110 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»« S. X. Aug. 11. '60. 



Edward Randolph. — I wish to learn some- 

 thing of the antecedents of Edward Randolph, 

 who played so prominent a part in the affairs of 

 New England between 1677 and 1689. Was he 

 an underling in the office of Mr. Secretary 

 Coventry, or If not, what was his history previous 

 to the date above-mentioned ? R. E. H. 



Sonnet on Sir Thomas Seymour.' — Is the 

 following sonnet, written on a picture of Protector 

 Somerset*, anywhere to be found in print, and can 

 the writer be traced ? — 



" Of person rare, strong limbes, and manly shape ; 

 Of nature framed to sarve on sea and land ; 

 Of friendship firm, in good state or ill hape ; 



In peace head-wise, in war-skill greate boulde hand ; 

 On horse or fote, in perill or in playe, 

 None could excel, though many did essaye. 

 A subjecte true, to Kinge a searvant greate ; 

 Frind to God's truth, enimy to Rome's deceate ; 

 Sumptuose abroad, for honour of the lande. 



Temperate at home, yet kept great state with stay, 

 And noble house, that fed more mouths with meat 

 Than some, advanst one higher steps to stand. 

 Yet against nature, reason, and just lawes. 

 His blode wase spilt, guiltlesse, without just cause." 



John Allen. 



[These lines were placed under a portrait of Thomas 

 Seymour, Baron Sudeley, brother to the Protector Somer- 

 set. They are attributed to Sir John Harington the 

 elder, and are printed in Nvgee Antiqum, ii. 329., and en- 

 titled " Upon the Lord Admiral Seymour's Picture." 

 Miss Strickland (Queens of England, iv. 46., edit. 1851) 

 states, that "Queen Elizabeth continued to cherish the 

 memory of her unsuitable lover [Seymour] with tender- 

 ness, not only after she had been deprived of him by the 

 axe of the executioner, but for long years afterwards, 

 may be inferred from the favour which she always be- 

 stowed on his faithful follower, Sir John Harington the 

 elder, and the fact, that when she was actually the sover- 

 eign of England, and had rejected the addresses of manj' 

 of the princes of Europe, Harington ventured to present 

 her with a portrait of his deceased Lord, the admiral, with 

 a descriptive sonnet. The gift was accepted, and no re- 

 proof addressed to the donor."] 



" Essays," etc. — Assays upon several Subjects 

 concerning British Antiquities, Edinburgh, 1747. 

 Who is the author of some able papers published 

 under the above title, and at the above date ? C. 



[These jE^ssays, first published in 1747, are b}' Henry 

 Home, Lord Karnes, and were intended by the author to 

 allay the unhappy differences of the period. The third 

 edition, 1763, contains additions and alterations. For a 

 critical notice of this work see Alex. Eraser Tytler's Me- 

 moirs of the Life and Writings of the Hon. Henry Home 

 of Karnes, vol. "i. pp. 117-122., 4t6. 1807.] 



Ballad on Abp. Laud. — Mr. Chappell, in his 

 admirable history of Popular Music of the Olden 

 Time, quotes a scurrilous ballad against this 



* In the possession of Thomas Cholmondelev, Esq. Hod- 

 net, ■ 



archbishop (pp. 412, 413.), in which occurs the 

 following stanza : — 



" The little Wren that soar'd so high. 

 Thought on his wings away to fly, 



Like Finch, I know not whither; 

 But now the subtle whirly-wind 

 Debauch, hath left the bird behind. 



You two must flock together." 



Bishop Wren and Lord Keeper Finch are well- 

 known characters ; but who or what was " the 

 subtle whirly-wind Debauch f " T. A. Y. 



[Mr. Chappell, or his transcriber, has copied the above 

 stanza correctly from the original broadside, and in doing 

 so has repeated unwittingly a compositor's error. In a 

 MS. copy of the ballad in question (Harleian Coll. 493L), 

 the concluding lines of the stanza are properly given, 

 thus : — 



" But the subtle whirly Wind- 

 Debank, hath left the bird behind, 

 You two must flock together." 



The allusion is to Sir Francis Windebanke, Secretary 

 of State, " a great intimate (says Whitelock, in his Me- 

 morials') of Archbishop Laud," ivho escaped into France 

 in the year 1640. This curious typographical error 

 affords another instance of the almost hopeless confusion 

 into which our earlj' printers have thrown the labours of 

 their contemporaries.] 



" Nancy Dawson." — I have made several un- 

 successful attempts to obtain a copy of the old 

 song of " Nancy Dawson." A copy of the first 

 stanza, through the medium of " N. & Q.," would 

 oblige C. D. H. 



[We intended to content ourselves by quoting only 

 the first verse of this song, so popular " When George 

 the Second was king ;" but as it is rarely to be found 

 except in some out-of-the-way collections, such as The 

 Bullfinch and Harrison's Vocal Magazine, 1781, not acces- 

 sible to many of our readers, we have decided on printing 

 it entire. It has been attributed to that whimsical and 

 eccentric character George Alexander Stevens, author 

 and actor : — 



" Of all the girls in our town, 

 The black, the fair, the red, the brown, 

 That dance and prance it up and down, 

 There's none like Nancy Dawson I 



" Her easy mien, her shape so neat, 

 She foots, she trips, she looks so sweet. 

 Her ev'ry motion's so complete, 

 I die for Nancy Dawson ! 



" See how she comes to give surprise. 

 With joy and pleasure in her eyes ; 

 To give delight she always tries, 

 So means mj' Nancy Dawson. 



"Was there no task t' obstruct the way, 

 No Shuter droll, nor house so gay, 

 A bet of fifty pounds I'll laj'. 



That I gain'd Nancy Dawson. 



" See how the Op'ra takes a run. 

 Exceeding Hamlet, Lear, or Lun, 

 Though in it there would be no fun. 

 Was 't not for Nancy Dawson. 



" Tho' Beard and Brent diarm ev'ry night, 

 And female Peachum's justly right. 

 And Filch and Lockit please the sight, 

 'Tis crown'd by Nancy Dawson, 



