Unhallowed is possibly not altogether a correct appellation. The common entrance into churches was usually either at the west end, or on the south side; and as most altar-tombs or other mementoes of the departed in the churchyards, when Papacy was dominant, enjoined the praying for the dead and for the quiet of their souls, a custom which was believed to be very efficacious, the appeal to the devout was followed by the ejaculation and the benediction; while those buried on the north side of the church being beyond the pathway to the church escaped notice, and their graves in no way denoted, their place of sepulture rarely obtained the expiatorial prayers of the passer by-they were mingled with their parent earth unblessed and unheeded. THE following beautiful lines were presented in 1648, with an Indian perfume box, to MARIE DE MANCINI. The Florence rose is fresh and fair, And rich the young Carnation's glow, In silence lighting field and grove, Then Lady, lowly at thy feet, I lay this gift of memory; All strange and rude, but treasures sweet Trifles MARIE, may tell the tale, PULCI. PREPAID ENVELOPES AND RECEIVING BOXES. On the 5th inst., the writer noticed the placing an iron receiving pillar-box for letters to be forwarded by the postal authorities, in Fleet Street, at the corner of Farringdon Street, and on the 6th, another in the Strand, at the corner of Norfolk Street. This was, more than two centuries since, the custom in the French metropolis. Early in the reign of Louis XIV., M. de Velayer, with the king's approbation, established in 1653, a private penny-post, placing boxes at the corners of the streets for the reception of letters wrapped in prepaid envelopes, which were sold at offices established for that purpose, and whence dates the origin of prepaid postage envelopes, by many believed to be a new prac tice. M. de Velayer, to assist communication between persons among whom the inditing of letters was a matter of some difficulty, originated also certain forms of billets or notes applicable to the ordinary business requirements, with blanks which were to be filled in by the pen with such special words as would complete the writer's object. One of these billets has reached our time by a humourous misapplication of its purpose. Pelisson, well known as the friend of Madame de Sévigné, and the object of the bon-mot that, from his very unhandsome face, "he abused the privilege which men have of being ugly;" being amused at this kind of skeleton correspondence, he, in accordance with the pedantic fashion of the day, addressed one of these fornis to the celebrated Mademoiselle de Scuderi, in her pseudonyme of Sappho; under the affected name of Pisandre. From the celebrity of the parties, this strange billet-doux has been preserved and is yet extant; one of the oldest, it may be presumed, of penny post letters, and an interesting example of a prepaid envelope, verifying the adage, "there is nothing new under the sun. B. EASTER COURT FROLICS. THE Cottonian MS. Nero C.viii., in the British Museum, records among other payments; March 27, 1311, 4 Edward II., "To Sir Nicholas de Beche, Sir Humphrey de Luttlebury, and Sir Thomas de Latimer, for dragging the King out of bed, on Easter Monday, 201.” ENGLISH EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE. Considering only the Epistolary language, the English have nothing comparable with the letters of Madame de Sévigné. The letters of Pope, Swift, Arbuthnot, Bolingbroke, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and lastly, those of Junius, which are supposed to be by Sir Philip Francis, are works, not letters: they are all more or less like the letters of the Younger Pliny, and of Voiture. For my own part, I should prefer to them, a few letters of the unfortunate Lord William Russell, of Lady Russell, of Miss Anna Seward, and the little that we know of the letters of Lord Byron. Chateaubriand. No. LII.] WILLIS'S CURRENT NOTES. "Takes note of what is done- CORRESPONDENCE OF MARIE ANTOINETTE. CAN any of your readers give me information respecting "Les Correspondances de Marie Antoinette," which, according to Madame Campan, were in 1792 sent out of France? That these papers were of great value, or very sacred in the Queen's eyes, may be inferred from their having been rescued from the fate which the others underwent after the sad June 20, of that year. I believe the report of these papers having been sent to England to be well authenticated; at all events, it is generally received as true, in this country and in France. I had an assurance of its truth from a lady, who was educated by Madame Campan, and became afterwards Lectrice to the Empress Marie Louise; she had heard Madame Campan frequently relate the circumstances. This precious deposit is reported to be quietly reposing in the British Museum-the authorities, however, deny all knowledge of it, and I do not see why their word should be called in question. There are others who say, that it is in the hands of Monsieur Feuillet de Conches, Master of Ceremonies to Louis XVIII., and now filling a similar post in the household of the Emperor of the French. This latter opinion has weight with me; for I had my information from a distinguished foreign ambassador, and I know Mons. Feuillet to be a collector of historical documents connected with the Revolution. The private correspondence of the Duke of Dorset would furnish a key to much of the little understood policy of Louis XVI.; but what has become of