348 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[Nov. 3. 1855. 



piece of cloth made chiefly from " Devil's dust," 

 and tore it into shreds. 1 should be glad if some 

 of your readers could tell nie wlien this took 

 place, and where 1 can find the speech. 



W. D. 

 [Mr. Ferrand's speech was made on March 4, 1842, and 

 will be found in Hansard's Farliameutary Debates, Third 

 Series, vol. Ixi. p. 140.] 



MARRYING TO SAVE MFE. 



(Vol. xii., p. 257.) 

 Barrington, in his Observations on the more 

 Ancient statutes, has collected a number of legal 

 vulgar errors, among which lie includes, " the 

 notion, that a woman's marrying a man under the 

 gallows will save him from the execution; " and 

 adds, in explanation : 



"Tliis, probably, arose from a wife having brought an 

 appeal against the murderer of her liusband, who, after- 

 wards repenting the prosecution of lier lover, not only 

 forgave the offence, but was willing to marry the ap- 

 pellee." 



However this may be, it is certain that in the 

 fifteenth century, this exemption had a quasi legal 

 existence in France. We read in the Journal 

 d'un Bourgeois de Paris (edition du Pantheon 

 Litteraire, p. 683.) : 



"Le 10 Janvier, 1430, on mena onze hommes ha halles 

 de Paris, et leur coupa les tetes h, tous dix. Le onziesme 

 estoit un trfes-bel jeune fils d'environ vingt-quatre aiis; 

 il fut despouille et prest pour bander ses yeux, quand 

 nne jeune fi.le, nee des halles, le vint hardienient de- 

 mander; et tant fit par son bon pourchas, qu'il fut ramen^ 

 au Chastelet, et despuis furent espouses ensemble." 



Henry Stephens (I quote at second-hand, and 

 cannot give reference) records an amusing in- 

 stance in which the alternative of marriage was 

 offered to a criminal : 



"Ce conte est fort commun du Picard, auquel dejk 

 estant h I'eschelle, on amena nne pauvre fille, qui s'estoit 

 mal gouvernee, en luy promettant qu'on luv sauveroit la 

 vie, s'il vouioit promettre sur sa foy et la damnation de 

 son asme, qu"il la prendroit k femine." 



But the condemned was a philosopher, and seems 

 to have thought that even life might be purchased 

 at too dear a rate; it is amusing to picture him 

 " looking the gift horse in the mouth," and de- 

 liberately balancing the pros and the cons : 



" Mais entre autres choses, I'ayant voulu voir aller, 

 quand il 8'aper<;ut qu'elle estoit boiteuse, se tourna vers 

 le bourreau, et luy diet : Attaque, attaque, alle cheque." 



A similar tale is told of a Norman to whom the 

 same proposition was made ; but who, having ex- 

 amined the would-be bride in Lavaterian fashion, 

 exclaimed, as he mounted the scaffold : 



No. 314.] 



L^vres serrdes, nez poinctu ; 

 J'aiiue mieux etre peudu ! " 



Of which couplet I attempt a translation : 



" Thin lips, sharp nose — tho' sweet is life, 

 I'd 1 atlier swing than have such a wife ! " 



A curious legal statute appears to be in force in 

 the Isle of Man : 



" For a rape the punishment is capital, unless the 

 woman be unmarried. In this case she has her choice 

 either to hang, behead, or marry the offender. No in- 

 stance of a conviction is upon record, and only one tra- 

 ditionary. After the rope was fastened round the neck 

 of the criminal, the injured woman repented of her de- 

 termination, desired he might be released, and offered him 

 a ring, ihe symbol of the third condition. He accepted 

 the gift with thanks; but told her, that having been 

 already condemned to one punishment, he thought that 

 sufficient, and would kee]) the ring for another occasion." 

 — Account, Sec, of the lale of Man, &^c., by George Woods, 

 8vo., Loudon, 1811, p. 284. 



The North American Indians accord to squaws 

 whose husbands have been killed in battle, the 

 privilege of selecting a successor from prisoners 

 about to be tortured. Novelists (Cooper, 1 think, 

 among others) have made an amusing use of this 

 custom, an<l the reader will recollect the scene iu 

 Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris, in \\hich La 

 E.smeralda takes compassion upon the unlucky 

 Pierre Gringoire when rejected of the other ladies 

 of the band, and saves him from hanging by ac- 

 cepting him as a temporary husband. 



William Bates. 



Birmingham. 



In illustration of this subject, brought forward 

 by your correspondent Ma. Pinkerton, I would 

 refer him to the quaint, but at the same time un- 

 gallant lines : 



" There was a victim in a cart, 

 One day for to be hang'd. 

 And his re])rieve was granted. 



And the cart made for to stand. 

 ' Come, marry a wife and save your life,' 



The judge aloud did cry: 

 ' Oh, why should I corrupt my life? ' 



The victim did replj'. 

 ' For here's a crowd of every sort, 



And why slinuld I prevent their sport? 

 The bargain's bad in every part. 



The wife's the worst — drive on the cart ! ' " 



L. L. Jewitt. 

 Derby. 



To his interesting article, Mb. W. PinkertoW 

 might have added the following authentic anec- 

 dotes. 



Les Histoires du Sieur d'Auligne. A MailU, 

 1618, tom. ii. p. 18. : 



" Le Marquis du Resnel, frfere du Prince Porcian, fut 

 tu^ par Bussi d'Amboise et (par) le fils du Baron des 

 Adrets, pour nn procfes qu'il avoit avec son cousin ger- 

 main. Gnerchi mit son nianteau autour du bras, et se fit 

 tuer h, COUPS d'esp^e, se vengeant comme il pouvoit. 

 Beaudisne Puiviauit (k la femme duquel le tueur porta 

 les chausses de son marl, pour lui sauver la vie en Pes- 



