EARLY ENGLISH SONGS.

Thomas Ravenscroft, a celebrated composer, between the years 1609 and 1614, edited and published the following four musical works

Pammelia: Musicks Miscellanie, or Mixed Varietie of Pleasant Roundelayes, etc., Printed for William Barley, 1609, 4to.

Deuteromelia or the Second Part of Musicks Melodie, or Melodious Music of Pleasant Roundelayes; K. H. Mirth, or Freemen's Songs, etc. Printed for Thomas Adams, 1609, 4to.

Melismata: Musical Phansies fitting the Court, City, and Country Humours, etc., 1611, 4to. A Briefe Discourse of the True but neglected use of Charactering the Degrees [in Music]. Printed for

Edward Allde, 1614, 4to.

These four brochures being amongst the most curious and rarest of their class, the readers of Current Notes will doubtless therefore not object to a few extracts from them of quaint old poetry-" choicely good," as Isaac Walton designates them; preceded by some few notices of Thomas Ravenscroft, of whom, in the Biographical Dictionaries of Musicians little is recorded. From the few data observable in his works, it appears that Thomas Ravenscroft was born in 1592; that in due time he became a chorister in St. Paul's cathedral, and speaks of his tutor, Mr. Edmund Pearce, the Master of the Choristers, as a man of singular eminence in his profession.'

6

University degrees were formerly taken at an earlier age than at present, but Ravenscroft graduated at an unusually early age, and took the degree of Bachelor of Music, when not more than fourteen years old. The following laudatory lines, prefixed to his Briefe Discourse, allude more particularly to this precocity of talent. The third line has a punning allusion to his

name

Rara Avis arte senex juvenis; sed rarior est, si
Ætate est juvenis, moribus ille senex.
Rara avis est Author (pone est pars nominis una)
Namque annis juvenis, moribus, arte senex.
Non vidit tria lustra puer, quia arte probatus,
Vitâ laudatus, sumpsit in arte gradum.

Arte Senex, virtute senex, ætate adolescens

I bone, rara avis es, scribe, bonis avibus. Ravenscroft dedicated his Briefe Discourse-To the Right Worshipfull, most worthy Grave Senators, Guardians of Gresham College in London; the reason being, as he says-I must and do acknowledge it as a singular help and benefit, that I have received divers Instructions, Resolutions, and Confirmations of sundry Points and Precepts in our Art, from the Musicke Readers of that most famous Colledge. Prefixed are panegyrical addresses by some of his most eminent musical contemporaries John Dowland, Nathaniel Giles, Martin Peerson, and others, sufficiently confirmatory it was favourably countenanced by them.

In 1621, Ravenscroft published his Whole Booke of Psalmes, but from this period nothing is known

respecting him, and it is supposed he was dead, when in 1633, the second edition of that book appeared.

From the dedication of his Melismata- To the Right Worshipful, the true favourers of Musicke and all Virtue, Mr. Thomas Ravenscroft, and Mr. William Ravenscroft, Esquires, and the subscribing himself Your Worships affectionate Kinsman, T. R.;' it has been concluded this distinguished musician was of good family, and is supposed to have been possessed of independent property. The arms of the Ravenscroft family are Argent, a chevron between three ravens' heads erased, sable.

The late George Spencer, fourth Duke of Marlborough, presented in 1822, to the Members of the Roxburgh Club, a thin volume, entitled-Selections from the Works of Thomas Ravenscroft; but the dis

tinguished editor, if so he may be called, seems not to have been aware the poetry of which his volume is mainly composed, was long anterior to the reign of King James the First, the period of Ravenscroft's various publications. Mr. Oliphant is justly severe upon the Duke's contribution. He observes

I feel bound, as a faithful chronicler, to add, that in spite of exterior show, wide margins, pompous title pages, and expensive printing, his Grace's Presentation betrays on the part of its editor, or his assistants, the grossest ignorance question, viz., the Music. The blunders made by them are truly ludicrous, and in fact, the whole is perfectly unintelligible, and worse than useless, inasmuch as it might lead people to suppose that the music of that period was a species of unknown tongue, an incomprehensible jargon. I am only sorry to think that the name of Bartleman, which I revere, should be handed down in the Preface as one of the assistants, for I do not believe that he could have been in any way accessory to such wilful murder upon a species of music that he admired so much, and with which, I speak from the authority of those who knew him well, few people were better acquainted.*

of that which constitutes the chief value of the works in

I differ in opinion from this writer, that the Music constitutes the chief value of the works in question; the poetry, I believe to be equally valuable, as I shall proceed to shew.

