Feb. 12. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



157 



Grueber, testifies, in his Commercium Epistolare 

 Leibnitianiumy Pars 1""% p. 119., Hanoviae, 1745, in 

 8vo., that the missing part was then in that library : 

 " Tertius tomus excusus non est, quippe imperfectus; 

 Mainiscriptum tamen quoad absolutus est, inter alia 

 septentrioiiis cimelia nuper repertum, Bibliothecae 

 Regis; vindicavimus." 



But this manuscript is no longer to be found there. 

 Is it possible it may have been removed to Eng- 

 land", and still to be found in one of the public 

 collections? An answer to any of the above 

 questions would deeply oblige 



G. E. Klemming, 

 Librarian in the Royal Library at Stockholm. 



" Officium Birgittinum Anglice." — 



" Integrum Beatas Virginis Officium quod a S. Bir- 

 gitta concinnatum, monialibus sui ordinis in usu pub- 

 lico fecit, Anglice ab anonymo quodim conversum, 

 Liondini prodiit ante annum 1 500 in folio, ex Caxtoni, 

 uti videtur, pra;lo editum." 



is the notice of the above translation occurring in 

 an old Swedish author. Information is requested 

 as to whether any more detailed account can be 

 obtained of the book referred to.* For any such 

 the Querist will be especially thankful : if it should 

 be possible to procure a copy of the same, his 

 boldest hopes would be exceeded. If no English 

 translation of S. Birgitta's revelations, or of the 

 prayers and prophecies extracted therefrom — the 

 latter known under the name of Onus Mundi, 

 should exist, either in print or in old manuscript, 

 this, in consideration of the very general circu- 

 lation which these writings obtained in the Middle 

 Ages, would be a very peculiar exception. The 

 book named at the head of this Query would 

 appear to be a translation of the Breviarium S. 

 Birgittce. G. E. Klemming, 



Librarian in the Royal Library at Stockholm. 



CampheWs Hymn on the Nativity. — The hymn, 

 of which the following are the first two verses, is 

 said to have been written by Campbell. Can any 

 correspondent of " N. & Q." say which Campbell 

 is the author, and when and where the hymn was 

 first printed ? 



" When Jordan hush'd his waters still. 

 And silence slept on Zion's hill, 

 Wiien Bethlehem's shepherds thro' the night 

 Watch'd o'er their flocks by starry light, 

 " Hark ! from the midnight hills around, 

 A voice of more than mortal sound 

 In distant hallelujahs stole, 

 Wild murmuring o'er the raptur'd soul." 



H. S. S. 



["■ See Wharton, in his Supplement to Usher, De 

 Scripturis et Sacris Vernaculis, p. 447., edit. 1690. — 

 Ed.] 



:^tit0r (zauorte^ Jut'tib %i\Siatti. 



When Our Lord falls in Our Ladys Lap. — See- 

 ing that Good Friday in this year falls on Lady 

 Day, may I beg to ask if any of your contributors 

 could inform me where the following old saying is 

 to be met with, viz. : 



" When Good Friday falls in a Lady's lap. 

 To England will happen some mishap," 



or to whom the prophecy (I hope a false one) may 

 be attributed? I have seen it some years since, 

 and have lately been asked the origin of the saying. 



J. N. C. 

 Hull. 



[Our correspondent has not quoted this old proverb 

 correctly. It is thus given by Fuller ( Worthies of 

 England, vol. i. p. 115. ed. 1840): 



" When Our Lady falls in Our Lord's lap 



Then let England beware a sad 

 alias 



clap 

 mishap, 



Tlien let the clergyman look to his cap," 



But Fuller shows that It refers to Easter Day, not 

 Good Friday, falling on the 25th March, when he re- 

 marks : — " I behold this proverbial prophecy, or this 

 prophetical menace, to be not above six score years old, 

 and of Popish extraction since the Reformation. It 

 whispereth more than it dares speak out, and points at 

 more than it dares whisper ; and fain would intimate 

 to credulous persons as if the Blessed Virgin, offended 

 with the English for abolishing her adoration, watcheth 

 an opportunity of revenge on this nation. And when 

 her day (being the five-and-twentieth of March; and 

 first of the Gregorian year) chanceth to fall on the day 

 of Christ's resurrection, then being, as it were, fortified 

 by her Son's assistance, some signal judgment is in- 

 tended to our state, and churchmen especially." 



He then gives a list of the years on which the coin- 

 cidences had happened since the Conquest, to which, if 

 our correspondent is curious on the subject, we must 

 refer him. Can he, or any other of our readers, furnish 

 any proof of the existence of this proverb before the 

 Reformation, or the existence of a similar proverb on 

 the Continent ?] 



Hohnail- counting in the Court of Exchequer.— 

 I shall feel obliged by your informing me from . 

 what circumstance originates the yearly custom of 

 the lord mayor of London counting six horic-shoes 

 and sixty-one hobnails at the swearing in of the 

 sheriff? A Cohstant Reai>£B. 



Chertsey. 



[The best explanation of this custom will be found 

 in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1 804, where we read : 

 " The ceremony on this occasion in the Court of Ex- 

 chequer, which vulgar error supposed to be an unmean- 

 ing farce, is solemn and impressive, nor have the new 

 sheriffs the least connexion either with chopping of 

 sticks, or counting of hobnails. The tenants of a manor 

 in Shropshire are directed to come forth and do their 

 suit and service ; on which the senior alderman below 



