THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. 



teresting handbill which has been sent us by Mr. 

 Rossiter, of the Strand, Southampton, of which 

 the following is a copy : 



SOUTHAMPTON. 

 At a Committee of Merchants and Tradesmen, 



STAR INN, March 15, 1793. 



A PETITION having been presented to Parliament, by the 

 Mayor, Bailiffs, and Burgesses of this Town, for obtaining 

 an Act for making: a Bason and Wet Docks, and enlarging 

 the Quays of this port, at a very enormous and uncertain 

 Expence, which, in the opinion of a very respectable 

 number of Merchants and Tradesmen, from the best in- 

 formation they have been able to obtain, will prove op- 

 pressive and injurious, not only to the Trade and Inhabi- 

 tants of this town, and its general interest, by the excessive 

 increase of Imposts on imports and exports, but will 

 materially affect the neighbouring Merchants, Tradesmen, 

 and Ship-Owners,* insomuch that, if such an Act be ob- 

 tained, the Trade and Commerce of this place will be con- 

 siderably decreased, and the Prices of Goods imported or 

 landed greatly enhanced ; 



A PUBLIC MEETING is therefore requested of the 

 Merchants, Traders, Ship-Owners, and Inhabitants of this 

 Town and places adjacent, at the Star Inn, on Friday, the 

 22nd Day "of this instant, March, at Eleven o'clock in the 

 Forenoon, to consider of the most effectual means for op- 

 posing this inimical plan. 



*A11 Ships coming within Calshot Castle, whether going 

 to Redbridge, Eling, Northam, Chapel, Bursledon, &c., 

 will be burthened with this new Impost, as appears by the 

 new Book of Rates. 



THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, September 28, 1889. 



AN ANCIENT BALLAD. 



The earliest ballad now remaining in the English 

 language is believed to be a cuckoo song of the latter 

 part of the reign of Henry III. The song speaks for 

 itself: 



Sumer is icumen in, 



Llude sing cucu. 



Groweth sed, and bloweth med, 



And springhthe wde r.um, 



Sing cucu. 



Awe beateth after lamb, 



Shouth after calve on, 



Bulluc starteth, 



Buck verteth, 



Murie sing cucu, 



Cuccu, cuccu, 



Well sings the cuccu, 



Ne swick thu naver nu. 



i.e. Summer is come in ; loud sings the cuckoo ; now 

 the seed grows, and the mead blows (that is in 

 flower), and the wood springs ; the ewe bleats after 

 the lamb ; the co%v, the bullock starts ; the buck verts 

 (goes to harbour in the fern) ; merrily sings the 

 cuckoo ; well singest thou cuckoo, mayest thou never 

 cease. (Rttson's Essays, 1783.) 



J. DORE. 



CURIOUS HAMPSHIRE EPITAPHS. 

 The following are from Corhampton : 

 Farewell affliction, grief, and pain, 

 Welcome eternal bliss ; 

 Thank God, I ne'er shall live again 

 In such a world as this. 



Free from malice, void of pride, 

 Thus he lived and thus he died. 



From two quaintly inscribed monumental slabs in the 



South Choir Chapel, St. Cross : 



Susana Lawrence, 



Vas carne valens. 



A flesh-prevailing vessel found 



Beautifi'd to lye under ground. 



Vixit Dec. 13, 1647. 



Devixit Jan. 18, 1670. 



GEORGIUS LAURENTIUS, 

 Ego uti laurus rigens, 

 I under ly as laurel dry. 



Vixit Oct. 14, 1650. 



Devixit Sept. 29, 1651. 



The following conve3 r s the sentiment ot a very com- 

 mon epitaph. It comes from Upham : 



Drae near my friends and have an i, 



As you be now so was I, 



And as I am so shall you be, 



The glass is a Running now for thee. 

 1705. 



These are from the same churchyard : 



My life like a rose or flower in a meadow, 

 Here I flower for a while 

 And vanish like a shadow. 



Plain in their forms, but they was in mind 



Religious, quiet, honest, meek, and kind. 



1780. 



Father's dears and mother's darlings, 



Innocent lovers, 



Gone to everlasting glory. 



EARLY HANOVERIAN QUARTER SESSIONS 



AT WINCHESTER. 



Writing in the August number of the Antiquary, Mr. 

 W. H. Jacob calls attention to a very much dilapi- 

 dated " Minute Booke of the Sessions," ranging from 

 1714 to 1742, which, he says, gives a forcible idea ot 

 justice and manners in the reigns of the early Georges. 

 Punishment by imprisonment was rare, and the 

 general penalty was a public whipping in the corn 

 market, where were the stocks and whipping post, 

 varied by the compulsory journey and flagellation at 

 the cart tail, or in the House of Correction. The via 

 dolorosa for the cart's tail sufferers was from the 

 Westgate or the George Inn to the Market Cross, and 

 all public flagellations were administered by the 

 beadle, who received sometimes a standard of severity 



