"Robert Southey,

Born in Bristol October IV., MDCCLXXIV. Died at Keswick,

March XXI., MDCCCXLIII."

This error is perhaps the most inexcusable of all. Southey himself says (Selections from his Letters, vol. iv. p. 334), I was born August 12th, 1774, in Wine Street, Bristol, where my father kept a linen-draper's shop;" and in another place he says that he "was born at No. 11, Wine Street, below the pump: "the house now occupied by Messrs. Low and Clark, furriers, &c. Southey's family seems, in its elder branch, to have "long since disappeared;" but a younger son emigrated from Lancashire, and established himself as a clothier at Wellington, in Somersetshire." From this younger son the poet derived his descent.

66

The last error of the same character which I shall notice at present, is on a tablet erected in Highbury Nonconformist Chapel in this city, to commemorate the names of five sufferers, and the date of their martyrdom, who, in the reign of Queen Mary, rather than abjure the Protestant faith, sealed the truth with their blood on this spot. The tablet records as follows:

Thomas Banion, August 17th, 1557.

'Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.'"

The error on this tablet is in the number of the sufferers, and not in the fact; and it occurs in the names of the first two martyrs there mentioned, the mistake resting with Mr. Seyer, the author of the Memoirs of Bristol, who perpetually, throughout his work, quotes the dubious manuscript calendars relating to this city, which I have before shown were, according to his own testimony, utterly unworthy of credit (2nd S. v. 154). One of these records (says Mr. Seyer) contains the following:

"1555. On the 17th of October, one William Shepton (alias Shapman, alias Shapen), a weaver, was burnt for religion."

dars, in which the name of Edward Sharpe occurs, and this, I have no doubt, has caused the error referred to for there is no mention whatever of such a person having suffered martyrdom in Bristol by any writer deserving the name of an authority. In the best edition of Fox's Martyrs—that of 1646-four only are recorded, namely, William Sarton, who was burnt September 18, 1556; burnt in the same fire with Richard Sharp, and Richard Sharp, May 7, 1557; Thomas Hale, Thomas Benion, who suffered on the 27th of the same month and year. (Acts and Monuments, vol. iii. GEORGE PRYCE. pp. 749, 750, 855.) Bristol City Library.

REDUCTION OF RATHLIN IN 1575.

Many are of opinion that Milton's well-known similitude of English history, prior to the accession of Henry VII., applies better to the early state of Ireland than to his own country. Notwithstanding, however, the deliberate judgment of so eminent an authority in the one case, and its very ready acceptance by the multitude in the other, I fully concur with your correspondent, MR. GEO. HILL, that the history of the Conquest or "Plantation" of Ulster, in the sixteenth century, is deserving of more extended treatment than it has hitherto received at the hands of the professed historian, more particularly in our own time. Happily, the day has dawned when the governing policy of Queen Elizabeth and her immediate successors in the land of St. Patrick, can be discussed by all sincere loyalists and lovers of truth and justice, as well there as here, without any danger of rekindling the extinct fires of national bigotry. In the lapse of three centuries, the angularities of the Celtic and Saxon natures respectively have been rounded off, old factious rivalries have ceased, and, under the more benign sway of our present most excellent sovereign, the two peoples have become the same political aspirations. The experience of one indeed, cherishing the same loyal sentiments, the Past is the property of both, and both may deduce from it, if they will, many invaluable lessons for the Present and Future. But this, bythe-way. My purpose is, in some measure, to supplement the paper of MR. HILL (vide suprà, P. 47.) I do not pretend to have studied so deeply the various incidents of the sanguinary struggle in Ulster, in the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, as that gentleman has done; but when investigating, some months ago, the early career of Sir Francis Drake, I had occasion to consult sundry documents and correspondence of the period bearing upon it, which are preserved in the State Paper Office. That labour resulted in the discovery (or that which is tantamount to it) of a very interesting passage in the life of the admiral.

