240 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 202. 



least, there is the nectar of St. Giles, the venerable 

 Old Tom. In proof of his stupidity we can adduce 

 a goodly show of epithets — 7^o»i-fool, S'bm-neddy, 

 To/«-noddy, 7'om-cull, J'o??/-coney, 2''(>?n-farthing, 

 &c. We know, Indeed, there are people wlio hold 

 that even in these instances Tom is merely the 

 masculine prefix to distinguish the Ae-fool (/. e. 

 the Tom-fool) from the Molly or .vAe-fool of the 

 ancient mumming. But tlie race of Toms must 

 not lay this flattering unction to their souls, for 

 the hypothesis won't stand. The very monosyllable 

 itself, like " Sammy," has a strong twang of the 

 bauble in it. An open truth-loving fellow is a 

 Tom Tell-truth : but, on the other hand, all tin- 

 kers — a sadly libelled race of men — are invariably 

 Tom-tinkers, as all tars have been JacZi-tars from 

 time immemorial. In some of the old-fashioned 

 country games at cards the knave is called Tom ; 

 and the wandering mendicants who used to levy 

 black-mail, under the plea of insanity, were Mad 

 Toms, or " 7'o;ras-o'-Bedlam." " Ton^ all alone " 

 is a northern sobriquet for the Wandering Jew, 

 who, the last time we heard of him, was caught 

 stealing gingerbread nuts at Richmond Fair. In 

 the legendai-y division there is the notorious Tom- 

 Styles — the depredatory Tom the piper's son 

 (legitimate issue of Tom Piper, the musician of 

 the old Morris Dance) — the fortunate 2'om Tidier 

 of the oriirinal dijcglniT-s, and that heroic little liege 

 of Queen Mab, the knight of the thumb. Tom- 

 Tumbler was a saltatory fiend in the days of Regi- 

 nald Scott ; and Tom Poker still devours little 

 folks in Suffolk, without doubt (thinks Forby) a 

 descendant of the Sui.-G. tompte poeche, or house- 

 goblin. As for the ignominious Tom Tiler (North 

 Country for hen-pecked husband) we cannot 

 allow him to belong to the family ; for who can 

 imagine a hen-pecked Tom ! he must have been 

 a wretched individuality, a suffering, corporeal 

 Tiler. 



Tom also bestows his name on divers other 

 things, animate and inanimate. Among fishes 

 there are Tomm2/-Loacli, To?ramy-Bar, and 7'om- 

 Toddy (the Cornish name of the tod-pole). The 

 Long- Tom and the Tom-tit are both ornithological 

 Toms. Tom Tailor is a child's niime for the 

 Hai"ry-long-legs — another singular Instance, by 

 tlie way, of Christian names applied .to animals. 

 Tom-trot reminds one of pre-pantaloon orgies, 

 and is (I think) something In the brandy-ball line. 

 Finally, we may remark, that a large proportion 

 of her Majesty's subjects are In the habit of con- 

 ferring the endearing name upon the staff of life 

 itself. " Navvies," agricultural labourers, and 

 such like gentry, are accustomed to divide all 

 human food into two classes, which they euphoni- 

 cally denominate respectively Todge and Tommy; 

 the former comprising spoon-meat, and the latter 

 all hard food which requires mastication. But 

 thia, we think, Is not a case of Tom per se, but 



rather referable to the Camb.-Brlt. iama, which 

 has exactly the same acceptation. 



V. T. Sternberg. 



SHAKSPEARE CORRESPONDENCE, 



Shakspearian Parallels. — Searching for Shak- 

 spearlan parallels, I find the following, which may 

 have suggested to our bard his Seven Ages. The 

 first is by Solon, extracted from Clemens Alexan- 

 drinus {Stromat. vl. p. 685., Paris, 1629), which 

 differs from Philo Judasus (i. p. 25.), the only two 

 authorities to whom we owe the preservation of 

 this ode, as also from the text of the critic Brunck 

 and the grammarian Dalzell. An Imitation of the 

 Greek metres is attempted in the paraphrased 

 translation attached. The second Is a sonnet from 

 Tusser, who extends the period of life beyond 

 seventy, the age of Solon and David in hotter 

 climes, to eighty-four for hyperboreans, but as- 

 signs, with David, the imbecility belonging to 

 such advanced years. 



7. Xlcus ix\v SfrjSos ewv en vf}TrLos 'ipicos o^ovTCop 



4>u(Tas, inSdWei irpcoroy ev sW ^TecLv. 

 14. Toils 8' erepovs ore StJ reAfVct Qe'js eVr' ivMurovs, 



"Hgijs eK(paivei ffirepnara 'yeivo/x4vr]S. 

 21. T_^ rpiTdrri Se yevstov ae^oj-t-evxy eTri yvitcu 



Aaxyourai, XP'^^V^ &i>Oos a/istgOjUcVrjs. 

 28. Tp SI rerdpTri iras tjs ev e§SofJ.dBi fxe"/ &piaTOS 



'l(TX"V, t^vt' &y5pes aiiixar'' eX"'-'0'' a.perrjs. 

 35. ne^TTTTj 5' biptov avSpa ydpiov f.i.iju.vrij.isvov ehai. 



Kal naiScoy Qr]Te7u els oivicrd} yeve'fiv, 

 42. Tj; 5' 6«T77 irepiirdvra KaTapTverai y6os avdphs, 



OvS' ecTi.0(7v e6' Sfiais epya [xaTaia Se'Aei. 

 49. 'EiTTo Se povv koI* yXcicrcra.i' ev e§Sofxd(n /xe'-/ ifpt- 



(TTOS' 

 56. O/CTCi) S' afi^orepciiy reffjapa Koi Se«' errj, 

 63. TjJ S' eyaTrj en fxey Suvarai, jxeTpiccTepa 5' alrov, 



Uphs fieydXTjV aper^jy aSijxd Te /cot Swa.ais. 

 70. T^ Se/caTTj S' 'dre 5^ reXecrr) Qehs eVr' iviauTOvs, 



OuK ay &ojpos edjy fxolpay exoi IdraydTOV. 



7. Youth immature, not a tooth in bis jaws, while an 

 infant he slumbers ; 

 Growing, shows teeth i' th' first seven years of 

 his life. 

 14. God, in the next seven years, to him grants ev'ry 

 pow'r of production ; 

 Thus soon commands man, sacred, to look on 

 the sex. 

 21. Thirdly, his beard, while it roughens his chin; 

 and his limbs, freely playing. 

 Grow lust'rously bright, changing their flowery 

 hue. 

 28. Fourth, in this sev'n-fold order, the 7nan very 

 speedily shoots forth, 

 Mighty in muscular limbs, proud of his vigour 

 and strength. 



* Read tj for koI. 



