Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/594

 492 NOTES AND QUERIES, [io» s. iv. DEC. IG, 1905. interred in Boston ground, it is claimed) left no issue, according to the careful Drake in his authoritative ' Boston,' when dissecting Johnson's will and commenting on the exact spot where " the Lady Arbella is supposed to have been buried, she predeceasing her husband by a few months at Salem. See, too, Hawthorne's delightful chapter on Lady Arbella in his ' Grandfather's Chair." C. AUTHORS OF QUOTATIONS WANTED (10th S. iv. 249, 316).—The author of Last eve I paused beside a blacksmith's door is Mr. L. B. Coke, of New York City. The poem has sometimes been attributed to the Eev. John Clifford. JAMES E. JOY. Plainfield, N.J. WILLIAM SHELLEY (10th S. iii. 441, 492 ; iv. 55, 114).—The Court influence exerted for Mrs. Shelley, to which MR. WAINEWRIGHT alludes at the first reference, is set forth in a letter to her from one James Parry, a prisoner in the Fleet, intercepted by the spy Beard, and forwarded to Cecil (Cecil MSS.). He says :— "You know when all your greatest kinsmen in Herefordshire refused to certify the abuses offered you by yout husband's varlets, I did procure certain Justices contrary to your religion to put to their hands in hopes of your conformity ; on which Mrs. Blanch Parry procured your maintenance of 2001. a year. Beware of your husband's cousin Mr. Beard. Use none of his chambers, nor confer in private, for God's sake, good cousin; remember your house that mourneth for you. I dare not write what I will tell you." Beard in several letters to his patron com- plains that the warden of the Fleet and Parry warn his intended victim against him. James Parry was a Hereford gentleman of good estate, whose extravagance and turbu- lence had landed him in the Fleet. He was only distantly related to Mrs. Blanche, the Queen's chief lady, and his cousinship to Jane Shelley is unexplained. T. H. PAERY. KING JOHN POISONED BY A TOAD (10th S. iv. 168, 256).—There appear to have been in early times three accounts of the manner of John's death. Those which were more or less contemporary imply that he died of dysentery ; whereas later records refer to the suspicion that he was poisoned. I subjoin the three stories, with brief pas- sages from the authorities I have consulted. 1. That the cause of death was dysentery, brought on by distress of mind and a glut- tonous meal.—llalph of Coggeshall (ob. 1228) writes :— " Ut dicitur, ex nimia voracitate qua semper in- satiabilis erat venter ejus, ingurgitatus usque ad crapulam. ex ventris indigene solutus eat in dysen- teriam. Postea vero cum paululum cessasset fiuxus, phlebotoniatus est." Roger of Wendover (ob. 1236) says :— "Acutis correptus febribus coepit grayiter in- firmari; auxit autem eegritudinis nioieetiam per- niciosa ejus ingluvies, qui nocte ilia de fructu per- sicorum et novi ciceris potatione nimis repletus febrilem in se calorem acuit fortiter et accendit." Also in 'Flores Historiarum,' by the same writer, we find: "secundum consuetudinem suam persicis cum musto et pomatio ingurgi- tatus," ike. Matthew Paris (ob. 1259) gives almost the same account: " Novi pomacii quod vul- gariterciceraappellatur nimis repletus." The peaches are also mentioned. John tried to ride to Sleaford, but from pain was forced to dismount ("anhelus et gemebundus:>). and was carried some part of the way on a litter, thejolting of which aggravated his malady. Walter of Coventry (/. 1293): " morbo, ut fertur, dissinterise graviter fatigaretur." 2. That he was killed by poisoned fruit.— 'Annales Monast. de Bermundeseia' says: " Ut quidam ferunt, venenatus cum cernsis per quondam monachum nigrura Wigorniae." Henry Knighton (/. 1363) gives a long and graphic account. John on arrival at Swines- head wishes to violate a nun, the sister of the abbot. A monk, on condition of receiving absolution, undertakes to prevent the crime and kill the king. He poisons some pears (pira); places them on a dish with others, which are not infected, and offers them to John, who at first is suspicious, but, on find- ing that the monk suffers no harm after eating three of them at his request, takes one that is poisoned, and dies. "Nee se ulterius potuit continere rex, apprehenso uno ex venenatis comedit, et eadem nocte ex- tinctus est." This event must have occurred 12 or 13 October, but John did not die till the morning of the 19th at Newark. 3. That he was poisoned by a cup of wine. —Eanulph Higden (ob. 1364) repeats the story of John's death from dysentery (" raorbo dysenterico"), and adds: "Tradit tamen vulgata fama quod apud monasterium de Swynesheved alborura monachorum intoxi- catus obierit." He then tells the story of the loaf, " quod audiens unus de conversis fratribus loci ilhus venenum confecit, regi porrexit, Sed et ipso prius sumpto Catholico viatico, simul cum rege hausto veneno interiit." Thomas Wykes (' Chronicon') says :— " Intoxicatus, ut dicebatur, continue compiler violentia veneni contabescere, indeque progrediem usque Newerk ibidem post dies paucos exspirarit." Lastly, we come to the story of the toad,