March 8. a crotchet answers to two times in ALLOW me to offer a few decal tory remarks on the musical principles of Latin and Greek versi fication, in reply to "PEDAGOGUS" (vol. XC. ii. 194), who" cannot possibly conceive that the divine melody of antient numbers is perceptible to the moderns." The grand and important error of modern scholars is that of confound ing quantity and accent. Without a just and proper distinction in these two material points, no harmonious effect can ever be felt or produced; and the divine melody of Homer and Virgil must be ineffectual; but by a strict attention to these essentials, the purest principles of music and the "powers of song" glow in every line. The following musical scales, or staves, will, in some degree, illustrate the important difference between Quantity and Accent. For this purpose it is only requisite to adopt the common crotchet [] and quaver [], in order to render the subject intelligible, even to those unacquainted with musical characters. As Quadrupedante pútrēm in Prosody, does the long syllable [-] correspond with the time of two short ones []. A bar, in common time, may consist of two crotchets, or four quavers; and a foot, in hexametrical versification, contains two long syllables, or one long syllable and two short ones, amounting uniformly to the time of four short syllables. In an hexameter verse, there are six feet, or bars, that uniformly produce the time of twentyfour short syllables, which answer to as many quavers in music. In order to facilitate the scanning, the verse may be divided into spondees and anapæsts, by placing the bar after the first long syllable, as is generally done in the musical stave; so that the bar, or division of feet, will nearly always occur at the cæsura, or penthemimeris of the verse, instead of confusedly intersecting the words, as generally happens in the common method of scanning; thus the first and last syllable of each verse will form a complete foot, or bar. sónitu quátit ungula campum. By this scale, or stave, it appears that Accent is nothing more, in antient versification, than the elevation or ictus of the voice, and Quantity the prolongation of it. Accent as frequently occurs on short syllables, as on long ones; though both quantity and accent frequently happen on the same syllable. As this important distinction, in the Latin and Greek languages, is often difficult to a modern ear, it would be best for those who cannot well perceive the difference, to make quantity the primary consideration, and accent the secondary one. In the above example, the word sónitu forms a complete bar, and must be pronounced anapæstically; the first syllable being the highest note in the bar, although only half the length of the last one, Thus the whole verse sounds like the clangor of a trumpet, or the clattering of horses' hoofs, having some notes sharp and loud, and others full and long, though not so loud.-If a long quantity be placed on the first syllables of putrem and sonitu, as frequently happens, the effect is totally destroyed. When properly read, the verse runs anapæstically, or dactylically, thus * :-tom | ti-ti-tom | ti-titom | ti-ti-tom | ti-ti-tom | ti-ti-tom | tom. But, according to the usual method of reading and scanning, as taught in most schools, the verse hobbles like a swan out of water. Let us now try the effect of a spondaic and dactylic hexameter on the same scale: Jamque faces, et saxa vólaut; furor arma ministrat. Let the first syllable of ti-ti be pronounced very short; still preserving its acute accent, thus-tit-i. 208 Principles of Latin and Greek Versification. In this verse there exists a most beautiful variation of dactyls and spondees; and by a proper pronunciation the exact time of 24 breves, or quavers, is correctly preserved. There are not less than six dissyllables, which in English metre would be too monotonous; but by a most delightful arrangement of feet the mad fury of an impetuous rabble is admi [March, rably pourtrayed. The first word is a trochee, the second an iambic, the third a trochee, the fourth an iambic, the fifth a pyrrhic, and the sixth a trochee. But, according to the Oxonian mode of pronunciation, every dissyllable in the verse is a trochee; by which method the most discordant and ridiculous jumbling is produced, as appears by the following scale : Jamque faces, et saxa võlant; furor arma ministrat, According to the phrase of musicians, the verse will