I am well aware there are assertors who state that the Icon was taken in the king's cabinet at Naseby, but their evidence is at best second hand; two of the most known among them are, the Earl of Manchester and William Prynne. I have not spoken of Mrs. Gauden's narrative, in which she supports, at great length and with much truth, the claims of her husband to the authorship of the work; neither have I alluded to the discrepancies and improbable statements of Wagstaffe, all of which, strange to say, have been incorporated with Dr. Wordsworth's ingenious defence of the king's claim. Both are fully treated on by Lady Theresa Lewis, in her Lives from the Clarendon Gallery," and by Sir James Mackintosh in his Critical Examination of Dr. Wordsworth's "Who wrote Icon Basilikè?" The curious in this matter may consult with profit a note of Laing's on this subject, in his History of Scotland; Todd's Life of Bryan Walton; Mr. B. H. Bright's Analysis of Prayers by Gauden; and a pamphlet by Gauden's curate, Walker, on the part he sustained in the work. JAMES LANDells. NICHOLAS MANN.-Over the entrance to the chapel at the Charter House is the following inscription, referring to the Master, of whom, in Current Notes, vol. iii. p. 97, there are some interesting particulars, but whose memory is not in the highest estimation. Attende paulum quisquis es Subtus jacet Olim Magister, nunc remistus pulvere, The drawing, formerly in Sir Joshua Reynolds's collection, though not mentioned by Duppa, appears to have been a design or study for the cartoon of the Last Judgment, or for one of the compositions intended for the Sistine Chapel at Rome, if the original intention of decorating the side walls, by paintings from the designs of Michel Angelo had been carried into effect. It was engraved, in 1816, by William Sharp, and entitled EVIL; with the quotation from Psalm xxxvii. 13, "He seeth that his day is coming." BIBLICAL VARIATIONS.-In the Bishops' Bible, commonly called Parker's Bible, 1573, folio; now an unauthorized translation, Proverbs x. 93, is thus given, “ A fool doeth wickedly, and maketh but a sport of it." This, in several editions of the authorized version, is variously rendered. Most of Sharp's drawings and prints he bequeathed to his housekeeper, Mrs. Akenhead, upon whose death, at Twickenham, they fell to her sister, from whom Shirley, the printseller in Goswell-street, purchased the whole privately. Among them was the Michel Angelo drawing, that, with several proofs of Sharp's print and other engravings, were sold by Shirley to the late Martin Colnaghi, for fifty guineas. From him, the drawing that obtained the approbation of Duroveray and other competent judges as an unquestionable production of Michel Angelo, passed into the collection of William Conyngham, Esq., of Kemp Town, Brighton; where it is believed to be still remaining. In the edition printed by Thomas Newcome, 1699, it is thus, "It is as a sport to a fool to do mischief." The Cambridge stereotyped dateless edition is the same. Mark and Charles Kerr's royal quarto, and the folio editions of 1793; Blair and Bruce's editions of 1813 and 1821; and Eyre and Strachan's, 1816, read, "It is sport to a fool, to do mischief." Charles Bill's editions, 1698; Mark and Charles Kerr's, 1795; the duodecimo of 1799, with Cannes' Notes; and the Blair and Bruce's, of 1816, read, "It is a sport." Other instances may possibly be observed by your P. T. correspondents. The admirers of Michel Angelo, and collectors of Sharp's engravings, will probably be pleased to know, that desirable original impressions can be obtained of Mr. Halsted, 108, New Bond Street. AWAKENING MALLET. Current Notes, vol. iv. p. 31. -Surely the assertion from Bingham, that this was the practice before the invention of bells, must be incorrect? Bells of gold are noticed in Exodus xxviii. 33, 34. In Zechariah xiv. 20 mention is made of "the bells of the horses;" and bells were used for sacred and profane purposes in ancient Greece and Rome, though they do not appear to have been used by the Christians before the time of Paulinus, about A.D. 400. J. DE B. STRULDBRUGS. Current Notes, p. 30.-See the Tenth Chapter of Gulliver's Voyage to Laputa, for Dean Swift's particular description of that class of immortals. STERNE. Current Notes, p. 32.-I am sorry that I can give you no information respecting the skeleton of Laurence Sterne, said to be preserved in our Anatomical Museum. There is no record of any such object. Cambridge, April 22. WM. CLARK, M.D. LIONS IN THE TOWER.