long; but, especially in connection with the subject, may appear to merit preservation: "TO JOHN COLLINS, ESQ. "When Players and Managers of Drury, Their Treasury's close-drain'd finance; Or Cherry shown his Soldier's Daughter'; I fain had written long ago, Some tribute of my thanks, or so; Some warm and faithful sweet eulogia. At reading thy Scripscrapologia; But whisp'ring fears thus marr'd the cause- Ah! when I now invoke the Nine, But hence, ye stupefying fears! Oh! as I read thy motley page, May Ashted's blessings round thee pour, As when she first beheld her Johnny." [1804.] The well-known song "To-morrow" has figured in many collections; the last stanza, with its fine pathos, is eminently poetical. The Rev. James Plumtre has the following remarks upon it:. "The serious pun, which is similar to the Paronomasia of the Greeks and Romans, is sometimes used by Collins in his songs. The "Mulberry Tree" has some, but the fruit is not of the best flavour. The following, in his song of "To-morrow, or the Prospect of Hope," (the whole of which is given in my Collection, vol. i. p. 194), is not bad: And when I at last must throw off this frail covering, On the brink of the grave I'll not seek to keep hovering, But my face in the glass I'll serenely survey, And with smiles count each wrinkle and furrow; Letters to John Aikin, M.D., on his Volume of Vocal Poetry, 8vo, Cambridge, 1811, p. 372 Having, as we have seen, been successively a staymaker, a miniature painter, and an actor, Collins was somewhat advanced in life when he took up his residence in Birmingham. He was a big ponderous man, of the Johnsonian type, and duly impressed with a conviction of his varied talents. Men of this manner are apt to become unwieldy with age; and so it was, I am led to believe, with our friend Collins-whose Brush probably ceased to attract the public, with his growing inability to sustain the labours of a sprightly monologue. Even in 1804, the date of his book, he speaks of it as his "once popular performance," and he seems then to have retired into private life. He continued to reside at Great Brook Street, Ashted, with a niece, Miss Brent. This lady, to whose parentage some degree of mystery was attached, was possessed of a fortune, and kept some kind of carriage. The uncle may not have been entirely devoid of means, but I fancy was somewhat dependent on his niece for the comforts of age. He died suddenly a few years later probably in 1809 or 1810, as Mr. Plumpton, in the book above referred to, published in 1811, speaks of him (p. 331) as "the late ingenious Collins, author of The Evening Brush" -and Miss Brent returned to Bath. John Collins was undoubtedly a man of shrewd and kindly humour, as well as considerable natural talent. His song, "To-morrow," is a piece of unquestionable merit: though whether it deserves the extravagant laudation of Mr. Palgrave whose opinions on poetry will be taken cum grano by many who have read his criticisms on art-is another question. Many other pieces in the little volume before me-"How to be Happy," p. 110; "The Author's Brush through Life," p. 152, &c.are of great, if not equal merit, and the entire collection is well worthy revival and perusal. WILLIAM BATES. Edgbaston. Your able correspondent, MR. PINKERTON, has been enabled to supplement Mr. Palgrave's very scanty notice in The Golden Treasury, of the author of the admirable poem "To-morrow." So long since as June 9, 1855, I had called attention, in the pages of this periodical, to Collins and his Scripscrapologia, and said, "The book contains a variety of poetical pieces; among which are several songs. One of these, 'In the downhill of life, when I find I'm declining,' still enjoys a justly deserved popularity." ("N. & Q." 1st S. xi. 450.) I also quoted at length (apropos to a subject then under discussion) some other very popular lines by the same ready writer, but which were often ascribed to other authors, "The Chapter of Kings," that historical memoria technica which contains such well-remembered lines as "Then Harry the Seventh in fame grew big, And Harry the Eighth was as fat as a pig." The Scripscrapologia has another song of the same character as 66 To-morrow," and embracing many of its qualities. As the book is so rare, perhaps you would like to print the song in question, which I here subjoin : "HOW TO BE HAPPY.