Mar. 16. 1850.] 
Howel, in noticing Sir Henry Blount’s Organon 
Salutis, 1659, observes that 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
| 
315 
I see no emendation for this but the vardils own 
to mean, “the party who has the verdict in his 
“This coffe-drink hath caused a great sobriety | favour,” and the speech to be a question. The 
among all nations: formerly apprentices, clerks, Xc., | King tries to persuade himself that there is, ipso 
used to take their morning draughts in ale, beer, or 
wine, which often made them unfit for business. Now 
they play the good-fellows in this wakeful and civil | 
drink. The worthy gentleman Sir James Muddiford, 
who introduced the practice hereof first in London, | 
deserves much respect of the whole nation.” 
From these extracts it appears that the use of 
this berry was introduced by other Turkey mer- 
chants besides Edwards and his servant Pasqua. 
Anthony Wood in his Diary, records, under the | 
year 1654, that 
“ Coffey, which had been drank by some persons in | 
Oxon. 1650, was this yeare publickly sold at or neare | 
the Angel, within the East Gate of Oxon., as also | 
chocolate, by an outlander or Jew.” 
And in another place he says 
“ This yeere Jacob a Jew opened a Coffey-house at | : - 
| masquings were formerly termed. 
the Angel, in the parish of St. Peter in the East, 
Oxon., and there it was by some, who delighted in 
noveltie, drank. When he left Oxon. he sold it in Old 
Southampton Buildings in Holborne, near London, 
and was living there 1671.” 
Epwarp F. Rimpactr. 
TRUE TRAGEDY OF RICHARD IIL. 
In The True Tragedy of Richard the Third, 
the following passage — 
“ His treacherous father hath neglect his word, 
And done imparshall past by dint of sword,” 
is considered by Mr. Baron Field as unintelligible. 
It seems to me that the correction of it is obvious, 
and the explanation probable, though not exactly 
fitting what had been said before, which is merely 
that Lord Stanley had refused to come to Richard, 
not that he had actually joined Richmond, much 
less fought for him. I read — 
“ And dome imparshall ; ” 
i.e. and doom impartial, and interpret, “ pass’d 
upon himself impartial judgment,” or rather on 
his son, as is said just before : — 
“ The father’s fact condemns the son to die.” 
It is possible that doom by dint of sword may 
mean, to be executed by dint of sword; that is, 
on the son. The dvom in the Scotch court, in the 
Heart of Mid Lothian, is not the verdict, but the 
punishment. 
Immediately before, we have this passage, also | 
described as unintelligible : — 
“ King. Did not your selves, in presence, see the 
bondes sealde and assignde ? 
“Lo. What tho my lord, the vardits own, the titles | 
doth resign. 
“ King. The bond is broke, and I will sue the fine.” 
facto, no room for forgiveness. Lovel answers, 
upon the principle of the rule of law, “ Qui vis 
potest renunciare juri pro se introducto.” C. B. 
POLK LORE. 
Merry Ewyd. — My attention has been called 
to an inquiry in No. 11. p.173., as to the origin 
and etymology of the Merry-Lwyd, still kept up 
in Wales. 
I believe that all these mummings may be 
traced to the disguisings which formed so popular 
an amusement in the Middle Ages, and that the 
name applied in Wales to this remnant of our 
ancient pastimes is nothing more than a compound 
of our English adjective “merry” and a cor- 
ruption of the Latin word “ Ludi,” which these 
Strutt, in his Sports and Pastimes, Book iit. 
chap. 13., speaks of Christmas Spectacles in the 
time of Edward III., as known by the name of 
Ludi; and in Warton’s History of English Poetry, 
it is said of these representations that “ by the 
ridiculous and exaggerated oddity of the Vizors, 
and by the singularity and splendour of the 
dresses, every thing was out of nature and pro- 
priety.” In Strutt’s 16th Plate, specimens will 
be found of the whimsical habit and attire in 
which the mummers were wont to appear. 
My impression that the Merry-Lwyd was by 
no means a diversion exclusively Welsh is cor- 
roborated by the fact noticed in your Number of 
the 23rd of Feb., of its being found to exist in 
Cheshire. And we know that many ancient cus- 
toms lingered in the principality long after they 
fell into disuse in England. Gwynn AB Nupp. 
Glamorganshire, March 1. 1850. 
Death-bed Superstition. — When a curate in 
Exeter I met with the following superstition, 
which I do not remember to have seen noticed 
before. I had long visited a poor man, who was 
dying of a very painful disease, and was daily 
expecting his death. Upon calling one morning 
to see my poor friend, his wife informed me that 
she thought he would have died during the night, 
and consequently she and her friend unfastened 
every lock in the house. On my inquiring the 
reason, I was told that any bolt or lock fastened 
was supposed to cause uneasiness to, and hinder 
the departure of the soul, and consequently upon 
the approach of death all the boxes, doors, &e., in 
the house were unlocked. Can any of your 
readers tell me whether this is in any way a 
general superstition amongst the lower orders, or 
is it confined to the West of England ? 
R. H. 
