Kov. 8. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



369 



Merry Wakefield. — Whence arose the York- 

 shire proverb "Merry Wakefield?" Fuller 

 mentions it in his Worthies; but does not give, or 

 guess at, its derivation. R. W. Eluot. 



[What peculiar cause of mirth the town of Wake- 

 field hath above others, Fuller certainly confesses he 

 cannot tell, unless that it may be entitled to that epi- 

 thet from its cheapness, and the plenty of good cheer. 

 Grose, however, adds, " ]Might it not be mirrie, that is, 

 faithful Wakefield ? and allude to some event in the 

 disputes between the houses of York and Lancaster. 

 Mirrie-meii is a term that frequently occurs in old bal- 

 lads, signifying true or fiithful men." While again it 

 has been suggested that it derives this complimentary 

 epithet from the reputation of that 



" Merry man the Pindar of the town 

 Of Wakefield, George a Green, whose fames so far 



are blown ; 

 for Brathwaite, in his Strappado for the Divetl, applies 

 it to both of them, when he speaks of 



' Merry Wakefield and her Pindar too.' "] 



The two Kings of Brentfoi-d. — Occasionally 

 when there is an expression of ultra-friendship on 

 the part of two persons who were before supposed, 

 their profession to the contrary notwithstanding, 

 to hate each other right heartily, the following 

 comparison is elicited from the bystanders : 

 " They are like the two kings of Brentford smell- 

 ing at one nosegay." I have sought for the 

 meaning of this profound remark from many deni- 

 zens of that ancient locality, but hitherto without 

 success ; it being, somewhat like the mud of Brent- 

 fori], impenetrable. 



Presuming that the remark, like most popular 

 sayings, bears reference to some foregone lact or 

 event, I shall feel obliged by some one of your 

 contributors stating to what the adage refers, and 

 what it is meant to imply. Does it bear any re- 

 lation to the fact that the two members for Middle- 

 sex are nominated at Brentford ? And is the 

 comparison quoted from any and what work? 



E. J. Hytche. 



[The saying owes its rise to the celebrated farce of 

 The Relieursid, written l)y ViUiers. Duke of Biickinyliam, 

 with the assistance of 15utler, Spratt, and others, in 

 order to correct the public taste by holding up the 

 rhyming tragedies to ridicule. It is said that no less 

 tliau ten years were employed in collecting and polish- 

 ing the materials. The original hero was Davenant, 

 satirised under the name of Bilboa ; but Dryden 

 eventually became its Baycs. The allusion referred 

 to by our correspondent is to Act II. Sc. 2., where 

 the stage direction is, " Enter tlie two Kings, hand in 

 hand," — where they ])rob;ibly did so — " smelling at one 

 nosegay," allliougli no sucli direction occurs ; or to 

 Act V. Sc. 1., "The two riglit Kings of Brentford 

 descend, in the clouds, singing, in white garments; 

 and tlircc I'idlers sitting before them in green. "J 



Meaning of V. D. M. — In the church of old 

 St. Chads, Shrewsbury, there is a tablet to a 

 celebrated Nonconformist minister, Rev. Job 

 Orton, after whose name (which is twice men- 

 tioned) occurs the (to me) uncommon suffix or 

 designation v.D.M. written thus — Rev. Job Orton, 

 v.D.M. " Vir dignus niemorife," or " Veri Dei 

 minister," &c., &c., may be suggested. All I want 

 to know is, whether it represents any recognised 

 formula. G. R. M. 



[This suffix is Vcrhi Dei Minister, Minister of the 

 Word of God.] 



SRcpItc^. 



ANACHRONISMS OF PAINTERS. 



(A^ol. iii., pp. 369. 517. ; Vol. iv., p. 150.) 



I have read D'Israeli's list of the above, to 

 which J. E. alludes in Vol. iii., p. 369., and they 

 are certainly well-known glaring instances of the 

 inconsistencies and absurdities into which artists 

 may be led by ignorance and total want of good 

 taste and feeling : those given by J. E., at the 

 same pnge, are also unhappy examples. I cannot, 

 however, think tliat the instance given by G. T. R. 

 in Vol. iii., p. 517., deserves to be placed in the 

 same category : the subject is. The AVoman taken 

 in Adultery ; and G. T. R. complains of the ana- 

 chronism of Steenwyk's having represented our 

 Saviour as writing on the ground in Dutch. But 

 this is not necessarily the result of ignorance, and 

 is justifiable on the ground of making the painting 

 more intelligible to his countrymen. For the same 

 reasoit the writing is often in Latin ; and, in fact, 

 often as the subject has been painted, I do not 

 recollect any instance of the proper language being 

 used. In making the scene take (jlace in a build- 

 ing of the architecture of the thirteenth century, 

 Sieenwyk has erred (if error it be) in company with 

 the best Italian masters. Both Tintoretto and 

 Paul Veronese engraft into their paintings the 

 architecture and other accessories of their own day. 

 In Tintoretto's celebrated picture of the Marriage 

 of Cana, the artist has made use of the drinking 

 vessels and loaves of bread still used in Venice at 

 the present day. In fact, if strict accuracy were 

 contended for, not a single representation by the 

 old masters of this subject, and of the Last Supper, 

 would pass muster, as, according to the facts of 

 the case, our Saviour and His disciples would not 

 be sitting at a table, but reclining on the ground. 

 But I think these liberties not onlv defensible, but 

 that the artist's iiiculty of thus introducing suc- 

 cessfully into his paintings the scenes passing be- 

 fore his eyes is often a great proof of his genius; 

 and jiictures often owe much of their power and 

 reality to this very cii'cumstance. Space, as well 

 as time, is often annihilated not from ignorance or 



