103.14-15 Benedict of Peterborough] (d. 1193), abbot of Peterborough. He wrote histories of the Passion, and of the miracles of St. Thomas
Ã
Becket.
103.15 John Hanvill of St. Albans] Born probably before 1180, and known as John of St. Giles, John Giles, or John of St. Albans. He was a Dominican monk and physician, and archdeacon of Oxford. His only extant work is
Experimenta Joannis de S. Aegideo.
103.20 Wynkyn de Worde] (d. 1534). He was a Belgian pupil of William Caxton, and became the second printer in London.
103.32 Robert of Gloucester] (ca. 1260-1300). Known only from the metrical
Chronicle
of England (to 1270) which bears his name.
103.37
Chaucer's Testament of Love]
The
Testament of Love
was actually written by Thomas Usk, a contemporary of Chaucer.
103.38 Holinshed] Raphael Holinshed (d. 1580) published his
Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland
in 1577. The passage is unlocated.
103.40 John Scogan] (ca. 1480). Fool at the court of Edward IV. “It is not improbable that his biography, which is supplied in his âJests,' said to have been compiled by Andrew Boorde ... is apocryphal and that Scogan is a fictitious hero”
(Dictionary of National Biography).
103.40 John Lydgate, monke of Berrie] (ca. 1370-1449). He wrote well over 100,000 lines of poetry, much of it justly forgotten. At the age of fifteen he became a monk at the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds.
103.42 John Jewell, Bishop of Sarum] John Jewel (1522-1571) was bishop of Salisbury (formerly Sarum). Hooker was among his protégés, and Fuller edited his works.
103.42-43 John Fox] John Foxe wrote
The Acts and Monuments of the
Church (1563), better known as “The Book of Martyrs.”
104.1 ... Spenser's âwell of pure English undefiled,'] See note 62.23.
104.18 As unintelligible ... as an Egyptian obelisk] Champollion's discovery of the meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphics was not made public until 1822, at least three years after Irving wrote the sketch.
104.22 Xerxes] See Herodotus,
The Histories,
bk. 7, par. 44-46.
104.28-29 Sackville's stately plays, and Mirror for Magistrates] Thomas Sackville, earl of Dorset (1536-1608), wrote an “Induction” and one of the stories for the second edition of the collection of rhymed narratives called A
Mirror for Magistrates
(1563). The “Induction” is one of the best English poems between the
Canterbury Tales and The Faerie Queen.
He also collaborated in the first blank verse tragedy, Gorboduc, later entitled
Ferrex and Porrex.
104.30 “unparalelled John Lyly.”] In 1632 Edward Blount collected six of Lyly's plays, and published them as
Sixe Court Comedies ...
Written By the onely Rare Poet of that Time, The Witie, Comicall, Facetiously-Quicke and Unparalelld: John Lilly, Master of Arts. See note 8.8.
104.42 Bellona] Roman goddess of war.
104.42 Suada] Roman goddess of persuasion.
104.43
Harvey's Pierces's Supererogation]
Gabriel Harvey (1545?-1630), fellow of Cambridge, friend of Spenser, lecturer, rhetorician.
Pierce's Supererogation
(1593) was one of his contributions to a long and vicious pamphlet war between Gabriel and his brother Richard on one side, and Robert Greene and Thomas Nashe on the other.
105.15 groan with rank and excessive vegetation] See
Comus,
lines 720- 31.
105.31 fountains of thought ... broken up] See Gen. 7:11.
106.3 checks on population ... economists] Thomas Malthus published his much discussed
Essay on Population
in 1798.
106.17 knew little of Latin, and nothing of Greek] See Ben Jonson's poem, “To the Memory of Mr. W. Shakespeare,” which was prefaced to the First Folio.
107.7 faithful portrayer of nature]
See Hamlet,
III, ii: “to hold, as 't were, the mirror up to nature.”
107.44 CHURCHYARD] Thomas Churchyard (1520?-1604), soldier and minor poet. The quotation is unidentified.
RURAL FUNERALS
109.7 CYMBELINE] IV, ii.
109.23-27 White his shroud ....]
Hamlet,
IV, v (inaccurately quoted).
110.1 says Bourne] in
Antiquitates Vulgares,
chap. 3. Henry Bourne (1696-1733), divine and antiquary. See Acts 20:24.
110.25 Sir Thomas Overbury] (1581-1613). The brief description in prose of different character types which were appended to Overbury's didactic poem, A
Wife,
were known as “characters,” and were written by a number of other authors as well as by Overbury. The sketch of “the faire and happy milkmaid” is most likely by John Webster, the dramatist.
