DOI issue:
January to June, 1852
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16609#0063
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. 55
LITERATURE.
A Dictionary of the Landless Gentry. By Herald Hake, Esq.
Hoax and Co.
This is a very remarkable and original publication. Encouraged by the
success of the " Landed Gentry " of Burke, Mr. Hake has produced a
work on that large and important class of gentry who have no land at all.
It contains some notices of hundreds of our suburban families, with men-
tion of at least four hundred young gentlemen who have founded
branches of them in the metropolis. As it is now-a-days almost im-
possible to distinguish between "gentlemen" by_ outward appearances,
and, as there are many hundreds of gentlemen, information concerning
whose families is (says Mr. Hake) but "scantily accessible to the
public," (Preface, p. 3,) this work cannot fail to be largely circu-
lated. Our author has to thank the heads of families, and_ of branches
of families, he tells us, for most courteous replies to his communi-
cations. He has rarely been refused admission to chambers, lodgings,
&c, where he wished to inspect documents—except, to use his own
words—" where a disagreeable, yet perhaps natural, mistake was made
concerning my motives, as a stranger, for penetrating inside."
(Preface, p. 5.)
But, we must let the learned gentleman's work speak for itself by an
extract or two. So, we will show with what orthodox felicity Mr.
Hake performs his part, and quote a specimen. Let us remark, that
we shall show a proper deference in doing so, by quoting his notice of
those distinguished aristocrats of the land-less party, who are far more
"nobby " than their landed rivals—who sneer at the " rabble " from the
backs of '"acks"—whose waistcoats astonish Vauxhall, and who head
the mazy dance at the Terpsichoreums.
" HUGSLY of bloomsbury chambers.
" It was the opinion of Dugdale (Red Lion King) that the founder of
the family of Hugsly, of Clapham, of which this gentleman is a cadet,
was one William, or Bill Hugsly, who settled in Clapham in 1796,
where he got a grant of half-an-acre of land. This he held on the feudal
condition of making certain payments in coin quarterly—which he com-
muted by one large payment in 1798. He then built Hugsly Castle,
or house (" every Englishman's house is his castle." Jenkins, passim).
In 1801, we find him figuring in the roll of witnesses, {Rec.proc. reg.
banc.) in the petition against a return of the Hon. Mr. Balderdash to
Parliament, on account of treating, propter intoxicationem electorum, (old
MSS.) He married Arabella, daughter and co-heiress of Ass of that
ilk, by whom he had issue:
" Alexander, (Captain in the Clapham Volunteers.)
William, m. Mary, daughter of-Pewter, Esq., of The Till,
Brixton.
Eleanor, m. —— Grubbles, Esq,
"The two sons dying without issue, Grubbles, by right of his wife
(and with her permission), obtained the Clapham estates ; and obtained
permission also (from his acquaintances) to take the name and arms of
Hugsly. They had—
"John Tomkins Hugsly [present possessor).
Henry de Burgh Hugsly (founder of t/ie branch of Bloomsbury
Chambers!)
" Mr. H. de Burgh Hugsly's country seat is at Herne Bay. He
encourages sporting.
" Wears: A paletot vert; trousers, chequy, azure and sable ; a waist-
coat semee oifleurs de lis. Motto : Go it, my bricksy-wicksy."
"Biggins oe Pump Court.
" The antiquity and notoriety of the Bigginses (remarks Eungus) is
proved by an old doggerel rhyme which tradition still repeats in the
neighbourhood of their ancestral Peckham:—
" ' When from ye East there cometh ye Dun,
Then be sure, ye Biggins wiU run.'
" It is probable that this scrap of doggerel refers to an old legend, which
relates how Castle Biggins was besieged by an army in the days of the
Black Prince (Regent; afterwards Geo. 4th.) The army, as the chroni-
cles narrate, encamped in their neighbourhood, and terrible efforts were
made to penetrate. This, however, was only effected by a stratagem.
The invader chief entered, disguised as a brewer, with an empty barrel:
—the proud old Biggins was forced to surrender.
