2"* S. N" 96., Oct. 31. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



351 



makes mention of this art? I find in Cebes The- 

 hanus (ch. xxvi.) mention made of a class of men 

 called fX'<^5rjKToi or ixidSeiKTat. They are spoken of 

 as handling serpents with impunity through hav- 

 inf an antidote (avTic^apixaKov) against their bites. 



Cebes flourished about 390 n.c. Does any older 

 classical author mention these ex'('5'7«:~o(, and did 

 they, like the modern Indian snake charmers, go 

 about exhibiting their art to get a livelihood ? 



T. H. Plowman. 



Torquaj'. 



Epigram on Sternhold and Hopkins. — Who is 

 the author of the 'following lines ? I heard them 

 repeated thirty-five years ago, but have never seen 

 them in print. 



"Sternold and Hopkins had such quahns, 

 When they translated David's psahns, 



At which his heart was glad ; 

 But had it been King David's fate 

 To hear thee sing as these translate, 

 By Jove he had run mad." 



" Sternold et Hopkins habuere 

 Tot eructationes vere, 

 Ut Davidis Psalmos transtulere. 



Cor quibus exultaret ; — 

 At Davidis si esset fatum 

 Audire se ab his translatum, 

 Et pariter a te cantatum, 

 Per Jovem deliraret." 



G. E. 



The Parks and the People. — In the reign of 

 Queen Anne a scheme for raising money was pro- 

 posed by one Nicholas Wilson, by levying a tax 

 upon the frequenters of St. James's Park. To 

 employ the words of his letter : 



" Every body knows tlie vast crowd of people that fre- 

 quent St. James's Park, some for their diversion, others 

 making it a highway to w"'' they do not contribute any 

 thing. Her Maj''" being at a great expense every year 

 for ornamenting and keeping it in repaire, if she would 

 be pleased to give orders that none sh<i enter in y"= Park 

 excepting forringe Ministers, nobillity, members of Par- 

 lam' dureing y« session, her houshold, y« souldieis, &«., 

 without paying a halfpenny a peise, it will raise a very great 

 summe." 



After enumerating various objections likely to 

 be started, which he summarily gets rid of, the let- 

 ter thus concludes: 



"Besides, there is no better means to be found to ren- 

 der her Maj^i'^' printed orders more effectiiall for excluding 

 y^ meanest of the people from entering the Park. Those 

 that arc rich and grumble do not deserve y" benefit of it, 

 and it was never designed for those that are not able to 

 paye a halfpennye. It will, like other things, be but a 

 nine days' wonder, and after a while be chearfuUy sub- 

 mitted to. Substantiall money is not to be lost for y" 

 shadow of an objection. By this means y« Park will 

 ornament y" Park, and in tyme be made to build White- 

 hall. It will probably pa3'- y interest of half a million p"^ 

 annum, w"'' is not a sum to be slighted in this conjunc- 

 ture." 



Where are the printed orders "excluding the 

 meanest of the people " likely to found, and were 

 the parks so exclusive at this particular period? 



I have been told that it is not many years since 

 that a notice .was put up at Kensington Gardens, 

 " Dogs and livery servants not admitted." 



Cli. HOPPEB. 



Bull Baiting. — In an open piece of ground in 

 " The King's Town of Brading," Isle of Wight, is 

 a ring of very considerable strength firmly fixed 

 in the ground, to which the bull was formerly 

 fastened during the brutal sport of bull-baiting. 

 Are there many of these remains of a cruel pas- 

 time to be met with in other parts of the country ? 



T. North. 



Leicester. 



Sir Palmes Faireborne, Governor of Tangier. — 

 Who are the descendants (if any) of Sir Palmes 

 Faireborne, who died of wounds received in service 

 at Tangier, and in consequence of which an an- 

 nuity of 5001. per annum was granted to " Dame 

 Margery Faireborne and her many children," to 

 be paid by the Treasurer of Tangier, under Writ 

 of Privy Seal, April 29, 1680 ? B. O. J. 



Nelly O'Brien. — Can you inform me who Nelly 

 O'Brien was, of whom there was a picture by Sir 

 Joshua Reynolds in the Manchester Exhibition ? 

 Was she any relation to the O'Briens of Clare, of 

 whom Lord Inchiquin is the present representa- 

 tive ? X. Y. Z. 



Holbein. — In the Art Treasures Exhibition at 

 Manchester there were five pictures, respectively 

 numbered 173 to 177, in the British Portrait Gal- 

 lery, representing portraits of Lucius Gary Vis- 

 count Falkland, James Duke of Monmouth, Hyde 

 Earl of Clarendon, Chief Justice Bramston and 

 Lord Holies, all said to be painted by Holbein. No 

 painter of this name is mentioned in the Biogra- 

 phical Notices of Ancient Masters, except Hans 

 Holbein, who died in 1554, and who, for obvious 

 reasons, could not be the painter of these portraits. 

 Is anything known of the later Holbein, and are 

 many of his works extant ? J. W. 



Temple. 



Minav (ihvLttiti taitb ^n^iatrS. 



Early Wood Engraver. — Who was the wood- 

 engraver whose spirited cuts and borders adorn 

 the books of Cratander of Basle, and others, about 

 A.D. 1520 or 1530, and whose monogram is I. F. ? 

 Among other things he illustrated the beautiful 

 little Latin Testament by Erasmus of about that 

 date. J- C. J. 



[This monogram has been attributed to John Fischer 

 and J. Ferlato; but as it appears in works printed at 

 Basil between 1520 and 1530, it is doubtless that of John 

 Froben, who is better known as a printer than as an en- 

 graver on wood. (See Bruillot's Dictionnaire des Mono- 

 grammes.^ The great reputation and meritorious charac- 

 ter of Froben was the principal motive which led Erasmus 

 to reside with him at his house at Basil, in order to have 



