Notes and Queries, Number 66, February 1, 1851

SIR JOHN DAVIES AND HIS BIOGRAPHERS

Sir John Davies, the "sweet poet" and "grave lawyer"—rather odd combinations by the bye,—according to Wood, was "born at Chisgrove, in the parish of Tysbury in Wiltshire, being the son of a wealthy tanner of that place!" This statement is repeated in Cooper's Muses' Library, p. 331.; Nichols's Select Poems, vol. i., p. 276.; Sir E. Brydges's edition of Philips's Theatrum Poetarum, 1800, p. 272.; Sir Harris Nicolas's edition of Davison's Poetical Rhapsody, vol. i. p. cii., &c. And Headley, in his Select Beauties of Poetry, ed. 1787, vol. i. p. xli., adds, "he was a man of low extraction!" Wood's assertion concerning Davies's parentage, was made, I believe, upon the authority of Fuller; but it is undoubtedly an error, as the books which record the admission of the younger Davies into the Society of the Middle Temple, say the father was "late of New Inn, gentleman."

Mr. Robert R. Pearce, in a recent work, entitled A History of the Inns of Court and Chancery, 8vo. 1848, p. 293., gives the following sketch of the leading facts in the life of our "poetical lawyer:"—

"Sir John Davis, the author of Reports, and several other legal works, and a poet of considerable repute, was of this Society [i.e. the Middle Temple]. His father was a member of New Inn, and a practitioner of the law in Wiltshire. At the Middle Temple, young Davis became rather notorious for his irregularities, and having beaten Mr. Richard Martin (also a poet, and afterwards Recorder of London) in the hall, he was expelled the house. Afterwards, through the influence of Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, he was restored to his position in the Middle Temple; and, in 1601, was elected a Member of the House of Commons. In 1603, he was appointed by King James Solicitor-General in Ireland. In 1606, he was called to the degree of Serjeant-at-Law; and, in the following year, was knighted by the King at Whitehall. In 1612, he published a book on the state of Ireland, which is often referred to; and soon afterwards he was appointed King's Serjeant, and Speaker of the House of Commons in Ireland. On his return to England he published his reports of cases adjudged in the King's Court in Ireland,—the first reports of Irish cases made public. The preface to these reports is very highly esteemed. It has been said to vie with Coke in solidity and learning, and equal Blackstone in classical illustration and elegant language. Sir John Davis died 7th of December, 1626."

It is amusing to see how erroneous statements creep into ordinary biography. Headley, as we have just seen, calls Davies "a man of low extraction;" and now we find a more recent biographer adding (without the shadow of an authority), "at the Middle Temple, young Davies became rather notorious for his irregularities!"

Davies's quarrel with Richard Martin is alluded to by Wood. After speaking of his admission into the Middle Temple, and of his being made a barrister (July, 1595), that writer adds:—

"But so it was that he [Sir John Davies] being a high-spirited young man, did, upon some little provocation or punctilio, bastinado Rich. Martin (afterwards Recorder of London) in the Common Hall of the Middle Temple, while he was at dinner. For which act being forthwith [February, 1597-8] expell'd, he retired for a time in private, lived in Oxon in the condition of a sojourner, and follow'd his studies, tho' he wore a cloak. However, among his serious thoughts, making reflections upon his own condition, which sometimes was an affliction to him, he composed that excellent philosophical and divine poem called Nosce Teipsum."

It is not a little singular that this very Richard Martin, whose chastisement is thus recorded, had been on terms of strict friendship with our "high-spirited" young lawyer. In 1596, Davies had published his poem on dancing, entitled Orchestra, the title-page of which is followed by a dedicatory sonnet "To his very friend, Ma. Richard Martin." This sonnet is written in extravagant terms of friendship and admiration; and as it is only to be found in the rare first edition, and in the almost equally rare Bibliographical Catalogue of the Ellesmere Collection, some of your readers may not be displeased to see it on the present occasion:—

The cause of quarrel between the two young lawyers is not known, but the "offence," whatever it was, was not slight. In the year 1622, when Davies reprinted his poetical works, we find that his feelings of resentment against his once "very friend" had not abated, for in place of the dedicatory sonnet to Richard Martin, is substituted a sonnet addressed to Prince Charles; and at the conclusion of the poem, he left a hiatus after the one hundred and twenty-sixth stanza, on account of the same quarrel.

