Part 13

The May-pole, decked with garlands, round which the rustics used to dance in this month, yet stands in a few of our villages through the whole circle of the year. A May-pole formerly stood in the Strand, upon the site of the church by Somerset House, but was taken down in 1717. The village May-pole we engrave still remains by the ruins of St. Briavel Castle, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and forms an object of considerable interest to the visitor. Several in the village could remember the May-day dancers, and the removal and setting up of the May-pole. No notice whatever of this old English festival has, however, been taken for some years. The May-pole is about sixty feet high; about half-way up is the rod to which it was usual to fasten the garlands and ribbons. Let us observe, that in many parts of Dean Forest, those who love to trace the remains of old manners and customs will find ample employment. The people are civil and hospitable; their manner of address reminds us of the wording of the plays of Shakspere's times; and in most houses, if a stranger calls, cider and bread are offered, as in the olden time.

THE OLD DOG WHEEL.

[Illustration: [++] Old Dog Wheel.]

About a century and a half ago, the long-backed "turnspit" dog, and the curious apparatus here shown, yclept the "Old Dog Wheel," were to be found in most farm houses; simple machinery has, however, now been substituted for the wheel which the dog was made to turn round, like the imprisoned squirrels and white mice of the present day; and not only the dog wheels, but also the long-backed "turnspit" dog have almost disappeared. That which we engrave, however, still exists, and may be seen by the curious, at the Castle of St. Briavel, which stands on the borders of the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire.

ABRAHAM AND SARAH.

The Talmudists relate that Abraham, in travelling to Egypt, brought with him a chest. At the custom-house the officers exacted the duties. Abraham would have readily paid them, but desired they would not open the chest. They first insisted on the duties for clothes, which Abraham consented to pay; but then they thought by his ready acquiescence that it might be gold. Abraham consents to pay for gold. They now suspect it might be silk. Abraham was willing to pay for silk, or more costly pearls--in short, he consented to pay as if the chest contained the most valuable of things. It was then they resolved to open and examine the chest; and, behold, as soon as the chest was opened, that great lustre of human beauty broke out which made such a noise in the land of Egypt--it was Sarah herself! The jealous Abraham, to conceal her beauty, had locked her up in this chest.

AGES OF CELEBRATED MEN.

Hippocrates, the greatest physician the world has ever seen, died at the age of one hundred and nine, in the island of Cos, his native country. Galen, the most illustrious of his successors, reached the age of one hundred and four. The three sages of Greece, Solon, Thales, and Pittacus, lived for a century. The gay Democritus outlived them by two years. Zeno wanted only two years of a century when he died. Diogenes ten years more; and Plato died at the age of ninety-four, when the eagle of Jupiter is said to have borne his soul to heaven. Xenophon, the illustrious warrior and historian, lived ninety years. Polemon and Epicharmus ninety-seven; Lycurgus eighty-five; Sophocles more than a hundred. Gorgias entered his hundred and eighth year; and Asclepiades, the physician, lived a century and a half. Juvenal lived a hundred years; Pacuvius and Varro but one year less. Carneades died at ninety; Galileo at sixty-eight; Cassini at ninety-eight; and Newton at eighty-five. In the last century, Fontenelle expired in his ninety-ninth year; Buffon in his eighty-first; Voltaire in his eighty-fourth. In the present century, Prince Talleyrand, Goethe, Rogers, and Niemcewicz are remarkable instances. The Cardinal du Belloy lived nearly a century; and Marshal Moncey lately terminated a glorious career at eighty-five.

EFFECT OF A NEW NOSE.

Van Helmont tells a story, of a person who applied to Taliacotius to have his nose restored. This person, having a dread of an incision being made in his own arm, for the purpose of removing enough skin therefrom for a nose, got a labourer, who, for a remuneration, suffered the skin for the nose to be taken from his arm. About thirteen months after, the adscitious nose suddenly became cold, and, after a few days, dropped off, in a state of putrefaction. The cause of this unexpected occurrence having been investigated, it was discovered that, at the same moment in which the nose grew cold, the labourer at Bologna expired.

