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grandfather that while he was on board the place to bring together his motley group Venerable in 1808 plays were acted for of individuals bent on ventilating their which he wrote prologues. We know further weird opinions on nearly every conceivable that he wrote a prologue and epilogue for subject, and gratifying their whims, Tobin's comedy of The Guardians, which crotchets, and fads in nearly every possible was performed eight years later. These direction. The same shafts of ridicule, were both included in Cole's 1875 edition. too, as in the tales, aimed at anything and In later years, moreover, he wrote the critiques everything, are to be found here, pointed of the opera for The Globe, and subsequently with the same dry humour and caustic wit. for The Examiner during the time that In one particular there is a distinct improveFonblanque-a former friend of both Shelley ment. The personages are sketched with and himself was editor and proprietor. skill, and are not portrayed merely for the Mrs. Clarke states, too, that he seldom | object of giving utterance to certain views. failed to take his seat at the opera, and gives We have more action and far less criticism. a list of the singers, actors, and dancers The incidents in this play, as in the others in whom he took the greatest delight. unlike those in the novels, where they are Finally, he shows a liking for the stage in few and simple--are many and complicated, his novels, and has given an able and clear so that no attempt will be made here to description of Greek drama and comedy narrate them in full. Mention can only be in the Hora Dramatica' which he con- made of the love episode running through it, tributed to Fraser's Magazine in 1852 and including the elopement of the hero with 1857. the wrong girl at the end of the first act, and his marriage to the right one at the conclusion of the second; and of the wild Irishman O'Prompt, who contributes much to the merriment by locking up some of the guests in a closet, breaking the fiddler's instrument to pieces, demolishing the painter's canvas, and bothering the Dilettante rehearsing 'Hamlet till he is completely out of his senses.

SO

The first play-a prose farce consisting of two acts and ten scenes-is named The Dilettanti.' It occupies folios 46-101, these being written on one side only. The paper was made in 1803, but the play was probably put together considerably later. The style points to this conclusion, while certain references to contemporary events and personages support such a conjecture. Angelica Catalani, for instance, is mentioned in the same The second play-a poetical drama in breath with Raphael, Michael Angelo, &c., blank verse, of two acts and nine scenes— and it was not until 1806 that she came is called The Circle of Loda.' It covers to London to make a great reputation in this folios 102-27, these being written on both country, where she remained until 1814. sides. The paper used was made in 1801, The play has many points of similarity to but, although an examination of the play the first tale by its author, Headlong Hall,' has produced little evidence to show when which was originally published in 1816. it was written, the composition can be safely An example may be given. Both the play ascribed to any period from five to twenty and the novel have a violinist and a painter, years later. In 1801 Peacock was only who in each case quarrel as to the relative sixteen years of age, and the maturity of the merits and demerits of their accomplish-style precludes the possibility of the drama ments. In particular, Chromatic with his Cremona in The Dilettanti' continually recalls the character with the same name in the novel, whose one delight is also his fiddle. Indeed, the characteristics not only of the first, but of all the Peacockian novels are present in this farce. The dramatis personæ all have suggestive names-Tactic, Metaphor, Shadow, and the like in the same manner as the sporting parsons in the tales are designated Drs. Gaster and Portpipe, a shaky stockjobbing firm Messrs. Catchflat & Co., or a churchwarden and parish clerk Messrs. Bluenose and Appletwig respectively. Further, the scene is laid at a country house, which suggested itself so often to Peacock's mind as the best

dating from that early period. The subjectmatter is either derived from some traditional source, which the writer has been unable to trace, or owes its inception to the imagination of the author. It recalls to some extent Peacock's legendary romances, 'Maid Marian' and 'The Misfortunes of Elphin,' and, on the whole, has little in common with his other work. Absence of plot and deficiency in character-sketching are not noticeable. Throughout Peacock has infused interest into the development of events. Of these the principal-around which everything revolves-is the struggle of Hidalvar between two women-Mengala and Rindane: he leaves the former, his wedded wife, and seeks with the latter other

shores. Have we, possibly, in this drama yet another veiled allusion to & theme dealt with more than once by Peacock-the desertion of Harriet Westbrook by Shelley, and the transference of his affections to Mary Godwin ?

