Jan. 14. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



27 



LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 18o4. 



GRIFFIN'S " FIDESSA," AND SHAKSPEAKe's " PAS- 

 SIONATE PILGRIM." 



I am the fortunate possessor of a thin volume, 

 entitled Fidessa, a Collection of Sonnets, by 

 B. Griffin, reprinted 1811, from the edition of 

 1596, at the Chiswick Press ; I presume, by the 

 monogram at the end, by Mr. S. VV. Singer. 



The title of the original edition is Fidessa, more 

 Chaste then Kinde, by B. Griffin, Gent, at London, 

 printed by the Widdow Orwin, for Matthew 

 Lownes, 1596. 



The advertisement prefixed by Mr. Singer to 

 the reprint states, that the original is one of the 

 rarest of those that appeared at the period in which 

 it is dated ; that he is not aware of the existence 

 of more than two copies, from one of which the 

 reprint is taken, and that the other was in the 

 curious collection of the late Mr. Malone. 



Besides the rarity of Fidessa, Mr. Singer states 

 that it claims some notice from the curious reader 

 on account of a very striking resemblance between 

 Griffin's third sonnet, and one of Shakspeare's, in 

 his Passionate Pilgrim (Sonnet ix.). 



I will transcribe both sonnets, taking Griffin's 

 first, as it bears the earliest date. 

 " Venus, and yong Adonis sitting by her, 



Under a myrtle shade began to woo him : 

 ': She told the yong-ling how god Mars did trie her, 

 And as he fell to her, so fell she to him. 



• Even thus,' quoth she, ' the wanton god embrac'd 



me,' 

 And then she clasp'd Adonis in her armes. 

 'Even thus,' quoth she, 'the warlike god unlac'd 

 me,' 

 As if the boy should use like loving charms. 

 But he, a wayward boy, refusde her offer, 



And ran away, the beautious Queene neglecting : 

 Showing both folly to abuse her proffer, 

 And all his sex of cowardise detecting. 

 Oh ! that I had my mistris at that bay, 

 To kisse and clippe me till I ranne away ! " 



Sonnet m., from Fidesta. 

 " Fair * Venus, with Adonis sitting by her, 

 Under a myrtle shade, began to woo him ; 

 She told the youngling how god Mars did try her, 

 And as he fell to her, she fell to him. 



* Even thus,' quoth she, ' the warlike god embrac'd 



me,' 

 And then she clipp'd Adonis in her arms : 



• Even thus,' quoth she, ' the warlike god unlac'd 



me,' 

 As if the boy should use like loving charms : 



* The early copies read " Venus, with Adonis sitting 

 by her ; " the defective word was added at Dr. Farmer's 

 suggestion. Had he seen a copy of Fidessa, the true 

 reading might perhaps have been restored. (Note by 

 Mr. Singer.) 



' Even thus,' quoth she, 'he seized on my lips,' 

 And with her lips on his did act the seizure ; 



And as she fetched breath, away he skips, 



And would not take her meaning nor her pleasure. 



Ah ! that I had my lady at this bay, 



To kiss and clip me till I run away !" 



Sonnet ix., from Shakspeare's Passionate Pilgrim. 



That the insertion of Griffin's sonnet in the Pas- 

 sionate Pilgrim was without Shakspeare's consent 

 or knowledge, is in my opinion evident for many 

 reasons. 



I have long been convinced that the Passionate 

 Pilgrim was published surreptitiously ; and al- 

 though it bears Shakspeare's name, the sonnets 

 and ballads of which it is composed were several 

 of them taken from his dramas, and added to by 

 selections from the poems of his cotemporaries, 

 Raleigh, Marlow, and others ; that it was a book- 

 seller's job, made up for sale by the publisher, 

 W. Jaggard. 



No one can believe that Shakspeare would have 

 been guilty of such a gross plagiarism. Griffin's 

 Fidessa bears date 1596 : the first known edi- 

 tion of the Passionate Pilgrim was printed for 

 W. Jaggard, 1599. It has no dedication to any 

 patron, similar to Shakspeare's other poems, the 

 Venus and Adonis, the Rape of Lucrece, and the 

 Sonnets ; and why it bears the title of the Pas- 

 sionate Pilgrim no one has ascertained. 



But I am losing sight of the object I had in 

 view when I took up my pen, which was, through 

 the medium of " N. & Q.," to request any of its 

 readers to furnish me with any particulars of 

 B. Griffin, the author of Fidessa. 



Mr. Singer supposes him to have been of a 

 Worcestershire family : as he addresses his " poore 

 pamphlet" for patronage to the gentlemen of the 

 Innes of Court, he might probably have been bred 

 to the law. 



Perhaps your correspondents Cuthbert Bede, 

 or Mr. Noake, the Worcestershire rambler, might 

 in their researches into vestry registers and parish 

 documents, find some notice of the family. I am 

 informed there was a gentleman of the name 

 resident in our college precincts early in the 

 present century, that he was learned and respected, 

 but very eccentric. J. M. G. 



Worcester. 



CAPS AT CAMBRIDGE. 



At the congregation in the Senate House at 

 Cambridge, Nov. 28, presided over by the Prince 

 Chancellor, it was observed that the undergra- 

 duates in the galleries (for want I suppose of an 

 obnoxious Vice-Chancellor or Proctor upon whom 

 to vent their indignation) poured it forth in yells 

 and groans upon those members of the senate who 

 kept on their hats or caps. The same has been 

 done on several former occasions. It probably 



