3d 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 14i; 



the Senate at the University of Copenhagen, to be 

 made a student, notwithstanding his belonging to 

 the Church of England. He declared his inten- 

 tion to study especially history, antiquities, philo- 

 sophy, and mathematics. In 1748, he petitioned 

 the King of Denmark for permission to give public 

 lectures upon the English language; he had at 

 that time been ten years in Denmark, and had 

 indirectly been called to this country by King 

 Christian VI. He died the 8th of January, 1765. 

 In the years 1749 — 1753, he published some papers 

 on the subject of the English grammar. In the 

 last of these, Grundig Anviisning tit det engelshe 

 JSprogs Kiindskab, 1753 (True directions for a per- 

 fect knowledge of the Enu;lisii language), he gives 

 several favorable opinions of the professors Hol- 

 berg, MoUmann, Anchersen, &c., as well of this 

 •work as of his literary essays in general. 



" Of his Ensclixh Scriptores no manuscript exists 

 at the Royal Library of Copenhagen. Neither 

 are any testamentary dispositions as to his manu- 

 scripts known. But at the said Royal Lil>rary 

 is preserved an English MS. containing critical 

 notes and observations to the history of Canute 

 the Great, taken from Old Englisli and Icelandic 

 "writings. This fragment must have been copied 

 by some one who did not know English. The 

 Catalogue, however, supposes that it originally has 

 been written by Mr. Bertram. 



" The historian Suhm mentions Bertram's Ri- 

 cardus Corinensis among tlie works he has 

 made use of for his book upon the origin of the 

 Scandinavian peo[)le Om de Nordiske Folks Oprin- 

 delse, 1770; but perhaps it must be regarded as 

 more important that Lappeiiberg, in his Geschichte 

 JEnglanfs, pp. 16. 41. 57., quotes the books as 

 genuine." J. J. A. Wobsaae. 



Copenhagen. I 



B.0BKRT rORBES. 



(Vol. v., p. 510.) 



The Query of HrpADroASOULns reminds me of 

 ■one of my own, viz. : What had become of the 

 Sih. Scot. Poetica of Chalmers and Ritson ? When 

 Ritson's MS. fell into the hands of the former, 

 there were great hopes that a work worthy the 

 fame of both these eminent bibliojiraphers would 

 be the result : but whatever were the plans enter- 

 tained by either, they did not live to carry them 

 out. If it however be true, that these precious 

 MSS. have got into the good hands of a gentle- 

 man on the other side the Tweed, remarkable for 

 his enthusiasm for all that appertains to the Antient 

 Popvlar Poetry of his country, we may probubly 

 yet look for a standard work of reference upon all 

 subjects connected with the poetical or dramatic 

 literature of Scotland. 



With respect to Robert Forbes, it appears to 

 nut that your correspondent has asked for the 



wrong person at Peterculter's, the Tower Hill 

 shopkeeper, instead of the " Dominie." The 

 "Dominie Deposed" I have in a variety of forms, 

 but it is uniformly ascribed <m the title to " Willm. 

 Forbes, M.A., late schoolmaster at Peterculter;" 

 while " Ajax His Speech," also often printed, is as 

 distinctly assigned, on similar authoritv, to "R. F. 

 Gent. !" extended in the " Shop-bill," which forms 

 part of the book, to " Robert Forbes." 



Campbell, in his History of Scottish Poetry, a 

 work both of limited impression ami information, 

 speaks of Wm. Forbes as a man of ingenuity and 

 learning, whose story is told in his loose produc- 

 tion, namely, that a love for illicit amours, and 

 the " wee dra[) drink," had brought to the coadi* 

 tion significantly described in the "sequel:" 



" Which makes me now wear reddish wool 

 Instead oih'aek." 



Narrating as it does, not very decently, the 

 " intrigues," " drouthy habits," and their conse- 

 quence to the hero, the " Dominie Deposed" 

 had a good circulation as a kiud of Scot's Ckap 

 until a better species of literature for the million, 

 sprang up. 



Peter I3u(;han, the Aberdeenshire ballad collec- 

 tor, notices another poet of this name, the Rev. 

 Jno. Forbes, AM., of Pitnacalder, and minister of 

 Deer ; who is, curiously enough, tlie author of a 

 piece bearing some resemblance both in name ancl 

 style to that of tlie Petenrulter schoolmaster. The 

 "Dominie Deposed" shows how severely the 

 Kirk-session handled its author, but we do not 

 hear what ecclesiastical censure the minister of 

 Deer was subjected to for such improprieties as 

 the following extract from " Nae Dominies for me 

 Laddie " exhibits : 



" But for your sake [sings the Rev. John] I'll fleece 

 the flojk, — 

 Grow rich as I grow auld, lassie; 



If I be spared, I'll be a laird. 



And thou be Mada:n called, lassie." 



I ought, however, to note that these were the 

 sentiments of the minister before he took orders; 

 and, although one would think the Presbytery 

 should have paused before entrusting " the flock" 

 to a shepherd with such antecedents, the pastor of 

 Deer turned out a very worthy character. J. 0. 



THE " HEA.VT SHOVE." 



(Vol. v., pp.416. 594.) 



I possess the copy of the above work mentioned 

 at p. 416., purchased at Rodd's sale. The title is 

 as follows : 



" An Effectual Shove to the Heavy-arse Christian 

 . . . Prepare to meet thy God ... by Willian Bunyan, 

 Minister of the Gospel in South Wales. London: 

 printed for tiie Author, and sold by J. Eoson, St. 

 Martin's-le-Grand, IIBS" 



