'Twere I slew the dragon And brought him to the slaughter, And I hope I shall maintain the King of Egypt's daughter.* (Enter TURKISH KNIGHT.) Here comes I, old Turkey snipe, Come from the holy Turkey land to fight. I challenge thee, King George, the man of courage bold; (They fight, TURKISH KNIGHT falls.) (KING GEORGE) Is there a doctor to be found To cure this man lying blooding on the ground? (Enter SPANISH DOCTOR.) Yes, I'm a doctor newly come from Spain, The fame of which spreads far and wide; And raises the dead to life again. (KING GEORGE) Pray, Doctor, what is thy fee? (SP. DR.) Fifteen guineas is my fee, But ten pound I will take of thee. (KING GEORGE gives him the money.) (SP. DR.) Here comes I, the Spanish Doctor, [again I'll cure thee the biggest bellied man that ever rose from dead to life (He holds bottle to TURKISH KNIGHT's mouth.) Rise, Turkish snipe (he rises). (All join hands and sing.) Once we was wounded and now we're brought to life; We sent for the doctor who brought us all to life; So we'll all shake hands and we'll never fight no more, But we'll live like brothers and sisters the same as we was before. We'll live like brothers and sisters the same as we was before. (KING GEORGE) If you don't believe in what I say Let old Almanick clear the way. (Enter OLD ALMANACK†) • An old man (81) tells me that the right line is, "And for that fair deed I do maintain the great King William's daughter"; but the "King of Egypt's" is historically right, I believe. But this reading is much the best and oldest. I suspect that Almanack ought to change speeches (not place) with Little Man Jack. Then I think that the eleven children of Almanack ought to refer to the months (up to December) and Little Man John (who is really the devil) then comes and fetches away the "girt blackguard." But this is only conjecture. Here comes I, old Almanick, With my girt head and little wit. Though my wit is but small Yet I'm the best man 'mongst ye all. My knuckle bones are very hard, Pray Doctor, come and feel (DOCTOR feels). (DOCTOR) Yes, thy bones are very hard, I think thou be'est a girt blackguard. Room! Room! Let the valiant soldier clear the way. (Enter VALIANT SOLDIER.) Here comes I, the Valiant Soldier, Cuterman Slasherman is my name : All through these cold wars I lately came. I and seven more stood the battle of 'leven score. I'll actually cut him and slash him as small as dust, And send him to the pastrycook's shop to make minced pie-crust. (FATHER CHRISTMAS and VALIANT SOLDIER fight, FATHER CHRISTMAS falls). (KING GEORGE) Is there a doctor to be found To cure this man lying blooding on the ground? (VALIANT SOLDIER) Yes, I'm a doctor pure and good; A little o' my physic 'll do he good. (He hits FATHER CHRISTMAS three thumps on the back † with the flat of his sword, saying) Rise, Father Christmas. (All join hands across and sing, as before). Once we was wounded, &c. (VAL. SOL.) If you don't believe in what I say Let Little Man Jack clear the way. (Enter LITTLE MAN JACK) ‡ • Corruption of "Cut them and slash them." + Father Christmas wears a cushion on his back as a hump. } Query-does "starved alive " mean "frozen to death," I have been told it does, Out of three I got but two, And where they'm gone to I can't tell you. Let Little Man John clear the way. (Enter LITTLE MAN JOHN.) Here comes I, Little Man John, If any man'll fend I let'n come on." WALTER BUCHANAN. SMALL POX IN DEVIZES IN 1761. In view of the present insane agitation in some places against the enforcement of vaccination, the following note on the fly-leaf of a little MS. volume of sermons in the Museum, is instructive as reminding us of what seems to be entirely forgotten-the frightful nature of the scourge of small pox before vaccination was introduced. The small pox which began in Devizes in January, 1761 to the end of April following : St. John's Parish. Total No. of Inhabitants. Total No. that have had ye Small Pox. Died. 1354 1767 837 58 " E. H. GODDard. St. Mary's THE COST OF AN ELECTION AT WOOTTON BASSETT. "3 April, 1796. My Lord I have at your Lordship's request sent the underneath account, stating as near as I possibly can, the expense of the probable cost of an election at Wotton Basset, the voters being gratified at the last election with £30 each, with the extras as below. I am your Lordship's faithful obedient servant. (From a note by the late J. Waylen. The names are lost.) HATCHMENT IN SALISBURY CATHEDRAL. A very interesting seventeenth century hatchment has recently been restored to its original position in Salisbury Cathedral. It had apparently been removed during the great restoration of 1863-79, placed in the triforium for safety, and forgotten. There it was accidentally