For the Table Book. SONNET To T. HOOD, ESQ. WRITTEN AFTER READ- Delightful bard!, what praises meet are thine, More than my verse can sound to thee belong; In this thy sweet and newly breathed song, Gather'd, methinks I see the elfin race, With the Immortal standing them among, Smiling benign with more than courtly grace; Rescued I see them,—all their gambols trace, With their fair queen Titania in her bower, And all their avocations small embrace, Pictur'd by thee with a Shakspearean powerO when the time shall come thy soul must flee, Then may some hidden spirit plead for thee. EDWARD MOXON. For the Table Book, THE QUINTAIN. My better parts who had it from the Romans on their invasion of England. It is mentioned by Minshew, as being a sport held every fifth the last of the rat, used on the fifth or year among the Olympic games, or it was last day of the Olympics: it is supposed to be a Roman game, and left in this island ever since their time. Dr. Kennet, in his "Parochial Antiquities," from Dr. Plot, says, that at the village of Blackthorn, through which the Roman road lay, they use it at their weddings to this day, on the common green, with much solemnity and mirth.* Dr. Johnson says, I know not from whence it is derived; Minshew deduces it from quintus, and calls it a game celebrated every fifth year; palus quintanus, and from quintaine, French. It is, says he, an upright post, on the top of which a cross-post turned upon a pin; at one end of the cross-post was a broad board, and at the other a heavy sand-bag; the play was, to ride against the broad end with a lance, and pass by. before the sand-bag, coming round, should strike the tilter to the ground. Sir Henry Spelman, who was a spectator of the game, coincides with this account, and says, " by which means, striking at the board, whirls round the bag and endangers the striker.". Are all thrown down; and that which here stands up, At weddings, in England and Wales, it Is but a quintain, a mere lifeless block. As You Like it. But Mr. Chalmers, in his edition of Shakspeare, gives the following annotation on the preceding passage :—“ A quintain was a post, or butt, set up for several kinds of martial exercises, against which they threw their darts, and exercised their arms. all the commentators are at variance about this word, and have illustrated their opinions with cuts, for which we must refer the reader to the new edition, 21 vols. 8vo." Ben, the satirical sorrel Ben Jonson, thus notices this same quintin, quintain, or gwyntyn, as the Welsh spell it: At quintin he In honour of his bridal-tee, Hath challenged either wide countee; And each one hath his livery. The word gwyntyn literally meant vane, and was corrupted by the English into quintin, or quintain. Thus, we may naturally suppose, that this ancient custom, and more particularly bridal game, was borrowed by the Britons from the Welsh, was a constant amusement, and so generally practised in the latter country, that it may almost be said to class with their sports and manners. In Roberts's "Popular Antiquities of Wales," there is the following account of this ancient manly amusement. "On the day of the ceremony, the nuptial premarriage privately celebrated at an early. sents having previously been made, and the hour, the signal to the friends of the bridegroom was given by the piper, who was always present on these occasions, and mounted on a horse trained for the purpose; and the cavalcade being all mounted, set off at full speed, with the piper playing in the midst of them, for the house of the bride. The friends of the bride in the mean time having raised various obstructions. to prevent their access to the house of the bride, such as ropes of straw across the road, blocking up the regular one, &c., and the quintain; the rider in passing struck the flat side, and if not dexterous was overtaken, and perhaps dismounted, by the sand-bag, and became a fair object for laughter. The gwyntyn was also guarded by champions of the opposite party; who, if it was passed successfully, challenged the adventurers to a trial of skill at one of the four and twenty games-a challenge which could not be declined; and hence to guard the gwyntyn was a service of high adventure." In Henry the Third's time, or about the year 1253, it was much in fashion in almost every part of the kingdom: this game was sometimes played, by hanging a shield upon a staff fixed in the ground, and the skilful squire riding by struck the shield in such a manner as to detach it from its ligatures ;* but this was of a less dangerous nature, and only used when the quintain could not be obtained. There was another, but more hazardous manner, to those who were not skilled by habit in the use of the lance and javelin. It consisted of two large poles being drove into the ground, far enough apart to allow a man on horseback to ride full speed between them: at the top of these was an immense heavy sand-bag, fixed on a pivot, so as to swing freely round, and backward and forward, with amazing rapidity: this the young aspirant for chivalric honours delighted in, as a grand treat for the display of his personal bravery and contempt for danger. He commenced by reining in his steed opposite to the sand-bag, then dashing away at full speed, at the same time hurling the javelin at the bag with considerable force, and passing between the poles before it could resume its original position. Many of the squires and