Nov. 1. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



353 



THE SOULS EKEAND. 



(Vol. iv., p. 274.) 



This beautiful little poem is assigned by Bishop 

 Percy to Sir Walter Raleigh, by whom it is said 

 to have been written the night before his execu- 

 tion ; this assertion is, however, proved to be 

 unfounded, from the fact that llaleigh was not 

 executed until 1618, and the poem in question 

 was printed in the second edition of Francis 

 Davidson's Poetical Rhapsody, in 1608. " It is 

 nevertheless possible," observes Sir Harris Nicolas 

 (Introduction to Poetical Rhapsody, \>. ci.), "that 

 it was written by Raleigh the night before he 

 expected to have been executed at Winchester, 

 November, 1603, a circumstance which is perfectly 

 reconcileable to dates, and in some degree accounts 

 for the tradition alluded to." This ground must 

 be now abandoned, as it is certain that MS. copies 

 of the poem exist of a still earlier date. ISIalone 

 had a MS. copy of it dated 1595 (Shakspeare by 

 Boswell, vol. ii. p. 579.) ; Brydges speaks of one in 

 the British Museum dated 1596 (Lee Priory edit, 

 of Raleigh's Wo?-hs, vol. viii.p. 7"25.); and Campbell 

 says, " it can be traced to a MS. of a date as early 

 as 159-3" (Specimens, p. 57. second edit.). 



''The Soul's Errand" is found in the folio edi- 

 tion of "Joshua Sylvester's Works, and also in the 

 poems of Lord Pembroke. Ritson, whose authority 

 merits some attention, peremptorily attributes it to 

 Francis Davison. " The Answer to the Lye," he 

 observes, " usually ascribed to Raleigh, and pre- 

 tended to have been written the night before his 

 execution, was in fact by Francis Davison" (Bib. 

 Poet. p. 308.). 



The evidence in favour of these three claimants 

 has been well examined by the Rev. John Hannah 

 (see Poems by Sir Henry Wolton, Sir Walter 

 Raleigh, and others, 12nio. 1815, pp.89 — 99.), and 

 completely set aside. The same gentleman has 

 printed a curious poetical piece, from an old MS. 

 Miscellany in the Chetham Library at Manchester 

 (8012. p. 107), which does something to establish 

 Raleigh's claim. It commences as follows : — 



" Go, Eccho of the minde; 

 A cart'les troth prote';t ; 

 IMake answere y' rude Rawly 

 No stomack can disgest." 



" In tlicse verses (remarks Mr. Hannah) three 

 points especially deserve attention ; first, tliat they as- 

 sign tlie di^|luted poem to Haleigh hij name ,- next, tliat 

 tliey were written wlicn he ivnx still alive, as is plain 

 from the concluding stanza; and lastly, that tliey give 

 the reason why it has been found so difficult to discover 

 its true author, for the i;Jth stanza intimates tliat 'The 

 Lie was anonymous, though its writer was not aho- 

 getlier unknown." 



Many MS. copies of " The Sotd's Errand " exist. 

 Two of them have been printed at the end of Sir 



Harris Nicolas's edition of Davison's Poetical 

 Rhapsody; the one from Harl. MS. 229G., the 

 other li'om a manuscript in the same collection, 

 No. 6910. ; the readings of which not only differ 

 materially from each other, but in a slight degree 

 also from the printed copies. The title in Davison 

 is " The Lie," which is retained by Percy; that of 

 "The Soul's Eriand" was taken by Ellis from 

 Sylvester's Works. In some copies it is called 

 " The Farewell." Edward F. Ri.mbault. 



The lines reported to have been written by Sir 

 Walter Raleisjh the night before his execution 

 were not, I think, those alluded to by ^grotus. 

 In the Reliquice Wottoniana are some few 

 " poems found amongst the papers of Sir Henry 

 Wotton," one of which is headed " Sir Walter 

 Raleigh the Night before his Death," and is this : 



" Even such is time that takes on trust 

 Our youth, o\xr joyes, our all we have, 

 And pays us but with uge and dust ; 

 Who in the dark and silent grave 

 (When we have wandered all our ways) 

 Shuts up the story of our days. 

 But from this earth, this grave, this dust. 

 My God shall raise me up, I trust."— W. R. 

 P. 39G, 3d edition, London, 1672. 



In the Collection of Sacred Poetry, edited for 

 the Parker Society by IMr. Farr (vol. i. p. 236.), 

 the lines I have adduced are headed "An Epitaph" 

 and attributed to Sir W. Raleigh on the above 

 melancholy occasion. 



" The Soul's Errand," which .Sgrotus quotes 

 from, is entitled " The Farev/ell" in the same col- 

 lection ; but so much ambigtiity rests upon Sir 

 Walter's poetry that I shall merely add my con- 

 viction that the "Epitaph" is only a fragment — 

 " judicent periiiores." Rt. 



Warmington, Oct. 14. 1851. 



[Bartanus, John Algor, H. E. H. have also kindly 

 replied to this Query.] 



TUE TWO DRS. ABERCROMBIE. 



(Vol. iii., p. 209.) 



It does not appear that David and Patrick Aber- 

 cromby either studied or graduated at the Univer- 

 sity of Leyden. Their names are not found in the 

 alphabetic registers of the students matriculated 

 in the University.* For this reason the academic 

 dissertations of these two physicians will be sought 

 in vain in the University library. Three works of 

 David Abercromby are, however, here : 



* These are now under the care of Professor N. C. 

 Kist of Leyden. It is to be regretted that they are 

 not printed. 



