Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

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 answers may be sent to them direct.

[ocr errors]

DINNER-JACKET.-Can

over by a Mr. Solee for the City Theatre, Charleston, South Carolina. They remained long enough at New York to fulfil an engagement in the Old John Street Theatre, and among the pieces which they played was the popular farce of The Spoiled Child,' in which Miss Arnold performed the part of Maria. Who Miss Arnold was, except that she was an English actress, and what was her rank in the theatrical profession, can only be conjectured. The company played in other cities. Miss Arnold is said to have appeared in Baltimore while David Poe, jun., was a member of the Thespian Club, and is also said to have been a Mrs. Hopkins at the time.

David Poe and Miss Arnold married in the spring of 1806. In the summer season at the New Vauxhall Gardens, New York, she played (16 July) the part of Priscilla Tomboy. In the winter of 1809 the husband (who had gone on the stage) and the wife were both engaged at the Boston

Theatre.

The Boston Gazette contains announcements of her appearance on a number of dates from January to May, 1809. Her son Edgar was born there during this engagesome reader of ment. From Boston she proceeded with her husband and her two children to New York, and played at the Park Theatre. Sight is lost of her until the autumn of 1811, when she was attached to the Richmond Theatre. She was then the mother of three children-William Henry, who was in his fourth or fifth year; Edgar, who was in his third year; and Rosalie, who was a babe in arms. She was ill, she was destitute, and, if the recollections of those who knew her at this time are to be trusted, she was abandoned by her husband. Her public record closed with the paragraph in The Richmond Enquirer of Tuesday, 10 December, 1811: "Died, on Sunday last, Mrs. Poe, one of the actresses of the company at present playing on the Richmond boards," &c.

N. & Q.' say when the dinner-jacket first came into fashion in England, and whether it is an English or an American invention, or was imported from any other country? Further, was it always known by this name? In Germany it is generally called smoking (probably smoking jacket) or smocking. The latter seems to be merely a corruption of smoking. It would be interesting to know whether either of these forms was ever in English-speaking countries, or whether one or both of them are "made in Germany."

in use

=

Frankfurt-am-Main.

F. J. C.

KINGS WITH SPECIAL TITLES -There were

four kings in Europe having special titles:
France, Spain, Portugal, and Hungary-
Plus Chrétien, Plus Catholique, Plus Apos-
tolique. What was the fourth, and to which
did each belong?
Gibraltar.

B. M. D.

EDGAR ALLAN POE'S MOTHER: MISS ELIZABETH ARNOLD. - In R. H. Stoddard's Life of Edgar Allan Poe,' prefacing his edition of Poe's works (Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1884), it is stated that Poe's mother was a Miss Elizabeth Arnold, with whom his father (David Poe, jun.) became acquainted during a visit she made to New York as an actress in a company of comedians. The company was an English one, brought

Is anything further now known of the earlier career, birth, parentage, and place of origin in England of Poe's mother? Was she really twice married, and was her true maiden name Elizabeth Arnold? Will the readers of N. & Q.' on both sides of the Atlantic assist me in my search? If we assume Miss Arnold was 25 or 26 years of age in 1806 at the time of her marriage to David Poe, she would be born about 1780. Whose was the company of comedians engaged by Mr. Solee from England ? Are there any means of tracing such a company or an ordinary member of the

[blocks in formation]

The Hall, Burley-in-Wharfedale.

DECORATED SHOE-HORNS BY R. MINDUM. In the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Second Series, vol. vii. pp. 121-2 (1877), Sir John Evans publishes notes on three shoe-horns bearing dates 1593, 1600, and 1604, and inscriptions showing that they were made by one "Robart Mindum." Another, in the Saffron Walden Museum, is inscribed round the edge, "Robart Mindum made this shooing-horn for Bridget Dearsley, 1605." The decorations are carried out in dots and incised lines, into which some dark substance has been worked. The

crowned Tudor rose is the principal ornament employed in the last specimen.

Who or what Robart Mindum may have been was not known to Sir J. Evans, who states that the above three were the only decorated specimens of the period which he had been able to trace.

I should be glad to know if any light has been cast on the matter since 1877, and also to hear of any other signed or dated specimens of English make.

GUY MAYNARD.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

66

In vol. xix. p. 336, there is a rather long letter from the Dean to Vanessa. It is sent from Upper Letcomb, near Wantage, in Berkshire,' and addressed to Mrs. Esther Vanhomrigh, 8 June, 1714. Here are a few sentences:

"I have been a week settled in the house where I am....I am at a clergyman's house, an old friend and acquaintance, whom I love very well. ....We dine exactly between twelve and one; at eight we have some bread and butter, and a glass of ale, and at ten he goes to bed. Wine is a stranger, except a little I sent him, of which,

one evening in two, we have a pint between us.... I give a guinea a-week for my board, and can eat anything.'

