April 9. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



353 



lasers, as is some men's guise." — The Third Booke of 

 Nobilitye; writte in Latine by Laurence Humfrey, late 

 Englished, 1563. 



" Among serving men also, above all other, what 

 wicked and detestable oaths are there heard 1 If there 

 ■be any of that sort which fear God, and love his word, 

 and therefore abstain from vain oaths, how doth his 

 company hut him ! Look what an ass is among a sort 

 of apes, even the very same is he among his fellows." — 

 The Invective against Swearing, p. 361.; "Works of 

 Thomas Becon (Parker Society). 



Samson was accounted of the Philistines for a fool, 

 but he would rather die than suffer that opprobry 

 unrevenged (Judic. xvi.). 



■" David was lowted of Michol Saul's daughter, but 

 she was made therefore barren all her life." — 2 Reg. vi. 



And same page, a little above : 



■" He that calleth his brother fool, that is to say, con- 

 temn him, mock him, or, as men call it now-a-days, 

 lowting of a man, eommitteth such murder as is worthy 

 hell-fire and eternal damnation." — A Declaration of the 

 Ten Commandments, ch. ix. p. 373. ; Early Writings of 

 23ishop Hooper (Parker Society). 



" Renowned Talbot doth expect my ayde, 

 And I am lowted by a traitor villaine 

 And cannot help the noble Cheualier." 

 The First Part of Henry VI., Actus Quartus, 

 Scena Prima (First Folio Shakspeare). 



"Where I would note, by the way, that in three 

 copies of the folio 1632, now by me, it is printed 

 *'■ at traitor," although two of these folios have 

 different title-pages ; that which appears to be the 

 later impression bears under the portrait these 

 words : " London, printed by Thos. Cotes, for 

 Kobert Allot, and are to be sold at his shop at the 

 signe of the Blacke Beare, in Paul's Church-yard, 

 1632." The other wants the words " at his shop," 

 as described in Mr. Collier's edition. 



The mention of Mr. Collier's name is a hint 

 that reminds me to advertise him of a mistake he 

 lies under, in supposing that the Duke of Devon- 

 hire's copy of the play of King Richard II. in 4to,, 

 •dated 1605, is unique (yid. Collier's Shakspeare, 

 "vol. iv. p. 105., Introduction) ; as there is another 

 in the Philosophical Institute at Hereford, pre- 

 sented by the late Edward Evans, Esq., of Eyton 

 Hall, in the same county. 



But to return. Mr. Hallivvell, in his work 

 istbove quoted, furnishes another instance of the 

 verb loivl, from Hall's History of King Henry IV., 

 -which the reader may consult for himself. I will 

 merely add, that the interpretation there pro- 

 pounded is plausible but unsound, the context 

 <only giving aim to his conjecture. 



( To be continued. ) 



rOLK I.OBE. 



Drills presaging Death. — In ITorfolk, agricul- 

 tural labourers generally believe that if a drill go 

 from one end of a field to the other without de- 

 positing any seed — an accident which may result 

 from the tubes and coulters clogging with earth — 

 some person connected with the farm will die before 

 the year expires, or before the crop then sown is 

 reaped. It is a useful superstition, as it causes 

 much attention to be paid to make the drill per- 

 form its work correctly. Still it is remarkable 

 that such a superstition should have arisen, con- 

 sidering the recent introduction of that machine 

 into general use. I should be glad to learn from 

 other readers of " N. & Q." whether this belief 

 prevails in other parts of England where the drill 

 is generally used. E. G. R.; 



Beltane in Devonshire. — Seeing that the ancient 

 superstition of the Beltane fire is still preserved in 

 Scotland, and is lighted on the 1st of May, the 

 origin of which 'o supposed to be an annual sacri- 

 fice to Baal, I am induced to state that a custom, 

 evidently derived from the same source, is, or was 

 a few years since, annually observed in the wild 

 parts of Devonshire. At the village of Holne, 

 situated on one of the Spurs of Dartmoor, is a 

 field of about two acres, the property of the 

 parish, and called the Ploy {Play) Field. In the 

 centre of this stands a granite pillar (Menhir) 

 six or seven feet high. On May morning, before 

 daybreak, the young men of the village assemble 

 there, and then proceed to the Moor, where they 

 select a ram lamb (doubtless with the consent of 

 the owner), and after running it down, bring it in 

 triumph to the Ploy Field, fasten it to the pillar, 

 cut its throat, and then roast it whole, skin, wool, 

 &c. At midday a struggle takes place, at the risk 

 of cut hands, for a slice, it being supposed to con- 

 fer luck for the ensuing year on the fortunate de- 

 vourer. As an act of gallantry, in high esteem 

 among the females, the young men sometimes fight 

 their way through the crowd to get a slice lor 

 their chosen amongst the young women, all of 

 whom, in their best dresses, attend the Ram Feast, 

 as it is called. Dancing, wrestling, and other 

 games, assisted by copious libations of cider du- 

 ring the afternoon, prolong the festivity till night- 

 fall. 



The time, the place (looking east), the mystic 



pillar, and the ram, surely bear some evidence in 



favour of the Earn Feast being a sacrifice to Baal. 



An old Holne Curate. 



Touching for King's Evil. — The following pas- 

 sage bearing upon the custom of touching for the 

 King's Evil, and its antiquity, is extracted from 

 Laing's translation of Snorro Sturleson's Heims- 

 hringla. King Olaf the Rich, afterwards Saint, 

 had fled to Russia on being driven out of his king- 



