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.No. LI.]

"Takes note of what is doneBy note, to give and to receive."-SHAKESPEARE.

COVENT GARDEN IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

THE appellation is said to be derived from the land having been formerly part of the possessions of the Convent Garadon, in Leicestershire. Upon the dissolution of religious houses in England, this land fell to the crown, and King Edward the Sixth granted it to his uncle, Edward Seymour, Lord Protector, created Duke of Somerset in 1547, but who being attainted and beheaded in 1552, all his honours and lands were forfeited.

In May 1552, John Russell, Earl of Bedford, then Lord Privy Seal, obtained a grant to hold by socage the said pasture land lying in the Parish of St. Martin's in the Fields, next Charing Cross, with seven acres called the long acres, now known as the street called Long Acre, parcel of the possessions of the late Duke of Somerset, of the yearly value of 61. 6s. 8d. The Earl at this time resided in Bedford House, in the Strand, which had been the town mansion of the bishops of Carlisle, and was situated upon the site of the present Beaufort Buildings; but on acquiring this grant, erected a large wooden building upon this land, named Bedford House, with an extensive fore court for carriages, towards the Strand, and a large garden behind, the whole enclosed by a wall. The former house was then abandoned to the Cecil family. The Earl died in 1554.

Beyond the boundary of the garden of Bedford House, the land continued to be but a common field,† with some irregularly situated tenements and stables, when Francis Russell, the fourth Earl, in 1631, if not before, determined on laying out the site for building streets with houses of some importance, Inigo Jones was instructed to devise the lines, and that now named Henrietta Street was the first so laid out, the front of the houses on the south side being parallel with the

Howel describing the south side of the Strand, observes: "Then is there Bedford House, which was sometimes the bishop of Carlisle's Inne. It stretched from the Savoy to Ivie-bridge, where Sir Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, raised a large and stately house of brick and timber." Londinopolis, 1657, p. 349. Ivie-bridge remains as the way from the Strand to the Fox under the Hill, on the river side, at which place many boat loads of fruit are landed, and conveyed thence by sturdy porters to Covent Garden market.

+ In 1627, when Edward, the third Earl of Bedford died, the poor rate books of St. Martin's parish, under the head of Covent Garden, noticed but two persons who were so assessed. Francis, the fourth Earl, was in 1630 the principal undertaker in that great work, the drainage of the fens known as the Great Level, and since named the Bedford Level.

VOL. V.

[MARCH, 1855.

garden wall of Bedford House. A plot of ground 180 feet long by 33 feet wide, lying on the south side of a parcel of ground then set forth for a new churchyard, constituting apparently the houses on the north side of the same street, was leased to Edward Palmer, Citizen and Girdler, who after having erected nine houses on the site, died; and a new lease, dated March 10, 1631-2, was granted by the Earl to Edward Palmer, of the parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn, Gent., son of Edward Palmer, citizen and girdler, lately deceased; and to two others named in the said lease, to hold the same for thirty-four years from the above date, paying quarterly, the yearly rent of 177. Os. 6d, "at, or in the dining hall of the Earl, commonly called Bedford House in the Strand, in the parish of St. Martin's in the Fields.”

Between the plot now occupied by the church, and immediately behind the house now number 2, in King Street, Le Sœur, in 1633, cast the bronze statue of King Charles the First. It was intended to decorate the centre of the piazza or square, in front of the church,* but that edifice not being finished or consecrated till late in 1638, the statue was, possibly from some political cause, not set up, and it remained there till 1676, when it was placed at Charing Cross, upon a pedestal, carved by Grinling Gibbon, then a parishioner. Francis, Earl of Bedford, of whom there is a portrait by Vandyck, died in 1641.

