Un-iS. VII. April 23. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



339 



Minav iSiottS. 



Parish Library given by S. P. G. Society to a 

 Church in America. — I have not yet seen in " N. 

 & Q." any communication, although solicited, from 

 America respecting such libraries : but I find in 

 tlie New York Historical Magazine, and Notes and 

 Queries (vol. ii. p. 125.), the following notice, 

 which I send you : — 



" The parish (Trinity Church, Oxford, Philadelphia,) 

 is fortunate in still having in preservation and use a 

 chalice, which was the gift of Queen Anne, with the 

 simple inscription * Anna) Regiuas,' and a valuable rem- 

 nant of the parish library given by the Venerable Societj' 

 for the Propagation of the Gospel, together with a copj' 

 of the Holy Bible from which ' the lessons are still read,' 

 as they have been for more than a century." 



J. Macbay. 



Oxford. 



Robert Greene and Robert Burns : Parallel 

 Passages. — 



" Her cheeks like ripened lilies steep'd in wine." 

 Greene, p. 42. (Bell's edit.) 

 " Like lilies dipt in Bacchus' choicest wine." 



Idem, p. 65. {Idem.") 

 " Her cheeks like lilies dipp'd in wine." 



Burns, " The Lass that made the bed 

 to me." 



C. C. B. 



Harwood's L'ish Almanac, 1666. — The follow- 

 ing particulars, found in Wilde's Closing Years of 

 Dean SwifVs Life, p. 122., deserve, I think, a 

 corner in " N. & Q. : " — 



" A family named Christie, whose descendants now re- 

 side in the neighbourhood of Swords [county of Dublin], 

 have long possessed a pocketbook of the Dean's, which the 

 present owner has, through the influence of the Rev. Wil- 

 liam Ornisby, kindly lent us for the purpose of this essaj'. 

 It is an interleaved cop}- of one of Harwood's Almanacs, 

 A Prognostication for the Year of our Lord God 1666, 

 each blank leaf and portions of many of the others being 

 filled with manuscripts entirely in the Dean's handwrit- 

 ing. This manuscript is mostly poetry, consisting of 

 fragments of verses, and some of his earlier poems never 

 published." 



Respecting this almanac, Mr. Wilde adds in p. 

 151.: — 



" This Prognostication for the Year of our Lord God 

 1666, together with an exact Accompt of the principal High- 

 ways and Fairs in the Kingdom of Ireland, bg Michael 

 Harwood, Philomath, and printed by Crook, the King's 

 printer, is perhaps one of the oldest Irish almanacs now 

 extant." 



Abhba. 



ASTROLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THE SIGN TAURUS. 



In that admirable scene in Twelfth Night, in 

 which the two knights. Sir Toby Belch and Sir 

 Andrew Ague-cheek are first introduced, Sir 

 Toby is made to utter a little quiet jeer at what 

 is termed medical astrology. Poor silly Sir An- 



drew Ague-cheek, listless and idle, a simpleton 

 gull, excited and duped by the cunning flattery of 

 Sir Toby, is led from the contemplation of his 

 own personal qualifications — his skill in a caper, 

 and the beauty of his leg when shown off by a 

 tight "flame- coloured sock," — to consider in what 

 way these attractions might best be turned to ac- 

 count. " Shall we set about some revels?" is his 

 suggestive question. " What shall we do else ? " 

 answers Sir Toby ; " were we not born under 

 Taurus?" "Taurus!" echoes innocent Sir An- 

 drew, his mind immediately reverting to astro- 

 logical considerations, " That's sides and heart." 

 " No, Sir," answers Sir Toby, with scornful irony, 

 " it is legs and thighs ;" and then proceeds to call 

 upon his goose of a companion to exhibit his boasted 

 skill in dancing — " Let me see thee caper !" Sir 

 Andrew complies with characteristic facility, and 

 the scene closes amidst roars of laughter, excited 

 by the grotesque movements of the rustic knight, 

 inspirited to an absurd exhibition of his clownish 

 accomplishments by the encouragement of the 

 crafty Sir Toby : " Ha ! higher ; ha, ha ! excel- 

 lent!" 



Every one who peruses the scene will perceive 

 not only its admirable adaptation for the stage, 

 but Its fine satire on the small country gentry of 

 that date : educated in field sports, skilled in the 

 amusements practised at country revels, ignorant 

 of every thing else, foolish, self-conceited, narrow- 

 minded, overcome with mauvaise honte, and devout 

 believers in the follies of astrology. 



But the question arises. Which of the knights 

 was correct In his statement of the presumed in- 

 fluences of Taurus ? Will anyone be kind enough 

 to produce authority on this point ? The follow- 

 ing lines occur in the State Paper Office, but they 

 do not agree with either of the knights. Was Sir 

 Andrew ignorant, and Sir Toby altogether in jest? 



" A Rule to Knowe By Harte, what parte of man's Bodye 

 is subject to any of the 12 signes. 



" The heade and face doth Aries rule, and Taurus doth 



the necke : 

 But armes and handes in Gemhiyes power do suffer joy 



or wreck ; 

 Cancer doth guide the breast and longs, the ribbes and 



stomocke stowt ; 

 Leo likewise hath harte and back, therof yee neede not 



dowte ; 

 The belly and bowells Virgo hath, and eke the entrales 



all; 

 The loynes, the kidneis, and the raynes, to Libraes lot 



doth fall ; 

 The blather and [some other] parts to Scorpio are the 



fees; 

 The thyes doth Sagittary guide, and Capricrone the 



knees ; 

 The legs to Acquary belong, to use them as hec lyste : 

 But Pisces holds the feet and heels, and so for ever 



must." 



Perhaps, instead of addressing my Query to 

 your readers generally, I might have confined its 



