Notes and Queries, Number 04, November 24, 1849

As flaws congealed in the spring of day."

"Alluding," says Warburton, "to the opinion of some philosophers, that the vapours being congealed in air by cold, (which is most intense towards the morning,) and being afterwards rarified and let loose by the warmth of the sun, occasion those sudden and impetuous guests of wind which are called flaws."—COLLIER.

"An interpretation altogether wrong, as the epithet here applied to 'flaws' might alone determine; 'congealed gusts of wind' being nowhere mentioned among the phenomena of nature except in Baron Munchausen's Travels. Edwards rightly explained 'flaws,' in the present passage, 'small blades of ice.' I have myself heard the word used to signify both thin cakes of ice and the bursting of those cakes."—DYCE.

Mr. Dyce may perhaps have heard the world floe (plural floes) applied to floating sheet-ice, as it is to be found so applied extensively in Captain Parry's Journal of his Second Voyage; but it remains to be shown whether such a term existed in Shakspeare's time. I think it did not, as after diligent search I have not met with it; and, if it did, and then had the same meaning, floating sheet-ice, how would it apply to the illustration of this passage?

That the uniform meaning of flaws in the poet's time was sudden gust of wind, and figuratively sudden gusts of passion, or fitful and impetuous action, is evident from the following passages:—

"Like a red morn, that ever yet betoken'd
Wreck to the seamen, tempest to the field,
Sorrow to shepherds, woe unto the birds,
Gust and foul flaws to herdsmen and to herds."
Venus and Adonis.

"Like a great sea-mark standing every flaw."
Coriolanus, act v. sc. iii.

"—patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw."
Hamlet, act v. sc. i.

"Like to the glorious sun's transparent beams
Do calm the fury of this mad-bred flaw."

3d Pt. Henry VI., act iii. sc. i.
"—these flaws and starts (impostors to true
fear)."
Macbeth, act iv. sc. iv.

"Falling in the flaws of her own youth, hath
blistered her report."
Meas. for Meas., act ii. sc. iii.

So far for the poet's acceptation of its meaning.

Thus also Lord Surrey:—

"And toss'd with storms, with flaws, with wind, with weather."

And Beaumont and Fletcher, in The Pilgrim:—

"What flaws, and whirles of weather,
Or rather storms, have been aloft these three days."

Shakspeare followed the popular meteorology of his time, as will appear from the following passage from a little ephemeris then very frequently reprinted:—

"De Repentinis Ventis.

"8. Typhon, Plinio, Vortex, aliis Turbo, et vibratus Ecnephias, de nube gelida (ut dictum est) abruptum aliquid sæpe numero secum voluit, ruinamque suam illo pondere aggravat: quem repentinum flatum à nube prope terram et mare depulsum, definuerunt quidam, ubi in gyros rotatur, et proxima (ut monuimus) verrit, suáque vi sursum raptat."—MIZALDUS, Ephemeridis Æris Perpetuus: seu Rustica tempestatum Astrologia, 12º Lutet. 1584.

I have sometimes thought that Shakspeare may have written:—

"As flaws congested in the spring of day."

It is an easy thing to have printed congealed for that word, and congest occurs in A Lover's Complaint. Still I think change unnecessary.

Has the assertion made in An Answer to Mr. Pope's Preface to Shakspeare, by a Strolling Player, 1729, respecting the destruction of the poet's MSS. papers, been ever verified? If that account is authentic, it will explain the singular dearth of all autograph remains of one who must have written so much. As the pamphlet is not common, I transcribe the essential passage:—

"How much it is to be lamented that Two large Chests full of this GREAT MAN'S loose papers and Manuscripts in the hands of an ignorant Baker of WARWICK (who married one of the descendants from Shakspear), were carelessly scattered and thrown about as Garret Lumber and Litter, to the particular knowledge of the late Sir William Bishop; till they were all consum'd in the general Fire and Destruction of that Town."

    S.W.S.

Mickleham, Nov. 14. 1849.

[We cannot insert the interesting Query which our correspondent has forwarded on the subject of the disappearance of Shakespeare's MSS. without referring to the ingenious suggestion upon that subject so skilfully brought forward by the Rev. Joseph Hunter in his New Illustrations of the Life, Studies, and Writings of Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 105.:—"That the entire disappearance of all manuscripts of Shakspeare, so entire that no writing of his remains except his name, and only one letter ever addressed to him, is in some way connected with the religious turn which his posterity took, in whose eyes there would be much to be lamented in what they must, I fear, have considered a prostitution of the noble talents which had been given him."]

