Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/135

 12 s. vii. AUG. 7, i92o.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 107 It must not be forgotten that Disraeli was -one of the founders of a newspaper called The Press in 1853, to which he himself con- tributed. HARRY B. POLAND. " SWEET LAVENDER " (See 10 S. x. 146 ; xii. 176; 11 S. ii. 144; iv. 66). Towards the end of July our streets are enlivened by the retailers of this fragrant flower from the famous fields of Mitcham, the vendors in- viting custom with their well-known refrain. 'The precise version of " Buy my sweet la-ven-der " has often been discussed in the pages of ' N. & Q.' May I, of your courtesy, be allowed to quote the one given by Mr. E. V. Lucas in his book, ' London Lavender,' .-as doubtless the most authentic ? Won't you buy my sweet, blooming lavender, 'Sixteen branches for one penny ? Ladies fair, make no delay, I have your lavender fresh to-day ! Buy it once you'll buy it twice, "It makes your clothes smell sweet and nice. Jt will scent your pockethandker chiefs, Sixteen branches for one penny ! .As I walk through London street 1 have your lavender nice and sweet. 'Sixteen branches for one penny I The words are set to music in the book, and faithfully suggest those soft, melodious tones with which we are familiar. CECIL CLARKE. JOTTINGS FROM AN OLD COLONIAL NEWS- PAPER. The subjoined four extracts, taken ffrom an old Colonial paper (The South African Commercial Advertiser, Nov. 26, 1828) may prove of interest to the readers of 'N. & Q.': 1. "It is remarkable that among the thirty - "throne since William the Conqueror, although each of the eleven months has witnessed the .accession of one or more, the month of May has throne within its limits." In bringing this up to date, we find that of the thirty-eight Sovereigns who have reigned, within the stated time, King George V. was the first to break the above record, on his accession on May 6, 1910. 2. " The first coffee-house in London was in 'St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill, which was set up by .one Bowman, coachman to Mr. Hodges, a Turkey merchant, who put him up in it, in, or about the Tear 1652. " The next, opened about four years after was the Rainbow, by Inner Temple Gate ; and the Bagnio, in Newgate Street, built by Turkey merchants, opened in 1679." 3. " The history of the old church of Pancras Middlesex, and the parish it belongs to is one of the largest, being eighteen miles in circumference. The name was sent from Rome by the Pope expressly for this church, which has the only general Catholic burial ground in England, and mass is daily said at St. Peter's at Rome, for the repose of the souls of the faithful whose bodies are deposited therein ; it was also the last church in England whose bell tolled for mass, or in which any Catholic rites were celebrated." 4. " Origin of the phrase " I guess." If the phrase " I guess " is now peculiar to New Eng- land, it is not a native of the soil. As early as 1669, it was used by the John Bulls themselves. " Milton, in the eighth book of his * Paradise Lost,' makes Raphael say to Adam : Already by thy reasoning this ' I guess,' &c. We note this for the benefit of historical anti- quarians . Baltimore paper. ' ' E. H. FAIRBROTHER. PORTRAIT OF ABRAHAM COWLEY. There is in the National Portrait Gallery a portrait of Abraham Cowley, the poet (1618-1667). It is with some reservation ascribed to Mary Beale. Her proficiency in portrait-painting was probably attained subsequently to her marriage, and coincidently with the Restora- tion (1660). It follows that if Cowley sat to her then, after having been ten or twelve years in France, he would have reached the mature age of 41 years. But he is repre- sented as wearing a college gown ; and in looks appears to be not more than thirty. I venture to suggest that the portrait was painted between 1642 and 1645 by William Dobson at Oxford, where Cowley, having taken his degree at Cambridge, had by reason of his royalist proclivities taken up his abode at St. John's College. I am strengthened in this opinion through having in my possession a portrait, of a similar size and tone, which is supposed to be of Sir Edward Walpole (K.B., 1661), the grandfather of Sir Robert Walpole, K.G. Sir Edward was 2 years younger than Cowley. He is painted wearing a brown gown, gathered at the shoulder as in Cowley's portrait, and shewing likewise a white 'shirt edging. The face especially is well painted, and bears a marked resem- blance to that of Walpole' s descendant of the fifth generation who appears on the left-hand side of Sir Joshua Reynolds's "Three Ladies Waldegrave." In Edward Walpole's portrait, probably painted a short time before that of Cowley, the hands are shewn ; but they are not so successfully treated as is the face, which is that of a youth passing into manhood.
 * two [sic] Sovereigns who have sat on the English
 * u>t been so fortunate, none having ascended the
 * s not a little singular it is one of the oldest in