William, the fifth Earl, obtained in January, 1645-6, a parliamentary ordinance for the constituting the parish of St. Paul, Covent Garden, divided from that of St Martin's in the Fields. The church was thereby parochial, and Hollar in that year engraved his view of the piazza of Covent Garden, the square being defined by wooden railing, and the church of St. Paul shewn in the distance. As the streets became tenanted, a market for the daily sale of fruit, flowers, roots and herbs, was permitted on the south side against the garden wall of Bedford House. To the Earl was granted in 1660, upon the restoration of royalty, a confirmatory act of parliament in reference to the parish, and defining its extent; and many of the best houses became tenanted by wealthy persons, who were driven westward by the devastations caused by the great fire in September, 1666. market increasing, the Earl obtained a charter for maintain it in due control, by lease dated December 20, holding it, by patent dated May 12, 1671; and to 1677, he demised the said market, with all rights, tolls,

The

The church was designed by Inigo Jones, but Nicholas Stone, Master Mason of the King's Works, superintended the building.

D

and advantages whatsoever, to Adam Pigott and James Allen, Citizens and Cutlers of London, with liberty to dig cellars and build shops along the front of the garden wall of Bedford House, for twenty-one years, from Christmas in that year, they paying the said Earl eighty pounds per annum, "at, or in the hall of the mansion house of the said Earle, situate in the parish of St. Paul, Covent Garden, aforesaid."

Whatever rights were conceded by this lease to James Allen, devolved lawfully to Thomas Day, of the parish of St. Clements' Danes, Tallow Chandler, who on Pigott's surrendering at Midsummer, 1678, the previous lease, became with him conjointly the lessees of the market, for twenty-six years, from that time forward, they having to the Earl's satisfaction erected the shops with slated and leaded roofs, and balustrades upon the top, of a uniform design, the whole being one foot below the ranging line of the garden wall, and covenanting to maintain the same unimpaired during the term of that lease.

The regulations for holding the market daily, the restraining it, if possible, to the south side, and without the rails, so as not to obtrude upon the enclosed square, are all minutely detailed. The lease had two special clauses of forfeiture; one was the use of any chimneys or tunnels by any of the shops placed along the front of the garden wall, or before the banquetting houses in the said garden; the other was, allowing twenty-one days to pass before payment of the quarterly portion of the yearly rent of eighty pounds, the same being due on the first day of each third month.

This lease dated July 6, 1678, fully established Covent Garden Market, and was signed by the Earl, whose signature is here given in facsimile.

7. Bedford:

The rate books of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, for poor 1679, shew the first assessment of the salesmen ; there

were then but twenty in all, severally rated at two shillings, and one shilling.

In Bernard Lens' print of the Rejoicings in Covent

As an historical autograph, it possesses much interest, but is not known to be extant in any modern collection. The Earl was well known to hold the same political principles for which his son Lord William Russell, had perished on the scaffold; they were those principles which led to the placing William of Orange on the throne of these realms, yet James in his last extremity appealed to him for assistance to avert that event, and the Earl's memorable reply in reference to his son, is matter of history.

The original indenture is in the Editor's possession, and at the Bedford Office they state they have no records of this period.

66

Garden, upon the return of King William the Third from Ireland, September 10, 1690, the garden wall of Bedford House is shewn, as also the domed summer houses in the garden, designated in the lease as banquetting houses," but no indication of the shops in front; possibly these shops were found an annoyance to the Bedford family, and consequently were at this time removed and the stands conducted under some other regulation.* The lease for twenty-six years terminated at Midsummer, 1704, when Bedford House being untenanted, by reason that Wriothesley, the Duke of Bedford, resided at Streatham, in Surrey-he having married in 1694, Elizabeth, the daughter of John Howland of that place, the then richest heiress in England-it was demolished, and the site with the garden ground laid out for building. The new street from the Strand was named Southampton Street, in compliment to the Duke's mother, Lady Rachel Russell, daughter and heiress of Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton; and widow of Lord William Russell, executed in Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1683; and Tavistock Street was so named in honour of his grandfather, the first Duke of Bedford, who had also the title of Marquis of Tavistock.

