2»«i S. No 51., Dbo. 20. '66.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



483 



round about the turreted heptagon are feathers, 

 labelled Spf Aiia. At its base is written — " The 

 White See : The White Luna : The White Soil." 

 Its base rests on an ornamented shaft, on which is 

 written " Terra fier Stat ; " and then " fyer — terra 

 Terra." This shaft is embraced by a bearded 

 nude figure, labelled " Terra." On his right is 

 the nude figure of a winged man ; on his left the 

 nude figure of a man (labelled Ana — oyle,) stand- 

 ing in a golden-rayed aureola. The two last 

 figures are of smaller dimensions than the central 

 one ; all three stand nearly up to their knees in a 

 reddish fluid, marked Spr Ana ; which is enclosed 

 by battlemented walls, ranged in the form of a 

 square. Towers are at the four corners ; the 

 first labelled "Terra Stat;" the second "Vnda 

 Lauat ; " the third " Pir Purgat ; " and the fourth 

 " Spf Intrat." All support alembics, respectively 

 labelled "Dry" (with a dark fluid): "Cold;' 

 (with a light fluid) : " Hot " (with flames) : and 

 "Moyst" (with grey fluid, and a bird); and re- 

 spectively surmounted by labels, on which is 

 printed " earth — water — ftbr — ayer." In 

 front of the lowest range of battlements is written 

 " The Red See : The Red Luna : The Red Soil." 

 Below this is a large green dragon vomiting a 

 toad. Beneath, "Here is the fume Called The 

 Mouth of The CoUkicke ; " and on the toad's side, 

 " The tininge Venume." On a scroll beneath is 

 written : — 



" On the ground there is a hill 

 Allso a Serpent in a well 

 His Tayle is longe with wings wide 

 AUready to flye by euery syde : 

 Repayre the well fast about 

 That the Serpent gett not out 

 For if that he bee there agone 

 Thou losest the Vertue of the Stone 

 What is the Stone thou must know hero 

 And allsoe the well that is soe cleare 

 And what is the Dragon with his taj'le 

 Or else thy worke shall little avayle 

 The well must bren in water cleare 

 Take good heede for this thy fyer 

 The fyre with water Brente shalbe 

 And water with fire wash shall hee 

 Thine earth on fire shal be pitt 

 And water with the eyre shalbe knitt. 



" Thus you shall goe to putrifaction 

 And bringe the Serpent to redemptio 

 First he shalbe black as crow 

 And Downe in his Dene shall lye full low 

 Swolne as a toade y' lyeth on the ground 

 Blast with bladers sitting soe round 

 And shalbe Burst and ly full plaj'ne 

 And thus with craft the Serpents slayne 

 He shall change coUers manj' a one. 

 And turne as whit as whall by bone 

 With the water hee was in 

 Wash him cleane from his sinn 

 And lett him drinke alite and lite 

 And that shall make him fayre and whit 

 The which whitnes is euer abydinge 

 Loe here is the very full linishing 



Of the white Stone and the red 

 Here truly is the very deede. " 



Beneath the scroll bearing these lines is the 

 mouth of a furnace, from whence issue flames ; in 

 front of it, a label inscribed " Y® Mouth of Col- 

 rick : Beware" ; and, on either side, a red and 

 green dragon rampant (" The Red Lyone — The 

 Grene Lyone.") Beneath, is the inscription : 

 " here is te last of ye red and ye begining to 



PYT AWAYB T» dead Tb ELEXIR VITA." 



Cuthbert Bede, B.A. 

 (To he concluded in our next") 



longevity ; 



and traditions through few 



LINKS. 



A person living in 1847, then aged about sixty- 

 one, and who may be living still, was frequently 

 assured by his father that, in 1786, he repeatedly 

 saw a person named Peter Garden, who died in 

 that year at the age of 127 years ; and who, when 

 a boy, heard Thomas Jenkins give evidence in a 

 court of justice at York, to the effect that, when 

 a boy, he was employed in carrying arrows up the 

 hill before the battle of Flodden Field. 



The battle was fought in - - - - 1513 



Thomas Jenkins (who is mentioned in 



Markham's History of England) died a 



few years after the Great Fire of London, 



at the age of - - - - - 169 

 Deduct for his age at the time of the battle 



of Flodden Field - - - . - - 12 



157 



Peter Garden, the man who heard Thomas 



Jenkins give his evidence, died at - 127 



Deduct for his age when he saw Jenkins - 11 



The person whose father knew Peter Gar- 

 den was born shortly before 1786, or 70 

 years since ------ 



A.D. 1856 

 So that a person living in ] 786 conversed with 

 a man who knew a man that fought at Flodden 

 Field. 



I do not see that any makers of Notes on re- 

 markable instances of longevity have communi- 

 cated to the columns of "N. & Q." examples from 

 the Scrope and Grosvenor Roll (edited by Sir 

 Harris Nicolas), — the record of that celebrated 

 cause in the reign of Richard II., between Richard 

 Lord Scrope of Bolton and Sir Robert Grosvenor, 

 ancestor of the present Marquis of Westminster, 

 for the right to bear the shield "azure, a bend 

 or;" in which suit, the parties interested first 

 appeared at Newcastle-upon-Tyne before Com- 

 missioners of the Court of Chivalry, on Aug. 20, 

 1385, when Richard II. was in the north on his 

 campaign against Scotland. Amongst the depo- 

 nents on either side were most of the heroes and 

 statesmen of the age ; and amongst the noble and 



116 



70 



