206 



NOTES AND QUERIES. [2°* S. VI. 141., Sept. 11. '58. 



Jest and Song Books. — Which of these contain 

 large quantities of the most witty class, free from 

 indecorums ? Many are published, but they are 

 considered below even weekly criticism, and no 

 one knows how much below monthly or quarterly. 

 Nevertheless, a good comic song is a thing which 

 has its advocates ; and if any of your readers 

 should be a collector, a list, with comments, would 

 not be unworthy of your pages. M. 



Gregorians. — There is a public-house in James 

 Street, Bermondsey, called the Gregorians' Arms. 

 Is this so named as having been a place of meet- 

 ing of the former society of the Gregorians ? and 

 what are the arms of the Gregorians, if any ? N. 



Pedig7'ee of Buchanan the Poet and Historian. — 

 What is known of the descent and descendants of 

 this remarkable man ? The Biographical Dic- 

 tionaries give a very meagre account of himself 

 personally. Are there any grounds for supposing 

 that he was descended by the female side from 

 the royal line of Stuart ; and that he was chosen, 

 as well on account of his relationship as of his 

 learning, to be tutor to James VI. ? 



James Graves. 



Kilkenny. 



Quotations. — There is so much of coincidence in 

 the two subjoined quotations, that I would ask 

 which of the two authors is the plagiarist ? 



" To Banbury came I, profane one ! 

 Where I saw a Puritane-one, 

 Hanging of his cat on Monday, 

 For killing of a mouse on Sonclay." 



Barnabee's Journal. 



" Or else profane be hang'd on Mondaj-, 

 For butchering a mouse on Sunday." 



Muiarum DdicitB, by Sir John Mennis and 

 James S., 2nd edition, 1656.* 



H. 



Bait and White Bait. — At the sumptuous fu- 

 neral feast of Thomas Sutton, given in Stationers' 

 Hall, May 28th, 1612, among other delicacies 

 named, are sixteen dishes of bait and six dishes of 

 white-bait. What is the difference between these 

 two viands ? and how came it, some years ago, 

 there was a tradition that white-bait was con- 

 sidered a dish only fit for the poorest classes ? Is 

 there any earlier mention of either bait or white- 

 bait? A. A. 



Pai'odies on Scott and Byron. — The monopoly 

 of the reading public so long enjoyed by these 

 eminent writers naturally aroused the envy of 

 their brethren cast into the shade, and found vent 

 in numerous parodies ; of these curiosities I have 



[* These extracts remind us of one of the songs of 

 pious Jonathan the Yankee in A Match for a Widow, 

 1788: — 



"And once I stove a cask of beer, 

 Because it work'd on Sunday."] 



the following, and should like to hear what is 

 known of their real authors : — 



1. " Marmion travestied by Peter Prv. 8vo. London. 

 1809." 



2. " The Goblin Groom, a Tale of Dunse. By R. O. 

 Fenwick, Esq. 4t;o. Ediii. ISOii." A clever Parody on 

 Marmion. 



3. " The Lay of the Last Minstrel, travestj'. By O. 

 Neville, Esq. 8vo. 1812." 



4. " The Lay of the Last Minstrel, travestj'. Virgin 

 Edition. 8vo. 1811." 



5. " Jokeby, a Burlesque upon Rokebv. By an Ama- 

 teur of Fashion. 8vo. 1813." 



6. " The Lay of t;he Scottish Fiddle. 8vo. London. 

 1814 " I have seen this ascribed to Washington Irving, 

 but qiiery. 



7. " The Lay of the Poor Fiddler. By an Admirer of 

 Sir W. S. 8vo. London. 1814." 



8. " The Outlaw ; a Tale by Erasmus. 12mo. Edinb. 

 1818." A parody on the Bride of Ahydos. 



J. o. 



Medical Prescriptions. — Could any of your 

 correspondents inform me the origin of writing 

 medical prescriptions in Latin, and whether the 

 plan is universally adopted in Europe ? Rha. 



Three Noble Sisters. — Wanted to know the 

 author and composer of a song either beginning, 

 or having for its burthen, — 



" Three noble sisters, long fav'rites to fame. 



Merry England, Blithe Scotland, Sweet Ireland, by 

 name." 



Ceotchet. 



Miracle Plays. — In the Miracle play " De 

 Deluvio Noe," published by the Roxburghe Club, 

 is the following song of — 



The Good Gossippes. 

 " The flonde comes flettinge in full fast. 

 One every side that spreadeth full farr. 

 For feare of drowninge I ame agaste, 

 Good Gossippes let us drawe neere. 



" And let us drinke or we departe. 

 For often times we have done soe. 

 For at a draught thou drinkes a quartc. 

 And so will I doe or I goe. 



" Here is a pottell full of malmesey good and strong, 

 Yt will rejoice bouth harte and tongue ; 

 Though Noe think us never so longe 

 Yet will we drink alike." 



Can you inform me whether the music of this 

 song has survived to the present time, and if so, 

 where it can be met with ? 



Has any attempt been made to illustrate the 

 Miracle Plays except by the Roxburghe Club, 

 " Before the Abbey Gate, Chester," by Sharp in 

 his Dissertation on the Coventry Mysteries in his 

 representation of a pageant vehicle at the time of 

 performance, and by Corbould in his picture 

 No. 218. in this year's Exhibition of the New 

 Society of Painters in Water Colours ? 



Edw. S. Wilson. 



Floivers noticed by our Early Poets. — Can you 

 oblige me by the mention of any work containing 



