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enough to wound him very deep; another blow immediately given rendered him insensible, and a third completed the work of death.

Lord Balmerino had but a small estate. His lady came to London, and frequently attended him during his confinement in the Tower. She was at dinner with him when the warrant came for his execution the Monday following. Being very much shocked, he desired her not to be concerned. "If the king had given me mercy," he said, "I should have been glad of it; but since it is otherwise, I am very easy, for it is what I have expected, and therefore it does not at all surprise me." She was disconsolate, and rose immediately from table; on which he started from his chair, and said, "Pray, my lady, sit down, for it shall not spoil my dinner."

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It is noted in the "Historical Chronicle" of the "Gentleman's Magazine," on the nineteenth of August, 1755, under the head, " Stroud," that at that time there were such quantities of earwigs in that vicinity that they distroyed not only the flowers and fruits, but the cabbages, were they ever so large. The houses, especially the old wooden buildings, were swarming with them. The cracks and crevices were surprisingly full, they dropped out in such multitudes that the floors were covered; the linen, of which they are very fond, were likewise full, as was also the furniture, and it was with caution that people eat their provisions, for the cupboards and safes were plentifully stocked with the disagreeable intruders.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR Mean Temperature. . . . 62. 72.

⚫, Gentleman's Magazine.

August 20.

CHRONOLOGY.

On the twentieth of August, 1589, James VI, of Scotland afterwards James I of England married the princess Anne of Denmark, daughter to Frederick II. She became the mother of the ill-fated Charles I.

LOVE TOKENS.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book. Sir, It was the custom in England in "olden tyme," as the ancient chronicles have it, for "enamoured maydes and gentilwomen," to give to their favourite swains, as tokens of their love, little handkerchiefs about three or four inches square, wrought round about, often in embroidery, with a button or tassei at each corner, and a little one in the centre. The finest of these favours were edged with narrow gold lace, or twist; and then, being folded up in four cross folds, so that the middle might be seen, they were worn by the accepted lovers in their hats, or at the breast. These favours became at last so much in vogue, that they were sold ready made in the shops in Elizabeth's time, from sixpence to sixteen-pence a piece. Tokens were also given by the gentlemen, and accepted by their fair mistresses; thus ascribed in an old comedy of the time :

Given earrings we will wear
Bracelets of our lover's hair;
Which they on our arms shall twist
(With our names carved) on our wrists.
I am, &c.

H. M. LANDer.

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joyment, to quit the dusky dwellings of man, and wander among the fields and green lanes of our southern shore, while the sun is declining, and stillness begins to settle around.

Listlesssly roving, whither I cared not, I have sauntered along till I felt my unquiet sensations gradually subside, and a pleasing calmness steal upon me. I know of nothing more annoying than that nervous thrilling or trembling, which runs through the whole frame after the mind has been troubled; it seems to me like the bubbling and restless swell of the ocean after a storm-one mass of fretful and impatient water, knowing not how to compose itself. But to come to the green fields. There is a lane leading from the grove at Camberwell called Love-lane; it is well so called-long, winding, and quiet, with scenery around beautifully soft-the lover might wander with the mistress of his soul for hours in undisturbed enjoyment. This lane is dear to me, for with it is linked all my early associations the bird-the butterfly -the wild white rose-my first love. The bird is there still, the butterfly hovers there, and the rose remains; but where is my first love? I may not ask. Echo will but answer, "where!" yet I may in imagination behold her I call up the shadowy joys of former times, and like the beautiful vision in "Manfred," she stands before me :

A thousand recollections in her train
Of joy and sorrow, ere the bitter hour
Of separation came, never again
To meet in this wide world as we have met,
To feel as we have felt, to look, to speak,
To think alone as we have thought allow'd.

What happy feelings have been ours in that quiet lane! We have wandered arm in arm, gazed on the scenery, listened to the bird. We have not spoken, but

our eyes have met, and thoughts too full for utterance, found answers there. Those days are gone; yet I love to wander there alone, even now; to press the grass that has been pressed by her feet, to pluck the flower from the hedge where she plucked it, to look on the distant hills that she looked on, rising in long smooth waves, when not a sound is heard save the "kiss me dear," which some chaffinch is warbling to his mate, or the trickling of waters seeking their sandy beds in the hollows beneath the hedgerows. I strolled thither a few evenings ago: the sun was softly sinking, and the bright crimson which surrounded him, fading into a faint orange, tinged here and there with small sable clouds; the night-cloud was advancing slowly darkly on; afar in the horizon were

The light-ships of the sky
Sailing onward silently.

