2 nd S. IX April 7. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



273 



the so-called sea songs of Dibdin were ever 

 generally accepted by sailors; they abound too 

 much with nautical blunders and absurdities. 

 The popular ditties in my time were about as 

 rude as the specimen given by Me. Peacock, and 

 generally celebrated the adventures or exploits of 

 a favourite vessel or hero, who otherwise probably 

 would not have found a " sacred poet." An 

 ordinary writer of songs or ballads would, in the 

 case before us, have most likely sung the glorious 

 victory gained by the fleet, and have taken the 

 admiral commanding for his hero ; but the crew 

 of the " Kent " had good reason to be proud of 

 the share which their ship took in the action ; 

 she was the fastest sailer, and ran through the 

 thick of the enemy's fleet, of which two ships, the 

 " St. Philip," 74 guns, and the " St. Carlos," 60 

 guns, struck to her alone. And I have no doubt 

 that one of her crew composed the song in ques- 

 tion in honour of her and of her gallant captain. 

 It was on the occasion of this action that the most 

 laconic dispatch on record, next to the famous 

 " veni, vidi, vici," was received by Sir G. Byng 

 from Captain Walton, whom he had detached 

 from his main body with six ships to cut ofl" a 

 Spanish squadron which had tacked in shore to 

 escape from him : — 



" Sir,— We have taken or destroyed all the Spanish 

 vessels which were upon the coast, number and descrip- 

 tion as per margin. 



" I am, &c. 



" G. Waltox." 



These ships " as per margin," comprised three 

 line-of-battle-ships, five frigates, three bomb ves- 

 sels, and a store ship ! • S. H. M. 



Hodnet. 



Petsde Pveligieuses (2 nd S. ix. 90. 187.)— This 

 ridiculous name is not peculiar to the French. 

 The Germans have their Nonnen-fiirze, but made 

 differently from the articles described by F. A. 

 Carrington, which, however, are still served at 

 some tables. They are equally made of thin 

 batter, but it is dropped into the frying-pan 

 through a funnel, and made in long light strips, 

 crossing over one another, and forming a very 



Ealatabie dish, which has often been partaken of 

 y F. C. H. 



Chalking tiie Doohs (2 nd S. ix. 112.) — A 

 curious instance of this custom is recorded in the 

 (ual Quixote, where the Jacobite Barber takes 

 Jerry Tugwell 



" Into a long Gallery which led to the principal Bed- 

 chambers, on the doors of which the Quartermaster with 

 chalk (and afterwards traced over with wbite lead by 

 way of curiosity) the names of the Prince, Lord Ogilvy, 

 PitaligO, and other Rebel Cbiefs who, in their way to 

 Darby, having baited one nitclit in Ashbourne, had been 

 quartered iu this Gentleman's house."— Vol. iii. p. 



W. II. Lam.min. 

 1'ulLiam. 



Earthquakes in the United Kingdom (2 ad S. 

 ix. 142.) — According to the Europische Mercu- 

 rius for the months of October, November, and 

 December of the year 1690, the common of 

 Strathleford *, in consequence of an earthquake, 

 was crushed by the fall of a mountain. This 

 happened in November of the said year. Sixteen 

 persons were reported missing ; one had lost his 

 wits ; a number of cattle and horses were killed ; 

 and the locality where the mountain had stood 

 was changed into a pool three miles in circum- 

 ference. J. H. van Lennep. 



Zeyst, near Utrecht, Feb. 28, 1860. 



Dr. Dryasdust will find an account of some of 

 these phenomena in a small volume by Doolittle, 

 Earthquakes Explained and Improved, occasioned 

 by the late Earthquake, Sept. 8, 1692, in London, 

 1703. It also contains an account of an earth- 

 quake April 6, 1580, with prayers on the subject, 

 and especially that of 1692. G. Offoh. 



" High Life below Stairs" (2 nd S. ix. 142.) — 

 The last edition of the Biogruphia Dramatica 

 (1812), which Mr. Wylie does not seem to have 

 consulted, attributes this farce to Townley, with 

 the following remarks : — 



" This piece has been often ascribed to Mr. Garrick ; 

 but, as we now know, without foundation. Mr. Dibdin, 

 who professes some particular knowledge as to this sub- 

 ject, says that Dr. Hoadly had a hand in it ; and there 

 were other persons who were in the secret, but who con- 

 ceived the subject to be rather ticklish. 



" We believe that we have now, however, duly assigned 

 the authorship of this piece absolutely to Mr. Townley; 

 of which fact the late Mr. Murphy became satisfied before 

 his death, from the testimonials of James Townley, Esq., 

 of Rams^ate and Doctors' Commons, the author's son ; 

 and it was Mr. M.'s intention to have corrected the fact, 

 in a second edition of his Life of Garrick." 



Possibly some of your correspondents may be 

 able to afford information as to the nature of the 

 testimony given by Mr. Townley, jun., in support 

 of his father's claim. W. H. Husk. 



Dominus regnavit a ligno (2 0d S. viii. 470- 

 516.; ix. 127.) — Perhaps it may be pertinent to 

 note how this text stands in Cardinal Mai's lately 

 published splendid edition of the Vatican Codex, 

 'O Kvpios iSacrihtvcrtv' xal yap KaTcipdwae rijv otKovfie- 

 vi)v. This slightly differs from the present text 

 of the Septuagint by retaining the v in iSouriXexxrtv 

 before a consonant. Considering this difference, 

 is it not an indication that a vowel originally fol- 

 lowed it ? This, of course, would be curb rov £iM.oD. 

 In fine, St. Justin's accusation is, I think, conclu- 

 sive evidence that this originally formed part of 

 the text ; and, if so, it must have been a very 

 common Latin text, until the translation of the 

 Hebrew Scriptures by St. Jerome ; for although 

 the Itala was the prevailing version, yet in fact, as 



* Sutherland. 