-A SONG. "In a cottage I live, and the cot of content, Where a few little rooms, for ambition too low, Are furnish'd as plain as a patriarch's tent, With all for convenience, but nothing for show: Like Robinson Crusoe's, both peaceful and pleasant, By industry stor'd, like the hive of a bee; And the peer who looks down with contempt on a peasant, Can ne'er be look'd up to with envy by me. "And when from the brow of a neighbouring hill, On the mansions of Pride, I with pity look down, While the murmuring stream and the clack of the mill, I prefer to the murmurs and clack of the town, As blythe as in youth, when I danc'd on the green, I disdain to repine at my locks growing grey: Thus the autumn of life, like the springtide serene, Makes approaching December as cheerful as May. "I lie down with the lamb, and I rise with the lark, So I keep both disease and the doctor at bay; And I feel on my pillow no thorns in the dark, Which reflection might raise from the deeds of the day: For, with neither myself nor my neighbour at strife, Though the sand in my glass may not long have to For my friend I've a board, I've a bottle and bed, Ay, and ten times more welcome that friend if he's poor; And for all that are poor if I could but find bread, Not a pauper without it should budge from my door. "Thus while a mad world is involv'd in mad broils, For a few leagues of land or an arm of the sea; And Ambition climbs high and pale Penury toils, For what but appears a mere phantom to me; Through life let me steer with an even clean hand, And a heart uncorrupted by grandeur or gold; And, at last, quit my berth, when this life's at a stand, For a berth which can neither be bought nor be sold." CUTHBERT BEDE. I find the following account of this author in Dr. Hofer's Nouvelle Biographie Générale, tome xi. col. 194: "COLLINS (John), acteur et littérateur anglais, né vers 1738, mort en 1808, à Birmingham. Il se fit remarquer au théâtre dans presque tous les genres. Il chantait avec une rare perfection des Romances et d'autres poésies de sa composition. On a de lui: The Morning Brush, ouvrage facétieux. Ses cours publics lui procurèrent une assez grande fortune. Il était aussi un des propriétaires du Birmingham Chronicle." REV. F. S. POPE (3rd S. iv. 395.)-MR. BRODRICK begs to inform the inquirer that Mr. Pope, formerly minister of Baxtergate Chapel, Whitby, left that place, and died at York, he believes, some twelve or fifteen years ago. MR. BRODRICK knew and was well acquainted with Dr. Bateman. The Rev. W. L. Pope, Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford, and now Minister of the Chapel of Ease, Tunbridge Wells, is the brother of the late Mr. Pope, of Whitby. 18, Talbot Square, Hyde Park. MRS. COKAYNE (3rd S. iv. 305, 338, 415.) — I thank DR. RIMBAULT for his courteous and very satisfactory answer to my query. His account is confirmed in several particulars by Wood in his Life of Aston Cockaine, for so he spells the name (A. O. iv. 128, ed. Bliss.) The tradition of "Dr. Donne's chamber" at Ashbourne is valuable as at once identifying her with his "noblest and lovingest sister." H. J. H. thinks it "odd that Mrs. Cokain should be so little known," not being aware perhaps that there was more than one lady of the name at the period. I shrewdly suspect that he has learnt something more than he knew before, through my query, which, like many others, was addressed to "N. & Q.," not in mere ignorance, but in order to save time in further consulting books of reference, and to elicit something more than I did know on the matter. As to the story of Charles Cotton's witticism on her head-dress, and his losing her estate by his humour, I can scarcely reconcile it with the fact that she had children of her own, unless she intended to disinherit them for the sake of her nephew. Will H. J. H. allow me to ask him to trace the relationship? In the History and Topography of Ashbourne, &c. published in 1839, it is stated that Thomas Cockayne lived in London under the feigned name of Brown (p. 16). On what earlier authority does this statement rest? Some of DELTA's queries are answered by Wood (A. O. iv. 128), who says that "during the time of the civil wars he suffered much for his religion (which was that of Rome) and the king's cause, pretended then to be a baronet made by King Charles I. after he, by violence, had left the parliament about Jan. 10, 1641, yet not deemed so to be by the officers of arms, because no patent was enrolled to justify it, nor any mention of it made in the docquet-books belonging to the clerk of the crown in chancery, where all patents are taken notice of which pass the great seal; and afterwards he adds "The fair lordship of Ashbourne also was some years ago sold to Sir William Boothby, Bart." Dr. Bliss refers to the British Bibliographer, vol. ii. pp. 450-463, which I