Oct. 14. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



303 



said to have been first suggested' by his endlessly fertile 

 and industrious mind, as productive in practical projects 

 as in books." 



Perhaps your pnges may be the medium of in- 

 forming the amiable and talented authoress, that 

 the New River was projected and carried into 

 effect by Sir Hugh Myddleton, about fifty years 

 before De Foe was born. Edward J. Sage. 



" THE LEATHER BOTTEL. 



A short time ago I copied down, from the re- 

 citation of an old man, a version of this ancient 

 popular song, which, differing from copies already 

 published, may perhaps interest some few of your 

 readers. A curious article on this song was pub- 

 lished in Blackwood's Magazine, November, 1823. 

 Mr. J. H. Dixon's Ancient Ballads and Songs of 

 the Peasantry of England, published by the Percy 

 Society, contains a copy ; while another occurs in 

 the Illustrated Book of English Songs, reprinted 

 from a copy in the Antidote to Melancholy, 1682. 

 There is a lively air extant, well adapted to the 

 burden of this latter version, wliich I have often 

 heard sung in good taste by J. L, Hatton, Esq. 



" 'Twas God above, who made all things, 

 The heavens and earth and all therein ; 

 The ships that on the sea do swim, 

 To keep our men from slipping in ; 

 Yet this after all is tittle cum tottel, 

 When there's nought to compare to the leather bottel. 

 'Twas in the time of Noah, when the world was drown'd. 

 That the first leather bottle afloat was found. 

 So let us hope that in heaven his soul does dwell. 

 That first invented this leather bottel. 



" Its greatly before your fine kegs of wood. 

 Which in true faith cannot long be good ; 

 And when a master his man does send. 

 To have one fill'd as he may intend, 

 And hy the way this man should fall, 

 The keg would burst, and the liquor loss all ; 

 But if it had been in a leather bottel. 

 And the stopple in, why, all had been well. 

 So let us hope, &c. 



" Then for these flagons of silver fine, 

 Even they shall have no praise of mine ; 

 For when my lord or lady be going to dine. 

 And send them out to be" fill'd with wine, 

 The man and the flagons both run away, 

 Because they are precious, and fine, and gay ; 

 But if the wine had been order'd in a leather bottel. 

 The man would have come back, and all been well. 

 So let us hope, &c. 



" And for your glasses with stems so fine. 

 Oh ! they shall have no praise of mine ; 

 For if you rudely touch the brim, 

 The glass will break and cause a swim, 

 But if the liquor had been in a leather bottel, 

 And the stopple in, why, all had been well. 

 And you might have toss'd it round about, 

 Tet not a drop of the liquor still lost out. 

 So let us hope, &c. 



" Then for your pottles with handles three, 

 I'm sure they'll get no praise from me. 



For when a man and his wife shall fall to strife. 



As they often may do in the course of a life, 



The one does lug, and the other does tug. 



And betwixt them both they break the jug; 



But if it had only been a leather bottel. 



They might have tugg'd away, yet all had been well. 



So let us hope, &c. 



" And when the bottle with time grows old. 

 And no more liquor then will hold. 

 Out of its side you may cut a clout, ' 



To mend your boots when they're worn out ; 

 And for the rest 'twill do to hang on a pin. 

 And serve right well to put trifles in ; 

 Such as old nails, hinges, candle-ends, and rings, 

 For your new beginners need all such things. 

 So let us hope," &c. 



Your jovial "leather bottel" is a piece of anti- 

 quity now not often met with. I possess one 

 which was purchased many years since, with a 

 lot of other " nick-nackets," at a sale in the old 

 hall of AUerton Mauleverer. John Dixon. 



Leeds. 



:^tn0r ^atti, 



Constantinople and the Crimea Among the 



many works on Constantinople and the Crimea 

 which our active bibliopolists have routed out 

 from their interminable stores, I do not remember 

 to have seen the two volumes about to be de- 

 scribed : 



(1.) "Guide du voyageur h, Constantinople et dans 

 ses environs, contenant : I'histoire de cette capitale, etc. 

 Par Fre'de'ric Lacroix. Paris, 1839." Sm. 8», pp. 212. 

 and plan. 



(2.) " Voyage en Crimee et sur les bords de la Mer 

 Noire, pendant I'annee 1803; suivi d'un memoire sur le 

 commerce de cette mer, etc. Dedie a sa majeste I'Em- 

 pereur et Roi, par J. Keuilly. Paris, 180G." 8», pp. 332. 

 and 2 maps, &c. 



The Guide of M. Lacroix is a methodical and 

 well-written volume. A preliminary essay, to 

 which I shall revert, is entitled Conseils aux 

 voyagcurs. The plan of Constantinople and its 

 environs, by J. Hellert, measures twenty-five 

 inches by twenty-one, and has about four hundred 

 and sixty marginal references. 



The Voyage en Crimee of M. le baron de 

 Reuilly was composed under very favourable cir- 

 cumstances. He had obtained access to the prin- 

 cipal functionaries of the peninsula, and his manu- 

 script was corrected by M. Pallas. He was also 

 assisted by MM. Lacepede, Langles, and Millln. 

 As M. Eyries says, " II a tres-habilement fondu 

 les divers materiaux qu'il a joints a ses propres 

 observations." The map of the Crimea, and the 

 plan of Sevastopol, Avere constructed from docu- 

 ments procured on the spot, and the volume has 

 some charming etchings by Duplessi-Bertaux. 



As a specimen of the descriptive powers of 



