(22d Ed., 1812.)

Finding that my copy of The Rolliad ("Notes and Queries," Vol. ii., p. 373.) contains fuller information regarding the authors than has yet appeared in your valuable periodical, I forward you a transcript of the MS. notes, most of which are certified by the initial of Dr Lawrence, from whose copy all of them were taken by the individual who gave me the volume.

W. C. Trevelyan.

Wallington, Morpeth.

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Criticisms.

No. 1. Ellis. The passage in p. 2, from "His first exploit" to "what it loses in sublimity," "inserted by Dr. L. to preserve the parody of Virgil, and break this number with one more poetical passage."—L.

No. 2. Ellis. "This vehicle of political satire not proving immediately impressive, was here abandoned by its original projector, who did not take it up again till the second part."—L.

The French Inscriptions by Ellis.

Part II.

The passage commencing "The learned Mr. Daniel Barrington," to "drawing a long bow," "inserted by R——d under the verbal suggestions of Dr. Lawrence."

Probationary Odes.

Political Miscellanies.

Epigrams.

Foreign Epigrams.

"Most of the English Epigrams unmarked are by Tickle, some by Richardson, D. Bate, R——d, and others."—L.

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The "Memoranda" &c., respecting The Rolliad, at Vol. ii., p. 439., recalled to my recollection a "Note" made several years back; but the "Query" was, where to find that Note? However, I made a mental note, "when found," to forward it to you, and by the merest chance it has turned up, or rather, out; for it fell from within an old "Common Place Book," when—I must not take credit for being in search of it, but, in fact, in quest of another note. Should you consider it likely to interest either your correspondents, contributors, or readers, you are much welcome to it; and in that case, to have troubled you with this will not be regretted by

C. W.

Stoke, Bucks.

The Rolliad.—(Memorandum in Sir James Mackintosh's copy of that work.)

"Bombay, 23rd June, 1804.

"Before I left London in February last, I received from my old friend, T. Courtenay, Esq., M.P., notes, of which the following is a copy, giving account of the Authors of The Rolliad, and of the series of Political Satires which followed it:—

"If ever my books should escape this obscure corner, the above memorandum will interest some curious collector.

"James Mackintosh.

"The above list, as far as it relates to Richardson, is confirmed by his printed Life, from which I took a note at Lord J. Townsend's four days ago.

"J. Mackintosh. 18 Nov., 1823."

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NOTE ON PALAMON AND ARCITE.

It has probably often been remarked as somewhat curious, that Chaucer, in describing the arrival of Palamon and Arcite at Athens, mentions the day of the week on which it takes place:

Nothing seems to depend on their coming on one day of the week rather than on another. In reality, however, this apparently insignificant circumstance is astrologically connected with the issue of the contest. Palamon, who on the morning of the following day makes his prayer to Venus, succeeds at last in winning Emelie, though Arcite, who commends himself to Mars, conquers him in the tournament. The prayers of both are granted, because both address themselves to their tutelary deities at hours over which these deities respectively preside. In order to understand this, we must call to mind the astrological explanation of the names of the days of the week. According to Dio Cassius, the Egyptians divided the day into twenty-four hours, and supposed each of them to be in an especial manner influenced by some one of the planets. The first hour of the day had the prerogative of giving its name, or rather that of the planet to which it was subject, to the whole day. Thus, for instance, Saturn presides over the first hour of the day, which is called by his name; Jupiter over the second, and so on; the Moon, as the lowest of the planets, presiding over the seventh. Again, the eighth is subject to Saturn, and the same cycle recommences at the fifteenth and at the twenty-second hours. The twenty-third hour is therefore subject to Jupiter, and the twenty-fourth to Mars. Consequently, the first hour of the following day is subject to the sun, and the day itself is accordingly dies Solis, or Sunday. Precisely in the same way it follows that the next day will be dies LunÆ; and so on throughout the week. To this explanation it has been objected that the names of the days are more ancient than the division of the day into twenty-four parts; and Joseph Scaliger has attempted to derive the names of the days from those of the planets, without reference to this method of division. His explanation, however, which is altogether geometrical, inasmuch as it depends on the properties of the heptagon, seems quite unsatisfactory, though Selden appears to have been inclined to adopt it. At any rate, the account of the matter given by Dio Cassius has generally been accepted.

To return to Chaucer: Theseus, as we know, had erected in the place where the tournament was to be held three oratories, dedicated to Mars, to Venus, and to Diana. On the day after their arrival, namely, on Monday, Palamon and Arcite offered their prayers to Venus and Mars respectively, and Emelie, in like manner, to Diana. Of Palamon we are told that—

two hours before it was day, and that he repaired to her temple "in hire hour."

