"An example, which in modern times would be con-* sidered ludicrous, of the manner in which our ancestors made external Nature bear witness to our LORD, occurs in a sledge," seems to me to be an argument for rather than against the reading, "sledded." Shakspeare did not mean to convey anything in what is called the Prior's Chamber in the small Augus-remarkable by the epithet. If he had, would tinian house of Shulbrede, in the parish of Linchmere, in Sussex. On the wall is a fresco of the Nativity; and certain animals are made to give their testimony to that event in words which somewhat resemble, or may be supposed to resemble, their natural sounds. A cock in the act of crowing stands at the top, and a label issuing from his mouth bears the words, Christus natus est. A duck inquires, Quando, quando? A raven hoarsely answers, In hac nocte. A cow asks, Ubi, ubi? And a lamb bleats out Bethlehem."-P. 27. What is the earliest date at which this curious design first appears, and where else is it found? The whole design is stamped with the quaint and naif character of the Middle Ages, and the introduction of the bagpipes points to an Italian origin. In which of the old English versions of the Bible does the word cratch occur in St. Luke's Gospel? And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall finde the Childe swadled, and layd in a cratch.. So they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph with the Babe layd in the cratch." It is quoted in a devotional work of the seventeenth century now before me, and I have not Bagster's Hexapla or any such book to refer to. Our old divines, Bp. Taylor, Bp. Hall, &c., use this word Cratch instead of that in our Authorised Version. EIRIONNACH. P.S. It may be well to mention that the above (intended as a Christmas paper) was written and despatched to the Editor on Dec. 20, and consequently before the appearance of F. C. H.'s valuable communication (vol. vi. p. 519). PASSAGE IN "HAMLET.” (3rd S. vi. 410.) Your correspondent, DR. F. A. LEO, proposes two emendations of the text of Shakspeare in Hamlet, Act I. Sc. 1. Now, with regard to the first passage, I am nable to appreciate the objection to the reading "sleaded" or "sledded," that "it must have been a ridiculous position," an unkingly action "to smite down a man sitting in a sledge." For, in the first place, the sledge would be to the "Polack on the ice," as a chariot or horse to the combatant on less slippery ground; and, in the second place, I believe Shakspeare to have intended by "the Polack" an army or nation, and not a single man. Indeed, Malone considers it probable that he wrote "Polacks," which is confirmed by the Quarto, "Pollax." Again, that "it was not a remarkable-not a memorable fact that in the cold Scandinavian country in winter-time, people were found sitting "sturdie" have better answered his intention? I conceive the epithet "sledded" used of the Polack to be akin to those constant epithets, as they are called, which are so common in epic and ballad poetry: to possess, that is, this property of a constant epithet, that the Polack need not at the time have been in a sledge at all, and yet Shakspeare might call him with perfect poetical propriety "The sledded Polack.” Once more: I do not quite see how "sturdie" "should express a provoking manner; but I am entirely at a loss to discover how the emendation "sturdie" follows as much as possible the form "sledded" or "sleaded." With regard to the second reading. Instead of "Disasters in the sun," Malone would read "Disasters dimmed the sun;" and he certainly has much to adduce in support of his conjecture. He remarks on" the disagreeable recurrence of the word stars" in the next line, and thinks Shakspeare may have written "Astres with trains of fire and dews of blood Perhaps we might read — As stars (i. e. while stars-) . . or “ And stars . . . Malone's emendation seems to me to be preferable "Tho. Brechin" was certainly Thomas Sydserf, who was consecrated Bishop of Brechin, in Scotland, on July 29, 1634, at Edinburgh, by the Primate, Archbishop John Spottiswoode. His name is omitted by Keith, among the occupants of that see; although afterwards he correctly states, under the Bishops of Galloway, that he was translated from Brechin to Galloway," and hence the difficulty of I. B. E. Dr. Sydserf, who was then Rector of St. Giles's church, Edinburgh, and Dean of the cathedral of that diocese, was consecrated on the same day that his predecessor in 66 66 only by Bishop