confusedly tune thus: tom-ti-tom | ti-tom | tom-ti-tom | titom-ti tom-li-ti | tom-tom; - how barbarous! how unmusical! how inconsistent with the majesty of Virgil's verses! On the contrary, when his lines are read according to the true scale of quantity and accent, the time may be so exactly beat, notwithstanding the numerous variations of feet, that a student might walk several miles, stepping regularly with every bar, or foot, and instantly discover how many paces had been taken. By allowing two paces for every bar, or foot, the verse tunes, according to the true scale, thus: tom ti-ti-tom tom-tom | ti-ti-tom | ti-ti tom | ti-ti-tom | tom. In thus dividing the verse, the left foot will in. variably beat time to the end of each bar, or foot, and every hexameter or pentameter be readily proved.-By adapting a few verses to the proposed scale, it will be seen that the acute accent as frequently falls upon short syllables as long ones. When the accent falls upon a long syllable, there will be both an elevation and a prolongation of the voice; that is, a crotchet on the highest part of the scale. The reader should be particu larly cautious that a long quantity is not substituted for an acute accent; to avoid this a breve is superscribed, wherever the error is likely to oc cur. Est locus (Hesperiam | Grăii ] cognomine dicunt); Terra antiqua, potens | armis, | atque ubere glebæ; Enŏtrii | coluere viri; | nunc fama minores By adopting a system of reading Latin and Greek poetry similar to the one proposed, the student may soon render himself familiar with all the beautiful variations of heroic verse. The classical scholar will thus be enabled to compose harmonious verses with facility, and judge of their merit by the ear, instead of scanning them over by rule in order to prove their correctness. The reader of antient versification, by pursuing this plan, in the Greek language also, will soon discover the various applications of the Accents, a subject which has excited the controversy of the learned at different times, ever since the decline of the Greek language. It is my intention to illustrate these nuga difficiles by the musical stave, in a future Number. (To be continued.) P. A. N. Mr, COMPENDIUM OF COUNTY HISTORY. SHROPSHIRE. (Continued from p. 112.) 642. At Oswestry, then called Maserfield, St. Oswald, King of Northumbria, defeated and slain by Penda, the hoary tyrant of Mercia. 777. From Shrewsbury, the Pengwerne of the Britons, the Royal seat of the Princes of Powys, removed to Mathrafael. 1016. Shrewsbury taken by Edmund Ironside, and the inhabitants, who had joined Canute against Edmund's father Ethelred, severely punished.-Near Shrewsbury, Alphelm, a Prince of the blood, murdered whilst hunting, by Godwin Porthund, a butcher of that town, hired by Edric Streon, the execrable Earl of Mercia. 1069. Shrewsbury besieged by Eric Sylvaticus or the Forester, and Owen Gwynnedd, Prince of Wales; but relieved, and the Welsh defeated with great slaughter by William the Conqueror. 1102. Bridgenorth (after a long siege) and Shrewsbury, both garrisoned for Robert Duke of Normandy by Robert de Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury and Montgomery, taken by Henry I. 1116. At Shrewsbury the nobility of the realm swore fealty to William, son of Henry 1. 1188. Ludlow, under Gervase Paganel, besieged by Stephen; when Henry, son of David King of Scotland, approaching too near the walls, was dragged from his horse by a grappling hook thrown out by the besieged, but rescued, though at the imminent peril of his own life, by Stephen. 1139. Shrewsbury, which had been seized by William Fitzalan, Lord of Oswestry, for the Empress Maud, taken, after a brave defence, and several of the garrison hanged by Stephen. 1156-7. Bridgnorth, under Hugh de Mortimer, besieged by Henry H. when Sir Robert Synclare, or Hubert de St. Clare, Constable of Colchester Castle, perceiving one of the besieged taking aim at the King, stepped before him and received the arrow in his own breast. 1164. At Oswestry Henry II. assembled his army to attempt the subjugation of the Welsh. 1208. At Shrewsbury Gwynwynwyn, Prince of Wales, who came before the Royal Council in this town to propose terms of peace, treacherously seized and imprisoned. 1212. Oswestry, under its Lord Fitzalan, taken and burnt, by John.