 | The Masqve of Qveenes |  |
It increasing, now, to the third time of my being vs'd in these seruices to her Maiesties personall presentations, with the Ladies whom shee pleaseth to honor; it was my first and speciall regard, to see that the nobilitie of the inuention should bee answerable to the dignitie of their persons. For which reason I chose the argument, to bee, A celebration of honorable, and true fame, bred out of vertue: obseruing that rule of the
best artist, to suffer no obiect of delight to passe without his mixture of profit and example. And because her Maiestie (best knowing, that a principall part of life, in these spectacles, lay in their varietie) had commanded me to thinke on some dance, or shew, that might precede hers, and haue the place of a foile or false Masque: I was carefull to decline, not only from others, but mine owne steps in that kind, since the last yeere, I had an anti-masque of boyes: and therefore now, deuis'd, that twelue women, in the habit of hags, or witches, sustayning the persons of ignorance, suspition, credulitie, &c. the opposites to good Fame, should fill that part; not as a Masque, but a spectacle of strangenesse, producing multiplicitie of gesture, and not vnaptly sorting with the current, and whole fall of the deuice.His Maiestie, then, being set, and the whole company in full expectation, the part of the scene which first presented it selfe, was an vgly Hell: which flaming beneath, smoked vnto the top of the roofe. And in respect all euills are, morally, said to come from hell; as also from that obseruation of Torrentivs vpon Horace his Canidia,
quæ tot instructa venenis, ex Orci faucibus profecta videri possit: These witches, with a kindThese eleuen witches beginning to dance (which is an vsuall
See the Kings Maiesties book, (our Soueraign) of Dæmonologie, Bodin. Remig. Delrio. Mal. Malesi. And a world of others, in the generall: But let vs follow particulars.
[Witch.]
Sisters, stay, we want our
Amongst our vulgar witches, the honor of Dame (for so I translate it) is giuen with a kinde of preeminence to some speciall one at their meetings: which Delrio insinuates, Disquis. Mag. l,2. quæst. 9. quoting that of Apuleius, lib. de Afin. aureo. de quadam caupona, Regina Sagarum. And addes, vt scias etiam tum quasdam ab ijs hoc titulo honoratas. Which title M. Philippo Ludwigus Elich. Dæmonomagiæ, quæst. 10. doth also remember.
Call vpon her by her name,
And the charme we vse to say,
That shee quickly
When they are to be transported from place to place, they vse to anoynt themselues, and sometimes, the things they ride on. Beside, Apul. testimonie, See these later, Remig. Dæmonolatriæ, l.I.c.14. Delrio, Disquis. Mag. l.2. quæst. I6. Bodin. Dæmonoman. l.2.c.4. Barthol. de Spina. quæst. de Strigib. Philippo. Ludwigus Elich. quæst. 10. Paracelsus in magn. & occul. Philosophia, teacheth the confection. Vnguentum ex carne recens natorum infantium, in pulmenti forma coctum, & cum herbis somniferis, quales sunt Papauer, Solanum, Cienta, &c. And Ioa. Bapti. Porta. lib.2. Mag. Natur. cap. I6.
1. Charme.
Dame, Dame, the watch is set:
Quickly come, we all are met.
These places in their owne nature dire, and dismall, are reckon'd vp, as the fittest from whence such persons should come: and were notably obserued by that excellent Lucan, in the description of his Erictho. lib.6. To which we may adde this corollarie out of Agrip. de occult. Philosop. l.I.c.48. Saturno correspondent loca quæuis fœtida, tenebrosa, subterranea, religiosa & funesta, vt cœmiteria, busta, & hominibus deserta habitacula, & vetustate caduca, loca obscura, & horrenda, & solitaria antra, cauernæ, putei: Præterea piscinæ, stagna, paludes, & eiusmodi. And in lib.3. cap.42. speaking of the like, and in lib.4. about the end, Aptissima sunt loca plurimum experientia visionum, nocturnarumque, incursionum & consimilium phantasmatum, vt cœmiteria, & in quibus fieri solent executio & criminalis iudicij, in quibus recentibus annis publicæ strages factæ sunt, vel vbi occisorum cadauera, neccũ expiata, necritè sepulta, recentioribus annis subbumata sunt.
From the rocks, and from the dens,
From the woods, and from the caues,
From the church-yards, from the graues,
From the dungeon, from the tree
That they die on, here are wee.
Comes shee not yet?
Strike another heate.
The weather is fayre, the wind is good,
Vp Dame, o'your horse of wood:
Or else, tucke vp your gray frock,
And saddle your
The goat is the deuill himselfe, vpon whom they ride often to their solemnities, as appeares by their confessions in Rem. and Bodin. ibid. His Maiestie also remembers the storie of the deuills appearance to those of Calicut, in that forme, Dæmonol. l.2.c.3.
Of the greene cock, we haue no other ground (to confesse ingeniously) than a vulgar fable of a witch, that with a cock of that colour, and a bottome of blue thred, would transport her selfe through the ayre; and so escaped (at the time of her being brought to execution) from the hand of iustice. It was a tale when I went to schoole, and somewhat there is like it, in Mar. Delr. Disqui. Mog. lib.2. quæst.6. of one Zijti, a Bohemian, that, among other his dexterities, aliquoties equis rhedarijs vectum, gallis gallinaceis ad Epirrhedium suum alligatis, subsequebatur.
And make his bridle a bottome of thrid,
To rowle vp how many miles you haue rid.
Quickly come away;
For we, all, stay.
Nor yet? Nay, then,
Wee'll trie her agen.
3. Charme.
The owle is abroad, the bat, and the toad,
And so is the cat-a-mountayne,
The ant, and the mole sit both in a hole,
And frog peepes out o' the fountayne;
The dogs, they doe bay, and the timbrels play,
The
All this is but a periphrasis of the night, in their charme, and their applying themselues to it with their instruments, whereof the spindle in antiquitie, was the chiefe: and beside the testimonie of Theocritus, in Pharmaceutria, (who only vs'd it in amorous affaires) was of speciall act to the troubling of the moone. To which Martiall alludes, l.9. ep. 30. Quæ nunc Thessalico lunam deducere rhombo, &c. And l.I2. Epig.57. Cum secta Colebo Luna vapulat rhombo.
The moone it is red, and the starres are fled,
But all the skie is a burning:
The
This rite also of making a ditch with their nailes, is frequent with our witches; wherof see Bodin. Remig. Delr. Malleus, Mal. Godelman, l.2. de lamijs, as also the antiquitie of it most viuely exprest by Hor. Satir. 8. l.I. where he mentions the pictures, and the bloud of a black lamb: All which are yet in vse with our moderne witchcraft. Scalpere terram (speaking of Canidia, and Sagana) Vnguibus, & pullam diuellere mordicus agnam Cœperunt: Cruor in fossam confusus, vt inde Maneis elicerent animas responsa daturas. Lanea & effigies erat, altera cerea, &c. And then, by and by, Serpentes atque videres Infernas errare caneis, Lunamque rubentem, Ne foret his testis, post magna latere sepulchra. Of this ditch Homer makes mention in Circes speech to Vlysses. Odiss. K. about the end, Βοθρον ορυξαι, &c. And Ouid. Metam. l.7. in Medeas magick, Haud procul egestâ scrobibus tellure duabus Sacra facit cultrosque, in gutture velleris atri Conijcit, & patulas perfundit sanguine fossas. And of the waxen images, in Hypsipyles epistle to Iason, where he expresseth that mischiefe also of the needles. Deuouet absentes, simulacraque, cerea fingit. Et miscrum tenues in iecur vrget acus, Bodin. Dæmon. l.2.c.8. hath (beside the knowne storie of king Duffe out of Hector Boetius) much of the witches later practice in that kind, and reports a relation of a french Ambassadors, out of England, of certayne pictures of waxe found in a dunghill, neere Islington, of our late Queenes, which rumor I my selfe (being then very yong) can yet remember to haue been current.
