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acquaintance at a certain house there, where we used to drink a glass of wine for our refection. The woman which kept the house was of honest reputation amongst the neighbours, which made me give the more attention to what she told me one day about a Fairy Boy (as they called him) who lived about that town. She had given me so strange an account of him, that I desired her I might see him the first opportunity, which she promised; and not long after, passing that way, she told me there was the Fairy Boy but a little before I came by; and casting her eye into the street, said, Look you, sir, yonder he is at play with those other boys,' and designing him to me, I went, and by smooth words, and a piece of money, got him to come into the house with me; where, in the presence of divers people, I demanded of him several astrological questions, which he answered with great subtility, and through all his discourse carryed it with a cunning much beyond his years, which seemed not to exceed ten or eleven. He seemed to make a motion like drumming upon the table with his fingers, upon which I asked him, whether he could beat a drum, to which he replied, Yes, sir, as well as any man in Scotland; for every Thursday night I beat all points to a sort of people, that use to meet under yonder hill' (pointing to the great hill between Edinburgh and Leith.) How, boy,' quoth I, what company have you there? There are, sir,' said he, a great company both of men and women, and they are entertained with many sorts of musick besides my drum; they have, besides, plenty variety of meats and wine; and many times we are carried into France or Holland in a night, and return again; and whilst we are there, we enjoy all the pleasures the country doth afford. I demanded of him how they got under that hill? To which he replied, that there were a great pair of gates that opened to them, though they were invisible to others, and that within there were brave large rooms, as well accommodated as most in Scotland.' I then asked him, how I should know what he said to be true? upon which he told me he would read my fortune, saying I should have two wives, and that he saw the forms of them sitting on my shoulders; that both would be very handsome women.As he was thus speaking, a woman of the neighbourhood, coming into the room, demanded of him what her fortune should be? He told her that she had two bastards before she was married; which put her in such a rage, that she desired not to hear the rest. The woman of the house told me that all the people in Scotland

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could not keep him from the rendezvous on Thursday night; upon which, by promising him some more money, I got a promise of him to meet me at the same place, in the afternoon of the Thursday following, and so dismissed him at that time. The boy came again at the place and time appointed, and I had prevailed with some friends to continue with me, if possible, to prevent his moving that night; he was placed between us, and answered many questions, without offering to go from us, until about eleven of the clock, he was got away unperceived of the company; but I, suddenly missing him, hasted to the door, and took hold of him, and so returned him into the same room: we all watched him, and on a sudden he was again out of the doors. I followed him close, and he made a noise in the street as if he had been set upon ; but from that time I could never see him.-Ib

JOHN DUKE OF ARGYLE AND GREENWICH.

This nobleman was very dear to his countrymen, who were justly proud of his military and political talents, and grateful for the ready zeal with which he asserted the rights of his native country. This was never more conspicuous than in the matter of the Porteous Mob, when the Ministers brought in a violent and vindictive bill, for declaring the Lord Provost of Edinburgh incapable of bearing any public office in future, for not foreseeing à disorder which no one foresaw, or interrupting the course of a riot too formidable to endure opposition. The same Bill made provision for pulling down the city gates, and abolishing the city guard,rather a Hibernian mode of enabling them better to keep the peace within burgh in future.

The Duke of Argyle opposed this bill as a cruel, unjust, and fanatical proceeding, and an encroachment upon the privileges of the royal burghs of Scotland, secured to them by the treaty of Union. "In all the proceedings of that time," said his Grace," the nation of Scotland treated with the English as a free and independent people; and as that treaty, my lords, had no other guarantee for the due performance of its articles, but the faith and honour of a British Parliament, it would be both unjust and ungenerous should this House agree to any proceedings that have a tendency to injure it."

Lord Hardwicke, in reply to the Duke of Argyle, seemed to insinuate, that his Grace had taken up the affair in a party point of view, to which the nobleman replied in the spirited language quoted in the text-Lord Hardwicke apologized. The bill was much modified, and the

Parliament House of Edinburgh may be trusted, it was the following anecdote which occasioned the disuse of the Demp ster's office :

