Oct. 21. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



329 



pressed to this gentleman in private, that he will 

 shortly favour the public with the additional facts 

 (tending still farther to fix the authorship of The 

 Letters of Juniiis upon Sir Philip Francis) which 

 he has collected since the publication of the second 

 edition of his almost convincing essay in 1818 ? 



POETICAL TAVEKN SIGNS. 



(Vol. ix., pp. 58. 330.) 

 At the sign of The Swan, at a country inn near 

 Bandon, in the county of Cork, the following hu- 

 morous sign may be read : 



" This is the Swan 



That left her pond 

 To dip her bill in porter ; 

 Why not we, 

 As well as she, 

 Become regular topers." 



Ettelmig. 



The following I saw, a very few years ago, 

 written on a sheet of paper fastened to the window 

 of a public-house near The Angel, Islington, and 

 copied accurately : 



" Siste Viator ! 



Novitas inaudita. 



Scientiaeque potiisque combinatio ! 



A Glass of Ale 



and a » 



Galvanic 

 Shock 

 for Twopence. 



Intra! Bibe! Suscipe! Solve!!!" 



H.P. 



Over the door of a public-house In Castlegate, 

 Grantham, is a large beehive, and on the sign- 

 board the following lines : 

 " Stop ! traveller, stop, the wondrous sign explore, 

 And say when thou hast viewed it o'er and o'er, 

 Grantham, now two rarities are thine, — 

 A lofty steeple *, and a living sign." 



Wiui-iAM Frost. 



In the course of my peregrinations, the follow- 

 ing distich met my eye, and struck me as being of 

 a kind appropriate to your columns ; I therefore 

 transfer them to your keeping. There is a way- 

 side inn, yclept The Talbot, at the foot of Birdlip 

 Hill, Gloucestershire, over whose door is an angu- 

 lar projecting sign, so disposed that the traveller 

 about to ascend the hill reads the invitation of the 

 signboard thus : 



" Before you do this hill go up. 

 Stop and drink a cheerful cup." 



* The Church spire is 272 ft. high. 



Whilst he who comes in the opposite direction 

 perceives this half of the sign, — 



" You are down this hill, all dangers past ; 

 Stop and take a cheerful glass." 



F. S. 



CHUSCH SEBVICE : FREUMIKTABT TEXTS. 



(Vol. ix., p. 515.) 



The following brief examination of such editions 

 of the Book of Common Prayer as my library 

 aifords for reference, will suffice to answer your 

 correspondent's second Query : 



1549. (Reprint, Parker Soc.). No preliminary texts; 

 the Morning and Evening Services begin with the Lord's 

 Prayer. 



1552. (Ibid.) The text in question stands thus : 

 " Correct us, O Lord, and yet in thy judgment, not in thy 

 fury, lest we should be consumed and brought to nothing." 

 In margin, " Jerem. ii." 



1620. (4to. Lond. peties me.) " Correct vs (0 Lord), 

 and yet in thy iudgement, not in thy fury, lest wee 

 should be consumed and brought to nothing." — " ler. 10." 



1638. (fol. Cam. penes me.) Text as in 1552; re- 

 ference in margin, " Jer. x. 24." 



MS. Book, Dublin (Eccl. Hist. Soc). « Jer. x. 24." 



Sealed Book. (E. H. S.) Text as it now stands. 

 Margin, " Jer. x. 24." in black ink : " Ps. vi. 1." in blue ink. 

 ["The words, or parts of words, &c., printed in blue, 

 have been added, or substituted, by the Commissioners."] 

 The collation of the other copies gives the blue ink re- 

 ference thus : « Ps. vi. 1., Ch. Ch. Bk., Ely Bk. ; Ps. vi. 1., 

 Exch. Bk." 



From this collation it appears tolerably certain 

 that the reference to the parallel text was first in- 

 troduced in the Sealed Books. These texts have 

 been altered considerably since they were first 

 prefixed to the Prayer Book ; when, for example, 

 the last text stood thus : 



" If we say that we have no sin, Ave deceive ourselves, 

 and there is no truth in us." — 1 John L, 1552. 



The rest of this text was added in the revision 

 which preceded the Sealed Books ; until which 

 time the Evening Service commenced with the 

 Lord's Prayer. W. Spareow Simpson. 



THE DYING WORDS OF VENERABLE BEDE. 



(Vol. X., pp. 139. 229.) 

 At the risk of bemg consigned to the category 

 of "blockheads" whose translations have been 

 " given to the winds " by your trium literarum 

 correspondent, who writes from Mitcham in 

 Surrey (ante, p. 299.), I venture to doubt whether 

 the Venerable Bede meant to tell his attendant 

 either to " make ready," or to " mend " his pen, or 

 to " dilate his ink," or to " moderate his feelings." 

 Why should the dying abbot take it for granted 

 that Cuthbert would take up a bad pen, or use 

 ink too thick for writing ? 



