Warren, formerly hind to the late eminent physician Dr. Richard Lower, deceased, and now to St. Andrew Slanning of Devon, Bart.-That A.D. 1645, as she was one day sitting knitting in an arbour in the garden there came over the hedge of a sudden, six persons of a small stature all clothed in green, which frighted her so much as to throw her into a great sickness. They continued their appearance to her, never less than two at a time, nor never more than eight, always in even numbers, 2, 4, 6, 8. She forsook eating our victuals (continues the narrator in whose family she lived as a servant) "and was fed by these fairies from the harvest time to the next Christmas Day; upon which day she came to our table and said, because it was that day she would eat some roast beef with us, which she did, I myself being then at table. One day," he adds, "she gave me a piece of her fairy bread, which I did eat, and think it was the most delicious bread that ever I did eat, either before or since. One day," the credulous narrator goes on, "these fairies gave my sister Mary a silver cup which held about a quart, bidding her give it my mother; but my mother would not accept it. I presume this was the time my sister owns she saw the fairies. I confess to your lordship I never did see them. I have seen Anne in the orchard dancing among the trees; and she told me she was then dancing with the fairies." Morgan's "Phoenix Britannicus," 545. Morgan tells us that the copy rom which he reprinted it had at the bottom of its title-page this N.B in MS. "Recommended by the Right Rev. to his friend Mrs. Eliz. Rye." He means, no doubt, the above Bishop of Gloucester, who it should seem had tacked to his creed this article of belief in fairies. It is with great diffidence that I shall venture to consider Anne's case en Medicin; yet I presume some very obvious physical reasons might be given why a wench of nineteen should fall into sickness and see objects that were green without the smallest necessity of calling in the aid of the marvellous. It appears that Anne was afterwards thrown into gaol, as an impostor, nor does even the friendly narrator of her singular story, Moses Pitt, give us any plausible account why the fairies, like false earthly friends, forsook her in the time of her distress. Cornlaiters.-Hutchinson, speaking of the parish of Whitbeck, says: "Newly married peasants beg corn to sow their first crop with, and are called cornlaiters." Cumberland, i., 553. Corporal Oath is supposed to have been derived "not from the touching of the New Testament, or the bodily act of kissing it, but from the ancient use of touching the Corporale, or cloth which covered the consecrated elements." Corpus Christi Day. Corpus Christi Day, a moveable feast, is in all Roman Catholic countries celebrated with music, lights, flowers strewed all along the streets, their richest tapestries hung out upon the walls, &c. In the Municipal Records of York, there are vestiges of the performance of the Corpus Christi Play in that city as far back as 1388, and from a fragment of the Chamberlain's Account for 1397, which is extant, we learn that in the latter year the King was present at the spectacle; but from the general tenor of later entries among the archives, there can be no question, that the practice was of far higher antiquity than the reign of Richard II. Mr. Davies, who enters into long details on this subject, says: "The Corporation took great pains to render the exhibition acceptable to their royal visitor. Barriers were erected for the King's accommodation; the pageant was repaired and newly painted; four new scenes and a new banner were provided; the players and the city minstrels were paid additional rewards; and the minstrels of the king and his suite, which probably took part in the performances, received a liberal gratuity." In the Extracts, 18 Edward IV., are two entries relative to the performance of the Corpus Christi play at York in that year: "And paid for a banner of Thomas Gaunt, for the Corpus Christi play, at the inn of Henry Watson, 4d. And paid Margaret the sempstress for the repair of the banners of the Corpus Christi play, 3d." Mr. Davies observes: "We possess no authentic information of the time, when the observance of the festival was first introduced into England." in the The Chronicle of Sprott, which IV., whose pontificate commenced in notices its institution by Pope Urban 1261, records the confirmation of the festival Christi ' of Corpus year 1318; and perhaps, during this interval, it was transplanted from Italy into other parts of the Christian world. . . In the year 1313, Philip