educated girl, that has not all the finer passages of give any information as to the authorship of these Dante at the finger's ends; particularly the Ravennese.' dramas? R. INGLIS. -Moore's Life of Byron, ed. 1860, p. 484. "Even of his fellow-linguists how many have read his great poem through? One of themselves (quære, who?) has said it-few have gone beyond the Inferno; nay, most have stopped short at two passages of the InfernoFrancesca da Rimini and il Conte Ugolino."-Miss Rossetti's Shadow of Dante, 1871, p. 1. Will some one kindly give me any references to Dante in English literature between Chaucer and Milton? Sir Philip Sidney mentions him in his Apology for Poetry; and Upton thinks that the herbs and fruits "direful deadly black, both leaf and bloom," in Spenser's Garden of Proserpina (Faerie Queene, bk. ii. c. vii. st. 51), may have been suggested to the poet by Dante's description of the Wood of the Suicides (Inferno, c. xiii. v. 4):"Non frondi verdi, ma di color fosco." It is also possible that when the same poet wrote those fine lines (Faerie Queene, bk. iv. c. viii. st. 15) "For he, whose days in wilful woe are worn, The grace of his Creator doth despise, That will not use His gifts for thankless nigardise," he may have been thinking of the fate of the accidiosi (Inferno, vii. 121): "Fitti nel limo dicon: Tristi fummo Nell' aer dolce che del Sol s' allegra, I am not aware, however, that Spenser has any direct allusion to the great Tuscan poet. Does Bacon mention him? Although Dante is one of the four greatest poets of the world (Homer, Shakspeare, and Milton being the other three), I fancy Englishmen knew very little about him and his poetry until the present century. Here and there a choice spirit, like Milton or Gray, was acquainted with and appreciated him; but to the great majority of even intellectual men I suspect he was little more than a name. Our literature contains few traces of his glorious footsteps before the nineteenth century, at least so far as I can ascertain. Bexley Heath. JONATHAN BOUCHIER. AUTHORSHIP OF PLAYS WANTED.-Can any of your American readers favour me with information regarding the authorship of two plays named in W. Clapp's Records of the Boston Stage, 1853 ?1. The Jewess, a play [from the Book of Esther], performed at the Lion Theatre, Boston, in or about Feb., 1836. Mrs. Hamblin enacted the character of Esther, and Mr. Ingersoll that of Mordecai. 2. Alfred Elton, a play, written by a clergyman, performed in or about April or May, 1851, at the Howard Atheneum, Boston; Mr. Ayling, manager. I think Mr. John Brougham, the dramatist, was a member of the company at the time. Does F. C. Wemyss's Chronology of the American Stage, 1852, Two TINY VOLUMES.-I have before me the following:-1. The New Testament in shorthand, from engraved copper-plates, on leaves of thin paper, printed on both sides; the printed portions 2 inches by 1. The engraved title has an angel holding up a cloth, bearing a shorthand inscription, followed by "Jeremiah Rich. London, Printed for the Authour, And are to be sold by Henry Eversden, under the Crown "Fame & ye Picture speak, yet both are but "I. I." The last leaf contains "The Names of the Subscribers to this Incomparable Worke," eighteen in number; binding, old black calf gilt, gilt edges. 2. "The Young Sportsman's Instructor in Angling, Fowling, Hawking, Hunting, Ordering Singing Birds, Hawks, Poultry, Coneys, Hares, and Dogs, and how to Cure them. By G. M. Sold at the Gold Ring' in Little Britain. Price 6d." Pp. 140. Printed portions 1 by 1, exclusive of catchwords. Frontispiece, a rude cut of an angler catching a fish. Binding, russia; lettered "Markham." Price marked inside, 2 guineas. Compare Lowndes, ed. 1834, p. 1213, col. i. I should be glad to know something as to the rarity or value of these booklets. J. T. F. Hatfield Hall, Durham. MOATED PARSONAGES.-References to, or notices of, moated parsonages would be very acceptable. The rectory house at Buxted, in Sussex, was formerly surrounded by a moat, which is clearly shown in an old plan of the glebe. At Chailey, in the same county, is another example, of which Mr. Lower (Compendious Hist. Sussex, vol. i. p. 98) thus speaks:-"The rectory house has the singular appendage of a moat, whether for defence or to provide the ancient parsons with fish during Lent is uncertain." What is the general opinion of archæologists on this point? E. H. W. D. 66 MEDAL AND TOKENS.