Notes and Queries, Number 09, December 29, 1849

Sir,—In the explanation of the term Bishop Barnaby, given by J.G., the prefix "Bishop" seems yet to need elucidation. Why should it not have arisen from the insect's garb? The full dress gown of the Oxford D.D.—scarlet with black velvet sleeves—might easily have suggested the idea of naming the little insect "Dr. Burn bug," and the transition is easy to "Dr. Burnabee," or "Bishop Burnaby." These little insects, in the winter, congregate by thousands in barns for their long slumber till the reappearance of genial weather, and it is not impossible that, from this circumstance, the country people may have designated them "Barn bug," or "Barn bee."

    L.B.L.

Sir,—I cannot inform LEGOUR why the lady-bird (the seven-spotted, Coccinella Septempunctata, is the most common) is called in some places "Bishop Barnaby." This little insect is sometimes erroneously accused of destroying turnips and peas in its larva state; but, in truth, both in the larva and perfect state it feeds exclusively on aphides. I do not know that it visits dairies, and Tusser's "Bishop that burneth," may allude to something else; still there appears some popular connection of the Coccinellidæ with cows as well as burning, for in the West Riding of Yorkshire they are called Cush Cow Ladies; and in the North Riding one of the children's rhymes anent them runs:—

"Dowdy-cow, dowdy-cow, ride away heame,
Thy[1 - Thy is pronounced as thee.[We have received many other communications respecting the epithet of this insect—so great a favourite with children. ALICUI and several other correspondents incline to L.B.L.'s opinion that it takes its name from a fancied resemblance of its bright wing-cases to the episcopal cope or chasuble. J.T. reminds us that St. Barnabas has been distinguished of old by the title of bright, as in the old proverbial distich intended to mark the day of his festival according to the Old Style (21st June):—"Barnaby bright!The longest day and the shortest night."While F.E. furnishes us with another and happier version of the Norfolk popular rhyme:—"Bishop, Bishop Barnabee,Tell me when my wedding be;If it be to-morrow day,Take your wings and fly away!Fly to the east, fly to the west,Fly to them that I love best!"The name which this pretty insect bears in the various languages of Europe is clearly mythic. In this, as in other cases, the Virgin has supplanted Freya; so that Freyjuhaena and Frouehenge have been changed into Marienvoglein, which corresponds with Our Lady's Bird. There, can, therefore, be little doubt that the esteem with which the lady-bird, or Our Lady's cow, is still regarded, is a relic of the ancient cult.]] house is burnt, and thy bairns are tean,
And if thou means to save thy bairns
Take thy wings and flee away!"

The most mischievous urchins are afraid to hurt the dowdy-cow, believing if they did evil would inevitably befall them. It is tenderly placed on the palm of the hand—of a girl, if possible—and the above rhyme recited thrice, during which it usually spreads its wings, and at the last word flies away. A collection of nursery rhymes relating to insects would, I think, be useful.

    W.G.M.J. BARKER.

MATHEMATICAL ARCHÆOLOGY

Sir,—I cannot gather from your "Notes" that scientific archæology is included in your plan, nor yet, on the other hand, any indications of its exclusion. Science, however, and especially mathematical science, has its archæology; and many doubtful points of great importance are amongst the "vexed questions" that can only be cleared up by documentary evidence. That evidence is more likely to be found mixed up amongst the masses of papers belonging to systematic collectors than amongst the papers of mere mathematicians—amongst men who never destroy a paper because they have no present use for it, or because the subject does not come within the range of their researches, than amongst men who value nothing but a "new theorem" or "an improved solution."

As a general rule I have always habituated myself to preserve every scrap of paper of any remote (and indeed recent) period, that had the appearance of being written by a literary man, whether I knew the hand, or understood the circumstance to which it referred, or not. Such papers, whether we understand them or not, have a possible value to others; and indeed, as my collections have always been at the service of my friends, very few indeed have been left in my hands, and those, probably, of no material value.

I wish this system were generally adopted. Papers, occasionally of great historical importance, and very often of archæological interest, would thus be preserved, and, what is more, used, as they would thus generally find their way into the right hands.

