge club, wherewith he keeps the by-
standers in order.

The doctor, who is generally the merry-
andrew of the piece, is dressed in any ri-
diculous way, with a wig, three-cornered
hat, and painted face.

The other comic characters are dressed
according to fancy.

The female, where there is one, is
usually in the dress worn half a century
ago.

The hobby-horse, which is a character
sometimes introduced, wears a represent-
ation of a horse's hide.

Besides the regular drama of " St.
George," many parties of mummers go
about in fancy dresses of every sort, most
commonly the males in female attire, and
vice versa.

This Christmas play, it appears, is, or
was in vogue also in the north of Eng-
land as well as in Scotland. A corres-
pondent of yours (Mr. Reddock) has al-
ready given an interesting account of
that in Scotland, and a copy of that acted
at Newcastle, printed there some thirty or
forty years since, is longer than any
I have seen in the west. By some the
play is considered to have reference to
the time of the crusades, and to have
been introduced on the return of the ad-
venturers from the Holy- Land, as typify-
ing their battles. Before proceeding with
our drama in the west, I have merely to
observe that the old fashion was to conti-
nue many of the Christmas festivities till
Candlemas-day, (February 2,) and then
" throw cards and candlesticks away.''
Battle of St. George.

[ One of the party steps in, crying out
" Room, a room, brave gallants, room,

Within this court

I do resort,

To show some sport

And pastime,

Gentlemen and ladies, in the Christmas
time

[After this note of preparation, old
Father Christmas capers into the room,
saying,

Here comes I, old Father Christmas,
Welcome, or welcome not,

I hope old Father Christmas
Will never be forgot.

I was born in a rocky country, where
there was no wood to make me a cradle ;
I was rocked in a stouring bowl, which
made me round shouldered then, and I
am round shouldered still.

[He then frisks about the room, until he
thinks he has sufficiently amused the
spectators, when he makes his exit
with this speech,

Who went to the orchard, to steal
apples to make gooseberry pies against
Christmas ?

[These prose speeches, you may suppose,
depend much upon the imagination of
the actor.

Enter Turkish Knight.
Here comes I, a Turkish knight,
Come from the Turkish land to fight,
And if St.. George do meet me here
I'll try his courage without fear.

Enter St. George.
Here comes I, St. George ;

that worthy champion bold,
And, with my sword and spear,

I won three crowns of gold.
I fought the dragon bold,

and brought him to the slaughter,
By that I gained fair Sabra,

the king of Egypt's daughter.
T. K. Saint George, I pray be not too

bold,
If thy blood is hot, I'll soon make it

cold.
St. G. Thou Turkish knight, I pray

forbear,

I'll make thee dread my swor^J and spear.

[They fight until the T. knight falls.

St. G. I have a little bottle, which goes

by the name of Elicumpane,
If the man is alive let him rise and fight

again.

[The knight here rises on one knee, and
endeavours to continue the fight, but
is again struck down.
T. K. Oh ! pardon me, St. George, oh !

pardon me I crave.
Oh ! pardon me this once, and I will be

thy slave.
St. G. I'll never pardon a Turkish

Knight,
Therefore arise, and try thy might.

[The knight gets up, and they again
fight, till the knight receives a heavy
blow, and then drops on the ground
as dead.
St. G. Is there a doctor to be found,

To cure a deep and deadly wound ?

125

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 27.

126

hare

Enter Doctor.

Oh ! yes, there is a doctor to be found,
To cure a deep and deadly wound.
St. G. What can you cure ?
Doctor. I can cure the itch, the palsy,

and gout,
If the devil's in him, I'll pull him out.

[ The Doctor here performs the cure with
sundry grimaces, and St. George and
the Knight again fight, lohen the
latter is knocked down, and left for
dead.

(Then another performer enters, and on
seeing the dead body, says,

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,
If uncle Tom Pearce won't
Aunt Molly must.

[The hobby-horse here capers
takes off the body.

Enter Old Squire.
Here comes I, old, old squire,
As black as any friar,
As ragged as a colt,
To leave fine clothes for malt.

Enter Hub Bub.

Here comes I old Hub Bub Bub Bub,
Upon my shoulders I carries a club,
And in my hand a frying pan,
So am not I a valiant man.

[These characters serve as a sort oj
burlesque on St. George and the
other hero, and may be regarded in
the light of an anti-masque.

Enter the Box-holder.
Here comes I, great head and little wit,
Put your hand in your pocket and give

what you think fit.
Gentlemen and ladies, sitting down at

your ease,
Put your hands in your pocket*, give me

what you please.
St. G. Gentlemen and Ladier. the sport

is almost ended,

Come pay to the box, it is highly com-
mended.
The box it would speak, if it had *Hit a

tongue ;
Come throw in your money, and think U

no wrong.

The characters now generally finish
with a dance, or sometimes a song or two
is introduced. In some of the performances,
two or three other tragic heroes are brought
forward, as the king of Egypt and his

son, &c. ; but they are all of them much
in the style of that I have just described,
varying somewhat in length and number
of characters.

I am, Sir,

Your constant reader,

W. S.

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature . . . 36 20.

Sfattuarp 27

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

1826. The alteration of the standard
this year, in order to its uniformity
throughout the kingdom, however incon-
venient to individuals in its first applica-
tion, will be ultimately of the highest
public advantage. The difference between
beer, wine, corn, and coal measure, and
the difference of measures of the same
denomination in different counties, were
occasions of fraud and grievance without
remedy until the present act of parlia-
ment commenced to operate. In the
twelfth year of Henry VII. a standard was
established, and the table was kept in the
treasury of the king's exchequer, with
drawings on it, commemorative of the re-
gulation, and illustrating its principles.
The original document passed into the
collection of the liberal Harley, earl of
Oxford, and there being a print of it with
some of its pictorial representations, an
engraving is here given of the mode of
trial which it exhibits as having been used
in khe exchequer at that period.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK JANUARY 27.

123

Crial of 2i2Refgl)ts anU

untor feenrp VII.

From the same instrument is also taken
the smaller diagram. They are curious
specimens of the care used by our ances-
tors to establish and exemplify rules by
which all purchases and sales were to be
effected. In that view only they are in-
troduced here. Conformity to the new
stand "i rd is every man's business and in-

terest, and daily experience will prove it ?
wisdom and justice. It would be obvi-
ously inexpedient to state any of the par-
liamentary provisions in this work, which
now merely records one of the most re-
markable and laudable acts in tne nistory
of oxir legislation.

129

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 28.

ISO

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 37 82.

Sfanuarj) 28,

An Appearance of the Season.
Apology will scarcely be required

introducing a character, who at this sea-
son of the year comes forth in renovated
honours, and may aptly be termed one oi
its evcr-blues

for

" The great image of authority !"

Shakspeare.

not a peculiar of either Farnngdons, nor
him of Cripplegate, or St. Giles in the
Fields, or of any ward or precinct within
the bills : not this or that " good man"
nut the universal parish beadle. " How
Christmas and consolatory he looks ! how
redolent of good cheer is he ! He is a
cornucopia an abundance. What pud-
ding sleeves! what a collar, ted, and
like a beef steak, is his ! He is a walk-
VOL. IT. 57

ing refreshment ! He looks like a whole
parish, full, important but untaxed.
The children of charity gaze at him with
a modest smile. The straggling boys
look on him with confidence. They do
not pocket their marbles. They do not
fly from their familiar gutter. This is a
red-letter day ; and the cane is reserved
for to-morrow."

For thft pleasant verbal descrip.

131

THE E VERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY

132

lion we are indebted to an agreeable
writer in the " London Magazine j"* his
corporal lineaments are " borrowed"
(with permission) from a new caricature,f
if it may be given so low a name, wherein
this figure stands out, the very gem and
jewel, in a grouping of characters of all
sorts and denominations assembled with
" infinite fancy" and "fun," to illustrate
the designer's views of the age. It is
a graphic satire of character rather than
caricatura; mostly of class-characters,
not persons ; wherein the ridicule bears
heavily, but is broad and comprehensive
enough to shift from one neighbour to
another.

The print, wherein our beadle is fore-
most, though not first, is one of the plea-
santest " drolls " of the century, and seems
to hit at all. that is. In this whimsical
representation, a painted show-board,
at the window of a miserable garret, de-
clares it to be " The Office of the Peru-
vian Mining Company." On the case-
ment of the first floor, in the same here-
ditament of poverty, is a bill of " Eligant
rooms to let." Wigs in the shop-win-
dow illustrate the punning announcement
above it " Nature improved by Rickets,"
which is the name of the proprietor, a
capital barber, who stands at the door,
and points to a ragged inscription de-
pending from the parti-coloured pole of
his art, from whence we* learn that " No-
body is to be s( )aved during di( )ine
service, by command of the magistracy."
He enforces attention to this fact on an
unshaved itinerant, with " Subscription for
putting down Bartlemy fair" placarded on
his back. This fellow has a pole in his
right hand for "The preservation of public
morals," and a puppet of punch lolling
from his left coat pocket. An apple-stall
is taken care of by a fat body with a
screaming child, whose goods appear to
be coveted by two little beings untutored
in the management of the eye. We
gather from the "New Times," on the
ground, that the fruit woman is Sarah
Crumpage, and that she and Rickets, the
former for selling fruit, and the latter for
shaving on the Sunday, " were convicted

* For 1 December, 1825.

+ The Progress of Cant ; designed and etched
by one. of the authors of "Odes and Addresses to
threat People ;" and published by T. Maclean,
irlayniarket, L. Relfe, Cornhill, and Dickenson,
New Bond-street.

on the oath of the notorious Johnson, and
fined ten shillings each." Next to the
barber's is " the Star eating-house," with
" Ladies School " on the first-floor case-
ment, and " Mangleing took in/' At the
angle of the penthouse roofs of these
dwellings " an angel's head in stone with
pigeon's wings" deceives a hungry cat
into an attempt to commit an assault
upon it from the attic window. Opposite
the cook's door an able-bodied waggoner,
with a pennon from his whip, inscribed
" Knowledge is Power," obscures part of
another whereon all that remains is
" NICK'S INSTITUTION." A " steeled but-
cher," his left hand resting at ease within
his apron, cleaver hung, and carelessly
capped, with a countenance indicating no
other spirit than that of the still, and no
disposition to study deeper than the bot-
tom of a porter pot, carries the flag of the
" London University : " a well-fed urchin,
his son, hangs by his father's sleeve, and
drags along a wheeled toy, a lamb em-
blem of many a future " lamb his riot
dooms to bleed." A knowing little Jew-
boy, with the flag of the " Converted
Jews," relieves the standard-bearer of the
" School for Adults" from the weight of
his pocket handkerchief, and his banner
hides the letter " d" on another borne by
a person of uneven temper in canonicals,
and hence for "The Church in danger,"
we read " The Church in anger." Close
at the heels of the latter is an object al-
most as miserable, as the exceedingly mi-
serable figure in the frontispiece to the
" Miseries of Human Life." This rear-
ward supporter of " the church in dan-
ger," alias in " anger," is a poor, under-
sized, famine-worn, badged charity boy,
with a hat abundantly too large for its
hydrocephalic contents, and a coat to his
heels, and in another person's shoes, a
world too wide for his own feet he carries
a crooked little wand with " No Po-
pery "on it; this standard is so low, that
it would be lost if the standard-bearer
were not away from the procession. A
passionate person in a barrister's wig,
with a shillelagh, displays " Catholic
Claims." Opposite to a church partly
built, is a figure clearly designating
a distinguished preacher of the established
church of Scotland in London, planting
the tallest standard in the scene upright
on the ground, from whence is unfurled
" No Theatre" the flag-bearer of " The
Caledonian Chapel," stands behind, in the
act of tossing up a halfpenny with the

133

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 28.

134

standard bearer of " No more State Lot-
teries." A black mask bears the " Liberty
of the Press." A well-fed man with
bands beneath his chin, rears a high pole,
inscribed " No fat Livings," and " The
cause of Greece" follows. A jovial un-
dertaker in his best grave-clothes, raises a
mute's staff, and " No Life in London :"
this character looks as if he would bury
his wife comfortably in a country church-
yard, get into the return-hearse with his
companions, and crack nuts and drink
wine all the way to town. A little per-
sonage, booted and buttoned up, carries a
staff in his pocket, surmounted by a crown,
and a switch to his chin, the tip whereof
alone is visible, his entire face and head
being wholly concealed by the hat ; this
_s " The great Unknown" he has close
behind him " Gall and Spurs-him." " No
Treadmill" is exhibited by a merry rogue,
half disarmed, with a wooden leg. At a
public house, " The Angel and Punch
Bowl, T. Moore," the " United Sons of
Harmony" hold wassail ; their flag is hung
at one of the windows, from whence many
panes are absent, and themselves are
righting at the door, and heartily cheered
by the standard bearer of <( No Pugilism."
A ferocious looking fellow, riding on a
blind horse, elevates " Martin for Ever,"
and makes cruel cuts with his whip on the
back of a youth who is trying to get up
behind him with the banner of " No
climbing Boys." We are now at a corner
messuage, denominated " Prospect House
Establishment for Young Ladies, by the
Misses Grace and Prudence Gregory."
The corner opposite is " Seneca House
Academy for Young Gentlemen, by Dr.
Alex. Sanderson." Prospect House has
an " Assurance" policy, and from one
of its windows one of the " young ladies"
drops a work by " H. More" in eager
regard of one of the " young gentlemen" of
Seneca-house, who addresses her from his
room, with a reward of merit round his
neck. This Romeoing is rendered more
scenical by a tree, whereon hangs a lost
kite, papered with a " Prospectus" of
Seneca-house, from whence it appears
that pupils bringing a " knife and fork,"
and paying "Twenty Guineas per ann.,"
are entitled to " Universal Erudition,"
and the utmost attention to their " Morals
and Principles." Near this place, the
representative of " United Schools" fells
to the earth the flag-bearer of " Peace to
the World ;" while the able supporter of
" Irish Conciliation/' endeavours to settle

the difference by the powerful use of his
pole; the affray being complacently
viewed by a half-shod, and half-kilted
maintainev of " Scotch Charity.'' A
demure looking girl is charged with
" Newgatory Instruction." At her elbow,
a female of the order of disorder, so
depicted that Hogarth might claim her for
his own, upholds " Fry for ever,*' and is
in high, converse with a sable friend who
keeps " Freedom for the Blacks." Hope-
less idiocy, crawling on its knees by the
aid of crutches, presents the " March of
Mind." An excellent slippered fruiterer
with a tray of apples and pears, beguiles
the eyes of a young Gobbleton, who dis-
plays " Missionary penny subscriptions,"
and is suffering his hand to abstract
wherewithal for the satisfaction of his
longings. Here too are ludicrous repre-
sentations of the supporters of " White-
field and Wesley," Reform," &c. and a
Jewish dealer in old clothes, covered in du-
plicate, with the pawnbroker's sign upside
down,finds wind for "The Equitable Loan."
A wall round Seneca-house is " contrived a
double debt to pay" proffering seem-
ing security to the " sightless eyeballs" of
over-fond and over-fearful parents, and
being of real use to the artist for the ex-
pression of ideas, which the crowding of
his scene does not leave room to picture.
This wall is duly chalked and covered by
bills in antithesis. A line of the chalkings,
by an elision easily supplied, reads, "'Ask
for War." One of the best exhibitions in the
print is a youth of the "Tract Society , "with
a pamphlet entitled "Eternity," so rolled
as to look like a pistol,which he tenders to a
besotted brute wearing candidates' favours
in his hat, and a scroll f{ Purity of Elec-
tion." The villainous countenance of the
intoxicated wretch is admirable a cudgel
under his arm, his tattered condition, and
a purse hanging from his pocket, tell that
he has been in fight, and received the
wages of his warfare ; in the last stage of
drunkenness he drops upon a post inscrib-
ed "under Government." Among books
strewed on the ground are "Fletcher's Ap-
peal," "Family Shakspeare," " Hohen-
lohe," &c. ; at the top is a large volume
lettered " Kant," which, in such a situa-
tion, Mr. Wirgman, and other disciples
of the German philosopher,will only quai-
rel or smile at, in common with all who
conceive their opinions or intentions mis-
represented. In truth it is only because
the print is already well known among
the few lynx-eyed observers of manneis

i35

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 29.

130

that this notice is drawn up. Its satire,
however well directed in many ways, is
too sweeping to be just every way, and
is in several instances wholly undeserved.
The designer gives evidence however of
great capability, and should he execute
another it will inevitably be better than
this, which is, after all, an extraordi-
nary production. In witness whereof,
and therefrom, is extracted and prefixed
the " Beadle" hereinbefore mentioned.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 36 37.

29.

1826. Sexageslma Sunday.

Accession of George IV.

1820. King George III. died. A con-
temporary kalendarian, in recording this
memorable fact, observes, that " the slow
and solemn sound of St. Paul's bell an-
nounced the event a short time after, and
was heard to a great distance around the
country." He adds, that he was remind-
ed, by this " mournful proclamation of
departed royalty," of the following lines
in Heywood's " Rape of Lucrece,"
written to go to a funeral peal from eight
hells ;

Come list and hark, the bell doth *oll
For some but now departing soul,
Whom even now those ominous fowle,
The bat, the nightjar, or screech owl,
Lament ; hark 1 I hear the wilde wolfe

howle

In this black night that seems to scowle,
All these my black book shall euscrole.
For hark ! still still the bell doth toll
For some but now departing soul.

This opportunity the same agreeable
writer improves to discourse on, thus :

Bells.

The passing bell owes its origin to an
idea of sanctity attached to bells by the
early Catholics, who believed that the
sound of these holy instruments of per-
cussion actually drove the devil away
from the soul of the departing Christian.
Bells were moreover regarded formerly as
dispelling storms, and appeasing the ima-
gined wrath of heaven, as the following-
liens from Barnaby Googe will show :

If that the thunder chaunee to rore

and stormie tempest shake,
A woonder is it for to see

the wretches howe they quake,
Howe that no fayth at all they have,

nor trust in any thing,
The clarke doth all the belles forthwith

at once in steeple ring :
With wondrous sound and deeper farre

than he was woont before,
Till in the loftie heavens darke,

the thunder bray no more.
For in these christned belles they thinke,

doth lie such powre and might
As able is the tempest great,

and storme to vanquish quight.
I saw myself at Numburg once,

a towne in Toring coast,
A bell that with this title bolde

hirself did prowdly boast:
By name I Mary called am,

with sound I put to flight
The thunder crackes, and hurtfull stormes,

and every wicked spright.
Such things when as these belles can do,

no wonder certainlie
It is, if that the papistes to

their tolling always flie,
When haile, or any raging storme,

or tempest comes in sight,
Or thunder boltes, or lightning fierce,

that every place doth smight.

Naogeorgus,

We find from Brand, that " an old
bell at Canterbury required twenty-four
men, and another thirty-two men, ad so-
nandum. The noblest peal of ten bells,
without exception, in England, whether
tone or tune be considered, is said to be
in St. Margaret's church, Leicester.
When a full peal was rung, the ringers
were said pulsare classicum.' "

Bells were a great object of supersti -
tion among our ancestors. Each of them
was represented to have its peculiar name
and virtues, and many are said to have
retained great affection for the churches
to which they belonged, and where they
were consecrated. When a bell was re-
moved from its original and favourite si-
tuation, it was sometimes supposed to
take a nightly trip to its old place of re-
sidence, unless exercised in the evening,
and secured with a chain or rope. Mr
Wainer, in his " Hampshire," enume-
rates the virtues of a bell, by translating
two lines from the " Helpe to Discourse."

Men's deaths I tell by doleful knell.
Lightning and thunder I break asunder.
On sabbath all to church I call.

137

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 29.

138

The sleepy head 1 raise from bed.
The winds so fierce I doe disperse.
Men's cruel rage I do asswage.

There is an old Wiltshire legend of
a tenor bell having been conjured into
the river; with lines by the ringer, who
lost it through his pertinacious garrulity,
and which say :

In spite of all the devils in hell

Here comes our old Bell.*

Baron Hoi berg says he was in a com-
pany of men of letters, where several con-
jectures were offered concerning the origin
of the word campana ; a klocke, (i. e. bell)
in the northern tongues. On his return
home, he consulted several writers. Some,
he says, think the word klocke to be of
the northern etymology ; these words, Ut
cloca habeatur in ecclesia, occurring in the
most ancient histories of the north. It ap-
pears from hence, that in the infancy of
Christianity, the word cloca was used in
the north instead of campana. Certain
french writers derive the word cloca from
cloche, and this again from docker, i. e.
to limp ; for, say they, as a person who
limps, falls from one side to the other, so
do klocks (bells) when rung. Some have
recourse to the latin word clangor, others
recur to the greek /coAew, I call; some
even deduce it from the word cochlea, a
snail, from the resemblance of its shell to
a bell. As to the latin word campana, it
was first used in Italy, at Nola in Cam-
pania; and it appears that the greater
bells only were called campana, and the
lesser nola. The invention of them is
generally attributed to bishop Paulinus ;
but this certainly must be understood
only of the religious use of them ; it being
plain, from Roman writers, that they had
the like machines called tintinnabula.

The use of bells continued long un-
known in the east, the people being called
to public worship by strokes of wooden
hammers ; and to this day the Turks pro-
claim the beginning of their service, by
vociferations from the steeple. Anciently

* Dr. Forster's Perennial Calendar.

priests themselves used to toll the bell,
especially in cathedrals and great
churches, and these were distinguished by
the appellation of campanarii. The
Roman Catholics christen their bells, and
godfathers assist at the solemnity ; thus
consecrating them to religious use. Ac
cording to Helgaudus, bells had certain
names given them like men ; and Ingul-
phus says, " he ordered two great clocks
(bells) to be made, which were called
Bartholomeus and Bettelinus, and two
lesser, Pega and Bega." The time is
perhaps uncertain when the hours first
began to be distinguished by the striking
of a bell. In the empire this custom is
said to have been introduced by a priest
of Ripen, named Elias, who lived in the
twelfth century ; and this the Chronicon
Anonymi Ripense says of him, hie dies et
horas campanarum pulsatione distinxt*.
The use of them soon became extended
from their original design to other solem-
nities, and especially burials : which in-
cessant tolling has long been complained
of as a public nuisance, and to this the
french poet alludes :
Pour honorer les morts, ils font mourir les
vivans.

Besides the common way of tolling
bells, there is also ringing, which is a kind
of chimes used on various occasions in
token of joy. This ringing prevails in no
country so much as in England, where it
is a kind of diversion, and, for a piece of
money, any one may have a peal. On
this account it is, that England is called
the ringing island. Chimes are some-
thing very different, and much more mu-
sical ; there is not a town in all the Nether-
lands without them, being an invention of
that country. The chimes at Copenhagen,
are one of the finest sets in all Europe ;
but the inhabitants, from a pertinacious
fondness for old things, or the badness of
their ear, do not like them so well as the
old ones, which were destroyed by a con-
flagration.

The Rev. W. L. Bowles has an effusion
agreeably illustrative of feelings on hear-
ing the bells ring.

SONNET.

Written at Ostend, July 22, 1787.

How sweet the. tuneful bells responsive peal !

As when at opening morn, the fragrant breeze
Breathes on the trembling sense of wan disease

>o piercing to my heart their force 1 feel !

139 THE EVERY-DAY BOOKJANUARY 29. 140

And hark ! with lessening cadence now they, fall,

And now, along the white and level tide,

They fling their melancholy music wide ;
Bidding me many a tender thought recall
Of summer days, and those delightful years

When by my native streams,, in life's fair prime,

The mournful magic of their mingling chime
First wak'd my wondering childhood into tears !
But seeming now, when all those days are o'er,
The sounds of joy once heard, and heard no more.

" The Times"* has a literary cones- a parish bell," it has occurred to me that

pondent, who communicates information the following description of the practice

that it may be useful to record. of baptizing bells, used by the Roman

CONSECRATION OF BELLS. Catholics may not be unacceptable to

your readers. This account is a true

To the Editor of the Times. translation from a book entitled " Ppnti-

MB. EDITOR, Having read in your ficale Romanum, Auturitate Pontificia,

paper of to-day, that the king of France impressum Venetiis, 1698. Lib. it. Cap.

" has been pleased to grant to the parish de Benedictwne Signi vel Campance" I

of Notre-Dame, at Nismes, two unser- have run parallel with their method 01

viceable pieces of cannon from the arsenal baptizing children and bells, in twelve

of Montpelliei, for the purpose of forming particulars, as follows :

Of the Baptism of a Child. Of the Baptism of a Bell.

The child must be first baptized, before The bell must be first baptized, before
it can be accounted one of the church. it may be hung in the steeple.

II.

The child must be baptized by a priest The bell must be baptized by a bishop
or a minister. or his deputy.

III.

In baptizing a child there is used holy In the baptism of a bell, there is used
water, cream, salt, oil, spittle, &c. &c. holy water, oil, salt, cream, tapers for

lights, &c.
IV
In baptism, the child receiveth a name. And so it is in the baptism of bells.

The child must have godfathers, &c., The bell must have godfathers, and they
&c. must be persons of great rank.

VI.
The child must be washed in water. The bell must be washed in water by

the hands of the bishop and priests.
VII.
The child must be crossed in baptism. The bell is solemnly crossed by the

bishop.
VIII.
The child must be anointed. The bell is anointed by the bishop.

IX.

The child must be baptized in the name The bell is washed and anointed, in
of the Holy Trinity. the name of the Trinity, by the bishop.

At baptism iney pray for the child. At the baptism of the bell they pray

literally for the bell.

* Sept. 17, 116.

141

THE EVEilY-DAY BOOK JANUARY 29.

142

At the child's baptism the scriptures There are more psalms read at the bap-
are read tism of a bell than at the baptism of a

child ; and a gospel also.

XII.

At child-baptism there are public At the baptism of a bell there are more
prayers made. prayers used, and (excepting salvation)

greater things are prayed for, and more

blessings on the bell, than on the child. But for the better proof of this point, I shall
here give part of one of the very curious prayers put up for the bell at its baptism :

Lord grant that 'wheresoever this holy bell, thus washed (or baptized)

and blessed, shall sound, all deceits of Satan, all danger of whirlwind, thunders,
lightnings, and tempests, may be driven away, and that devotion may increase in
Christian men when they hear it. O Lord, sanctify it by thy Holy Spirit ; that when
it sounds in thy people's ears they may adore Thee ! May "their faith and devotion
increase, the devil be afraid, and tremble and fly at the sound of it. O Lord, pour
upon it thy heavenly blessing ! that the fiery darts of the devil may be made to fly
backwards at the sound thereof; that it may deliver from danger of wind and
thunder, &c., &c. And grant, Lord, that all that come to the church at the sound of
it, may be free from all temptations of the devil. O Lord, infuse into it the heavenly
dew of thy Holy Ghost, that the devil may always fly away before the sound of
it, &,c., &c.

The doctrine of the church of Rome
concerning bells is, first, that they have
merit, and pray God for the living and
the dead ; secondly, that they produce
devotion in the hearts of believers; thirdly,
tfiat they drive away storms and tempests ;
and, fourthly, that they drive away devils.

The dislike of evil spirits to the sound
of bells, is extremely well expressed by
Wynkin de Worde, in the Golden Legend :
" It is said, the evil spiry tes that ben in
the region of th* ayre, doubte moche when
they here the belles rongen : and this is
the cause why the belles ringen whan it
thondreth, and whan grete tempeste and
to rages of wether happen, to the ende
that the feinds and wycked spiry tes should
ben abashed and flee, and cease of the
movynge of tempeste."

As to the names given to bells, I beg
leave to add, that the bells of Little
Dunmow Priory, in Essex, new cast A. D.
1501, were baptized by the following
names :

Prima in honore Sancti Michaelis
Arcliangeli.

Secunda in honore S. Johannis Evan-
gelisti.

Tertia in honore S. Johannis Baptisti.

Quarta in honore Assumptionis beatae
Maries.

Quinta in honore Sancti Trinitatis, et
omnium Sanctorum.

In the clochier near St. Paul's stood the
ur greatest bells in Bngland, called
Jesus' s bells ; against these sir Miles

Partridge staked 100/., and won them of
Henry VIII. at a cast of dice.

I conclude with remarking, that the
Abb6 Cancellieri, of Rome, lately pub-
lished a work relative to bells, wherein he
has inserted a long letter, written by
Father Ponyard to M. de Saint Vincens,
on the history of bells and steeples. The
Abbe" wrote this dissertation on the occa-
sion of two bells having been christened,,
which were to be placed within the tower
of the capitol.

