58 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 168. 



Has pride a portion in tbe parted soul ? 

 Does passion still the formless mind control ? 

 Can gratitude outpant the silent breath, 

 Or a friend's sorrow pierce the jrlooms of death? 

 No, 'tis a spirit's nobler taste of bliss, 

 That feels the worth it left, in proofs like this ; 

 That not its own applause but thine approves. 

 Whose practice praises, and whose virtue loves ; 

 Who liv'st to crown departed friends with fame; 

 Then dying, late, shalt all thou gav'st reclaim. 



Mr. Pope." 

 A. F. W. 



SOtlTHET S " DOCTOR ; ST. MATTHIAS DAT IN LEAP- 

 TEAR. 



In looking over the 1848 edition of Southey's 

 book. The Doctor, I observe an en-or which has 

 escaped the care and revision of the editor, the 

 Kev. J. W. Warter, B.D. At p. 199., where 

 Southey is referring to the advantages of alma- 

 nacs, he writes : 



" Who is there that has not sometimes had occasion 

 to consult the almanac? Maximilian I., by neglect- 

 ing to do this, failed in an enterprise against Bruges. 

 It had been concerted with his adherents in that tur- 

 bulent city, that he should appear before it at a certain 

 time, and they would be ready to rise in his behalf, 

 and open the gates for him. He forgot that it was 

 leap-year, and came a day too soon ; and this error on 

 his part cost many of the most zealous of his friends 

 their lives. It is remarkable that neither the historian 

 who relates this, nor the writers who have followed 

 him, should have looked into the almanac to guard 

 against any inaccuracy in the relation ; for they have 

 fixed the appointed day on the eve of St. Matthias, which 

 being the ^23rd of February, could not be put out of its 

 course by leap-year." 



The words in Italics show Southey's mistake. 

 This historian was quite correct : as, according to 

 the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, al- 

 though the regular festival of St. Matthias is 

 celebrated upon the 24th of February, yet, " in 

 anno bissextili Februarius est dierum 29, et Fes- 

 tum S. Mathias celebratur 25 Februarii." Thus 

 it will be seen, that the year when Maximilian 

 was to have appeared before Bruges being leap- 

 year, and the day appointed being the eve of St. 

 Matthias, he should have come upon the 24th, not 

 the 23rd of February : the leap-year making all 

 the difference. P. J. Yarrum. 



Dublin. 



OXFORDSHIRE LEGEND IN STONE. 



A few miles from Chipping-Norton, by the side 

 of a road which divides Oxfordshire from War- 

 wickshire, and on the brow of a hill overlooking 

 Long Compton, stand the remains of a Druidical 

 temple. Leland speaks of them as " Rollright 



stones," from their being in the parish of Roll- 

 right. The temple consists of a single circle of 

 stones, from fifty to sixty in number, of various 

 sizes and in difl'erent positions, but all of them 

 rough, time-worn, and mutilated. The peasantry 

 say that it is impossible to count these stones, and 

 certainly it is a difficult task, though not because 

 there is any witchcraft in the matter, but owing 

 to the peculiar position of some of them. You 

 will hear of a certain baker who resolved not to 

 be outwitted, so hied to the spot with a basketful 

 of small loaves, one of which he placed on every 

 stone. In vain he tried ; either his loaves were 

 not sufficiently numerous, or some sorcery dis- 

 placed them, and he gave up in despair. Of 

 course no one expects to succeed now. 



In a field adjoining are the remains of a crom- 

 lech, the altar where, at a distance from the 

 people, the priests performed their mystic rites. 

 The superimposed stone has slipped off, and rests 

 against the others. These are the " AVhispering 

 Knights," and this their history : — In days of yore, 

 when rival princes debated their claims to Eng- 

 land's crown by dint of arms, the hostile forces 

 were encamped hard by. Certain traitor-knights 

 went forth to parley with others from the foe. 

 While thus plotting, a great magician, whose 

 power they unaccountably overlooked, trans- 

 formed them all into stone, and there they stand 

 to this day. 



Not far from the temple, but on the opposite 

 side of the road, is a solitary stone, probably the 

 last of two rows which flanked the approach to 

 the sacred circle. This stone was once a prince 

 who claimed the British throne. On this spot he 

 inquired of the magician above named what would 

 be his destiny : 



" If Long Compton you can see, 

 King of England you shall be," 



answered the wise man. But he could not see it, 

 and at once shared the fate of the " Whispering 

 Knights." This is called the " King's stone," and 

 so stands that, while you cannot see Long Comp- 

 ton from it, you can if you go forward a very 

 little way. On some future day an armed war- 

 rior will issue from this very stone, to conquer 

 and govern our land ! 



It is said that a farmer, who wished to bridge 

 over a small stream at the foot of the hill, resolved 

 to press the " Whispering Knights " into the ser- 

 vice ; but it was almost too much for all the 

 horse power at his command to bring them down. 

 At length they were placed, but all they could do 

 was not sufficient to keep them In their place. It 

 was therefore resolved to restore them to their 

 original post, when, lo! they who required so 

 much to bring them down, and defied all attempts 

 to keep them quiet, were taken back almost with- 

 out an effort by a single horse ! So there they stand, 