" Since this period the fortunes of the House of Biggins have not been
prosperous. It is recorded among them, that when anything terrible is
going to happen to one of_ the family, a banshee appears—in the shape
of a hook-nosed spectre with a sharp eye, jingling a chain. This is a
signal that the course of the individual is nearly run.
g " The Pump Court family (consisting of his brothers) is the most dis-
tinguished branch of the old family in question.
" Motto. See Wright."
Such is the plan of the very excellent work of Mr. Hake.
THE EXCLUSIVE IRISH TUTOR.
By Decree of the Synod of Thurles.
he interesting little note sub-
joined is a pretty illustration
of the kind of religious in-
struction and secular learning
imparted, in combination, by
certain pastors to certain
flocks in Ireland. It is stated
by the Newry Journal to have
been sent to a local magis-
trate by post. The writer is
evidently a gentleman of
strong Riband politics :—
" You bludy heretick take this
notise, lore yure land or leve the
cuentry we cannot Pay our rent the
land is so high and will we tirn our
children out beggars for the sake of
A heretick receiver you have past a
bill against our Ciargy now we
have past the bill against heretick
landlords And against heretick ma.
gistrates the bludy heretick lord John
russil that past the bill you may
blame him for All that is don And
will be done in this couQtry we will
have ireland to our selvs we have
our police And you have your Police—so you bludy heretick you see which dos their
duty best And you will see if you get time which of them will do their duty best if
you tirn from this date And live and let live it may be the mains of saving yor trouh
being magistrate we will have no heretick law in ireland—sined and seled irich Police
— down with hereticks."
In this brief document there are no less than eight distinct allusions
to heresy, most of them qualified by an epithet most strongly expressive
of the writer's antipathy to erroneous doctrine : an antipathy so violent
that it extends to the misbeliever, and may be said, indeed, to assume,
towards him, the character of ferocious hatred. The Riband gentleman
seems to object more forcibly to the religious opinions than even to the
pecuniary claims of the object of his reproaches. Clearly, if he could
have called the Protestant magistrate anything worse than a sanguinary
heretic, he would. That is the most opprobrious expression he could
think of. What exasperates him more than having rent to pay is, that
a bib cas been "past" against his "Ciargy;" and he is as much
exasperated with " lord John russil " as with his landlord, both of
whom ne abuses and menaces in the same terms. "You"—qualified—
"heretick," and "down with hereticks," are the beginning, middle,
and end of his letter. His theological ardour is more intense than his
personal malice. Zeal for his Church has eaten this gentleman up.
His religioas education has not been neglected. See what pious feelings
have been instilled into his breast. Observe how indignant he is at the
enactment which has been passed to the prejudice of his " Ciargy."
His orthodoxy is more wonderful than his orthography: can there be a
doubt that both are derived from the same source ?
Are not " Godless Colleges" rather preferable to a school which
teaches such godliness and such spelling ?
THE ADMIRALTY PUZZLED.
It seems that much of the time of the Admiralty, and, what is ol
more consequence, much of the money of the public, is consumed, in the
game, or puzzle, of putting ships together and taking them to bits
again. We have no objection to amusement under proper conditions ;
but we really think that our national shipping is rather too expensive
a material for the diversion of ignorant authorities. They, not, knowing
their business, attempt to combine instruction with entertainment, by
forming every ship into a practical puzzle, which they alternately pull
to pieces, arrange, and re-arrange, in the hope of making something of
it at last, though they seldom succeed in doing so. The pupils at
Greenwich have a model vessel on their ground, and upon this vessel
they have the means of enlightening their ignorance. Now, we would
propose that the Lords of the Admiralty should have a sort of toy-ship,
capable of being disjointed, and set up again, so that, when any of the
Lords required amusement, he might have a sham vessel, instead of a
real one, to play his tricks upon. Of course, if, after many years'
practice with the toy-vessel, any one of their Lordships more sagacious
than the rest should, unexpectedly, appear to have begun to under-
stand naval affairs, he might be permitted to try his hand upon a real
ship—beginning, of course, with the smallest craft, for fear of accident.
1 trench unity.
Certain hireling French writers justify the Presidential policy on
the ground of what they term " unity." For "unity," read " Unit "
LITERATURE.
