Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/249

 10 S. VII. MARCH 16, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

201

LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH !<;, 1007.

CONTENTS. No. 168.


 * XOTES : Longfellow. 201 Danteiana, 202 Chertsey

Monumental Inscriptions, 203 Sir William Drury's Funeral " Executed " " Plumper's Inn" Charles Lamb on Thicknesse's ' France ' Radnorshire Rime Single Tooth, 205 "Taping shoos " " Precket ": " Cageful of Teeth" Spring-heeled Jack "Bell-Comb" for Ring- wormFemale Auctioneers A Junius Claimant" Para- tout" John Talman, Architect, 206.

QUERIES: Pantaloons v. Trousers, 207 Mr. Chamber- lain and Robert Burton' A Scourge for the Assirian ' Authors of Quotations Wanted Sir George Wood's Por- trait, 208 "Grindy" "Paramoudra" Sturmy or Esturmy Family Palreologus in the West Indies "Badger's Bush" Inn " Lesbian Lead "- Mantelpiece, 209 Cromwell and Chalfont St. Giles Carlyle and Lady Bannerman Tamworth Churchyard Walls, 210.

REPLIES : Charles I.'s Physical Characteristics, 210 Marly Horses, 211 Book-stealing : Degrees of Blackness Towns unlucky for Kings Charles Lamb : was he of Jewish Extraction? 212 " Haze," 213 Windmills in Sussex, 214 The Leicarragan Verb "Mony a pickle -maks a mickle "" Adespota "French Quotation, 215 February 30 Rev. R. Grant Hornsey Wood House Meaux Abbey ' Penrose's Journal ' : Turtle-riding, 216 Author of Quotation Wanted Benjamin Kennet, Vicar of Bradford Public Office=Police Office, 217 Thirkell Family Spelling Changes Hatching Chickens with Artificial Heat" What wants that knave that a king should have?" 219.

NOTES ON BOOKS: The ' Pervigilium Veneris ' in Greek "The New Universal Library " " The World's Classics."

Obituary : Mr. F. G. Stephens. Notices to Correspondents.

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1

LONGFELLOW.

'ebruary 27th, 1807 March 24th, 1882.) THE centenary of Longfellow was cele- brated on the 27th of February by our 'brothers in America, and we in Great Britain have joined hands with them across the seas in rendering tribute to the most popular of modern English-speaking poets. Readers will remember the frequent references made in the pages of * 1ST. & Q.' to the poet. These began as far back as the ninth volume, when a discussion arose as to the origin of his name ; and on the 6th of May, 1854, MB. JAMES T. HAMMACK states that "through 'the kind assistance of the Registrar-General he is able to give a few of the localities in which the name of Longfellow exists in this country. It appears that there were sixty- one deaths recorded of persons of this name in the years 1838-52 : of these, fifty occurred in the West Riding, thirty-five of these being in Leeds. In the metropolis there were but seven." The name is found in the records of Yorkshire as far back as 1486, under the various spellings of Langfellay, Langfellowe,

Langfellow, and Longfellow. The first of the name in America was William Long- fellow, baptized at Guiseley (the parish church of Horsforth), Oct. 20th, 1650. He went over to Newbury, Massachusetts, about 1676. The poet's father was the son of Stephen Longfellow, who as Judge of the Common Pleas is remembe ed as a man of sterling qualities and great integrity. His son inherited from him all that is gocd, and well maintained the honour of the name. In 1804 he married Zilpah, daughter of General Peleg Wads worth, who was de- scended from John Alden and Priscilla Mullens, of Mayflower memory.

Longfellow was only thirteen when his first poem appeared. This was entitled ' The Battle of Lovell's Pond.' It consisted of four verses, and was published in The Portland Gazette on the 17th of November, 1820. At the age of nineteen he first came to Europe, and during his three years of travel he gave himself up to the study of modern languages, in order to qualify himself for teaching them in Bowdoin College. One year he spent in Italy, and at the end of it his proficiency in the language was such that at the hotel where he lodged he was taken for an Italian, until he stated that he was an American. At midnight, " when the crowd is gone," he says in ' Outre Mer,' " I retire to my chamber, and, poring over the gloomy pages of Dante, or ' Bandello's laughing tale,' protract my nightly vigil till the morning star is in the sky." From that time Dante was his frequent study, but it was not until 1866 that he completed his translation, so careful and desirous was he to make it as perfect as possible. In a letter to Mr. George W. Greene on March 25th, 1864, he writes :

"This is a lovely day, as you ai^e well aware. Moreover, it is Good Friday, as you are equally well aware ; and leaving aside the deep meaning of the day, I will tell you something of which I suspect you are not aware. Have you remembered or noticed that the days and .dates of 1864 correspond with those of the Dantesque 1300? so that in both years Good Friday falls" on the 25th of March ? Five hundred arid sixty- four years ago to-day, Dante descended to the citta dolente ; and to-day, with the first cantos of- the ' Inferno ' in my hand, I descended among the printer's devils...... Some- thing urges me on and on with this work, and will not let me rest ; though I often hear the warning voice from within, ' Me degno a cio ne io ne altri crede.'"

Longfellow possessed a curious relic of Dante, namely, some bits of Dante's coffin, which were discovered in 1865, and sent to him by Mr. T. B. Lawrence, United States Consul - General in Italy. These he kept