Notes and Queries, Number 12, January 19, 1850

Notes and Queries, Number 12, January 19, 1850

generally supposed to form a part of Hudibras, are to be found (as Mr. Cunningham points out, at p. 602. of his Handbook for London), in the Musarum Delici, 12mo. 1656; a clever collection of "witty trifles," by Sir John Mennis and Dr. James Smith. But there is a much earlier authority for these lines than the Musarum Delici; a fact which I learn from a volume now open before me, the great rarity of which will excuse my transcribing the title-page in full: I take this opportunity of noticing a mistake which has frequently been made concerning the French translation of Butler's Hudibras. Tytler, in his Essay on Translation; Nichols, in his Biographical Anecdotes of Hogarth; and Ray, in his {178}History of the Rebellion, attributes it to Colonel Francis Towneley; whereas it was the work of John Towneley, uncle to the celebrated Charles Towneley, the collector of the Marbles. I do not think that Mr. Cunningham, in his valuable work, has given any account of a piece of ground of which a strange story is recorded by Southey, in his Common-Place Book (Second Series, p. 21.). After quoting a letter received from a friend, recommending him to "take a view of those wonderful marks of the Lord's hatred to duelling, called The Brothers' Steps," and giving him the description of the locality, Mr. Southey gives an account of his own visit to the spot (a field supposed to bear ineffaceable marks of the footsteps of two brothers, who fought a fatal duel about a love affair) in these words:"We sought for near half an hour in vain. We could find no steps at all, within a quarter of a mile, no nor half a mile, of Montague House. We were almost out of hope, when an honest man who was at work directed us to the next ground adjoining to a pond. There we found what we sought, about three quarters of a mile north of Montague House, and about 500 yards east of Tottenham Court Road. The steps answer Mr. Walsh's description. They are of the size of a large human foot, about three inches deep, and lie nearly from north-east to south-west. We counted only seventy-six, but we were not exact in counting. The place where one or both the brothers are supposed to have fallen, is still bare of grass. The labourer also showed us the bank where (the tradition is) the wretched woman sat to see the combat." ......Buy Now (To Read More)

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Ebook Number: 11575
Author: Various
Release Date: Mar 1, 2004
Format: eBook
Language: English