Imatges de pàgina
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nundred yards distant. He looked again --the cut of her sails and rig of her mizen were the same as his own ship!and taking up the speaking trumpet that lay on the binnacle before him, hailed her with-" What ship a-hoy?" Bryce, who was all attention, heard his own question repeated This was not altogether according to marine etiquette; he, however, once more shouted-"The Golden Thistle of Ayr, Bryce Gullbyland master!" when, to his no small astonishment, at the expiration of a few seconds, he heard repeated-" The Golden Thistle of Ayr, Bryce Gullbyland master!""This is perilous strange!" said he to himself: two square-cut topsails, two taught-rigged mizens, two Golden Thistles, and two Bryce Gullbylands masters -it is perilous strange, indeed!" however, thought he would make a little more inquiry into the mystery that appeared to envelope the two ships, and again shouting "From whence, to where ?" it was instantly repeated back. Bryce, in desperation, instantly replied-" From the Isle of Skye!" when, to complete his Ayr, to Maryland in Virginia, last from horror, he heard in a loud sonorous voice From Ayr, to Maryland in Virginia, last from the Isle of Skye !" Bryce now, letting go the helm, rushed below, exclaiming " Perilous delusion!" and to wind up the catastrophe, he caught Davie Hassel, his cabin-boy, in the very act of untying Nor'west Meg's bag of fair wind. This was the climax of poor Bryce's imaginary evils: he immediately bawled out I have seen it! I have seen it! I have seen it!"

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A part of the crew anxiously asked him what he had seen ?" Why, I have seen the spectre of the Golden Thistle, and the wraith of Bryce Gullbyland, and I'll shortly be a ghost myself :-perilous, perilous strange!

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One of the crew, who had been forward in the bows during the parley betwixt Bryce and the spectre ship, now came below, to convince him that the imagined ship was but the shadow of his own vessel, reflected by the moon on the

face of the ocean!

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But Tom Bobstay might as well have lectured to the bulkhead as to Bryce !he was now in a state of confirmed delirium, muttering incoherent nonsense, and it was with no little difficulty they got him into his hammock. By daylight next morning, they were off the Bar of Ayr, and Johnny Smoothwater, the pilot, (as there was no surf that morning,) came along-side; when Bryce-who was now in a high brain-fever, having grown worse during the night-was carried ashore, supported by two of the pilot's crew, to his own house, where Mrs. Gullbyland, meeting him at the door, anxiously inquired :

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"Dear Bryce! sweet Bryce! what sort of a voyage had you?"

"From Ayr, to Maryland in Virginia!" exclaimed Bryce.

"What is the matter with you, my dear Bryce?"

Nor'west Meg will watch the moon,
And give the current, wind, and tide:-

dead!" said Mrs. Gullbyland:
But it is all delusion-all delusion !"
"My dear brother, the Baillie, is
..he went
took a surfeit came home-went to bed-
to Maybole, to a spice-and-wine entry*.
and never rose again!--But he has left us
all he had!"

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My dear brother dead and gone! Yes, yes- -to the Isle of Skye, or the upland fell!" exclaimed Bryce.

"Remember yourself-you are now in your own comfortable parlour, sitting by a good sea-coal fire."

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Captain of the Golden Thistle of Ayr!" shouted Bryce.

The skipper, still continuing thus to incoherent ravings, was confined to his interrupt every conversation with these room, under the charge of one of the most skilful physicians of Ayr, and soon recovered of his malady; for, a few days after, some of his neighbours saw him settling a small account with an inkleweaver from Beith. For the further information of the reader, Jenny Whitelees, having for ever lost her reputation as a spaewife, left off reading of cups for the more profitable practice of reading her Bible; and Johnny Towlines was again appointed captain of the Golden Thistle.

If there is any moral to be derived from Put no trust in augury.-Tales of a this tale, it can only amount to this :---

Grandmother.

It was an ancient custom in the burgh of Maybole, that when a candidate to become a burgess was the son of a freeman, the fine levied, being ten shillings sterling, was com muted into a treat of spice and wine, for

behoof of the town-council.

THE ROYAL OAK.

Robur Caroli, Charles's Oak. In the year 1676, the celebrated astronomer Halley, was sent to St. Helena, a small island in the Atlantic Ocean, to take a catalogue of the fixed stars which do not rise above our horizon.

These fixed stars were formed into con

stellations and to one of them he gave the appellation now under consideration in memory of the tree in which Charles 2nd saved himself from his pursuers after the battle of Worcester.

To the circumstance of this concealment, one of our poets alludes in the subsequent panegyrical lines on the oak:

"The sturdy Oak, "A prince's refuge, once the eternal guard Of England's throne, by sweating peasants fell'd,

Stem's the vast main, and bears tremendous war,

Too distant or with sovereign sway,
Awes the divided world to peace and love."