The

The third play-a musical farce in prose end verse, consisting of two acts and four scenes--is entitled The Three Doctors.' It fills folios 128-49, written on both sides, and is followed by a rough draft which has notes and comments interspersed on other subjects. Written on paper marked W. Turner & Son, it is attributed by Cole to a period not long before 1815. This statement is borne out, more or less, by the contents, which show in several instances great analogy with those of Headlong Hall and 'Melincourt. The scene is laid in Merionethshire, that of Headlong Hall' being placed in the adjoining county of Carnarvon. We know that Peacock first visited North Wales-where he met his future wife-in 1810, so that it is most likely the play was written some time after this date. following points of similarity between the play and the two novels also deserve notice. Shenkin's way of speaking English with a Welsh accent recalls the Sexton's efforts in Headlong Hall.' O'Fir is picked out of the water in the same manner as Mr. Cranium is in the tale. Although Sir Peter Paxarett bears a resemblance only in name to the Sir Telegraph Paxarett of Melincourt,' Humphry Hippy of Venison Hall is a faithful reproduction of Humphry Hippy of Hypocon House in the same tale, or vice versa. Marmaduke Milestone, the landscape gardener, exactly coincides with the character of the same name and vocation in Peacock's first novel. His plan for arranging Lord Littlebrain's park, which is torn to pieces in his portfolio, is similar to the two plans of the same gentleman's park which are shown by Mr. Milestone in Headlong Hall' to the Misses Chromatic, and which Peacock borrowed, although he has not admitted it, from Payne Knight's didactic poem 'The Landscape.' The main idea of the plot, however, has no counterpart elsewhere. It is skilfully worked out, while the rivalry between the three doctors shows Peacock's poignant satire at its best. His dislike to doctors is known to all acquainted with his works. He looked upon them as a means of accelerating death rather than prolonging life. A character in Melincourt' is called Killquick, who, needless to say, belongs to the medical profession.

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These unpublished works are thus not only noteworthy in themselves, but also interesting on account of showing us Peacock in a new light. Whatever else may be said, the reproach so often brought against his novels

as well as against the early productions of his son-in-law, George Meredith, which show their influence cannot be levelled at these plays; for they are by no means devoid of plot, and the characters are clearly delineated. In one point especially, as has been shown, they recall the loosely connected dialogues which are known as the novels, in that they satirize the crazes and fads of the time. Replete with humour and clever sayings, written in a flexible style, and bearing everywhere the imprint of a scholarly discrimination and judgment, they clearly betray their authorship. In conclusion, it may be mentioned that the songs they contain have already appeared in N. & Q.' (10 S. x. 441; xi. 43). A. B. YOUNG, M.A. Ph.D.

'DICTIONARY

OF

NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY: EPITOME,' 1903. (See 10 S. ix. 21, 47, 83, 152, 211, 294, 397, 431; x. 183, 282.)

APPENDED is a third list of corrections, omissions, and suggestions. Of the persons named, over twenty have passed away since 1903, and they are included here for convenient reference, as suggestions.

deacon of Coventry 1683-4. Author of Genuine Addison (Lancelot), 1632-1703. Add ArchUse of the Two Sacraments,' c. 1670; West Barbary,' 1671. Father of Joseph Addison. Akerman (John Yonge), 1806-73. Add: Author of Descriptive Catalogue of Roman 'Remains of Pagan Saxondom,' Coins,' 1834; 1855; Tales of Humour from the Italian,' 1824 ; Tales of other Days,' 1830.

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Allen (Robert), author of the Odorifferous Garden of Charitie,' 1603.

Ames (Joseph), 1689-1759.
English bibliography.
Arden (Mary).

Add: Founder of

See Shakespeare (Mary), post. Ascham (Antony), d. 1550. Add: Author of Confusions and Revolutions of Governments,' 1649.

Austin (Louis Frederic), b. Brooklyn, 9 Oct., 1852. Educated Liverpool. Settled in London. Author of In D. Sept., 1905. Journalist. Haste and at Leisure.'

"much

Bagford (John), 1650-1716.D.N.B.' says: "Brought together a number of title-pages and engravings, to obtain which he mutilated many rare volumes." See Mr. Gordon Duff's Westminster Printers,' 1906, p. 8, on the maligned John Bagford." It is there stated that British Museum generally associated with Bag"the monstrous collection of title-pages in the ford's name was made by the venerated founder of English bibliography, Joseph Ames."

Bailey (J. E.), 1840-88. Add: Wrote article in Bibliographer, 1882, On the Authorship of "The Whole Duty of Man.'

Barnard (Elizabeth, Lady), née Hall, d. 1670. Shakespeare's granddaughter, and last direct descendant. Left directions in her will to sell New Place, Stratford, the final home of the poet. Her grave at Abington marked with a mulberry tree planted by Garrick.'

