Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/488

 482

NOTES AND QUERIES.

s. m. J E 24, 1911.

Lear swears by Apollo (as he does, I. i. 151), " he is reminded that Apollo was no friend of the king's." It may have been so, but I should hardly have deduced such a lesson or reference from the passage, Which runs :

Lear. Now, by Apollo Kent. Now, by Apollo, king, Thou swar'st thy gods in vain.

Undeterred by the probable sanity of some of our contemporary aviators, I am tempted to trace in the effort of Bladud a premonition of the madness which in the next generation developed in King Lear. I think, too, that both father and son may have been affected by the mental dizziness which, according to some modern psychologists, results from the possession of irresponsible power. So they account for that loss of balance which has been, and still is, not in- frequent among rulers, especially among such of them as are autocrats. Perhaps this was the primary exacerbating cause of Lear's disorder. He could not brook resis- tance ; he could not bear delay, or any token of disregard. He would rather break the heart that was dearest to him, would rather break his own, than waive his pride to ask for an explanation of a speech that had astonished him. Even before the time which divides unreasonableness from want of reason had been reached, Goneril had observed, " The best and soundest of his time hath been but rash," and Regan, " He hath ever but slenderly known himself " (I. i. 292, &c.).

The old writers spelt the name of our unhappy king Llyr or Leir. Now Llyr meant, or so I have read, sea, and a Celtic kind of Neptune was so named. It follows I think I may say, of course that the sug- gestion has been thrown out that Lear was a personification of the great waters, and his three daughters of some of their many aspects. But " that way madness lies," and I feel it only prudent to beat a retreat.

Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote that Lear founded Leicester, which was at first called after him Caerleir = the camp or fortress of Lear, afterwards, from Roman or other influence, transposed into Leicester. Modern etymologists incline to believe that the name marks the place as having been a stronghold on the banks of the river Soar, which they allege was formerly known as Leire, or some- thing thereto resembling. To this day a village distinguished as Leire is situated on the Upper Soar.

If Lear did found Leicester, he followed the paternal example of Bladud, who set

Bath going. We may conclude from what Spenser says that Lear was more skilled in the arts of peace than in those of war ; but castles were necessary for defence, and no doubt he would see to the provision of them. His great-great-grandfather had been a fighter ; but the son of that worthy f Lear's great-grandsire, King Leil,

Enjoy'd an heritage of lasting peace, And built Cairleill and built Cairleon strong. Next Hudibras, his realme did not encrease, But taught the land from wearie wars to cease : Wh se footsteps Bladud, following in artes, Exceld at Athens all the learned preace.

This may not be poetry, but it is ' The Faerie Queen.' " Next him," continues the record, " king Leyr in happy peace long raynd."

Here I believe we arrive at another factor in the mental estrangement of our prota- gonist. Each man, as somebody has put it, is an omnibus carrying all his ancestors, and it follows, as might be expected, that occa- sionally a long-forgotten passenger demon- strates his presence. Lear had a warrior great-great-grandfather, as we have seen, and I take it that this worthy, tired of dozing with his family in the bus, bestirred himself and made Lear restless too. All was calm and quiet in his kingdom, but he was un- consciously spoiling for a fight. There was no enemy to call forth an outburst of energy in the field, so, instinctively, he let off steam in his own household and made "reason totter on her throne." -Long repression of a proneness ceased when the superannuated mind was no longer able to exercise rule and restraint. Thus was Age ministrant to the outburst of Lear's insanity. It gave tendencies the opportunity of demon- strating ; to use Tennyson,

The passions cramped no linger had scope and breathing space.

As Goneril was shrewd enough to perceive, there must be expected in Lear " the im- perfections of a long engrafted condition in addition to the unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric years bring with them" (I. i. 296).

What clever women Goneril and Regan were ! And they had all the advantage which unscrupulousness can confer on mere ability. Bad daughters, bad sisters, bad wives ! I feel sometimes as if they never could have had the same mother as Cordelia ; but the suspicion is unscientific. Botii wolves and lambs are cherished in our own nurseries, and the parents are identical. It is because ancestors in the omnibuses are