have not got. CPL. JOHN DONNE, LL.D. (3rd S. iv. 295, 307.) – Thanks for the information given in your answer, though it does not meet the precise point to which my query was directed. I was aware of his addressing Lord Denbigh as his patron, but I do not see the connection between this and his being supposed to have held the rectory of Martinsthorpe. May I ask where his will is to be found? Was it ever proved? The "Sr Constantine Huygens, Knight," to whom Donne's son addressed the letter in the presentation copy of the BIAOANATOZ, now in the possession of your correspondent A. B. G., was not the brother but the father of great astronomer. "HUYGHENS (Chrétien), Hughenius, vit le jour à La Haye, en 1629, de Constantin Huyghens, gentilhomme hollandois, connu par de mauvaises poésies latines, qu'il a très-bien intitulées Momenta desultoria, 1655, in-12."Dictionnaire Historique, &c., pour servir de Supplément aux Delices des Pays-Bas, i. 274. Paris, 1786. CPL. SCOTTISH (3rd S. iv. 454.)-I beg to add a more complete answer to ANGLUS than I last forwarded to you. It is true that ish, terminating some words, has the signification of rather, as darkish; but the other word, brackish, is not an English word at all without the ish. But ish has no more meaning in the word Scottish than it has in Danish, Swedish, Spanish, &c. A Dane, Scot, or Swede is absolutely of Danish, Scottish, and Swedish descent, not in degree or rather so. In German isch is a termination to the words Danisch, Englisch, Schottisch, Swedisch, Spanisch, in the same sense as in Danish, &c. SCOTUS. EXECUTION FOR WITCHCRAFT (3rd S. iv. 508.) Sir Walter Scott, in his Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, mentions a trial and execution for this supposed crime which took place in Scotland of a date six years later than the English case referred to by PELAGIUS. In 1722, the SheriffDeputy of Sutherland gave sentence of death, which was carried into execution on an insane old woman who had a daughter lame of hands and feet, which was attributed to the mother's being used to transform her into a pony, and getting her shod by the devil. (See Letter 9th.) flicted on the sheriff for this gross abuse of the Sir Walter adds that no punishment was inlaw. It was the last case of the kind in Scotland; yet such was the force of prejudice, and of misdeclaration published eight years afterwards by taken interpretation of the Scriptures that, in a the Associated Presbytery of Seceders from the Church of Scotland (and which will be found in the Scots Magazine of 1743) there is classed among other national sins, against which they desire to testify, "the repeal of the penal statutes against witches." S. MUTILATION OF SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS (3rd S. iv. 286, 363, 457.)-My note of certain monuments which had suffered mutilation has provoked so many observations in the pages of “N. & Q.” that I cannot let the subject drop without making one or two remarks. I admit that my language was strong. I intended that it should be so. The uncalled-for destruction of family records, if condemned at all, must be condemned strongly. Had the monuments in question been to members of my own family, I should, without a moment's hesitation, have placed the matter in the hands of my solicitor; as they did not, I sent copies of the inscriptions in order that for the benefit of future genealogists, they might be rescued from oblivion. VEBNA assumes that the slabs in question "have been overlaid by tile paving, more suited to the sacred character of the spot." As far as I can remember, the new paving was of white bricks, such as I should be sorry to see in any decent P kitchen. VEBNA adds, that I am unfortunate in my selection of a signature." When I wrote the note, I had just come from a place named and wanting to put some letter at the end of my note, er P. suggested itself to me, and so I wrote XP. I hope this solution of VEBNA's "mare's nest" will prove as satisfactory as that equally intricate puzzle which, when deciphered, was "Bill Stumps, his mark." I agree entirely with the remarks made by MR. H. T. ELLACOMBE and MR. P. HUTCHINSON, whom I have to thank for writing replies which I felt too idle to do myself. I must add, in conclusion, that I think the destruction of our old sepulchral memorials-the only witnesses to the greatness of many a bygone family - is to be deeply lamented. And I would ask, what place is so well fitted as the House of God to be a storehouse and record room of the names and actions of those who, while living, have worshipped at His altars, who