Scotch East-India Company.-Where can any information be obtained respecting the Scotch East-India Company; it was in existence, and had ships trading to India, in 1701 ? Where may information be obtained with regard to the trial of a Captain Green and a Mr. Mather, the captain and chief officer of an East Indiaman (it is believed of one of the Scotch East-India Company's ships), who were executed in Scotland for the crime of piracy in the early part of the last century? W. PINKERTON. Ham. Pepys's Morma.-The egotist Pepys committed himself once, and once only, in the course of his selfish and worldly-minded Diary, to a little, a very little outbreak of the pathetic, when (1662, Oct. 23rd) he says: "This night was buried, as I hear by the bells, at Barking Church, my poor Morma, whose sickness being desperate, did kill her poor father; and he being dead for sorrow, she could not recover, nor desired to live, but from that time do languish more and more, and so is now dead and buried." The editor, Lord Braybrooke, says, "There is no other allusion to this person in the Diary." Would any of your readers resident near Barking spend a shilling to ascertain from the register of burials of that place who " "poor Morma" was, whose death go moved the cold nature of the diarist? Her father's death, we may presume, will probably be found near the same date, in the same register, and will serve to identify her. J. K. Passage in Milton.-I have met with one difficulty in Milton, which I have not been able to overcome. It is book ii. 2., "Or where," &c. The description is true, for Warburton refers to Petit de la Croix's translation of Sherefeddin's Life of Tamerlane; and I myself can give instances from the Shah-námeh: but where did Milton get his information, for La Croix's work was not published till 1722? I have searched Purchas, Hackluyt, Heylin, &c., but in vain. Perhaps some of your readers have been more fortunate." T. K. Fairfax House, Chiswick. The Venerable Bede.-I shall feel very grateful for any information in answer to the following Queries: 1. Is it more 'correct to write the name, in English, of this illustrious man, Bede or Beda! And the reasons for the answer. 2. A list of the different editions of his works, distinguishing home and continental editions; as also those of his complete works, and of portions of his works. 3. What were the remaining lines of the epitaph over his tomb, commencing "Hâc sunt in fossà Bedæ venerabilis ossâ?" I have met with a translation of them, thus: "Here the remains of Beda rest in peace: Grant him, good Lord, the joys that never cease: Grant him to drink, from Wisdom's fountain clear," Those living streams for which he panted here." 4. What churches, chapels, chapels in churches, or altars in churches, were formerly dedicated under his invocation? CEYREP. Consecration of Bishops in Ireland. - By the Irish Act of the 2nd of Elizabeth, c. 4., it is ordered that there shall be an investiture and consecration of the bishop, "with all speed and celerity," on the receipt of the collation. Query, what is the legal interpretation of the words marked with inverted commas; or, in other words, within what period, after the receipt of the collation by the bishop or archbishop, must the investiture and consecration take place? Kilkenny. JAMES GRAVES. Gerit Comhaer. — As your valuable “ N. & Q." may boast of readers in Denmark, and our “Navorscher" is not equally felicitous, we venture to apply to your learned correspondents in that part of Europe for the solution of the following question: In an old MS. chronicle of the beginning of the sixteenth century, mention is made of a certain Gerit Comhaer, native of Bommel, who resided afterwards in Deventer, and departed from thence to Denmark, where the King appointed him master of his mint. This must have happened in the last part of the fourteenth century. Further particulars will be highly acceptable. Arnhem. Y. A. N. (in the Navorscher). Minor Queries Answered. "Epistles Philosophical and Moral."-Who is the writer of Epistles Philosophical and Moral: London, T. Wilcox, 1758, 8vo. They consist in versified letters, with very humorous satirical engravings. "Epistle the First" begins in the following manner: "While zeal, beyond the grave, pursues Extoll'd by others to the skies, St. John's, thus sav'd and damn'd by fame, Lorenzo asks, ingenuous youth, The following copy of this ballad was taken down from recitation, some years ago, by Mr. Thomas Lyle, and published by that gentleman in a small collection of Ballads and Songs, 1827, p. 162. I believe that it was "never before in print," and on that account may be worth insertion in the "N. & Q." 66 PRETTY PEG OF DERBY, O! "A captain of Irish dragoons on parade, While his regiment was stationed at Derby, O, Fell in love, as it is said, With a young blooming maid, Though he sued in vain to win pretty Peggy, O. "To-morrow I must leave thee, pretty Peggy, O, Though my absence may not grieve thee, pretty Peggy, O, Braid up thy yellow hair, Ere thou tripp'st it down the stair, And take farewell of me, thy soldier laddie, O. "Ere the dawn's reveillie sounds to march, I'm ready, O, To make my pretty Peg a captain's lady, O, Then, what would your mammy think, And the hautboys playing before thee, O. E'er to go to foreign land, The inscription on the original stone, which differs in one or two important particulars from that on the present memorial, will supply MR. JOSIAH CATO with at least a portion of the desired information. It was the following: "Here stood the oak-tree on which an arrow, shot by Sir Walter Tyrrel, at a stag, glanced, and struck King William II., surnamed Rufus, on the breast: of which stroke he instantly died, on the second of August, 1100. "King William II., surnamed Rufus, being slain, as before related, was laid in a cart belonging to one Purkess, and drawn from hence to Winchester, and buried in the cathedral church of that city. "That the spot where an event so memorable had happened might not hereafter be unknown, this stone was set up by John Lord Delaware, who had seen the tree growing in this place, anno 1745."