Feb. 26. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



iU 



account of famous musicians. The latter part, 

 -which I extract from the MS. now before me, 

 relates to the composer of Ladtj NevilVs Music- 

 hook : 



«' An Englishe man, by name William Birde, for his 



skill, 

 "Which I shoulde have sett first, for so it was my 



will, 

 Whose greate skill and knowledge dothe excell all 



at this tyme. 

 And far to strange countries abroade his skill doth 



shyne. 

 Famous men be abroade, and skilful in the arte, 

 I do confesse the same, and will not from it starte. 

 But in Europp is none like to our English man. 

 Which doth so farre exceede, as trulie I it scan, 

 As ye cannot finde out his equale in all thinges, 

 Tlirewghe out tiie worlde so wide, and so his fame 



now ringes. 

 With fingers and with penne he bathe not now his 



peere ; 

 For in this worlde so wide is none can him come 



neere : 

 ■ The rarest man he is in Musick's wortliy arte 



That now on earthe doth live, I speak it from my 



harte, 

 Or heere to fore hath been, or after him shall come. 

 None such I feare shall rise that may be calde his 



Sonne. 

 O famous man ! of skill and judgemente great pro- 



founde, 

 Let heaven and earthe ringe out thy worthye praise 



to sounde ; 

 Nay, lett thy skill it selfe thy worthye fame recorde 

 To all posteritie thy due desert afforde ; 

 And let them all which heere of thy greate skill 



then saie. 

 Fare well, fare well, thou prince of musicke, now 



and aye ; 

 Fare well, I say, fare well, fare well, and here I 



ende. 

 Farewell, melodious feiVrfe,- farewell, sweet musick's 



frende. 

 All these things do I speak not for rewarde or bribe, 

 Nor yet to flatter him, or sett him upp in pride; 

 Not for affection, or ought might move there too. 

 But even the truth repoite, and that make known to 



you. 

 So heere I end ; fare well, committinge all to God, 

 Wlio kepe us in his grace, and shilde us from his 



rodd." 



As regards the ancient notation of Lady NeviWs 

 Music-book, I will now say a few words. 



In tlie most ancient music for keyed instruments, 

 such as the organ, virginals, harpsichord, spinet, 

 &c., a staff consisting of eleven lines was used, that 

 is, five lines for the treble, and five lines for the 

 bass, and a centre line, being tlie note C. Tliis 

 ■was improved upon by dividing the staff into two 

 sixes, and repeating the C line twice over, viz. in 

 the lower part of the treble staff, and in upper 

 part of the bass staff. As music progressed, and 



performers required more scope for the movement 

 of the hands, the staff of twelve lines was rent 

 asunder, and the middle C line excluded alto- 

 gether. It then became the custom to print the 

 five upper lines and the five lower lines much 

 more widely apart, as is now done in modern 

 music. But it ought not to be forgotten that 

 there is only one line really between them ; that 

 is to say, there are only three notes between the 

 two sets of five lines, viz. the note below the upper 

 five, the note above the lower five, and the note on 

 that middle line, and that note is middle C, or, 

 more properly, tenor C. A knowledge of this 

 important fact would much facilitate the student! 

 in learning to read in the tenor cleff. 



In decyphering the old virginal music, all we 

 have to do is to leave out the lower line of the 

 upper staff, and the higher one of the lower staff] 

 It then reads like our modern music. 



Edward F. Rimbault. 



SCARFS WORN BY CLERGYMBW. 



(Vol. vii., p. 143.) '; 



The statement made in the Quarterly lieview 

 for June, 1851, p. 222., referred to in " N. & Q.," is 

 very inadequate. The scarf now worn by many 

 clergymen represents two ornaments very differentj 

 though now generally confounded, viz. the broad 

 and the narrow scarf. I can well remember, in 

 my boyhood, hearing mention made of the distinc- 

 tion between the broad and narrow scarf, then 

 customarily observed by many ; and this at a time 

 when the res vestiaria, and matters connected with 

 the ritual, had not become objects of public at- 

 tention. The broad scarf was the distinction (of 

 what standing I cannot pretend to say) used by- 

 chaplains of the king, and of privileged persons, 

 by doctors in divinity, and by the capitular mem- 

 bers of collegiate churches. It was worn with the 

 surplice and gown ; and, by doctors in divinity 

 only, with the scarlet academical robe. The nar- 

 row scarf has been immemorially used by clergy- 

 men, whether priests or deacons, in many large 

 towns, and by the clergy in some cathedrals, and ' 

 not unfrequently by country clergymen. By 

 custom, those who serve, or have served, the office 

 of junior dean in Trinity College, Dublin, wear a 

 scarf. In fact, it represents the stole, or that 

 ornament (under whatever various names it was 

 known) which, all through Christendom, had been 

 a badge of the three orders of bishop, priest, and 

 deacon. In the Church of England, however, none 

 of those variations in its mode of arrangement, 

 which elsewhere discriminates these three orders, 

 have been retained. Is there any proof that it has 

 not been iised ever since the Reformation ? And 

 may- not its very frequent disuse within memory 



