Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/327

 ii s. vi OCT. 5, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

267

AN INGENIOUS TAILOR. I have recently purchased a curious picture. It depicts a postman with his ass, both of which are executed in cloth and velvet. The back- ground, which is in water-colour, shows the old parish church of Frant.. which was pulled down about 1815. On the back of the picture is a label, which has on it the arms of the late Duke of Sussex, and reads :

G. Smart, Frant, near Tunbridge Wells

Artist

in cloth and velvet figures

To His Royal Highness

The Duke of Sussex.

At Frant there dwells a man of fame,

By trade a Tailor, Smart by name ;

"Whose studies give me great delight,

For life resembled caught my sight.

There I beheld the Postman's face,

His walking-stick and letter-case ;

With Ass in hand (to where he dwells),

As he returns to Tunbridge Wells.

A milestone also was in sight,

Which gave the work a natural light :

He bore a letter in his hand,

Perhaps some favourable demand ;

The same addressed to Mr. Smart,

Professor of peculiar art,

Whose works appear by no means faint

Sure Ruben 's there with brush and paint ;

Or Aristotle is come back,

Who nature sought without respect.

There dogs and cats like life are seen,

The feather 'd tribe of red and green,

Of cloth and velvet they 're prepar'd,

Appear as tho' by nature rear'd,

His Camera Obscura too,

And Microscope to take the view

Of scenes, which gratify the mind,

And you may purchase if inclin'd.

On referring to Clifford's ' Guide to Tun- bridge Wells,' published in 1822, I find the following, which relates to the artist :

" The company from the Wells, in their rides through Frant, are agreeably attracted on entering the village by the nouvelle Exhibition of a tailor, who, out of cloth of divers colours, delineates animals and birds of various descriptions, with a variety of grotesque characters, particularly old Bright, the Postman, many years sweeper of Tunbridge Wells' Walks, which is considered a good likeness. He has many visitors to inspect this singular collection, who seldom leave his house without becoming purchasers. He calls himself ' Artist in Cloth and Velvet Figures to His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex,' who, with his characteristic good humour, patronizes the humble tailor. He is not a little proud of his royal patronage, which, with some lines, penned by the village bard, he never forgets to place at the back of his ingenious productions."

The picture is most certainly a curious one. I know of no other by Smart which exists. He seems to have died about 1840.

B. VAUGHAN GOWEB. Ferndale Lodge, Tunbridge Wells.

BUNYAN FAMILY OF NOTTINGHAM. The late Rev. S. F. Creswell, a well-known authority on the history of printing in Nottinghamshire, writing nearly half a century ago, thus touched upon an edition of ' The Pilgrim's Progress ' printed in Nottingham in the sixties of the eighteenth century :

" The next work "from Creswell' s press is a very remarkable and rare reprint of ' The Pilgrim's Progress from this World to that which is to come. . . .the Thirty -first edition, with the Addi- tion of a Number of Cuts.' The illustrations are copied and altered from those of 1678, and from those of the 31st edition, printed by A. W. for W. Johnson, London, 1764. The late George Off or, Esq., of Hackney, assured me that this (the Nottingham) was a most remarkable edition ; that he only knew of another copy, which he had never seen. He collated my copy for me, pointing out some curious errors. Before and after this date, Bunyan's family was in good circumstances here and at Lincoln."

Although not expressly stated, there can be no doubt that the Nottingham family of Bunyan referred to in Mr. Creswell's con- cluding sentence was identical with the one referred to in the following paragraph, penned by William Stretton, a Nottingham antiquary of a century ago :

" A Society of Gentlemen of the town of Not" tingham, under the appellation of Castillions' being chiefly inhabitants of Castle Gate, to commemorate the Coronation of His Majesty King George the Third [22 Sept., 1761], under the management of Mr. George Bunyan, an eminent hosier of Nottingham, was first established ; and walked in procession to Thorney Woods, with a band of music, drums beating, &c., where they had previously provided a cold entertain- ment, with good store of Nottingham ale, which was served up on a stone table, in a grove of nut trees, near the keeper's house. Many loyal songs, composed for the occasion, chiefly by Mr. Bunyan, were sung ; appropriate toasts were drank, and every means used to make the day a happy one.... This society was kept up, and walked in annual procession till the year 1775, when, through losses in trade or some other event, the principal manager, Mr. Bunyan, was induced to commit divers forgeries on his own sister, for which he fled to America, where he ended his days."

I presume the above individual (who, it is interesting to note, was endowed with some degree of lyrical talent) to have been identical with the George Bunyan, of St. Mary's parish, married at St. Nicholas's Church, Nottingham, in 1754. to Mary Haywood of the latter parish. The memorial in St. Nicholas's Churchyard to Mary Bunyan, who died in 1811, aged 80, was very likely to his widow. Beyond the fore- going data, I know of no other association of the Bunyan family with Nottingham.