Notes and Queries, Number 13, January 26, 1850

DOMINGO LOMELYN, JESTER TO HENRY VIII

Shakespeare, in the Second Part of Henry IV. act v. sc. 3 makes Silence sing the following scrap:—

And Nash, in his Summer's Last Will and Testament, 1600 (reprinted in the last edition of Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. xi. p. 47.) has

T. Warton, in a note in vol. xvii. of the Variorum Shakespeare, says, "Samingo, that is San Domingo, as some of the commentators have observed. But what is the meaning and propriety of the name here, has not yet been shown. Justice Silence is here introduced as in the midst of his cups; and I remember a black-letter ballad, in which either a San Domingo or a Signior Domingo, is celebrated for his miraculous feats in drinking. Silence, in the abundance of his festivity, touches upon some old song, in which this convivial saint, or signior, was the burden. Perhaps, too, the pronounciation in here suited to the character." I must own that I cannot see what San Domingo has to do with a drinking song. May it not be an allusion to a ballad or song on Domingo, one of King Henry the Eighth's jesters?

None of the commentators have noticed this, but I think my suggestion carries with it some weight.

In the Privy Purse Expenses of King Henry the Eighth (published by Sir H. Nichols, in 1827), are many entries concerning this Domingo, most of which relate to payments of money that he had won from the king at cards and dice. He was evidently, as Sir Harris Nichols observes, one of King Henry's "diverting vagabonds," and seems to have accompanied his majesty wherever he went, for we find that he was with him at Calais in 1532. In all these entries he is only mentioned as Domingo; his surname, and the fact of his being a Lombard, we learn from Skelton's poem, mentioned above.

The following story, told of Domingo, occurs in Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Harington's Treatise on Playe, 1597, printed in the Nugae Antiquae, edit. Park, vol. i. p.222.:—

"The other tale I wold tell of a willinge and wise loss I have hearde dyversly tolde. Some tell it of Kyng Phillip and a favoryte of his; some of our worthy King Henry VIII. and Domingo; and I may call it a tale; becawse perhappes it is but a tale, but thus they tell it:—The kinge, 55 eldest hand, set up all restes, and discarded flush; Domingo or Dundego (call him how you will), helde it upon 49, or som such game; when all restes were up and they had discarded, the kinge threw his 55 on the boord open, with great lafter, supposing the game (as it was) in a manner sewer. Domingo was at his last carde incownterd flush, as the standers by saw, and tolde the day after; but seeing the king so mery, would not for a reste at primero, put him owt of that pleasawnt conceyt, and put up his cardes quietly, yielding it lost."

Park was not acquainted with any particulars of this Domingo Lomelyn, for he says, in a note, "Query, jester to the king?"

The first epigram in Samuel Rowland's entertaining tract, The Letting of Humours Blood in the Head-waine, &c. 1600, is upon "Monsieur Domingo;" but whether it relates to King Henry's jester is a matter of some question.

MARLOWE AND THE OLD "TAMING OF A SHREW."

Having only just observed an announcement of a new edition of the works of Marlowe, I take the earliest opportunity of calling the attention of the editor to a circumstance which it is important that he should know, and the knowledge of which,—should it have escaped his notice, as it has that of all other writers on the subject,—I trust may not be too late for his present purpose. Without farther preface, I will introduce the subject, by asking Mr. Dyce to compare two passages which I shall shortly point out; and, having done so, I think he will agree with me in the opinion that the internal evidence, relating to our old dramatic literature, cannot have been very much studied, while such a discovery as he will then make still remained to be made. The first passage is from the so-called old "Taming of a Shrew" (six old plays, 1779, p. 161.), and runs as follows:—