FRENCH DRESS.

Sigebert was buried in St. Medrad's church, at Soissons, where his statue is still seen in long clothes, with the mantle, which the Romans called _chlamys_. This was the dress of Colvil's children, whether as more noble and majestic, or that they looked on the title of Augustus as hereditary in their family. However it be, long clothes were, for several ages, the dress of persons of distinction, with a border of sable, ermine, or miniver. Under Charles V. it was emblazoned with all the pieces of the coat of arms. At that time, neither ruffs, collars, nor bands were known, being introduced by Henry II. 'Till this time the neck of the French king was always quite bare, except Charles the _Wise_, who is everywhere represented with an ermin collar. The short dress anciently worn in the country and the camp, came to be the general fashion under Louis XI. but was laid aside under Louis XII. Francis I. revived it, with the improvement of flashes. The favourite dress of Henry II. and his children was a tight, close doublet, with trunk hose, and a cloak scarce reaching the waist. The dress of French ladies, it may be supposed, had likewise its revolutions. They seem for nine hundred years, not to have been much taken up with ornament. Nothing could require less time or nicety than their head-dress, and the disposition of their hair. Every part of their linen was quite plain, but at the same time extremely fine. Laces were long unknown. Their gowns, on the right side of which was embroidered their husband's coat of arms, and on the left that of their own family, were so close as to shew all the delicacy of their shape, and came up so high as to cover their whole breast, up to their neck. The habit of widows was very much like that of the nuns. It was not until Charles VI. that they began to expose their shoulders. The gallantry of Charles the VII.'s Court brought in the use of bracelets, necklaces, and ear-rings. Queen Anne de Bretagne despised those trinkets; and Catherine de Medicis made it her whole business to invent new.

A LAST CHANCE.

John Jones and Jn. Davis, condemn'd for robberries on the highway, were executed at Tyburn. Davis feign'd himself sick, and desir'd he might not be ty'd in the cart: But when he came to the tree, while the hangman was fastening the other's halter, he jumpt out of the cart, and ran over two fields; but being knock'd down by a countryman, was convey'd back and hang'd without any more ceremony. Jones confessed he had been confederate in several robberies with Gordon, lately executed.--_Gentleman's Magazine 1733._

A convict running away over two fields at Tyburn, and then being caught by a countryman! How strange this seems, when we look at the streets and squares which now cover the locality, and when the only countrymen now seen there are those who come up from the rural districts!

YELLOW HAIR IN THE TIME OF THE PLANTAGENETS.

Yellow hair was at this time esteemed a beauty, and saffron was used by the ladies to dye it of a colour esteemed "odious" by modern ladies. Elizabeth also made yellow hair fashionable, as hers was of the same tint. In the romance of _King Alisaunder_, we are told of Queen Olympias:--

"Hire yellow hair was fair atyred With riche strings of gold wyred, And wryen hire abouten all To hire gentil myddel small."

THE CITY OF THE SULTAN.

[Illustration: The Mosque of St. Sophia.]

The Mosques of Constantinople are the most wonderful objects of that renowned city. More than 300 are picturesquely distributed in conspicuous parts, and form a most attractive feature to the eye of the traveller. The city itself is built upon seven gentle hills, which is the main cause not only of its grandeur of appearance, but also of its salubrity and comparative cleanliness. There are fourteen chief or imperial mosques, all lofty, and magnificent in their general dimensions, and built from base to dome, of enduring materials, chiefly of white marble, slightly tinged with grey. Some of these have two, some four, and one (that of Sultan Achmet) has even six of those light, thin, lofty, arrowy, and most graceful towers called minarets. The mosque of Santa Sophia was once a Christian cathedral, and is rich in historical recollections. This mosque ranks as one of the grandest edifices. The ridge of the first hill on which the city stands, setting out from the north eastern part, is covered by the Serai or palace of the Sultan, behind which, a little on the reverse of the hill, the dome of Santa Sophia shows itself. The colleges and hospitals, which are generally attached to or near the great mosques, offer no striking architectural features; but some of the detached chapels or sepulchres (_turbes_), where sultans, viziers, and other great personages repose, are handsome.

