94
NOTES.
county of Suffolk, having lands within the forest, told a knight of the county of
Essex, that the Essex calves did make that bleating, as if the dumb creatures did
understand that sentence was to be pronounced against the inhabitants in the
forest in whose grounds they fed. But the Essex knight took exception to the
words 'Essex calves' and told the other knight they were 'Suffolk calves' driven
through Essex ; therefore—said the Essex knight—let not calves hereafter be
cast upon Essex alone, but let Suffolk bear a share.' Another allusion to 'Essex
calves' may be found in a volume of pamphlets, published 1648, one of which is
headed, 'Kentish Longtayles and Essex calves, a letter sent from a gentleman of
the army to a friend in the West, containing a compendious relation of the late
Traytorous insurrection in the counties of Kent and Essex.' The letter, from
which I quote the following extracts, is dated June, 1648. 'he general of the
insurrectionary party—Lord Goring—having been well beaten out of the county
of Kent, landed with as many as he could get to runne away with him, at the
Isle of Dogs, but some was so hasty to follow their leader that Charon, mistaking
the landing place (being a dark night), wafted them over into the land of dark-
nesse, saw them re-baptized in Thamisis, and there left them to feast the
inhabitants of the Elementary Region, and there also I leave them till the Resur-
rection, and by that time they may be changed into sharks or codfishes to be
served up at Pluto's table when he invites their generalissimo to dinner. This
great general, with his flying army, hath now put himself amongst a herd of
'Essex calves,' and hath been so closely hunted by the General's Buckhounds
(who had the scent of them at least a mile off; that at the first onset he and his
beasts of prey quitted Bowbridg with the losse of some men, the taking of some
Prisoners, and relinquishing two great Peeces planted upon the said bridg, with-
out further dispute (not daring to make Halt at the Burnt-wood as being too hot
for them) they made a running retreat to Chelmsford.' Further on the writer
says that "Goring and his dampned army are deserted by multitudes of the Essex
men, and thousands risen up against them, crying 'We are deceived, we are
deceived,' and so indeed are, rendering themselves by their inconsiderate ingaging
with them and that upon several and distinct interests, as witlesse as their
Countryman, Walthams Calfe, that went nine miles to suck a bull,' &c., &c."
Dr. Pagenstecher asks for information as to any earlier allusions than the above
to the phrase, but the replies received being merely ingenious conjectures or
legendary traditions, not based on historical research, are of little value. One
correspondent's contribution can only be looked upon by Essex men as a
malicious libel : he had always heard that the term 'Essex calves' originated
from a butcher boy taking to a lady's house a calf's head without any brains in it.
The lady complaining of their absence was told by the boy that it was an Essex
calf's head, and they never had any brains. Hence the term applied to Essex
people, who are supposed to be as brainless as their calves!
Unusual Solar Phenomenon.—On Tuesday, August 27th, 1889, a very
remarkable solar phenomenon was observed here, which, on account of its rare
occurrence, seems to be deserving of record. At 9.10 a.m., there was a very
bright and distinct ordinary halo, accompanied by, as is often the case, two
parhelia, and also by two tangential arcs of light above and below the halo.
Beside these comparatively common phenomena there was another band, which I
believe is called the "parheliacal ring," extending nearly horizontally from the
left hand parhelion to a point about 180° from the sun, having what appeared
to be a secondary parhelion, at or about 90o. The band was formed of bright
white light, and the parhelion accompanying it was also very brilliant, but not
coloured as the two ordinary ones were. The whole series formed a most striking
spectacle. Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., with whom I have communicated, says
that the phenomena is unusual, and mentions a similar occurrence in connection with
the moon in 1869, a print of which appeared in the "Journal of the Royal
Meteorological Society." These solar and lunar phenomena are, as far as my
experience goes, almost invariably followed or accompanied by an unsettled state
of the weather, although, in this particular case, fine weather succeeded for four
or five days, terminating in the tremendous disturbance of September 2nd.—
Reginald W. Christy, Roxwell, Essex.