April 7. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



273 



family he entered the French navy, and died in 

 1702, without leaving issue. His celebrated 

 brother became a marshal of France, and, when at 

 the head of the French army on the Rhine, was 

 killed by a cannon-ball in the trenches before 

 Philipsburg in 1734. The Duke of St. Simon 

 tells us, that when James Fitzjames was created a 

 Duke of France, he excluded his eldest and only 

 son of the first marriage from the patent, on the 

 ground that he would ultimately have the En- 

 glish dukedom; the eldest son of the second 

 marriage would then have the French title, and 

 the second son of that marriage the Spanish 

 dignity. He owed his foreign titles to his distin- 

 guished services as a soldier, and while all cotem- 

 porary writers concur in placing the elder brother 

 amongst the most renowned captains of the age, 

 the Duke of St. Simon thus speaks most con- 

 temptuously of Henry Fitzjames : 



" II ^toit chef d'escadre et n'avoit rien vaillant, C¥toit 

 bien I'homme le plus stupide qui se peut trouver." — 

 Tom. ii. p. 462. 



W.B. 



''Charles Auchester" (Vol. xi., p. 167.). — I 

 read an able critique on this novel in The Times 

 for October, 1853. I believe it to have been be- 

 tween the 3rd and 10th of the month. J. Y. (1) 



" I dreamt that, buried" 8fc. (Vol. xi,, p. 187.). — 

 I. R. R. does not seem aware that the lines, about 

 which he inquires, are only a translation. The 

 original piece was written by Patrix, a French 

 poet, who died in 1671, only a few days before his 

 own death. The Literary Gazette of March 16, 

 1833, contained a good translation. I subjoin the 

 original with a translation of my own, made several 

 years ago. It is difficult however, if not impos- 

 sible, to imitate successfully the wit and spirit of 

 the original : 



" Je songeois, cette nuit, que de mal consume, 

 Cote k cote d'un pauvre on m'avoit inhum^ ; 

 Mais que n'en pouvant pas souffrir le voisinage. 

 En mort de quality je lui tins ce langage: 



* Retire-toi, coquin, va pourrir loin d'ici, 



II ne t'appartient pas de m'approcher ainsi.' 



* Coquin ! ' ce me dit-il d'une arrogance extreme, 



' Va chercher tes coquins ailleurs, coquin toi-meme ; 



Ici tous sont ^gaux, je ne te dois plus rien, 



Je suis sur mon fumier, comme toi sur le tien.' " 



" I dreamt last night that by sickness consumed, 

 By the side of a pauper I lay inhumed ; 

 But that, scorning to lie by a beggarman's side, 

 I order'd him off with a nobleman's pride. 

 ' Begone,' I exclaim'd, ' go and rot thee elsewhere, 

 Vile rascal ! how durst thou approach me near ? ' 

 ' Rascal ! ' said he, ' who- art thou, I pray ? 

 Go look for thy rascals some other way ; 

 All here are equal, I've nothing of thine, 

 That is thy dunghill, and this is mine.' " 



F. C. H. 



I have a note that the lines in question are 

 from Reflections on Death, by Dr. Dodd. Per- 



haps I. R. R. (or some other correspondent of 

 " N. & Q.") can tell what Latin poet is alluded to 

 In the line Immediately preceding his extract : 

 " Well might the^Latin poet say — 



" I dreamt that, buried," &c. 



G. A. T. 



Withyham. 



The lines beginning — 



" I dreamt that, buried," &c. 



are but a translation of the French verses by 

 Patrix, which commence — 



" Je songeois, cette nuit, que de mal consume," &c. 



Denis Donovan. 



I cannot give the name of author, but I can 

 supply the original words in French. I met with 

 them thirty-five years ago whilst staying In France, 

 and reading their classic authors. Voltaire praises 

 highly the old epigram ; here it Is : 



" Je revais, cette nuit, que de mal consume, 

 Cote h. cote d'un pauvre on m'avoit inhume; 

 Et que n'en pouvant plus souffrir le voisinage, 

 En mort de qualite, je lui tins ce langage : 



• Retire-toi, coquin, va pourrir loin d'ici, 



II ne t'appartient pas de m'approcher ainsi.' 



* Coquin ! ' repondit-il d'une arrogance extreme, 



♦ Va chercher tes coquins ailleurs, coquin toi-meme ; 

 Ici tous sont egaux, je ne te dois plus rien, 



Je suis sur mon fumier, comme toi sur le tien.' " 



I should have sent this sooner, could I have put 

 my hand on the paper ; and I did not like to trust 

 to memory for the exact words. The English 

 translation loses some of the salt of the epigram. 



A. B. C. 



Hogmanay (Vol. ix., p. 495. ; Vol. x., p. 54.). — 

 Much has been written on the derivation and 

 meaning of this word, without, however, throwing 

 much light on the subject (see Brand's Popular 

 Antiquities, Bohn's edit., vol. I. p. 457.). In this 

 Island (Guernsey) troops of children used formerly 

 to assemble on the nights between Christmas and 

 New Year's Day, and to go about from house to 

 house with torches made of wisps of straw, beg- 

 ging for money, and singing the following rhyme : 



" Oguinani, Oguinano, 

 Ouvre ta paoute (poche) et puis la reclos." 



On New Year's Eve they used to dress up a figure 

 in the shape of a man, and after parading it about 

 the parish, take it to the beach, or some other 

 retired spot, where they buried It. This was 

 called " enterrer le vieux bout de I'an." 



ESGAK MAcCoLLOCff. 



Guernsey. 



" Solymaji" (Vol. x., p. 163.). — Sigma wishes 

 to know who wrote the tragedy called Solyman f 

 It appears to have been H. F. Clinton, M.A., 

 author of the Fasti Hellenici, &c. See his Literary 

 Remains, p. 17. (published 1854.) A. RoFrs. 



