2nd s. VI. 141, Sept. 11. '58.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



213 



Company of Stationers, 1638." The title-page dif- 

 fers from that of the edition of 1681, described by 

 D. S. in having on its lower half the same wood- 

 cut as he describes as immediately preceding the 

 Testament of Jacob. The epistle " to the Chris- 

 tian Reader " occupies ten pages, and is subscribed 

 Eichard Day. The Testament of Jacob fills nine 

 pa^es, and those of his twelve sons one hundred 

 arS forty-one pages. I shall be glad to be in- 

 formed the date of the ^rst edition in English of 

 this book. I have seen accounts of editions pub- 

 lished in 1577, 1581, 1638, 1677, 1681, 1706, and 

 1731. PisHEY Thompson. 



I have an earlier copy of this book than either 

 G. N. or D. S. The title-page is the same as 

 that referred to by G. N. ; but an earlier edition, 

 "Printed at London for the Company of the Sta- 

 tioners, 1610." The woodcut on the title-page 

 corresponds with that described by D. S. as ap- 

 pearing on his copy to the Testament of Jacob. 

 The letters R. B. appear on the foot-board of the 

 bedstead ; no verses underneath, but " Printed," 

 &c., as above. It is in black-letter, small 12mo., 

 apparently the original stitched covei's. After an 

 epistle " To the Christian Reader," of eight pages, 

 signed " Richard Day," follows " The Testament 

 of Jacob," &c., as described by D. S. The cut on 

 the title-page repeated, and the verse as given by 

 D. S. underneath. The Testament of Jacob itself 

 takes up eleven pages, beginning on the back of 

 the title. Then follows the Testaments of each of 

 the Twelve Patriarchs in order, each preceded by 

 a woodcut with verses underneath, occupying 142 

 pages, unnumbered : concluding with the ac- 

 count of how thes? Testaments were first found, 

 on two pages. At the end of tlie volume is a 

 woodcut with " 1610," over the top of it, a blaz- 

 ing sun in an oval, with the motto around : " Os 

 homini sublime dedit," surrounded with angels, 

 flowers, and other ornaments ; among which are 

 (he arms of the city of London and the Stationers' 

 Company ; underneath, " At London, printed for 

 the Company of Stationers." 



The woodcuts, though rudely cut, are better in 

 design than many of the date. On the blank leaf 

 in the beginning are the following words, written 

 by some previous owner : — 



" Iste liber est mcus, testis est Deus, si quisque querat, 

 Jobaneiu Eliutt noininiituni." 



The following is in very old handwriting, as 

 ancient (I should judge from the peculiar form 

 of some of the letters) as the date of the book : — 



" A mercyfull man douth inriche his owne soule, and 

 Bhall enter in thorowe the three graces humilitio, vertuc 

 and lienor to live with Abraham, to rest with Isake, to 

 joie with Jacobc." 



Samuel Shaw. 

 Andovcr. 



" IX IS NOT WORTH AN OLD SONG ! " 



(2"'*S. vi. 148.) 



Jn old English, "a song" sometimes signifies 

 " a trifle." The use of the word in this sense, and 

 of such vernacular phrases as " it is not worth an 

 old song," " he bought it for an old song," " he 

 sold it tor a song," (Conf. All's Well, Act IIL 

 Sc. 2.), is apparently due to various concurrent 

 circumstances. 



AVe find an early trace of the idea, perhaps the 

 earliest, in med. Latin. Cancim meant nugse. 

 With this may be compared in Fr. the interjec- 

 tional chansons ! which, though it means literally 

 songs ! is equivalent to our English norisense ! or 

 to Mr. Burchell's expressive but not very ceremo- 

 nious -^ fudge!" So, in Italian, caMro?ie / (songs!) 

 per modo d' interrompimento ; i. e. stuff! 



It is however observable that, in our English 

 idioms as above enumerated, "song" expresses 

 not simply a trifle, a valueless article, but such an 

 article used in barter, i. e. paid as a price, or given 

 in exchange (" He sold it for an old song," ^-c). 

 But of this use, also, we have traces in other lan- 

 guages. 



Thus in Italian, dar canzone (to give songs) is 

 to give words in lieu of deeds, to cozen, to bilk. 

 And this idea of short payment, as connected with 

 " songs," is very evident also in the Fr. " Je ne 

 me paye pas de chansons," which, verbally ren- 

 dered, means " I am not to be paid in songs," or, 

 " I receive not payment in songs " {words won't 

 do for me, I want deeds). 



We, however, in describing the valueless article 

 or insufficient price, often introduce the word old 

 (" he bought it for an old song ") . This our idea 

 of an " old song," as something valueless, may per- 

 haps have originated in the following manner. 



"Song," in old English, often signified the 

 Church Services, which were sung or chanted ; a 

 signification of which our language still retains 

 some traces, as in ^^ evensong." So, in French, 

 chant, plain-chant (church-music, or chants). So 

 in med. Latin, cantus, e.g. cantus Ambrosianus, 

 c. Gregorianus, c. Romanus, &c. 



But in process of time, and especially in those 

 parts of the Pope's dominions which lay beyond 

 the confines of Italy, the church-music (sovg or 

 cantus') gradually deviated from the cantus Ro- 

 manus, or Roman standard. This was deemed a 

 very serious affair ; great efibrts were made to 

 reinstate the orthodox score ; and reverend in- 

 structors, not ^'■moderate docti in arte musica," 

 were sent forth from Rome as missionaries to rec- 

 tify the deviation, " ut non esset dispar ordo psal- 

 lendi, quibus erat compar ardor credendi." The 

 consequence was, that those churches which re- 

 quired correction had now to learn what was, to 

 them, a nciv song — " Sub iis temporibus incceptus 

 est novus modus cantandi." Du Cange (Hensch.) 

 on Cantus. 



