Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 8.djvu/116

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. vm. AUG. 3, 1901.

stated that he was. This explanation I sup- posed MR. JONAS would readily receive. He preferred to adhere to the old mistake, and wrote two or three articles in ' N. & Q.' in defence of it.

I now send for publication an extract from Brook's 'Life of Cartwright,' which might have been sent before, but it escaped my notice at the time. But before doing so I should like to state that when Cartwright gave the names of the authors of the ' Ad- monition to Parliament' he expressed himself doubtfully of set purpose as to the real authors, Field and Wilcox, and said " it is thought " they wrote it, because they were then in prison for the offence, and he did not wish to compromise them by stating positively that they were the authors At the same time he writes in such a way as to make it clear that they, and not himself, were answerable for the address to Parliament called, in the terms of the day, "The Admonition to the Parlia- ment.' I subjoin the extract from Brook's 4 Life of Cartwright ' to which I have referred above (chap, iii., ed. London, 1845) :

"Numerous mistaken writers, both of former and later times, have fathered the ' Admonition ' on Mr. Cartwright, one of whom affirms not only that Mr. Cartwright was chief of the party who sought to obtain the Geneva Church government, but also to attain this object that he exposed himself to many dangers, both of liberty and life, appearing to justify himself and his party in many remonstrants, especially the 'Admonition to the Parliament.' This author adds that Mr. Cartwright was the author and publisher of the ' Admonition ' printed in 1572, which came out with the approbation of the whole party.* Authors have been unsparing in almost every kind of abuse against Mr. Cart- wright for this publication ; whereas he was not the author, but Mr. John Field and Mr. Thomas Wilcocks, for which they were committed to Newgate, where they suffered a long and severe confinement. An author already cited, who has very little regard to correctness, having styled Mr. Cartwright ' the great English puritan,' gravely, but erroneously, states that he often composed admonitions, 'in flight and in exile,' and that they were published in the year 1574 ! f The extreme sufferings of the two authors awakened the sym- pathy and affection of their brethren, who kindly visited them in prison, among whom were Drs. Fulke, Humphrey, and Wyburn, and Messrs. Lever, Crowley, Deering, and Cartwright.":}:

Ealing.

S. ARNOTT, M.A.

"PARLOUR" (9 th S. vii. 389; viii. 25). The best sitting- room in small cottages of the better class is still generally known here as the " parlour." The advent of the pianoforte


 * Walton's * Lives,' pp. 250, 295.

t D'Israeli's 'Charles I.,' vol. iii. p. 266.

J Strype's 'Parker,' p. 413 (anno 1572).

has, however, brought with it in not a few cases the more high-sounding title of draw- ing-room." For many reasons I have a decided objection to either parlours or best bedrooms ; their purlieus generally impart a creepy, uncanny sensation, such as C. C. B. perhaps did well to refrain from describing.

JOHN T. PAGE. West Haddon, Northamptonshire.

NEPTUNE AND CROSSING THE LINE (9 th S. vii. 404; viii. 19). My father entered the Honourable East India Company's maritime service in 1803. I always heard him describe the ceremony as taking place when crossing the equator, simply called the line.

A poem called 'The Nautilus/ by "A Sailor," was published in London in 1829, in which I find

The latitude then in,

Was one degree north of th' imagined line, That cuts the globe in twain. " A Sailor " then gives the following humorous description of the ceremony : Now soon across the line we swiftly steer'd, When at the bows old Neptune brisk appear'd And all his crew, in tar and soot besmear'd. The scaffold then was rigg'd, the lather mix'd, The razors notch'd, and dropboard loosely fix'd. Then he rose first who drew the longest lot, Consign'd his visage to the lath'ring pot ; They tied a bandage o'er his downcast eyes. By Neptune order'd, Triton swift applies The well-dipp'd brush, the stuff around him flies (And if, perchance, his mouth the patient oped, By Neptune question'd, in the brush was poked) ; Then with a saw-like razor scrapes amain, Plasters the lather on, and scrapes again ; Three times this operation is perform'd, The god then orders, and the dropboard 's turn'd ; He falls back prostrate in the slimy tub, Bawls, kicks, and flounces in the briny flood ; They loose his hands, he too unbinds his eyes, Leaps forth from out the tub, and from them flies. Another patient mounts and takes his place. With brush and lather Triton daubs his face, And scrapes till Neptune gives the dreadful sign, Then back he tumbles in the slimy brine. The whole were served the same, some more, some

less, With brush and razor Triton did caress.

EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road.

DR. BARRY (9 th S. vii. 448, 516). I am somewhat surprised to hear that during the life of Dr. Barry any doubt existed as to his being a man. I am aware of the mystery surrounding him, but this was only as to his origin. It was, indeed, more than' whispered that the irascible little doctor was of noble, if not of royal birth. My father was acquainted with Mr. Guthrie, the well- known army surgeon, who told him that it was he (Guthrie) who, after Dr. Barry's