254 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. VIII. Sept. 24. '59. 



" N. & Q.," by giving a minute description of 

 them. I hope Mr. Lloyd will state precisely 

 what he knows on the subject. W. B. MacCabe. 

 Scarth House.Mullinarat. 



Mr. Llotd is either mistaken or misinformed 

 on this point, so far as the wren song is appli- 

 cable to Ireland. The practice he alludes to, as 

 occurring in Galway, or any other part of Ireland, 

 on the 31st of October, is purely chimerical. On 

 Saint Stephen's Day, the 26th December, it is the 

 custom for boys to start into the fields early in 

 the morning to " hunt the wren," and having 

 caught one (alive, for it is not a hard task for 

 boys to do that) they dress it up in a holly bush, 

 with evergreens, artificial and other flowers, and 

 if near a village or small town, they proceed 

 there and make collections, singing the following 

 stanza : — 



" The Wren, the Wren, the king of all birds, 

 Saint Stephen's Day was caught in the furze; 

 Although she is little, her family's great. 

 So we pray you, good neighbours, to give us a treat." 



The collections are invariably laid out in the 

 purchase of something for a juvenile party in the 

 evening. If not near a town or village, the farm- 

 houses are visited, and the applicants always 

 obtain bread, butter, eggs, and the like. I have 

 seen this practised in all parts of Ireland, without 

 any deviation, but never heard the " expletives" 

 alluded to by Mr. Lloyd. The origin of this 

 practice I do not know. I have heard of some, 

 but so mythical as not worth recording, 



S. Redmond 

 Liverpool. 



HENRY SMITH. 



(1'* S. passim; 2"'' S. viii. 152.) 



I have for many years possessed and admired a 

 volume of the works of this able divine, and I am 

 therefore glad to see the valuable note in regard 

 to him by Messrs. Cooper. Neither they, how- 

 ever, nor the writer of the Note in P' S. vi. 129., 

 have recorded in your pages a complete list of his 

 works and of their editions. I wish therefore to 

 say that the volume before me contains — 



1. " God's Arrow against Atheists. By Henry Smith. 

 At London, Imprinted by G. M. for. Edward Brewster 

 and Robert Bird, 1631, 4to., pp. 96." 



This is a treatise in six chapters, the first 

 against Atheism and Irreligion ; the second and 

 third against Gentiles and Infidels ; the fourth 

 against Mahometanism ; the fifth against the 

 Church of Rome, and the sixth against the 

 Brownists and Barrowists. It is to this last 

 chapter that I presume Messrs. Cooper refer 

 when they say "he wrote well and warmly in 

 defence of the Church of England against the 



Brownists and Barrowists." As, however^ the 

 chapter consists of but four very small quarto 

 pages, and but three of them bear against the 

 parties in question, it is evidently by no means 

 complete, either as a refutation or an apology. 

 The whole treatise, however, is very curious and 

 interesting, albeit not equal to many of his ser- 

 mons. 



2. "Twelve Sermons preached by Mr. Henry Smith, 

 with Pra5'ers both for the Morning and Euening there- 

 unto adioyned. And published by a more perfect copy 



than heretofore. Prov. xxviii. ver. 13 London, 



Printed by John Hauilaud for George Edwards, 1632." 



These are dedicated to Edward Earl of Bed- 

 ford by the editor, who signs himself " W. S.," 

 and speaks of the author as "the faithfull dis- 

 poser of God's truth, was a man linked vnto me 

 in assured friendship whilst he lined," and adds, 

 " hauing with care long sithence collected these 

 hig Sermons together, doe now with singleness of 

 heart present the same to your Lordship." 



The sermons follow, not twelve, as stated on 

 the title-page, but nine, the three last enumerated 

 in the table of contents being absent. This is not 

 all. After the first six sermons come the Morning 

 and Evening Prayers, and these are followed by a 

 new title : — 

 " Six Sermons, preached by Mr. Henry Smith. 



1, 2. Of Jonah's Punishment. 



3. The Trumpet of the Soule. 



4. The Sinfull Man's Search. 



5. Marie's Choyce. 



6. Noah's Drunkennesse. 



Two Zealous Prayers. And published bj' a more per- 

 fect copy than heretofore. London, Printed by John 

 Hauiland for George Edwards, 1632." 



This is succeeded by two sermons on Jonah, 

 where another title is introduced, the same as the 

 last, except that foy " Six " we read " Fovre." 

 This division of the book really contains but one 

 sermon, " The Trumpet of the Soule sounding to 

 Judgement," which I regard as one of the most 

 striking and original sermons I have ever read. 



The three missing sermons on " The Sinful 

 Man's Search," " Mary's Choice," and " Noah's 

 Drunkenness," I have seen elsewhere, and I ima- 

 gine editions were issued which varied in their 

 contents, although printed from the same types. 

 I should remark that the sermons in my copy are 

 not paged. Let me, in conclusion, again call 

 attention to " The Trumpet of the Soul," from 

 Ecclesiastes xi. 9., and which was evidently 

 preached at St. Paul's Cross, and to express a 

 hope that at least this brief specimen of genuine 

 homely English pulpit eloquence will be re- 

 printed. For my own part I should like to see 

 a new edition of all his sermons. B. H, Cowper. 



