Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/411

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in. APKIL 29, loos.] NOTES AND QUERIES.


every line of the work, and commend it warmly to general perusal. Coryate is painted by A'VVood as a wag and a chartered libertine, and seems in Court favour to have anticipated a ^ subsequent visitor to Venice, Tom Killigrew. We fail in his portrait to trace the comic physiognomy with which he is credited. Though a victim, it is said, of Court practical jokes, he is treated with respect by Sir Henry Wotton and other men of distinction he met on his travels. He was the friend of Ben Jonson ("sealed of the tribe of Ben") and many other writers of distinction, English and foreign. A hundred and twenty pages of panegyric verses prefixed to the volumes are written in frolic- some style, and treat him with some banter. Ben Jonson had set the example. Among the names of writers are those of Drayton, Donne, Davies of Hereford, and many others. The verses them- selves are in Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Macaronic, and other dialects. We have noted for comment scores of passages, facts, anecdotes, &c., but space forbids. All the interesting plates of the original are reproduced. Lovers of our old lite- rature and admirers of all that is quaint, humorous, and interesting should make instant acquaintance with Thomas Joryate of Odcombe.

Some Diftinyuished Victims of the Scaffold. By

Horace Bleackley. (Regan Paul & Co.) THE "bold, bad men and women whose adven- tures Mr. Bleackley has extracted from ' The New- gate Calendar,' the early magazines, the publications of the Catnach Press, and other sources are all British. Many of then), indeed such as Mary Blandy, the parricide, who stands first in the volume, and Fauntleroy, the forger, who comes last have been the recipients of special attention in our columns. In the case of Fauntleroy we ventilated the untenable theory that this noto- rious criminal succeeded in escaping the gallows, and was seen in many places after his supposed death. In addition to these we have, under the title of ' The Unfortunate Brothers,' an account of the case of Robert and Daniel Perreau and Mar- garet Caroline Rudd, and, under ' The Keswick Impostor,' that of John Hatfield and Mary of Buttermere, which is associated with Coleridge. ' The King's Engraver ' describes the fate of William Wynne Ryland, and 'A Sop to Cerberus' that of Governor Wall, executed for murderous cruelty. The stories of these various criminals, so unlike in turpitude, are told in a rather flamboyant style, while at the end of each separate narrative is supplied a bibliography of the case. No fewer than twenty-one illustrations of varying interest and value are furnished, the frontispiece consisting of a reproduction of Hogarth's 'Execu- tion of the Idle Apprentice.' There are three portraits of Mary of Buttermere, otherwise the Beauty of Buttermere. It will be seen that all the likenesses given are not those of malefactors, other- yise we should be puzzled to account for Angelica Kauffman and others. George III., indeed, appears, for no other reason that we can see than the reluctance he exhibited to extend pardon, whatever pressure might be put upon him. For this he is more than once rebuked by our author. In the case of the Perreaus some mercy might have been ex- tended ; but the views in that day were different from those which now prevail. It is superfluous to say that in these days Mary Blandy would have escaped punishment. In spite of her pretence that


she took for a love philtre the poison she adminis~ tered, the proofs of her guilt seem insurmountable. The one thing pathetic about the business is the father's pity and forgiveness, and his endeavour to- prevent his child from incriminating herself. The- book, which treats only of criminals of some- position, may be read with interest by those who- care for such stories or investigations.

The New Universal Library. Lessintfs Laocoon* Translated by Sir Robert Phillimore. Essays by George Brimley. Edited by W. G. Clark. Aids to_ Reflection. By Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Re- vised by Thomas Fen by. Jeffreys Essays from the Edinburgh Review and English Poets and Poetry. Dissertations and Discussions. By J. S. Mill. (Routledge & Sons.)

WE have already noticed the inclusion in this "New Universal Library" of Messrs. Routledge & Sons of Palgrave's ' Golden Treasury ' and 'Poems of Sir Lewis Morris.' The additions to- this broaden greatly the scope of the series. First comes, in an excellent translation, the 'Lapcoon' of Lessing, perhaps the finest contribution to criticism of German thought, a work which, with the ' Dramaturgy of Hamburg' and Goethe's 'Con- versations with Eckermann,' is of undying interest to the student. A reprint of Coleridge's philo- sophical works begins with the 'Aids to Reflec- tion.' Sight has been lost, by the majority of students, of Brimley 's ' Essays,' which, however, deserved to be revived. That on Tennyson, with, which the volume opens, is of singular interest. Mill's ' Dissertations and Discussions ' illustrate- his well - known political views, but are also interesting from the light they throw upon his- aesthetic opinions, subjects on which, to those who, like ourselves, knew him, he was less wont to expand. Jeffrey's criticisms from The Edin- burgh Review carry us back to the days of ' English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.' This interesting, series of reprints will not be less valuable to the modern reader for representing the intellectual development of the middle of the last century. The volumes are generally accompanied by illus- trations, notes, indexes, and the like, and constitute a series which appeals directly to those interested in the growth and progress of the literature of early Victorian times. The series is warmly to b& recommended. Many other important works are^ promised.

Worcestershire Place-names. By W. H. Duignan..

(Frowde.)

WIIEN Mr. Duignan's previous book on ' Stafford- shire Place-names' appeared we were able to give it our hearty approval as a work characterized by the modern spirit of careful research, and laudably free from the guesswork which too long was ram- pant when the origin of place-names was discussed. The patient historical method of research, essential in all etymological investigation, is here of para- mount importance. As the author very justly observes, "there is no etymology without history, and modern forms alone yield poor material for construction." The writer who would venture to interpret such names as Hungry Hill, near Stour- bridge, and Lightwood in Cotheridge, without an eye on their primitive forms would be sure to come to rash conclusions.

Among other interesting points brought to light by Mr. Duignan's researches is the fact that a large