With pictures full, of waxe, and of wooll;
Their liuers I sticke, with needles quicke;
There lacks but the bloud, to make vp the floud.
Quickly Dame, then, bring your part in,
Spurre, spurre, vpon little
Their little Martin is he that cals them to their conuenticles, which is done in a humane voice, but comming forth, they find him in the shape of a great buck goat, vpon whom they ride to their meetings, Delr. Disq. Mag. q.I6. l.2. And Bod. Dæmon. l.2.c.4. haue both the same relation from Paulus Grillandus, of a witch Adueniente nocte, & hora euocabatur voce quadam velut humana ab ipso Dæmone, quem non vocant Dæmonem, sed Magisterulum, aliæ Magistrum Martinettum siue Martinellum. Quæ sic euocata, mox sumebat pyxidem vnctionis, & liniebat corpus suum in quibusdam partibus & membris, quo linito exibat ex domo, & inueniebat Magisterulum suum in forma hirci illam expectantem apud ostium, super quo mulier equitabat, & applicare solebat fortiter manus ad crineis, & statim hircus ille adscendebat per aerem, & breuissimo tempore deferebat ipsam, &c.
A worme in his mouth, and a thorne in's taile,
Fire aboue, and fire below,
With a whip i'your hand, to make him goe.
O, now shee's come!
Let all be dumbe.
At this, the
This Dame I make to beare the person of Ate, or mischiefe (for so I interpret it) out of Homers description of her, Iliad. I. wher he makes her swift to hurt mankind, strong, and sound of her feet, and Iliad. T walking vpon mẽs heads, in both places vsing one, and the same phrase to signifie her power, Βλαπτουσ'α'νθρωπους. Lædens hemines. I present her bare-footed, and her frock tuck'd, to make her seeme more expedite, by Horace his authoritie, Sat. 8. lib.I., Succinctam vadere palla Canidiam pedibus nudis, passoque capello. But for her hayre, I rather respect another place of his, Epod. lib. Ode. 5. where shee appeares Canidia breuibus implicata viperis Crineis, & incomptum caput. And that of Lucan, lib.6. Speaking of Erictho's attyre. Discolor, & vario Furialis cultus amictu Induitur, vultusque aperitur crine remoto, Et coma vipereis substringitur horrida sertis. For her torch, See Remig. lib.2. cap.3.
Dame, Hags.
Well done, my Hags. And, come we fraught with spight,
To ouerthrow the glorie of this night?
Holds our great purpose?
Hag.
Yes.
Dam.
But want's there none
Of our iust number?
Hag.
Call vs one, by one,
And then our Dame shall see.
Dam.
In the chayning of these vices, I make, as if one linke produc'd another, and the Dame were borne out of them all. so, as they might say to her, Sola tenes scelerum, quicquid possedimus omnes. Nor will it appeare much violenc'd, if their Series be considered, when the opposition to all vertue begins out of ignorance. That Ignorance begets Suspition (for knowledge is euer open, and charitable.) That Suspition Credulitie, as it is a vice: for being a vertue, and free, it is opposite to it: but such as are iealous of themselues, doe easily credit any thing of others whom they hate. Out of this Credulity springs Falshood, which begets Murmure: and that Murmure presently growes Malice, which begets Jmpudence: and that Impudence Slander: that Slander Execration: Execration Bitternesse: Bitternesse Fury: and Fury Mischiefe. Now, for the personall presentation of them, the authoritie in Poetry is vniuersall. But in the absolute Claudian, there is a particular and eminent place, where the Poet not onely produceth such persons, but almost to a like purpose, in Ruf. lib.I. where Alecto, enuious of the times, infernas ad limina tetra sorores, Concilium deforme vocat, glomerantur in vnum Innumeræ pestes Erebi, quascunque, sinistro Nox genuit fortis: nutrix Discordia belli, Imperiosa Fames, leto vicina Senectus, Impatiensque sui Morbus, Liuerque, secundis Anxius & scisso mœrens velamine Luctus, Et Timor, & cæco præceps Audacia vultu: with many others, fit to disturbe the world, as ours the night.
My drowsie seruant, stupide Ignorance,
Knowne by thy scaly vesture; and bring on
Thy fearefull sister, wild Svspition,
Whose eyes doe neuer sleepe; Let her knit hands
With quick Credvlity, that next her stands,
Two-faced Falsehood follow in the rope;
And lead on Mvrmvre, with the cheekes deepe hung;
She Malice, whetting of her forked tongue;
And Malice, Impvdence, whose forhead's lost;
Let Impvdence lead Slander on, to boast
Her oblique looke; and to her subtle side,
Thou, black-mouth'd Execration, stand apply'd;
Draw to thee Bitternesse, whose pores sweat gall;
She flame-ey'd Rage; Rage, Mischiefe.
Hag.
Here we are all.
Dam.
Here againe, by way of irritation, I make the Dame pursue the purpose of their comming, and discouer their natures more largely: which had bin nothing, if not done as doing another thing, but Moratio circa vilem patulumque orbem. Then which, the Poet cannot know a greater vice; he being that kind of artificer, to whose worke is required so much exactnesse, as indifferencie is not tolerable.
To Fame, and Glorie. Let not these bright nights
Of honour blaze, thus, to offend our eyes;
Shew our selues truly enuious, and let rise
Our wonted rages: Doe what may beseeme
Such names, and natures; Vertve else will deeme
Our powers decreas'd, and thinke vs banish'd earth,
No lesse then heauen. All her antique birth,
As Ivstice, Faith, she will restore; and, bold
Vpon our sloth, retriue her Age of gold.
We must not let our natiue manners, thus,
Corrupt with ease. Ill liues not, but in vs.
I hate to see these fruits of a soft peace,
And curse the pietie giues it such increase.
Let vs disturbe it then,
These powers of troubling Nature, are frequently ascrib'd to Witches, and chaleng'd by themselues, where euer they are induc'd, by Homer, Ouid, Tibullus, Pet. Arbiter, Seneca, Lucan, Claudian. to whose authorities I shall referre more anone. For the present, heare Socrat. in Apul. de Asin. aureo, lib.I. describing Meroë the witch. Saga, & Diuinipotens cœlum deponere, terram suspendere, fontes durare, monteis diluere, Manes sublimare, Deos infimare, Sydera extinguere, Tartarum ipsum illuminare: and lib.2. Byrrhena to Lucius, of Pamphile. Maga primi nominis, & omnis carminis sepulcralis Magistra creditur, quæ surculis & lapillis, & id genus friuolis inhalatis omnem islam lucem mundi syderalis, imis Tartari, & in vetustum Chaos mergit: as also this later of Remigius, in his most elegant arguments, before his Dæmonolatria. Quà possint euertere funditùs orbem, Et Maneis superis miscere, hac vnica cura est. And Lucan. Quarum, quicquid non creditur, ars est.
Mixe Hell with Heauen, and make Nature fight
Within her selfe; loose the whole henge of things;
And cause the ends runne backe, into their springs.
Hag.
What our Dame bids vs doo,
We are readie for.
Dam.
Then fall too.
