168 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



1.2°<i S. X. Sept. 1. 'CO. 



strife, debate ; the phrase andar a gara, " to go 

 to war," is however still often used. Baldi is not 

 an uncommon termination to an Italian name : the 

 Frescohaldi is an eminent instance. As an adjec- 

 tive it is now obsolete, but baldanza, its deriva- 

 tive, which signifies prowess, dashing coui*age, &c. 

 is commonly used, especially in poetry. A. A. 



Poets' Corner. 



^ntviei. 



CHILDREN'S DRAMA. 

 I have frequently seen discussions in " N. & Q." 

 as to the origin of children's games ; it may not, 

 therefore, be considered a subject beneath the no- 

 tice of its correspondents if I seek for information 

 concerning the authorship of a dialogue which I 

 have often heard recited by young people of a 

 theatrical turn of mind. I regret that I cannot 

 quote the Avhole passage correctly, but I think I 

 can recollect it sufficiently well to lead to its re- 

 cognition. The dramatis personce are a Lady and 

 Gentleman — the gentleman rejoicing in a title, 

 being called " Sir John" : — 



Lady. I'll take a short walk, but I won't go far for 

 fear I should meet Sir John. 



Gentleman. "Sir John"! Madam, to thee I humbly 

 bow and bend. 



L. Sir, I take you not to be my friend. 



G. Friend, Madam, did ever I do you any harm ? 



L. Harm, get you gone you dirty coxcomb. 



G. Coxcomb, that name I do defy — that name de- 

 serves a stab. 



L. Stab, Sir. Ha ! Ha ! The.least I fear, appoint the 

 hour I'll meet you there. 



G. Across yon river at the hour of five, I'll meet you 

 there if I'm alive. 



[He turns to leave.] 



L. Stay, stay. Sir. You have a wife both fair and 

 young, who can speak French and Latin with an Italian 

 tongue. 



G. One tongue's enough for any woman, and too much 

 for you : and before I'll be conquered by a woman, I'll 

 take my sword and stab you through. [He does so.] 

 Alas ! poor girl, she's gone — and since she's gone, I must 

 go to her. [He stabs himself.] 



The piece is too ridiculous to have formed a 

 part of any play, and must, I think, have been 

 written to satirise some of the old tragedies. I 

 shall be excessively obliged to anyone who will 

 give me any information relating to the writer of 

 the above. St. Swithin. 



The " Suffolk Mercury."— The Suffolk Mer- 

 cm-y, or St. Edmund's Bury Post, being an impar- 

 tial collection of the most material occurrences, 

 &c., published at St. Edmund's Bury : printed by 

 T. Baily and "W. Thompson, in the Butter Market, 

 17 — , every Monday. I should be glad to know 

 when it commenced, and when it ceased ? Also, 

 could some kind reader of " N. & Q." say where a 

 set of it may be seen ? I have stitched together 



all from Monday, February 3, 1728, being No. 3. 

 of vol. xix. to Monday, Dec. 29, 1729, being No. 

 30. of vol. XX. Each number contains eight pages, 

 principally local news. The volume for the year 

 1725-6, and the one for the year 1761, would in 

 all probability aiford me some information. Also 

 I should be much obliged with the name or title 

 of any publication of local news for the county of 

 Suffi)lk between the years 1707 and 1762; or any 

 collection of Suffolk monuments and church notes 

 from 1790 to 1803, especially for Long Melford 

 and the adjoining parishes. James Coleman. 



22. High Street, Bloomsbury. 



A Leicester Ball Ticket. — ■ In the change 

 of English manners from the last century to the 

 present, nothing is more remarkable thah the con- 

 tinual progression of the hours fixed for convivial 

 meetings. Our luncheons, or breakfasts, are the 

 dinners of our great-grandfathers, and our dinners 

 their suppers. It will scarcely be imagined by 

 those who go to a dance but little before midnight, 

 that public balls in the last century commenced 

 early in the afternoon. 



I have before me a ticket, decorated with an 

 appropriate ornamental margin, and bearing this 

 engraver's name — 



I. Buckerfeild, LeicesP; Sculp. 



and the anuouncement thus expressed : — 



A BALL 



at t/te Town Hall in 



Leicester on the 



[28] day o/[NoV, 1723] 



Tfiomas Hodgson 



Master. 



No admittance after 



4 a Clock. 



The dates I have bracketed are written in with a 

 pen, and on a piece of paper stuck over the words 

 Town Hall is written [Castle] : so that the ticket 

 was probably engraved a few years before 1723, 

 when the place of meeting had been altered from 

 the former to the latter building. There are 

 several correspondents of " N. & Q." resident in 

 Leicester, who will be able to say whether they 

 have seen any other copies of this ticket. If so, 

 will they be so good as mention the dates upon 

 them ? Also, is anything known of I. Buckerfeild 

 as a provincial artist ? Or of Thomas Hodgson, 

 the " Master" of the ball ? 



John Gough Nichols. 



Fallens. — Can any of your learned corre- 

 spondents explain satisfactorily the epithet " pal- 

 lens," so often used by "Virgil and applied to ivy, 

 violets, grass, and olives ? These epithets all oc- 

 cur in the Eclogues, and must be familiar to your 

 classical readers. The usual translation "pale" 

 can scarcely apply to all these objects. A. H. B. 



Authorship of A Preparation to the Holy 

 Communion. — Can any of your readers inform 