GOLD MASK FROM THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.

[Illustration: Mask of Nebuchadnezzar.]

This interesting relic of remote antiquity is at present preserved in the Museum of the East India Company. It was found by Colonel Rawlinson while engaged in prosecuting the discoveries commenced by Layard and Botta, at Nineveh and Babylon; and is supposed to have belonged to King Nebuchadnezzar. In exhuming from the mounds of these long-lost rival cities, the instructive remains of this once gigantic Power, the Colonel discovered, in a perfect state of preservation, what is well believed to be the mummy of Nebuchadnezzar. The face of the rebellious monarch of Babylon, covered by one of those gold masks usually found in Assyrian tombs, is described as very handsome--the forehead high and commanding, the features marked and regular. The mask is of thin gold, and independent of its having once belonged to the great monarch, has immense value as a relic of an ancient and celebrated people.

The Arab tribes encamping about Wurka and other great mounds search in the loose gravel with their spears for coffins. Gold and silver ornaments, which have been buried in these graves for centuries, are worn by the Arab women of the present day; and many a rare object recovered from them is sold and melted by the goldsmiths of the East. The Arabs mention the discovery, by some fortunate shepherd, of Royal tombs, in which were crowns and sceptres of solid gold.

FROST FAIR ON THE THAMES.

"I went crosse the Thames," says Evelyn, January 9, 1683-4, "on the ice, which now became so thick as to bear not only streetes of boothes, in which they roasted meate, and had divers shops of wares, quite acrosse as in a towne, but coaches, carts, and horses passed over. So I went from Westminster Stayres to Lambeth, and din'd with the Archbishop. I walked over the ice (after dinner) from Lambeth Stayres to the Horseferry.

"The Thames (Jan{y} 16) was filled with people and tents, selling all sorts of wares as in a citty. The frost (Jan{y} 24) continuing more and more severe, the Thames before London was still planned with boothes in formal streetes, all sorts of trades and shops furnished and full of commodities, even to a printing-presse, where the people and ladyes took a fancy to have their names printed on the Thames. This humour took so universally, that 'twas estimated the printer gained L5 a-day, for printing a line only, at sixpence a day, besides what he got by ballads, &c. Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other staires to and fro, as in the streetes, sleds, sliding with skeates, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet playes and interludes, cookes, tipling, and other lewd places, so that it seem'd to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water."

"It began to thaw (Feb. 5), but froze againe. My coach crossed from Lambeth to the Horseferry at Millbank, Westminster. The booths were almost all taken down; but there was first a map, or landskip, cut in copper, representing all the manner of the camp, and the several actions, sports, and pastimes thereon, in memory of so signal a frost."

THE CHARACTER OF THE MOUTH.

We give the following extract from a very old work; not only because it contains several shrewd observations, but also because it is a good specimen of the spelling and diction which prevailed in the sixteenth century, at which period there is internal evidence that the book was written, though it bears no date on the title page:--

"The mouth greate and wyde betokeneth wrath, boldnes and warre. And such men are commonly glottons. A wyde mouth withoute meesure, as thought it were cutte and stretched out, sygnifieth ravening inhumanitie, wickednes, a warlyke hart and cruell, like unto beastes of the sea. Such men are greate talkers, boasters, babblers, enuious, lyars, and full of follye. The mouthe that hathe but a lyttle closynge and a lyttle openynge, sygnyfyeth a fearful man, quyet, and yet unfaithfull. The mouthe that is verye apparent and rounde with thycknes of lyppes, sygnyfyeth vnclenlynes, follye, and cruelltye. The mouth whyche hath a quantitie in his sytuation with a lyttle shutting, and smylynge eyes wyth the reste of the face, sygnyfyeth a carnall man, a lover of daunces, and a greate lyar. When the mouthe turneth in speakinge it is a sygne that it is infected with some catarre or murre as is manyfest ynough. The long chynne declareth the man to be very lyttle subiecte to anger, and of a good complexion: and yet he is somewhat a babbler and a boaster of hymselfe. They that have a lyttle chinne, are much to be avoyded and taken heede of, for besydes all vices with the whyche they are fylled they are full of impietye and wyckednes and are spyes, lyke unto serpents. If the ende of the chynne be round it is a sygne of feminine maners and also it is a sygne of a woman. But the chynne of a man muste be almoste square."--"_The most excellent, profitable, and pleasant booke of the famous doctour and expert Astrologien Arcandam or Aleandrin._" * * *. _Now ready turned out of French into our vulgare tonge, by Will. Warde. Black letter. No date._ Printed by J. Rowbothum.