-I have a medal. Obv., bust of a foreign ecclesiastic; inscription : ION. GUIL. A GOLLEN SER. FERD. A. A. CONSIL. AD TR. PAC. MON. LEG. PLEN." Rev., coat of arms and quotation from (Vulgate) Ps. xxxvii. 11, "Mansueti," &c. It was struck to commemorate the Peace of Utrecht. Who was Gollen, and where is the medal described? I have also a modern farthing token, same inscription on both sides, "W. Foster, Linen Draper and Haberdasher"; also, a lead token, one side plain, on other "R. A." When and where were these tokens issued? Perhaps some of your readers could kindly give information on the above. B. W. ADAMS. Cloghran Rectory, co. Dublin. SHELLEY. In the course of preparing the forthcoming "library edition" of Shelley's works, I have had the opportunity of consulting various MSS. beside the important Leigh Hunt MSS. communicated to me by Mr. Townshend Mayer; but I am desirous of finding out, and if possible consulting, other MSS. of poems by Shelley not heretofore accessible, because not known to Shelley students. There are also some bibliographical matters on which I should be glad of information. The two divisions of my work wherein I am at present most urgently desirous of help are (1) Inspection of MSS. of poems, or of fragments of poems, by Shelley, whether edited or inedited; (2) Information concerning Shelley's contributions to periodical literature; a complete list of such contributions if any one knows of such a thing. As As regards requirement No. 1, I feel sure that there are numerous MSS. of poems by Shelley (mostly, of course, edited ones) scattered about the country in private collections of autographs, and that the owners would, in most instances, be willing to oblige me with the inspection I seek. regards requirement No. 2, you are aware that in 1824, in the preface to the Posthumous Poems, Mrs. Shelley refers to "all his poems" in periodical works as being there gathered together; and I cannot help thinking that "all" must mean a good many more than the few I am acquainted with up to the year 1824; and I feel sure that many Shelley students must have been in the habit of noting poems contributed to newspapers, &c., by Shelley, when such have been met with in turning over old periodicals. Surely a full list of such contributions would have an interest for many of your readers beside myself; and if there are any owners of information who would prefer to write direct to me, I shall be very glad to hear from them at my address, as below. H. BUXTON FORMAN. 38, Marlborough Hill, St. John's Wood, N. W. MAN'S DUTY TO ANIMALS."The Pope's recent dictum, that it is a theological error to suppose that man owes any duty to animals, would have filled him with horror."-P. 154. The above passage occurs in Miss Helen Zimmern's Arthur Schopenhauer, his Life and Philosophy. I am anxious to know in what authentic Papal document this statement is to be found. ANON. He was once a DR. SCHOULER'S MSS.-Have any of your readers heard anything about these? I know he spent a life and a fortune in preparing a great work on Aristotle's Physics. lecturer in the Royal Dublin Society, and was a man of universal learning. Twenty-two years. ago he thought he was dying, and he told me he was leaving all his money, some few thousands of pounds, to Glasgow University, except what would be sufficient to publish his work on Aristotle. He died in Scotland two years ago, and ever since I have been expecting to hear something about his great work. AN OLD FRIEND OF DR. SCHOULER'S. "THUMP SUNDAY."-In some districts of the West Riding of Yorkshire the Sunday following June 28 is known as "Thump Sunday." It is usual to visit one's friends and eat spice cake (plum cake) and cheese on that day. Can you furnish any information regarding the origin of the term and custom? R. A. CROMBLEHOLME. Hampden Place, Halifax. Replies. THE IRISH PEERAGE: THE IRISH UNION (5th S. v. 369, 391, 469, 500.) The severe remark on John Fitzgibbon, Earl of Clare, is that of the author, Mr. Madden, and not of Mr. Burke. The annexed transcript may also prove worth reading, from The Life and Letters of the Rev. R. H. Barham (Thomas Ingoldsby) : "November 17 (1828).