After his successful voyage to the West Indies in 1572, Drake, in the following year, joined the standard of Walter Earl of Essex, when that easily-gulled courtier was moved to undertake his quixotic expedition to "the gall and nursery of all evil men in Ireland," as in one of his despatches thence to the Lord Treasurer, he designated Ulster, the scene of his exploits. Ostensibly his object was "to rid her majesty's subjects of the tyranny of the Scots;"† but really to seize upon the district of Clanheboy or Clanhughboy (co. Antrim), the ancient territory of the O'Neils, descendants of the princes of Tyrone; which, after its conquest, the too confident adventurer proposed to divide amongst the most distinguished of his followers. This pretty little scheme of spoliation was patronised by, if it did not originate with, the queen, and was finally brought to bear by the intervention of Leicester, who only desired to banish his rival from the court. It generally happened, whenever Elizabeth condescended to participate with any of her subjects in speculations of a pecuniary or political nature that she got the best of the bargain, and such was the case in the present instance. She bestowed upon Essex two birds in the bush for the one which he placed in her hands. In other words, the earl was compelled to surrender fifteen of his manors in England for the possible acquisition of half a county in Ireland. Amongst his followers were, besides Drake, the Lords Dacre and Rich, Sir H. Knollys and his four brothers, and three of the "black" sons of Lord Norreys. According to all the published biographies of Drake, the fact of his service in Ireland, between the years 1573-1575, is known only by tradition. It has been said that he fitted out, at his own expence, "three frigates" (or rather frigots, a very different class of vessel to our frigate, which was not introduced into the royal navy until at least a century later), with which he rendered material aid to the filibustering cause; but in what particular way, or in what particular place, had passed out of remembrance. The facts which I have disinterred from the national archives show, that he was commissioned for the service by the queen, and that he commanded the squadron which conveyed Essex and his force, comprising 1200 horse and foot, to the scene of their adventure. He landed them at Carrickfergus in the last week of August, 1573. His own ship, called the " Falcon," was probably a hired one, as also her consorts. If so, the duty of selecting them had devolved upon himself, and hence the tradition of his having supplied them at his own cost.

How Essex fared on his arrival in Ireland; how he was persistently thwarted by a jealous LordDeputy; how he was gradually deserted by his followers of every degree; and how, in fine, he

*Essex to Burghley, 23 June, 1574, S. P. O. + Vide his Proclamation, 20 Sept. 1573.-Ib.

was crushed to death by an ever-increasing weight of disappointment, sorrow, and anguish, are matters too well known to need recapitulation in this place. The only real success he could boast of, in his Irish campaign, was the surprisal and reduction of the island of Rathlin - a service in which he had no personal share. It was effected by the naval skill and military courage of Francis Drake and John Norreys.

Of the early history of Rathlin or Raghery* I know very little, beyond the fact that, from a very remote period, it served for a stepping-stone to the Scots, "who came (as that marvellously industrious compiler, Mr. Rowley Lascelles, expresses it) swarming from the Hebrides into Ulster." It lies about five miles off the northern coast of Antrim, immediately opposite to Ballycastle. Its shape is that of an acute angle, of which the upper or horizontal line extends (according to the Ordnance survey) four miles, and the lower or perpendicular line three miles. Access to its shores is, I believe, at all times difficult, so many shoals encompassing them; and, owing to a very singular and violent confliction of the tides, known locally as the "Sloghnamorra," or gulp of the sea, it is sometimes exceedingly dangerous, if not altogether impracticable. The Kinramer, or western end of the isle, is craggy and mountainous, and the coast destitute of a harbour; but the Ushet, or eastern end, is more level and fertile, besides being supplied with several small ports.

At the time when Essex resolved to surprise it, the island was subject to Sorley Boy, or Somhairle M'Donnel (youngest son of Alexander M'Donnel, quondam Lord of the Isles), who, on the death of his brother, Alexander Oge M'Donnel, possessed himself of it, assuming at the same time the chieftainship of the Irish-Scots, and seizing upon the person of his nephew, the son of his deceased brother, whom he detained there as an hostage. This captive is "the pledge mentioned below by the Earl, in his despatch to the Queen, and one of the few who was specially exempted from butchery by his exasperated troops.

The want of provisions, although it was the height of summer, obliged Essex to break up his camp, which was then in the vicinity of Carrickfergus, and betake himself to the Pale. Before his retreat, he garrisoned the town, and left it in charge of John Norreys. Its safety was further insured by the presence of Drake. Although, as before intimated, Essex took no personal share in the attack upon Rathlin, the plan and all its de

* I have read somewhere, that the name of the island has suffered so many variations in its orthography as renders it now impossible to determine what may be the most proper. From the days of Pliny to our own, it has been spelled in ten or a dozen different ways.

tails originated with, and were perfected by himself. The whole shows that he was not deficient in military sagacity or skill. In his despatch to Elizabeth he says:

