NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. xii. JULY 10, 1915.
curious chance this contained the only
version (out of the sixteen that exist) of
Mrs. Barber's ' Tale ' which does not include
the desired reference. Readers of ' N. & Q.'
may be interested to see the something
" hard upon Mr. Congreve," and to read
about the scarce pamphlet in which it
appeared.
It was first issued anonymously as " A Tale, being an addition to Mr. Gay's Fables: {quotation of five lines from] Ramsay's Life of Cyrus. Dublin, printed by S. Powell for George Ewing 1728." 7 pp. 16mo.
The fourth stanza, on pp. 4-5, contains the lines in question, which are :
Steele's comedies gave vast delight,
And entertain'd them many a night.
C[o]n[greve']s cou'd no addmittance [sic] find,
Forbid as poisons to the mind.
That author's wit and sense, says she,
But heightens his impiety.
This poem was then reprinted (again anony- mouslv) in Mist's Weekly Journal, 13 April, 1728, p. (?) under the "title 'A Tale from Dublin, design'd as an addition to Gay's Tables.' The verses on Congreve still re- mained, but the author had inserted, as a compliment to Swift, the eight lines ending with
Then bless'd the Drapier's happier fate, Who sav'd (and lives to guard) the State.
Next the editor of The London Journal reprinted the poem (still anonymously) in the January, 1733/4, number. I am unable to state whether or no the Congreve verses appeared here also, because none of the libraries in this vicinity contain that number of the periodical.
Finally, however, the poem was brought out under its author's name when Mrs. Mary Barber published in 1734 her ' Poems on Several Occasions.' On pp. 7-12 of that volume appears ' A True Tale,' which is none other than our little poem, in question. It was in this version of the poem that the " something. . . .hard upon Congreve " dis- appeared, " no doubt in obedience to Swift's behest," as Dr. Elrington Ball conjectures. In a minor way the ' True Tale ' maintained its lease of life for seventy years more by being reprinted in at least ten editions of Gay's ' Fables.' All of these editions follow fairly closely the text of the 1728 edition of Mrs. Barber's ' Tale,' and consequently all of them contain the lines on Congreve. With but one exception they reprint the poem without the author's name, and so it is not strange to find that the version given in the
- Muse's Mirrour' of 1778 is " supposed to be
-written by Dr. Parnell." This 1778 reprint
is noteworthy in that it follows the text of
Mist's Weekly Journal, and accordingly
contains both the lines on Congreve and those
on Swift.
A check list of its various issues is as follows : ' A Tale,' &c., 1728 ; Mist's Weekfri Journal, 13 April, 1728 ; London Journal, January, 1733/4 ; Mrs. Barber's ' Poems on Several Occasions,' 1734 ; New York Gazetti, 8 July, 1734 ; Gay's ' Fables,' ed. 7, Dublin, 1737^; id., Dublin, 1760 ; id., Lon- don, 1767; id., Edinburgh, 1770; id., Dublin, 1772 ;' Muse's Mirrour,' 1778 ; Gay's 'Fables,' Dublin, 1784; id., Philadelphia, 1794 ; id., Dublin, 1799 ; id., Dublin, 1804 ; id., Philadelphia, 1808.
I have examined all of these items except The London Journal and The New York Gazette, and find that the author's name is attached to the little poem only in Mrs. Barber's ' Poems,' &c., 1734, and in Gay's ' Fables,' 1767. ERNEST L. GAY. Boston, Mass.
BIBLIOGKAPHY OF HISTORIES OF
IBISH COUNTIES AND TOWNS.
(See 11 S. xi. 103, 183, 315.)
PABT IV. E.
EMLY.
Episcopal and Capitular Seals of the Irish Cathe- dral Churches: Part I. Cashel and Emly. By
R. Caulfield. Cork, 1853. Indexes to Irish Wills. Vol. iii. Edited by W.
P. W. Phillimore. 1911. Includes Diocese of
Emly.
EXXISCORTHY. History of Enniscorthy. By Dr. W. H. Grattan
Flood, K.S.G. Enniscorthy, 1898. History of the Town and County of Wexford.
Vcl. vi. By P. H. Hore, M.R.I.A. 1904.
Contains chapter on Enniscorthy.
ENNISKILLEX.
MS. Letters in Library, Trinity College, Dublin, on Defence of Enniskillen and Siege of London- derry :
James II. to General Hamilton: (1) 1 May, 1689 ; (2) 10 May, 1689 ; (3) 20 May, 1689 ; (4) 8 July, 1689.
Letter from Berwick to General Hamilton : (5) 5 July, 1689.
Letter from R. C. Carr to the Provost of Trinity College, Dublin : (6)7 April, 1787.
Preserved in MS. Room in Library cf Trinity College, Dublin, in Box E. 2. 19. No. 543.
Actions of the Enniskillen Men from their first taking up arms in 1688 in defence of the Pro- testant Religion, their liberties and lives, to the landing of Duke Schomberg in Ireland. By Rev. Andrew Hamilton, " an actor and eye- witness therein." London, 1690. Reprinted Belfast, 1813 and 1864.
