134 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 69. 



ing, in a letter, in wliieli he professes to give tlie 

 history and origin of his family, — 



" Piisca omnium familiarum Scaligeraj stirpis in- 

 signia sunt, aut Scala siiit/iilaris, aut Canes utrinque 

 scalje innitentes." 



Joseph Scaiigcr adds — 



" Ucniqiie principium Veroiiensium progeuitores 

 eadcm habueiunt insignia : donee in eam familiam Al- 

 boinus et Cdiiis Mupnits Aqnilam imperii cum Scala 

 primum ab Henrico VII°, deinde a Ludovico Bavaro 

 aceeptam nobis reliquerunt. " 



Alboinus, however, who received tliis grant 

 upon being made a Lieutenant of the Empire, and 

 having the Signory of Verona made hereditary in 

 his family, only bore the eagle " in qiiadravte 

 scuti." 



" Sed Canis iMagnus, cum eidem a Ca;sare Ludovico 

 Bavaro idem piivilegiura eontirmatuni esset, lotum 

 scutum Aquila occapavit, suhjectu Alitis pcdibHS Scald." 



Can Grande, then, wassurel}' the first who carried 

 the " santo uccello" in su la Scala ; and his epithet 

 of Grande would also agree best vpith Dante's 

 words, as neither liis father nor brothers seem to 

 have had the same claim to it. 



I would oiTer a fiirther remark about this same 

 title or epithet Can Grande, and the origin of the 

 scala or ladder as a charge upon the shield or coat 

 of tliis family. Cane would at first sight appear 

 to be a designation borrowed from the animal of 

 tbat name. There would be parallels enough in 

 Italy and elsewhere, as the Ursini, Lewis the Lion 

 {VIII. of France), our own Coeur de Lion, and 

 Harold Ilarefjot. Dante, too, refers to him under 

 the name "II Vcltro," Inferno, canto I. 1. 101. 

 But Joseph Scaliger, in the letter to which I re- 

 ferred before, gives the following account of it: — 



" Noraen illi fuerat Francisco, a sacro lavacro, Cani 

 a gentilitate, Magtw a merito rerum gestarum. Neque 

 enim Cuuis ab illo latranti animali dictus est, ut reete 

 mopiet Jovius, sed quod lingua Vrindornm, undc prin- 

 cipes Veronenses oriundos vult, Cahan idem est, quod 

 lingua Serviana Krnl, id est Rex, aut Princcps. Nam 

 in gente nostra multi fuerunt Canes, Mastini, Visulphi 

 Guelphi."— P. 17. 



This letter consists of about 58 pages, and stands 

 first in the edition of 1627. It is addressed "ad 

 Janum Dousani," and was written to vindicate 

 his family from certain indignities which he con- 

 ceived had been put upon it. Sausovino and 

 Villani, it appears, had referred its orig'n to 

 Wastiu II., " qui," to use Scaliger's version of 

 the matter, — 



" Qui primus dictator popidi Veronensis perpetuus 

 creatus est, quern et aiictorem nobilitatis Scaligera; et 

 Scalariim antea fa/iruin inipudentissime nugaiitur host.s 

 virtutis raajorum nostrorum." 



It was bad enough to ascribe their origin to so 

 recent a date, but to derive it from a mere me- 



chnnic was more than our author's patience could 

 endure. Accordingly he is not sparing of invective 

 against those who so disparnge his race. 



Vappa, iiehulo, and similar terms, are freely 

 apjalied to their characters; invidin, Ka/c&ijfieia, &C., 

 to their motives. The following is a specimen of 

 the way he handles them : — 



" Dantes Poijta illustrissiuiuni Christianissimorura 

 Regum Francia; genus a lauiis Parisiensibus dediicit, 

 utique tam vero, quam illc tenebiio nostrum a scalarum 

 fabro : quas mirum, ui auctor gonuris in siispcndium 

 eornm paruhal, quos vaticinabatur illustri nobilitate 

 sure obtrectatiu-os." 



Now the charge of a ladder upon their shield 

 was certainly borne by the several branches of this 

 family long before any of them became masters of 

 Verona; and I shouhl suggest that it originatfid in 

 some brilliant escalaile of one of the first members 

 of it. Thus, of course, it would remind us all 

 of perhaps the earliest thing of the kind — I mean 

 the shield and bearings of Eteoclus before Thebes: 



"'Ecrx'JM"''"''^'" 5' ""■"'Is oil (riJ.ii{phi/ rpSirov 



2,Teixf' Trphs fX^P'-^" t^P^ov, iiarepaat SeAfcif." 



Sept. c. Thebas, 461. 



Waldegrave Brewster. 

 II n, Jan. 28. 1051. 



INEDITED BAI-LiVD ON TRUTH. 



I send you herewith a copy of an ancient ballad 

 which I found this day while in search of other 

 matters. I have endeavoured to explain away 

 the strange ortliographj-, and I have conjecturally 

 supplied the last line. The ballad is unhappily 

 imperfect. I tTUst that abler antiquaries than 

 myself will give their attention to this fragmentary 

 poem- 



" A BALADE OF TKOirTHE. 



(Harl. MSS. No. 43. folio 92.) 

 " \Vhat more poyson . than ys venome. 



What more spyteCulI . than ys troozte.' 



Where sball battred . sonere come. 



Than oone ar.cthyr . tliat troozte showthe. 



Undoyng dysplesurc . no love growthe. 5 



And to grete- men . in cspcoyall. 



Troozte dare speke . lest^ of all. 

 " And troozte . all we be bound to. 



And troozte . most men now dothe fle.* 



What be we then . that so do. 10 



Be we untrewe . troozte say the ee.* 



But he y* tellethe troozte . M'hat ys he. 



A besy foole . hys name sballc rongc." 



Or else he bathe an euvle tonge. 



' Truth, I presume, is meant, though it does not 

 seem to agree with the eotitest, which is pure nonsense 

 in its present condition. '-^ Great. ^ Least. ■* Fleo, 

 * Yea. ^ Ring, 1 fancy. 