Barnard (Sir John) of Abington, Northamptonshire, d. 1674 (?). Married Shakespeare's granddaughter Elizabeth Nash, née Hall. Knighted

by Charles II. in 1661.

Barnes (Joshua), 1654-1712. Add that his works include an edition of Anacreon, 1705. Baxter (Nathaniel), fl. 1806. Add: Translator of Calvin's lectures upon "Jonas," 1578, and St. John, 1580.

Beale (Dorothea), LL.D. of Edin., d. 9 Nov., 1906. Principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College from 1858. One of the pioneers of modern

education.

Becket (Andrew), Son of Becket the publisher and bookseller. Author of A Concordance to Shakespeare,' 1787; Proposal for printing Shakespeare Set Free,' 1812; Shakespeare 's Himself Again,' 1815

66

Becket (William). Translator of Calvin's Commentary upon Philippians, 1584. Belamy (Daniel), d. 1788. Add: Co-author of The Modern Receipt; or, A Cure for Love,' 1739. Bellenden (Mary). Famous member of the Court of George II.

Bellew (J. C. M.), 1823-74. Add: Author of 'Shakespere's Home at New Place,' 1863. Beveridge (William), 1637-1708. Add: Styled the "great reviver and restorer of primitive piety.' Left a fortune to societies for spreading Christian knowledge.

Bickley (F. B.), d. 1905. Of the MS. Dept. at the British Museum. Edited the Little Red Book of Bristol,' and co-operated in several antiquarian works.

of

Bill (John), d. 1630, aged 56. Bookseller and King's Printer. Left 300l. to be spent on his funeral. Buried at St. Ann's, Blackfriars. Bingham (John). Translator The Tactiks, or Art of Embattailling an Army Elianus, after ye Grecian Manner,' 1616-31. Birmingham (Matilda, Lady). Her portrait published c. 1800.

Bisset (James) 1762 ?-1832. Add: Wrote 'Dramatic Excellencies of the Young Roscius,' 1804; Jubilean Dramatic Pageant,' 1827. Autobiography and Remains' published by T. B. Dudley, 1904.

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Black (Charles Bertram), d. 30 Sept., 1906, in his eighty-fourth year. Eldest son of Adam Black. Wrote many of the guide-books issued by his firm.

Bonde (W.), Bachelor of divinitie." Supposed writer of the Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon,' 1526, reprinted 1531.

Brevint (Daniel), 1616-95. For "Fellow of Jesus College read "First Fellow of Jesus College on Laud's foundation." Add: Author of Mystery of the Roman Mass Laid Open, Saul and Samuel....or, New Ways....which tempt Men to Rome ; and some works in Latin against the Roman Catholic Church.

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Brooke (Richard), 1791-1861. Add: Wrote Liverpool as it was during....the Eighteenth Century,' 1853.

Broughton (Hugh), 1549-1612. Add: Born at Oldbury, Shropshire; educated at Cambridge through the liberality of Bernard Gilpin (q.v.); distinguished for his skill in Hebrew and knowledge of Rabbinical matters. In addition to the list in Lowndes he published: 'Advertisement of the Corruption in our Handling of Religion," 1604; 'Apologie....defending that our Lord died in the Time properly foretold to Daniel,'

1592.

Buchanan (Robert), essayist, novelist and poet. Born Caverswall, Lancs, 1841; d. London, 1901. See Stuart, post. Bute, fourth Earl and first Marquis, 1744-1814.

Bute, second Marquis, 1793-1848. See Stuart, post. Author of Critical Description of....Chaucer's Carey (Wm.). "The friend of modern art." Pilgrims,' painted by Stothard, 1818.

author of The Modern Receipt; or, A Cure for Carrington (James) of Trin. Coll., Camb. CoLove,' 1739, written when he was 19 years old. lisher. Master of the Stationers' Company in 1782. Caslon (Thomas), d. 1783, bookseller and pubDevonshire, b. 23 July, 1833; d. 24 March, 1908. Cavendish (Spencer Compton), eighth Duke of Described by Lord Rosebery as one of the reserve forces of the country."

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Add: Codrington (Robert), d. 1665. editor of Esop's Fables....in English, French, and Latin,' 1666.

Colet (John). For 1467 ?-1519 read 1466-1519. Add: At one time in danger of being burnt by Henry VIII., according to Bp. Latimer.

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Conham (Abraham). Wrote preface to Bp. Babington's Questions and Answers upon the Commandments,' c. 1596.

Cotton (Clement). Translator of Calvin's commentary on Hebrews, 1605, and Isaiah, 1609.

