A BOOK OF THE BEGINNINGS
NOTES TO SECTION 5
[1] [Fergusson, Rude Stone Monuments in All Countries, 1872.]
[2] [Chips From A German Workshop, vol. 3, p. 52. 'Abelard was persecuted and imprisoned, but his spirit revived in the Reformers of the sixteenth century, and the shrine of Abelard and Heloise in the Pere La Chaise is still decorated every year with garlands of immortelles. Barbarossa was drowned in the same river in which Alexander the Great had bathed his royal limbs, but his fame lived on in every cottage of Germany, and the peasant near the Kyffhauser still believes that some day the mighty Emperor will awake from his long slumber, and rouse the people of Germany from their fatal dreams. We dare not hold communion with such stately heroes as Frederick the Red-beard and Richard the Lion-heart; they seem half to belong to the realm of fable. We feel from our very school-days as if we could shake hands with a Themistocles and sit down in the company of a Julius Caesar, but we are awed by the presence of those tall and silent knights, with their hands folded and their legs crossed, as we see them reposing in full armour on the tombs of our cathedrals.']
[3] [Unable to trace, but see Cormac's Glossary (1868 ed.), p. 64. 'Dobur, i.e. two things it signifies (c): dobur first, is water, unde dicitur dobarchu, i.e. water-dog, i.e. an otter. Dobar also everything dark (d) i.e. everything opaque: do- a negative and pur from [Lat.] purus i.e. transparent. Dobur then i.e. di-phur i.e. impure i.e. impure or opaque.']
[4] [Polyolbion, in the Complete Works, vol. 3, p. 161, song 26. 'Two rivers of one name in one Shire.']
[5] [Ibid., in the Complete Works, vol. 2, p. 174,
song 15, for example: 'But Cotswold, be this spoke to th' only praise of
thee,
That thou of all the rest, the chosen soil should'st be,
Fair Isis to bring forth (the Mother of great Tames)
With those delicious Brooks, by whose immortal streams,
Her greatness is begun: so that our Rivers' King,
When he his long descent shall from his bel-sires bring.
Must needs (Great Pastures' Prince) derive his stem by thee.
From kingly Cotswolds self, sprung of the third degree:
As th' old world's Heroes wont, that in the times of yore,
On Neptune, Jove, and Mars, themselves so highly bore.
But eas'ly from her source as Isis gently dades;
Unto her present aid, down through the deeper slades,
The nimbler-footed Churne, by Cissder doth slide;
And first at Greeklade gets pre-eminence, to guide
Queen Isis on her way, ere she receive her train.
Clear Colne, and lively Leech, so down from Cotswold's Plain,
At Leechlade linking hands, come likewise to support
The Mother of great Tames. When, seeing the resort.
From Cotswold Windrush scours; and with herself doth cast
The train to overtake, and therefore hies her fast
Through the Oxf(yrdian fields; when (as the last of all
Those Floods, that into Tames out of our Cotswold fall.' Etc.]
[6] [Ibid., in the Complete Works, vol. 1, p. 8,
song 1. 'The Nine-ston'd Trophy thus whilst she doth entertain,
Proud Tamer swoops along, with such a lusty train
As fits so brave a flood two Countries that divides.']
[7] [Britannia. Unable to trace.]
[8] [Author and title still unidentified.]
[9] [Rit. ch. 109. 'Its corn rises 7 cubits, the ears of 5 cubits, the stalks of 4 cubits, for [say] its Spirits, each of them 8 cubits in length.' Birch's tr. Cf. Renouf.]
[10] [A New Voyage Around the World, (1699 ed.), vol. 1, p. 82. 'We had the Wind at N. N. W. a fresh gale, and seeing the Opening of the Streights, we ran in with it; till within four Mile of the Mouth, and then, it fell calm, and we found a strong Tide setting out of the Streights to the Northward, and like to founder our Ship; but whether flood or ebb I know not only it made such a short cockling Sea, as if it had been in a Race, or place where two Tides meet.']
[11] [The New Testament in English. Unable to trace in Wycliffe. But see Acts 27:41. 'And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.' AV.]
[12] [Brand, Observations on
Popular Antiquities, vol. 2, p. 414, the 5th ed. 'Cockle
Bread.' 'This singular game is thus described by Aubrey and Kennett:
"Young wenches have a wanton sport which they call moulding of cockle-bread,
viz. they get upon a table-board, and then gather up their knees as high as they
can, and then they wobble to and fro, as if they were kneading of dough, and say
these words:
"My dame is sick, and gone to bed,
And I'll go mould my cockle-bread!