-At Shrewsbury, Rees ap Maelgwyn, a boy not 7 years old, who had been delivered as a hostage by the Welsh, inhumanely hanged by order of Vipon, a retainer of King John. 1215. Shrewsbury surrendered, without resistance, to Llewellyn, Prince of Wales. 1221. At Shrewsbury a quarrel between Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, and Rees ap Gruffyth, determined by the mediation of Henry III. 1233. Oswestry taken and burnt by Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, and the Earl of Pembroke, who afterwards took Shrewsbury, and plundered and slaughtered many of the inhabitants. 1241. At Shrewsbury Henry III. assembled his army to attack David ap Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, but on his submission, Henry, after remaining there 15 days, returned to London. 1260. Shrewsbury taken by the insurgent barons, but shortly afterwards retaken by the forces of Henry III. 1263. Bridgnorth taken by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. 1267. At Shrewsbury Henry III. appeared with his army to attack the Welsh, but peace was restored on the submission of their Prince Llewellyn. GENT. MAG. March, 1821. 1269. 210 Compendium of County History-Shropshire. [March, 1269. Shrewsbury town and castle placed under the government of Prince Edward, afterwards Edward I. 1277. At Shrewsbury the Courts of King's Bench and Exchequer established for some months by Edward I. 1281. To Shrewsbury the Courts of King's Bench and Exchequer again removed from London by Edward I. and remained here until he had accomplished the complete subjugation of Wales. 1283. At Shrewsbury a Parliament held by Edward I. when David, brother of Llewellyn the last Prince of Wales, was hanged, his bowels torn out, and his body quartered; being the first instance of the horrid mode of execution which in cases of high treason is prescribed by our present law. The Parliament removed to Acton Burnell, where was passed the act respecting Merchant Debtors, entitled "Statutum de Mercatoribus," called also "The Statute of Acton Burnell." 1322. In entering Shrewsbury Edward II. received by the Burgesses with great military parade. 1327. At Shrewsbury Edmund Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, a faithful adherent to the deposed Edward II, against the Queen and her paramour Mortimer, seized by the inhabitants, and executed without any form of trial. 1396-7. At Shrewsbury a Parliament held by Richard II. called, from the numbers that attended, "The Great Parliament." In it many Peers were created, Chester was made a Principality, and several oppressive laws were enacted, which formed some of the subjects of accusation brought against Richard by Henry of Bolingbroke, when he usurped the throne. On its dissolution the King went to Oswestry, where the Duke of Hereford (afterwards Henry IV.) and the Duke of Norfolk appeared before him, and it was determined that they should decide their quarrel by single combat at Coventry. 1403. Near Shrewsbury, July 22, the partizans of the Earl of Northumberland defeated by Henry IV. when their Commander, the Earl's eldest son, Henry Percy, surnamed Hotspur, was slain. On the King's part fell the Earl of Stafford, Sir Walter Blount the royal standard bearer, Sir Hugh Shirley, and Sir Nicholas Gausel; Henry had his horse slain under him, and the Prince of Wales was wounded in the face. Of the vanquished, besides Hotspur, Sir Hugh Mortimer, Sir John Calverly, and Sir John Massey, were slain. The Earl of Worcester, brother of Northumberland, Sir Richard Vernon, and Sir Theobald Trussel were taken prisoners, and beheaded at Shrewsbury high cross. The Scotch Earl Douglas, who is said to have slain three persons who were clothed by the King in armour resembling his own, was also taken prisoner on Haughmond Hill. The number slain in the battle and pursuit was about 9000 men, of which, twothirds were of Percy's party. In gratitude for this victory, Henry built and endowed a Collegiate Church on the spot, where most of the slain were buried, which has ever since been called Battle-field. 1451. At Ludlow Richard Duke of York published a declaration of allegiance to Henry VI. and that the army he had raised was merely for the redress of grievances, and for the public weal. 1459. At Ludford, Oct. 13, Henry VI. having advanced with a superior army, was joined by Sir Andrew Trollope, with a large body of troops that had deserted the Duke of York at Ludlow, on which the Duke, with his sons the Earl of March, afterwards Edward IV. and the Earl of Rutland, and his valiant friends the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, fled; York and Rutland to Ireland, March, Salisbury, and Warwick, to Calais. The King then entered and plundered Ludlow. 