^« S. VIII. Oct. 1. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



267 



effects of this statute became so alarming, that the 

 people submitted to the English revolutionary 

 razor, and found it more convenient to resign 

 their beards than their lands. This Agrarian law 

 was repealed by 11 Charles I., after existing two 

 hundred years. J. Y. 



Mauve. — Although, if we may believe the au- 

 thor of " Perkin's Purple," in All the Yea?' Round 

 for September 10th, we are not quite correct in 

 describing the fashionable colour as mauve, yet it 

 may be interesting to some of the fair wearers to 

 know that they have beeo anticipated by about 

 •2000 years. We read, in the Aulularia of Plau- 

 tus*, V. 468., ed. Hildyard, iii. 5. 40., ed. Weise, 

 respecting the expenses attendant on being mar- 

 ried, " Solearii adstant, adstant molochinarii" 

 dyers of the colour of mallow, on which passage 

 Hildyard quotes from Par. Lex. Plant. : " Qui 

 colorera tingunt ad purpuram inclinantem, qualis 

 in malvccfiore spectatur," P. J. F. Gantillon. 



Mary Queen of Scots, her Secretary. — In the 

 Globe of Sept. 15, 1859, under the French news, 

 we read : — 



" III the churchyard of Hulpe, a village near Brussels, 

 an obscure tomb is found to bear this inscription: 'Cy 

 gist S'' Charles Bailley, secretaire delay Royne d'Ecosse, 

 decapitee pour lay foy Catholiq. qui trepassa 27 X' age 

 de 84 ans.' Among the numerous biographers of Mary 

 Stuart none seem to have cognisance of this secretary." 



If the Scottish queen's biographers have omit- 

 ted mention of the octogenarian interred as above, 

 the Calendar of State Papers (Scotland) might 

 have been successfully consulted to identify the 

 individual : for one of its documents records a 

 Charles Bailly, a papist who lived with the Queen 

 of Scots when her husband was murdered, and 

 who was also a prisoner in the Tower of London. 

 One paper mentions his being in the Marshalsea, 

 while another designates him as a Queen of Scots' 

 man, a dangerous fellow, a minister to and 

 concerned in the ill-doings of the Bishop of Ross, 

 &c., &c. Cl. HoprER. 



HAMLET QUERIES. 



You would extremely oblige me if you could 

 procure the answers to the following questions. 

 They were sent to me from the Regisseur of the 

 Royal Theatre at Berlin, who is very anxious to 

 have them answered as correctly as possible. I 

 have been informed that the best plan for that 

 purpose is to address myself to you ; therefore, 

 you will forgive the trouble which I give you. 



1. Is the tale — "The rugged Pyrrhus — he 

 whose sable arms" — invented by Shakspeare ? If 

 not, by whom ? 



' Born B.C. 258. 



2. Does there exist a piece, "The Murder of 

 Gonzago," of which Hamlet said — 



" The story is extant, and written in very choice 

 Italian." 



Who is the author ? 



3. Suppose the piece does exist, it is Italian, as 

 is proved by the names of Gonzago and Baptista ; 

 nevertheless we find : — 



" This play is the image of a murder done in Vienna." 



4. " Gonzago is the Duke's name," says Ham- 

 let, and yet we read, *' the player King." How is 

 that? 



5. " This one Luvianus, nephew to the King." 

 Why nephew, Claudius being the brother of the 

 murdered King ? 



6. The following words of Hamlet : 



" The croaking raven doth bellow for revenge." 

 Where are they taken from ? 



7. Hamlet says to the player : 



" You could for a need study a speech of some dozen 

 or sixteen lines, which I would set down and insert? 

 Could you not ? " 



Which are these inserted lines ? 



8. In Germany, Hamlet directs his advice — 

 "Speak the speech, I pray you," &c. — to that 

 actor who has already recited " The rugged Pyr- 

 rhus," and has it done so well that Hamlet says of 

 him, " A broken voice, and his whole function." 

 Why then that advice to such an excellent actor ? 

 Or does he perhaps direct his advice to some 

 other player ? 



9. Is the dumb show acted in England, and by 

 the same actors who perform " The Murder of 

 Gonzago," or by others ? 



10. Is "The Murder of Gonzago" acted in the 

 same costume as that of Hamlet ? or in what kind? 



J. Ehronbaum, Dr. 

 Royal Military College, Famborough, Hants. 



Metcalfof Searby, County of Lincoln. — Stephen 

 Metcalf, son of the Rev. Stephen Metcalf, vicar 

 of Searby, near Brigg, county of Lincoln, married 

 Mary, eldest daughter of Sir Nicholas Bayly, 

 Bart., and sister of Henry Bayly-Paget, created 

 Earl of Uxbridge in 1784. Is anything known 

 of the Metcalf family beyond the particulars above 

 stated ? T. R, 



Lucky Stones. — The sea-beacb near my resi- 

 dence is noted for its abundance of " lucky 

 stones," that is, pieces of gravel or flint stone 

 with holes through. Some coasts are, as I am 

 informed, entirely (or nearly so) destitute of 

 them. Will anyone tell me what is the cause of 

 their configuration, and of their greater or less 

 rarity in different localities ? Dubius. 