110.30 “The Maid's Tragedy,”] First published in 1619. The lines quoted are in I, i. The maid cannot marry her lover and so laments.
110.38 Herrick] Robert Herrick (1591-1674), major Cavalier poet and apparently one of Irving's favorite authors. The passage is stanza 2 of “The Dirge of Jephthah's Daughter,” Number 83 in
Noble Numbers.
111.4 says Evelyn, in his Sylva] John Evelyn (1620-1706), famous for the
Diary
which bears his name. His
Sylva
(1664) is a plea for reforestation in England.
111.31 “Corydon's Doleful Knell,”] Stanzas 5 to 7. See Percy's
Reliques.
vol. II, bk. 2, song 27.
112.14 Camden ... Britannia] William Camden (1551-1623), antiquary, historian, and teacher of Ben Jonson. The
Britannia
is a Latin survey of the British Isles. The passage quoted by Irving was apparently added by Bishop Gibson in his edition of the
Britannia
(1772).
112.21 Thomas Stanley, Esq.] (1625-1678), lyric poet.
112. 29 “The Maid's Tragedy,”] The passage is in II, i.
113.13-16 “Lay her i' the earth,” ... violets spring!]
Hamlet,
V, i.
113.17 “Dirge of Jephtha,”] “The Dirge of jephtha's Daughter,” stanzas 11 and 13. See note 110.38.
114.3-9 With fairest flowers....]
Cymbeline,
IV, ii.
114.27 Jeremy Taylor] (1613-1667). Bishop and author of
Holy Living, Holy Dying, The Liberty of Prophesying,
and some outstanding sermons. The quotation is from his
Funeral Sermon on the Countess of Carbery.
115.9-12 Each lonely place shall him restore....] A free rendering of the last stanza of a poem by William Collins (1721-1759), entitled “Dirge in Cymbeline.”
117.32 Bright, in his travels in Lower Hungary] Richard Bright, M.D. (1789-1858), discoverer of Bright's disease, and physician to Queen Victoria, author of
Travels from Vienna through Lower Hungary
(Edinburgh, 1818).
118.1 Iffland] August Wilhelm Iffland (1759-1814). German actor and dramatist.
THE INN KITCHEN
119.2 Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn?]
Henry IV, Part I,
III, iii. See also 209.19â20.
119.5
Pomme d'Or
] Golden Apple.
119.6 table
d'hote
] A fixed-price meal at a specified time.
120.24
écume
de mer] meerschaum.
THE SPECTRE BRIDGEGROOM
121.8 SIR EGER, SIR GRAHAME, AND SIR GRAY-STEEL] The story appears
in Early Metrical Tales,
&
c
. (Edinburgh: W. and D. Laing, 1826). Irving's source is unknown.
122.12 the Heldenbuch] Collection of thirteenth century German epic poetry. Its literary value is not great.
122.18 Minne-lieders] Irving means
Minnesingers,
the German troubadours of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries who sang
Minnelieder,
or love songs.
122.32 wasting their sweetness] See Gray's “Elegy Written in A Country Church-Yard,” line 56.
124.14 the fatted calf had been killed] An allusion to Luke 15:11-32, the parable of the prodigal son.
124.16
Rhein-wein]
Rhein wine.
124.17
Ferne-wein]
Properly
Firne-wein,
old but inferior wine, tasting of the barrel. Irving apparently mistook the meaning of the term.
124.17 the great Heidelburg tun] The Great Tun (20 feet high by 31 feet long, and holding 49,000 gallons) is kept in the castle of Heidelberg, the German university town. It was built in 1751, and is thus an anachronism in the story.
124.19
Saus und Braus
] revelry and riotous living.
128.14 Hoch-heimer] Hochheimer is a famous Rhine wine.
128.38-40 Leonora ... world] Lenore is the name of the heroine of a popular ballad by Gottfried August Burger (1747-1794), who is carried off by the ghost of her dead lover.
129.42 the wild huntsman] See Burger's “Der Wilde Jäger,” which was translated by Sir Walter Scott.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY
134.16 CHRISTOLERO'S EPIGRAMS, by T. B. 1598.]
Chrestoleros: Seven Bookes of Epigrams,
written by Thomas Bastard (1566-1618), depicts the manners of the time and is sometimes very bitter.
135.14â15 Vitalis ... Gislebertus ... Laurentius ....] Vitalis was a Norman; Gislebertus (Gilbert Crispin) exhumed the body of Edward the Confessor in 1102; Laurentius obtained the canonization of Edward in 1163. “Abbas” means “Abbot.”
