230 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 100. 



existence of Vineta, except as the capital city of 

 the Veueti, when I would phiee it in Riigen. 



I may as well add that M. de Kaiserline: dug 

 up his coins in the north-western corner of WoUin, 

 near the Rathliaus. 



The Salraarks are in the neighboui'hood of the 

 town, the Greater one to the north, the Lesser to 

 the south. 



I will now close tho paper, already too long, and 



hope for elucidations and remarks from abler pens. 



Kenneth li. H. Mackenzie. 



September 25. 1851. 



Curious Epitaph in Dalkeiih Churchjard. — The 

 following Inscription is on the tombstone of one 

 ]\Iargaret Scott, who died in the town of Dalkeith, 

 February 9, 1738, aged 125 years : — 

 " Stop, passenger, until my life you read ; 



The living may get knowledge by the dead. 



Five times five years I lived a virgin's life : 



Ten times five years I was a virtuous wife ; 



Ten times five years I lived a widow chaste ; 



Now, weary'd of this mortal life, I rest. 



Between my cradle and my grave have been 



Eiglit mighty kings of Scotland and a (jucen. 



Four times five years the Commonvv'ealth I saw ; 



Ten times the siihjects rose against the law. 



Twice did I see old Prelacy pull'd down ; 



And twice the cloak was humbled by the gown. 



An end of Stuarl's race I saw : nay, more ! 



My native country sold for English ore. 



Such desolations in my life have been, 



I have an end of all perfection seen." 

 I thought that the above instance of what might 

 be termed " historical longevity " was worthy of a 

 place in your pages, along with others proving 

 how " traditions from remote periods may come 

 throiigh few hands." Blow en. 



Device of SS. — However doubtful may be the 

 derivation of our English "Collar of Esses," there 

 is a pretty explanation given of a similar device 

 granted to a Spanish nobleman. 



It is said that Gatierre de Cardenas was the 

 first person who announced to the young Princess 

 Isabella of Castile the approach of her future 

 husband, Ferdinand of Aragon (after his romantic 

 journey to Valladolid in 1469), exclaiming, "Esse 

 es, esse es," — " This is he ! " He obtained per- 

 mission to add to his escutcheon the letters SS. to 

 commemorate this circumstance. 0. P. Q. 



Lo7-cl Edward Fitzgerald. — Having seen in 

 " Notes and Queries " a remark about Lord 

 Edward Fitzgerald, I wish to add the following. 



The body of Lord Edward Fitzgerald has never 

 been removed by his relatives, but has lain in an 

 outside vault or passage, under the parish chui-ch 

 of St. Werburgh, Dublin, until very lately, when 



(I believe within the last year) Lady Campbell, 

 widow of General Sir Guy Campbell, Bart., and 

 daughter of Pamela, caused it to be placed in an 

 oak coffin, the old one being greatly decayed. It 

 is now removed into what is called the clianccl 

 vault. L. M. M. 



The Michaelmas Goose. — Why it is that here 

 in England — 



by custom (right divine) 



Geese are ordained to bleed at Michael's shrine," 



is a mystery still unsolved by English antiquaries. 

 For, even if the story that Queen Elizabeth was 

 eating a goose on Michaelmas Day when she re- 

 ceived the news of the defeat of the Spanish 

 Armada, rested on imquestionable authority, it 

 would not explain the origin of the custom, since 

 Brand has shown, by a reference to Blount's 

 Jocular Tenures, that it existed as 'early as the 

 tenth year of Edward IV. If we seek an illustra- 

 tion from the practice of our continental neigh- 

 bours, we shall fail'; or only learn that we have 

 transferred to the Feast of St. Michael a practice 

 which is observed abroad on that of St. Martin, 

 the 11th November: indeed, St. Martin's Bird is 

 a name by which the goose is known among many 

 of the continental nations. In the llunic Calen- 

 dar the 1 1 th November is marked by a goose. In 

 the old Baunm Praclica (ed. 1567), Wintermonat 

 or November boasts, in one of the ilhymes of the 

 Month,— 



" Fat geese unto the rich I sell." 



And in the curious old Story Book of Peter Leu, 

 reprinted by von der Hagen in his Narrenbuch, one 

 of the adventures commences : 



" It fell upon St. Martin's Day, 

 When folks are wont goose-feasts to keep." 



A learned German, however, Nork (Festkalen- 

 der, s. 567.), sees in our Michaelmas Goose the last 

 traces of the goose offered of old to Proserpina, 

 the infernal goddess of death (on which account 

 it is that the figure of this bird is so frequently 

 seen on monumental remains) ; and also of the 

 offerings (among which the goose figured) formerly 

 made to Odin at this season, a pagan festival 

 which on the introduction of Christianity was not 

 abolished, but transferred to St. Michael. 



William J. Thoms. 



Gravesend Boats (Vol. ii., p. 209.). — In a letter 

 from Sir Thomas Heneage to Sir Christopher 

 Hatton, dated 2nd May, 1585, given in Nicolas's 

 Memoir of the Life and Times of Sir Christopher 

 Hatton (p. 426.), is this passage : 



" Her Highness thinketh your house will shortly be 

 like a Gravesend barge, never without a knave, a priest, 

 or a tliief," Sec. 



" Her Highness" was Queen Elizabeth, and the 

 purport of the letter was to convey " her High- 