-The following may interest J. O. H. some readers of Current Notes. Likewise in that Tower [of London] although in separate small houses, made of wood, are kept six lions and lionesses, two of which are each upwards of a hundred years old.Frederick, Duke of Wirtemberg, Travels in England, 1592. SHAKESPEARE AND BEN JONSON. -Ben Jonson's comedies, founded upon system, or what the age termed humours, by which was implied factitious and affected characters, superinduced on that which was common to the rest of their race, in spite of acute satire, deep scholarship, and strong sense, do not now afford general pleasure, but are confined to the closet of the antiquary, whose studies have assured him the personages depicted by the dramatist were once, though they are now so no longer, portraits of existing nature, while Shakespeare drew his characters for all ages, and will live for ever. ISABELLA COLOUR.-In an old inventory of some ladies dresses of the seventeenth century, occurs' satin of Isabella collour.' What does this imply? M. H. The Infanta Isabella, daughter of Philip the Second of Spain, was married to the Archduke Albert, to whom passed with her the sovereignty of the Low Countries, as a dowry. In 1601, Ostend, then held by the Protestants, or heretics, as they were termed, was besieged by the Archduke, when his consort Isabella, who accompanied him in this expedition, believing in the immediate power of the force employed, made a vow, that till the place was taken, she would not change her clothing. Contrary, however, to all calculation, the defence was maintained for three years, and Ostend was then with difficulty reduced; during this time her highness's linen had acquired a hue, which from the sanctity of the vow, and the superstition of Roman Catholics, obtained admiration, and was adopted as a fashion at court, under the name of Isabella colour;' a yellow or soiled buff, better imagined than described. MONUMENTAL SLAB, AT BINDON ABBEY, DORSETSHIRE. BINDON ABBEY, situated about half a mile from Wool, a village twelve miles from Dorchester, and five from Wareham, although comparatively a spot but little known, is most interesting to the antiquary. The abbey, founded in 1172, by Robert de Newburgh, was of the Cistercian order. On the suppression of religious houses, it was granted, in 1540-41, 32 Hen. VIII., to Thomas Percy, subsequently created Baron Poynings, and passed to his heirs. James Howard, Earl of Suffolk, in 1641 sold it, with all the manorial rights, to Humphrey Weld, Esq., from whom the property has descended to Joseph Weld, Esq., of Lulworth Castle, the brother of the late Cardinal Weld. lead to the discovery of there. The abbey dedicated to the Virgin Mary has long been in ruins; even in 1733, when the brothers Buck drew and engraved the view of the remains of the abbey church; they consisted of no more than five large semicircular arches, supported by six massive round pillars and four windows. All that is now seen are the walls, varying from two or three feet to ten feet in height, covered with ivy and wild plants of many kinds; the plan of the conventual buildings may, notwithstanding, be now accurately traced. Leland notices that many families of distinction, inter alia the Newburghs, and the Poyntses of Sutton, had here their sepulture; and many tombs yet remain, desecrated and exposed to the atmosphere; the arms, devices, and inscriptions, for the most part illegible. Among these is one with a flat stone on the ground, the cross raised in relief as here represented; whom in memory it was placed but no inscription or clue to I do not know the meaning of this, and thinking it might induce some useful information on the subject, as well as interesting to your readers, forward it to "Current Notes" for publication. Dorchester, May 1. JOHN GARLAND, Memb. Werner. Club, etc. Edward L. Cutts, on the Sepulchral Slabs and Crosses of the On referring to the very interesting volume by the Rev. Middle Ages, printed in 1849, p. 17, it is there stated, "No raised slabs remain of so great antiquity as some of the incised cross slabs," and among the illustrations, pl. xliv., a stone bearing a cross, the top part being of a similar design with the above, but the annulets or rings, not cut through, is represented as being extant at Dorchester in Oxfordshire, and attributed to the thirteenth century; yet the Bindon slab may be possibly a century more recent, as a monumental stone, with a similarly leafed shaft, now remaining at Bilborough, Notts., see pl. lviii., is there placed to the fourteenth century. ASSASSINATION OF KOTZEBUE. relic of the martyr, they tore off his clothes in fragments, cut the hair from his head, dipped their kerchiefs in his MAY 19, 1820, will