Jan. 25. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



71 



pheasant, or otber bird of beautiful plumage." 

 • — Histo7'y of England, Edward I. 



" Nee dissimili ingenio Heraldi antiquiores, musicos 

 et cantatores cjgnis* doiiarunt. Ejusqiie hand ignarus 

 perspicax noster Franciscanus cum hos a non cantoiibus 

 latos observasset, rationera se ait a rege lieraldorum 

 petiisse, eumque duplicem assignassc : banc quia viri 

 cssent pulcherrimi, illam quia baberent longa colla. 

 Sane candori.-m animi per cygni efligiem antiquitus 

 prjedicabant, iiec insulse igitur corporis. Sed glorias 

 studium ex eodem hoc symbolo indicari multi asserunt. 



" Cum Edwardus primus," &c. &c. 



Spebnanni Asjjiloc/ia, p. 132. 



The Spaniards found that the swan had been 

 employed emblematically in Mexii;o, supporting 

 the theory of Ilornius that that part of America 

 was colonised by the Phcenicians and Cartliaginians, 

 inasmuch as, according to Bryant, "where the 

 Canaanites or their descendants may have settled, 

 there will a story be ibund in reference to swans." 



The mytliological history of the Cygnns will be 

 found in the latter author's Analysis, and in Hill's 

 Urania, or a Complete View of the Heavens, coii' 

 taining the Ancient and Modern Astronomy, in 

 Form of a Dictionary, which will perhaps meet 

 the wants of G. I. C. (Vol.iii. p. 24.). 



It will not, perhaps, be irrelevant to this subject 

 to advert to the story of Albertus Aquensis (in 

 Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 196.), regarding a 

 Goose and a Goat, which in the second crusade 

 were considered as " divino spiritu afflati," and 

 made "duces viaj in Jerusalem." Well may it be 

 mentioned by the historian as " scehis omnibus 

 fidelibus incredibile ; " but the imputation serves 

 to show that the Christians of that age forgot 

 what a heathen poet could have taught them, — 

 " Efs oiwvhs SpifTTOs a/xiviuBai wepl Trarprjs." 



T.J. 

 Su-earing ly Swans (Vol. ii., p. 392.). -^ The 

 quotation given by your correspondent E. T. M. 

 (Vol.ii., p. 451), only increases my desire to receive 

 a reply to my query on tiiis subject, since he has 

 adduced a parallel custom. A^'llat are the earliest 

 notices of the usage of swearing by swans and 

 pheasants ? AV^as the pheasant ever considered a 

 royal bird ? H. V. 



The Frozen JJorn (Vol. iii., p. 2.').). — I am 

 quite angi-y with J. M. G. for supposing my old 

 friend Sir John ilaundevile guilty of such a flam 

 as that which he quotes from memory as the 

 worthy knight's own statement. Tiiere is no such 

 story in tiic Voiage and Ti-availc : nay more, 

 there is not in the whole of that " ryght morveil- 

 lous" book, a single passage given on the authority 



* To the |>assages I have elscwliere referred to on 

 Tlic Ccnccrl of Xature, from Ausonius, Epistle 25., and 

 Spenser's Faerie Queen, book ii. canto xii. st. 71., 

 '' divine res|)ondence meet " is made by tlic last lines 

 in Tennyson's Dying Swan. 



of Sir John as eyewitness that is not perfectly 

 credible. When he quotes Pliny for monsters, 

 the Chronicles for legends, and the romances of his 

 time for narratives of an extraordinary character, 

 he does so in evident good faith as a compiler. 

 His most improbable statements, too, are always 

 qualified Avith some such phrase as " men seyn, 

 but I have not sene it." In a wol-d, I believe Sir 

 John JSIaundevile to have been as truthful in in- 

 tention as any writer of his age. I am afraid that 

 J. ]M. G.'s knowledge of our old " voiager" is 

 limited to some jest-book of more modern times, 

 which attributes to him sayings and doings of 

 which he is perfectly guiltless. 



JNIakk Antony Lower. 

 Lewes. 



Cockade and True Blue (Vol. iii., pp. 7. 27.) 

 both owe their origin to the wars of the Scottish 

 Covenanters ; .and the cockade appears to have 

 been first adopted as a distinguishing emblem by 

 the English army at the battle of Sherra-muir, 

 where the Scotch Wore the blue ribbon as a scarf, 

 or on their bonnets (which was their favourite 

 colour). The English arlny then, to distinguish 

 themselves, assumed a bla'^k rosette on their hats; 

 which, from its position, the Scotch nick-named a 

 "cock'ade" (with which our use of the word 

 "cockscomb" is connected) and is still retained. 



An old Scotch song describing " the Battle of 

 Sherra-muir" (which name it bears) in verse 2., 

 line 1., speaks of the English as — 



" The red-coat lads, wi' black cockades ; '' 



verse 3., describing the Scotch and their mode of 

 fighting, says, — 



" But had you seen the philibegs, 



And skyriil tartan trews, i.ian, 

 AA'hen in the teeth they dared our AVhigs, 



And Covenant Tkue-Blues, man; 

 In lines extended lang and largo, 

 When bayonets opposed the large, 

 And thousands liasien'd to the chargej 

 Wi' Highland wrath, they frae the sheath 

 Drew blades o' deatli, till, out o' breath, 



Tliey tied like friglited doos, man." 



The song, which is rather .1 long one, carries 

 you with the army to the Forth, Dumblane, Stir- 

 ling, Perth, and Dundee. Oi\ referring to the 

 " Poor red-coat," and to the " Angus bids." 



Bl-OWKH. 



The Vavasours of Hazlewood (Vol. ii., p. 326.). 

 — ] . It is a Well-known fact that the stone for 

 York minster was given by the Vavasour fiunily. 

 To commemorate this, there is, under the west 

 window in that cathedial, a statue of the owner of 

 Hazlewood at that period, holding a jiiece of stone 

 in his hand. Hence may have .arisen the tradition, 

 that the chief of the family might ride into York 

 minster on horseback. 