-Called with Lord W. Lennox on Mr. Jerdan, at Grove House, Brompton. He showed me the suppressed book of which the whole five hundred copies were burnt in Ireland, with the exception of this, Iand said that he was about to send it as a present to the King, having had a hint from Mr. O'Reilly that it would The following extract, showing the anomaly of be acceptable in that quarter. The book was a tolerably creating Englishmen peers of Ireland-a happy thick duodecimo, neatly bound, had no title page, but on thought originating, I believe, with Mr. Pitt-may to the King." The introductory letter commenced My the tops of the pages was printed 'Captain Rock's Letters prove of interest. It is made from Burke's Cele- Brother,' many of the others Sir,' My Cousin.' It was brated Trials connected with the Aristocracy, and is very strongly written, and among other things contained by him quoted from The Revelations of Ireland in a list of the present Irish peers, with a history of their the Past Generation, by D. Owen Madden, Esq. The families, the means by which their honours were acquired, account is that of the "Trial of the Earl of King-of the noble families during the insurrection of 1798, and especially the conduct of the representatives of most ston for shooting Col. Fitzgerald.” which it depicted with great bitterness. Jerdan also read to me a key to the characters in the Anglo Irish, a recently published novel, said to be by Sir J. C. Morgan. of these I only recollect that my friend Cannon is Mr. Gunning; the late Marquis of Londonderry, The Minister; Lord Harmer, Lord Farnham; and The Bishop, Archbishop Magee."-Vol. i. pp. 128-129. "On the appointed day (i.e. May 18, 1798) there was & numerous assembly of the resident peers of Ireland. In general the meetings of the House of Peers were very thinly attended. Several peers attended on that day for the first time in their lives. Amongst them were-Lords Kinsale and Muskerry, connected with the south of Ireland, and Lawrence Parsons, Lord Oxmantown (first Earl of Rosse). The Marquesses of Waterford and Drogheda, supported by the Earl of Ormonde, and some of the principal earls in the Irish peerage, attended. In addition to the two marquesses, there were twenty-seven earls, fourteen viscounts, three archbishops (Armagh, Cashel, Tuam), thirteen bishops, and fourteen barons assembled. These, it may be observed, constituted a majority of the resident peers of Ireland (in all seventy one in number). "The proceedings commenced by the Ulster King of Arms calling over the roll, beginning with the junior baron. There were found to be absent no fewer than forty-five barons, five bishops, forty-three viscounts, forty-seven earls, two marquesses (Donegal and Downshire), one duke (Leinster), and the Archbishop of Dub lin. The fact might cause surprise to those unacquainted with the history and constitution of the Irish peers. George III. created a vast number of English and Scotch gentlemen peers of Ireland. Not wishing to swamp the House of Lords in England, and anxious, at the same time, to satisfy the clamorous vanity of the political supporters of his favourite ministers, he adopted the plan of making Irish peers by wholesale. Thus it happens that so many families have titles in the peerage of Ireland, without possessing an acre of property in the country. "A good many spectators, led by curiosity, attended the trial of the Earl of Kingston. The Lords adjourned their proceedings to the lower chamber of Parliament, the place appointed for the trial, as being more suitable than their own handsome but confined apartment. Their procession on that occasion was, probably, the last handsome piece of pageantry which the Irish House of Peers exhibited. They marched two by two into the House of Commons, the Masters in Chancery and the robed judges of the courts of law preceding them. Immediately before the Lords walked in procession the minors of their order, not entitled to vote, and the eldest sons of peers. Last of all came the most remarkable and least noble man of the order, John Fitzgibbon, first Earl of Clare, walking by himself as it was fit that he should walk, for where amongst the body could his peer be found?"