Has Mr. Gery ever been identified, or is anything known about him?

I cannot trace a reference to the name im any of the ten General Indexes of N. & Q.,” numerous as are the entries under Swift. FREDK. CHARLES WHITE.

26, Arran Street, Cardiff.

SIR WILLIAM DAVENANT'S ENTERAT RUTLAND TAINMENT - In

6

HOUSE.'

N. & Q.' for 20 March, 1858 (2 S. v. 231), MR. RAYMOND DELACOURT made an inquiry regarding Sir William Davenant's Entertainment at Rutland House,' &c., and quoted a description of the scene "from a contemporaneous MS." MR. DELACOURT further stated that " 'five shillings a head was the charge for admission, and 400 persons were expected, but we learn that there appeared no more than 150 auditors."

Can any one furnish me with information respecting the MS. referred to? WATSON NICHOLSON.

[blocks in formation]

MINER FAMILY. (See 2 S. iii. 170.)— According to an old pedigree now in the library of the Connecticut Historical Society, the descent of the Miners of Chew, Somerset, is as follows: Henry Bullman, of Mendippe Hills, Somerset, having proffered himself and his "domesticall and menial servants," armed with battleaxes and in number a hundred, for service in the French wars, was rewarded by Edward III. with the name of Miner and the coat of arms Gules, a fesse argent between three plates. The crest now borne by the family, a mailed hand holding a battleaxe armed at both ends, all proper, and the motto "Fortis qui prudens," are, I believe, of later date. Henry died in 1359, leaving issue Henry, Edward, Thomas, and George. Henry married Henretta, daughter of Edward Hicks of Gloucester, and had issue William and Henry. William_married Hobbs of Wiltshire, and had issue Thomas and George. Thomas (1399) married “ Gressley, daughter of Cotton" of Staffordshire, and had issue Lodovick, George, and Mary. Lodovick

66

married Anna, daughter of Thomas Dyer of Stoughton, Huntingdonshire, and had issue Thomas, born 1436, George and Arthur (twins), born 1458, who served the House of Austria. Arthur married Henretta de la Villa Odorosa. Thomas married Bridget, second daughter to Sir George Hervie de St. Martin's, Middlesex, and died 1480, leaving issue William and Anna. William married Isabella Harcope de Frolibay, and lived to revenge the death of the young Princes murdered in the Tower of London upon their inhuman uncle, Richard III." He was called "Flos Militiæ." He left ten sons- -William, George, Thomas, Robert, Nathaniel, and John (the rest not recorded). George lived in Shropshire, Thomas in Hereford. Nathaniel and John settled in Ireland. William, the eldest son, had issue Clement and Elizabeth, and was buried in the chancel at Chew Magna, Somerset, 23 Feb., 1585. Clement had issue Clement, Thomas, Elizabeth, and Mary, died 31 March, 1640, and is buried at Chew Magna.

cargo was 1,2001., and it was to be delivered to the Earl of Clancarty, then Lord Muskerry, who was besieged in Ross by the usurper's army. When the vessel arrived at the mouth of the Valentia river the master heard that Ross had capitulated on terms, so he tried to get away to sea to find some place where the King's forces lay. Meeting with a storm, he was driven on the coast of Brittany, where he put in for safety to a place called Aberbracke, and there was seized on by orders from the Duc de Vendôme, Lord High Admiral of France, who distributed all the arms and ammunition among the French ships of war, without giving any manner of satisfaction to the petitioner.

By letters patent dated 28 Jan., 1664, Charles II. acknowledged his indebtedness to Patrick Archer for the sum of 6,294l. 58., and ordered it to be paid within three years by six equal instalments.

In June, 1670, Archer brought an action in the Irish Chancery Court against one John Preston.

Thomas emigrated to New England in Seven years before, the plaintiff had 1630, and is the ancestor of the Connecticut agreed with John Dawes and others in Miners. Thomas's brother Clement married England for the purchase of two Irish Sarah, daughter of John Pope of Norton-villages, Riverstown and Castletown, being Small-Reward, Somerset, and had issue 911 acres, and had paid a good part of the William and Israel. He was buried at purchase money. Afterwards Dawes and Burslingtown, Somerset. William married the rest sold the same lands amongst others Sarah, daughter of John Batting of Clifton, Gloucestershire, and in 1683 was living in Christmas Street, Bristol, having issue William and Sarah. Israel married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Jones of Burslingtown, and had issue Clement, Thomas, Sarah, Jean, and Elizabeth.