I am, sir,
Your obedient servant,

Sept. 11. R. H, E.

R. H. E. "wise and good" as he was,
and he was both he is now no more
would not willingly have misrepresented
the doctrines of the Romish church,
though he abhorred that hierarchy. It
seems, however, that he may be mistaken
in affirming, that the Romish church
maintains of bells that " they have merit,
and pray God for the living and the
dead." His affirmation on this point may
be taken in too extensive a sense : It is
no doubt a Romish tenet that there is
" much virtue in bells," but the precise
degree allowed to them at this period, it
would be difficult to determine without
the aid of a council.

At Hatherleigh, a small town in Devon,
exist two remarkable customs : one, that

143

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 30.

144

every morning and -evening, soon after
the church clock has struck five and nine,
a bell from the same steeple announces
by distant strokes the number of the day
of the month originally intended, per-
tiaps, for the information of the unlearned
villagers : the other is, that after a funeral
the church bells ring a lively peal, as in
other places after a wedding; and to this
custom the parishioners are perfectly re-
conciled by the consideration that the
deceased is removed from a scene of
trouble to a state of rest and peace.

When Mr. Colman read his Opera of
"Inkle and Yarico" to the late Dr.
Mosely, the Doctor made no reply during
the progress of the piece. Af the con-
clusion, Colman asked what he thought
of it. "It won't do," said the Doctor,
" Stuff nonsense." Every body else
having been delighted with it, this de-
cided disapprobation puzzled the circle ;
he was asked why ? " I'll tell you why,"
answered the Critic; "you say in the
finale

' Now let us dance and sing,
While all Barbadoe's bells do ring/
It won't do there is but one bell in all
the island !"

With a citation from the poet of Erin,
the present notice will "ring out" de-
lightfully.

Evening Bells.

Those evening bells, those evening bells,
How many a tale their music tells,
Of youth and home, and that sweet time
Since last I heard their soothing chime.

Those joyous hours are passed away,
And many a friend that then was gay,
Within the tomb now darkly dwells,
And hears no more those evening bells.

And so 'twill be when I am gone,
That tuneful peal will still ring on,
While other bards shall walk these dells,
And sing thy praise, sweet evening bells !

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature. . . 36 64.

Sfanuarp 30.

King Charles's Martyrdom, 1644. Holi-
day at the Public Offices, 1826.
It is recorded that, after King Charles
the First received sentence of death, on

Saturday the 27th, he spent the next day
in devout exercises. He refused to see
his friends, and ordered them to be told,
that his time was precious, and the best
thing they could do was to pray for him.
On Monday the 29th y his children were
brought to take their leave of him, viz.
the lady Elizabeth and the duke of Glou-
cester. He first gave his blessing to the
lady Elizabeth, bidding her that when
she should see her brother James, she
should tell him that it was his father's
last desire that he should no more look
upon his brother Charles as his eldest
brother only, but be obedient to him as
his sovereign; and that they should love
one another, and forgive their father's
enemies. The king added, " Sweetheart,
you will forget this." " No," said she,
" I shall never forget it as long as I live."
He bid her not grieve and torment herself
for him ; for it would be a glorious death
he should die, it being for the laws and
liberties of this land, and for maintaining
the true Protestant religion. He recom-
mended to her the reading of " Bishop
Andrews's Sermons," " Hooker's Ecclesi-
astical Polity," and " Archbishop Laud r s
Book against Fisher." He further tolji
her, that he had forgiven all his enemies,
and hoped God would likewise forgive
them. He bade her tell her mother, that
his thoughts had never strayed from
her, and that his love should be the same
to the last. After this he took the duke
of Gloucester, being then a child of about
seven years of age, upon his knees, saying
to him, " Sweetheart, now they will cut
off thy father's head :" upon which the
child looked with great earnestness upon
him. The king proceeding, said, " Mark,
child, what I say, they will cut off' my
head, and perhaps make thee a king : but
mark what I say, you must not be a king
so long as your brothers Charles and James
do live ; for they will cut offyour brothers'
heads when they can catch them, and cut
off thy head too at last : and therefore I
charge you do not be made a king by
them." At which the child fetched a
deep sigh, and said, " I will be torn in
pieces first." Which expression falling
from a child so young, occasioned no
little joy to the king. This day the war-
rant for execution was passed, signed by
fifty-nine of the judges, for the king to
die the next day, between the hours of
ten in the morning and five in the after-
noon.

On the 30th, "The king having arrived

143

THE EVERY-DAY BOOKJANUARY 30.

146

at the place of execution, made a long
address to colonel Tomlinson ; and after-
wards turning to the officers, he said,

* Sirs, excuse me for this same : I have a
good cause and a gracious God : I will
say no more.' Then turning to colonel
Hacker, he said, ' Take care that you do
not put me to pain ;' and said, ' This
and please you ' A gentleman coming
near the axe, he said, 'Take heed of the
axe pray take heed of the axe.' Then
speaking to the executioner (who was
masked) he said, ' I shall say but very
short prayers, and when I thrust out my
hands .' Then he asked the bishop
for his cap, which, when he had put on,
he said to the executioner, ' Does my
hair trouble you?' who desiring it might
be all put under his cap, it was put up
by the bishop and executioner. Turning
to the bishop, he said, I have a good
cause, and a gracious God on my side.'
To which the bishop answered, * There
is but one stage more, which, though
turbulent and troublesome, yet it is a
very short one ; it will soon carry you a
very great way. It will carry you from
earth to heaven ; and there you will find,
to your great joy, the prize you hasten
to, a crown of glory.' The king added,

* I go from a corruptible to an incorrupti-
ble crown, where no disturbance is, no
disturbance in the world.' The bishop
replied, 'You are exchanged from a
temporal to an eternal crown, a good ex-
change.' Then the king asked the exe-
cutioner if his hair was well. After
which, putting off his cloak, doublet, and
his George, he gave the latter to the
bishcp, saying, 'Remember.' After
this he put on his cloak again over his
waistcoat, inquiring of the executioner if
the block was fast, who answered it was.
He then said, ' I wish it might have been
a little higher.' But it was answered
him, it could not be otherwise now. The
king said, * When I put out my hands
this way, then.' He prayed a few
words standing, with his hands and eyes
lift up towards heaven, and then stooping
down, laid his neck on the block. Soon
after which the executioner putting some
of his hair under his cap, the king thought
he had been going to strike, bade him
stay for the sign. After a little time the
king stretched forth his hand, and the
executioner took off his head at one
stroke. When his head was held up,
and the people at a distance knew the
fatal stroke was over, there was nothing

to be heard but shrieks, and groans, and
sobs, the unmerciful soldiers beating
down poor people for this little tender of
their affection to their prince, Thus died
the worthiest gentleman, the best master,
the best friend, the best husband,, the
best father, and the best Christian,' that
the age in which he lived produced."*

Sir Philip Warwick, an adherent to
this unfortunate king, says, " His de-
portment was very majestic; for he
would not let fall his dignity, no not to
the greatest foreigners that came to visit
him and his court : for though he was far
from pride, yet he was careful of majesty,
and would be approached with respect
and reverence. His conversation was
free ; and the subject matter of it, on his
own side of the court, was most commonly
rational ; or if facetious, not light. With
any artist or good mechanic, traveller, or
scholar, he would discourse freely; and
as he was commonly improved by them,
so he often gave light to them in their
own art or knowledge: for there were
few gentlemen in the world that knew
more of useful or necessary learning than
this prince did; and yet his proportion
of books was but small, having, like
Francis the First of France, learnt more
by the ear than by study. His way of
arguing was very civil and patient; for
he never contradicted another by his au-
thority, but by his reason ; nor did he by
petulant dislike quash another's argu-
ments; and he offered his exception by
this civil introduction, * By your favour,
Sir, I think otherwise, on this or that
ground;' yet he would discountenance
any bold or forward address unto him.
And in suits, or discourses of business, he
would give way to none abruptly to
enter into them, but looked that the
greatest persons should in affairs of this
nature address to him by his proper mi-
nisters, or by some solemn desire of speak-
ing to him in their own persons. His
exercises were manly, for he rid the great
horse very well ; and on the little saddle
he was not only adroit, but a laborious
hunter, or field-man. He had a great
plainness in his own nature, and yet he was
thought, even by his friends, to love too
much a versatile man ; but his experience
had thoroughly weaned him from this at

* Clarendon.

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THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 30.

148

Jast. He kept up the dignity of his court,
limiting persons to places suitable to their
qualities, unless he particularly called for
them. Besides the -tfomen who attended
on his beloved queen and consort, the
lady Henrietta Maria, sister of the French
king, he scarcely admitted any great offi-
cer to have his wife in the family. His
exercises of religion were most exem-
plary; for every morning early, and
evening, not very late, singly and alone,
in his own bed-chamber, or closet, he
spent some time in private meditation,
(for he dared reflect and be alone,) and
through the whole week, even when he
went to hunt, he never failed, before he
sat down to dinner, to have part of the
liturgy read to him and his menial ser-
vants, came he ever so hungry or late in:
and on Sundays and Tuesdays he came,
commonly at the beginning of service,well
attended by his court lords and chief at-
tendants, and most usually waited on by
many of the nobility in town, who found
those observances acceptably entertained
by him. His greatest enemies can deny
none of this ; and a man of this modera-
tion of mind could have no hungry appe-
tite to prey upon his subjects, though he
had a greatness of mind not to live preca-
riously by them. But when he fell into
the sharpness of his afflictions, (than
which few men underwent sharper,) I
dare say I know it, (I am sure conscien-
tiously I say it,) though God dealt with
him, as he did with St. Paul, not remove
the thorn, yet he made his grace sufficient
to take away the pungency of it ; for he
made as sanctified an use of his afflic-
tions as most men ever did. As an evi-
dence of his natural probity, whenever any
young nobleman or gentleman of quality
who was going to travel, came to kiss his
hand, he cheerfully would give them
some good counsel leading to moral vir-
tue, especially a good conversation ; tell-

ing them, that if he heard they kept good
company abroad, he should reasonably
expect they would return qualified to
serve their king and country well at
home ; and he was careful to keep the
youth in his time uncorrupted. The
king's deportment at his trial, which be-
gan on Saturday the 20th of January,
1648, was very majestic and steady ; and
though usually his tongue hesitated, yet
at this time it was free, for he was never
discomposed in mind ; and yet, as he
confessed himself to bishop Juxon, who
attended him, one action shocked him
very much ; for whilst he was leaning in
the court upon his staff, which had a head
of gold, the head broke off on a sudden:
he took it up, but seemed unconcerned ;
yet told the bishop, it really made a great
impression on him ; and to this hour
(says he) I know not possibly how it
should come. It was an accident I my-
self have often thought on, and cannot
imagine how it came about ; unless Hugh
Peters, who was truly and really his
gaoler, (for at St. James's nobody went
to him but by Peters's leave,) had artifi-
cially tampered upon his staff. But such
conjectures are of no use/'

In the Lansdowne collection of MSS.
a singular circumstance before the battle
of Newbury is thus related :

" The king being at Oxford went one
day to see the public library, where he
was shown, among other books, a Virgil.
nobly printed and exquisitely bound.
The lord Falkland, to divert the king,
would have his majesty make a trial of
his fortune by the sortes Pirgiliana, which
every body knows was not an unusual kind
of augury some ages past. Whereupon
the king opening the book, the period .
which happened to come up was part of
Dido's imprecation against .ZEneas,
which Mr. Dryden translates thus :

Yet let a race untamed, and haughty foes,

His peaceful entrance with dire arms oppose ;

Oppressed with numbers in th' unequal field,

His men discouraged and himself expelled,

Let him for succour sue from place to place,

Torn from his subjects and his sons' embrace,

First let him see his friends in battle slain,

And their untimely fate lament in vain ;

And when at length the cruel war shall cease,

On hard conditions may he buy his peace.

Nor let him then enjoy supreme command,

But fall untimely by some hostile hand,

And lie unburied on the barren sand.

b, iv. ). 88.

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THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 30.

150

" It is said, king Charles seemed con-
cerned at this accident, and that the lord
Falkland observing it, would likewise try
his own fortune in the same manner,
hoping he might fall upon some passage
that could have no relation to his case,
and thereby divert the king's thoughts
from any impression the other might have

upon him But the place that Falkland
stumbled upon was yet more suited to
his destiny* than the other had been to
the king's ; being the following expres-
sions of Evander upon the untimely
death of his son Pallas, as they are trans-
lated by the same hand :

Pallas ! thou hast failed thy plighted word
To fight with caution, not to tempt the sword ;

1 warned thee, but in vain ; for well I knew
What perils youthful ardour would pursue.
That boiling blood would carry thee too far ;
Young as thou wert in dangers raw in war !
O curst essay in arms, disastrous doom,
Prelude of bloody fields and fights to come.

JEneid, b. xi. 1. 230.

Remarkable 30th of January Sermon.

On the 30th of January, 1755, the rev.
John Watson, curate of Ripponden, in
Yorkshire, preached a sermon there
which he afterwards published. The
title-page states it as " proving that king
Charles I. did not govern like a good
king of England " He also printed "An
Apology for his Conduct yearly on the
30th of January." In these tracts he
says, " For some years last past I have
preached on the 30th of January, and my
labours were employed in obviating the
mistakes which I knew some of my con-
gregation entertained with regard to the
character of king Charles I.; and in
proving that if it was judged rebellion in
those who took up arms against that un-
fortunate prince, who had made so many
breaches in the constitution, it must be
an aggravation of that crime, to oppose
the just and wise measures of the present
father of his country, king George. The
chief reason for publishing the sermon is
to confute a commonly received opinion
that I applauded therein the act of cut-
ting off the king's head, which any one
may quickly see to be without foundation.
For when I say that the resistance he met
with was owing to his own mal-adrninis-
tration, nothing else can be meant than
the opposition he received from a wise,
brave, and good parliament : not that
shown him by those furious men who de-
stroyed both the parliament and him, and
whose conduct I never undertook to vin-
dicate. It has been observed that I al-
ways provide a clergyman to read prayers
for me on the 30th of January ; but not
to read that service is deemed criminal,
because in subscribing the 36th canon I

obliged myself to use the form prescribed
in the Book of Common Prayer. The
office for the 30th of January is no part of
the Liturgy of the church of England.
By the liturgy of the church I mean the
contents of The Book of Common Prayer
and Administration of the Sacraments,
and other Rites and Ceremonies of the
Church, &c., established by the act of
uniformity, in the year 1662; and what-
ever has been added since, I suppose no
clergyman ever bound himself by sub-
scription to use ; the reason is because
the law requires no more."

Mr. Watson then says, on the autho-
rity of Wheatly, in his " Illustration of
the Common Prayer," Johnson in his
"Clergyman's Vade Mecum," and the
author of "The Complete Incumbent,"
that the services for the 30th of January
and the 29th of May are not confirmed
by act of parliament, and that penalties
do not attach for the non-celebration 01
the service on those days. " I cannot in
conscience read those prayers/' says Wat-
son, "wherein the king is called a Martyr.
I believe the assertion to be false, and
therefore why should I tell a lie before
the God of Truth ! What is a martyr ?
He is a witness, for so the word in the
original imparts. Robert Stephens tells
us, that they are martyrs who have died
giving a testimony of divinity to Christ ;
but if this be true king Charles can be no
martyr, for he was put to death by those
who believed in the divinity of Christ as
well as he. What were the grounds then
for giving him this glorious title? his
dying rather than give up episcopacy ? I
think lord Clarendon hath proved the
contrary : he "consented to suspend epis-

Lord Falkland engaged in a thoughtleM skirmish and perished in it.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 30.

152

oopacy for three years, and that money
should be raised upon the sale of the
church lands, and only the old rent should
be reserved to the just owners and their
successors. My charity leads me so far,
that I hope king Charles meant well when
he told the princess Elizabeth that he
should die a martyr, and when he repeat-
ed it on the scaffold. But this might be
nothing else but a pleasing deception of
the mind ; and if saying that he died a
martyr made him such, then the duke of
Monmouth also was the same, for he died
with the same words in his mouth, which
his grandfather, king Charles, had used
before. King Charles II. seems to have
had no such opinion of the matter ; for
when a certain lord reminded his majesty
of his swearing in common discourse, the
king replied, 'Your martyr swore more
than ever I did,' which many have deem-
ed a jest upon the title which his father
had got. In fact, we, of this generation,
should never have judged, that he who
swore to preserve the religion, laws, and
liberties of his country inviolate, and yet
broke through every one of these re-
straints that he, who put an English
fleet into the hands of the French to crush
the protestants there, who were struggling
to maintain their religion and liberties
that he, who contrary to the most solemn
promises, did sacrifice the protestant in-
terest in France that he, who concurred
with Laud in bringing the church of Eng-
land to a kind of tivalship, for ornaments,
&c., with the church of Rome that he,
who could consent, when he married the
French king's daughter, that their chil-
dren were to be educated by their mother
until thirteen years of age that he, who
gave great church preferments to men
who publicly preached up popish doc-
trines ; and that protected known papists
from the penalties of the law, by taking
several very extraordinary steps in their
behalf that he, who permitted an agent,
or a kind of nuncio from Rome, to visit
the court publicly, and bestowed such
offices as those of lord high treasurer, se-
cretary of state, chancellor of the exche-
quer, &c., on papists that he, who by
proclamation could command the Lord's
day to be profaned (for I can call it no
'ess) by revels, plays, and many sorts of
ill-timed recreations, punishing great
numbers of pious clergymen for refusing
to publish what their consciences forbad
them to read : and to name no more-
that he, who could abet the Irish massa-

cre, wherein above three hundred thou-
sand protestants were murdered in cold
blood, or expelled out of their habitations.
( Vide ' Temple's Irish Rebellion,' page 6 )
I say, we, at this period of time, should
not have thought such a one worthy to be
deemed a martyr for the cause of protest-
antism ; but that it has been a custom in
the church for near a century to call him
so. However, it is time seriously to con-
sider whether it is not proper to correct
this error ; at least, it should be shown to
be no error if we must keep it, for, at
present, many of the well-meaning mem-
bers of the church are offended at it."

The writer cited, goes on to observe,
" My second objection against reading
this service is, that I judge it to be con-
trary both to reason and the contents of
the Bible, to say that ' the blood of king
Charles can be required of us or our pos-
terity/ There is not, I suppose, one man
alive who consented to the king's death.
We know nothing of it but from history,
therefore none of us were concerned in
the fact ; with what reason then can it be
averred that we ought to be responsible
for it, when it neither was nor is in our
power to prevent it. But what if we dis-
claim the sins of our forefathers, or are the
posterity of those who fought for the king,
are wex still to be in danger of suffering ?
Such seems to be the doctrine of this ser-
vice, where all, without exception, are
called upon to pray that they ' may be
freed from the vengeance of his righteous
blood.' I could prove, from undoubted
records, that the family I came from were
royalists ; but I think it sufficient to say,
that I never did nor ever will consent,
that a king shall be beheaded, or other-
wise put to death ; therefore let others say
what they will, I look upon myself to be
innocent, and why should I plead with
God as if I thought myself guilty ? But
we are told that they * were the crying
sins of this nation which brought down
this heavy judgment upon us/ I think it
is more clear, that a series of ill-judged
and ill-timed acts, on the part of the king,
brought him into the power of his oppos-
ers, and that, afterwards, the ambition of
a few men led him to the scaffold. Let
it only be remembered, that at the be-
ginning of his reign he entered into a war
for the recovery of the Palatinate against
the consent of his parliament ; and when
he could not get them to vote him money
enough for his purpose he extorted it ille-
gally from his subjects ; refusing to join

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154

the parliament in redressing the grievan-
ces of the nation ; often threatening them ;
and even counteracting their designs ;
which, at last, bred so many disputes,
that he overstepped all bounds, and had
the misprudence to attempt the seizing of
five members in the house ; on which the
citizens came down by land and water,
with muskets on their shoulders, to defend
the parliament : soon after which so great
a distrust arose between the two houses
and him, that all likelihood of agreement
wholly ceased. This was the cause
whereon to make war sending the queen
to Holland to buy arms, himself retiring
from the capital, and soon after erecting
his standard at Nottingham. Not suc-
ceeding, he was made prisoner, and when
many expected his restoration, a violent
opposition in the army broke forth ; a
design was formed to change the mo-
narchy into a republic, and to ttys, and
nothing else, he fell a sacrifice. If the
real cause of the king's death was the
wickedness of those times, does it not
follow that his death was permitted by
God as a punishment for that wicked-
ness ; and if so, why should we fear that
God will still visit for it ? Will the just
and merciful Judge discharge his ven-
geance on two different generations of
men for the offences committed by one ?
Such doctrine as this should be banished
from every church, especially a Christian
one ; for it has no foundation in reason
or revelation." The reasons of this cler-
gyman of the established church for his
dissent from the established usage are still
further remarkable.

Mr. Watson states other objections to
this service. " In the hymn used instead
of Venite exultetnus, it is said, They fought
against him without a cause : the con-
trary of which, when it is applied to king
Charles, I think has been owned by every
historian. The parliament of England
were always more wise and good, than to
raise armies against the kings who gave
them no occasion to do so ; and I cannot
but entertain this favourable opinion of
that which began to sit in the year 1640.
There is nothing more true than that the
king wanted to govern by an arbitrary
power. His whole actions showed it, and
he could never be brought to depart from
this. Either, therefore, his people must
have submitted to the slavery, or they
must have vindicated their freedom
openly ; there was no middle way. But
should they have tamely received the

yoke ? No, surely ; for had they done
so, they had deserved the worst of evils ;
and the bitter effects thereof, in all pro-
bability, had not only been derived to us,
but our posterity. Happy Britons, tha T
such a just and noble stand was made !
May the memories of those great patriots
that were concerned in it be ever dear to
Englishmen ; and to all true Englishmen
they will !

" In the same hymn it is likewise af-
firmed that False witnesses rose up against
him, and laid to his charge things that he
knew not. Which on this occasion cannot
be truly said, because as the chief fact to
be proved was the king's being in arms, it
cannot be supposed that out of more than
200,000 men who had engaged with him,
a sufficient number of true witnesses could
be wanting. What, therefore, Mr. Wheatly
could think when he said that his hymn is
as solemn a composure, and as pertinent
to the occasion as can be imagined or
contrived, I cannot tell. I am sure a
broad hint is given therein, that the clergy
in king Charles's time were a set of wicked
people, and that it was through their un-
righteousness, as well as that of the laity,
that the king lost his life. The words are
these, * For the sins of the people, and
the iniquities of the priests, they shed the
blood of the just in the midst of Jeru-
salem.' Let those defend this passage
who are able, for I own myself incapable
of doing it consistently."

Mr. Watson says, " I am not by myself
in thinking that this service for the 30th of
January needs a review; many sensible,
worthy men think further that it is time
to drop it ; for they see that it is unsea-
sonable now, and serves no other end than
as a bone of contention in numberless
parishes, preventing friendship, and good
will being shown towards such of the
clergy as cannot in all points approve of
it; excepting that (as I have found by
experience) it tends to make bad subjects.
A sufficient argument this, was there no
other, why it should either be altered, or
taken away ; but I presume not to dictate ;
and, therefore, I urge this no further:
had I not a sincere regard for the church
of England, I should have said less ; but
notwithstanding any reports to the con-
trary, I declare myself to be a hearty
well-wisher to her prosperity. Did I not
prefer her communion to that of any other;
I would instantly leave her, for I am not
so abandoned as to play the hypocrite
that I detest, and have often detested it

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THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 30.

to my great loss. But I am not of that
opinion, that it is for the interest of the
church to conceal her defects; on the
contrary, I think I do her the greatest
service possible by pointing them out, so
that they may be remedied to the satisfac-
tion of all good men. She ought not to
be ashamed of the truth, and falsehood
will never hurt her."

It appears that Mr. Watson's conduct
obtained much notice; for he preached
another sermon at Halifax, entitled " Mo-
deration ; or a candid disposition towards
those that differ from us, recommended
and enforced." This he also printed,
with the avowed view of " promoting
of that moderation towards all men which
becometh us as Christians, is the orna-
ment of our profession, and which we
should therefore labour to maintain, as
we desire to walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith we are called, with all lowli-
ness and meekness, with long suffering,
forbearing one another in love, endeavour-
ing to keep the unity of the spirit in the
bond of peace." He proceeds to observe
in this discourse, that " whoever reflects
upon the nature of human constitutions,
will readily allow the impossibility of per-
fection in any of them ; and whoever con-
siders the mutability of human things,
will grant that nothing can be so well
devised, or so sure established, which, in
continuance of time, will not be corrupted.
A change of circumstances, to which the
best constituted state is liable, will require
such alterations as once would have been
needless : and improvement of observa-
tion will demand such regulations as
nothing else could have discovered to have
been right. Of this the wise founders of
the established church of England were
very sensible; they prudently required
no subscription to perfection in the church,
well knowing that they but laid the foun-
dation stone of a much greater building
than they could live to see completed.
The Common Prayer, since it was first
properly compiled," in the year 1545, has
undergone sixteen alterations, as defects
became visible, and offence was thereby
given to the promoting of separations and
divisions: noble examples these fit for
the present age to imitate ! for, as ninety
years have elapsed since the last review,
this experienced age has justly discovered
that the amendments, at that time made,
were not sufficient. I could produce you
many instances ; but I forbear ; for I am

very sensible how tender a point I am
discussing. However, I cannot but ob-
serve, that for my own part, upon the
maturest arid most sober consideration, I
take him to be a greater friend to Chris-
tianity in general, and to this church in
particular, who studies to unite as many
dissenters as may be to us, by a reason-
able comprehension, than he who is
against it."

It is urged by Mr Watson, that the
church of England herself does not claim
a perfection which is insisted upon as her
distinguishing quality by some of her
over zealous advocates. He says, " The
first reformers were wise and good men,
but the Common Prayer they published
was little better than popery itself; many
indeed have been the alterations in it
made since then ; but as, through the
unripeness of the times, it never had any
but imperfect emendations, we may rea-
sonably suppose it capable of still further
improvements." Deeming the service ap-
pointed for this day as inappropriate, and
referring to suggestions that were in his
time urged upon public attention for a
review of the liturgy, he proceeds to say,
" There may be men at work that misre-
present this good design ; that proclaim,
as formerly, the church's danger ; but let
no arts like these deceive you ; they must
be enemies in disguise that do it, or such
who have not examined what they object
to with sufficient accuracy. What is
wished for, your own great Tillotson him-
self attempted : this truly valuable man,
with some others but little inferior to him-
self, being sensible that the want of a
sufficient review drew many members
from the church, would have compromised
the difference in a way detrimental to no
one, beneficial to all ; and had he not
been opposed by some revengeful zealots,
had certainly completed what all good
men have wished for."

The Editor of the Every-Day Book
has Mr. Watson's private copies of these
printed tracts, with manuscript additions
and remarks on them by Mr. Watson
himself. It should seem from one of these
notes, in his own hand-writing, that his
opinions were not wholly contemned.
Regarding his latter discourse, he observes
that " the late Dr. Sharp, archdeacon cf
Northumberland, in a pamphlet, called
' A Serious Inquiry into the Use and Im-
portance of External Religion;' quotes
this sentence, " Where unity and peace are

157

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 30.

153

disregarded, devotion must be so too, as it
were by natural consequences. I have bor-
rowed these words from a sermon preached
at Halifax, by John Watson, A. M., which,
if any man, who has sixpence to spare,
will purchase, peruse, and lay to heart, he
will lay out his time and his money very
well." Archdeacon Sharp was father of
the late Granville Sharp, the distinguished
philanthropist and hebraist.

Mr. Watson was born at Presburg, in
Cheshire, and educated at Brazen Nose col-
lege, Oxford, where he obtained a fellow-
ship. He wrote a History of Halifax, in
2vols. 4to., 1775; and a History of the
Warren Family, by one of whom he was
presented to the rectory of Stockport, where
he died, aged 59 years He also wrote a
review of the large Moravian hymn book,
and several miscellaneous pieces. There
is a portrait of him by Basire.