-Pp. 389-390. JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge. The list given by me, 5th S. v. 391, comprised only members of the last Irish House of Commons who notoriously received Irish peerages or advancement in the peerage on account of their votes for the Union. I should be glad if M. A. H. errors of omission and comwould point out the " mission" of which he complains in that list. It is possible that others may have received Irish peerages about the same time-indeed, Lord Radstock did so; but he was so created for his distinguished naval services, whilst other Irish families might have received peerages for favouring the Union. But I have not felt justified in including in my list any other than the names of members of the Irish House of Commons. MR. JOSEPH FISHER is certainly too sweeping in his charge that all Irish peerages conferred between 1780 and 1800 should be attributed to Union influences. Take the case of Lord Hotham, so created 1797; Lord Keith, so created 1795; Lord Graves, so created 1794; and many others raised to the Irish peerage before the Union for distinguished military service. The fact is that at that time it was usual to confer Irish peerages upon many who had not fortune sufficient to support an English peerage. An Irish barony was looked on in the light of a dignity between a baronetcy and an English barony. MR. JOSEPH FISHER is also somewhat in error in his enumeration of the Irish Celtic families represented in the Irish peerage. To his list of O'Brien, O'Callaghan, Lysaght, O'Grady, and O'Hagan, I can add two offhand, viz., O'Neill, which should certainly be included, as the present Lord O'Neill, who has also taken the family name, is descended from Mary O'Neill, the only daughter and heiress of Henry O'Neill, of Shanes Castle, who married the Rev. Arthur Chichester; also Donoughmore. The HelyHutchinsons are of Celtic descent, being a branch of the O'Haly family, and derive their origin, according to Lavoisne and Irish genealogists, from Gasgrach, uncle of Brian Borom the Great, monarch of all Ireland, who was killed in the battle of Clontarf, 1039. John Hely, subsequently Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, took the name of Hutchinson on succeeding to the estate of that family at Knocklofty, in right of his wife, who was the first Baroness of Donoughmore. The late General Lord Hutchinson proposed to assume the title of Lord Hely or O'Hely when he was created a peer for his services as Commander-in-Chief in Egypt; but it was finally decided, as an English | peerage was conferred, that he should be raised to it by his more English name. H. "GARRT LAIDIR ABOO" (5th S. iv. 149, 195, 237, 318; v. 217.)-I beg to suggest that the first word of this war cry has reference to the feudal lord of the county of Kerry, the famous Gerrott, Earl of Desmond, called by the Irish Gerod or Gerott na Sceaidhe (i.e. Gerald of the Preys or Excursions), killed in rebellion in 1584, when his palatinate was forfeited and partitioned amongst the Courtenays, Dennys, Brownes, &c., whose descendants still retain their portions. In the writings of English and Anglo-Irish historians the Earl is always called Gerald, Earl of Desmond, but he subscribed his letters, still to be seen in the State Paper Office, "Gerott Desmond." If the war cry did not originate with this great rebel, it was probably first used in the time of Maurice Fitzgerald, the companion in arms of Strongbow, described in an Irish lyric as "Maurice Fitzgerald, the scorner of danger, stranger." The scourge of the Gael, and the strength of the But he soon became more Gaelic than the Gaels themselves, or at least his descendants did. The first Earl of Desmond, to whom the palatinate was granted on August 27, 3 Edward III., rebelled and was imprisoned, but afterwards received a pardon, and was made Lord Justice of Ireland for life. His three sons succeeded him in turn, and of the youngest, Gerald or Gerott, fourth Earl of Desmond, Dr. Smith, in his History of Kerry, now a rare book, but one highly commended by Lord Macaulay, says :— "This said Gerald, fourth Earl of Desmond, was a very learned man for that age, being well versed in poetry and mathematicks, and was by some looked upon in those ignorant times as a magician. In 1358 he had the custody of all his brother's estates with the