I should be grateful for any information regarding the early history of the family or its present branches in England.

JOHN RICE MINER.

Ann Arbor, Mich., U.S. PATRICK ARCHER OF LONDON, MERCHANT, TEMP. CAR. II.-I should be glad of any information relating to the parentage and family of Patrick Archer of London, merchant, died circa 1686, whose Irish adventures are told at some length in the 'Calendar of State Papers, Irish Series, September, 1669, to December, 1670' (1910).

In 1660 Archer was petitioning the King that he would give his ambassadors instructions to get him redress for the following grievance.

In 1652 Archer, by the King's orders, sent a small vessel to Ireland, the St. Ann, with arms and ammunition upon his own account for the King's service. The value of the

to John Preston, Alderman of Dublin, and
Archer brought this action to enforce his
prior claim, after an action in the English
Chancery Court had failed, by reason of
Patrick
the defendant retiring to Ireland.
Archer appears to have dispossessed Preston
and to have settled at Riverstown, which
is in the co. Meath. His will, in the Pre-
rogative Wills of Ireland, is dated 1686.
He married Catherine Dillon, and left a
son, John Archer of Riverstown, who
married, probably circa 1700, Margaret,
daughter of Jonas and Mary Archer of
Kiltimon, co. Wicklow. Nothing is known
of any previous relationship between the
Riverstown and Kiltimon Archers. The
will of Anthony Archer of Keeloge, co.
Wicklow, dated 27 Jan., 1707/8, a brother
of Mrs. Margaret Archer, contains bequests
to the latter and to John Archer, and also
to their two daughters, named Alice and
Christian Archer.
H. G. ARCHER.

29, Sussex Gardens, Hyde Park, W.

MRS. GORDON, ACTRESS.-The Theatrical of Mrs. Gordon, as Imogen in " Bertram." " Times, 17 April, 1847, published a woodcut Who was she, and what was her husband?

123, Pall Mall, S.W.

J. M. BULLOCH,

LATIN PHRASE FOR MISTLETOE FOR THE NEW YEAR."-We sadly want references for some of the statements made at 11S. iv. 502. The general account of the gathering of the mistletoe by the Druids is to be found in Pliny, Nat. Hist.,' bk. xvi. chap. xliv., near the end.

66

But I do not find there the statement that the attendant youths distributed it to the people as a holy thing, crying, 'The mistletoe for the New Year.'

I have strong reasons for supposing that the phrase The mistletoe for the New Year" is comparatively modern, certainly later than 1300, and that no phrase corresponding to it ever existed in Latin. My query is, accordingly, What is the alleged authority for it, and what is the Latin for it?

I hope the dozen or twenty correspondents who are ready to give me the bogus French equivalents will kindly refrain from doing so. That is not my question at all. I am asking for the Latin phrase and the Latin authority, and before A.D. 1300. If there is a single atom of truth in the story, we are entitled to expect such evidence.

WALTER W. SKEAT.

Replies.

SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, "UNUS DE
CONSORTIO MEDII TEMPLI."

IN

(11 S. iv. 347, 414, 490.)

reference to this query, which has only just been brought to my notice, though I find it has already been dealt with by my successor, MR. BEDWELL, at the second reference, I would ask, as the writer of the statement out of which it arose ('Notable Middle Templars,' p. 78), to be permitted, though late in the day, to make some reply.

Your querist, MEDIO-TEMPLARIUS, seems to doubt my inference, from the above description of Sir Francis Drake that he was a member of the Middle Temple, reminding us, truly, that the word used to denote that community was not "Consortium," but " Societas," and, to designate a single member, not consors," but But, though this may have been the case generally, or, indeed, universally, as he says, throughout the 'Records,' may not an exception have been made, I would ask, and appropriately made, on this particular and!

66

66

"" socius.

66

66

very remarkable festive occasion, when the famous sailor, fresh from the sea, came to "consort with his old friends and, so to speak, messmates -a term he would appreciate in the ancient (but then newbuilt) Hall? If not, and if " Consortium be not here a synonym for Societas," what, I ask, can it mean? As for its use in the plural, that certainly presents a difficulty, but I would suggest that it may have a subtle reference to the custom or method (still observed) of dining in messes-" fellowships (consortia)-and this suggestion seems to me to derive confirmation from the expression omnibus de consortiis in aulâ præsentibus," which I think may be translated as meaning that "all the tables were full up," as they naturally would be on such an auspicious occasion.