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THE LATE J. M. W. TURNer, r.a.

IN Current Notes for Jan. 1852, there are some interesting particulars respecting the late J. M. W. Turner. I take the liberty of writing to you in the hope that at some leisure moment the writer might be disposed to set down on paper any further particulars might be favoured by the perusal of any such notes. which he remembers about him; and to beg that I

original sketch, if still existing, from which the woodMight I also ask for the privilege of a glance at the

cut in the Current Notes was executed.

I know

that in transference to wood many points of character are likely to be lost.

Denmark Hill, Camberwell.

J. RUSKIN.

In Richard Blome's collections for the booksellers' enlarged edition of Stow's Survey, progressing at this period, of Covent Garden it is said, "the south side lieth open to Bedford Garden, where there is a small grotto of trees, most pleasant in the summer time, and on this side is kept a market for fruits, herbs, roots and flowers, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, which being well served with choice goods, makes it much resorted to, and is grown to considerable account."

BELFRY RHYMES.-The following lines are in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. H. T. ELLACOMBE.

What Musick is there that compar'd may be,
To well-tuned Bells enchanting melody?
Breaking with their sweet sounds the willing air,
They in the list'ning ear the soul ensnare.
When Bells ring round, and in their order be,
They do denote how neighbours should agree;
But if they clam, the harsh sounds spoil the sport,
And 'tis like Woman keeping Dover Court.
Of all the music that is play'd or sung,
There's none like Bells, if they are well rung.
Then ring your Bell-well if you can,
Silence is best for ev'ry man;

In your ringing make no demur,

Pull off your hat, your belt and spur;
And if your Bell you overset,

The Ringer's Fee you must expect!

The following are in Tong Church, in Shropshire:

If that to ring you do come here,

You must ring well with hand and ear;
Keep stroke of Time and goe not out,
Or else you forfeit, out of doubt.

Our law is so constructed here,
For ev'ry fault, a jugg of beer.
If that you ring with spur or hat,
A jugg of beer, must pay for that.

If that you take a rope in hand,
These forfeits you may not withstand.
Or, if that you a bell o'erthrow,
It will cost sixpence ere you goe.

If in this place you swear or curse,
Sixpence you pay-pull out your purse.
Come! pay the Clerk, it is his fee,
For one that swears shall not go free.
These laws are old, and are not new,
Therefore the Clerk must have his due.

GEORGE HARRISON, 1694.

TRADITION RESPECTING GLAMIS CASTLE.

BILLINGS, in reference to Glamis Castle, observes, it claims traditionally a high antiquity. Fordun and other chroniclers tell us, that in its neighbourhood Malcolm the Second was in 1034 attacked and mortally wounded, and that his assassins perished in attempting to cross the neighbouring loch of Forfar, then imperfectly frozen over.* Pinkerton, who was never content with doubting the truth of any historical statement, but who had always some directly opposite narrative to prove, tells us, that Malcolm the Second died a natural death at Glamis, and that the fables of Fordun and his followers concerning Malcolm's dying in a conspiracy have not a shadow of foundation.† On the other hand, tradition has so far realised and domesticated the assassination, as to shew the chamber of the castle in which it occurred; while, to put all scepticism to shame, it points out the indubitable four-posted bed in which the deed was perpetrated, and, until lately, not only were the bed and bed-hangings so exhibited, but also the stains of his blood on the floor of the same room.

That such delusions should in the olden time have obtained credence will not excite much surprise, but that they should be reiterated by modern writers could scarcely be supposed. Still such is the fact, for lately in looking over Howitt's Visits to Remarkable Places, I not only found the fable therein repeated, but an attempt made to confirm it, in so far as he says, "The ceiling of the room in which Malcolm was murdered, or at least died, bears in its several compartments the crown and the lion, and the initials of King Malcolm."

