174 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2>id s. X. Sept. 1. 'CO. 



across his path. The figure addressed him in a com- 

 manding voice ; told him that he would seek in vain to 

 dispose of his steed, for whom a nobler destiny was in 

 store, and bade him meet him when the sun had set, with 

 his horse, at the same place. He then disappeared. The 

 farmer, resolving to put the truth of this prediction to 

 the test, hastened on to Macclesfield fair, but no pur- 

 chaser could be obtained for his horse. In vain he re- 

 duced his price to half; many admired, but no one was 

 willing to be the possessor of so promising a steed. Sum- 

 moning, therefore, all his courage, he determined to brave 

 the worst, and at sunset reached the appointed place. 

 The monk was punctual to his appointment. ♦ Follow 

 me,' said he, and led the way by the Golden Stone, 

 Stormy Point, to Saddle Bole.* On their arrival at this 

 last-named spot, the neigh of horses seemed to arise from 

 beneath their feet. The stranger waved his wand, the 

 earth opened and disclosed a pair of ponderous iron gates. 

 Terrified at this, the horse plunged and threw his rider, 

 who kneeling at the feet of his fearful companion, prayed 

 earnestly for mercj'. The monk bade him fear nothing, 

 but enter the cavern, and see what no mortal eye ever 

 yet beheld. On passing the gates, he found himself in 

 a spacious cavern, on each side of which were horses, re- 

 sembling his own, in size and colour. Near these lay 

 soldiers accoutred in ancient armour, and in the chasms 

 of the rock were arms, and piles of gold and silver. From 

 one of these the enchanter took the price of the horse in 

 ancient coin, and on the farmer asking the meaning of 

 these subterranean armies, exclaimed : " These are ca- 

 verned warriors preserved by the good genius of Eng- 

 land, until that eventful day when, distracted by intestine 

 broils, England shall be thrice won and lost between 

 sunrise and sunset. Then we, awakening from our sleep, 

 shall rise to turn the fate of Britain. This shall be when 

 George, the son of George, shall reign. When the forests 

 of Delamare shall wave their arms over the slaughtered 

 sons of Albion. Then shall the eagle drink the blood of 

 princes from the headless cross (query corse ?). Now haste 

 thee home, for it is not in thy time these things shall be. 

 A Cestrian shall speak it, and be believed." The farmer 

 left the cavern, the iron gates closed, and though often 

 sought for, the place has never again been found.' " 



F. C. H. 



A Pacificatory Precedent (2"^ S. x. 87.) 

 — Referring to the communication of your cor- 

 respondent Conciliator, relative to the dis- 

 sensions between the two Houses of Parliament, 

 I beg to offer some particulars elucidatory of what 

 occurred on the occasion to which he alludes. 

 With this view I would call attention to an ex- 

 tract which I subjoin from an old and very scarce 

 work, which is distinguished by great exactness 

 in its historical details : it is entitled the British 

 Chronologist, in 3 vols. 8vo., London, 1775. In 

 the first volume (p. 268.), under anno 22"^° Chas. 

 II., and date, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 16f§, it is stated : 



" The ditferences between the two Houses, concerning 

 the judgment of the Peers against the East India Com- 

 pany, were compromised bj' the mediation of his Majesty. 

 The proceedings against the Company agreed to be razed 

 out of the Journals." 



This corroborates the adjustment of the diifer- 



* All places in the neighbourhood of Alderley Edge 

 and Mobberley. 



ences between the two Houses ; and the subject 

 and all relative to the controversy having been 

 expunged from the Journals, it is obvious that 

 there would not be any occasion for a recapitula- 

 tion of the matter, as a precedent. Interpres. 



Burnet's MSS. (2"'* S. x. 105.) — The manu- 

 script of Burnet's Own Time was not purchased 

 by the late venerable Dr. Routh, but by Dr. 

 Bandinel for the Bodleian Library, where it is 

 still safely preserved. Y. L. 



Robert Heyrick (2'"^ S. x. 102.) — Mr. J. G. 

 Nichols says : " This epistolary ballad was ad- 

 dressed, I imagine, to the eldest son of Robert 

 Heyrick of Leicester, who is left nameless in the 

 pedigree." 



Is the above Robert the author of Robert Her- 

 I'ick's Poems ? " born in the year 1591, and lived 

 to an advanced age, although the exact time of his 

 death has not been correctly ascertained. Her- 

 rick's works are dated 1647, 1648, and were pro- 

 bably published shortly after he was ejected from 

 his vicarage, <ind had resumed his lay title." The 

 editor of the Retrospective Review speaks of him 

 in the highest praise : — 



" We do not hesitate to pronounce him the very best 

 of English Lyric Poets. He is the most joj'ous and glad- 

 some of bards ; singing, like the grasshopper, as if he would 

 never grow old. He is as fresh as the spring, as blithe 

 as sunTmer, and as ripe as autumn. We know of no 

 English poet who is so abandonne, as the French term it, 

 who so wholly gives himself up to his present feelings, 

 who is so much heart and soul in what he writes ; and 

 this 'not on one subject only, but on all subjects alike. 

 The spirit of song dances in his veins, and flutters around 

 his lips — now bursting into the joyful and hearty voice 

 of the Epicurean ; sometimes breathing forth strains soft 

 as the sigh of ' buried love.' " 



He goes on, but concludes thus : — 



" And as for his versification, it presents one of the 

 most varied specimens of rhj'thmical harmony in the 

 language, flowing with an almost wonderful grace and 

 flexibility." 



Reference (about Robert Herrick) is given to 

 Nichols's History of Leicestershire, or to Dr. 

 Drake's Literary Hours. W. D. Haggard. 



P.S. Perhaps Mr. Nichols can inform me the 

 reason why Herrick was ejected from his vicarnge. 



Marshal Due de Berwick (2""* S. x. 108.) — 

 The arms granted by James II. to his natural 

 sons are given by Sandford, in his Genealogical 

 History of the Kings and Queens of England. 

 Thus, James, Duke of Brunswick : the royal arms 

 within a bordure compony gules and azure, the g. 

 charged with lions of England, the az. with fleur- 

 de-lys of France. Crest, on a chapeau gules, 

 turned up ermine, a dragon passant argent, gorged 

 with a collar az. charged with tliree fleurs-de-lys 

 or. Supporters; dexter, a unicorn argent, at- 

 tired or, collared and chained azure, the collar 