There are, I fancy, few classes of papers that would be so little likely to interest archæologists in general, as those relating to mathematics; and yet such are not unlikely to fall in their way, often and largely, if they would take the trouble to secure them. I will give an example or two, indicating the kind of papers which are desiderata to the mathematical historian.

1. A letter from Dr. Robert Simson, the editor of Euclid and the restorer of the Porisms, to John Nourse of the Strand, is missing from an otherwise unbroken series, extending from 1 Jan. 1751 to near the close of Simson's life. The missing letter, as is gathered from a subsequent one, is Feb. 5. 1753. A mere letter of business from an author to his publisher might not be thought of much interest; but it need not be here enforced how much of consistency and clearness is often conferred upon a series of circumstances by matter which such a letter might contain. This letter, too, contains a problem, the nature of which it would be interesting to know. It would seem that the letter passed into the hands of Dodson, editor of the Mathematical Repository; but what became of Dodson's papers I could never discover. The uses, however, to which such an unpromising series of letters have been rendered subservient may be seen in the Philosophical Magazine, under the title of "Geometry and Geometers," Nos. ii. iii. and iv. The letters themselves are in the hands of Mr. Maynard, Earl's Court, Leicester Square.

2. Thomas Simpson (a name venerated by every geometer) was one of the scientific men consulted by the committee appointed to decide upon the plans for Blackfriars Bridge, in 1759 and 1760.

"It is probable," says Dr. Hutton, in his Life of Simpson, prefixed to the Select Exercises, 1792, "that this reference to him gave occasion to his turning his thoughts more seriously to this subject, so as to form the design of composing a regular treatise upon it: for his family have often informed me that he laboured hard upon this work for some time before his death, and was very anxious to have completed it, frequently remarking to them that this work, when published, would procure him more credit than any of his former publications. But he lived not to put the finishing hand to it. Whatever he wrote upon this subject probably fell, together with all his other remaining papers, into the hands of Major Henry Watson, of the Engineers, in the service of the India Company, being in all a large chest full of papers. This gentleman had been a pupil of Mr. Simpson's, and had lodged in his house. After Mr. Simpson's death Mr. Watson prevailed upon the widow to let him have the papers, promising either to give her a sum of money for them, or else to print and publish them for her benefit. But nothing of the kind was ever done; this gentleman always declaring, when urged on this point by myself and others, that no use could be made of any of the papers, owing to the very imperfect state in which he said they were left. And yet he persisted in his refusal to give them up again."

In 1780 Colonel Watson was recalled to India, and took out with him one of the most remarkable English mathematicians of that day, Reuben Burrow. This gentleman had been assistant to Dr. Maskelyne at the Royal Observatory; and to his care was, in fact, committed the celebrated Schehallien experiments and observations. He died in India, and, I believe, all his papers which reached England, as well as several of his letters, are in my possession. This, however, is no further of consequence in the present matter, than to give authority to a remark I am about to quote from one of his letters to his most intimate friend, Isaac Dalby. In this he says:—"Colonel Watson has out here a work of Simpson's on bridges, very complete and original."

It was no doubt by his dread of the sleepless watch of Hutton, that so unscrupulous a person as Colonel Watson is proved to be, was deterred from publishing Simpson's work as his own.

The desideratum here is, of course, to find what became of Colonel Watson's papers; and then to ascertain whether this and what other writings of Simpson's are amongst them. A really good work on the mathematical theory of bridges, if such is ever to exist, has yet to be published. It is, at the same time, very likely that his great originality, and his wonderful sagacity in all his investigations, would not fail him in this; and possibly a better work on the subject was composed ninety years ago than has yet seen the light—involving, perhaps, the germs of a totally new and more effective method of investigation.

I have, I fear, already trespassed too far upon your space for a single letter; and will, therefore, defer my notice of a few other desiderata till a future day.

    T.S.D.
    Shooter's Hill, Dec. 15. 1849.