Craig (Rev. John), d. 1877 (?), Vicar of Leamington. Said to have spent his own fortune and those of his respective wives upon the fabric of period to Warwick Gaol for a technical offence. the parish church there. Committed for a short

Craig (W. J.), b. Aghanloo, co. Derry, 1843; 1891. d. 12 Dec., 1906. Editor of Oxford Shakespeare,"

years a member of the firm of Macmillan. Craik (George Lillie), d. Oct. 1905. For forty Mar

ried Dinah Maria Mulock the novelist. Crosse (Andrew), 1784-1855. Add: His 'Memoirs' published by his widow Cornelia in 1857.

Currie (Mary Montgomerie, Lady), better known under her pen-name of "Violet Fane." D. 1905. Author of From Dawn to Noon," 1872; Denzil Place,' 1875; and several other works.

Dawbarn (William) of Liverpool. Author of 'Government, Conduct, and Example,' c. 1870; 'Essays Tales,' &c., 1872.

Dawson (Charles), Master of the Free School, for Youth,' York, 1824. Hutton Bushell, Yorkshire. Author of 'Poetry

Dering (Edward), 1540-76. Ada Author of A Sparing Restraint of Many Lavish Untruths,' 1568.

WM. JAGGARD.

(To be continued.)

ETON: BARNARD, HEAD MASTER.-In Brinvilliers' shows that lady kneeling on the Scarborough Museum is a document of the scaffold without support, while the which the following is a copy :executioner holds the raised sword behind her;

Eton Feb. 1 1754

I promise to relinquish all pretensions to the upper mastership of Eton school, & even in case it shou'd be offered to me to refuse ; upon condition that Mr. Hetherington & Mr. Lyne will assist me with their votes & interest to procure the under mastership.

Witness my hand E. Barnard This document is one of a miscellaneous

collection put away in drawers in the room containing books as well as curiosities, perhaps called "the library." It is in the tier second from the door, in the fourth drawer from the top.

Mr. Lionel Cust in his 'History of Eton College,' 1899, p. 115, says :—

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'When Dr. Sumner resigned in 1754 the post of Head-master, there seemed every probability that the Usher, Thomas Dampier, would follow in his footsteps and succeed to the post.... After a severe contest the post of Head-master was conferred on Edward Barnard.....Barnard was supported by the Townshend family, to one of whom he was resident tutor at Eton two years before his election."

According to Annals of the King's

College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor,' by Wasey Sterry, 1898, p. 169, Barnard was in 1752 private tutor at Eton to Charles and Henry Townshend." "Usher " (ostiarius) was the old term for "Lower Master."

66

a

William Hetherington was elected Fellow of Eton 16 Feb., 1749, and Richard Lyne was elected 15 Jan., 1752, the latter being next in order to the former. See Registrum Regale: sive, Catalogus, I. Præpositorum,' &c., Etonæ, Apud Jos. Pote, 1774, p. xi.

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Thomas Dampier was Lower Master 1745-67; therefore he retained his lowermastership while Barnard was Head Master. Barnard filled that post from 1754 to 1765. See Eton College Lists, 1678-1790,' edited by R. A. Austen Leigh (Eton College, Spottiswoode & Co., 1907), pp. xxx, xxxiii. Presumably either Hetherington and Lyne did not accept Barnard's self-denying offer, or Barnard cancelled it.

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

EXECUTIONER'S BLOCK.-Before now the height of a beheading-block has attracted the attention of N. & Q.' From two illustrations in M. Georges Cain's Walks in Paris' it is plain that this point d'appui was sometimes dispensed with altogether. The copy of a woodcut on a broadside of 'L'Exécution remarquable de Madame de

and a contemporary print of the doing to death of Gontaut-Biron in 1602 exhibits him in like condition. In his case the headsman struck him so terrible a sword-blow that "his head flew to the midst of the....courtyard" (pp. 190 and 156 respectively). ST. SWITHIN.

"DISGATE": “DISCHAUCE." (See 10 S. xi. 385.)-One may be allowed to quote another, and more interesting, dis- compound, one, indeed, inviting criticism-to disgate." In 'The Brut, or the Chronicles 1422-3 (p. 449), there appears :of England' (E.E.T.S.), under the year

66

"And pat same yere, pe secund day of Marche, per was brent in Northfolk a prest þat was dysgated of hys clergy for hys mys-byleue and hys herysy."

The next entry records the death of "Richard Whyttyngton, Mercer.”—Date of MS. c. 1450.

