Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/109

 9 th S. V. FEB. 10, 1900.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

101

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1900.

CONTENTS.-No. 111.

NOTES : 'King Alfred': a Long Poem Letter from Lord Derby, 101 Eliza Meteyard Cyclops or Cyclop "City of Lushington," 103 Regimental Nicknames Rubbing Eyes with Gold for Luck " Horse-Gentler " " Wig- wam": "Tepee" Box-irons Coincidence in Names Orientation of Churches, 104 Eighteenth-Century Adver- tisement Competition Word Corruption -Literature for Soldiers, 105 A Son of George II. Lucan Quotation A Bulgarian Bard, 106.

QUERIES : " Hurry " = Staith " Hirst " Governor- General of Madras Sir H. Linthorne St. Hieretha Lytes of Lytes Gary "See how these Christians love one another" Highland Incantation, 107 Proverbs in ' Jacula Prudent-urn ' " Irish Fearagurthok " Davis Arms -"Nostoc" Poker Virtue - "Bottle," St. Paul's Churchyard Sir A. Keck Empress Eugenie Drawings by Sir j. Gilbert, 108 Classical Reference Wanted John Thurbane Haydon's Pictures Authors Wanted, 109.

REPLIES :-Welsh MS. Pedigrees, 109 -Bill of Exchange- Egyptian Chessmen Marriage Gift, 111 Name Swigg "Wroth Silver," 112 -Old Church at Chingford South African Names "Hoyt" "Hoodock" St. Michael's Church, Bassishaw, 113 -Pewter Marks " The Beurre " The Mint Number of Baronets iu each Reign 'New Critical Review of Public Buildings,' &c., 114 "Norman Gizer " Bensted Family Emery Family Shepherdess Walk Misquotation, 115 The late Mr. Quaritch The Discoverer of Photography, 116 -" Petigrewe," 117.

NOTES ON BOOKS :-Piper's ' Church Towers of Somer- set' 'Upper Norwood Athenaeum Record' 'Lambkin's Remains ' Reviews and Magazines.

Notices to Correspondents.

'KING ALFRED,' BY FITCHETT: A LONG POEM.

IN 1897 (8 th S. xi. 498) appeared a note on Dr. Beaumont, in which the writer (R. R.) spoke of ' Psyche ; or, Love's Mystery,' as one of the longest poems in the English language. As to length a Warrington poet has far sur- passed Beaumont. ' Psyche ' (second edition, 1702) has twenty-four cantos, making, in- cluding the arguments, only 38,688 lines.

' King Alfred,' a poem by John Fitchett, is in forty-eight books, containing iu all 131,150 lines.* The last book (2,585 lines) was written by Robert Roscoe, who edited Fitchett's poem after the latter's death, and wrote the forty-eighth book to complete the work, Fitchett having failed to exhaust his subject in 128,565 lines. The poem was published by Pickering in 1841 in 6 vols. 8vo. An incom- plete edition was printed in Warrington by J. Haddock, and then J. & J. Haddock, for Cadell, Davies, and others, 5 vols. 4to., 1808-34. These quartos were, I believe, never pub- lished, but given to friends. The quarto poem was divided into twenty-two books. The shortest book has 863 lines, the longest 23,045

Museum and Library, gives the number as 131,238.
 * Mr. Madeley, the librarian of the Warrington

lines. The title is 'Alfred,' not 'King Alfred,' Vol. i. (1808) is dedicated by permission to the king.

Roscoe, in his preface to the Pickering edition, in which lie does not mention the first edition, excepting that he speaks of the first volume having been called in by Fitchett, refers to the poem as

"an Herculean labour, which had it been found in the centre of the loftiest pyramid of Egypt might have been considered as a specimen well worthy of the massive character of that land of wonders, and of the shrine in which it was inclosed."

Allibonedoes not say anything about Fitchett, but says, under 'Robert Roscoe,' that he "was the author of 'Alfred, an Epic Poem,'" whereas he wrote no more than 2,585 lines of 'King Alfred,'

A copy of the incomplete edition was bought by the Warrington Museum and Library in 1882 at Sotheby's, when the library of the late John Fitchett Marsh, formerly of Fair- field House, Warrington, and late of Hard- wick House, Chepstow, was sold.

Our library also possesses a copy of the second edition (not called second edition). Mr. Marsh was a nephew of Fitchett, and at one time his partner in the locally well-known firm of Fitchett & Marsh, solicitors, Warring- ton. Probably ' King Alfred ' is the longest poem in the English language, perhaps in any language. The Warrington Library in its collection of local books has also the manu- script of 'Alfred,' as well as several minor poems of Fitchett, published or printed mostly at Warrington. Fitchett was born at Liverpool, 21 Sept., 1776, and died at War- rington, 20 Oct., 1838. See ' Profiles of War- rington Worthies,' collected, &c., by James Kendrick, M.D., Warrington, 1853.

The poem ought not to be estimated by its weight, though doubtless it is very heavy, but rather by its length. In the MS. the lines average at least six inches. Taking that as the length per line, the total length would be a little over 12 miles 3 furlongs.

A critique of this portentous poem appeared in the Spectator of 20 April, 1844. The writer confesses that he has only dipped into ' King Alfred.' There is a good deal about Fitchett and his works in the Palatine Note - vol. ii. p. 168. ROBERT PIERPOINT.

St. Austin's, Warrington.

LETTER FROM LORD DERBY TO

C. A. BRISTED.

'SiNCE the introduction of the Penny Post in 1840 the art of epistolary correspondence las been dying out, and it is rarely that one meets with a letter of later date either of