style="font-size:15px;"> The following song is extracted from the MS. Diary of the Rev. John Adamson (afterwards Rector of Burton Coggles, Lincolnshire) commencing in 1658. Can any of your readers point out who was the author?—
1.
"Ffair Ffidelia tempt no more,
I may no more thy deity adore
Nor offer to thy shrine,
I serve one more divine
And farr more great y{^n} you:
I must goe,
Lest the foe
Gaine the cause and win the day.
Let's march bravely on
Charge ym in the Van
Our Cause God's is,
Though their odds is
Ten to one.
2.
"Tempt no more, I may not yeeld
Although thine eyes
A Kingdome may surprize:
Leave off thy wanton toiles
The high borne Prince of Wales
Is mounted in the field,
Where the Royall Gentry flocke.
Though alone
Nobly borne
Of a ne're decaying Stocke,
Cavaleers be bold
Bravely hold your hold,
He that loyters
Is by Traytors
Bought and sold.
3.
"One Kisse more and yn farewell
Oh no, no more,
I prethee giue me ore.
Why cloudest thou thy beames,
I see by these extreames,
A Woman's Heaven or Hell.
Pray the King may haue his owne,
And the Queen
May be seen
With her babes on England's Throne.
Rally up your Men,
One shall vanquish ten,
Victory we
Come to try thee
Once agen.
Query: Who was the author of the above?
GRAY'S ELEGY
J.F.M. (Vol. i., p. 101.) remarks, "I would venture to throw out a hint, that an edition of this Elegy, exhibiting all the known translations, arranged in double columns, might be made a noble monument to the memory of Gray." It has been asserted that there is scarcely a thought in this Elegy that Gray has not borrowed from some writer, ancient or modern and if this be true, I would take the liberty of adding a hint to that of J.F.M., namely, that the proposed edition should contain a third column, exhibiting all the known plagiarisms in this famous Elegy. To begin with the first line—
"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day."
Lord Byron, in his notes to the third canto of Don Juan, says that this was adopted from the following passage in Dante's Purgatory, canto viii.:
—– "si ode squilla di lontano
Che paja 'l giorno pianger che si muore."
And it is worthy of notice that this passage corresponds with the first line of Giannini's translation of the Elegy, as quoted by J.F.M.:—
"Piange la squilla 'l giorno, che si muore."
I must add, however, that long before Lord Byron thought of writing Don Juan, Mr. Cary, in his excellent translation of the Italian poet, had noticed this plagiarism in Gray; and what is more, had shown that the principal thought, the "giorno che si muore," was borrowed by Dante from Statius's
"Jam moriente die."
St. Lucia, West Indies, Nov. 1850.
[The preceding communication was accompanied by several others, and by the following gratifying letter, which we print as a fresh proof that our paper is fulfilling the object for which it was instituted, namely, that of promoting literary intercourse between men of letters throughout the world and that it is as favourably received by our fellow countrymen abroad, as it has been by those who are enabled to receive it wet from the press:—
"Owing to the difficulty of procuring the early numbers of 'NOTES AND QUERIES,' especially at this distance from Britain, I have been compelled to wait for its publication in a collected form. I am now in possession of the first volume, and beg leave to offer you a few Notes which have occurred to me on perusing its contents. I am fully sensible of the disadvantage of corresponding with you from so remote a corner of the globe, and am prepared to find some of my remarks anticipated by other correspondents nearer home; but having deeply suffered from the literary isolation consequent upon a residence of twenty-one years in this country, I shall gladly submit to any disadvantage which shall not involve a total exclusion from the means of inter-communication so opportunely afforded by your excellent periodical.
THE NINEVEH MONUMENTS AND MILTON'S NATIVITY ODE ILLUSTRATED FROM LUCIAN
Layard in his Nineveh, vol. ii., p. 471., in his description of "the sacred emblems carried by the priests," says, they are principally the fruit or cone of the pine.
"… and the square utensil which, as I have already remarked, appears to have been of embossed or engraved metal, or of metal carved to represent wicker work, or sometimes actually of wicker work."
He adds, that M. Lajard "has shown the connection between the cone of the cypress and the worship of Venus in the religious systems of the East;" that it has been suggested that "the square vessel held the holy water," that, "however this may be, it is evident from their constant occurrence on Assyrian monuments, that they were very important objects in religious ceremonies. Any attempt to explain their use and their typical meaning, can at present be little better than ingenious speculation."
There is a passage in Lucian De Dea Syria, §. 13., which may serve to elucidate this feature in the Nineveh marbles. He is referring to the temple of Hierapolis and a ceremony which Deucalion was said to have introduced, as a memorial of the great flood and the escaping of the waters:
"Δις εκαστου ετεος εκ θαλασσης υδωρ ες τον νηον απικνεεται· φερουσι δε ουκ ιρεες μουνον αλλα πασα Συριη και Αραβιη, και περηθεν του Ευφρητεω, πολλοι ανθρωποι ες θαλασσαν ερχονται, και παντες υδωρ φερουσαι, τα, πρωτα μεν εν τωι νηωι εκχρουσι,"