This is also solemne in their witchcraft, to be examined, either by the Diuell, or their Dame, at their meetings, of what mischiefe they haue done; and what they can conferre to a future hurt. See M. Philippo Ludwigus Elich. Dæmonomagiæ, lib. Quæst. I0. But Remigius, in the very forme, lib.I. Dæmonolat, cap.22. Quemadmodum solent Heri in villicis procuratoribus, cum eorum rationes expendunt, segnitiem negligentiamque, durius castigare; Ita Dæmon, in suis comitijs, quod tempus examinandis cuiusque, rebus atque, actionibus ipse constituit, eos pessimè habere consueuit, qui nihil afferunt quo se nequiores ac flagitijs cumulatiores doceant. Nec cuiquam adeo impune est, si à superiore conucutu nullo se scelere nouo obstruxerint; sed semper oportet, qui gratus esse volet, in alium, nouum aliquod facinus fecisse: and this doth exceedingly solicite them all, at such times, lest they should come vnprepared. But we apply this examination of ours to the particular vse; whereby, also, we take occasion, not alone to expresse the things (as vapours, liquors, hearbs, bones, flesh, bloud, fat, and such like, which are call'd Media magica) but the Rites of gathering them, and from what places, reconciling (as neere as we can) the practice of Antiquitie to the Neoterick, and making it familiar with our popular witchcraft.
Where you haue beene, and what you haue brought.
I.
I. For the gathering pieces of dead flesh, Cor. Agrip. de occul. Philosop. lib.3. cap. 42. and lib.4. cap. vlt. obserues, that the vse was to call vp ghosts & spirits, with a fumigation made of that (and bones of carkasses) which I make my witch, here, not to cut her selfe, but to watch the Rauen, as Lucan's Erichtho. lib.6. Et quodcunque, iacet nuda tellure cadauer, Ante feras volucresque, sedet: nec carpere membra Vult ferro manibusque, suis, morsusque, luporum Expectat siccis raptura à faucibus artus. As if that piece were sweeter which the Wolfe had bitten, or the Rauen had pick'd, and more effectuous: and to doe it, at her turning to the South, as with the prædiction of a storme. Which, though they be but minutes in Ceremonie, being obseru'd, make the act more darke and full of horror.
A Rauen, feeding vpon a quarter;
And, soone, as she turn'd her beake to the South,
I snatch'd this morsell out of her mouth.
2.
2. Spuma canum, Lupi crines, nodus Hyenæ, oculi Draconum, Serpentis membrana, Aspidis aures, are all mention'd by the Ancients, in witchcraft. And Lucan particularly, lib.6. Huc quicquid fœtu genuit Natura sinistro Miscetur, non spuma canum, quibus vnda a timori est, Uiscera non Lyncis, non duræ nodus Hyenæ Defuit, &c. And Ouid. Metamorphos. lib.7. reckons vp others. But for the spurging of the eyes, let vs returne to Lucan, in the same booke, which piece (as all the rest) is written with an admirable height. Ast vbi seruantur saxis, quibus intimus humor Ducitur, & tracta durescunt tabe medullæ Corpora, tunc omneis auidè desæuit in artus, Immersitque manus oculis, gaudetque gelatos Effodisse orbeis, & sicca pallida rodit Excrementa manus.
The mad Dogges foame, and the Adders eares;
The spurging of a dead mans eyes,
And all since the euening starre did rise.
3.
3. Plinie writing of the Mandrake Nat. Hist. lib.25. cap.13. and of the digging it vp, hath this ceremonie, Cauens effossuri contrarium ventum, & tribus circulis antè gladio circumscribunt, postea fodiunt ad occasum spectantes. But we haue later tradition, that the forcing of it vp is so fatally dangerous, as the grone kills, and therefore they doe it with dogges, which I thinke but borrowed from Iosephus his report of the root Baæras, lib.7. de Bel. Iudaic. Howsoeuer, it being so principall an ingredient in their Magick, it was fit she should boast, to be the plucker vp of it her selfe. And, that the Cock did crow, alludes to a prime circumstance in their worke: For they all confesse, that nothing is so crosse, or balefull to them, in their nights, as that the Cock should crow before they haue done. Which makes, that their little Masters, or Martinets, of whom I haue mention'd before, vse this forme, in dismissing their conuentions. Eia, facessite properè hinc omnes, nam iam galli canere incipiunt. Which I interpret to be, because that bird is the messenger of light, and so, contrarie to their acts of darknesse. See Remig. Dæmonolat. lib.I. cap.4. where he quotes that of Appollonius, de vmbra Achillis, Philostr. lib.4. cap.5. and Euseb. Casariens. in confutat. contra Hierocl. 4. de Gallicinio.
O'the ground, to heare the Mandrake grone;
And pluckt him vp, though he grew full low;
And, as I had done, the Cocke did crow.
4.
4. I haue touch'd at this before, in my note vpõ the first, of the vse of gathering flesh, bones, and sculs: to which I now bring that piece of Apuleius, lib.3. de Asino aureo, of Pampbile. Priusque apparatu solito instruxit feralem officinam, omne genus aromatis, & ignorabiliter laminis literatis, & infœlicium nauium durantibus clauis defletorum, sepultorum etiam, cadauerum expositis multis admodum membris, hic nares, & digiti, illic carnosi claui pendentium, alibi trucidatorum seruatus cruor, & extorta dentibus ferarum trunca caluariæ. And, for such places, Lucan makes his witch to inhabit them, lib.6. Desertaque busta Incolit, & tumulos expulsis obtinet vmbris.
From Charnell houses, that were full;
From priuate Grots, and publike Pits,
And frighted a Sexten out of his wits.
5.
5. For this rite, see Barthol. de spina. Quæst. de Strigibus, cap.8. Mall. Mallefica, Tom. 2. where he disputes at large the transformation of witches to cats, and their sucking, both their spirits, and the bloud, calling them Striges: which Godelman. lib. de Lamijs, would haue à stridore, & auibus fœdissimis eiusdem nominis, which I the rather incline to, out of Ouid's authoritie, Fast. lib.6. where the Poet ascribes, to those birds, the same almost that these doe to the Witches, Nocte volant, puerosque petunt nutricis egenteis, Et vitiant cunis corpora ræpta suis: Carpere dicuntur lactentia viscera rostris, Et plenum poto sanguine guttur habent.
By day; and, when the child was asleepe,
At night, I suck'd the breath; and rose,
And pluck'd the nodding Nurse by the nose.
6.
6. Their killing of infants is common, both for confection of their oyntment (whereto one ingredient, is the fat boyl'd, as I haue shew'd before out of Paracelsus & Porta) as also out of a lust to doe murder. Sprenger in Mall. Mallefic. reports, that a witch, a midwife in the Diocœse of Basil, confessed to haue kill'd aboue fortie infants (euer as they were new borne, with pricking them in the braine with a needle) which she had offered to the deuill. See the storie of the three witches in Rem. Dæmonola, lib. cap.3. about the end of the chapter. And M. Philippo Ludwigus Elich. Quæst. 8. And, that it is no new rite, read the practice of Canidia, Epod. Horat. lib. Ode. 5. and Lucan. lib.6. whose admirable verses I can neuer be wearie to transcribe. Nec cessant à cæde manus, si sanguine vino Est opus, erumpat iugulo qui primus aperto. Nec refugit cædes, viuum si sacra cruorem Extaque, funercæ poscunt trepidantia mensæ. Vulnere si ventris, non qua Natura vocabat Extrabitur partus calidos ponendus in aris; Et quoties sæuis opus est, & fortibus vmbris Ipsa facit Maneis. Hominum mors omnis in vsu est.
