Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/377

 10 s. vm. OCT. 19, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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tradition connecting that family with the murder. The story ran that Bruce was accompanied not only by Kirkpatrick, but also by one of the Flemings, who cut off the Comyn's head and brought it out under his cloak, exclaiming as he showed it to Bruce, " Let the dead shaw." His object in taking possession of the head was that he might lay claim to the estates of Comyn. Biggar and Cumbernauld, which the Flemings held for centuries, are said to have been part of the lands of Comyn. I have never seen this story in print, and should like to know if it has any historical truth.

ALEX. RUSSELL, M.A. Stromness, Orkney.

JOSEPH KNIGHT ON THE LAUREATESHIP.

(10 S. viii. 267.)

HERE is an authentic transcript of the original article by Joseph Knight in pp. 407-8 of The Idler, vol. vii. published by Messrs. Chatto & Windus, April, 1895. Not one line could have been spared. It is worthy of being printed in extenso, verbatim et punctuatim, in memory of our dear friend and beloved Editor of ' N. &. Q.' Under the title ' Who should be Laureate ? ' the Idlers' Club on pp. 400-419 debated the matter by giving twenty-two replies to the question, each one illustrated by a small portrait of the writer, contributed by Louis Gunnis and Penryn Stanley. The briefest was written by Sir Edwin Arnold, to the effect of indicating himself (as it was un- generously suspected), and in these words : " The man whom Her Majesty chooses." The pre-eminence of A. C. Swinburne is generally recognized. We have to do only with the contribution, twelve years ago, of Joseph Knight :

"The only man who could accept the Laureate' ship is Mr. Swinburne, Mr. Morris's politics putting him out of the running. I cannot think the gentle- men who supply us with a constant stream of verse epic, lyric, dramatic, what not possessing every attraction and quality except the essential, could seriously challenge the verdict of the ages upon their presumption. To do so would show a lack of the sense of humour, with which I hesitate to credit them. Among our fledgeling bards, I find none who has, as yet, beaten out his music, or whose young wings have carried him near the higher peaks of Parnassus. There is abundance of excellent verse. Almost everybody, nowadays, writes it. Poetry in these days is the blossom of most intelligent minds. Only when it becomes fruit is the world concerned

with it. A single lyric in 'Atalanta' or 'Songs and Ballads ' outweighs all the remaining verse issued in the United Kingdom. These opinions will, I know, if read, be distasteful to many worthy gentlemen whom I greatly respect. It is not my fault. It was riot I who wrote :

Mediocribus esse poetis,

Non homines, non Di, non concessere columnse. As this is a popular magazine, I give Conington's translation :

But gods and men and booksellers agree To place their ban on middling poetry. If I were one of our minor bards, whom somebody approached on the subject of my claim to the Laureateship, I should look for the tongue in the cheek, or wonder whether I had incurred some con- cealed animosity. If Mr. Swinburne may not have the post, and I know there are some difficulties, let it be abolished. I do not wish to reduce the meagre recognition awarded to letters, but to fall from the height it has attained to its former level, would be a dangerous experiment even for the Laureateship."

JOSEPH WOODFALL EBSWOBTH.

MA JOB MONEY AND HIS BALLOON (10 S. viii. 170). MB. PICKFOBD mentions a balloon adventure at sea recorded under date of 1787. Quite recently I happened to be in the Museum at Calais (built in 1231, so the local handbook records), and saw there, carefully preserved, the car of a balloon that alighted on French soil from England early in 1785. It is 6 ft. Gin. long and about 4 ft. wide, shaped something like an ancient Briton's curricle. It has a pointed bow, and is of canvas stretched upon an iron framing. The former is elaborately decorated, the subjects being celestial figures floating upon clouds. It has a seat which also does duty as a strut 5 in. wide in its midst, and the five loops by which this car was originally attached to the balloon are still there.

Particulars relative to the adventure are appended in the shape of " a Translation of an extract from the Registers of the Crown at Calais." Therefrom we learn that M. Blanchard made his aerial passage from Dover to Calais, attended by a Dr. Jeffreys, on 7 Jan., 1785, and on that day,

"at half past one P.M., the Mayor and municipal officers of the town of Calais, being informed that the balloon was appearing above the horizon near Dover, immediately took convenient seats for observing its arrival. It was soon obvious that it was directing its course towards the Blanez, the most elevated and visible object on the French coast, and which, naturally, served as a guide to so experienced a traveller as M. Blanchard.

"At 2 o'clock the balloon was observed to be about half way over the straits, and there it re- mained, apparently stationary, at a height of about 4,500ft. above the level of the sea, i.e., so far as it was possible to judge by the aid of instruments. Afterwards it continued its course, sometimes