Cum tua non fuerint heroica facta, Philippe, I shall not here introduce any part of the English version, because one or two long quotations will be found in the introductory portion of the Rev. A. Dyce's excellent edition of Skelton's Works (2 vols. 8vo. 1843). Respecting the Latin portion I have been more particular, because the learned editor was not aware that the production had come from the press of Barnes of Oxford, nor that a Latin version was appended to it. it illustrates some points not touched upon by Mr. Collier.] QUERIES ANSWERED, No. 1. It is not without some slight reluctance that I notice anonymous communications, but shall endeavour to repress such feelings with regard to the modest students who may choose to announce their desiderata through the convenient channel of the "NOTES AND QUERIES.” A hearty well-wisher to so commendable an enterprise, shall have my first responsive scrap. of conjecture! The foolish rime to which The inquiry affords no scope for ingenuity bishop Aylmer refers, is undoubtedly the pamphlet thus entitled : - "A Skeltonicall salutation, Oxford, Joseph Barnes, 1589. 4to. "A Skeltonicall salutation," &c. Imprinted at London for Toby The Oxford edition is recorded by Ames, I may take the liberty of adding here a and there is a copy of the London edition in mention of Skelton which escaped notice, and the British Museum. Strype, in his account which is from one of the tracts against Thomas of bishop Aylmer, gives the substance of the Nash, produced by Gabriel Harvey, the friend letter as his own narrative, almost verbatim of Spenser. He couples Skelton and Scoggin but fails to identify the pamphlet in questogether, in no very respectful manner, and tion. Park briefly describes it in Censura completes the triumvirate by Nash, whom he Literaria, 1815. ii. 18.; and there is a specihere calls Signor Capriccio: "And what men of it in The poetical works of John riott so pestiferous as that which in sugred Skelton, as edited by the reverend Alexander baites presenteth most poisonous hookes? Dyce, 1843, Sir Skelton and Master Scoggin were but innocents to Signior Capricio." This quotation is the more noticeable, because it recognises the sacred character of Skelton (however unworthy of the gown) in the prefix "Sir," which, as most people are aware, was then generally given to clergymen: Scoggin, on the other hand, is only styled "Master Scoggin." J. PAYNE COLLIER. [The preceding communication was already in type when we received the following from Mr. Bolton Corney, which we gladly print, inasmuch as While queries evince a sharp mental appetite, answers help to satisfy it; and so, by their united iufluence, a brisk circulation of ideas may be produced which, as master Burton assures us, wards off melancholy. NOTES UPON 66 BOLTON CORNEY. NOTES, No. 1." Sir, I take the liberty to send you one or two Notes on your first Number, just as they occur to me in looking it over. I will not trespass on you by preface or apology. The "bibliographic project" I shall rejoice to see carried out; and though neither an unemployed aspirant nor a fortunate collector (of which class I hope many will be stimulated by the proposition), yet, as I once took some trouble in the matter, I should be happy to contribute some Notes then made whenever the plan is matured and the proposed appeal is made provided (I must add, and to you - I may add) I can find them. The Liber Sententiarum was printed by Limborch, at Amsterdam, in 1692. It forms the greater part, as, indeed, it was the occasion, of his folio volume, entitled "Historia Inquisitionis cui subjungitur Liber Sententiarum Inquisitionis Tholosanæ ab anno Christi clɔcccvi ad annum clɔcccXXIII." Gibbon, in a note on his fifty-fourth chapter, observes, that the book "deserved a more learned and critical editor;" and if your correspondent will only place the Book of Sentences before the public in a readable form, with a map, and (by all means) a few notes, he will be doing a great service to all persons who take an interest in ecclesiastical history, or, indeed, in history of any kind. In the year 1731 Chandler published a translation of the History of the Inquisition, with a long Introduction of his own, but did not meddle with the Book of Sentences, except so far as to introduce into the text of the History some passages from it, which Limborch (as he appended the whole book) did not think it necessary to quote. I remember seeing the MS. in the British Museum within these ten or twelve years, and, according to my recollection, it was accompanied by papers which would furnish an interesting literary history of the volume. I hope your correspondent will give us farther information. N. B. not access to public libraries or the manuscript treasures of the metropolis and the universities. If, for instance, a clergyman, or squire, interested in the history of his parish, should find in the county historian something which his own local or genealogical knowledge leads him to think erroneous, vouched for by a reference to the Cotton or Harleian MSS., might he apply to you? It may be supposed that you are not very far from some one of the great fountains of information, and have easy access to all; and it is probable that you might not only do a personal favour to the inquirer, but confer a benefit on the public, by correcting an erroneous statement. Of course you would subect yourself to unreasonable requests, but the remedy would always be in your own hands. Yours, &c. A. G. C. [The Editor inserts this letter because he is sure that it comes from a friendly quarter, and he knows that something like what it suggests is very much wanted. He would feel great diffidence as to his powers of fulfilling all that might be