Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/374

 424 NOTES AND QUERIES. to* s. iv. Nov. is. m to have in their original nature some sort of substantiality, although not that of men. And this substantiality is easily changed into another sort of substantiality, or into unsubstantially. Undoubtedly they often are representee! to be as corporeal as men and animals are. There is a story of Robin Goodfellow that he ran between the legs of a man in the shape of a hare, and that then, turning himself into a horse, he carried the man on his back and flung him into a thick hedge. In the many indecent stories con- cerning the amours of devils with witches the devil is described as being quite corporeal. Undine, the water - spirit, became actually a_ woman. Kiihleborn, her uncle, changed himself into water, just as the Afreet resolved himself into smoke, in order to enter the vase. The gnome Riibezahl changed himself into a cloud. When we are dealing with supernatural beings, such as fairies, it may be supposed that we can be as absurd as we please to be. But I think that even marvellous stories should be consistent with themselves. Granted the supernatural machinery, granted the power in super- natural beings to perform acts that mortals never could do, the rest should not be incongruous. Pluto causes the earth to open in order to admit him. An Afreet does the same. Likewise, when he carries a man or woman away, he causes the walls or roof of a house to open and shut. A legend or story may be founded on the hypothesis that spirits have such power, and, if the story is otherwise probable, it may be interesting, but if it is crowded with absurdities it is not likely to be so. I think, however, that Hoffmann in his stories has some inexplicable absurdities which his genius excuses. E. Yaedley. The Last of the War Bow (9th S. iii. 383, 494). — It may be interesting to note that Benjamin Franklin, in 1776, seriously proposed to equip the colonial troops with these weapons. He wrote to Charles Henry Lee, stating, among other points, that such weapons could easily be made and could be discharged more frequently than the musket. Ho was led to this proposal partly by the difficulty that the colonial authorities had in getting arms and ammunition. The letter will be found in several of the standard biographies. Henry Leffmann. Shepherdess Walk (9th S. iv. 300).—Mr. Brbslar seems to want to make out that the old suburban thoroughfare leading from the "Eagle" Tavern and Grecian Theatre, in the City Road, to Islington, is not the " Shep- herd and Shepherdess Walk " which, for fifty years and more, it has been thought to be, but "Shepherd's Walk." I think the evidence he adduces can hardly be said to prove his theory ; besides which I should object to his proposed change (rectification, of course, he thinks it to be) even if it were more conclusive. If " Shepherd's Walk" is an emendation, it is not an improvement. It is too suggestive of the renowned, but exceedingly ugly "Jack," the "kid of the stonejug, to be accepted in place of the very pretty and poetically rural name " Shepherd and Shepherdess." But this is only senti- ment. Let me come to facts. I know this locality well, and knew it when the fields to which the " Walk " led were in existence, and called " Shepherd and Shep- herdess Fields." The site of the fields is now covered by Packington, Rheidol, and some other streets. The "Walk" led from the " Eagle"Tavern, through the fields, straight to a little old, very old beerhouse at the north- west corner, which house also stood at the south-west corner of Queen's Head Lane, Islington. The little old beer (and bun- and-milk) house had for sign a man and a woman—a pictured " Shepherd and Shep- herdess," in fact. This, I venture to say, gave the fields their name, which, in turn, gave the " Walk " its name. Changes there were in the naming of parts of the "Walk"; some had been made before my time. For instance, some seventy years ago perhaps, Ashley Crescent was built on one side. Ashley Crescent, with its well-appointed "baths," called "The Metropolitan," I think, was a handsome row of houses extending from the " Blockmaker's Arms," next the canal bridge, to the Standard (afterwards the Albert Saloon Theatre). And adjacent to the theatre doors of the " Eagle" there was a row of shops called Eagle Terrace or Place, evidently dating about as far back. In confirmation of these statements I beg to refer Mr. Breslar to some of the old London directories (suburban sections). Here he will find the full name that I contend for, i.e., " Shepherd and Shepherdess Walk." If the "Old Queen's Head* at the top of Queen's Head Lane, leading down from the Lower Road (now Essex Road) into the " Shepherd and Shepherdess Fields," was really, as it is said to have been, originally a palace of Queen Elizabeth, perhaps that sovereign and her gallants and courtiers (Haleign also had a house in Islington) were among some of the shepherds and shep- herdesses of these fields. I, however, can make thus much conces-