the difficulty of bringing such want under the notice of those who might be able to supply it, that the idea of starting a small paper with such special object was struck out. Once started, it was never lost sight of; and about the year 1841 our plan had so far been matured that some specimen pages of The Medium, for so our projected journal was named, were set up in type by Mr. Richards, of St. Martin's Lane, the printer for the Percy Society. But The Medium was never destined to appear. The state of his wife's health compelled Mr. Bruce to reside for some years in the country; and for those years an incessant and confidential correspondence was my only compensation for the loss of those instructive interchanges of thought and talk which I had so much enjoyed. By the year 1849, when Rowland Hill's great scheme of postal reform was beginning to bear fruit, the share which I had taken in the organization of some, and in the management of others, of many "co-operative literary societies" (Camden, Percy, Shakespeare, Elfric, Granger, &c.) had so increased the number of my literary friends, that I felt I could venture to introduce to their notice a plan for turning those reforms to good account in the publication of works of interest to scholars, but not of a nature to remunerate publishers. for two or three hours on Weybridge Common, while he poured out his learning on the ancient Mark, land boundaries, and land tenures, in a manner to make me regret that we had not a shorthand writer with us. He told me that he never wrote down any part of a book or essay he was going to publish until the whole was actually composed in his mind, and that the greater portion of his Saxons in England was actually completed in his head before a single line of it was committed to paper. But enough for this week; for though, like honest Dogberry, I can find it in my heart to bestow all my tediousness upon my readers, I have just enough discretion left not to bestow it all at once. WILLIAM J. THOMS. The But it may be asked why I could not as well undertake the sole management of the projected THE "VAUX-DE-VIRE" OF OLIVER BASSELIN, paper in 1841 as in 1849. I can only answer that THE DYER AND POET OF VIRE. the idea of taking upon myself the responsibility On September 24 last, a friend and myself spent of conducting the proposed paper, except in cona delightful day at the ancient town of Vire, in junction with my accomplished friend, never once the Norman Bocage, famous since the fifteenth entered my head. The scheme had fallen to the century for its manufactures of paper and cloths. ground, and but for an incident which I shall It happened to be a great market day, and we mention presently, I don't believe "N. & Q." were charmed by the picturesque sights. would ever have appeared. booths for the sale of gay-coloured cloths; the various shapes of the women's caps, some like a jockey's, but with a bow tied behind, instead of in front, others, the bonnet de coton, like the Kilmarnock nightcap celebrated by Burns; the curious clock-tower over the town gate, the latter surmounted by the statue of the Virgin, and the legend "Marie protège la Ville"; the old town walls, capped at intervals by drum towers, finally dying away at the scarped rocky promontory whereon stand the remains of the keep, encircled by the little stream of the Vire, a—all in turn excited our interest. Nor are the ecclesiastical remains to be passed over. The curious church of St. Thomas outside of the walls— a relic of very remote antiquity, to which tradition records a visit by Archbishop Becket-with the cathedral-like parish church of Notre Dame de Vire, and the fine modern one of St. Anne, were each carefully examined. But Vire has a wider fame from its local poet, the jolly dyer Basselin, whose chansons, said to have been composed early in the fifteenth century, and sung to his neighbours in his native valley, are generally reputed to have given name to the modern vaudeville. The site of Basselin's mill is still pointed out, at the foot of the slope below the castle. French critics have long been sceptical, not only as to the existence of the poet, but also as to the antiquity assigned to his verses. They were first collected in an authentic form by an advocate of Vire, Maistre Jean