Kill'd an infant, to haue his fat.
A Piper it got, at a Church-ale,
I bad him, againe blow wind i'the taile.
7.
7. The abuse of dead bodies in their witch-craft, both Perphyrio and Psellus are graue Authors of. The one lib. de sacrif. cap. de vero cultu. The other lib. de dæmo. which Apuleius toucheth too, lib.2. de Afin. aureo. But Remigius, who deales with later persons, and out of their owne m ouths, Dæmonola, lib.2. cap.3. affirmes, Hæc & nostræ ætatis maleficis hominibus moris est facere, præsertim si cuius supplic io affecti cadauer exemplo datum est, & in crucem sublatum. Nam non solum inde sortilegijs suis materiam mutuantur: Sed & ab ipsis caruificinæ instrumentis, reste, vinculis, palo, ferramentis. Siquidem ijs vulgi etiam opinione inesse ad incantationes magicas vim quandam & potestateur. And to this place, I dare not, out of religion to the diuine Lucan, but bring his verses from the same book. Laqueum, nodosque nocenteis Ore suo rupit, pendentia corpora carpsit, Abrasitque cruces, percussaque viscera nimbis Vulsit, & incoctas admisso sole medullas. Insertum manibus chalibem nigramque per artus Stillantis tabi saniem, virusque coactum Sustulit, & neruo morsus retinente perpendit.
The Sunne and the wind had shrunke his veines;
I bit off a sinew, I clipp'd his haire,
I brought off his ragges, that danc'd i'the ayre.
8.
8. These are Canidia's furniture, in Hora. Epod. lib. Ode.5. Et vncta turpis oua ranæ sanguine, Plumamque nocturnæ strigis. And part of Medeas confection, in Ouid. Metamorph. lib.7. Strigis infames, ipsis cum carnibus, alas. That of the skin (to make a purse for her Fly) was meant ridiculous, to mocke the keeping of their Familiars.
The bloud of the Frogge, and the bone in his backe,
I haue beene getting; and made of his skin
A purset, to keepe Sir Cranion in.
9.
9. Cicuta, Hyoscyomus, Ophieglosson, Solanum, Martagon, Deronicum, Aconitum, are the common veneficall ingredients, remembred by Paracelsus, Porta, Agrippa, and others; which I make her to haue gather'd, as about a castle, church, or some vast building (kept by dogges) among ruines, and wild beapes.
Hemlock, Henbane, Adders-tongue,
Night-shade, Moone-wort, Libbards-bane;
And twise, by the dogges, was like to be tane.
I0.
I0. Ossa ab ore rapta ieiunæ canis, Horace giues Canidia, in the place before quoted. Which ieiunæ, I rather change to Gard'ners, as imagining such persons to keepe Mastifes for the defence of their grounds, whither this Hagge might goe also for simples: where, meeting with the bones, and not content with them, shee would yet doe a domesticke hurt, in getting the Catt's braines: which is another speciall ingredient; and of so much more efficacie, by how much blacker the Cat is, if you will credit Agrip. cap. de suffitibus.
Did snatch these bones, and then leap'd the ditch;
Yet went I backe to the house againe,
Kill'd the blacke Cat, and here's the braine.
II.
II. These also, both by the confessions of Witches, and testimonie of Writers, are of principall vse in their witchcraft. The Toad mention'd in Virg. Geo. lib. I. Inuentusque cauis Bufo. Which by Plinie is call'd Rubeta, Nat. Hist. lib.32. cap.5. and there celebrated for the force in Magick, Iuuenal toucheth at it twice, within my memorie, Satir. I. & 6. And of the Owles eyes, see Corn. Agrip. de occult, Philos. lib. I. cap. I5. As of the Bats bloud, and wings there: and in the 25. chapter, with Bapt. Porta, lib.2 cap.26.
I charm'd him out, and he came at my call;
I scratch'd out the eys of the Owle before,
I tore the Batts wing; what would you haue more?
I2.
I2. After all their boasted labors, and plentie of Materialls (as they imagine) I make the Dame not only to adde more, but stranger, and out of their means to get (except the first Papauer cornutum, which I haue touch'd at in the confection) as Sepulchris caprificos erutas, & cupressos funebreis, as Horace calls them, where he armes Canidia, Epod. lib. Ode. 5. Then Agaricum Laricis, of which, see Porta, lib.2. de Nat. Magi, against Plinie. And Basilisci, quem & Saturni sanguinem vocant venefici, tantasque vires habere ferunt. Cor. Agrip. de occuli. Philos. libI1. cap.42. With the Viper, remembred by Lucan. lib.6. and the skins of Serpents. Innataque rubris Æquoribus custos pretiosa vipeta conchæ, Aut viuentis adhuc Lybicæ membrana cerastæ. And Ouid, lib.7. Nec defuit illis Squamea Ciniphei tenuis membrane chelidri.
Horned Poppie, Cypresse boughes,
The Fig-tree wild, that growes on tombes,
And iuice, that from the Larch-tree comes,
The Basiliskes bloud, and the Vipers skin:
And, now, our Orgies let's begin.
Here, the Dame put her selfe in the midst of them, and began her following Inuocation; wherein she tooke occasion, to boast all the power attributed to Witches by the Ancients; of which, euery Poet (or the most) doe giue some: Homer to Circe, in the Odyss. Theocritvs to Simatha, in Pharmaceutria; Virgil to Alphesibœvs, in his. Ovid to Dipsas, in Amor. to Medea and Circe, in Metamorph. Tibvllvs to Saga; Horace to Canidia, Sagana, Veia, Folia; Seneca to Medea, and the Nurse, in Herc. OEte. Petr. Arbiter to his Saga, in Frag. and Clavdian to Megæra, lib. I. in Rufinum; who takes the habit of a Witch, as these doe, and supplies that historical part in the Poeme, beside her morall person of a Furie; confirming the same drift, in ours.
[Dame.]
You Fiends and Furies (if yet any bee
Worse then our selues) you, that haue quak'd to see
These knots vntied; and shrunke, when we haue charm'd.
You, that (to arme vs) haue your selues disarm'd,
And to our powers, resign'd your whips and brands,
When we went forth, the scourge of men and lands.
Durst not take chariot; when the boistrous sea,
Without a breath of wind, hath knock'd the skie;
And that hath thundred, Iove not knowing why:
When we haue set the elements at warres,
Made midnight see the sunne, and day the starres;
When the wing'd lightning, in the course, hath staid;
And swiftest riuers haue run backe, afraid,
To see the corne remoue, the groues to range,
Whole places alter, and the seasons change,
When the pale moone, at the first voice downe fell
Poison'd, and durst not stay the second spell.
You, that haue oft, beene conscious of these lights;
And thou
Hecate, who is called Triuia, and Triformis, of whom Virgil. Æneid. lib.4. Tergeminamque, Hecaten, tria virgnis era Dianæ. She was beleeu'd to gouerne in witchcraft; and its remembred in all their inuocations: See Theoc. in Pharmaceut. χαιρ Εκατα. δασπωλητι, & Medea in Senec. Meis vocata sacris noctium sidus veni, Pessimos in duta vultus: Fronte non vna minax. And Ericht. in Luc. Persephone. nostræque, Hecatis pars vltima, &c.
Art onely powerfull, to whose triple name
Thus we incline, once, twice, and thrise the same;
If now with rites prophane, and foule inough,
We doe inuoke thee; darken all this roofe,
With present fogges. Exhale earths rott'nest vapors,
And strike a blindesse through these blazing tapers
Come, let a murmuring charme resound,
The whilst we bury all, i'the ground.
