322 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[21-1 S. IX. April 28. 'CO. 



lively, satirical, and humorous pieces. His tra- 

 gedy, Vimonda, was acted at the Hayniarket on 

 Sept, 5, 1787. Genest (History of the Stage, vi. 

 455.), after giving a brief notice of the charac- 

 ters, speaks of it as " a moderate tragedy ; some 

 parts of it are very good, and the whole of it 

 would have been better, if it had been written in 

 three acts, with the omission of Alfreda." The 

 Prologue was spoken by Mr. Bensley, and the 

 Epilogue (written by Mr. Mackenzie) by Mrs. 

 Kemble. The Dramatis Persona; — Men, Roth- 

 say, Mr. Kemble. Melville, Mr. Bannister, jun. 

 Dundore, Mr. Bensley. Barnard, Mr. Aickin. 

 Women, Vimonda, Mrs. Kemble. Alfreda, Miss 

 Woolery, 1787; Mrs. Brooks, 1788. Scene — a 

 baron's castle and its environs, on the borders of 

 England and Scotland. 



Vimonda was printed in 1788, 8vo. In the 

 Advertisement, Macdonald states, that " in the re- 

 presentation several passages are left out, and 

 some variations made, for which the author is ob- 

 liged to the judgment and good taste of Mr. 

 Colman. They are not, however, distinguished, 

 as they will easily be perceived, and their pro- 

 priety acknowledged, by persons acquainted with 

 the nature of stage effect." 



Poor Macdonald, after struggling with great 

 distress, died at his lodgings in Kentish Town, on 

 August 22, 1790, in the thirty-third year of his 

 age, leaving a wife and infant in a state of ex- 

 treme indigence. In 1791, Mr. Murray published 

 his Miscellaneous Works, including four dramatic 

 pieces : 1. The Princess of Tarento, a Comedy in 

 two acts. 2. Love and Loyalty, an opera. 3. 

 The Fair Apostate, a Tragedy. 4. Vimonda, a 

 Tragedy. The volume also contains those pro- 

 ductions whicli had appeared under the signature 

 of Matthew Bramble, Esq., with various other 

 compositions. J. Yeowell. 



" BURNING OUT THE OLD YEAR." 



A practice which may be worth noting came 

 under my observation at the town of Biggar (in 

 the upper ward of Lanarkshire) on 31st De- 

 cember last. It has been there customary from 

 time immemorial among the inhabitants to cele- 

 brate what is called " burning out the old year." 

 For this purpose during the day of the 31st a 

 lar^e quantity of fuel is collected, consisting of 

 branches of trees, brushwood, and coals, and 

 placed in a heap at the " Cross," and about nine 

 o'clock at night the lighting of the fire is com- 

 menced, surrounded by a crowd of onlookei s, 

 who each thinks it a duty to cast into the flaming 

 mass some additional portion of material, the 

 whole becoming sufficient to maintain the fire till 

 next or New Year's Day morning tar advanced. 

 Fires are also kindled on the adjacent hills to add 

 to the importance of the occasion. 



So far as I could learn a belief yet partially 

 exists among the inhabitants of the town, which 

 seems some wreck of the ancient superstition, that 

 it is " uncanny " to give out a light to any one 

 on New Year's Day morning, and therefore, if 

 the house fire has been allowed to become extin- 

 guished, recourse must be had to the embers of 

 the pile. This, with feelings of a joyous nature, 

 account for the maintenance of the tire up to a 

 certain time of New Year's Day. 



Others of the better informed class of the in- 

 habitants, who have considered the question of 

 these fires so long perpetuated in town and 

 country, appear to think them of a much deeper 

 origin than any of our once popular witchcraft?, 

 and do not hesitate to ascribe them as the relics 

 of Pagan or of Druidical rites of the dark ages ; 

 perhaps to a period as remote as that of the Bel- 

 taine fires, the change of circumstances having 

 now altered those fires, both as to the particular 

 season of 3'ear of their celebration, and of their 

 various religious forms. There is said to be 

 traces on the neighbouring hills which strongly 

 countenance the opinion being held of such primi- 

 tive usages and ceremonies having prevailed. 



Biggar, although still only a small town, is of 

 very high historical antiquity.* Near it ran the 

 Roman Way passing on to Carlisle, remains of 

 which are occasionally dug up in fields and mosses. 

 Within the town, crossing a small rivulet, exists 

 what is now familiarly known as the " Cadger's 

 (or Carrier's) Brig," its arch presenting the ap- 

 pearance of being of an a;ra contemporaneous 

 with the Roman power in Scotland, as also, in its 

 bounds, a large tumulus or earthen mound whicli 

 has never been explored, and of which there is 

 no record whatever. In the days of Sir William 

 Wallace, on the adjacent grounds was fought with 

 the English the " Battle of Biggar," in the es- 

 tablishing the independence of the country. 



Some of the particulars noticed in the fore- 

 going may perhaps throw farther light on the 

 " Clavie and Durie" which have been under dis- 

 cussion in the pages of " N. & Q." G. N. 



POPE PAUL IV. AND QUEEN ELIZABETH. 



While reading up the question of the excom- 

 munication of Queen Elizabeth by Pope Pius V., 

 lately mooted in " N. & Q," and looking into the 

 most reliable Roman Catholic writers, such as 

 Dr. Lingard and Dodd, for their account of the 

 matter, I met with the following curious bit, 

 which, melhinks, is fitting for a corner in " N. & 

 Q ," as showing the startling contradictions which 

 sometimes turn up in history. The only edition 

 of Dodd then within my reach was the unfinished 



* " London's big, but Biggar's biggar," is a well- known 

 old saying in reference to it. 