discovered a few months ago, and with the concurrence of the Dean it was replaced above the little tablet to the memory of Mary Barnston, on the dwarf wall to the east of Bishop Giles de Bridport's monument in the south choir aisle. The Barnston tablet is a typical piece of early Jacobean work, of stone elaborately carved and painted. It bears the following quaint inscription :Mariæ Barnston good fuit propter amans dolens in memoriam obiit 6 Julii 1625 Below, apparently cut later, are the lines Altera ps obijt 30mo Maij 1645 Abijt, no obijt & reverti In each corner of the tablet, the dimensions of which are 3ft. by 2ft. 7in., a tiny coat of arms is painted-in the first and fourth corners, Azure, a fess dancetty ermine, between 3 crosses crosslet fitchy or* (Barnston); and in the second and third corners, Gules, a cross patonce, between 4 trefoils slipped or (Manning). Above the tablet was carved a crest; but of this portion of the original design little more than the wreath now remains. It was roughly knocked away to allow for the placing of the hatchment, which rests on the tablet and reaches to the top of the dwarf wall mentioned above. There a stout nail, seemingly contemporary with the hatchment driven into the masonry, catches a large staple fastened to the frame, and holds it in its place. It The hatchment is rectangular, and not of the modern lozenge shape. consists of two substantial boards, each 9țin. wide by 2ft. lin. high, within a very heavily moulded frame, all of oak painted black. The frame is 4in. wide by 3in. deep, and measures 2ft. 9in. by 2ft. 3in. The blackness of the moulding is relieved by two lines of gold. The field of the hatchment is almost entirely occupied by a large shield of very plain and severe form, charged with Barnston quartering Manning (the arms which appear in the corners of the tablet) differenced by a crescent argent. There is no other device of any kind, except the date 1645 above the shield, and xvi Maij in the spaces at the base of it, in golden characters. The tinctures of the arms, especially the blue, have faded somewhat in two hundred and fifty years, but they are still quite plainly visible. The domestic idyll which these things perpetuate is easy to read. When . Papworth and Morant give the tincture of the crosses crosslet as argent. Mrs. Barnston died in 1625 her "maritus, amans dolens, debens ' raised the beautiful tablet to her memory. At his decease in 1645 the stately hatchment, charged with his quartered coat and the date of his death, was placed over it, and the tender little note, "altera pars obiit," was added to the tablet of his wife. "Altera pars "" was John Barnston, who came of a Cheshire family, of Brasenose College, Oxford, D.D., Rector of Everley, 1598, and of Winterslow, 1635, Prebendary of Bishopstone, 1600, and Canon Residentiary, 1634. He was buried in the Cathedral. As Residentiary he. occupied the Canonry House in the Close, immediately to the north of the Choristers' School. E. E. DORLING. Wiltshire Books, Pamphlets, and Articles. Sir Robert N. Fowler, Bart., M.P. A Memoir by John Stephen Flynn, M.A., Rector of St. Mewan. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1893. Post 8vo, pp. 358. With etched portrait by Manesse. The author of this biography-Sir Robert's son-in-law-had no light task. "Thirty-eight large volumes of diary, several hampers of letters, and a mass of newspaper cuttings collected during twenty-six years " had to be carefully read through and selected from. He has, however, performed his task well and has given us an interesting memoir at not too great length of a man who in many ways was a remarkable character, and one of whom Wiltshire may well be proud. The first of the Fowlers connected with Wilts was Thomas Fowler, who settled at Melksham in 1692, and Gastard was bought by Robert Fowler towards the end of the eighteenth century. The family had always been Quakers; and though Sir Robert Fowler joined and became a devoted member of the Church of England, he retained to the last many of the best of the Quaker characteristics. From his earliest years he regularly kept a voluminous diary, in which he entered the events of each day and his own thoughts and comments thereon-and in this diary we find constant evidence of the deep and unaffected piety which was the foundation of his character through life. A staunch Conservative, who nevertheless put his principles before his party; widely travelled, full of information, and pos sessing a most retentive memory; so transparently honest and straightforward as to win the respect of everyone; actuated in all things by the strongest sense of duty; popular in Wiltshire as a genial country gentleman and a |