Up with my heels and down with my head,
And this is the way to mould cockle-bread."'
Brand gives no ref. for Aubrey & Kennet, but see
Bibliography.]
[13] [Ibid., vol. 1, p. 136, the 5th ed. 'April's Fools Day.' 'Calling
this All Fools' Day seems to denote it to be a different day from the "Feast of
Fools," which was held on the 1st of January, of which a very particular
description may be found in Du Cange's learned Glossary, under the word
Kalendae. And I am inclined to think the word "All" here is a corruption
of our Northern word "auld" for old; because I find in the ancient Romish
Calendar which I have so often cited mention made of a "Feast of old Fools." It
must be granted that this Feast stands there on the first day of another month,
November; but then it mentions at the same time that it is by a removal. "The
Feast of old Fools is removed to this day." Such removals, indeed, in the very
crowded Romish Calendar were often obliged to be made, the wise men, who,
contrary to his orders and expectation,* returned to their own country another
way."
(*'Brand here introduces a conjecture that the term was a corruption of Old
Fools' Day, for which, as Mr. Soane says, he does not offer even the shadow of a
reason.—Ellis' note.).']
[14] [A Compleat Collection of English Proverbs,
p. 260. 'April Dove's floods
Is worth a King's good.'
Footnote: 'Dove is a river parting this and Derbyshire, which when it
over-flows its banks in April is the Nilus of Staffordshire, much battling the
meadows thereof.']
[15] ['The following popular sayings for the month of
April may find a place here:
"The nightingale and cuckoo sing both in one month.
Timely blossom, timely ripe.
April showers bring milk and meal.
April fools or gowks.
Sweet as an April meadow.
To smell of April and May
Black-Cross Day.
April showers
Bring Summer flowers.
April weather
Rain and sunshine,
Both together.
In April a Dove's flood
Is worth a king's good."'
From Brand, Observations on Popular Antiquities, vol. 1,
p. 196. See also Camden, Britannia, col. 535.]
[16] [Hieroglyphica, bk. 1:21. 'To signify the
rising of the Nile, which they call in the Egyptian language NOUN, and
which, when interpreted, signifies New, they sometimes pourtray a LION, and
sometimes THREE LARGE WATERPOTS, and at other times HEAVEN AND EARTH GUSHING
FORTH WITH WATER. And they depict a LION, because when the sun is in Leo it
augments the rising of the Nile, so that oftentimes while the sun remains in
that sign of the zodiac, half of the new water [Noun, the entire inundation?] is
supplied; and hence it is, that those who anciently presided over the sacred
works, have made the spouts [?] and passages of the sacred fountains in the form
of lions. Wherefore, even to this day in prayer for an abundant inundation. And they depict THREE WATERPOTS, or HEAVEN AND EARTH GUSHING
FORTH WITH WATER, because they make a waterpot like a heart having a
tongue,—like a heart, because in their opinion the heart is the ruling member of
the body, as the Nile is the ruler of Egypt, and like [a heart with?] a tongue,
because it is always in a state of humidity, and they call it the producer of
existence. And they depict three waterpots, and neither more nor less, because
according to them there is a triple cause of the inundation. And they depict one
for the Egyptian soil, as being of itself productive of water; and another for
the ocean, for at the period of the inundation, water flows up from it into
Egypt; and the third to symbolise the rains which prevail in the southern parts
of Ethiopia at the time of the rising of the Nile. Now that Egypt generates the
water, we may deduce from this, that in the rest of the earth the inundations of
the rivers take place in the winter, and are caused by frequent rains; but the
country of the Egyptians alone, inasmuch as it is situated in the middle of the
habitable world, like that part of the eye, which is called the pupil, of itself
causes the rising of the Nile in summer.'
For previous refs to this verse,
see BB 1:32.]
[17] [EBR 8, see
'Limerick.'
In EBR 9 there is no mention of caucasses, but see
vol. 14, p. 649. 'The Shannon is navigable to Limerick, above which are
the rapids of Doonas and Castleroy. The Maig, which rises in the Galtees, and
flows into the Shannon, is navigable as far as the town of Adara. Limerick
includes the greater part of the Golden Vale, the most fertile district of
Ireland, which stretches across the centre of the county from Cashel in
Tipperary to near the town of Limerick. Along the banks of the Shannon there are
large tracts of flat meadow land formed of deposits of calcareous and peaty
matter, and possessing extraordinary fertility. The soil in the mountainous
districts is, for the most part, thin and poor, and incapable of improvement.']
