Notes and Queries, Number 06, December 8, 1849 | Page 7

Lane," in which the dedication is addressed as follows:--"To his very good friend Mr. Bodenham, N.L. wisheth increase of happinesse." The first sentence of this dedication seems to admit that Bodenham was something more than patron of the work:--"What you seriously begun long since, and have always been very careful for the full perfection of, at length thus finished, although perhaps not so well to your expectation, I present you with; as one before all most worthy of the same: bothe in respect of your earnest travaile therein, and the great desire you have continually had for the generall profit."
In Brydges' _Censura Literaria_, Bodenham is spoken of as the compiler of _The Garden of the Muses_, and editor of the _Wit's Commonwealth_, the {87} _Wit's Theatre of the Little World_, and _England's Helicon_. He seems to have less claim to be considered the author of the _Wit's Theatre_ than of the _Wit's Commonwealth_, for in the original edition of the former, "printed by J.R. for N.L., and are to be sold at the West doore of Paules, 1599," the dedication is likewise addressed, "To my most esteemed and approved loving friend, Maister J.B. I wish all happines." After acknowledging his obligations to his patron, the author proceeds: "Besides this History or Theatre of the Little World, suo jure, first challengeth your friendly patronage, by whose motion I undertooke it, and for whose love I am willing to undergoe the heavy burden of censure. I must confesse that it might have been written with more maturitie, and deliberation, but in respect of my promise, I have made this hast, how happy I know not, yet good enough I hope, if you vouchsafe your kind approbation: which with your judgement I hold ominous, and as under which Politeuphuia was so gracious."
I.F.M.
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TRAVELLING IN ENGLAND.
Sir,--I beg to acknowledge the notice which two of your correspondents have taken of my query on this subject. At the same time I must say that the explanations which they offer appear to me to be quite unsatisfactory. I shall be happy to give my reasons for this, if you think it worth while; but, perhaps, if we wait a little, some other solution may be suggested.
For the sake of the inhabitants, I hope that your work is read at Colchester. Is there nobody there who could inform us at what time the London coach started a century ago? It seems clear that it arrived in the afternoon--but I will not at present trespass further on your columns. I am, &c.,
G.G.
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MINOR NOTES.
Ancient Inscribed Alms Dish.
L.S.B. informs us that in the church of St. Paul, Norwich, is a brass dish, which has been gilt, and has this legend round it four times over:--"HER: I: LIFRID: GRECHo: WART."[4]
This seems to be another example of the inscription which was satisfactorily explained in No. 5. p. 73.
[Footnote 4: Blomefeld's Norfolk. Folio. 1739. Vol. ii. p. 803.]
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The Bishop that burneth.
I do not think Major Moor is correct in his application of Tusser's words, "the bishop that burneth," to the lady-bird. Whether lady-birds are unwelcome guests in a dairy I know not, but certainly I never heard of their being accustomed to haunt such places. The true interpretation of Tusser's words must, I think, be obtained by comparison with the following lines from his _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_, quoted in Ellis's _Brand_, iii. 207.:--
"Blesse Cisley (good mistress) that bishop doth ban For burning the milk of her cheese to the pan."
The reference here, as well as in the words quoted by Major Moor, is evidently to the proverb relating to burnt milk, broth, &c.--"the bishop has put his foot in it;" which is considered by Ellis to have had its origin in those times when bishops were much in the habit of burning heretics. He confirms this interpretation by the following curious passage from Tyndale's _Obedyence of a Crysten Man_:--
"If the podech be burned to, or the meate ouer rosted, we saye the Byshope hath put his fote in the potte, or the Byshope hath playd the coke, because the Bishopes burn who they lust, and whosoeuer displeaseth them."
I fear the origin of the appellation "Bishop Barnaby," applied to the lady-bird in Suffolk, has yet to be sought.
D.S.
Iron Manufactures of Sussex.
Sir,--I have made two extracts from a once popular, but now forgotten work, illustrative of the iron manufacture which, within the last hundred years, had its main seat in this county, which I think may be interesting to many of your readers who may have seen the review of Mr. Lower's Essay on the Ironworks of Sussex in the recent numbers of the _Athen?um_ and _Gentleman's Magazine_. The anecdote at the close is curious, as confirming the statements of Macaulay; the