expected if he were simply to reply to the affirmative; but he is quite willing to make the trial, and he thinks that (though sometimes perhaps with a little delay) he could in general obtain any information of this kind which could be reasonably sought.] LINES IN THE STYLE OF SUCKLING. Mr. Editor, The following lines are written in pencil on sheet 61. of the Notes of the Debates in the Long Parliament, taken down in the House of Commons by Sir Ralph Verney. The Notes of Debates, but not these lines, were published by the Camden Society in 1845. For any thing that appears to the contrary, these lines may have been written in the House as well as the Notes of Debates. The sheet 61. refers to debates which took place in March 1641-2. I am not aware that the lines have been published, nor can I assign them to their author. If any of your readers can tell me any thing about them, I shall esteem it a favour. Wert thou yet fairer than thou art, Which lies not in the power of art; NOTES UPON ANCIENT LIBRARIES. A knowledge of the intellectual acquirements of the middle ages must be mainly formed upon a consideration of the writings which directed them, or emanated from them. Unfortunately such materials are very imperfect, our knowledge of the existence of works often resting only upon their place in some loosely-entered catalogue- and of the catalogues themselves, the proportion still remaining must be small indeed. Under these circumstances the following documents, which are now for the first time printed, or even noticed, will be found to be of considerable interest. The first is, in modern language, a Power of Attorney, executed by the Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, appointing two of the monks of his church to be his procurators for the purpose of receiving from the convent of Anglesey, in Cambridgeshire*, a book which had been lent to the late Rector of Terrington. Its precise date is uncertain, but it must be of about the middle of the thirteenth century (1244-1254), as Nicholas Sandwich, the Prior of Christ Church, was the second of four priors who presided between the years 1234 and 1274. "N. Prior Ecclesiæ Christi Cantuariensis discretis viris et religiosis Domino Priori de Anglesheya et ejusdem loci sacro conventui salutem in Domino. Cum sincera semper caritate noverit fraternitas vestra nos constituisse fratres Gauterum de Hatdfeld et Nicholaum de Grantebrigiense Ecclesiæ nostræ monachos latores precencium procuratores nostros ad exigendum et recipiendum librum qui * The information given of this house by Dugdale is very seanty. It could surely be added to considerably. intitulatur..Johannes Crisestomus de laude Apostoli.. In quo etiam volumine continentur Hystoria vetus Britonum quæ Brutus appellatur et tractatus Roberti Episcopi Herfordiæ de compoto. Quæ quondam accommodavimus Magistro Laurentio de Sancto Nicholao tunc Rectori ecclesiæ de Tyrenton. Qui post decessum præfati Magistri L. penes vos morabatur et actenus moratur. In cujus rei testimonium has litteras patentes nostro sigillo signatas vobis transmittimus." The contents of the book which is the subject of this special embassy are of the character usually found to have formed the staple of monastic libraries, though the particular treatises included in it are not common. In the Reverend Joseph Hunter's valuable treatise upon English Monastic Libraries † occurs a notice of an indenture executed in A. D. 1343, whereby the priory of Henton lent no less than twenty books to another monastic establishment. The deed is described, but not printed. It will be seen that the instrument we have given above is nearly a century earlier; and the minute description of the book given in this document supplies some very curious facts illustrative of the mode of putting together ancient books, which have not hitherto been remarked, for the simple reason that no opportunity for comparison like that presented by the present case has yet been noticed. Among the Cottonian MSS. (Galba E. iv.) is a perfect specimen of an ancient Library Catalogue, which, although not altogether unnoticed, deserves a more careful examination than it has yet received. It relates to the magnificent monastic foundation from which emanated the deed we have printed above, and is headed "Tituli librorum de libraria Ecclesiæ Christi Cantuariensis et contenta in eisdem libris tempore H. Prioris." It is written in that bold hand which prevails so extensively in ecclesiastical MSS. with but little variation from the middle of the fourteenth century to the end of the fifteenth, a hand which is not always clearly written, and which therefore, in itself, does not materially assist in the distinction of a date. Now having first assigned the credit of this noble Mr. Halliwell in the Archeologia, xxvii. p. 455: and London, 1831, quarto. See also a Paper by Sir Francis Palgrave's Introduction to Documents and Records illustrating the History of Scotland, pp. xcvi. -exvi., for extracts from the historical chronicles preserved in the monasteries, &c. Catalogue in which are entered about 600 volumes, in nearly every one of which, besides the substantive (or initial?) work, are particularised numerous detached writings, varying from two or three to five-and-forty distinct "tracts" -to Prior Henry Chichely (1413-1443), the founder of All Souls' and St. John's Colleges, Oxford, and who "built the library of the church, and furnished it with books," we will see whether the book "qui intitulatur Johannes Crisestomus," &c. was returned to Canterbury, and had a place in the list; and this, we think, is satisfactorily shown by the following entry: ticed. But we would maintain, nevertheless, that it is the identical book, and explain this variation in