Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 4.djvu/330

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 8. iv. DEC., MM.

WILLIAM FLEETS OF SELWORTHY. A brass plate on the wall of the north side o the chancel of All Saints Church, Selworthy Somerset, bears the following inscription, in 28 lines, and in Roman capitals :

v Epitaphivm Gvlihelmi Fleete Pastoris Gregis 'Domini apvd Selworthienses qvi diem obijt h?Quinto die lanvarij Ano Domini 1617. Mortvvs hie iaceo in terra, tvmvlatvs et vrna, Fvnerei versvs conditor ipse mei. Londini natvs, Winton nvtritvs et Oxon Naviter edoctvs cvm grege Wicamico, Inde Somerset! Selworthia villa tenebat Et cselo atque solo, nomine digna satis. Qvadraginta octoque aiios pverosqve senesqve Edocvi vere dogmata sa era Dei. Hijsce locis hvivs transegi tempora vitae Nil svperest, nisi qvod spiritvs astra petat Mortali hac vita transacta, certvs ego svm Qvod inihi cvm Christo vita perefiis erit. Here dead I lye in earth, intombed in the grave^ My funeralls in swanlike sort myselfe indited have 'Condon my birth, my bringing vpp Winton &

Oxon had Where tavght I was w th Wickhams flock among

y grave & sad Thence, Selworthy in Somersett, this place of

worth and fame Mee kept, for wholsom aire & soile most worthy

of that name Where forty yeares & eight I tavght Gods flock

both yovng & old And did to them as meete it was Gods holy

word vnfold And in these forenam'd places, all my time &

life did spend What now remaines but y* my soull above y e

starrs shall wend For this my mortall life once done I know &

I am svre

In everlasting life w* h Christ God will for me procvre. AMEN

The author being a contemporary of Shakspere and Bacon, his rimes deserve the attention of all Englishmen. To Wyke- hamists and Oxonians the Latin elegiacs

which he was taught to write are interesting,

especially as he found his pastors and masters of the Tudor period " grave and EDWARD S. DODGSON.

ead.'

EPITAPH AT ABENHALL, GLOS. In ' The Forest of Dean,' by Arthur O. Cooke, 1913, p. 179, is this epitaph, on an upright stone between the church tower and the gate :

As I was riding on the road,

Not knowing what was coming,

A bull that was loggered and pressed,

After me came a-running.

He with his logger did me strike,

He being sore offended ;

I from my horse was forced to fall,

And thus my days were ended. " Logger," says Mr. Cooke, is a block of wood attached tc an animal to prevent it breaking through hedges; there seems a

fairly obvious connexion with " loggerheads." The date of the Abenhall (or^Abinghall) epitaph is not given W. B. H.

FOLKESTONE CHURCHYARD. The follow- ing lines on a child only three years old may- be worth recording in ' X. & Q.' :

To the Memory of

Miss Rebeccah Souter,

Daughter of Capt"- Thomas

and Sussanna Souter,

who Departed this Life

On Monday, April the 2nd, 1776,

Aged 3 Years and 3 Days. Just Bebeccah's Little Bark Adventured on Life's Stormy Sea With youth and Grace and Beauty framed.. For Every Graceful Charm had she. But what Accomplishments avail ? For Stern Affliction Vex'd her sore Till Angel Pilot seiz'd the Helm And steer'd her to Heaven's Blissful^Shore.-

R. J. FYNMORE.

CHRISTMAS VERSES SPOKEN BY CHILDREN. ' N. & Q.' has published from time to time r ersions of lines recited by children at Christmas, but it may be worth while to- add the following, taken down from the lips of Sheffield children about the year 1900. The children sing some carols, and then gabble the lines or some of them. The custom still survives :

I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New

Year,

Plenty of money and nothing to fear. Ladies and gentlemen who sit at your ease, Put your hand in your pocket and give what you.

please.

A hole in my stocking, a hole in my shoe, Please will you give me a copper or two ? If you have not a copper, silver will do ;. If you have not silver, God bless you. I have a little purse, made of leather skin,

I want a little coin to line it well within. Ladies and gentlemen sitting round the fm Think of us poor children who are wandering in-

the mire. We are not daily beggars that beg from door to-

door, We are your neighbours' children whom you

have seen before. May God bless you ! May God send you A happy

New Year ! I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New

Year,

A pocketful of money and a cellarful of beer, An apple and a pear, a plum and a cherry, A drop of good ale to make a man merry. God bless the master of this house, the mistress

also,

Likewise the little children that round the table go.. May God bless you ! May God send you a happy

New Year !

I neither come to your house to beg or to borrow ,. But I come to your house to drive away all sorrow..

G. C. MOORE SMITH.