Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/509

 2nd s. N 25., JUNE 21. '56.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

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foreign soil the ashes of her 'martyr spy,' and gave them a fit sepulture among the mighty dead who sleep in that mausoleum of British worthies, the Westminster Abbey. The spot which covers the remains of Hale is unknown, and it is but recently that a tardy patriotism has erected a fitting cenotaph to his memory in his native town of Coventry, Connecticut.

" We commend this biography to all who desire to ac- quaint themselves in clearer outlines with the character of him who, in meeting an ignominious death, regretted only that he had but one life to lose for his country."

w.w.

Malta.

Pantomimes (2 nd S. i. 313. 436.) Pantomimic acting, accompanied by music, has been in use among the Chinese, Persians, and other Oriental people, and was introduced into the Greek cho- ruses. (Lucian, De Saltatione.) The Romans had entire plays called saltatio pantomimorum. The word pantomimus is of Greek origin, and means " an imitator of everything." In the reign of Augustus two actors, Bathyllus and Pylades (both Greek names), were celebrated, but they were not its inventors, and respecting whose con- test there is a heavy joke of Augustus in Quinc- tilian (vi. 3.). There was a friendly contention between Cicero and Roscius, to determine whe- ther the one by his phrases, or the other by his gesticulations, could vary oftenest a given senti- ment. The modern pantomime, as the name of harlequin shows, came to England from Italy, where Arlecchino is forcibly introduced even into such plays as Goldoni's II Padre di Famiglia, thereby evincing the popularity of this character ; and to which country we also owe Punch, some- thing more than pantomime, and more like the speaking French harlequin.

The ancient saltatio is somewhat feebly set forth in the melo-dramas of modern times, where the action proceeds to the accompaniment of instru- mental music, without words or singing. For authorities see Eschenburg, Cl. Lit., p. v. s. 319. b. 320. Zosimus, i. 6. ; iv. 33.;; v. 7. Oct. Fer- rarius, De Mimis et Pantomimis. N. Calliachus, De Ludis seen. Mint, et Pantomirn. J. Meursius, De Saltationibus veter. De L'Aulnaye, Saltut. Theat., with plates. J. Weaver, History of Mimes and Pantomimes. Boulanger de Rivery, Recherches histor. et crit. stir les Mimes et les Pantomimes. Burette, in the Mem. Acad. Inscrip., i. Ziegler, De Mimis Romanorum. Sulzer, Allg. Theorie, i. 523. Signorelli, Storia critica dei Teatri antichi e moderni. T. J. BUCKTON.

Lichfield.

Submarine Duel (2 nd S. i. 412.) The reason why I think there is no truth in the story is this : the same tale is told in the third volume of Music and Friends, by W. Gardiner, 1853; only the duel is there stated to have taken place be- tween two divers employed, not by Mr. Deane at

the " Royal George," but by a Capt. M c Neilly in raising the "Scotia," sunk in the straits which separate Puffin Island from the main of Anglesea. No date is given, but a truly super-marvellous addition is made to the duel. Here is the whole passage :

" Capt. M c Neilly assured me that two of his men, on finding a box of dollars, quarrelled over it, and actually fought, at the bottom of the sea, for the possession of the treasure. He also told me of a diver who had been drinking very freely, on falling asleep in the depths below, had his pocket picked by his companion during his submarine nap."

Equipped as divers are, it is just possible that they might lay hold of the same article, and pull against one another for the possession of it ; but anything like "fighting" would, I think, be an impossibility; and when I read about the " sub- marine nap," I cannot help concluding that in the whole of the diving wonders he was relating to him, the sly M c Neilly must have been practising on the credulity of Mr. Gardiner.

HENRY KENSINGTON.

Kennerleigh Manor lost by a Game of Cards (2 nd S. i. 222.) The account of which I had from Capt. Clayfield, a descendant of the Dowrish family ; and I think it probable that if J. T T will apply to that gentleman, he will get every information on the subject. JULIA R. BOCKETT.

Southcote Lodge.

Blood that will not wash out (2 nd S. i. 374.) In Lincoln Cathedral there are two fine rose win- dows,* one of which, it is said, was made by a master workman, and the other by his apprentice, out of the pieces of stained glass the former had thrown aside. These two windows were un- covered on a certain day, and that of the ap prentice's construction was declared to be the most magnificent. In a fit of jealousy and chagrin the master threw himself from the gallery beneath his boasted chef-d'oeuvre, and was killed upon the spot. The blood stains upon the floor are declared to be indelible, and are still pointed out to the admiring visitor by the verger in at- tendance. It is but right to add that I have heard a similar story at another cathedral : I can- not remember which. T. LAMPRAT

At Cothele, a mansion on the banks of the Tamar, the marks are still visible of the blood spilt by the lord of the manor, when, for supposed treachery, he slew the warder of the drawbridge. But these are only to be seen on a wet day, and I have heard of a gentleman who was only con- vinced of the truth of the assertion by a visit during rain. Many similar traditions haunt Cornish and Devonshire houses.

The blood marks at Holyrood I have certainly seen, or, to speak more correctly, the so-called blood marks, of the unfortunate Rizzio ; and I