the Fair gave in Paris one of the most sumptuous fêtes that had been seen for a long time in France. The King of England, Edward II., was invited expressly, and crossed the sea with his Queen Isabella, and a splendid train of nobility. . . In the reign of Edward II. was written the miracle play of the Harrowing of Hell,' the earliest dramatic composition hitherto discovered in the English language. It seems therefore not improbable that the celebration of the Corpus Christi festival on its first introduction into this country was accompanied by the exhibition of pageant plays produced by the several companies, into which the tradesmen and artizans of cities and towns were then incorporated." Extracts from the Records of York, 1843, "Appendix," p. 228-9; York Plays, edited by Miss Toulmin Smith, 1885, Introduc tion. The following is an account of the expenses incurred on the occasion : "And in expenses incurred this year by the Mayor, aldermen, and many others of the Council of the Chamber at the Feast of Corpus Christi, seeing and directing the play in the house of Nicholas Bewick, according to custom, together with 40s. 4d. paid for red and white wine, given and sent to knights, ladies, gentlemen, and nobles then being within the city; and also 9s. paid for the rent of the chamber, and 3s. 4d. paid to one preaching and delivering a sermon on the morrow of the said feast, in the Cathedral Church of St. Peter of York, after the celebration of the procession, according to the like custom. £4 18s. 11d." In the churchwardens' and chamberlain's accounts at Kingston occur these entries: "21 Hen. VII. Mem. That we, Adam Backhous and Harry Nycol, amountyd of a Play. £4 Os. Od. 27 Hen. VII. Paid for pack-thred on Corpus Christi day, ld." "This," Lysons observes, "was probably used for hanging the pageants, containing the History of our Saviour, which were exhibited on this day, and explained by the Mendicant Friars." In the same accounts for St. Mary at Hill, London, 17 and 19 Edw. IV., the following entry occurs: "Garlands on Corpus Christi Day. xd." I find also among the Church disbursements: "For four (six, or eight) men bearing torches about the parish this day, payments of 1d. each. Among the same accounts, for the 19 and 20 Edward IV., we have: "For flaggs and garlondis, and pak-thredde for the torches, upon Corpus Christi Day, and for six men to bere the said torches, iiijs. vijd." And in 1845, "For the hire of the garments for pageants, is. viijd." In the Wax-Chandlers' account, 1512, charge of 2s. 8d. is made for nishing eight torches on Corpus Christi Day. Rose-garlands on Corpus Christi Day are also mentioned under 1524 and 1525, in the accounts of Martin Outwich. In "John Bon and Mast Person" (1548), by Luke Shepherd, the parson commends John for leaving his work early in order to attend the celebration of Corpus Christi, for, says he:"Surely some ther be wyl go to ploughe an carte, on a gar St. And set not by thys holy Corpus Christi even. John. They are more to blame, I swere by saynt Steuen, is But tell me, mast person, one thing, and you can; What Saynt is Copsi Curtsy, a man or a woman?" At the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi, at Aix in Provence, there is a procession of saints, among whom St. Simeon ing in his left hand a basket of eggs. Hist. represented with a mitre and cap, carryde la Fête Dieu, p. 100. Douce. Naogeorgus (Popish Kingd." transl. by Googe, 1570, fol. 53 verso) describes at some length the customs prevalent in his day in Germany on Corpus Christi Day. Corpus Christi Eve.-In North Wales, at Llanasaph, there is a custom of strewing green herbs and flowers at the doors of houses on Corpus Christi Eve.Pennant. Corvina Stone.-A sort of amulet named in the work of John Florio, 1625, as having been given by Ferdinando, Grand Duke of Tuscany, to Anne of Denmark, and as having passed into the possession of the testator who bequeathed it to William Earl of Pembroke. Florio describes it in his Italian Dictionary, 1611, as a stone of many virtues, which they say is found in a raven's nest, fetcht thither by the raven, if in her absence a man have sodden bad eggs, and laid them in the nest again, to make them new again. Corvina readily suggests the etymology corvo. Coscinomantia. Of coscinoman tia it is said, that this method of divination is assisted by spirits, and that it was considered a surer one than any other by the people on the continent. The process was accomplished by two persons holding the sieve with a forceps or pair of pincers by their middle fingers, and repeating six the names of all those who are suspected