— Old England, vol. i. p. 95. col. 2. It is a matter of some surprise to me that this inscription was not reproduced upon the modern cover, the date of the erection of the stone, and the fact that Lord Delaware had seen the tree, being certainly worth preservation. The account of the king's death given by Stow is very quaint and graphic, and well worthy of a place in your columns. He relates several prodigies as occurring before the event, and in the same year, 1100. "This yeere many strange things came to passe, the diuell did visiblie appeare unto men, and sometime spake unto them. Moreouer, in the Towne of Finchamsted in Barkshire, neere unto Abindune, a spring did continuallie by the space of fifteene daies flowe plentifullie with blood (or the likenesse thereof), so that it did colour and infect the next water brooke unto it. King William, on the morrowe after Lammas daie, hunting in the Newe Forrest of Hampshire, in a place called Chorengham, where since a chappell was builded, Sir Walter Tirell shooting at a deere, unawares hit the King in the breast, that he ... downe stark dead, and neuer spake word. His men (especially that knight) got them away, but some came back again, and laid his body upon a collier's cart, which one seelie leane beast did drawe unto the Citie of Winchester, where he was buried on the morrow after his death, at whose buriall men could not weepe for ioye. He was buried at Winchester, in the cathedrall church or monasterie of Saint Swithen, under a plaine flatte marble stone, before the lectorne in the queere; but long since his bones were translated in a coffer, and laide with King Knute's bones."- Stow's Annales, edit. 4to. 1601, p. 189. The name of Purkess was to be seen over the door of a little shop in the village of Minestead in 1843; and the stirrup of Rufus is preserved in the Court Hall at Lyndhurst. (Old England, vol. i. p. 95.) I remember a paragraph which went the round of the newspapers some years since, to the effect that the wheel of the cart on which the monarch's body was conveyed to Winchester had been preserved up to that time, at a cottage in the New Forest; but in the course of the then severe winter had been consigned to the flames, on account of a scarcity of fuel. A scarcity of fuel in the New Forest was, I should have thought, too great a flight of fancy, even in the direst dearth of news. The tomb of William Rufus (which is not "flatte," but of the dos d'âne form) was violated in the Parliamentary war, and there were found "a large gold ring, a small silver chalice, and some pieces of cloth embroidered with gold, mingled with the dust of the decayed body." Baker, in his Chronicle (edit. 1674, p. 37. col. 1.) notes that "One Sugerus, a writer that lived at that time [i. e. circa 1100] and was a familiar acquaintance of the said Tyrel's, against the current of all writers, affirms that he had often heard the said Sir Walter swear that he was not in the Forrest with the king all that day." The great interest of this subject will, I hope, serve to excuse the length of this communication. W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A. THE PASSAGE IN "LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST." In the wish to be as brief as possible in my reply (at p. 296.) to MR. SINGER'S Query, I forebore to notice a circumstance which materially affects the right understanding of the passage in question. In all editions hitherto, the second line of the Princess's speech is pointed off from what follows, by making it conclude with either a full-stop, a colon, or a semicolon; as though that line formed some complete sense in itself: e. g. "That sport best pleases, that doth least know how:" Thus making the not knowing how the means of sing! it if we place a comma at the end of this line, transfer the semicolon or a dash to the middle of the line next following, we shall then undoubt edly obtain what must have been the author's true meaning: viz. "That sport best pleases, that doth least know how, Where zeal strives to content." makes the performance pleasing; EVEN when it It is the zeal, striving to give satisfaction, that doth least know how. Thus the meaning of the whole sentence is this: "That sport best pleases, (even) that (which) doth least know how, where zeal strives to content; and (where) the contents dies in the (very) zeal of that which it presents.” I therefore advocate the following as the proper punctuation of the whole speech: Nay, my good lord, let me o'errule you now : That sport best pleases, that doth least know how, Where zeal strives to content and the contents Dies in the zeal of that which it