Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/162

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NOTES AND QUERIES. 11 s. ix. FEB. 21, 191*.

that not lying so straight as the left ; part of the shin bone of the right leg seen, and that of the right arm below the elbow ; the upper jaw with teeth lying near the right elbow, and the bone of the left arm out of its place and lying slantwise on the breast ; a quantity of a kind of white paste lying in two or three lumps on and below the belly, which it may be supposed had been poured into the body on the heart and bowels being taken out ; on breaking a piece of this paste it was mixed with the skeletons of maggots or flies, of which vast quantities lay on or about the body ; and, on the right cheek of the skull there was a sharp point about half an inch long, and some grey hairs ap- peared under part of the cap, which had fitted the head very tight, and seemed to have buckled under the chin, parts of the straps remaining ; the robe had the appearance, in some parts, of having been embroidered, particularly on the right knee ; no bones of the fingers to be found ; the coffin is laid upon the same level as the floor of the choir, the inside being about even with surface of the pave- ment. The concourse of people to view the remains of royalty was so great, that it was impossible to admit them all ; it was, however, the order of the Dean and Chapter that as many should be admitted as could be without confusion, and the sextons were directed to make no demand whatever from any person. The tomb was again closed up yester- day afternoon."

W. H. QUARRELL.

AUTHOR OF PLAY WANTED (US. ix. 89). included in ' The Shakespeare Apocrypha,' and appears in the Third Folio of 1664. On the strength of the initials "W. S.," which appear on the title-page of the first edition of 1607, this play has been attributed to William Smith and to Wentworth Smith. Some authorities have given it to Middleton ; but, as Dr. Farmer first pointed out, the second scene of Act I. is the work of an Oxford man. From its likeness in many respects to ' Bartholemew Fair ' and to 'Eastward Hoe' (1605), by Chapman, Jonson, and Marston, Dr. C. F. Tucker Brooke is inclined to attribute ' The Puri- taine Widdow ' to John Marston, himself an Oxford man. The character George Pye- board ("peel" = a baker's shovel) is pro- bably a punning allusion to George Peele, also an Oxford man. See ' The Shakespeare Apocrypha' (C. F. Tucker Brooke), 1908, pp. xxx-xxxiii and 219-48.
 * The Puritane ' is one of the fourteen plays

A. R. BAYLEY.

This comedy incorporates one of the " jests " of George Peele, " the jest of George and the Barber," the hero of the play being called George Pyeboard i.e., George Peele, and a " peel " being an instru- ment used by bakers for taking bread out of an oven, frequently referred to by old writers.

Dyce in his ' Account of G. Peele and his Writings,' p. 329 of his ' Dramatic and Poetical Works of R. Greene and G. Peele,' says :

" ' The Puritaine ' was most probably written by Wentworth Smith, an industrious playwright who- composed most of his pieces in conjunction with Heywood, Dekker, Drayton, Chettle, Munday,. Webster, Haughton, Hath way, and Day."

A. COLLINCWOOD LEE.

'The Puritan; or, The Widow of Watling Street,' played at Drury Lane in 1714, but previously acted by the children of St. Paul's, circa 1607, bore the initials of " W. S.," who, according to the ' Stage Cyclopaedia,' was probably Wentworth Smith and not William Shakespeare.

WlLLOUGHBY MAYCOCK.

"The Puritaine, or the widdow of Watling-- streete. Acted by the children of Paules. Written by W. S. [Wentworth Smith.] London: 1607." Quarto. No pagination.

Francis Kirkman(fl. 1674) printed in 1661 a ' Catalogue of all the English Stage-playes,* in which he interpreted the letters to mean Wm. Shakspeare, but Malone says that Shakspeare "wrote not a line of it."

Wentworth Smith (fl. 1601-23) was a dramatist, and wrote, in partnership with others, numerous plays. R. A. POTTS.

The British Museum Catalogue gives the- play as

"The Puritaine, or The Widdow of Watlinge- Streete. In five acts, in prose and verse. Acted by the children of Paules. Written by W. S., i e., Wentworth Smith ? Sometimes attributed to Wil- liam Shakespeare. 1607."

Other authorities give it as " probably by Wentworth Smith, and not by William Shakespeare."

ARCHIBALD SPARKE, F.R.S.L.

Bolton.

[MR. KICHARD WELFORD thanked for reply.]

Two CURIOUS PLACE-NAMES : OTTERY ST. MARY (11 S. viii. 447, 517 ; ix. 54 ? U3). The contraction of Christopher by West- Country folk takes the form of " Kester." More than one Christopher was known to me- in Devonshire as " Old Kester."

SUSANNA CORNER.

SWINBURNE AS POLYGLOT AUTHOR (11 S ix. 88). There is no occasion to be dis- tressed by Mr. Shorter 's saying that Swin- burne wrote in several languages other than his own. If we may take Samuel Johnson's authority, several " is used in any number not large, and more than two"; and by