That Howitt's account of other remarkable places is as incorrect as that of Glamis, I have not the same means of knowing, but certain it is, that no part of the present castle of Glamis was erected for centuries after the supposed murder of Malcolm; indeed, with the exception of some trifling portions of its foundations, the

Rules painted on the wall of the ringing loft in the centre or oldest part was not built till the time of parish church of Condover, Shropshire.

If to Ring you do come here,

You must ring well with hand and eare;

And if a bell you overthrow,

Sixpence you pay before you go.
And if you ring in spur or hat,
Fourpence you are to pay for that.
But if that you do sweare, or curse,
Twelvepence is due, pooll out your purse.
Our Laws are old, they are not new,
Both clerk and ringers claim their due.
SALOPIENSIS.

CHURCH BELL INSCRIPTIONS.-In the tower of the parish church of Swillington, situated five miles from Leeds, are three bells, two are dated 1656, the third 1732. On one of the former is the following distich :

WHEN I DO RING: GOD'S PRAYSES SING.
WHEN I DO TOVLE: PRAY HEART AND SOVLE.

W. B.

Patrick, ninth Lord Glamis, who succeeded his father in 1578. That fact is not only attested by family documents, but is patent to all visitors, by the legend ensculptured over the entrance door, BVILT BE PATRICK LORD GLAMIS AND DAME ANNA MVRRAY.‡

Lord Glamis having been several years a minor, on obtaining his majority succeeded to a considerable property, and expended a large sum in building and enlarging the castle. He was created Earl of Kinghorn July 10, 1606, and dying in 1615, his son, Earl John, continued the improvements. The ceiling of the great

Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiq. of Scotland, vol. ii. Enquiry into the History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 192. Anna Murray, Countess of Glamis, was daughter of the first Earl of Tulliebardine.

Douglas' Peerage of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 565. Billings notices-it is traditionally stated that the later portion of this edifice is the work of Inigo Jones, but no evidence is found of the truth of that statement.

hall, as also that of the chamber, traditionally asserted to
have been Malcolm's room, and bearing the date upon
it of 1620, were finished in the time of Earl John.
The crown, or rather coronet, and the lion therein
represented, are part of the armorial bearings of the
family of Glamis, and the so-called "initials of King
Malcolm," are simply the initials of
John, Earl of Kinghorn, and his
Countess Margaret Erskine, third
daughter of the Earl of Mar. Such
is the real character of these emblems
which have been so strangely
preted by Howitt.

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The fact is, the body of Lord Nelson was entombed in St. Paul's, but a waxen effigy was set up in Westminster Abbey, and for a time exhibited there, with other figures which excited popular indignation, deriinter-sively called "the ragged regiment," but which have been many years since withdrawn by the Dean and Chapter, though that of Lord Nelson is still in safe keeping. The bills of the charges incurred in the setting up this exhibition are before the writer, and presuming they may interest the readers of Current Notes, he submits the following memoranda. The modeller entrusted to prepare the effigy was Miss C. Andras, and the bills dated March 7, 1806, are addressed by her to " the Gentlemen of the Committee."

It would be idle to offer any conjecture as to the exact site at Glamis where Malcolm was killed or died; as already proved, it was not within the present castle. The tenth plate of Ancient Sculptured Monuments of Angus, etc. lithographed at the expense of the late Patrick Chalmers, Esq. of Aldbar, represents an ensculptured stone in the wood near Glamis, situated to the east of the village, and stands in the midst of a cairn of stones. Traditionally it is said to mark the place where King Malcolm fell mortally wounded. The eleventh plate presents an ancient stone obelisk or cross, at the door of the manse of Glamis,* about a mile to the south of the castle, commonly called, and so designated from time immemorial, KING MALCOLM'S GRAVE STONE, although the chronicles assert he was buried at Iona. Whether he fell there, or was buried under that stone, instead of at Icolmkill as stated by Boyce; is uncertain, but among the monuments of Angus, already referred to, there are other vestiges at Cossins and at Thornton, which are also believed to have reference to that dark tragedy. Brechin, March 13.