Hall of Exeter, but still officiated as a parish minister both at Stoke Newington and Covent Garden, London; but, being sensible of his error, he applied to the Bishop of Galloway for the order of Presbyter, and received it from his hands. He relapsed, however, to Nonconformity. He died at Edinburgh, September 29, 1663, in the thirtieth year of his episcopate; and was interred on the 4th October following, in the aisle of St. Giles's cathedral there. On which occasion, funeral sermons were preached by Dr. George Wishart and William Anhand, the Bishop and Dean of Edinburgh; and commemoration made of his life and learning, and of his labours and sufferings. the see of Brechin, Dr. David Lindsay, was installed as Bishop of Edinburgh; and his successor there, Dr. Walter Whitford, Rector of Moffat, co. Dumfries, and Sub-dean of Glasgow, was nominated in June, 1635-and not "in September, 1634," as erroneously stated by Keith; but his consecration had not taken place up to September 19, 1635, though it must have occurred On the re-establishment of Episcopacy in Scotshortly after that date. Dr. Sydserf consequently land in 1661, instead of being raised to the Primacy held the see of Brechin for at least one year till as he fully expected, and should have been, Dr. translated to that of Galloway, in June, 1635; and Sydserf was translated to the Bishopric of Orkney he sat in the latter till December 13, 1638, when and Zeatland-one of the best endowed of the he was deprived of his temporalities, as well as Scotish sees; and he was installed in the cathedeposed and excommunicated," by the Glasgow dral church of St. Magnus, at Kirkwall, on NoAssembly. He survived, however, until the Re-vember 14, 1662; but it is believed by proxy, for storation, being then the sole remaining member it is doubtful whether he ever personally visited of the Scotish Hierarchy of the "Spottiswoode his remote diocese, owing to his advanced age. succession," as it was termed; and, during his long exile, of twenty-two years from his native land, he appears to have resided partly in England, but the greater part of the time in France. He was in Paris in 1644-5; and is recorded as having, on June 12, 1650, conferred the orders of both deacon and priest in the English Ambassador's chapel there-after a sermon by Dr. Cosin (then Dean of Peterborough, and afterwards Bishop of Durham,)-upon Messrs. John Durell and Daniel Brevint: of whom the former became Dean of Windsor, and the latter Dean of Lincoln, at subsequent periods. In 1658, he appears to have been again in England; since, in that year, he superintended the printing at London of Considerationes Modesta et Pacifica-the valuable and learned work of Dr. William Forbes, first Bishop of Edinburgh. The initials "T. G.," subscribed to the "Præfatio ad Lectorem," showing that he had never abandoned, even in name, his right to the see of Galloway. Among those ordained by him was, also, Dr. John Tillotson (afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury), about the year 1660; though there were doubts, for a long time, whether that prelate ever had received episcopal ordination; and it is said that Bishop Sydserf incurred the dislike of the bishops in England for conferring holy orders within that kingdom in an irregular manner, and without requiring either oaths or subscriptions from the candidates. Other accounts, however, give a different description of his proceedings in England; and state that, being desired and allowed by the English bishops, he ordained, according to the Scots form, several hundreds of the English Nonconformists who had some scruples and objections against the English ordinal. One of these was the famous Dr. Thomas Manton, who had been admitted to deacon's orders [* It was Bishop Sydserf who conferred orders in Westminster on the notorious Richard Kingston, preacher of St. James's, Clerkenwell, which being so contrary to ecclesiastical rule, we felt inclined to call in question. See "N. & Q." 3rd S. ii. 471.