be long memorable in German blood, and evinced every possible demonstration of their history. Augustus Kotzebue, after the war of 1813, regret and sorrow at his fate. To this day, these relics was accused, as a hireling partisan, of devoting his are preserved with religious veneration, and the name of literary abilities to the subversion of the liberties of Sand, the avenger of his country's wrongs, in the Germany in favour of Russia; and, like most persons per-person of the Russian traitor Kotzebue, but slumbers, to verted to wrong, he, notwithstanding frequent warnings, awaken throughout Germany a direful vengeance on their persisted; and accordingly, havir g become obnoxious to oppressors. many of the secret associations then prevalent, was in most of them denounced. In one, that had the appellation of the Tugensbund, or Coalition of Virtue, his death, in 1817, was determined, yet some time elapsed before the casting of lots was effected, as to whose hand the perpetration of the deed should be committed. The chance fell to Charles Frederick Sand, a young man then about twenty-four years of age, of an ardent temperament, and anxious to avenge his country of one whose principles had excited so much hatred. Sand set out from Jena on March 9, 1819, and on the 23rd arrived at Mannheim, where at an inn he conversed with a country curate, till about five o'clock, at which hour, having resolved to perform his mission, he parted from the divine, and presented himself at Kotzebue's door. He was admitted by a servant, who conducted him to an apartment, with the assurance his master would shortly make his appearance. Kotzebue, on entering the room, was by Sand stabbed repeatedly, and he fell a corpse. A crowd was almost immediately collected, and Sand quietly passed into the street, kneeled down, and in an energetic tone, exclaimed"It is I who am the murderer! May all traitors thus perish!" Then, with uplifted eyes, with much fervency, continued-"I thank thee, O God! for thy assistance in this work!" Having thus avowed himself the murderer of Kotzebue, he bared his breast, and with the same weapon, inflicted a severe stab. In his hand was a paper, containing these words: "Sentence of death against Kotzebue, executed 23rd of March, 1819;" and in his bosom was secreted a riband, with an inscription purporting that Kotzebue had been condemned to death two years before. Sand survived, but, as usual, his trial was delayed more than twelve months, when, at length, sentence of death was passed on him, and his execution fixed at eight o'clock in the morning of May 19, 1820. The authorities seem to have been apprised that a rescue would be attempted, and that many of his friends would then arrive at Mannheim. At six o'clock, when all was mournfully silent, Sand was led forth to execution. He seemed calm and collected, his countenance void of fear; he appeared composed in mind, and wholly resigned to his fate. He held a rose, that he frequently raised, and seemingly enjoyed its refreshing fragrance. The execution was hastened, and at the moment the executioner held forth the severed head of Sand, his friends poured in from Heidelberg, and rushing to the scaffold, it was soon in their possession. Exasperated at his death, and eager to secure some DOES THE ANT PROVIDE FOR WINTER? MODERN naturalists assert that ants do not in summer store up corn for their winter food. In Insect Architecture, published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, it is said Gould disproved most satisfactorily the ancient fable of ants storing up corn for winter provision, no species of ants ever eating grain, or feeding in winter upon any thing.. The very reverse of this is expressly stated by the wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.-Proverbs xxx. 25. the ancient The reading of the Vulgate is similar in meaning to the authorised version, in both of these passages. With such very strong authority in favour of fable," it does not seem wise to relinquish it, unless some other consistent meaning can be put upon the Scripture texts. Query, Does the word rendered ant in the English, and formica in the Vulgate, really mean the insect now known by that name? It is worth noticing that Saint Chrysostom, in his Eighth Homily, on Philippians, speaks of the ant as a good provider; and that such, during the middle ages, was the constant belief. EDWARD PEACOCK. Bottesford Moors, Kirton in Lindsay. Your correspondent should have imitated the ant, the least possible industry would have convinced him that Solomon never alluded to winter provisions, but to the activity of that insect during summer. So that "the wisest of men "" said nothing on the subject that could be "disproved by modern naturalists." The passages in Proverbs simply say, "The ant provideth her own meat in the summer, gathereth her own "The ants are a people not food in the harvest," vi. 8. strong, yet they prepare their own meat in the summer," xxx. 25, while the sluggard sleeps away his time, and expects others to toil and labour for him. Wybunbury, Nantwich. M. MARGOLIOUTH. 