Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/66

 NOTES AND QUERIES. 112 s. i. JAN. is, me.

that, wherever it is possible, the tune should be given as well as named, and of these particular songs we should much like to know the tunes for ' Have over the Water to Florida ' and ' Bold General Wolfe.'

In conclusion a word must be said hi appre- ciation of the agreeable and lucid essay, packed full of information, which forms the introduction. But at this time of day it is superfluous to draw attention to the merits of Prof. Firth's work.

The Cambridge Songs. A Goliard's Song Book of the Eleventh Century. Edited from the Unique Manuscript in the University Library by Karl Breul, Litt.D. (Cambridge University Press, 11. Is. net.)

DR. BREUL, who is Professor of German in the University of Cambridge, has been interested for over thirty years in the remarkable collection of mediaeval Latin poems known as ' The Cambridge
 * Songs.' His first article on the subject appeared

iin vol. xxx. of Haupt's Zeitschrift filr deutsches Alterthitm. The precious manuscript is supposed to have come to Cambridge during the last quarter of the seventeenth century. It was not in the University Library in 1670, but was purchased soon after that date put of Bishop Racket's bequest. John Leland, just before the middle of ,the sixteenth century, saw it at St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury.

The Goliard's Songs form only a small, though important part of the collection, and in this volume Dr. Breul gives a photographic reproduction of all of them, a trustworthy transliteration, and many valuable elucidations of the text, and com- ments on the subject-matter. The handwriting shows a mixture of Continental and old English characters, and there are other differences which suggest more than one scribe : certain numbers are extracts from Latin authors, 37 are in Latin, and two are in macaronic, a mixture of Latin and German.

For nearly two centuries the Cambridge collec- tion has attracted the notice of scholars in our country, and, naturally, also in Germany (Jacob Grimm, Pertz, Uhland, &c.).

The Songs deal with religious subjects, praises of Christ, Mary, patron saints, &c. ; others refer to memorable events which occurred during the second half of the tenth, and the first half of the eleventh century ; while a considerable number treat of novelistic and humorous themes. Some even tell of spring, love, and music. One is about a snow-child ; another gives the legend of a youth who, although he made a compact with the devil in order to win the hand of the girl he loved, was finally rescued from the clutches of the Evil One. For humour may be mentioned the account of Bishop Heriger's examination of the braggart who maintained that he had visited heaven and .hell, or the tale of the cunning Swabian arch-liar. In two numbers the text is provided with neum-accents. And Dr. Breul makes the par- ticularly interesting remark that the satiric poet Sextus Amarcius, who wrote about the middle of the eleventh century, mentions the subjects of four poems that were sung by a mime before a Rhenish audience, and he adds, " No fewer than three of these songs are among those of the Cambridge collection." Probably Dr. Breul is right ; though the subjects might be the .same, yet the poems different.

Concerning No. 11, c De Heinrico,' Dr. Breul has a specially long note. Up to fairly recent times it was supposed to refer to one of the several reconciliations of the German Emperor Otto I. the Great (936-73) with his rebellious brother, Henry I., Duke of Bavaria. Unfortunately, how- ever, the parchment containing the ending of the most important line, apparently in favour of Otto's brother, is worn off, probably owing to frequent turning of the leaf. The whole of this note offers a specimen of the care and critical acumen with which the Songs have been treated. The excellent photographs, in size exact reproduc- tions of the original, were taken by Mr. W. F. Dunn, of the University Library.

HARRY HEMS.

AN interesting personality has passed away in the death of Mr. Harry Hems of Exeter. Born in 1842 at Islington, he was sent at an early age to Minasi's Educational Academy, and so beneficent was the influence of this famous master that the pupil always spoke of him as the most wonderful man Islington had ever produced.

Hems began work at Sheffield in the family trade of cutler, but his taste for carving showed itself early and persistently, and when his father left Islington in 1855 he was'apprenticed to a wood- carver, and after a visit to Italy commenced business in Exeter in 1866 as sculptor and ecclesi- astical art worker. Many important works were completed by him with the best results. The High Altar Screen at St. Albans was one of his admirable restorations ; and many memorials at Exeter, Tavistock, and other West-Country churches give evidence of his skill, taste, and wise restraint. His business success was marked each year by a banquet given to the poor of Exeter, and that city will long retain a regard for the memory of this admirable citizen. As an antiquary and contributor to these pages, MR. HEMS had a vigorous enthusiasm and great diversity of interests. A large number of his notes appeared in the Ninth and Tenth Series. A voluminous correspondent, he wrote me numerous letters giving his recollections of Islington, and he was always interested in its changes and the pro- gress of the excellent Islington Antiquarian and Historical Society. A. A.

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ON all communications must be written the name and .address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.

S. R. C. " An Austrian army awfully arrayed. These lines were printed in full at 3 S. iv. 88, and were discussed in vol. i. of our Tenth Series at pp. 120, 148, 211, 258, 277, 280. Their authorship has been the subject of some conjecture. They may be found in The Trifler, May 7, 1817, and in Bentlcy'ft Miscellany, March, 1838.

CORRIGENDUM. ' Inscriptions in the Churchyard of St. Mary's, Lambeth,' 11 S. xii. 397, No. 144, for " Larkson Stanfield " read Clarkson Stanfield.