nell, he has some of the original MSS. by him, which on examination will satisfy the greatest sceptic. Then, in conclusion, let me suggest to the Rev. gentleman the following lines for his consideration, trusting that he will be a little more charitable in his thoughts when next he sits in judgment on his fellowmen :

"Whoever thinks a faultless peice to see, Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor ne'er shall be; And if the means be just, the conduct true, Applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due." I remain, sir, yours, &c.,

January, 12th, 1879."

E.M.N. Jan. 14th, 1879.

JOHN SYMONS.

Alderman JOHN SYMONS, M.R.I.A., author of High-street Hull, some years since; and Biographical Sketches, 1862, 8vo, 184 pp.; Hullinia, or selections from local history, 1872, 8vo, 152 pp.; Hull in Ancient Times, 12mo. 4 parts; has contributed five letters to the correspondence.

"In the Eastern Morning News of Saturday last, some remarks were made by the Rev. J. R. Boyle to show that these documents are fictitious, spurious, and forgeries, In replying to him I trust that whatever I may advance in opposition to his opinion on these MSS., will be received by him with that charitable feeling which will promote the friendly relationship now existing between us. At the outset I would observe that whatever may have been the author's object in writing these voluminous MSS. the reader's common sense will dictate that it could not be for any pecuniary benefit, as they were only written as heirlooms, and not for publication. They were intended to be handed down from one generation to another to keep their thread unbroken, and George Johnson, the last survivor of the family, whose failing eyesight prevented him continuing these records any longer, says, "At my death I have not the slightest notion into whose hands they may fall, myself being the last of the race of the Johnson family, Dated this 17th day of January, 1858, (my birth-day-aged 66)." If Mr. Boyle is endoved with that virtue which it is our duty to teach to others, he would (to use a printers' phrase) "distribute" more widely the "pearl" of charity, and by doing so he might be considered a "Nonpariel."

But this virtue seems, from the tenour of
of his letters, not to exist, and the majority
of the objections that have been made by our
learned friend with reference to these
documents, vanish into thin air when fairly
and logically discussed, and, at most, only
show that the errors are clerical, typo-
graphical, or those of the person who re-
wrote them. They do not prove in the
least that the printed documents are not
copies of the originals written by Thomas
Johnson and his descendants. There is
no doubt that if we could but peruse our
borough records they would establish be-
yond question that the MSS. are a genuine
register of what took place in Hull at the
time they were written. In my perusal of
the various histories of Hull, I find them
full of errors relative to dates, &c., but it
would be very unjust on my part, because
I have discovered errors, to condemn the
whole as forgeries. It need not be a
matter of surprise if errors have crept in
when we consider the disadvantages Mr.
Gunnell had to contend with in tran-
scribing these documents, which he (as I
have seen myself) generally wrote on his
shop counter, which he had frequently to
leave to wait on customers, coupled with
(through age) the faded condition of the
ink of the originals, which, in some cases
required the aid of a powerful magnifier to
be obtained to decipher the writing. Con-
sidering how we are all liable to error we
might charitably introduce the following.
lines :-

Reader, how can you wish to see,
Each proof from error always free?
When next in gall you dip your pen.
Reflect that printers' are but men !
Why, then, expect in them to trace

What's not found in the human race?

With reference to the Johnsons' Family Bible and the date, I am quite of opinion that no Latin Bible was printed in England of the date 1488, as, from all the authorities I have consulted, I have found no mention of one printed at that time by Will Stubbs Caxton, or any other English printer, but I find it was the practice of the English printers to procure Latin Bibles from the Continental printers in sheets, and used to print in English their own name at the bottom of the title-page, as the