"I thought good to leese' no opportunity that might serve to the annoying of the Scot (against whom only I have now to make war), and finding it a thing very necessary to leave a good garrison at Carigfergus, for that purpose I appointed CCC footmen and iiijxx horsemen to reside there, under the rule of Capt. John Norroyce, to whom I gave a secret charge, that having at Carigfergus the three frigates, and wind and weather serving, to confer with the captains of them, and on the sudden to set out for the taking of the island of the Raughliens (with care in their absence to leave a sufficient guard for the keeping of the town of Carigfergus); and when I had given this direction (to make the Scots less suspicious of any such matter pretended), I withdrew myself towards the Pale, and Capt. Norryce with his company to Carigfergus, with my letters of direction unto the captains of the three frigates, which he found there ready for my service."*

Norreys, accordingly, on the departure of his chief, took counsel with Drake, Potter, and Syday, "the captains of the three frigates," who, readily assenting to the practicability of the proposed scheme, concluded to take it in hand at once. They collected all the small boats belonging to the town, which would suffice for transports, and on July 20th, the expedition got under weigh from Carrickfergus. It is not added what number of men was told off for this service. Owing to the variableness of the winds the fleet, when at sea, parted company, and nearly three days were consumed in making the island. No other inconvenience, excepting the loss of time, resulted from this delay; for (says Essex)," all so well guided themselves, that they met at the landing-place of the Raughliens the xxij day in the morning at one instant." The spot chosen for the debarcation of the troops was probably in Church Bay.

The islanders, perceiving the tardy approach of the English, and fully comprehending their object, had ample time to prepare for resistance. They drew up all their forces on the beach, every foot of which they obstinately contested; but being at length overpowered by the invaders, they fled, panic-stricken, "to a castle which they had, of very great strength," where, outstripping their pursuers, they shut themselves in. The castle referred to by the Earl was probably that which bore the name of the Bruce, from the fact of his having found an asylum there, in the winter of 1306, when driven out of Scotland by Baliol. The foundations of it are still visible in the northeastern corner of the island.

The English proceeded to invest the place, and, after much hard fighting, in which several fell on either side, including "the captain" of the besieged, the latter were compelled, on the 26th, Irish Cor. S. P. O. Essex to the Queen, July 31,

1575.

to capitulate, almost unconditionally. Only the lives of the "Constable," and of his wife and child, were guaranteed; "all the rest were to stand on the curtesy " of the victors. What followed is best described in the language of Essex :

"The soldiers being moved and much stirred with the loss of their fellows, which were slayne, and desirous of revenge, made request, or rather pressed to have the killing of them, which they did all, saving the persons to whom life was promised, and a pledge which was prisoner in the castle was also saved, who is son to Alexander Og M'Alyster Harry. . . . There were slayn that come out of the Castle, of all sorts, CC; and presently news is brought me, out of Tyrone, that they be occupied still in killing, and have slayn [all] that they have found hidden in caves and in cliffs of the sea, to the number of CCCth more.' ""

Deteriores omnes sumus licentiâ! For myself, I am thankful to have lived in the age of Mormon and Zadkiel, instead of in that of Bacon and Shakspere.

The spoil taken in the island amounted to 4000 sheep, 300 kine, 200 stud mares, and sufficient "beer-corn" to supply 300 men for a whole year, besides other more valuable household property. If ferocious to his enemies, Essex was grateful to his friends, more especially to the conquerors of Rathlin. In beseeching the queen to favour them with a letter of thanks for their services, he assures her majesty that, "both for captains and soldiers, there is no prince in Christendom can have better, nor more willing minds to serve her than these. He reiterated this request to the lords of the Council, as well as to Walsingham, to whom, in a private communication, he adds in a postscript,

"I do understand this day by a spy, coming from Sorleboy's camp, that upon my late journey made against him, he then put most of his plate, most of his children, and the children of the most part of his gentlemen with him, and their wives into the Raughliens, which be all taken and executed, as the spy saith, and in all to the number of victh. Sorley then also stood upon the mainland of the Glynns, and saw the taking of the island, and was likely to run mad for sorrow (as the spy saith), tearing and tormenting himself, and saying, that he then lost all that ever he had."

flatter ourselves with the idea, that the writer's "As the spy saith," twice repeated! Let us humanity was slightly touched that he was harbouring an agreeable suspicion that some, if not all, of these helpless women and children had escaped from the swords of his fiendish soldiery.