unintelligible words over it; whereupon, of the theft, act of violence, or whatever called, at the mention of the culprit the it may be that they seek to discover, being utensil moves, trembles, or turns round under the influence of the presiding (though invisible) spirit, and the divinasimilar, Disguis. Magica, 245; and it has tion is completed. Delrio's account is been merely translated (as it were) by Grose. Holiday, an English author, who the ceremony was also employed for the repeats the same description, adds, that purpose of ascertaining whom such an one was to have in marriage. Marriage of the Arts, 1618, ed. 1630, 92. The charm is not overlooked by Mason and Melton. Anotomie of Sorcerie, 1612, 9; Astrologaster, 1620, 45. Lodge seems to intimate that it was sometimes performed by a sieve and key, Wits Miserie, 1596, p. 12, which was no doubt the case, as this other form of the operation is explained in a later work "Th' oracle of sieve and shears, That turns as certain as the spheres." Hudibras, Part 2, iii., 559. But, after all, it may remain a matter of legitimate doubt, whether this superstition was ever widely prevalent in England. Scot is the earliest writer of our nation who refers to it, and his testimony does not seem to disturb an impression that all the English accounts (which implicitly follow each other) are borrowed from the continental writers, and do not establish the existence of this mode of detection as a genuine English practice or belief, except as a marriage charm. thus: A Bible having a key fastened in the middle, and being held between theorem, sicut etiam Erasmus scribit in proverbio, Cribro divinare.' two forefingers of two persons, will turn Butler mentions this:round after some words said; as, if one desires to find out a thief, a certain verse taken out of a Psalm is to be repeated, and those who are suspected nominated, and if they are guilty, the book and key will turn, else not." Athenian Oracle, i., 425. Scot tells us that "Popish Priests, as the Chaldeans used the divination by sive and sheers for the detection of theft, do practice with a Psalter and key fastened upon the forty-ninth (fiftieth) Psalm to discover a thief; and when the names of the suspected persons are orderly put into the pipe of the key at the reading of these words of the Psalm 'If thou sawest a thief thou did'st consent unto him,' the Book will wagg, and fall out of the fingers of them that hold it, and he whose name remaineth in the key must be the thief." Discovery, ed. 1665, p. 286. This is called in the Athenian Oracle (ii., 309) "The trick of the sieve and Scizzars, the coskiniomancy, of the Antients, as old as Theo critus:" She turn'd the sieve and sheers, and told me true, That I should love, but not be lov'd by you." The original words are: Agrippa devotes the 21st chapter of his Occult Philosophy to this subject, and furnishes a representation from an iron plate of the mode of performing this species of divination. He says: Huc enim Coscinomantia scribenda venit, quæ Dæmone urgente, per Cribrum Divinationem suscitari docet, quis rei patratæ author sit, quis hoc commiserit furtum, quis hoc dederit vulnus, aut quicquid tale fuerit. Cribrum enim inter duorum astantium medios digitos, per forcipem suspendunt, ac dejuratione facta per sex Verba, sibi ipsis, intellecta, nec nec aliis Cotswold Games. These were athletic sports annually held in those Chipping-Campden. They seem to have parts, especially about Willersley and been established by Robert Dover, an attorney of Barton on the Heath, in Warwickshire, son of John Dover, a Norfolk man; and James I. allowed him to appropriate for the temporary purpose a certain open space, while Endímion Porter, a gentleman whose name is agreeably associated with those of many of the literary celebrities of the time, procured him some of the King's wardrobe, including a hat and feather, and ruff. Dover entered with great spirit into this entertainment, which seems to have spread over two days; a large concourse of people assembled to witness the proceedings; and in 1636 an account of the custom, with encomiastic verses by poets of the day, appeared, embellished with a frontispiece illustrative of some of the features of the programme. The usage was interrupted by the Civil War, but subsequently revived and still remained in vogue in the time of Rudder the Gloucestershire historian. The called Dover's Hill, on Thursday in Whitanniversary was then celebrated at a point sun week. Poetical Works of William Basse (1602-53), 1893, pp. 105-6. In a vol. xvii. p. 358. In "The First Part of Antonio and Mellida," 1602, we read: "Good faith, Ile accept of the cockescombe so you will not refuse the bable." Coxcomb.