Various

“ GOMER.
[Moxon, in his Mechanick Exercises, vol. ii. p. 356. 4to. 1683, says: "Every printing-house is by the custom of time out of mind called a chappel; and all the workmen that belong to it are members of the chappel: and the oldest freeman is father of the chappel. I suppose the style was originally conferred upon it by the courtesie of some great Churchman, or men, (doubtless, when chappels were in more veneration than of late years they have been here in England) , who, for the books of divinity that proceeded from a printing-house, gave it the reverend title of chappel."] ”

“ Passage in Hamlet (Vol. ii., p.494.) .—The word modern, instead of moderate, in my editions of Shakspeare, is a printer's error, which shall be corrected in the edition I am now publishing. To a person unfamiliar with printing, it might appear impossible that any compositor, with this copy before him,—
"While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred,"
should substitute—
"While one with modern haste might tell a hundred." ”

“ It is revealed to the king in a dream that his wife is innocent, but she soon dies of a broken-heart. Meanwhile, the prince, on his return to his own dominions, marries, and has a son. The infant princess is driven on shore in his kingdom, and is saved by an old shepherd, and brought up by him and his wife as their own child, they carefully concealing the riches they had found in the "little boat." ”

“ What I suspect, however, is that this ballad is considerably older, and that my copy is only a comparatively modern reprint with some alterations; it requires no proof, at this time of day, to show that it was the constant habit of our old publishers of ephemeral literature to reprint ballads without the slightest notice that they had ever appeared before. This, in fact, is the point on which I want information, as to The Royal Courtly Garland, or Joy after Sorrow. Can any of your correspondents refer me to an older copy, or do they know of the existence of one which belongs to a later period? ”

“ Had the word modern occurred in an early edition of Shakspeare, it would have perplexed very commentator; but few would have ventured to substitute the correct word, moderate. The difficulty lies in finding the just mean between timidity and rashness. With regard to typographical errors, the obvious ones naturally supply their own correction; but in the instance before us, as in many others, it is not easy to detect the substitution, and the blunder is perpetuated. If a compositor puts one for won—a very common blunder—the context will show that the ear has misled the eye ”

“ Omens of death and misfortune are also drawn from the howling of dogs—the sight of a trio of butterflies—the flying down the chimney of swallows or jackdaws; and swine are sometimes said to give their master warning of his death by giving utterance to a peculiar whine, known and understood only by the initiated in such matters. ”

“ Every one who had an opportunity of inspecting the glorious assemblage of masterpieces of workmanship and design which were collected together at the Exhibition of Ancient and Mediæval Art last spring, must have felt a desire to possess some more lasting memorial of that unparalleled display than the mere catalogue. ”

“ Not a single name is given to any of the persons in my Royal Courtly Garland, but the places of action are reversed exactly in the same way as in Greene's novel of Pandosto, where what Shakspeare represents as passing in Sicily occurs in Bohemia, and vice versa; moreover, the error of representing Bohemia as a maritime country belongs to my ballad, as well as to the novelist and the dramatist. ”

“ It granted that the church of the Saviour (ecclesia Salvatoris) , situated in Canterbury, the mother and lady of all the churches in the kingdom of England, should be free, and that no one should have any right therein save the archbishop and the monks there serving God. The whole tenor of the charter, and more particularly the words last referred to, "archiepiscopum et monachos ibidem deo famulantes," seem to me to indicate the cathedral church, and no other. ”

“ The above account of the early French edition is taken from the Dictionnaire Historique of Prosper Marchand (La Haye, 1758) , tom. i. p. 11., art. ALLAIS. This article (which may be cited as a model of bibliographical research) attributes the authorship of the Histoire des Sévarambes, upon evidence, which, if not conclusive, is very strong, to Denis Vairasse, or Vayrasse. Marchand explains the initials appended to the dedications of the French edition to mean, Denis Vairasse d'Allais en Languedoc. ”

