Page:Notes and Queries - Series 4 - Volume 4.djvu/139

 4* S. 1Y. AUGUST 14, '69.] NOTES AND QUERIES. solver of amity rivalship : thus when there was occasion to mention him in the periodical called the Somerset House Gazette, conducted by W. H. Pyne, whose business transactions with him for about twenty years had died out, the writer (Pyne himself) penned the following eulogistic para- graphs : " Every season, and each month of every season, for many a year, we may almost venture to aver, has intro- duced some elegant novelty through the channel of Ackermann's repository ; an establishment which, propor- tioned to its magnitude, and its means, we are of opinion, in a statistical estimation, has been productive of as large a share of good to the public weal, as any one that could be named in the whole British Empire. To the liberal spirit of enterprise of the worthy Anglo-Saxon, who established this repository, we owe a thousand improve- ments in the minor branches of the Fine Arts. What- ever was tasteful, ingenious, and new, that could add to the polite agremens of life, that could be bent to the pur- poses of his general views, by whomsoever projected, had only to be presented to him, to meet with encouragement and patronage. An interesting volume might be com- posed of the almost numberless elegant trifles which have appeared under his auspices; some to amuse, some to instruct, and all tending to some wise, benevolent, or useful purpose : among others, and of the last import- ance to society, we have but to name that of his having furnished employment for a multitude of ingenious and industrious persons, in the various branches of his great undertakings ; a public benefit for which he is entitled to the esteem of the British people. For the record of these good deeds more in detail, however, we have reserved a apace, in our projected treatise on the national advantages derived from the general encouragement of the Arts in England, in which Mr. Ackermann claims a distinguished notice." From early in 1813 (not 1817, as Mr. Jerdan seems to intimate), every Wednesday evening in March and April was given to a reception, half a conversazione and half a family party, in his large room, which then as at other times served as an exhibition of English an4 foreign books, maps, prints, woodcuts, lithographs, drawings, paintings, and other works of art and ornament, besides the leading continental periodicals. There, on those evenings, by annual invitation, amateurs, artists, and authors were sure to find people whom they knew or wanted to know. Many an introduction grew to an acquaintance ; and the value of such evenings to foreigners was often gratefully ac- knowledged by travellers who, with any distinc- tion in art or literature, were welcome without other introduction. His active assiduity and his spirited enterprise were suspended by a weakness of sight com- mencing from his charitable exertions in 1814, which made his repose at Camberwell, and after- wards at Ivy Lodge, in the Fulham Road, first a matter of prudence, and afterwards of necessity. He contracted a second marriage : in the spring of 1830 he experienced an attack of paralysis, and never recovered sufficiently to exert his in- telligence in business. He removed for change of air to Finchley, but a second stroke produced a gradual decline of strength in the honourable old man ; and March 30, 1834, saw an end put to the hearty kindness, constant hospitality, and warm beneficence, which had still accompanied his un- questioned integrity. He was interred on April 9, in the family grave in the burial-ground of St. Clement Danes. His eldest son, Rudolph, entered into a similar business of prints, stationery, and artists' materials, in Regent Street, and continued there the manufactory of water colours :* he died in 1868. W. P. SCARBOROUGH FOLK-LORE. During a short sojourn at this queen of York- shire watering-places, I met with several pieces of local folk-lore which appear to me not unworthy of preservation in " N. & Q." Sailors are well known to be somewhat superstitious, to whatever port they may belong, and I did not find those at Scarborough any exception to the general rule. . An old man, over seventy-three years of age, informed me that the Filey fishermen will not go to sea on any day when they have either seen or met a pig the first thing in the morning. I also ascertained that their dame hucksters will close their establishments if any one asks to be supplied with eggs for supper. . There used to be many weather-rhymes afloat in the neighbourhood, but my informant could only remember the following: " When Oliver Mount puts on its hat, Scarboro', Falsgrave, and Scalby must pay for that." Oliver Mount is a fine knoll near the town, from the summit of which Oliver Cromwell is errone- ously said to have battered the castle. . Sailors will not whistle during a voyage, nor will those who steer the pleasure boats allow any passengers to do so. One old man said, " We only whistle when the wind is asleep, and then the breeze comes." . No sailor will set out on a voyage if he finds his earthenware basin turned upside down in the morning when he is about to have breakfast. The boys sometimes turn their basins upside down purposely when they wish to have a day's play. . One of the assistants at the bathing-machines assured me that most accidents happened on Fri- days, especially on Good Fridays. He had never worked on Good Friday for many years, nor would he ever do so again. He then gave a long series of misfortunes, fatal accidents, &c. which had happened on Fridays in his own experience. . The evil eye still carries its influence amongst the inhabitants of the district. Not long ago one woman scratched another, and drew blood in order to counteract its bad effects. This assault ended in a fine after a hearing before the magistrates.