yeomen of Richard with the Lion-heart, held it in great esteem; and they would often pass through the supporters, regain their javelin, return back before the bag had sufficient time to fall, and ride bravely off without a single blow from this heavy instrument of pleasure. He who executed this feat in a handsome manner was declared victor, and the prize to which he became entitled was a peacock. In the princely fête given by sir Rhys ap Thomas, in honour of his being admitted companion of the illustrious order of the Garter, it is mentioned thus:-"When they had dined they went to visit eache captaine in his quarters, wheare they found everie man in action, some wrestling, some hurling at the barr, some taking of the pike, some running at the quintaine, &c." Dr. Watts thus explains it :-" A ludicrous and • Mill's History of Chivalry. sportive way of tilting or running on horseback at some mark hung on high, moveable, and turning round; which, while the riders strike at with lances, unless they ride quickly off, the versatile beam strikes upon their shoulders." I earnestly recommend for the perusal of the reader, (if he delights in "merie deedes an' greenewoodee sportes, inn thee brighte formes of ladees highh, immersed in uncouthe donjons, by treacherouse kings, greate lords, an' mightee knights,") the tale of "Castle Baynard," in which he will find many very interesting customs, and more particularly, an excellent delineation of the above game. The author of this delightful little story is Hal Willis, who is possessed of considerable talent, and a knowledge of our ancestorial manners. F. C. N. A FARTHING LORD. Lord Braco, an ancestor of the earl of Fife, was remarkable for practising that celebrated rule, "Get all you can, and keep all you get." One day, walking down the avenue from his house, he saw a farthing lying at his feet, which he took up and carefully cleaned. A beggar passing at the same time, entreated his lordship would give him the farthing, saying, it was not worth a nobleman's attention. farthing to yoursel', puir body," replied his lordship, and carefully put the coin into his breeches pocket. "Fin' a In addition to being his own farthing fin'er, his lordship was his own factor and rent-collector. A tenant who called upon him to pay his rent happened to be deficient a single farthing. This amount could not be excused; and the farmer had to seek the farthing. When the business was adjusted, the countryman said to his lordship, "Now Braco, I wou'd gie ye a shillin' for a sight o' a' the goud an' siller] ye hae."-" Weel, mon," replied Braco, "it's no cost ye ony mair;" and accordingly, for and in consideration of the aforesaid sum, in hand first well and truly paid, his lordship exhibited several iron boxes filled with gold and silver coin. "Now," says the farmer, "I'm as rich as yoursel', Braco."-" Aye, mon!" said his lordship, "how can that be?""Because I've seen it-an' you can do nae mair." SINGULAR TOLL. SKIPTON IN Craven. From a paper of Henry the Eighth's time, among the MSS. at Skipton, I find that the following singular toll was anciently levied in Skirack and Crookrise: Note, that theise customes hayth ben used tyme out of mynd, by ye report of Rob. Garth, forster ther; the whych s-ay eth, that he in all his tyme, and his father afore him in yt office, always hayth taken the sayd customes: "First, that ev'ry bryde cumynge that waye shulde eyther gyve her lefte shoo or 1118. Ivd. to the forster of Crookryse, by way of custome or gaytcloys." The rest only relate to tolls taken for the passage of sheep, cattle, and wool. The commutation was so high, that I suppose the penalty would generally be paid in kind; and by this ungallant custom, the poor brides of Craven would be reduced to tread the rugged ways of Crookrise in the situation of the light-footed sons of Thestius το λαιον ίχνος αναρβυλοι ποδος, A CURIOUS NARRATIVE. For the Table Book. PRINCE GEORGE OF DENMARK, AND SIR JOHN AND LADY DUDDLESTONE. The following very remarkable anecdote is accompanied by a reference to the only work of any authority wherein I have met with it. Prince George of Denmark, the nominal king-consort to queen Anne, in passing through Bristol, appeared on the Exchange, attended only by one gentleman, a military officer, and remained there till the merchants had pretty generally withdrawn, not one of them having sufficient resolution to speak to him, as perhaps they might not be prepared to ask such a guest to their houses. But this was not the case with all who saw him, for a person, whose name was John Duddlestone, a bodice-maker, in Cornstreet, went up and asked the prince if he was not the husband of the queen, who informed him he was. John Duddlestone then told the prince, that he had observed, with a great deal of concern, that none of the merchants had invited him home to • Dr. Whitaker's History of Craven. dinner, adding, it was not for want of love to the queen or to him, but because they did not consider themselves prepared to entertain so great a man; but John said, he was ashamed to think of his dining at an inn, and requested him to go and dine with him, and bring the gentleman along with him, informing him that he had a piece of good beef and a plum pudding, and ale of his dame's own brewing. The prince admired the loyalty of the man, and though he had bespoke a dinner at the White Lion, went with him; and when they got to the house, Duddlestone called