Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 12.djvu/511

 9> s. xii. DEC. 26, 1903.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

.03

elevated woodland called the Sneep"; near this headland is a cave wherein the royal hero slumbers.

" Its entrance is concealed by a wealth of foliage, and in the centre of the hall a flame arises from the ground. Around the fire are placed two couches formed of many various kinds of herbs and wild flowers, which are said to send out a delicate odour like the purest balsam. On one of these couches reclines King Arthur ; and on the other Guenhever his Queen. Lying also around the fire are his pack of faithful bloodhounds. Upon the table lies his terrible sword Excalibur in its sheath, a garter, and a huge brazen horn or trumpet. On other couches in the same chamber also recline the King's faithful courtiers, all equipped, whilst near by are

their horses all harnessed To break the spell

some one must penetrate the cave, take the sword and cut the garter, and blow the horn or trumpet. This action will restore all to life again. If this feat is not successfully performed and it has been at- tempted more than once without success the King will slowly rise from his couch, so it is said, open his eyes, and lift up his hands and exclaim :

woe betide that evil day On when the witless wight was born,

Who drew the sword, the garter cut, But never blew the bugle horn."

There are several other places in the "North Countree" of which a like tale is told. I think Prof. Boyd Dawkins and his followers would do well to explore such caves as that near the Sneep, though perhaps it would hardly be wise to rouse Arthur and his knights. What would the modern world do with them, or they with it 1

ST. SWITHIN.

ROBIN A BOBBIN. About this time of the year, when thoughts and talks were of the coming Christmas, the Derbyshire lads of the villages used to spend the early hours of the long nights in " telling tales," some of which were handed down from the generations before, and others were inventions at the time of telling ; and one of these was the relation of what "Kobin a Bobbin" and others did on a visit to the woods. It began :

Let 's go to the woods, said Robin a Bobbin ;

Let 's go to the woods, said Richard to Robin ;

Let 's go to the woods, said John all alone ;

Let 's go to the woods, said every one.

What shall we do there ? said Robin a Bobbin ; What shall we do there? said Richard to Robin ; What shall we do there ? said John all alone ; What shall we do there ? said every one.

After this opening the remainder of the narrative went on in a happy-go-lucky fashion, depending for incident upon the inventive genius of the narrator, thus :

We'll shoot a crow, said Robin a Bobbin ;

We '11 shoot a crow, said Richard to Robin ;

We '11 shoot a crow, said John all alone ;

We '11 shoot a crow, said every one.

The "nomminy" was often spun out to a

^reat length, several lads taking up the thread of the story in turns. A great deal of fun was provided by this pastime, and often details of the visit to the woods were of a nature which could not be printed. This way of passing the weary winter evenings was common fifty years ago and no doubt were few, and their " wants " as great as they are nowadays. THOS. KATCLIFFE.
 * or many years before when books for boys

Worksop.

THE WESTBURY WHITE HORSE. This cele- Drated effigy, remodelled in 1778, forms the subject of a quaintly worded announcement 'n a recent number of Lloyds Weekly News :

"The Westbury White Horse Committee have accepted an estimate for cleaning the horse, returf- ng its eye, and putting concrete in a few places, tt is hoped to raise the necessary funds by an annual subscription. Iron gratings have been put in the legs and tail of the celebrated animal." Although the horse is of no very great anti- quity, I feel sure all readers of ' N. & Q.' will welcome the movement to preserve a land- mark associated with the legendary site of one of King Alfred's victories over the Danes. G. YARROAV BALDOCK.

South Hackney.

STAGES ON BARRELS. In an engraving of the beheadal of 0. Love, at Tower Hill, in 1651, one notices that the stages for the spectators are raised on barrels. The tra- ditional stage on which the pastorals or moralities are performed among the Basks of France, now almost exclusively in the Pays de Soule, is to this day made in the same way. For a description of these popular dramas see 'Les Pastorales Basques,' par G. Herelle (Bayonne, 1903). On p. 7 the learned chevalier tells us :

" Le theatre est un ^chafaud dresse sur la place publique. Le plancher de la scene, support e par des tonneaux mis debout, est un carre de sept ou huit metres de cote*."

E. S. DODGSON.

MURAL TABLETS TO THE GREAT. It is- curious how the list, circulated through the press, of houses to whose fronts tablets have been affixed by the Society of Arts as mementoes of illustrious personages, should be inaccurate in respect of the spot where Lord Byron, it is now generally agreed, first saw the light. This was, of course, at No. 24, not, as given, at No. 16, Holies Street, Caven- dish Square. The original building and another have been razed since that notable event. Upon the second occasion the Society's plaque with the inscription, "The House where Byron was born," disappeared also. Nor was the present elaborate memorial put