"Great duke rejoice in this your day of birth, And may such omens still increase your mirth." Afterwards he relates, from Matthew Paris, that when "Lewis king of France had set footing here, and took some eminent places, he besieged Calais from 22 of July, to the Fourteenth of October following, about which time the siege was raised, and England thereby relieved." Likewise " a memorable peace, (foretold by Nostradamus) much conducing to the saving of christian blood, was made upon the Fourteenth of October, 1557, between pope Paul the ÏV. Henry the II. of France, and Philip the II. of Spain." Whereon, exclaims our exultant author, "A lucky day this, not only to the princes of England, but auspicious to the welfare of Europe." He concludes by declaring "that it may be so to his royal highness, as well as it was to the most great queen his mother, are the hearty prayers of BLEW-MANTLE." From the conclusion of the last sentence, and the previous reference to his "Blasoniam," we find this writer to have been John Gibbon, the author of "An Easie Introduction to Latine Blason, being both Latine and English "-an octavo volume, now only remembered by the few collectors of every thing written on 66 coatarmour." Gibbon speaks of one of his pamphlets "whose title should have been Dux Bonis Omnibus Appellens, or The Swans' Welcome;" or rather, as he afterwards set it out at large, "Some Remarks upon the Note-worthy Passage, mentioned in the TRUE DOMESTICK INTELLIGENCE dated October the Fourteenth 1679, concerning a company of SWANS more than ordinary gathered together at his royal highness's landing." Instead, however, of its having such a title, he tells us "there was a strange mistake, not only in that, but in other material circumstances; so that many suppose, the printer could never have done it himself, but borrowed the assistance of the evil spirit to render it ridiculous, and not only so, but the very Duke himself and the Loyal Artillery!", wherefore the printer smothered the far greatest number of them," yet, as he adds it to the tract on the Fourteenth of October, we have the advantage to be old "what authors say of the candid Swan," that all esteem him for a "bird oyal," that " oftentimes in coats and crests we meet him either crown'd or coronally collar'd," that “he is a bird of great beauty and strength also," that "shipmen take it for good luck if in peril of shipwreck they meet swans,” that “he uses not his strength to prey or tyrannize over any other fowl, but only to be revenged of such as offer him wrong," and so forth. Ergo-according to "Blewmantle," we should believe that, "the most serene king James II." was greeted by these honourable birds, “in allegory assembled," to signify his kindred virtues. If Gibbon lived from 1687, where he published his "Remarques, on the Fourteenth of October" as the auspicious birth-day of James II. until the landing of William III. in the following year-did he follow the swan-like monarch to the court of France, or remain "Blew-mantle" in the Herald's college, to do honour to the court of "the deliverer?" Gibbon, in his " Remarques," on the auspicious" Fourteenth of October, prints the following epistle, to himself, which may be regarded as a curiosity on account of the superstition of its writer. A letter from Sir Winston Churchil, Knight; Father to the Right Honourable, John Lord Churchil. I I Thank you for your kind Present, the Observation of the Fatality of Days. I have made great Experience of the Truth of it; and have set down Fryday, as my own Lucky Day; the Day on which I was Born, Christen'd, Married, and, I believe, will be the Day of my Death: The Day whereon I have had sundry Deliverances, (too long to relate) from Perils by Sea and Land, Perils by False Brethren, Perils of Law Suits, &c. was Knighted (by chance, unexpected by my self) on the same Day; and have several good Accidents happened to me, on that Day: And am so superstitious in the Belief of its good Omen, That I chuse to begin any Considerable Action (that concerns me) on the same Day. HE, whom it most concerns, will live to own your Respect, and Good Wishes, expressed in That Essay of yours: Which discovering a more than common Affection to the DUKE, and being as valuable for the Singularity of the Subject, as the Ingenuity of your Fancy, I sent into Flanders, as soon as I had it; That They on the Other Side the Water may see, 'Tis not all sowre Wine, that runs from our English Press. I hope "The Right Honourable, John Lord Churchil," mentioned at the head of this ominous letter, became celebrated as "the great duke of Marlborough." ston Churchill was