the second is from Doctor Faustus (Marlowe's Works, vol. ii. p. 127.), which, however, I shall save myself the trouble of transcribing; as, with the exception of "look" for "looks," in the second line, and "his" for "her," in the fourth, the two passages will be found identical. Being, some years ago, engaged, in connection with the first of these plays, in the pursuit of a very different object,—in which I cannot say that I altogether failed, and the result of which I may take an opportunity of communicating,—I made a note of the above; and at the same time followed it up by a general examination of the style of Marlowe. And, to make a long matter short, I may say that in this examination, besides meeting with a dozen instances of the identity of the writer of passages in the Taming of a Shrew and of passages in Marlowe's two plays, Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine, I found such general resemblance in style as left no doubt upon my mind that, if one of these plays be his acknowledged work, as indisputable will be his claim to the other two. I was not aware at that time of the evidence, in Henslow's Diary, of Marlowe's authorship of Tamburlaine; but, so far from considering it inferior, I was inclined to place it, in some important respects, at the very head of his plays.

I will not take up your space now with the parallel passages which I noted; but, should you wish it, and be able to make room for them, I will furnish you with a list. It is, of course, obvious that the one I have quoted proves nothing by itself; accumulated instances, in connection with the general question of style, alone become important. I will conclude, by giving a list which I have made out of Marlowe's plays, in favour of which I conceive there to be either internal or external evidence:—

"Locrine.

Tamburlaine the Great (two parts).

Jew of Malta.

Doctor Faustus.

Edward the Second.

Massacre of Paris.

Taming of a Shrew.

Dido, Queen of Carthage (with Nash)."

St. John's Wood, Jan. 12. 1850

[We trust our correspondent will favour us with the further communications he proposes on this very interesting point.]

BEETLE MYTHOLOGY

Mr. Editor,—I never thought of asking my Low-Norman fellow-rustics whether the ladybird had a name and a legend in the best preserved of the northern Romance dialects: on the score of a long absence (eight-and-twenty years), might not a veteran wanderer plead forgiveness? Depend upon it, Sir, nevertheless, that should any reminiscences exist among my chosen friends, the stout-hearted and industrious tenants of a soil where every croft and paddock is the leaf of a chronicle, it will be communicated without delay. There is more than usual attractiveness in the astronomical German titles of this tiny "red chafer," or rother kaefer, SONNEN KAEFER and VNSER FRAWEN KVHLEIN, the Sun-chafer, and our Lady's little cow. (Isis or Io?)

With regard to its provincial English name, Barnabee, the correct interpretation might be found in Barn-bie, the burning, or fire-fly, a compound word of Low-Dutch origin.

We have a small black beetle, common enough in summer, called PÂN, nearly hemispherical: you must recollect that the â is as broad as you can afford to make it, and the final n is nasal. Children never forgot, whenever they caught this beetle, to place it in the palm of their left hand, when it was invoked as follows:—

which means, being interpreted,

As he uttered the charm, the juvenile pontiff spat on poor Thammuz, till a torrent of blood, or what seemed such, "ran purple" over the urchin's fingers.

Paul-Ernest Jablonski's numerous readers need not be told that the said beetle is an Egyptian emblem of the everlasting and universal soul, and that its temple is the equinoctial circle, the upper hemisphere.1

As a solar emblem, it offers an instructive object of inquiry to the judicious gleaners of the old world's fascinating nursery traditions. Sicilian Diodorus tells us that the earth's lover, Attis (or Adonis), after his resuscitation, acquired the divine title of PAPAN.2 To hazard the inoffensive query, why one of our commonest great beetles is still allowed to figure under so distinguished a name, will therefore reflect no discredit upon a cautious student of nearly threescore years. The very Welsh talked, in William Baxter's time, of "Heaven, as bugarth PAPAN," the sun's ox-stall or resting-place; and here you likewise find his beetle-majesty, in a Low-Norman collection of insular rhymes:—

By the help of Horapollo, Chiflet's gnostic gems, and other repertories of the same class, one might, peradventure, make a tolerable case in favour of the mythological identity of the legend of Ladybird—that is, the sun-chafer, or barn-bie, the fire-fly, "whose house is burnt, and whose bairns are ten," of course the first ten days of the Egyptian year4—with the mystical stories of the said black or dark blue lords of radiance, Pân and Papân.

