384 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. No 46., Nov. 15. '56. 



over, according to Amhurst, by Thomas Warton, 

 the Professor of Poetry ; and upon the several 

 members of which he is very severe. 

 He concludes No. 26. with these words : 



" I forgot to take notice, that Mr. Grovesnour, Secre- 

 tary of the Club, was ordered to return Mr. Curll a letter 

 of thanks, in the name of the members, for his kind 

 present of an excellent book, intituled, ' Voluptates Concu- 

 bitus, sive, Lusus nocturni Veneris; and desire him to 

 print the said letter," 



I have preferred giving the title in Latin, in- 

 stead of the coarse English of the original. Had 

 this " Oxford Poetical Club" any real existence? 

 And did Curll publish a book with this title, — in 

 English, I mean ? Henrt T. Rilet. 



Books published hy Curll. — Your correspon- 

 dent S. N. M. would seem to have access to a 

 large number of the volumes issued by this no- 

 torious publisher. Allow me to suggest that he 

 would be doing a very useful work, if, from the 

 books in his possession, and the lists at the end of 

 them, he would make up a Bihliotheca Curliana. 

 Many of Curll's publications were doubtless very 

 worthless, many (though perhaps fewer than are 

 supposed) were of an immoral character, but many 

 are well calculated to throw light upon the literary 

 and political history of the time ; and a list of them 

 could not but prove useful to inquirers of many 

 classes. Bookworm. 



MAYOKS' FEASTS. 



Having lately met with the following bill of 

 fare among some old and curious books, and 

 knowing that it will be better preserved in " N. 

 & Q.," and thinking that some of your many cor- 

 respondents would be pleased to see it, — it being 

 a striking contrast (both in the amount of cost 

 and "the delicacies of the season") between the 

 mayors' feasts given in the reign of Queen Eliza- 

 beth and those given by the various mayors in 

 the reign of our present Queen Victoria, as well 

 as a specimen of the eloquence of one of the 

 wealthy citizens of Norwich in 1561, — I send it 

 for insertion in " N. & Q. : " 



" A Copy of the original Bill of Fare of an extraor- 

 dinary feast given by William Mingay, Esq., on his being 

 elected a second time Mayor of Norwich, in the fourth 

 year of the reign of Queea Elizabeth, 1561, who upon 

 that occasion entertained the Duke of Norfolk, the Lords, 

 Knights, and gentry' of the County ; also, the speech of 

 Mr. Johnny Martin, a wealthy citizen, at the dinner, 

 after grace was said. 



8 stone of beef, 14 lb. to the stone 



4 collars brawn, at 4d. 



4 geese, at 4c/. - 



8 pints, butter - - - 



A fore quarter veal 



A hind quarter ditto 



2 legs mutton, at 3d. 



Loyn of mutton - - - 



Shoulder of veal - - - 



Breast and coast muttpn - 

 Six plovers, at •2c?. 

 14 brace partridges 

 12 couple rabbits 



2 guinea pigs - - . 

 8 fowles, at 3d. - - - 

 12 mallards, at 3d 



3 dozen eggs, at 4d. 



2 bushels flour, at 9d. 

 16 loaves white bread 

 18 loaves wheaten do. 



3 ditto maslin do. 



1 barrel strong beer 

 1 barrel small ditto 



1 quarter wood . - - 

 Nutmegs, mace, cinnamon, and greens 



4 lb. Barbary sugar 

 Fruits and almonds 

 12 doz. oranges at 3d. 

 Sweet water and perfumes 



2 gallons white wine 



2 ditto claret - - - 



1 gallon sack - - - 



1 ditto malmsey - - - 



1 ditto bustard ditto 

 1 ditto muscadine 



" Maister Mayor, and may it please your worship, you 

 have feasted us this day like a King. God bless the 

 Queen's grace ! We have fed plentiful!}', and now whillom 

 I can speak plain English, I heartily thank you, Maister 

 Mayor, and so we do all ; answer, boys, answer, ' Bravo, 

 Bravo ! ' Your beer is pleasant, and potent, and will soon 

 catch us by the caput, and stop our manners. And so 

 huzza for the Queen's Majesty's Grace, and all her b^nny 

 browed dames of honour ! Huzza for Maister Mayor, and 

 our good dame Mayoress ; huzza for his noble grace of 

 Norfolk, there he sits, God save him ; huzza for all this 

 jolly company, and all our friends round the county, who 

 have a penny in their purse, and an English heart in 

 their bellies, to keep out Spanish dons and Papists with 

 their faggots to burn our wiskers! Handle your jugs, 

 shove it about, trout your caps, and huzza for Maister 

 Mayor, their Worships, and all this jolly company." 



The present Mayor of Southampton has been 

 elected four times to the civic chair. Has any 

 lord mayor of London, or any other of the pro- 

 vincial mayors, been elected more than three 

 times ? T. J. 



Southampton. 



NOTE ON TBAFAIiGAR. 



Lord Nelson's well-known valet, Tom Allen, 

 lived for some time close to me, he being then 

 retained in the service of Sir William Bolton. I 

 met Tom almost every day in my walks, and often 

 got into chat with him about his brave and noble 

 master. Lord Nelson, Among other things, I 

 spoke of his wearing his decorations at Trafiilgar. 

 Now Tom, who had been with him in so many 

 other engagements, was by mere accident pre- 