-ED.] The character of this prelate fully merited the commendations of his contemporaries. During the worst of times, he had never shrunk from the open profession of his principles; and, when restored to power and station, he practised those lessons of moderation which he had learnt in poverty and adversity. Among the Bishop's children, one son, DavidAndrew Fairful, who was born in 1648 (probably in France), entered the Society of Jesus in 1678, and was a priest on the Scotish Mission for a considerable period, during which he was twice apprehended, and suffered long imprisonment. On Feb. 2, 1697, he was promoted to the rank of a professed Father, and was famed as a preacher. In 1708, he appears to have been Rector of the Scots College at Douay, in Flanders; and, in 1716, he was at Paris; but the period of his death I have not ascertained, though it cannot have been long subsequently to the latter date, when he was nearly seventy years of age. A daughter, Margaret Sydserf, married Alexander Fergusson, Baron of Kilkerran, co. Ayrshire; and had two sons, viz. 1, Alexander; and 2, James, who became a clergyman in England. The elder son, Alexander, married Catharine, daughter of Sir William Weir of Stoneybyres, by whom he had three sons: 1. John, who married Margaret, daughter of David Crawford of Kerse; and died without male issue, leaving only one daughter; in conjunction with his father, he sold the ancestral lands of Kilkerran in 1700. 2. William, married Agnes, eldest daughter and co-heir of John Kennedy of Auchinblain; and joined his father The name of Sydserf is said to be derived from St. Serf-an ancient Scotish bishop, "Apostle of the Orkneys," and a disciple of St. Palladius: of his history little is known, but he has ever been highly venerated by the Church of Scotland, and died A.D. 443. Nisbet, in his Heraldry, however, states that the name came originally from France; and he gives, from "Pont's MS." the following arms of this family: "Argent, a flower-de-luce, azure." The above account of Bishop Thomas Sydserfwhich has, I fear, exceeded the proper limits of a reply, and expanded into a note-is abridged from myMS. Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticana:" a work which I have been occupied in compiling for many years, though it is still far from completion. Indeed, the ancient records of the Church of Scotland, especially from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, are so very scanty as regards the episcopal succession in the different sees, that, even the names of the bishops who occupied them cannot be ascertained, in many instances, with any approach to accuracy. Considerable light has been thrown upon this subject, of late years, by the publication of many of the Scotish chartularies; but much remains still to be done in this almost untrodden field, before a work like Stubbs's Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum can be expected from the sister kingdom. Bishop Keith, in his Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops, with Bishop Russell's continuation to 1824, is almost the only work which attempts to give anything of the kind; though Grub's Ecclesiastical History of Scotland (4 vols. 1861) adds considerably to it, and is the best work we have on the subject; but an attempt to exhibit the course of the Episco pal Succession in Scotland, from the Records and Chronicles of the Church," is still a desideratum in Scotish literature. My authorities for this article are : — Keith's "Historical Catalogue of Scottish Bishops," edit. 1824. Grub's Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," 1861. Garden's "Life of Dr. John Forbes." Tytler's "Life of Sir Thomas Craig.” Diary of Alexander Jaffray." CHRISTMAS WAITS (3rd S. vi. 487.)- As MR. CHAPPELL has done me the honour to refer to some observations of mine (with a slight defect in the orthography of my name) in the Archæological Journal, printed some twenty years ago, he will allow me to advert to a correction or two that ought to be applied to those observations, or to his quotation from them. The word Wayternesse ought to have been printed Waytern-fee; the word in the original roll had been misread by the transcriber of the In the original record, now in copy seen by me. the Public Repertory, the last syllable is clearly fee; i. e., feodum, or fief. I am speaking, of course, of the Launceston Castle document, and not of the Winton Domesday. In the words "Curia de Gayte," also quoted by MR. CHAPPELL, he has either inadvertently, or from misconception, introduced an accent on the last letter, as if the word had been synonymous with gaieté, whereas it is the Low Latin gaita, or wacta (hodie, guet) of the Glossaries, and is no otherwise connected with music or minstrelsy than a watchman is with his rattle, and certainly is quite unconnected with the idea of carols. Essentially and originally the word implies the duty of awakening the garrison, or sounding the alarm, of keeping watch, and nothing more. The mode whether by horn, drum, or gun-shot, is only an incident of the duty. Of course I quite agree with MR. CHAPPELL that the modern waits are the legitimate descendants of these watchmen of old, the incidental music having become the substantial meaning and essence. EDWARD SMIRKE. I have a faint recollection (brought to my mind whilst reading the first portion of MR. WILLIAM CHAPPELL'S interesting article on this Hailes Memorials and Letters of the Reign of subject), of seeing a woodcut in the Illustrated Charles I." Evelyn's "Diary and Correspondence," 1850. Baillie, Wodrow, Kirkton, Lamont, Law (passim). Pepys's" Diary"; Forbes's "Considerationes." 