394 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°'i S. No 46., Nov. 15. '66. 



report uppon experience. This paper included will shew 

 it, though it cannot deliver it. Which contayneth the 

 whole epistle to Titus. A matter of great use and com- 

 moditie, to couch much matter in so short compasse, and 

 to take a speech from anie man's mouth as he delivereth 

 it, which both j'our Lawyers in your Court-houses, and 

 students in the Universitie male make good use of. 



" I praie you for that I found Mr. Robert in good dis- 

 position to see the practice, and to give the Author his 

 good word ; furthermore, take some time to know when 

 his pleasure male be to appoint the Doctor to attend on 

 him and lett the partie understand of it whom you male 

 find near St. Bartholomew's hospitall where he hath a 

 house, and maie provoke him by this courtesie to do as 

 much for j'ou as Mr. Babingtons bai-ber had done in a 

 like case, of using his art and facultie by requitall. And 

 thus I commend me heartilie to you, desiring you to re- 

 commend my poor favour to Mr. Robert as of one who 

 according to that dutie and devotion he oweth to the 

 roote beareth a like affectionate goodwill to the branch, 

 which he will also be readie to pursue and perform with 

 everie serviceable otfice he maie to his uttermost poor 

 abilitie. — Enfield house, this xxx first of March, 1586. 

 Your assuredlie assured, Vin. Skynner. 

 " To my verie loving friend 



Mr. Michael Hicks, 



At Lincoln's Inn." * 



From this date short-hand had made such pro- 

 gress that Morhof, in his Polyhistor, 1747 (i. 727.), 

 wrote, — 



"Nowhere has the art of swift and secret writing 

 flourished so, and been more diligently cultivated than 

 among the English." 



And in the French Encyclopedie, under the ar- 

 ticle " Tachygraphie," it is confessed that — 



" The English are those of all people in the world which 

 most generally use, and have made the greatest progress 

 in this art. ... In short, they have brought this 

 kind of writing to perfection." 



Among my rare treasures on this subject is a 

 beautiful copy with the synoptical table, in vellum, 

 of— 



" Characterie. An arte of shorte, swifte, and secrete 

 writing by Character. Inuented by Timothe Bright, 

 Doctor of Phisike. Imprinted at London by J. Windet, 

 the Assigne of Tim. Bright, 1588. Ctim privilegio BegicB 

 Ifaiestatis. Forbidding all other to print the same." 

 24mo., not paged. 



Benjamin Hanbury. 



16. Gloucester Villas, Brixton. 



Ballad on Agincourt (2"^ S. ii. 349.)— The fine 

 old ballad referred to by Mr. Collier may safely 

 be ascribed to the reign of Elizabeth, if not to an 

 earlier period. It was, undoubtedly, popular be- 

 fore 1600, in which year it is quoted by Thomas 

 Heywood in the First Part of King Edward the 

 Fourth (Act III. Sc. 2., ed. Shakspeare Society). 

 It occurs in the scene between the King and the 



♦ Lansdowne MSS., vol. 11., art. 27. 



Tanner, where Hobs and his companions sing «fc 

 to his disguised Majesty, as a "three man's song." 



" Agincourt, Agincourt ! know ye not Agincourt? 

 Where the English slew and hurt 



All the French foemen ? 

 With our Guns and Bills brown. 

 Oh, the French were beat down, 



Morris-pikes and Bowmen," &c. 



I have seen a black-letter broadside of this 

 ballad, but cannot say, from not having " taken a 

 Note " at the time, in what collection. I think, 

 however, that it was in the Pepysian. It has not 

 been reprinted, as far as my knowledge extends, 

 in any of the numerous ballad-books, dating from 

 the 1723 Old Ballads downwards. 



As regards Henry Harper, the printer, I do not 

 find that he printed anything before the reign of 

 Charles II., or perhaps the latter part of the Com- 

 monwealth. I am making collections for a history 

 of our old ballad printers, and should be glad of 

 any facts or dates upon this interesting subject. 



The black-letter type was used by ballad- 

 printers down to 1700, and perhaps for some few 

 years beyond. We cannot judge of the date of a 

 ballad from the fact of its being in black-letter, as 

 I find instances of the same metal types being- 

 used by Gosson in the reign of James I., and by 

 Thackeray at the end of the same century. 



I am delighted to hear that Mr. Collier is 

 making progress with his new edition of Shaks- 

 peare, an edition that the real lovers of the poet 

 are looking forward to with the deepest interest. 

 Edward F. Kimbault. 



" The Carmagnoles " (2""^ S. ii. 269. 334.) — 

 Both the querist and the answerer are in error as 

 to the name of this air, which is not Les Car- 

 magnoles, but La Carmagnole, and is a dance, 

 from which the air takes its name. The refrain 

 of the song is " Dansons la Carmagnole," &c. I 

 do not know why J. H. H. characterises it as " one 

 of the most sanguinary songs of the first Revo- 

 lution." The original versions of the song had 

 nothing sanguinary, but rather, indeed, were an 

 attempt at light pleasantry ; as for instance, in 

 allusion to some supposed plot of the queen against 

 Paris, it was sung : 



" Madame Yeto a promis 

 De reduire tout Paris ; ' 

 Mais son coup a manqu^, 

 Grace a nos Grenadiers ! 

 Dansons la Carmagnole," &c. 



And on the Duke of Brunswick's retreat . 



" Monsieur Brunswick a promis 

 De marcher tout droit a Paris, 

 Mais quel diable chemin ? 

 II s'en est alle par Louvain ! 

 Dansons La Carmagnole. 

 Vive le son (bis) 

 Du Canon." 



There were a gi*eat many verses of a similar kind, 