A. J.

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AMERICAN SONG, YANKEE DOODLE.

THE original words of the revolutionary song, Yankee Doodle, set to that tune, are thus reproduced in the Albany Argus, with the following remarks by the editor.

In the summer of 1775, the British army under command of Abercrombie, lay encamped on the east bank of the Hudson river, a little south of the city of Albany, awaiting reinforcements of militia from the Eastern States, previous to marching upon Ticonderoga. During the month of June these raw levies poured into camp, company

Gordon and Pennant describe the stone as situated in after company, each man differently armed, equipped and the church-yard.

accoutred from his neighbour, and the whole presenting

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such a spectacle as was never equalled, unless by the celebrated regiment of merry Jack Falstaff. Their outré appearance furnished great amusement to the British offi

cers.

The

One Dr. Shamburg, an English surgeon, composed the tune of Yankee Doodle, and arranged it to words, which were gravely dedicated to the new recruits. The joke took, and the tune has come down to this day. original words we have not met with for many years. Father and I went down to camp, Along with Captain Goodwin, And there we saw the men and boys As thick as hasty pudding.

And there was Captain Washington
Upon a slapping stallion,
A giving orders to his men-
I guess there was a million.

And then the feathers on his hat,

They looked so tarnal finey,

I wanted peskily to get

To give to my Jemima.

And there they had a swampin' gun,

As big as a log of maple,

On a duced little cart

A load for father's cattle.

And every time they fired it off,
It took a horn of powder;

It made a noise like father's gun,
Only a nation louder.

I went as near to it myself,

As Jacob's underpinnin',
And father went as near again-
I thought the deuce was in him.
[It scared me so I ran the streets,
Nor stopped, as I remember,
"Till I got home and safely locked
In granny's little chamber.]

And there I see a little keg,

Its heads were made of leather,
They knocked upon 't with little sticks,
To call the folks together.

And there they'd fife away like fun,
And play on cornstalk fiddles,
And some had ribbons red as blood
All bound around their middles.
The troopers too, would gallop up,
And fire right in our faces;
It scared me almost half to death,
To see them run such races.
Uncle Sam came there to change

Some pancakes and some onions,
For 'lasses cakes to carry home,

To give his wife and young ones.
But I can't tell you half I see,

They kept up such a smother;
So I took my hat off, made a bow,

And scamper'd home to mother.

The song is also printed in Farmer and Moore's Historical Collections, 1820, the verse within brackets, being there omitted.

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Mantell of Lewes became the possessor, and he presented it to the Rev. J. Douglas, of Preston, F.S.A., who on receiving it, forwarded the following remarks:

Your Roman relic came safe to hand, and I take the first opportunity to return you my kindest thanks. These vessels I have classed under the name of Samian, from Pliny, "Samia etiamnum in esculentis laudanter," lib. xxx. cap. 13; and I find this name is now generally adopted, by way of discrimination, from the other specimens of Roman pottery, discovered wherever these surprising people established their stations. They appear to have been made of the clay of Saguntum, often mentioned by the Romans, and were certainly introduced into this country from classic ground. Thus Martial,

cymbia

Ficta Saguntino pocula

and again,

malo luto. Lib. viii. Epigr. 6;

Sume Saguntino pocula malo luto. Lib. xiv. Epigr. 108. When in the shape of pateræ, they have the maker's name. I have several of them, and numerous fragments, but of the shape of the one you kindly imparted, not one so perfect; and I prize it because it has an inscription upon it, IMANNIO, with the potter's stamp, which he intended for IMANNIS; meaning savage nature, in allusion to the bear hunting the stag, and the wolf the hind, with the wild goats

An erroneous reading. It is a potter's mark, but reads reversely CINNAMI. The name is known and found on other specimens.--ED.

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