In the third hour afterwards,

Her prayer also was favourably heard by the deity to whom it was addressed; the first hour of Monday (the natural day beginning at sunrise) being subject to Luna or Diana. The orisons of Palamon were offered two hours earlier, namely, in the twenty-third hour of Sunday, which is similarly subject to Venus, the twenty-fourth or last hour belonging to Mercury, the planet intermediate between Venus and the Moon. It is on this account that Palamon is said to have prayed to Venus in her hour.

Arcite's vows were made later in the day than those of Palamon and Emelie. We are told that

(namely after Emelie's return from the temple of Diana)

The first hour of Mars is on Monday, the fourth hour of the day; so that as the tournament took place in April or May, Arcite went to the temple of Mars about eight or nine o'clock.

It may be well to explain the word "inequal" in the lines—

In astrology, the heavens are divided into twelve houses, corresponding to a division of the ecliptic into twelve equal parts, the first of which is measured from the point of the ecliptic which is on the horizon and about to rise above it, at the instant which the astrologer has to consider, namely, the instant of birth in the case of a nativity, or that in which a journey or any other enterprise is undertaken.

The hours inequal here spoken of similarly correspond to a division of the ecliptic into twenty-four parts, so that each house comprehends the portions of the ecliptic belonging to two of these hours, provided the division into houses is made at sunrise, when the first hour commences. It is obvious that these astrological hours will be of unequal length, as equal portions of the ecliptic subtend unequal angles at the pole of the equator.

With regard to the time of year at which the tournament takes place, there seems to be an inconsistency. Palamon escapes from prison on the 3rd of May, and is discovered by Theseus on the 5th. Theseus fixes "this day fifty wekes" for the rendezvous at Athens, so that the tournament seems to fall in April. Chaucer, however, says that—

Why the 3rd of May is particularly mentioned as the time of Palamon's escape, I cannot tell: there is probably some astrological reason. The mixture of astrological notions with mythology is curious: "the pale Saturnus the colde" is once more a dweller on Olympus, and interposes to reconcile Mars and Venus. By his influence Arcite is made to perish after having obtained from Mars the fulfilment of his prayer—

e.

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FOLK LORE.

"Snail, Snail, come out of your Hole."—In Surrey, and most probably in other counties where shell-snails abound, children amuse themselves by charming them with a chant to put forth their horns, of which I have only heard the following couplet, which is repeated until it has the desired effect, to the great amusement of the charmer.

It is pleasant to find that this charm is not peculiar to English children, but prevails in places as remote from each other as Naples and Silesia.

The Silesian rhyme is:

which may be thus paraphrased:

In that amusing Folk's-book of Neapolitan childish tales, the Pentamerone of the noble Count-Palatine Cavalier Giovan-Battista Basile, in the seventeenth tale, entitled "La Palomma," we have a similar rhyme:

of which the sense may probably be:

S. W. Singer.

The Evil Eye.—This superstition is still prevalent in this neighbourhood (Launceston). I have very recently been informed of the case of a young woman, in the village of Lifton, who is lying hopelessly ill of consumption, which her neighbours attribute to her having been "overlooked" (this is the local phrase by which they designate the baleful spell of the evil eye). An old woman in this town is supposed to have the power of "ill-wishing" or bewitching her neighbours and their cattle, and is looked on with much awe in consequence.

H. G. T.

"Millery! Millery! Dousty-poll!" &c.—I am told by a neighbour of a cruel custom among the children in Somersetshire, who, when they have caught a certain kind of large white moth, which they call a miller, chant over it this uncouth ditty:—

And then, with boyish recklessness, put the poor creature to death for the imagined misdeeds of his human namesake.

H. G. T.

"Nettle in, Dock out."—Sometime since, turning over the leaves of Clarke's Chaucer, I stumbled on the following passage in "Troilus and Cressida," vol. ii. p. 104.:—

I was delighted to find the charm for a nettle sting, so familiar to my childish ear, was as old as Chaucer's time, and exceedingly surprised to stumble on the following note:—

"This appears to be a proverbial expression implying inconstancy; but the origin of the phrase is unknown to all the commentators on our poet."

If this be the case, Chaucer's commentators may as well be told that children in Northumberland use friction by a dock-leaf as the approved remedy for the sting of a nettle, or rather the approved charm; for the patient, while rubbing in the dock-juice, should keep repeating,—

The meaning is therefore obvious. Troilus is indignant at being recommended to forget this Cressida for a new love, just as a child cures a nettle-sting by a dock-leaf. I know not whether you will deem this trifle worth a corner in your valuable and amusing "Notes."

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THE SCALIGERS.