clauses concerning the dismantling the city, and disbanding the Guard, were departed from. A fine of 20001. was imposed on the city for the benefit of Porteous's widow. She was contented to It chanced at one time that the office accept three-fourths of the sum, the pay of public executioner was vacant. There ment of which closed the transaction. It was occasion for some one to act as is remarkable, that, in our day, the Ma- Dempster, and, considering the party who gistrates of Edinburgh have had recourse generally held the office, it is not wonderto both those measures, held in such horror ful that a locum tenens was hard to be by their predecessors, as necessary steps found. At length, one Hume, who had for the improvement of the city. been sentenced to transportation, for an attempt to burn his own house, was induced to consent that he would pronounce the doom on this occasion. But when brought forth to officiate, instead of repeating the doom to the criminal, Mr. Hume addressed himself to their lordships in a bitter complaint of the injustice of his own sentence. It was in vain that he was interrupted, and reminded of the purpose for which he had come hither; “I ken what ye want of me weel eneugh," said the fellow," ye want me to be your Dempster; but I am come to be none of your Dempster, I come to summon you, Lord T-, and you, Lord E-, to answer at the bar of another world for the injustice you have done me in this." In short, Hume had only made a pretext of complying with the proposal, in order to have an opportunity of reviling the Judges to their faces, or giving them, in the phrase of his country, 66 a sloan." He was hurried off amid the laughter of the audience, but the indecorous scene which had taken place contributed to the abolition of the office of Dempster. The sentence is now read over by the clerk of court, and the formality of pronouncing doom is altogether omitted. Ib.

It may be here noticed, in explanation
of another circumstance mentioned in the
text, that there is a tradition in Scotland,
that George II., whose irascible temper is
said sometimes to have hurried him into
expressing his displeasure par voie du
fait, offered to the Duke of Argyle, in
angry audience, some menace of this na-
ture, on which he left the presence in
high disdain, and with little ceremony.
Sir Robert Walpole, having met the Duke
as he retired, and learning the cause of
his resentment and discomposure, endea-
voured to reconcile him to what had
happened by saying, "Such was his
Majesty's way, and that he often took
such liberties with himself without mean
ing any harm.” This did not mend
matters in M'Callummore's eyes, who
replied, in great disdain," You will
please to remember, Sir Robert, the in-
finite distance there is betwixt you and
me."
Another frequent expression of
passion on the part of the same monarch,
is alluded to in the old Jacobite song-

The fire shall get both hat and wig,
As oft times they've got a' that.

Ib.
DOOMSTER, OR DEMPSTER, OF COURT.
The name of this officer is equivalent to
the pronouncer of doom or sentence. In
this comprehensive sense, the Judges of
the Isle of Man were called Dempsters.
But in Scotland the word was long re-
stricted to the designation of an official
person, whose duty it was to recite the
sentence after it had been pronounced by
the Court, and recorded by the clerk; on
which occasion the Dempster legalized it
by the words of form," And this I pro-
nounce for doom"
For a length of
years, the office, as mentioned in the text,
was held in commendam with that of the
executioner; for when this odious but
necessary officer of justice received his
appointment, he petitioned the Court of
Justiciary to be received as their Dempster,
which was granted as a matter of course.
The production of the executioner in open
court, and in presence of the wretched
criminal, had something in it hideous and
disgusting to the more refined feelings of
later times. But if an old tradition of the

Customs of Warious Countries.

MAY FESTIVALS.

MAY-DAY is still observed at Great Gransden, in Cambridgeshire. On the evening, or night, preceding May-day, the young men (farmers' servants) go and cut the may or hawthorn boughs, which they bring home in bundles, and leave some at almost every house, according to the number of young persons in it, singing what they call the Night Song. On the evening of May-day, and the following evenings, they go round to every house where they left a bough, and sing the May Song. One is dressed with a shirt over his other clothes, and decorated with ribands, and is called the May Lord; another, in girls' clothes, is called the May Lady or Mary; this is evidently the remains of the Maid Marian of Shakspeare's time. One has a handkerchief

on a pole or stick as a flag, whose business it is to keep off the crowd. The rest have ribands in their hats. The May Song consists of sixteen verses, and is of a very religious cast; the poetry not very good. The money collected is spent in a feast of plumcake, bread and cheese,

and tea.

The May-day ceremonies are merely a relic of heathen customs; as the Romans on the four last days of April, and on the first of May, held their Floralia, or games in honour of Flora, the goddess of fruits and flowers. The Druids, who were the priests of the God of Nature, and celebrated every remarkable period in the change of the seasons, left a memorial of their religious rites on this day, very different from those instituted in honour of Flora; that is, a Beltein-rural sacrifice. It is to be traced in the mountainous and uncultivated parts of Cumberland, among the Cheviots, and in many parts of Scotland. Mr. Pennant gives a particular description of it in his Tour in Scotland: "On the first of May, in the Highlands of Scotland, the herdsmen of every village hold their Bel-tein; they cut a square trench in the ground, leaving the turf in the middle; on that they make a fire of wood, on which they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk, and bring, besides the ingredients of the caudle, plenty of beer and whisky, for each of the company must contribute something. The rites begin with spilling some of the caudle on the ground, by way of libation; on that every one takes a cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised nine square knobs, each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserver of their flocks and herds, or to some particular animal, the real destroyer of them; each person then turns his face to the fire, breaks off a knob, and, flinging it over his shoulder, says, This I give to thee, preserve thou my horses; this I give to thee, preserve thou my sheep;' and so on. After that, they use the same ceremony to the noxious animals: This I give to thee, O fox; spare thou my lambs; this to thee, O hooded crow; this to thee, eagle!' When the ceremony is over, they dine on the caudle," &c.

