from Junius's Glossary in voce, and from sir Henry Spelman, v. Crotta, that it is a term of sufficient antiquity; nay it occurs even in Chaucer, who died A. D. 1400, or thereabouts; but then it may be justly doubted, whether at that time it meant exactly the same thing that is now meant by a fiddle or violin, for in the glossary to Chaucer, 'to crowde,' is explained, to play on a crowde, or any musical instrument; also, to sing, or to make any melody,' which leaves the matter a great deal too much at large for us to learn any thing determinate concerning the form and figure of the crowde at its first invention. In short, it might mean originally a musical instrument, very different from the violin, and afterwards might be appropriated to this particular one, by analogy, as often happens.

You see, Mr. Urban, that I for my part, can go but little into this subject, with any tolerable degree of certainty, no farther than the above notice can carry me. But these leave so much room, that they by no means give satisfaction, and therefore I should be glad of further assistance from some of your learned and musical correspondents; and in the mean time,

TRUTH is a thing so sacred with me, and a right conception of things, so valuable in my eye, that I always think it worth while to correct a popular mistake, though it be of the most trivial kind. Now, Sir, we have a species of dancing amongst us, which is commonly called country dancing, and so it is written; by which we are led to imagine, that it is a rustic way of dancing borrowed from the country people or peasants; and this I suppose is generally taken to be the meaning of it. But this, Sir, is not the case, for as our dances in general come from France, so does the country dance, which is a manifest corruption of the French

contredanse, where a number of persons, placing themselves opposite one to another, begin a figure. This now explains an expression we meet with in our old country dance books, long ways as many as will;' as our present English country dances are all in that manner, this direction seems to be very absurd, and superfluous; but if you have recourse to the original of these dances, and wilì but remember that the performers stood up opposite one to another in various figures, as the dance might require, you will instantly be sensible, that that expression has a sensible meaning in it, and is very proper and significant, as it directs a method or form different from others that might be in a square or any other figure.

1758, April.

Yours, &c.

PAUL GEMSEge.

XXXVII. Ancient Custom of Shepherds.

MR. URBAN,

As there is something very entertaining to the mind as well as useful, in reviewing the manners of antiquity; I should be obliged to any of your learned correspondents for the pleasure of knowing the methods, which the shepherds of Jewry, and the eastern countries followed in the care of their flocks. In St. John x. 3, 4, we have these words; To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: And he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out and when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.' On these words, Dr. Hammond observes, 1st, 'That the shepherds of Judea knew every sheep severally.' (This, as I have been informed, by a gentleman of true value, has been attained to by a shepherd in our own country;) 2dly, That the shepherds of that country had a distinct name for every sheep, which each sheep knew and answered by obediential coming, or following, to that call.' This, as very unusual with us, scarcely gains credit.-And

* Marshal Bassompierre, speaking of his dancing country dances here in England, in the time of king Charles I. writes it expressly contredanses, See his Memoires, tom. iii. p. 307.

yet what is there wonderful in it?-Why might not names be given to flocks of sheep, as well as to herds of bullocks? And why may not sheep, led into their fold every night by the shepherd, and brought out every morning, (fed when young, in a great measure too by hand) be taught to follow the accustomed voice of their shepherd, and distinguish that voice too from the voice of a stranger.-That the shepherds gave them names, appears in some measure from the above-cited passage of St. John, but more fully from Theocritus, Id. v. 1. 103, 104. where a shepherd calls three of his sheep by their names; and that the shepherds often went before, while the flock followed, is above asserted by St. John in express words. Hence God, who is said to go be fore the Israelites, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night, is, Psalm lxxx. 1. styled the shepherd of Israel that led Joseph like a flock;' hence the title of shepherd, Is. xliv. 28, is given by God to Cyrus, and by the most ancient authors to kings, who headed their armies to battle; and since David was an expert shepherd, as well as divine poet, after whose sweet strains his flock doubtless went, the fable of Orpheus may, I think, be easily deduced from thence.

But the care of these shepherds did not stop here. They seem to have trained up the ram to collect the flock, when any way scattered, and thus to draw them together in that regular order, in which sheep brought together almost naturally stand. Let it be observed, that I am not here positive, though Lucian says of Polyphemus the shepherd, i λάμενος τῷ κριῷ, ὁπόσα ἔχρην πρατλεῖν αὐτὸν ὑπὲς ἐμᾶ, 6 ordering the ram what things he ought to do for me.' Homer has a com parison of the same nature; and it must be owned, that all poetical comparisons, either were known, or supposed to have a real existence in nature, and that Homer would not have compared Ulysses, drawing up his men, to a ram or dering the flock, unless some such thing had really, or sup posedly, been done. The words of Homer may as well be seen in Mr. Pope's translation as in the original.

