(now England,) as well as that of Albania, from Albanic' who possessed Scotland.-Brut y Brenhinoedd. ENGLAND. Egbert, King of the West-Saxons, to keep up the memory of his own nation, published an edict; wherein it was ordered that the whole heptarchy which the Saxons had possessed themselves of should be called Englelond, i. e. the Land of the Angles: which was about the year 800; and hence came the name of England, and the Latin name Anglia.-Gibson's Camden. CHEQUERS. White and red, or blue and red Chequers, even now form an ornament of many publc-houses, being painted in front on either door-post. These chequers are nothing more than a remnant of the lattices, which formerly performed the office of glass in our ale-house windows, and which in time became a sort of sign for such places. The bars of the lattice were of various colours, crossed something like trellicework, and indeed the whole is very sufficiently pourtrayed by the Chequer, which has usurped its place as a sign, though useless in any other respect. Allusions to the lattice are scattered abundantly through the pages of our old dramatists, who in fact are excellent historians of the manners and habits of their own time. Thus Ben Jonson, in Every Man in his Humour, Act 3, Scene 3:— Cob. I dwell, sir, at the sign of the Water Tankard, hard by the Green Lattice: I have paid scot and lot there any time these eighteen years. Clem. To the Green Lattice? Cob. No, sir; to the parish. Marry, I have seldom scap'd scot-free at the Lattice." Hence Green Lattice, or as it is now improperly called, Green Lettuce Lane, in the city. Thus too Serjeant Hall, in the Tatler, directs a letter to his brother, at the Red Lettuce (Lattice) in Butcher's Row.', Again, we have in Shakspear, Henry IV. Part II. Act 2, Scene 2. Page. He called me even now, my lord, through a Red Lattice, and I could discern no part of his face from the window; at last I spied his eyes, and methought he had made two holes in the alewife's new petticoat, and peeped through.' WASSEL OR WASSAL. A remnant of this part of our Saxon manners still exists at Yarmouth, and strange to say, in no other part of the Isle of Wight. On the first day of the new year, the children collect together and sing Wassel or Wassal through the street; the following is their song: Wassal, Wassal, to our Town! The cup is white and the ale is brown; I wish you all a happy new year! PORTER. Before the year 1730, the malt liquors in general use in London were ale, beer, and a drink named two-penny. It was then customary to call for a pint or tankard of half and half, i.e. half of ale and half of beer, half of ale and half of twopenny. In course of time it also became the practice to call for a pint, or tankard, of three-threads, meaning a third of ale, beer, and twopenny; and thus the publican had the trouble to go to three casks, and turn three cocks for a pint of liquor. To avoid this inconvenience and waste, a brewer of the name of Harwood conceived the idea of making a liquor, which should partake of the same united flavours of ale, beer, and two-penny; he did so, and succeeded, calling it entire or entire-butt, meaning that it was drawn entirely from one cask, or butt, and as it was a very hearty and nourishing liquor, and supposed to be very suitable for porters and other working people, it obtained the name of Porter. (To be Resumed.) THE WILD MAN. In the year 1774, a savage, or wild man, was discovered by the shepherds who fed their flocks in the neighbourhood of the forest of Yuary. This man, who inhabited the rocks that lay near the forest, was very tall, covered with hair like a bear, nimble as the hisars, of a gay humour, and in all appearance of a mild character, as he neither did nor seemed to intend harm to any body. He often visited the cottages, without ever attempting to carry off any thing. He had no knowledge of bread, milk, or cheese. His greatest amusement was to see the sheep running and to scatter them, and he testified his pleasure at this sight by loud fits of laughter, but never attempted to hurt these innocent animals. When the shepherds, (as was frequently the case,) let loose the dogs after him, he fled with the swiftness of an arrow shot from a bow, and never allowed the dogs to come too near him. One morning he came to the cottage of some workmen, and one of them endeavouring to get near him and catch him by the leg,, he laughed heartily, and then made his escape. He seemed to be about thirty years of age. As the forest in question is very extensive, and has a communication with vast woods that belong to the Spanish territory, it is natural to suppose that this solitary but cheerful creature had been lost in his infancy, and had subsisted on herbs. PETER, THE WILD BOY. "PETER, commonly known by the name of Peter, the wild boy, lies buried in this church-yard*, opposite to the porch. In the year 1725 he was found in the woods near Hamelen, a fortified town in the electorate of Hanover, when his majesty George I. with his attendants, was hunting in the forest of Hertswold. He was supposed to be then about twelve years of age, and had subsisted in these woods upon the bark of trees, leaves, berries, &c. for some considerable length of time. How long he had continued in that wild state is altogether uncertain; but that he had formerly been under the