it, for it is not now in the archives of Knowle Park, where his Grace died? Lord Whitworth's letters, after his transfer to Paris, are not to be found, and I have failed to discover a trace of those that passed between St. Petersburg and Paris, from M. Whitworth to the Duke of Dorset, and vice versa. The Count de Fersen's letters are extant somewhere. I have been told they are at Vienna in the hands of Count Schulenberg. Those of the great Franklin are now in the course of publication, as a supplement to his works and correspondence, which have already been given to the public; they were accidentally discovered in a tailor's shop, by the gentleman I believe, who so worthily represents in this country the Smithsonian Institution in the United States. J. L. GLAMIS. Our correspondent having recently visited Glamis Castle, on comparing the woodcut, Current Notes, p. 20, with the original, finds he had omitted in his sketch, a line attached to the K, which if shown as in the lower part of the E would form an L, and thus also express in addition the surname of Lyon. VOL. V. [APRIL, 1855. CURRER BELL.-Mrs. Nichol, formerly Miss Bronté, the last survivor of a family of six, died at her father's house at Haworth, in Yorkshire, on Saturday, March 31. Under the nom de plume of CURRER BELL, she established a lasting reputation as the authoress of Jane Eyre. There are also two other Novels from her pen, entitled Shirley, and Villette, which like the former are especially distinguished by great power of conception, and vigorous pourtrayal of character. THE SEVEN WHISTLERS. IN reference to this very popular Leicestershire superstition, the following paragraph has appeared in a local paper: On Friday, the 16th inst., a collier was making holiday in the Market place in this town (Coalville), and was asked by a tradesman, why he was not at his usual work. The reply he made was, that none of the men had gone to work on that day because they had heard the Seven Whistlers, which he said were birds sent by Providence to warn them of an impending danger, and that when they heard that signal not a man would go down the pit until the following day. Upon the tradesman's suggesting that the collier's account might all be traced to superstition, the poor collier was offended to find his story called in question, and assured the tradesman that the warning was always to be depended upon, for that on two occasions previous to last Friday, when the Seven Whistlers were heard, some colliers foolishly descended the pit, and two lives were lost on each occasion. Respecting the prevalence of this imposing superstition among the colliers in this neighbourhood, Î have made enquiries of a legal friend, whose official duties bring him in frequent contact with them. He informs me, that it is very generally entertained and believed by them, but that when trade is brisk, and money among them plentiful, disposing them for a drinking frolic, they are then far more apt to hear the warning voice of the Seven Whistlers, than when less favourably situated. I shall be glad to be informed whether this superstition prevails in other colliery districts, which I suppose to be the case, although I do not find it noticed by Brand. WILLIAM KELLY. Leicester, March 27. MONASTIC CELI, LAMP. ABBOTSBURY, once a town, is a village about ten miles from Dorchester, and eight from Weymouth, on the coast near that singular natural bank, called the pebble beach, which extends from Portland, and between which and the shore is an estuary or fleet in which the sea ebbs and flows. This place is now remarkable only for its swannery, the property of the Earl of Ilchester, who has a seat near to it, and is the Lord of the Manor. Here, however, was once a monastery, founded by Orcus, or Urkus, steward to King Canute. Many portions in a ruined state remain, but the chapel, named St. Catherine's Chapel, a graceful and very perfect building, is yet extant, situated on the summit of a very high hill, designated Chapel Hill. In a corner of this chapel is a stone to which is attached the legendary belief, that any young person who kneels upon it, and wishes for his or her sweetheart, marriage in a short time will ensue, Barker, In or about 1823 or 1824, the Rev. Vicar of Abbotsbury, discovered in the cottage of an old woman, then nearly a hundred years old, the lanıp of which this is a representation. It is of thin copper about the fourth of an inch in thickness, and about three inches in diameter, the handle being about four inches high. The edges of the square are partly broken; the cross and circular holes appear to have been punched out of the metal. The whole is of rude fabric, and in the bowl or pan, some material for yielding light is still remaining. The old woman on being questioned, stated "it was something out of the old Abbey, that was used in the cloisters," and was found by her in the ruins. It is now in the possession of Mr. Barker's daughter, the wife of the Rev. J. Foster, Rector of Winterborne Monkton, near Dorchester. Can any reader of Current Notes add any further illustration in reference to this light of other days?" Dorchester, April 5. 66 66 JOHN GARLAND. NANCY DAWSON.