[18] [The 'Historia Brittonum' commonly attributed to Nennius, ch. 68. 'The reading of L. has been followed. In the Latin, "Duo Rig Habren," which is interpreted, "duo reyes Sabrina;" is a king in Irish; but could duo rig mean the two rams, from the Celtic peire, which would be easily confounded with pi in sound? The Latin adds: "etbellum faciunt inter se in modum arietum." (T.) The Latin says, "When the sea is poured into the mouth of the Severn to a fall head of water...' The Irish version of Nennius.]
[19] [Polyolbion, in the Complete Works, vol. 1,
p. 45, song 2. 'Until she lastly reach clear Alen in her race:
Which calmly cometh down from her dear mother Chase,
Of Cranhurn that is call'd; who greatly joys to see
A riveret born of her, for Stoufs should reckon'd be.']
[20] [Chronica Majora, Unable to trace.]
[21] [Ireland's Natural History.]
[22] [Birch, Dictionary of Hieroglyphics, p. 548. Wrong p. no. Unable to trace.]
[23] [The Library, bk. 1:19. 'While they were thus employed, it is said that the river Nile, about the dog-days, (at which time it uses to he the highest), broke down its banks, and overflowed the greatest part of Egypt, and that part especially where Prometheus governed, insomuch as almost all the inhabitants were drowned; so that Prometheus was near unto killing of himself for very grief of heart: and, from the sudden and violent eruption of the waters, the river was called Eagle.' Booth's tr., ch. 7. See full text here.]
[24] [Layamon, Brut, MS. Cott. Titus. a, 23, f. 49.]
[25] [Shropshire Word-Book, p. 217. 'HUMBER. sb. the common cockshafer.—CLEE HILLS. Compare 'Humber [of Hummen, Teut. to make a humming Noise, because it flows with a murmuring Noise], the Name of a River,' in BAILEY, ed. 1727.']
[26] [Ath. July 3, 1880.]
[27] [Shakespeare, King
Lear, act 3, sc. 6. 'Look, where he stands and glares!
Wantest thou eyes at trial, madam?
Come o’er the bourn, Bessy, to me,—']
[28] [Polyolbion, in the Complete Works, vol. 1,
p. 200, song 8. 'When first the furious Teame, that on the Cambrian side
Doth Shropshire as a meere from Hereford divide.']
[29] [Leemans, Monumens Égyptiens Portant des Légendes Royales, vol. 2, pp. 11, 45.]
[30] [Polyolbion, in the Complete Works, vol. 3,
p. 221, song 30. 'Comes Irt, of all the rest, though small, the richest
girl,
Her costly bosom strew'd with precious orient pearl,
Bred in her shining shells, which to the dew doth yawn.']
[31] [Lepsius, Denkmaler, vol. 3, p. 279, b.]
[32] [EBR 8, see 'Kent.']
[33] [Polyolbion, in the Complete Works, vol. 1, p. 88, song 3. 'Wockey hole (so called in my conceit, from poez, which is the same with pic, signifying a hollow or creeky passage) in Mendip Hills by Wells, for her spacious vaults, stony walls.']
[34] [Dyer, British Popular Customs, p. 173. 'Deering, in his Historical Account of Nottingham (1751, p. 125), says: By a custom time beyond memory, the mayor and aldermen of Nottingham and their wives have been used on Monday in Easter week, morning prayer ended, to march from the town to St. Anne's Well, having the town waits to play before them, and attended by all the clothing, i.e., such as have been sheriffs, and ever after wear scarlet gowns, together with the officers of the town, and many other burgesses and gentlemen, such as wish well to the woodward this meeting being first instituted, and since continued for his benefit.']
[35] [Brand, Observations on Popular Antiquities, vol. 2, p. 377, the 3rd ed. 'Wells and Fountains.' 'Statistical Account of Scotland, xii. 463, parish of Kirkmichael, Banffshire, we read: "The same credulity that gives air-formed habitations to green hillocks and solitary groves has given their portion of genii to rivers and fountains. The presiding spirit of that element, in Celtic mythology, was called Neithe. The primitive of this word signifies to wash or purify with water. To this day fountains are regarded with particular veneration over every part of the Highlands. The sick, who resort to them for health, address their vows to the presiding powers, and offer presents to conciliate their favour. These presents generally consist of a small piece of money, or a few fragrant flowers. The same reverence, in ancient times, seems to have been entertained for fountains by every people in Europe.' Also in Hazlitt, Faiths, p. 324.]