“ This discovery leads directly to the unwinding of the plot: the young prince makes himself known, and his father being sent for, the lovers are {3} "married in triumph" in Bohemia, and the old shepherd is made "a lord of the court."
If any of your readers can inform me of another copy of the above ballad, especially unmodernised (the versification must have suffered in the frequent reprints) and in black-letter of an early date, they will do me a favour. ”

“ It is therefore difficult to account for the publication of the English version of the History of the Sevarambians before its publication in France, upon the assumption that Vairasse was the author. The writer of the life of Vairasse (art. ALLAIS) in the Biographical Dictionary of the Society of Useful Knowledge thinks that he may have been only the translator: but the facts collected by Marchand show that he claimed the authorship ”

“ The commencement of our Third Volume affords an opportunity, which we gladly seize, of returning our best thanks to those kind friends and correspondents to whom we are indebted for our continued success. We thank them all heartily and sincerely; and we trust that the volume, of which we now present them with the First Number, will afford better proof of our gratitude than mere words. ”

“ Not long after his departure, the queen, "who had never conceived before" (which varies both from Greene and Shakspeare) , produces a daughter, which the king resolves to get rid of by turning it adrift at sea in "a little boat." ”

“ To the right of the last-named figure is another officer of the court, who is in the act of examining his pen by placing its nib at a short distance from his eyes; and this person carries in his left hand a piece of parchment upon which are written, in like character, the words "Memorandum quod x die Maii, &c." To the right of this officer, who is probably the Chief Remembrancer, is placed another officer, wearing a cap, who is in the act of writing upon a piece of parchment bearing the words "Henricus dei gratia." ”

“ A game which, while it amuses the family circle, will make its members acquainted with so many beautiful passages from our poets as are here assembled, must find a welcome in many a home at the present season. The publisher of the Oracles has availed himself of the demand, at this period of the year, for "Song of knight and lady bright," to re-issue in one volume instead of two, and at a reduced price, his Pictorial Book of Ballads Traditional and Romantic. ”

“ Every copy of the work which could be found was destroyed by the latter gentleman.
H.C.
Damasked Linen (Vol. ii., p. 199.) .—It may interest R.G.P.M. to learn that portion of the damasked linen which formed part of the establishment of James II. when in Ireland, still exists in the possession of R. Ely, Esq., of Ballaghmore Castle in the Queen's County. I have seen with that gentleman several large napkins beautifully damasked with the then royal arms, together with the initials J.R. of large size, and elaborately flourished. ”

“ Mr. Leigh Hunt, in his Book for a Corner, remarks upon this,—
"The reader will observe that the words 'by the author,' in this extract, are not accompanied by marks of quotation. The fact, however, is stated as if he knew it for such, by the quoter of the document."
The difference mentioned by DR. RIMBAULT between the initials in the title-page and those appended to the dedication, occurs also in Mr. Smith's edition. But the dedication to which the initials R.P. are affixed, speaks of the book as the work of the writer in the most unmistakeable terms. ”

“ Some of your correspondents may be able to give me information respecting an old ballad that has very recently fallen in my way, on a story similar to that of Shakspeare's Winter's Tale, and in some particulars still more like Greene's novel of Pandosto, upon which the Winter's Tale was founded. ”

“ For beauty and wisdom few like her were seen."
"Her" is misprinted him in the original, and the whole, as may be expected, is not a first-rate specimen of typography. The son of the prince sees and falls in love with the supposed shepherd's daughter, and, to avoid the anger of the prince his father, he secretly sails away with her and the old shepherd. By a storm they are driven on the coast of Bohemia:
"A violent storm on the sea did arise,
Drove them to Bohemia; they are took for spies ”

“ By the late REV. EDWARD BLENCOWE, Curate of Teversal, Notts, and formerly Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford.
ALSO, A NEW EDITION OF THE FIRST SERIES, and A SECOND EDITION OF THE SECOND SERIES, price 7s. 6d. each.
"Their style is simple; the sentences are not artfully constructed; and there is an utter absence of all attempt at rhetoric. The language is plain Saxon language, from which 'the men on the wall' can easily gather what it most concerns them to know."—Theologian. ”