Pammelia, 1609, the first in date, consists of one hundred songs and ballads of various kinds, accompanied with the Music, a truly minstrel-like batch.

Now God be with old Simeon,
For he made Cans for many a one,
And a good old man was he.
And Jenkin was his journeyman,
He could tipple off every Can,
And thus hee said to mee:
To whom drink you?
Sir Knave, to you!
Then, hey hoe, jolly Jenkin,
I spye a knave in drinking-

Come trole the bole to mee.

Banbury Ale! where? where? where?
At the blacke-smith's house-
I would I were there!

Jacke boy, ho boy, Newes:

The cat is in the well, Let us sing now for her knell

Ding dong, ding dong, bell!

Come drink to me and I will drink to thee, And then shall we full well agree:

I have loved the jolly tankerd,

Full seaven Winters and more;

I loved it so long

Till that I went upon the score.

He that loves not the tankerd
Is no honest man ;
And he is no right souldier
That loves not the Can.

Tappe the Canikin, Toss the Canikin,
Trole the Canikin, Turne the Canikin-

Hold good sonne, and fill us a fresh can,

That we may quaffe it round about from man to man.t Deuteromelia: or the Second Part of Musick's Melodie, is even more interesting than its predecessor. The terms K. H. Mirth, and Freemen's Songs, have occasioned some discussion. Mr. Oliphant observes—

It is supposed, the former stands for King Henry's Mirth, that is, Songs or Catches of a merry nature which were favourites with that jovial prince. I think it likely to be so, but am not aware of any thing either for or against the matter, except conjecture.

All doubt on the subject is however decided by the following extract from the Life of Sir Peter Carew, by

In Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, ascribed to 1606, is the following allusion to this catch or songCurtis. good Grumio, the news? Grumio. Why, Jack boy, ho boy, and as much news as thou wilt. Act IV. sc. 1.

To these ballads Shakespeare alludes in his Othello, ascribed to the year 1611; Act II. sc. 3, when Iago calls, Some wine, ho!

And let me the canakin clink, clink;
And let me the canakin clink:

A soldier's a man,

A life's but a span;

Why then, let a soldier drink!

John Vowell alias Hoker, of Exeter, printed in the twenty-eighth volume of the Archæologia.

From this time he [Sir Peter] continued for the most part in the Court, spending his time in all Courtly exercises to his great praise and commendation, and especially to the good liking of the King [Henry VIII.], who had a great pleasure in him, as well for his sundry noble qualities, as also for his singing, for the King himself being much delighted to sing, and Sir Peter Carew having a pleasant voice, would often use him to sing with him certain songs they call Freemen's Songs, as namely, By the bancke as I lay, and, As I walked the wode so wylde, etc.

Ritson had an inconceivably strange notion of Freemen being an error for Three-men, because Shakespeare speaks of Three-men Song-men, that is, men who would sing Songs of three parts; but if he had taken the trouble to examine the book in question, he would have also found there Freemen's Songs to four voices, which sets the matter at rest. Drayton, in his Legend of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, makes that nobleman say―

Of Freemen's Catches to the Pope I sing,

Which wan much license to my countrymen;
Thither the which I was the first to bring,
That were unknown in Italy till then.

The work entitled Deuteromelia, contains thirty-two Songs and Catches, from which I have extracted the following.

Of all the birds that ever I see,

The Owle is the fayrest in her degree;
For all the day long she sits in a tree,
And when the night comes away flies she!

Te whit, te whoo!

Sir knave to thou.

This Song is well sung, I make you a vow, And he is a knave, that drinketh now.

Nose, nose, nose, nose!

And who gave thee that jolly red nose?
Sinamont and ginger, nutmegs and cloves,
And that gave me my jolly red nose!*

To-morrow the Fox will come to towne,
Keepe, keepe, keepe, keepe, keepe;
To-morrow the Fox will come to towne,
O keepe you all well there.

I must desire you neighbours all,
To hollo the Fox out of the hall,
And cry as loud as you can call,
O keepe you all well there.

He'll steale the Cock out from his flock,
Keepe, keepe, keepe, keepe, keepe;
He'll steale the Cock e'en from his flock,
O keepe you all well there.

I must desire, etc.

*That this was highly popular is evidenced by the fact, that in Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle, a Comedy first printed in 1613, the last four lines of this song are quoted. Paul Bedford has of late rendered the words and air familiar to thousands.