1 VABALATHUS UCRIMDR EXPLAINED. A FEW months since, a friend sent me for interpretation from the Continent an impression from a Canaanitish seal that had been submitted to numerous learned persons, without the desired attainment. This semiPhoenician signet with some little difficulty I made out; the elucidation was acknowledged to be correct, and the answer made by one of these savans was, Ah! je le vois: mais-j'ai de quoi le puzzler;" so the Vabalathus legend has also, I believe, made its grand tour on the Continent, without the desired effect, and I shall attempt. to give that a solution. The coin I have seen, and what I recollect is on the obverse is the head of Aurelian, with a radiated crown, and on the reverse, the laureated head of VABALATHUS VCRIMDR. Vabalathus is supposed to have been the son of Zenobia by her first husband, an Arab Prince; she had also two sons by Odenathus, her second husband, upon whose assassination, in 266 or 267, Zenobia, then Queen of Tadmor or Palmyra, conferred the imperial dignity upon her sons by both husbands. Naturally, therefore, we are to look for a solution of the difficulty hitherto attached to the legend or title of VABALATHUS VCRIMDR, in the Arabic language, that of Zenobia's first husband. Descriptive names were in early times, in the East, Ucrimdr seems to be the title of Vabalathus, com- THE BRANK, OR SCOLD'S BRIDLE. THE brank is noticed as a Scottish instrument of Ecclesiastical punishment, chiefly employed for the coercion of female scolds, and those adjudged of slander and defamation.* It may be described as an iron skeleton helmet, having a gag of the same metal, that by being protruded into the mouth of an inveterate brawler, effectually branked that unruly member, the tongue. As an instrument of considerable antiquity, at a period when the gag, the rack, and the axe were the ratio ultima Roma, it has doubtless been employed, not unfrequently, for purposes of great cruelty, though in most examples, the gag was not purposely designed to wound the mouth, but simply to restrain or press down the tongue. Several of these instruments are yet extant, though their use is now, thanks to more considerate civilization, become obsolete. The Bishop's brank, here shown, remaining in St. Mary's Church, at St. Andrew's, is traditionally said to have been placed on the head of Patrick Hamilton, and others of the early Scottish Martyrs, who perished at the stake in that city during the religious persecutions of James the Fifth's reign. That the gag here represented may possibly have supplied in the hands of both Archbishop and Cardinal Beaton a ready means of restraining less confirmed recusants, and thereby assisted to suppress the advancement of the new heresy, there can be but little doubt; but that it was applied to Hamilton, in his case more particularly, no particle of historical evidence can be adduced in support of the trapow-dition, and it seems therefore to have been an assertion hazarded at a later age. The real origin of its designation as "The Bishop's brank," is apparently and with more truth derived from the use that Archbishop Sharp, in more recent times, made of it, to silence the scandal an incautious and obstinate dame promulgated against him openly before his congregation. From Vopiscus's account of Aurelian's triumph, we read "Germani, religatis manibus captivi præcesserunt, inter hos etiam Palmyreni, qui superfuerant Principes civitatis." We know that Vabalathus was one of these princes. I have applied the name and title to the test of other languages, but cannot obtain from them legitimate etymons. In the fifth volume of the botsford edition of the Waverley Novels, 1844, p. 27, the Bishop's brank is engraved as an illustration of "The Monastery." It is there stated to have been "formerly kept at St. Mary's Church, St. Andrews," but the brank was then at Ab *Wilson's Archæology of Scotland, 1851, 8vo., p. 692. Jamieson in his Scottish Dictionary explains: "To brank; to bridle, or restrain." Thus the term brank is also used in Scotland to designate a rude substitute for a horse's bridle and bit, formed most frequently of a halter and stick. botsford. Since that time, the brank has reverted to its original depository, and placed in the care of the Sexton, where it is regarded with such general interest that its preservation is certain.