308 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 104. 



&c. ; through all wliich expressions runs the one 

 constant idea of the fates calling, forcing, driving 

 (agentia) the Trojans toward Latiuin. 



II. " S.-cvus ubi iEacidc-c telo jacet Hector ubi ingens 

 Sarpedon." — Virg. jEn. i. 103.* 



Observe how the poet surmounts the obvious 

 difficulty of uniting Hector, the principal champion 

 of Troy, and Sarpedon, the .son of Jove, in one and 

 I the same sentence, witlaout implying a preference 

 for either, without exalting one at the expense of 

 the other; viz., by counterbalancing, by an in- 

 ferior position towards the end ot' a line, that ad- 

 vantage of j)iiority of mention, which he must 

 necessarily give to one of them ; and by compen- 

 sating tlie other for the disadvantage of being 

 placed second in order, by the double advantage 

 of first place in a line, and separation from the 

 rest of the line by a sudden pause. 



III. " Ubi tot Simois correpta sub undis 

 ^ Scuta virum galeasque ct fortia corpora volvit." 



Virg. jEn. l. 104. 



■' Contendit cum Homero ( //. /x. 22.4-67.). Potest 

 saae oiatio nimis oniata videri ex /Enea; persona ; sed 

 iiiiiumeris locis poeta; cum epici, turn tragicl, ac Ivrici, 

 slbi indulgent in orr.atii, etiam ubi alios loquLnites in- 

 duciint." — IIevne. 



This stricture, very seasonable in a commentai'y 

 on Statins or Lucan, is wholly inapplicable to 

 Virgil ; a poet remarkable, above all others, for his 

 abstinence from gaudy ornament, and singularlv 

 careful to adiipt the sentiment to the character 

 and circumstances of the speaker. The words in 

 the text, or some similar words, were indispensable 

 to give full expression to the idea of JDneas ; very 

 imperfectly understood either by the annotators, 

 or, with the exception of Caro, by the translators : 

 Happy those tcho died on the plains of Trnij, in the 

 sight of their si7-es ? Oh ! that /, ton, had perished 

 there bi/ the hand of Tydides, or been swept aiuaij 

 along with so mauij of nij friends by the Sin 



34. AVestland Row, Dubl 



James Henbt. 



FOLK LOKE. 



Superstitions respecting Sees. — It is a subject 

 for painful reflection, that beings of so great skill 

 and useful industry should be so liable to take 

 aifront, as is proved by the anecdotes related of 

 bees by L. L. L. "Wiio would not grieve, that 

 bees — who have been said to partake of the 

 Divine nature, 



"Esse apibus partem divinas mentis et liaustus 

 iEtherios dixere" — 



should reduce themselves, by this susceptibility of 

 offence at (in most cases imaginary) neglect, to a 



* The numbering of the lines is that of the Delphin 

 edition. 



level with the weakness atul folly of human crea- 

 tures, — I say human creatures ; lor in the country 

 I have known feuds cansed by omitting to bid to 

 the funeral of a deceased neighbour, or to send 

 black gloves. It was to be lioped that these " of- 

 fensiones muliebres" (we may add "viriles" also) 

 were peculiar to the human race; but that, it is 

 apparent, is not so. The custom of giving a piece 

 of the funeral cake is new to me ; thougli it looks 

 like want of feeling to be greedy of cake in the 

 hour of affliction, yet there is a sort of retributive 

 fitness in presenting to these busy people 



" Melle soporatam et medicatis frugibus offam." 

 It is a grateful acknowledgment of past favours 

 conferred upon the deceased head of the family, 

 and a retainer for future services to the survivors. 



With regard to the custom of inibrming the bees 

 of a deatli in the family, ami the penalty of omit- 

 ting to do so, I can add to the proof of it. 1 find 

 among some memoranda I made more than five- 

 and-twenty years ago, the following note : 



" In Buckinghamshire it is common, on the death of 

 any one of the family, for the nurse to go to all the 

 bee-hives in the garden, and tap gently three times, 

 each time repeating three times these words, ' lattlo 

 brownie, little brownie, your master's dead;' when 

 the bees, beginning to hum, show their consent to re- 

 main. The omission of this ceremony, it is believed, 

 would occasion the loss of the bees by flight, or other- 

 wise." 



To show that a similar custom and belief, though 

 varying in some particulars, are ibund upon the 

 continent of Europe, I give the following extract : 



" In Lithuania, when the master or mistress of the 

 bouse dies, it is considered necessary to give notice of 

 the fact to the bees, horses, and cows, by rattling a 

 bunch of keys ; and it is believed, that if this were 

 omitted the bees and cattle would die." — See the 

 Journal of Agriculture. Highland and Agricultural 

 Socictg of Scotland, Oct. 1848, p. 538. 



One word more of bees: "His head is full of 

 bees" is a Scotch proverb, said of a drunkard. 

 (Ray's Proverbs, p. 198.) " He has a bee in his 

 head" is an English proverb. So, " lie has a bee 

 in his bonnet." What is the meaning? As I was 

 vrriting the last lines I said to a friend, who was 

 lounging in his arm-chair by our fireside, " Why 

 is a drunkard's head said to be full of bees ?" "I 

 don't know," he answered, "unless it is on account 

 of their humming. You remember," he added, 



" With a pudding on Sundays, with stout humming 

 liquor. 

 And remnants of Latin to welcome the vicar." 



The half-hour bell rang before we had done 

 talking of and repeating parts ofV.Bourne's "The 

 "Wisli." Many a time has "Notes and tiuERiEs" 

 given subjects for talk in our family befm-e and 

 after dinner. F. W. T. 



Oliver, in his account of Cherry-Burton {History 