“ I paid the postage, and when the man was out of sight, she told me that the letter was from her son, who took that means of letting her know that he was well. The letter was not to be paid for. It was then opened and found to be blank."
Now, while so many copies of "NOTES AND QUERIES" pass through the Post-office, it is to be hoped one at least may remain there, and be the means of inducing Mr. Hill to inform us whether Miss Martineau had any authority for fathering this story upon him; and whether the Post-office Reform is really indebted to any such trivial incident for its original idea. ”

“ An account of another fictitious voyage to the Terra Australis, with a description of an imaginary people, published in 1692, may be seen in Bayle's Dict., art. SADEUR, Voyages Imaginaires, tom. xxiv.
According to the account given by Marchand, Vairasse began life by serving in the army in Piedmont, and he afterwards studied the law. Subsequently he went to England, where he is stated to have attempted to penetrate the intrigues of the court, and to discover the maxims of the English Government. In 1665, he was in the ship commanded by the Duke of York against the Dutch ”

“ I have heard persons who ought to have known better, exclaim on the danger of gazing upon one of the harmless reptiles. The idea respecting the fascinating powers of the toad, is by no means confined to our district. ”

“ It must not be forgotten that many gross errors in typography occur after the sheet is gone to press, through the accidents that are constantly happening to the movable types.
CHARLES KNIGHT.
Passage in Tennyson (Vol. ii., p. 479.) —The following extract from Sir James Mackintosh's History of England vol. ii. p. 185., will explain this passage:
"The love of Margaret Roper continued to display itself in those outwardly unavailing tokens of tenderness to his (her father, Sir Thomas More's) remains, by which affection seeks to perpetuate itself ”

“ Crickets, contrary to the idea prevailing in the western counties, are supposed to presage good luck, and are therefore most carefully preserved. Their presence is believed to be a sure omen of prosperity ”

“ Johnson. Query, What is the origin of its use by officers of the army and navy; who are privileged to wear it; when was it first introduced; and by what authority, if any, is it sanctioned or confined to the army and navy?
A.E.
Suem, Ferling, Grasson—In a copy of Court Roll, dated the 40th year of Elizabeth, and relating {8} to the manor of Rotherfield, co. Sussex, these words occur:—
"R. K. cepit extra manus domini unam suem trẽ nat' de ferling," &c.
I shall be obliged to any of your correspondents who will explain the words suem and ferling. ”

“ This is doubtless one of the many tales, which, as Osborn says, "may be found in the black relations of the Jesuits, and some French and Spanish Pasquilers." These slanderers were chiefly, I believe, Parsons or Persons, and Sanders, who scrupled at nothing that would tend to blacken the character and reputation of Elizabeth. Thus besides the above, and other stories of Elizabeth {12} herself, it was stated by Sanders that her mother, Anne Boleyn, was Henry VIII.'s own daughter ”

“ This man, the handle of whose sword is distinctly visible on his right side, whose outer sleeves are wide and flowing, whose under garment is buttoned tightly at the wrist, and whose boots are in shape similar to ladies' boots of modern times, closely laced to the leg, has placed the thumb of his left hand between the thumb and first finger of his right. And, lastly, at the bottom of the picture is seated the sheriff, bearing upon his head a hood or cap, upon which the words "Vic. tot & unit" are written. Query, Are the persons here represented the barons and officers of the Exchequer? ”

“ Hewett's example, and note with accuracy all the inscriptions, monuments, coats of arms, &c., preserved in the churches in their respective neighbourhoods. They may then either hand them over for publication to the nearest Archæological Society, or the Archæological Institute, or the Society of Antiquaries; or transmit a copy of them to the MS. department of the British Museum. ”