FOOD OF THE PEOPLE.—BILLS OF FARE IN 1683—HUMBLE PIE

The food of the people must always be regarded as an important element in estimating the degree of civilization of a nation, and its position in the social scale. Mr. Macaulay, in his masterly picture of the state of England at the period of the accession of James II., has not failed to notice this subject as illustrative of the condition of the working classes of that day. He tells us that meat, viewed relatively with wages, was "so dear that hundreds of thousands of families scarcely knew the taste of it.... The great majority of the nation lived almost entirely on rye, barley, and oats." (Hist. Eng. vol. i. p. 418., 4th ed.)

It is not uninteresting to inquire (and having found, it is worth making a note of) what sort of fare appeared on the tables of the upper and middle classes,—who, unlike their poorer neighbours, were in a condition to gratify their gastronomic preferences in the choice and variety of their viands,—with the view of determining whether the extraordinary improvement which has taken place in the food of the labouring population has been equally marked in that of the wealthier orders.

Pepys, who was unquestionably a lover of good living, and never tired of recording his feastings off "brave venison pasty," or "turkey pye," has given in his Diary many curious notices of the most approved dishes of his day. The following "Bills of fare" of the period referred to speak, however, directly to the point; they are taken from a work entitled, The accomplisht Lady's Delight, in Preserving, Physick, Beautifying, and Cookery. London, printed for B. Harris, 1683.

"A Bill of fare for a Gentleman's House about Candlemas.

"1. A Pottage with a Hen. 2. A Chatham-pudding. 3. A Fricacie of Chickens. 4. A leg of mutton with a Sallet. Garnish your dishes with Barberries.

"Second Course. 1. A chine of Muton. 2. A chine of Veal. 3. Lark-pye. 4. A couple of Pullets, one larded. Garnished with orange slices.

"Third Course. 1. A dish of Woodcocks. 2. A couple of Rabbits. 3. A dish of Asparagus. 4. A Westphalia Gammon.

"Last Course. 1. Two orange tarts, one with herbs. 2. A Bacon Tart. 3. An apple Tart. 4. A dish of Bon-chriteen pears. 5. A dish of Pippins. 6. A dish of Pearmains.

"A Banquet for the same Season.

"1. A dish of Apricots. 2. A dish of marmalade of Pippins. 3. A dish of preserved Cherries. 4. A whole red Quince. 5. A dish of dryed sweet-meats.

"A Bill of Fare upon an extraordinary Occasion.

"1. A collar of brawn. 2. A couple of Pullets boyled. 3. A bisk of Fish. 4. A dish of Carps. 5. A grand boyled Meat. 6. A grand Sallet. 7. A venison pasty. 8. A roasted Turkey. 9. A fat pig. 10. A powdered Goose. 11. A haunch of Venison roasted. 12. A Neats-tongue and Udder roasted. 13. A Westphalia Ham boyled. 14. A Joll of Salmon. 15. Mince pyes. 16. A Surloyn of roast beef. 17. Cold baked Meats. 18. A dish of Custards.

"Second Course. 1. Jellies of all sorts. 2. A dish of Pheasants. 3. A Pike boyled. 4. An oyster pye. 5. A dish of Plovers. 6. A dish of larks. 7. A Joll of Sturgeon. 8. A couple of Lobsters. 9. A lamber pye. 10. A couple of Capons. 11. A dish of Partridges. 12. A fricacy of Fowls. 13. A dish of Wild Ducks. 14. A dish of cram'd chickens. 15. A dish of stewed oysters. 16. A Marchpane. 17. A dish of Fruits. 18. An umble pye."

The fare suggested for "Fish days" is no less various and abundant; twelve dishes are enumerated for the first course, and sixteen for the second. Looking at the character of these viands, some of which would not discredit the genius of a Soyer or a Mrs. Glasse, it seems pretty evident that in the article of food the labouring classes have been the greatest gainers since 1687.

Few things are more suggestive of queries—as everybody knows from experience—than the products of culinary art. I will not, however, further trespass on space which may be devoted to a more dignified topic, than by submitting the following.

Query.—Does the phrase "to eat humble pie," used to signify a forced humiliation, owe its origin to the "umble pye" specified above?