Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 8.djvu/433

 9s. viii. NOT. 23, HOI.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

425

South wark, from 1783 until his retirement in 1805, residing successively in Borough High Street, Upper Thames Street, Lime Street, and Earl Street, Chatham Place. He mar- ried, before 1790, Alice Holmes, daughter of James Warne and Alice his wife, suc- cessively of Bermondsey and Sydenham, died 10 April, 1822, aged sixty -five, and was buried at West Mailing, Kent. Who were his parents 1 When and where was he born ? When and where was he married 1 What were his professional qualifications 1

C. W. H.

LATIN FOR ROTHERHITHE. I shall be obliged for a reference to any mediaeval docu- ment where Rotherhithe is rendered in Latin.

W. D. SWEETING. Holy Trinity Vicarage, Rotherhithe.

'LE BON ROI DAGOBERT.'

(9 th S. viii. 205, 247.)

A CORRESPONDENT in Brooklyn, N.Y., has kindly sent me the following from the I think, with the Editor's permission, had better be published in ' N. & Q.,' as it con- tains all which perhaps we are ever likely to know with regard to the genesis of this very amusing song :
 * Dictionnaire Universe! ' of Larousse, which

" On ignore k quelle e"poque cette chanson bur- lesque a et6 composee. On ne saura jamais pro- bablement quel poe'te a eu la fantaisie de d^figurer ainsi le roi Dagobert et saint Eloi, son conseiller in- time, et pourtant le style, le rhythme, 1'air de chasse sur lequel elle se chante, les anachronismes faits & plaisir qu'on y remarque, tout tendrait & prouver qu'elle n'est pas aussi vieille que d'autres produc- tions qui courent les rues, et qui rivalisent avec elle de popularite. D'un autre cote, il est certain qu'elle est ante"rieure k la Revolution de 1789. Quant a 1'air, les habiles en cette matiere ont renonc6 depuis longtemps k en retrouver I'origine et la provenance. Quelle est la circonstauce qui a pu faire croire la familiarite grande de saint Eloi k 1'egard de son maitre? Les chroniques racontent que Dagobert ne se laissait pas si facilement manquer ; car, jeune encore, il innigea a son gouyerneur qui lui avait mal vers^ a bpire une punition infamante pour 1'epoque en lui faisant couper la barbe et les cheveux. Comment la bonte" et la naivete de ce roi sont-elles devenues proverbiales ? D'apres une tradition qui ne parait guere s'accorder ayec 1'his- toire, quand le roi Dagobert avait din6 il faisait diner ses chiens ; et de plus, quand le roi Dagobert mourut il dit a ses chiens : '11 n'est si bonne com- pagnie qui ne se quitte.' Pour en revenir & la chanson, il est probable qu'elle fut des I'origine une espece de theme sur lequel chacun s'est mis a broder. En 1814 elle redevint tout k coup a la mode. Comme on n'a generalement pas en France le respect des choses tombees, on y intercala des couplets satiriques

centre Napoleon et la campagne de Russie, dont Pimmense desastre devait causer la chute du grand Capitaine. La chanson fut def endue par la police ; puis au retour des Bourbons elle reprit de plus belle."

JONATHAN BOUCHIER.

Ropley, Hampshire.

With the interesting item of filature-lore quoted by ST. SWITHIN (I was indebted to him for other interesting filature-lore some ten and a half years ago) may be compared the following, from a " Narrative of an Ex- pedition to the Polar Sea in the Years 1820, 1821, 1822, and 1823. Commanded by Lieu- tenant, now Admiral Ferdinand von Wran- gell, of the Russian Imperial Navy. Second Edition, with Additions. Edited by Lieut. - Col. Edward Sabine, R.A., F.R.S. London : James Madden & Co., 8, Leadenhall Street, 1844," pp. 20-1 :

"Our way [on the second day's journey, N.E. from lakutsk] led over a hill covered with pines, and I noticed that several old trees near the path had tufts of horse-hair fastened to their branches, and that a number of sticks were stuck in the ground near them. Our leading postillion got off his horse, plucked a few hairs from the mane, and fastened them to the tree with much solemnity of manner. He told us that this was a customary offering to the spirit of the mountain, to obtain his protection during the journey, and that foot-pas- sengers placed a stick in the ground with the same intention. This is a general practice amongst the lakuts, and is even persevered in by many of those who have professed Christianity. My lakuts sang

almost incessantly to propitiate the spirit of the

mountain by this flattering description of his territory."

The same sort of offerings are made all the world over at holy wells, shrines, cairns, &c. THOS. J. JEAKES. Tower House, New Hampton.

It appears from the following extract from L'Intermediaire (25 December, 1887) that the origin of this ballad is unknown :

"La Chanson du Roi Dagobert (xx. 644). Dans son etude specialement- consacree au roi Dagobert (Fischbacher, 1879, in 18) M. Lucien Double, r^cemment cit6 ici a propos des chameaux mero- vingiens, declare que, malgr6 ses recherches, il n'a pu trouver d'une maniere positive ni I'origine de la chanson, ni 1'^poque laquelle elle a etc" composee. [1 incline cependant & penser qu'il en faut chercher 'origine en ISrenne, dans le departement de 1'Indre, s'appuyant sur un couplet peu connu, ou il est question de Meobec, petite localite" de ce pays. Voy. p. 18 et suiv.) R. A.*

JOHN HEBB.

THE ROYAL STANDARD (9 th S. vii. 268, 353 ; viii. 313)." ' S'ils te mordent, mords-les,' fiere devise d'une ville qui put avec orgueil oppqser dans ses armes son lion au leopard anglais a deux tetes." So opens M. Alexandre Nicolai