86
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io 8. x. AUG. i, im
Shakespeare, who entered the dramatic
field after Marlowe and Greene ; but the
common view among critics is, I believe,
that Doron represents Shakespeare. Fleay,
on the contrary, holds that Doron is un-
questionably Kyd. Perhaps some reader
of * N. & Q.' who is personally acquainted
ivith Mr. Fleay will be so good as to point
out to that gentleman the above discrepancy.
N. W. HILL. New York.
THE OLD OMNIBUSES. In the early forties, before the beneficent appearance of ' N. & Q.,' the London omnibuses were constructed with thirteen inside seats and on the " knifeboard " two on each side of the driver, accommodating seventeen passengers in all. The thirteenth inside seat was at the end, facing the door. This will explain an expression in the following lines from Punch of that period :
The empty omnibuses crawl
As slowly as they can, In hope the sixpence to enthral
Of some belated man. .But when they're full, "thirteen and four,"
They cut along like fun, Because they won't get any more
Until their work is done. Then choose the fullest in the rank ;
Wedge in as best you may ; Arid you perhaps may reach the Bank
Before the close of day.
RICHABD H. THORNTON.
WYCH STREET. What must be considered the last interesting fragment of this familiar street was removed from the island site in the Strand during last month. For some years in fact, since the new thoroughfares were completed there could be seen pro- truding above the mounds of rubbish near St. Clement Danes the remains of the timber - and-brick gabled houses, one of which was by suggestion associated with Jack Shep- pard. They were so constantly photo- graphed and depicted that they became to the world at large familiar as typical specimens of Old London. Their date it would be difficult to ascertain, but probably they came into existence much about the same time as their neighbours in Butchers' Row. It will be recalled that Beaumont House, where the Due de Sully (then Marquis de Rosny) lodged, bore the date 1581 ; therefore 1580-1600 may be accepted as a sufficiently close attribution of date for these houses. The windows had been remodelled early in the eighteenth century, and the shop-fronts were modern and un- interesting. ALECK ABRAHAMS.
RECOVERY FROM HANGING. The London
Magazine, under date of 3 Sept., 1736, says :
"It is remarkable, that Vernham and Harding, two Malefactors, being executed this Day at Bristol, after they were cut down, Vernham was perceiv'd to have Life in him when put in the Coffin ; and some Lightermen and others having carried him to a House, a Surgeon, whom they sent for, immediately opened a Vein, which so recover'd his Senses, that he had the Use of Speech, sat upright, rubbed his Knees, shook Hands with divers Persons he knew, and in all Appearance a perfect Recovery was expected. But notwithstanding this, he died about 11 o'Clock in great Agony, his Bowels being very much convulsed, as appear'd by his rolling from one Side to the other. It is remarkable also, that Harding came to Life again, and was carried to Bridewell, and the next Day to Newgate ; where Abundance of People visit him and give him Money, who are very inquisitive whether he remembers the Manner of his Execution : to which he says, he only can remember his being at the Gallows, and knows nothing of Vernham's being with him." This is a remarkable instance of recovery. WILLIAM E. A. AXON.
Manchester.
" SCARAMOUCH." It may, perhaps, be serviceable to the editors of the ' H.E.D.,' and also welcome to the forthcoming new edition of Brachet's ' French Etymo- logical Dictionary ' (which Dr. Oolsner is preparing for the Delegates of the Clarendon Press) concerning the corresponding French term " Scaramouche," to record its anti- quity. As Prof. Skeat has clearly shown in his standard ' Etymological English Dic- tionary,' Scaramouch, as a borrowed word, is derived from the proper name of a famous Italian buffoon Scaramuccio, who died in 1694. But, strange to say, the very same noun can be traced and recognized, as an Indo-European cognate, already in Old Slavonic. For we find in the Old Russian ' Nestor Chronicle,' A.D. 1068 (ed. Fr. Miklosich, Vindobona, 1860, ch. Ixiii. p. 105, 1. 38), Skomrach (=Skomor6ch or, by metathesis, = Skoro- m6ch) used to denote a buffoon or mounte- bank, a scaramouch. H. KREBS. Oxford.
MARATHON RUNNERS. The recent so- called Olympic races have led some to look up ancient Greek history again, but appa- rently not with much care. The story about the soldier running with the news of the victory at Marathon to Athens, and expiring when he had announced it, is not mentioned by Herodotus, and is probably apocryphal. It is taken from Plutarch's treatise ' De Gloria Atheniensium,' and is given on the authority of Heracleides of Pontus. But the name of the runner is said to have been Thersippus.
