Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/143

 10 s. VIIL AUG. 10, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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J. G. MARVIN (10 S. viii. 6). In ' Descend- ants of Reinold and Matthew Marvin,' compiled by G F. and W. T. R. Marvin, and published by the latter in Boston, Mass., in 1904, there is an account of John Gale Marvin. It may be that he is the Marvin wanted by MB. RALPH THOMAS. John Gale Marvin was a son of Samuel G. and Lucretia (Hickok) Marvin. He was born 12 Jan., 1811, at Wilton, Conn., and died 4 March, 1861, in Minnesota. He had four children ,nd a number of grandchildren, some of whom must be living. It may be that Mr. T. R. Marvin, of 73, Federal Street, Boston, Mass., could supplement this account.

FREDERIC ROWLAND MARVIN. 537, Western Avenue, Albany, N.Y.

" SLINK " : " SLINKING " (10 S. viii. 27). As " slink " is a term for third-rate meat beef in particular it may be that the -term for common oilcloth in North-East Lancashire is similar to that used in the Midlands in describing the most inferior kinds of beef. There were what were known as " slink-butchers " men who tilled inferior animals, and disposed of the meat in mysterious ways. Years back I have heard railway carters talk about having more " slink " to deliver. By the -way, school-lads speak of things they may have as " slinkin' good uns."

THOS. RATCLIFFE. Worksop.

NEWSPAPER " EDITIONS " (10 S. iii. 287). While awaiting a reply to my inquiry of just two years since, " What is a newspaper 'edition' ? " I would note that the present ystem is becoming more paradoxical than ever, a London evening newspaper an- nouncing on 30 March that

" On Easter Monday, Three Editions only will be published, the Fifth Edition, at 12 o'clock ; the Early Special, at 3.30 ; and the Special Edition, at 6 o'clock."

I had previously observed in regard to the same journal that it had, on its own admission, no first, second, or fourth edition ; and now the first of its three editions is " the fifth." A. F. R.

RICHARD BAXTER ON THE PIED PIPER <10 S. viii. 6). There is nothing new in this version. It seems to be a true copy of the original story. Burton in his ' Ana- tomy of Melancholy ' and Wierus say that at Hammel in Saxony the devil, in the likeness of a pied piper, carried away one Jhundred and thirty children.

E. ARDLEY.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &o.

Early English Lyric*: Amoron*, Dirine, J/ora/, and Tririal. Chosen by E. K. Chambers and F. Side- wick. (A. H. Bullen.)

THE present volume is of special value in that it serves to illuminate a period of our literature which is still dark for those whose studies have not been specially directed thither. English lyrical effort, prior to the days of Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey and the d^but of the sonnet, is dominated not a little by the name of Chaucer, who, being a giant in the day of small things, has not unnaturally overshadowed the undoubted merit possessed by certain of the small things before him and since. This anthology to our mind one of the most de- lightful that have ever appeared gives to those wno need it the opportunity of exploring the region hitherto obscure. Chaucer whose ' Balade de Bon Conseyl,' among other pieces, is included has been much popularized of late ; but to many Skelton remains only a name, Cornish and Godwhen are unknown, and the ballad of 'The Nut-Brown Maid' signifies nothing. The three lyrics, too, by King Henry VIII. should at least have the freshness of novelty ; while that beginning,

As the holly groweth green, And never changeth hue, So I am, ever hath been

Unto my lady true,

is not without naivete, viewed in the light of history.

Of the four sections into which the lyrics are divided, the last the ' Trivial ' is likely to be the most general in its appeal, with a range of themes from drinking and the woes of married life to Christmas carols and the following pleasant little song in praise of Winchester :

Me liketh ever the lengere the bet

By Wingester, that joly site" ; The ton is god and wel iset ;

The folk is comely on to see ; The aier is god bothe inne and oute ;

The site stent under an hille ; The riveres renneth all aboute ; The ton is ruelt$d apon skille. Benedicamus Domino. Alleluia Alleluia-a. Among the 'Divine' lyrics, Christmas carols

Srevail. Here we find the well-known "When rist was born of Mary free" and many like it; while the gem of the collection is perhaps There is a floure sprung of a tree, which is here printed for the first time.

In the poems of the sixteenth century the spell- ing has been modernized, and this, in a lesser degree, is the case with those of the fifteenth. On the other hand, those written before 1400 are left virtually unaltered in this respect ; and here the editors have shown their wisdom, for any such change would have been almost as heinous as to render 'Auld Lang Syne' into modern English. Mr. Chambers contributes an admirable and fasci- nating essay on ' Some Aspects of Mediaeval Lyric' ; and the volume concludes with lists of the sources of the various texts, and books bearing on the subject, and a most valuable serits of notes dealing with each poem. There is ako an index of first lines.