210 



NOTES AND QUERIES. C2ni s. n« 115., mar. 13. '58. 



proof of the common adder being partial to the 

 lark, and to consider that bird as a honne houche, I 

 beg leave to state it : — On a large landed property 

 on Dee Side, in Aberdeenshire, called Blackhall, 

 my informant is assured that for many years no 

 lark of any sort has been either seen or heard to 

 sing, and what is strange, the lands referred to 

 were at one time completely infested with adders, 

 while on the opposite side of the Dee, where the 

 poisonous reptile did not abound, the lark was to 

 be seen, and the lark's son^ heard, leaving no 

 doubt of it being an indweller on the same. If 

 any of your correspondents can throw light upon 

 this subject, they will oblige many lovers of 

 niiLural history, and among others K. 



Arbroath. 



Folk L')re. — The following superstitions were 

 common in France : Languedoc has scarcely a 

 village without its fairies' home. The Drac al- 

 lures people to a desolate house with the bait of 

 a gold cup or ring. In Lower Languedoc the 

 peasants will not marry in May, a relic of the 

 Roman horror of that month and Its feast of the 

 Ghosts, Ovid. Fasti, 1. v. They likewise frequent 

 wells, and at Foix a celebration in the open air. 

 The singing of the ears is a presage of some one 

 mentioning the person who feels it, and is as old 

 as the time of Pliny {Hist. Nat., xxviii. 2.). The 

 twitch of the eyebrows an omen of good luck in 

 the right eye, in the left misfortune (Plautus, 

 Act I. Sc. 1.), is called le rat in Languedoc, la petite 

 .suuris in Paris. To sneeze in the right or left nos- 

 tril (as Plutarch says, in his life of Themistocles, 

 and Catullus in an epigram,) is a presage of good 

 or evil. The Roman salutation (Pliny, Hist. Nat., 

 xxviii. 2.) on such occasions is observed. And the 

 custom of breaking eggshells to avoid fascination 

 is also preserved in the way in which Pliny men- 

 tions it years ago. The Belgic superstition, of 

 making dough-figures of men on New Year's Day, 

 lingers in the form of the child's Christmas cake. 

 The cosnnion oath is, "per aquest fuec, per aquest 

 lum." Mackenzie Walcott, M.A. 



Superstition relating to the Sparrow. — A Kentish 

 boy, speaking of his exploits in bird-catching, said 

 that he had caught a sparrow, but did not keep it, 

 as if he had his father and mother would die. 

 Those learned in folk lore can perhaps say if this 

 is a popular superstition elsewhere than in Kent, 

 and if its origin can be traced ? H. G. Adams. 



Kochcster. 



MATTHEW BUCHINGER, THE NUKEMBORG DWAKF. 



In the Harleian MS. (7026.) are preserved 

 several specimens of the writing of this extraor- 

 dinary individual, who was born " without hands, 

 feet, or thighs." One of these papers is a hand- 



bill, written by him at London, and stating what 

 he undertakes to perform, 1617-8; a facsimile of 

 which is given by C. J. Smith, in his Historical 

 and Literary Curiosities, 1852, No. 56. There is 

 also the following curious letter from him, ad- 

 dressed to Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, which 

 is worthy to be " in print" : — 



" My Lord, 

 " I hope Your Goodness will excus my not writing 

 Sooner to Your Lordship ; I was Prevented by an Ague 

 and Feavour, which have hinderd me from doing any 

 thinge for a long time, I have finish'd a Curious Fan, of 

 my own Drawing, which I had not on Opportunity till 

 lately, I have send it, to Your LordP with my wife, and 

 there not being Such an other Piece of my work and I 

 Dispair of ever Performing the Like again, I was FeifF- 

 teen Months a Drawing of it, and if Your Lordi' have a 

 fance for it, as for the Price I leave it to Your Lordi', if 

 Your LordP shall Please to favour me with a Line, 1 shal 

 take it as the greatest Honour, that can be Confer'd on 

 " My Lord 



" Your Lordships Obedient 

 "& Most Humble Servant 



^0*4 c^ ..^xsAi^iOvm^ 



" Chelmsford, 

 " April the 14, 1733. 



" P.S. My Lord, I make bold 

 to let Your LordP know, that 

 we shall go from hence to Colchester. 



" To the Eight Honourable 

 The Eaerl of Oxford, 

 London." 

 Besides these examples of Buchinger's abilities 

 in penmanship, there is extant also a scarce print 

 (copied from a marvellous specimen of his calli- 

 graphy), in which is introduced a portrait of him- 

 self within an ornamental frame, and in his wig 

 are written, in very minute characters, the Psalms 

 cxxi., cxxvii., cxxviii., cxxx., cxlvi., cxlix., and 

 cl., and the Lord's Prayer ! Below the portrait 

 are the following lines : — 



" London, April the 29«', 1724. This is the Effigies of 

 M"^ Matthew Buchinger, being Drawn and Written by 

 Himself. He is the wonderful Little Man of but 29 Inches 

 high, born without Hands, Feet, or Thighs, June the 2. 

 1674, in Germany, in the Marquisate of Brandenburgh, 

 near to Nurenburgh. He being the last of nine Children, 

 by one Father and Mother, vizt. Eight Sons, and one 

 Daughter. The same little Man has been married four 

 times, and has had Issue eleven Children, vizt. one bj* his 

 first Wife, three by his second, six by his third, and one 

 by his present Wife. This little Man performs such 

 Wonders as have never been done by any but Himself. 

 He plays on various Sorts of Music to Admiration, as the 

 Hautboj', Strange Flute in Consort with the Bagpipe, 

 Dulcimer and Trumpet ; and designs to make Machines 

 to play on almost all Sorts of Music. He is no less emi- 

 nent for Writing, Drawing of Coats of Arms, and Pictures 

 to the Life, with a Pen. He also plays at Cards and 

 Dice, performs Tricks with Cups and Balls, Corn and 

 live Birds, and plays at Skittles or Nine-Pins to a great 

 Nicety, with several other Performances, to the general 

 Satisfaction of all Spectator?." 