1850-56. Rose's "Biographical Dictionary." Playfair's "Baronetage of Great Britain," 1811. Lontlon News, some number of years ago, which represented a farmhouse-it and the surroundings being covered with snow-in Saxony, I believe, in front of which were assembled two or three of the peasantry, playing on their "oaten reeds," and several children, who sang a carol favoured with the aforesaid musical accompaniment. To the best of my remembrance it was stated in the text descriptive of the scene, that it was an ancient custom, among the poorer class of people, to go round to the various farmhouses in their vicinity on Christmas eve or day, playing and singing of the approach or arrival of the anniversary of the birthday of our blessed Saviour, and crying out, after the finish of their simple carol, "Wassail! Wassail!" and that it was the practice of the farmers to give them something to drink; and of the husbandmen's wives to bestow upon them the articles wherewithal to make their Christmas dinner. Thus the well-to-do classes in the agricultural districts had the satisfaction of knowing that their needier brethren were possessed of the means for enjoying themselves upon this most auspicious day. I trust, therefore, you will pardon me for any error in this description, as I quote entirely from memory, having only seen the engraving at the time of the publication of the number it appeared in. Some of your readers who have access to the "back" volumes of the Illustrated London News, may be able to refer to the paper and verify, rectify, or abnegate my account hereof. If I am correct, the usage may date to an ancient custom imported into England by the Saxons from the "Vaterland." I dare say you are aware it is the custom in some parts of England at the present day for the children of the poor to sing a simple carol at the principal houses in the village on the Christmas morning. Perhaps the idea sprang from the Song of the Angels when they announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds of Bethlehem: "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill toward GEO. RANKIN. men. VIEL-LIEBCHEN (3rd S. vi. 458, 501.)-CHITTABOB, in a recent number of "N. & Q.," from close resemblance in pronunciation, has for the German term Viel-Liebchen substituted Philippine, and thus induced annotations foreign to the former. Twin almonds or other nuts in one shell are designated in Germany Viel-Liebchen,-a term not susceptible in our language of strictly literal translation, but which may be rendered true-love, or less unliterally, much-love, with the final diminutive of endearment, chen. The origin of the custom associated with the Viel-Liebchen I have never heard explained. The usage is, however, universal among, probably peculiar to, the Germans. In the family circle it is a mark of affection, among friends of kindness and courtesy, when a Viel-Liebchen is found, to address to one of them the question, "Wollen Sie ein Viel-Liebchen mit mir essen?" The invitation is of course accepted, and the twin nuts are eaten. At the first meeting of the partakers on any subsequent day, each of them seeks to anticipate the other with the greeting, "Guten Morgen, Viel-Liebchen!"