* The Burgh records of Glasgow, under April 1574, notice that Marione Smyt and Margaret Huntare, having quarrelled they appear, and produce two cautioners or sureties, "pat pai sal abstene fra stryking of utheris in tyme cuming, under pe pane of x lib., and gif pe flyte to be brankit," or undergo the punishment of the brank. From the fact of the brank here represented having been found in 1848, secreted behind the oak-panelled wainscot, in one of the rooms of the old mansion of the Earls of Moray, in the Canongate, at Edinburgh, there is reason to suppose the use of the brank was at times adopted in some of the old baronial houses. Some few years since, was retained in the old steeple at Forfar, "The Witch's brank," or bridle, as it was termed. The date 1661, punched on the circle, with letters that seemed to denote ANGUS S.† A spur-rowel Wilson's Archæology of Scotland, 1851, p. 693. +Dalyell's Darker Superstitions of Scotland, p. 686. The Witch's brank is described in the old Statistical Account of the parish of Forfar, as the bridle used in conducting to execution the wretched victims of such gross superstition. The field, it is added, where those human sacrifices here takes the place of the gag, the upper point pierced the roof of the mouth, while the lower one bored through the tongue. The evident intention in applying an implement so satanic in its form and construction, to those who were condemned to be burned at the stake as guilty of Witchcraft and Sorcery, or dealing with the devil, was not so much the inevitable torment that its use necessarily involved, but the purposed prevention of the pronouncing the potent formula, the unearthly powers their victims were supposed to possess; by which means it was implicitly believed they could at will transform themselves to other shapes, or transport their bodies to where they pleased, and thus effectually evade their tormentors. A mere glance at the representation of this frightful instrument of torture induces a melancholy reflection on the barbarism that prevailed at a period so very recent; that educated men could credit such follies and inconsistencies, or that even among the illiterate and rude, there could be found persons willing to apply to a woman an agent of restraint so diabolically cruel, the pictured semblance alone being calculated to create feelings of no common horror and indignation. Mr. Wilson, in reference to the earlier Scottish branks, observes: It would not be difficult to add to these common instruments of punishment and of torture, others equally characteristic of the spirit of the age, though not brought into general use. The Registers of various Kirk-Sessions recently printed by the Abbotsford Club, the Spottiswode Society, and others of the Scottish Literary Book Clubs, disclose much curious evidence of the petty tyranny and cruelty too frequently exercised by those courts in the enforcement of ecclesiastical discipline, most frequently by means little calculated to promote reformation, or good morals. In these, however, as in the traces of earlier man ners, which we have sought to recover, the historian finds a key to the character of the age to which they belong, and indications of its degree of advancement in civilization, such as no contemporary historian could furnish, since it supplies elements for comparing and for contrasting the present with the past, no less available than the rude pottery and the implements of flint or bone, which reveal to us, the simple arts of aboriginal races. The great difference in point of value between the two classes of relics is, that these more recent indices of obsolete customs supply to us only an additional element wherewith to test, and to verify by the instruments themselves, the invaluable records which the printing press supplies, while the latter are the sole chronicles we possess of ages more intimately associated with our human sympathies than all the geological periods of the preadamite earth.* The earliest use of the brank in England, that is known to the writer, is not antecedent to the reign of King Charles the First. Brayley notices a GOSSIP's took effect, is pointed out to strangers, as a place of surpassing interest. Where this brank is now, is not stated; the late Mr. Alexander Deuchar, a well-known collector, in Edinburgh, carried off some years since from Forfar, "the Witch's bridle," to add to his antiquarian treasures. Archæology of Scotland, 1851, 8vo., p. 694. |