66

printer thereof. This is done in England This is done in England at the present time by booksellers, who do no printing whatever. So it appears So it appears that the imprint must have been a forgery, for which neither Johnson nor Mr. Gunnell are responsible. This being so does not prove that there was not a Bible, the margin of which contained the principal events in the lives of this family, or that these documents are spurious. With respect to the Lion's house in High-street, it appears that either Johnson or the authors of the various histories of Hull (quoted by Mr. Boyle), have transposed the position of the lions under the windows of this house. What proof has Mr. Boyle that Hadley is right and Mr. Johnson is wrong? Hadley wrote in 1788, and was not as likely to get such correct information as Johnson, who was writing 148 years before him. Tickell writes ten years after Hadley, from whom he had, no doubt, got his information. Alderman Symons, in his High-Street," writes sixty-four years after, and copies from the before-named authorities. Then comes Sheahan, who having no other authorities, copies from the whole. If Mr. Boyle could show us the lions now on this house, it might only prove an error of description, and not that the documents are spurious; or, that one or the other of the authorities he has consulted are incorrect. It is easy for Mr. Boyle to make assertions relative to Rembrandt's painting in "Loyer Wryghtson's house," in High-street, but he gives no authority to back up his argument. It is quite possible for Rembrandt to have been in Hull and painted this picture on the wall, and signed his name as is represented, when we consider the trade that was done between the two ports (Amsterdam and Hull), it is very likely that he came over to Hull to make money by his work, as he was a man of a very avaricious nature. Mr. Boyle states that he (Rembrandt), had never been in England in 1629, and that he was then only 23 years of age, and a student at Leyden. We have the evidence of the following authorities :-Encyclopædias, Britannica, and Londineneis, Bell, Chambers, and others, who say nothing about his being a student in Leyden, in 1629. Cham

bers' Encyclopædia, and other works, say that he was settled in Amsterdam and doing a good business in 1650. Also that the baptismal registers of Leyden were lost, and his age rested on the authority of a description of Leyden, published in 1641; that his marriage certificate has recently been found, which states he was 26 years in 1634, which would make him 25 years of age when he executed the painting in High-street. Has Mr. Boyle seen all the paintings of Rembrandt, or any authority but his own, that states he had not been in England up to 1629 ? Mr. Boyle says that the account of St. Mary's Church is far from being historically correct, which I cannot admit if Mr. Boyle takes the present histories of Hull as a guide. For instance, Tickell says, "The steeple was re-built in 1696, and a cupola was intended to be placed on the top." Hadley says the same, but in the margin gives 1596 as the date. Mr. Boyle suppresses Hadley as an authority in this case, as it did not suit his purpose. Which authority is correct? I am surprised that Mr. Boyle should take Hollar's plan as a guide to prove that the Carmelite monastery was not in existence in 1640, as he has stated to me that it was incorrect, and pointed out the wall in Whitefriars-lane (now Trinity Houselane), which turns in a circle into what is now Posterngate. This wall cuts off North Church-side from Trinity Houselane, and from the way in which he treats this subject, we might imagine he had been living at the time, and that his spirit had been re-embodied, and he had now come to reveal to us the hidden mysteries of the town. What has Mr. Boyle proved at the most? Only that these manuscripts contain errors with which every history of Hull abounds. He seems to have no discrimination between errors and forgeries. When we consider that the early part of these MSS. were written by a boy only ten years of age, although he might have the assistance of his father, it need not be a matter of surprise that errors have crept in. The following illustrates one of the errors in "Hadley's History of Hull: In page 751, line 10, it states that the chaplain of Lister's Hos

pital received £40 a year. At that time, according to Tickell, page 750, the income of the institution was only about £50, and £38 was expended on the inmates, and for coals, turves, &c. All the other histories of Hull give the salary as £2, as is the case at this time. The principal

objections Mr. Boyle has advanced against these manuscripts are the dates. Mr. Gunnell, in re-writing the MSS., transcribed the dates, &c. (in many cases) from numerals to figures, and in so doing it is very probable that he may have committed some of the errors, but that is not to say they are all forgeries. Even in writing this letter, had I not examined it afterwards, I should have stated 1830 for 1630, and could not have found fault with the printer had he printed it as written, for there is a saying in the profession, "follow your copy if it goes out of the window?" In conclusion, before Mr. Boyle, or any one else, proves these documents are forgeries, they must prove the Authorities Mr. Boyle quotes are correct, and beyond doubt, and that none of the Johnson family wrote the sedocuments. JOSEPH TEMPLE.

Palmerston House, Newland. Jan. 14th, 1879."
E.M.N. Jan. 15th, 1879,

Mr. Joseph Temple, the Author of "Our Municipal Charities." &c., is the owner of the Original Johnson MSS," in nine large volumes, from which "Hull Celebrities" was printed, and a firm believer in the Authenticity of the MSS.