le Houx, who published them about the end of the sixteenth century, along with some of his own. The freedom of their sentiments excited the displeasure of the clergy of Vire, who I need not fill space with an account of scheme which was never carried out, but of which I may say that when I called upon John Mitchell Kemble, and we talked it over from "noon to dewy eve," he spoke in such terms of approval as surprised me; for, in his opinion, I was about to effect a revolution scarcely less important than that which had been brought about by the invention of printing; and, with his characteristic impulsive kindliness, he would not let me go away without a contribution to the first number in the shape of a transcript of a small portion of an old English Metrical Chronicle from a MS. at Göttingen. The great Saxonist was at that time editing the British and Foreign Review, and deeply interested in the war then raging in Hungary-a map of the scene of it was spread on his table, on which the position and movements of the different armies were marked by coloured pins. John Mitchell Kemble was not only a man of deep and varied learning, but a man of great genius and of great eloquence. I remember once visiting him at Addlestone, and walking with him refused the editor absolution, to obtain which he had to go to Rome, and acquired the sobriquet of "le Romain." The collection of both poets is a very curious one, full of wit and humour. As their latest French editor, M. Lacroix, remarks (Paris edit., 8vo., 1858, preface, p. xi):— "These Vaux-de-Vire are evidently of the middle or end of the sixteenth century. They have been dressed up (rajeunis) by Jean le Houx, who first recovered, if he did not compose them himself, under the name of Oliver Basselin, a name well known in Normandy, on account of the old chanson of Guillaume Cretin." M. Lacroix refers here to a fragment of a song contained in a letter of Cretin's, who died in 1525, addressed to Francis Charbonnier, secretary to the Duc de Valois (afterwards Francis I.). It runs as follows: Olivier Bachelin, Orrons-nous plus de tes nouvelles? Vous ont les Angloys mis à fin !" This Olivier Basselin lived towards the close of the fifteenth century, and was noted in the wars against the English. M. Lacroix, continuing his criticism on the Vaux-de-Vire, says : "They recommend themselves by their incontestable antiquity and old reputation in Normandy. They are certainly the earliest types of the chanson bachique in France. It matters little whether Oliver Basselin and Jean le Houx are one and the same. He is a bon biberon who sings of cider and wine with French gaiety, in the good vulgar tongue which they spoke in Normandy at the end of the sixteenth century." 1820, on the retirement of the Rev. James Dunn, he became chaplain of the Magdalen Asylum, Leeson Street, Dublin. In 1822 he accepted the chaplaincy of the Female Orphan House, North Circular Road, having resigned the other towards the close of the preceding year. Early in 1833 he succeeded the Rev. Dr. Hinds (afterwards Bishop of Norwich) as domestic chaplain and secretary to the late Archbishop Whately, and a few months after was appointed by him to the vicarage of St. Anne's, Dublin, vacant by the death of Viscount to the bishopric of Meath, he was consecrated, Harberton; and, in 1840, having been promoted on December 27, in Christ Church Cathedral, by his friend the archbishop, who also preached the Never, perhaps, was there a man less affected with the flush which so comHis monly attends upon sudden promotion." writings are as follows: consecration-sermon. 66 1. A Letter to the Most Rev. Dr. Murray, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, and to the Right Rev. Dr.. Doyle, Roman Catholic Bishop of Kildare, on the subject of their Pastoral Addresses, and the alleged [Hohenlohe] Miracles. By a Clergyman of the Established Church. Dublin, 1823. 8vo. 2. Obituary Notice of Alexander Knox, Esq., in the Christian Examiner (July, 1831), vol. xi. pp. 562-564. 3. Observations on Ecclesiastical Legislature and Church Reform. Dublin, 1833. 8vo. 4. Pastoral Epistle from His Holiness the Pope to some Members of the University of Oxford. Faithfully translated from the original Latin. [Anon.] London, 1836. Fourth edition, same year. 8vo. 5. Vindication of a Memorial respecting Church ProProtests against it. Dublin, 1836. 