124 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd S. No 59., Feb. 14. '57. 



mus? 



Whimsical Epitaphs. — The following are quaint: 



1. Unde superbi- 

 Quid sumus nisi H- 

 De limo homo pri- 

 Sortem vitare nequi- 

 Si nos terra su- 

 Terra quid est nisi fu 

 Si nihil est fu- 

 Ergo nihil su- 



norum Scrip pot 



orte super tor libri iatur. 



borum rap mor 



J. C. J 



s 



M 



Epitaph on Stemhold Odkes. — 



" The late Sternhold Oakes was rather eccentric, and 

 offered a reward for the best epitaph for his grave. Several 

 tried for the prize, but they flattered him too much he 

 thought. At last he tried for himself, and the following 

 was the result : 



' Here lies the body of Sternhold Oakes, 

 Who lived and died like other folks.' 



That was satisfactory, and the old gentleman claimed the 

 reward, which, as he had the paying of it himself, was of 

 course allowed." 



w.w. 



Malta. 



Epitaph on a l^onibstone in Cavers Churchyard, 

 Roxburghshire. — 



" Here lies the body of James Leydon, 

 In this Churchyard beneath this stone. 

 And Margaret Scott, his spouse alone, 

 Lj'eth also here beneath this stone. 

 And their posterity that's gone. 

 Lies also here beneath this stone : 

 William, Adam Leydon, and John, 

 Ly also here beneath this stone. 

 In Earlside * they lived some years agone, 

 Now here they ly beneath this stone. 

 But this I will keep on record, 

 They were all such as fear'd the Lord. 

 For the deceased James Leydon 

 On his death-bed this he made known. 

 That here no more he must remain, 

 But to the dust return again. 

 And that his soul, at God's decree, 

 For ever should a dweller be 

 In that most holy place above, 

 Where nothing is but peace and love. 

 He was but fifty j'ears of age 

 When he removed from this stage ; 

 The year sixteen hundred and eighty-eight. 

 The twelfth of March was his last night." 



• Anon. 



Wdnsix ^aiti. 



New Drop at Neivgate. — It is generally sup- 

 posed tliis is an invention of a few years ago, but 

 I find tills passage in the trial of Lord Ferrers 

 {Remarkable Trials, 12mo., 1765, vol. ii. p. 347.) : 



"His Arms were secured by a black Sash, and the 



* In the more mountainous part of the same parish. 



Halter, which was a common one, was put round his 

 neck. He then mounted a part of the Scaffold raised 

 eighteen inches higher than the rest, and the signal being 

 given by the Sheriff, that part of the Floor sunk under 

 him to a level with the rest, and he remained suspended 

 in the Air." 



A. A. 

 Poets' Comer. 



Byron and Mr. Kingsley. — In Westward, Ho ! 

 vol. ii. pp. 299, 300., is the following, — 



" Cervantes sat, perhaps, in his dungeon, writing with 

 his left hand Don Quixote, — saddest of books, in spite of 

 all its wit ; . . . one of the saddest books, I say again, 

 which man can read." 



In Byron's Don Juan, canto xiir. stanzas viii, 

 ix. : 



"... Cervantes, in that too true tale 



Of Quixote, ' 



Of all tales 'tis the saddest — and more sad. 

 Because it makes us smile ; . . . ." 



Are we to consider this an instance of great 

 minds stumbling on the same thought ? If not, 

 surely Mr. Kingsley would have given a reference 

 to Don Juan either in the text or in a note. 



#> J. T. Jeffcock. 



Foreign Airs and Native Graces. — The psalm- 

 tune called " Belmont " is an adaptation of an 

 air by Mozart. (Query, what air ?) The singers 

 of " Belmont " may lay to heart that saying of 

 Wesley's, that "the Devil must not have all the 

 good tunes," when they are informed that the 

 very pretty melody to which the classical ballad 

 of " The Ratcatcher's Daughter" is sung, is an 

 adaptation of the Mozartian "Belmont." One 

 trial will prove the fact, as the advertising grocers 

 say. Apropos to this, I may remark that the 

 inspiriting music (by Rodvvell) to the Jack Shep' 

 herd song of "Nix my dolly pals, fake away!" 

 (which the late Mrs. Honey made more present- 

 able as " Haste to the woodlands, haste away !" ) 

 becomes altogether an altered character when 

 played slowly, and in chords ; and I myself know 

 of an instance where it was thus played in a 

 church, during the service, to the complete mysti- 

 fication of the congregation and their musical 

 rector. But many of these popular airs might, 

 perhaps, be traced to high originals. I imagine 

 this to be the case with several of the " Nigger" 

 melodies. The tune of " Buffalo Gals," for ex- 

 ample, is said to be taken from an old air by 

 Glvick ; and " Old Joe," from an air in Rossini's 

 " Coradino." Cuthbebt Bede, B.A. 



" Gypsy," the possible Origin of the Name. — It 

 seems to me not improbable that the word gypsy 

 originated in the Greek or Byzantine word yh^^i, a 

 vulture, which in the West of Europe would be 

 pronounced gyps. 



Many of the gypsies no doubt found their way 

 into Europe through various parts of the Byzan- 