But first, see euery
The Ceremony also, of baring their feet, is expressed by Ouid. Metamorph. lib.7. as of their haire. Egreditur tectis vestes induta recinctas, Nuda pedem, nudos humeris infusa capillos. And Horac. ibid. Pedibus nudis passoque, capillo. And Senec. in Tragæd. Med. Tibi more Gentis, vinculo soluens comam Secreta nudo nemora lustraui pede.
And euery knee.
Hag.
Yes, dame, they are.
4. Charme.
Deepe,
Heere they speake as if they were creating some new feature, which the deuill perswades them to be able to do, often, by the pronouncing of words, and powring out of liquors, on the earth. Heare what Agrip. faies De occul. Phil. lib.4. neer the end. In euocationibus vmbrarum fumigamus cum sanguine recenti, cum ossibus mortuorum, & carne, cum ouis, lacte, melle, oleo, & similibus, quæ optũ mediũ tribuunt animabus, ad sum enda corpora; and a little before. Namque, animæ cognitis medijs, per quæ quondam corporibus suis coniungebantur, per similes vapores, liquores, nidoresque, facile alliciuntur. Which doctrine he had from Apuleius, without all doubt, or question, who in lib.3. de Asin aureo. publisheth the same. Tunc decantatis spirantibus fibris litat vario latice; nunc roce fontano, nunc lacte vaccino, nunc melle montano, libat & mulâ Sic illos capillos in mutuos nexus obditos, atque nodatos, cum multis odoribus dat vinis carbonibus adolendos Tunc protinus inexpugnabili Magicæ Disciplinæ potestate, & cæcanuminum coactorum violentia, illa corpora quorum fumabant stridentes capilli spiritum mutuantur humanum, & sentiunt, & audiunt, & ambulant. Et quà nidor suarum ducebat exuuiarum veniunt. All which are meere arts of Sathan, when either himselfe will delude them with a false forme, or troubling a dead body, makes them imagine these vanities the meanes: as in the ridiculous circumstances that follow, he doth daily.
We leaue thee drinke by, if thou chance to be dry;
Both milke, and bloud, the dew, and the floud.
We breathe in thy bed, at the foot, and the head;
We couer thee warme, that thou take no harme:
And when thou dost wake,
Dame earth shall quake,
And the houses shake,
And her belly shall ake,
As her backe were brake,
Such a birth to make,
As is the blue drake:
Whose forme thou shall take.
Neuer a starre yet shot?
Where be the ashes?
Hag.
Here i'the pot.
Dam.
This throwing of ashes, and sand, with the flint stone, crosse stickes, and burying of sage &c. are all vs'd (and beleeu'd by them) to the raysing of storme, and tempest. See Remig. li. I. dæmon. cap. 25. Nider. Formicari. cap. 4. Bodin. Dæmon. lib. 2. cap. 8. And heate Godelman: lib. 2. cap. 6. Nam quando dæmoni grandines ciendi potestatem facit Deus, tum Malificas instruit, vt quandoque silicet post tergum in occidentem versus proijciant, aliquando vt arenam aquæ torrentis in aërem conijciant, plerumque scopas in aquam intingant, cœlumque, versus spargant, vel fossulâ factâ & lotio infuso, vel aquâ digitum moueant: subindè in ollâ porcorum pilos bulliant, nonnunquam trabes vel ligna in ripâ transuersè collocent, & alia id genus deliramenta efficiant. And when they see the successe, they are more confirm'd, as if the euent followed their working. The like illusion is of their phantasie, in sayling in egge-shels, creeping through augur-holes, and such like, so vulgar in their confessions.
Ouer the left shoulder bone:
Into the west.
Hag.
It will be best.
5. Charme.
The stickes are a-crosse, there can be no losse,
The sage is rotten, the sulphur is gotten
Vp to the sky, that was i'the ground.
Follow it then, with our rattles, round;
Vnder the bramble, ouer the brier,
A little more heat will set it on fire:
Put it in mind, to doe it kind,
Flow water, and blow wind.
Rouncy is ouer, Robble is vnder,
A flash of light, and a clap of thunder,
A storme of raine, another of hayle.
We all must home, i'the egge-shell sayle;
The mast is made of a great pin,
The tackle of cobweb, the sayle as thin,
And if we goe through and not fall in—
Dame.
This stoppe, or interruption shew'd the better, by causing that generall silence, which made all the following Noyses, enforced in the next charme, more direfull, first imitating that of Lucan. Miratur Erichtho Has fatis licuisse moras; irataque morti Verberat immotum viuo serpente cadauer, and then their barking, howling, hissing, and confusion of noyse expressed by the same Author, in the same person. Tunc vox Lethæos cunctis pollentior herbis Excantare deos, confodit murmura primùm. Dissona & humana multùm discordia linguæ. Latratus habet illa canum, gemitusque, luporum, Quod trepidus bubo, quod strin nocturna queruntur, Quod strident vlulantque feræ, quod sibilat anguis Exprimit, & planctus illisæ cautibus vndæ, Siluarumque, sonum, fractæque, tonitrua nubis, Tot rerum vox vna fuit, See Remig. too, Dæmonolat. lib. I. cap. I9.
Vpon the night; our labour dies!
Our Magicke-feature will not rise;
Nor yet the storme! We must repeate
More direfull voyces farre, and beate
The ground with vipers, till it sweate.
Barke dogges, wolues howle,
Seas roare, woods roule,
Cloudes cracke, all be blacke,
But the light our charmes doe make.
Dame.
Not yet? my rage beginnes to swell;
Darkenesse, deuills, night, and hell,
Doe not thus delay my spell.
I call you once, and I call you twise;
I beat you againe, if you stay my thrise:
Thorough these cranyes, where I peepe,
I'le let in the light to see your sleepe.
And all the secrets of your sway
Shall lie as open to the day,
As vnto me. Still are you deafe?
Reach me a bough, that ne're bare leafe,
To strike the aire; and
A deadly poysonous herbe fain'd by Ouid. Metamo. libr. 7. to spring out of Cerberus his foame. Plinie giues it another beginning of name. Nat. Hist. lib. 27. cap 3. Nascitur in nudis cautibus, quas aconas vocant, & inde aconitum dixere, nullo iuxtâ ne putuere quidem nutriente. Howsoeuer the iuice of it is like that liquor which the deuill giues witches to sprinkle abroad, & do hurt in the opinion of all the magick masters.
To hurle vpon this glaring light;
A rustie knife, to wound mine arme;
And, as it drops, I'le speake a charme,
Shall cleaue the ground, as low as lies
Old shrunk-vp Chaos, and let rise,
Once more, his darke, and reeking head,
To strike the world, and nature dead,
Vntill my magicke birth be bred.
7. Charme.
Blacke goe in, and blacker come out;
At thy going downe, we giue thee a shout.
These shouts and clamors, as also the voice Har. Har. are very particular with them by the testimony of Bodin. Remig. Delrio. and M. Phil. Ludvuigus, Elich. who out of them reports it, thus. Totaturba colluuiesque, pessima fescanninos in bonorem Dæmonum cantet obsœnissimos: Hæc canit Har. Har. Illa Diabolo, Diabole, salta huc, salta illuc; Altera, lude hic, lude illic; Alia, Sabaath, Sabaath. &c. Imò clamoribus, sibilis, vlulatibus, popysmis, furit, ac debacchatur: pulucribus, velvenenis acceptu qui hominibus pedibusque spergant.
