May 5. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



349 



OXFORD JEUX D ESPRIT. 



(Vol.viii., p. 584.: Vol. ix., pp. 113. 168.; Vol. x., 

 pp. 364. 431. ; Vol. xi., pp. 37. 127. 173. 233.) 



G. L. S. (Vol. xi., p. 37.) refers the authorship 

 of Johannis Gilpini iter, laline redditum, on the 

 authority of "a MS. note," either "to Robert 

 Lowe, of Magdalen CoUetje ; or to John Caswell, 

 of New Inn Hall ;" though M. A., Oxon (Vol. x., 

 p. 431.) says, "Its author was always supposed 

 to be Charles William Bingham, Fellow of New 

 College, and now rector of Melcombe Horsey, 

 Dorset." I can corroborate this, as far as the 

 supposition goes, and also on the authority of " a 

 MS. note," for I have a copy of the second edi- 

 tion o? Johannis Gilpini iter, on the title-page of 

 which is written " Auctore Bingham, Coll. Nov. 

 olim Socio." 



In addition to the Oxford jeux d' esprit already 

 mentioned, I possess the following : 



« The Art of Pluck (ninth edit. 1851). Oxford. Vin- 

 cent." 



" Hints to Freshmen. Oxford. Vincent." 



These two jeux d'esprit are too well known to 

 need farther remark. Who is the author of the 

 one I atn about to name? it is remarkably clever : 



" The Devil at Oxford : beinjj a true and faithful ac- 

 count of a Visit recently paid by his Satanic Majesty to 

 that seat of learning, ^y Phosphorus Squill, Arm.Fil. 

 Oxford. Slatter, 1847." 



To this appeared a Supplement, by another hand, 

 written in Ingoldsby verse, though not with lu- 

 goldsby ability : 



"The Devil's return from Oxford. By Nemo, in- 

 scribed with the greatest respect to Nemini. Oxford. 

 Slatter, 1847." 



The next mentioned is short and clever, written 

 in the " childish " style of Wordsworth : 



" The Oxford Guide ; a Lav of the Long Vacation. By 

 Viator. Oxford. Richards, 1849." 



Here are one or two others of miscellaneous 

 character and merit : 



" Poema Canino-Anglico-Latinum, &c. Oxford. Vin- 

 cent." 



"Scenes from an unfinished Drama, entitled Phron- 

 tisterion, or Oxford in the 19th Century (4th edit. 1852). 

 Oxford. Vincent." 



" Grand University Logic Stakes, &c. Oxford. Vin- 

 cent, 1849." 



" The Oxford Ars Poetica; or How to Write and New- 

 digate. Oxford. Maepherson, 1853." 



" Oxford Criticism, &c. Oxford. Shrimpton, 1853.". 



" The Student's Guide to the School of ' Litters Fic- 

 titiiE,' commonly called Novel-Literature. Oxford. Vin- 

 cent, 1855." 



This last (and certainly not the least or worst) 

 jeu d'esprit, which was so favourably noticed (at 

 some length) by The Times'" reviewer, has already 



reached a second edition.* The Ars Poetica abov€ 

 mentioned is very severe, but very clever: the 

 Criticism (written in reply to it) is beneath criti- 

 cism. 



It would not be lost labour, if some one would 

 carry out the suggestion of your correspondent at 

 Vol. xi., p. 127., and would make "a permanent 

 collection" of the valuable and clever trifles which 

 appear in the shape of jeux d'esprit, commemo- 

 ration squibs, &c. Very many of these are worthy 

 of preservation, not only from their intrinsic excel- 

 lence, and humour, but also from their "valuable 

 allusions to men and things connected with Ox- 

 ford and its institutions, which are now fast wear- 

 ing out of memory, yet do not deserve to be 

 utterly forgotten." As it is, they live their little 

 day, and then (with few exceptions) die, and are 

 no more remembered. After a certain time it is 

 very difficult to procure copies of them, as any 

 one will discover wlio endeavours, like the present 

 writer, to form a collection of Oxford jeux d'esprit. 



CUTHBEET BeDE, B.A. 



SIGN or THE STAG IN DOBSETSHIBE. 



(Vol. xi., p. 74.) 



The tradition here recorded is not uncommon, 

 both in England and on the Continent. In Ray's 

 Itineraries, 1760, p. 153., is the following passage : 



" We rode through a basket or common, called Rod- 

 well Hake (now Rothwell Haigh), near Leeds; where, 

 according to vulgar tradition, was once found a stag 

 with a ring of brass about its neck, having this inscrip- 

 tion: 



' When Julius Ctesar was king. 

 About my neck he put this ring: 

 Whosoever doth me take. 

 Let me go for Caesar's sake.' " 



In the Midwife, or Old Woman's Magazine 

 (vol. i. p. 250.), Mrs. Midnight, in a letter to the 

 venerable Society of Antiquaries, containing a 

 description of Caesar's camp on Windsor Forest 

 Hill, has the following passage : 



" There have been many extraordinary things told 

 about this. One thing I particularly remember was of a 

 deer about sixteen hundred years old, with a golden 

 collar, and the inscription : 



* When Julius Csesar reigned here, 

 Then I was a little deer.' " 



The Continent is equally prolific. Guaguin (Hist. 

 Franc, lib. ix. cap. iii.) tells us, that in the reign 

 of Charles VI., when that prince was hunting 

 near Senlis (Silvanectum), a stag was driven 

 into the toils which had a brazen collar round its 

 neck, with the Latin inscription " Hoc me 

 Caesar donavit," which was immediately inter- 



Fund. 



The profits of the sale are given to the Patriotic 