SONG IN THE STYLE OF SUCKLING—THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN

The song in your second number, furnished by a correspondent, and considered to be in the style of Suckling, is of a class common enough in the time of Charles I. George Wither, rather than Suckling, I consider as the head of a race of poets peculiar to that age, as "Shall I wasting in Despair" may be regarded as the type of this class of poems. The present instance I do not think of very high merit, and certainly not good enough for Suckling. Such as it is, however, with a few unimportant variations, it may be found at page 101. of the 1st vol. of The Hive, a Collection of the most celebrated Songs. My copy is the 2nd edit. London, 1724.

I will, with your permission, take this opportunity of setting Mr. Dyce right with regard to a passage in the Two Noble Kinsmen, in which he is only less wrong than all his predecessors. It is to be found in the second scene of the fourth act, and is as follows:—

"Here Love himself sits smiling:
Just such another wanton Ganymede
Set Jove afire with," &c.

One editor proposed to amend this by inserting the normative "he" after "Ganymede;" and another by omitting "with" after "afire." Mr. Dyce saw that both these must be wrong, as a comparison between two wanton Ganymedes, one of which sat in the coutenance of Arcite, could never have been intended;—another, something, if not Ganymede, was wanted, and he, therefore, has this note:—"The construction and meaning are, 'With just such another smile (which is understood from the preceding 'smiling') wanton Ganymede set Jove afire." When there is a choice of nouns to make intelligible sense, how can that one be understood which is not expressed? It might be "with just such another Love;" but, as I shall shortly show, no conjecture on the subject is needed. The older editors were so fond of mending passages, that they did not take ordinary pains to understand them; and in this instance they have been so successful in sticking the epithet "wanton" to Ganymede, that even Mr. Dyce, with his clear sight, did not see that the very word he wanted was the next word before him. It puts one in mind of a man looking for his spectacles who has them already across his nose. "Wanton" is a noun as well as an adjective; and, to prevent it from being mistaken for an epithet applied to Ganymede, it will in future be necessary to place after it a comma, when the passage will read thus:—

"Here Love himself sits smiling.
Just such another wanton," (as the aforesaid smiling Love) "Ganymede
Set Jove afire with," &c.

The third act of the same play commences thus:—

"The duke has lost Hippolita; each took
A several land."

Mr. Dyce suspects that for "land" we should read "laund," an old form of lawn. "Land" being either wrong, or having a sense not understood now, we must fall back on the general sense of the passage. When people go a hunting, and don't keep together, it is very probable that they may take a several "direction." Now hand means "direction," as we say "to the right" or "left hand." It is not, therefore, probable, that we should read "a several hand?"

    SAMUEL HICKSON

"GOTHIC" ARCHITECTURE

It would require more space than you could allot to the subject, to explain, at much length, "the origin, as well as the date, of the introduction of the term 'Gothic,' as applied to pointed styles of ecclesiastical architecture," required by R. Vincent, of Winchester, in your Fourth Number. There can be no doubt that the term was used at first contemptuously, and in derision, by those who were ambitious to imitate and revive the Grecian orders of architecture, after the revival of classical literature. But, without citing many authorities, such as Christopher Wren, and others, who lent their aid in depreciating the old mediæval style, which they termed Gothic, as synonymous with every thing that was barbarous and rude, it may be sufficient to refer to the celebrated Treatise of Sir Henry Wotton, entitled The Elements of Architecture, 4to., printed in London so early as 1624. This work was so popular, that it was translated into Latin, and annexed to the works of Vitruvius, as well as to Freart's Parallel of the Ancient Architecture with the Modern. Dufresnoy, also, who divided his time between poetry and painting, and whose work on the latter art was rendered popular in this country by Dryden's translation, uses the term "Gothique" in a bad sense. But it was a strange misapplication of the term to use it for the pointed style, in contradistinction to the circular, formerly called Saxon, now Norman, Romanesque, &c. These latter styles, like Lombardic, Italian, and the Byzantine, of course belong more to the Gothic period than the light and elegant structures of the pointed order which succeeded them. Felibien, the French author of the Lives of Architects, divides Gothic architecture into two distinct kinds—the massive and the light; and as the latter superseded the former, the term Gothic, which had been originally applied to both kinds, seems to have been restricted improperly to the latter only. As there is now, happily, no fear of the word being understood in a bad sense, there seems to be no longer any objection to the use of it in a good one, whatever terms may be used to discriminate all the varieties of the style observable either at home or abroad.

