upon this subject and the current traditions respecting him, an intelligent and learned friend, who resides at no great distance, has obligingly forwarded the subsequent memoranda.

"I have great pleasure in telling you all the little that I know about the mysterious being, John a Kent, who, I am inclined to think, must have been some personage of note in his time. His fame as a wizard, though not so extensive, is somewhat like that of Doctor Faustus. There is hardly any one in this southern part of Herefordshire, particularly among the peasantry, who has not some marvellous traditionary story to relate concerning him. Most of these tales, however, are resolvable into one or two exploits in travelling for or with his master, in something like the railway speed of a single night, from Grosmont or Kentchurch to London, and of his outwitting in some way or other the arch-enemy of mankind. But with regard to time they are so confused-as traditions are apt to be-that there is no arriving at any point from which a conjecture may be formed as to the period of his, or of his prototype's existence.

"A countryman whom I once met with in the neighbourhood of Grosmont, and questioned as to what he had ever heard of the state of the country during the civil war between Charles the First and the Parliament, and the plundering of the county by the Scots, during the siege of Hereford-of which there were formerly many traditions-immediately pounced upon John a Kent as an actor in those affairs. He told me that, when the Scots came to plunder in the neighbourhood of Kentchurch and Grosmont, this magician went into a field of corn, and with one blast of his horn called forth such a host of warriors, as immediately compelled the intruders to retire. But I am sure that the origin of John a Kent ascends much higher. Coxe, in his History (or Account) of Monmouthshire, gives, as far as I can recollect, most of the particulars that I ever heard related of him, and offers an ingenious conjecture as to his reality."

There can be no doubt, as the writer of the preceding note speculates, that John a Kent exercised his vocation at a period much anterior to the Civil Wars; and the play before us furnishes evidence that his reputation was so great at the close of the reign of Elizabeth, that a popular dramatist availed himself

of it for the purpose of stage-representation. For the following particulars we are indebted to a correspondent of "The Athenæum;" (26th July, 1851) and it will be found that they accord very much with the information above quoted.

"There are yet many legends current about John o' Kent in the vicinity of Kentchurch, twelve miles from Hereford, and twelve from Abergavenny. There is a barn, still called John o' Kent's Barn, in which he is said to have confined all the crows which infested a certain field which, when a boy, he was desired to watch-the barn having then no roof. There is an aged oak in Kentchurch Park, belonging to Colonel Scudamore, called John o' Kent's Oak, to which he is said to have fastened his dogs. He is supposed to have sold his soul to the Evil Spirit the covenant being, that John o' Kent should not be buried inside a church, whence the Enemy could not have taken him. This he eluded by being buried under the church wall, half inside and half outside of the building, at Grosemont, the adjoining parish to Kentchurch, in Monmouthshire. I believe that there is something about him in Coxe's "Monmouthshire," but I have not the book. The old people about Kentchurch have some more tales about the feats of John of Kent. I have heard it conjectured that, under this name, in the character of a wizard, Owen Glendower lurked in this neighbourhood for many years; and that here two of his daughters were married, one to an ancestor of Colonel Scudamore, and another to a Monnington, of the village so called, where a tomb, supposed to be his, is still shown. I know not what authority there is for this conjecture. Kentchurch is a very ancient property of the family of Scudamore, who have been settled there some centuries. The present owner is abroad now, but habitually resides there. He has a portrait said to be of John a Kent."

As both the writers of the preceding communications refer to Coxe's "Historical Tour in Monmouthshire," and as it comprises some particulars and speculations not hitherto noticed, we venture to subjoin, with a little abridgment, what is there said of John a Kent (p 336, &c).