When Gray commenced this poem in June, 1742, his uncle, Jonathan Rogers had just died, also one of his closest friends, Mr. Richard West, a youth of literary taste and ability, and it is very probable that these two sad events occasioned the commencement of the "Elegy."

Gray originally gave it the simple title of "Stanzas written in a Country Yard." But Mason, his biographer and friend, persuaded him to call it an "Elegy" which he afterwards adopted.

Although the Poet was one of the greatest of readers, he was one of the most sparing of writers, and so curiously minute in his method of composition that he perfected each line separately, amending over and over again until he had satisfied his fastidious taste. In this he closely resembled Malherbe, the father of French poetry. Both wrote prodigiously slow, and seemed rather to perfect than compose their ideas.

John Moultrie has a very suggestive

stanza on this matter:

"Slow to create, fastidious to refine; He wrote and wrote with labour long and sore Adjusting word for word, and line for line, Each thought, each phrase remoulding o'er and o'er Till art could polish and adorn no more."

I wish our amateur poets would learn a lesson from Gray in perfecting as far as they could the subject of their lines before commencing on another poem. Surely it is a far more important matter to write a few lines thoroughly, than to compose. a book slovenly.

Gray was 26 years of age when he commenced his task, and he did not finish the poem until he was 33, and his only object in composing it was to gratify a few of his friends. One of his correspondents was Horace Walpole, to whom he sent a manuscript copy of the "Elegy" desiring that he would give him his opinion. upon it. Walpole no sooner perused the manuscript than he circulated copies among his friends, in this way it came to be published in a contemporary magazine, entitled the "Magazine of Magazines," and

the poem appeared in the issue for February 1751. Gray might have been ignorant of this fact had not the proprietors communicated with him, requesting his indulgence and the honour of his correspondence. The day after Gray received this note, he wrote to his friend Walpole, soliciting his assistance to get Dodsley the publisher to print a separate edition of the poem at once without his name, and on his best paper, and in his best style.

In February, 1751, this edition duly appeared, and was received with extraordinary success. Gray was surprised at its popularity. Four editions were published in eight weeks, and eleven editions were issued in all. Since then the poem has been the subject of incessant imitation, quotation, translation, parody, and illustration, and these productions have influenced, in a very large degree, the popularity of the poem.

76, Blackfriar's Road, London.

AN OLD HULL SONG.

By FRANK KIDSON.

THE following song may be of some interest to readers of the Hull Quarterly, as relating to a period when Hull, Whitby, and other places on the Yorkshire coast, were the great centres of the whale fishery. Apart from this, the air is at a most plaintive and beautiful one, and the words quite up to the average of such productions; the fifth verse containing a somewhat pretty and poetical fancy:

"The bride knot which my love did wear," &c. The song is very likely known either traditionally or by being found in print. I have extracted it from a collection of songs entitled: "The Edinburgh Musical Miscellany," printed at Edinburgh in 1792. I have also the song in the second edition of that work (1804), and an imperfect copy from recitation appeared in the Derbyshire Courier in 1874. These are the only ones I have inet with.

With regard to the age of the song, I do not think either words or music much

older than the latter part of the eighteenth century. Perhaps some local antiquary may be able to throw a little light upon the subject of the author's name, and upon tracing the composer of the air.

-Leeds.

THE LASS OF HUMBER SIDE.

In lonely cot, by Humber side,

I sit and mourn my hours away; For constant Will was Peggy's pride, And now he sleeps in Iceland bay. Still as the ships pass to and fro.

I fondly list to yo, ya, yo,
Still as the ships pass to and fro,
I fondly list to yo, ya, yo,
Yo, ya, yo; yo, ya, yo,
Yo, ya, yo.

Six months on Greenland's icy coast, Where half the year is dreary night, He toil'd for me and oft would boast That Peggy was his sole delight. Still as the ships, &c.

Ah! woe to me! I often cry,

As thro' the broken panes I peep; And as the distant sails I spy,

I think of dearest Will, and weep.

Still as the ships, &c.

If loud and swelling storms I heard,
As on my lonesome bed I lay'd,
All night alone for Will I fear'd,
All night for Will alone I pray'd.

Still as the ships, &c.

The bride-knot which my love did wear,
Loose hung a pendant o'er my door,
And when it told the wind was fair,
I fancy'd soon he'd be on shore.
Still as the ships, &c.

