Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/288

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. II. OCT. 1, '98.

was possibly that John Harington, probably fathe of Sir John, the translator of Ariosto, lived a Stepney as Treasurer to the King's [Henry VIII. Camps and Buildings. Lucy, the famous Countes of Bedford, has always been said to have been thi daughter of John, first Lord Harington. It seem worth while to go into this question of descent which may perhaps be definitely settled. At thi date Lord Harington was Sir John. Among other to whom attention is drawn by- the compiler are persons bearing the names of Borough, Burrell Pett, Dethick, and Ryder. Concerning some o these there will be more to say, probably, when w< arrive at the times of Pepys. Among remarkabl Christian names on which we come is that for a woman of Petronell. Puritan names are fairly abundant, but less so than we should have anti cipated. Many Huguenots settled in Spitalfields, at one time part of the parish of Stepney, and their names give the register, as Mr. Colyer - Fergusson says, "a varied interest." Richard Carter of Petti- coatelane, who married, 3 Nov., 1628, Jane Canon, is described as "a translator," which we must assume to mean a cobbler, a slang signification of the word. Mariners and shipwrights are the occupations oJ most frequent occurrence. Occasionally we come on entries such as Andrew Bodelo and Jane Nicaise, both of "ye French congregation." A com- plete analysis of the records, such as can only be slowly accomplished, would probably reveal much matter of interest and some of importance. We thank Mr. Colyer-Fergusson for his labours, and congratulate him on the progress that has been made. We commend heartily his work to support.

The Abbot. By Sir Walter Scott. Edited by

Andrew Lang. (Nimmo.)

IN the reissue of the "Border Edition" of the Waverley novels 'The Abbot,' as is but natural, treads closely on the heels of ' The Monastery.' Wonderful is the change that is experienced. Re- solution and perseverance are requisite to get to the end of 'The Monastery'; in 'The Abbot' the reader is carried along in a whirl of interest. Mr. Lang maintains that, though excellent, ' The Abbot ' is not in the first flight of Scott's novels. This may be. When Scott occupies for a moment the ground formerly trodden we are sensible of a slackness of interest. Archaeological matters, such as the Abbot of Unreason and 0r. Luke Lundin, the chamber- lain at the village revels, are but indifferently managed. The serious interest is, however, admir- ably maintained. Roland Graeme, unlike most of Scott's heroes, is not in the least a prig, and the love passages between him and Catherine Seyton are so delightful they make us wish that Scott had observed less artistic reticence in his general treat- ment of love passages. We might expatiate on the qualities of this glorious novel, but the occasion is scarcely apt. We have but to notice its appearance in the reissued series with the ten illustrations of Mr. Gordon Browne.

Chronicon Henrici Knighton Monachi Leycestrensis.

Edited by Joseph Rawson Lumby, D.D. Vol. II.

(Stationery Office.)

THE present volume is far more important as well as interesting than its predecessor. The earlier portions are in a great degree compilations, mainly from the chronicle of Walter of Hem ingburgh. Here, however, we have much original matter, a large portion of which is of great value. There is, for

one thing, a long and carefully prepared account of Wyclif and his followers. Knighton, as a monk had naturally no sympathy either with the theo- logical or political teaching of these reformers. He seems to have had access to original documents, so that what he says is worth careful scrutiny! John of Gaunt was a benefactor of the Abbey of Leicester and a protector of its interests; he is therefore, always well spoken of, and even his sympathy for the Wyclifites excused, if some- what lamely. The account given of the Black Death is striking, though the idea that it originated in India is probably wrong. In Knighton's time Englishmen's ideas of Oriental geography were very vague. It seems to have reached Europe from the Black Sea, and the opinion that it originated in China or Tartary seems a highly probable surmise. Of course, as is the case with pestilences of much more recent date, to trace it to its fountain is im- possible. The death returns which the chronicler gives are important if he took them from docu- ments ; if they are but hearsay, they are not without their use as showing the mental agony of the time. He records that on a single day there were 1,312 deaths at Avignon, "secundum com- putationemfactamcorampapa." Can this statement, we wonder, be confirmed by documents existing in the Papal archives? Knighton was careful to notice striking physical phenomena. For example, he speaks of an earthquake having been felt in this country in February, 1343. This, his editor tells us, is not mentioned by any one else. Possibly, how- ever, Knighton made a mistake of a month, for William Merle, who kept a journal of the weather from 1337 to 1344, says that in that year an earth- quake was felt in Lindsey on 29 March, and that it caused stones to fall from the stone chimneys, adding that the movement lasted long enough for any one to repeat distinctly the angelic salutation, [n his account of the Wyclifites Knighton refers to ^atin, or any other tongue that a monk of Leicester would be likely to be able to read, exist in those days?
 * he Koran of Mohammed. Did a translation into

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