By those who believe that Charles was
" guiltless of his country's blood/' and
that the guilt " of his blood" is an entail
upon the country not yet cut off, it may
be remarked as a curious fact, that at
about that season, eighty years after the
king " bowed his head" on the scaffold at
Whitehall, it was " a very sickly time."
It is recorded, that in 1733 " people were
afflicted this month with a head-ach and
fever which very few escaped, and many
died of; particularly between Tuesday,
the twenty-third, and Tuesday, the thir-
tieth of January, there died upwards of
fifteen hundred in London and Westmin-
ter."* On the twenty-third of January,
1649, the king having peremptorily de-
nied the jurisdiction of the court, the pre-
sident, Bradshaw, " ordered his contempt
to be recorded : on the thirtieth of January
he was beheaded." During these days,
and the intervening ones, the fatal Lon-
don head-ach prevailed in 1733.

On the second of March, 1772 Mr.
Montague moved in the house of com-
mons to have so much of the act of 12th
C. II. c % 30, as relates to the ordering
the thirtieth of January to be kept as a
day of fasting and humiliation, to be re-
pealed. His motive he declared to be, to
abolish, as much as he could, any absur-
dity from church as well as state. He
said that he saw great and solid reasons
for abolishing the observation of that day,

and hoped that it was not too harsh a
name to be given to the service for the
observation of that day, if he should brand
it with the name of impiety, particularly
in those parts where Charles I. is likened
to oar Saviour. On a division, there being
for the motion 97, and against it 125, it
was lost by a majority of 27.

The Calves-head Club.

On the 30th of January, 1735, certain
young noblemen and gentlemen met at a
French tavern in Suffolk-street, (Charing
Cross,) under the denomination of the
" Calves-head Club." They had an en-
tertainment of calves' heads, some of
which they showed to the mob outside,
whom they treated with strong beer. In
the evening, they caused a bonfire to be
made before the door, and threw into it
with loud huzzas a calf's-head dressed
up in a napkin. They also dipped their
napkins in red wine, and waved them
from the windows, at the same time
drinking toasts publicly. The mob huz-
zaed as well as " their betters," but
at length broke the windows, and became
so mischievous that the guards were called
in to prevent further outrage.*

These proceedings occasioned some
verses in the " Grub-street Journal,"
wherein are the following lines :

Strange times ! when noble peers secure

from riot

Cann't keep Noll's annual festival in quiet.
Through sashes broke, dirt, stones and

brands thrown at em,
Which, if not scand was brand-alum-

magnatum
Forced to run down to vaults for safer

quarters,
And in cole-holes, their ribbons hide and

garters.
They thought, their feast in dismal fray

thus ending,
Themselves to shades of death and hell

descending :

This might have been, had stout Clare-
market mobsters
With cleavers arm'd, outmarch'd St. James's

lobsters ;
Numsculls they'd split, to furnish other

revels,
And make a calves-head feast for worms

and devils.

British Chronologist, 177.

* Gents. Mag .and Brit. Chron.

.59

THE EVEHY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 3

160

CalfaesJ^eatr Club m ^ufibOt Street, 173 1.

There is a print entitled " The true
Effigies of the Members of the Calves-
head Club, held on the 30th of January,
1734, in Suffolk Street, in the County of
Middlesex/' This date is the year before
that of the disturbance related, and as re-
gards the company, the health drinking,
huzzaing, a calf's" head in a napkin, a
bonfire, and the mob, the scene is the
same ; with this addition, that there is a
person in a mask with an axe in his hand.
The engraving above is from this print.

On a work entitled the " History of
the Calves-head Club/' little reliance is
to be placed for authenticity. It appears,
however, that their toasts were of this de-
scription : " The pious memory of Oliver
Cromwell." " Damn n to the race of the
Stuarts." "The glorious year 1648."
" The man in the mask, &c/' Tt will be
remembered that the executioner of
Charles I. wore a mask.

161

THE EVEUY-DAY B JOK.-.JANUARY 30.

Oranges and Bells.

A literary hand at Newark is so oblig-
ing as to send the communication annexed,
for which, in behalf of the reader, the edi-
tor offers his sincere thanks.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.

Sir, Newark, Dec. 1 0, 1 825.

On the 30th of January, the anniver-
sary of king Charles's martyrdom, and on
Shrove Tuesday, we have a custom here,
which I believe to be singular, having
never heard of it elsewhere. On those
days, there are several stalls placed in the
market-place, (as if for a regular market,)
having nothing but oranges : you may
purchase them, but it is rarely the case ;
but you " raffle'* for them, at least that is
their expression. You give the owner a
halfpenny, which entitles you to one
share ; if a penny, to two, and so on ; and
when there is a sufficient sum, you begin
the raffle. A ball nearly round, (about
the size of a hen's egg,) yet having
twenty-six square sides, each having a
number, being one to twenty-six, is given
you : (some balls may not have so many,
others more, but I never saw them.) You
throw the ball down, what I may term,
the chimney, (which is so made as to
keep turning the ball as it descends,) and
it falls on a flat board with a ledge, to
keep it from falling off, and when it stops
you look at the number. Suppose it was
twelve, the owner of the stall uses this ex-
pression, "Twelve is the highest, and one
gone." Then another throws ; if his is a
lesser number, they say, " Twelve is the
highest, and two gone ;" if a higher num-
Der, they call accordingly. The highest
number takes oranges to the amount of all
the money on the board. When they
first begin, a halfpenny is put down, then
they call " One, and who makes two ?"
\vhen another is put down, it is "Two,
and who makes three ?" and so on. At
night the practice is kept up at their own
houses till late hours; and others go to the
inns and public-houses to see what they
can do there.

Also eveiy day, at six in the morning,
and night, at eight o'clock, we have a bell
rung for about a quarter of an hour : it is
termed six o'clock and eight o'clock bell.
On saint days, Saturdays, and Sundays,
the time is altered to seven o'clock in the
morning, and to seven o'clock at night,
with an additional ringing at one o'clock

VOL. TL 58.

at noon. Again, at eight o'clock v>n Sun-
day morning, all the bells are tolled round
for a quarter of an hour.

I have mentioned the above, that, if
they come within the notice of the Every-
Day Book, you would give them inser-
tion, and, if possible, account for their
origin.

Whilst on the subject of " bells," per-
haps you can mention how " hand bells
came into the church, and for what pur-
pose." We have a set in this church*
I am, &c.

H. H. N. N.

The editor will be glad to receive eluci-
dations of either of these usages.

Accounts of local customs are paiticu-
larly solicited from readers of the Every-
Day Book in every part of the country.

To the notice of this day in the Per-
ennial Calendar, the following stanzas
are subjoined by Dr. Forster. They are
evident " developments" of phrenological
thought.

VERSES ON A SKULL

In a church-yard.

O empty vault of former glory !

Whate'er thou wert in time of old.
Thy surface tells thy living story,

Tho' now so hoJ)o\v, dead, and cold ,
For in thy form is yet descried

The traces left of young desire ;
The Painter's art, the Statesman's pride,

The Muse's song, the Poet's fire ;
But these, forsooth, now seem to be
Mere lumps ou thy periphery.

Dear Nature, constant in her laws,

Hath mark'd each mental operation,
She ev'ry feeling's limit draws

On all the heads throughout the nation,
That there might no deception be ;

And he who kens her tokens well,
Hears tongues which every where agree

In language that no lies can tell
Courage Deceit Destruction Theft
Have traces on the skullcap left.

But through all Nature s constancy
An awful change of form is seen,

Two forms are not which quite agree,
None is replaced that o.ice hath been ;

163

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 30.

164

Endless variety in all,

From Fly to Man, Creation's pride,
Each shows his proper form to fall

Eftsoons in time's o'erwhelming tide,
And mutability goes on
With ceaseless combination.

Tis thine to teach with magic power

Those who still bend life's fragile stem,
To suck the sweets of every flower,

Before the sun shall set to them ;
Calm the contending passions dire,

Which on thy surface I descry,
Like water struggling with the fire

In combat, which of them shall die ;
Thus is the soul in Fury's car,
A type of Hell's intestine war.

Old wall of man's most noble par ,

While now I trace with trembling hand
Thy sentiments, how oft I start,

Dismay'd at such a jarring band !
Man, with discordant frenzy fraught,

Seems either madman, fool, or knave ;
To try to live is all he's taught

To 'scape her foot who nought doth save
In life's proud race ; (unknown our goal)
To strive against a kindred soul.

These various organs show the place

Where Friendship lov'd, where Passion

glow'd,
Where Veneration grew in grace,

Where justice swayed, where man was

proud
Whence Wit its slippery sallies threw

On Vanity, thereby defeated ;
Where Hope's imaginary view

Of things to come (fond fool) is seated ;
Where Circumspection made us fear,
Mid gleams of joy some danger near.

Here fair Benevolence doth grow
In forehead high here Imitation

Adorns the stage, where on the Brow
Are Sound, and Color's legislation.

Here doth Appropriation try,

By help of Secrecy, to gain
A store of wealth, against we die,

For heirs to dissipate again.
Cause and Comparison here show,

The use of every thing we know.

But here that fiend of fiends doth dwell,

While Ideality unshaken
By facts or theory, whose spell

Maddens the soul and fires our beacon.
Whom memory tortures, love deludes,

Whom circumspection fills with dread,
On every organ he obtrudes,

Until Destruction o'er his head
Impends ; then mad with luckless strife,
He volunteers the loss of life.

And canst thou teach to future man

The way his evils to repair
Say, O momento, of the span

Of mortal life ? For if the care
Of truth to science be not given,

(From whom no treachery it can sever,}
There's no dependance under heaven

That error may not reign for ever.
May future heads more learning cull
From thee, when my own head's a skull.

There is a parish game in Scotland, at
this season of theyear,when the waters are
frozen and can bear practitioners in the di-
version. It prevails, likewise, in North-
umberland, and other northern parts of
south Britain ; yet, nowhere, perhaps, is
it so federalized as among the descend-
ants of those who "ha' wi' Wallace
bled." This sport, called curling, is de-
scribed by the georgical poet, and will
be better apprehended by being related
in his numbers : it being premised that
the time agreed on, or the appointment
for playing it, is called the tryst ; the
match is called the bonspiel ; the boundary
marks for the play are called the tees ;
and the stones used are called coits,
or quoits, or coiting, or quoiting-stones.

Now rival parishes, and shrievedoms, keep,
On upland lochs, the long-expected tryst
To play their yearly bonspiel. Aged men,
Smit with the eagerness of youth, are there,
While love of conquest lights their beamless eyes,
New-nerves their arms, and makes them young once more.

The sides when ranged, the distance meted out,
And duly traced the tees, some younger hand
Begins, with throbbing heart, and far o'ershoots,
Or sideward leaves, the mark : in vain he bends
His waist, and winds his hand, as if it still
Retained the power to guide the devious stone,

165 THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 31.

Which, onward hurling, makes the circling groupe
Quick start aside, to shun its reckless force.
But more and still more skilful arms succeed,
And near and nearer still around the tee,
This side, now that, approaches ; till at last,
Two, seeming equidistant, straws, or twigs,
Decide as umpires 'tween contending coits.

Keen, keener still, as life itself were staked,
Kindles the friendly strife : one points the line
To him who, poising, aims and aims again ;
Another runs and sweeps where nothing lies.
Success alternately, from side to side.
Changes ; and quick the hours un-noted fly,
Till light begins to fail, and deep below,
The player, as he stoops to lift his coit,
Sees, half incredulous, the rising moon.
But now the final, the decisive spell
Begins ; near and more near the sounding stones,
Some winding in, some bearing straight along,
Crowd justling all around the mark, while one,
Just slightly touching, victory depends
Upon the final aim : long swings the stone.
Then with full force, careering furious on,
Rattling it strikes aside both friend and foe,
Maintains its course, and takes the victor's place.
The social meal succeeds, and social glass ;
In words the fight renewed is fought again,
While festive mirth forgets the winged hours.
Some quit betimes the scene, and find that home
Is still the place where genuine pleasure dwells,

160

Grakame.

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature ... 36 85.

Sfanuarp 31.

King George IV, proclaimed. Holiday
at the Exchequer.

Wakes.

A newspaper of this day,* in the year
1821, relates the following" anecdote :

All through Ireland the ceremonial of
wakes and funerals is most punctually at-
tended to, and it requires some sfavoir
faire to carry through the arrangement in
a masterly manner. A great adept at the
business, who had been the prime ma-
nager at all the wakes in the neighbour-
hood for many years, was at last called
away from the death-beds of his friends
to his own. Shortly before he died he
gave minute directions to his people as to

* New Times.

the mode of waking him in proper style.
" Recollect," says he, " to put three can-
dles at the head of the bed, after you lay
me out, and two at the foot, and one at
each side. Mind now, and put a plate
with the salt on it just a top of my breast.
And, do you hear ? have plenty of tobacco
and pipes enough ; and remember to make
the punch strong. And but what the
devil is the use of talking to you ? sure I
know you'll be sure to botch it, as I won't
be there myself."

MR. JOHN BULL, an artist, with poeti-
cal powers exemplified in the first vo-
lume* by a citation from his poem enti-
tled " The Museum," which deserves to be
better known, favours the Every-Day
Book with the following original lines.
The conflict between the cross and the
crescent, renders the communication pe-
culiarly interesting to those who indulge
a hope that the struggle will terminate in
the liberation of Greece from " worse than
Egyptian bondage."

* P.m

167

THE EVEKY-DAY BOOK. JANUARY 31.

168

THE RAINBOW IN GREECE.

By Mr. John Bull.

Arch of peace ' the firmament

Hath not a form more fair
Than thine, thus beautifully bent

Upon the lighten'd air.

Well might the wondrous bards of yore

Of thee so sweetly sing ;
Thy fair foot on their lovely shore

Returning with the spring !

An angel's form to thee they gave,

Celestial feign'd thy birth,
Saw thee now span the light green wave,

And now the greener earth.

Yet then, where'er thy smile was seen

On land, or billowy main,
Thou seem'd to watch, with look serene,

O'er Freedom's glorious reign.

Thy brilliant arch, around the sky,

The nurse of hope appear'd,
Sweet as the light of liberty,

Wherewith their souls were cheer'd !

But ah ! if thou, when Greece was young,

Didst visit realms above ;
Go and return, as minstrels sung

A messenger of love :

What tale, in heaven, hast thou to tell,

Of tyrants and their slaves
Despots, and soul-bound men that dwell

Without their fathers' graves !

Oh ! when they see thy beauteous bow,

Surround their ancient skies,
Do not the Grecian warriors know,

Tis then their hour to rise 1

Let them unsheath the daring sword,

And, pointing up to thee,
Speak to their men one fiery word,

And march to set them free

Upon thino arch of hope they'd glance,
And say, " The storm is o'er I

" The clouds are breaking off advance,
" We will be slaves no more !"

repre-

The "Mirror of the Months"
ents of the coming month, that

" Now the Christmas holidays are 3ver,
and all the snow in Russia could not
make the first Monday in this month look
any other than black, in the home-loving
eyes of little schoolboys ; and the streets
of London are once more evacuated of
h:
but

heard, and sorrowful faces seen to issue
from sundry post-chaises that carry six-
teen inside, exclusive of cakes and boxes;

lappy wondering faces, that look any way
)ut straight before them ; and sobs are

and theatres are no longer conscious or
unconscious dclats de rire, but the whole
audience is like Mr. Wordsworth's cloud,
" which moveth altogether, if it move
at all."

In the gardens of our habitations, and
the immense tracts that provide great
cities with the products of the earth, the
cultivator seizes the first opportunity to
prepare and dress the bosom of our com-
mon mother. " Hard frosts, if they come
at all, are followed by sudden thaws;
and now, therefore, if ever, the mysterious
old song of our school days stands a
chance of being verified, which sings of
* Three children sliding on the ice,

All on a summer's day !'
Now the labour of the husbandman re-
commences ; and it is pleasant to watch
(from your library-window) the plough-
team moving almost imperceptibly along,
upon the distant upland that the bare
trees have disclosed to you. Nature is
as busy as ever, if not openly and ob-
viously, secretly, and in the hearts of her
sweet subjects the flowers ; stirring them
up to that rich rivalry of beauty which is
to greet the first footsteps of spring, and
teaching them to prepare themselves for
her advent, as young maidens prepare,
months beforehand, for the marriage fes-
tival of some dear friend. If the flowers
think and feel (and he who dares to say
that they do not is either a fool or a phi-
losopher let him choose between the
imputations !) if the flowers think and
feel, what a commotion must be working
within their silent hearts, when the pi-
nions of winter begin to grow, and indi-
cate that he is at least meditating his
flight Then do they, too, begin to
meditate on May-day, and think on the
delight with which they shall once more
breathe the fresh air, when they have
leave to escape from their subterranean
prisons ; for now, towards the latter end
of this month, they are all of them at
least awake from their winter slumbers,
and most are busily working at their gay
toilets, and weaving their fantastic robes,
and shaping their trim forms, and distil-
ling their rich essences, and, in short,
getting ready in all things, that they may
be duly prepared to join the bright pro-
cession of beauty that is to greet and
glorify the annual coming on of their
sovereign lady, the spring. It is true
none of all this can be seen. But what
a race should we be, if we kne^v and

169

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY.

170

cared to know of nothing, but what we
can see and prove ! " "

* Mirror of the Months.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 39 35.

FEBRUARY.

When, in the zodiac, the Fish wheel round,

They loose the floods, and irrigate the grouud.

Then, husbandmen resume their wonted toil,

Yoke their strong steers, and plough the yielding soil

Then prudent gard'ners seize the happy time,

To dig and trench, and prune for shoots to climb,

Inspect their borders, mark the silent birth

Of plants, successive, from the teeming earth,

Watch the young nurslings with paternal care,

Apd hope for "growing weather" all the year.

Yet February's suns uncertain shine,

*ov rain and frost alternately combine

To stop the plough, with sudden wintry storms

/nd, often, fearful violence the month deforms

171

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 1.

172

jftbruarp l.

Flowers

A good garden in a sunny day, at the
commencement of this month, has many
delightful appearances to a lover of na-
ture, and issues promises of further gra-
tification. It is, however, in ball-rooms
and theatres that many of the sex, to
whose innocence and beauty the lily is
likened, resort for amusement, and see or
wear the mimic forms of floral loveliness.
Yet this approach to nature, though at
an awful distance, is to be hailed as
an impulse of her own powerful working
in the very heart of fashion ; and it has
this advantage, that it supplies means of
existence to industry, and urges ingenuity
to further endeavour. Artificial wants
are rapidly supplied by the necessity of
providing for real ones; and the weal-
thy accept drafts upon conditions which

indigence prescribes, till it becomes
lifted above poverty to independence.

The manufacture of artificial flowers is
not wholly unknown in England, but our
neighbours, the French, eclipse us in the
accuracy and variety of their imitations.
Watering-places abound with these won-
ders of their work-people, and in the me-
tropolis there are depots, from whence
dress-makers and milliners are supplied
by wholesale.

The annexed literal copy of a French
flower-maker's card, circulated during the
summer of 1822 among the London
shopkeepers, is a whimsical specimen of
self-sufficiency, and may save some learn-
ers of French from an overweening confi-
dence in their acquisition of that language,
which, were it displayed in Paris, would
be as whimsical in that metropolis as this
English is in ours.

M. MARLOTEAU et O.

Manufacturers from Paris ,

37, MONTMORENCY-STREET,

To London 14 Broad street , Oxford street.

Acquaint the Trade in general, that they have just established in LONDON.

A Warhouse for FRENCH FLOWERS , for each Season , feathar from
hat ladies of their own Manufacture elegant fans of the NEWEST TASTE.

And of Manufactures of PARIS , complette sets ornaments for 'balls , snuff (
boxes scale gold and silver , boxes toilette , ribbons and embroidered , hat
et cap , from Ladies of the newest Taste , China , all sorts , etc.

He commit generally the articles from Paris , Manufacturers.

And send in all BRITISH CITY.
Attandance from Nine o'Clock in the Morning till five in the Afternoon.

173

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 2.

174

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature . . .39 70.

jfdbruarj) 2.

Purification, or Candlemas. 1826. Holi-
day at the Public Offices.
This day, the festival of "the Purifica-
tion of the Blessed Virgin Mary," is some-
times called Christ's Presentation, the
Holiday of St Simeon, and The Wives'
Feast. An account of its origin and cele-
bration is in vol. i: p. 199. A beautiful
composition in honour of the Virgin is
added as a grace to these columns.
Portuguese Hymn.

TO THE VIRGIN MARY.

By John Leyden.
Star of the wide and pathless sea,

Who lov'st on mariners to shine,
These votive garments wet to thee,

We hang within thy holy shrine.

When o'er us flushed the surging brine,
Amid the warring waters tost,

We called no other name but thine,
And hoped, when other hope was lost,

Ave Maris Stella !
Star of the vast and howling main,

When dark and lone is all the sky,
And mountain- waves o'er ocean's plain

Erect their stormy heads on high ;

When virgins for their true loves sigh,
And raise their weeping eyes to thee,

The star of Ocean heeds their cry,
And saves the foundering bark at sea.

Ave Maris Stella!
Star of the dark and stormy sea,

When wrecking tempests round us rave,
Thy gentle virgin form we see

Bright rising o'er the hoary wave.

The howling storms that seem to crave
Their victims, sink in music sweet,

The surging seas recede to pave
The path beneath thy glistening feet,

Ave Maris Stella!
Star of tne desert waters wild,

Who pitying hears the seaman's cry,
The God of mercy, as a child,

On that chaste bosom loves to lie ;

While soft the chorus of the sky
Their hymns of tender mercy sing,

And angel voices name on high
The mother of the heavenly king,

Ave Maris Stella!
Star of the deep ! at that blest name

The waves sleep silent round the keel,
The tempests wild their fury tame

That made the deep's foundations reel :

The soft celestial accents steal
So soothing through the realms of woe,
* # '# * *

Ave Maris Stella !

Star of the mild and placid seas,

Whom rainbow rays of mercy crown,

Whose name thy faithful Portuguese
O'er all that to the depths go down,
With hymns of grateful transport own ,

When gathering clouds obscure their light
And heaven assumes an awful frown.

The star of Ocean glitters bright,
Ave Maris Stella !

Star of the deep ! when angel lyres

To hymn thy holy name essay,
In vain a mortal harp aspires

To mingle in the mighty lay !

Mother of God ! one living ray
Of hope our grateful bosoms fires

When storms and tempests pass away,
To join the bright immortal quires.
Ave Maris Stella !

On Candlemas-day, 1734, there was a
grand entertainment for the judges, ser-
geants, &c. in the Temple-hall. The lord
chancellor, the earl of Macclesfield, the
bishop of Bangor, together with other
distinguished persons, were present, and
the prince of Wales attended incog. At
night the comedy of " Love for Love "
was acted by the company of his Majesty's
revels from the Haymarket theatre, who
received a present of 507. from the so-
cieties of the Temple. The judges, ac-
cording to an ancient custom, danced
" round the coal fire," singing an old
French song.*

THE COAL AND THE DIAMOND

A Fable for Cold Weather,
A coal was hid beneath the grate,
(Tis often modest merit's fate,)

'Twas small, and so, perhaps, forgotten ;
Whilst in the room, and near in size,

Ir a fine casket lined with cotton,
In pomp and state, a diamond lies.

" So, little gentleman in black,"
The brilliant spark in anger cried,

" I hear, in philosophic clack,
Our families are close allied ;

But know, the splendour of my hue,
ExcelPd by nothing in existence,

Should teach such little folks as you
To keep a more respectful distance."

At these reflections on his name,

The coal soon redden'd to a flame ;

Of his own real use aware,

He only answer'd with a sneer

" I scorn your taunts, good bishop Blaae,

And envy not your charms divine ;
For know, 1 boast a double praise,

As I can warm as well as shine."

* Gentleman's Magazine.

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 2.

176

She was in prison, as you see,

All in a cave of snow ;
And she could not relieved be,

Though she was frozen so.

Ah, weU a-day 1

17'

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY.

For she was all froze in with frost,

Eight days and nights, poor soul !
Rut when they gave her up for lost,

They found her down the hole.

A h, well-a-day ' MS. Ballad.

178

. On Saturday, the 2d of February, 1799,
Elizabeth Woodcock, aged forty-two years,
went on horseback from Impington to
Cambridge ; on her return, between six
and seven o'clock in the evening, being
about half a mile from her own home,
her horse started at a sudden light, pro-
bably from a meteor, which, at this season
of the year, frequently happens. She
exclaimed, " Good God ! what can this
be?'' It was a very inclement, stormy
night; a bleak wind blew boisterously
from the N. E. ; the ground was covered
by great quantities of snow that had fallen
during the day. Many of the deepest
ditches were filled up, whilst in the open
fields there was but a thin covering ; but
in roads and lanes, and in narrow and
enclosed parts, it had so accumulated as
to retard the traveller. The horse ran
backwards to the brink of a ditcb, and
fearing lest the animal should plunge
into it, she dismounted, intending to lead
the animal home ; but he started again,
and broke from her. She attempted to
regain the bridle; but the horse turned
suddenly out of the road, over a common
field, and she followed him. Having lost
one of her shoes in the snow, and wearied
by the exertion she had made, and by a
heavy basket on her arm, her pursuit of
the horse was greatly impeded ; she how-
ever persisted, and having overtaken him
about a quarter of a mile from whence
she alighted, she gained the bridle, and
made another attempt to lead him home.
But on retracing her steps to a thicket
contiguous to the road, she became so
much fatigued, and her left foot, which
was without a shoe, was so much be-
numbed, that she was unable to proceed
farther. Sitting down upon the ground
in this state, and letting go the bridle,
" Tinker," she said, calling the horse by
his name, " I am too much tired to go
any farther; you must go home without
me :" and exclaimed, " Lord have mercy
upon me! what will become of me?"
The ground on which she sat was upon a
jevel with the common field, close under
the thicket on the south-west. She well
knew its situation, and its distance from
her own house. There was then only a
small quantity of snow drifted near her;
but it accumulated so rapidly, that when

Chesterton bell rang at eight o'clock, she
was completely hemmed in by it. The
depth of the snow in which she was en-
veloped was about six feet in a perpen-
dicular direction, and over her head be-
tween two and three. She was incapable
of any effectual attempt to extricate her-
self, and, in addition to her fatigue and
cold, her clothes were stiffened by the
frost; and therefore, resigning herself to
the necessity of her situation, she sat
awaiting the dawn of the following day.
To the best of her recollection, she slept
very little during the night. In the
morning, observing before her a circular
hole in the snow, about two feet in length,
and half a foot in diameter, running
obliquely upwards, she broke off a branch
of a bush which was close to her, and
with it thrust her handkerchief through
the hole, and hung it, as a signal of dis-
tress, upon one of the uppermost twigs
that remained uncovered. She bethought
herself that the change of the moon was
near, and having an almanac in her
pocket, took it out, though with great
difficulty, and found that there would be
a new moon the next day, February the
4th. Her difficulty in getting the alma-
nac from her pocket arose, in a great
measure, from the stiffness of her frozen
clothes ; the trouble, however, was com-
pensated by the consolation which the
prospect of so near a change in her favour
afforded. Here, however, she remained
day after day, and night after night, per-
fectly distinguishing the alterations of day
and night, hearing the bells of her own
and the neighbouring villages, particularly
that of Chesterton, which was about two
miles distant from the spot, and rung in
winter time at eight in the evening and
four in the morning, Sundays excepted ;
she was sensible to the sound of carriages
upon the road, the bleating of sheep and
lambs, and the barking of dogs. One
day she overheard a conversation between
two gipsies, relative to an ass they had
lost. She recollected having pulled out
her snuff-box, and taken two pinches of
snuff, but felt so little gratification from
it, that she never repeated it. Possibly,
the cold might have so far blunted her
powers of sensation, that the snuff no
longer retained its stimulus. Finding her

179

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 2.