"Grosmont rings with the achievements of John a Kent. Like Dr. Faustus, he is said to have made a compact with the devil, but, more successful than the Doctor, he evaded the conditions of his covenant, and outwitted the prince of darkness, both in his life and at his death. Among the early specimens of his magical skill, while a farmer's boy in the vicinity, he confined a number of crows, which he was ordered to keep from the corn, in an old barn without a roof, that he might visit Grosmont fair. Kentchurch house, the neighbouring seat of the Scudamore family, by whom he was hired as a servant, became afterwards the scene of his marvellous exploits. The feat of all others which most endears his memory to the inhabitants of Grosmont was the construction of the bridge over the Monnow, leading to Kentchurch: it is still called John of Kent's bridge, and is said to have been built in one night by one of his familiar spirits. An old tombstone in the churchyard, close to the east wall of the chancel, is said to cover his body; and the legend reports that he was interred under the wall to evade the condition of his compact, which stipulated, that if buried either within the church, or out of the church, he should become the property of Satan.

"Various opinions have been entertained concerning this mysterious personage. According to some, he was the John of Kent, Gwent, or Went, a Franciscan, thus mentioned by Leland: 'He was bred in Wales, and so ardently followed the most celebrated schools of the Franciscans at Oxford, and made such improvements in profound learning, that he was the wonder of his religious bretheren.' Baker in his chronicle mentions another John of Kent among the men of learning in the reign of Henry III. According to others, he was the bard of Owen Glendower, and became domesticated in the family on the defeat of his chieftain, whose daughter married a Scudamore. A tradition, however, still prevails that an old wizard, disguised in a shepherd's habit, once roamed about in the neighbourhood of Grosmont, frequented Kentchurch house, and was buried privately under a stone in the churchyard below the east window of the chancel, which is called John of Kent's tombstone. It has been conjectured that this wizard was Owen Glendower himself, who, when proscribed, wandered about in a shepherd's habit, and took refuge with one of his daughters."

In the play, now for the first time printed, John a Kent evinces his masterdom over supernatural agents in a way not indicated in the preceding quota

tions; for he raises no fewer than four different preternatural agents, or Antics, for the purpose of misleading his adversary, John a Cumber, and those who trusted in him. These Antics sing four songs; and John a Kent's boy, Shrimp, who is a very useful coadjutor, possesses the faculty of becoming invisible, and, like Ariel in "The Tempest," by his magical music induces persons to follow him, until they lose their way, and lie down to sleep from weariness. In any other particulars we would not for an instant be supposed to institute a comparison between the most beautiful and delicate creation our poetry can boast, and the coarse and comparatively vulgar invention of a great, but far inferior dramatist.1

1 Since the above was in type, the Editor has to acknowledge the receipt of a very obliging letter from the Rev. R. P. Llewelyn, who resides near Bridgend, Glamorganshire, referring to several works which mention John a Kent and Sidanen. He states, among other points, that the late Taliesin Williams gained a prize offered for a History of the former; and that an air named after the latter is to be found in Parry's "Welsh Harper,” i., 94.

MEMOIR OF ANTHONY MUNDAY.

We now proceed to give such an account as we are able to furnish of the life and writings of Anthony Munday. The materials have been collected from all sources, including what he says of himself in his own works, a means of knowledge hitherto almost entirely disregarded.1

It has been long known, upon his own authority, that Munday was intended for a stationer, (as booksellers and publishers were then called) and Vol. IV. of "The Shakespeare Society's Papers" contains the very entry in the Registers of the Stationers' Company relating to his engagement with John Allde, or Aldee, to serve him as an apprentice in that trade. It is among the records belonging to October, 1576, and, as it is very short, we may be excused for quoting it here, for the sake of completeness.

"Anthonie Mondaie, sonne of Christopher mondaye, late of London, draper, deceased, hath put himself apprentice to John Aldee, stationer, for Eighte yeres, begynnynge at Bartholometide laste past."

We have here as many facts as lines, and among other points we learn the Christian name and trade of Anthony Munday's father, and that he was dead

1 As long ago as 1828 the Editor drew up a sketch of Munday's life from such imperfect materials as he then possessed; but he has since been able to correct various errors and to make many additions. It precedes "The downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington," reprinted in the Supplementary Volume to "Dodsley's Old Plays."

2 It would probably be quite in vain to attempt to trace back his family, especially as we have no hint as to the part of the kingdom from which it originally came to settle in London: we may remark, however,