keeping of the counties of Cork, Waterford, and Kerry. In 1367 he was constituted Lord Justice of Ireland, and was present at all the Parliaments of Richard II. In 1385 he and Robert Tame, Sheriff of the city of Cork, were appointed Lieutenants to Philip de Courtenay, L. L. of Munster, for the better defence of the province; and by commission dated at Skryne, December 8, 1388, his lordship and Patrick Fox were appointed keepers of the peace in the counties of Limerick and Kerry, with very extensive powers and authority. The king at the same time granted him a licence to send his son James to 'O'Brien of Thomond the Irishman,' to remain and be brought up with him as long as his lordship pleased, notwithstanding any statute to the contrary, and forbidding that he should be molested for doing so. 1397 he went out of his camp near the island of Kerry now Castle Island), and was privately murdered, having never been heard of more. By Elinor, daughter of James, second Earl of Ormond, he had two sons, John and James, who both succeeded to the title." In This Gerot is the earl, I believe, who, according to the folk-lore or legends of Limerick, is said to live still in an enchanted realm beneath the waters of Lough Gur in that county. Macgregor's History of Limerick says that the enchanted Earl of Lough Gur was Gerott na Sceaidhe, the sixteenth earl before mentioned, and that every seven years he rises and rides round the lough on a horse with silver shoes. When the shoes are worn out, he will return to earth again, say the people. Either of the Earls Gerott was "strong" and powerful" (laidir) enough in his day to have his name used as a rallying war cry. I hope Mr. Hennessy will act on MR. FITZGERALD'S suggestion. M. A. H. P.S.-I may add that Garret or Gerott, as the equivalent of the English Gerald, is a common Christian name amongst the Kerry peasantry at the present day. A very natural corruption of the word as pronounced by them, for an AngloIrishman, would be the Garrt of the cry. is If MR. FITZGERALD will look into the Ulster Journal of Archeology for 1855, p. 203, he will find an article, possibly by the editor of that valuable work, on the "War Cries of the Irish Septs," such as that which he expressed a wish to have from the pen of Mr. Hennessy, and in it I think he will find an explanation of the one given above. Amongst a number of battle shouts therein noted which the following note is appended, showing "Kero-lader-aboe . . . . Upper Ossory," to laidir-aboo! the sharp and strong, was the cry of Irish reading of these words: "Gearthe Mac Gilla Patricks." I think there can be little doubt that the Garrt of MR. FITZGERALD and the Gear of the above are identical, and that the whole was the battle shout of the followers of the Mac Gilla Patricks or Fitz Patricks, ancient Lords of Upper Ossory. TIR EOGHAIN. the proper ON SOME OBSCURE WORDS IN SHAKSPEARE : SHAKSPEARE ACCUSED OF PROVINCIALISM (5th S. v. 201, 337, 390, 493.)—JABEZ seems to overlook passage which I quoted refers to Shakspeare, adding, "It is as undoubtedly true of Shakespeare as if it were pointedly written to describe him." I was under the mistaken impression that this decision was generally accepted. The more important question of the two, however, is whether the obscure words in Shakspeare, about which our commentators have been disputing for more than a century, can be satisfactorily explained by dialectic words now or lately in use in the west and north of England. I have offered some instances in support of this opinion; but this is a part of my communication which JABEZ has not chosen to discuss. some facts which have an important bearing on the subject in dispute. Phillips was not only Milton's nephew; he had been brought up by his uncle, and was as an adopted son. The Theatrum Poetarum must have been written in Milton's life, and apparently in his house. It is scarcely con- I do not wish to be misunderstood. It is quite ceivable, therefore, that he should not have been superfluous to speak at the present day of the acquainted with the work, or that some of the supremacy of Shakspeare's genius. I do not yield information about the poets of the early part of the to JABEZ or any other person in my admiration of seventeenth century should not have been derived