Mau. 6. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



223 



proof of his modesty and talent, than of his mere 

 drudging arrangement of other people's ideas, for, 

 as Gi'ote has finely observed, arguing for the unity 

 of authorship, "a great poet might have recast 

 pre-existing separate songs into one comprehensive 

 whole ; but no mere arrangers or compilers would 

 be competent to do so." * 



While employed on the wild legend of Odysseus, 

 he met with a ballad recording the quarrel of 

 Achilles and Agamemnon ; his noble mind seized 

 the hint that there presented itself, and the 

 Achille'is f grew under his hand. Unity of design, 

 however, caused him to publish the poem under the 

 same pseudonyme as his former work; and the 

 disjointed lays of the ancient bards were joined 

 together, like those relating to the Cid, into a 

 chronicle history, named the Iliad.'f Melesigenes 

 knew that the poem was destined to be a lasting 

 one ; and so it has proved. But first, the poems 

 were destined to undergo many vicissitudes and 

 corruptions, by the people who took to singing 

 them in the streets, assemblies, and agoras. How- 

 ever, Solon first, and then Peisistratos, and after- 

 wards Aristoteles and others, revised the poems, 

 and restored the works of Melesigenes Homeros 

 to their original integrity in a great measure. But 

 that this was of no great avail is evident from the 

 corruption oicoyotij-i re iruiai, in the opening. All 

 birds are not carnivorous, and therefore the pas- 

 sage must be wrong : besides, the words imme- 

 diately following, savouring somewhat of interpo- 

 lation, and, indeed, being condemned by some as 

 such, would lead to the fair assumption that the 

 whole line was corrupted. 



I said before (Vol. v., p. 99.) that the Cyclic 

 poems illustrated the history of the Homeric com- 

 positions, just as the letters of Poplicola, and those 

 pf Pliilo Junius, illustrate the history of Junius ; 

 but I am not inclined to deprive them all of credit 

 as tlie compositions of the same poet. For in- 

 stance, part of the IA.jas jut/cpa was probably done 

 from the notes of Melesigenes, who was, like He- 

 rodotos, always at work upon some matter. 



The origin of writing has been made a stumbling- 

 block in the Homeric question, and most foolishly; 



as the arranger and compiler of the Vedas and the 

 Puranas. His name denotes liis character, meaning 

 the arranger or distributor ; and the recurrence of so 

 many Vyasas, — many individuals who new-modelled 

 the Hindu Scriptures, — has nothing in it that is impro- 

 bable, except the f.ibulous intervals by which their 

 labours are separated." 



* Hiit of Greece, vol. ii. p. 232. 



f " The first book, together with the eighth, and the 

 books from the eleventh to the twenty-second inclusive, 

 seem to form the primary organisation of the poem, 

 then properli/ an AckilltU" Sec. — Grote, vol. ii. pp. 235. 

 fol. 



i Mure, vol. i. p. 23 n. Ticknor, History of Spanish 

 Literature, \o\.\. p. 1 1. seq. ' ' ^ " 



and I must again agree with Colonel Mure on 

 this subject. Mr. Grote, Mr. Granville Penn, and 

 the Colonel, have done more for the elucidation of 

 the question than any other scholars of the present 

 or last age ; and it is to them we must turn for 

 further assistance. I wish they would give their 

 attention to the hymns, especially that to Hermes ; 

 for " thereby hangs a tale." 



As for me, I leave my speculations to the mercy 

 of those who do not think like myself. I am satis- 

 fied that they are not far from the truth, and as 

 near as we can hope to come in these days. In- 

 deed, it is a well-known fact, embodied in the old 

 proverb, " What's one man's meat 's another's 

 poison ; " and that which is convincing to one is 

 the contrary to another. 



Ere I "close" my "scribblings," however, I must 

 tender my thanks to the Editor of " N. & Q.," for 

 his kind admission of these articles to his pages. 

 Haveto ! Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie. 



March 3. 1852. 



FOLK LORE. 



Ancient Custom on Interment. — I have read that 

 it was a custom to inter an hour-glass with the 

 dead, as an emblem of the sand of life being run 

 out ; or perhaps (as I should rather suggest) to in- 

 timate that the departed, having entered upon 

 eternity, had done with time. I believe that in 

 the early part of the last century the custom had 

 not entirely disappeared, and that small hour- 

 glasses were given to the friends of the deceased 

 attending at funerals, and were put beside the 

 corpse (like rosemary), or thrown into the grave ? 

 Does the custom still linger in any remote parts of 

 the country ? W. S. G. 



Ne wcastle-on- Ty ne. 



Pure Rain Water. — Pure rain water is said to 

 be an infallible cure for sore eyes, and cases are 

 reported to the writer by persons who have tried 

 and fancy they have proved its efficacy. The 

 rain water must be collected in a clean 0j)en ves- 

 sel, in the month of June, and must not be con- 

 taminated by being previously collected by any 

 other means; it will then remain pure for any 

 length of time, if preserved in a bottle. T. D. 



Gainsbro'. 



Care for Hooping Cough. — This complaint is 

 very prevalent in my neighbourhood just now, I 

 overheard a conversation the other day between 

 some farmers : one was recommending the patient 

 to inhale the breath of a horse as a certain cure ; 

 another gravely informed his audience that the 

 sight of a piebald horse would afford immediate 

 relief! G. A. C. 



sainted kings incorruptible. 

 In the Appendix to Evelyn's interesting Diary 

 (last edition, 1850), your readers may- recollect 