One bird, the lark, was singing his evening song among the cool grass; softly, sweetly, it died away, and all was silent deep tranquillity; a pleasing coolness came on the faint breeze over the neighbouring fields, pregnant. with odours, refreshing as they were fragrant. It was twilight; the green of the distant hills changed to a greyish hue, their outlines were enlarged, the trees assumed a more gigantic appearance, and soft dews began to ascend; faint upshootings of light in the eastern' horizon foretold the rising of the moon; she appeared at length above the clouds, and a deeper stillness seemed to come with her, as if nature, like man at the presence of a lovely women, was hushed into silent admiration; the grey clouds rolled away on each side of her as rolls the white foam of the ocean before

the bows of the vessel; her course was begun, and,

"Silently beautiful, and calmly bright
Along her azure path I saw her glide
Heedless of all those things that neath her light
In bliss or woe or pain or care abide.
Wealth, poverty, humility, and pride,
All are esteemed as nothing in her sight,
Nor make her for one moment turn aside.
So calm philosophy unmoved pursues
Throughout the busy world its quiet way;
Nor aught that folly wiles or glory woos,
Can tempt awhile its notice or its stay:
Above all earthly thoughts its way it goes
And sinks at length in undisturbed repose."

Coldly and calmly the full orb glided through the stillness of heaven. My thoughts were of the past, of the millions who had worshipped her, of the many she had inspired-of Endymion, of the beautiful episode of Nisus and Euryalus in Virgil, of Diana of the Ephesians, of the beautiful descriptions of her by the poets of every age, of every clime. The melancholy yet pleasing feeling which came on me I can hardly describe: my disquietude had ceased; an undisturbed calmness succeeded it; my thoughts were weaned from the grosser materiality of earth, and were soaring upward in silent adoration. I felt the presence of a divinity, and was for a moment happy. Ye who are careworn, whose minds are restless, go at the peaceful hour of eve to the green fields and the hedge-clothed lanes. If you are not poets, you will feel as poets; if you doubt, you will be convinced of Supreme Power and Infinite Love; and be better in head and heart for your journey.

SONG.

S. R. J.

BY SAMUEL DANIEL, 1590. Love is a sickness full of woes,

All remedies refusing;

A plant that most with cutting grows,
Most barren with best using.
Why so?

More we enjoy it, more it dies,
If not enjoyed it sighing cries
Heigh ho!

Love is a torment of the mind,
A tempest everlasting;

And Jove hath made it of a kind
Not well, nor full, nor fasting.
Why so?

More we enjoy it, more it dies,
If not enjoyed it sighing cries
Heigh ho!

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. Mean Temperature . . . 61 92.

August 21.

MERLIN'S CAVE, AND STEPHEN Duck.

We are told on the thirtieth of June,1735, that her majesty (the queen of George II.) ordered "Mr. Rysbrack to make the bustos in marble of all the kings of England from William the Conqueror, in

• Communicated by C. T.

order to be placed in her new building in the gardens at Richmond."

On the twenty-first of August, in the same year, we learn that the figures her majesty had ordered for Merlin's cave were placed therein, viz. 1.-Merlin at a table with conjuring books and mathematical instruments, taken from the face of Mr. Ernest, page to the prince of Wales; 2.-King Henry VIIth's queen, and 3.Queen Elizabeth, who come to Merlin for knowledge, the former from the face of Mrs. Margaret Purcell, and the latter from Miss Paget's; 4.-Minerva from Mrs. Poyntz's; 5.-Merlin's secretary, from Mr. Kemp's, one of his royal highness the duke's grenadiers; and 6.—a witch, from a tradesman's wife at Richmond. Her majesty ordered also a choice collection of English books to be placed therein; and appointed Mr. Stephen Duck to be cave and library keeper, and his wife to an office of trust and employment.*

Stephen Duck was a versifying thrasher, whom she got appointed a yeoman of the guard, and afterwards obtained orders for, and the living of Byfleet, in Surrey. The poor fellow sought happiness at the wrong end, and drowned himself in 1756.

Contentment, rosy, dimpled maid,
Thou brightest daughter of the sky,
Why dost thou to the hut repair,
And from the gilded palace fly?

I've trac'd thee on the peasant's cheek;
I've mark'd thee in the milkmaid's smile;
I've heard thee loudly laugh and speak,
Amid the sons of want and toil.

Yet, in the circles of the great,

Where fortune's gifts are all combined, I've sought thee early, sought thee iate, And ne'er thy lovely form could find. Since then from wealth and pomp you flee, I ask but competence and thee!

Lady Manners.

NATURALISTS' CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature... 61. 65.

August 22.

BATTLE OF Bosworth.

This is the anniversary of the memorable conflict wherein Richard III. lost his life and crown.

• Gentleman's Magazine.

[graphic][subsumed][merged small]

For the Every-Day Book.

The well of which the above is a representation, is situate on the spot where the celebrated battle of Bosworth field was fought, by which, the long-existing animosities between the rival houses of York and Lancaster were finally closed. The king is said, during the heat of the engagement, to have refreshed himself with water from this spring. A few years ago a subscription was entered into, for the purpose of erecting some memorial of this circumstance, and the late learned Dr. Parr being applied to, furnished an inscription, of which the following is a

copy.