Sir John Davies's celebrated poem, Nosce Teipsum (mentioned by Wood in the previous extract), is said to have gained the author the favour of James I., even before he came to the crown. Wood gives the precise period of its composition, and, I think, with every appearance of truth, although it does not accord with the statement of modern biographers, that it was written at twenty-five years of age. (See Campbell's Essay on Poetry, &c., ed. 1848, p. 184.) The first edition of this poem was printed in 4to. in the year 1599, and has for its title the following:—

"Nosce Teipsum. This Oracle expounded in Two Elegies. 1. Of Humane Knowledge. 2. Of the Soule of Man, and the Immortalitie thereof. London, Printed by Richard Field, for John Standish. 43 leaves."

As I am deeply interested in all that relates to the subject of this note, I have compiled a list of editions of the above poem, which shows its popularity for more than a century and a half:—

1. 1599. London, 4to. First edition.

2. 1602. ib. 4to. Second ed.

3. 1608. ib. 4to. Third ed.

4. 1619. ib. 8vo. Fourth ed.

5. 1622. ib. 8vo. The last edition printed during the Author's lifetime.

6. 1653. ib. 4to. Published by T. Jenner with curious plates, and prose paraphrase.

7. 1688. ib. folio. With prose dissertation.

8. 1697. Dublin, 8vo. With Life of the Author, by Nahum Tate.

9. 1714. ib. 12mo. Second edition by Tate.

10. 1733. ib. 8vo. With Essay by Dr. Sheridan.

11. 1749. London, 12mo.

12. 1759. Glasgow, 12mo. With Life of the Author.

13. 1760. London, 8vo. In Capel's Prolusions.

14. 1773. ib. 12mo. In Davies's Poetical Works, edited by Thompson.

Sir John Davies left behind him a large number of MSS. upon various subjects, none of which have since been printed. It would be very desirable that a list, as far as can now be made out, should be put on record. Anthony Wood says, several of Davies's MSS. were formerly in the library of Sir James Ware of Ireland and since that in the possession of Edward, Earl of Clarendon. The most interesting of these MSS. were a Collection of Epigrams, and a Metaphrase of David's Psalms. The Harleian MSS., Nos. 1578. and 4261., contain two law treatises of this learned writer, and in Thorpe's Catalogue for 1823, I find A Treatise of Tenures touchinge his Majesties Prerogative Royal, by John Davies, folio, MS.

Granger does not record any engraved portrait of this writer, and all my enquiries have failed in discovering one. In Mr. Soame Jenyn's Hall, at Botesham, in Cambridgeshire (in 1770), was a full-length portrait of an elderly gentleman in a gown, with a book in one hand, on which is written "Nosce Teipsum." If this is a genuine portrait of Sir John Davies, it ought to be engraved to accompany a new edition of his poetical works; a publication which the lovers of our old poetry would deem an acceptable offering.

A NOTE ON QUEEN ANN'S FARTHINGS

The idea that a Queen Anne's farthing is a coin of the greatest rarity, originated perhaps in the fact that there are several pattern pieces executed by Croker, which are much valued by collectors, and which consequently bring higher prices. One type only was in circulation, and this appears to have been very limited, for it is somewhat scarce, though a specimen may easily be procured of any dealer in coins for a few shillings. This bears the bust of the Queen, with the legend ANNA DEI GRATIA—reverse, BRITANNIA around the trite figure of Britannia with the spear and olive-branch: the date 1714 in the exergue. Those with Peace in a car, Britannia standing with olive-branch and spear, or seated under an arch, are patterns; the second has the legend BELLO ET PACE in indented letters, a mode revived in the reign of George III. It is said that many years ago a lady in the north of England lost one of the farthings of Queen Anne, which she much prized as the bequest of a deceased friend, and that having offered in the public journals a large reward for its recovery, it was ever afterwards supposed that any farthing of this monarch was of great value.

