432 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[•2°'i S. VII. May 28. '.;P. 



danced with the Duke of Gloucester (Richard III.), 

 adding, " Not a bit crooked ; he was as straight 

 as an arrow, and he danced like a demigod." 



This account leaves four retainers of the tradi- 

 tion between the Countess of Desmond and my 

 wife: the former born in 1465, and the latter 

 living in 1859. Henkt Bunbury, 



Barton. 



HANDKtlANA. 



Handel's Residence at Acton. — Handel, it is 

 well known, taught the Princesses Amelia and 

 Caroline, and in Chamberlayne's Magna Britanrcia 

 Notitia, 1755, his name is thus entered : — 



" Musick-Master, Geo. Fred. Handel, Esq. . . . Salary 

 per Ann. 200/." 



It now appears that Handel, in order to be near 

 his royal pupils, resided for a certain period at 

 Acton, in Middlesex. This fact, which has never 

 been noticed in connection with the biography of 

 the great musician, is thus mentioned in Recol- 

 lections of the Life of John O'Keeffe, icritten by 

 Himself 2 vols. 8vo. 1826 (vol. ii. p. 57.) : — 



" Princess Amelia, daughter of George tlie Second, fre- 

 quently passed my house at Acton, to and from Gun- 

 nesbury Lane, where she lived ; her house stood on the 

 left-hand going from Acton to Turnham Green. I have 

 often seen a large group of poor people, men, women, and 

 children, at a side-door in the wall at Gunnesbury-house, 

 i'eceiving portions of soup, beef, and bread distributed to 

 them by her Royal Highness's order. 



" About halfa mile from my house, at'Acton- Wells, 

 lived Handel; and that place thus became the grand 

 rendezvous of the Court and all the lovers of sublime 

 music of his day." 



Edward F. Rimbault. 



Rouhiliacs Statue of Handel. — A paragraph 

 inserted in the London Daily Post of the 15th of 

 April, 1738, says : — 



" The effigies of Mr. Handel the famous composer of 

 Music, is going to be erected in Vauxhall Gardens, at 

 the expense of Mr. Jonathan Tyers." 



And on the 18th of the same month, — 



" We are informed from very good authorit}-, that 

 there is now, near finished, a statue of the justh' cele- 

 brated Mr. Haudel, exquisitely done by the ingenious 

 :Mr. Roubillac {sic), of St, MaVtin's Lane, statuary, out 

 of one entire block of marble, which is to be placed in a 

 grand niche, erected on purpose, in the great grove of 

 Vauxhall Gardens, at the sole expense of Mr. Tyers, 

 conductor of the entertainments there ; who, in consider- 

 ation of the real merit of that inimitable master, thought 

 it justice and propriety that his effigies should preside in 

 that place, where his harmon}' has so often charmed even 

 the greatest crouds into the most profound silence and 

 attention. 



" It is believed that the expense of the statue and 

 niche cannot cost less than 300/. The said gentleman, 

 likewise, at Mr. Handel's benefit, very generously took 

 fifty of his tickets." 



These notices are worth recording in the pages 

 of "N. & Q.," as they have escaped the researches 



of the writer of the Memoir of " Roubiliac's 

 Statue of Handel," inserted in the Report of the 

 Sacred Harmonic Society. 



I may add, as bearing upon the popularity of 

 Handel's music at Vauxhall Gardens, that the 

 " Firework Music," composed for the celebra- 

 tion of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in the Green 

 Pai'k, was rehearsed at this popular place of 

 public amusement on Friday the 21st of April, 

 1749, by a band of 100 musicians, before an 

 audience of 12,000 persons, admitted by tickets 

 at half-a-crown each. The throng was so great, 

 according to a contemporary account, as to occa- 

 sion a stoppage of London Bridge, then the only 

 transit for carriages, which lasted for three hours. 

 Edward F. Rimbault. 



The Handel Festival of 1784 (2"'^ S. vii. 370.) 

 — In my notice of this commemoration a trifling 

 misprint occurs which I beg to point out. The 

 number of the bassoons is printed 25, instead of 

 26 ; with this correction the total is right. 



A discrepancy occurs between my account and 

 that of my friend Mr. Husk, as regards the 

 number of Cantos. My number is 59, Mr. Hcsk's 

 60. I believe the error has arisen from that gen- 

 tleman having inadvertently included in his enu- 

 meration Signer Pacchierotti, who, although his 

 name is given amoug the trebles, is said by Burney 

 to have sung " at the Pantheon only" 



Edward F. Rimbault. 



Victor's Notices of Handel (2"* S. vii. 370.) — 

 Benj. Victor's Original Lette7's, quoted by Mr. 

 ScuosLCHER, were pointed out to the notice of 

 Mr, W. Chappkll by myself. Mr. Schcelcher 

 should have quoted the previous part of the letter 

 dated Dublin, Dec. 27, 1752, as it adds to the 

 proof that the " Messiah" was originally per- 

 formed in that city. Victor says : — 



" Mr. Handel, when he was here, composed this ex- 

 cellent oratorio, and gave it to a charitable musical so- 

 ciety, by whom it is annually performed for the relief of 

 poor debtors, and veiy well, as we have good cathedral 

 singers to whom this music is chiefly adapted : the per- 

 formance is just over, and j-ou will conclude I am never 

 absent." 



Edward F. Rimbault. 



PASSAGE IN ST. MATTHEW. 



St. Matthew xxiii. 24. : " Which strain at a 

 snat and swallow a camel." Dean Trench ob- 



" Yet it maj- well be a question hero, whether the in- 

 accuracy complained of [in regard to the preposition 

 at"], lies at the door of the translators or the printers. 

 For myself, I feel strongh' convinced that we have here 

 a misprint, which, having been passed over in the first 

 edition of 1011, has held its ground ever since; and that 

 our translators intended, ' which strain out a gnat and 



