Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/101

 ii s. iv. JULY 29, leu.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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last piece " for a penny. Between 1716 and 1718 he published the royal ' Christ's Kirk on the Green,' with two supplementary can- tos of his own ; and a fifth edition of the realistic delineation thus completed appeared in 1722. In 1721 the poet issued his collected works in a quarto volume, to which Josiah Burchet of the Admiralty, Sir William Scot of Thirlestane, and other notable con- temporaries contributed commendatory verses. " His popularity at this epoch," says Chalmers, " may be inferred from the numerous list of subscribers, which con- sisted of all who were either eminent or fair in Scotland." Ramsay followed up this success with 'Fables and Tales' and 'Tale of Three Bonnets ' in 1722 ; and in 1723, the year of D'Urfey's death, he issued his ' Fair Assembly.' THOMAS BAYNE.

TOUCHING A CORPSE (11 S. iv. 48). Some years ago I was called to serve upon the jury of an inquest held on the body of a man who had been run over by a railway train. One of the jurors whom I did not know asked me, after we had all seen the body, whether I had touched it. I replied that I had not ; he answered : "I am very sorry, for I know that you will be haunted by the spirit of the dead man while asleep, and perhaps when awake also." I said in return that I had no fear of such a catastrophe. He did not reply, but shook his head gravely.

Since this conversation occurred, I have asked several persons what they believed on the matter, and have found that some, but by no means all, held the same opinions as my would-be instructor. K. P. D. E.

In his ' Notes on the Folk-lore of the North- East of Scotland ' (p. 211) the Rev. Walter Gregor says that people touched the breast or brow of the dead person to prevent its image haunting the fancy. This seems to be a strange specific. I should have thought the custom was originally practised in evi- dence of the good faith of each guest, a sign that neither he nor she had in any way brought about the death of the one whose funeral was being celebrated. This view is countenanced by Mr. Henderson, who relates (' Folk-lore of the Northern Counties,' p.^57):

"As to the touching of the corpse by those who come to look at it, this is still expected by the poor oi Durham on the part of those who come to their house while a dead body is lying in it, in token that they wished no ill to the departed, and were in peace and amity with him. No doubt this custom grew out of the belief, once universal among northern nations, that a corpse would bleed at the touch of the murderer "

a subject which has been recently dis- cussed in ' N. & Q.' Long ago, I believe " touching a corpse " was likewise a theme ; but as " there is no new thing under the sun," ' N. & Q.' is precluded from dealing exclusively with the unheard-of : " the thing that hath been is that which shall be," and we need wish for nothing better.

ST. SWITHIN.

I have seen the corpse touched in some parts of the Channel Islands, and the reason given there is that by touching the corpse you are immune from being haunted by the sight in after years a fear which affects most people. I. L. BREHAUT.

In my younger days in this county it used to be said that it was advisable for any persons who saw a corpse to touch it, otherwise they would be haunted by it in their dreams. A. J. DAVY.

Torquay. [MR. W. B. GERISH also thanked for reply.]

GRIMALDI AS A CANARY : ' HARLEQUIN GULLIVER' (11 S. iv. 25). It is a coinci- dence that on the morning on which MR. THORNTON'S note appeared I happened to have been looking at one of my prints of Grimaldi. This quarto print is entitled :

" Principal, characters in the new pantomime called Harlequin Gulliver or the Flying Island, as performed at the Theatre Royal Cov e Gar dn : in four plates : plate 1st. London published as the Act directs Feb. 11 1818 by W. West at his [juvenile] theatrical print warehouse, Exeter House, Exeter st. Strand."

Plate 4th (price a penny plain or twopence coloured) has a picture of the " Clown and his Canary Bird," the latter being about half the size of a man. I have the plate plain and brilliantly coloured about the time of issue, but there is no mistake as to the bright yellow of the canary, which the clown (with trousers) is greeting with open arms, while the canary greets him with open beak. It would thus appear that it must have been Grimaldi' s canary that " shook his wings," and not Grimaldi himself ; and that Lord S. G. Osborne's memory played him false, which is not surprising, as he was only ten years old when he saw the pantomime, and upwards of thirty years had elapsed in 1849 since he had seen the piece.

' Harlequin Gulliver ' was first acted 26 December, 1817, and was a great success, with Grimaldi as " Quadrantissimus, after- wards Clown " ; Mr. Bologna as Gulliver, afterwards Harlequin ; and Miss F. Dennett as "Princess Rhomboidilla, afterwards