Notes and Queries, Number 189, June 11, 1853 | Page 5

and made fast, at the Chapel at Somersett House; and that no Mass be said there.
"Ordered, That the Lord Cramborne and Mr. Hollis shall acquaint the French Ambassador with the desires of this House, that the Capuchins be forthwith sent away; and to know if he will undertake to send them away; and, if he will, that then they be forthwith delivered unto him.
"That Mr. Hollis do go up to the Lords, to acquaint them with the Resolutions of this House, concerning the Capuchins, and desire their Lordships' concurrence therein."
Some particulars of the proceedings of the parliament against the Capuchins may be found in "Memoirs of the Mission in England of the Capuchin Friars of the Province of Paris by Father Cyprian Gamache," in The Court and Times of Charles I., vol. ii. pp. 344. 354.
THOMPSON COOPER.
Cambridge.
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EARLY SATIRICAL POEM.
On the turning over the pages of an old printed copy of Durand's Rationale Divinorum Officiorus, edited by Bonetus de locatellis bergomensis, and printed at Lyons in 1506, by Natalis Brabam, for Jaques Huguetan, I found the following copy of verses written on the fly-leaf. They are written in a hand which I am inclined to assign to a date {569} not much later than that of the book. There is no clue to the author. If they are thought worthy of insertion in "N. & Q.," I beg to inquire, through the medium of your columns, whether they are to be found in any collection of early English poems? and whether the author is known?
The ungallant sentiment of the first three stanzas is obvious. The fourth is not so plain; nor is its connexion with the others evident, though it is written without anything to mark separation; and the word "finis" is placed below it, as if to apply to the whole. I should be obliged if some one of your readers would give some explanation of it.
W. H. G.
Winchester.
"Wen [sic] nettylles in wynter bryngythe forthe rosses red, And a thorne bryngythe figges naturally, And grase berrythe appulles in every mede, And lorrel cherrys on his crope so hye, And okkys berrythe datys plentyusly, And kykkys gyvythe hony in superfluans, The put in women yower trust and confydenc.
"When whythynges walke forrestys hartyse for to chase, And herrings in parkkys the hornnys boldly bloc, And marlyons[2] ... hernys in morrys doo unbrace, And gomards shut ryllyons owght of a crose boow, And goslyngs goo a howntyng the wolf to overthrow, And sparlyns bere sperrys and arms for defenc, Then put yn women yower trust and confydenc.
"When sparrowes byld chorchys and styppyllys of a hyght, And corlewys carry tymber yn howsys for to dyght, Wrennys bere sakkys to the myll, And symgis[3] bryng butter to the market to sell, And wodcokkys were wodknyffys the crane for to kyll, And gryffyns to goslynges doo obedienc, Then put in women yower trust and confydenc.
"O ye imps of Chynner, ye Lydgatys pene, With the spryght of bookkas ye goodly inspyrryd, Ye Ynglyshe poet, excydyng other men, With musyk wyne yower tong yn syrryd, Ye roll in yower rellatyvys as a horse immyrryd, With Ovyddes penner ye are gretly in favor, Ye bere boys incorne, God dyld yow for yower labor. Finis."
[Footnote 2: Merlin's hawks.]
[Footnote 3: Doubtful; but perhaps for syngies, an old name for the finch.]
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THE LETTERS OF ATTICUS.
The editor of the Grenville Papers has alluded to some "very judicious and pertinent remarks in the 'N. & Q.'" respecting the Letters of Atticus, and as most of your readers will probably agree with him that the authenticity of these letters is "a curious and interesting question, and one that deserves very particular attention," I beg to correct an error into which he and others have fallen, as to the date when Junius ceased to write under the signature Atticus. The Atticus forwarded by Junius to George Grenville on the 19th October, 1768, was, there is every reason to believe, the last from the pen of that writer, who was then preparing to come before the public in a more prominent character. When another correspondent adopted the signature Atticus, Woodfall gave his readers warning by inserting the following notice into the Public Advertiser:
"The Address to the Freeholders of the county of Middlesex, signed Atticus, in our next. The Printer thinks it his duty to acquaint his readers that this letter is not by the same hand as some letters in this paper a little time since, under the signature Atticus."--Pub. Ad., March 19, 1769.
The printer took the like course when writers attempted to "impose upon the public" by using the signatures Lucius and C., and then freely inserted their letters; but when the same trick was tried with Junius, the printer did not scruple to alter the signature, or