[36] [Dyer, British Popular Customs, p. 209. 'The following extract is taken from the Whitby Gazette of May 28th 1870: THE PENNY HEDGE. The formality of planting the penny hedge in the bed of the River Esk, on Ascension Eve, was performed on Wednesday last by Mr. Isaac Herbert, who has for fifty years discharged this onerous duty. The "nine stakes," "the nine strout-stowers," and the "nine gedders" have all been once more duly "planted." The ceremony was witnessed by a number of ladies and gentlemen, and that highly important functionary, the bailiff of the lord of the manor, Mr. George Welburn, of Fylingdales, was present, and blew the usual malediction, "Out on you! Out on you! Out on you!" through the same identical horn which seventeen centuries ago roused with its lugubrious notes, on Ascension Eve, our ancestors from their peaceful slumbers. Whether the wood was cut at the "stray head," and with a "knife of a penny price," we are not able to say, but a good hedge was planted; and although each stake may not be quite "a yard from another," the hedge will doubtless be of such strength as to withstand the effect of the prescribed number of tides.—See Young's History of Whitby.']
[37] ['As soon as the last night of the year sets in, it is the signal with the Strathdown Highlander for the suspension of his usual employment, and he directs his attention to more agreeable callings. The men form into bands, with tethers and axes, and shaping their course to the juniper bushes, they return home laden with mighty loads, which are arranged round the fire to dry until morning. A certain discreet person is despatched to the dead and living ford to draw a pitcher of water in profound silence, without the vessel touching the ground, lest its virtue should be destroyed, and on his return all retire to rest. Early on New Year's morning the usque-cashrichd, or water from the dead and living ford, is drunk, as a potent charm until next New Year's Day, against the spells of witchcraft, the malignity of evil eyes, and the activity of all infernal agency. The qualified Highlander then takes a large brush, with which he profusely asperses the occupants of all beds; from whom it is not unusual for him to receive ungrateful remonstrances against ablution. This ended, and the doors and windows being thoroughly closed, and all crevices stopped, he kindles piles of the collected juniper in the different apartments, till the vapour from the burning branches condenses into opaque clouds, and coughing, sneezing, wheezing, gasping, and other demonstrations of suffocation ensue. The operator, aware that the more intense the "smuchdan" the more propitious the solemnity, disregards these indications, and continues, with streaming eyes and averted head, to increase the fumigation, until in his own defence he admits the air to recover the exhausted household and himself. He then treats the horses, cattle, and other bestial stock in the town with the same smothering, to keep them from harm throughout the year. When the gude wife gets up, and having ceased from coughing, has gained sufficient strength to reach the bottle dhu, she administers its comfort to the relief of the sufferers; laughter takes the place of complaint, all the family get up, wash their faces, and receive the visits of their neighbours, who arrive full of congratulations peculiar to the day. Mu nase choil orst, "My Candlemas bond upon yon," is the customary salutation, and means, in plain words, "You owe me a New Year's gift." A point of great emulation is, who shall salute the other first, because the one who does so is entitled to a gift from the person saluted. Breakfast, consisting of all procurable luxuries, is then served, the neighbours not engaged are invited to partake, and the day ends in festivity. Popular Superstitions of the Highlanders of Scotland, Stewart, 1851.' From Dyer, British Popular Customs, pp. 17-8.]
[38] [Brand, Observations on Popular Antiquities, vol. 2, p. 376, the 3rd ed. 'Wells and Fountains.' 'In the Statistical Account of Scotland, vii. 213, parish of Nigg, co. Kincardine, we read: "Customs. In the month of May, many of the lower ranks from around the adjacent city (Aberdeen) come to drink of a well in the bay of Nigg, called Downy Well; and, proceeding a little farther, go over a narrow pass, the Brigge of ae Hair (Bridge of one Hair), to Downy-Hill, a green island in the sea, where young people cut their favourites' names in the sward. It seems to be the remains of some superstitious respect to the fountain and retreat of a reputed saint, gone into an innocent amusement."']