his wife, who was up stairs, desiring her to put on a clean apron and come down, for the queen's husband and another gentleman were come to dine with them; she accordingly came down with her clean blue apron, and was immediately saluted by the prince. In the course of the dinner, the prince asked him if he ever went to London? He said, that since the ladies had worn stays instead of bodices, he sometimes went to buy whalebone; whereupon the prince desired him to take his wife when he went again, at the same time giving him a card, to facilitate his introduction to him at court. In the course of a little time, John Duddlestone took his wife behind him to London, and, with the assistance of the card, found easy admittance to the prince, and by him they were introduced to the queen, who invited them to an approaching dinner, informing them that they must have new clothes for the occasion, allowing them to choose for themselves. Each therefore chose purple velvet, such as the prince had for them, and in that dress they were introthen on, which was accordingly provided duced by the queen herself, as the most loyal persons in the city of Bristol, and the only ones in that city who had invited the prince her husband to their house; and him to kneel down, laid a sword on his after the entertainment, the queen, desiring head, and (to use lady Duddlestone's own words) said to him," Ston up, sir Jan." under government, but he did not choose Sir" Jan" was offered money, or a place to accept of either, informing the queen that he had "fifty pounds out at use," and he apprehended that the number of people he saw about her must be very expensive. The queen, however, made lady Duddlestone a present of her gold watch from her side, which "6 my lady" considered as no small ornament, when she went to market, suspended over a blue apron. I first found this interesting account in "Corry's History of Bristol," which was published a few years ago; but whence it was derived that author does not mention. As the editor of the Table Book is equally uninformed, perhaps some of his corres pondents may be able to point out its origin; and, if it be authentic, communicate some particulars respecting the worthy knight and his dame. Discoveries OF THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS. No. VI. THE CORPUSCULAR PHILOSOPHY. The two illustrious moderns, Newton and Gassendi, attribute the continual change which happens in bodies to the different figure and magnitude of their minute corpuscles; and affirm, that their different junction or separation, and the variety of their arrangement, constitute the differences of bodies. This corpuscular philosophy can be traced from the times of Democritus, to its founder Moschus the Phenician. It does not appear that the Phoenician school admitted the indivisibility of atoms; where as, Leucippus, Democritus, and Epicurus did. And so the philosophers in all ages, down to the Cartesians and Newtonians, admit the same. Aristotle, as great in metaphysics as able in mathematics, treats of it in his works of both kinds. A modern proposition respecting it has been deemed new, although anciently it was expressed in almost the very same terms. The Newtonians say, "that the smallest parcel of matter is able to cover the largest extent of space, by the number of parts into which it may be divided; and that without so much as leaving any one pore of the smallest dimension uncovered." Anaxagoras had previously said, that each body, of whatever size, was infinitely divisible; insomuch, that a particle so small as the half of the foot of the minutest insect, might furnish out of itself parts sufficient for covering an hundred million of worlds, without ever becoming exhaustible as to the number of its parts. Democritus expressed the like proposition, when he affirmed that it was "possible to make a world out of an atom." Chrysippus says the same, when he maintains that a drop of wine may be divided into a number of parts, each of itself sufficient to mingle with all the small particles of the ocean. MOTION-ITS ACCELERATION THE FALL The ancients, as well as the moderns, define motion to be change of place, or the passing from one place to another; they knew the acceleration of bodies in falling, but not so exactly as to determine its law or cause. It was an axiom of Aristotle and the Peripatetics, that a body in falling acquired a celerity of motion, proportionable to its distance from the place whence the motion began; but they knew not that this increase of the celerity of falling bodies was uniform, and that the spaces passed over in equal times increased proportionably to the unequal numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, &c. Two mistakes of Aristotle hindered him from arriving at the truth. The first was, that there were two tendencies in body; one downwards, carrying it to the centre, in those that were heavy; the other up wards, removing it from it, in those that were light. His second error was, that he thought different bodies rolled through space with a celerity proportional to their masses. He did not consider that the resistance of the medium was the only cause of this difference; for supposing them to move through an irresisting medium, or in vacuo, the lightest bodies would then fall with the same velocity as the heaviest, This is demonstrated by means of the airpump, wherein paper, lead, and gold, descend with equal