Notes and Queries, Number 68, February 15, 1851 | Page 3

I was at such a wedding I had three
strapping wenches attached to my person. In the country they ride, and
generally there is a desperate race home to the bidding, where you
would be surprised to see a comely lass, with Welsh hat on head and
ordinary dress, often take the lead of fifty or a hundred smart fellows
over rough roads that would shake your Astley riders out of their seats
and propriety.
"Carmarthen, October 2. 1850.
"As we intend to enter the Matrimonial State, on Tuesday, the 22nd of
October instant, we are encouraged by our Friends to make a Bidding
on the occasion the same day, at the New Market House, near the
Market Place; when and where the favour of your good and agreeable
company is respectfully solicited, and whatever donation you may be
pleased to confer on us then, will be thankfully received, warmly
acknowledged, and cheerfully repaid whenever called for on a similar
occasion,
By your most obedient Servants, HENRY JONES, (Shoemaker,)
ELIZA DAVIES.
"The Young Man, his Father (John Jones, Shoemaker), his Sister (Mary
Jones), his Grandmother (Nurse Jones), his Uncle and Aunt (George
Jones, {115} Painter, and Mary, his wife), and his Aunt (Elizabeth
Rees), desire that all gifts due to them be returned to the Young Man on
the above day, and will be thankful for all additional favours.
"The Young Woman, her Father and Mother (Evan Davies, Pig-drover,
and Margaret, his wife), and her Brother and Sisters (John, Hannah,
Jane, and Anne Davies), desire that all gifts of the above nature due to
them be returned to the Young Woman on the above day, and will be
thankful for all additional favours conferred."
W. SPURRELL.
* * * * *

COLERIDGE'S "RELIGIOUS MUSINGS."
Some readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" may be interested in a
reading of a few lines in this poem which varies from that given in
Pickering's edition of the Poems, 1844. In that edition the verses I refer
to stand thus (p. 69):
"For in his own, and in his Father's might, The Saviour comes! While
as the Thousand Years Lead up their mystic dance, the Desert shouts!
Old Ocean claps his hands! The mighty Dead Rise to new life, whoe'er
from earliest time With conscious zeal had urged Love's wondrous plan,
Coadjutors of God."
I happen to be in possession of these lines as originally written, in
Coleridge's own hand, on a detached piece of paper. It will be seen that
they have been much altered in the printed edition above cited. I am
now copying from Coleridge's autograph:
"For in his own, and in his Father's Might, Heaven blazing in his train,
the SAVIOUR comes! To solemn symphonies of Truth and Love The
THOUSAND YEARS lead up their mystic dance. Old Ocean claps his
hands, the Desert shouts, And vernal Breezes wafting seraph sounds
Melt the primæval North. The Mighty Dead Rise from their tombs,
whoe'e[r] from earliest time With conscious zeal had aided the vast
plan Of Love Almighty."
The variations of the printed poem from this MS. fragment appear to
me of sufficient importance to warrant my supposition that many
readers and admirers of Coleridge may be glad to have the original text
restored.
H. G. T.
Launceston.
* * * * *
FOLK LORE.

Lammer Beads--Lammer, or Lama beads are so called from an order of
priests of that name among the western Tartars. The Lamas are
extremely superstitious, and pretend to magic. Amber was in high
repute as a charm during the plague of London, and was worn by
prelates of the Church. John Baptist Van Helmont (Ternary of
Paradoxes, London, 1650) says, that
"A translucid piece of amber rubbed on the jugular artery, on the hand
wrists, near the instep, and on the throne of the heart, and then hung
about the neck,"
was a most certain preventative of (if not a cure for) the plague; the
profound success of which Van Helmont attributes to its magnetic or
sympathetic virtue.
BLOWEN.
* * * * *
Engraved Warming-pans.--Allow me to add another illustration to the
list furnished by H. G. T., p. 84. One which I purchased a few years ago
of a cottager at Shotover, in Oxfordshire, has the royal arms
surmounted by C. R., and surrounded by
"FEARE GOD HONNOR Y^E KING, 1662."
The lid and pan are of brass, the handle of iron.
E. B. PRICE.
* * * * *
Queen Elizabeth's Christening Cloth.--The mention (in the first No. of
your 3rd Vol.) of some damasked linen which belonged to James II.
reminds me of a relic which I possess, and the description of which
may interest some of your readers.
It is the half of Queen Elizabeth's christening cloth, which came into
my possession through a