Oct. 11. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



269 



J'* hir heuedis hei may not hold vp 

 But hongen it in i" fendis cup." 



3. Yet with regard to one class of questions, the 

 tongue of the preacher was restrained. After 

 touching the subject of confession and the frailty 

 of some confessors, he adds in a significant way : 



" Of Ws mater coude I sey mar, 

 But God wod !>' I ne dar, 

 For beter is skilful pes to holde 

 J'an in speche ben to bolde." 



4. The following extract will not fall to interest 

 the student of prophecy : — 



" Getwoneful manyiewisthore, [z'.e. in captivity] 

 And so schul I'ei don euer more, 

 TU ageyn domes day, 

 J^an schul i'e'i I'ens out-stray, 

 And ouer al I'er Pei go 

 Cristen folk schul J'ei slo ; 

 And J'ei schul receyue antecrist 

 And wene J^' he be ihu crist; 

 And sone after comit' domes day. 

 As we in prophecye her say." 



5. The last passage I shall cite is a curious 

 exposition of the First Commaudmeut (p. 455.) : — 



" J'° first heste is J'is : i>a sclialt worschij)en I'i 

 lord god & him alone seruyn. In ]>' heste is for- 

 boden to don any sacrifice to mawmettis or wor- 

 schipe to fals goddis. In )>' heste also is forboden 

 al maner wicchecraftis,enchauntementis, wil'seruys 

 and markis and al manere experimentis, coniura- 

 ciouns, as men wone to do and maken for thynges 

 i-stolen, in bacynes, in swerdis and in certeyn 

 names wreten and enclosed, holi water and holi 

 candel and ol'ere manye maneris whiche ben 

 nought good to neuene. In >' heste also is for- 

 boden al maner iogelyng and for to tellyn of 

 Hng !>' is to comen, be sterres and planets, or 

 be metell, or be destene, or be schynynge of i'" 

 pawme of mannes bond or eny oi>eve maneris. For 

 ^ei aproperen to man I'ing !>' oueliche falle)* to 

 god, to witeu of Hnges I'' arn to come," &c. 



C. H. 



St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge. 



A FUNERAL IN HAMBURGH. 



Mr. Gatty's observations (Vol. iii., p. 499.) re- 

 garding the funeral of an Irish labourer, have 

 reminded me that while on a visit some years 

 ago to a brotlicr in the city of Hamburgh, we 

 one Sunday spent the day with a worthy pastor 

 of a small village a few miles from that city, 

 where we went early enough to attend morning 

 service in the village church ; and in the after- 

 iioon, while indulging with our pipes and coffee 

 iu an alcove in the pastor's garden, I observed 

 a funeral ap[)roach the cliurchyard gate, and 

 understanding that the ccreniony was dillerent 



to what I had been accustomed to, I laid down my 

 pipe and walked into the churchyard to observe 

 what passed, and my movement induced my 

 brother and another or two to become spectators 

 also. The funeral party having arranged them- 

 selves at the entrance, the ceremony commenced 

 as follows. The parish clerk or verger walked 

 first, having a lemon in one hand and a bunch of 

 evergreen in the other; he was followed by six 

 choristers or singing boys, then six men as bearers 

 carrying the cofiin, and after them the mourners 

 and other attendants. As soon as the cavalcade 

 moved off, the clerk or verger gave out a strophe 

 of some psalm or hymn, which he and the boys 

 chanted while moving round the churchyard ; and 

 thus chanting they followed a green path, which I 

 discovered was kept close mown for the purpose ; 

 and I observed our worthy pastor had joined the 

 cavalcade, though alone, and at some little dis- 

 tance from the mourners. I understood it was 

 customary thus to move three times round, but 

 being a very sultry afternoon, the party made two 

 turns serve, when coming to the open grave the 

 bearers let down the cofiin into it, and then 

 another strophe was chanted, which ended, the 

 mourners took a last look at the culfin, and silently 

 dropped their sprigs of evergreen upon it ; the 

 bearers then each took a spade, already provided 

 for them, and quickly filled up the grave, and ad- 

 justed its form, when the funeral party returned 

 silently home as they came. The pastor had now 

 retreated again to the alcove in his garden, where 

 we soon joined him, and he told me that as we had 

 gone to witness the ceremony, it would have been 

 thought disrespectful had he not also shown 

 himself, though it did not appear that his attend- 

 ance was necessary. The general practice here 

 observed of the bearers filling up the grave, shows 

 that the Irish labourers had some more general 

 custom for their practice than Mr. Gattv appears 

 to be aware of, W. S. IIesleden. 



FOLK LORE. 



The Baker's Daughter. — Oj)helia (Act IV. 

 Sc. 5.) says that 



" The owl was a baker's daughter." 



This reminds me of a Welsh tradition concerning 

 the female vrho refused a bit of dough from tiie 

 oven to the Saviour " when lie hungered," and 



was changed into Cassek gwenwi/ii, Hvv liUsh, 

 lamia, strix, the night spectre, maru, or screech-owl. 



G.M. 



" Pray remember the Grotto " on St. James's 

 Day (Vol. i., p. 5.). — Tlie interesting note with 

 which Mil. William J. Thoms presented the first- 

 born of " Notes and Queries," may periiaps 

 admit of a postscript, borrowed IVom one of Mr. 