18C

left hand beginning to swell, in conse-
quence of her reclining on that arm, she
took two rings, the tokens of her nuptial
vows twice pledged, t'rom her finger, and
put them, together with a little money
from her pocket, into a small box, judging
that, should she not be found alive, the
rings and money, being thus deposited,
were less likely to be overlooked by the
discoverers of her breathless corpse. She
frequently shouted, in hopes that her vo-
ciferations might reach any that chanced
to pass, but the snow prevented the trans-
mission of her voice. The gipsies, who
approached her nearer than any other
persons, were not sensible of any sound,
though she particularly endeavoured to
attract their attention. A thaw took place
on the Friday after the commencement of
her misfortunes ; she felt uncommonly
faint and languid ; her clothes were
wetted quite through by the melted snow ;
the aperture before mentioned became
considerably enlarged, and she attempted
to make an effort to release herself; but
her strength was too much impaired ; her
feet and legs were no longer obedient to
her will, and her clothes were become
much heavier by the water which
they had imbibed. She now, for the first
time, began to despair of being discovered
alive ; and declared, that, all things con-
sidered, she could not have survived
twenty-four hours longer This was
the morning of her emancipation. The
apartment or cave of snow formed around
her was sufficiently large to afford her
space to move herself about three or four
inches in any direction, but not to stand
upright, it being only about three feet
and a half in height, and about two in
the broadest part. Her sufferings had
now increased ; she sat with one of her
hands spread over her face, and fetched
very deep sighs ; her breath was short
and difficult, and symptoms of approach-
ing dissolution became hourly more appa-
rent. On that day, Sunday, the 10th of
February, Joseph Muncey, a young
farmer, in his way home from Cambridge,
about half-past twelve o'clock, passed
very near the spot where the woman was.
Her handkerchief, hanging upon the twigs,
where she had suspended it, caught his
eye ; he walked up to the place, and saw
the opening in the snow, and heard a
sound issue from it similar to that of
a person "breathing hard and with diffi-
culty. He looked in, and saw the woman
who had been so long missing. He did

not speak to her, but, seeing another
young farmer and a shepherd at a little
distance, communicated to them the dis-
covery he had made ; upon which, though
they scarcely credited his report, they
went to the spot. The shepherd called
out, " Are you there, Elizabeth Wood-
cock ?" She replied, in a faint and feeble
accent, " Dear John Stittle, I know your
voice ; for God's sake, help me out of
this place !" Stittle immediately made his
way through the snow till he was able to
reach her; she eagerly grasped his hand,
and implored him not to leave her. " I
have been here a long time," she observed.
" Yes," answered the man, " ever since
Saturday." " Ay, Saturday week,"
she replied ; " I have heard the bells
go two Sundays for church." Her hus-
band was immediately acquainted with
the discovery, and proper means were
taken for conveying her home. Her hus-
band and some neighbours brought a
horse and chaise-cart, with blankets to
wrap her in. The snow being somewhat
cleared away, she asked for a piece of bis-
cuit and a small quantity of brandy, from
taking which she found herself greatly re-
cruited. As a person took her up to put
her into the chaise, the stocking of the left
leg, adhering to the ground, came off, and
she fainted. Nature was greatly exhaust-
ed, and the motion, added to the sight of
her husband and neighbours,was too much
for her strength and spirits. When she
recovered, she was laid gently in the car-
riage, covered well over with the blankets,
and conveyed without delay to her own
house.

It appears that when the horse came
home, her husband and another person
set out on the road with a lantern, and
went quite to Cambridge, where they only
learnt that she left the inn at six that
evening. They explored the road afresh
that night, and for four succeeding days,
and searched the huts of the gipsies, whom
they suspected might have robbed and
murdered her, till she was unexpectedly
discovered in the manner already men-
tioned.

Mr. Okes, a surgeon, first saw her in
the cart, as she was removing home. She
spoke to him with a voice tolerably
strong, but rather hoarse ; her hands and
arms were sodden, but not very cold
though her legs and feet were. She was
put to bed, and weak broth given her oc-
casionally. From the time of her being
lost she had eaten only snow, and believed

181

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 3.

182

she had not slept till Friday the 8th.
The hurry of spirits, occasioned by too
many visitors, rendered her feverish ; and
hw feet were found to be completely
mortified. The cold had extended its vio-
lent effects from the end of the toes to the
middle of the instep, including more than
an inch above the heels, and all the bot-
tom of the feet, insomuch, that she lost all
her toes with the integuments from the
bottom of one foot. Her life was saved,
but the mutilated state in which she was
left, without even a chance of ever being
able to attend to the duties of her family,
was almost worse than death itself. She
lingered until the 13th of July, 1799,
when she expired, after a lapse of five
months from the period of her discovery.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 40 37.

St. Blaise.

These two Romish festivals are still
retained in the church of England ca-
lendar.

Of St. Blaise's festival there is an ac-
count in vol. i. p. 207.

WITCHCRAFT*

The necessity for instruction is power-
fully exemplified by the following narra-
tive. Some who reflect upon it, and dis-
cover that there are other and worse
consequences to be apprehended from ig-
norance than those related below, will
consult their own safety, by providing
education for the children of labouring
people, and influencing their attendance
where they may gain the means of dis-
tinguishing right from wrong.

In February, 1808, at Great Paxton, in
Huntingdonshire, Alice Brown, crossing
the ice on the river Ouse, fell into the
water, and narrowly escaped drowning,
in the sight of her friend, Fanny Amey, a
poor epileptic girl, who, in great terror,
witnessed the accident. Alice arrived at
her father's house shivering with cold,
and, probably from sympathetic affection,
was herself seized with epilepsy. The fits
returning frequently, she became emaci-
ated, and incapable of labour. In April
following, the rev. Isaac Nicholson, curate
of the parish, inquiring after her health,
was astonished by her brother informing
him that her fits and debility were the

effect of witchcraft. " She is under an
evil tongue," said the youth. " As sure
as you are alive, sir," continued a stand er-
by, " she is bewitched, and so are two
other young girls that live near her."
The boor related, that at the town he
came from in Bedfordshire, a man had
been exactly in the same way ; but, by a
charm, he discovered the witch to be an
old woman in the same parish, and that
her reign would soon be over ; which
happened accordingly, for she died in
a few days, and the man recovered.
" Thomas Brown tried this charm last
night for his daughter, but it did not suc-
ceed according to our wishes ; so they
have not at present found out who it is
that does all the mischief."

Mr. Nicholson was greatly shocked
at the general opinion of the peo-
ple that Alice Brown, Fanny Amey,
and Mary Fox were certainly bewitched
by some person who had bought a fami-
liar or an evil spirit of the devil at the
expense of the buyer's soul, and that
various charms had been tried to discover
who the buyer was. It was utterly out
of his power to remove or diminish the
impressions of his parishioners as to the
enchantment ; and on the following Sun-
day, a few minutes before he went to
church, Ann Izzard, a poor woman about
sixty years old, little, but riot ill-looking,
the mother of eight children, five of whom
were living, requested leave to speak to
him. In tears and greatly agitated, she
told him her neighbours pretended, that,
by means of certain charms, they had dis-
covered that she was the witch. She said
they abused her children, and by their
violent threats frightened her so much
that she frequently dropped down to the
ground in fainting-fits. She concluded
by asserting her innocence in these words :
" I am not a witch, and am willing to
prove it by being weighed against the
church bible." After the sermon, he ad-
dressed his flock on the folly of their opi-
nions, and fatal consequences of brooding
over them. It appears, however, that his
arguments, explanations, and remon-
strances were in vain. On Thursday, the
5th of May, Ann Izzard was at St. Neot's
market, and her son, about sixteen years
old, was sent there by his master for a
load of corn : his mother and another
woman, a shopkeeper in the parish, ac-
companied him home ; but, contrary to
the mother's advice, the woman put a
basket of grocery on the sacks of corn

183

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 3.

184

One of the horses, in going down hill,
became restive, and overturned the cart ;
and by this accident the grocery was
much damaged. Because Ann Izzard had
advised her neighbour against putting it
in the cart, she charged her with upsetting
it by the black art, on purpose to spoil
the goods. In an hour, the whole village
was in an uproar. " She has just over-
turned a loaded cart with as much ease as
if it had been a spinning-wheel : this is posi-
tive proof; it speaks for itself; she is the
person that does all the mischief; and if
something is not done to put a stop to
her baseness, there will be no living in
the place.'' As it grew dark, on the fol-
lowing Sunday, these brutal creatures as-
sembled together, and at ten o'clock,
taking with them the young women sup-
posed to be bewitched, they proceeded to
Wright Izzard's cottage, which stood in a
solitary soot at some distance from the
body 01 tne village; they broke into the poor
man's house, dragged his wife naked from
her bed into the yard, dashed her head
against the large stones of the causeway,
tore her arms with pins, and beat her on
the face, breast, and stomach with the
wooden bar of the door. When the mob
had dispersed, the abused and helpless
woman crawled into her dwelling, put her
clothes on, and went to the constable,who
said he could not protect her for he had
not been sworn in. One Alice Russell,
a compassionate widow, unlocked her
door to her at the first call, comforted her,
bound up her wounds, and put her to bed.
In the evening of the next day she was
again dragged forth and her arms torn till
they streamed afresh with blood. Alive
the following morning, and apparently
likely to survive this attack also, her ene-
mies resolved to duck her as soon as the
labour of the day was over. On hearing this
she fled to Little Paxton, and hastily took
refuge in the house of Mr. Nicholson,who
effectually secured her from the cruelty of
his ignorant flock, and had the mortifica-
tion to learn that his own neighbours
condemned him for " harbouring such a
wretch."

The kindness and affection of the
widow Russel were the means of short-
ening her days. The infatuated popu-
lace cried, " The protectors of a witch
are just as bad as the witch, and deserve
the same treatment." She neither ate
nor slept again from anxiety and fear; but
died a martyr to her humanity in twelve
days after her home became the asylum,

for a few hours, of the unhappy Alk-e
Izzard.

At the Huntingdon resizes in the
August following, true bills of indictment
were found by the grand jury against
nine of these ignorant, infuriated wretches,
for assaults on Wright Izzard and Ann
Izzard, which were traversed to the fol-
lowing assizes.* It does not appear how
they were disposed of.

Captain Burt, an officer of engineers,
who, about the year 1730, was sent into
the north of Scotland on government ser-
vice, relates the following particulars of
an interview between himself and a mi-
nister, whom he met at the house of a
nobleman.

Witchcraft.

After the minister had said a good deal
concerning the wickedness of such a dia-
bolical practice as sorcery ; and that I, in
my turn, had declared my opinion of it,
which you knew many years ago ; he un-
dertook to convince me of the reality of
it by an example, which is as follows :

A certain Highland laird had found
himself at several times deprived of some
part of his wine, and having as often ex-
amined his servants about it, and none of
them confessing, but all denying it with
asseverations, he was induced to conclude
they were innocent.

The next thing to consider was, how
this could happen. Rats there were none
to father the theft. Those, you know, ac-
cording to your philosophical next-door
neighbour, might have drawn out the
corks with their teeth, and then put in
their tails, which, being long and sponge-
ous, would imbibe a good quantity of
liquor. This they might suck out again,
and so on, till they had emptied as many
bottles as were sufficient for their num-
bers and the strength of their heads. But
to be more serious : I say there was no
suspicion of rats, and it was concluded it
could be done by none but witches.

Here the new inquisition was set on
foot, and who they were was the question ;
but how should that be discovered ? To
go the shortest way to work, the laird
made choice of one night, and an hour
when he thought it might be watering-
time with the hags ; and went to his cellar

* Sermon against Witchcraft, preached at Great
Paxton, July 17, 1808, by the Rev. I. Mchol^on
STO.

185

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 3.

186

without a light, the better to surprise
them. Then, with his naked broad-
sword in his hand, he suddenly opened
the door, and shut it after him, and fell to
cutting and slashing all round about him,
till, at last, by an opposition to the edge
of his sword, he concluded he had at least
wounded one of them. But I should
have told you, that although the place was
very dark, yet he made no doubt, by the
glare and flashes of their eyes, that they
were cats ; but, upon the appearance of a
candle, they were all vanished, and only
some blood left upon the floor. I cannot
forbear to hint in this place at Don
Quixote's battle with the borachios of
wine.

There was an old woman, that lived
about two miles from the laird's habita-
tion, reputed to be a witch : her he
greatly suspected to be one of the confe-
deracy, and immediately he hasted away
to her hut ; and, entering, he found her
lying upon her bed, and bleeding excess-
ively.

This alone was some confirmation of
the justness of his suspicion ; but casting
his eye under the bed, there lay her leg
in its natural form.

I must confess I was amazed at the
conclusion of this narration ; but ten times
more, when, with the most serious air, he
assured me that he had seen a certificate
of the truth of it, signed by four ministers
of that part of the country, and could pro-
cure me a sight of it in a few days, if I
had the curiosity to see it.

When he had finished his story, I used
all the arguments I was master of, to show
him the absurdity of supposing that a wo-
man could be transformed into the shape
and diminutive substance of a cat; to
vanish like a flash of fire ; carry her leg
home with her, &c. : and I told him, that
if a certificate of the truth of it had been
signed by every member of the general
assembly, it would be impossible for me
(however strong my inclinations were to
believe) to bring my mind to assent to it.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.
Sir,

As a small matter of use and curiosity,
I beg to acquaint the readers of the
Every-Day Book with the means of deter-
mining the gradual increase of a plant.

Take a straight piece of wood, of a con-
venient height ; the upright piece, parked
A B in the figure, may be divided into as

many parts as you think fit, in the manner
of a carpenter's rule : lay across the top
of this another piece of wood, marked G
with a small wheel, or pulley, at each end
thereof, marked C D ; they should be su
fixed that a fine thread of silk may easily
run through each of them : at the end ot
this thread, E, tie a small weight, or poise,
and tie the other end of the thread, F, to
the tip-top of the plant, as represented iu
the figure.

To find the daily increase of this
plant, observe to what degree the knot F
rises every day, at a particular hour, or to
what degree the ball E descends every
day.

This little machine may serve several
good purposes. By this you will be able
to judge how much nourishment a plant
receives in the course of each day, and a
tolerably just notion may be formed of its
quality; for moist plants grow quicker
than dry ones, and the hot and moist
quicker than the cold and dry.
I am, sir,
Your constant reader,

S. THOMAS.

January 24th, 1826.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.
Sir,

Perhaps the following parody of Moore's
beautiful melody, " Those Evening Bells,"
on p. 143, may be acceptable to your
readers, at a time like the present, when
a laugh helps out the spirits against
matter-of-fact evils.

I do not think it necessary to avow
myself as an " authority " for my little

187

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 4.

188

communication; many of your readers
will, no doubt, be able to furnish feeling
evidence of the truth of the lines. Hoping
you, sir, may read them without parti-
cipating in the lively sensibility that the
author felt, I remain,

Your admiring reader,
and regular customer,
A SMALL BOOKSELLER !

City, Jan. 1826.

" These Christmas Bills /"

A COMMERCIAL MELODY, 1826.

These Christmas bills, these Christmas bills,
How many a thought their number kills
Of notes and cash, and that sweet time
When oft' I heard my sovereigns chime.

Those golden days are past away,
And many a bill I used to pay
Sticks on the file, and empty tills
Contain no cash for Christmas bills.

And so 'twill be though these are paid,
More Christmas bills will still be made,
And other men will fear these ills,
And curse the name of Christmas bills !

COPY OF A LETTER

Written to a Domestic at Parting.

The cheerfulness and readiness with
which you have always served me, has
made me interested in your welfare, and
determined me to give you a few words
of advice before we part. Read this at-
tentively, and keep it; it may, perhaps,
be useful.

Your honesty and principles are, I
firmly trust, unshaken. Consider them
as the greatest treasure a human being
can possess. While this treasure is in
your possession you can never be hurt,
let what will happen. You will indeed
often feel pain and grief, for no human
being ever was without his share of them ;
out you can never be long and completely
miserable but by your own fault.

If, therefore, you are ever tempted to
do evil, check the first wicked thought
that rises in your mind, or else you are
ruined. For you may look upon this as
a most certain and infallible truth, that if
evil thoughts are for a moment encou-
raged, evil deeds follow : and you need
not be told, that whoever has lost his
good conscience is miserable, however he
may hide it from the world, and whatever
wealth and pleasures he may enjoy.

And you may also rely upon this, that
the most miserable among the virtuous is

infinitely happier than the happiest of the
wicked.

The consequence I wish you to draw
from all this is, never to do any thing ex-
cept what you certainly know to be right ;
for if you doubt about the lawfulness ot
any thing, it is a sign that it ought not to
be done.

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature ... 40 32.

jfefiruarp 4.

CHRONOLOGY.

On the 4th of February, 1800, the rev,
William Tasker, remarkable for his leain-
ing and eccentricity, died, aged 60, at
Iddesleigh, in Devonshire, of which
church he was rector near thirty yeais,
though he had not enjoyed the income ol
the living till within five years before his
death, in consequence of merciless and se-
vere persecutions and litigations. " An
Ode to the Warlike Genius of Britain,
1778," 4to., was the first effusion of his
poetical talent. His translations of " Se-
lect Odes of Pindar and Horace " add to
his reputation with the muses, whose
smiles he courted by many miscellaneous
efforts. He wrote " Arviragus," a trage-
dy, and employed the last years of his
checkered life on a "History of Physi-
ognomy from Aristotle to Lavater,"
wherein he illustrated the Greek philoso-
pher's knowledge of the subject in a man-
ner similar to that which he pursued in
" An Attempt to examine the several
Wounds and Deaths of the Heroes in the
Iliad and ^E-neid, trying them by the Test
of Anatomy and Physiology." These eru-
dite dissertations contributed to his credit
with the learned, but added nothing to his
means of existence. He usually wore a
ragged coat, the shirt peeping at the el-
bows, and shoes of a brownish black,
sometimes tied with packthread. Having
heard that his spirited " Ode to the War-
like Genius of Britain" had been read by
the late king, George III., he presented
himself, in his customary habit, on the es
planade at Weymouth, where it excited
curiosity ; and his majesty asking an at-
tendant who that person was ? Mr. Tasker
approached, avowed his name, and ob-
tained a gratifying reception. His pro-
ductions evince critical skill, and a large
portion of poetic furor. Bu-t he was af-

189

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 4.

190

flicted and unsuccessful ; frequently strug-
gling with penury, and sometimes with
oppression. His irritability subjected him
to numerous mortifications, and inflicted
on him many pangs unknown to minds of
less feeling or less delicacy.

Mr. Nichols, in his "Literary Anec-
dotes," gives a letter he received from
Mr. Tasker, dated from Iddesleigh, in
December, 1798, wherein he says, "I
continue in very ill health, and confined
in my dreary situation at Starvation Hall,
forty miles below Exeter, out of the verge
of literature, and where even your exten-
sive magazine [< The Gentleman's '] has
never yet reached." The works he put
forth from his solitude procured him no
advancement in the church, and, in the
agony of an excruciating complaint, he
departed from a world insensible to his
merits : his widow essayed the publi-
cation of his works by subscription with-
out effect. Such was the fate of an eru-
dite and deserving parish priest, whose
right estimation of honourable independ-
ence barred him from stooping to the
meanness of flattery; he preserved his
self-respect, and died without preferment,
and in poverty.

A CHARACTER.

The Old Lady.

If the Old Lady is a widow and lives
alone, the manners of her condition and
time of life are so much the more appa-
rent. She generally dresses in plain silks
that make a gentle rustling as she moves
about the silence of her room ; and she
wears a nice cap with a lace border that
comes under the chin. In a placket at
her side is an old enamelled watch, unless
it is locked up in a drawer of her toilet
for fear of accidents. Her waist is rather
tight and trim than otherwise, as she had
a fine one when young ; and she is not
sorry if you see a pair of her stockings on
a table, that you may be aware of the
neatness of her leg and foot. Contented
with these and other evident indications
of a good shape, and letting her young
friends understand that she can afford to
obscure it a little, she wears pockets, and
uses them well too. In the one is her
handkerchief, and any heavier matter that
is not likely to come out with it, such as
the change of a sixpence; in the other is
a miscellaneous assortment, consisting of
a pocket-book, a bunch of keys, a needle-
case, a spectacle-case, crumbs of biscuit,

a nutmeg and grater, a smelling-bottle,
and according to the season, an orange or
apple, which, after many days, she draws
out, warm and glossy, to give to some
little child that has well behaved itself.
She generally occupies two rooms, in the
neatest condition possible. In the cham-
ber is a bed with a white coverlet, built up
high and round to look well, and with cur-
tains of a pastoral pattern, consisting al-
ternately of large plants, and shepherds
and shepherdesses. On the mantle-
piece also are more shepherds and
shepherdesses, with dot-eyed sheep at
their feet, all in coloured ware, the man
perhaps in a pink jacket and knots of rib-
bons at his knees and shoes, holding his
crook lightly in one hand, and with the
other at his breast turning his toes out
and looking tenderly at the shepherdess :
the woman, holding a crook also, and
modestly returning his look, with a gip-
sy-hat jerked up behind, a very slender
waist, with petticoat and hips to counter-
act, and the petticoat pulled up through
the pocket-holes in order to show the trim-
ness of her ancles. But these patterns, of
course, are various. The toilet is ancient,
carved at the edges, and tied about with
a snow-white drapery of muslin. Beside
it are various boxes, mostly japan : and
the set of drawers are exquisite things for
a little girl to rummage, if ever little girl
be so bold, containing ribbons arid laces
of various kinds, linen smelling of laven-
der, of the flowers of which there is al-
ways dust in the corners, a heap of
pocket-books for a series of years, and
pieces of dress long gone by, such as
head-fronts, stomachers, and flowered satin
shoes with enormous heels. The stock of
letters are always under especial lock and
key. So much for the bed-room. In the
sitting-room, is rather a spare assortment
of shining old mahogany furniture, or
carved arm-chairs equally old, with chintz
draperies down to the ground, a folding
or other screen with Chinese figures, their
round, little-eyed, meek faces perking side-
wise ; a stuffed bird perhaps in a glass
case (a living one is too much for her ;)
a portrait of her husband over the mantle-
piece, in a coat with frog-buttons, and a
delicate frilled hand lightly inserted in the
waistcoat: and opposite him, on the
wall, is a piece of embroidered literature,
framed and glazed, containing some moral
distich or maxim worked in angular capi-
tal letters, with two trees or parrots below
in their proper colours, the whole con-

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 4.

192

eluding with an A BC and numerals, and
the name of the fair industrious, express-
ing it to be " her work, Jan. 14, 1762."
The rest of the furniture consists of a
looking-glass with carved edges, perhaps
a settee, a hassock for the feet, a mat for
the little dog, and a small set of shelves,
in which are the Spectator and Guardian,
the Turkish Spy, a Bible and Prayer-book,
Young's Night-Thoughts, with a piece of
lace in it to flatten, Mrs. Rowe's Devout
Exercises of the Heart, Mrs. Glasse's
Cookery, and perhaps Sir Charles Gran-
dison, and Clarissa. John Buncle is in
the closet among the pickles and preserves.
The clock is on the landing-place between
the two room-doors, where it ticks audibly
but quietly; and the landing-place, as
well as the stairs, is carpeted to a nicety.
The house is most in character, and pro-
perly coeval, if it is in a retired suburb,
and strongly built, with wainscot rather
than paper inside, and lockers in the win-
dows. Before the windows also should
be some quivering poplars. Here the Old
Lady receives a few quiet visitors to tea
and perhaps an early game at cards ; or
you may sometimes see her going out on
the same kind of visit herself, with a light
umbrella turning up into a stick and
crooked ivory handle, and her little dog
equally famous for his love to her and
captious antipathy to strangers. Her
grandchildren dislike him on holidays;
and the boldest sometimes ventures to
give him a sly kick under the table.
When she returns at night, she appears,
if the weather happens to be doubtful, in
a calash ; and her servant, in pattens, fol-
lows half behind and half at her side, with
a lantern.

Her opinions are not many, nor new.
She thinks the clergyman a nice man.
The duke of Wellington, in her opinion,
is a very great man ; but she has a secret
preference for the marquis of Granby.
She thinks the young women of the pre-
sent day too forward, and the men not
respectful enough : but hopes her grand-
children will be better ; though she differs
with her daughter in several points re-
specting their management. She sets
little value on the new accomplishments :
is a great though delicate connoisseur in
butcher's meat and all sorts of house-
wifery : and if you mention waltzes, ex-
patiates on the grace and fine breeding of
the minuet. She longs to have seen one
danced by sir Charles Grandison, whom
she almost considers as a real person. She

likes a walk of a summer's evening, but
avoids the new streets, canals, &c. and
sometimes goes through the church-yard
where her other children and her husband
lie buried, serious, but not melancholy.
She has had three great aeras in her life,
her marriage, her having been at court
to see the king, queen, and royal family,
and a compliment on her figure she once
received in passing from Mr. Wilkes,
whom she describes as a sad loose man,
but engaging. His plainness she thinks
much exaggerated. If any thing takes
her at a distance from home, it is still the
court ; but she seldom stirs even for that.
The last time but one that she went was
to see the duke of Wirtemberg : and she
has lately been, most probably for the last
time of all, to see the princess Charlotte
and prince Leopold. From this beatific
rision, she returned with the same admi-
ration as ever for the fine comely appear-
ance of the duke of York and the rest of
the family, and great delight at having
had a near view of the princess, whom
she speaks of with smiling pomp and
lifted mittens, clasping them as passion-
ately as she can together, and calling her,
in a' sort of transport of mixed loyalty and
self-love, a fine royal young creature, and
daughter of England. Indicator.

The Season.

Sudden storms of short duration, th-i
last blusters of expiring winter, frequently
occur during the early part of the present
month. These gales and gusts are mostly
noticed by mariners, who expect them,
and therefore keep a good " look out for
squalls." The observations of seamen
upon the clouds, and of husbandmen on
the natural appearances v of the weather
generally, would form an exceedingly cu-
rious and useful compendium of meteoro-
logical facts.

Stilling the Sea with Oil.
Dr. Franklin suggests the pouring of
oil on the sea to still the waves in a
storm, but, before he lived, Martin wrote
an " Account of the Western Islands of
Scotland," wherein he says, " The steward
of Kilda, who lives in Pabbay, is accus-
tomed in time of a storm to tie a bundle
of puddings, made of the fat of sea-fowl,
to the end of his cable, and lets it fall into
the sea behind the rudder ; this, he says,
hinders the waves from breaking, and
calms the sea; but the scent of the grease
attracts the whales, which put the vessel
m danger."

103

THE EVEItt-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 5.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 38 34.

jfebruarp 5.

Brotone WHUte, e$q. fcfc. .

A Doctor in Antiquity was he,

And Tyson lined his head, as now you see.

Kind, good " collector !" why " collect" that storm ?

No rude attempt is made to mar his form ;

No alteration 's aim'd at here for, though

The artist's touch has help'd to make it show,

The meagre contour only is supplied

Is it improved ? compare, and then decide.

Had Tyson, from the life," Browne Willis sketch'd,

And left him, like old Jacob Butler,* etch'd,

This essay had not been, to better trace

The only likeness of an honour'd face. *

The present engraving, however un- picture painted by Dahl. There is no
winning its aspect as to drawing, is, in other portrait of " the great original" pub-
other respects, an improvement of the lished.
late Mr. Michael Tyson's etching from a

VOL. II. 59.

See "Every-DnyBooli," rol. i. p. 1303.

195

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 6, 7.

196

On the 5th of February, 1760, Dr.
Browne Willis died at Whaddon hall, in
the county of Bucks, aged 78 ; he v/as
born at St. Mary Blandford, in the county
of Dorset, on the 14th of September,
1682. He \vas unexcelled in eagerness
of inquiry concerning our national an-
tiquities, and his life was devoted to their
study and arrangement. Some interest-
ing particulars concerning the published
labours and domestic habits of this dis-
tinguished individual, will be given in a
subsequent sheet, with one of his letters,
not before printed, accompanied by a fac-
simile of his handwriting.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 39 20.

jfebruarp 6.

COLLOP MONDAY. See vol. i. p. 241.

The Season and Smoking.

At this time, Dr. Forster says that
people should guard against colds, and,
above all, against the contagion of typhus
and other fevers, which are apt to prevail
in the early spring. " Smoking tobacco,*
he observes, " is a very salutary practice
in general, as well as being a preventive
against infection in particular. The Ger-
man pipes are the best, and get better as
they are used, particularly those made of
merschaum, called Ecume de Mer. Next
to these, the Turkey pipes, with long
tubes, are to be recommended ; but these
are fitter for summer smoking, under the
shade of trees, than for the fireside. The
best tobacco is the Turkey, the Persian,
and what is called Dutch canaster.
Smoking is a custom which should be re-
commended in the close cottages of the
poor, and in great populous towns liable
to contagion.

The Rule of Health.

Rise early, and, take exercise in plenty,

But always take it with your stomach empty.

After your meals sit still and rest awhile,

And with your pipe a careless hour beguile.

To rise at light or five, breakfast at nine,

Lounge till eleven, and at'five to dine,

To drink and smoke till seven, the time of tea,

And then to dance or walk two hours away

Till ten o'clock, good hour to go to nest,

Till the next cock shall wake you from your rest.

On the virtues of tobacco its users en-
hance with mighty eloquence, and puff it
bravely.