A Dictionary of the Landless Gentry. By Herald Hake, Esq.
Hoax and Co.
This is a very remarkable and original publication. Encouraged by the
success of the " Landed Gentry " of Burke, Mr. Hake has produced a
work on that large and important class of gentry who have no land at all.
It contains some notices of hundreds of our suburban families, with men-
tion of at least four hundred young gentlemen who have founded
branches of them in the metropolis. As it is now-a-days almost im-
possible to distinguish between "gentlemen" by_ outward appearances,
and, as there are many hundreds of gentlemen, information concerning
whose families is (says Mr. Hake) but "scantily accessible to the
public," (Preface, p. 3,) this work cannot fail to be largely circu-
lated. Our author has to thank the heads of families, and_ of branches
of families, he tells us, for most courteous replies to his communi-
cations. He has rarely been refused admission to chambers, lodgings,
&c, where he wished to inspect documents—except, to use his own
words—" where a disagreeable, yet perhaps natural, mistake was made
concerning my motives, as a stranger, for penetrating inside."
(Preface, p. 5.)
But, we must let the learned gentleman's work speak for itself by an
extract or two. So, we will show with what orthodox felicity Mr.
Hake performs his part, and quote a specimen. Let us remark, that
we shall show a proper deference in doing so, by quoting his notice of
those distinguished aristocrats of the land-less party, who are far more
"nobby " than their landed rivals—who sneer at the " rabble " from the
backs of '"acks"—whose waistcoats astonish Vauxhall, and who head
the mazy dance at the Terpsichoreums.
" HUGSLY of bloomsbury chambers.
" It was the opinion of Dugdale (Red Lion King) that the founder of
the family of Hugsly, of Clapham, of which this gentleman is a cadet,
was one William, or Bill Hugsly, who settled in Clapham in 1796,
where he got a grant of half-an-acre of land. This he held on the feudal
condition of making certain payments in coin quarterly—which he com-
muted by one large payment in 1798. He then built Hugsly Castle,
or house (" every Englishman's house is his castle." Jenkins, passim).
In 1801, we find him figuring in the roll of witnesses, {Rec.proc. reg.
banc.) in the petition against a return of the Hon. Mr. Balderdash to
Parliament, on account of treating, propter intoxicationem electorum, (old
MSS.) He married Arabella, daughter and co-heiress of Ass of that
ilk, by whom he had issue:
" Alexander, (Captain in the Clapham Volunteers.)
William, m. Mary, daughter of-Pewter, Esq., of The Till,
Brixton.
Eleanor, m. —— Grubbles, Esq,
"The two sons dying without issue, Grubbles, by right of his wife
(and with her permission), obtained the Clapham estates ; and obtained
permission also (from his acquaintances) to take the name and arms of
Hugsly. They had—
"John Tomkins Hugsly [present possessor).
Henry de Burgh Hugsly (founder of t/ie branch of Bloomsbury
Chambers!)
" Mr. H. de Burgh Hugsly's country seat is at Herne Bay. He
encourages sporting.
" Wears: A paletot vert; trousers, chequy, azure and sable ; a waist-
coat semee oifleurs de lis. Motto : Go it, my bricksy-wicksy."
"Biggins oe Pump Court.
" The antiquity and notoriety of the Bigginses (remarks Eungus) is
proved by an old doggerel rhyme which tradition still repeats in the
neighbourhood of their ancestral Peckham:—
" ' When from ye East there cometh ye Dun,
Then be sure, ye Biggins wiU run.'
" It is probable that this scrap of doggerel refers to an old legend, which
relates how Castle Biggins was besieged by an army in the days of the
Black Prince (Regent; afterwards Geo. 4th.) The army, as the chroni-
cles narrate, encamped in their neighbourhood, and terrible efforts were
made to penetrate. This, however, was only effected by a stratagem.
The invader chief entered, disguised as a brewer, with an empty barrel:
—the proud old Biggins was forced to surrender.