EXECUTION OF EARL FERRERS FOR MURDER, 1760.

Lord Ferrers was hung for the deliberate and cruel murder of his steward, Mr. Johnson, and his execution at Tyburn furnishes a curious instance of the exhibition of egregious vanity in a man who was just about to meet an ignominious death, and of misplaced pride in his family who could actually decorate the scaffold with the emblems of respectful mourning.

His lordship was dressed in his wedding-clothes, which were of light colour, and embroidered in silver. He set out from the Tower at nine o'clock, amidst crowds of spectators. First went a large body of constables, preceded by one of the high constables; next came a party of grenadiers and a party of foot; then the sheriff, in a chariot and six, the horses dressed with ribbons; and next, Lord Ferrers, in a landau and six, escorted by parties of horse and foot. The other sheriff's carriage followed, succeeded by a mourning-coach and six, conveying some of the malefactor's friends; and lastly, a hearse and six, provided for the purpose of taking the corpse from the place of execution to Surgeons' Hall.

The procession was two hours and three-quarters on its way. Lord Ferrers conversed very freely during the passage. He said, "the apparatus of death, and the passing through such crowds of people, are ten times worse than death itself; but I suppose they never saw a lord hanged, and perhaps they will never see another." He said to the sheriff. "I have written to the king, begging that I might suffer where my ancestor, the Earl of Essex, the favourite of Elizabeth, suffered, and was in great hopes of obtaining that favour, as I have the honour of being allied to his Majesty, and of quartering part of the royal arms. I think it hard that I must die at the place appointed for the execution of common felons."

The scaffold was hung with black by the undertaker, at the expense of Lord Ferrers' family. His lordship was pinioned with a black sash, and was unwilling to have his hands tied, or his face covered, but was persuaded to both. On the silken rope being put round his neck, he turned pale, but recovered instantly. Within seven minutes after leaving the landau, the signal was given for striking the stage, and in four minutes he was quite dead. The corpse was subjected to dissection.

STRANGE FUNERAL OBSEQUIES.

The following, taken from an old magazine, is a singular manifestation of eccentricity in a person who, from the books he selected to be buried with him, was evidently a man of an educated and refined mind:--

Died, May 4, 1733, Mr. John Underwood, of Whittlesea, in Cambridgeshire. At his burial, when the service was over, an arch was turn'd over the coffin, in which was placed a small piece of white marble, with this inscription, "_Non omnis moriar_, 1733." Then the six gentlemen who follow'd him to the grave sung the last stanza of the 20th Ode of the 2d book of Horace. No bell was toll'd, no one invited but the six gentlemen, and no relation follow'd his corpse; the coffin was painted green, and he laid in it with all his cloaths on; under his head was placed Sanadon's "Horace," at his feet Bentley's "Milton;" in his right hand a small Greek Testament, with this inscription in gold letters, "eimientobaus [Greek: ei mi en to bausa], J. U," in his left hand a little edition of "Horace" with this inscription, "_Musis Amicus_, J. U.;" and Bentley's "Horace" under his back. After the ceremony was over they went back to his house, where his sister had provided a cold supper; the cloth being taken away the gentlemen sung the 31st Ode of the 1st Book of "Horace," drank a chearful glass, and went home about eight. He left about 6,000_l._ to his sister, on condition of her observing this his will, order'd her to give each of the gentlemen ten guineas, and desir'd they would not come in black cloaths. The will ends thus, "Which done I would have them take a chearful glass, and think no more of John Underwood."

