Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/239

 10 s. XIL SEPT, 4,

NOTES AND QUERIES.

195

permission to William West, husbandman of East Greenwich, Kent, to collect alms in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk for a year, on account of his farm having been burnt and damage done to the extent of 201. A. RHODES.

BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINES (10 S. xii. 106, 158). The following are a few references which may prove useful to the future historian of the aeroplane :

' The Aeronef,' Chambers^ Journal, 16 Jan., 1864.

Mechanics' Magazine (some date in August or September, 1865).

'The Flying Machine,' London Journal, 18 Oct., 1851, p. 106.

' Aeroplane Failures,' Daily Telegraph, 29 March,

'The Air's Domain,' Daily Telegraph, April,

'Problems of the Air,' ibid., but undated, after 1890.

' Flying Machine Vagaries at the Alexandra Palace,' Daily Express. 16 April, 1907.

' Aviation a Century Ago,' Globe, 21 Sept., 1908.

" Pioneers of the Air,' ibid., 8 April, 1907.

J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL.

In an old scrap-book at the Reading Public Library (p. 45, 3321, M.R.) I recently saw an account of an " Aerial Navigator or Atmospheric Machine," illustrated, entered at Stationers' Hall, published by Vickers, 28, Holywell Street. The machine is stated to be " for the conveyance of Passengers, Troops, and Government Despatches to India and China in the short space of Five Days." The account is dated 20 Feb., 1843. R. J. FYNMORE.

" THE SARACEN'S HEAD," SNOW HILL (10 S. xii. 65, 131). I have not seen the article, ' Notes on some Dickens Places and People,' in The Pall Mall Magazine, to which MB. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL refers, but I should think Charles Dickens the Younger was correct in alluding to " The Saracen's Head " as the Dickens spot which dis- appeared with the construction of Holborn Viaduct. This was a cause of the dis- appearance of this ancient hostelry. " The Belle Sauvage" was on Ludgate Hill. The spot is marked by La BeUe Sauvage Yard, occupied by the publishing offices of Messrs. Cassell & Co. and other firms ; and an im- portant railway receiving office is a slight link with the past at the north-western corner of the site. " La Belle Sauvage Inn " was not in any way affected by the Holborn Viaduct construction, but went the way of most of the old London inns when the necessity for them ceased to exist.

F. A. RUSSELL.

'THE SAILOR'S CONSOLATION' (10 S. xii. 10). This is attributed to William Pitt, Master Attendant at Malta. My only copy is in a volume of ' Penny Readings ' edited by Tom Hood, jun., published 1866, which states that the author is said to have died in 1840. This date is wrong. He died at Malta in August, 1839.

Pitt was born in 1778, and educated at an academy kept by Mr. Wragg at Stoke Newington. He quitted that in January, 1791, to enter one at Lewisham, kept by the Rev. Dr. Hall, who afterwards removed to the Uxbridge Road. If he wrote the song, he nowhere mentions it in his journal, but he describes the inspiration. It was the custom for the pupils at Stoke New- ington to attend the Aquatic Theatre, Sadler's Wells. In September, 1790, there was an entertainment describing a gallant exploit by a Lieut. Riou off the Cape of Good Hope, in which there was a song, of the same cha- racter, as follows : When the anchor is weigh'd and the Ship's un

moor'd,

And landsmen lag behind, Sir ; The Sailor joyfully skips on board, And in swearing he prays for a wind, Sir.

Towing here, yeoing there, Steadily, readily, cheerily, merrily, Still from care and thinking free Is a Sailor's life at sea.

When the wind at night whistles o'er the deep, And sings to landsmen dreary, The Sailor fearless goes to sleep, Or takes his watch most cheerly ;

Snoozing here, boozing there, &c.

When we sail with a freshening breeze, And landsmen all grow sick, Sir, The Sailor lolls with his mind at ease, Whilst the Song and the Can go quick, Sir.

Laughing here, quaffing there, &o.

When the sky looks black, and the winds blow

hard,

And landsmen skulk below, Sir ; Jack mounts up to the topsail yard, And he turns his Quid as he goes, Sir.

Hauling here, bawling there, &c.

When the foaming waves run mountains high, And landsmen cry all 's gone, Sir ; The Sailor hangs 'twixt sea and sky, And jokes with Davy Jones, Sir.

Dashing here, crashing there, &c.

When the ship d' ye see becomes a wreck, And landsmen take to the boats, Sir, The Sailor scorns to quit the deck, While a single plank^s afloat, Sir.

Swearing here, tearing there, &c. Still from care and thinking free Is a Sailor's life at sea.

Pitt was the son of a partner in the firm of Messrs. Bingley, Pitt & Bingley, ship insurance brokers, of 21, Birchin Lane, and his father's influence obtained him a position