Mar. 30. 1850.] 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
349 
and Virtuous Lady, the Lady Tasburgh ;” from 
which dedication it appears that these Pastoral 
Elegies were among the early efforts of his Muse. | 
The author, after making excuses for not having 
repaid her Ladyship’s encouragement earlier, 
says, — 
“ Finding my abilitie too little to make the meanest 
satisfaction of so great a principall as is due to so many 
favourable curtesies, I am bold to tende your Ladyship 
this unworthy interest, wherewithal [ will put in good 
securitie, that assoone as time shall relieve the neces- 
sitie of my young invention, I will disburse my Muse 
to the uttermost mite of my power, to make some more 
acceptable composition with your bounty. In the mean 
space, living without hope to be ever sufficient inough 
to yeeld your worthinesse the smallest halfe of your due, 
I doe only desire to leave your Ladyship in assurance — 
“ That when increase of age and learning, sets 
My mind in wealthi’r state than now it is, 
T’ll pay a greater portion of my debts, 
Or mortgage you a better Muse than this; 
Till then, no kinde forbearance is amisse, 
While, though I owe more then I can make good, 
This is inough, to shew how faine I woo’d, 
Your Ladyship’s in all humblenes 
© Wittum Bas.” 
The first Pastoral consists of thirty-seven stan- 
zas; the second of seventy-two; the third of 
forty-eight: each stanza of eight ten-syllable 
verses, of which the first six rhyme alternately ; 
the last two are a couplet. There is a short argu- 
ment, in verse, prefixed to each poem. That of 
the first runs thus :— 
« Anander lets Anetor wot 
His love, his lady, and his lot.” 
of the second, — 
“ Anetor seeing, seemes to tell 
The beanty of faire Muridell, 
And in the end, he lets hir know 
Anander’s plaint, his love, his woe.” 
of the third, — 
“ Anander sick of love’s disdaine 
Doth change himselfe into a swaine, 
While dos the youthful shepherd show him 
His Muridellaes answer to him.” 
This notice of these elegies cannot fail to be 
highly interesting to your correspondent on Basse 
and his works, and others of your readers who feel 
an interest in recovering the lost works of our 
early poets. W. H. Gunner. 
Winchester, March 16. 1850, 
FOLK LORE. 
Something else about “ Salting.” —On the first 
oceasion, after birth, of any children being taken 
into a.neighbour’s house, the mistress of the house 
always presents the babe with an egg, a little 
flour, and some salt; and the nurse, to ensure 
good luck, gives the child a taste of the pudding, 
which is forthwith compounded out of these in- 
gredients. This little “mystery” has occurred too 
often to be merely accidental; indeed, all my 
poorer neighbours are familiarly acquainted with 
the custom; and they tell me that money is often 
given in addition at the houses of the rich. 
What is the derivation of cwm grano salis, as a 
hint of caution? Can it come from the M.D.’s 
prescription ; or is it the grain of Attic salt or wit 
tor which allowance has to be made in every well- 
told story ? A. G. 
Ecclestield Vicarage, March 16. 1850. 
Norfolk Weather-Rhyme. 
“ First comes David, then comes Chad, 
And then comes Winneral as though he was mad, 
White or black, 
Or old house thack.” 
The first two lines of this weather proverb may 
be found in Hone’s Every-Day Book, and in 
Denham’s Proverbs and Popular Sayings relating 
to the Seasons (edited for the Percy Society); but 
St. Winwaloe, whose anniversary falls on the 3rd 
of March, is there called “ Winnold,” and not, as 
in our bit of genuine Norfolk, Winneral. ‘Those 
versions also want the explanation, that at this 
time there will be either snow, rain, or wind; 
which latter is intended by the “old house thack,” 
or thatch. 
Medical Charms used in Ireland— Charm for 
Toothache.—It is a singular fact, that the charm 
for toothache stated (No. 19. p. 293.) to be preva- 
lent in the south-eastern counties of England, is 
also used by the lower orders in the county of 
Kilkenny, and perhaps other parts of Ireland. I 
have often heard the charm: it commences, “ Peter 
sat upon a stone; Jesus said, ‘What aileth thee, 
Peter ?’” and so on, as in the English form. 
To cure Warts, the following charm is used :— 
A wedding-ring is procured, and the wart touched 
or pricked with a gooseberry thorn through the ring. 
To cure Epilepsy, take three drops of sow’s milk. 
To cure Blisters in a cow’s mouth, cut the blis- 
ters; then slit the upper part of the tail, insert a 
clove of garlic, and tie a piece of red cloth round 
the wound. 
To cure the Murrain in Cows.—This disease is 
supposed to be caused by the cow having been 
stung about the mouth while feeding, in conse- 
quence of contact with some of the larger larve of 
the moth (as of the Death’s-head Sphynx, &c.), 
which have a soft fleshy horn on their tails, erro- 
neously believed to be a sting. If a farmer is so 
lucky as to procure one of these rare larvee, he is 
to bore a hole in an ash tree, and plug up the un- 
lucky caterpillar alive in it. The leaves of that 
ash tree will, from thenceforth, be a specific 
against the disease, 
The universal prevalence of the superstition 
concerning the ash is extremely curious. J. G. 
Kilkenny. 
