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Page 4
"What shall we have to our supper?
Humble-dum, &c.
Three beanes in a pound of butter,
Tweedle, &c.
"When supper they were at,
Humble-dum, &c.
The frogge, the Mouse, and even the Rat,
Tweedle, &c.
"Then came in Gib our Cat,
Humble-dum, &c.
And catcht the Mouse even by the backe,
Tweedle, &c.
"Then did they separate,
Humble-dum, &c.
And the Frogge leapt on the floore so flat,
Tweedle, &c.
"Then came in Dicke our Drake,
Humble-dum, &c.
And drew the Frogge even to the lake,
Tweedle, &c.
"The Rat ran up the wall,
Humble-dum, &c
A goodly company, the Divell goe with all,
Tweedle, &c."
From what I have shown, the reader will agree with me, that a collector of
ballads from oral tradition should possess some acquaintance with the
labours of his predecessors. This knowledge is surely the smallest part of
the duties of an editor.
I remember reading, some years ago, in the writings of old Zarlino (an
Italian author of the sixteenth century), an amusing chapter on the
necessary qualifications for a "complete musician." The recollection of
this forcibly returns to me after perusing the following extract from the
preface to a _Collection of Ballads_ (2 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1828), by our
"simple" but well-meaning friend, "Mr. Peter Buchan of Peterhead."
"No one has yet conceived, nor has it entered the mind of man, what
patience, perseverance, and general knowledge are necessary for an
editor of a Collection of Ancient Ballads; nor what mountains of
difficulties he has to overcome; what hosts of enemies he has to
encounter; and what myriads of little-minded quibblers he has to
silence. The writing of explanatory notes is like no other species of
literature. History throws {52} little light upon their origin [the
ballads, I suppose?], or the cause which gave rise to their
composition. He has to grope his way in the dark: like Bunyan's
pilgrim, on crossing the Valley of the Shadow of Death, he hears sounds
and noises, but cannot, to a certainty, tell from whence they come, nor
to what place they proceed. The one time, he has to treat of fabulous
ballads in the most romantic shape; the next, legendary, with all its
exploded, obsolete, and forgotten superstitions; also history, tragedy,
comedy, love, war, and so on; all, perhaps, within the narrow compass
of a few hours,--so varied must his genius and talents be."
After this we ought surely to rejoice, that any one hardy enough to become
an Editor of Old Ballads is left amongst us.
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
* * * * *
THE FATHER OF PHILIP MASSINGER.
Gifford was quite right in stating that the name of the father of
Massinger, the dramatist, was Arthur, according to Oldys, and not Philip,
according to Wood and Davies. Arthur Massinger (as he himself spelt the
name, although others have spelt it Messenger, from its supposed etymology)
was in the service of the Earl of Pembroke, who married the sister of Sir
Philip Sidney, in whose family the poet Daniel was at one time tutor. I
have before me several letters from him to persons of note and consequence,
all signed "Arthur Massinger;" and to show his importance in the family to
which he was attached, I need only mention, that in 1597, when a match was
proposed between the son of Lord Pembroke and the daughter of Lord
Burghley, Massinger, the poet's father, was the confidential agent employed
between the parties. My purpose at present is to advert to a matter which
occurred ten years earlier, and to which the note I am about to transcribe
relates. It appears that in March, 1587, Arthur Massinger was a suitor for
the reversion of the office of Examiner in the Court of the Marches toward
South Wales, for which also a person of the name of Fox was a candidate;
and, in order to forward the wishes of his dependent, the Earl of Pembroke
wrote to Lord Burghley as follows:--
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