Something of this kind is retained in Northumberland, in the syllabub prepared for the May feast, which is made of warm milk from the cow, sweet cake, and wine; and a kind of divination is practised, by fishing with a ladle for a wedding-ring, which is dropped into it for the purpose of prognosticating who shall be first married.

The people in the southern part of Sweden, on this day, have an ancient

custom of assembling in the country places, when, for the celebration of the day, two troops of young men, well mounted, are formed as if for a regular engagement. The captain of one of these companies, chosen by lot, is intended to personify Winter, and is, consequently, dressed according to that season in the north. His clothing not only consists of a number of skins, but he takes upon himself to throw snowballs and pieces of ice about him, to prolong the cold. Thus riding up and down in triumph, his valour and hardihood are supposed to be increased in proportion to the time he can continue this exercise. His opponent, who is supposed to represent Summer, is styled Captain Florio; and, as there are scarcely any flowers at this time of the year, he is decorated with green boughs and leaves. These two personages, after much riding and curvetting, contrive to meet and fight: Summer is sometimes assisted by a band of horsemen bearing boughs of birch made green by art; but, however ardent the champions for Winter may be, the people always give the palm to Summer, because nature and inclination dispose them to shake off the iron yoke of Winter as soon as possible. Summer thus obtaining the victory, a general festival takes place, in which the libations peculiar to the northern nations

are most liberal.

The Jews commemorate the death of Samuel the Prophet, by a general mourning, on the 1st of May.-Family Mag.

Anecdotiana.

ANECDOTES FROM THE FRENCH.
For the Olio,

An upstart was boasting that he had travelled a great deal: "Then you ought to know geography well."" I have never been there," said he, "though I have been very near it."

"I have seen the devil," said a foolish fellow. As no one would believe him, he was asked what he was like ?" Like an ass," he replied. "Oh!" said they immediately, "he has been frightened by his shadow."

When Louis the Fifteenth was married the city of Paris gave dowries, and married young girls. One of them, the young Agnes, presenting herself to be inscribed, was asked where her intended was?"Oh! I have not any, Sir," said she, "I thought you furnished all."

A gentleman, coming away from the theatre, was asked what piece was performed?- -"Upon my word," said he, "it rained so fast when I went in, that I had not time to read the bill."

Diary and Chronology.

Wednesday, May 5.

St. Hilary, Bishop of Arles, d A.D. 449.-Sun rises 80m after 4-sets 31m after 7. My, 1760-Ex cuted pursuant to his sentence, Lawrence Earl Ferrers, for the murder of Mr. Johnson, his steward. The trial of this nobleman, which took place before the House of Lords, exhibits a striking instance of the perfect equality of our excellent laws; it lasted for nearly three days and ended by bringing him in guilty of felony and murder. The Lord Keeper Henley, who was appointed Lord High Steward of England, passed sentence of death upon his lordship on the 18th April. Thursday, May 6.

St. John ante Portam, d. A.D. 95.-High Water Ch 57mMorn —1h 16m After.

This favourite disciple of our Saviour, who so tenderly loved and was so tenderly beloved by his master, drank of his chalice, and experienced a large portion of bitterness when he assisted at his crucifixion. He was afterwards doomed to mar. tyrdom by the tyrant Domitian, the last of the twelve Cæsars.

May 6, 1667,-Expired suddenly, while speaking in the Academy of Caen, of which place he was Protestant minister, Samuel Bochart, eminent for his skill in the Oriental languages.

Friday, May 7.

St. John of Beverley, Bishop and Confessor.-Sun rises 28m after 4-sets 33m after 7. St. John.-Our saint mentioned to-day was Archbishop of York; he succeeded St. Bosa, and is said to have died A D. 728. Bede, who lived at the time, reports that many miracles were performed by him, and King Athelstan honoured him by erecting a sanctuary to his memory at Beverley.

May 7, 1811.-Died Richard Cumberland, termed the Terence of England. The writings of this clever author embrace the Drama, Essays, Poetry, and Translation.