This famous oak was situated near Boscobel House, about the middle of the eastern border of Shropshire adjoining to Staffordshire, twenty-six miles from Worcester, and at no great distance from Bridgenorth or Wolverhampton. The solitary dwelling was inhabited by five brothers of the name of Penderill, who clothed the king in a garb like their own, led him into the neighbouring wood, put a bill in his hand and pretended to employ themselves in cutting faggots. For a better concealment, he climbed an oak, where he sheltered himself among the leaves and branches for twenty-four hours. He saw several soldiers pass by, all were intent in search of the king, and some expressed in his hearing their earnest wishes of seizing him. This tree was afterwards denominated the Royal Oak. In commemoration of the just mentioned event, oak-apples are still worn by many people in several parts of England, particularly in Worcester, where the houses are also in general on the 29th of May, the anniversary of Charles's restoration, profusely decorated with large branches of oak. Many years ago, Mr. John Day, a worthy but whimsical character in Wapping, used annually to go and dine on beans and bacon under the oak Tree at Fairlop, from which circumstance originated the annual fair held under it. Mr. Day had his coffin made out of a large arm of this tree, and kept many years by him.

CUSTOMS OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES, (No. XVIII.)

THE WHITSUN-ALE.

This week's number appearing on the eve of the holiday season, we think the following accouut will be found of interest sufficient to be worthy of the attention of our readers.

On the Coteswolds in Gloucestershire, is a customary annual meeting at Whitsuntide, vulgarly called an Ale or Whitsun-ale. It is supposed that the true word is Yule, for in the time of Druidism the

Feasts of Yule or the Grove were celebrated in the months of May or December; and in the north of England, Christmas is called Christmas Yule and Christmas Gambols. Yule Games and Yule is the proper Scotch word for this festival. These sports are resorted to by great numbers of young people of both sexes, and are conducted in the following manner : Two persons are chosen previous to the meeting to be Lord and Lady of the Yule, who dress as suitably as they can to the characters they assume. A large empty barn, or some such building, is provided for the Lord's hall, and fitted up with seats to accommodate the company. Here they assemble to dance and to regale in the best manner their circumstances and the place will afford. Each young fellow treats his girl with a ribbon or favour; the Lord and Lady honour the hall with their presence, attended by the steward, sword-bearer, purse-bearer, and mace-bearer, with their several badges or ensigns of office. They have likewise a page or train-bearer, and a jester drest in a party-coloured jacket, whose ribaldry and gesticulation contribute not a little to the entertainment of the company. The Lord's music, consisting generally of a pipe and tabor, is employed to conduct the dance. people think this is a commemoration of the ancient drinking, being a day of festivity formerly observed by the tenants and vassals of the Lord of the Fee within his manor, the memory of which, on account of the jollity of those meetings, the people have thus preserved ever since. It may notwithstanding have its rise in Druidism, as on these occasions they always erect a may-pole, which is an eminent sign of it. The mace is made of silk, finely plaited with ribbons on the top, and filled with spices and perfume, for such of the company to smell to as desire it. Does not this afford some light towards discovering the original use, and account for the name of mace, now carried in ostentation before the steward of

Some

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as one of the most celebrated leaders of female fashions to be met with in history.

In the reign of Henry IV, the long pocketing sleeve was first brought into use; and a few years after, he first became the principal object of fashionable attention, when a prociamation was

Ellustrations of History. issued, that men's shoes should not be

ON DRESS.

Historians are very sparing in their accounts of the dresses and fashions of their times; and it is somewhat unaccountable that we may form a better idea of the habits both civil and military, in the time of King John, Henry III. and the succeeding ages from their monuments, old glass windows, and ancient tepestry, than from the writings of the most accurate historiographers of those periods. We are glad to avail ourselves however of the assistance of Chaucer the poet, who describes the dresses in the time of Richard II.

priests in Rome almost as soon as these improvements in the luxury of dress were introduced into Europe.

above six inches in breadth over the toes. About this period the women, not to be less ridiculous than the men, raised their hips by fox-tails under their clothes, which somewhat resembled our more modern hoops, and the men, piqued to be rivalled in absurdity, shortened their garments so much that it was judged expedient to enact, "no person under the dignity of lord should wear from that time any gown or mantle that was not of a sufficient length to cover his buttocks, in the penalty of twenty shillings for every default." Even the clergy caught the fashionable infection, though it has been asserted, that the "Alas," says he, "may not a man see, clergy of England never wore silk or velas in our days, the sinful costly array of vet till they were introduced by Cardinal clothing, and namely, in too much super-silk and embroidery were worn by the Certain it is, however, that Wolsey. fluity of clothing, such that maketh it so dear, to the harm of the people, not only the costs of embroidering, the disguised indenting or barring, ounding, platting winding or bending, and semblable waste of cloth in vanity; but there is also the costly furring in their gowns, so much pouncing of chissel to make holes, so much dogging of sheirs-forche, with the superfluity in length of the aforesaid gowns, trailing in the dung and the mire, on horse, and also on foot, as well of man as of woman, that all that trailing is verily in effect wasted, consumed, and threadbare, and rotten with dung rather than given to the poor. Now, as to the outrageous array of women, God wot! that though the visages of some of them seem full chaste and debonnaire, yet notify in her array and attire, licorousness and pride. I say not that honesty in clothing of man or woman is uncoverable, but assert the superiority of disordinate quality of clothing is reproveable."