    J.I.
    Trinity College, Oxford.

DR. BURNEY'S MUSICAL WORKS

Mr. Editor,—On pp. 63. and 78. of your columns inquiry is made for Burney's Treatise on Music (not his History). Before correspondents trouble you with their wants, I think they should be certain that the books they inquire for have existence. Dr. Burney never published, or wrote, a Treatise on Music. His only works on the subject (the General History of Music excepted) are the following:—

"The Present State of Music in France and Italy. 8vo. 1771.

"The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and United Provinces. 2 vols. 8vo. 1775.

"An Account of the Musical Performances in Westminster Abbey, and the Pantheon, &c. in Commemoration of Handel. 4to. 1785.

"A Plan for the Formation of a Musical Academy, 8vo. n. d."

As your "NOTES AND QUERIES" will become a standard book of reference, strict accuracy on all points is the grand desideratum.

    EDW. F. RIMBAULT.

P.S. I might, perhaps, have included in the above list the Life of Metastasio, which, although not generally classed among musical works, forms an admirable supplement to the General History of Music.

    E.F.R.

ANCIENT INSCRIBED DISHES

Judging from the various notices in your Nos. 3, 5, and 6, the dishes and inscriptions mentioned therein by CLERICUS, L.S.B., &c., pp. 44. 73. 87., are likely to cause as much speculation here as they have some time experienced on the continent. They were there principally figured and discussed in the Curiositãten, a miscellaneous periodical, conducted from about 1818 to 1825, by Vulpius, brother-in-law of Göthe, librarian to the Grand Duke of Saxe Weimar. Herr v. Strombeck, Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal at Wolfenbüttel, first noticed them from a specimen belonging to the church of a suppressed convent at Sterterheim near Brunswick, and they were subsequently pounced upon by Joseph v. Hammer (now v. Purgstall), the learned orientalist of Vienna, as one of the principal proofs which he adduced in his Mysterium Baphometis Revelatum in one of the numbers of the Fundgruben (Mines) des Orients, for the monstrous impieties and impurities which he, Nicolai, and others, falsely attributed to the Templars. Comments upon these dishes occur in other works of a recent period, but having left my portfolio, concerning them, with other papers, on the continent, I give these hasty notices entirely from memory. They are by no means uncommon now in England, as the notices of your correspondents prove. A paper on three varieties of them at Hull was read in 1829, to the Hull Literary and Philosophical Society. In Nash's Worcestershire one is depicted full size, and a reduced copy given about this period in the Gentleman's Magazine, and Nash first calls them "Offertory Dishes." The Germans call them Taufbecken, or baptismal basins; but I believe the English denomination more correct, as I have a distinct recollection of seeing, in a Catholic convent at Danzig, a similar one placed on Good Friday before the tomb of the interred image of the Saviour, for the oblations for which it was not too large. Another of them is kept upon the altar of Boroughbridge Church (N. Riding of Yorkshire), but sadly worn down by scrubbing to keep it bright, and the attempt at a copy of the Inscription in a Harrowgate Guide is felicitously ludicrous: it is there taken as a relic of the Roman Isurium on the same spot. Three others were observed some years ago in a neglected nook of the sacristy of York Cathedral. At the last meeting of the Institute at Salisbury, a number of these were exhibited in St. John's House there, but I believe without any notice taken of them in its Proceedings; and another was shown to the Archæological Society, at their last Chester Congress, by Colonel Biddulph, at Chirk Castle; when more were mentioned by the visitors as in their possession, anxious as your correspondents to know the import of the inscriptions. They are sometimes seen exposed in the shops of Wardour Street, and in other curiosity shops of the metropolis.

On their sunken centres all have religious types: the most common is the temptation of Eve; the next in frequency, the Annunciation; the Spies sent by Joshua returning with an immense bunch of grapes suspended betwixt them, is not unfrequent; but non-scriptural subjects, as the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, mentioned by L.S.B., is a variety I have not before observed.