88
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. x. AUG. i, im
bered, was a prominent Scotch politician
in the seventeenth century, and was involvec
in the Rye House Plot and in Monmouth'
and Argyll's schemes. J. WILLCOCK.
Lerwiok.
CROWS " CRYING AGAINST THE RAIN."
Is there a piece of folk-lore to the effec that crows keep off the rain, or at leas endeavour to do so, by their cries ? Miss Silberrad refers to this belief in one of her books, and has some verses about it :
The carrion crow, that loathsome beast
That cries against the rain, Both for his hue and for the rest
The devil resembleth plain. And as with guns we kill the crow
For spoiling our relief, Our ghostly foe let us o'erthrow
With gunshot of belief.
Is this simply a misunderstanding of the word " against," or was there such a belief ? Shakespeare in ' As You Like It ' says " as clamorous as a parrot against rain.' What is the meaning here of " against " ?
P. L. GALES. Wan borough, Guildford.
JOHN HICKES, M.P. FOR FOWEY 1701-8. He was of Trevethick, Cornwall ; matricu- lated at Exeter College, Oxford, 7 May, 1675, aged sixteen ; and was called to the bar of the Middle Temple, 1685, as "son of Thomas Hickes of St. Eve, Cornwall, gent." I shall be obliged by further information respecting him.
W. D. PINK.
TIGER FOLK-LORE AND POPE. In turning over the leaves of a remote volume of The Zoologist (First Series, vol. vi. p. 2123) I encountered the following interesting folk- lore record :
"The Sumatrans believe that the tigers are endowed with the spirits of the departed dead. Indeed, so strong is this belief that the very men- tion of a tiger inspires the natives Math awe. They say that in some remote unvisited parts of the island there is a beautiful spot where the king of the tigers holds his court, and where a large com- munity of animals exists, their dwellings being thatched with women's hair. Thither every tiger on the island is said, at intervals, to repair, in order to give an account of himself and his proceedings."
The late Mortimer Collins in his c Pen Sketches by a Vanished Hand,' edited by Tom Taylor in 1879, makes the following record of a visit to Stanton Harcourt :
"There is a wonderful old kitchen connected with the ruined manor house, with enormously thick walls, and openings in the roof for the smoke to escape. Pope describes the country people as believing that 'the witches kept their Sabbath there, and once a year the devil treats them with
infernal venison, a toasted tiger stuffed with ten-
penny nails." Vol. i. p. 88.
In asking where Pope said this I know I am showing great ignorance. I hope the Editor and his readers will forgive me.
ASTARTE.
BAPTISTERY FONT, FLORENCE. Ruskin, writing to Burne- Jones in 1871, said :
" Yesterday, at midday, came to me from Flo- rence two of the corner stones, uprights, of the font that Dante broke, and an angel between St. Mark and Luke from the middle of it. The two uprights are each two angels kneeling and blowing of trumpets. He could have broken a trumpet or wing merely by leaning against them." 'Memoirs of Edward JBurne- Jones,' vol. ii. p. 22. How was it that Florence allowed these treasures to go from her, and where are they now ? ST. SWITHIN.
" MERRY ENGLAND." I should like to repeat the question asked by E. E. R. in 1856, and never yet answered : When was the expression " Merry England " first used ? It has been pointed out to me in ' A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hood ' (Fytte 7, verse 8 ; Fytte 8, verse 20).
Can any earlier instance of the phrase be cited, or any evidence of its being a common expression before last century ?
W. M. D.
[Much has been learnt about English literature since 1856. The ' N.E.D.' dates the ' Lytell Geste ' c. 1510, but supplies far earlier instances of "Merry England," viz., " First conqueror of meri ingland from the 'Cursor Mundi' (1300-1400), and "The crown of mery England " from ' The Siege of Calais * 1436). Spenser's line in 'The Faerie Queene," I. x. 61,
Saint George of mery England, the signe of victoree, shows that the phrase was popular long before the nineteenth century.]
THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOTJSE. Can any one kindly tell me of a painting, other than
- hose to be found at the British Museum
or Guildhall, and earlier than 1680 (the more ancient the better), of (a) " The King's Old Bargehouse," on the Surrey -side, and b) a royal State barge ?
An article of mine with the above title; he first part of which has appeared in the Tuly number of The Home Counties Maga- ine, is to be continued in the next number >r two, and I should be very glad to find a more satisfactory illustration for it than the 'race Collection of prints has yielded.
ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.
" TENTHS " AND " FIFTEENTHS." What s meant by " two tenths and two fifteenths," an expression which frequently occurs in