The Egyptians revere the beetle as a living and breathing image of the sun, quoth Porphyry.5 That will account for this restless delver's extraordinary talismanic renown. I think the lady-bird is "the speckled beetle" which was flung in hot water to avert storms.6 Pignorius gives us the figure of the beetle, crowned with the sun, and encircled with the serpent of eternity; while another, an onyx in the collection of Abraham Gorlæus, threatens to gnaw at a thunderbolt.7

Reuven's book on the Egyptian Museum, which I have not seen, notices an invocation to "the winged beetle, the monarch ([Greek: tyrannos]) of mid-heaven," concluding with a devout wish that some poor creature "may be dashed to pieces."

Can any of your readers inform me what is meant by "the blood of the Phuôn?"

Yours truly,

St. Martin's, Guernsey, Jan. 9. 1850.

EXTRACTS FROM CHURCHWARDENS' ACCOUNTS OF ST. MARGARET'S, WESTMINSTER—WEIGHT OF BELLS IN ANCIENT TIMES—HISTORY OF A ROOD-LOFT

I send you a few Notes, collected out of the Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Margaret's, Westminster.

1stly. Some regarding the weight of bells in ancient days:—

"1526. The first bell weith                    ccccc lb.

The second bell weith               ccccccxxj lb.

The third bell weith                    ixCvj lb.

The fourthe bell weith                    M.x lb.

The fyfthe belonging to our grete Lady

Bretherhed                        MvjCxiiij lb.

The sume of all the weight          MMMMVIIC Li lb.

"1592. The broken Tennor waied               xvjCxxj lb.

The new tennor ys.                      xiijC di

The greatest bell ys     xxjC and di at lvjs. the C.

The iiij bell ys       xvijC and di and xiiij lb.

The xiiij bell taken awaie was         xiijC di.

The ij bell carried awaie was    viijCiij qters.

The new bell                           viijC di.

Som totall of the bells, yron, tymber, and

workmanshipp                     lxxvl. vs. vd."

This appears to have been a sorry bargain, for soon after occur sad complaints of these bells, "very falsly and deceytfully made by Valentyne Trever." Perhaps your correspondent "CEPHAS" may explain the following entry:—

"1846. Item, paid for makying of a newe clapper to

Judas bell                                xd."

2ndly. Some entries, which make up a little history of a rood-loft:—

"1460. Item, sol' pro le skoryng de la belles sup' le

Rode lofte                             iiijd.

"1480. Item, paide for a doore in the rode lofte to

save and kepe the people from the Orgayns

xijd.

Item, paide to a carpynter for makyng of the

Crucyfix and the beme He standeth upon   xls.

Item, paide for kervying of Mary and John

and the makyng newe         xxxiijs. iiijd.

Item, for gilding of the same Mary and John

and the Crosse and iiij'or Evangelysts

vjl. vjs. viijd.

"1530. Item, payd to a labourer for helpying up the

Roode Loft into the stepull          viijd.

"1534. Payd for a present for Mr. Alford and Mr.

Herytage for ther good wyll for tymber for

the newe Rode lofte              ijs. ijd."

The fickle tyrant Henry VIII. dies; a more consistent reign happily ensues.

"1548. Item, for the takying downe of the Roode, the

Tabernacle, and the Images    iijs. vjd.

Also payd to Thomas Stokedale for xxxv ells

of clothe for the frunte of the Rode Lofte

whereas the x Commandements be wrytten,

price of the ell vjd.        xxiijs. iiijd.

Also payd to hym that dyd wryght the said

x Commaundements and for ther drynking

lxvjs. ixd."

Queen Mary succeeds the boy-king Edward VI., and restores the Ritual of her Church.