-In Current Notes, 1853, p. 72, is an enquiry by W. F., for the words of the song entitled, Nancy Dawson," to the tune of which many others have been since written, It appears to have escaped notice, that the song is printed in Harrison's Vocal Magazine, 1781, p. 67; and from the allusion in the text to have reference to the memorably successful at Covent Garden, Sept. 1759-May, 1760. On October 10, Miss Brent made her debut as Polly, in the Beggars' Opera, with so much eclat, that it was performed on nearly forty successive nights, while at Drury Lane, Garrick played to literally empty houses. Davies erroneously attributes Garrick's seceding from the stage for a time previous to the commencement of the season, 1763-4, to the attractions of Miss Brent, season and the musical performances at Covent Garden in that of 1762-3. The fact is, the reverses at Drury Lane perceptibly commenced in the season that ended in June, 1760, and continued to the close of that in 1763, when the profits were found to be much less than in any of the preceding years, and Garrick wisely left London for the continent in September, 1763. The song has all the racy whim of that luckless wight George Alexander Stevens, and was probably written by him. * NANCY DAWSON. Of all the girls in our town, The black, the fair, the red, the brown, There's none like NANCY DAWSON! I die for NANCY DAWSON! So means my NANCY DAWSON. That I gain'd NANCY DAWSON. Was 't not for NANCY DAWSON. Tho' Beard and Brent charm ev'ry night, And female Peachum's justly right, And Filch and Lockit please the sight, 'Tis crown'd by NANCY DAWSON. See little Davy strut and puff,— "P- on the Op'ra and such stuff, My house is never full enough, A curse on NANCY DAWSON!" Though Garrick he has had his day, And forc'd the Town his laws t'obey; Now Johnny Rich is come in play, With help of NANCY DAWSON. Johnny Rich alias Harlequin Lun, resided at this time in the eastern arcade, or piazza as it is commonly termed, in Covent Garden, in the house next to the Bedford Arms Hotel. It was formerly the residence of Sir Godfrey Kneller, whose garden extended to that of Dr. Radcliffe, who then lived in Bow Street, in the house now the Magistrate's Office. Sir Godfrey, a great admirer of flowers, paid particular attention to the floral beauties of his garden, but found that the Doctor's servants sometimes made their way in by a door in the wall, and deprived him of many choice flowers: of this, having several times but ineffectually complained to Dr. Radcliffe, Sir Godfrey sent him word, that though unwilling to do an uncivil thing, he should in his own defence nail up the door-way between them. Dr. Radcliffe, who perhaps thought it beneath him to notice these squabbles, replied, Sir Godfrey might do as he pleased provided he did not paint the door. "Ah! ah!" retorted Kneller, "go tell my goot friend the Doctor, I will take any thing from him but his physic." FORFARSHIRE TRADITIONS. THE following Scottish ballad illustrates a tradition having reference to the parish of Pert, now united to that of Logy, in the north-eastern part of Forfarshire; and also embodies some superstitions of the same lo PETER PINDAR'S ANNUITY. J. P., in Current Notes, 1854, p. 92, asks, What was the Doctor's annuity? It was 250 pounds. The circumstances are thus related by the late William West, who died recently in Charter House, in his eightyfourth year. Dr. John Wolcot made an immense sum by his writ-cality, with respect to the supposed power of conjuring or laying ghosts. It is however becoming obsolete by the removal of many of the old families of the district, and ere long may possibly pass out of memory. By some of the older folks, it is thus narrated:-A simple herd-boy having excited the ire of the laird of Pert, the latter, a powerful man, flung the unconscious victim of his anger among a cairn of stones, and killed him. The circumstances having caused some inquiry, the laird to exculpate himself charged one of his own ploughmen with the perpetration of the murder; for which in those days, when might was right, he was hanged accordingly. The fact was however traditionally transmitted, and the particulars related in the ballad obtained a general belief among the peasantry, that the spirit of the boy was emancipated, and the laird, in consequence of the conjurations of the miller, for a time wandered under the murky cloud of night, between the kirk of Pert, and an old ford in the river below the North-water bridge. All the events related by the rhymer, were formerly in very general belief. ings, which commenced with his Epistle to the Reviewers, published by the Egertons in 1783. His subsequent publisher was George Kearsley, who brought out his rapidly produced poems in quarto, with spirited etchings, for several years, until Evans took them up, when they formed an immense quarto volume. The sale had been prodigious, and as Peter, like many other poets, had not been the most provident or prudent of that class, the purchase of his works became an object of speculation with Robinson, and his brother-in-law, Walker, who entered into a treaty to grant an annuity for his published works, and on certain conditions for his unpublished ones, which is thus accurately described in the Doctor's own style. While this treaty was pending, Wolcot had an attack of asthma, which he did not conceal or palliate, but at meetings of the parties his asthma always interrupted the business. A fatal result was of course anticipated, and instead of a sum of money, an annuity of 250l. a year was preferred. Soon after the bond was signed the Doctor went into Cornwall, where he recovered his health, and returned to London without any cough, which was far from being a pleasing sight to the persons who had to pay his annuity. One day he called