The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical Part 11

The following curious law was enacted during the reign of Richard I., for the government of those going by sea to the Holy Land: "He who kills a man on shipboard, shall be bound to the dead body and thrown into the sea; if the man is killed on sh.o.r.e, the slayer shall be bound to the dead body and buried with it. He who shall draw his knife to strike another, or who shall have drawn blood from him, to lose his hand; if he shall have only struck with the palm of the hand, without drawing blood, he shall be thrice ducked in the sea."

_Curious Historical Coincidence._

The following curious historical coincidence has been remarked in the life of Thomas a-Becket, who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Henry II.:-

The dignity was conferred upon him on a Tuesday; Tuesday brought him face to face with the peers of Northampton; he was banished from England on a Tuesday; he had a celestial visit on a Tuesday, foretelling his "martyrdom;" he came home from exile on a Tuesday; he was slain at the altar on a Tuesday, and was canonized as a saint on a Tuesday.

_Born within the Sound of Bow Bells._

One of the most celebrated peals of bells in London is that of St.

Mary-le-bow, Cheapside, which forms the basis of a proverbial expression meant to mark emphatically a London nativity. Brand speaks of a substantial endowment by a citizen for the ringing of Bow-bells every morning to wake up the London apprentices.

_Refreshments for the Pulpit._

In the books of Darlington parish church, the following items appear, which show that, in the olden time, provision was made for comforting the inner man:-

"Six quarts of sack to the minister who preached when he had no minister to a.s.sist, 9_s._; for a quart of sack bestowed on Jillett, when he preached, 2_s._ 6_d._; for pint of brandy when George Bell preached here, 1_s._ 4_d._; for a stranger who preached, a dozen of ale. When the Dean of Durham preached here, spent in a treat in the house, 3_s._ 6_d._"

_Birthdays._

It is not generally known that the custom of keeping birthdays is many thousand years old. It is recorded in the fortieth chapter of Genesis, twentieth verse: "And it came to pa.s.s the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants."

_Toppling Flower Pots._

An Act of Parliament was pa.s.sed to "put down" the flower pots, "which were accustomed to topple on the _walkers'_ heads, from the windows of houses wherein flower-fanciers dwelt."

_Electioneering in 1640._

In Sir Henry Slingsby's diary is the following entry respecting the election at Knaresborough, in 1640: "There is an evil custom at such elections, to bestow wine on all the town, which cost me sixteen pounds at least."

_Monks Ordered to Shave._

In the year 1200 the Council of Lateran ordered the monks to shave off their beards, "lest in the ceremony of receiving the sacrament, the beard might touch the bread and wine, or crumbs and drops fall and stick upon it."

_Odd Bill for Repairs._

One meets with curious things in the old church registers of England.

The subjoined, in the Record Office of Winchester Cathedral, dated 1182, is certainly unique. It is a bill for work done:-

_s._ _d._ To soldering and repairing St. Joseph, 0 8 To cleaning and ornamenting the Holy Ghost, 0 6 To repairing the Virgin Mary and cleaning the child, 4 8 To s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g a nose on the Devil, and putting in the hair on his head, and placing a new joint in his tail, 5 6

_Antiquity of Riddles._

Riddles are of the highest antiquity. The oldest one on record is in the book of Judges, xiv. 14-18. We are told by Plutarch that the girls of his time worked at netting or sewing, and the most ingenious made riddles. The following riddle is attributed to Cleobolus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, who lived about 570 years before the birth of Christ:-

"There is a father with twice six sons; these sons have thirty daughters apiece, parti-colored, having one cheek white and the other black, who never see each other's faces, nor live more than twenty-four hours."

_Cashing Lottery Prizes._

In the State Lottery of 1739, tickets, chances and shares were "bought and sold by Richard Shergold, printer, at his office at the Union Coffee-house over and against the Royal Exchange, Cornhill." He advertised that he kept numerical books during the drawing, and a book wherein buyers might register their numbers at sixpence each; that _fifteen per cent. was to be deducted_ out of the prizes, which were to be paid at the bank in fifty days after the drawing. The heavy percentage demanded occasioned the following epigram:-

"This lottery can never thrive,"

Was broker heard to say, "For who but fools will ever give Fifteen per cent. to play?"

A sage, with his accustomed grin, Replied, "I'll stake my doom, That if but half the fools come in The wise will find no room!"

_Lottery for Women in India._

_Advertis.e.m.e.nt._-BE IT KNOWN, that SIX FAIR PRETTY YOUNG LADIES, with two sweet and engaging young children, lately imported from Europe, having roses of health blooming on their cheeks and joy sparkling in their eyes, possessing amiable manners and highly accomplished, whom the most indifferent cannot behold without expressions of rapture, are to be RAFFLED FOR next door to the British gallery. SCHEME: _Twelve tickets_ at twelve rupees each; the highest of the three throws takes the most fascinating, &c., &c.-_Calcutta Newspaper of September 3rd_, 1818.

_Ancient Lottery._

In 1612, King James I., "in special favour for the plantation of English colonies in Virginia, granted a Lottery to be held at the west end of St. Paul's; whereof one Thomas Sharplys, a taylor of London, had the chief prize, which was four thousand crowns in fair plate."-_Baker's Chronicles._

_Child Played For._

In October, 1735, a child of James and Elizabeth Leesh, of Chester-le-street, in the county of Durham, was _played for at cards_, at the sign of the Salmon, one game, four shillings against the child, by Henry and John Trotter, Robert Thomson and Thomas Ellison, which was won by the latter two and delivered to them accordingly.-_Syke's Local Records_, page 79.

_Lotteries._

The change in public opinion respecting lotteries is strikingly ill.u.s.trated by the following entry in the day-book kept by the Rev.

Samuel Seabury, father of the first Protestant Episcopal Bishop in the United States: "June, 1768. The ticket number 5866, by the blessing of G.o.d, in the Lighthouse and Public Lottery of New York, appointed by law, Anno Domini, 1763, drew in my favor 500 0_s._ 0_d._, of which I received 425 0_s._ 0_d._, which, with the deduction of fifteen per cent., makes 500, for which I now record to my Posterity my thanks and praise to Almighty G.o.d the giver of all good gifts. Amen!"

_Babes in the Wood._

This popular legend was a disguised recital of the reported murder of his young nephews by Richard III. Throughout the tale there is a marked resemblance to several leading facts connected with the king and his brother's children, as well as a correspondence with historical details.

In an old black-letter copy of the ballad there is a rude representation of a stag, which is significant, because a stag was the badge of the unfortunate Edward V.

_A Little Bird Told Me._

This expression comes from Ecclesiastes x. 20: "For a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter."