Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 12.djvu/89

 ii s. xii. JULY si, i9i5.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

81

LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 31, 1915.

CONTENTS. No. 292.

NOTES : Seventeenth - Century Travel in Europe, 81 Tartans of the Scots Trewsed Regiments Trafalgar Bridge, 83 Rawstorne Street Theatre, Clerkenwell Signs of Old London Hair used in Magic, 84.

QUERIES: Signer Antonio Caccia Acilius Egyptian Deity 'Justice' by Reynolds "Homo Bulla" Buck- horn, the Prizefighter Richard Humphries, Prizefighter Biographical Information Wanted Fitzwilliaru of Maplethorpe, 85 Badge Third Alternative ' Jerrold's Weekly News' Herbs that cause Abortion in Cattle- Royal British Institution Heraldic Query-Public Fasts Atlantis and Lemuria Was St. Thomas of Canterbury a Benedictine Monk ? Poem Wanted, 86.

REPLIES : Clerks in Holy Orders as Combatants 1 The Gentleman's Calling ' and ' The Whole Duty of Man,' 87 John Perrin Meux's Horseshoe Brewery Repudiation of Public Loan " Sympathies " and "Antipathies" of Plants, 88 Disraeli's Life: Emanuel The Statues of London Selina Bunbury, 89 Fawcett, Recorder of New- castleHassocks" Fiance"," 90 McBride, 91.

NOTES ON BO ORvS: 'Sources of English History to about 1485 ' ' Quarterly Review ' ' Edinburgh Review.'

OBITUARY : Sir J. A. H. Murray H. de Burgh Hollings. The Future of 'Notes and Queries.'

JSofcs*

SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY TRAVEL IN EUROPE.

(See ante, pp. 42, 63.)

THE journey from Germany to Italy was frequently made on horseback. According to Fuller, it was better for young people's morals if they never made the journey at all. " Mr. Ascham," he writes, " did thank God that he was but nine days in Italy, wherein he saw in one city (Venice) more liberty to sin than in London he ever heard of in nine years." That some of our gentry had gone thither and returned hence without infection he more praised God's Providence than, their own adventure. 11 Italy was clearly no place for youth and innocence. Still, if the traveller, youthful or otherwise, elected to proceed it was cheaper to do it on horseback, and to purchase his horse in Germany and sell it again in Italy, where good horses were scarce. b The roads from Vienna or Augsburg to Padua were good. Ed. Browne travelled on horseback alone from Vienna to Venice and back again in 1669, and found the journey the quietest he

" Puller, ' Holy Jand Prophane State,' ed. Nichols, 1841, 150.

11 Moryson, ' Itinerary ' (1908), iii. 466.

had ever made. The accommodation at the inns was good and the charges easy, and he had no trouble with bills of health, or any inconveniences at all.* As we have seen, the journey could be made by stage coach. All roads 'led to Padua. From Lyons Sir John Reresby travelled thither by messenger, 15 a term which came to be applied in Italy and elsewhere to the horse-owner or carrier who contracted for the cost of the journey, including lodging and diet, tolls, &c., at a certain rate. This method had its advan- tages (though the messengers had no very good reputation), as it saved the traveller from extortion and bargaining, and enabled him to form some estimate as to the probable cost of his travels. The travelling was mostly on horses or mules, or, in Northern Italy, by boat. c Coaches were not much in use except in the cities. Post-horses were to be hired in every town, and if the traveller found the rate high, he could inquire for "a post-horse of return," namely, a horse hired to a certain place, which would have to return without a rider if no one used it. These were to be had at lower rates.' 1 From Bologna you could, by dint of a little contriving, procure a return horse to Rome for six or eight crowns, as well as a man to travel with you to bear the charges of the horse and yourself, so that all you had to do was " to eat and drink and sit up and light," and if the horse tired by the way, the owner was bound to provide another. 6

In Northern Italy the waterways were largely used for passenger traffic. It was possible to travel all the way from Turin to Venice f by boat along the Po, finishing the journey along the Adige to Chiozzia by means of an artificial canal which linked up the two rivers.^ Between Padua and Venice a passage boat, covered with arched hatches, and drawn by a horse, went daily along the Brenta. h The company was mixed, but pleasant. It was a common

tt El. Browne, ' Travels ' (1687), 88.

b ' Travels ' (1904), 35.

c Ed. Browne, ' Travels ' (1687), 222.

d Moryson, ' Itinerary ' (1908), iii. 473.

c ' A True Description of what is most worthy to be seen in Italy ' (' Harl. Misc. ,' v. 9 ). This account is not dated, but from internal evidence it was certainly written before Evelyn visited Italy.

f Coryat, 'Crudities' (1905), i. 230. R. Lassels, ' Voyage of Italy ' (1670), i. 72.

Evelyn's ' Diary ' (Globe ed.), 117. Ed. Browne's ' Travels ' (1687), 190.

h Moryson, 'Itinerary' (1908), i. 159. Ed. Browne's ' Travels,' 194. Evelyn's ' Diary ' (Globe ed.), 122. Evelyn notes the excellent lock system in use here.