136.11 Addison] Joseph Addison (1672-1719). He and Richard Steele wrote
The Tatler and The Spectator.
137.32-33 “all the brothers....”] See the full inscription on p. 146.
137.36-37 the tomb of Mrs. Nightingale, by Roubillac] Lady Elizabeth Nightingale (d. 1731). Louis Roubillac (1695-1762) was a French sculptor, whose monument for Mrs. Nightingale was erected in 1758.
140.33 Edward the Confessor] Edward, king of England and later a saint, ruled from 1042 to his death in 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest.
140.40 “beds of darkness.”] See Job 17:13: “I have made my bed in the darkness.”
142.7-9 “Our fathers,” says Sir Thomas Brown....]
Hydriotaphia, Urne Buriall
(1658), chap. 5. Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682), a physician, also wrote
Religio Medici.
142.16-18 “The Egyptian mummies....”] Browne,
Hydriotaphia,
chap. 5.
142.17 Cambyses] Son of Cyrus the Great, king of Persia. In 525 B.C. he conquered Egypt.
142.17 Mizraim] One of the sons of Ham. See Gen. 10:6. The name signifies Egypt.
142.28 as a tale that is told.] Ps. 90:9.
142.30 NOTES CONCERNING WESTMINSTER ABBEY] Irving added this section in 1848.
142.33-34 Pope Gregory the Great] Pope from 590-604. One of the four great doctors of the Western Church. He sent Augustine to England in 596.
144.18 A curious narrative]
A True and Perfect Narrative of the Strange and Unexpected Finding the Crucifix and Gold-Chain of that Pious Prince, St. Edward, the King and Confessor, which was found after 620 Years' Interment: and Presented to His Most Sacred Majesty, King James the Second,
by Charles Taylour, Gent. (London, 1688). Irving follows the narrative closely.
144.19 Paul Pry] A busybody in a comedy of the same name by John Poole, which was produced at Haymarket on September 13, 1825.
145.41 Malcolm. Lond. Rediv.]
Londinium Redivivum,
by James Peller Malcolm, 1802 (in four volumes). The quoted passage is supposedly in vol. I, p. 94.
146.1
Inscription on a monument....]
The allusion is on p. 137. The orthography and punctuation are generally modernized.
146.29 one of the Pultneys. ] Daniel Pulteney, a lord of the Admiralty, who died in 1731.
CHRISTMAS
147.5 HUE AND CRY AFTER CHRISTMAS] From the anonymous pamphlet “Arraignment, Conviction and Imprisoning of Christmas: ... with An Hue and Cry after Christmas....” (London, 1645).
148.10 OLD SONG] This is reported to be stanza 7 of “Time's Alteration,” found in Joseph Ritson's
Select Collection of English Songs
(1783).
150.36 sherris sack] a dry white Spanish wine; sherry.
151.21 Waits] Bands of musicians and singers who at Christmas time went from house to house.
151.24 “when deep sleep falleth upon man,”] See Job 4:13 and 33:15.
151.31 “telling the night watches ...”]
Comus,
line 34, “Count the night watches to his feathery Dames.” See note 105.15.
151.33-39 “Some say that ever ...”]
Hamlet,
act I, sc. 1.
152.9 Stranger and sojourner] See Ps. 39:12. There are several similar combinations of the words, as in Lev. 25:23.
THE STAGE COACH
153.2-7 Omne benè ... deponendi.] Unknown origin; similar to the verses in the
Carmina Burana,
set to music by Carl Orff. A rendering which catches the spirit of the piece might be as follows: Every pleasure / No more pain / Now it's time for play. / The hour has come / To set aside / Our books without delay.
153.35 Bucephalus] Favorite horse of Alexander the Great.
156.1-11 “Now capons and hens ... lick his fingers.”] The passage quoted is from the December section in Nicholas Breton's The
Fantasticks
(1626).
156.9-10 Dice and cards benefit the butler] It was customary for the players to give part of their winnings to the butler.
157.8 a smoke jack] A device for turning a roasting-spit.
157.39 Poor Robin's Almanack, 1684]
Poor Robin
was one of many prophetical almanacs originating in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and differs from most in its humorous attitude toward its own prophecies.
CHRISTMAS EVE
159.10 CARTWRIGHT] These lines are from
The Ordinary,
III, i, a comedy by Cartwright. See 29.8.
159.23 Peacham] Henry Peacham (1576-1644?). His
Compleat Gentleman
(1622) deals with manners, geometry, poetry, music, military arts, and other matters thought relevant to the education of a gentleman.