Sept. 8. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUEKIEy. 



183 



POPULAR AIRS. 



The hundreds of " weasels " on the barrel or- 

 gans have "popped" so often that at last, thank 

 goodness, they are popping off one by one. Nearly 

 all the " Villikins " too are quietly laid beside their 

 " Dinahs " ; nearly all the " Boys " that have 

 " cheered " are " Far upon the sea," or have gone 

 where they tried to persuade every one else to go, 

 " To the west, to the west," with " Peggy in her 

 low back'd car." The " Red, White, and Blue," 

 after being ground up together so long and so 

 distressingly, are becomirig " purple " in the dis- 

 tance ; and from the 'ashes of them all a lady 

 " Minnie " is rising, to be, alas ! blown, ground, 

 and scraped to death in her turn. 



Now, besides the impressions lately made upon 

 the sense of hearing by the above, I can distinctly 

 remember when I was continually informed that 

 the " Ivy green was a rare old plant," or painfully 

 reminded of the existence of such individuals as 

 "Rory o'More," "Mary Blane," " Lucy Neal," and 

 " Jeanette and Jeanot." I -have a vivid recollec- 

 tion also of its being requested by many an organ 

 grinder that I would particularly " remember 

 him," or asked if I should at some future indefinite 

 period " Love him then as now ; " which I firmly 

 believe I do ; — informed that " He dreamt he 

 dwelt in marble halls," or that " we might be 

 happy yet " at one time, and that " He was afloat " 

 or preferred a " Life on the ocean wave " at 

 another, — personal matters which could not by any 

 possibility interest me ; — and more recently I have 

 been reminded at every turn, that the " Good 

 time was coming," and of there having once been 

 such a " party " as a certain " Cavalier " who, 

 from the information to be gathered from the 

 beautiful couplet — 



" He raised Lis ej'e 

 To the lattice high " — 



I conclude must have carried on his amours in 

 the days of — perhaps was a relation of Poly- 

 phemus. All kinds of inanimate objects have 

 been used to instil all kinds of morals into my 

 mind, from " Old arm chairs " to " Shells of 

 Ocean ; " " Woodmen have even been implored 

 to spare trees " for my especial edification. At 

 one moment I've been warned " not to love any- 

 body," and the next persuaded to " Love on," 

 and in both cases informed that my peace and 

 happiness depended on following the advice given. 

 In fact, I believe that through the instrumentality 

 and organic remains of various Italians, I've 

 been requested to do many things I should never 

 otherwise have thought of, and informed gratuit- 

 ously on many points I am sure I should never 

 otherwise have inquired into. 



Now, I shall be glad to be able to set down the 

 dates at which I have received all the above in- 

 formation and advice, or in other words the dates 



No. S06.] 



at which the above airs were the " rage," and 

 also the titles, dates, and names of the composers 

 of any others whose popularity has been ground 

 or scraped out within the memory of your corre- 

 spondents, so as to enable me to place them in 

 consecutive order. R. W. Hackwood. 



Mitiax ^aXtS, 



" Place never mentioned to ears polite." — The 

 earliest notice of this very characteristic allusion 

 of a court divine in an irreligious congregation 

 occurs in Tom Brown's Works (quoted in Cham- 

 bers's Cydopcedia of English Literature, vol. i. 

 p. 530.) : 



" What a fine thing it is to be well mannered upon oc- 

 casion! In the reign of Charles II., a certain worthy 

 divine at Whitehall thus addressed' himself to the audi"- 

 tory at the conclusion of his sermon : ' In short, if you 

 don't live up to the precepts of the Gospel, but abandon 

 yourselves to your irregular appetites, you must expect 

 to receive your reward in a certain place, which 'tis not 

 good manners to mention here.' " — Laconics. 



Mackenzie Walcott, M.A. 



Tennyson and his " Baby.'' — As far as I am 

 aware, Tennyson's use of the word hahy as an 

 adjective has not hitherto been noticed in print; 

 and the subject appears to me to be worthy of a 

 note. Of " Lilian" he says : 



" . . . the lightning laughters dimple 

 The hahy roses in her cheeks." 



Of " Eleanore" he says : 



" . . . . there is nothing here, 

 Which, from the outward to the inward brought. 

 Moulded thy haby thought." 



" The Talking Oak " says : 



" From whence she gamboll'd on the greens, 

 A baby-gevm." 



In " Locksley Hall" we have : 



" Baby lips will laugh me down ; my latest rival brings 

 thee rest. 

 Baby fingers, waxen touches, press me from the mo- 

 ther's breast." 



" The haby sleep," an expression beautifully in- 

 troduced into The Gardener's Daughter, had been 

 before used by Shelley, in the opening to his Queen 

 Mah (34th line). 



Tennyson's partiality for babies peeps out in 

 various ways ; from his mention of — 



" . . . . my little blossom. 

 My hahe, my sweet Aglaia, my one child;" 



To — 



" . . the sweetest little maid 

 That ever crow'd for kisses ! " 



And those babies in The Princess, who — 



" . . . roU'd about 

 Like tumbled fruit in grass." 



