316 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. No 42., Oct. 18, '56. 



tavern, the " Cock" in Threadneedle Street. The 

 opening lines are : 



" When to Ellis I write I in verse must indite, 

 Come Phoebus, and give me a knock : 

 For on Fryday at eight, all behind the ' Change Gate,' 

 Master Ellis will be at the ' Cock.' " 



After comparing it to other houses, the "Pope's 

 Head," the " King's Arms," the " Black Swan," 

 and the "Fountain," and declaring the "Cock" 

 the best, it ends : 



" 'Tis time to be gone, for the 'Change has struck one : 

 O 'tis an impertinent Clock 1 

 For with Ellis I'd stay from December to May : 

 I'll stick to my Friend, and the ' Cock.' 



« M. M." 

 Who was Ellis ? W. C. 



[John Ellis was an eccentric character, and a miscel- 

 laneous writer of some reputation in the last century. He 

 died on Dec. 31, 1791. An account of him was written 

 by Mr. Isaac Reed, for the European Magazine, 1792, 

 and copied into Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary. '\ 



The Great Comet of 1680 (2"'^ S. ii. 269.) — 

 This comet appeared first, of all observers of 

 modern times, to Godfrey Kirch, at Coburg, in 

 Saxony, on November 14, 1680, in the constella- 

 tion Leo. It was also observed in different parts 

 of Europe and America in the same month. The 

 perihelion passage occurred on December 18. 

 After being obscured by the sun's rays, it re-ap- 

 peared, and was visible for months after Newton 

 saw it on March 19, 1681. Time of re-appearance 

 is uncertain in the extreme. Encke gives a period 

 of 8800 years. Newton and Flamsteed's observa- 

 tions give 3164 years. Mr. Hind*, however, re- 

 marks that the observations collected by Encke 

 are reconcileable with an elliptical orbit of 805 

 years, or by a hyperbolic orbit. It has been 

 proved that this comet is not identical with those of 

 1106, 5.31, and b.c. 43. C. Mansfield Inglebt. 

 Birmingham. 



Whistle Tankards (2"'» S. ii. 247.) — The mayor 

 of Hull's tankard illustrates an ancient custom 

 now well nigh forgotten, but which I believe was 

 common in this country ; for I have seen amongst 

 the peasantry of Dorset earthenware cups or 

 bowls that had descended to them from their an- 

 cestors, of a similar character to the vessels above- 

 mentioned of more costly material, I possess two 

 such cups ; and two or three others are preserved 

 in private collections, within my knowledge, as 

 curious relics. They are said to have been used 

 at christenings, and on other festive meetings, for 

 toast and ale. Tiiese cups are capable of holding 

 five or six pints, and those which I have seen are 

 of the same shape, which is not inelegant ; having 

 a cover, raised on a short stem, and quaintly or- 

 namented with designs of flowers or true-lovers'- 



♦ The Comets, by J. Russell Hind, 1852. 



knots : also round, under the rim, a poetical dis- 

 tich conveying some such social and convivial 

 sentiment as the following, in characters as rude 

 as the orthography : 



" Mery met and mery part, 

 I drink to thee with all my hart," 



and generally having a date, some year in the early 

 part of the eighteenth century. They have four 

 handles each ; and on one side, the characteristic 

 whistle projecting a little above the rim. On in- 

 quiring into the meaning of this peculiar appen- 

 dage, I have been told, " Why to whistle for more 

 drink when the cup was empty." 



Does not the sailor "whistle for the wind" 

 when he wants his sails filled ? W. S. 



Hastings. 



Knowledge of European History among Bar- 

 barous Nations (2""^ S, ii. 146.) — In Ferrier's 

 Caravan Journei/$, p. 183. (Murray, 1856), the 

 author, a French officer, says : 



" The great deeds of Napoleon have penetrated even 

 into central Asia, though, it is true, somewhat exagger- 

 ated. The Afghans look upon him as a kind of demigod : 

 but as they confound one European country with another, 

 and speak of their inhabitants under one name, that is, 

 Feringhees, the confusion is great. For instance, they 

 think Napoleon reigned over the English, who are almost 

 the only Europeans with whom they have had any inter- 

 course, and I had great difficulty in making the Afghan 

 chiefs comprehend the truth on this point." 



F. 



Emma Hamilton and Dr. Graham (2"'' S. ii.278.) 

 — Emma Harte accompanied Sir William Hamil- 

 ton to Naples in 1789. Two years afterwards they 

 visited England, and were married at St. George's, 

 Hanover Square. The lady could not have been 

 the assistant of Dr. Graham subsequent to the 

 first of the above dates. Graham commenced his 

 exhibition in London in 1782. Emma Harte was 

 then eighteen years of age. Before hard poverty 

 compelled her to join the quack, she had been 

 nursery-maid in Dr. Budd's family, lady's maid, 

 and mistress successively to Captain Willet Payne 

 and Sir Harry Featherstonehaugh. The ruin 

 which followed this last connection drove her to 

 Graham ; but it could only have been for a very 

 short period, as between that period and her ac- 

 quaintance with Sir William, she sat as " model " 

 to Romney and other painters, and was sufficiently 

 long under the " protection " of Mr. Charles 

 Greville, nephew isf Sir William, to become the 

 mother of three children. Graham did not com- 

 mence his earth-bath until after he had exhausted 

 his two-guinea, guinea, crown, half-crown, and 

 ultimately, shilling visitors to his music, miracu- 

 lous bed, and the sanitary lectures which he illus- 

 trated by the dazzling presence of his " Goddess 

 of Health," a character which Emma sustained for 

 a short period, and in which she addressed the 

 audience. It must have been another goddess 