At thy rising againe, thou shalt haue two,
And if thou dost what, we would haue thee doe,
Thou shalt haue three, thou shalt haue foure,
Thou shalt haue ten, thou shalt haue a score.
Hoo. Har. Har. Hoo!
A cloud of pitch, a spurre, and a switch,
To haste him away, and a whirlewind play,
Before, and after, which thunder for laughter,
And stormes for ioy, of the roaring boy;
His head of a drake, his taile of a snake.
9. Charme.
About, about, and about,
Till the mist arise, and the lights flie out,
The images neither be seene, nor felt;
The wollen burne, and the waxen melt;
Sprinkle your liquors vpon the ground,
And into the ayre; around, around.
Around, around,
Around, around,
Nor doe they want musique, and in strange manner giuen them by the deuill, if we credit their confessions in Remig. Dæm. lib. I. cap. I9. Such as the Syrbenæan Quires were, which Athenæus remembers out of Clearchus, Deipnos. lib.I5. where euery one sung what he would without harkening to his fellow; like the noise of diuers oares, falling in the water. But be patient of Remigius relation. Miris modis illîc miscentur, ac turbantur omnia, nec vllâ oratione satis exprimi queat, quàm strepant sonis inconditis, absurdis, ac discrepantibus. Canit hic Dæmon ad tibiam, vel veriùs ad contum, aut baculum aliquod, quod fortè humi repertum bucca ceu tibiam admouet. Ille pro lyra equi caluariam pulsat, ac digitis concrepat. Alius fuste vel clauâ grauiore quercum tundit, vnde exauditur sonus, ac boatus veluti tympanorum vehementius pulsatorum. Intercinunt rancide, & composito ad litui morem clangore Dæmones; ipsumque cœlum fragosa aridaque voce feriunt.
And the pase be found,
To which we may daunce,
And our Charmes aduance.
At which, with a strange, and sodayne musique they fell into a
The manner also of their dauncing is confest in Bodin. lib.2. cap.4. And Remig. li.I. cap.I7. and I8. The summe of which M. Phili. Lud. Elich. relates thus, in his Dæmonom. Quæst. I0. Tripudijs interdum intersunt facie liberâ & apertâ, interdum obducta laruâ, linteo, cortice, reticulo, peplo, vel alio velamine, aut farrinario excerniculo inuoluia. And a little after. Omnia fiunt ritu absurdissimo. & ab omni consuetudine beminum alienissimo, dorsis inuicem obuersis, & in orbem iunctis manibus, saltando circumeant, perinde sua iacstantes capita, vt qui œstro agitantur. Remigius addes out of the confession of Sibilla Morelia, Gyrum semper in læuam progredi, which Plinie obserues in the Priests of Cybile. Nat. Hist. lib. 28 cap.2. and to be done with great religion. Bodin addes, that they vse broomes in their hands, with which we arm'd our witches; and here we leaue them.
In the heat of their daunce, on the sodaine, was heard a sound of lowd musique, as if many instruments had made one blast; with which not onely the Hags themselues, but the hell, into which they ran, quite vanished, and the whole face of the Scene altred, scarce suffring the memory of such a thing: But in the place of it, appeared a glorious, and magnificent building, figuring the house of fame, in the top of which, were discouered the I2. masquers, sitting vpon a throne triumphall, erected in forme of a pyramide, and circled with all store of light. From whom a person, by this time descended, in the furniture of Perseus, and expressing heroique, and masculine vertue, began to speake.
So should, at Fames lowd sound, and Vertves sight,
All darke, and enuious witchcraft flie the light.
The ancients expressed a braue & masculine Vertue in three figures (of Hercules, Perseus, and Bellerophon.) Of which wee choose that of Perseus, arm'd as we haue describ'd him, out of Hesiod, Scuto. Herc. See Apollodor, the Grammarian, l.2. de Perseo.
His crooked sword, nor put on Plvto's caske,
Nor on mine arme, aduanc'd wise Pallas shield,
(By which, my face auers'd, in open field
I slue the Gorgon) for an emptie name:
When Vertve cut off Terror, he gat Fame.
And, if when Fame was gotten, Terror di'de,
What black Erynnis, or more hellish pride,
Durst arme these Hags, now shee is growne, and great,
To thinke they could her glories once defeat?
I was her parent, and I am her strength.
Heroique Vertue sinkes not vnder length
Of yeeres, or ages; but is still the same,
While he preserues, as when he got good Fame.
My daughter, then, whose glorious house you see
Built of all sounding brasse, whose columnes bee
Man-making Poets, and those well-made Men,
Whose strife it was, to haue the happyest pen
Renowne them to an after-life, and not
With pride, to scorne the Muse, and die forgot;
Shee, that inquireth into all the world,
And hath, about her vaulted Palace, hoorl'd
All rumors and reports, or true, or vaine,
What vtmost lands, or deepest seas containe;
(But only hangs great actions, on her file)
Shee, to this lesser world, and greatest Ile,
To night sounds Honor, which shee would haue seene
In yond' bright Bevie each of them a Queene.
Eleuen of them are of times, long gone.
Penthesilea, the braue Amazon,
Swift-foot Camilla, Queene of Volscia,
Victorious Thomyris of Scythia,
Chast Artemisia, the Carian dame,
And fayre-hayr'd Beronice, Ægypts fame,
Hypsicratea, glorie of Asia,
Candace, pride of Æthiopia.
The Brittane honor, Voadicea,
The vertuous Palmyrene, Zenobia,
The wise, and warlike Goth, Amalasvnta,
And bold Valasca, of Bohemia.
Of woman-kind, and 'gainst all opposite voyce
Made good to time, had, after death, the clame
To liue eternis'd in the house of Fame.
Where hourely hearing (as, what there is old?)
The glories of Bel-anna so well told,
Queene of the Ocean; How, that shee alone
Possest all vertues, for which one by one
They were so fam'd; And, wanting then a head
To forme that sweet, and gracious pyramede
Wherein they sit, it being the sou'raigne place
Of all that Palace, and reseru'd to grace
The worthyest Queene: These, without enuy', on her,
In life, desir'd that honor to confer,
Which, with their death, no other should enioy.
Shee this embracing with a vertuous ioy,
Farre from selfe-loue, as humbling all her worth,
To him that gaue it, hath againe brought forth
Their names to memorie; and meanes, this night,
To make them once more visible to light:
And to that light, from whence her truth of spirit
Confesseth all the lustre of her merit.
To you, most royall, and most happy king,
Of whom, Fames house, in euery part, doth ring
For euery vertue; but can giue no'increase:
Not, though her loudest trumpet blaze your peace.
To you, that cherish euery great example
Contracted in your selfe; and being so ample
A field of honor, cannot but embrace
A spectacle, so full of loue, and grace
Vnto your court: where euery Princely dame
Contends to be as bounteous of her fame
To others, as her life was good to her:
For, by their liues, they only did confer
Good on themselues; but, by their fame, to yours,
And euery age, the benefit endures.
Here, the throne wherein they sate, being Machina versatilis, sodainly chang'd, and in the place of it appear'd Fama bona, as shee is describ'd (in Iconolog. di Cesare Ripa) attyr'd in white, with white wings, hauing a collar of gold about her neck, and a heart hanging at it: which Orvs Apollo, in his Hierogl. interprets the note of a good fame. In her right hand, shee bore a trumpet, in her left an oliue branch: And for her state, it was, as Virgil describes her, at the full, her feet on the ground, and her head in the cloudes. Shee, after the musique had done, which wayted on the turning of the machine, call'd from thence, to Vertue, and spake this following speech.