it. But it is nevertheless true that in his own from him. The probability that he had a share time, and for many years after his death, it did not in the work is so great as to gain the assent of receive the universal and unqualified acknowledgwriters whose opinions must always commandment which we justly give to it now. respect. Warton writes :-"There is good reason to suppose that Milton threw many additions and corrections into the Theatrum Poetarum" (Milton's Juv. Poems, p. 60). He asserts the same opinion in his Hist. of Poetry (iii. 440). Sir Egerton Brydges, who had carefully studied the question, says: "The preface of Phillips's Theatrum Poetarum has always appeared to the present editor not merely of pure and extensive taste, but of wide and accurate learning, &c. That much of Milton's opinions and judgments were infused into it cannot reasonably be doubted" (note to Preface). It seems equally unreasonable to doubt that the fact stated by Phillips about these critics had Milton's sanction, or that it was derived from him. He was more likely to hear the opinions of literary critics than his nephew. If, then, we have here a recollection of Milton, some of the critics referred to would have been contemporary with Shakspeare. This, I admit, is not absolute proof; but we act, and must act, in ordinary life, in many cases, on circumstantial evidence less satisfactory than this. But if we must assume, though the assumption is improbable, that Phillips was speaking only of his own knowledge, it is certainly true that such criticisms were made within the half century after Shakspeare's death. This is sufficient for my purpose, for, in this interval, all the unfiled expressions" could not be terms that had become obsolete from length of time. 66 JABEZ seems indignant at my explanation of this phrase, "unfiled (unpolished) expressions." I understand it as meaning such expressions as were not universally accepted or understood at that time; or, in other words, such as we should now call "provincial." If this explanation be rejected, what other meaning can be given to the words, the sense of "indecency" being expressly set aside? If we now call a person's language "unpolished," do we not mean that it is not according to a received standard, and sometimes call it "country fashion"? It would take up too much of your space to enter into a discussion of the "vexed questions" connected with the Poetaster. I will only oppose to the opinion of JABEZ the judgment of Gifford, a very competent critic. He maintains that the I find that I have been anticipated in referring to our dialects in illustration of some of Shakspeare's words. A writer in "N. & Q." (1st S. i. 467), who signs with the initials R. R., in explaining the phrase "sneck up" by the provincial use of the word, adds, "There can be little doubt that this provincialism was known to Shakspeare, as his works are full of such; many of which have been either passed over by his commentators, or have been wrongly noted." The writer promised to give other instances, but I do not know whether the promise was fulfilled or not. JOHN DAVIES. Belsize Square. THE SOUTHERN CROSS (5th S. v. 145, 295.)The legend of the stars of the Southern Cross being created for the purpose of guiding the Wise Men to the infant Saviour, mentioned by your correspondent GLIS, is merely a legend. The Southern Cross, though no longer visible in the North Temperate Zone, was seen there from the time of Adam to the Christian era. In the latitude of Jerusalem it must have gradually declined from a considerable altitude, until the topmost star disappeared from the horizon about the time of the crucifixion of our Saviour. In the third and fourth centuries the Christian Anchorites in the Egyptian Thebaid would see the Southern Cross at an altitude of 10°. The Southern Cross will again appear in the northern latitudes after countless ages, some 18,000 (if the world lasts so long). It appears very strange that a constellation of such brilliancy should have been omitted in the early arrangements of those emblems; but at the time that Hipparchus of Greece drew up his catalogue of the stars (the earliest on record, 125 B.C.), this constellation was nearly unseen in the latitude of Greece. The cause of the gradual disappearance |