222 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 255. 



perience as a sparrow fancier, I could never per- 

 suade one to brook confinement ; they very soon 

 warbled the death note, always called here sing- 

 ing padgentree, and " cocked their toes " before 

 next sunrise. Can any of your readers throw out 

 any suggestions as to the origin of this " padgen- 

 tree ?" John Dixon. 



"Rule Britannia." — In the second verse of this 

 celebrated song there is an inaccuracy in point of 

 grammar, which It strikes me could be easily 

 amended, and without impairing the spirit of the 

 lines. It occurs in the first line : 



" The nations not so bless'd as thee." 



Here the rules of grammar evidently require thou, 

 which, if substituted, leaves the third line to be 

 dealt with, in order to secure the rhyme. And I 

 would propose to make the line to run thus : 



" While thou shalt flourish free as now." 

 The whole stanza thus altered would read : 



" The nations, not so bless'd as thou. 

 Must in their turn to tyrants fall ; 

 While thou shalt flourish, free as now. 

 The dread and envy of them all." 



The only sacrifice here made is that of the epithet 

 "great." R. S. 



Bell-ringing. — In the library of All Souls Col- 

 lege, Oxford, is deposited a MS. (No. CXIX.) 

 entitled : 



" Orders conceyved and agreed uppon by the company 

 exercizing the arte of ringing, knowne and called by the 

 name of the SchoUers of Cheapesj^de in London, begon 

 and so continewd from the second day of February, Anno 

 1603."- 



with a list of names of the generals and wardens to 

 the year 1634 inclusive, annexed. Z. z. 



Harvest Horn. — It is a very general practice 

 here for the boys about the streets to blow horns 

 during the time of harvest. I do not see this 

 practice alluded to in Hone, nor any of the 

 writers he refers to for customs, &c., during 

 harvest. I thought it might be as well to pre- 

 serve it in the pages of " N. & Q." 



Perhaps some of your correspondents may give 

 us some other notices, or perhaps be able to tell 

 something more -of this particular practice. I 

 heard the first on Saturday last. George. 



Norwich, Aug. 16. 



*^ Vaudeville." — From a collection of songs 

 published at Lyons, and entitled Chansons et voix 

 de ville, in 1561 ; and from another published at 

 Paris in 1576, entitled Recueil des plus belles 

 chansons en forme des voix de ville, may we not learn 

 the genuine etymology of the word vaudeville? 



James Coknish. 



THOMAS decker's " FOUR BIRDS," 1609. 



I have recently obtained an imperfect copy of 

 a little work by the celebrated Thomas Decker, 

 or Dekker, which does not appear to be known to 

 bibliographers ; and, if so, a few Notes upon it 

 cannot but be acceptable to many of the readers 

 of " N. & Q." It is in duodecimo, with several 

 title-pages, e. g. 



" The Pelican. The Pelican bringeth health. Vigi- 

 late et Orate. Printed at London by H. B. for N. B. IGCi)." 



" The Eagle. The Eagle bringeth courage. Vigilate- 

 et Orate. Printed at London by H. B, for Nathaniel 

 Butter, 1609." 



In the imprint in the original, the letter r is. 

 accidentally omitted in the word printed. 



" The Phcenix. The Phoenix bringeth life. Vigilate. 

 et Orate. Printed at London by H. B. for N. B. 1609." 



This portion is dedicated " To the two worthie 

 and worthily admired Ladies, Sarah, wife to the 

 Right Worshipful Sir Thomas Smith, Knijjht ; and 

 Catharine, wife to the Right Worshipful Sir John 

 Scot, Knight;" signed, "Humbly devoted to your 

 Ladyships, Tho. Dekker." The general title-page 

 is wanting, but there is a dedication to Sir Thomas 

 Smith, from the author, who subscribes himself: 

 " Ever bounden to your worship, Tho. Dekker." 

 The fourth treatise is of the Dove. Any inform- 

 ation on this work, especially the proper title of 

 the whole, would be very acceptable, 



J. 0. Haluwell. 



DR. BROOME THE POET. 



Will you allow me, through the medium of 

 " N. & Q.," to put two or three questions to your 

 correspondents respecting Dr. Broome, whose 

 name is still deservedly memorable as the friend 

 and literary assistant of Pope ? In Dr. Broome's 

 will, made in 1745, which I found at Norwich, 

 and appended to a short Memoir^ of the poet 

 recently published by me, he mentions his sister 

 " Elizabeth Cooke of Bank Hall, Lancashire," his 

 " other sisters, Margaret, Anne, and Sarah," and 

 his "brother, Richard Broome of Dagenham, in 

 Essex." I believe there are two " Bank Halls " 

 In Lancashire, one In Leyland and the other 

 near Kirkdale. As I am devoting myself to the 

 preparation of a new edition of Broome's Poems, 

 I shall be truly grateful for answers to the above 

 Queries, or for any other information relating 

 either to Broome's personal history or writings, 

 and conveyed either through " N. & Q.," or ad- 

 dressed as below. 



I have succeeded, through the invaluable assist- 

 ance of " N. & Q.," in obtaining copies of two of 

 the earliest editions of Broome. T. W. Barlow. 



St. James' Chambers, Manchester. 