8vo. These acute conjectures of M. Lacroix are supported by the opinion of the learned editors of Loperty in Ireland; together with the Memorial itself, and Normandie Illustrée (Nantes, 1852), art. "Vire." Those gentlemen (with one of whose number, M. E. le Hericher, of Avranches, I have the honour of acquaintance) say "that they regard the dyerpoet of Vire as a myth. He could not have had the education to enable him to give the classical allusions which occur in them. Jean le Houx was most probably their author." These suppositions are probably confirmed by a work which, while writing some weeks ago, I saw in the advertisement sheets of the Quarterly: The Vaux-de-Vire of Maistre Jean le Houx, Advocate of Vire, translated and edited by James P. Muirhead, M.A. (Murray). I have not seen the book itself; but, by the light of its title, I should guess that the editor shares the views of MM. Lacroix and Le Hericher regarding the true poet of Vire. ANGLO-SCOTUS. THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES DICKINSON, D.D., Bishop Dickinson was a native of Cork-"a city remarkable for having produced a large number of men of great energy of mind and distinguished attainments in every profession." He was born there in August, 1792, and was elected, in 1813, a scholar of Trinity College, Dublin. In 6. The Permanent and the Temporary Commission of Christ to his Disciples Compared: a Sermon preached at the Consecration of the Bishop of Killaloe, at the Cathedral of Christ's Church, February 17, 1839. Dublin, 1839. 8vo. 7. An Appeal in behalf of Church Government: addressed to the Prelates and Clergy of the United Church of England and Ireland. By a Member of the Church. London, 1840. 8vo. The present Dean of St. Patrick's, the Very Rev. John West, D.D. (at the time Vicar of St. Anne's, and subsequently Archdeacon of Dublin), published, in a thick octavo, the "Remains of the Most Reverend Charles Dickinson, D.D., Lord Bishop of Meath, being a Selection from his Sermons and Tracts, with a Biographical Sketch," London, 1845. Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7, in the foregoing list, have been reprinted in the volume, which contains likewise the following: 8. Ten Sermons (including No. 6). 9. Fragments of a Charge intended to have been delivered at the Visitation of the Clergy of the Diocese of Meath, appointed to be held on July 12, 1842. 10. Correspondence with the Rev. Maurice James, Rector of Pembridge, Herefordshire, respecting Church Endowments. [1833.] 11. Conversation with two Disciples of Mr. Irving. [1836.] With many years of usefulness apparently be fore him, Bishop Dickinson's course on earth was in h(ac) parte iusticia suadebit/ Datum Cantebrig' sub not to be of long duration : "In the midst of his thoughtful and judicious plans, and his zealous labours, and while his mind was busily engaged in the preparation of the charge intended to be delivered in the different parts of his diocese (and which was found on his desk in the unfinished state in which it appears in this volume), he was seized with a feverish cold, at the beginning of the month of July, which did not at first present any formidable symptoms.... His case was pronounced to be 'typhus fever'; and on the eleventh day after the first unsuspected symptoms had appeared, and the fifth after serious apprehension had been awakened, his valuable life was terminated July 12, 1842 [the very day on which his primary charge was to have been delivered], in the fiftieth year of his age." A plain monument in Ardbraccan Churchyard, in the county of Meath, marks the place of his burial; and in St. Anne's Church, Dublin, the scene of his ministry previous to his elevation to the bishopric, a monumental tablet records his name and office, with the date of the leading circumstances of his too brief career. ABHBA. TITHES OF FULBURNE, CO. CAMBRIDGE, 1436. many. There is a "Cautio Mag'ri Galfridi Byschip," date 1419, in a MS. in Gonv. and Caius Coll., Cambr.; see Smith's Catal., 8vo. Cambr., 1849, p. 35. [Recto]" inquiratur/ Tibi igitur committimus & mandamus quatinus cite(s) peremptorie magistrum Iohannem Cawdrey Rectorem Ecclesie parochialis sancti Vig(oris) de ffulburne