2'«»S.X.Sept. 15. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



219 



exploits, now more than a century old, have slipped 

 my memory ; and indeed three score and ten 

 years have passed over me since their perusal : 

 yet I still remember a few characteristic lines : — 



" In Newry town I was bred and bom *, 

 And in Dublin city I must die in scorn : 

 I served my time to the saddling trade, 

 And was always counted a flashy blade." 



The next scene which I remember of this gal- 

 lant operative is laid in London : — 



" I robbed Mrs. I do declare, 



And Lady Weldon in Grosvenor Square ; 



I shut up the chair, and I bade her good night, 



And I went to the play with my own heart's delight." 



A subsequent stanza, my recollection whereof 

 is merely fragmentary, possesses the true Doric 

 simplicity of style and of action ; for the incau- 

 tious lover, Polonius-like, was " nosed in the 

 lobby" : — 



" Fielding's gang did me pursue, 

 And took me away with their cursed crew." 



But the Captain's hour had not then stricken. 

 After sundry other adventures, he was caught in 

 Dublin, where, at once prophet and poet, he thus 

 vaticinates his end and directs his obsequies : — 



" When I am cast and condemned to die. 

 Many a flash Madam for me will cry ; 

 . . . When I am dead and laid in grave, 

 A sumptuous funeral let me have ; 

 Six flashy girls to bear my pall ; 

 Give them white gloves and white ribbons all." 



The consummation of his moribund injunctions 

 was probably dispensed with. 



" Let none but Robbers come with me : 

 Give them broad swords mid their liberty ! " 



There is something whimsically heroic in this 

 outburst. • May I add an illustrative story of my 

 own time ? When Robert Emmett's Conspiracy 

 of 1803 broke out in Dublin, the Debtors' Prison 

 was attacked by the insurgents ; the keeper as- 

 sembled his prisoners, and prepared for resistance : 

 one of them, a Frenchman, displayed much zeal, 

 and when the affair was getting serious, much to 

 the keeper's alarm, he exclaimed, " Ah, ha. Mon- 

 sieur, now be de time for de sortie ! " Old Mem. 



Country Tavern Signs (2"'^ S. x. 119.)— The 

 " Mortar and Pestle," as a tavern sign, has occa- 

 sionally had a signification other than that ingeni- 

 ously ascribed to it by C. T. Sketchley's Bristol 

 Directo7'y for 1775 gives : " Coles, John, Victualler 

 and Apothecary ('Pestle and Mortar'), 4. Prince 

 Eugene Street." U. O. N. 



Oxford Authors (2"^ S. x. 147.) — I have 

 examined Dr. Rawlinson's Continuation of the 

 Athence, but cannot find any mention of the au- 

 thors respecting whom Mr. Jnglis makes his 

 inquiry. W. D. Macrat. 



* Hibernic«, for born and bred. 



Witty Classical Quotations (2°* S. x. 178.) 

 — On Lord Camden's son (a Pratt) having ano- 

 ther place Selwyn said " Sat prata biberunt." 

 Walpole's Letters, vol. viii. p. 261. 



R. F. Sketchley. 



Royal sympathy for the soldiers in the Curragh, 

 as recently expressed in a Latin bon mot to the 

 Commander-in-Chief: — 



" Haud ignara mail, miseris suc-cwrrer-re disco." 



F. Phillott. 



Re Peccavi, quoted by Churchdown as the 

 laconic despatch of Sir Charles Napier. I quoted 

 this in 1" S. viii. 490. under the head of " Veni, 

 Vidi, Viei," and was very much disconcerted by 

 the reply of Cuthbert Bede (p. 574.), who 

 stated that Mr. Punch was " the sole author of 

 the despatch." It is so like dear Mr. Punch that 

 I never questioned it ; but Churchdown's Note, 

 supported by The Times of Friday, 7th Sept. 

 1860, art. "Thomas Hood," robs Mr. Punch oi 

 the glory. Who is right ? George Lloyd. 



",The Cloak's Knavery" (2°<» S. x. 241.) — 

 Several broadside copies of this old ballad, in black- 

 letter, are in existence. It is also found in a rare 

 volume in my possession, of which the following is 

 the full title: — 



" Wit and Mirth. An Antidote against Melancholy, 

 Compounded of Ingenious and witty Ballads, Songs, and 

 Catches, and other Pleasant and Merry Poems. The 

 Third Edition enlarged. London, printed by A. G. and J. 

 P., and sold by Henry Plavford, near the Temple Church, 

 1682." 



I quote the first stanza : — 



" Come buy my new ballet, 



I have 't in my wallet, 

 But 'twill not I fear please every pallet^ 



Then mark what ensu'th, 



I swear by ray youth, 

 That every line in my ballad is truth : 

 A ballad of wit, a brave ballad of worth. 

 'Tis newly printed, and newly come forth, 

 'Twas made of a Cloak that fell out with a gown 

 That crampt all the kingdom, and crippl'd the crown." 



Edward F. Rimbault. 



The ballad bearing this title is included in 

 D'Urfey's Wit and Mirth, and thence extracted 

 in Mr. Fairholt's series of Satirical Songs and 

 Poems on Costume, printed in 1849 for the Percy 

 Society. E. P. 



Magnetic Declination (2""* S. x. 62. 131. 

 176.) — The following is an answer to the Query 

 of N. E. W. S. The operation for determining 

 the true north, or meridian, in its more scientific 

 and correct shape, is one of considerable nicety ; 

 but the following method will determine it, if 

 much accuracy be not required. On the 15th 

 June or 24th December, when the clock and sun 

 nearly coincide, plant a stick perpendicular to the 

 horizon, and at two hours before noon mark ac- 

 curately the extremity of the shadow of the stick, 