swiftness. Yet all the ancients were not thus ignorant. Lucretius, instructed in the principles of Democritus and Epicurus, arrived at this knowledge, and supports it by such arguments, as might do honour to the most experienced naturalist of our times. "Admitting that there was nothing in the vacuum to resist the motion of bodies, it necessarily followed, that the lightest would descend with a celerity equal to the weightiest; that where there was no resistance in the medium, bodies must always move through equal spaces in equal times; but that the case would be different in such mediums, as opposed divers degrees of resistance to the bodies passing through them." Hereupon, he alleges the very same reasonings which Galileo draws from experience to support his theory. He says, that "the difference of velocities ought to increase or abate, according to the difference of resistance in the medium; and that because air and water resist bodies differently, they fall through these mediums with different degrees of velocity." We shall presently see, that the ancients were acquainted with the principle of gravitation. GRASSINGTON THEATRICALS. To the Editor. Dear sir,-When I sent you the sketch of "Tom Airay" of this place, and his associates, I was not aware that the practice of acting plays was a very ancient one in the parish of Linton, (in which this place is.) The following extract from Whitaker's history will prove this to have been the case, and that Airay was "the last of a bright band." It will doubtless be perused with interest by many of the inhabitants of Craven, very few of whom I am inclined to think know of the circumstance. Whitaker's history is an expensive work, and only in the hands of a few. "Many of these amusements were long after in use at Linton. But the most popu lar of their amusements was the practice of acting old plays, continued, I have no doubt, from the old Kirk Sights,' and clerk plays, though I can trace it in Craven no farther than 1606, where I find the following article in the accounts of Francis, earl of Cumberland : “Item, paid to the yonge men of the town, (Skipton,) being his l'ps tenants and servants, to fit them for acting plays this Christmas, IIIIS.' "In the interval of a century from this time, it does not seem that they had much improved their stock of dramas; for, within the recollection of old persons with whom I have conversed, one of their favourite performances was The Iron Age,' by Heywood, a poet of the reign of James I., whose work, long since become scarce, and almost forgotten, had probably been handed down from father to son, through all that period. But in every play, whether tragedy or comedy, the Vice constituted one of the dramatis persona, and was armed, as of old, with a sword of lath, and habited in a loose party-coloured dress, with a fur-cap, and fox's brush behind. In some parts of Craven these personages were called clowns, as in Shakspeare's time, and too often and too successfully attempted to excite a laugh by ribaldry and nonsense of their own; a practice which is very properly reprehended in Hamlet. "In the 'Destruction of Troy' this personage easily united with Thersites; but he was often found in situations where his appearance was very incongruous, as ex. gr. in 'George Barnwell.' These rustic actors had neither stage nor scenes, but performed in a large room, what is called the house,* of an ordinary dwelling. So is a kitchen called in the Craven dialect. "Sometimes they fabricated a kind of rude drama for themselves; in which case, as it is not likely that the plot would be very skilfully developed, the performers entered one by one, and each uttered a short metrical prologue, which they very properly chose to call a fore-speech. For why should these honest Englishmen be indebted to the Grecian stage for the word prologue, when they were certainly beholden to it for nothing else? "In these fabrications, I believe, the subjects were frequently taken from printed plays; but the texture was of very inferior workmanship. For this I must beg my reader to give me credit; though, if all readers had the same relish for what, in the language of dulness, is called low, with Dr. Farmer and Mr. Warton, I could excite more than a smile by their travestie of the 'Merchant of Venice.' An old inhabitant of this place, (Linton,) whom I well knew, had the reputation of a dramatic manufacturer, though he had, in reality, no talents beyond those of an actor. But his fame drew upon him an awkward application; which, as the stated price of these services was three half crowns, he parried very dexterously by demanding half a guinea. Thus much for the chapter of amusements." In mentioning Airay's stage companions I forgot to name Sim Coates, one of the He was a club-footed man, principal. He is lately dead. and used to perform the "Fair Penitent !" On the 29th of September, 1736, when place, several people at Norwich, Bristol, the bill against spirituous liquors took and other places, as well as at London, made themselves very merry on the "Death of Madam Gin," and some of both sexes got soundly drunk at her "funeral," for which the mob made a formal procession, but committed no outrage. A double guard for some days mounted at Kensington; the guard at St. James's, and the horse-guards at Whitehall, were reinforced; a guard was placed at the Rolls Office, Chancery-lane; and a detachment of the life and horse grenadier guards |