About this period a gown called a git, or jacket without sleeves, a loose cloak like a herald's coat of arms, called a tabard, short breeches called a court pie, and a gorget called a chevesail, were first introduced, prior to the use of bands, which they afterwards wore about their necks.

Side Saddles for women were brought in by Anne, wife to Richard II. Before this time the ladies rode astride like the men. She also introduced a high head dress, resembling horns, and long gowns with trains, so that she may be considered

Natural History

THE OAK.

Ir is a beautiful notion of St. Pierre's, and one which has the advantage of being safe from any positive contradiction, that the earth, on its first assumption of form and laws, appeared clothed, with respect to the vegetable creation, not only in the verdure which has been well styled "her universal robe," but also with trees in every stage of their existence; an idea which Milton has also given us in his exquisite description of their creation:—

"Last

Rose, as in dance, the stately trees, and spread
Their branches, hung with copious fruit, or
gemm'd
with high woods the hills
were crown'd,
With blossoms;

With tufts the valleys, and each fountair side;
With borders long the rivers: that earth now
Seem'd like to Heav'n, a seat where gods might
dwell,
Or wander with delight, and love to haunt
Her sacred shades."

Leaving however, for the present, the dryads and hamadryads of such enchant ing precincts to the poets who have so

wen embodied their existence, we shall turn our attention to "the stately trees," and endeavour to ascertain, and to point out, to such of our readers as may be desirous to acquire some knowledge of their varieties and character, with reference to their appearance and effect in landscape, the most striking peculiarities in each species, and the mode best adapted for their delineation. And there it may be well observed, that no set of rules or examples, drawn from other men's labours, will be sufficient to form an original landscape painter; we can only put the proper implements into the hands of the student, form in him a habit of accurate perception, and introduce him to the objects best adapted for his pencil it is for him to find his own path for the future, and penetrate into the solitudes and the recesses of the forest, where every thing will be congenial to his pursuit, and where he will not have to complain in the elegant language of Quintilian,"Quare silvarum amoenitas, et præterlabentia flumina, et inspirantes ramis arborum auræ, volucrumque cantus et ipsa late circumspiciendi libertas, ad se trahunt; ut mihi remittere potius voluptas ista videatur cogitationem, quam intendere.' "Wherefore the sweet tranquillity of the woods, the liquid lapse of murmuring streams,' the soft whisperings of the summer air amid the boughs, the melodies of birds, and the unrestrained freedom that the eye enjoys, all attract the mind to themselves, so that these delights appear to me rather to interrupt than to promote our meditations."

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European trees may, by the painter, be divided into four classes: the roundtopped, as the oak, chesnut, elm, willow, ash, beech, &c.; the spiry-topped, as the different species of the fir-tribe; the shaggy topped, comprehending those of the pine; and the slender-formed, as the Lombardy-poplar and the cypress. In the first of these classes, foremost in dignity and grandeur, the oak stands preeminent, and like the lion among beasts, is the undoubted lord of the forest. Beauty, united with strength, characterises all its parts. The leaves, elegant in their outline, are strongly ribbed, and firmly attached to the spray, which, although, slim and excursive, is yet bold, and determined in its angles, whilst the abrupt and tortuous irregularity of its massive branches, admirably contrasts with the general richness and density of its clustered foliage. Even as a sapling, in its slender gracefulness, it exhibits sufficient firmness and indications of vigour, to predicate the future monarch of the wood; a state, indeed, which it is slow to assume, but which it retains per

sæcula longa, and, when, at length, it is brought to acknowledge the influence of time, and becomes bald with dry antiquity," no other production of the forest can be admitted as its rival in majestic and venerable decay. The general form of the oak is expansive, luxuriant, and spreading. Its character, both with respect to its whole, and to its larger masses of foliage, is best expressed by the pencil in bold and roundish lines, whether as single trees, as groups, or as forming the line of a distant forest: although when growing more closely together, they assume a loftier and less spreading appearance than the more solitary tree, such as Mason has so beautifully described in his Caractacus:

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But whilst, as an entire object, these curved lines are sufficient to express the general peculiarity of its outline, as well as the larger masses of its foliage, when we come to examine the oak more closely and in detail, we find that a greater variety of line must be adopted to display its singular proportions, so indicative of energy and boldness. The trunk and limbs are characterised by their amazing strength, and by their comparative shortness and crookedness; and the branches by their numerous contortions and abrupt angles, and by the great variety which they exhibit of straight and of crooked lines, and by their frequent tendency to a horizontal direction.

