Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/445

 in. MAY is, UK*.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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made Bath festive in May, 1728. As I find no mention of this in Mr. Belville Penley's book on ' The Bath Stage,' it may be as well to state that my authority is Gay himself, and the source the Swift correspondence. W. J. LAWRENCE.

KAMRANH BAY. This name, now in every- body's mouth, is almost universally mispro- nounced. The nh, which the Portuguese introduced into the orthography of the Annamite language, represents the sound of ny in the English name Bunyan. Kamranh should therefore not be pronounced Kamran, but as a Frenchman would treat it if spelt Kamragne. Itis a rime to champagne, when the latter is properly spoken, and not angli- cized as "sham pain." It would be easy to find other French rimes to Kamranh, but there are none in English. In Spanish there is the surname Capmany, which is a dis- syllable, its final ny being a consonant, and by no means to be sounded nee.

JAMES PLATT, Jun.

NORFOLK FOLK-SONGS. Some weeks ago a friend suggested to me the advisability of making a collection of these before it was too late, following the example of what has been done in some other counties. So far as I myself am concerned, I have attended many labourers' dinners and feasts in this neighbourhood, but I cannot recall hearing a single song which could be so classified, though one or two such have been brought to my notice. However, on perusing an account of the Norfolk parliamentary contest of 1768, in which there was much ink-fling- ing, I find that most of the squibs in verse are announced to be set to popular tunes, and some of these are presumably folk-songs. The first is headed, " Hit 'em again, Chicken," but this may be only a piece of waggery. The next is, "To the tune of the dust cart" ; the third, " Tune, The Norfolk Freeholders" ; the fourth, "To the True Blue tune"; and the last of the first printed set, " Tune, The Archbishop of Canterbury." If the last were not again mentioned as the tune for another song in the same metre, one might suspect the whole of the supposed tunes to be but a part of the skit. The remaining songs are set out in the appendix, and most of these have no tunes allotted to them. But the three that are given are above suspicion. They are: "He's as tight a lad to see to," "The women all tell me I'm false to my lass," and ' Hosier's Ghost.' These have the genuine ring of the folk-song about them. Of the others some are spirited, and some, like ' The Battle of Dereham ; or, the Annual

Norfolk Jigg,' may have become popular In one of these satires there are some strong couplets, though marred occasionally by coarseness. Thus :

Down to thy dunghill, muckworm, and be dumb,. Thou son of Infamy !

There is ' A Mock Pastoral,' entitled ' Cin- deretta,' which, as a specimen of satirical verse, is excellent. It commences : Down dropt her brush, the dish-cloth thrown aside, And lost was all the kitchen's silver pride.

And then, as the maid bewails her lot in the success of her lover's election, which separates him from her, she goes on :

Why in that House* shouldst thou so strive to shine, Is it more clean or better kept than mine ? Alas ! I'm told (but they are lies, I ween) That dirty House no mortal yet could clean ; Rub as they will, and polish as they can, Pensions and bribes will iron-mould the man ; Go, gentle gales ! and bear my sighs away ! Ah ! why so long does Hurlo-thrumbo stay?

Who is the colonel here satirized as Hurlo- thrumbo? and who wrote the lines'? Above all, any information respecting Norfolk folk- songs in general, and the above songs ia particular, would be welcomed. Does this branch interest Dr. Mann, of Cambridge, who has made Norfolk music his speciality ? Perhaps this note may catch his eye.

HOLCOMBE INGLEBY. Sedgeford Hall, Norfolk.

BERLIOZ. 'A travers Chants' was the title the French composer gave to his 'Etudes Musicales, Adorations, Boutades, et Critiques," published at Paris in 1862. This play between two words, or punning title, seems to have been borrowed, consciously or unconsciously, from an old anonymous free imitation of the ' Kicciardetto,' by N. Forteguerri (1674-1735X in French verse. It opens thus : Je ne sais d'ou me peut etre venue Certaine humeur logee en mon cerveau D'ecrire en vers un ouvrage nouveau, Dont la matiere est assez inconnue. Ma muse aussi 1'est meme d'Apollon. Fort pen lui chaut de lyre et d'harmonie ; A travers champ, loin du sacre vallon, Son chant s'egare ainsi que son genie.

J. S. S.

WHITE BREAD MEADOW, BOURNE. Under the heading 'An Old Survival ' the following item is going the rounds of the press :

"A curious method of letting land was again, observed at Bourne, when the 'White Bread Meadow' was offered. The auctioneer is stationed on the Queen's Bridge, and as each bid for the rent of the field is made a boy is started to run to a given public-house and back again to the bridge-


 * Parliament.