In praise of Tobacco.

Much food doth gluttony procure

to feed men fat like swine,
But he's a frugal man indeed

who on a leaf can dine.

He needs no napkin for his hands,

his finger ends to wipe,
Who has his kitchen in a box,

his roast-meat in a pipe.

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature ... 39 47.

jftfbruarp 7.

1826. SHROVE TUESDAY.

Several of the customs and sports of
this day are related in vbl i. p. 242-261.
It is the last meat day permitted by the
papacy before Lent, which commences
to-morrow, and therefore in former times,
full advantage was taken of the expiring
opportunity to feast and make merry.
Selden observes, "that what the church
debars us one day, she gives us leave
to eat another first, there is a carni-
val, and then a Lent." This period is
also recorded in the homely rhymes oi
Barnaby Googe.

Shrove-tide.
Now when at length the pleasant time

of Shrove-tide comes in place,
And cruell fasting dayes at hand

approach with solemne grace .

197

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 8.

198

Then olde and yong are both as mad,

as ghestes of Bacchus' feast,
And foure dayes long they tipple square,

and feede and never reast.
Downe goes the hogges in every place,

and puddings every wheare
Do swarme : the dice are shakte and tost,

and cardes apace they teare :
In every house are showtes and cryes,

and mirth, and revell route,
And daintie tables spred, and all

be set with ghestes aboute :
With sundrie playes and Christmasse games,

and feare and shame away,
The tongue is set at libertie,

and hath no kinde of stay.

Naogeorgus.

The Great Seal in Danger.

February 7, 1677, about one in the
morning, the lord chancellor Finch's
mace was stolen out of his house in
Queen-street; the seal laid under his

Eillow, so the thief missed it. The
imous thief that did it was Thomas
Sadler, he was soon after taken, and
hanged for it at Tyburn on the 16th of
March.*

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature. . . 37- 37.

jftftruarp 8.

1826. ASH WEDNESPAY,
The First Day of Lent.

To the particulars concerning this day,
and the ashes, (in vol. i. p. 261,) is to be
added,that the ashes, made of the branches
of brushwood, properly cleansed, sifted,
and consecrated, were worn four times a
year, as at the beginning of Lent ; and
that on this day the people were excluded
from church, husbands and wives parted
bed, and the penitents wore sackcloth
and ashes.\

According to the Benedictine rule, on
Ash Wednesday, after sext, the monks were
to return to the cloister to converse ;
but, at the ringing of a bell, be instantly
silent. They were to unshoe themselves,
wash their hands, and go to church, and
make one common prayer* Then was to
follow a religious service ; after which the
priest, having consecrated the ashes, and
sprinkled holy water on them, was to

* Life of Ant. a Wood.
+ Fosbroke's British Monachism.

throw them on the heads of the monks,
saying, " Remember that you are but
dust, and to dust must return." Then
" the procession" was to follow.*

In former times, on the evening of Ash
Wednesday, boys used to run about with
firebrands and torches. f

Lent Assizes and Sessions.

These follow, in due course, after Hilary
Term, which is within a week of its ex-
piration. The importance of assize and
sessions business is frequently interrupted
by cases not more serious than

Cfte Crfal

Of Farmer Carters Dog
PORTER

dfov JHurtrtr.

Edward Long, esq., late judge of the
admiralty court of Jamaica, wrote and
published this " Trial,"| which is now
scarce, and here somewhat abridged from,
the original without other alteration.

He commences his report thus :
County of SEX-\

GOTHAM, ss.J
At a High Court of Oyer and Terminer

and Gaol-Delivery, holden this day

of 1771, at Gotham- Hall.

Present :

J. Bottle, ~Esq..

** j r**} *fu (Esqs., Just-asses and
Mat o the Mill, V A ^ oc ' iates .
Osmyn Ponser, J

GAME-ACT Plaintiff

versus

PORTER Defendant.

The Court being met, the indictment
was read, which we omit, for sake of
brevity.

Court. Prisoner, hold up your paw at
the bar.

First Counsel. He is sullen, and re*
fuses.

Court. Is he so ? Why then let t*
constable hold it up, nolens volens.
[Which was done, according to order/
Court. What is the prisoner's name*.
Constable. P-P-Po-rt-er, an't ple*
your worship.

Court. What does the fellow say ?
Constable. Porter! an't please you;
Porter !

* Fosbmke's British Monachism. t Ibid.
J Printed for T. Lowrides, 1771. 8vo.

159

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEIUIUARY 8

200

Mat. lie says Porter, It's the name
of a liquor the London kennel* much de-
light in.

Ponser. Ay, 'tis so; and 1 remember
another namesake of his. I was hand
in glove with him, I'll tell you a droll
story about him

Court. Hush, brother. Culprit, how
will you be tried ?

Counsel for the Prosecution. Please
your worship, he won't say a word.
Stat mutus as mute as a fish.

Court. How ? what ? won't the
dog speak ? Won't he do what the court
bids him ? What's to be done ? Is the
dignity of this court to be trifled with in
such a manner ?

Counsel for Pros. Please your wor-
shipsit is provided by the statute in
these cases, that when a culprit is stub-
born, and refuses to plead, he is to be
made to plead whether he will or no.

Court. Ay ? How's that, pray ?

Counsel for Pros. Why, the statute
says that he must first of all be thumb-
screwed

Court. Very good.

Counsel for Pros. If that will not do,
he must be laid flat on his back, and
squeezed, like a cheese in a press, with
heavy weights.

Court. Very well. And what then?

Counsel for Pros. What then? Why,
when all the breath is squeezed out of his
body, if he should still continue dumb,
which sometimes has been the case, he
generally dies for want of breath.

* His worship meant canaille.

Court. Very likely.

Counsel for Pros. And thereby saves
the court a great deal of trouble ; and
the nation, the expense of a halter.

Court. Well, then, since the land
stands thus constable, twist a cord about
the culprit's

Counsel for Pros. Fore-paws.

Constable. Four paws ? Why he has
but two.

Court. Fore-paws, or fore-feet, block-
head ! and strain it as tight as you can,
'till you make him open his mouth.

[The constable attempted to enforce the
order, but in drawing a little too
hard, received a severe bite.]

Constable. 'Sblood and suet! lie
has snapped off a piece of my nose.

Court. Mr. Constable, you are within
the statute of swearing, and owe the court
one shilling.

Constable. Zounds and death ! your
worships ! I could not kelp it for the
blood o' me.

Court. Now you owe us two shillings.

Constable. That's a d d bad

plaster, your worships, for a sore nose !

Court. That being but half an oath,
the whole fine amounts to two shillings
and sixpence, or a half-crown bowl. So,
without going further, if you are afraid of
his teeth, apply this pair of nut- crackers
to his tail.

Constable. I shall, your worships.
[He had better success with the tail, as
will now appear.]

Prisoner. Bow, trow, wow, ow,
tv ow !

Court. Hold! Enough. That will
do.

It was now held that though the pri-
soner expressed himself in a strange lan-
guage, yet, as he could speak no other,
and as the law can not only make dogs
to speak, but explain their meaning too,
so the law understood and inferred that
the prisoner pleaded not guilty, and put
himself upon his trial. Issue therefore
being joined, the Counsel for the Prose-
cution proceeded to address the Court;
but was stopped by the other side.

Prisoner's Counsel. I take leave to
demur to the jurisdiction of the court. If
he is to have a trial per pares, you must
either suppose their worships to be his
equals, that is to say, not his betters,
which would be a great indignity, or else
you must have a venire for a jury of
twelve dogs. I think you are fairly caught
in this dilemma.

201

THE EVER -DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 8.

202

Counsel for Pros. By no means. It
's easily cured. We'll send the constable
with a Mandamus to his Grace '* kennel.

Pris. Counsel. They are fox hounds.
Not the same species ; therefore not his
equals. I do not object to the harriers,
aor to a tales de circumstantibus.

Counsel for Pros. That's artful,
brother, but it won't take. I smoke your
intention of garbling a jury. You know
the harriers will be partial, and acquit
your client at any rate. Neither will we
have any thing to do with your tales.

Mat. No no you say right. I hate
your tales and tale-bearers. They are a
rascally pack altogether.

Counsel for Pros. Besides, the statute
gives your worships ample jurisdiction in
this case ; and if it did not give it, your
worships know how to take it, because
the law says, boni est judicis ampliare
jurisdictionem.

Pris. Counsel. Then I demur for
irregularity. The prisoner is a dog, and
cannot be triable as a man ergo, not
within the intent of the statute.

Counsel for Pros. That's a poor sub-
terfuge. If the statute respects a man,
(a fortiori) it will affect a dog.

Ponser. You are certainly right. For
when I was in the Turkish dominions, I
saw an Hebrew Jew put to death for
killing a dog, although dog was the
aggressor.

Counsel for Pros. A case in point,
please your worship. And a very
curious and learned one it is. And the
plain induction from it is this, that the
Jew (who I take for granted was a man)
being put to death for killing dog, it
follows that said dog was as respectable
a person, and of equal rank in society
with the said Jew ; and therefore ergo
and moreover That, said dog, so slain,
was, to all and every purpose of legal
inference and intendment, neither more
nor less than a man.

Court. We are all clearly -of that
opinion.

Counsel for Pros. Please your wor-
ships of the honourable bench. On
Saturday the day of February

inst. on or about the hour of five in the
afternoon, the deceased Mr. Hare was
travelling quietly about his business, in a
certain highway or road leading towards
Muckingham ; and then, and there, the
prisoner at the bar being in the same
road, in and upon the body of the de-
ceased, with force and arms, a violent

assault did make ; and further, not hav-
ing the fear of your worships before his
eyes, but being moved and seduced by
the instigation of a devilish fit of hunger,
he the said prisoner did him the said
deceased, in the peace of our lord of the
manor then and there being, feloniously,
wickedly, wantonly, and of malice afore-
thought, tear, wound, pull, haul, touzle,
masticate, macerate, lacerate, and dislo-
cate, and otherwise evilly intreat; of
all and singular which tearings, wound-
ings, pullings, haulings, touzleings, masti-
cations, and so forth, maliciously inflicted
in manner and form aforesaid, the said
Hare did languish, and languishing did
die, in Mr. Just-ass Ponser' s horsepond,
to wit, and that is to say, contrary to the
statute in that case made and provided,
and against the peace of our said lord, his
manor and dignity.

This, please your worships, is the pur-
port of the indictment ; to this indictment
the prisoner has pleaded not guilty, and
now stands upon his trial before this
honourable bench.

Your worships will therefore allow me,
before I come to call our evidence, to ex-
patiate a little upon the heinous sin,
wherewith the prisoner at the bar is
charged. Hem ! To murder, Ehem
To murder, may it please your worships,
in Latin, is is Murder a re ; or in the
true and original sense of the vord, Mur-
der-ha-re. H-, as your worships well
know, being not as yet raised to the dig-
nity of a letter by any act of parliament, it
follows that it plainly is no other than
Murder-a-re, according to modern refined
pronunciation. The very root and ety-
mology of the word does therefore com-
prehend in itself a thousand volumes in
folio, to show the nefarious and abomina-
ble guilt of the prisoner, in the com-
mission and perpetration of this horrid
fact. And it must appear as clear as
sunshine to your worships, that the word
Murderare, which denotes the prisoner's
crime, was expressly and originally ap-
plied to that crime, and to that only, as
being the most superlative of all possible
crimes in the world. I do not deny that,
since it first came out of the mint, it has,
through corruption, been affixed to
offences of a less criminal nature, such as
killing a man, a woman, or a child. But
the sense of the earliest ages having
stamped hare-murder, or murder-ha-re,
(as the old books have it,) with such ex-
traordinary atrociousness, I am sure that

203

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 8.

204

Just-asses of yoi r worships' acknowledged
and well-knDwn wisdom, piely, erudition,
and humanity, will not, at this time of the
day, be persuaded to hold it less detesta-
ble and sinful. Having said thus much
on the nature of the prisoner's guilt, I
mean not to aggravate the charge, be-
cause I shall always feel due compassion
for my fellow-creatures, however wickedly
they may demean themselves. I shall
next proceed, with your worships' leave,
to call our witnesses. Call Lawrence
Lurcher and Toby Tunnel.

Prls. Counsel. I must object to swear-
ing these witnesses, I can prove, they
were both of them drunk, and non compos,
during the whole evening, when this fact
is supposed to have been committed.

Bottle. That will do you no service.
I am very often drunk myself, and never
more in my senses than at such times.

Court. We all agree in this point
with brother Bottle.

[Objection overruled and witnesses
sworn.]

Lurcher. As I, and Toby Tunnel here,
was a going hoam to squire Ponser's,
along the road, one evening after dark,
we sees the prisoner at the bar, or some-
body like him, lay hold of the deceased,
or somebody like him, by the back, an't
please your worships. So, says I, Toby,
says I, that looks for all the world like
one of 'squire Ponser's hares. So the
deceased cried out pitifully for help, and
jumped over a hedge, and the prisoner
after him, growling and swearing bitterly
all the way. So, says I, Toby, let's run
after 'urn. So I scrambled up the hedge ;
but Toby laid hold of my leg, to help him-
self up ; so both of us tumbled through a
thick furze bush into the ditch. So, next
morning, as we was a going by the
squire's, we sees the deceased in his wor-
ship's horse-pond.

Pris. Counsel. Are you sure he was
dead?

Lurcher. Ay, as dead as my great
grandmother.

Pris. Counsel. What did you do with
the body ?

Ponser. That's not a fair question.
It ought not to be answered.

Lurcher. I bean't ashamed nor afeard
to tell, not I. We carried it to his wor-
ship, squire Ponser ; and his worship had
him roasted, with a pudding in his belly,
for dinner, that seame day.

Council for Pros. That is nothing to

the purpose. Have you any more ques-
tions for the witness ?

Pris. Counsel. Yes, I have. Pray
friend, how do you know the body you
found was the very same you saw on the
evening before?

Lurcher. I can't tell ; but I'm ready
to take my bible oath on't.

Pris. Counsel. That is a princely ar-
gument, and I shall ask you nothing far-
ther.

Mrs. Margery Dripping, cook to his
worship squire Ponser, deposed to the
condition of the deceased.

DEFENCE

Prisoner's Counsel. Please your wor-
ships, I am counsel for the prisoner, who,
in obedience to your worships' commands,
has pleaded not guilty ; and I hope to
prove that his plea is a good plea ; and
that he must be acquitted by the justice
of his cause. In the first place, the wit-
nesses have failed in proving the prison-
er's identity. Next, they have not proved
the identity of the deceased. Thirdly,
they do not prove who gave the wounds.
Fourthly, nor to whom they were given.
Fifthly, nor whether the party died of the
wounds, if they were given, as supposed,
to this identical hare. For, I insist upon
it, that, because a hare was found in the
squire's horse-pond, non sequitur, that he
was killed, and thrown in by the defendant.
Or, if they had proved that defendant
had maliciously, and animo furioso, pur-
sued the deceased into the horse-pond, it
does not prove the defendant guilty of hi&
death, because he might owe his death to
the water ; and therefore, in that case,
the pond would be guilty ; and if guilty,
triable ; and if triable, punishable for the
same, and not my client. And I must
say,(under favour,) that his worship would
likewise be particeps criminis, for not
having filled it up, to prevent such acci-
dents. One evidence, who never saw the
prisoner till now, nor the deceased till
after the fact supposed to have happened,
declares, he is sure the prisoner killed the
deceased. And why? Because he is
ready to take his bible oath on't. This
is, to be sure, a very logical conviction.

Court. It is a very legal one, and
that's better.

Pris. Counsel. I submit to your wis-
doms. But I must conclude with observ-
ing, that admitting a part of the evidence
to be true, viz. that the prisoner did meet

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THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 8.

206

the deceased on the highway, and held
some conference with him ; I say, that
supposing this, for argument sake ; I do
insist, that Mr. Hare, the deceased, was
not following a lawful, honest business, at
that late hour; but was wickedly and
mischievously bent upon a felonious de-
sign, of trespassing on farmer Carter's
ground, and stealing, consuming, and
carrying off, his corn and his turnips. I
Airther insist that the defendant, know-
ing this his felonious and evil machina-
tion, and being resolved to defend the
property of his good friend and patron
from such depredations, did endeavour to
divert him from it. Which not being able
to effect by fair means, he then was obliged
to try his utmost, as a good subject and
trusty friend, to seize and apprehend his
person, and bring him, per habeas corpus,
before your worships, to be dealt with ac-
cording to law. But the deceased being
too nimble for him, escaped out of his
clutches, and tumbling, accidentally, in the
dark, into his worship's horse-pond, was
there drowned. This is, I do not doubt,
a true history of the whole affair ; and
proves that, in the strictest construction
of law, it can only be a case of per infor-
tunium unless your worships should ra-
ther incline to deem it afeio de se.

Noodle. A fall in the sea ! No such
thing : it was only a horse-pond, that's
clear from the evidence.

Pris. Counsel. Howsoever your wor-
ships may think fit to judge of it, I do
humbly conceive, upon the whole matter,
that the defendant is not guilty ; and I
hope your worships, in your wisdoms,
will concur with me in opinion, and
acquit him.

The Counsel for the Prosecution replied
in a long speech. He contended that Mr.
Hare, the deceased, was a peaceable,
quiet, sober, and inoffensive sort of a per-
son, beloved by king, lords, and commons,
and never was known to entertain any
idea of robbery, felony, or depredation,
but was innocently taking the air, one af-
ternoon, for the benefit of his health, when
he was suddenly accosted, upon his ma-
jesty's highway, by the prisoner, who im-
mediately, and bloody-minded ly, without
saying a syllable, made at him, with so
much fury in his countenance, that the
deceased was put in bodily fear; and
being a lover of peace, crossed the other
side of the way : the prisoner followed
him close, and pressed him so hard, that
he was obliged to fly over hedge and

ditch with the prisoner at his heels. It
was at this very juncture they were ob-
served by the two witnesses first examin-
ed. The learned counsel further affirmed
from circumstances, which he contended
amounted to presumptive evidence, that,
after various turnings and windings, in
his endeavour to escape, his foot slipped,
and the prisoner seized him and inflicted
divers wounds ; but that the deceased
finding means to get away, took to the
pond, in order to swim across ; when
the prisoner, running round the pond in-
cessantly, prevented his escape : so that,
faint and languishing under his wounds
and loss of blood, the hapless victim there
breathed his last, in manner and form as
the indictment sets forth. He also
alleged that, as Mr. Hare lived within
his worship's territory, where there are
several more of the same family, he
could not, therefore, be ; going to farmer
Carters; for that would have been ab-
surd, when he might have got corn and
turnips enough on his worship's own
ground. Can there, said the learned gen-
tleman, be a stronger, a weightier, a
surer, a a a ?

Court. We understand you It is as
clear as crystal.

[Their worships in consultation.]
Court. Has the prisoner's counsel
any thing further to offer in his behalf ?
Pris. Counsel. Call farmer Carter.
Pray, farmer Carter, inform the court
what you know of the prisoner's life, cha-
racter, and behaviour.

Carter. I have known the prisoner these
several years. He has lived in my house
great part of the time. He was always
sober

Court. Never the honester for that.
Well, go on.

Carter. Sober, honest, sincere, trusty,
and careful. He was one of the best and
most faithful friends I ever knew. He
has many a time deterred thieves from
breaking into my house at night, and mur-
dering me and my family. He never
hated nor hurt any body but rogues and
night-walkers. He performed a million
of good offices for me, for no other re-
compense than his victuals and lodging ;
and seemed always happy and contented
with what I could afford him, however
scanty the provision. He has driven away
many a fox that came to steal my geese
and turkies ; and, for taking care of a
flock of sheep, there is not his equal in
the county. In short, whenever he dies

207

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 8.

208

I shall Jose my best friend, my best ser-
vant, and most vigilant protector. 1 am
positive that he is as innocent as a babe
of the crime charged upon him; for he
was with me that whole evening, and
supped and slept at home. He was
indeed my constant companion, and we
were seldom or never asunder. If your
worships please, I'll be bail for him from
five pounds to five hundred.

Court. That cannot be : it is notaftazV-
able offence. Have you any thing else to
say, Mr. Positive?

Carter. Say ? I think I've said enough,
if it signified any thing.

Bottle. Drag him away out of hearing.

Carter. I will have justice! You, all of
ye, deserve hanging more than your pri-
soner, and you all know it too.

Court. Away with him, constable.
Scum of the earth ! Base-born peasant !
[ Carter is hauled out of the court, after a
stout resistance.]

Court. A sturdy beggar I We must find
out some means of wiring that fellow !

The Counsel for the Prosecution prayed
sentence of death upon the culprit at the
bar.

Court. How says the statute ? Are we
competent for this?

Counsel for Pros. The statute is, I con-
fess, silent. But silence gives consent.
Besides, this is a case of the first impres-
sion, and unprovided for by law. It is
your duty, therefore, as good and wise
magistrates of the Hundreds of Gotham,
to supply this defect of the law, and to
suppose that the law, where it says no-
thing, may be meant to say, whatever your
worships shall be pleased to make it.

Bottle. It is now incumbent upon me
to declare the opinion of this high and
right worshipful court here assembled.

Shall the reptile of a dunghill, a paltry
muckworm, a pitch-fork fellow, presume
for to go for to keep a dog ? and not
only a dog, but a dog that murders hares ?
Are these divine creatures, that are reli-
giously consecrated to the mouths alone of
squires and nobles, to become the food of
garlic-eating rogues ? It is a food, that
nature and policy forbid to be contami-
nated by their profane teeth. It is by far
too dainty for their robustious constitu-
tions. How are our clayey lands to be
turned up and harrowed, and our harvests
to be got in, if our labourers, who should
strengthen themselves with beef and ale,
should come to be fed with hare, partridge,
and pheasant ? Shall we sufl'er our giants

to be nourished with mince-meat and
pap ? Shall we give our horses chocolate
and muffins ? No, gentlemen. The brains
of labourers, tradesmen, and mechanics,
(if they have any,) should ever be sodden
and stupified with the grosser aliments of
bacon and dumpling. What is it, but the
spirit of poaching, that has set all the lower
class, the canaille, a hunting after hare's-
flesh ? You see the effects of it gentle-
men ; they are all run mad with polities,
resist their rulers, despise their magis-
trates, and abuse us in every corner of the
kingdom. If you had begun hanging of
poachers ten years ago, d'ye think you
would have had one left in the whole king-
dom by this time ? No, I'll answer for it ;
and your hares would have multiplied, till
they had been as plenty as blackberries,
and not left a stalk of corn upon the
ground. This, gentlemen, is the very
thing we ought to struggle for ; that these
insolent clowns may come to find, that the
only use they are good for, is to furnish
provision for these animals. In short,
gentlemen, although it is not totally clear
from the evidence, that the prisoner is
guilty ; nevertheless, hanged he must and
ought to be, in terrorem to all other
offenders.

Therefore let the culprit stand up, and
hearken to the judgment of the court.

Constable. Please your worship, he's up.

Bottle. Porter ! Thou hast been found
guilty of a most daring, horrible, and
atrocious crime. Thou hast, without being
qualified as the law directs, and without
licence or deputation from the lord of the
manor, been guilty of shedding inno-
cent blood. In so doing, thou hast bro-
ken the peace of the realm, -set at naught
the laws and statutes of thy country, and
(what is more than all these) offended
against these respectable personages, who
have been sitting in judgment upon thee.
For all this enormity of guilt, thy life doth
justly become forfeit, to atone for such
manifold injuries done to our most excel-
lent constitution. We did intend, in
Christian charity, to have given some mo-
ments for thy due repentance, but, as the
hour is late, and dinner ready, now hear
thy doom.

Thou must be led from the bar to the
end of the room, where thou art to be
hanged by the neck to yonder beam, co-
ram nobis, till you are dead, dead, dead /
Hangman, do your duty.

Constable. Please your worships, all is
ready.

209

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 9.

210

Ponser. Hoist away, then, hoist away.
[Porter is tucked up.]

Mat. Come, it seems to be pretty well
over with him now. The constable has
given him a jerk, and done his business.

Bottle. He's an excellent fellow.

Ponser. The best informer in the whole
county.

Bottle. And must be well encouraged,

Ponser. He shall never want a licence,
whilst 7 live.

Noodle. Come, shall we go to dinner ?

Bottle. Ay he'll never course hares
again in this world. Gentlemen, the court
is adjourned*

[Exeunt omnes.

EPITAPH,

Composed liy Sam. Snivel, the parish clerk,
proposed to be put, at Farmer Carter's
expense, on the unfortunate malefactor's
tombstone :

Here lie the remains

of
honest PORTER ;

who,

after an innocent and well-spent life,
was dragged hither, and

tried,

for a crime he never committed,

upon laws to which he was unamenable,

before men who were no judges,

found guilty without evidence,

and hanged without mercy :
to give to future ages an example,

that the spirit
of Turkish despotism, tyranny, and

oppression,
after glutting itself with the conquest of

liberty

in British men,
has stooped at length to wreak its bloody

vengeance

on British dogs !

Anno Dom. 1771.

Requiescat in pace !

S. S.

This humorous " Trial" was written
in consequence of " a real event which
actually took place, in1 771, near Chiches-
ter." The persons who composed the
court are designated by fictitious names ;
but to a copy of the pamphlet, in the
possession of the editor of the Every-day
Booh, there is a manuscript-key to their
identity. The affair is long past, and
they are therefore added in italics.

'SQUIRES.
J. Bottle Butler.
A. Noodle Aldridge.
Mat o' the Mill Challen.
O. Ponser Bridger.
It appears that " the actors in tne
tragedy were well known by their nick-
names, given in Mr. Long's pamphlet."

Edward Long, esq. was called to the
bar in 1757, and sailed immediately for
Jamaica, where he, at first, filled the post
of private secretary to his brother-in-law,
sir Henry Moore, bart , then lieutenant-
governor of the island. He was after-
wards appointed judge of the vice-admi-
ralty court, and left the island in 1769.
The remainder of his long life was spent
in England, and devoted to literature.
Mr. Long's first production was the face-
tious report of the case of " Farmer Car-
ter's Dog Porter." He wrote ably on
negro slavery, the sugar trade, and the
state of the colonies ; but his most dis-
tinguished work is " The History of Ja-
maica," in three quarto volumes, which
contains a large mass of valuable infor-
mation, much just reasoning, and many
spirited delineations of colonial scenery
and manners, and is almost as rare as
the curious and amusing tract that has
contributed to the preceding pages. He
was born on the 23d of August, 1734,
at Rosilian, in the parish of St. Blaize,
Cornwall, and died, on the 13th of
March, 1813, at the house of his son-in-
law, Henry Howard Molyneux, esq. M.P.
of Arundel Park, Sussex, aged 79. Fur-
ther particulars of his life, writings, and
family, are in Mr. Nichols's " Literary
Anecdotes," and the " Gentleman's Ma-
gazine," vol. Ixxiii., from whence this
brief notice is extracted.

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature ... 37 27.

jftfbntarp 9.

St. Apollonia.

She is^called, by Butler, " the admirable
Apollonia, whom old age and the state
of virginity rendered equally venerable."
He relates, that in a persecution of the
Christians, stirred up by " a certain poet
of Alexandria," she was seized, and all
her teeth were beaten out, with threats
that she should be cast into the fire, " if

211

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK FEBRUARY 9.

212

she did not utter certain impious words ;"
whereupon, of her own accord, she leaped
into the flames. From this legend, St.
Apollonia is become the patron saint of
persons afflicted by tooth-ach.

In the " Horae B. Virginis" is the fol-
lowing prayer :
(( f\ Saint Apollonia, by thy passion,

V-T obtain for us the remission of
all the sins, which, with teeth and mouth,
we have committed through gluttony and
speech ; that we may be delivered from
pain and gnashing of teeth here and here-
after ; and loving cleanness of heart, by
the grace of our lips we may have the
king of angels our friend. Amen."

If her. teeth and jaws in Romish
churches be good evidence, St. Apollo-
nia tmperab i nded in these faculties ; the

number of the former is surprising to all
who disbelieve that relics of the saints
multiply of themselves. A church at
Bononia possesses her lower jaw, " which
is solemnly worshipped by the legate ;"
St. Alban's church at Cologne also has
her lower jaw each equally genuine and
of equal virtue.

CHRONOLOGY.