predicto quod die Mercurij proximo post ffestum Purificationis beate M(arie) virginis proximum futurum coram nobis aut nostro in hac parte Commissa (rio) in Ecclesia parochiali omnium sanctorum de ffulburne predicto compareat in recep(tionem) & admissionem sex testium viz. Willelmi Auenand de ffulburne p(redicto) Rogeri Salman de eadem Johannis Cranvile de eadem Johannis Tailor de eadem Willelmi Bangolff de eadem & Johannis Gati(...) de eadem per dictum vicarium coram nobis aut nostro Commissario tun(c) ibidem producendorum si sua putauerint interesse/ Visurus quod sigillo quo vtimur in hoc Officio xxvt die mensis Januarij Anno Domini m° cccc° xxx (...) Cuius quidem mandati vestri autoritate & vigore prefatum magistrum Johannem Cawdrey antepenultimo die Mensis Januarij Anno domini (m) cccc xxxvjto supradicto in villa Cantebrig' predicta per me personali(ter) apprehensum peremptorie citaui vestro Commissario compareat facturus que vlterius & quod dictis die & loco in mandato vestro coram vobis aut rece(pturus) quod tenor & effectus dicti mandati vestri exigit & requirit Et sic (mandatum) vestrum reuerendum humiliter & deuote sum executus. Jn cuius rei testimo (nium) sigillum decani decanatus Cantebrig' presentibus apponi procuraui Et e(go) decanus antedictus ad personalem et specialem Rogatum dicti mandatarii sigillum officij mei presentibus apposui/ Datum Cantebrig' quo ad lacionem presencium ijd die mensis ffebruarij Anno domini m ccccm XXXV(...) supradicto Quo diucius expectato & apparuit euidenter alta & intelligibili voce vocari & sepius preconizari fecimus/ nullo modo co(mparente) prefatus magister Galfridus vicarius predictus quemdam libellum su(um) in dicto negocio obtulit & porrexit Cuius tenor talis est In Dei (nomine) amen Coram vobis honorabili viro Magistro Willelmo Spaldyng (Com)missario Magistri Willelmi Sutton decretorum doctoris Custod (is) spiritualitatis Episcopatus Eliensis sede ibidem vacante ac Offic' Cons' [verso] Eliensis in hac parte specialiter deputato. Ego Galfridus Busshop vicarius ecclesie parochialis omnium sanctorum de ffulburne predicte Eliensis Diocesis Dico dicte vicarie primeua & (de) consuetudine laudabili et (a)llego & in hiis scriptis propono quod de ordinacione antiqua ab olim vsitata inconcusso obseruata (et nunc) hic prescripta. Jus percipiendi & habendi omnes & omnimodas decimas terrarum (tenem)entorum & maresci quondam domini de le zouche ac feodi quondam Petri (omnes) (o)blaciones spirituales de quibuscunque inCandace exceptis decimis Garbarum pisarum et ffeni ac habitantibus feoda predicta et edificia (q)uecunque super eisdem constructa qualitercunque prouenientes Eosque sic (i)nhabitantes seu dicta loca decimabilia qualitercunque occupantes ad (v)icarium Ecclesie Omnium sanctorum predicte qui pro tempore fuerit ipsius vicarie Jure et nomine ad diuina officia in eadem ecclesia per se & suos Capellanos (a) dmittendi & recipiendi Sacraque sacramentalia ecclesiastica eis (e)t veris dicte ecclesie parochianis ministrandi pertinuit et pertinet & pertinere (d)ebet in (futuris) ffuique & sum ego Galfridus vicarius predictus vicariam meam (predictam) canonice assecutus. tine(ant) (universis) per non nulla tempora possedi prout psamque sic assecutam cum suis juribus (que) perpossideo de (prese)nti N(ecnon) omnes & omnimodas decimas exceptis decimis garbarum (p)isarum & (vere) oblacionesque & prouentus spirituales quoscunque de infra parochiam Ecclesie omnium sanctorum predicte (quibuscunque habitantibus domus et edificia quecunque seu loca eidem ecclesie decimabilia et (pe) sertim de locis edificiis domibus terris campis pascuis pasturis (et) marescis feodorum predictorum te in & de hujusmodi feodi domicilia tenentibus (a)c larem fouentibus prouenientes ad dictam vicariam meam spectantes me & meos in hac parte percepi habui & de eisdem disposui libere (p)acifice & quiete saluis grauaminibus infrascripVidelicet quod dictus (ec)clesie vicarius sancti tis/ Vigoris me vicarium et vicariam meam predictam (de)cimis omnino in quodam barcario Isabelle Nuport super predictum feodum per Dominum de le Zouche nuper erecto mittare (?) Necnon decimis & oblacionibus (de) omnibus habitantibus edificium sine tenementum Johannis Elys super dicto feodo." W. C. B. WENTWORTH MANUSCRIPT.