356 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 128. 



imitation of Lucian, &c., who belnw about to be 

 expelled the University of Oxford for some fault, 

 was pardoned by the Dean of Christchurch on the 

 condition that he should translate extempore the 

 epigram from Martial, xxxiii. : 



•' Non amo te, Zabidi, iiec possum dicere quare ; 

 Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te ; " 



which he instantly rendered : 



" I do not love thee, Dr. Fell," &c. 



R. I. S. 



[We are indebted to BosqaEciLLio Viego, and other 

 correspondents, for similar replies.] 



Fernseed (Vol. v., p. 172.). — This was con- 

 sidered a charm of the highest potency. It not 

 only preserved the fortunate possessor against the 

 malignant influences of demon, witch, and sor- 

 cerer, but enabled him to render himself invisible 

 at pleasure : 



' We have the receipt of fern-seed, we walk invisible," 



quoth honest Gadshill (Henry IV., Part I. Act II. 

 Sc. 1.). The difEculty and danger with which it 

 could only be obtained, apparently tended much 

 to enhance its magical value in the estimation of 

 the cabalist. It was to be gathered, after solemn 

 fasting, and the performance of mystic ceremonies 

 now unknown, on Midsummer Eve, at the very 

 instant in which the Baptist's birth took place. 

 The spiritual world was arrayed in fierce hostility 

 against the daring gatherer. The fairies used 

 every effort to preserve it from human possession, 

 with an inveteracy which showed what high value 

 they put upon it. As to the danger resulting 

 from their hostility, Richard Bovet, in his Pandce- 

 monium (p. 217., London, 1684), gives curious 

 evidence : — 



" Much discourse hath been about gathering of fern- 

 seed (which is looked upon as a magical herb) on the 

 night of Midsummer Eve ; and I remember I was 

 told of one who went to gather it, and the spirits whisk't 

 by his ears like bullets, and sometimes struck his hat, 

 and other parts of his body : in fine, though he appre- 

 hended he had gotten a quantity of it, and secured it 

 in papers, and a box besides, when he came home he 

 found all empty. But, most probable, this appointing 

 of times and hours is of the devil's own institution, as 

 well as the fast ; that having once ensnared people to 

 an obedience to his rules, he may with more facility 

 oblige them to stricter vassalage." 



The fern-seed charm is amply discussed in 

 Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. i. p. 314. (Bohn's 

 edition.) R. S. F. 



Perth. 



Any of your readers who have access to an 

 amusing book called The Radical, by Samuel 

 Bamford, may see a most appalling account of an 

 adventure connected with the gathering of fern- 

 seed, and other superstitions. P. P. 



Longevity and Rejuvenescency (Vol. v., p. 276.). 

 — I beg to refer your sceptical correspondent to 

 Fuller's Worthies (county of Northumberland) for 

 a remarkable instance of longevity ; viz. Patrick 

 Machell Vivan, Vicar of Lesbury, near Alnwick. 

 Percival Stockdale, in his Memoirs, gives some 

 further particulars respecting his predecessor; and 

 I extract from that work (vol. i. p. 149.) a letter 

 written by the venerable old man, wherein he gives 

 an account of himself. It is dated Oct. 9, 1657, 

 and addressed to one William Lialkus, a citizen 

 of Antwerp. 



" Whereas you desired a true and faithful messenger 

 should be sent from Newcastle to the parish of Lesbury, 

 to inquire concerning John Maklin ; I gave you to 

 understand that no such man was known ever to be, or 

 hath lived there for these fifty years past, during which 

 time I, Patrick Makel Wian, have been minister of 

 that parish, wherein I have all that time been present, 

 taught, and do yet continue to teach there. But that 

 I may give you some satisfaction, you shall understand 

 that I was born in Galloway in Scotland, in the year 

 1546, bred up in the University of Edinburgh, where 

 I commenced Master of Arts, whence, travelling into 

 England, I kept school, and sometimes preached, till 

 in the first of King James I was inducted into the. 

 church of Lesbury, where I now live. As to what 

 concerns the change of my body, it is now the third 

 year since I had two new teeth, one in my upper, the 

 other in my nether jaw, as is apparent to the touch. 

 My sight, much decayed many years ago, is now, about 

 the 110th year of my age, become clearer; hair adorns 

 me heretofore bald skull. I was never of a fat, but a 

 slender mean habit of body. My diet has ever been 

 moderate, nor was I ever accustomed to feasting and 

 tippling : hunger is the best'sauce ; nor did I ever use 

 to feed to satiety. All this is most certain and true, 

 which I have seriously, though overhastiiy, confirmed 

 to you, under the hand of Patrick Makel Wian, 

 Minister of Lesbury." 



Mr. Stockdale adds, that there is a tradition that 

 when the Plague visited Lesbury, in the reign of 

 Charles IL, those who were infected were removed 

 to tents on the neighbouring moor, where the 

 venerable pastor attended them with great assidu- 

 ity, ministering to their wants temporal and spi- 

 ritual. The date of his death is unknown. 



E. H. A. 



Indignities on the Bodies of Suicides (Vol. v., p. 

 272.). — I much doubt whether burying in cross 

 roads was originally meant as an indignity. I 

 think this is nearly connected with my still unan- 

 swered Query, What is a Tye ? Vol. iii., p. 263. 

 I suspect suicides were buried in a cross road, be- 

 cause that was a place where a cross or crucifix 

 stood, and only second in sanctity to the church- 

 yard ; and the stake driven through the body was 

 perhaps first intended not as an insult, but to keep 

 the ghost of the suicide from walking on the earth 

 again. 



I would willingly believe our ancestors were 