He was

a rapid composer, and it is said that his heroic poem, Calvary, was completed at the rate of fifty lines a day. The best of his plays may be considered the West Indian: his fame, though, must not be estimated by either bis novels or his dramatic labours, but by his collection of Essays under the title of the Observer, which contain some well drawn pictures of life, and many interesting stories, and a series of remarks upon the Ancient Drama, displaying great classical knowledge. Mr. Cumberland, though he laboured hard through his long life for the amusement and instruction of the public, was, we lament to relate it, obliged even in his eightieth year, to rely upon his pen for subsistence.

Saturday May 8.

St. Gybian, died 8th Century.-Full Moon Oh 2m Morning

May 8, 1500.—Expired John Tame, Esq. an opulent merchant of Loudon; the wealth of this gentleman purchased the manor of Fairford, in Gloucestershire, where he erected a very beautiful church, celebrated for its painted windows. The glass they are composed of came into the possession of this wealthy citizen in the following curious manner: sailing with his vessels of enterprise, in the year 1492, he captured a ship bound from a Flemish port to Rome, laden with a vast quantity of painted glass, which he determined to have placed in a religious edifice. Making choice of Fairford, he commenced building the church in 1493, but died before it was finished. His son Sir Edward, however, completed the plous intention of his father, and disposed of the glass in 28 windows. The subjects are scriptural, and display the most important events in the life of our Saviour. Vandyke inspected them, and affirmed that they could not be equalled.

Sunday, May 9.

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.

Less. for the Day, 6 chap Deut. morn.-7 chap. Deut. even-St. Nicholas, B and Con. May 9, 1791.-Executed under the execrable tyranny of Robespierre, Authony Lavoisier, the celebrated French medical and chemical writer. He succeeded Buffon and Tillet as treasurer of the Academy; he became, also, farmer general, and commissary of the national treasury, which offices he filled with strictntegrity; but, notwithstanding his talents and virtues, he was dragged before the revolutionary tribunal, who sentenced him to death, and though he only asked for a little time to complete some important experiments he had at heart, he was ordered to be immediately guillotined.

Monday, May 10.

St. Achard, Bishop of Avranches.-High Water 14m aft 3 Morn-32m aft 3 After. May 10, 18.9-Died, T. 56, Thomas Young, M.D., an eminent scholar and philosopher. He was one of the editors of the Nautical Journal, and a large contributor to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Nicholson's Journal, and numerous other important works. The article on Egypt which he wrote for the Supplement to the above mentioned Encyclopædia will hand his name to posterity as one of the most learned Egyptian scholars the world can boast of.

Tuesday, May 11.

St. Mammertus, mar. died A.D. 477.-Sun rises 21m after 4-sets 40m after 7. May 11, 1812.-Assassinated whilst entering the lobby of the House of Commons, Mr. Percival, Chancellor of the Exchequer, by John Bellingham, who shot Mr. P. in the left breast; the ball entered his heart, he never spoke, but expired in ten minutes afterwards. The assassin, who surrendered himself immediately, proved to have been a Russian merchant, or engaged in some transactions with that country; he appeared to have no other motive for the crime, except that his victim had not obtained him redress from the court of Russia for some pretended wrongs which he had suffered.

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ILLUSTRATED ARTICLE.

Tales of the Tapestry;

A

THE DETHRONED.

TALE OF LICHFIELD.

BY HORACE GUILFORD.
For the Olio.

BEAUTIFUL was the sun-rise that burst, on the 8th of September 1398, over the magnificent towers and town of Lichfield. De Courtnaye, with Warner, now herding among the barons' assembled followers, could not help pausing on the hill brow that overlooked the fair vale, The blue sky was cloudless, the air brisk but sweet; orchards, gardens and woods spread their many coloured leaves, flowers and fruitage to the sparkling sun; the towers of the old castle, the steeples, gables and cloisters of the Franciscan friary, the spires of the various churches, mingling with the turrets and chimnies of the ancient houses; the massive, upheaved bulk of the towered Palace, to

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gether with the triple pyramids of the graceful Minster, all coronetted with thousands of weathercocks that sparkled in the morning ray, exhibited their mingled pomps. Houses of every shape and size, of stone, of brick and of timber work, with towerlets, pinnacles, porches and moulded roofs, disclosed their chequered hues amidst airy groves, severed here and there by the numerous lakes of this city of waters, whose broad blue bosoms were bell-peals swelled sweetly on the breeze. diamonded by the sun, while the mingled

As the baron's train approached the Close over Langton's Bridge, the bustle and glitter of the scene increased; the streets were hung with various coloured cloths and silks; tapestries, pictures and garlands almost hid the picturesque fronts of the different mansions, and the windows made a splendid display of gold and silver plate and jewels, varied perpetually with the fair faces and gorgeous raiment that shewed themselves over the carved balconies. Votaries to the shrine of Saint Chad were seen passing, in their gilded and vermilion coloured barges, over the Minster pool, to the courts of the

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