2''«i s. VIII. ^fov. 12. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



403 



queen, the laird of this little propertyj is said to have been 

 nearer seven than six feet high, proportionably built, and 

 active as a roebuck. Though he was alive -within half a 

 century, it is said that in his youth he killed the last 

 wolf that infested this district. " The prevailing story is 

 this : — 



" ' A poor woman, crossing the mountains with two 

 children, was assailed by the wolf, and her infants de- 

 voured, and she escaped with difficulty to Moyhall. The 

 chief of Mackintosh no sooner heard of the tragical fate 

 of the babes, than, moved by pity and rage, he dispatched 

 orders to all his clan and vassals, to assemble the next 

 day at twelve o'clock to proceed in a body to destroy the 

 wolf. Pollochock was one of those vassals, and being 

 then in the vigour of youth, and possessed of gigantic 

 strength and determined courage, his appearance was 

 eagerly looked for to take a lead in the enterprise. But 

 the hour came, and all were assembled except him to 

 whom they most trusted. Unwilling to go without him, 

 the impatient chief fretted and fumed through the hall ; 

 till at length, about an hour after the appointed time, in 

 stalked Pollochock, dressed in his full Highland attire : 

 " I am little used to wait thus for any man," exclaimed 

 the chafed chieftain, " and still less for thee, Pollochock, 

 especially when such game is afoot as we are boune 

 (i. e. going) after ! " " What sort o' game are ye after, 

 Mackintosh .' " said Pollochock simply, and not quite 

 .understanding his allusion. " The wolf. Sir," replied 

 Mackintosh ; " did not my messenger instruct you ? " 

 "Ou aye, that's true," answered Pollochock, with a good- 

 humoured smile; "troth I had forgotten. But an that 

 be a'," continued he, groping among the ample folds of 

 his plaid, " there's the wolf's head ! " Exclamations of 

 astonishment and admiration burst from chief and clans- 

 men, as he held out the grim and bloody head of the 

 monster at arms-length, for the gratification of those who 

 crowded around him. "As I came through the slochk 

 (i. e. the ravine) by east the hill there," said he, as if 

 talking of some every-day occurrence, "I forgathered 

 wi' the beast. My long dog there turned him. I buckled 

 wi' him, and dirkit him, and syne whuttled his craig 

 (i. e. cut his throat), and brought awa' his countenance, 

 for fear he might come alive again; for they are very 

 precarious creatures." " My noble Pollochock ! " cried 

 the chief in ecstacy ; " the deed was worthy of thee ! In 

 memorial of thy hardihood, I here bestow upon thee 

 Seannachan, to yield meal for thy good greyhound in all 

 time coming." ' " 



Sir Thomas also gives the traditionary account 

 of the destruction of the last wolf in Braemoray, 

 another district on the same river much lower 

 down, and about fourteen miles from its mouth ; 

 but for this event he does not venture to assign 

 any date, though, considering the facilities which 

 the valley of the Findhorn, the most grandly pic- 

 turesque of the Scottish streams, still offers there 

 as-<i lurking place for our ferce natura;, it is not 

 probably more remote than the seventeenth cen- 

 tury. J. M, C. 



Elgin. 



THE EARLY EDITIONS OF FOXe's BOOK OF MAETYRS. 



(2"<» S.viii. 221.271.334.) 



The first edition of Foxe's Actes and Monuments 



is a very rare book in a perfect state The late 



Mr. Pickering's stock (sold after his decease) 



boasted four copies, all more or less imperfect at 



the beginning and end. One of these copies con- 

 tained the highly interesting representation of 

 " Pope Alexander treading on the Neck of Fred- 

 eric the Emperor," at p. 41. Some of the best 

 copies known of Foxe do not contain this wood- 

 cut, for being printed on a separate slip it has 

 got loose, and been destroyed. See Catalogue of 

 the Second Portion of the Extensive Collection of 

 Valuable Boohs formed by the late Mr. William 

 Pickering, p. 108. 



The Rev. C. H. Hartshorne, who notices the 

 copy of the first edition of Foxe in the Public 

 Library, Cambridge, in his Book Rarities, p. 72., 

 says : — 



" This edition may be said to contain the only legiti- 

 mate text of the author, many original papers, and im- 

 portant particulars being omitted or suppressed in the 

 latter ones. Consult Scrivener, Apologia pro Ecclesia An- 

 glicana, sive Actio in Scismaticos adversus Dalceum, p. 107, 

 108. Even in the last edition of 1684 (which promises to 

 contain all the first edition, which the others want), some 

 material alteration will be found at p. 1529., concerning 

 John Careless and the prayer-book, and again at p. 1072. ; 

 concerning John Hallyer, who suffered in Cambridge, as 

 it is said behind Jesus College, dj'ing with it in his bo- 

 som, p. 1518. ; also concerning Cranmer's heart (at p. 

 444.), which shows pretty clearly that Foxe did not be- 

 lieve the storj'." 



Dr. Dibdin, speaking of the editio princeps, in 

 his Bibliomania (edit. 1842, p. 239.) says : — 



" The curious reader who wishes to become master of 

 all the valuable, though somewhat loose information con- 

 tained in this renowned work — upon which Dr. Words- 

 worth has pronounced rather a warm eulogium (^Eccle- 

 siastical Biography, vol. i. p. xix.) — should secure the 

 first edition, as well as the latter one of 1641, or 1684; 

 inasmuch as this first impression, of the date of 1663, is 

 said by Hearne to be ' omnium optima : * see his Adami 

 de Domerham, Hist, de Reb. gest. Glaston., vol, i. p. xxii. 

 I also learn from an original letter of Anstis, in the pos- 

 session of Mr. John Nichols, that ' the late editions are 

 not quite so full in some particulars, and that many 

 things are left out about the Protector Seymour." 



The late Mr. Thomas Rodd had, in his Cata- 

 logue for 1839, a fine large paper copy of the first 

 edition, but unfortunately imperfect at the begin- 

 ning and end,- for which he asked 51. He had 

 another copy in his Catalogue for 1840, " the last 

 leaf supplied by fac-simile," the price of which is 

 not named. 



In glancing over a few sale catalogues just at 

 hand, I find that Heber possessed a beautiful copy 

 of the 1570 edition, in the original binding; also 

 the edition of 1576. Brand, the edition of 1583. 

 The Duke of Sussex, the editions of 1596 and 

 1684. J. Holmes, the edition of 1596. Pickering, 

 besides the copies of the first edition already 

 spoken of, the edition of 1610 (two copies) ; that 

 of 1632 (two copies) ; and imperfect copies of the 

 editions of 1570 and 1590. Perry, the edition of 

 1641. Dr. Bliss, an odd volume of the 1641 edi- 

 tion. The Stowe Collection, the edition of 1684. 

 Southey, the edition of 1684. 