on John Walker, the manager for the parties, who surveying him with a scrutinizing eye, asked him how he did? "Much better, thank you," said Wolcot, "I have taken measure of my asthma; the fellow is troublesome, but I know his strength, and am his master." "Oh !" said Walker gravely, and turned into an adjoining room, where Mrs. Walker, a prudent woman, had been listening to the conversation. Wolcot, aware of the feeling, while paying a strict attention to the husband and wife, heard the latter exclaim, "There now, did'nt I tell you, he would'nt die." A plea was then set up that the agreement extended to all future productions as well as the past, and on this ground an action was commenced, but was subsequently compromised. The Doctor, as he told me, had no idea the Paternoster Row booksellers should drink all their wine out of his skull; that he was aware the fellows were playing cards upon his coffin-lid, and exclaimed, that as Care to our Coffin adds a nail no doubt, While ev'ry grin so merry draws one out, he regretted that he did not add a little more to his income by coughing a little more. Wolcot enjoyed the joke, and outlived both parties. R. T. CHARLES BEST, Current Notes, p. 20; noticed by Ritson, as a poet of the sixteenth century, has several Sonnets and Odes in Davison's Poetical Rhapsody, 1602, 8vo. The old kirk of Pert so prominent in the ballad, is now a picturesque ruin upon the banks of the North Esk, not unlike that of 'auld haunted' Alloway on the Doon, eternised in the memorable lines of Robert Burns. The locality has otherwise many attractions, both historical and literary. At Burnroot, a few paces south of the upper North-water bridge, was born in a humble cottage, James Mill, the historian of India; a drawing of his birth-place, with some further notices, may be expected for Current Notes. Brechin, April 11. THE PERJURED LAIRD'S DOOM. Thoch' lang atween the kirke an' furd, But ae dark nichte's ane miller chiel' The lad kept rinnin' by his side, An' whan they reacht the kirkeyard style, An' set ane harmless murdert boy, A. J. The sturdie miller aft heard tell That sic a sprite was seen; Thoch laith to bide ane ghastlie ca', At last he's courage ta'en, An' 'bout himsell wi' hazell staff, He made ane roundlie score; Then said "Ma lad, in name o' Gude,* The laddie ga'e ane eldritch screech- An' fire-flauchts ne'er devaul'd. "There, there's the cairn!" the laddie screamt, "Whare life was ta'en frae me; For whilk ane guiltless hireman died Hie on yon wither'd tree Whase life the murd'rer swore awa, To save's ain infamie : "But, ho!" mair shrillie cried the boy, "Not all thy gifts to hallie kirke, Or alms thou did'st bestow, On this ane grizzlie form appear'd, "Ah! there's the murd'rous laird o' Pert!" The hoarie sprite was mute, an' fain But aye's it near'd the darksome grave, An' wi' that flame, frae hallie kirke "Sin' Heav'n denies thee an' thy wealth, For thoch thou be our ain brither, "An' frae our fam'lie toumbe for aye, Till frae the Esk ane frichtsome fiend, An' just's they fled, a siller cloud But frae that irksome nichte, I trow, The miller was sad an' lane: An' in the joviall house of mirth Again he ne'er was seen. CONSTABLE'S PICTURE, 66 THE WHITE HORSE." IN 1819, when Constable's art was never more perfect, or perhaps never so perfect as at this period of his life; he exhibited at the Royal Academy, the largest and most important work he had yet produced, "A scene on the river Stour," since designated from a white horse in a barge near the fore-ground "Constable's White Horse." Deservedly it attracted more attention than any other painting he had before presented at that exhibition. In his letter to Archdeacon Fisher, July 17th in that year, we learn, "The price I have put on my large landscape is one hundred guineas, exclusive of the frame; it has served a good apprenticeship in the Academy, and I shall work a good deal upon it before it goes to the British Gallery." The distinction this picture obtained for Constable, caused his being elected in November following an Associate of the Academy. The Archdeacon congratulated the artist on his honourable election, and confirmed his sincerity of the compliment by purchasing his picture of "the White Horse." Constable appears to have retained it some time for effecting his finishing touches, which he appears to have accomplished in the spring of 1820. The Archdeacon's letter, dated Salisbury, April 27, joyously intimates— "The White Horse has arrived safe; it is hung on a level with the eye, the frame resting on the ogee moulding, in a western side-light, right for the light in the picture. It looks magnificently. My wife says she carries her eye from the picture to the garden and back again, and observes the same sort of look in both. I have shewn it to no one, and intend to say nothing about it, but leave it to people to find it out, and make their own remarks." The White Horse was to Constable on many accounts the most important picture he ever painted, and certainly one of the finest. In a letter written to Miss Gubbins, at a late period of his life, he noticed it, as one of my happiest efforts on a large scale, being a placid representation of a serene grey morning in 66 summer. In Leslie's Memoirs of Constable, printed in 1845, he speaks of the picture being then in the possession of L. Archer Burton, Esq. of the Woodlands, in Hampshire. On Saturday, March 31, it was sold at Messrs. Christie and Manson's for six hundred guineas. |