392 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



[No. 54. 



"would make me suspect the situation to be 

 beyond Uranus." What I wish to inquire is this: 

 has it been established by calculation whether the 

 new planet discovered by Adams and Le Verrier 

 was or was not the star observed at the time and 

 in the place specified by Sir AVilliam Herschel ? 



2. Have Sir W. Herschel's contributions to the 

 Philosophical Transactions ever been iiublished in 

 a separate form ? and if so, where they can be 

 obtained? H. C. K. 



Swearing bi/ Sivans. — 



" At the banquet held on this occasion, he vowed 

 before God and tlie swans, which accordinjj to usa^e 

 were placed on the table, to punish the Scottish rebels." 

 — Keightley's History of England, vol. i. p. 249. ed. 

 1839. 



What authority is there for this statement re- 

 specting the swans ? What was the origin and 

 significance of the usage to which allusion is here 

 made ? E.. V. 



Winchester^ 



Automachia. — I am tlie possessor of a little book, 

 some 2^ inches long by H wide, bound in green 

 velvet, entitled Automachia, or the Self-conflict of 

 a Christian, and dedicated 



" To the most noble, vertuons, and learned lady, the 

 Lady Mary Nevil, one of the daughters of the Right 

 Honourable the Earl of Dorcet, Lord High Treasurer 

 ■of England." 



The book commences with an anagram on the 

 lady's name : 



" Add but an A to Romanize your name 

 Another Pallas is your anagram. 

 Videlicet 

 Maria Nevila 

 Alia Minerva." 



And then follow some " Stanzes Dedicatory," 

 subscribed — 



" Most deuoted to your honourable vertues. — J. S." 

 On the last page is — 



" London, printed by Milch Bradwood, for Edward 

 Blount, 1607." 



The AutoniacJiia is a poem of 188 lines, in heroic 

 metre, and is followed by a shorter poem, entitled 

 " A Comfortable Exhortation to the Christian in 

 his Self-conflict." 



Do any of your correspondents know of the 

 existence or authorship of this little work? It is 

 not in the British Museum, nor could the curators 

 of the library there, to whom it was shown, make 

 out anytliing about it. 



The discovery of its authorship might tend to 

 throw some light on that of " The Pedlar's Song," 

 attributed to Shakspeare, and appearing in Vol. i., 

 p. 23. of " Notes and Queries." The song con- 

 tains the line — 



" Such is the sacred hunger for sold." 



Aim! in the Automachia I find the " auri sacra 

 fames " described as — 



" Blidas' desire, the miser's only trust. 

 The sacred hunger of Pactolian dust." 



A.M. 



Poa ci/nosuivides. — Poa cynosuioides, the sacred 

 grass of India, is mentioned in Persoon's Synopsis, 

 as also an Egyptian plant : does it appear on the 

 Egyjitian monuments ? Theophrastus, quoted in 

 the Prwparatio Evangelica of Eusebius, mentions 

 the use of a certain iroo In the ancient sacrifices of 

 Egypt. F. Q. 



Vineyards. — Besides those at Bury St. Edmonds 

 and Halfield, are there any other pieces of land 

 bearing this name ? and if so, when were they dis- 

 used for their original purpose ? Clericos. 



Martin, Cockerell, and Hopkins Families. — Can 

 any one give information respecting the families of 

 Martin, Cockerell, and Hopkins, in or near Wi- 

 venhoe, Essex ? Clebiccs. 



Camden's Poem on Marriage of the Thames and 

 Isis. — I should esteem it a favour if any reader of 

 the " Notes and Queries " would inform me 

 where I can find a Latin poem of Camden's on the 

 " Marriage of the Thames with the Isis." In his 

 work styled Britannia (which was enlarged by 

 Richard Gough, in 3 vols^ fol. Lond. 1789), in 

 vol. i. p. 1G9., under Surrey, Camden himself quotes 

 two passages ; and in voL ii., under Middlesex, 

 p. 2., one passage, from the above-mentioned poem. 

 I have in vain made many endeavours to find the 

 entire poem. I have examined the original work, 

 as well as all the translations of Britannia, sive 

 Florentissimorum Regnorum Anglice, etc., choro- 

 graphica descriptio ; Gidielmo Camdeno, avdhore, 

 Londini, 1607, folio. All these contain the quo- 

 tations I have specified, but no more, and I am 

 anxious to see the whole of the poem. ^S. 



National Airs of England. — Among the na- 

 tional gleanings which are sent to your journal, I 

 have not seen any that relate to the traditional 

 music of England. We allow our airs to be stolen 

 on all sides, and, had not Mr. Chappell acted the 

 part of a detective, might never have recovered 

 our own property. Ireland has taken " My Lodg- 

 ing is on the cold Ground" and "The Girls we 

 leave behind us," while Scotland has laid claim to 

 all her own at least, and Germany is laying violent 

 hands on " God save the Queen." 



Under these circumstances, would it not be a 

 good thing, for those who have the power, to com- 

 municate the simple air of any song which appears 

 native to our country, together with the words ? I 

 fancy that in this way we should gain many hints, 

 besides musical ones, highly interesting to your 

 readers. ? (3.). 