In 1557-8, the first year of the Registers of the Stationers' Company, it is recorded John Wallye and Mrs. Toye had licence to print a ballad, called

Who lyve so merry and make such sporte,
As thay that be of the poorest sort?

The following appears to have been the ballad there noticed.

Who liveth so merry in all this land

As doth the poor widow that selleth the sand?
Chorus. And ever she singeth as I can guess,

Will you buy any sand, any sand, Mistris?
The broome-man maketh his living most sweet,
With carrying of broomes from street to street;
Chorus. Who would desire a pleasanter thing,

Than all the day long to do nothing but sing?

The chimney-sweeper all the long day
He singeth and sweepeth the soote away;
Chorus. And when he comes home although he be weary,
With his sweet wife he maketh full merry.

The cobler he sits cobbling till noone,

And cobbleth the shoes till they be done;
Chorus. Yet doth he not feare and so doth say:
For he knows his work will soon decay.

The marchant-man doth saile on the seas,
And lye on the ship-board with little ease;
Chorus. Alwayes in doubt the rocke is neare,

How can he be merry and make good cheare?

The husband-man all day goeth to plow,
And when he comes home he serveth his sow;
Chorus. He moyleth and toyleth all the long yeare,
How can he be merry and make good cheare?

The serving-man waiteth frō street to street,
With blowing his nailes and beating his feet;
Chorus. And serveth for forty shillings a yeare,

That 'tis impossible to make good cheare.
Who liveth so merry and maketh such sport
As those that be of the poorer sort?
Chorus. The poorest sort, wheresoever they be,

They gather together by one, two and three;
And every man will spend his penny:
What makes such a shot among a great many?
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

In the old drama entitled the Three Ladies of London, printed in 1584, 4to., is the following poetical cry of a vender of heath brooms in the happy days of Good Queen Bess.

Enter Conscience with broomes at her back, singing as followeth.

New broomes, green broomes, will ye buy any?
Come Maidens, come quickly, let me take a peny.
My broomes are not steeped
But very well bound:
My broomes be not crooked,
But smooth cut and round.
I wish it would please ye,
To buy of my broome;
Then would it well ease me,
If market were done.
Have you any olde bootes,
Or any old shoone:
Powch-ringes or buskins,
To cope for new broome?
If so ye haue Maydens

I pray you bring hether,
That you and I frendly
May bargen together.

New broomes, greene broomes, will ye buy any? Come Maidens, come quickly, let me take a peny. The broom-seller of the reigns of Charles the Second and James the Second, is one of the illustrations of Marcellus Lauron's London's Cries, engraved and published by Pierce Tempest in 1688.

"Conscience was not a Broome-man in Kent Street." Harl. Miscell., Vol. V. p. 379.

UNICORN AS BORNE IN HERALDRY.

In Robson's Glossary of Heraldry, the Unicorn as used in armorial bearings is described as an imaginary animal, represented as having the head, neck and body of a horse, the legs of a buck, the tail of a lion, and a long horn growing out of the middle of the forehead.

The Rev. Sloane Evans in his excellent Grammar of Heraldry, speaking of the Unicorn, says it is the symbol of strength of body and virtue of mind. It also denotes extreme courage and well befits the Warrior who had rather die than fall into the hand of the enemy.

The Rhinoceros, it may be remarked, has been frequently supposed to be an equally proper translation for the Hebrew word translated Unicorn' in the Scriptures, F. R. N. H.

INVOCATION OF THE VIRGIN ON TOMBS.

The reason why so few monumental inscriptions in which the prayers of the Virgin were asked, are now extant is easily understood. The first Protestants evinced a more violent antipathy to the reverence paid by the Catholic Church to the Saints, than to any other article of the faith. Before the Reformation they were without doubt very common: no one can have read any of the literature of England of a date anterior to the change of religion, without having observed the great reverence Englishmen then showed to the Mother of God, and how ecclesiastic and layman, bishop and priest, noble and peasant, vied with each other in giving her honour. The popular devotions, the dedication of churches, the formularies of wills, and the songs of the poets are all evidence of this love for

Oure blessed Lady Christes Mother dere.

Those who are curious in this matter, will find much to interest them in Dr. Rock's Church of our Fathers vol. iii. pp. 241-346; from which work the following are extracted.

Sancta Trinitas unus Deus miserere nobis
Et ancillis tuis sperantibus in te.

