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FOLK LORE OF SOUTH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, NO. 3

Hedgehog.—Among other animals looked upon in a superstitious light, we have the hedgehog, who, in addition to his still credited attribute of sucking cows, is looked upon by our rustics as the emblem of craft and cunning; playing the same part in our popular stories as Reynard in the more southern fabliaux. They tell concerning him, the legend given by M.M. Grimm, of the race between the Hare and Hedgehog. The Northamptonshire version makes the trial of speed between a fox and hedgehog. In all other respects the English tale runs word for word with the German.

Hares.—Besides the ancient superstition attached to the crossing of the path by one of these animals, there is also a belief that the running of one along the street or mainway of a village, portends fire to some house in the immediate vicinity.

Toads.—Belief in their venomous nature is yet far from being extinct. This, added to the ill-defined species of fascination which they are supposed to exercise, has caused them here, as elsewhere, to be held in great abhorrence. I have heard persons who ought to have known better, exclaim on the danger of gazing upon one of the harmless reptiles. The idea respecting the fascinating powers of the toad, is by no means confined to our district. Witness the learned Cardan:

"Fascinari pueros fixo intuitu magnorum bufonum et maximè qui è subterraneo specu aut sepulchris prodierint, utque ob id occulto morbo perire, haud absurdum est."—De Rerum Varietate, lib. xvi. c. 90.

Crickets, contrary to the idea prevailing in the western counties, are supposed to presage good luck, and are therefore most carefully preserved. Their presence is believed to be a sure omen of prosperity; while, on the other hand, their sudden departure from a hearth which has long echoed with their cry, betokens approaching misfortune, and is regarded as the direst calamity that can happen to the family.

Magpies.—To see one magpie alone bodes bad luck; two, good luck; three, a "berrin;" four, a wedding. This is our version of the saying: Grose gives it differently.

Spiders.—When a spider is found upon your clothes, or about your person, it signifies that you will shortly receive some money. Old Fuller, who was a native of Northamptonshire, thus quaintly moralises this superstition:

"When a spider is found upon our clothes, we use to say, some money is coming towards us. The moral is this: such who imitate the industry of that contemptible creature may, by God's blessing, weave themselves into wealth and procure a plentiful estate."—Worthies, p.58. Pt. 2. ed. 1662.

Omens of death and misfortune are also drawn from the howling of dogs—the sight of a trio of butterflies—the flying down the chimney of swallows or jackdaws; and swine are sometimes said to give their master warning of his death by giving utterance to a peculiar whine, known and understood only by the initiated in such matters. Gaule, in his Mag-astromancers Posed and Puzzled, Lond. 1652, p. 181, ranks among evil omens "the falling of swallows down the chimney" and "the grunting of swine."

T.S.

MINOR NOTES

Kentish Town in the last Century—

"Thursday night some villains robbed the Kentish Town Stage, and stripped the passengers of their money, watches, and buckles. In the hurry they spared the pockets of Mr. Corbyn, the druggist; but he, content to have neighbour's fare, called out to one of the rogues, 'Stop, friend, you have forgot to take my money'."—Morning Chron. and Land Advertiser, Jan. 9. 1773.

Murray's Hand-book for Devon and Cornwall.—The author does not mention Haccombe Chapel or the Oswell Rocks, both near Newton; the latter is a most picturesque spot, and the view near and far most interesting!—A notice of the tiles, and of the 2ft. 2in effigy at Haccombe, appears in the Arch. Journal, iii. 151. 237.—The monuments are in fine preservation up to the last of the "Haccombes" ante 1342, which is perfect. The chapel would be improved by the removal of the two pews and of the family arms from the velvet cloth on the communion-table!—Tavistock Church has an east window by Williment; pattern, and our Saviour in the centre.—The church by Dartmouth Castle contains a brass and armorial gallery; the visitor should sail round the rock at the harbour entrance, it's appearance from seaward is fine.—Littleham Church has a decorated wooden screen, very elegant.—A work on the Devonshire pulpits and screens would be valuable.