FOLK LORE

Lammer Beads.—Does any one know the meaning of "Lammer beads?" They are almost always made of amber, and are considered as a charm to keep away evil of every kind; their touch is believed to cure many diseases, and they are still worn by many old people in Scotland round the neck. The name cannot have anything to do with "Lammermuir," as, although they are well known among the old people of Lammermuir, yet they are equally so all over Scotland.

On the Lingering of the Spirit.—Perhaps you may think the following story worthy of insertion in your paper.

There is a common belief among the poor, that the spirit will linger in the body of a child a long time when the parent refuses to part with it. I said to Mrs. B., "Poor little H. lingered a long time; I thought, when I saw him, that he must have died the same day, but he lingered on!"

"Yes," said Mrs. B., "it was a great shame of his mother. He wanted to die, and she would not let him die: she couldn't part with him. There she stood, fretting over him, and couldn't give him up; and so we said to her, 'He'll never die till you give him up.' And then she gave him up; and he died quite peaceably."

Vicarage, Barrow-on-Humber, Jan. 13. 1851.

May Cats (Vol. iii., p. 20.).—In Hampshire, to this day, we always kill May kittens.

Mottos on Warming-Pans and Garters.—It seems to have been much the custom, about two centuries ago, to engrave more or less elaborately the brass lids of warming-pans with different devices, such as armorial bearings, &c., in the centre, and with an inscription or a motto surrounding the device. A friend of the writer has in his possession three such lids of warming-pans, one of which has engraven on the centre a hart passant, and above his back a shield, bearing the arms of Devereux, the whole surrounded by this inscription:—

Another bears the arms of the commonwealth, (as seen on the coins of the Protectorate,) encircled with an inscription, thus:—

The third bears a talbot passant, with the date above its back, 1646, and the motto round:—

It appears to me that the first two, at least, belonged to inns, known by the respective signs indicated by the mottos, &c.; the first probably in honour of the Lord-General of the Parliament's army, who was the last Devereux bearing the title.

That last described affords a curious illustration of a passage cited in Ellis's Brand (ed. 1849, vol. i. p. 245.), from The Welsh Levite tossed in a Blanket, 1691.

"Our garters, bellows, and warming-pans wore godly mottos," &c.

In further illustration, I may mention that the owner of the warming-pans has in his possession likewise a beautifully manufactured long silk garter, of perhaps about the same date, in which are woven the following words:—

NOTES ON JESSE'S "LONDON AND ITS CELEBRITIES."

During my perusal of Mr. Jesse's pleasant volumes, I marked two or three slips of the pen, which it may not be amiss to make a note of.

In vol. i. pp. 403, 404, 405., there is a curious treble error regarding Thomas Sutton, the munificent founder of the Charter House. He is successively styled Sir Thomas, Sir Richard, and Sir Robert. Sutton's Christian name was Thomas. He was never knighted. Of the quaint leaden case which incloses his remains, and of its simple inscription, an accurate drawing, with accompanying particulars, by your able correspondent Mr. E. B. Price, was inserted in the Gent. Mag. for January, 1843, p. 43. The inscription runs thus: "1611. Thomas Sutton, Esquiar."

Vol. ii. pp. 34, 35, 36. Mr. Jesse's ingenious suggestions relative to the tradition of the burial of Oliver Cromwell in Red Lion Square, merit the careful attention of all London antiquaries.

Ib. p. 316.:

"There is no evidence of Clement's Inn having been a Court of Law previous to 1486."

For "a court of law," read "an inn of court."

Ib. p. 339. Erratum, line 9, in reference to Mrs. Garrick's reopening of her house, for the first time after her husband's decease—for "1701" read "1781," obviously a printer's error.

Ib. p. 423.:

"Cranmer's successor in the see of Canterbury was Archbishop Whitgift."

Whitgift was Grindal's successor, and Grindal was preceded by Parker, who must be deemed Cranmer's successor. Cranmer perished in 1556. Parker was made archbishop in 1559.

Mr. Jesse will not be angry, I am sure, with the above notes, or need any apology for an attempt to add to the value of his book.

Reform Club, Jan. 10. 1851.