298 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 77. 



Love is called in to decide the dispute, and it 

 causes no surprise to find, after due ventilation of 

 the cause, the judgment of the court to be : 



" Secundum scientiam et secundum morem, 

 Ad amorem clebicum dicunt aptiorem." 



Your readers who are not already acquainted 

 with this interesting picture of ancient manners 

 will, I think, be pleased with having it pointed 

 out to their notice. 



Should the following song not be already in 

 print, I can .also furnish from the same source a 

 version of the ballad on " Robin Goodfellow " by 

 the same hand, should it be acceptable.* 



s. ^y. SiNGEK. 



" CANTIO. 



" O Pampine ! quo venisti ? 

 Cur me spectas fronte tristi ? 

 ToUe caput, sis jueundus, 

 Tolle poculum exue fundus, 

 Et salutem jam bibamus, 

 Ad sodales quos amamus; 

 O Pampine ! tibi primum 

 Haustum summus hunc ad imum. 



Ecce de cliristallo factum 

 Purum vas, et hoc intactum, 

 Lympha nunc et succo plenum, 

 Nee incliidit hoc veneniim ; 

 Medicamen quod repellit 

 Omnes malos, nee fefellit, 

 O Pampine ! invito Momo, 

 Tibi, tu es meus homo. 



Hie est sacer fons et flumen. 



Quod qui potant vocant numen, 



Iras pellit, demit lites, 



Et superbos facit mites ; 



Et post flumen hoc te amoenum 



Annos reparaie senum : 



O Pampuie ! tibi babe, 



Bibe si sis dignus tabe. 



Hoc si tu gustabit nectar. 

 Si sis Paris fics Hector, 

 Iras demit inquietas. 

 In memento facit la;tas ; 

 Pro dolorlbus est solamen. 

 Pro pulicibus medicamen ; 

 O Pampine ! babe tibi, 

 Bibe tu cum ego bibi. 



Hie est aqua vera fortis, 

 Vincula qua' solvet mortis, 

 Aut, si placet, aqua vita^, 

 Roborans ab atra Dite : 

 Hinc sunt uti qui potestis 

 Omnia, cibus, potis, vestis ; 

 O Pampine ! tibi cito 

 Bibe, aut ab hinc abito. 



* [We are sure we are only expressing the opinion 

 of the majority of our readers when we say it will be 

 most acceptable. — Ed.] 



Si frigistis, sine joco. 

 Solo hoc utare foco. 

 Si esuries hie sunt oves, 

 Pulli, vituli, et boves ; 

 Quod si sitis ecce montem, 

 Quern si scandes habet fontem ; 

 O Pampine ! bibe rursus, 

 Bibe, tu nam venit cursus. 



Si jegrotas sume potum, 

 Vis ut valeas tolle totum. 

 Cape potum hunc paratum, 

 Sanus eris, — est probatum ; 

 Si in corpore aut in mente 

 Dolebant in quavis dente ; 

 O Pampine ! tibi statim 

 Sume potum hinc gradatim. 



Bacche jam et jam Silene, 

 Pocula impleatis plene, 

 Ope jam adiutus vestra 

 Domum, feram e fenestra. 

 ^Edes vertunt jam rotundas, 

 Et succedant res secunda : 

 O Pampine ! tibi bibo, 

 Bibe, vale ! ego abibo." 



6TKANGE APPEARANCES IN THE SKY. 



Strange appearances in the sky have not been 

 without their ominous signification from the time 

 that the greater and lesser lights were placed there 

 at the creation, to the rainbow after the Deluge; 

 and onward to the "star in the east" which an- 

 nounced our Saviour's birth, and the " light from 

 heaven" which accompanied St. Paul's conversion. 

 But the question is, whether there has since been 

 any meaning in other like celestial illuminations ? 

 Some historical credit is claimed for the fiery 

 sword, and armies fighting in the air, which pre- 

 ceded the siege of Jerusalem : for the cross of the 

 Emperor Constantine : for the bow about the sun 

 seen by Augustus Cfcsar, when he took possession 

 of the Roman empire : and for stars, or other 

 heavenly lights, which have seemed to herald the 

 births or deatlis of illustrious personages. But 

 are these stories to be believed ? and, if they are, 

 where is the line of credibility to be drawn? 

 People cannot come together, and talk either on 

 this subject, or on that of ghosts, but every one 

 " hath a revelation, hath an interpretation." The 

 poet, walking on the mountains, looked into the 

 sky, and 



" The appearance, instantaneously disclosed, 

 Was of a mighty city — boldly say 

 A wilderness of building, sinking far. 

 And self-withdrawn, into a wondrous depth. 

 Far sinking into splendour — without end?" 



The two following extracts are from private 

 letters now before me. The first account was 

 written in 1825 by a physician, still alive, and 



