Notes and Queries | Page 5

of that excellent commentator, Tom Warton, who adopted

Headley's suggestion, it is to be hoped that readers will continue,
though it may be in error, to understand the line as your correspondent
used to do: an amatory _tête-à-tête_ is surely better suited to "the
hawthorn in the dale," than either mental arithmetic, or the study of
Cocker.
J.H.M.
* * * * *
DOCTOR DANIEL DOVE OF DONCASTER AND HIS HORSE
NOBS--GOLDEN AGE OF MAGAZINES.
It appears from the preface to the last edition of _The Doctor, &c._ that
the story of Dr. Daniel Dove and his horse was one well known in
Southey's domestic circle.
A letter is there quoted from Mrs. Southey (then Miss Caroline Bowles),
in which she says:--
"There is a story of Dr. D.D. of D. and of his horse Nobs, which has I
believe been made into a Hawker's Book. Coleridge used to tell it, and
the humour lay in making it as long-winded as possible; it suited,
however, my long-windedness better than his, and I was frequently
called upon for it by those who enjoyed it, and sometimes I volunteered
it, when Coleridge protested against its being told."
While upon the subject of The Doctor, may I direct your attention to
the following passage on p. 269. of the one volume edition, which you
will admit in many respects accurately describes your "NOTES AND
QUERIES"?
"Our Doctor flourished in the golden age of magazines, when their
pages were filled with voluntary contributions from men who never
aimed at dazzling the public, but each came with his scrap of
information or his humble question, or his hard problem, or his attempt
in verse.

"In those days A was an antiquary, and wrote articles upon altars and
abbeys, and architecture. B made a blunder, which C corrected. D
demonstrated that E was in error, and that F was wrong in philology,
and neither philosopher nor physician, though he affected to be both. G
was a genealogist. H was an herald who helped him. I was an
inquisitive inquirer who found reason for suspecting J to be a Jesuit. M
was a mathematician. N noted the weather. O observed the stars. P was
a poet who peddled in pastorals, {317} and prayed Mr. Urban to print
them. Q came in the corner of the page with his query. R arrogated to
himself the right of reprehending every one who differed from him. S
sighed and sued in song. T told an old tale, and when he was wrong, U
used to set him right. V was a virtuoso. W warred against Warburton. X
excelled in algebra. Y yearned for immortality in rhyme, and Z in his
zeal was always in a puzzle."
Surely, Sir, you have revived the Golden Age of magazines, and long
may you flourish.
Q.D.
* * * * *
THE USE OF BEAVER HATS IN ENGLAND.
The notice from Fairholt's Costume in England, concerning the earliest
use of a beaver hat in England, is not very satisfactory. Beaver hats
were certainly used in this country long before Stubbes's time. They
were originally, like many other articles of dress, manufactured abroad,
and imported here. Indeed, this was a great source of complaint by the
English artizan until a comparatively late period. The author of A Brief
Discourse of English Poesy, n.d. (temp. Eliz.) says:--
"I merveil no man taketh heed to it, what number of trifles come hither
from beyond the seas, that we might clean spare, or else make them
within our realme. For the which we either pay inestimable treasure
every year, or else exchange substantial wares and necessaries for them,
for the which we might receive great treasure."

"The beaver or felt hats (says J.H. Burn, in his interesting History of the
Foreign Refugees, p. 257.) worn in the reign of Edward III., and for a
long time afterwards, were made in Flanders. The refugees in Norfolk
introduced the manufacture of felts and thrummed hats into that
country; and by a statute of 5 and 6 Edward VI., that trade was
confined to Norwich, and all other corporate and market towns in the
country."
"About that time (says a History of Trade, published in 1702) we
suffered a great herd of French tradesmen to come in, and particularly
hat-makers, who brought with them the fashion of making a slight,
coarse, mean commodity, viz. felt hats, now called _Carolinas_; a very
inferior article to beavers and demicastors, the former of which then
sold at from 24s. to 48s. a piece."
In the _Privy-Purse Expenses of Henry VIII._, we read, under the date
1532:--
"Item the xxiij day [October] paied for a hatte and a plume for the King
in Boleyn [_i.e._ Boulogue] ... xvs."
And again--
"Item the same day paied for the garnisshing