June 14. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



481 



Majesty deigned no other answer than that done 

 it must and should be, whether possible or not, 

 and that the result was the putting forward of the 

 " Occasional Oratorio." 



The structure of the oratorio, which was evi- 

 dently a very hurried composition, gives a strong 

 air of probability to the anecdote. Evidently no 

 libretto was written for it ; the words tell no tale, 

 are totally unconnected, and not even always 

 tolerable English, a fine chorus (p. 39. Arnold) 

 going to the words " Him or his God we no fear." 

 It is rather a collection of sacred pieces, strung 

 together literally without rhyme or reason in the 

 oratorio form, than one oratorio. The examin- 

 ation of it leads one to the conchision, that the 

 composer took from his portfolio such pieces as he 

 happened to have at liand, strung them together 

 as he best could, and made up the necessary 

 quantity by selections from his other works. Ac- 

 cordingly we find in it the pieces " The Horse 

 and his Rider," "Thoushalt bring them in," "Who 

 is like unto Thee?" "The Hailstone Chorus," 

 " The Enemy said I will pursue," from Israel in 

 Egypt, written in 1738; the chorus " ISIay God 

 from whom all Mercies spring," from Athaliah 

 (1733); and the chorus "God save the King, long 

 live the King," from the Coronation Anthem of 

 1727. There is also the air "O! Liberty," which he 

 afterwards (in 1746) employed in Judas Macca- 

 bceus. Possibly some other pieces of tliis oratorio 

 may be found also in some of Handel's other works, 

 not sufficiently stamped on my memory for me to 

 recognise them ; but I may remark that the quan- 

 tity oi Israel in Egypt found in it may perhaps 

 have so connected it in some minds with that 

 glorious composition as to have led to the practice 

 referred to of prefixing in performance the over- 

 ture to the latter work, to which, although the 

 introductory movement, the fine adagio, and grand 

 march are fit enough, the light character of the 

 fugue is, it must be confessed, singularly inajipro- 

 priate. 



I am not aware of any other "occasion" than that 

 of tiie King's will, which led to the composition of 

 this oratorio. D. X. 



Stone Chalice (Vol. ii., p. 120.)- — They are 

 found in the ancient churciies in Ireland, and 

 some are preserved in tlie Museum of the Koyal 

 Irish Academy, and in private collections. A 

 beautiful specimen is engraved in Wakeman's 

 Handbook of Irish Antiquities, p. 161. R. H. 



Thanksgiving Book (Vol. iii., p. 328.)- — The 

 charge for a "Thanksgiving Book," mentioned by 

 A CiiURCiiwAKDEN, was no doubt for a Book of 

 Prayers, &c., on some general thanksgiving day, 

 probably after tiie battle of Blenheim and the 

 taking of Giljrallar, which would be about the 

 montii of November. A similar charge appears 

 in the Churchwardens' accounts for the parish of 



/. s. d. 



. 00 03 00 



00 01 00" 

 . COLMAN . 



Eye, Suffolk, at a much earlier period, viz. 1684, 

 which you may probably deem worthy of insertion 

 in your pages : 



" Payments. 

 " It. To Flegg for sweepinge and dress- 



inge upp tlie church thi nynth 



of September beeinge A day of 



Thanhs-givincie for his Ma""^ 



dehvance from the Newkett 



Plot - . - 



" It. For twoe Bonkes for the D"" of Sep- ' 



tember aforesaid 



J. B 

 Eye, April 29, 1851. 



Carved Ceiling in Dorsetshire (Vol. iii., p. 424.). 

 — Philip, King of Castile (f\ither to Charles V.), 

 was forced by foul weather into AVeymouth Har- 

 bour. He was hospitably entertained by Sir 

 Thomas Trenchard, who invited Mr. Russell of 

 Kingston Russell to meet him. King Philip took 

 such delight in bis company that at his departure he 

 recommended him to King Henry VII. as a person 

 of spirit " fit to stand before princes, and not 

 before mean men." He died in 1554, and was the 

 ancestor of the Bedford family. Sir Thomas 

 Trenchard probably had the ceiling. See Fuller's 

 Worthies (^Dorsetshire), vol. i. p. 313. 



A. Holt White. 



The house of which your correspondent has 

 heard his tradition is certainly Woolverton House, 

 in the parish of Charminster, near this town. 



It was built by Sir Tliomas Trenchard, who 

 died 20 Hen. VIII. ; and tradition holds, as his- 

 tory tells us, that Philip, Archduke of Austria, 

 and King of Castile, with his cjueen Juana, or 

 Joanna, were driven by weather into the port of 

 Weynifiuth : and tliat Sir Thomas Trenchard, 

 then the High Sheriff of the county, invited their 

 majesties to his house, and afforded them enter- 

 tainment that was no less gratifying than timely. 



Woolverton now belongs to James Ilenning, 

 Esq. There is some fine carving in the house, 

 though it is not the ceiling that is markworthy ; 

 and it is thought by some to be the work of a 

 foreign hand. At Woolverton House were founded 

 the high fortunes of the House of Bedford. Sir 

 Thomas Trenchard, feeling the need of an inter- 

 preter with their Spanish IMajesties, happily be- 

 thought himself of a John Russell, Esq., of Ber- 

 wick, who had lived some years in Spain, and 

 spoke Castilian ; and invited him, as a Spanish- 

 English mouth, to his house : and it is said he 

 accompanied the king and queen to London, 

 where he was recommended to the favour of 

 Hen. VII. ; and after rising to higli office, received 

 from Hen. VIII. a sliare of the monastic lands. 



See Hutchins's History of Dorset. 



W. BaBN£S. 



Dorchester, 



