178 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[No. 12. 
History of the Rebellion, attribute it to Colonel 
Francis Towneley; whereas it was the work of 
John Towneley, uncle to the celebrated Charles 
Towneley, the collector of the Marbles. 
Epwarp F. Rimpavtt, 
FIELD OF THE BROTHERS FOOTSTEPS. 
I do not think that Mr. Cunningham, in his 
valuable work, has given any account of a piece 
of ground of which a strange story is recorded by 
Southey, in his Common-Place Book (Second Se- 
ries, p-21.). After quoting a letter received from 
a friend, recommending him to “take a view of 
those wonderful marks of the Lord’s hatred to 
duelling, called The Brothers’ Steps,” and giving 
him the description of the locality, Mr. Southey 
gives an account of his own visit to the spot (a 
field supposed to bear ineffaceable marks of the 
footsteps of two brothers, who fought a fatal duel 
about a love affair) in these words : — “‘ We sought 
for near half an hour in vain. We could find no 
steps at all, within a quarter of a mile, no nor half 
a mile, of Montague House. We were almost out 
of hope, when an honest man who was at work 
directed us to the next ground adjoining to a 
pond. There we found what we sought, about 
three quarters of a mile north of Montague House, 
and about 500 yards east of Tottenham Court 
Road. The steps answer Mr, Walsh’s description. 
They are of the size of a large human foot, about 
three inches deep, and lie nearly from north-east 
to south-west. We counted only seventy-six, but 
we were not exact in counting. The place where 
one or both the brothers are supposed to have 
fallen, is still bare of grass. The labourer also 
showed us the bank where (the tradition is) the 
wretched woman sat to see the combat.” 
Mr. Southey then goes on to speak of his full 
confidence in the tradition of their indestructibility, 
even after ploughing up, and of the conclusions to 
be drawn from the circumstance. 
To this long note, I beg to append a query, as 
to the latest account of these footsteps, previous 
to the ground being built over, as it evidently 
now must be. Com Seon 
ON AUTHORS AND BOOKS, No. 4. 
Verse may picture the feelings of the author, 
or it may only picture his fancy. ‘To assume the 
former position, is not always safe; and in two 
memorable instances a series of sonnets has been 
used to construct a baseless fabric of biography. 
In the accompanying sonnet, there is no such 
uncertainty. It was communicated to me by 
John Adamson, Esq., M.R.s.u., &e., honourably 
known by a translation of the tragedy of Dona 
Ignez de Castro, from the Portuguese of Nicola 
Luiz, and by a Memoir of the life and writings 
of Camoens, &c. It was not intended for publica- 
tion, but now appears, at my request. 
Mr. Adamson, it should be stated, is a corre- 
sponding member of the Royal Academy of 
Sciences of Lisbon, and has received diplomas of 
the orders of Christ and the Tower-and-sword. 
The coming storm alludes to the menace of in- 
vasion by France. 
* SONNET. 
“O Portugal! whene'er T see thy name 
What proud emotions rise within my breast ! 
To thee 1 owe — from thee derive that fame 
Which here may linger when I lie at rest. 
When as a youth I landed on thy shore, 
How little did I think I e’er could be 
Worthy the honours thou hast giv’n to me; 
And when the coming storm I did deplore, 
Drove me far from thee by its hostile threat — 
With feelings which can never be effaced, 
I Jearn’d to commune with those writers old 
Who had the deeds of thy great chieftains told ; 
Departed bards in converse sweet I met, 
I’d seen where they had liy’d— the land Camoens 
grac’d,” 
T venture to add the titles of two interesting 
volumes which have been printed subsequently to 
the publications of Lowndes and Martin. It may 
be a useful hint to students and collectors : — 
“ Breviorneca Lusirana, or catalogue of books and 
tracts, relating to the history, literature, and poetry, of 
Portugal: forming part of the library of John Adam- 
son, M. R. Ss. L. etc. Newcastle on Tyne, 1836, Svo. 
« LusrrANIA ILLUSTRATA; notices on the history, 
antiquities, literature, ete. of Portugal. Literary de- 
partment. Part I. Selection of sonnets, with biogra- 
phical Sketches of the authors, by John Adamson, 
M. R.S.L. etc. Neweastle upon Tyne, 1842, 8vo.” 
Boxron Corney, 
RECEIPTS TO THE BEGGAR’S OPERA ON ITS 
PRODUCTION, 
Every body is aware of the prodigious and un- 
expected success of Gay’s Beggar's Opera on its 
first production; it was offered to Colley Cibber 
at Drury Lane, and refused, and the author took 
it to Rich, at the Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields theatre, 
by whom it was accepted, but not without he- 
sitation. It ran for 62 nights (not 63 nights, 
as has been stated in some authorities) in the 
season of 1727—1728: of these, 32 nights were 
in succession; and, from the original Account- 
book of the manager, C,. M. Rich, I am enabled 
to give an exact statement of the money taken at 
the doors on each night, distinguishing such per- 
formances as were for the benefit of the author, 
viz. the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 15th nights, which put 
exactly 6927 13s. 6d. into Gay’s pocket. This is 
a new circumstance in the biography of one of our 
most fascinating English writers, whether in prose 
or verse. Rich records that the king, queen, and 
a 