the description by the circumstance that the library having, in the space of nearly two centuries, been materially enriched, numerous works, consisting in many cases only of a single "quaternion," were inserted in the volumes already existing. An examination of the structure of books of this period would confirm this view, and show that their apparent clumsiness is to be explained by the facility it was then the custom to afford for the interpolation or extraction of "sheets," by a contrivance somewhat resembling that of the present day for temporarily fixing loose papers in a cover, and known as the " patent leaf-holder." The second document is a list of certain books, belonging to the monastery of Anglesey, early in the fourteenth century, allotted out to the canons of the house for the purpose of custody, or, perhaps, of study or devotion. "Isti libri liberati sunt canonicis die......anno regni Regis Edwardi septimo "* (7 Edw. II. A. D. 1314.) Penes Dominum Priorem; Parabela Salomonis; Psalterium cum...... Penes Dominum J. de Bodek.; Epistolæ Pauli ......; Quædam notulæ super psalter et liber miraculorum...... Mariæ cum miraculis sanc torum. Penes Sub-priorem ; Liber vitæ Sancti Thomæ Martiris. Penes E. de Ely; Quartus liber sententiarum cum sermo......; Liber Reymundi; Liber de vitiis et virtutibus et pastorale. Penes R. Pichard; Liber Alquini; Liber Johannis de Tyrington cum Catone et aliis. Penes Henrici Muchet; Liber de vita Sanctæ Mariæ Magdalenæ et remediarum (?) Penes Walteri de Yilwilden; Liber S......ligatus in panno ymnaro glosatus cum constitutionibus; Belet ligatus et vita sanctorum. Penes Ricardi de Queye; Omelia Gregorii (?) super Evangelistos ligatæ in nigro corio. In commune biblia; Decreta; Decretales; Prima pars moralium Job; Liber de abusio nibus. Liber justitiæ; penes Magistrum Adam de Wilburham. Penes Walteri de Wyth; Liber Innocentii su per sacramenta cum Belet et introductione in uno volumine. Item penes Sup-priorem ; Psalterium glosatum quod fuit in custodia Magistri Henrici de Melreth. Item aliud psalterium glosatum inpignoratum penes Isabellam Siccadona. Several of these descriptions are highly curious; particularly the last item, which describes one of the "glossed" psalters as being "in pawn; a fact which, in itself, tells a history of the then condition of the house. The first document, taken in connection with that referred to by Mr. Hunter, would seem to establish the existence of a system of interchanging the literary wealth of monastic establishments, and thereby greatly extending the advantages of their otherwise scanty stores. Both are executed with all the legal forms used in the most important transactions, which would support the opinion of their not The formula of this date, "anno R. R. E. septimo," would at first sight be considered to refer to the preceding reign; but the list is merely a memorandum on the dorse of a completely executed instrument dated A. D. 1300, which it is highly improbable that it preceded. The style of Edward II. is often found as above, though not usually so. The following verses, which would form a very appropriate song for Autolycus, were arranged as a glee for three voices by Dr. Wilson about the year 1667. They are published in Playford's Musical Companion in 1673; in Warren's Collection of Glees and Catches; and in S. Webbe's Conveto Harmonico. The words were, I believe, first ascribed to Shakspere, by Clark, in 1824, in his Words of Glees, Madrigals, &c.; but he has not given his authority for so doing. It has been stated that they have since been discovered in a common-place book written about Shakspere's time, with his name attached to them, and with this indirect evidence in favour of their being written by him, that the other pieces in the collection are attributed to their proper writers. The late Mr. Douce, who was inclined to believe the song to have been written by Shakspere, once saw a copy of it with a fourth verse which was shown to him by the then organist of Chichester. The poem is not included in Mr. Collier's edition of Shakspere, nor in the Aldine edition of Shakspere's Poems, edited by the Rev. A. Dyce. Perhaps if you will be good enough to insert the song and the present communication in the "NOTES AND QUERIES," Some of your readers may be enabled to fix the authorship; and to furnish the additional stanza to which I have referred. PEDLAR'S SONG. From the far Lavinian shore, Like a girl of fifteen, Although you be threescore and ten years old. While on this subject, perhaps I may be permitted to ask whether any reader of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" can throw light on the following questionable statement made by a correspondent of the Morning Herald, of the 16th September, 1822. "Looking over an old volume the other day, printed in 1771, I find it remarked that it was known as a tradition, that Shakspeare shut himself up all night in Westminster Abbey when he wrote the ghost scene in Hamlet." I do not find in Wilson's Shakspeariana the title of a single "old" book printed in 1771, on the subject of Shakspere. T. SIR WILLIAM SKIPWYTH, KING'S JUSTICE IN IRELAND. -a most Mr. Editor, I am encouraged by the eminent names which illustrate the first Number of your new experiment happy thought to inquire whether they, or any other correspondent, can inform me who was the William de Skypwyth, the patent of whose appointment as Chief Justice of the King's Bench in Ireland, dated February 15. 1370, 44 Edward III., is to be found in the New Fœdera, vol. iii. p. 887? In the entry on the Issue Roll of that year, p. 458., of the payment of" his expences and equipment" in going there, he is called "Sir William Skipwyth, Knight, and the King's Justice in Ireland." |