428 



NOTES AND QUERIES. [2nd s. vi. 152., Nov. 27. 



'58. 



have received its denouement at least seven years 

 too early for bis purpose ; for if be bad disco- 

 vered tbe secret of bis birtb in 1703, ibe fact 

 of bis existence could not have been concealed 

 from Lord Rivers till he died in 1712. 



Inconsistencies and absurdities, indeed, spring 

 up on all sides. If it was improbable, as Savage 

 appears to have felt, that a" mean nurse" should 

 possess at her death a collection of " convincing 

 original letters " from Lady Mason " explaining 

 the whole contrivance that bad been carried on 

 to conceal his birtb," it is impossible that Dorothy 

 Ousley could have had such letters. She was the 

 confidential agent and friend of Lord Rivers, the 

 anxiously inquiring father, and not of tbe wicked 

 mother, Mrs. Brett. With tbe history of the 

 child " Richard Smith," she must have been at 

 least as well acquainted as Lady Mason ; she 

 could not, consistently with her extraordinary 

 affection for the child, have been made privy to 

 a conspiracy so odious ; and if this dilBculty "were 

 removed, would her supposed new husband, Mr. 

 Loyd, ask no questions about this child, whom 

 she supported and loved as " the apple of her 

 eye ? " Did he, too, join in the cruel plot ? and 

 was Dorothy's brother, Newdigate, who was the 

 godfather of the child, and was in like manner 

 the trusted agent of Lord Rivers, also drawn in ? 

 Instead of being unable, as Johnson says, " to in- 

 fect others with the same cruelty," the unnatural 

 mother must have succeeded in this task to a de- 

 gree that is miraculous. 



Some farther observations I must reserve for a 

 concluding article. W. Mot Thomas. 



BROWNE WILLIS, THE ANTIQUABT. 



The following humorous and characteristic 

 stanzas, referring to this " genuine antiquary, in 

 learning, manners, habit, and person," are deserv- 

 ing, I think, of a corner in " N. & Q." They 

 were composed about the year 1759 by the Rev. 

 Dr. Darrell, and were published originally in 

 The Oxford Sausage, a collection of witty poems, 

 sm. 8vo., Oxon., 1772, edited by Thomas Warton. 

 The accompanying notes are by the testy old 

 Jacobite's friend, "Cardinal" Cole, the Cambridge 

 antiquary, whose own eccentricity in dress, by the 

 way, was little less remarkable than that which he 

 here affects to contemn. Nichols, in his Literary 

 Anecdotes, vi. 20., has reprinted them in part. 

 The sixteenth stanza is omitted both by Warton 

 and Nichols, but it is found among Cole's ]\.SS. 

 {Addit. MS. 5813. f. 219.) with the annexed note. 

 " An Excellent Ball^vd. 

 " To the Tune of Oievy-Cliace. 

 1. 

 " Whilome there dwelt near Bnckingham, 

 Th.-it famous country towni, 

 At a known Place, liight Whaddon Cliace, 

 A Squire of odd KenowD. 



" A Dniid's sacred rorm lie bore, 

 His robes a Girdle bound ^ : 

 Deep vers'd he was iu Antient Lore, 

 In Customs old, profound. 



3. 



" A stick torn from that hallow'd Tree, 

 Where Chaucer us'd to sit, 

 And tell his Tales with leering Glee, 

 Supports his tott'ring Feet.^ 



4. 

 " High on a Hill his Mansion * stood, 

 But gloomj' dark within ; 

 Here mangl'd Books, as Bones and Blood 

 Lie in a Giant's Den, 



'■ Crude, undigested, half-devour'd, 



On groaning Shelves they're thrown ; 

 Such Manuscripts no Eye could read, 

 No Hand write — but his own.^ 



" No Prophet He, like Sydrophel, 

 Could future Times explore ; 

 But what had happen'd, he could tell, 

 Five hundred Years and more. 



" A walking Alm'nack he appears, 

 Stept from some mouldy Wall, 

 Worn out of Use thro' Dust and Years, 

 Like Scutcheons in his Hall. 



" His boots*' were made of that Cow's Hide 

 By Gut/ of fVarwick slain ; 

 Time's choicest Gifts, aj-e to abide 

 Among the chosen Train. 



9. 

 " Who first receiv'd the precious Boon, 

 We're at a Loss to learn, 

 By Spelman, Cambden, Due/dale, worn, 

 And then they came to Hearne. 



10. 

 "Hearne strutted in them for a while. 

 And then as lawful Heir, 

 Brown claim'd and seiz'd the precious Spoil, 

 The Spoil of many a year. 



n. 



" His Car 7 himself he did provide, 



To stand in doable Stead ; 

 ^ That it should carrj' him alive, 

 And bury him when dead. 



12. 



" By rusty coins old Kings he'd trace, 



And know their Air and ISIien : 



King Alfred he knew well by Face, 



Tho' George he ne'er had seen.^ 



13. 



" This Wight th' outside of Churches lov'd 

 Almost unto a Sin ; 

 Spires Gothic of more Use he prov'd 

 Than Pulpits are within.^ 



14. 

 " Of Use, no doubt, when high in Air, 

 A wand'ring Bird they'll rest; 

 Or with a Bramin's holy care 

 Make Lodgments for its Nest. 