Vertve, my father, and my honor; thou
That mad'st me good, as great; and dar'st auow
No fame, for thine, but what is perfect: Ayde,
To night, the triumphs of thy white-wing'd mayde.
Doe those renowned Queenes all vtmost rites
Their states can aske. This is a night of nights.
In mine owne chariots let them, crowned, ride;
And mine owne birds, and beasts in geeres appli'de
To draw them forth. Vnto the first carre tye
Farre-sighted eagles, to note Fames sharpe eye.
Vnto the second, Griffons, that designe
Swiftnesse and strength, two others gifts of mine.
Vnto the last, our Lyons, that imply
The top of graces, state, and maiestie.
And let those Hags be led as captiues, bound
Before their wheeles, whilst I my trumpet sound.
At which, the lowd musique sounded, as before; to giue the Masquers time of descending. And here, we cannot but take the opportunitie, to make some more particular description of their scene, as also of the persons they presented; which, though they were disposed rather by chance, then election, yet is it my part to iustifie them all: And then, the Lady that will owne her presentation, may.
To follow, therefore, the rule of Chronologie, which I haue obseru'd in my verse, the most vpward in time was Penthesilea. Shee was Queene of the Amazons, and succeeded Otrera, or (as some will) Orithya; shee liu'd, and was present, at the warre of Troy on their part, against the Greekes, and (as Ivstine giues her testimonie) Inter fortissimos viros, magnaeius virtutis documenta extitere. Shee is no where nam'd, but with the preface of honor, and vertue; and is alwayes aduanced in the head of the worthiest women.
Diodorvs Sicvlvs makes her the daughter of Mars. Shee was honor'd in her death to haue it the act of Achilles. Of which Propertivs sings this triumph to her beautie. Aurea cui post quam nudauit cassida frontem,Vicit victorem candida forma virum.
Next, followes Camilla, Queene of the Volscians, celebrated by
Virgil, then whose verses nothing can be imagin'd more exquisite, or more honoring the person they describe. They are these, where hee reckons vp those, that came on Tvrnvs his part, against Æneas. Hos super aduenit Volsca de gente Camilla,Agmen agens equitum, & florenteis ære cateruas,
Bellatrix. Non illa colo, calathisue Mineruæ
Fœmineas assueta, manus, sed prælia virgo
Dura pati, cursuque pedum præuertere ventos.
Illa vel intactæ segetis per summa volaret
Gramina, nec tener as cursulæsisset aristas:
Ferret iter, celereis nec tingeret æquore plantas.
And afterward tells her attyre, and armes, with the admiration, that the spectators had of her. All which if the Poet created out of himselfe, without nature, he did but shew, how much so diuine a soule could exceed her.
The third liu'd in the age of Cyrvs, the great Persian Monarch; and made him leaue to liue. Thomyris, Queene of the Scythians, or Massagets. A Heroine of a most inuincible, and vnbroken fortitude. Who, when Cyrvs had inuaded her, and, taking her onely son (rather by trecherie, then war, as she obiected) had slaine him; not touch'd with the griefe of so great a losse, in the iuster comfort she tooke of a greater reuenge, pursued not only the occasion, and honor of conquering so potent an enemy, with whom fell two hundred thousand souldiers: but (what was right memorable in her victorie) left not a messenger suruiuing, of his side to report the massacre. She is remembred both by
Herodotvs and Ivstine, to the great renowne, and glorie of her kind: with this Elogie. Quod potentissimo Persarum Monarchæ bello congressa est, ipsamque & vita & castris spoliauit, ad iustè vlciscendam filij eius indignissimam mortem.The fourth was honor'd to life in the time of Xerxes, and present at his great expedition into Greece; Artemisia, the Queene of Caria: whose vertue
Herodotvs, not without some wonder, records. That, a woman, a Queene, without a husband, her sonne a ward, and shee administring the gouernment, occasion'd by no necessitie, but a meere excellence of spirit, should embarque herselfe for such a war; and there, so to behaue her, as Xerxes beholding her fight, should say: Viri quidē extiterunt mihi fœminæ, fœminæ autem viri. She is no lesse renowned for her chastitie, & loue to her husband, Mavsolvs, whose bones (after he was dead) she preseru'd in ashes, and drunke in wine, making her selfe his tombe: and, yet, built to his memorie a monument, deseruing a place among the seuen wonders of the world, which could not be done by lesse then a wonder of women.The fifth was the faire hayr'd daughter of Ptolomaevs Philadelphvs, by the elder Arsinoe; who, married to her brother Ptolomaevs, surnamed Evergetes, was after Queene of Ægypt. I find her written both Beronice, and Berenice. This lady, vpon an expedition of her new wedded Lord into Assyria, vowed to Venvs, if he return'd safe, and conqueror, the offering of her haire; which vow of hers (exacted by the successe) she afterward perform'd. But, her father missing it, and therewith displeas'd, Conon, a Mathematician, who was then in household with Ptolomey, and knew well to flatter him, perswaded the king that it was ta'ne vp to heauen, and made a constellation; she wing him those seuen stars, ad caudam Leonis, which are since called Coma Beronices. Which storie, then presently celebrated by Callimachvs, in a most elegant poeme, Catvllvs more elegantly conuerted; wherein they call her the Magnanimous, euen from a virgin: alluding (as
Hyginvs saies) to a rescue shee made of her father in his flight, and restoring the courage and honor of his armie, euen to a victorie. Their wordes are,The sixth, that famous wife of Mithridates, and queene of Pontus, Hypsicratea, no lesse an example of vertue then the rest; who so loued her husband, as shee was assistant to him in all labours, and hazards of the warre, in a masculine habit. For which cause (as
Valerivs Maximvs obserues) shee departed with a chiefe ornament of her beautie. Tonsis enim capillis, equose & armis assuefecit, quo facilius laboribus & periculis eius interesset. And, afterward, in his flight from Pompey, accompanied his misfortune, with a minde, and body equally vnwearied. Shee is solemnely registred, by that graue authour, as a notable president of marriage-loyaltie, and loue: vertues, that might rayse a meane person to equalitie with a queene; but a queene to the state, and honour of a deitie.The seuenth, that renowne of Æthiopia, Candace; from whose excellencie, the succeeding queenes of that nation were ambitious to bee called so. A woman, of a most haughtie spirit against enemies, and a singular affection to her subiects. I finde her celebrated by
Dion, and Plinie, inuading Ægypt in the time of Avgvstvs; who, though she were enforc'd to a peace by his Lieutenant Petronivs, doth not the lesse worthily hold her place here; when, euery where, this Elogie remaines of her fame: That she was Maximi animi mulier, tantique in suos meriti, vt omnes deinceps Æthiopum Reginæ eius nomine fuerint appellatæ. She gouern'd in Meroe.The eight, our owne honour, Voadicea, or Boodicea; By some Bvndvica, and Bvndvca: queene of the Iceni. A people, that inhabited that part of our Iland which was called East-anglia, and comprehended, Suffolke, Norfolke, Cambridge, and Huntington shires. Since shee was borne here at home, we will first honour her with a home-borne testimony; from the graue and diligent
Spenser.That lifting vp her braue Heroique thought
'Boue womans weaknesse, with the Romans fought;
Fought, and in field against them thrice preuail'd, &c.