-Originally the fool's cap, from the comb with which it was decorated. Comp. Nares, 1859, in v. secondary and now more usual sense the word now denotes a vain, conceited, meddquæ sunt: Dies Mies Jeschet Beneling fellow. Reed's Shakespear, 1803, doftet, Dovvina Enitemaus, Dæmonem in hoc compellunt ut reo nominato (nam omnes suspectos nominare oportet) confestim circum agatur sed per obliquum instrumentum è forcipe pendens, ut reum prodat Iconem hic ponimus. Annis abactis plus minus triginta, ter hujus divinationis genere sum ipse usus ubi semper pro voto aleam cecidisse comperi. Hanc Divinationem cæteris arbitrabantur veri Crack-Nut Sunday. The Sunday next before Michaelmas Eve. The practice was carried on in Church by all ages, so as to disturb the service. See Brayley and Britton's Surrey, iii., 41, referring particularly to Kingston. 66 Cramp. In Ovid Travestie," 1673,, Epistle of Hero to Leander, the following charms are facetiously mentioned as specifics against cramp: -Wear bone ring on thumb, or tye Strong pack-thread below your thigh." In the North of England, the children run round the tree, repeating these verses: "Cramp, be thou painless, As our Lady was sinless, When she bare Jesus." Mr. Brand remembered that is was a custom in the North of England for boys that swam, to wear an eel skin about their naked leg to prevent the cramp. Rings made from coffin-hinges are supposed to See Grose's " Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," v. Scower. do so. ones selves to be caught by the maidens, who 66 Cramp-Rings.-Borde, in his " Introduction to Knowledge," 1542, speaking of England, says: "The Kynges of Englande doth halowe every yere crampe rynges, ye which rynges worne on fynger doth helpe them whych hath_the crampe." The same author, in his "Breviary of Health," 1557, fol. 166, speaking of the cramp, adopts the following superstition among the remedies thereof: "The Kynges Majestie hath a great helpe in this matter in halowyng crampe ringes, and so geven without money or petition." The ceremonies of blessing cramp rings on Good Friday will be found in Waldron's "Literary Museum," 1789.-Douce. In Cartwright's Ordinary, apparently written in 1634, Moth the Antiquary betrothes the widow Potluck with "his biggest cramp-ring." In the Life of Benvenuto Cellini, by himself, (1500-71), it is stated that these rings were imported from Eng-ligion under Elizabeth. In a letter written land into Italy in the sixteenth century, and cost tenpence. They were then known as anelli del granchio; but they now term them anelli di salute. Note in the Engl. transl. by J. A. Symonds, 3rd ed. p. 301. Creeling. In the "Statistical Account of Scotland," 1792, the minister of Galston, in Ayreshire, informs us of a singular custom there: "When a young man wishes to pay his addresses to his sweetheart, instead of going to her father's and professing his passion, he goes to a publichouse; and having let the landlady into the secret of his attachment, the object of his wishes is immediately sent for, who never almost refuses to come. She is entertained with ale and whiskey, or brandy; and the marriage is concluded on. The second day after the marriage a creeling, as it is called, takes place. The young wedding pair, with their friends, assemble in a convenient spot. A small creel or basket is prepared for the occasion, into which they put some stones: the voung men carry it alternately, and allow them Crosse." In a proclamation, dated 26th February, 30 Henry VIII., we read: "On Good Friday it shall be declared howe creepyng to the Crosse signifyeth an humblynge of ourselfe to Christe before the Crosse, and the kyssynge of it a memorie This usage was retained for some time of our redemption made upon the Crosse." after the restoration of the Protestant re about 1566 by the Bishop of London to Sir Cremation. The ancient Chris tians, to testify the abhorrence of heathen It may not be generally known that there is an Earth-to-Earth Society, established to resist and discountenance this method of dissolution. Its published reasons against cremation are mainly legal or clerical. Perhaps this matter ought not to be dismissed without a passing reference to the rather revolting practice of destroying the remains of executed convicts by means of quick lime, partly no doubt in consequence of the law, which directs that such persons shall be buried within the precincts of the gaol at which the execution occurred. It is well-known that the body of Ritson the antiquary, by his own express