O mater Dei memento mei.

Jesu mercy, Lady help.

Man is a little world, and beares the face
And picture of the universitie :

All but resembleth God, all but his glasse,
All but the picture of his Majestie.

Man is the little world (so we him call) The world the little god-GoD, the great all! Falstaff, in Shakespeare's King Henry IV. part II. act iv. sc. 3. says of good sherris sack-It illumineth the face, which as a beacon gives warning to all the rest of this little kingdom, man, to arm.

John Davies of Hereford, in his poem entitled, Microcosmos; or Discovery of the Little World, 1603, 4to., observes:

So in our little world, this soul of our's,

In whom we do this world's abridgement see. John Earle, successively bishop of Winchester and Salisbury, wrote a moral work that has passed through many editions entitled, Microcosmography; a piece of the World discovered, in Essays and Characters, first printed in 1628.

Sir Thomas Browne, in his well known Religio Medici, says For the world, I count it not an Inn, but an Hospital; a place not to live, but to die in. The world that I regard is myself; it is the 'microcosm' of my own frame that I cast my eye on. I study to find out how I am a 'microcosm,' a little world.

Later, Nathaniel Wanley compiled a volume, of which the title as Wanley's Wonders' is a household word to thousands; entitled, Wonders of the Little World, or a General History of Man, it was first printed in 1678, folio.

In the Gentleman's Magazine, 1794, p. 599, is the following poetical version of this inscription.

May He whose Cross for man has glory won,
Far from this Church all harm remove;
And may Her prayers who calls that Saviour son,
A refuge to the wretched prove!

UNIVERSALITY OF THE NEWSPAPER.

May He who by the Cross glorifies man, protect this Church, and may the mother of Christ become an asylum to the wretched, by her prayer for them.

The first line of the Latin verses alludes to the Saviour, the second to the Virgin Mary. The prayer contained in the former of the verses seems to be a reference to

the words of St. Paul.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. For it became Him from whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons into glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.-Hebr. ch. ii., v. 9, 10.

The allusion to the Intercession of the Virgin Mary, expressed in the latter hexameter will be accounted for by bearing in mind, that at the time when this stone was placed here, the national religion was that of Rome.

ANCIENT EPITAPHIAL INSCRIPTIONS.

At South Morton, Berkshire.

Sub jacet ecce pede RICARDUS MORUS, in ede
Kene, qui discretus fuit ampla pace quietus.
C quater et Mille, quater et bis sex obit ille,
Luceque sexta ter Junii, fit hujus sibi mater;
Fecit plura loco, bona sunt suffragia pro quo.
Post Christiana sua vita subit ad relevamen,
Quos Manus alma tua salvet, precor, O Deus! Amen.

At White Waltham, Berkshire.

the Newspaper stamped on the widely spread tablet remains almost imperishable. The arguments of the Orator may follow in such rapid succession, that by the majority of the audients they are not comprehended, and their convincing or persuasive tendencies are lost; the reasoning of the Newspaper, without fear of perplexity may be scanned at leisure, each point tells, and the reader's determinative faculties are arrested in full force. The passion of the Orator may excite an assembly, but the feeling imparted by the newspaper electrifies a continent, nay the globe itself. The Orator is for an edifice, the Newspaper is for the world- the one has existence for an hour, the other lives for all time. The which flashes for a moment, but again on the instant Orator may be compared to the lightning, the vividity of sun, diffusing its light over the whole earth, brightening leaves all in darkness; while the Newspaper is like the the wide expanse, and fixing on the basis of its own eternity. Printing has been happily defined the art which preserves all arts; printing makes the Orator

himself more than an Orator! it seizes and embodies his dying words, breathes into them the breath of vitality, and they live when even the corporeal reality of the speaker has ceased to be. The Newspaper is the speaking gallery through which the Orator peals diffusely his thunder in the ear of ages, and thus though silent in the tomb, becomes the Mentor over the cradle of rising generations.

The licence to Ogilvy of Inverquharity, to strengthen his house with ane Irne yet,' noticed at p. 62, of Current Notes, has a priority of date than there stated. Alexander Ogilvy named in the document, was living from 1434 to 1482, the licence has therefore reference to the seventh year of either king James the II. or III. if of the former, the year would be 1444, or of the latter, with greater probability 1467.

These iron gates, which superseded the portecoulisse of an earlier period were evidently from the tone of the licence, the usual security attached to the castles and mansions in Scotland in the fifteenth century. W. E.