the author of "Divi Sir WinBritannici, a history of the lives of the English kings in folio; but his name is chiefly remembered in connection with his son's, and from his having also been father to Arabella Churchill, who became mistress to the most serene king of BlewMantle Gibbon, and from that connection was mother of the duke of Berwick, who turned his arms against the country of her birth. Sir Winston was a cavalier, knighted at the restoration of Charles II., for exertions in the royal cause, by which his estates became forfeited. He recovered them under Charles, obtained a seat in the house of commons, became a fellow of the royal society, had a seat at the board of green cloth, and died in 1688. He was born in 1620, at Wootton Glarville, in Dorsetshire. His letter on Fryday" is quite as important as his "Divi Britannici." TAKING HONEY WITHOUT KILLING THE On the 14th day of October, 1766, Mr. Wildman, of Plymouth, who had made himself famous throughout the west of England for his command over bees, was sent for to wait on lord Spencer, at his seat at Wimbledon, in Surrey; and he attended accordingly. Several of the nobility and persons of fashion were assembled, and the countess had provided three stocks of bees. The first of his performances was with one hive of bees hanging on his hat, which he carried in his hand, and the hive they came out of in the other hand; this was to show that he could take honey and wax without destroying the bees. Then he returned into the room, and came out again with them hanging on his chin, with a very venerable beard. After showing them to the company, he took them out upon the grass walk facing the windows, where a table and table cloth being provided, he set the hive upon the table, and made the bees hive therein. Then he made them come out again, and swarm in the air, the ladies and nobility standing amongst them, and no person stung by them. He made them go on the table and took them • General Biographical Dictionary, (Hunt and Clarke,) vol. i. 1324 up by handfuls, and tossed them up and down like so many peas; he then made command. them go into their hive at the word of At five o'clock in the after After this exhi noon he exhibited again with the three his breast, and the other on his arm, and swarms of bees, one on his head, one on waited on lord Spencer in his room, who had been too much indisposed to see the former experiments; the hives which the bees had been taken from, were carried by one of the servants. bition he withdrew, but returned once his head, face, and eyes, and was led more to the room with the bees all over of his lordship's horses being brought out blind before his lordship's window. One in his body clothes, Mr. Wildman mounted the horse, with the bees all over his head and face, (except his eyes ;) they likewise covered his breast and left arm; he held a whip in his right hand, and a groom led the horse backwards and forwards beMr. Wildman afterwards took the reins in fore his lordship's window for some time. his hand, and rode round the house; he then dismounted, and made the bees march upon a table, and at his word of command retire to their hive. earl and countess and all the spectators performance surprised and gratified the who had assembled to witness this great bee-master's extraordinary exhibition.* The ing the bees? There are accounts to this Can the honey be taken without destroymethods described are known to have effect in several books, but some of the failed. The editor is desirous of ascertaining, whether there is a convenient mode of preserving the bees from the cruel death to which they are generally doomed, after they have been despoiled of their sweets. NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. Mean Temperature... 50 85. October 15. EXHUMATION. which the following is a copy, that the It appears from a printed half sheet, of will of a person who had been resident at Stevenage, was proved on this day in the year 1724, whereby he desired his Annual Register, 1766. remains to be kept unburied. It is a curious document, and further information respecting the individual whose caprice was thus indulged will be acceptable. (COPY) THE ECCENTRIC WILL OF THE LATE HENRY TRIGG, OF STEVENAGE, Where his Remains are still upon the Rafters of the West End of the Hovel, and may be viewed by any Traveller who may think it worthy of Notice. and Thomas Hale, junr. and also my Cottage, Orchard, and Barn, with Four Acres of Land (more or less) belonging, lying, and being in the parish of Little Wymondly, now in the possession of SAMUEL KITCHENER, labourer; and also all my Cottages, Messuages, or