158 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



[No. 252. 



window, without thinking that it was her duty to remain 

 with the ladies who came to see me, and to do the honours 

 of my house. I was obliged to call her, and make her a 

 reprimand, which embarrassed her very much : she did 

 not know how to answer." 



In 1659 Matta accompanied Madlle to Sedan, 

 on her recall to the Court. The queen mother 

 inquired of her " what has Matta come to do 

 here." Madlle knew nothing about it. On 

 Madlle's leaving the Court, Matta accompanied 

 her to Paris, where she mentions his coming 

 to her and speaking warmly in favour of the 

 Countess de Frontenac, whom Madlle had re- 

 moved from being one of her ladies ; Matta ven- 

 tured to threaten Madlle with the anger of her 

 father, the Duke of Orleans. Madlle writes,— 



" They brought me some food, and very apropos, for his 

 conversation began to make me very angry ; and if he 

 had not been thus interrupted, I would have had him 

 thrown out of the window." 



We have no particulars of Matta's future life : 

 we meet with him occasionally, contributing his 

 share in the brilliant and witty conversation of 

 the salons of Madame Scarron and Ninon de 

 I'Enclos. He was celebrated for his stories and 

 repartees. Madame de Caylus praises his simple 

 and natural disposition, and his humour, as render- 

 ing him the most delightful society in the world. 



Matta resigned his commission in the Guards 

 in 1673, after the death of Francis SIcaire, Mar- 

 quis de Bourdeille, his cousin-german of the elder 

 line of his family, which happened in 1672. Matta 

 claimed his estates, but his family were not ad- 

 judged entitled to them by the Parliament of 

 Grenoble until 1678, and then they were_ so 

 loaded with debts that little more than the titles 

 they conferred was obtained. 



Matta died at Paris on July 14, 1674, and was 

 buried on the 16th in the church of the Bare- 

 footed Carmelites. He died as he had lived. 

 " Matta died without confession," writes Madame 

 de Maintenon to her brother on Sept. 6, 1674. 

 Madame de Matta survived her husband, and died 

 on July 14, 1689, aged about sixty years, and was 

 buried the next day near him. W. H. Lammin. 



Fulham. 



THE LANCASHIRE SONG. 



In Eitson's Ancient Songs, p. 188., this song, 

 often quoted by Sir W. Scott, is given, with re- 

 ferences to previous publications of it in Wit and 

 Drollery, 1661, Dry den's Miscellanies, and in a 

 more modern work. The last was, perhaps. The 

 Choice, 1733, where it occurs in the third volume. 



From the following reasons I am inclined to 

 refer the date of the song to October 1536, and 

 the commencement of the " Pilgrimage of Grace ;" 

 and of course to consider the Lord Monteagje 

 mentioned to be Thomas Stanley, who died in 



1560, and to vary from Eitson's conjecture as to 

 his being William Stanley, who succeeded him in 

 that year. The mention of an Abbot of Chester 

 is sufficient disproof. 



Amongst constant allusions to a subject pre- 

 viously "unpleasant to the married ear" of 

 royalty, the song mentions the position of " Sir 

 Percy " under the line, prays for the safety of the 

 " good Earl of Shrewsbury," notices the full mill- 

 streams of " Doncaster's mayor," and his embar- 

 rassments from wine and gout ; the dangers of a 

 galloper on Blackstone Edge, and the death of 

 Lord Monteagle's bears and jackanapes. ^ Then 

 follows the non-existence of a " haven in Skipton," 

 allusion to failure of Joan Moulton's (or Malton's) 

 Cross, and the frailty of " the wife of the Swan," 

 and the Prior of Courtree's (Cov'ntree's) prepara- 

 tions for festivity, with the expected demise of the 

 Abbot of Chester, The concluding stanza desires 

 Lancashire to " sell its old whittle (Whittal E.), 

 buy a new fiddle, and sing God save the Queen." 



The date above mentioned, October 1536, seems 

 to be fixed by the words in Italics. In that month 

 Shrewsbury had ventured on an unauthorised 

 levy to oppose the advance of Aske, Sir Thomas 

 Percy, and others. (See Lord Herbert's Hist. 

 Kennett, vol. ii. p. 206.) The swollen streams at 

 Doncaster twice stayed the progress of the rebels 

 (Ibid.), and notwithstanding ecclesiastical treason 

 at Whalley and Salley, and disloyalty of retainers, 

 the Cliffords were faithful, and held Skipton Castle 

 for a time. (Compare Herbert and Whitaker's 

 Craven, p. 340.) At the same time John Birch- 

 enshaw. Abbot of Chester, may be presumed to 

 have been in his last sickness, for his place was 

 shortly void by death. (See Hist. Cheshire, vol. i. 

 p. 216., and Willis.) The Queen, who is recom- 

 mended to the new fiddle, and to the prayers of 

 Lancashire, would clearly be Jane Seymour, 

 married five months previously. 



Space does not allow comment on the other 

 points, but they seem to involve considerations, 

 perhaps of historical, and certainly of local interest. 



Lancastbiensis. 



CHRISTOPHER CLAVIUS. 



In 1850, 1 picked up a copy of Albertus Pighius, 

 Be cBquinoctiorum solsticiommque inventione . . . 

 ejusdem de ratione paschalis celebrationis, deque 

 restitutione ecclcsiastici calendarii (folio, Paris, 

 circa 1520). At the top of the title was the 

 written name of an owner, partly worn out, but 

 distinctly leaving hristophor ; followed by a capi- 

 tal C, an effaced long letter, the bottom of an a, 

 a beginning of some letter broader than v, and ii ; 

 with" the date 1556, or possibly (the top of the 

 6 being doubtful) 1558. The second 5 is worn at 

 the top, and it may be suggested that the figure was 

 8 : but too much of it is left, and the resemblance 