66

[ocr errors]

64

[ocr errors]

I am ready to admit, however, that there is a good deal of speculation in this attempted interpretation of the interesting "memorandum which puzzles your querist, and it may be that this is the only instance of consortium being used, either in the singular or the plural, for the conventional Societas"; but the occasion was peculiar, and the writer of the "report (as "the memorandum may be called) may be excused some deviation from strict form and some play of fancy in drawing it up, fresh, as he evidently was, from the festivities he was recording.

66

[ocr errors]

66

[ocr errors]

That Sir Francis Drake, however, was a member (socius or consors") of the Middle Temple I think there can be no doubt-elected probably honoris causâ, like so many other celebrities, to that Inn. That his name does not appear on the Register may probably be accounted for by his being absent-perhaps at sea-at the time of his election, and no note being entered of it. The Middle Temple Records are not without omissions.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

As regards the afterwards famous Admiral's provisional admission to the Inner Temple, I suppose there can be no denying that fact in the face of the entry to that effect on the Register of that Inn in 1582; but, if he afterwards paid his fine and proceeded to membership," of which Master Inderwick admits there is no record, the question why, after his " prosperous return from his voyage in 1586, he was not entertained and fêted there, instead of by the consortia generosorum of the Middle Temple, is, it seems to me, a very difficult JOHN HUTCHINSON (late Librarian to the M.T.). Dullatur House, Hereford.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

KEATS'SODE TO A NIGHTINGALE' (11 S. iv. 507).—Mr. A. R. Weekes's edition of 'The Odes of John Keats,' in "The University Tutorial Series," says in the Notes (p. 95) :

[ocr errors]

Faery lands are not so much countries where the fairies live-for that matter they used to live in England-but rather legendary countries of romance,' with probably an underlying thought of the realm of faery in which befel the adventures of Spenser's Faery Queen and her knights.

"Critics trace in this famous 'stanza an allusion to Claude's picture of the Enchanted Castle,' of which Keats had already written a detailed study in his Epistle to Reynolds."

Mr. Buxton Forman, in his small edition of The Complete Works of Keats' (Gowans & Gray, 1901), vol. ii. p. 102, notes, says:

"It seems to me unlikely that any particular story is referred to, though there are doubtless many stories that will answer more or less nearly to the passage."

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

He adds that the spelling "faery" is to be
preferred to "fairy," as "eliminating all
possible connexion of fairy-land with Christ-passage in 1889 was as follows:-
mas trees, tinsel, and Santa Claus, and carry-
ing the imagination safely back to the Middle
Ages-to Amadis of Gaul,' to Palmerin of
England,' and above all to the East, to the
Thousand and one Nights.'

Mr. H. Buxton Forman's note on this

[ocr errors]

I note that Tennyson's Recollections of the Arabian Nights include the "bulbul," and surely there is no need to put the poet on his oath (if that were possible in the Elysian fields) as to whether he ever heard a nightingale on the edge of the sea. Fairy country of any sort has its own architecture, geology, and natural history. Poets improve on Nature. Why shouldn't they, if they can? The way in which annotators of the classics leave out the imagination is astonishing.

"Forlorn" is surely a suitable word to associate with enchantment. On fairy ground one easily gets lost.

PENNIALINUS.

It would be pleasant to think that Keats was inspired by the Edipus Coloneus' when

he introduced the voice

that ofttimes hath

Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.
The "magic casements" might well be
those of the temple of the Eumenides,
adjoining which was the grove with its
warbling nightingales. These were "faery
lands" of the first order, sadly "forlorn,"
however, in the view of a modern poet, since
Greece is living Greece no more.

The difficulty presented by the "perilous seas" loses some of its formidable character

"In the last line of this stanza the word fairy instead of faery stands in the MS. and in the Annals; but the Lamia volume reads faery, which enhances the poetic value of the line in the A. R. BAYLEY.

subtlest manner.'

66

66

I beg to move the previous question. Why did the nightingale's song make Keats think of fairyland at all? Can it have been for the same reason that made the cuckoo's shout" make "the earth we pace" seem to Wordsworth an unsubstantial fairy place"? Can it have been because he was a poet? Surely such literalism as your the charm of poetry. And why are these correspondents' queries imply is fatal to particular points chosen for inquiry? We might as well ask what particular reason Keats had for associating the nightingale with Ruth--or why the full-throated song of summer in the first stanza turns into a "plaintive anthem" in the last-or why the eglantine should be pastoral any more than the hawthorn-" or any other reason why." What would the stanza gain in beauty-what would it not lose in significance-if we could "hook it to " some legend C. C. B. or bit of folk-lore ?

Is not the tradition of "forlornness" in fairies and fairyland derived, in the first instance, from the old belief that-though longer-lived and more powerful than human beings-fairies have not immortal souls, and are outside the scheme of Redemption?

F. H.

« FöregåendeFortsätt »