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chauce," in 1. 471 of The Tale of Beryn,' Another rare dis- compound is to disnether garments :c. 1400, meaning to take off the hose, or

And þerfor, love, dischauce yewe nat til þis chek

be do.

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THE EEL-PIE SHOP. The pieman is a thing of the past, for unless I am much at fault there is no living representative of this ancient craft and mystery.

During great football matches in the North hawkers of meat pies are allowed on the ground when the game is not in progress, but these bear no resemblance to the Flying Pieman and his contemporaries. Within my own knowledge the last example in London was a character who haunted the eastern part of the City, pushing a kind of portable oven on three wheels. His cry was "Mincey mutton! Mincey! Mincey! Mincey! all 'ot, all 'ot! Try 'em! I never tried them, a fact I now regret; but perhaps I was wise. Presumably affluent piemen became proprietors of eel-pie shops, but evidently compilers of directories classified them as pastrycooks, and they ceased to be identified long before lottery-office

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keepers, gingerbread bakers, and lanternleaf and horn-plate manufacturers disappeared from the trades classification.

Where are the eel-pie shops to-day? They are worthy of better treatment than silent extinction. Surely some survive in the neighbourhood of Newington Butts, Mile End Gate, Deptford Broadway, or similar districts; but at present we have to record with regret that the famous Eel-Pie Shop in High Street, Islington, almost opposite "The Angel," has ceased to do business. It boasted an existence of over a century, and its appearance would substantiate at least two-thirds of that claim. The tin cupboards which kept the pies at a suitable temperature, and the marble-lined window in which two bowls of mince retained a perennial freshness, were indications of maturity and unchanging success. These premises and some of their neighbours are very much older than the plain brick exterior wall suggests. The low-ceilinged shops into which you step down are undoubtedly earlier than the commencement of the nineteenth century.

ALECK ABRAHAMS, "CHOPS OF THE CHANNEL."- N.E.D.' does not note this familiar phrase, but it is obviously an accepted one of very long standing, for it is to be found in a letter of 16 June, 1680, from the Duke of Ormond to his son, the Earl of Ossory. The Duke observes :

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Queries.

formation on family matters of only private interest WE must request correspondents desiring into affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct.

"PURPOSE," ALLEGED NAME OF A DANCE. -Whyte Melville, in The Queen's Marys,' xvi. (1862), says :—

"The Purpose was so called because the figure exacted that at stated intervals the couples should dance together through the doorway into an adjoining room, and, having made the circuit of that apartment, should return, unbosomed of any secrets they might have had to interchange, to the rest of the laughing company. It was a figure obviously adopted for the triumph of coquetry and the dis

comfiture of mankind."

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Oxford. THACKERAY QUERIES.-1. Where is to be found Thackeray's quotation "slant o'er the snowy swart

?

2. Does any one of your readers know the fable or fairy tale to which the same author refers in speaking of "the Prince of the Sidereal Realms "?

(Prof.) RICHARD ACKERMANN, Ph.D. Nuremberg, Kressenstrasse 2.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THESES: DUNCAN LIDDEL.-In Albrecht von Haller's 'Bibliotheca Medicinæ Practica' (1777), vol. ii. p. 316, there is given a list of theses maintained at the University of Helmstädt under Prof. Duncan Liddel as præses. Haller cites his authorities, but in contracted forms which he does not explain. Thus :—

Burckh.

De melancholia. Helmst. : 1596.
De apoplexia. Helmst. 1605. Riv.
De morbis. Helmst.: 1598. He.
De symptomatibus. Helmst. : 1598. He.
Who are Burckh., Riv., He. ?

The last suggests J. C. Heffter's 'Museum Disputatorium (1764); but although in vol. ii. p. 243 of that work Nos. 4176 to 4189 are fourteen theses maintained under

The following occurs in the Exeter Flying Liddel as præses, the two noted by Haller Post for 7 April, 1859 :

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"Exeter Guildhall.-William Phillips, a 'navvy, in the employ of Mr. James Taylor, was charged with being drunk and committing a breach of the peace in South Street the previous evening. The Bench inflicted a fine of 58. and the expenses; or the alternative of six hours in the stocks. A fortnight was allowed him to pay the money."

HARRY HEMS.

,

are not included.
P. J. ANDERSON.
University Library, Aberdeen.

"COMPOSTELA.”. -This is the name of the chief city of the old kingdom of Galicia, famous for possessing the shrine of St. James, the Apostle and patron of Spain. It was also called Santiago de Compostela

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