To which, see her orations in storie, made by
Tacitvs, & Dion: wherein is expressed all magnitude of a spirit, breathing to the libertie and redemption of her Countrie. The later of whom, doth honest her beside, with a particular description. Bvndvica, Britanica fœmina, orta stirpe Regia, quæ non solum eis cum magna dignitate præfuit, sed etiam bellum omne administrauit; cuins animas virilis potius quam muliebris erat. And afterwards, Fœmina, forma honestissima, vultu seuero, &c. All which doth waigh the more to her true praise, in comming from the mouthes of Romanes, and enemies. She liu'd in the time of Nero.The ninth, in time, but equall in fame, and (the cause of it) vertue, was the chast Zenobia queene of the Palmyrenes, who, after the death of
The tenth, succeeding, was that learned, and Heroique Amalasvnta, queene of the Ostrogothes, daughter to Theodorick, that obtained the principalitie of Rauenna, and almost all Italy. She draue the Burgundians, and Almaines out of Liguria, and appear'd in her gouernment rather an example, then a second. Shee was the most eloquent of her age, and cunning in all languages, of any nation that had commerce with the Romane Empire.
It is recorded of her, that, sine veneratione eam viderit nemo, pro miraculo fuerit ipsam audire eloquentem. Tantaque illi in decernendo grauitas, vt criminis connicti, cum plecterentur, nihil sibi acerbum pati viderentur.The eleuenth was that braue Bohemian queene, Valasca, who for her courage, had the surname of bold: That to redeeme her selfe and her sexe, from the tyranny of men, which they liu'd in, vnder Primislavs, on a night, and at an houre appointed, led on the women to the slaughter of their barbarous husbands and lords. And possessing themselues of their horses, armes, treasure, and places of strength, not onely ruled the rest, but liued many yeeres after, with the libertie, and fortitude of Amazons. Celebrated by
Raphael Volaterranvs, and in an elegant tract of an Italians in Latine, (who names himselfe Philalethes, Polytopiensis ciuis) inter præstantissimas fœminas.The twelu'th, and worthy soueraigne of all I make Bel-anna, royall queene of the Ocean; of whose dignitie and person, the whole scope of the inuention doth speake throughout: which, to offer you againe here, might but proue offence to that sacred modestie, which heares any testimony of others iterated, with more delight, then her own praise. Shee being plac'd aboue the need of such ceremony, & safe in her princely vertue, against the good, or ill, of any witnesse. The name of Bel-anna I deuis'd, to honour hers proper by; as adding to it, the attribute of faire: And is kept by me, in all my Poemes, wherein I mention her Maiestie with any shaddow, or figure. Of which, some may come forth with a longer destinie, then this age, commonly, giues to the best births, if but help'd to light by her gracious, and ripening fauour.
But, here, I discerne a possible obiection, arising against me; to which I must turne: As, How I can bring persons of so different ages, to appeare properly together? or, why (which is more vnnaturall) with Virgil's Mezentius, I ioyne the liuing with the dead? I answere to both these, at once. Nothing is more proper; Nothing more naturall. For these all liue; and together,
There rests, only, that wee giue the description (we promis'd of the scene, which was the house of Fame. The structure, and ornament of which (as is profest before) was entirely Master Iones his inuention, and designe. First, for the lower columnes, hee chose the Statues of the most excellent Poets, as Homer, Virgil, Lvcan, &c. as being the substantiall supporters of Fame. For the vpper, Achilles, Aeneas, Caesar, and those great Heroes, which these Poets had celebrated. All which stood, as in massie gold. Betweene the pillars, vnderneath, were figur'd Land-battailes, Sea-fights, Triumphs, Loues, Sacrifices, and all magnificent subiects of honour: in brasse, and heighten'd with siluer. In which, hee profest to follow that noble description, made by Chavcer, of the place. Aboue were sited the Masquers, ouer whose heads he deuis'd two eminent figures of Honour, and Vertue, for the Arch. The Freezes, both below, and aboue, were fill'd with seueral-colour'd lights, like Emeralds, Rubies, Saphyres, Carbuncles, &c. the reflexe of which, with other lights, placed in the Concaue, vpon the Masquers habits, was full of glory. These habits had in them the excellencie of all deuice, and riches; and were worthily varied by his inuention, to the Nations, whereof they were queenes. Nor are these, alone, his due; but diuers other accessions to the strangenesse, and beautie of the Spectacle: as the Hell, the going about of the Chariots, the binding the Witches, the turning Machine, with the presentation of Fame. All which I willingly acknowledge for him: since it is a vertue, planted in good natures, that what respects they wish to obtaine fruitfully from others, they will giue ingenuously themselues.
By this time, imagine the Masquers descended; and againe mounted into three triumphant Chariots, ready to come forth. The first foure were drawne with Eagles, (whereof I gaue the reason, as of the rest in Fames speech) their foure torch-bearers, attending on the Chariot sides, and foure of the Hagges, bound before them. Then followed the second, drawne by Griffons, with their torch-bearers, and foure other Hagges. Then the last, which was drawne by Lions, and more eminent; (wherein her Maiestie was) and had sixe torch-bearers more, (peculiar to her) with the like number of Hagges. After which, a full triumphant Musique, singing this Song, while they rode, in state, about the stage.
[Masquers.]
Song.
Helpe, helpe all tongues, to celebrate this wonder:
The voyce of Fame should be as lowd as thunder.
Where neuer dyes the sound;
And, as her browes the cloudes inuade,
Her feet doe strike the ground.
Sing then good Fame, that's out of Vertue borne:
For, who doth Fame neglect, doth Vertue scorne.
Here they lighted from their Chariots, and danc'd forth their first dance; then a second, immediately following it: both right curious, and full of subtile and excellent changes, and seem'd perform'd with no lesse spirits, then of those they personated. The first was to the Cornets, the second to the Vyolines. After which, they tooke out the men, and danc'd the measures; entertaining the time, almost to the space of an houre, with singular varietie: when, to giue them rest, from the Musique which attended the Chariots, by that most excellent tenor voyce, and exact singer (her Maiesties seruant, Mr. Io. Allin) this Dittie was sung.
Song.
When all the Ages of the earth
Were crown'd, but in this famous Birth;
And that, when they would boast their store
Of worthy Queenes, they knew no more:
How happier is that Age, can giue
A Queene, in whom all they doe liue!
After it, succeeded their third dance; then which, a more numerous composition could not be scene: Graphically disposed into Letters, and honouring the name of the most sweet and ingenious Prince, Charles, Duke of Yorke. Wherein, beside that principall grace of perspicuitie, the motions were so euen and apt, and their expression so iust; as if Mathematicians had lost Proportion, they might there haue found it. The Author was Mr. Tho. Giles. After this, they danc'd Galliards, and Corrantoes. And then their last dance, no lesse elegant (in the place) then the rest, with which they tooke their Chariots againe, and triumphing about the stage, had their returne to the House of Fame celebrated with this last Song; whose notes (as the former) were the worke, and honour of my excellent friend, Alfonso Ferrabosco.
Song.
Who, Vertue, can thy power forget,
That sees these liue, & triumph yet?
Th'Assyrian pompe, the Persian pride,
Greekes glory, and the Romanes di'de:
And who yet imitate
Their noyses, tarry the same fate.
Force greatnesse all the glorious waies
You can, it soone decaies;
But so good Fame shall neuer:
Her triumphs, as their causes, are for euer.
To conclude which, I know no worthier way of Epilogue, then the celebration of who were the Celebraters.
- The Qveenes Maiesty.
- The Co. of Arvndee.
- The Co. of Derby.
- The Co. of Hvntington.
- The Co. of Bedford.
- The Co. of Essex.
- The Co. of Montgomery.
- The Vicou. Cranborne.
- The La. El. Gvilford.
- The La. Anne Winter.
- The La. Windsore.
- The La. Anne Clifford.
| The Masqve of Qveenes | |