Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/483

 12 s. vii. NOV. is, 1920.1 NOTES AND QUERIES.

399

Barham wrote a short story entitled ' Th< Rubber of Life,' which appeared in 184: and was reprinted in 1854. Mr. Barhan also designed a frontispiece ( ' The Spectr* of Tappington ') to his father's 'Legends.'

R. B.

DOMESTIC HISTORY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY(12 S. vii. 191, 216,257,295). After noon tea dates back much earlier than 1857 though it may have been, and probably was an occasional rather than a daily custom See p. 7 of David Garrick's ' Peep behind th Scenes, 1772, where this passage occurs :

" First ivoman : You and I will drink a dish of tea together in comfort this afternoon."

W. JAGGARD, Capt.

DIXONS OF BEESTON (12 S. vii. 331). I suggest that reference to these two grants might possibly prove profitable :

"Dixon. James, of London (descended frotr Dixon of the Bishopric of Durham), by Robert Cooke (Clarenceut). Stowe M.S. 670, fo. 8lb.

"Dixon, George, of Rainshaw, co. Durham Grant of crest 14 Sep. 1615, by Richd. St George Stowe MS. 714, fo. 146 ; Add. MS. 14, 295, fo. 107b.' S. A. GBUNDY-NEWMAN.

HIGH CONSTABLES (12 S. vii. 349). Your correspondent is referred to 'The Office of Constable,' by Joseph Ritson (second edition, London, 1815); 'The Jus- tice of the Peace and Parish Officer,' by Richard Burn, Clerk (In the Savoy, 1756) ; Tomline's 'Law Directory ' (London, 1820). WM. SELF WEEKS.

" YOU BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR " (12 S. vii. 211, 318). This is still in use, although rather archaic. I remember a popular song, about 1878, to a tune from Offenbach's
 * Genevieve,' beginning :

I'm a dandy copper of the Broadway Squad, and having as a chorus :

We're snoozers, we're bruisers Don't give a d n. You can bet your bottom dollar We don't wear a paper collar, &c., &c.

ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK. St. Louis, Mo.

AUTHOR or QUOTATION WANTED (12 S. vii. 351). 3. Thou, for my sake, at Alla's shrine,

And I at any God's for thine ! are the words ending an address from Hinda to Hafed in the Fire Worshippers ( Lalla Kookh,' by Thomas Moore) They are the 310th and 311th lines of the fourth division of the poem.

WILLIAM GILBERT, F.R.N.S.

Four Plays of Gil Vicente. Edited from the editio- princeps (1562), with Translation and Notes by Aubrey F. G. Bell. (Cambridge University Press. 11. net.)

THE student of European literature, even if he do- not occupy himself specially with Portuguese, must find a place in his mental picture of the whole for Gil Vicente. And, whatever be his main study, that place should not be fixed somewhere in the remote background, where details become vague,. and the poet's significance meagre. For Gil Vicente has three or four good claims to high consideration. To the curious, he presents a set of personal pro- blemsin which respect his life not a little resembles Shakespeare's. What we know about him amounts to little. Yet that little has recently been increased and the accounts given in encyclopedias and text - books now re- quire certain corrections in the light of new study notably the discoveries and the arguments of Senhor Anselmo Braamcamp Freire. There was a goldsmith, Gil Vicente, and, contemporaneously,. a poet Gil Vicente. There has been a readiness to make of these two separate persons ; but more accurate information and better considered criti- cism now identify them, though here and there arises cause for doubt. It would seem too that descriptions of Gil Vicente as a student of juris- prudence, or a learned person of any kind, have now to be dismissed as without foundation. The commonly given dates of his birth and death - should also be revised : Aubrey Bell in his Intro- duction, suggests c. 1465 to 1536 or 1537, instead of 1475 or 1480 to 1557.

Although his origin and family and many ques- tions of date and place remain full of obscurity, we possess a good deal of picturesque detail and anecdote as to his life at the Portuguese Court, and its many successes and vicissitudes ; and there is much of an interesting nature to be traced out and surmised, from allusions and familiarities in his work, concerning his probable rustic origin. He was actor top, as well as playwright ; and in all this, yet again, offers obvious matter for com- parison with Shakespeare.

Above all. however, Vicente is a great poet ; he

wants indeed little of being amonglthe few greatest.

So wide is his range, so fearless and stinging his

wit, so vivid his presentment of character, and so

perfect does he show himself in delicacy, music,

and imagination in his nights of lyrical poetry that

t is worth learning Portuguese for the sake of

reading him. The work before us should then*

receive attention and a welcome. Mr. Bell's

introduction deals fully and competently, and in

the light of the most recent work on the subject,

with the poet's life and plays, his quality as

dramatist and poet, and his position in literature.

The Plays offered text and English translation

n parallel columns are the 'Auto da Alma,' the

Exhortagao da Guerra,' the 'Farsa dos Almo-

reves,' and the ' Tragicomedia Pastoril da Serra

a Estrella.'

The translation is not invariably happy it ollows the verse scheme of the original and is hymed : but this has frequently involved sacri- icing the more important characteristics of wit t.