1555. On the 9th of February in this
year, Dr. Rowland Taylor, vicar of Had-
leigh in Suffolk, one of the first towns in
England that entertained the Reforma-
tion, suffered death there for resisting the
establishment of papal worship in his
church. The engraving beneath is a cor-
rect representation of an old stone com-
memorative of the event, as it appeared
in 1825, when the drawing was made
from it, by a gentleman who obligingly
transmits it for the present purpose.

AUTEMDHjGvTHAT

' - TH*SPLASLBFT

HI .SRI-ODE

Besides the rude inscription on this old
stone, as it is represented in the engrav-
ing, there is another on a neat monument
erected by the side of the original in 1818.

The lines are as follows : they were sup-
plied by the Rev. Dr. Hay Drummond,
rector of Hadleigh.

Mark this rude Stone, where Taylor dauntless stood,
Where Zeal infuriate drank the Martyr's blood :
Hadleigh ! that day, how many a tearful eye
Saw the lov'd Pastor dragg'd a Victim by ;
Still scattering gifts and blessings as he past
"To the blind pair" his farewell alms were cast ;
His clinging flock e'en here around him pray'd
""As thou hast aided us, be God thine aid ;"

213

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 9.

214

Nor taunts, nor bribes of mitred rank, nor stake,
Nor blows, nor flames, his heart of firmness shake ;
Serene his folded hands, his upward eyes,
Like Holy Stephen's, seek the opening skies ;
There, fix'd in rapture, his prophetic sight
Views Truth dawn clear, on England's bigot night ;
Triumphant Saint! he bow'd, and kiss'd the rod,
And soar'd on Seraph-wing to meet his God.

Rowland Taylor was " a doctor in both
the civil and canon lawes, and a right
perfect divine." On induction to his be-
nefice, he resided with his flock, " as a
good shepherd abiding and dwelling
among his sheep," and " not only was
his word a preaching unto them, but all
his life and conversation was an example
of unfained Christian life, and true holi-
nesse : he was void of all pride, humble
and meeke as any child, so that none
were so poore, but they might boldly, as
unto their father, resort unto him ; neither
was his lowlinesse childish or fearfull ;
but, as occasion, time, and place required,
he would be stout in rebuking the sinfull
and evil doers, so that none was so rich,
but he would tell him plainly his fault,
with such earnest and grave rebukes as
became a good curate and pastor." He
continued in well-doing at Hadleigh dur-
ing the reign of king Edward VI. till the
days of queen Mary, when one Foster, a
lawyer, and one John Clerk, of Hadley,
" hired one Averth, parson of Aldam, a
right popish priest, to come to Hadley,
and there to give the onset to begin again
the popish masse : to this purpose they
builded up, with all haste possible, the
altar, intending to bring in their masse
again about the Palme Munday." The
altar was thrown down in the night, but
on the following day it was replaced, and
the Aldam priest entered the church,
attended by Foster and Clerk, and guarded
by men with swords and bucklers. Dr.
Taylor, who was in his study, and igno-
rant of this irruption, hearing the church
bells ring, repaired thither, and found the
priest, surrounded by his armed force,
ready to begin mass, against whom he
was unable to prevail, and was himself
thrust, " with strong hand, out of the
church/' Two days afterwards, he was
summoned by Gardiner, bishop of Win-
chester, to come before him at London,
and answer complaints. His friends
counselled him to fly, but Taylor deter-
mined to meet his enemies, " and, to their
beards, resist their false doings." He took

his departure amidst their weeping,
" leaving his cure with a godly old priest
named sir Richard Yeoman, who after-
wards, for God's truth, was burnt at
Norwich." On his appearance, bishop
Gardiner, who was also lord chancellor,
reviled him, " calling him knave, traitor,
heretike, with many other villainous re-
proaches." Taylor listened patiently : at
last he said, " My lord, I am neither
traitor nor heretike, but a true subject,
and a faithfull Christian man; and am
come, according to your commandment,
to know what is the cause that your lord-
ship hath sent for me ?" The bishop
charged upon him that he was married.
"Yea," quoth Taylor, " that I thank God
I am, and have had nine children, and
all in lawful matrimony ; and blessed be
God that ordained matrimony." Then
the bishop charged him with having
resisted the priest of Aldam in saying
mass at Hadleigh. Taylor also admitted
this, and, after stout dispute, was com-
mitted to the king's bench, where he
spent his time in praying, reading the
scriptures, writing, preaching, and exhort-
ing the prisoners to repentance and
amendment of life. There he found
" master Bradford," whom he comforted
by his courage. While imprisoned, he
was cited to appear " in the Arches at
Bow church," and was carried thither,
and u deprived of his benefice because he
was married." On the 20th of January,
1555, Taylor was again taken before
Gardiner and other bishops. He gives a
long account of his disputations with
them on that and like occasions. They
urged him, and others with him, to re-
cant : the prisoners refused, and " then
4he bishops read sentence of death upon
them."

After condemnation, Dr. Taylor was
" bestowed in the Clinke till it was toward
night, and then he was removed to the
counter by the Poultry." On the 4th of
February, Bonner, bishop of London,
came to the counter to degrade him ; first
wishing him to return to the church of

215

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 9

21ft

Rome, and promising him to sue for his
pardon. Whereunto Taylor answered,
" I woulde you and your fellowes would
turne to Christ ; as for me I will not turn
toAntichrist." " Well," quoth the bishop,
* I am come to degrade you, wherefore

ut on these vestures." " No," quoth
octor Taylor, " I will not." Wilt
thou not V said the bishop. " I shall
make thee, ere I goe." Quoth doctor
Taylor, " You shall not, by the grace of
God." Then Bonner caused another to
put them on his back ; and when thus
arrayed, Taylor, walking up and down,
said, " How say you, my lord, am I not
a goodly fool ? How say you, my mas-
ters ; if I were in Cheap, should I not
have boys enough to laugh at these apish
toys, and toying trumpery ?" The bishop
proceeded, with certain ceremonies, to his
purpose, till at the last, when, according
to the form, he should have struck Taylor
on the breast with his crosier, the bishop's
chaplain said, " My lord, strike him not,
for he will sore strike again." Taylor
favoured the chaplain's suspicion. " The
cause," said he, " is Christ's ; and I
were no good Christian if I would not
fight in my master's quarrel." It appears
that " the bishop la id his curse upon him,
but struck him not ;" and after all was
over, when he got up stairs, " he told
master Bradford (for both lay in one
chamber) that he had made the bishop
of London afraid ; for, saith he, laugh-
ingly, his chaplain gave him counsell not
to strike with his crosier-staff, for that I
would strike again; and by my troth,
said he, rubbing his hands, I made him
believe I would doe so indeed."

Thus was Taylor still cheerful from
rectitude. In the. afternoon his wife, his
son, and John Hull his servant, were per-
mitted to sup with him. After supper,
walking up and down, he impressively
exhorted them, with grave advice, to good
conduct and reliance on Providence.
" Then they, with weeping tears, prayed
together, and kissed one the other ; and
he gave to his wife a book of the church
service, set out by king Edward, which
in the time of his imprisonment he daily
used ; and unto his sonne Thomas he gave
a latinp booke, containing the notable say-
ings of the old martyrs, gathered out of
Ecclesiastica Historia; and in the end of
that booke he wrote his testament and last
vale" In this *' vale," dated the 5th of
February, he says to his family, " I goe
before, and you shall follow after, to our

long home. I goe to the rest of my chil-
dren. I have bequeathed you to the
onely Omnipotent." In the same paper
he, tells his " dear friends of Hadley, to
remain in the light opened so plainely
and simply, truly, throughly, and gene-
rally in all England," for standing in
which he was to die in flames.

In the morning at two o'clock, the
sheriff of London with his officers brought
him, without light, from the counter to
Aldgate. His wife, suspecting that he
would be carried away thus privately, had
watched, from the time they had parted,
within the porch of St. Botolph's church,
having her daughter Mary with her, and
a little orphan girl named Elizabeth,
whom the honest martyr had reared from
three years old to her- then age of thir-
teen : and when the sheriff and his com-
pany came nigh to where they stood, the
child Elizabeth cried, " O my dear father !
Mother, mother, here is my father led
away." The darkness being so great that
the one could not see the other, his wife
cried, " Rowland, Rowland, where art
thou ?" Taylor answered, " Dear wife !
I am here," and he stayed; and the sheriffs
men would have forced him, but the sheriff
said, " Stay a little, my masters, I pray
you, and let him speak to his wife." Then
ne took his daughter Mary in his arms,
and he, and his wife, and the orphan girl
kneeled and prayed ; and the sheriff, and
many who were present, wept ; and he
arose and kissed his wife, and shook her
by the hand, and said. " Farewell, my
dear wife,be of good comfort, for I am quiet
in my conscience ; God shall stir up a father
for my children." He had three others, be-
sides his daughter Mary and the young
Elizabeth, He then kissed Mary, and then .
Elizabeth, and he bade them, also, fare-
well/and enjoined them to stand steadfast
in their faith. His weeping wife said,
" God be with thee, dear Rowland, I
will, with God's grace, meet thee at Had-
leigh." Then he was led on to the Wool-
sack inn, at Aldgate, where he was put in
a chamber, under the custody of four yeo-
men of the guard and the sheriffs men.
Here his wife again desired to see him, but
was restrained by the sheriff, who other-
wise treated her with kindness, and
offered her his own house to abide in ; but
she preferred to go to her mother's, whi-
ther two officers conducted her, charging
her mother to keep her within till their
return.

Meantime so soon as Taylor euterel

217

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK FEBRUARY 9.

213

the chamber he prayed ; and he remained
at the inn until the sheriff of Essex was
ready to receive him. At eleven o'clock
the inn gates were shut, and then he
was put on horseback within the gates.
When they arrived outside, Taylor saw his
son Thomas standing against the rails, in
the care of his man John Hull ; and he
said, " Come hither, my son Thomas."
John Hull lifted the child up, and set him
on the hot se before his father; and Taylor
put off his hat, and spoke a sentence or
two to the people in behalf of matrimony,
and then he lifted up his eyes and prayed
for his son, and laid his hat on the child's
head, and blessed him. This done he de-
livered the child to John Hull, whom he
took by the hand, and he said to him,
" Farewell, John Hull, the faithfullest
servant that ever man had." Having so
said, he rode forth with the sheriff of
Essex and the yeomen of the guard to go
to his martyrdom in Suffolk.

When they came near to Brentwood,
one Arthur Taysie, who had been ser-
vant to Taylor, supposing him free,
took him by the hand and said, " Master
Doctor, I am glad to see you again at
liberty ;" but the sheriff drove him back.
At Brentwood, a close hood was put over
Taylor's face, with holes for his eyes to
look out at, and a slit for his mouth to
oreathe through. These hoods were used
at that place to be put on the martyrs that
they should not be known, and that they
should not speak to any one, on the road
to the burning-places.

Yet as they went, Taylor was so cheer-
ful, and talked to the sheriff and his
guards in such wise, that they were
amazed at his constancy. At Chelmsford
they 'met the sheriff of Suffolk, who was
there to carry him into his county. At
that time he supped with the two sheriffs.
The sheriff of Essex laboured during sup-
per to persuade him to return to queen
Mary's religion, telling him that all pre-
sent would use their suit to the queen for
his pardon, nor doubted they could obtain
it. The sheriff reminded him, that he
had been beloved for his virtues, and
honoured for his learning; that, in the
course of nature, he was likely to live
many years ; and that he might even be
higher esteemed than ever ; wherefore he
prayed him to be advised : " This counsel
I give you," said the sheriff, " of a good
heart and good will towards you ;" and,
thereupon he drank to him ; and the yeo-
men of the guard said, " In like manner,

upon that condition, master Doctor, we
all drink to you." When they had so
done, and the cup D0.me to Taylor, he
staid awhile, as studying what he might
say, and then answered thus : " Mastei
sheriff, and my masters all, I heartily
thank you for your good will. I have
hearkened to your words and marked
well your counsels ; and to be plain with
you, I do perceive that I have been de-
ceived myself, and am likely to deceive a
great many of their expectation." At
these words they were exceedingly glad.
" Would ye know my meaning plainly ?"
he said. "Yea, gooi master Doctor,' 7 an-
swered the sheriff, < tell it us plainly."
"Then," said Taylor, " I will tell you:" and
he said, that, as his body was of consider-
able bulk, and as he thought, if he had
died in his bed, it would have been
buried in Hadleigh church-yard, so he
had deceived himself; and, as there were
a great many worms there abiding, which
would have mealed handsomely upon
him, so they, as well as himself, were de-
ceived ; " for" said ne, " it must be burnt
to ashes, and they will thereby lose their
feeding." The sheriff' and his company
were thereupon astonished at him, as
being a man without fear of death, and
making a jest of the flames. During
their progress, many gentlemen and ma-
gistrates were admitted to see him, and
entreated him, in like manner, but he re-
mained immovable.

Thus they drew near to Hadleigh : and
when they rode over Hadleigh bridge, a
poor man with his five small children
awaited their coming. When they saw
Taylor, they all fell down on their knees
and held up their hands, and cried aloud,
" God help and succour thee, as thou
hast many a time succoured me and my
poor children." The streets of Hadleigh
were crowded on each side by men and
women, of the town and country, sorely
weeping, and with piteous voices loudly
bewailing the loss of their pastor, praying
that he might be strengthened and com-
forted in his extremity, and exclaiming,
" What shall become of this wicked
world !" Taylor said, " I have preached to
you God's word and truth, and am come
to seal it with my blood." When he came
to the almshouses, he put some money,
that had been bestowed on him during
his imprisonment, into a glove, and this
he is said to have given to the poor alms-
men as they stood at their doors, to see
their wonted benefactor pass At the

219

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 9.

220

last of the almshouses he inquired, " Is
the blind man, and blind woman, that
dwelt here, alive ?" He was answered,
" Yes ; they are there, within." Then he
threw glove and all in at the window,
and so rode forth towards the field of
his death.

Coming where a great multitude were
assembled, he asked, " What place is
this, and what meaneth it that so much
people are gathered hither ?" It was
answered, " This is Aldham common, the
place where you must suffer." He said,
" Thanked be God, I am even at home."
Then he alighted from his horse, and with
both his hands rent the hood from his
head. His hair was unseemly, for Bonner,
when he degraded him, had caused it to
be clipped in manner of a fool's. At the
sight of his ancient and reverend face, and
his long white beard, the people burst
into tears, and prayed for him aloud. He
would have spoken to them, but when-
ever he attempted, one or other of the
yeomen of the guard thrust a tipstaff into
his mouth.

Then he desired licence to speak, of the
sheriff ; but the sheriff refused him, and
bade him remember his promise to the
council : " Well," quoth Taylor, "promise
must be kept." What the promise was is
unknown. Seating himself on the ground
he called to one in the crowd, " Soyce, I
pray thee come and pull off my boots, and
take them for thy labour ; thou hast long
looked for them, now take them." Then
he arose, and putting off his under-
clothes, them also he bestowed. This
done, he cried with a loud voice, " Good
people ! I have taught you nothing but
God's holy word, and those lessons that I
have taken out of God's blessed book, the
Holy Bible ; and I am come hither this
day to seal it with my blood." OneHolmes,
a yeoman of the guard,who had used him
cruelly all the way, then struck him a
violent blow on the head " with a waster,"
and said, " Is that the keeping of thy pro-
mise, thou heretick ?" Whereupon Taylor
knelt on the earth and prayed, and a
poor, but faithful woman, stepped from
among the people to pray with him : the
guards would fain have thrust her away,
they threatened to tread her down with
their horses, but she was undismayed, and
would not remove, but remained and
prayed with him. Having finished his
devotions he went to the stake, and kissed
it, and placed himself in a pitch-barrel

which had been set for him to stand in ;
and he stood with his back upright
against the stake, and he folded his hands
together, and he lifted his eyes towards
heavpn, and he prayed continually. Then
they bound him with chains, and the
sheriff called one Richard Donningham,
a butcher, and commanded him to set up
the faggots, but he said, " I am lame, sir,
and not able to lift a faggot.'' The she-
riff threatened to send him to prison, but
the man refused to obey his command
notwithstanding. Then the sheriff ap-
pointed to this labour one Mullcine of
Carsey, " a man for his virtues fit to be a
hangman." Soyce, a very drunkard,
a man named Warwick, and one Ro-
bert King, " a deviser of interludes."
These four set up the faggots, and pre-
pared for making ready the fire, and
Warwick cast a faggot at the martyr,
which lit upon his head and wounded his
face, so that the blood ran down. Taylor
said, " O, friend ! I have harm enough,
what .needed that?" Then, while he re-
peated the psalm Miserere, in English,
sir John Shelton struck him on the mouth :
" You knave," said he, " speak Latin ; or
I will make thee." At last they set the
faggots on fire, and Taylor, holding
up both his hands, called on God, crying,
" Merciful Father of Heaven ! for Jesus
Christ our saviour's sake, receive my soul
into thy hands !" He stood, during his
burning, without crying or moving, till
Soyce struck him on the head with a hal-
berd, and the brains falling out, the
corpse fell down into the fire.*

While some may deem this narrative of
Rowland Taylor's conduct too circum-
stantial, others perhaps may not so deem.
It is to be considered as exemplifying the
manners of the period wherein the event
occurred, and may at least be acceptable
to many. It will assuredly be approved by
a few who regard inflexible adherence to
principle, at the hazard of death itself, as
preferable to a conscience-consuming sub-
serviency, which, while it truckles to what
the mind judges to be false, depraves the
heart, and saps the foundations of public
virtue.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 39 05.

* Acts and Monuments.

221

THE EVERYDAY BOOK. -FEBRUARY 10, 11,12,13. 222

jfebruarp 10.

Biographical Notice.

1818. On this day died in London,
captain Thomas Morris, aged 74, a man
of highly cultivated 'mind, who was born
in its environs, and for whom when young
a maternal uncle, of high military rank,
procured an ensign cy. He beat for re-
cruits at Bridgewater, and enlisted the af-
fections of a Miss Chubb of that town,
whom he married. He was ordered
with his regiment to America, where he
fought by the side of general Montgo-
mery.

Captain Morris at one time was taken
by the Indians, and condemned to the
stake; at the instant the women and
children were preparing to inflict its tor-
tures, he was recognised by an old
sachem, whose life he had formerly saved,
and who in grateful return pleaded so
powerfully in his behalf, that he was un-
bound and permitted to return to his
friends, who had given him up for lost.
He published an affecting narrative of his
captivity and sufferings ; yet he was so
attached to the Indian mode of life, that
he used to declare they were the only
human beings worthy of the name of MEN.
On his return from America to England,
he quitted the army and gave himself to
literary studies, and the conversation of a
few enlightened friends. In the midst of
" the feast of reason, and the flow of
soul/' he often sighed for the grand
imagery of nature, the dashing cataracts
of Columbia, the wild murmurs of rivers
rolling through mountains, woods, and
deserts. Having met with some disap-
pointments which baffled his philosophy,
he sought a spot for retirement, and found
it in a nursery garden, at Paddington.
Here in a small cottage, he compared
Pope's translation of Homer with the
original, in which he was assisted by
Mr. George Dyer, a gentleman well quali-
fied for so pleasing a task. In this pur-
suit he passed some years, which he de-
clared were the happiest of his life.

With partiality for the dead languages,
he was sensible to the vigour and copious-
ness of his own : he translated Juvenal
into English, and enriched it with many
notes, but it was never printed. He pub-
lished a little poem, entitled " Quashy, or
the Coal-black Maid," a pathetic West
India story. He lived in the style of a gen-
tleman, and left a handsome sum to his
children.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR,
Mean Temperature ... 39 92.

jTebruarp 11.

CHRONOLOGY

1763. William Shenstone, the poet,
died at his celebrated residence the Lea-
sowes, near Hagley, in Worcestershire.
He was born at Hales Owen, Shropshire,
in 1714.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 40 00.

jfebruarp 12.

1826. First Sunday in Lent.
The communion service of the church
of England for the Sundays in Lent, was
extracted from the offices appointed for
these Sundays by the missal of Sarum,
excepting the collect for the first Sunday,
which was composed by the compilers of
the liturgy, and also excepting the gospel
for the second Sunday

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 38 37.

13.

Valentine's Eve.

1826. Hilary term ends. Cambridge term
begins.

VALENTINE'S EVE AT SWAFFHAM.
For the Every-Day Book.

At Swaffham in Norfolk it is customary
to send valentines on this evening. Watch-
ing for a convenient opportunity, the door
is slyly opened, and the valentine, attached
to an apple or an orange, is thrown in ; a
loud rap at the door immediately follows,
and the offender, taking to his heels, is off
instantly. Those in the house, generally
knowing for what purpose the announc-
ing rap was made, commence a search
for the juvenile billet doux : in this man-
ner, numbers are disposed of by each
youth. By way of teasing the person
who attends the door, a white oblong
square, the size of a letter, is usually
chalked on the step of the door, and,
should an attempt be made to pick it up,
great amusement is thus afforded to some
of the urchins, who are generally watch-
ing. K.

923

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 14.

224

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... ^8 10.

14.

OLD CANDLEMAS DAY.

Valentine.

Referring to vol. i. from p. 215 to 230, for
information concerning the origin of this
festival of lovers, and the manner wherein
it is celebrated, a communication is sub-
joined concerning a custom now observed
in Norfolk.

VALENTINE'S DAY AT LYNN.

For the Every-Day Book.
Independent of the homage paid to St.
Valentine on this day at Lynn, (Norfolk,)
it is in other respects a red-letter day
amongst all classes of its inhabitants,
being the commencement of its great
annual mart. This mart was granted by
a charter of Henry VIII., in the twenty-
seventh year of his reign, to begin on
the day next after the feast of the purifi-
cation of the blessed virgin Mary, and to
continue six days next following,"
(though now it is generally prolonged to
a fortnight.) Since the alteration of the
style, in 1752, it has been proclaimed on
Valentine's day. About noon, the mayor
and corporation, preceded by a band of
music, and attended by twelve decrepit
old men, called from their dress "Red
eoats," walk in procession to proclaim
the mart, concluding by opening the an-
tiquated, and almost obsolete court of
" Piepowder." Like most establishments
of this nature, it is no longer attended for
the purpose it was first granted, business
having yielded to pleasure and amuse-
ment. Formerly Lynn mart and Stour-
b-idge (Stirbitch) fair,* were the only
places where small traders in this and the
adjoining counties, supplied themselves
with their respective goods. No transac-
tions of this nature now take place, and
the only remains to be perceived, are the
" irart prices," still issued by the grocers.
Here the thrifty housewives, for twenty

miles round, laid in their annual store of
soap, Btarch, &c., and the booth of
" Green" from Limehouse, was for three
generations the emporium of such art:
cles; but these no longer attend. A
great deal of money is however spent, a.
immense numbers of persons assemble
from all parts. Neither is their any lack
of incitements to unburthen the pockets:
animals of every description, tame and
wild, giants and dwarfs, tumblers, jug-
glers, peep-shows, &c., all unite their at-
tractive powers, in sounds more discord-
ant than those which annoyed the ears of
Hogarth's " enraged musician."

The year 1796 proved particularly un-
fortunate to some of the inhabitants of
Marshland who visited the mart. On the
evening of February 23, eleven persons,
returning from the day's visit, were
drowned by the upsetting of a ferryboat;
and on the preceding day a man from
Tilney, going to see the wild beasts, and
putting his hand to the lion's mouth, had
his arm greatly lacerated, and narrowly
escaped being torn to pieces.

In the early part of the last century, an
old building, which, before the reforma-
tion, had been a hall belonging to the
guild of St. George, after being applied to
various uses, was fitted up as a theatre,
(and by a curious coincidence, where
formerly had doubtless been exhibited, as
was customary at the guild feasts, religious
mysteries and pageants of the catholic
age, again was exhibited the mysteries and
pageants of the protestant age,) during
the mart and a few weeks afterwards ;
bat with no great success, as appears by
an anecdote related of the celebrated
George Alexander Stevens. Having in
his youthful days performed here with a
strolling company, who shared amongst
them the receipts of the house, after
several nights' performance to nearly
empty benches, while performing the part
of Lorenzo, in Shakspeare's " Merchant of
Venice," he thus facetiously parodied the
speech of Lorenzo to Jessica, in the fifth
act, as applicable to his distressed cir-
cumstances :

" Oh Jessica ! in such a night as this we came to town,
And since that night we've shar'd but half a crown ;
Let you and I then bid these folks good night,
For if we longer stay, they'll starve us quite."

' V Uitat - laW t0 5 place between !** and Cambridge respecting the toll ol
r; the precise ground of the dispute and the termination are not stated

225

THE EVERY -DAY BOOKFEBRUARY 14.

226

This neglect of the drama is not, how-
ever, to be attributed to the visitors or the
inhabitants at the present day, a very
elegant and commodious theatre having
been erected in 1814, at a considerable
expense, in another part of the town.
But even here, a fatality attends our ca-
tholic ancestors, indicative of the instabi-
dty of all sublunary affairs. The theatre
has been erected on the site of the clois-
ters and cemetry of the grey friars' monas-
tery, the tall, slender tower of which is"
still standing near, and is the only one re-
maining out of ten monasteries found in

Lynn at the dissolution ; where, but for
the lustful rapacity of that tyrannical
" defender of the faith/' Henry VIII., this
sacred asylum of our departed ancestors
would not have been profaned, nor their
mouldering particles disturbed, by a
building as opposite to the one originally
erected, as darkness is to light. Thus
time, instead of consecrating, so entirely
obliterates our veneration for the things
of yesterday, that the reflecting mind can-
not forbear to exclaim with the moralist of
old. *' Sic transit gloria mandi."

, of

Aged 74, A.. D. 1824.

" Here's David's likeness for his book,
All those who buy may at it look,
As he is in his present state,
Now printed from a copper-plate."

These lines arc beneath the portrait
from whence the above engraving is taken.
It is a very faithful likeness of David
Love, only a little too erect : not quite
enough of the stoop of the old man of
76 in it, but it is a face and a figure
which will be recognised by thousands in
Nottingham andNottinghamshire. The
VOL. II. 60.

race of the old minstrels has been
extinct ; that of the ballad-singers is fast
following it yet David is both one and
the other. He is a bard and a caroller,
a wight who has wandered over as many
hills and dales as any of the minstrels and
troubadours of old; a man who has
sung, when he had cause enough for cry-

THE EVERY- DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 14.

228

ing wh 5 nas seen many ups and downs,
and has seldom failed to put his trials and
hardships into rhyme. He is the poet
of poverty and patience teaching expe-
rience. He has seen the

" huts where poor men lie"

all his life ; yet he has never ceased to
chant as he proceeded on his painful
pilgrimage, like the " nightingale with a
thorn in her breast " It is true, he does
not carry his harp to accompany his
strains, but he carries his life, " The Life,
Adventures, and Experience of David
Love, written by Himself. Fifth edition :"
and well doth it deserve both its title and
sale. A curious, eventful story of a poor
man's it is. First he is a poor parent-
deserted lad ; then he has wormed himself
into good service, and afterwards into a
coal-pit, where he breaks his bones and
almost crushes out life ; then he is a tra-
veller, a shopkeeper, a soldier fighting
against the Highland rebels; he falls in
love,gets into wedlock and a workhouse, is
never in despair, and never out of trouble;
with a heart so buoyant, that, like a cork
on a boisterous flood, however he might
be plunged into the depths, he is sure to
rise again to the surface, and in all places
and cases still pours out his rhymes pic-
tures of scenes around him, strange cabins
and strange groups, love verses, acrostics,
hymns, &c.

" I have composed many rhymes,
On various subjects, and the times,
And call'd the trials of prisoners' crimes

The cash to bring ;
When old I grew, composed hymns,

And them did sing."

So David sped, and so he speeds now in
his 77th year, only that his travels have
left him finally fixed at Nottingham. His
wars and his loves have vanished; his cir-
cle of action has annually become more
and more contracted ; till, at length, the
town includes the whole field of his per-
ambulations, and even that is almost more
than his tottering frame can traverse. Yet
there he is ! and the stranger who visits
Nottingham will be almost sure to see
him, as represented in the print, .crossing
the market-place, with a parcel of loose
papers in his hand ; a rhyming account
of the last Goose Fair, a flood, an ex-
ecution, or one of David's own mar-
riages, for be it known to thee, gentle
reader, that David Love has been a true
son of the family of the Loves. He has
not sung his amatory lays for naught ; he

has captivated the hearts cf no less than
three damsels, and he has various and me-
morable experience in wives.

