116 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2'><» S. VI. 136., Aug. 7. '58. 



Miscel. Poetry, vol. ii. p. 23.) Though the allusion to the 

 Sleep-Rose is preserved in our heroine's name, she suffers 

 from the wound of a spindle, as in the Pentamerone of G. 

 B. Basile, V. 5. The further progress of Sigurd's or 

 Siegfried's adventures will be seen in ' The King of the 

 Golden Mountain.' "—Germ. Pop. Stories, vol. i. p. 222. 



" In these popular stories, observe MM. Grimm, is 

 concealed the pure and primitive Mythology of the Teu- 

 tons, which has been considered as lost for ever .... It 

 is curious to observe that this connexion between the 

 popular tales of remote and unconnected regions is 

 equallj' remarkable in the richest collection of tradition- 

 ary narrative which any country can boast ; we mean 

 the ' Pentamerone, overo Trattenemiento de li Piccerille,' 

 published by Giov. Battista Basile, very early in the 

 17th century, from the old stories current among the 

 Neapolitans. It is singular that the German and the 

 Neapolitan tales (though the latter were till lately quite 

 unknown to foreigners, and never translated out of the 

 Italian tongues) bear the strongest and most minute re- 

 semblances." — Jb. pp. viii. — ix. 



The advertisement to the second volume states 

 that " The Translator once thought of following 

 up these little volumes with one Of selections 

 from the Neapolitan Penta)nerone." May I ask, 

 Has the Pentameron ever been translated into 

 English, or is there any prospect of it ? * 



ElKIONNACH. 



LADT BERESFOKD S GHOST STOET. 



(2»-> S. vi. 73.) 



This narration seems to be compiled from 

 family tradition ; but it involves so many errors 

 as to persons and dates, that, without some clearer 

 authentication from the family, little importance 

 can be attached to it. 



The Lady Beresford referred to appears to 

 have been Nicola Sophia Hamilton, daughter of 

 Lord Glenawly, and the wife of Sir Tristram 

 (not Martin) Beresford, to whom she was married 

 in 1687. The birth of their son took place in 

 July, 1694, and Sir Tristram survived the event, 

 not four, but seven years. The Lord Tyrone 

 referred to must have been John, the second earl, 

 who died unmarried in his twenty-ninth year, 

 14th October, 1693. It will be observed that the 

 story, in one remarkable particular, harmonises 

 with these dates. The daughter — not of John 

 the second, but of James the third Earl of Tyrone 

 was married to the son of Sir Tristram and Lady 

 Beresford, on whom the Earldom of Tyrone was 

 afterwards conferred. The second husband of 

 the unhappy lady was Richard Gorges, whr rose 

 to the rank of a general in the army, and by 

 whom she had two daughters and two sons. 

 " Lady Beresford," says the peerage, " deceasing 



[* A selection was published in 1848 by Bogue, and 

 entitled, Tlie Pantamerone ; or, the Story of Stories. Fun 

 for the Little Ones. By Giambattista Basile. Translated 

 from the Neapolitan by John Edward Taylor. 16mo. 

 1848. The entire work was translated into German by 

 Professor Liebrecht in 1846, 2 vols. 12mo. It has a pre- 



23rd February, 1713, was buried in the Earl of 

 Cork's tomb in St. Patrick's Cathedral." 



The greatest inaccuracy of the narrative is as 

 to Lady Betty Cobbe, for that lady (7iee Lady 

 Elizabeth Beresford, being youngest daughter of 

 Marcus Earl of Tyrone, and married in 1755 to 

 Thomas Cobbe, Esq., son of the Archbishop of 

 Dublin), belonged to a later age, being in fact 

 the grand-daughter of the heroine of the black 

 ribbon. 



It is a minor inaccuracy, yet helping to lessen 

 the credit of the narrative, that the 14th of Oc- 

 tober, 1693, the day of the Earl of Tyrone's 

 death, was not a Tuesday, as was stated, but a 

 Saturday. 



It may be hoped that some member of the 

 Beresford family will be able to state the source 

 of the narrative, and supersede its errors with 

 more authentic particulars. Candidds. 



HTMNOLOGr. 



(2°" S. vi. p. 54.) 



The " Congregational Body," whose " undue 

 licence " is complained of by Z., is so well able 

 to take its own part, that it may appear quite 

 superfluous in one who does not belong to that 

 body to stand forward as its defender. But I so 

 much admire the Congregational Hymn-Booh, as 

 being the most copious and impartially selected 

 work of the kind with which I am acquainted, 

 that I would say a few words in defence of what 

 Z. considers to be unfair treatment of his fa- 

 vourite hymn. In the Index to the Hymn-book, 

 " Come thou fount of every blessing " is attri- 

 buted to Robinson, Now, if Lady Huntingdon 

 really composed it as it stands in Z.'s copy, she is 

 undoubtedly the real author, and, so far, " undue 

 licence" has been taken ; but, on comparing Z.'s 

 copy of the hymn with that printed in the Congre- 

 gational Hymn-Book, I think any one must be 

 struck with the immense improvement which has 

 been attained by means of slight alterations ; all 

 that is devotional in the original having been re- 

 tained, and its grotesqueness removed. Compare 

 the first stanza, as given by Z.*, and as it stands 

 in the Congregational Hymn-booh.^ 



face by Jacob Grimm, and is very learnedly illustrated 

 by the translator.] 



* " Come thou Fount of every blessing, 

 Tune my heart to sing thy praise; 

 Streams of Mercy never ceasing 



Call for loudest songs of praise. 

 Teach me some melodious sonnet. 



Sung by angel hosts above ; 

 Praise the Mount, I'm fixed upon it, 

 Mount of thy redeeming love." 

 t " Come, thon Fount of every blessing ! 

 Tune ray heart to sing thy grace. 

 Streams of Mercy, never ceasing, 

 Call for songs of loudest praise. 