1460. At Shrewsbury, Edward Earl of March assembled an army of 23,000 men, with which he gained a victory over the Earl of Pembroke and the Lancastriaus at Mortimer Cross, in Herefordshire. 1483. From Ludlow, Edward V. and his brother Richard Duke of York, who were living at the castle under the tuition of their maternal uncle, Widville Earl Rivers, set out for London, Edward having been first claimed King at this place. pro 1484. At Shrewsbury Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, having been betrayed by his servant Ralph Bannister, was beheaded by order of Richard III. before the High Cross. 1485. Into Shrewsbury the Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII. on his march from Milford Haven, admitted without opposition: but the chief bailiff, Thomas Mytton, having sworn that Richmond should not enter the town but over his belly (meaning that he would defend the place against him till death) to comply with the letter of his oath, laid himself in the high road, and Henry walked over him into the town. From Shrewsbury Richmond marched to Newport, near which place he was joined by Sir Gilbert Talbot, Sheriff of Shropshire, with 2000 of the tenantry and retainers of the Earl of Shrewsbury, a minor, to whom he was uncle and guardian. 1502. At Ludlow (April) died Arthur Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII. who, after his marriage with Katharine of Arragon, had kept his court there with great magnificence. 1535. Oswestry, Whittington, Maesbrook, Knock yn, Ellesmere, Down and Cherbury, by Act of Parliament severed from Wales and annexed to this county. 1542. The Jurisdiction of the Court of the Lords President of the Marches at Ludlow, confirmed by Act of Parliament. 1616. At Ludlow, Prince Charles, afterwards Charles I. entertained with great pomp. 1642. At Wellington, Sept. 20, Charles I. issued a Proclamation promising to preserve the Protestant Religion, Laws, and Liberties of his subjects, and the privileges of Parliament. Thence he marched to Shrewsbury, where he was joined by his two sons, Charles and James, Prince Rupert, and great numbers of noblemen and gentlemen, and established a mint in the town. He remained there till Oct. 12, when he marched to Bridgnorth, and thence advanced to Edge-hill, in Warwickshire, where the first great battle was fought. 1644. Longford House (April 3) and Tong Castle (April 6), taken from the Parliamentarians by Prince Rupert. Oswestry (June) taken from the Royalists by the Earl of Denbigh, when the inhabitants gave 500l. to prevent the soldiers from plundering.-Oswestry (July) besieged by the Royalists under Colonel Marrowe, but relieved by Sir Thomas Middleton, who took Lord Newport's eldest son, and 200 men prisoners. 1645. Apley House (February) taken by the Parliamentarians under Sir John Price, when Sir William and Sir Thomas Whitmore, Sir Francis Oatley, and about 60 men, were made prisoners. Shrewsbury (Feb. 9) surprised, its Governor, Sir Michael Earnly, slain, 15 pieces of ordnance, about 60 gentlemen, and 200 soldiers, taken by Colonel Mytton, the Parliamentarian Governor of Wem.. At Stokesay, near Ludlow, (June 9) Royalists defeated, and Sir William Croft slain by the Parliamentarians. 1646. Bridgnorth Castle, after a noble defence of one month, surrendered to the Parliamentarians. Ludlow (June 9) surrendered by the Royalists to Sir William Brereton. 1651. At White Ladies Priory, at 3 o'clock in the morning of Sept. 4, arrived Charles II. and the brave Earl of Derby, flying from the fatal battle of Worcester. Charles had his hair cut off, and was disguised in the clothes of the Pendrills. Hence he was conducted to Boscobel House, where he was concealed during the night, and in the day time he hid himself with Colonel Careless in the "Royal Oak." From Boscobel he was conducted by the five faithful brothers, the Pendrills, to Mr. Whitgrave's house, at Moseley, in Staffordshire. At Shrewsbury (Oct. 15) Colonel John Benbow, uncle to the renowned admiral, was shot on the Castle green. 1654. Shrewsbury Castle ineffectually attempted to be surprised by Sir Thomas Harries, for the King. 1689. The Jurisdiction of the Court of the Lords President of the Marches held at Ludlow, abolished by act of Parliament. EMINENT |