" Since this period the fortunes of the House of Biggins have not been
prosperous. It is recorded among them, that when anything terrible is
going to happen to one of_ the family, a banshee appears—in the shape
of a hook-nosed spectre with a sharp eye, jingling a chain. This is a
signal that the course of the individual is nearly run.
g " The Pump Court family (consisting of his brothers) is the most dis-
tinguished branch of the old family in question.
" Motto. See Wright."
Such is the plan of the very excellent work of Mr. Hake.
THE EXCLUSIVE IRISH TUTOR.
By Decree of the Synod of Thurles.
he interesting little note sub-
joined is a pretty illustration
of the kind of religious in-
struction and secular learning
imparted, in combination, by
certain pastors to certain
flocks in Ireland. It is stated
by the Newry Journal to have
been sent to a local magis-
trate by post. The writer is
evidently a gentleman of
strong Riband politics :—
" You bludy heretick take this
notise, lore yure land or leve the
cuentry we cannot Pay our rent the
land is so high and will we tirn our
children out beggars for the sake of
A heretick receiver you have past a
bill against our Ciargy now we
have past the bill against heretick
landlords And against heretick ma.
gistrates the bludy heretick lord John
russil that past the bill you may
blame him for All that is don And
will be done in this couQtry we will
have ireland to our selvs we have
our police And you have your Police—so you bludy heretick you see which dos their
duty best And you will see if you get time which of them will do their duty best if
you tirn from this date And live and let live it may be the mains of saving yor trouh
being magistrate we will have no heretick law in ireland—sined and seled irich Police
— down with hereticks."
In this brief document there are no less than eight distinct allusions
to heresy, most of them qualified by an epithet most strongly expressive
of the writer's antipathy to erroneous doctrine : an antipathy so violent
that it extends to the misbeliever, and may be said, indeed, to assume,
towards him, the character of ferocious hatred. The Riband gentleman
seems to object more forcibly to the religious opinions than even to the
pecuniary claims of the object of his reproaches. Clearly, if he could
have called the Protestant magistrate anything worse than a sanguinary
heretic, he would. That is the most opprobrious expression he could
think of. What exasperates him more than having rent to pay is, that
a bib cas been "past" against his "Ciargy;" and he is as much
exasperated with " lord John russil " as with his landlord, both of
whom ne abuses and menaces in the same terms. "You"—qualified—
"heretick," and "down with hereticks," are the beginning, middle,
and end of his letter. His theological ardour is more intense than his
personal malice. Zeal for his Church has eaten this gentleman up.
His religioas education has not been neglected. See what pious feelings
have been instilled into his breast. Observe how indignant he is at the
enactment which has been passed to the prejudice of his " Ciargy."
His orthodoxy is more wonderful than his orthography: can there be a
doubt that both are derived from the same source ?
Are not " Godless Colleges" rather preferable to a school which
teaches such godliness and such spelling ?
THE ADMIRALTY PUZZLED.
It seems that much of the time of the Admiralty, and, what is ol
more consequence, much of the money of the public, is consumed, in the
game, or puzzle, of putting ships together and taking them to bits
again. We have no objection to amusement under proper conditions ;
but we really think that our national shipping is rather too expensive
a material for the diversion of ignorant authorities. They, not, knowing
their business, attempt to combine instruction with entertainment, by
forming every ship into a practical puzzle, which they alternately pull
to pieces, arrange, and re-arrange, in the hope of making something of
it at last, though they seldom succeed in doing so. The pupils at
Greenwich have a model vessel on their ground, and upon this vessel
they have the means of enlightening their ignorance. Now, we would
propose that the Lords of the Admiralty should have a sort of toy-ship,
capable of being disjointed, and set up again, so that, when any of the
Lords required amusement, he might have a sham vessel, instead of a
real one, to play his tricks upon. Of course, if, after many years'
practice with the toy-vessel, any one of their Lordships more sagacious
than the rest should, unexpectedly, appear to have begun to under-
stand naval affairs, he might be permitted to try his hand upon a real
ship—beginning, of course, with the smallest craft, for fear of accident.
1 trench unity.
Certain hireling French writers justify the Presidential policy on
the ground of what they term " unity." For "unity," read " Unit "