David, like many of our modern ge-
niuses, is a Scotchman. He tells us that
he was born near Edinbuigh, but the pre-
cise place he affects not to know. The
fact is, he is not very strong in his faith
that, as he has tasted the sweets of a
parish, he cannot be removed, and thinks
it best to keep his birth-place secret : but
the spot is Torriburn, on the Forth, the
Scotch Highgate. David " has been to
mair toons na Torriburn/' as the Scotch
say, when they intimate that they are not
to be gulled.

After sustaining many characters in the
drama of life whilst yet very young, a
schoolmaster among the rest, he fairly
flung himself and his genius upon the
world, and rambled from place to place
in Scotland, calling around him all the
young ears and love-darting eyes by his
original ballads. It was a dangerous life,
and David did not escape scatheless.
" At length so very bold I grew,
My songs exposed to public view,
And crowds of people round me drew,

/ was so funny ;
From side to side I nimbly flew

To catch the money."

And he caught not only money, but matri-
mony, and such a wife ! alas ! for poor
David !

" As she always will rule the roast,
I'd better be tied to a post,

And whipped to death,
Than with her tongue to be so tossed,

And bear her wrath.
She called me both rogue and fool,
And over me she strove to rule ;
I sat on the repenting stooW

There tears I shed ;
Sad my complaint, I said, O dool ! %

That e'er I wed."

The next step evidently enough was
enlisting, which he did into the duke of
Buccleugh's regiment ; where, he says, he
distinguished himself by writing a song
in compliment of the regiment and its
noble commander, concluding with,

" Now, at the last., what do you think

Of the author, David Love ?"
And whenever the duke and the officers
saw him, they were sure to point, and
say, " What do you think of the author,
jjarad Love ?" These seem to have been
David's golden days. Nut only

" One hand the pen, and one the sword did
wield,"

229

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 14.

230

but he was also an actor of plays for the
amusement of the officers. However, his
discharge came, and adventures crowded
thickly upon him. He traversed England
in all directions, married a second and a
third time, figured away in London and
Edinburgh, and finally in Nottingham,
with ballads and rhymes of his own com-
posing ; saw the inside of a prison, was
all but hanged for his suspicious and no-
madic poverty, and after all, by his own
showing, is now to be classed with the
most favoured of mortals :

" I am now 76 years of age, and I both
see and hear as well as I did thirty years
ago. My wife is aged about fifty, and
has been the space of a year in tolerable
health. She works hard at her silk-
wheel, to assist me ; is an excellent house-
wife ; gossips none : cleanly in cooking,
famous at washing, good at sewing, mark-
ing, and mending her own and children's
clothes. For making markets none can
equal her. Consults me in every thing,
to find if I think it right, before she pro-
ceeds to buy provisions, or clothes; strives
to please me in every thing; and always
studies my welfare, rejoicing when I am
in health, grieved when I am pained or
uneasy. She is my tender nurse to nourish
me, my skilful doctress to administer re-
lief when I am in sickness or in pain ; in
short, a better wife a poor man never
had."

Truly, David, I think so too! A happy
man art thou to be possessed of such an
incomparable helpmate; and still hap-
pier that, unlike many a prouder bard,
thou art sensible of thy blessings.

To show that although our minstrel
often invokes the muse to paltry subjects
for paltry gains, yet he can sometimes
soar into a higher region, I give the fol-
lowing :

THE CHILD'S DREAM.
The tubstance thereof being founded on fact

I'll tell you who 1 saw last night,

As I lay sleeping on my bed ;
A shining creature all in light,

To me she seemed a heavenly maid.

I meet her tripping o'er the dew,
Fine as a queen of May, mamma ;

She saw, she smiled, she to me flew,
And bade me come away, mamma.

I looked, I loved, I blushed awhile,
Oh ! how could I say no, mamma ?

She spoke so sweet, so sweet did smile,
I was obliged to go, mamma.

For love my tender heart beguiled,

I felt unusual flames, mamma ;
My inward fancy turned so wild,

So very strange my dream, mamma.

Indeed I was, I know not how,
Oh had you only been with me ;

Such wonders opened to my view,
As few but holy angels see.

Methought we wandered in a grove,
All green with pleasant fields, mamma ;

In joyful measures on we move,
As music rapture yields, mamma.

She took me in her snow-white hand,
Then led me through the air mamma.

Far higher above sea and land,
Than ever eagles were, mamma.

The sea and land, with all their store,
Of rivers, woods, and lofty hills,

Indeed they did appear no more
Than little streams or purling rills.

I sought my dear papa's estate,
But found it not at all, mamma ;

The world in whole seemed not so great
As half a cannon-ball, mamma.

We saw the sun but like a star,
The moon was like a mustard seed ;

Like Elias in, his fiery car,
All glorious winged with light'ning speed.

Swift as our thoughts, oh joyful day .

We glanced through all the boundless

spheres ;
Their music sounding all the way,

Heaven sweetly rushing in our ears,

Now opens, and all we saw before

Were lost entirely to our view ;
The former things are now no more,

To us all things appeared new.

No death is there, nor sorrow there,
E'er to disturb the heavenly bliss,

For death, sin, hell, and sorrow are,
Entirely lost in the abyss.

With wintry storms the ground ne'er pines

Clothed in eternal bloom, mamma ;
For there the sun of glory shines,

And all the just with him, mamma.
I saw my sister Anna there,

A virgin in her youthful prime ;
More than on earth her features fair,

And like the holy angels' fine.

Her robe was all a flowing stream

Of silver dipt in light, mamma,
But ah ! it 'woke me from my dream,

It shone so strong and bright, mamma.

With this specimen of David's poetica.
faculties, I leave him to the kind con-
sideration of the well disposed.

January, 1826. M. T.

23 1

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK.FEBRUARY 15, 16, 17.

232

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 37 42.

15.

1826. Ember Week.
Ember weeks are those in which the
Ember days fall. A variety of explana-
tions have been given of the word Em-
ber, but Nelson prefers Dr. Marechal's,
" who derives it from the Saxon word
importing, a circuit or course; so that
these fasts being not occasional, but re-
turning every year in certain courses, may
properly be said to be Ember days, be-
cause fasts in course." The Ember days
are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday
after the first Sunday in Lent, and after
the 13th of December. It is enjoined by
the xxxi. canon of the church, " that dea-
cons and ministers be ordained, or made,
but only on the Sundays immediately fol-
lowing these Ember feasts."*

1731. Their majesties king George II.
and the queen, being desirous of seeing
"the noble art of printing," a printing
press and cases were put up at St. James's
palace on the 15th of February, and the
duke (of York) wrought at one of the
cases, to compose for the press a little
book of his own writing, called "The
Laws of Dodge-Hare." The two young-
est princes, likewise, composed their
names, &c., under the direction of Mr. S.
Palmer, a printer, and author of the
"History of Printing," which preceded
Mr. Ames's more able work.f

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 39 22.

jfWbruarp 16.

CHRONOLOGY*

A question was carried in the house of
commons for building a bridge over the
Thames, from Palace-yard to the Surrey
side. During the debate, that river over-
flowed its banks by reason of a strong
spring tide ; the water was higher than
ever known before, and rose above two
feet in Westminster -hall, where the
courts being sitting, the judges, &c. were
obliged to be carried out. The water

* Audley's Companion to the Almanac,
t Gentleman's Magazine.

came into all the cellars and ground
rooms near the river on both sides, and
flowed through the streets of Wapping
and Southwark, as its proper channel; a
general inundation covered all the marshes
and lowlands in Kent, Essex, Suffolk,
Norfolk, and Lincolnshire, and some
thousands of cattle were destroyed, with
several of their owners in endeavouring
to save them. The tide being brought in
by a strong wind at N. W. was the highest
in Lincolnshire of any for 135 years past.
Seventeen breaches were made, about
sunrise, in the banks of the river between
S aiding and Wisbech, with several be-
tween Wisbech and Lynn, and irreparable
damage done ; some graziers having lost
all their cattle. At Clay, in Norfolk,
waters came over the great beach, almost
demolished the town, and left nine feet of
water in the marshes. At Gold Ongar,
Essex, Mr. Cooper, and four of his ser-
vants, were drowned in endeavouring to
save some sheep, the sea wall giving way
of a sudden. The little isles of Candy
and Foulness, on the coast of Essex, were
quite under water ; not a hoof was saved
thereon, and the inhabitants were taken
from the upper part of their houses into
boats. The particular damages may be
better conceived than related.*

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 38 90.

dfe&ruarg 17.

Sittings after Term.

On the day after the expiration of every
term, the courts of law continue to sit at
Westminster, and try causes ; and some
judges come into London at the. same
time, for the same purpose. These sit-
tings are called the " sittings after term,"
and during these periods, suits, arising
out of clashing claims of important in-
terests, are usually decided by the verdicts
of special juries, and other litigations are
disposed of.

The origin and progress of every pos-
sible action, in a court of law, are suc-
cinctly portrayed by " the Tree of Com-
mon Law" an engraving in vol. i. p.
234. It stands there for " ornament and
use ;" there are plenty of books to explain
technical terms, and show the practice
of the courts ; any uninformed person,

* Gentleman's Magazine.

233

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK FEBRUARY 17.

234

therefore, may easily obtain further infor-
mation as to the modes ; and any respect-
able attorney will advise an inquirer, who
states all the particulars of his case, con-
cerning the costs of attempting to sue or
defend, and the chances of success. After
proceeding so far, it will be requisite to
pause, and then, as paramount to the
legal advice, common sense should weigh
consequences well, before giving " instruc-
tions to sue," or " defend," in

that wide and pathless maze

Where law and custom, truth and fiction,

Craft, justice, strife, and contradiction,

With every blessing of confusion,

Quirk, error, quibble, and delusion,

Are all, if rightly understood,

Like jarring ministers of state,

'Mid anger, jealousy, and hate,

In friendly coalition joined,

To harmonize and bless mankind.

To some " whimsical miscellanies,"
subjoined at the place aforesaid, can be
added or annexed, more or many others,
of the same or the like kind. The reali-
ties of law may be relieved by the pleasures
of imagination, and the heaviness of the
" present sittings" be enlivened by a
reported case, in the words of the re-
porter, (Stevens'* Lect.) premising, how-
ever, that he first publicly stated, with his
head in his wig, and with a nosegay in
his hand,

" Law is law, law is law, and as, in
such and so forth, and hereby, and afore-
said, provided always, nevertheless, not-
withstanding. Law is like a country
dance, people are led up and down in it
till they are tired. Law is like a book of
surgery, there are a great many terrible
cases in it. It is also like physic, they
that take least of it are best off. Law is
like a homely gentlewoman, very well to
follow. Law is also like a scolding wife,
very bad when it follows us. Law is like
a new fashion, people are bewitched to
get into it ; it is also like bad weather,
most people are glad when they get out
of it." The same learned authority ob-
serves, that the case before referred to,
and hereafter immediately stated, came
before him, that is to say,

Bullum v. Boatum.

Boaium v. Bullum.

There were two farmers, farmer A and
farmer B. Farmer A was seized or pos-
sessed of a bull ; farmer B was seized or
possessed of a ferry-boat. Now the owner
of the ferry-boat, having made his boat
fest to a post on shore, with a piece of

hay, twisted rope fashion, or as we say,
vulgo vocato, a hay-band. After he had
made his boat fast to a post on shore, as
it was very natural for a hungry man to
do, he went up toivn to dinner ; farmer
A's bull, as it was very natural for a
hungry bull to do, came down town to
look for a dinner ; and the bull observing
discovering, seeing, and spying out, some
turnips in the bottom of the ferry-boat
the bull scrambled into the ferry-boat
he eat up the turnips, and to make an
end of his meal, he fell to work upon the
hay-band. The boat being eaten from its
moorings, floated down the river, with
the bull in it : it struck against a rock
beat a hole in the bottom of the boat,
and tossed the bull overboard. There-
upon the owner of the bull brought his
action against the boat, for running away
with the bull, and the owner of the boat
brought his action against the bull for
running away with the boat.

At trial of these causes, Bullum ,
Boatum, Boatum v. Bullum, the counsel
for the bull began with saying,

" My lordy and you, gentlemen of the
jury,

" We are counsel in this cause for the
bull. We are indicted for running away
with the boat. Now, my lord, we have
heard of running horses, but never of
running bulls before. Now, my lord, the
bull could no more run away with the
boat than a man in a coach may be said
to run away with the horses ; therefore,
my lord, how can we punish what is not
punishable? How can we eat what is
not eatable ? Or how can we drink what
is not drinkable ? Or, as the law says,
how can we think on what is not think-
able ? Therefore, my lord, as we are
counsel in this cause for the bull, if the
jury should bring the bull in guilty, the
jury would be guilty of a bull."

The counsel for the boat affirmed, that
the bull should be nonsuited, because
the declaration did not specify of what
colour he was ; for thus wisely, and thus
learnedly spoke the counsel : " My lord,
if the bull was of no colour, he must be of
some colour ; and if he was not of any
colour, of what colour could the bull be -?"
I overruled this objection myself (says the
reporter) by observing the bull w/as. a
white bull, and that white is no colour ;
besides, as I told my brethren, they, should
not trouble their heads to talk of colour in.,
the law, for the law can colour any thing.
The causes >vent to reference, and by the

235

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 18.

236

award, both bull and boat were acquitted,
it being proved that the tide of the river
carried them both away. According to
the legal maxim, there oannot be a wrong
without a remedy, I therefore advised a
fresh case to be laid before me, and was oi
opinion, that as the tide of the river carried
t)oth bull and boat away, both bull and
ooat had a right of action against the water-
bailiff.

Upon this opinion an action was com-
menced and this point of lawtirose, how,
whether, when, and whereby, or by whom,
the facts could be proved on oath, as the
boat was not compos mentis. The evidence
point was settled by Boatum's attorney,
who declared that for his client he would
swear any thing.

At the trial, the water-bailiffs charter
was read, from the original record in true
law Latin, to support an averment in the
declaration that the plaintiffs were carried
away either by the tide of flood, or the
tide of ebb. The water-bailiffs charter
stated of him and of the river, whereof or
wherein he thereby claimed jurisdiction,
as follows : Aquce bailiffi, est magistrates
in choisi, sapor omnibus, fishibus, qui ha-
buerunt finnos et scalos, claivs, shells, et
talos, qui swimmare infreshibus,velsal-
tibus, riveris, lakos, pondis, canalibus et
well boats, sive oysteri, prawni, wkitini,
shrimpi, turbutus solus ; that is, not tur-
bots alone, but turbots and soals both
together. Hereupon arose a nicety of law ;
for the law is as nice as a new-laid egg,
and not to be understood by addle-headed
people. Bullum and Boatum mentioned
both ebb and flood, to avoid quibbling ;
but it being proved, that they were carried
away neither by the tide of flood, nor by
the tide of ebb, but exactly upon the top
of high water, they were nonsuited ; and
thereupon, upon their paying all costs,
they were allowed, by the court, to begin
again, de novo.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 37 82.

jfebruarg 18.

Revivification of Trees.
Mr. Arthur Aikin, in his " Natural
History of the Year," narrates the first
vital function in trees on the conclusion
of winter. This is the ascent of the sap
after the frost is moderated, and the earth
sufficiently thawed. The absorbent ves-
sels composing the inner bark reach to
the extremity of the fibres of the roots,

and thus, through the roots, imbibe water,
which, mixing there with a quantity of
saccharine matter, forms sap, and is from
thence abundantly distributed through
the trunk and branches to every indivi-
dual bud. The birch tree in spring, on
being tapped, yields its sap, which is fer-
mented into wine. The palm tree in the
tropics of the same season yields its sap
by the same method, which is made into
palm wine, and the sap of the swgar
maple in North America being boiled,
yields the maple sugar.

" This great accession of nourishment
(the sap} causes the bud to swell, to
break through its covering, and to spread
into blossoms, or lengthen into a shoot
beaiing leaves. This is \\\Q first process,
and, properly speaking, is all that belongs
to the springing or elongation of trees ;
and in many plants, that is, all those
which are annual or deciduous, there is
no other process ; the plant absorbs juices
from the earth, and in proportion to the
quantity of these juices increases in size :
it expands its blossoms, perfects its fruit,
and when the ground is incapable by
drought or frost of yielding any more
moisture, or when the vessels of the plant
are not able to draw it up, the plant
perishes. But in trees, though the be-
ginning and end of the first process is
exactly similar to what takes places in
vegetables, yet there is a second process,
which at the same time that it adds to
their bulk, enables them to endure and
go on increasing through a long series of
years.

" The second process begins soon after
the first, in this way. At the base of the
footstalk of each leaf a small bud is gra-
dually formed ; but the absorbent vessels
of the leaf having exhausted themselves
in the formation of the bud, are unable
to bring it nearer to maturity: in this
state it exactly resembles a seed, contain-
ing within it the rudiments of vegetation,
but destitute of absorbent vessels to nou-
rish and evolve the embryo. Being sur-
rounded, however, by sap, like a seed in
moist earth, it is in a proper situation for
growing ; the influence of the sun sets in
motion the juices of the bud and of the
seed, and the first operation in both of
them is to send down roots a certain
depth into the ground for the purpose of
obtaining the necessary moisture. The
bud accordingly shoots down its roots
upon the inner bark of the tree, till they
reach the part covered by the earth.

237

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK.FEBRUARY 19,20.

238

Winter now arriving, the cold and defect
of moisture, owing to the clogged condi-
tion of the absorbent vessels, cause the
fruit and leaves to fall, so that, except the
provision of buds with roots, the remain-
der of the tree, like an annual plant, is
entirely dead : the leaves, the flowers,
and fruit are gone, and what was the
inner bark, is no longer organized, while
the roots of the buds form a new inner
bark; and thus the buds with their roots
contain all that remains alive of the whole
tree. It is owing to this annual renova-
tion of the inner bark, that the tree in-
creases in bulk ; and a new coating being
added every year, we are hence furnished
with an easy and exact method of ascer-
taining the age of a tree by counting the
number of concentric circles of which the
trunk is composed. A tree, therefore,
properly speaking, is rather a congeries
of a multitude of annual plants, than a
perennial individual.

" The sap in trees always rises as soon
as the frost is abated, that when the sti-
mulus of the warm weather in the early
spring acts upon the bud, there should be
at hand a supply of food for its nourish-
ment ; and if by any means the sap is
prevented from ascending at the proper
time, the tree infallibly perishes. Of this
a remarkable instance occurred in Lon-
don, during the spring succeeding the
hard winter of the year 1794. The snow
and ice collecting in the streets so as to
become very inconvenient, they were
cleared, and many cartloads were placed
in the vacant quarters of Moorfields ;
several of these heaps of snow and frozen
rubbish were piled rotnd some of the
elm-trees that grow there. At the return
of spring, those of the trees that were not
surrounded with the snow expanded their
leaves as usual, while the others, being
still girt with a large frozen mass, conti-
nued quite bare; for the fact was, the
absorbents in the lower part of the stem,
and the earth in which the trees stood,
were still exposed to a freezing cold. In
some weeks, however, the snow was
thawed, but the greater number of the
trees were dead, and those few that did
produce any leaves were very sickly, and
continued in a languishing state all sum-
mer, and then died."

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 37 92.

jfebruarp 19.

1826. Second Sunday in Lent.
The First Bird's Nest in Spring.
Of all our native birds, none begins to
build so soon as the raven : by the latter
end of this month it has generally laid its
eggs and begun to sit. The following
anecdote, illustrative of its attachment to
its nest, is related by Mr. White in his
" Natural History of Selborne." " In the
centre of this grove there stood an oak,
which, though shapely and tall on the
whole, bulged out into a large excrescence
about the middle of the stem. On this a
pair of ravens had fixed their residence
for such a series of years, that the oak
was distinguished by the name of the
raven-tree. Many were the attempts of
the neighbouring youths to get at this
eyry; the difficulty whetted their inclina-
tions, and each was ambitious of sur-
mounting the arduous task. But when
they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out
so much in their way, and was so far
beyond their grasp, that the most daring
lads were awed, and acknowledged the
undertaking to be too hazardous. So the
ravens built on, nest upon nest, in per-
fect security, till the fatal day arrived in
which the wood was to be levelled. It
was in the month of February, when those
birds usually sit. The saw was applied
to the butt, the wedges were inserted into
the opening, the woods echoed to the
heavy blows of the beetle and mallet, the
tree nodded to ,ts fall, but still the dam
sat on. A't last, when it gave way, the
bird was flung from her nest; and though
her parental affection deserved a bettei
fate, was whipped down by the twigs,
which brought her dead to the ground."*

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 38 37.

Jfebruarp 20.

The frays of the Season.

The roads now are usually heavy, that
is, the thaws have so entirely liberated
the water in the earth, that the subsoil,
which had been expanded by the action of
the frost, becomes loosened, and, yielding
mud to the surface, increases the draught
of carriages. Now, therefore, the com-

* Aikin's Nat. Hist, of the Year.

239

THE EVERY -DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 20.

240

missioners and agents who execute their
duty have full employment, and the high-
ways afford employment to a large num-

ber of persons who are destitute of their
customary labour, or unfit for other
work.

CrabeUfng m Sfr

And is it you'd be riding, by Blackwater to Fermoy 1
You'll be accommodated, to your heart's content and joy,
There's not a beast, nor car, but what's beautiful and easy ;
And then the pleasant road bad's the luck but it '11 please ye !

MS. Ballad.

Mr. Crofton Croker's " Researches in
the South of Ireland," besides accounts of
scenery and architectural remains, and
illustrations of popular manners and su-
perstition, conveys a very good idea of
the roads and the methods of travelling
in that part of the sister kingdom. The
usual conveyance is called a car ; its
wheels are either a solid block rounded
to the desired size, or they are formed
of three pieces of wood clamped toge-
ther. The wheels are fixed to a massive
wooden axletree ; this supports the shaft?,
which are as commonly constructed on the
outside as on the inside of the wheels. In
one of these machines Mr. Croker, with a
lady and gentleman who accompanied him
on his tour, took their seats. The car and
horse were precisely of that description
and condition in the engraving. Mr. W.
H. Brooke painted a picture of this gen-
tleman's party, from whence he has oblig-
ingly made the drawing for the present

purpose ; the only alteration is in the
travellers, for whom he has substituted a
family on their removal from one cabin to
another.

This, which is the common Irish car,
is used throughout the province of Lein-
ster, the midland counties, and some parts
of the north. The country, or farmer's
car always has the wheels on the ouiside
of the shafts, with a balustrade or up-
right railing fixed from the shaft to the
side bars, which rise diagonally from themj
this sort of enclosure is also at the back.
This car is open at top for the convenience
of carrying hay, corn, vegetables, tubs,
packages, and turf, which is generally
placed in wicker baskets, called a " kish ;"
two or four of these placed side by side
occupy the entire body. The car, with
the wheels between the shafts, is used io
like purposes, but has the additional ho-
nour of being rendered a family convey
ance, by cart ropes intertwisted 01 crossing

S4I

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 20.

242

each other from the top bars, whereon a
ticking, stuffed with straw, and a quilt or
coverlid, form a cushion for the comfort
of the travellers. The car is the common,
and indeed the only, mode of carrying
coals in the city of Dublin to the houses
of the consumers : from six to nine sacks,

making about half a ton, lie very snugly
across the bars. Of course, as a family
conveyance, it is only in use among the
poorest class in the country.

The common car somewhat varies in
shape, as will appear from the following
figure, also drawn by Mr. Brooke.

It must be added, that though these
cars maintain their ground in uncul-
tivated districts, they are quickly dis-
appearing, in the improved parts of Ire-
land, before the Scotch carts introduced
by the agricultural societies.

The Irish "jaunting-car," the " jingle,"
the " noddy,'* and a variety of other car-
riages, which ply for hire in Dublin, are
wholly distinct and superior vehicles.

The following interesting narrative, in
the words of its author, illustrates the na-
ture of the car, the state of the roads,
and the " manners" of the people.

A JAUNT IN A COUNTRY CAR

From Lismore to Fermoy
BY T. CROFTON CROKER, ESQ.

Having hired a car at Lismore to take
us to Fermoy, and wishing to walk part
of the way along the banks of the Black-
water, we desired the driver to meet us
at a given point. On arriving there, the
man pretended not to have understood we
were three in party, and demanded, in
consequence, an exorbitant addition to
the sum agreed on. Although we were
without any other means of conveyance
for eight Irish miles, it was resolved not
to submit to this imposition, and we ac-
cordingly withdrew our luggage and dis-
missed the car, intending to seek another
amongst a few cabins that appeared at a
little distance from the road side. A high
dispute ensued with the driver, who, of
course, was incensed at this proceeding,
and endeavoured to enlist in his cause the

few straggling peasants that had collected
around us ; but having taken refuge and
placed our trunks in the nearest cabin,
ourselves and property became sacred,
and the disposition to hostility, which had
been at first partially expressed, gradually-
died away. When we began to make
inquiries for a horse and car of any kind
to take us into Fermoy, our endeavours
were for some time fruitless. One person
had a car, but no horse. Another had a
car building, which, if Dermot Leary were
as good as his word, would be finished
next week some time, " God willing."
At length we gained intelligence of a
horse that was " only two miles off, draw-
ing turf: sure he could be fetched in
less than no time." But then again,
" that big car of Thaddy Connor's was
too great a load for him entirely. Sure'
the baste would never draw the car into
Fermoy, let alone their honours and the
trunks." After some further consultation,
a car was discovered more adapted to the
capabilities of the miserable animal thus
called upon to " leave work and carry
wood," and though of the commonest
kind we were glad to secure it. By means
of our trunks and some straw we formed
a kind of lodgment on the car, which,
being without springs and on the worst
possible of roads, was not exactly a bed
of down. The severe contusions we re-
ceived on precipitating into the numerous
cavities, though no joke, caused some
laughter ; on which the driver turned
round with a most facetious expression of
countenance, suggesting that " May be
the motion did not just agree with the

243

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 20.

244

lady, but never fear, she would soon get
nsed to it, and be asleep before we got
half wav to Fermoy." This prediction,
it will readily be supposed, was not ful-
filled; and I believe it was three days be-
fore we recovered from the bruises of that
journey. It is difficulty to say whether
our situation will excite mirth or sympathy
in the minds of our readers, but a sketch
may do no injury to the description. [In
Mr. Croker's volume an engraving on
wood is inserted.]

Many Irish villages boast a post-chaise,
the horses for which are not unfrequently
taken from the plough, and the chaise
itself submitted to a temporary repair
before starting, to render it, if the parody
of a nautical phrase may be allowed,
" road-worthy ; but the defects are never
thought of one moment before the chaise
is required ; and the miseries of posting
in Ireland have, with justice, afforded
subject for the caricaturist. Tired horses
or a break-down are treated by a driver,
whose appearance is the very reverse of
the smart jockey-like costume of an Eng-
lish postilion, with the utmost resigna-
tion, as matters of unavoidable necessity.
With a slouched hat slovenly shoes and
stockings and a long, loose great coat
wrapped round him, he sits upon a bar
in front of the carriage and urges on his
horses by repeated applications of the
whip, accompanied with the most singu-
lar speeches, and varied by an involun-
tary burst of his musical talent, whistling
a tune adapted to the melancholy pace of
the fatigued animals, as he walks slowly
beside them up the ascent of every Mil.

" Did you give the horses a feed of
oats at the village where we stopped to
sketch 1" inquired one of my fellow -tra-
vellers of the driver, who for the last
three or four miles had with much exer-
tion urged on the jaded hacks.

" I did not, your honour," was the
reply, " but sure, and they know I pro-
mised them a good one at Limerick."

Nor is this instance of pretended un-
derstanding between man and horse sin-
gular. Riding once in company with a
poor farmer from Cork to Mallow, I ad-
vised him to quicken the pace of his
steed as the evening was closing in, and
the lurid appearance of the sky foreboded
a storm.

" Sure then that I would with the
greatest pleasure in life for the honour I
have out of your company, sir ; but I
promised the baste to let him walk, and

I never belie myself to any one, much
less to a poor creature that carries me
for, says the baste to me, I'm tired, as
good right I have, and I'll not go a step
faster rand you won't make me I scorn
it says I, so take your own way."

A verbatim dialogue on an Irish break-
down happily characterises that accident :
the scene, a bleak mountain, and the
time, the return of the driver with ano-
ther chaise from the nearest station which
afforded one seven miles distant.

" Is the carriage you have brought us
safe r

(One of the travellers attempts to get
in)

" Oh never fear, sir ; wait till I just
bail out the water and put a little sop 01
hay in the bottom and sure now and 'tis
a queer thing that the ould black chaise
should play such a trick, and it has gone
this road eleven years and never broke
down afore. But no wonder poor cratur,
the turnpike people get money enough
for mending the roads, and bad luck to
the bit of it they mend, but put it all in
their pockets."