care of some person, was evident from the remains of a shirt-collar about his neck at the time when he was found. As Hamelon was a town where criminals were confined to work upon the fortifications, it was then conjectured at Hanover that Peter might be the issue of one of those criminals, who had either wandered into the woods and could not find his way back again, or being discovered to be an idiot, was inhumanly turned out by his parents, and left to perish or shift for himself. In the following year, 1726, he was brought over to England. Notwithstanding there appeared to be no natural defect in his organs of speech; after all the pains that had been taken with him he could never be brought distinctly to articulate a single syllable, and proved ***** North Church. totally incapable of receiving any instruction."— North Church Parish Register, Hertfordshire. The register proceeds to give a long and particular account of Peter's being put under the care of various persons. He appeared to have been unable to speak to the very last, though every endeavour was made for his instruction. He danced to music, however, and could hum a tune. For a further description of this singular being, who lived till the age of 72, I refer my readers to the Parish Register, to the Annual Register, (Dodsley's) for 1784 and 5, and to all the other periodical works and miscellaneous collections of that period. It seems that he was generally considered to be an ideot, though his countenance bore not that appearance. There is no reason to believe that he could speak when he was lost, and his being left in the woods or lost there, before the organs of speech were exercised, will account for his never arriving at a distinct utterance of the simplest expressions. That he danced when he heard a tune, till he was exhausted with fatigue, can easily be accounted for, and it proves him to have been no idiot. This is further evinced by the account of a Mr. Burgess, transmitted to Lord Monboddo, and inserted by him in his Ancient Metaphysics, by which it appears that Peter could count twenty, and answer various questions distinctly. THE WILD GIRLS. In the year 1731, as a nobleman was shooting at Songi, near Chalons, in Champagne, he saw something at a dis tance in the water which he took for a couple of birds, and at which he fired. The supposed birds avoided the shot by diving instantly under the water, and rising at another place, they made to the shore, when it appeared that they were two children about nine or ten years of age. They carried ashore with them several fishes, which they tore in pieces with their fore-teeth, and swallowed without chewing. As they were going from the shore, one of them found a rosary, probably dropped by some traveller, at which she testified great joy by screaming and jumping about. In order to keep it to herself, she covered it with her hand; but her companion, who perceived this, gave her such a blow upon the hand with a sort of club, that she could not move it. With her other hand, however, she struck her companion in return such a blow upon the head with a similar club, as brought her to the ground with a loud shriek. The victor made herself a bracelet with the rosary, but she still had so much pity on her companion, that she covered her wound with the skin of a fish which she stripped off, and bound it up with the slip of the bark of a tree. They then parted. The girl that had been wounded returned to the river, and was never after seen; the other went to the village of Songi. The ignorant people were frightened at her singular appearance, for her colour was black, and she had on a scanty covering of rags and skins of animals. They set a great dog at her, but she waited his attack without stirring from her place, and as soon as he was within reach, gave him such a blow on the head with her club as laid him dead on the spot. Unable to gain admission into any house, for every door was shut against her, she returned into the fields, climbed up a tree, and there took her repose. The Viscount d'Epi. noy, who was then at his seat at Songi, offered a reward to any one who would catch this wild girl. As it was supposed she would be thirsty, a bucket of water was placed under the tree to entice her down. On awaking, she looked cautiously around, came down and drank, but immediately ascended to the summit of the tree, as if she thought herself not otherwise secure. At length she was allured to come down by a woman, who walked under the tree with a child in her arms, and offered her fish and roots. When she had descended, some persons lying in wait seized her, and conveyed her to the Viscount's seat. At first she was taken into the kitchen, where she fell upon some wild fowl, and ate them up before the cook missed them. A rabbit being offered her, she immediately stripped off the skin and devoured the flesh. An opportunity of observing her with more ease was now obtained, and it was found that the black colour of her skin was accidental; for, after she had been repeatedly washed, her naturally fair complexion appeared. Her hands were upon the whole well formed, only the fingers, and the thumb, in particular, were uncommonly strong, which was undoubtedly ascribable to her frequently climbing trees, as she would swing herself from one to another like a squirrel, The Vis |