Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 8.djvu/111

 9* s. viii. AUG. s, 1901.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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awa', there awa'," is given on p. 58 as " from Herd's Collection." What is substantially the same song, also described as " from Herd's Collection," reappears at p. 160 of the volume with the title * Wandering Willie.' The dif- ferences in the two are almost infinitesimal, occurring only in the first two lines of the opening stanza and the closing line of the third and last. In the former the song opens thus :

Here awa', there awa', here awa', Willie, Here awa', there awa', baud awa' hame ;

whereas in the latter the reading is

Here awa', there awa', wandering Willie, Here awa', there awa', here awa' hame.

The last line in " Here awa', there awa'," has this reading,

Ilka thing pleases, when Willie 's at hame, the * Wandering Willie ' version giving "while" for when, but otherwise being iden- tical. The amusing thing is that in neither of the two settings is the opening in agree- ment with that of Herd, which reads,

Here awa', there awa', here awa', Willie, Here awa', there awa', here awa' hame.

The confusion is no doubt due to the inter- position of the strong hand of Burns, whose admiration of the song in Herd prompted his 'Wandering Willie,' which opened with a still further variation, thus :

Here awa', there awa', wandering Willie, Here awa', there awa', haud awa' hame.

With customary freedom of treatment, Burns here accepts a stimulating text from Herd, modifies it slightly, but with characteristic ease and finality of expressive beauty, and then goes his own victorious way. Summing up, we find there are two songs altogether, one in Herd's ' Scottish Songs ' and the other in Burns. The latter, with the fascinating ring of his "wandering Willie" and "haud awa' hame," is responsible for the confusion in the reproduction of the old lyric ; and it were well in this case, as in others, to let Herd's reading stand as he gives it, and steadfastly to resist the spell of Burns's melodious inventiveness. Of the divergent reading in the last line of the original song it is difficult to give an explanation. Herd reads in unbroken fashion thus :

Ilka thing pleases while Willie's at hame.

THOMAS BAYNE.

BIBLE EATING : EXTRAORDINARY SUPER- STITION. I am told by a lady resident that in the Hampshire parish in which I am writing there is living at the present time a good woman who once ate a New Testament, day by day and leaf by leaf, between two

slices of bread and butter, as a remedy for fits. This was treating the Bible as a fetish with a vengeance ! This use of printed paper would have astonished Addison (see the Spectator, No. 367). One would suppose that even Mause Headrigg would hardly have pushed Bibliolatry to this extreme.

JONATHAN BOUCHIER.

ST. EDMUND. The bones of St. Edmund arrived on Thursday, July 25th, at Arundel from Rome, where they will remain in the castle chapel until their removal to the new Roman Catholic Cathedral at Westminster. It is stated that the Pope has personally intervened in order that the remains may rest in the new cathedral. N. S. S.

WE must request correspondents desiring infor- mation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct.

" REX BRITANNIARUM." Lord Rosebery's speech of last Monday on the Royal Titles Bill, suggesting the title "King of the Bri tains," makes it worth while to inves- tigate the history of that title in Latin as it appears on our coins. What exactly does it mean historically ? HIPPOCLIDES.

[George I. and II. were both styled " King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland." George III. was styled the same till 1 Jan., 1801, when France was dropped, separate mention of Ireland dropped, and the regal title was declared to be in Latin "Dei Gratia Britanniarum Rex"; in English, "Of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King." England and part of Scotland were divided into Britannia Prima, Seeunda, &c., by the Romans, so that " Britannise " for Britain occurs in Latin before the birth of Christ, and does not necessarily imply territory beyond the main island of Britain.]

MERLIN. I shall be much obliged to any of your readers who can tell me where I can find * Merlin's Prophecies ' or ' Merlin's Centuries,' said to have been published by Hawkins in the reign of Henry VlIL, or any printed copy of the same.

R. B. MARSTON.

St. Dunstan's House, Fetter Lane, E.G.

[Several editions of Merlin are mentioned 3 rd S. viii. 401, 521.]

PEERS CONVICTED OF FELONY. Do peers convicted of felony lose their right to sit and vote in the House of Lords ? 1 should also like to know if a commoner so convicted can, after his term of servitude, become a member of the House of Commons ; also if a bank- rupt can take his seat unless his bankruptcy