Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/289

 10'" S. III. MARCH 25, 1905.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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1816-19 ; the Napoleon Museum of Mr. John Sainsbury, 1843-4, sold by Sothebys, Feb- ruary, 1865; and Capt. Siborne's model of Waterloo, exhibited 1845, now in the United Service Museum.

I venture also to correct some of the dates he gives for various exhibitions. General Tom Thumb was first exhibited in 1844, not 1846; Catlin's North American Gallery opened 1840, not 1841 ; Banvard's Diorama not until 1848 ; and Albert Smith's entertain- ment 'To China and Back' was first given in 1859. It is of interest to note that William Bullock, for whom it was built, called this " the Egyptian Temple" and not until many years later is it referred to as the Egyptian Hall.

I shall be very pleased to show MR. HARLAND-OXLEY, or any reader interested, a small collection of exhibition and sale catalogues relating to this building.

ALECK ABRAHAMS.

39, Hillmarton Road, N.

To MR. HARLAND-OXLEY'S list of attrac- tions at this now vanishing place of amuse- ment I would add one which, as a boy, much impressed me. This was the appearance of a German entertainer, who contrived, by means of a surprisingly flexible countenance, upon which a strong light was thrown, to depict many varied human emotions, from grave to gay. I think for the purpose he fitted his face into a sort of frame. Certainly his performance was so curious and, as we con- sidered, unique, that it secured our unstinted patronage. Our visits must have been paid about the years 1862 or 1863. But I cannot recollect the name of this remarkable facial contortionist. CECIL CLARKE.

Junior Athenajum Club.

" SARUM " (10 th S. ii. 445, 496 ; iii. 37, 75, 197). What I said at the second reference was that a fourteenth-century scribe who wrote /StorCwith a stroke through the tail of the ?) would mean Sarum ; and, in fact, I believe that the use of that particular con- traction at the end of a word, as equivalent to 'rum, was throughout that century fixed and exclusive. Consequently, it seemed unfair to speak of a fourteenth-century writer's use of the form Sarum as a delusion arising from a misunderstanding of the meaning of the contraction.

That the form Sarum is unmeaning and erroneous I do not think of denying ; but, if its incorrectness is notorious, its origin is not. It may, as Q. V. seems to suggest, have arisen through a misreading or miswriting of the contraction for Saresburia ; but I

doubt if erroneous forms often come into existence in this way. S. G. HAMILTON.

"DOBBIN," CHILDREN'S GAME (10 th S. ii. 348). Folk-lorists will, I think, see in this game a dying echo of the ancient burial feast. It is, in fact, as regards the name Dobbin, but a county variant of a children's funeral game in the festal days of the funeral, when "it cost less to \ ortion off a daughter than to bury a dead wile." The style of the

ame varies in different parts of the country, ometimes it is Old Roger or Poor Roger, Poor Toby, Poor John, or Cock Robin that is the theme of the singers ; but in each case the name is that of a deceased person, and it long survived, under one of these names and probably does still in the counties of York, Stafford, Nottingham, Salop, Norfolk, Kent, and Derby, and in Bath and Belfast.

A ring is formed by children joining hands. A child, who represents Sir Roger or Dobbin, as the case may be, lies down on the ground in the centre of the ring with his head covered with a handkerchief. The ring stands still and sings the verses. When the second verse is begun, a child from the ring goes into the centre, and stands by Sir Roger, to represent the apple-tree. At the fourth verse another child goes into the ring, and pretends to pick up the fallen apples. Then the child personating Sir Roger or Dobbin jumps up and knocks the child personating the old woman, beating her out of the ring. She goes off hobbling on one foot and pretending to be hurt. The mode of procedure varies in different coun- ties ; but however much they vary in word- detail, they are practically the same in incident.

Mrs. Gomme, in her laborious compilation 'The Traditional Games of England, Scot- land, and Ireland,' thinks that the game is not merely the acting of a funeral, but more particularly shows the belief that a dead person is cognizant of actions done by the living and capable of resenting personal wrongs and desecration of the grave. But what, perhaps, to us is the most interesting feature is the way in which the game is played. This clearly shows a survival of the method of portraying old plays. The ring of children act the part of "chorus," and relate the incidents of the play. The three actors say nothing, only act their several parts in dumb show. The raising and lower- ing of the arms on the part of the child who plays "apple-tree," the quiet of Old Roger until he has to jump up, certainly show the early method of actors when details