— "This curious Manuscript Volume of the time of Oliver Cromwell and Charles II. contains many interesting items, relative to the prices of articles in general use and the amusements of the period, of which we annex a few specimens. "Disbursements seince ye 20th Febr., 1655. Lost at Cards for flowered luttstring for a Gound A token for my Valentine A box to put in... At my cozen Nell's christening to ye chairmen for carring me to church for an Alminack Dynham; Frances, un 30, 1620; Anne, wife to According to Wood, Richard Edwards, the dramatist, was born in the county of Somerset in 1523, and died in 1556, although his play, Damon £0 5 2 and Pythias, was not published until 1570. I want to know if he belonged to this family of Edwards of Somerset and Devon, and if it is known what arms he used. Is there any fuller sketch of his life than that given by Wood? 4 0 0 0 2 6 0 1 6 0 0 6 0 2 6 Again, I have reason to believe that Mr. Samuel Edwards, banker, of Cotham Lodge, Bristol, High Sheriff for the county of Gloucester in 1795, was descended from this family. If so, from which son? He was the youngest son of Mr. Thomas Edwards of Milverton, Somersetshire. He married Mary, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Broughton, Vicar of Bedminster and St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, &c., the well-known author, who is buried 30 in Redcliffe Church, where there is a marble tablet 6 to her memory, on which are the arms of Edwards and (I presume) Broughton. The arms of Edwards are the same as those of Edwards of Devon. 26 26 0 6 056 66 H. BOWER. "CLUB."-This word has been considered by the French as a corruption of the word globe. I believe Mr. Carlyle fancied it was derived from Gelübde, which in German signifies the vows of certain orders of knighthood; but it was pointed out in "N. & Q." (2nd S. vii. 386), I think, that this could not be, as the great orders of Templars and Knights Hospitallers were never designated clubs. The above extract from Mr. A. Russell Smith's book catalogue for June, 1876, seems worth preserving, both as a means of putting on record the existence of the MS., and for the sake of the interesting specimens here given of its contents. The volume is described as a small octavo Memorandum and Private Account Book of Receipts and Expenditure, commencing "Feb. ye 10th, 1655," and in the autograph of Elizabeth, niece to Sir Thomas Wentworth, the unfortunate Earl of Strafford; with her sigIt is very curious that the word should by some natures, "Betty Wentworth" and "Eliza Went-be traced to the German Klump, lump, mass; by worth." It is added that a Lady Rockingham, others to the A.-S. clcofan, to cleave, divide. The mentioned in the MS., was probably Anne, confusion of language cannot be better shown, daughter of Lord Strafford, and wife of Edward words of a directly contrary meaning suiting Watson, Earl of Rockingham. Perhaps some equally well for origin. Nothing can be more other reader of "N. & Q." may take the trouble opposite to all appearance than to mass together to elucidate the items, "Pole money"; "Spring and to separate or divide. A club may be taken Garden Beef"; "half a pinte of water for my to mean a knot or lump, as it were, of men, fasce, 4 shillings"; "lost at tables"; and " a associated together with a common object; or it right of city ientillwoman." may be taken as a body of men so associated, the essential condition of whose association is that JOHN W. BONE, F.S.A. EDWARDS OF SOMERSET, BRISTOL, &c.-The following table, which has not, I believe, been before published, is copied from the Visitation of Devon (Harl. MSS., 1080): "1. Hughe Edwardes, of Ludlow, in com. Salop = 2. Richard Edwardes, of Taunton, in com. Somersett Joane, dau. and coh. of Richard Tedburie, of Taunton. 