At length the very ship I spy'd
In which my constant Will had sail'd ;
With haste I ran to Humber side,
And loud and oft the sailor's hail'd.

The deck they travers'd to and fro,
And answered nought but yo, ya, yo.
The boatswain, now full near the shore,
I ask for Will-he shook his head;

I fear, said I, he is no more-
"His answer was: "Poor Will is dead!"
Ah me! I fell oppress'd with woe,
And heard no more their yo, ya, yo.

THE OLD WALLS OF HULL.

N a paper "On the Antiquity of Brick I' Buildings in England posterior to the Time of the Romans," by the Dean of Exeter, (C. Lyttelton), which was read before the Society of Antiquaries, January 20th, 1757, and printed in the Archæologia, vol. 1, pp. 144—146, there is the following very interesting description of the old Walls of Hull, which deserves a corner in our magazine:

-

"We learn from Leland (1st. vol. Itin. p. 49), that in King Richard the Ild's days the town of Kyngeston-on-Hull 'waxed very rich, and Michael De la Pole, merchant there, was made Count 'of Suffolk; in whose tyme the towne 'was wonderfully augmented yn building and was enclosed with ditches, and the wall begun, and yn continuance endyd and made all of brike, as most parte of the 'houses of the towne at that tyme was

In the waul (adds this writer) be 4 principal gates of brike, the north gate having 4 wardes, betwixt the which and 'Beverle gate be 12 tours of brike, and yn one of them a posterne.-Betwixt Miton gate and Hazelle gate there be '3 tours of brike, and from the haven 'mouth be 5 tours of brike. Michael de la Pole builded a goodly house of brike again the north end of Saint Mary's church like a palace, with goodly 'orchard and garden enclosid with brike. 'He also builded 3 houses besides in the 'towne, whereof every one has a tour of 'brike. The Trinite Church, most made ' of brike, is larger and fairer a great deal 'than Saint Mary's.' So far Leland.

"This author here asserts, that Hull was first enclosed with ditches, and the wall begun by De la Pole in King Richard the II's time, and that the latter was built wholly with brike. Now in Gent's 'History of Kingston-on-Hull,' we are informed 'that the 15th Edward IId, (Ann. 1322) the 'King hearing of the town's wonderful 'improvement, granted a charter whereby the inhabitants were impowered to build 'their houses for the future of lime and stone and to make a wall as designed by his pre'decessor, with a mote for greater security,

and that the next year the inhabitants pe'titioned the King, that a toll of one 'penny per pound might be laid on all 'goods imported and exported, to enable 'them to build a strong stone wall whereon towers might be erected, &c. (Gent, p. 87.) No doubt, a stone wall was then built, and the mote made in consequence of this grant, for the same author (at p. 91.) says, that (Ann. 1378 King Richard 11d,) the Scots and French being 'enemies to England, the King sent to 'Hull, to have the town put into a posture of defence, the long happy reign of 'his predesessor having render'd their Wall and Ditches useless; but now, the 'case being alter'd, the youug King com'manded them to be repair'd at the Expense of the Inhabitants and those who 'had Estates in the town.' And again (p. 72.) That in the year 1383, Sir Michael De la Pole erected here a stately Palace. The magnificent Gate-House made of brick, being supported by great timbers, having two chambers, and covered with 'tyle. Thro' this first passage, and an entry 'twenty feet broad and one hundred long, 'was a spacious tower built of brick and 'stone, three stories high, cover'd with lead in which were chambers eighteen feet 'square, &c. The Chapel was twenty'eight feet long, and fifteen broad, built ' of fine brick and stone, covered with lead, ' &c." In a marginal note he adds, "That 'Anno. 1538, a survey was taken of this 'magnificent building'; (from which I suppose this description was copied, though the author cites no authority), 'when it was stiled the King's house, and Anno, 1540, the King visiting the town, 'beautified, repaired, and enlarged it.'

"In the month of September last (1756), I made a journey to Hull, and carefully viewing the walls, found part of the towers between Beverley and North Gates still standing, and entirely composed of brick; but another part of the wall, (viz.) that which stretches from the North Block-house towards Drypool Church, for a considerable length, is built with stone, having been faced only with brick, the said coat being now fallen and lying under the wall. This might lead one to suspect, that the whole wall which