" What, the road ?"

" Noe, your honour, the money."

To such as can bear with composure and
indifference lesser and temporary misfor-
tunes, those attendant on an Irish tour
become objects of merriment ; the very
essence of the innate ingenuity and wit
of the people is called out by such evils ;
and the customary benediction muttered
by the peasant on the meeting a traveller,
is changed into the whimsical remark or
shrewd reply that mock anticipation.

Of late, jingles, as they are termed,
have been established between the prin-
cipal towns. These are carriages on easy
springs, calculated to contain six or eight
persons. The roof is supported by a
slight iron frame capable of being unfixed
in fine weather, and the curtains, which
may be opened and closed at will, afford
complete protection from sun and rain ;
their rate of travelling is nearly the same
as that of the stage-coach, and they are
both a cheaper and more agreeable* con-
veyance.

On our way from Cork to Youghall in
one of these machines, we were followed
by a poor wretch ejaculating the most
dreadful oaths and imprecations in Irish.
His head was of an uncommonly large
and stupid shape, and his idiotic coun-
tenance was rendered fierce and wild by
a long and bushy red beard. On our

245

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 21.

246

driver giving him a piece of bread, for
which he had run beside the jingle at
least half a mile, he uttered three or four
terrific screams, accompanied by some
antic and spiteful gestures. I should not
remark this circumstance here were it
one of less frequent occurrence ; but on
most of the public roads in the south of
Ireland, fools and idiots (melancholy
spectacles of humanity !) are permitted
to wander at large, and in consequence
of this freedom have acquired vicious
habits, to the annoyance of every pas-
senger : throwing stones, which they do
with great dexterity, is amongst the most
dangerous of their practices, and a case
is known to me where the wife of a re-
spectable farmer, having been struck on
the temple by a stone thrown at her by
an idiot, died a few days after. Within
my recollection, Cove-lane, one of the
most frequented parts of Cork, as leading
to the Cove-passage, Carrigaline and
Monkstown roads, was the station of one
of these idiots, who seldom allowed an
unprotected woman to pass without fol-
lowing her, and inflicting the most severe
pinches on her back and arms ; yet this
unfortunate and mischievous being for
many years was suffered by the civil
power to remain the terror of every fe-
male, and that too within view of a pub-
lic asylum for the reception of such. But
to return from this digression.

The charges at inferior towns and vil-
lages are extravagant in an inverse pro-
portion to the indifference of their accom-
modation, and generally exceed those of
the first hotels in the metropolis. Our
bill at Kilmallock was any thing but
moderate, and yet the house, though the
best the town afforded, appeared to be
one where carmen were oftener lodged
than gentry. The landlady stood at the
door, and with a low curtsey and a good-
humoured smile welcomed us to " the
ancient city of Kilmallock ;" in the same
breath informed us, that she was a gentle-
woman born and bred, and that she had
a son, " as fine an officer as ever you
could set eyes on in a day's walk, who
was a patriarch (a patriot) in South
America;" then leading us up a dark
and narrow staircase to the apartment we
were to occupy, wished to know our
names and business, whence we came
and where we were going ; but left the
room on our inquiring, in the first place,
what we could have to eat. After wait-
ing a reasonable time our demands were

attended to by a barefooted female, who
to our anxiety respecting what we could
have for supper, replied with perfect con-
fidence, " Just any thing you like, sure !"
" Have you any thing in the house?"
" Indeed and we have not ; but it's
likely I might be able to get an egg for
ye."

An examination of the bedrooms will
not prove more satisfactory; a glass or
soap are luxuries seldom found. Some-
times one coarse and very small towel is
provided; at Kilmallock, the measure-
ment of mine was half a yard in length
and a quarter in breadth ; its complexion,
too, evinced that it had assisted in the
partial ablutions of many unfastidious
persons. Mr. Arthur Young's constant
ejaculation, when he lighted on such
quarters in Ireland, usually occurred to
my mind, " Preserve me, Fate, from such
another !" and I have no doubt he would
agree with me, that two very essential
requisites in an Irish tour are a stock of
linen, and a tolerable partiality for bacon.
But travellers, any more than beggars,
cannot always be choosers, and those who
will not submit with patience to the ac-
cidents and inconveniences of a journey,
must sit at home and read the road that
others travel.

" Who alwaies walkes, on carpet soft and

s a y>

Knowes not hard hills, nor likes the moun-
taine way."*

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature . . 39 * 17.

jfefcruarp 21.

Seasonable Rules.

On p. 187 there is a " Letter," delivered
to a favourite servant at parting, which
deserves to be printed in letters of gold,
or, what is better, because it is easier and
more useful, it should be imprinted on
the memory of every person who reads
it. There are sentiments in it as useful
to masters and mistresses as their do-
mestics. The following " Rules " may
likewise be perused with advantage by
both ; they are deemed " seasonable,
because, as good-livers say, good things
are never out of season.

* Mr. Croker's Researches in the South of Ir*
land, 1824, 4to. This gentleman's excursions wer*
made between the years 18'? and 1822.

247

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 21.

248

Rules for Servants.

I. A good character is valuable to every
cne, but especially to servants ; for it is
their bread, and without it they cannot
be admitted into any creditable family ;
and happy it is that the best of characters
is in every one's power to deserve.

II. Engage yourself cautiously, but
stay long in your place, for long service
shows worth as quitting a good place
through passion, is a folly which is always
lamented of too late.

III. Never undertake any place you are
not qualified for ; for pretending to what
you do not understand, exposes yourself,
and, what is still worse, deceives them
whom you serve.

IV. Preserve your fidelity ; for a faith-
ful servant is a jewel, for whom no encou-
ragement can be too great.

V. Adhere to truth; for falsehood is
detestable, and he that tells one lie, must
tell twenty more to conceal it.

VI. Be strictly honest ; for it is shame-
ful to be thought unworthy of trust.

VII. Be modest in your behaviour ; it
becomes your station, and is pleasing to
your superiors.

VIII. Avoid pert answers ; for civil
language is cheap, and impertinence pro-
voking.

IX. Be clean in your business ; for
those who are slovens and sluts, are dis-
respectful servants.

X. Never tell the affairs of the family
you belong to ; for that is a sort of trea-
chery, and often makes mischief; but
keep their secrets, and have none of
your own.

XI. Live friendly with your fellow-
servants ; for the contrary destroys the
peace of the house.

XII. Above all things avoid drunken-
ness ; for that is an inlet to vice, the ruin
of your character, and the destruction of
your constitution.

XIII. Prefer a peaceable life, with
moderate gains, to great advantage and
irregularity.

XIV. Save your money ; for that will
be a friend to you in old age. Be not
expensive in dress, nor marry too soon.

XV. Be careful of your master's pro-
perty ; for wastefulness is a sin.

XVI. Never swear ; for that is a crime
without excuse, as there is no pleasure
in it.

XVII. Be always ready to assist a fel-
low-servant ; for good feature gains the
love of every wr.f.

.XVIIT. Never stay when sent on a
message ; for waiting long is painful to
your master, and a quick return shows
diligence.

XIX. Rise early ; for it i? difficult to
recover lost time.

XX. The servant that often changes his
place, works only to be poor ; for the
rolling-stone gathers no moss."

XXI. Be not fond of increasing your
acquaintances ; for visiting leads you out
of your business, robs your master of
your time, and often puts you to an ex-
pense you cannot afford. And above all
things, take care with whom you are ac-
quainted ; for persons are generally the
better or the worse for the company they
keep.

XXII. When out of place, be careful
where you lodge; for living in a disre-
putable house, puts you upon a footing
with those that keep it, however innocent
you are yourself.

XXIII. Never go out on your own
business, without the knowledge of the
family, lest in your absence you should
be wanted ; for " Leave is light," and
returning punctually at the time you pro-
mise, shows obedience, and is a proof of
sobriety.

XXIV. If yon are dissatisfied with
your place, mention your objections mo-
destly to your master or mistress, and
give a fair warning, and do not neglect
your business nor behave ill, in order to
provoke them to turn you away ; for this
will be a blemish in your character, which
you must always have from the last place
you served in.

***All who pay a due regard to the above
precepts, will be happy in themselves, will
never want friends, and will always meet
with the assistance, protection, and encou-
ragement of the wealthy, the worthy, and
the wise.

The preceding sentences are contained
in a paper which a young person com-
mitted to heart on first getting a place,
and, having steadily observed, obtained a
character for integrity and worth incapable
of being shaken. By constantly keeping
in view that " Honesty is the best policy,"
it led to prosperity, and the faithful
servant became an opulent employer ol
servants.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature ... 41 70.

249

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 22, 23.

250

22.

GENERAL ELECTION.

1826. This year may be deemed re-
markable in the history of modern times,
for its being the period wherein, for the
first time within the memory of man, a
parliament expired by efflux of time.
Most of the preceding parliaments were
dissolved, but this attained to its full
duration of seven years.

THE FREEMAN'S WELL AT ALNWICK.
To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.

Sir,

Kensington, Feb. 1826.

I hope the following description of an
extraordinary custom which has obtain-
ed at Alnwick, in Northumberland, may
be considered worthy preservation in
The Every-Day Book.

About four miles from the above town
there is a pond, known by the name of
the Freeman's well; through which it
has been customary for the freemen to
pass from time immemorial before they
can obtain their freedom. This is con-
sidered so indispensable, that no exemp-
tion is permitted, and without passing
this ordeal the freedom would not be
conferred. The pond is prepared by
proper officers in such a manner, as to
give the greatest possible annoyance to
the persons who are to pass through it.
Great dikes, or mounds, are erected in
different parts, so that the candidate for
his freedom is at one moment seen at the
top of one of them only up to his knees,
and the next instant is precipitated into a
gulf below, in which he frequently
plunges completely over head. The water
is purposely rendered so muddy, that it
is impossible to see where these dikes
are situated, or by any precaution to
avoid them. Those aspiring to the ho-
nour of the freedom of Alnwick, are
dressed in white stockings, white panta-

loons, and white caps. After they have
" reached the point proposed," they are
suffered to put on their usual clothes, and
obliged to join in a procession, and ride
for several miles round the boundaries of
the freemen's property a measure which
is not a mere formality for parade, but
absolutely indispensable; since, if they
omit visiting any part of their property,
it is claimed by his grace the duke of
Northumberland, whose steward follows
the procession, to note if any such omis-
sion occurs. The origin of the practice
of travelling through the pond is not
known. A tradition is current, that king
John was once nearly drowned upon the
spot where this pond is situated, and
saved his life by clinging to a holly tree ;
and that he determined, in consequence,
thenceforth, that before any candidate
could obtain the freedom of Alnwick, he
should not only wade through this pond,
but plant a holly tree at the door of his
house on the same day ; and this custom
is still scrupulously obserred. In the
month of February, 1824, no less than
thirteen individuals went through the
above formalities.

I am, &c.

T. A.

NATURALISTS 7 CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature ... 42 61 .

23.

CHRONOLOGY.

1821. John Keats, the poet, died,
Virulent and unmerited attacks upon his
literary ability, by an unprincipled and
malignant reviewer, injured his rising
reputation, overwhelmed his spirits, and
he sunk into consumption. In that state
he fled for refuge to the climate of Italy,
caught cold on the voyage, and perished
in Rome, at the early age of 25. Speci-
mens of his talents" are in the former
volume of this work. One of his last
poems was in prospect of departure from
his native shores. It is an

Ode to a Nightingale.

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,

Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe- wards- had sunk :

251 THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 23 255

Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness,
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the tress,

In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

2.
O, for a draught of vintage ! that hath been

Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,

Dance, and Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth!

for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,

With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,

And purple-stained mouth ;
That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest dim :

3.
Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget

What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret

Here, where men sit and hear each other groan ;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs,

Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and die? ;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow

And leaden-eyed despairs,
Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,
Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.

4.
Away ! away ! for I will fly to thee,

Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the viewless wings of Poesy,

Though the dull brain perplexes and retards :
Already with thee ! tender is the night,

And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,
Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays ;

But here there is no light,
Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown

Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy wayi*.

1 cannot see what flowers are at my feet,

Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,
But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet

Wherewith the seasonable month endows
The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild ;
White- hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;
Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves ;

And mid-May's eldest child,
The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,

The murmurous haunt of flies on summer evto.

Darkling I listen ; and, for many a time

I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme,

To take into the air my quiet breath ;

253 THE EV ERA -DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 24,25. 254

Now more than ever seems it rich to die,

To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy !

Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain-
To thy high requiem become a sod.

7.
Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird !

No hungry generations tread thee down ;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard

In ancient days by emperor and clown :
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path

Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn ;

The same that oft-times hath
Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

8.
Forlorn ! the very word is like a bell

To toll me back from thee to my sole self!
Adieu ! the fancy cannot cheat so well
As she is famed to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu ! adieu ! thy plaintive anthem fades
Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
Up the hill-side ; and now 'tis buried deep

In the next valley-glades :
Was it a vision, or a waking dream ?

Fled is that music : Do I wake or sleep ?

This ode was included with " Lamia, mission, and the year and manner of his

Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and other death, though all concur in saying he was

Poems," by John Keats, published by martyred. Dr. Cave affirms, that he

Messrs. Taylor and Hessey, who, in an suffered by the cross. He is presumed

advertisement at the beginning of the do have died A.D. 61 or 64.
book, allude to the critical ferocity which

lastened the poet's death.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. M Temperature ... 42 22.

Mean Temperature. . . 41 57.

24 - Jfebruarp 25.

St. Matthias. Holiday at the Public 1826. Third Sunday in Lent.

Offices. STORM SUPERSTITIONS.

After the crucifixion, and the death of The stilling of the waves by oil is

the traitor Judas, Peter, in the midst of briefly noticed at p. 192, and another in-

.he disciples, they being in number about stance is subjoined.
a hundred and twenty, proposed the

election of an apostle in his stead, " and Oil for a fair Wind.

they appointed two, Joseph, called Bar- C. W., in Dr. Aikin's Athenaeum,

sabas, who was surnamed Justus, and says : " About twelve years ago, during

Matthias : and they prayed" to be direct- my stay at Malta, I was introduced to the

ed in their choice, " and they gave forth bey of Bengazi, in Africa, who was going

their lots ; and the lot fell upon Matthias, with his family and a large retinue of

and he was numbered with the eleven servants to Mecca. He very politely

apostles." (Acts i. 23-26.) Writers dis- offered me and my companion a passage

agree as to the particular places of his to Egypt. We embarked on board a

255

THE EVER Y-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 25.

256

French brig which the bey had freighted,
arid very unfortunately were captured by
an English letter of marque within a few
leagues of Alexandria. The captain,
however, was kind enough to allow us to
proceed, and as we lay becalmed for two
days, the bey ordered three or four Turk-
ish flags to be hoisted, and a flask of oil
to be thrown overboard. On inquiring
into the purport of the ceremony, we were
informed that the flask would float to
Mecca (a pretty long circumnavigation)
and bring us a fair wind ! As we cast
anchor in the port soon after, of course
the ceremony had been propitious ; nor
did we seek to disturb the credulity of a
man who had treated us so kindly/'

We know,- however, that there is " cre-
dulity " on board English as well as Turk-
ish vessels ; and that if our sailors do not
send an oil flask to Mecca, they whistle
for a wind in a perfect calm, and many
seem as certainly to expect its appearance,
as a boatswain calculates on the appear-
ance of his crew when he pipes all hands.
Navigation in the Clouds.

Agobard, archbishop of Lyons, in the
reign of Charlemagne, and his son, has
the following passage in his book, " De
Grandine." " In these districts, almost
all persons, noble and plebeian, towns-
men and rustics, old and young, believe
that hail and thunder may be produced at
the will of man, that is, by the incanta-
tions of certain men who are Called Tem-
pestarii." He proceeds : " We have seen
and heard many who are sunk in such
folly and stupidity, as to believe and as-
sert, that there is a certain country, which
they call Magonia, whence ships come in
the clouds, for the purpose of carrying
back the corn which is beaten off by the
hail and storms, and which those aerial
sailors purchase of the said Tempestani."
Agobard afterwards affirms, that he him-
self saw in a certain assembly four per-
sons, three men and a woman, exhibited
bound, as if they had fallen from these
ships, who had been kept for some days
in confinement, and were now brought
out to be stoned in his presence ; but that
he rescued them from the popular fury.
He further says, that there were persons
who pretended to be able to protect the
inhabitants of a district from tempests, and
that for this service they received a pay-
ment in corn from the credulous country-
men, which payment was called canoni-
cum.*

* Athenaeum.

A Shrovetide Custom.

It will appear on reading, that the
annexed letter came too late for insertion
under Shrove Tuesday.

LUDLOW ROPE PULLING.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book

Sir,

Ludlotv, Shrove Tuesday,
Feb. 7, 1826.

Among the customs peculiar to this
town, that of pulling a rope is not the
least extraordinary. On Shrove Tuesday
the corporation provide a rope three
inches in thickness, and in length thirty-
six yards, which is given out by a few of
the members at one of the windows of
the Market-hall at four o'clock ; when a
large body of the inhabitants, divided
into two parties, (the one contending for
Castle-street and Broad-street Wards, and
the other for Old-street and Corve-street
Wards,) commence an arduous struggle;
and as so\n as either party gains the vic-
tory by pulling the rope beyond the pre-
scribed limits, the pulling ceases ; which
is, however, always renewed by a second,
and sometimes by a third contest ; the
rope being purchased by subscription
from the victorious party, and given out
again. In the end the rope is sold by
the victors, and the money, which gene-
rally amounts to two pounds, or guineas,
is expended in liquor. I have this day
been an eye-witness to this scene of con-
fusion ; the rope was first gained by Old-
street and Corve-street Wards, and se-
condly by Castle-street and Broad-street
Wards. It is supposed, that nearly 2000
persons were actively employed on this
occasion.

Without doubt this singular custom is
symbolical of some remarkable event,
and a remnant of that ancient language
of visible signs, which, says a celebrated
writer, " imperfectly supplies the want of
letters, to perpetuate the remembrance of
public or private transactions." The
sign, in this instance, has survived the
remembrance of the occurrence it was
designed to represent, and remains a
profound mystery. It has been insinua-
ted, that the real occasion of this custom
is known to the corporation, but that for
some reason or other, they are tenacious
of the secret. An obscure tradition at-
tributes this custom to circumstances
arising out of the siege of Ludlow by
Henry VI , when two parties arose within

257

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 26.

258

the town, one supporting the pretensions
of the duke of York, and the other wish-
ing to give admittance to the king ; one
of the bailiffs is said to have, headed the
latter party. History relates, that in this
contest many lives were lost, and that the
bailiff, heading his party in an attempt to
open Dinham gate,, fell a victim there.

R. J

NATURALISTS* CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature ... 41 16.

jfdbruarp 26.

1826. Third Sunday in Lent.

Penderill Family.
1732, February 26. The title to an

estate of 100/. per annum, which had been
settled on the Penderill family " for pre-
serving king Charles II. in the oak," was
sued for on behalf of an infant claiming
to be heir-at-law, and the issue was this
day tried in the court of king's bench. It
was proved that Mr. Penderill, after mar-
rying the mother of the claimant, retired
into Staffordshire two years before he died;
that during that time he had no inter-
course with his wife, and that the infant
was born about the time of her husband's
death. In consequence of this evidence
a verdict was found for the defendant,
and thereby the child was declared to be
illegitimate.*

* Gentleman's Magazine.

A respected correspondent, S. G., not
remembering to have met with a represent-
ation of this remarkable seal in any work,
and conceiving its appearance in the
Every-Day Book may gratify many rea-
ders, obligingly transmits a fine impres-
sion, taken in February,! 826, from whence
the present engraving has been made with
at least as much fidelity as the antiquity
of the original permitted. " This seal,"
he says, is quite distinct from the city
seal. It is kept at the Mansion-house, in
the custody of the gate-porter, and is now

VOL. II. 61.

used for the purpose of authenticating do-
cuments forwarded to foreign countries
upon affidavit sworn before the lord mayor:
it is also used for sealing the precepts
which are issued preparatory to St.
Thomas's-day for the 'election of common
councilmen arid ward officers." The fol-
lowing is the inscriptioa round the seal,
" Sigillum Officii Majoratus Civitatis
Londini :" this legend is indistinct from
wear.

The history of this seal is especially re-
markable, because it is connected with the

259

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 26.

260

origin of the " dagger" in the city arms.
On this subject Maitland and other his-
torians have taken so much only from
Stow as seemed to them to suit their pur-
pose ; what that author relates, therefore,
is here extracted verbatim. He introduces
it by saying, " In the year 1381, William
Walworth, then maior, a most provident,
valiant, and learned citizen, did by his ar-
rest of Wat Tyler, (a presumptuous rebell
upon whom no man durst lay hands,) de-
liver the king and kingdome from the dan-
ger of most wicked traitors, and was for
his service knighted in the field as before
hath been related." In opposition to a
notion which prevailed in his time, and
prevails at present, that the " dagger" in
the civic shield was an augmentation of
the city arms upon occasion of Wai-
worth's prowess in Smithfield, Stow says,
" It hath also been, and is now growne
to a common opinion, that in reward of
this service done by the said William
Walworth against the rebell, that king
Richard added to the armes of this city
(which was argent, a plaine crosse gules)
a sword, or dagger, (for so they terme it,)
whereof I have read no such record, but
to the contrary. I finde that in the fourth
yeere of king Richard the second, in a
full assembly made in the upper chamber
of the Guildhall, summoned by this Wil-
liam Walworth, then maior, as well of
aldermen as of the common councell in
every ward, for certain affaires concern-
ing the king, it was there by common
consent agreed and ordained, that the
old seale of the office of the maioralty of
the city being very small, old, unapt, and
uncomely for the honour of the city,
should be broken, and one other new
seale bee had ; which the said maior
commanded to be made artificially, and
honourably, for the exercise of the said
office therafter, in place of the other. In
which new seale, besides the images of
Peter and Paul, which of old were rudely
engraven, there should be under the feet
of the said images a shield of the arms of
the said city, perfectly graven, with two
lyons supporting the same, and two ser-
geants of arms : in the other part, one,
and two tabernacles, in which, above,
should stand two angels, between whom
(above the said images of Peter and Paul)
should be set the glorious Virgin. This
being done, the old seale of the office was
delivered to Richard Odiham, chamber-
lain, who brake it, and in place thereof
was delivered the new seale to the said

maior, to use in his office of maioralty as
occasion should require. This new seale
seemeth to be made before William Wal-
worth was knighted, for he is not there
intituled Sir, as afterwards he was : and
certain it is, that the same new seale then
made, is now in use, and none other in
that office of the maioralty ; which may
suffice to answer the former fable, with-
out showing of any evidence sealed with
the old seale, which was the crosse, and
sword of Saint Paul, and not the dago-er
of William Walworth."

On a partial citation of the preceding
extract, in Maitland, it is observed by
S. G., that " the seal at present in use was
made in pursuance of the order above
cited, may be deduced from the seal
itself. In the centre, within a large and
square compartment, are the effigies of
Peter and Paul. The former has a mitre
or tiara on his head, and is attired in the
pall as bishop of the catholic church, and
holds a crosier in his left hand. The
latter saint is known by his usual attri-
bute, the sword, which he sustains in his
right hand : above each of these saints is
a rich canopy. Beneath the compartment
just described is a shield, bearing the
present arms of the city, a cross, with a
dagger in the dexter quarter, supported
by two lions. It appears to have been
surmounted with a low pointed arch.
The centre compartment is flanked by
two niches, with rich canopies and plinths ;
in each is a demi-figure bearing a mace,
and having on its head a triangular cap ;
these figures, according to the above de-
scription, are intended to represent two
sergeants at arms. The canopies to these
niches terminate in angular pedestals,
sustaining kneeling statues in the act of
paying adoration to the Virgin Mary,
whose effigy, though much effaced, ap-
pears in the centre niche at the top of the
seal. From these representations on the
seal before us, little doubt can remain
that it is the same which has. been in use
from the time of sir William Walworth
to rtie present day. The canopies and
stall work are of the period in which it is
supposed to have been made, and are of
similar design with those fine specimens
which ornamented the late front of West-
minster-hall, and the screen to the chapel
of Saint Edward the Confessor in the
abbey, and which are still to be seen in
the restored portion of Westminster-hall,
as well as the plaster altar-screen lately
set up in the abbey church."

26i

THE EVERY-DAY BOOK. FEBRUARY 26.

262

As Wat Tyler's insurrection was in
1381, the fourth year of Richard II.,
and as that was the year wherein the
old mayoralty seal was destroyed, and
the present seal made, our obliging cor-
respondent, S. G., deems it "a very rea-
sonable opinion, which many authors
have entertained on the subject, that the
dagger in the city arms was really granted
at that period, in commemoration of
Walworth having given Tyler the blow
with that instrument, which was the pre-
lude to his death/' He says it is also
further confirmed by the act of the as-
sembly [the common council], which
Maitland quotes [after Stow], inasmuch
as one reason which appears to have been
urged by them for destroying the old seal
was on account of the same, at that time,
being unbecoming the honour of the city,
which, no doubt, referred to the addi-
tion of the dagger, which had then lately
been made to the arms : and it likewise
goes on further to state, in reference
thereto, " that beside the images of
Saint Peter and Paul, was placed the
shield of the arms of the said city well
engraved."

Our correspondent, S. G., will not
conceive offence at a notion which varies
from his own opinion ; and probably,
on reperusing the quotation from Stow
and the following remarks, he may see
some reason to abate his present persua-
sion.

As a reason for the old seal, in the
fourth year of Richard II., having been
ordered by the common council to be
broken, Stow says it was " very small,
old, unapt, and uncomely for the honour
of the city." His description seems to
set forth its diminutive size and age, its
" being very small, old," and " unapt,"
as the ground whereon they deemed it
" uncomely for the honour of the city,"
and therefore caused the old seal to be
destroyed, and a new one to be made.
So far this appears to have been Stow's
view of the matter; and should his autho-
rity be regarded, our friend S. G, may
appear to have too hastily assumed that
the common council order for the de-
struction of the old seal, as " unbecoming
the honour of the city, no doubt referred
to the addition of the dagger which had
then lately been made to their arms."
Unless Stow's testimony be disputed, it
may not only be doubted, but positively
denied, that the dagger " had then lately
added to the city arms." Stow

speaks of it as a " common opinion,"
when he wrote, that upon Walworth's
striking Wat Tyler with his dagger
Richard II. therefore " added a sword, or
dagger, for so they terme it," he says, to
the city arms ; " whereof," he adds, " I
have read no such record, but to the con-
trary." Then he takes pains to relate
why the ancient seal was destroyed, and
having stated the reasons already cited,
he says, li this new seale," the seal now
before us, " seemeth to be made before
William Walworth was knighted, for he
is not there intituled Sir, as he afterwards
was." Afterwards comes Stow's conclu-
sion upon the -whole matter : " Certaine it
is," he says, " that the same new seale
then made, is now in use, and none other
in that office of the maioralty : which,''
mark his words, " which may suffice to
answer the former fable, without shewing
of any evidence sealed with the old seale,
which was the crosse, and sword of St.
Paul, and not the dagger of William
Walworth." What Stow here calls the
" former fable," was the " common opi-
nion" stated by himself, " that king
Richard added to the arms of this city
(which [in the notion of those who enter-
tained the opinion] was argent, a plain
cross gules) a sword, or dagger." That
the city arms before the time of Richard
II. was merely " argent a plain cross
gules," Stow clearly treats as a vulgar
assumption, " whereof," he says, " I have
read no such record, but" and these fol-
lowing words are most notable, " BUT to
the contrary" This, his declaration " to
the contrary' being followed by his par-
ticulars, just laid before the reader, con-
cerning the present seal. Stow says, " may
suffice to answer the former fable, with-
out showing of any evidence sealed with
the old seale:" that is, without showing
or producing any document or writing
" sealed with the old seale, which," to
clench the matter, he positively affirms,
" was the crosse, and sword of St. Paul,
and not the dagger of William Wal-
worth."

The cathedral church of the city of
London is dedicated to St. Paul, who
suffered martyrdom by the sword, and
" the old seale," related by Stow to have
been destroyed, he says, "was the crosse,
and sword of St. Paul." It therefore
represented the present shield of the city
arms, which, on Stow's showing, existed
before the time of Wat