QUICK TRAVELLING IN OLD TIMES.

Saturday, the seventeenth day of July, 1619, Bernard Calvert, of Andover, about three o'clock in the morning, tooke horse at St. George's Church in Southwarke, and came to Dover about seaven of the clocke the same morning, where a barge, with eight oares, formerly sent from London thither, attended his suddaine coming: he instantly tooke barge, and went to Callice, and in the same barge returned to Dover, about three of the clocke the same day, where, as well there as in diverse other places, he had layed sundry swift horses, besides guides: he rode back from thence to St. George's Church in Southwarke the same evening, a little after eight o'clock, fresh and lusty.--_Stow's Annals._

EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE.

[Illustration: The Eddystone Lighthouse.]

As the arts and sciences improved, so did the construction of Lighthouses, until one of the greatest accomplishments of engineering skill, ever attempted upon such works, was exhibited in the construction of the Eddystone Lighthouse, which is, indeed, much more entitled than the Pharos of Alexandria to be considered one of the wonders of the world. The rock on which this tower is built is placed about twelve miles south-west of Plymouth, and consists of a series of submarine cliffs, stretching from the west side (which is so precipitous that the largest ship can ride close beside them) in an easterly direction, for nearly half a mile. At the distance of about a quarter of a mile more is another rock, so that a more dangerous marine locality can hardly be imagined. Both these rocks had proved the cause of many fatal shipwrecks, and it was at last resolved to make an attempt to obviate the danger. In the year 1696, a gentleman of Essex, named Winstanley, who had a turn for architecture and mechanics, was engaged to erect a lighthouse upon the Eddystone rock, and in four years he completed it. It did not, however, stand long, for while some repairs were in progress under his direction in 1703, on the 26th November, a violent hurricane came on which blew the lighthouse down, and Mr. Winstanley and all his workmen perished--nothing remaining of the edifice but a few stones and a piece of iron chain.

In the spring of 1706 an Act of Parliament was obtained for rebuilding the lighthouse, and a gentleman named Rudyerd, a silk mercer, was the engineer engaged. He placed five courses of heavy stones upon the rock and then erected a superstructure of wood. The lighthouse on the Bell Rock, off the coast of Fife, and the one placed at the entrance of the Mersey on the Black Rock, are similarly constructed, so that there seemed to be good reason for adopting the principle. Mr. Smeaton thought that the work was done in a masterly and effective manner; but in 1755 the edifice was destroyed by fire, and he was next retained as the engineer for this important building.

The result of his labours has justly been considered worthy of the admiration of the world, for it is distinguished alike for its strength, durability, and beauty of form. The base of the tower is about twenty-six feet nine inches in diameter, and the masonry is so formed as to be a part of the solid rock, to the height of thirteen feet above the surface, where the diameter is diminished to nineteen feet and a half. The tower then rises in a gradually diminishing curve to the height of eighty-five feet, including the lantern, which is twenty-four feet high. The upper extremity is finished by a cornice, a balustrade being placed around the base of the lantern for use as well as ornament.

The tower is furnished with a door and windows, and the whole edifice outside bears the graceful outline of the trunk of a mighty tree, combining lightness with elegance and strength. Mr. Smeaton commenced his labours in 1756, and completed the building in four years. Before commencing operations he took accurate drawings of the exterior of the rock, and the stones, which were brought from the striking and romantic district of Dartmoor, were all formed to fit into its crevices, and so prepared as to be dovetailed together, and strung by oaken plugs. When put into their places, and then firmly cemented, the whole seemed to form, and does indeed constitute, a part of the solid rock.

SWEATING SICKNESS.

The Sweating Sickness first visited England Anno Dom. 1483, and repeated its visitations 1485, 1506, 1517, 1528, and last of all, 1551.