are numbered among the faithful departed, and whose actions "Smell sweet and blossom in the dust"? XP. A friend of mine visited Hereford Cathedral lately on purpose to see if the tombstone of a great-great-grandparent required rechiseling or any other repairs. Alas! the cathedral had been "restored." The tombstone was gone, and nothing could be learned about it; and the whole of that part of the floor had been relaid with beautiful tiles to look like marbles and granites. The sooner this sort of thing is put a stop to the better. P. P. LONGEVITY OF CLERGYMEN (3rd S. iv. 370, 502.) To the instances named by your correspondents you may add the following: The Rev. William Kirby, the celebrated entomologist, was rector of Barham, in Suffolk, sixty-eight years, and died July 4, 1850, in the ninety-first year of his age. (Life, by Freeman, p. 505.) Dr. William Wall, the author of The History of Infant Baptism, was vicar of Shoreham, in Kent, fifty-three years, and died January 13, 1727-8, aged eighty-two years. (Hook's Ecclesiastical Biography, vol. viii. p. 642.) Dr. Wall was succeeded in the vicarage of Shoreham by the Rev. Vincent Perronet, who held it fifty-nine years, and died May 9, 1785, aged ninety-two years. (Memoir of Mr. Perronet in the Arminian Magazine, vol. xxii. 1799.) The case of two clergymen, one immediately following the other, and together officiating in the same parish for the space of one hundred and twelve years, is a length of sacred service I think not often paralleled. GEO. I. COOPER. EHRET, FLOWER PAINTER: BARBERINI VASE (3rd S. iv. 432.)-I have a catalogue of the sale of the Portland Museum, with the purchasers' names and the prices in manuscript. There were many purchasers of the works of the above flowerpainter. Among them are the names of Lady Weymouth, who bought sixty-two pieces, Lady Stamford twenty, Lord Brownlow twenty-seven, Wedgewood (the potter) eighty, Lord Parker nine, Walker ninety-two, Shepherd fifty-one, Morrison thirty-six, and many others. I find the prices varied from 17. 3s. to 87. 18s. 6d. the lot of four paintings. The celebrated Wedgewood was a purchaser of prints and other things at this sale, and the following note in the catalogue regarding his bidding for the Barberini Vase may not be unacceptable: -"10297., bought for the Duke of Portland; cost the Duchess 1300l. Mem., the contest for the vase was between his Grace and Mr. Wedgewood. On his Grace asking Mr. Wedgewood why he opposed him, he replied, 'He was determined to have it, unless his Grace permitted him to take a mould from it for his pottery, as he wished to possess every rare specimen of art that could be attained;' on which his Grace gave Wedgewood his consent, and the vase was knocked down, and immediately put into the hands of Mr. Wedgewood, who has moulded from the same in imitation of bronze, &c." I notice Marryatt, in The History of Porcelain, states it was knocked down to the Duchess at 1800l., whereas my Catalogue states 1029. Which is correct? A. P. D. REV. THOMAS CRAIG (3rd S. iv. 325.) The Rev. Thomas Craig, minister of the Associate Congregation of Whitby, 1789, who published Three Sermons on Important Subjects, Whitby, 1791, of the time of whose death your correspondent, S. Y. R., wishes to be informed, was my father. He died in the year 1799. THOMAS CRAIG, Sixty-one years Pastor of the Congregational DR. DAVID LAMONT (3rd S. iv. 498.)- Dr. David Lamont, about the date of whose death S. Y. R. makes inquiry, died in 1837. I cannot tell the day of the but that may, year, I suppose, be had, from any contemporary local newspaper. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1822, and preached before King George IV. in the High Church of Edinburgh, on the forenoon of August 25, same year. S. I should say that in case of any objectionable BAPTISMAL NAMES (3rd S. iii. 328; iv. 508.)name being given at the font, such as those cited at p. 328, vol. iii., a refusal might be made to baptise on the ground of the sponsors attempting to throw scorn, and to bring contempt, upon so solemn an office of the church. I very much doubt, however, whether any clergyman could refuse to give such a name as "Bessie." In one re gister I have seen the name "Bob" recorded, and a clergyman of my acquaintance baptised one of his own children by the name "Tom.” "Kate," too, is of frequent occurrence. Whether Sir Thomas Dick Lauder's second name was a surname, or an abbreviation of Richard, I cannot say. OXONIENSIS. TYDIDES (3rd S. iv. 139, 318.)