A.C.

Judges Walk, Hampstead.—A friend of mine, residing at Hampstead, has communicated to me the following information, which I forward to you as likely to instruct your readers.

He states that the oldest inhabitant of Hampstead, Mr. Rowbotham, a clock and watchmaker, died recently, at the age of ninety. He told his son and many other persons, that in his youth the Upper Terrace Avenue, on the south-west side of Hampstead Heath was known by the name of "The Judges' Walk," from the circumstance of prisoners having been tried there during the plague of London. He further stated, that he had received this information from his grandmother.

C.R. WELD

Somerset House.

Gray's Alcaic Ode.—A question asked in Vol. i., p. 382, whether "Gray's celebrated Latin Ode is actually to be found entered at the Grande Chartreuse?" is satisfactorily answered in the negative at p. 416. of the same volume, and its disappearance traced to the destructive influence of the first French Revolution.

It may not, however, be without interest to some of your readers to know, that this elegant "Alcaic" was to be found at the Chartreuse not very long before the outbreak of that great political tempest, proof of which will be found in the following extract taken from the 9th volume of Malte-Brun's Annales des Voyages, Paris, 1809. It is found in a paper entitled "Voyage à la Grande Chartreuse en 1789. Par M. T*******," and is in p. 230:

"L'Album, ou le grand livre dans lequel les étrangers inscrivent leurs noms, présente quelquefois une lecture intéressante. Nous en copiâmes quelques pages. Le morceau le plus digne d'être conservé est sans doute l'Ode latine suivante du célèbre poëte anglais Gray. Je ne crois pas qu'elle ait été publiée encore."

Then follows the ode, as usually printed, excepting that in the third line,

 
"Nativa nam certe fluentia,"
 

the words "nam certe" are transposed.

G.B.

Fleet Marriages.—The General Evening Post, June 27-29, 1745, contains the following singular Note of a Fleet Marriage:—

"Yesterday came on a cause at Doctors' Commons, wherein the plaintiff brought his action against the defendant for pretending to be his wife. She in her justification pleaded a marriage at the Fleet the 6th of February, 1737, and produced a Fleet certificate, which was not allowed as evidence: she likewise offered to produce the minister she pretended married them, but he being excommunicate for clandestine marriages, could not be received as a witness. The court thereupon pronounced against the marriage, and condemned her in 28l., the costs of the suit."

Y.S.

QUERIES

HISTORIE DES SÉVARAMBES

The authorship of Gaudentio di Lucca has recently been discussed by some of your correspondents, and it has been shown that this Voyage Imaginaire was written by Simon Berington, a Catholic priest, and the member of a family resident for many years in Herefordshire. The following Query will relate to another work of the same class, but of an earlier date.

The Histoire des Sévarambes is a fictitious account of a nation in the Southern Ocean, visited by a supposed navigator named Siden. It's first appearance was as an English work, with this title:

"The History of the Sevarites or Sevarambi, a nation inhabiting part of the third continent, commonly called Terræ Australes Incognitæ; with an account of their admirable government, religion, customs, and language. Written by one Captain Siden, a worthy person, who, together with many others, was cast upon those coasts, and lived many years in that country. London: printed for Henry Brome, at the Gun, at the west end of St. Paul's Churchyard, 1675. 12mo. pp. 114." No preface.

There is a second part, "more wonderful and delightful than the first," published in 1679 (pp. 140.). The licence by Roger Lestrange bears date Feb. 25. 1678/9. There is a short preface, without signature, arguing that the country of the Sevarites is not fabulous.

A copy of the original edition of these two parts is in the British Museum.

Shortly after its publication in England, this work appeared in France with the following title:—

"Histoire des Sévarambes, peuples qui habitent une partie du troisième continent ordinairement appellé Terre Australe, contenant un compte exact du gouvernement, des mœurs, de la réligion et du langage de cette nation, jusques aujourd'hui inconnue aux peuples de l'Europe. Traduite de l'Anglois." First Part, Paris, 1677. 2 vols. 12mo. Second Part, 1678-9. 3 vols. 12mo.