desire, underwent this barbarous form of combustion, which all the ingenuity of the author of "Urn-Burial" could not reconcile with Christian ideas. Cresset. See Nares and Halliwell in v., and Hazlitt's Livery Companies, 1892, p. 310. The shews that the burning of the dead was child born without a mortal father, commonly put in practice in this country they meet with a party of children, in early times; and he observes: "The who are said in the popular summary by recent researches of Mr. Akerman, in a Dunlop to be playing at cricket, Merlin Keltic cemetery at Brighthampton in Ox-being of the number. Of course this is no fordshire, disclosed a great number of ex- authority for the game; but the occupaamples of cremation, unmixed with in- tion of the miraculous boy and his comhumation. rades may very well have been club-balla pastime of the highest antiquity. In Chamberlain's Anglia Notitia, 1694, the game is thus explicitly named:The natives will endure long and hard labour; inasmuch that after 12 hours' hard work, they will go in the evening to football, stool ball, cricket, prison-base, wrestling, cudgel-playing, or some such like vehement exercise for their recreation." "" It is said, in the World Bewitch'd, 1699, p. 22, that, on the approach of summer, "Quoits, cricket, nine-pins, and trap-ball will be very much in fashion, and more tradesmen may be seen playing in the fields than working in their shops." But Lillywhite does not seem to trace back farther than 1746, at all events for any events of importance. Cricket Scores and Biographies of Celebrated Cricketers, 1862-3. print published by Bowles and Carver in 1784 of this game, as it was then played by the Gentlemen's Club, White Conduit House, exhibits the usual accessories of Cricket. This sport, now so common and popular, has only of recent years at- wickets, stumps, fielders, batsman, and tracted archæological notice, and been shoes or high-lows, and all, except two, bowler. The party wears knee-breeches, found in some form or other to go back to the fourteenth, if not thirteenth, century. be umpires, are in shirt-sleeves. who are seated on the ground, and may By some it is supposed to be an evolution from club-ball, and it is cognate with seated figures, and one or two of the others rounders and hockey. A Bodleian MS. of sombrero hats. The length of the course in have pigtails, and the former cloaks and 1344 represents a female figure bowling to the engraving seems less than would suit a man, who holds in his hand a bat pre-modern experts. The wicket is in the pared to strike; and in 1350 John Parish, of Guildford, enclosed a plot of ground there for the purpose of playing at cricket. Whether the allusion in 1305, cited in the Antiquary, intends cricket under the designation of creag, seems uncertain. During the seventeenth century references to the game are not numerous, which may possibly arise from its familiarity at that time, as it is one of the pastimes enumerated in a news-letter of May 6, 1670, from the chaplain of the ship Assistance, lying off Antioch, when he speaks of the sailors occupying their leisure in this sort of way, the curious feature being that they should have found the means of doing so in such a locality without having taken the implements with them. The fact appears to be that what we at present recognise as cricket was simply club or bat-and-ball at the outset, and that wicket, wicket-keeper, scouts and other accessories came afterward-long afterward. In the ancient romance of Merlin, where the King's messengers are in search for a particular object of a The form of two forked stumps; the bat resembles a club. A few years earlier (1779), between the Countess of Derby and other a match was played at Sevenoaks in Kent, noble ladies, all represented in a contemporary print as attired in ordinary outbowler is stooping to serve the ball, and door dress and elaborate head-gear. The the wicket has only two stumps. The cricket grounds at Darnall, near Sheffield, earlier part of the last century (1820), and appear to have been celebrated in the there is a coloured engraving by Robert of the place. It is not many years since this Cruikshank, shewing the North East view sport was played by men and boys wearing their tall hats, nor indeed is the practice yet entirely discontinued. A friend has seen a print of the boys at Tonbridge School in the earlier part of the century in which they are so represented. As far back as 1800, in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wimbledon, complaints were registered of the annoyance and danger arising from cricket balls to passengers and ve |