462 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°* S. X. Dec, 15. '60. 



Certain gentlemen of good sort another. It is said there 

 shall be 30 pi ayes. The King will feast all the Embassa- 

 dours this Christmass." 



Raymond Delacourt. 



A DEVONSHIRE SONG. 



Under this title I find the following in a mis- 

 cellaneous collection of poems among the Har- 

 leian Manuscripts, and as I am not aware of any 

 specimen of Devonshire dialect of such an early 

 date (1630 — 1640), I trust it may be worthy of 

 being preserved in the columns of " N. & Q." : — 



" Thou n'ere woot riddle, neighbor John, 

 Where ich of late have bin-a-, 

 Why ich ha bin to Plimoth, man, 

 The like was yet n'ere zeene-a-. 

 Zich streets, zich men, zich hugeous zeas, 

 Zich things and guns there rumbling, 

 Thyzelf, like me, wood'st blesse to zee 

 Zich bomination grumbling. 



" The streets bee-pight of shindle-stone, 

 Doe glissen like the sky-a. 

 The zhops ston ope and all y« yeere long 

 I'se think how faire there bee-a-. 

 And many a gallant here goeth 

 I'goold, that zaw the King-a- ; 

 The King zome zweare himself was there, 

 A man or zome zich thing-a-. 



" Thou voole, that never water zaw'st, 

 But think-a in the moor-a-, 

 To zee the zea, wood'st be a'gast, 

 It doth zoo rage and roar~a- : 

 It tast's zoo zalt thy tonge wood thinke 

 The vire were in y« water ; 

 And 'tis zoo wide, noe lond is spide, 

 Look nere zoo long there-ater. 



" The water from the element 

 Noe man can zee chi-vore ; 

 'Twas zoo low, yet all consent 

 'Twas higher than the moor. 

 'Tis strange how looking down a cliffe, 

 Men do looke upward rather, 

 If there mine eyne had not it zeene, 

 'Chood scarce believe my vather, 



" A midst the water wooden birds. 

 And flying houses zwim-a- ; 

 All full of things as ich ha' heard, 

 And goods up to y^ brim-a- ; 

 They goe unto another vorld. 

 Desiring to conquier-a-, 

 Vor v/"^ those guns, voule develish ones, 

 Do dunder and spett vire-a-. 



" Good neighbor John, how var is this? 

 This place vor I will zee-a- ; 

 'Ch'ill moape mo longer heere, that's flat, 

 To watch a zheepe or zheene-a- ; 

 Though it zoo var as London bee, 

 "W"^ ten miles ich imagin, 

 'Ch'ill thither hj'e, for this place I 

 Do take in great induggin. 



« Will. Stroud." 



Perhaps some of your Devonshire correspon- 

 dents will explain the word zheene (ver. 6. I. 4.). 



Is it possible that it is the female sheep, as in the 

 Lincolnshire dialect that animal is called a shedder? 



William Strode, the author of this song, was 

 an eminent poet, orator, and divine ; born near 

 Plympton, in Devonshire, about the year 1598 ; 

 educated at Westminster School, and, in 1617, . 

 elected a student of Christ Church, Oxford. In 

 1621 he took orders, and became an eloquent 

 preacher in the University, was chosen public 

 orator in 1629, being then one of the proctors. 

 In 1631 he proceeded B.D., and was installed 

 Canon of Christ Church, July 1, 1638, and the. 

 same month made D.D. : he died April 10, 1644, 

 in the forty-sixth year of his age, and was in- 

 terred in the Divinity chapel belonging to the 

 cathedral of Christ Church. 



Anthony Wood {Atheu. Oxon., iii. 151.) says 

 he was only son of Philip, a younger son of Sir 

 Richard Strode of Newnham. On consulting the 

 family pedigree, however, this does not appear 

 correct. Was he not the son of Philip (son of 

 William, and consequently brother of Richard), 

 by his wife Wilmot Hanton ? Information on this 

 subject would greatly oblige John Tuckett. 



Great Russell Street. 



FOLK LORE. 



Legend of Howth Castle. — The inscription 

 over the entrance to Montacute House (S""" S. x, 

 368. 456.) reminds me of a long-forgotten legend 

 in connexion with Howth Castle, the seat of the 

 Earl of Howth, about eleven miles from Dublin. 

 I think it worth recording in " N. & Q." Some 

 three centuries ago, there was a celebrated Irish 

 female pirate, called Grace O'Malley (commonly 

 pronounced Granu Waile), who was obliged to 

 put into Howth harbour through stress of weather. 

 She sought the hospitality of the progenitor (Saint 

 Lawrence) of the present Earl, but for some reason 

 or other was refused — a very unusual circum- 

 stance in Ireland, particularly where a lady was 

 in the case. She vowed vengeance on the pro- 

 prietor, and soon after found means to steal away 

 the heir to the house of Howth, whom she secured, 

 but treated him handsomely. After some time 

 and a great deal of negotiation, she consented to 

 return the youth on the following conditions : — 

 That the outer door of the castle was never to 

 be closed to strangers, and that in all future time 

 every stranger who presented himself at the house 

 must receive a dinner of the best, with plenty of 

 ale, and when departing, be presented with a 

 shilling. I had often heard this story, and I re- 

 member two gentlemen (since dead) putting it 

 to the test. They proceeded to the castle and 

 asked for their dinner, mentioning the circum- 

 stances above stated. They were shown into a 

 neatly furnished apartment, and had an excellent 

 dinner served up to them, with plenty of ale and 