-the person speaking first being entitled to a present from the other. The custom is the source of entertainment amongst all classes in the Vaterland, more especially among more refined and courtly circles. Ingenuity is taxed in devising expedients and stratagems for securing the first greeting. Children conceal themselves and lie perdus behind curtains, screens, and under tables, for the opportunity of unexpectedly pronouncing the "Guten Morgen, VielLiebchen," which ensures their gift,-devices often connived at for the pleasure of conferring it. Frequently also the custom is taken advantage of as affording the means of generously bestowing a present which could not otherwise be so gracefully granted or received. Some of the readers of "N. & Q." may probably be able to indicate the origin of this national custom. The word denoting it is not to be found in German dictionaries, and several years ago I failed to meet with it in a Conversations Lexicon. The compound word Viel-Liebchen occurs in old German Volkslieder, and in these I have remarked that the affectionate meaning of the term liebchen is generally enhanced by the addition of treu, or fein, or viel. The following, which I quote from memory from Volkslieder, may be cited in illustration: "Viel-Liebchen ich muss scheiden, Viel-Lieb es muss geschehn," &c. Jetzt hab' ich kein Feinslieb meh"." STREET MELODY (3rd S. vi. 274.) — In glad compliance with MR. ROFFE's suggestion I send you the notation of three London cries that still dwell in my memory after the lapse of many years. I also have inveigled a brother, not in the flesh, but in the love of music in all its varieties, Mr. Pickard Hall of this city, to note down these few primitive cries, which melodiously warbled to the following words: 1. Two bunches a penny, sweet lavender; I think wall-flower was occasionally substituted for lavender. 2. Hot-cross buns, One a penny, buns; One a penny, two a penny, 3. Young lambs to sell! If I'd as much money as I could tell, The lavender and wall-flower were carried about T T by young girls neatly dressed, and as bright and fresh-looking as the flowers themselves. The young lambs were the property of an old man, also very neat and clean; and the hot-cross buns seemed to be offered by the goodwill of the whole street population, emblematic of the good news to all mankind conveyed by the bun. J. MACRAY. Oxford. Young lambs to sell, Young lambs to sell, If I'd as much money as I could tell, I ne-ver would cry Young lambs to sell. Hot cross buns, one a pen - ny buns, one a pen - ny two a pen ny, hot cross buns. PASSAGE IN "DON QUIXOTE" (3rd S. vi. 473.) The Spanish mil, as well as the English word thousand, denotes a great number, quantity, or distance indefinitely. "He finds a thousand occasions for generosity," writes Addison in The Spectator, and "a thousand chances to one" is an every day expression. The example, "Viva V. M. muchos años!" quoted by MR. THOS. KEIGHTLEY is the only one given for the usage of mil, in an indefinite sense by Aldrete in his Dictionary: Mil años--esto es, Muchos años." The translation, therefore, of the passage is "On a lofty throne was seated a nymph clad in many (or several) veils," &c. In Marmol's Rebelion y Castigo de los Moriscos (lib. iii. c. 9) occurs a sentence in which mil is employed indefinitely in relation to distance: "Y cualquiera que alaba à Dios por su lengua, no puede escaparse de ser perdido, y al que hallan una casion, envian tras del un adalid, que, aunque estè á mil quas, lo halla y preso."-Aribau. Biblioth. de Autores Españoles, vol. xxi. p. 180, col. 1. Conservative Club. W. PLATT. In answer to MR. KEIGHTLEY'S query, I wish to observe that the Spanish word mil is constantly used in an indefinite sense, like the corresponding word in French and Latin, &c. But mil velos, in the passage referred to in Don Quixote (part II. Cap. XXXV.) cannot, I think, mean "an immense large veil," but simply that the nymph was clad in several robes of cloth of silver-which were probably very light. Wilmott, in his English Translation of Don Quixote (vol. ii. part II. p. 186), gives a free translation in these words: "Upon an elevated throne sat a nymph, habited in robes of silver tissue," &c. Velos may mean robes as well as veils. MASTMAKER (3rd S. vi. 439.) - Your correspondent should have stated the connection in which he met with the word mastmaker, to obtain a categorical reply. Nevertheless, the word mast in German, Anglo-Saxon, and English meaning pigs' food, the mastmaker may be the person who selects and mixes the acorns, and other such edibles suitable for pigs, and excluding what may be pernicious or not tending to fat. The word mast appears to be confined in this sense to the productions of the forest: hence the mast of a ship may be so named from its being also a product of the forest. T. J. BUCKTON. A TAILOR BY TRADE (3rd S. vi. 26, 76, 484.)— Vide the old ballad of " Edward IV. and the Tanner of Tamworth," in Bp. Percy's Collection : — "What craftsman art thou?' said the King, I pray thee tell me trowe.' I am a barker, Sir, by my trade; Now tell me what art thou?" |