LOW 



LOW 



been brought up in Salifbury cathedral, and was appointed 

 organift of Chrill-church, Oxford, in 1630, where he was 

 deputy mufic profefTor under Dr. Wilfon ; and upon his 

 quitting the univerfity, Low was appointed his fucceflor in 

 tiie profcfTorfhip. 



Low pubhfhtd, in i66i,an ufeful httle book of " Short 

 Direftions for the Performance of the Cathedral Service;" 

 which was reprinted in 1664, under the title of •' A Re- 

 view of fume (liort Directions, formerly printed, for the 

 Performance of Cathedral Service, with many ufeful Addi- 

 tions according to the Common Prayer-book, as itis now 

 eitablifhed : publiflied for the information of fuch as are 

 ignorant in the Performance of that Service, and fhall be 

 called to officiate in Cathedral or Collegiate Churches ; or 

 any other that religioufly defire to bearc a Part in that Ser- 

 vice, by E. L., Oxon. 1664." Nothing of this kind had 

 appeared fince Marbeck's book, in the time of Edward VI. ; 

 and as it is now (1804) 140 years fince the fecond edition 

 of Low's little tradt was publidied, it fcems high time for 

 another to be drawn up by fomc regular bred and able or- 

 ganift, or choral performer, in one of the choirs of the me- 

 tropolis. 



Low, at the Reftoration, was appointed one of the or- 

 ganifts of the chapel royal. He died in 1682, and was fuc- 

 cecded in the king's chapel by Henry Purcell. 



Low, Thomas, a ftage finger, with an exquifite tenor 

 voice. His firft profeflion vras that of a gold and filver-lace 

 manufafturer ; and he began mufic too late to read it as a 

 language, fo that h; learned the fongs, which he performed 

 in public, by his ear to the end of his life. He ftood, how- 

 ever, very high in the favour of lovers of Englifli ballads, 

 particularly thofe of Dr. Arne at Drury-lane and Vauxhall, 

 compofed exprefsly for his voice and bounded abilities. He 

 was the rival of Beard, and gained as much applaufc by the 

 fweetnefs of his voice, through all his ignorance, as Beard, 

 a regular bred mufician, brought up in the king's chapel, 

 could do by knowledge of mufic, humour, and good 

 afting. 



We wi{h not " to draw his frailties from their dread 

 abode ;" but we cannot help recording, as a beacon to 

 other popular fingers, that Low was profligate, extravagant, 

 and unprincipled ; which rendered the latter part of his life 

 difgraceful and wretched. From acquiring unbounded ap- 

 plaufe, and an income of more than 1000/. a-year, he was 

 reduced to the loweft ftate of indigence, and degraded into 

 a chorus finger at Sadler's Wells, Cuper's Gardens, and 

 even a ballad-finger in the ftreets. 



Low Airs, in Horfemanjb'ip. See Airs. 

 Low-5.//, in Birding, a name given to a bell, by means 

 of which they take buds in the night in open champaign 

 countries', and among ftubble in Oftober. The method is 

 to go out about nine o'clock in a ftill evening, when the air 

 IS mild, and the moon does not (hine. 



The low-bell is to be of a deep and hollow found, and of 

 fuch a fize, that a man may conveniently carry it in one 

 hand. The perfon who carries it is to make it toll all the 

 way he goes, as nearly as may be, in that manner in which 

 the bell on the neck of a flieep tolls, as it goes on while it 

 feeds. There muft alfo be a box made like a large lanthorn, 

 about a foot fquare, and hned with tin, but with one fide 

 open. Two or three great lights are to be fet in this, and 

 the box is to be fixed to the perfon's breaft, with the open 

 fide forwards, fo that the hght may be call forward to a 

 great dillance ; it will fpread as it goes out of the box, and 

 will diflinftly (hew the perfon who carries it whatever there 

 is in a large fpace of ground which it extends over, and con- 

 fequently all the birds that rooft upon the ground. Two 



perfons muft follow him who carries the box and bell, one 

 on each fide, fo as not to be within the reach of the light to 

 (hew themfclves. Each of thefe is to have a hand-net of 

 about three or four feet fquare, faftcned to a long ftick or 

 pole ; and on which ever fide any bird is feen at rooft, ihe 

 perfon who is neareft is to lay his net over it, and take it 

 with as little noife as pofiible. When the net is over the 

 bird, the perfon who laid it is not to be in a hurry to take 

 the bird, but muft ftay till he wiio carries the light is got 

 beyond it, that the motions may not be difcovercd. The 

 blaze of the light, and the noile of the bell, terrify and 

 ama'/e the birds in fuch a manner, that they remain ftill to 

 be taken ; but the people who are about the work mufl 

 keep the llrifteft quiet and iUlInefs that may be. 



Some people are fond of going on this fcheme alone. 

 The perfon then fixes the light-box to his breaft, and carries 

 the bell in one hand, and the net in the other ; the net, in 

 this cafe, may be fomewhat fmaller, and the handle Ihorter. 

 When more than one are out at a time, it is always proper 

 to carry a gim. It is no uncommon thing to efpy a hare 

 when on this expedition ; and, in that cafe, it is better to 

 flioot her, than to truft to the taking her in the net, for ftie 

 will very cafily efcape from that. 



Some tie their bell to their girdle, and carry the light in 

 their left hand, and the net in their right ; the light is not to 

 be fo large in this cafe, and the other way is therefore rather 

 the better. 



l^ovi-Belkrs, in our Statute-Books, are perfons who go in 

 the night-time with a light and bell, by the fight and noife 

 whereof, birds fitting on the ground become Ihipefied, and 

 fo are covered with a net, and taken. 



Low Countries, in Geography. See Brabant, Flan- 

 ders, and Netherlands. 



Low Countries, School of Engraving of the. It has been 

 deemed eligible to adopt the ulual clafllrtcation, and follow 

 the examples of the continental writers upon art, in ar- 

 ranging our fchools of engraving. Thofc writers have 

 thought proper to unite the fchools of Holland and of 

 Flanders under the general head of " I'Ecole des Pays bas ;" 

 and as our Cyclopaedia had advanced beyond the letter D, 

 before it was determined to clufter our biographical notices 

 of the profeflors of this art, m fchools and in chronologic 

 fucceffion, it is prefumed the expediency of this arrange- 

 ment will need no further argument in its recommendation, 

 or reafon for its adoption. 



The literati and connoiffeurs of the Low Countries have 

 not been iafenfible to the anxieties which ufually attend on 

 the patriotifm of art and fcholarftiip, and have taken fome 

 fmall part in the controverfy refpedfing the invention of 

 letter-prefs engraving and printing : but the feeble preten- 

 fions of Laurence Cofter of Haerlem to this fancied honour, 

 though once ftrenuoufly afterted by Meerman, by Bokhorn, 

 and by Junius, have been patiently refigned, and gradually 

 withdrawn ; and the ftory of his wandering in a wood near 

 Haerlem, and printing from the bark of trees, refuted by 

 the baron Heinneken, is no longer lifteued to with the 

 fmalleft degree of credit, beyond the fuburbs of the good 

 city of Haerlem. 



But the Low Countries may claim the more worthy 

 rivalry, and the more folid diftindlion, of having given birth 

 to fome of the moft juftly celebrated engravers on copper : 

 and the prefcience and difplay of fuperior and original ikill, 

 are furely a more noble ground of conteft, than the fortuitous 

 concurrence of cafual difcovery, however important in its 

 confequences. 



We have already mentioned the Gothic engraving of the 

 Holy Virgin, which is in the royal coUedion, and other 



prints. 