Essex set great store by his conquest of Rathlin it was the only fruit of his costly labours in Ulster.

Among the Cott. MSS. in the British entitled "The Earle of Essex Declaracon in what Museum, there is one (Titus, B. xii. f. 417), Estate he founde Ulster at his arrival there, and how he left it at his comeing awaye." The Earl remarks therein, inter alia, "when I was discharged, I left the Raughliens in her majt possession, as the best mean, in my opinion, to

in the true spirit of burlesque,) are very contradictory.

Hawkins (History of Music, London, 1776, v. 371), says "Lampe died in London about twenty years ago." Burney (History of Music, iv. 672, London, 1789,) tells us that Lampe, "quitting London in 1749, resided two years at Dublin; and in 1750 went to Edinburgh, where he settled, very much to the satisfaction of the patrons of music in that city, and of himself; but in July, 1751, he was seized with a fever which put an end to his existence at the age of fifty-nine." This statement is repeated, in nearly the same words, in the article "Lampe" in Rees's Cyclopædia (also written by Burney), the date 1748, however, being substituted for 1749. The account given in Burney's History is copied in Gerber's Lexicon der Tonkünstler (iii. 166, Leipzig, 1813), and in Schilling's Lexicon der Tonkünst (iv. 312, Stuttgart, 1837). The Dictionary of Musicians (London, 1824,) states that "Lampe died in London in the year 1751;" and Fetis (Biographie des Musiciens, Brussels, 1840, vi. 34), says, "Il mourut en 1756."

The General Advertiser, London newspaper, of Thursday, September 12, 1751, has the following paragraph:

"By letters from Edinburgh, we have the following inscription, taken from the monument of Mr. Lampe, the celebrated Master of Musick, who lately died there:

"Here lie the mortal Remains of John Frederick

Lampe, whose harmonious Compositions shall outlast monumental Registers, and with melodious Notes through future Ages perpetuate his Fame, 'till Time shall sink into Eternity. His Taste for moral Harmony appeared through all his Conduct. He was a most loving Husband, an affectionate Father, Friend, and Companion. On the 25th Day of July, 1751, in the 48th Year of his Age, he was summoned to join that heavenly Concert with the blessed Choir above, where his virtuous Soul now enjoys that Harmony which was his chief Delight upon Earth.'

It is curious (supposing this inscription to be accurate) that the statements of all Lampe's biographers should be more or less tainted with error: Burney, whose account in other respects is correct, erring with respect to the deceased's age. Can any of your readers inform us in what church, churchyard, or other place of sepulture in the Scottish metropolis, Lampe's remains rest? What is the character of his monument, if existing? And whether the copy of the inscription, given in the General Advertiser, is correct or not? W. H. HUSK.

The volume, a stout small 8vo of 434 pages, commences after two dedications, one of them to Cornelius De Witte, Baro de Ruiter - with a series of elogia on different members of the De Ruiter family. A poem on the Birth-day of William III. and others on the Praise of Amsterdam, the Fire of London, &c. succeed. Next in order are the Epigrams, occupying nearly 160 pages, and for the most part wofully deficient in point, all at least I have had patience to read. Here is one of the best:

"Erasmus infans.

"Parvus eras, nec Erasmus eras mus, dictus Erasmus, Dic age, si Sum mus, tunc quoque summus ero." The next division of the work, and the first which is characteristic of it-entitled Ludus Poeticus - begins with a Palindromical poem; apparently, however, not written by Bisschop, as it is termed Melos retrogradum ἀγνώστου.

This composition extends to no less than sixty lines, but the first six will probably be enough for the readers of “ N. & Q."

"Sumere tironem si vis, me norit eremus:

Jurem non animo, nomina non merui.
Aspice: nam raro mittit timor arma, nec ipsa,
Si se mente reget, non tegeret Nemesis.

Me tum animat rectè, me dem, et certamina mutem,
Si res una velit utile, vanus eris."

It will be observed that each line may be made left, or vice versa. the same syllabically, whether read from right to

Next in order is a poem, In Natalem Christi, extending to eighteen lines, and constructed on a model which will be best understood by a speci

men:

"Magne puelle, jaces lectô, te stringit egestas; Agne tenelle, taces tectô, me cingit honestas. Æthera pax spernit, dux majestate tremendâ : Sidera fax cernit, lux libertate verendâ." Various classes of similar verses succeed, which I shall name in order, giving a specimen of each.

"Concordantes Versus.