614 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 217. 



by sonday, father a femes, scelerest un judicarum, finis 

 a mortibus. Creezum spirituum sanctum, ecli Catholi, 

 rernissurum, peccaturum, communiorum obliviorum, 

 bitain et turnam again." 



THE LITTLE CREED. 



" Little Creed, can I need, 

 Kneele before our Ladies knee ; 

 Candle light, candles burne. 

 Our Ladie pray'd to her deare Sonne, 

 Tliat we mijfht all to heaven come. 

 Little Creed, Amen." 



" This that foUoweth they call the ' White Pater- 

 noster : ' 



" White Pater-nostcr, Saint Peter's brother. 

 What hast i' th t'ono hand ? white booke leaves. 

 What hast i' th' t'other hand ? heaven yate keyes. 

 Open heaven yates, and steike [shut] hell yates : 

 And let every erysome child creepeto itsowne mother. 

 White Pater-noster, Amen." 



" Another Prayer ; 



" I blesse me with God and the rood. 

 With his sweet flesli and precious blood ; 

 With his crosse and his creed, 

 With liis length and his breed. 

 From my toe to my crowne. 

 And all my body up and downe. 

 From my back to my brest, 

 My five wits be my rest; 

 God let never ill come at ill, 

 But through Jesus owne will. 

 Sweet Jesus, Lord. Amen." 



" Many also use towearc vervein against blasts ; and 

 when they gather it for this purpose, firste they crosse 

 the herbe with their hand, and then they blesse it thus : 

 " Hallowed be thou, Vervein, 



As thou growest on the ground. 



For in the Mount of Calvary, 



There thou wast first found. 



Thou healedst our Saviour Jesus Christ, 



And staunchedst his bleeding wound ; 



In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 

 Gliost, 



I take thee from the ground." 



These passages may be seen in the " Preface to 

 the Reader," § 1.3., no page, but on the reverse of 

 Sig. A 4. 



It might at first appear somewhat strange that 

 these interesting remnants of early belief should 

 have escaped the notice of your numerous corre- 

 spondents, wliose attention has for so long a period 

 been directed to this inquiry : but this may be 

 accounted for if we remember that the volume in 

 which they occur is one which would seem, prima 

 facie, least likcdy to afford any such materials. It 

 is one of those uninviting bulky folios of which 

 the reigns of James and Charles I. furnish us 

 with so many specimens. Here we might fairly 

 expect to discover abundant illustrations of pa- 

 tristic and scholastic theology, of learning and 

 pedantry, of earnest devotion, and ill-temper no 



less earnest; but nothing whereby to illustrate 

 the manners or customs, the traditions, or the 

 popular usages or superstitions, of the common 

 people. This may be a hint for us, however, to 

 direct our attention to a class of literature which 

 hitherto has scarcely received the attention to 

 which it would appear to be entitled ; and I would 

 venture to express my conviction, that if those 

 who are interested in the illustration of our popu- 

 lar antiquities were to give a little of their time to 

 early English theology, the result would be more 

 important than might at first be anticipated. 



L.B. 



THE BALLAD OF SIR HUGH, ETC. 



The fact mentioned by your correspondent C. 

 Clifton Barry, at p. 357., as to the affinity of 

 Midland songs and ballads to those of Scotland, I 

 have often observed, and among the striking in- 

 stances of it which could be adduced, the follow- 

 ing may be named, as well known in Northamp- 

 tonshire : 



" It rains, it rains, in merry Scotland ; 

 It rains both great and small ; 

 And all the schoolfellows in merry Scotland 

 Must needs go and play at ball. 



" They tossed the hall so high, so high. 

 And yet it came down so low; 

 They tossed it over the old Jew's gates, 

 And broke the old Jew's window. 



" The old Jew's daughter she came out ; 

 Was clothed all in green; 



' Come hither, come hither, thou young Sir Hugh, 

 And fetcli your ball again.' 



•' ' I dare not come, I dare not come. 

 Unless my schoolfellows come all; 

 And I shall be flogged when I get home, 

 For losing of ray ball.' 



" She 'ticed hirri with an apple so red. 

 And likewise with a fig : 

 She laid him on the dresser board, 

 And sticked him like a pig. 



" The thickest of blood did first come out, 

 The second came out so thin ; 

 The third that came was his dear heart's blood. 

 Where all his life lay in." 



I write this from memory : it is but a fragment 

 of the whole, which I think is printed, with vari- 

 ations, in Percy's JReliques. It is also worthy of 

 remark, that there is a resemblance also between 

 the words which occur as provincialisms in the 

 same district, and some of those which are used in 

 Scotland ; e. g. whemhle or whommel (sometimes 

 not aspirated, and pronounced wemhle), to turn 

 upside down, as a dish. This word is Scotch, al- 

 though they do not pronounce the b any more 

 than in Cafnpbell, which sounds very much like 

 Camel. B. H. C. 



