Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/502

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii B. vi. NOV. a. 1912.

INSCRIPTIONS ON BRASSES : COBHAM : CLERE (11 S. vi. 329). In 'A Manual for the Study of Monumental Brasses,' pub- lished under the auspices of the Oxford Architectural Society by J. H. Parker in 1848, is given the following reading of the brass of Sir Reginald de Cobham at Ling- field :

De Steresburgh domin' de Cobham sic Beginaldus Hie jacet hie validus miles fait ut leopardus

horis

In cuntis terris famam predavit honoris Dapsilis in mensis formosus more gerosus LargvH in expensis imperteritus generosus Et quandu placuit Messie moreretur Expirans obijt in cells glorificetur

Mille quadringeno tercio

Migravit celo sit sibi vera quies, Amen. Pater nostcr.

This is taken from a rubbing of the brass in the possession of the Oxford Architectural Society. It would therefore appear that the blank spaces are practically undecipher- able.

There is a description of the brass of Dean Clere in Dr. Mackenzie Walcott's ' Battle Abbey ; with Notices of the Church and Town' (n.d.). At the foot of the page the following reading of the inscription is given :

Decanus gratus Bobertus Clere vocatus, Prudens, sensatus, discretus, morigeratus, In terrain stratus tacitus, jacet hie tumulatus ; Tu Deus oratus, precor, ejus terge reatus, Ut possit vere per cceli culmina natus, Begnans gaudere tecum sine fine locatus.

On the occasion of a visit to Battle in 1901, I believe I saw rubbings of all the brasses and copies of the inscriptions thereon exhibited in the church.

JOHN T. PAGE.

Long Itchington, Warwickshire.

BURIAL AT MIDNIGHT (11 S. vi. 369). An early reference and surmise of the reasons for this custom will be found in a letter included amongst those selected by Dr. Thomas Birch, which were published in 1849 under the title of ' The Court and Times of James the First.' The com- munication from which the following extract is taken was written by John Chamberlain, Esq., to Mrs. Alice Carleton, and is dated " London, February 16, 1614":

" The Lady Cheke, Mr. Osborne's sister, of the Exchequer, would need be let blood the last week, for a little heat or itching in her arm, but by mishap the queen's surgeon pricked her too deep, and cut an artery, which fell to rankle, and in a few days grew to a gangrene, whereof she died on Saturday, and was buried by night, with above thirty coaches and much torchlight attend- ing her, which is of late come much into fashion,

as it should seem, to avoid trouble and charge But I rather think it was brought up by papists which serve their turn by it many ways/'

AlTCHO.

I do not know whether the point will interest, but among Jews all burials must take place in daylight : at any rate, before twilight or dusk. This is not due to any rite or superstition, but primarily that the family and the friends may return in good time for Maariv, or evening prayers, which are read during the Shiva, or week of mourning, in the home of the deceased. M. L. R. BRESLAR.

'RULE, BRITANNIA' (11 S. v. 309, 415, 516). In

"The London Songster or Polite Musical Com- panion, containing Four Hundred and Fifty Four of the newest and most favourite Catches, Duets, and Cantatas, now in vogue at the public Theatres and Gardens, To which is added, A genteel Collec- tion of the various Toasts, Sentiments, and Hob Nobs now in fashion,"

printed in 1767 for W. Nicoll at " The Paper Mill "in St. Paul's Churchyard, the chorus of ' Rule, Britannia,' is given :

Bule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves, For Britons never will be slaves.

This is another rendering.

WILLIAM MACARTHUR. Dublin.

AUTHORS OF QUOTATIONS WAXTED (11 S. v. 129, 237, 372). Among the quotations at the first reference No. 10 has somehow failed to be identified in ' N. & Q.' It is from Virgil, ' JKneid,' viii. 352, and should run :

Quis deus incertum est, habitat deus.

Perhaps, as was the case with the letter in Poe's story, any one looking for these words, though they have a familiar sound, may have turned to more out-of-the-way places than that in which they lay hid.

EDWARD BENSLY.

The lines ante, p. 368,

A temple whose' transepts are measured by miles, Whose chancel has morning for priest, &c.,

are from Swinburne's ' Palace of Pan.' The word " chancel " (not " altar ") is, I think, correct, but I am quoting from memory. W. M. CROOK,

DICK TURPIN'S RIDE TO YORK (US. vi. 189, 256, 355). There are interesting articles on the Ride to York in The North Country Journal of Legend and Lore, published some years ago by The Newcastle Chronicle, and still I believe, in print.