1) and
a letter from Bishop Warburton to Hurd (Apr.
a letter from Bishop Warburton to Hurd (Apr.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
In 1622 Taylor brought out a collection
of verse called 'Sir Gregory Non-sense His Newes from no place,' and
it may have been this very book in manuscript that suggested Jonson's
title. In the play of _King Darius_, 1106, one of the actors says:
'I had rather then my new nothing, I were gon. '
=1. 1. 97 his Almaine-leape into a custard. = 'In the earlier days,
when the city kept a fool it was customary for him at public
entertainments, to leap into a large bowl of custard set on
purpose. '--W. Whalley refers also to _All's well that Ends Well_
2. 5: 'You have made a shift to run into it, boots and all, like
him that leapt into the custard. '
Gifford quotes Glapthorne, _Wit in a Const. _:
The custard, with the four and twenty nooks
At my lord Mayor's feast.
He continues: 'Indeed, no common supply was required; for, besides
what the Corporation (great devourers of custard) consumed on the
spot, it appears that it was thought no breach of city manners to
send, or take some of it home with them for the use of their ladies. '
In the excellent old play quoted above, Clara twits her uncle with
this practise:
Now shall you, sir, as 'tis a frequent custom,
'Cause you're a worthy alderman of a ward,
Feed me with custard, and perpetual white broth
Sent from the lord Mayor's feast. '
Cunningham says: 'Poets of a comparatively recent date continue to
associate mayors and custards. ' He Quotes Prior _(Alma_, Cant.
1) and
a letter from Bishop Warburton to Hurd (Apr. 1766): 'I told him (the
Lord Mayor) in what I thought he was defective--that I was greatly
disappointed to see no custard at table. He said that they had been
so ridiculed for their custard that none had ventured to make its
appearance for some years. ' Jonson mentions the 'quaking custards'
again in _The Fox_, _Wks. _ 3. 164. , and in _The Staple of News_,
_Wks. _ 5. 196, 7.
An Almain-leap was a dancing leap. 'Allemands were danced here a few
years back' (Nares). Cunningham quotes from Dyce: 'Rabelais tells us
that Gargantua "wrestled, ran, jumped, not at three steps and a leap,
. . . nor yet at the Almane's, for, said Gymnast, these jumps are for the
wars altogether unprofitable and of no use. " _Rabelais_, Book 1, C.
of verse called 'Sir Gregory Non-sense His Newes from no place,' and
it may have been this very book in manuscript that suggested Jonson's
title. In the play of _King Darius_, 1106, one of the actors says:
'I had rather then my new nothing, I were gon. '
=1. 1. 97 his Almaine-leape into a custard. = 'In the earlier days,
when the city kept a fool it was customary for him at public
entertainments, to leap into a large bowl of custard set on
purpose. '--W. Whalley refers also to _All's well that Ends Well_
2. 5: 'You have made a shift to run into it, boots and all, like
him that leapt into the custard. '
Gifford quotes Glapthorne, _Wit in a Const. _:
The custard, with the four and twenty nooks
At my lord Mayor's feast.
He continues: 'Indeed, no common supply was required; for, besides
what the Corporation (great devourers of custard) consumed on the
spot, it appears that it was thought no breach of city manners to
send, or take some of it home with them for the use of their ladies. '
In the excellent old play quoted above, Clara twits her uncle with
this practise:
Now shall you, sir, as 'tis a frequent custom,
'Cause you're a worthy alderman of a ward,
Feed me with custard, and perpetual white broth
Sent from the lord Mayor's feast. '
Cunningham says: 'Poets of a comparatively recent date continue to
associate mayors and custards. ' He Quotes Prior _(Alma_, Cant.
1) and
a letter from Bishop Warburton to Hurd (Apr. 1766): 'I told him (the
Lord Mayor) in what I thought he was defective--that I was greatly
disappointed to see no custard at table. He said that they had been
so ridiculed for their custard that none had ventured to make its
appearance for some years. ' Jonson mentions the 'quaking custards'
again in _The Fox_, _Wks. _ 3. 164. , and in _The Staple of News_,
_Wks. _ 5. 196, 7.
An Almain-leap was a dancing leap. 'Allemands were danced here a few
years back' (Nares). Cunningham quotes from Dyce: 'Rabelais tells us
that Gargantua "wrestled, ran, jumped, not at three steps and a leap,
. . . nor yet at the Almane's, for, said Gymnast, these jumps are for the
wars altogether unprofitable and of no use. " _Rabelais_, Book 1, C.
