516 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 87. 



Under Gen. CromweWs Picture., hung up in the 

 Royal Exchange, these Lines were written. 



" Ascend y^ Throne Greate Captaine and Divine 

 By th' will of God, oh Lyon, for they'r thine ; 

 Come priest of God, bring oyle, bring Robes, 



bring Golde, 

 Bring crowns, bring scepters, 'tis high time 



t' unfold 

 Yo"' cloyster'd Buggs, yo' State cheates, Lifte 



y'= Rod 

 Of Steele, of Iron, of the King of God, — 

 Pay all in wrath with interest. Kneeling pray 

 To Oliv' Torch of Syon, Starr of Day. 

 Shoute then you Townds and Cyties, loudly Sing, 

 And all bare-headed cry, God save y'= King!" 



The Repartee, unto this Blasphemie. 



" Descende thou great Usurper from y'^ throne. 

 Thou, throughe thy pride, tooke what was not 



thine owne ; 

 A Rope did better fitte thee than a Crowne, 

 Come Carnifex, and put y" Trayto' downe. 

 For crownes and sceptres, and such sacred things 

 Doe not belong to Trayto", but to Kings ; 

 Let therefo" all true Loyall subjects sing, 

 Vive le Roy ! Long Live ! God bless y" King ! " 



In regard to the little controversy which I 

 started regarding Bunyan's claim to be author of 

 the Visions of Heaven and Hell, I hope soon to 

 decide it, as I am on the scent of a copy of, I be- 

 lieve, a first edition, which does not claim him for 

 author. James Feiswell. 



12. Brooke Street, Holborn. 



FOLK. LORE. 



Popular Superstitions in Lancashire. — That a 

 man must never " go a courting " on a Friday. 

 If an unlucky fellow is caught with his lady-love 

 on that day, he is followed home by a band of 

 musicians playing on pokers, tongs, pan-lids, &c., 

 unless he can rid himself of his tormentors by 

 giving them money to drink with. 



That hooping-cough will never be taken by any 

 child which has ridden upon a bear. While bear 

 baiting was in fashion, great part of the owner's 

 profits arose from the money given by parents 

 whose children had had a ride. The writer knows 

 of cases in which the charm is said certainly to 

 have been eflectual. 



That hooping-cough may be cured by tying a 

 hairy caterpillar in a small bag round tlie child's 

 neck, and as the caterpillar dies the cough goes. 



That Good Friday is the best day of all the 

 year to begin weaning children, which ought if 

 possible to be put off till that day ; and a strong 

 hope is sometimes entertained that a very cross 

 child will "be better" after it has been christened. 



That May cats are unlucky, and will suck the 

 breath of children. 



That crickets are lucky about a house, and will 

 do no harm to those who use them well ; but that 

 they eat holes in the worsted stockings of such 

 members of the family as kill them. I was as- 

 sured of this on the experience of a respectable 

 farmer's family. 



The belief in ghosts, or bogards, as they are 

 termed, is universal. 



In my neighbourhood I hardly know a dell 

 where a running stream crosses a road by a small 

 bridge or stone plat, where there is not frectnin 

 (frightening) to be expected. Wells, ponds, gates, 

 &c., have often this bad repute. I have heard of 

 a calf with eyes like a saucei-, a woman without a 

 head, a white greyhound, a column of white foam 

 like a large sugar-loaf in the midst of a pond, a 

 group of little cats, &c., &c., as the shape of the 

 bogard, and sometimes a lady who jumped behind 

 hapless passengers on horseback. It is supposed 

 that a Romish priest can lay tliem, and that it is 

 best to cheat them to consent to being laid while 

 hollies are green. Hollies being evergreens, the 

 ghosts can reappear no more. P. P. 



Folk Lore in Lancashire (Vol. iii., p. 55.^. — 

 Most of, if not all the instances mentioned under 

 this head by Mr. Wilkinson are, as might be ex- 

 pected, current also in the adjacent district of the 

 West Riding of Yorkshire ; and, by his leave, I 

 will add a few more, which are familiar to me 



1. If a cock near the door crows with his face 

 towards it, it is a sure prediction of the arrival of 

 a stranger. 



2. If the cat frisks about the house in an un- 

 usually lively manner, windy or stormy weather 

 is approaching. 



3. If a dog howls under a window at night, a 

 death will shortly happen in that house. 



4. li&feynale be the first to enter a house on 

 Christmas or New Year's day, she brings ill luck 

 to that house for the coming year. 



5. For hooping-cough, pass the child nine times 

 over the back and under the belly of an ass. 

 (This ceremony I once witnessed, but cannot 

 vouch for its having had tlie desired efiiact.) 



6. For warts, rub them with a cinder, and this 

 tied up in paper and dropped where four roads 

 meet, will transfer the warts to whoever opens the 

 packet. J. Eastwood. 



Eeclesfield. 



Lancashire Customs. — The curfew is continued 

 in many of the villages, and until the last ten or 

 fifteen years it was usual at a Roman Catholic 

 funeral to ring a merry peal on the bells as soon 

 as the interment was over. The Roman Catholics 

 seem now to have discontinued this practice. 



Carol singing and hand-bell ringing prevail at 

 Christmas, and troops of men and children calling 