Then said, once more he viewed the warrior train:
What's he, whose arms lie scattered on the plain?
Broad is his breast, his shoulders larger spread;
Tho' great Atrides overtops his head.
Nor yet appear his care and conduct small;
From rank to rank he moves and orders all:
The stately ram thus measures o'er the ground,
And, master of the flock, surveys them round.

This use of the ram at present our sheep dogs supply; but the dogs of the shepherds at that time appear from Theocritus (see Id. v. 1. 106. and Id. vi. 1. 10.) to be wolfdogs, kept to preserve the flock from wolves, and other

wild beasts.

There remains yet one very curious observation, and established on the indisputable authority of Philo Judæus. That philosopher, a Jew, born and bred in Egypt, must of course be acquainted with their customs, and has these remarkable words in his first chapter concerning the creation. Κριοι βρίθοντες βαθεσι μαλλοις ὑποποκοι κατα την έαρος ώραν ὑπο ποιμενος κελευσθεντες ιστανται μετα ηρεμίας, και ήσυχη κατακλίνοντες εμπαρέχεσιν αποκείρεσθαι το εξιον, εθιζομενοι, καθαπερ αἱ πολεις, τον ετησιον αποδίδοναι δασμού τῷ βασιλεί φύσει. Woolly rams laden with thick Heeces, in spring season, being ordered by their shepherd, stand without moving, and silently stooping a little, put themselves into his hand to have their wool shorn; being accustomed, as cities are, to pay their yearly tribute to man, their king by nature.' Their sheep, it is plain, stood unconstrained before the hand of the shearer.

These things may appear strange to us, who never attempted to know what the docility of a sheep is; and I shall leave it to the consideration of naturalists, whether or no the shepherds of these countries were not much assisted in this their government of their sheep, by giving them names, while in the state of lambs, and by using them to go and come daily by these names. Our Saviour's expression in St. John, of calling his own sheep by name, and leading them out,' seems to favour this hypothesis. If this is granted, then all the other difficulties vanish; since every creature, conversant about man, is known to be teachable by names and sounds continually impressed on him, to do things almost incredible to those, who do not duly consider the docility of these creatures. I shall only add, that a sheep standing in this silent inclining posture, willing to part with his fleece for the good of man, is justly made by the prophet Isaiah, chap. liii. v. 7. to image out our Saviour, who laid down his life of himself,' standing in the most meek, uncomplaining manner, before his judge, when he was foppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, when he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.'

South Moulton, Dec. 3, 1758, 1758, Dec.

Yours, &c.

JOHN COLERIDGE.

XXXVIII. On the Causes of Dryness in Dead Bodies.

MR. URBAN, Westminster, Dec. 8. IF the silence of the grave can sometimes afford a theme of instruction; the following occurrence, may perhaps occasion a speculative mind to take wing, in search of new discoveries.

In digging up the earth, to lay a foundation for a vault, in the church of St. Margaret, Westminster, towards the beginning of June last; the workmen broke into an old coffin, in which they found the body of a woman; which, from the condition it was then in, must have been buried many years. The skin and flesh were entirely dried up, and appeared to be of the same consistency with vellum or parchment; and in colour very much resembling the latter. The features were all perfect, except the nose, which was almost gone; and the mouth, the upper lip of which, on the right, was in some measure decayed. The nails were all perfect on the hands; and on the left foot appeared something like the remains of a stocking; which, upon examination, was thicker than ordinary, and made of thread.

As curiosity, Mr. Urban, had drawn a great many people to the church, to view these uncorrupted remains of mortality, I went there among the rest, with a design to enter upon a cool and deliberate examination of the matter, and to discover, if possible, the cause of such a preservation. The workmen were unable to give me any satisfaction as to the exact length of time it had lain in the ground: no plate, or inscription of any kind being found upon the spot, or thereabouts, even to warrant a conjecture. With a three foot rule I measured the figure, and found the length of it to be four feet eleven inches. From the common fate that attends objects of this nature, one would have expected, that these remains, upon being exposed to the air, would have undergone a sensible, if not a total dissolution; but, although this figure was handled and examined many days, little or no alteration ensued. There was nothing in the appearance that was ghastly or odious, like what we experience from the view of a body recently buried: but, to speak in the language of a medalist, there was a venerable rouge on the figure, that was rather inviting; for it bore a strong resemblance to an Egyptian mummy, stripped of its bandages.

The simple curiosity of an inconsiderate mind is a passion easily gratified, and to the multitude the bare sight of these