312 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2«"» S. VII. April 1G. '59, 



quary knows that the spring season of 1613-14 

 was one of the coldest ever known. The frost 

 commenced on the 17th of January, and continued 

 " freezing and snowing, much or little, until the 

 7th of March." The horrors of the " deepe 

 snow, in which men and cattell perished," are gra- 

 phically pictured in a small pamphlet, published 

 at the time, entitled "-The Cold Yeare, 1614." But 

 I shall quote the words of old Stow : — 



" The 17* of January, 1614, it began to freeze in ordi- 

 nary manner, and the 23^^ of January it beganne to snow, 

 and continued freezing and snowing many daies; and 

 upon Sonday the r2"» of February it beganne to snow 

 most extreamely, and continued untill the 14* of February 

 at noone, and then it abated ; and from that time for 

 many daies after it continued freezing and snowing, 

 much or little, until the 6* or 7* of March, by meanes 

 whereof much cattell perished, as calves and lambs, deere 

 and coneys, &c., by reason the earth lay long covered 

 with deepe snow to the great hurt of all manner of cattell, 

 and many were forced to use new devices to fodder. This 

 snow brought extreame danger to all travaillers; after 

 this snow thawed, there followed inundations, great and 

 violent, which did great spoiles and dammages, as you 

 may read in mj' large booke." — The Abridgement of the 

 English Chronicle, 1618, 12mo, p. 544. 



Thus it will be seen that the inscription on 

 the Countess of Pembroke's portrait admits of an 

 easy and sensible interpretation. The painter, 

 wearied by the inclemency of the season — the 

 frosts and snows of months — records, when he had 

 finished his task, the welcome approach of spring — 

 "No Spring till now." The frost broke up on 

 the 7th of March, and the picture was finished on 

 the 12th, when the snow had gradually disap- 

 peared. Thus the mystic words, which " puzzle 

 every one," are easily explained. 



Edw. F. Rimbault. 



FOLK LORE. 



PauVs Pitcher. — The eve of St. Paul's Day is, 

 at Bodmin, marked by a custom the origin or 

 meaning of which I can get no account of from 

 books or oral tradition ; and I therefore appeal to 

 your ubiquitous journal for any other instance of 

 a like usage, or for information as to its intention. 

 The boys of the town are accustomed after night- 

 fall to slink along the streets, and hurl a pitcher 

 into every house that is left incautiously open. 

 On last St. John's Eve, on entering a house, I 

 almost stumbled over the potsherds which were 

 strewn about the passage ; and, on asking an ex- 

 planation, was told that "it was a Paul's pitcher."* 



This has none of the claims for continuance 

 that most of our old English customs present to 

 our sympathies ; and in a short time the observ- 

 ance, which has now degenerated into a mere 

 piece of boyish mischief, will have left no trace 

 except in the pages of " N. & Q." T. Q. C. 



[• See « N. & Q." 1" S. iii. 239.] 



Superstitions regarding the Blossoming of Plants. 

 — The Crocus was dedicated to S. Valentine, as it 

 appears about the period of that Saint's day. One 

 species of daisy appears about the time of S. Mar- 

 garet's day ; this is called in French La Belle 

 Marguerite. The Crown Imperial blossoms about 

 the 18th March, the day of S. Edward, King of 

 the West Saxons ; nature thus, as was imagined, 

 honouring the day with a floral " imperial crown." 

 The Cardaraine, or Lady's Smock, so distinguished 

 for its milk-white flowers, is dedicated to " our 

 Lady " the Blessed Virgin Mary, appearing about 

 Lady Day. The S. John's Wort blossoms near 

 that Saint's day, and the Scarlet Lychnis, which 

 was called the Candle plant, was supposed to be 

 lighted up for that Saint's honour also, who was 

 " a burning and a shining light." The White 

 Lily expands about the Feast of the Annuncia- 

 tion of the B. V. M., affording another coincidence 

 of the blossoming of well-known white flowers at 

 the festivals consecrated to the Mother of our 

 Lord. The roses of summer were said to fade 

 about S. Mary Magdalene's day. The Passion- 

 flower was believed to blossom about Holy Rood 

 Day, and allusions to this are frequently to be 

 discovered in the writers of a former period. 

 According to the tradition current in the Catholic 

 Church, the cross on which our Saviour was cru- 

 cified was discovered in the year 326, by the 

 Empress Helena, who built a church on the spot ; 

 and the day of discovery was celebrated after- 

 wards as Holy Rood Day ; rood signifying cross 

 in obsolete English. Hence the plant was con- 

 nected with the Passion or sufferings of Christ, 

 and more especially from the fact of the resem- 

 blance borne in its flower to the cross, the nails, 

 crown of thorns, &c. discovered by the early mis- 

 sionaries of the Catholic faith. Notsa. 



"Hah can nab." — The following is a piece of 

 Kentish folk lore from Gravesend, and very likely 

 an old fisherboy's rhyme. The first line is cor- 

 rupted into Harry Canab, and the end lines are 

 modern : — 



" Hab can nab. 

 The two pound crab, 

 The twopenny ha'penny lobster, 

 Trot over to France, 

 To see the cat dance, 

 And could not come back to his master." 



Hyde Clarke, 

 Satan's Marks in the Swine. — A few days since 

 in going into my backyard, where a freshly-killed 

 pig had just been hung up, a man who knew I 

 was curious in such matters, said, " There, now, 

 there's the mark as Satan made in the herd of 

 swine before they ran down the cliffs into the 

 sea," pointing to five dark marks on the skin of 

 the inside of each fore-leg. 



On my questioning him, he assured me he had 

 never seen a pig without them (I have since looked 