-I have no conjecture as to who or what is intended by "Tydides" but a hint or two may put others in the way which I cannot find. Of course the head of the clerical Melanippus on the table is that of some clergyman ill-used by his bishop,-perhaps his preferment eaten up. For the meal of Tydeus, see Smith's Classical Dictionary, iii. 1195. The "blazon" of Tydeus is given by Eschylus: Εχει δ ̓ ὑπέρφρον σῆμ' ἐπ' ἀσπίδος τόδε, Φλέγονθ ̓ ὑπ ̓ ἄστροις οὐρανὸν τετυγμένον· Λαμπρὰ δὲ πανσέληνος ἐν μέσῳ σάκει Πρέσβιστον ἄστρων, νυκτὸς ὀφθαλμὸς πρέπει. Septem contra Thebas, v. 389. Tydides has added to the arms of Tydeus, Gwillim says:— "He beareth azure, the sun, the full moon, and the seven starres, or; the two first in chiefe, and the last of orbicular form in base. It is said that this coate armour pertained to Johannes de Fontibus, sixth bishop of Ely, who had that (after a sorte) in his escutcheon which Joseph had in his dream."-Gwillim, Display of Heraldrie, p. 123, second ed. 1632. Was any bishop of Ely, about a century ago, charged (after a sorte) with ecclesiastical cannibalism? H. B. C. U. U. Club. CAPNOBATE (3rd S. iv. 497.)- The only information I am aware of, respecting the Capnobatæ, is in the French translation of Strabo, where it is suggested that intoxication by inhaling smoke and using the vapour of linseed as a bath are intended by that designation, referring to Herodotus (i. 202, iv. 75). With due submission, I think this very doubtful. Strabo, in the section previous to the mention of the Capnobatæ (VII. iii. 2), refers to the Hippemolgi (milkers of mares), Galactophagi (people who live on milk), Abii (people devoid of riches), Hamaxœci (dwellers in waggons); and in the two following sections he mentions the Capnobatæ (people who cover the smoke), who are described as religious (Beoσebes), and abstaining from animal food (μúxo), but who lived in a quiet way on honey, milk, and cheese. They were also remarkable (Strabo, vII. iii. 4) for living in a state of celibacy, which they also adopted from religious motives. The obvious inference, I conceive, is, that requiring no cooking, the Capnobatæ closed the aperture (kaπνоdóкη) which served as a chimney, and thus received the characteristic description of Kanνosára, people who cover the smoke. Their resemblance to the Hindoos cannot escape notice: Contrary to what might have been expected in a hot climate, but agreeable to the custom of almost all Hindoos, one small door is the only outlet for smoke, and the only inlet for air and light.” (“The Hindoos," L. E. K. i. 387.) Their state of celibacy also has its parallel amongst the Hindoos, who, by destroying female infants, augment the ratio of the males, and consequently of unmarried men, leading thereby to the legitimatised prostitution of which Ceylon and the Nairs of Malabar furnish examples. (The Hindoos, i. 247, 285-287.) To remedy this evil, marriage is rigidly enforced by the Hindoo parent on his child, even prior to maturity, and the widower speedily provides himself with another wife. (ld. i. 284.) The geographical connection is thus shown: 66 Tartary, or the environs of Mount Caucasus, is the original natal soil of the Brahmins." (Id. i. 352.) This chain reaches to the east shore of the Euxine, whilst the Mysii or Mosi, amongst whom the Capnobatæ are found, occupy the south-western and western coasts of the same sea. The linguistic connection of the Hindoos, the Romans and Greeks, is well ascertained. This brief notice of the Capnobatæ, which Strabo extracts from Posidonius (a teacher of Cicero), is an historical trace of what has been called the Thraco-Pelasgian origin of the Greeks. T. J. BUCKton. JOSEPH WASHINGTON (3rd S. iv. 516.) He died a year later than is stated in the reply to C. J. R., as his will was dated Feb. 25, and proved April 7, 1693-4. He describes himself as, not of Gray's Inn, but "of the Middle Temple, Gentleman." If he had a son John, he was probably dead at the date of his will, for he provides for his "only daughter Mary," and then leaves the residue of his property to his son Robert, who was still living in 1703. The daughter, Mary, was unmarried in 1739, when she proved the will of her aunt Sarah Rawson. The earliest ancestor to whom I can yet trace him positively was Richard Washington, gent., of co. Westmoreland, who, according to an Inq. p. m. died Jan. 3, 1555-6. He, Joseph Washington, is mentioned in Wood's Athen. Oxon. (ed. Bliss) iv. 394, sub. James Harrington. J. L. C. HANDASYDE (3rd S. iv. 29, 95, 432.) — The will of the Hon. Major-General Thomas Handasyd (not Handasyde), who died in his eighty-fifth year, March 26, 1729, is probably at Huntingdon. St. Neot's. JOSEPH RIX, M.D. |