The Scaligers are well known, not only as having held the lordship of Verona for some generations, but also as having been among the friends of Dante in his exile, no mean reputation in itself; and, at a later period, as taking very high rank among the first scholars of their day. To which of them the passage above properly belongs—whether to Can Grande, or his brother Bartolommeo, or even his father Alberto, commentators are by no means agreed. The question is argued more largely than conclusively, both in the notes to Lombardi's edition, and also in Ugo Foscolo's Discorso nel testo di Dante.

Perhaps the following may be a contribution to the evidence in favour of Can Grande. After saying, in a letter, in which he professes to give the history and origin of his family,—

"Prisca omnium familiarum ScaligerÆ stirpis insignia sunt, aut Scala singularis, aut Canes utrinque scalÆ innitentes."

Joseph Scaliger adds—

"Denique principium Veronensium progenitores eadem habuerunt insignia: donec in eam familiam Alboinus et Canis Magnus Aquilam imperii cum Scala primum ab Henrico VII^o, deinde À Ludovico Bavaro acceptam nobis reliquerunt."

Alboinus, however, who received this grant upon being made a Lieutenant of the Empire, and having the Signory of Verona made hereditary in his family, only bore the eagle "in quadrante scuti."

"Sed Canis Magnus, cum eidem À CÆsare Ludovico Bavaro idem privilegium confirmatum esset, totum scutum Aquil occupavit, subject Alitis pedibus ScalÂ."

Can Grande, then, was surely the first who carried the "santo uccello" in su la Scala; and his epithet of Grande would also agree best with Dante's words, as neither his father nor brothers seem to have had the same claim to it.

I would offer a farther remark about this same title or epithet Can Grande, and the origin of the scala or ladder as a charge upon the shield or coat of this family. Cane would at first sight appear to be a designation borrowed from the animal of that name. There would be parallels enough in Italy and elsewhere, as the Ursini, Lewis the Lion (VIII. of France), our own Coeur de Lion, and Harold Harefoot. Dante, too, refers to him under the name "Il Veltro," Inferno, canto 1. l. 101. But Joseph Scaliger, in the letter to which I referred before, gives the following account of it:—

"Nomen illi fuerat Franscisco, À sacro lavacro, Cani À gentilitate, Magno À merito rerum gestarum. Neque enim Canis ab illo latranti animali dictus est, ut recte monet Jovius, sed quod lingu Windorum, unde principes Veronenses oriundos vult, Cahan idem est, quod lingu Serviana Kral, id est Rex, aut Princeps. Nam in gente nostr multi fuerunt Canes, Mastini, Visulphi Guelphi."—P. 17.

This letter consists of about 58 pages, and stands first in the edition of 1627. It is addressed "ad Janum Dousam," and was written to vindicate his family from certain indignities which he conceived had been put upon it. Sansovino and Villani, it appears, had referred its origin to Mastin II., "qui," to use Scaliger's version of the matter,—

"Qui primus dictator populi Veronensis perpetuus creatus est, quem et auctorem nobilitatis ScaligerÆ et Scalarum antea fabrum impudentissime nugantur hostes virtutis majorum nostrorum."

It was bad enough to ascribe their origin to so recent a date, but to derive it from a mere mechanic was more than our author's patience could endure. Accordingly he is not sparing of invective against those who so disparage his race.

Vappa, nebulo, and similar terms, are freely applied to their characters; invidia, ?a????e?a, &c., to their motives. The following is a specimen of the way he handles them:—

"Dantes PoËta illustrissimum Christianissimorum Regum FranciÆ genus À laniis Parisiensibus deducit, utique tam vere, quam ille tenebrio nostrum À scalarum fabro: quas mirum, ni auctor generis in suspendium eorum parabat, quos vaticinabatur illustri nobilitate suÆ obtrectaturos."

Now the charge of a ladder upon their shield was certainly borne by the several branches of this family long before any of them became masters of Verona; and I should suggest that it originated in some brilliant escalade of one of the first members of it. Thus, of course, it would remind us all of perhaps the earliest thing of the kind—I mean the shield and bearings of Eteoclus before Thebes:

Waldegrave Brewster.

H——n, Jan. 28. 1851.

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INEDITED BALLAD ON TRUTH.

I send you herewith a copy of an ancient ballad which I found this day while in search of other matters. I have endeavoured to explain away the strange orthography, and I have conjecturally supplied the last line. The ballad is unhappily imperfect. I trust that abler antiquaries than myself will give their attention to this fragmentary poem.

I would fill up the lacuna—

Perhaps, I repeat, some more able antiquaries will give their attention to this, and satisfy me on the points of punctuation, date, &c.

Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie.

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