"1566. Item, payed for the Roode, Mary and John  xl.

"1557. Item, for peyntyng the Roode, Mary and John

xls.

For makyng xvij candilsticks for the roode-light

xjs. iiijd."

Upon the accession of Queen Elizabeth once more, and this time for ever, the rood was destroyed, and the loft, though "reformed," did not long survive it.

"1559. Payde to John Rialle for his iij dayse work

to take downe the Roode, Mary and John

ijs. viijd.

For clevying and sawyng of the Roode, Mary

and John                              xijd.

"1560. Rec'd for the beame the Roode stood on, for

boords and other tymber parcell of the

Roode loft                           xlijs.

For the rest of the stuf belongying to the

Roode lofte                            ixl.

For the great clothe that hong before the

Rode                                   xxs.

Item, paide to joyners and labowrers abowt

the takying downe and new reformyng of the

Roode Loft, &c.           xxxvijl. xs. ijd.

Item, paide for boordes, glew, nayles, and

other neccessaries belonging to the saide

loft                    xiiijl. xiijs. ixd.

Item, paide to a paynter for payntyng the

same                               xijd.

"1562. For bearinge stones for the muringe up of the

dore of the late rood lofte         viijd."

The rapacious Puritans, of course, did not suffer any portion of the church-goods to escape their sacrilegious and itching palms, if convertible into money, so we read—

"1645. Received of Arthur Condall in part of 5li for

the screen and Organ-loft              1s."

S.M.W., Dec. 22. 1849.

NOTES UPON CUNNINGHAM'S HANDBOOK FOR LONDON

The Bagnio in Long Acre.—Mr. Cunningham mentions the Queen's Bagnio in Long Acre. Query, was this the same as the Duke of York's Bagnio? S. Haworth published, in a small 12mo. volume, without date, "A Description of the Duke of York's Bagnio, in Long Acre, and of the Mineral Bath and new Spaw thereunto belonging."

Tavistock Street, Covent Garden.—Richard Leveridge, the celebrated singer, after his retirement from the stage, kept a tavern in this street. Here he brought out "A Collection of Songs, with the Music, by Mr. Leveridge. In two volumes. London, Engrav'd and Printed for the Author in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, 1727." The frontispiece was designed and engraved by Hogarth.

Duke Street, Westminster.—Miss Hawkins, in her Anecdotes, p. 186., speaking of Lady Lucy Meyrick, says, "On quitting her husband's family, she came to reside in Duke Street, Westminster, and lived in that house which had been Prior's, and which exactly faces Charles Street."

Richmond Buildings, Soho.—Horne Tooke resided here in 1775. He afterwards removed to Frith Street.

Clare Market, originally called New Market, was established about the year 1660, by Lord Clare.

"The city and my lord had a great lawsuit, which lasted many years, to the great expence of the city; but from the inequity of the times the city and my lord agreed, and gave it up to the lord; and now it is become one of the greatest markets in the adjacent parts; and from the success of this noble lord, they have got several charters for the erecting of several others since the year 1660; as that of St. James, by the Earl of St. Alban's; Bloomsbury, by the Earl of Southampton; Brook Market, by the Lord Brook; Hungerford Market; Newport Market; besides the Hay Market, New Charingcross, and that at Petty France at Westminster, with their Mayfair in the fields behind Piccadilly."—Harl. MS. 5900.

London House Yard.—Here was formerly the town house of the Bishop of London, which, being consumed in the great fire, the house in Aldersgate Street, formerly called Petre House, was rented for the town residence of the bishop, since which it obtained the title of London House.

OLD PAINTED GLASS

For poor ignorant people like myself pray insert the following, as perhaps some of your heraldic correspondents may afford some information for the benefit of your very humble servant,

Newington, June 17. 1751.

To take an account of what Coats of Arms or other Paintings are in the windows of the House Mercer lives of Mr. Filmer.

