2'><» S. VII. Mak. 26. '69.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



253 



proving its laws from its facts in nature. It 

 operates in time and space, and is subject to the 

 law of numbers. The knowledge of the rules of 

 addition and subtraction will parse any passage by 

 a great master. The cogency of mathematics is 

 of no avail unless the data be facts. To reason 

 upon the position that (in the key of C), A is a 

 consonance and that F is not, is a simple case of 

 lunacy. There has been the coinage of words in 

 speech language, but no coinage of sounds in music 

 language. 



The Abbe du Bos records that MoHere when 

 he performed iu his own play, noted or intoned 

 the most particular scenes, as also did Beaubry, 

 the celebrated actor of that day. 



Exercises for Degrees in Music. — This subject, 

 which has for the last eight or nine months excited 

 so much interest among certain members of the 

 musical profession, is not difficult to understand 

 or to settle. The " piece of solemn music " was 

 the " solennis missa," or high mass, and the word 

 " counterpoint " embraced the whole art and 

 science of music. In this sense Handel used it 

 when he said of Gluck, " he knows no more of 

 counterpoint as mein cook waltz ; " whilst of 

 Telemann he remarked, " Telemann could com- 

 pose a piece of church music in eight parts in less 

 time than another person would take to write a 

 letter." Counterpoint is not a question of ears, 

 but one oi grammar. If a man can write a chant, 

 a dance, and a recitative correctly — all three per- 

 fectly right — he knows how to write music, and 

 will find no difficulty in part-writing. In the 

 matter of scholastic writing taste has no admission, 

 for knowledge and power can only be tested by the 

 rules of grammar. 



ACTING IN EDINBURGH, JULY, 1733 : STIRLING 

 THEATRICALS. 



The Caledonian Mercury advertises, — 



"That the Edinburgh company of Players having lately 

 acted several of Shakspeare's plays, such as Othello, Ham- 

 let, Henry IV., The Humours of Fulstaff, &c., with great 

 applause, we hear, at the desire of their be-t friends, are 

 to act tomorrow, the 13th, another of Shak peare's excel- 

 lent plays, viz. King Lear and his Three Daughters." 



It v/as about this time that Anthony, or as he 

 is more commonly called, " Tony " Aston had his 

 company in the northern metropolis, a circum- 

 stance that greatly excited the wrath of the 

 puritanical portion of the community. The ma- 

 gistrates, under the influence of the clergy, 

 prosecuted " Tony," and obtained a conviction 

 against him as a vagrant. Supported, however, 

 by some of the nobility of Scotland, who had not 

 then, as now, fled to London or the Continent for 

 excitement, Tony brought the matter before the 

 Court of Session, and ultimately defeated his op- 

 ponents. It is extraordinary what a sensation 



this dispute created, and how some of the minis^ 

 ters declared that religion would be extinguished 

 if the players were successful. 



The Rev. R. Wodrow, the Church historian, in 

 his letters to Lord PoUok, a. fierce Presbyterian, 

 and who was to be a judge in the cause, laboured 

 hard to convince his lor<lship of the iniquity of 

 the thing: but Pollok was ill; so much so, that, so 

 far as can be ascertained now, he was not present 

 at the ultimate decision. 



The feeling against actors, kept up by pulpit 

 orations, was very strong until recently over all 

 Scotland. A curious illustration of this occurred 

 in Stirling, the end of the last or the beginning of 

 the present century. The North York Militia, 

 commanded by Lord Dundas, was stationed there, 

 and as it was rather a dull place, the officers were 

 desirous of enlivening it by the introduction of a 

 portion of the Edinburgh company of comedians. 

 On this being understood, the magistrates refused 

 their permission — the very idea was horrible : 

 stage-players in the holy burgh of Stirling could 

 not be tolerated. The noble commander was very 

 sorry that he could not procure this reasonable 

 amusement for his officers ; but so it was : the 

 civic authorities, supported by the town minis- 

 ters, would not hear of it. One of the oflScers 

 said he thought he could manage it without in 

 any way trenching upon the magisterial privi- 

 leges. His lordship said he might try the expe- 

 riment. Nothing farther was said, and no means 

 used to soften the obdurate hearts of the provost 

 and baillies. On the Sunday following the refusal 

 the regiment as usual paraded in the forenoon, 

 and it may be observed that the parade ground 

 was very near the High Church. After the affair 

 thus gone through, the band, which was a very 

 excellent one, struck up and played for some 

 time. The same thing was repeated on Sunday 

 evening, and, as might be expected, the attend- 

 ance was pretty considerable, especially of the 

 fair sex. 



Horrified at this astounding occurrence, the 

 provost went to the commanding officer, and 

 pointed out the dreadful consequences that would 

 arise from the performance of secular n usic on 

 Sundays ; that in place of attending to religious 

 duties, the women would be rushing era masse to 

 the Castle Hill, and that everything would be 

 thrown into disorder. " I am very sorry for 

 this," was the rejoinder, " but it can't be helped ; 

 my officers are only doing that which they are 

 entitled to do. And as I do not question your 

 right to exclude the players, you ought not to 

 question mine, of allowing tliem to enjoy the 

 music of their band on the Sundays." 



This was a settler : nevertheless the horror of 

 stage plays prevailed. Next Sunday the parade 

 was brilliantly attended ; the churches were de- 

 serted ; the band played long and well. In vain 