Not unfrequently, however, the forms of the limbs and branches are entirely concealed by the exuberancy of foliage, as is the case in the Bounds-Park oak, and more particularly in that magnificent living canopy,-nulli penetrabilis astro, impervious to the day,-(fully described in the Sylva Britannica,) the Chandos oak at Southgate, which, although not exactly a painter's tree, is unquestionably unrivalled for regular beauty and plentitude of shade. The oak, also, is occasionally found to present an extremely graceful and pleasing figure, as is remarkably the case with the celebrated oak at Lord Cowper's. This tree, above a century ago, was well known as the great oak at Panshanger.

There is also a beautiful tree of the same description, at Lord Darnley's seat at Cobham, which, being protected from the depredations of cattle, enjoys the most perfect freedom of growth, extending its latitude of boughs" in every direction, and drooping its clustered foli · age to the very ground.

Anecdotiana.

THE PLOUGHMAN THAT SAID HIS PATERNOSTER.

The following is from a scarce jest book printed in black letter early in the sixteenth century; the volume is in the Roxburgh collection :

"A rude uplandisshe ploughman, whiche on a tyme reprovynge a good holy father, sayd that he coude saye all his prayers with a hole mynde, and stedfast intention, without thinkyng on any other thynge. To whome the_good holy man sayde, go to, saye one Paternoster to the ende, and thynke on no other thynge and I will gyve the myn horse. That I shall do quod [quoth] the ploughman, and so began to saye Pater noster, qui es in celis, tyll he came to sanctifecetur nomen tuum, and then his thought moved him to aske this question, yea, but shall I have the sadil and bridel withal." And so he lost his bargain.

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BRIEF HISTORY OF A MAN OF GENIUS. Ir a table of fame like that in the Tatler were to be formed of men of real and indisputable genius in every country, says Walpole, Inigo Jones would save England from the disgrace of not having her representative among the arts. She adopted Holbein and Vandyke, she borrowed Rubens, but she produced Inigo Jones. Vitruvius drew his grammar, Palladic shewed him the practice, Rome displayed a theatre worthy of his emulation, and King Charles was ready to encourage, employ, and reward his talents. Such is the history of Inigo Jones as a genius.

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FRANK HAYMAN AND BEAU NASH.

Hayman the artist and Beau Nash having one evening been rioting in a tavern, were returning intoxicated, when Nash fell into a kennel, his companion in endeavouring to raise him, fell down also, on which Nash muttered. "What's the use of troubling yourself? the watch will come by soon, and they will take us both up."

MR. PITT.

WHEN the ambitious potentate of Russia, determined to make war upon the Turks, and had taken Oczakoff as a beginning, Mr. Pitt thought it necessary to interfere for the purpose of saving the Mussulman Empire. In this he was completely successful without going to war, but while the result was in suspense, the Minister, going one morning to the king's levee, was encountered on the stairs by a fribbling peer, richly embroidered, who thinking it an honour to speak to so distinguished a character, said, "Well Mr. Pitt, how is it to be? are we to have peace or war?" The Minister smiled, and replied, 66 Really my lord, I cannot say, I have not seen the newspapers this morning."

LORD NORBURY.

THIS nobleman whose puns have gained him so much notoriety reading a paragraph in a newspaper last week, in which it is stated that the bust of Granville Sharpe cost the City of London £200, and the dinners, &c. for the Committee, a further sum of £50.-“ Why, not," said his Lordship, "where they not a Committee of Taste?"

SYMPATHY IN A PUN.

A doctor and an undertaker met:

They spoke of illness, fees, of trade and

debt;

And well they might, for such a dismal day Never was known for coughs and deaths to Parting in fog,-they both exclaimed together,

clay

"Good morning t'ye ;-this is rare coffin weather."

A PARADOX TRANSLATED.

P.

The man who lives most happy with his wife, Lives not so long as he that lives in strife.

THE REV. MR. FAWKES.

P.

The Rev. Mr. Fawkes, in the year 1739, being, at that time, curate of Ďoncaster, thought fit to preach a sermon on the erection of an organ in the church; after having wound up his imagination to the highest pitch, in praise of church music, he adds, addressing himself to the "But what! O what! what shall organ, I call thee by? thou divine box of sound!"

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