presents: Their form, confounded, makes most form in mirth, The last two lines being a sarcastic allusion to the When great things, labouring, perish in their birth." abortive Russian masque of The King and his Company. Leeds. THE ROBIN. (Vol. vi., p. 244.) A. E. B. It was on the day when Lord Jesu felt His pain upon the bitter cross of wood, that a small and tender bird, which had hovered awhile around, drew nigh about the seventh hour, and nestled upon the wreath of Syrian thorns. And when the gentle creature of the air beheld those cruel spikes, the thirty and three, which pierced that bleeding brow, she was moved with compassion and the piety of birds; and she sought to turn aside, if but one of those thorns, with her flutter ing wings and her lifted feet! It was in vain! She did but rend her own soft breast, until blood flowed over her feathers from the wound! Then said a voice from among the angels, "Thou hast and I bring thee tidings of reward. Henceforth. done well, sweet daughter of the boughs! Yea, thine, it shall be that in many a land thy race and from this very hour, and because of this deed of banner of thy faithful blood; and the children of kind shall bear upon their bosoms the hue and every house shall yearn with a natural love towards the birds of the ruddy breast, and shall greet their presence in its season with a voice of thanksgiving!" HENNA.† Morwenstow. Your correspondent will, I think, find a more satisfactory solution to the proposed question on the reputation of the Robin in the fact that this is the only singing-bird which in a wild state approaches near to the dwelling of man. While the sparrow is the only bird in constant attendance on the human biped, the Robin is the only one which in the closest districts cheers him with a song. In my garden here at Pentonville I have heard the Robin daily since the third week in August this year and though the little wren, the greenfinch, the tomtit, and several other birds, visit us, the Robin is the only one which claims popular attention; and this he certainly deserves. I frequently hear him long before daylight; and I experience no greater pleasure at this season than enjoying the fresh air in my garden before daybreak, when several Robins in good song maintain a friendly converse, in their melodious way, from the tops of neighbouring trees. The peculiarly full and fluent melody, though consisting of only a few notes, has a great charm for townsmen, and at most houses it is customary to throw out crumbs for the Robin. The fearlessness, and (if it might be said) the love of man which the Robin evinces must, I am sure, be the chief element in our partiality for him. SHIRLEY HIBBERD. Surely our affection for the Robin redbreast arises from its familiar habits. It enters houses freely; it hops about our breakfast-table, picking up the crumbs; comes and goes as it pleases; pops upon our shoulders, and seems to feel itself perfectly at home; it places entire confidence in us, and we do not like to abuse it. This I take to be the cause, not the consequence, of the "babes in the wood." Our dislike of the toad and the serpent is sufficiently accounted for by their personal appearance, and their poisonous reputation. E. H. TOMB OF JOHN BARET IN ST. MARY'S CHURCH, ST. EDMUNDS, BURY. (Vol. v., pp. 247. 353.) It is now some years since I saw this curious tomb, of date A.D. 1463; at that time the fine church of St. Marie's was restoring in the best possible taste, under the strenuous exertions of its valuable rector, Rev. Mr. Eyre. The tomb in question had long stood in a recess, with one side against the wall, so as to render it impossible to read the legend which ran round it; when I saw it, during part of the alterations, it was required to be moved from its place, and I took the opportunity to copy the curious inscription as below. How it is now placed I know not, but at the time it struck me that it could not be standing in its intended or original position, but that in some changes in the internal arrangement of the church, it must have been, as it were, Wrappid in a schete, as a ful rewli wretche, : With respect to the "skeleton figure" in Exeter Cathedral (Vol. v., p. 301.), it is now many years since "I made a Note" respecting it. As I recollect, it represents a human figure in an extreme state of emaciation, with a dagger sticking in the breast, and the legend told me at the time was to the effect that it represented some one who had attempted to imitate, literally, our blessed Lord's fast of forty days, and that holding out to the thirty-ninth day, and unable to endure the agonies of hunger, he then stabbed himself, thus consummating an act of presumption by an act of desperation. A. B. R. Belmont. EXTERIOR STOUPS. (Vol. vi., p. 160.) As one of the correspondents of "N. & Q." referred to an exterior stoup at Badgeworth Church in Gloucestershire, and suggested that a description be given of it by a local correspondent, by the kindness of Mr. D. J. Humphris of Cheltenham I am favoured with a drawing of it, and, at his request, forward the following description. The stoup in question is situate on the right as you enter the west doorway of the tower, and is a plain chamferred ogeeheaded recess in the fascia of the basement moulding, with a semi-hexagonal projecting basin, the top member of the mouldings of which is the boutell; this, together with the ogee head of the recess, would place the date within the Secondpointed or Decorated period, while the doorway itself is of the Third-pointed or Perpendicular period, having a four-centred pointed arch under a square-headed recess. Over the doorway is a western light with flowing tracery, which would lead us to imagine that the west doorway was a reparation at a subsequent period to the original building of the tower. The church itself is of the Decorated period, and from the specimen of one window which Mr. H. has sent me, must be an exquisite example of the style, there being no less Leicester. 