AELFRIC'S COLLOQUY

The singular error which Messrs. Lye and Thorpe have fallen in the passage pointed out by Mr. Hampson in Aelfric's very interesting Colloquy, is the more remarkable as Aelfric himself afforded a complete illustration of the passage, in his Glossary, where we have "BULGA, hýdig-faet." It is possible, therefore, that higdifatu is a mere error of the scribe. Now Du Cange, v. Bulga, cites this very passage from Aelfric's Glossary, and adds, "i.e. vas ex corio confectum," but his whole article is worth consulting. That the Latin word in the Colloquy should be Cassidilia is quite clear. Thus in an old MS. English Gloss on the Bible (penes me), the passage in Tobit, viii. 2., "Protulit de Cassidili suo," is rendered, "brouzt forth of his Scrippe." Coverdale has it, "take out of his bagge," and Luther, "langte aus seinem Sücklein," which word is exchanged for büdel in the Saxon version. In two old Teutonic Glosses on the Bible published by Graff (Diutiska, ii. 178.), we have the following variations:—

Another Gloss in Graff's 1st vol. p. 192., on the word Cadus, may perhaps throw some light on the subject. The philological student need not be reminded of the wide application of the word vas, Lat., fazz, O.G., and faet. A.S.; but for my own part, I conclude that the shoewright intended to designate by higdifatu all sorts of leathern budgets. Every Anglo-Saxon student must be so sensible of the great obligation he is under to our distinguished scholar Mr. Thorpe, that I trust it will not be deemed invidious or ungracious to point out another passage in this Colloquy which seems to have hitherto baffled him, but which it appears to me may be elucidated.

To the question, "Hwilce fixas gefehst thu?" the fisherman answers, "Aelas aud hacodas, mynas, aud aelputan, sceotan aud lampredan, aud swa hwylce swa on waetere swymath, sprote."

Mr. Thorpe, in the 1st edition of his Analecta, says, "What is intended to be meant by this word [sprote], as well as by salu [the correspondent word in the Latin], I am at a loss to conjecture." In his second edition, Mr. Thorpe repeats, "I am unable to explain salu otherwise than by supposing it may be an error for salice. In his Glossary he has "spro't, ii. 2.? sprout, rod?" with a reference to his note. I must confess I cannot see how the substitution of salice for salu would make the passage more intelligible, and the explanation of spro'te in the Glossary does not help us. The sense required appears to me to be, quickly, swiftly, and this will, I think, be found to be the meaning of sprote. In the Moeso-Gothic Gospels the word sprauto occurs several times and always in the sense of cito, subito; and though we have hitherto, I believe, no other example in Anglo-Saxon of this adverbial use of the word, we are warranted, I think, in concluding, from the analogy of a cognate language, that it did exist. In regard to the evidently corrupt Latin word salu, I have nothing better to offer than the forlorn conjecture that, in monkish Latin, "saltu't" may have been contractedly written for saltuatim."

Dr. Leo, in his Angelsâchsiche Sprachproben, has reprinted the Colloquy, but without the Latin, and, among many other capricious deviations from Mr. Thorpe's text, in the answer of the shoewright has printed hygefata! but does not notice the word in his Glossary. Herr Leo has entirely omitted the word sprote.

Jan. 14. 1850.

LOGOGRAPHIC PRINTING

[NASO has, in compliance with our request, furnished us with a facsimile of the heading of his early number of The Times, which is as follows:—"THE (here an engraving of the King's Arms) TIMES, OR DAILY UNIVERSAL REGISTER, PRINTED LOGOGRAPHICALLY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12. 1788," and informs us that it was printed "By R. Nutkins, at the Logographic Press, Printing-House Square, near Apothecaries' Hall, Blackfriars," and the height to which the Mr. Walter of that day had brought his invention, by the same energy by which his successor has raised THE TIMES to its present position, is shown by the following note from a kind and most able correspondent.]