AQVA. EX. HOC. PVTEO. HAVSTA SITIM. SEDAVIT EICARDVS. TERTIVS. REX. ANGLIAE CVM. HENRICO.COMITE. DE.RICHMONDIA ACERRIME.ATQVE. INFENSISSIME

PRAELIANS

ET. VITA. PARITER. AC. SCEPTRO
AVTE. NOCTEM. CARITVRVS
XI KAL. SEPT. A. D. MCCCCLXXXV.

TRANSLATION.

Richard the III. King of England, most eagerly and hotly contending with Henry, Earl of Richmond, and about to lose before night both his sceptre and his life, quenched his thirst with water drawn from this well.-August 22, 1485.

The Roman month was divided into kalends, nones, and ides, all of which were

reckoned backwards. The kalends are the of September being the kalends of Sepfirst day of the month.-Thus the first tember, the thirty-first of August would be pridie kalendarum, or the second of the kalends of September; the thirtieth of August would then be the third of the kalends of September. Pursuing this train the twenty-second of August, and the xi of the kalends of September will be found to correspond.

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The battle of Bosworth field was fought on the twenty-second of August, 1485, on a large flat spacious ground," says Burton, "three miles distant from this town." Richmond, afterwards Henry VII., landed at Milford-haven on the sixth of August, and arrived at Tamworth on the eighteenth. On the nineteenth he had an interview with his father-in-law, lord Stanley, when measures were converted for their further operations. On the twentieth, he encamped at Atherstone,and on the twenty-first, both armies were in sight of each other the whole day. Richard entered Leicester with his army on the sixteenth, having the royal crown on his head; he slept at Elmesthorpe on the night of the seventeenth. On the eighteenth he arrived at Stapleton, where he continued till Sunday the twenty-first. The number of his forces exceeded sixteen thousandthose of Richmond did not amount to five thousand. On each side the leader addressed his troops with a splendid oration

which was scarcely finished" says an old historian, "but the one army espied the other. Lord! how hastily the soldiers buckled their helms! how quickly the archers bent their bows and brushed their feathers! how readily the billmen shook their bills and proved their staves, ready to approach and join when the terrible trumpet should sound the bloody blast to victory or death!" The first conflict of the archers being over, the armies met fiercely with sword and bills, and at this period Richmond was joined by lord Stanley, which determined the fortune of the day.

In this battle, which lasted little more than two hours, above one thousand persons were slain on the side of Richard. Of Richmond's army, scarcely one hundred were killed, amongst whom, the principal person was sir William Brandon, his standard bearer. Richard is thought to have despised his enemy too much, and to have been too dilatory in his motions. He is universally allowed to have performed prodigies of valour, and is said to have fallen at last by treachery, in consequence of a blow from one of his followers. His body was thrown across a horse, and carried, for interment, to the Greyfriars at Leicester. He was the only English monarch, since the conquest, that fell in battle, and the second who fought in his crown. Henry V. appeared in his at Agincourt, which was the means of saving his life, (though, probably, it might provoke the attack,) by sustaining a stroke with a battle-axe, which cleft it. Richard's falling off in the engagement, was taken up and secreted in a bush, where it was discovered by sir Reginald Bray and placed upon Henry's head. Hence arises the device of a crown in a hawthorn bush, at each end of Henry's tomb in Westminsterabbey.

In 1644, Bosworth field became again the scene of warfare; an engagement, or rather skirmish, taking place between the parliamentary and royal forces, in which the former were victorious without the loss of a single individual.

G. J.

The late Mr. William Hutton, the historian of Birmingham, wrote an account of "The Battle of Bosworth Field," which Mr. Nichols published, and subsequently edited with considerable additions. Mr. Hutton apprehended that the famous well where Richard slaked his thirst would sink into oblivion. A letter

from Dr. Parr to Mr. Nichols, dated Hatton, September 13, 1813, removes these apprehensions :

I

"As to Bosworth Field, six or seven years ago I explored it, and I found Dick's Well, out of which the tradition is that Richard drank during the battle. It was in dirty, mossy ground, and seemed to me in danger of being destroyed by the cattle. I therefore bestirred myself to have it preserved, and to ascertain the owner. The bishop of Down spoke to the archbishop of Armagh, who said that the ground was not his. I then found it not to be Mrs. Pochin's. Last year traced it to a person to whom it had been bequeathed by Dr. Taylor, formerly rector of Bosworth. I went to the spot, accompanied by the rev. Mr. Lynes, of KirkbyMalory. The grounds had been drained. We dug in two or three places without effect. I then applied to a neighbouring farmer, a good intelligent fellow. He told me his family had drawn water from it for six or seven years, and that he would conduct me to the very place. I desired him to describe the signs. He said there were some large stones, and some square wood, which went round the well at the top. We dug, and found things as he had described them; and, having ascertained the very spot, we rolled in the stones, and covered them with earth. Now lord Wentworth, and some other gentlemen, mean to fence the place with some strong stones, and to put a large stone over it with the following inscription; and you may tell the story if you please.

66 Yours, &c.

❝S. PARR."

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