66 than four members of the jamb-mouldings, and Your correspondent asks, "Has any one deone of the hood-mould, enriched with the ball-scribed more vividly than South the apparent flower ornament. THOS. L. WALKER. sanctity and real profligacy of the Puritanical leaders?" and has any one described more vividly than Tertullus the real delinquency of Paul, as a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition, and a profaner of the temple?" But the most vivid description cannot give substance to fiction, nor verity to falsehood. Even James II. objected to South as a controversialist, saying, that "he had not temper to go through a dispute, and that, instead of arguments, he would bring railing accusations." I am glad to inform MR. FRASER that there is an exterior holy-water stoup in the west wall of the tower of the fine old village church at Badgeworth. It is about two feet south of the west door, entering the belfry, which is open to the nave. This door, in the west wall of the tower, seems to have been originally the chief entrance. The stoup is in fine preservation, and it was evidently formed when the walls of the tower were built. The hollow or basin of the stoup projects a little from the wall, and the SOUTH'S SERMONS. (Vol. vi., p. 25.) It is only occasionally that the Numbers of "N. & Q." come into my hands; but I never read them without finding something in their pages that is instructive and useful, as well as curious and amusing; and I regret that such a publication should be allowed to become the vehicle of slander and abuse against men to whom England is indebted for some of her dearest rights and privileges. I allude here to an article I have just seen in your Number for July last, headed "Historical Value of South's Sermons," in which the writer appears to regard the vituperations of this Jacobite parson against the Puritans as a sufficient authority for holding them up to reproach 'If," says he, we want to know Puritanism in its rampant state, we must read South, as well as Cleveland's poems, and Hudibras." It would be quite as fair to say, "If we want to know tyranny and perfidy in their rampant state, we must read the character and acts of Charles I., as pourtrayed by Milton, or given in Stirling's poems." As you have admitted into your work South's scurrilous defamation of Cromwell and the Puritans, it will be but justice to admit also an extract from Stirling's lines on Carisbrook Castle : and derision. 66 66 "Would that till now the dungeon had remain'd When those strong spirits from whose loins we spring, alse friend; dishonest foe; the thorny rod Your correspondent justifies this charge by a Charles II., in which he alluded to Cromwell's quotation from a sermon he preached before entering parliament as "a bankrupt beggarly hat, and, perhaps, neither of them paid for." At fellow, with a threadbare, torn cloak, and a greasy this the king is said to have laughed heartily; and turning to South's patron, Lawrence Hyde (Lord Rochester), said, “Odd's fish, Lory, your chaplain must be made a bishop." It had long been South's practice to accommodate his principles to those of the times; and he knew that this aspersion of Cromwell, contemptible as it was, would tell well upon Charles-that its vulgarity would not offend his taste, nor its falsehood his feelings; indeed, that the grosser the calumny the more likely it would be to please him, and to secure his favour. When Cromwell was in power, South pursued the same policy. His previous attachment to royalty had then given way to zeal for the new authority; and on a particular public occasion he addressed some flattering congratulatory verses to Oliver, which, as they are rather an intractable fact for your correspondent's purpose, he intimates "were most probably (!) imposed upon him by the head of his college, the notorious John Owen." But if Owen had then any suspicion of South's allegiance to Cromwell, is it within the compass of probability that he would have engaged him, or trusted him, to compose this address, even if he had the power to impose it upon him? Or is it to be believed that South himself would have undertaken, at the dictation of an op ponent, to compliment a ruler whom he did not acknowledge. The fact is, that Owen and South were both at that time the friends of Cromwell; or if South was not his friend, he was at least his open partizan, and had also professedly adopted the religious opinions of the Protector's party, having appeared at St. Mary's as the great champion for Calvinism against the Arminians; and his behaviour was such, and his talents esteemed so serviceable, that the leaders of that party were considering how to give proper encouragement, and proportional preferment, to so hopeful a convert. Before this was |