2°* S. X. Oct. 13. '60.]. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



2^5 



prayer. He is the One, tlie only One, who knows 

 of no wife *, and no number [of them f], he has not 

 begotten, and is not begotten ; he does what he 

 will, and how he wills it ; he pulls down and 

 builds up ; he exalts and casts down as he will ; 

 he says to all things le and they are ; he is the be- 

 ginning of all things ; he is the beginning and the 

 end, the first and the last ; he is called the Height, 

 the Creator, the Elevated, the Highest, the Defen- 

 der, the Mighty, the Excellent, the Helper; he 

 possesses the divine nature, but he conceals his 

 visible appearance ; he sent the flood, of which 

 Mohammad the Coraishite [author of the Koran] 

 speaks, that has overflowed the world with his sect. 



" I am," he says of himself, " the foundation of the new 

 religion, the Lord, the Way, the written book, and the 

 inhabited house; I am cognizant of every thing through 

 itself; I am the Lord of the Resurrection and of the new 

 Life ; I am lie who quickened creation ; I am the liv- 

 ing water; I am the author of Fortune; I give laws, and 

 abolish them ; I cause men to die, and I declare martyr- 

 dom nugatory ; I am' the burning fire which consumes 

 the proud." 



The source from which Elchhorn derived the in- 

 formation extracted and condensed above, is an 

 Arabic MS. in the University library of Gottin- 

 gen of a " Catechism of the Druses," and another, 

 of which he has also furnished the original and a 

 German translation, taken from a MS. in the 

 Museum Cuficum Borgianum. He enumerates 

 the titles pf nine of their holy books, j The mis- 

 sionary, the Christian antiquary, and the advanced 

 Freemason, will find these Catechisms very inter- 

 esting. T. J. BOCKTON. 



Lichfleld. 



CORONATION AND PROCLAMATION OF THE 

 " QUEEN OF THE GLEANERS." 



The following account of the first anniversary 

 of the revival of this old custom, at Rempstone, in 

 Nottinghamshire, is taken from a letter in the 

 Nottinghamshire Guardian of September 20th, 

 signed "One OF THE Viixage" : — 



" The village crier, having ' proclaimed the Queen,' 

 and the time for the coronation having arrived, nearly 

 100 gleaners assembled at the end of the village. Women 

 with their infant charges, boj's with green boughs, and 

 girls with flowers, the whole wearing gleaning-pockets ; 

 children's carriages and wheelbarrows, dressed in green 

 and laden with babies, &c., were in requisition. The 



* In ^illusion to the Virgin Mary. 



t Referring to heathen gods with many wives. 



X In reference to Hamsah, " the holy gospel " is quoted 

 in their Catechism — " Blessed are the servants whom their 

 Lord, at his coming, shall find watching;" and they 

 maintain its authority because it speaks, they say, of 

 Hamsah. They acknowledge three apostles, John, Mark, 

 and Matthew; Luke is styled Evangelist, and Adam, 

 Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammad, and Said are 

 called Prophets. Mahomet is spoken of as Satan, and a 

 son of whoredom ; nevertheless, they pretend, in order to 

 protect their own secret religion, to be Mahometans. 



rustic sovereign having arrived, a royal salute was shouted 

 by the boj's, and the crown brought out of its temporary 

 depository. This part of the regalia was of simple make ; 

 its basis consisting of straw-coloured cloth, surrouuded 

 with wheat, barley, and oats of the present year. A 

 streamer of straw-coloured ribbon, dependent on a bow 

 at the crown, hung loosel}' down ; a leaf of laurel was 

 placed in front, while arching over the whole was a branch 

 of jessamine, its flowers resting carelessly on the laurel. 

 The ceremony of crowning was now performed ; after 

 which the Queen, enthroned in an arm-chair decorated 

 with flowers and branches, moved with her subjects in 

 the direction of the ' first field to be gleaned.' 



" Two of the -ancient dames of the village headed the 

 procession; next were two village maidens, carrying a 

 wheat sheaf, decorated with green boughs and ribbons ; 

 children's carriage, decorated, and drawn by three boys 

 in style of the ' Horses of the Sun ;' boys, with branches, 

 hallooing ; girls with flowers ; the Queen and attendants ; 

 girls with flowers ; women, mothers with infants, &c. 



" Passing through the grounds of Rempstone Hall, the 

 rustic train soon arrived at the scene of labour. Her 

 Rustic Majesty now signified her pleasure that her speech 

 should be read, which was done, as follows : — 



" ' Proclamation, this 11th Day of September, 1860. 



" ' Long may the privilege of the Gleaner be preserved. 



" ' My good Friends and Neighbours. We are spared 

 to meet again, and to enjoy the privilege of the gleaners' 

 harvest. Last year we experienced the benefit of a rule 

 to act by, when you were pleased to make me your Queen. 

 Again it is your pleasure that I should wear the crown. 

 I hope unity and good will may again be found amongst 

 us. Our happy country, England, was never more happy 

 than since it has been governed by our beloved Queen 

 •Victoria. Long may she live. 



" ' I am Queen to-day, though in a very lowly state 

 and for a short time. You have made me Queen of the 

 Gleaners till the harvest is finished. I will try to rule by 

 right and in kindness, and I trust to your obedience that 

 I may not have to exercise my power. I will now tell 

 you my laws, which shall farther be made known by the 

 crier of the village. 



" ' 1st. My attendant shall ring a bell each morning, 

 when there are fields to be gleaned. 



" ' 2nd. Half-past 8 o'clock shall be the hour of meet- 

 ing, at the end of the village, and I will then accompany 

 you to the field. 



" ' 3rdly. Should any of my subjects enter an ungleaned 

 field, without being led by rne, their com will be forfeited 

 and it will be bestrewed. 



«* ' Our farmers will support me. Thej' hope you will 

 work together in peace. And while they remember the 

 divine law which reserves the gleanings of the harvest to 

 the poor, let us not fail to be grateful for the benefit, and 

 to give our heartfelt thanks to the Great God who 

 "openeth his hand and satisfieth the mouth of every 

 living thing." 



" ' We wish prosperity to the farmer, and for our sub- 

 jects an abundant gleaning. 



" ' Rempstone, September, I860.' 



" The proclamation being approved, a suitable piece 

 •*as sung ; the Queen of the Gleaners, wearing her rustic 

 crown, joining. The first verse commenced : ' When shall 

 we all meet again ? ' Another verse asked the question : 

 'When shall we all wear a crown.'' The song being 

 finished, and the Queen having briefly addressed her sub- 

 jects, the whole commenced t^jeir labours in the barley 

 field of Mr. James Moore, ' the first field to be gleaned.' " 



R. P. Sketchley. 