3. Thomas Edwards, of Exeter, Phisition Joane, dau. of John Champneyes, of Yarnescombe, Esq. 4. Thomas, third son, æt. 28; Gregory, fourth son, aged 25, anno 1620; John Edwards, eldest son, æt. 42, anno 1620; Elizabeth, wife of Trothowe; Grace, wife to Collyns; Joane, wife to Hussarde; Jane, wife to Langham; Chidley, second son, aged each member shall contribute his allotted and individual quota to the expense, division or sharing becoming the chief feature. Jean Harley wrote a little work, called Les Clubs de Londres, published in London, 1870. If he was an Englishman, he could hardly write such good French; if he was a Frenchman, he could hardly know so much about London, ancient and modern, as he does, nor about the literature of England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, nor about clubs in particular. He appears to know well "le splendide club du West End de Londres," yet the little volume in question deals WM. PENGELLY. with no club of more recent establishment than head. Ramping is probably the equivalent of White's. He says, in a note at the end, that he romping=rude, boisterous, violent. is going to write a complete history of the clubs "depuis leur origine jusqu'à nos jours," but whether any more has been printed or not I cannot tell. Mayfair. C. A. WARD. THE BRANKS.-In the Mayor's chamber at Newcastle-upon-Tyne an ancient branks used to be exhibited for the edification of scolds. This instrument fitted over the head and locked behind; a tongue piece projected, intended to enter the mouth to keep down the unruly member of the subject operated upon. This instrument also, I am inclined to think, was in olden days in general use throughout the country, and was known in Worcestershire as "the cranks." Brand figures it in his History, and gives the portrait of a woman wearing it. Upon more than one occasion the Mayor of Newcastle has been obliged to interfere between two contending female witnesses, in cases brought before his worship, by most significantly pointing to the branks hanging against the wall of the chamber. J. B. P. Barbourne, Worcester. Torquay. THE CORNISH LANGUAGE IN 1616."England is diuided into 3 great Prouinces, or Countries, & euery of them speaking a seuerall and different Language, as English, Welsh, and Cornish; and their language (which is strange) alters upon the sodaine, speak English and do not understand Cornish, and in even as the Prouinces part: for in this Towne they the next Towne Cornish not understanding English," &c.-Hopton's A Concordancie of Yeares, 1616, p. 197. T. D. Belfast. LADY-BIRD. It is worth noting that this name EPITAPH ENGRAVED UPON A CANNON ON THE is applied in parts of the south of Ireland to the SUMMIT OF A HILL AT MARTHA BRAY, JAMAICA.-willow-wren, Sylvia trochilus (Linn.). In parts of "Stranger, ere thou pass, contemplate this cannon, nor Ulster it is called the "hay-bird," from the fact regardless be told that near its base lies deposited the that its nest is chiefly composed of hay. In dust of John Bradshaw, who, nobly superior to selfish Ulster dialect "willow-wren" becomes "Sallyregards, despising alike the pageantry of courtly splen- wran." W. H. PATTERSON. dour, the blast of calumny, and the terrors of royal vengeance, presided in the illustrious band of heroes and patriots who fairly and openly adjudged Charles Stuart, Tyrant of England, to a public and exemplary death, thereby presenting to the amazed world, and transmitting down through applauding ages, the most glorious example of unshaken virtue, love of freedom, and impartial justice ever exhibited on the blood-stained theatre of human actions. O reader, pass not on till thou hast blessed his memory; and never forget that Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God." YORKSHIRE SUPERSTITION.-I sold a calf the other day for 12s. 6d. The buyer asked for a "luck penny "; he would have been quite satisfied with a penny, but as I thought he had bid me a good price, and was taking it partly to oblige me, I gave him the sixpence. He took it with hesitation, and a bystander observing, Sixpence is bad luck," I said, "Well, I have a threepence in my pocket; you shall have it instead of the sixpence." He gladly took it and gave me back the sixpence. Craven. Queries. 66 ELLCEE. [We must request correspondents desiring information on family matters of only private interest, to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct.] DANTE. As the two following statements are exactly the reverse of one another, which is correct? Will an Italian, or an Englishman who is well acquainted with Italy and its inhabitants, enlighten me on this point? — "I don't wonder,' said Lord Byron, 'at the enthusiasm of the Italians about Dante. He is the poet of libertyThere is no Italian gentleman, scarcely any well |