2"* S. IX. Jan. 21. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



41 



Oxford, 1590 date. But the printed work itself is very 

 rare, and probably would be much improved by compari- 

 son with such a test as this. 2. 32 b — 34. An excerpt 

 from Bacon's treatise de Regimine Senum et Seniorum. 



3. 34(b)— 37 b. A treatise de Balneis senum et seniorum. 



4. 37 b. The Antidotarium : ' quem fecit Rogerus Bacon.' 

 An inedited treatise. 5. 45 b. A treatise 'editione sive 

 compositione fratris Rogeri Bacon,' concerning the gra- 

 duation of medicines and the composition thereof as 

 founded upon the rules of Geometry. 6. 58. ' De errori- 

 bus medicorum secundum fratrem Rogerum Bacon.' A 

 short treatise of some curiosity. 7. 75. ' Excerpts from 

 the Opus Majus of Friar Bacon, as published by Doctor 

 Jebb.' 



" F. Palgrave. 

 " 1843." 



This description is on a leaf recently inserted. 

 In the Catalogue of the Manuscript Library of 

 the late Dawson Turner, Esq., from which this 

 volume came, there is an " abstract from an ac- 

 count of the several articles written upon one of 

 the fly-leaves by Mr. James Cobbe, through whose 

 hands many of the Spelman MSS. appear to have 

 passed." The value of this MS. is diminished 

 by the circumstance of every treatise here men- 

 tioned being deposited in the Bodleian and other 

 libraries. Bibliothecar. Chetham. 



THE EXECUTIONER OF KING CHARLES I. 



The following curious dialogue, in metre, is 

 copied from a contemporary broadside in the 

 British Museum, and is probably unique. The 

 date of publication assigned to it by Thomason, 

 the collector of the "King's Pamphlets," is the 

 3rd July, 1649. The sheet is surmounted with a 

 rude woodcut of the executioner, Richard Bran- 

 don, in the act of striking off the head of King 

 Charles, whose hat, apparently from the force of 

 the blow, is thrown up into the air. Between the 

 Dialogue and the Epitaph, there is also a repre- 

 sentation of a coffin, bearing three heraldic shields 

 on its side. Perhaps the long-disputed question, 

 " Who was the executioner of Charles I. ?" — may 

 be determined by this curious contemporary 

 broadside. Brandon died on Wednesday, 20th 

 June, 1649, and was buried on the following day 

 in Whitechapel churchyard. The burial register 

 of St. Mary Matfelon has the entry on the 21st : 

 " Buried in the churchyard, Richard Brandon, a 

 ragman in Rosemary Lane ; " to which has been 

 added : " This R. Brandon is supposed to have 

 cut off the head of Charles I." It is said that the 

 large fee (30i.) demanded by Brandon for his 

 services on the fatal 30th of January, was paid to 

 him in crown pieces, the whole of which, upon 

 reaching his lodgings, he immediately handed over 

 to his wife. /3. 



"A DIAIX)OUE; OK A DISPUTE BETWEEN THE LATE 

 HANUMAN AND DEATH. 



" llanym. What, is my glass run ? 

 Death. Yes, Richard Brandon. 



" Hangman. 

 " How now, stern Land-lord, must I out of door? 

 I pray you, Sir, what am I on your score ? 

 I cannot at this present call to mind, 

 That I with you am anything behind. 



" Death. 

 " Yes, Richard Brandon, you shall shortly know, 

 There's nothing paid for you, but you still owe 

 The total sum, and I am come to crave it ; 

 Provide yourself, for I intend to have it. 



" Hangman. 

 " Stay, Death, thou'lt force me stand upon my guard ; 

 Methinks this is a very slight reward : 

 Let's talk awhile, I value not thy dart, 

 For, next thyself, I can best act thy part. 



" Death. 

 " Lay down thy axe, and cast thy ropes away, 

 'Tis I command, 'tis thou that must obey ; 

 Thy part is play'd, and thou go'st oif the stage, 

 The bloodiest actor in this present Age. 



" Hangman. 

 " But, Death, thou know'st, that I for many years. 

 As by old Tyburn's records it appears, 

 Have monthly paid my Taxes unto thee, 

 Ty'd up in twisted hemp, for more security ; 

 And now of late I think thou put'st me to't, 

 When none but Brandon could be found to do't : 

 I gave the blow caus'd thousand hearts to ache, 

 Nay more than that, it made three kingdoms quake : 

 Yet in obedience to thy pow'rful call, 

 Down went that Cedar, with some shrubs, and all 

 To satisfy thy ne'er-contented lust, 

 Now, for reward, thou tell'st me that I must 

 Lay clown my tools, and with thee pack from hence ; 

 Grim Sir, you give me a fearful recompence. 



" Death. 

 " Brandon, no more, make haste, I cannot stay, 

 Thy know'st thyself how ill / brooke delay ; 

 Though thou hast sent ten thousand to the grave, 

 What's that to me, 'tis thee / now must have : 

 'Tis not the King, nor any of his Peers 

 Cut off by thee, can add unto thy years ; 

 Come, perfect thy accompts, make right thy score ; 

 Old Charon stays, perhaps he'll set thee o'er. 



" Hangman. 

 " Then /must go, which many going sent; 

 Death, thou did'st make me but thy instrument, 

 To execute, and run the hazard to ; 

 Of all thou didst engage me for to do, 

 In blood to thee how oft did I carouse, 

 Toeing chief-master of thy slaughter-house ! 

 For those the Plague did spare, if once I catcht Yin 

 With axe or rope I quickly had despatcht 'em. 

 Yet now, at last, of life thou wilt bereave me, 

 And as thou find'st me, so thou, mean'st to leave me : 

 But those black stains, 1 in thy service got, 

 Will still remain, though I consume and rot. 

 Strike home, all conq'ring Death ! I, Brandon, yield, 

 Thou wilt, I see, be Master of the field. 



" EPITAPH. 



" Who, do you think, lies buried here ? 

 One that did help to make hemp dear ; 

 The poorest subject did abhor him, 

 And yet his King did kneel before him ; 

 He would his Master not betroy, 

 Yet he his Master did destroy ; 

 And yet no Judas : In records 'tis found 

 Judas had thirty pence, Ho thirty pound." 