Tenements, situate and being in Stevenage, aforesaid; or, upon condition that he shall pay my brother GEORGE TRIGG the sum of Ten Pounds per annum for his life; but if my brother should neglect or refuse to lay my body where I desire it should be laid, then upon that condition, I Will and bequeath all that which I have already be The same is recorded in History, and may queathed to my brother THOMAS TRIGG, I, be depended on as a Fact. In the Name of God, Amen. HENRY TRIGG, of Stevenage, in the County of Hertford, Grocer, being very infirm and weak in body, but of perfect sound mind and memory, praised be God for it, calling unto mind the mortality of my body, do now make and ordain this my last WILL and TESTAMENT, in writing hereafter following, that is to say:-Principally I recommend my Soul into the merciful hands of Almighty God that first gave me it, assuredly believing and only expecting free pardon and forgiveness of all my sins, and eternal life in and through the only merits, death, and passion of Jesus Christ my Saviour; and as to my body, I commit it to the West End of my Hovel, to be decently laid there upon a floor erected by my Executor, upon the purlins, upon the same purpose, nothing doubting but at the general Resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God, and as for and concerning such wordly substance as it hath pleased God to bless me with in this life, I do devise and dispose of the same in manner and form following. Imprimis.-I give and devise unto my loving brother THOMAS TRIGG, of Letchworth, in the County of Hertford, Clerk, and to his Heirs and Assigns for ever, all those my Freehold Lands lying dispersedly in the several Common Fields and parish of Stevenage aforesaid, and also all my Copyhold Lands, upon condition that he shall lay my body upon the place beforementioned and also all that Messuage, Cottage, or Tenement, at Redcoat's Green, in the parish of Much Wymondly, together with those Nine Acres of Land, (more or less) purchased of William Hale unto my brother GEORGE TRIGG, and to his Heirs for ever: and if my brother GEORGE TRIGG, should refuse to lay my body under my Hovel, then what I have bequeathed unto him as all my Lands and Tenements, I lastly bequeath them unte my Nephew WILLIAM TRIGG, and his Heirs for ever, upon his seeing that my body is decently laid up there as aforesaid. Item.-I give and bequeath unto my Nephew WILLIAM TRIGG, the sum of Five Pounds at the age of Thirty Years: to his Sister SARAH the sum of Twenty Pounds; to his Sister ROSE the sum of Twenty Pounds; and lastly to his Sister ANN the sura of Twenty Pounds, all at the age of Thirty Years: to JOHN SPENCER, of London, Butcher, the sum of One Guinea; and to SOLOMON SPENCER, of Stevenage, the sum of One Guinea, three years next after my decease; to my cousin HENRY KIMPTON, One Guinea, one year next after my decease; and another Guinea, two years after my decease; to WILLIAM WABY, Five Shillings; and to JoSEPH PRIEST, Two Shillings and Sixpence, two years after my decease; to my tenant ROBERT WRIGHT the sum of Five Shillings, two years next after my decease; and to RALPH LOWD and JOHN REEVES, One Shilling each, two years next after my decease. Item. All the rest of my Goods, and Chattels, and personal Estate, and ready Money, I do hereby give and devise unto my Brother THOMAS TRIGG, paying my Debts and laying my Body where I would have it laid, whom I likewise make and ordain my full and sole Executor of this my last Will and Testament, or else to them before mentioned; ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last Will and Testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal, this twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord, one Thousand seven Hundred and twenty four. HENRY TRIGG. Read, Signed, Sealed, and declared by the said HENRY TRIGG, the Testator, to the his last Will and Testament, in the presence of us, who have subscribed our Numes as Witnesses hereto, in the Presence of the said Testator. JOHN HAWKINS, Senr. JOHN HAWKINS, Junr. The mark Proved in the Archdeaconry of Hunt of WILLIAM SEXTON. ingdon, the 15th of October, 1724, by the Executor THOMAS TRIGG. 66 In October, 174%, a cobbler, at Bristol. died of a bite in the finger inflicted by a cat, which was sent to his house by an old woman in revenge for his calling her Witch," against which dipping in salt water proved ineffectual. "This, they say, was well attested;" and well it might be; for doubtless the cat was mad, and the woman, bewitched by the unhappy cobbler of Bristol, had no more to do with the bite, than "the old woman of Ratcliff-highway." |