Both parts are dedicated to Monsieur Riquet, Baron de Bonrepos; and the dedications are both signed with the initials D.V.D.E.L.

The British Museum contains no French edition of this work earlier than an Amsterdam reprint of 1716. The above account of the early French edition is taken from the Dictionnaire Historique of Prosper Marchand (La Haye, 1758), tom. i. p. 11., art. ALLAIS. This article (which may be cited as a model of bibliographical research) attributes the authorship of the Histoire des Sévarambes, upon evidence, which, if not conclusive, is very strong, to Denis Vairasse, or Vayrasse. Marchand explains the initials appended to the dedications of the French edition to mean, Denis Vairasse d'Allais en Languedoc. He likewise considers Siden as the anagram of Denis; and Sevarias, the legislator of the Sevarambians, as the anagram of Vairasse. Some of the religious opinions expressed in this fiction were thought bold, and the authorship of the work was at one time much discussed: it was attributed both to Isaac Vossius and Leibnitz. It was translated into Dutch, German, and Italian; and there is an English edition, London, 1738, in 1 vol. 8vo., in which the preface from the French edition, alluding to Plato's Republic, More's Utopia, and Bacon's New Atlantis, not to be found in the original English edition, is introduced. This volume is entitled—

"The History of the Sevarambians, a people of the south continent, in five parts, containing, &c. Translated from the Memoirs of Capt. Siden, who lived fifteen years amongst them."

The work is included in the collection of Voyages Imaginaires, tom. v., where the editor speaks of the distinguished place which it holds among the fictions of that class; but he says that its authorship was unknown or uncertain. An account of another fictitious voyage to the Terra Australis, with a description of an imaginary people, published in 1692, may be seen in Bayle's Dict., art. SADEUR, Voyages Imaginaires, tom. xxiv.

According to the account given by Marchand, Vairasse began life by serving in the army in Piedmont, and he afterwards studied the law. Subsequently he went to England, where he is stated to have attempted to penetrate the intrigues of the court, and to discover the maxims of the English Government. In 1665, he was in the ship commanded by the Duke of York against the Dutch; and some years afterwards, having been regarded as an accomplice in the designs of a public minister (apparently Lord Clarendon), he was forced to retire with him, and follow him to Paris. He re-entered the military service, and was with the French army which invaded Holland in 1672. Afterwards he taught English and French at Paris; he likewise published a French Grammar, and an abridgment of it in the English language (1683). He was of the reformed religion.

It is possible that Vairasse's visit to England may have been connected with his religion. He appears, during his residence here, to have acquired the English language; but it is difficult to understand what are the designs of Lord Clarendon in which he was an "accomplice." Lord Clarendon's exile took place in 1667; which hardly accords with the expression "some years" after 1665. No person of the name of Vairasse is mentioned as having accompanied Lord Clarendon in his banishment.

The first part of the History of the Sevarambians was published in English in 1675, two years before the French edition of the first part. The second parts were published at London and Paris in the same year. Even if Vairasse did not leave England with Lord Clarendon, he had left it before the year in which the first part of this work appeared in English: for he is stated to have been with the French army in Holland in 1672. It is therefore difficult to account for the publication of the English version of the History of the Sevarambians before its publication in France, upon the assumption that Vairasse was the author. The writer of the life of Vairasse (art. ALLAIS) in the Biographical Dictionary of the Society of Useful Knowledge thinks that he may have been only the translator: but the facts collected by Marchand show that he claimed the authorship; and there is no trace of its composition by any Englishman. Besides, its prior publication in England is just as inexplicable upon the assumption of his being the translator, as upon that of his being the author.

Query, Is Vairasse's residence in England mentioned by any English writer? And can any light be thrown upon the authorship of the History of the Sevarambians from any English source?

L.