[39] [Dyer, British Popular Customs, p. 211. 'One of the prettiest customs of the county of Derby is that of well-dressing on Holy Thursday or Ascension Day at Tissington, near Dovedale. In the village are five springs or wells, and these are decorated with flowers, arranged in the most beautiful devices. Boards are cut into arches, pediments, pinnacles, and other ornamental forms, and are covered with moist clay to the thickness of about half-an-inch; the flowers are cut off their stems and impressed into the clay as closely together as possible, forming mottoes, borders, and other devices; these are then placed over the wells, and it is impossible to conceive a more beautiful appearance than they present, the water gurgling from beneath them, and overhung by the fine foliage of the numerous evergreens and forest trees by which they are surrounded. There is one particular variety of the double daisy known to gardeners as the Tissington daisy, which appears almost peculiar to the place, and is in much repute for forming the letters of the texts and mottoes, with which the wells are adorned. The day is observed as a complete holiday, and the festival attracts a considerable number of visitors from all the neighbouring towns and villages. Divine Service is performed in the Church, and on its conclusion the minister and congregation join in procession and visit each well. A portion of Scripture is read at each, and a psalm or appropriate hymn is sung. The whole of the wells being visited, and a prayer offered up, the company separate and, from the absence of public-houses in the village, spend the rest of the day in temperate enjoyment. The same custom was observed at Brewood and Bilbrook, in the County of Stafford.—Gent. Mag. 1794, lxiv. pp. 115, 226; Jour. of the Arch. Assoc. 1852, vol. vii. p. 205; vide Times, May 19th, 1874.']
[40] ['Pennant tells us, "They visit the well of Spey, in Scotland, for many distempers, and the well of Drachaldy for as many, offering small pieces of money and bits of rags." Pennant's Additions, p. 18.' From Brand, Observations on Popular Antiquities, vol. 2, p. 380.]
[41] ['The following account borders more closely upon the marvellous and incredible: "In Northamptonshire I observed, as in most other places, the superstition of the country people with regard to their local wonders. The well at Oundle is said to drum against any important event; yet nobody in the place could give me a rational account of their having heard it, though almost every one believes the truth of the tradition." Travels of T. Thumb, p. 174.' From Brand, Observations on Popular Antiquities, vol. 2, 369. The Travels of Tom Thumb is now attributed to Dodsley.]
[42] ['Baxter, in his World of Spirits, p. 157, says: "When I was a schoolboy at Oundle, in Northamptonshire, about the Scots coming into England, I heard a well, in one Dob's yard, drum like any drum beating a march. I heard it at a distance: then I went and put my head into the mouth of the well and heard it distinctly, and nobody in the well. It lasted several days and nights, so as all the country people came to hear it. And so it drummed on several changes of times. When King Charles the Second died I went to the Oundle carrier at the Ram Inn, in Smithfield, who told me their well had drummed, and many people came to hear it. And, I heard, it drummed once since."' From Brand, op. cit., footnote to note 41 above.]
[43] ['Borlase, in his Natural History of Cornwall, p. 31, speaking of Madern Well, in the parish of Madern, tells us: "Here people who labour under pains, aches, and stiffness of limbs come and wash, and many cures are said to have been performed. Hither also, upon much less justifiable errands, come the uneasy, impatient, and superstitious, and by dropping pins or pebbles into the water, and by shaking the ground round the spring, so as to raise bubbles from the bottom, at a certain time of the year, moon, and day, endeavour to settle such doubts and inquiries as will not let the idle and anxious rest. As great a piece of folly as this is, 'tis a very ancient one. The Castalian fountain, and many others among the Grecians, were supposed to be of a prophetic nature. By dipping a fair mirror into a well, the Patraeans of Greece received, as they supposed, some notice of ensuing sickness or health, from the various figures portrayed upon the surface. In Laconia they cast into a pool, sacred to Juno, cakes of bread-corn; if they sunk, good was portended; if they swam, something dreadful was to ensue. Sometimes they threw three stones into the water, and formed their conclusions from the several turns they made in sinking." He mentions, in the same page, another such well: St. Eunys, in the parish of Sancred. Here he happened to be upon the last day of the year, on which (according to the vulgar opinion) it exerts its principal and most salutary powers; though two women assured him that people who had a mind to receive any benefit from St. Euny's Well must come and wash upon the first three Wednesdays in May.' From Brand, Observations on Popular Antiquities, vol. 2, p. 370.]
[44] ['Martin, in his History of the Western Islands of Scotland, p. 7, speaking of the Isle of Lewis, says that "St. Andrew's Well, in the village of Shadar, is by the vulgar natives made a test to know if a sick person will die of the distemper he labours under. They send one with a wooden dish, to bring some of the water to the patient; and if the dish, which is then laid softly upon the surface of the water, turn round sunways, they conclude that the patient will recover of that distemper; but if otherwise, that he will die."' From Brand, Observations on Popular Antiquities, vol. 2, p. 383.]