236 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»'i S. VI. 142., Sept. 18. '58, 



" Oa the evening of this day (Easter Eve), in the mid- 

 dle districts of Ireland, great preparations are made for 

 tlie finishing of Lent. JIany a fat hen and dainty piece 

 of bacon is put into the pot by the cotter's wife, about 8 

 or 9 o'clock ; and woe be to the person who should taste 

 it before the cock crows! At 12 is heard the clapping of 

 hands, and the joyous laugh, mixed with an Irish phrase, 

 which signifies ' out with Lent.' " — Ibid. 



F. PnilLOTT. 



The practice of the early Christians varied 

 much in keeping this fast, and by some it was not 

 kept at all. Eusebius {Ecc. Hist. v. 24.) has pre- 

 served an extract from an epistle of Irensus to 

 Victor, Bishop of Rome, written at the end of the 

 second century, wherein he sajs, 



"For not only is the dispute respecting the day [of 

 Easter], but also the manner of fasting. For some think 

 that they ought to fast only one day, some two, some 

 more da3-s ; some compute their day as consisting o( forty 

 hours night and day ; and this diversity existing among 

 those that observe it, is not a matter that has just sprung 

 up in our times, but long ago among those before us, who 

 perhaps not having ruled with sufficient strictness, esta- 

 blished the practice that arose from their simplicity and 

 inexperience." 



The forty hours above-mentioned is evidently 

 the fast kept at Naples, referred to by F. S. A., 

 commencing at eight o'clock on the eve of Good 

 Friday (our Thursday night), and terminatmg at 

 noon on Saturday, thereby leaving eight hours for 

 a joyful preparation for Easter eve. 



These forty hours, TicaapaKocrrr] or guadragcsima 

 have been expanded into forty days, as now kept 

 by the Latin church. 



The differences as to the day on which Easter 

 was to be celebrated induced Polycarp to visit 

 Rome about a.d. 100 (Euseb. Ecc. Hist. v. 23. ; 

 Tillemout, iii. 102.). The most ancient practice 

 was to follow the Jewish calendar, but Rome in- 

 sisted on having Easter Day held on Sunday, 

 right or wrong, and threatened excommunication 

 to the immediate followers and direct successors 

 of Jesus and the apostles, for not adopting her in- 

 novation. T. J. liuCKTON. 



Lichfield. 



sceve et sabbato.ex parte omni jejunate, quibus 

 sat virium suppetit, nihil penitus gustantes usque 

 ad nocturnum galli cantum." F. C. H. 



F. S. A. is not correct in saying that in Catho- 

 lic countries the conclusion is at noon on Holy 

 Saturday. The obligation of fasting continues 

 till midnight, as the whole day of Holy Saturday 

 is included in the forty d.iys of Lent. It is true 

 that as a mass of Easter Sunday is now said by 

 anticipation on Saturday morning, the faithful 

 begin then in some respects to anticipate the fes- 

 tivities of Easter, but the fast continues through- 

 out the day. In reply to the Query as to the 

 practice of the early Christians, it is clear from 

 the Apostolic Canons (lib. v. can. 18.) that the 

 primitive Christians observed a strict fast on Holy 

 Saturday, and were even recommended, if able, 

 to join the fust of Good Friday with it: "In para- 



THE SEVEN CHAMPIONS AKD SHAKSPEABE. 



(2°'i S. vi. 46. 94.) 



I had given the Champions so very cursory a 

 perusal when I sent my communication to " N. & 

 Q." that I had not observed the most obvious fact, 

 that the Third Part is not by Johnson, but by a 

 far inferior writer. I have since I read Me. Hal- 

 liwell's remarks looked somewhat more closely 

 into the matter, and have arrived at the follow- 

 ing results : — 



I think i may assume that the First Part was 

 printed before Spenser commenced the Faerie 

 Queen ; for the first book of that poem is evi- 

 dently founded on it. Now we know that tlie 

 Faerie Queen was begun before the year 1580 ; 

 for reasons which I cannot state now, I would say 

 so early as 1577. I would then place the publi- 

 cation of the First Part of the Champions in the 

 preceding year ; for the Second Part is dedicated 

 1 to Lord William Howard, to whom Johnson says, 

 ' " it hath o/Zaie pleased your most noble brother 

 t in kindness to accept of this History " (i. e. the 

 \ First Part), and ,in the " To the gentle Reader " 

 he says he was " encouraged by the great accept- 

 ! ance of the First Part " to write the Second Part ; 

 so that, as we may see, the parts were published 

 [ separately with separate dedications. 



Now this Lord William Howard is evidently the 

 I celebrated Belted Will, Warden of the Western 

 ! Marches. Of him Collins tells us that he died in 

 1640, having lived sixty- three years in union with 

 his wife, and we know that they were both of the 

 mature age of fourteen years when they were 

 joined in the bands of Hymen, and consequently 

 Will must have been born in 1563 ; and Sir Wal- 

 ter Scott docs use a poetic licence when he makes 

 him hold 



" The stately lady's silken rein " 



when at Branksome Tower, about ten years before 

 he was born. Will's most noble brother must have 

 been the Earl of Suffolk, and as there was a son 

 between them, he may have been born in 1560, 

 and so have been about seventeen when the First 

 Part was published, and Lord William perhaps of 

 the same age when the Second appeared. I far- 

 ther infer this early date from the circumstance 

 that, had he been a Lord Warden at the time, 

 Johnson would have been sure to mention it ; and 

 as, by his marriage with an heiress, he became 

 Lord of Naworth in Cumberland, the queen, who 

 was anxious to make reparation to the young 

 Howards for the death of their father, most pro- 

 , bably made him Lord Warden as soon as he came 



