2»d S. IX. April 7. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



265 



1708-9, where the following rhyming explanation is of- 

 fered : — 



" In good King Stephen's days, the Ram, 

 An ancient inn at Nottingham, 

 Was kept, as our wise father knows, 

 By a brisk female call'd Old Rose ; 

 Manj-, like you, who hated thinking, 

 Or anv other theme but drinking, 

 Met there, d'ye see, in sanguine hope 

 To kiss their'landlady, and tope; 

 But one cross night, 'mongst twenty other, 

 The fire burnt not, without great pother, 

 Till Rose, at last, began to sing, 

 And the cold blades to dance and spring ; 

 Sp, by their exercise and kisses, _ 

 They grew as warm as were their wishes ; 

 When, scorning Are, the jolly fellows 

 Cry'd, Sing Old Rose and burn the belloivs." 



This may be very diverting; but still it leaves us as 

 much in'the dark as ever as to the origin of the phrase. 

 Perhaps our learned correspondent Me. Chappell could 

 thro.v some light upon it. ] 



" Shagreen." — In a letter, dated 19th Nov. 

 1728, is the following sentence : — 



" Bought 18 vards of very pretty white silk, something 

 in the nature of Shagreen, but a better colour than they 

 ever are ; it cost sixpence a yard more — the piece came 

 to three pounds twelve shillings." 



Can you give any information as to this species 

 of silk (or whatever material it was), here called 

 by the name of " shagreen " ? E. W. 



[The term "shagreen," when applied to silk and not 

 to the prepared skin of fish or beasts, was a kind of 

 taffeta, and is an' Anglicised form of the French chagrin, 

 which is also used to signify a sort of silk, as well as pre- 

 pared skin. Referring to silk, shagreen does not appear 

 to indicate colour, or strictly speaking quality ; but rather 

 intimates the grained or pimpled fabric of the silk, re- 

 sembling the sort of skin or leather which was called 

 shagreen, and formerly much more used than at present.] 



8cplCfji. 



THE TE DEUM. 



(2 nd S. viii. 352.) 



Mr. Boys has already so well repelled the no- 

 tion of an interpolation in this hymn (2 nd S. ix. 

 31.) that any farther remarks must be merely 

 corroborative of his. But it may be observed 

 that there is a fallacy in A. H. W.'s ingenious re- 

 mark, that " the versicles " [verses] " in the even 

 places answer those in the odd places, so far as 

 the three interpolated ones, after which those in 

 the odd places answer those in the even." For he 

 counts by verses, which are mere arbitrary divi- 

 sions, and are independent of the real structure of 

 tli'- hymn. This is one of strict parallelism, after 

 a nodel altogether scriptural : so strict, as to give 

 an indication of a very ancient origin. If St. 

 Ambrose was not the author, it seems more likely 

 to have been composed before his time than after. 

 It is not improbable that some hymn of the an- 



cient church might have suggested the opening 

 clauses : but it is too much at unity in itself, to 

 justify the idea of interpolation. Take away the 

 triple invocation of the Holy Trinity, and there is 

 an abruptness and deficiency in the moral struc- 

 ture, which demands at the very place of the sup- 

 posed interpolation a reiterated assertion of God's 

 true nature, in terras more full and express than 

 before : and this we accordingly find. The fol- 

 lowing stichometrical arrangement of this dis- 

 puted part will perhaps serve to make clear the 

 structure of the hymn thus far. Every one 

 versed in these studies knows, that a passage con- 

 taining introverted or altei-nate parallelism may 

 be exhibited in more than one form, according to 

 the ideas which are brought most prominently 

 into relation : so artificial is the network of these 

 compositions. Thus an epanodos, when contem- 

 plated at another point of view, is often reducible 

 to cognate couplets, &c. But it is submitted, 

 that according to the arrangement below, an alter- 

 nation of clauses and a progression, in the succes- 

 sive designations of the Almighty, are observable, 

 ending in a noble climax. After which follows a 

 special commemoration of Christ, and then, as I 

 am inclined to think, of the Holy Spirit, beginning 

 at Salvum fac, &c. The Deum and Dominum of 

 the first distich are amplified in the Sanctus, &c. 

 of the corresponding clause, and still more am- 

 plified in the lines considered as interpolations. 

 It will be observed the triplet describing the 

 praises of the heavenly powers, is in apposition to 

 that describing the praises of the saints on earth. 



" Te Deum laudamus : 

 Te Dominum confitemur : 



Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur. 

 Tibi oranes Angeli, 

 Tibi coeli et universa? potestates : 

 Tibi Cherubin et Seraphin incessabili voce procla- 

 mant : 

 Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, 

 Dominus Deus Sabaoth : 



Pleni sunt coeli et terra majestatis gloria? tuse. 

 Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus, 

 Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus, 

 Te Martyrum eandidatus laudat exercitus : 

 Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur Ecclesia, 

 Patrem immensse majestatis: 

 Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium: 

 Sanctum nuoque Paracletum Spiritum." 



Though unable to give A.H.W. the information 

 he desires, I may as well call his attention to a 

 very interesting analysis of the Te Deum, vindi- 

 cating its unity, and ably exhibiting its structure 

 on the plan of Scriptural poetry, in the Irish 

 Christian Examiner for October, 1825 ; without, 

 however, touching upon any of the points noticed 

 above. And here I would beg to convert my 

 Note into a Query, viz., Who was the author of 

 the above critique ? I have some idea it was by 

 an excellent and able member of the Church in 

 Ireland, many years dead : but I abstain from 



