Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/345

 us. in. APRIL 29, 1911.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

339

In the south choir aisle of Winchester Cathedral there is a tombstone with the inscription : " Here lyeth the Body | of Essex Powlett" Esq re | who died the 17 th | of September | 1682."

F. E. R. POLL ABD-URQTJH ART.

Brockenhurst.

How does the Christian name Essex come into the family of Selby - Lowndes of Whaddon, Bucks ? G. W. E. R.

0tt

Agamemnon of JEschylus. With Verse Transla- tion, Introduction, and Notes by Walter Head- lam, Litt.D. Edited by A. C. Pearson. (Cam- bridge University Press.)

MR. A. C. PEARSON has performed a pious duty, for which classical scholars will thank him in completing as far as possible by the aid of refer- ence to the late W. G. Headlam's unpriiited notes and MSS. that fine scholar's edition of the ' Agamemnon.' The volume, as it stands, certainly contains enough fully to warrant its publication, and cannot in future be neglected in any study of the play. Dr. Headlam not only had a special gift for ^lEschylus, but also he was able which is no small matter to give expres- sion to his views in clear and effective English. The Introduction is chiefly notable as combating, we think, with success, the startling views as to the difficulties of time in the flashing of the beacon message put forward by Dr. Verrall in his com- mentary.

The text is faced by an English rendering which, founded on the principle* of using the " large language of the dramatists and Milton," well exemplified in Mr. W T hitelaw's translation of Sophocles, is at once dignified and as near the Greek as a modern can get. In his translation of the iambics Dr. Headlam can stand comparison with Mr. E. D. A. Morshead, whom, on the whole, we regard as the most tasteful and accomplished of the band of translators. The only doubt we have is as to the numerous half lines which Dr. Headlam allowed himself, and which do not represent any break in the Greek, though they have often an effective Elizabethan ring. The choruses are not a success, but a satisfactory rendering of these is beyond the power of any- body, as Headlam himself fully recognized.

Several of the commentator's ingenious con- jectures are introduced in the text, and all of these are worthy of consideration, though we do not approve of them in every case. In 1. 178 oi<5' o'a-m is changed into ot5X<5$ rts, the adjective being the epithet applied by Homer to Ares and Achilles. The main point about the notes is the wealth of citations from other Greek authors with which Dr. Headlam supports this or that usage. Here his book is unrivalled ; it could only have been produced after long and laborious 'study of Greek. It has, in fact, that thoroughness of erudition which is more a Ger- man than an English quality, and which is only really effective when it is accompanied by good taste and judgment.

Old English Instruments of Music : their History and Character. By Francis W. Galpin. With 102 Illustrations. (Methuen & Co.) THIS is a very happy addition to the now ex- tensive series of " The Antiquary's Books." The fame of Mr. Galpin as one who could play the " serpent " reached the present reviewer many years ago, and he has long had an un- equalled knowledge of the musical instruments of the past.

The result of this mastery is a book alike learned and entertaining. The illustrations are many of them delightfully quaint, and the author has put his exposition into a form which makes it accessible to the unlearned reader. The origin of the instruments carries one far beyond the bounds of the British Isles, but the illustrations, are confined almost entirely to English sources, which supply medieval miniatures of great interest- two, for instance, of the early eleventh century and the early fifteenth showing the " crowd,'^ which is the Welsh " crwth," well known to readers- of ' Aylwin,' and appears in Latin as " chorus."

Mr. Galpin has not gone in for elaborate foot- notes, but we have every confidence that the re- sults of his investigations are trustworthy. The Appendix is enough to show his wide knowledge of MS. sources. There is a good Index, a glance at which should be sufficient to lure readers on to the store of erudition provided for them. Thus the kinds of the bagpipe begin with " Assyrian " ; there is a complete list of 1547 of ' The Musical Instruments of Henry VIII.' ; and we note references to ' Nel Gwynne,. her reputed Virginal,' Mr. Thomas Hardy on serpents and village church bands, and several to Shakespeare and waits.

ONE of the questions dealt with in recent numbers of L'lntermediaire is the love-corre- spondence of Lucretia Borgia, and Bembo. On this subject " Curiosus " remarks that though the letters of Lucretia are passionate and those of Bembo full of ardour, it is not therefore to be con- cluded that the writers did in fact experience unbounded love. " Epochs of decadence and those which devote themselves beyond measure to literature deal voluntarily in the superlative, and words no longer have their intrinsic value .... It is extremely probable that the cardinal and the princess exchanged such amorous phrases more through love of art and fine periods than because they were really in love with each other." Other subjects discussed are the enforced marriages with which Napoleon secured well- dowered brides for men of distinction in his army, and the date of Titian's death. The ecclesiastical custom of taking the Communion wine through a pipe is treated at some length. It seems that the chalumeau was also used in certain churches when the deacon or a priest, at the Paschal feast, before the end of the mass, gave non-consecrated wine to the faithful who had communicated. One of the inventories cited on this point is that of Notre Dame de Paris, 1416: "A large cup [coupe] of silver gilt....

called the cup [godet] of St. Thomas with

this cup a pipe of silver gilt for taking the wine of Easter Day after the Communion." It would be interesting to know who the St. Thomas mentioned was. Possibly he was St. Thomas, of Canterbury.