The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson

THE
MASQVE OF
QVEENES,
Celebrated
From the house of FAME:
By the QVEENE of great BRITAINE,
with her Ladies.
AT WHITE-HALL.
Febr. 2. 1609.

T increasing, now, to the third time of my

being vs'd in these seruices to herMaiesties

personall presentations, with the Ladies

whom shee pleaseth to honor; it was my

first and speciall regard, to see that the no-

bilitie of the inuention should bee answe-

rable 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 Ma-

iestie (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 a 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, pro-

ducing 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 expecta-

tion, 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,bquæ tot instructa

venenis, ex Orci faucibus profecta videri possit: These witches, with a kind

of hollow and infernall musique, came forth from thence. First one, then

two, and three, and more, till their number increased to eleuen; all diffe-

rently attyr'd: some with rats on their head; some on their shoulders;

others with ointment pots at their girdles; all with spindles, timbrels,

rattles, or other veneficall instruments, making a confused noyse, with

strange gestures. The deuice of their attyre was Master IONES his, with

the inuention, and architecture of the whole scene, and machine. Onely, I

prescrib'd them their properties of vipers, snakes, bones, herbs, rootes, and

other ensignes of their magick, out of the authoritie of ancient and late

writers, wherein the faults are mine, if there be any found; and for that

cause I confesse them.

These eleuen witches beginning to dance (which is an vsuall*ceremo-

nie at their conuents, or meetings, where sometimes also they are vizarded,

and masqu'd) on the sodayne, one of them missed their chiefe, and inter-

rupted the rest, with this speech.

SIsters, stay, we want our *Dame;

Call vpon her by her name,

And the charme we vse to say,

That shee quickly a anoynt, and come away.

I. CHARME.

DAME, DAME, the watch is set:

Quickly come, we all are met.

* From the lakes, and from the fens,

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.

2. CHARME.

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 a goate, or your greene b cock,

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 * spindle is now a turning;

The moone it is red, and the starres are fled,

But all the skie is a burning:

The a ditch is made, and our nayles the spade,

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 b MARTIN,

Merrily, merrily, make him saile,

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 * DAME enter'd to them, naked-arm'd, bare-footed, her frock

tuck'd, her hayre knotted, and folded with vipers; in her hand a torch made of a

dead mans arme, lighted; girded with a snake. To whom they all did reuerence,

and shee spake, vttering, by way of question, the end wherefore they came: which

if it had beene done either before, or otherwise, had not beene so naturall. For, to

haue made themselues, their owne decypherers, and each one to haue told, vpon their

entrance, what they were, and whither they would, had beene a most pitious

hearing, and vtterly vnworthy any qualitie of a poeme: wherin a writer should

alwayes trust somewhat to the capacitie of the spectator, especially, at thesespe-

ctacles; where men, beside inquiring eyes, are vnderstood to bring quicke eares,

and not those sluggish ones of porters, and mechanicks, that must bee bor'd

through, at euery act, with narrations.

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.

* First, then, aduance

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,

Who hath but one eare, and that alwaies ope;

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.

a Ioyne now our hearts, we faithfull opposites

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, b and blast the light;

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.

c But first relate me, what you haue sought,

Where you haue beene, and what you haue brought.

HAGGES.

1.

I Haue beene, all day, looking after

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.

I Haue beene gathering Wolues haires,

The mad Dogges foame, and the Adders eares;

The spurging of a dead mans eyes,

And all since the euening starre did rise.

3.

I, Last night, lay all alone

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.

ANd I ha'beene choosing out this scull,

From Charnell houses, that were full;

From priuate Grots, and publike Pits,

And frighted a Sexten out of his wits.

5.

>

VNder a cradle I did creepe,

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.

I Had a dagger: what did I with that?

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.

A Murderer, yonder, was hung in chaines,

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.

THe Scrich-owles egges, and the feathers blacke,

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.

ANd I ha'beene plucking (plants among)

Hemlock, Henbane, Adders-tongue,

Night-shade, Moone-wort, Libbards-bane;

And twise, by the dogges, was like to be tane.

10.

I, From the iawes of a Gardiners bitch,

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.

11.

I Went to the Toad breedes vnder the wall,

I charm'd him out, and he came at my call;

I scratch'd out the eyes of the Owle before,

I tore the Batts wing; what would you haue more?

12.
DAME.

YEs, I haue brought (to helpe our vowes)

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 In-

uocation; 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. toME-

DEAand CIRCE, in Metamorph. TIBVLLVS to SAGA; HORACE toCA-

NIDIA, SAGANA, VEIA, FOLIA; SENECA to MEDEA, and the Nurse, in

Herc. OEte. PETR. ARBITER to his SAGA, in Frag. and CLAVDIAN to

MEGæRA, lib. 1. in Rufinum; who takes the habit of a Witch, as these doe, and

supplies that historicall part in the Poeme, beside her morall person of a Furie;

confirming the same drift, in ours.

YOu aFiends and Furies (if yet any bee

Worse then our selues) you, that haue quak'd to see

These b 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.

You, that haue seene me ride, when HECATE

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 sights;

And thou cthree-formed starre, that, on these nights

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 blindnesse through these blazing tapers.

Come, let a murmuring charme resound,

The whilst we d bury all, i' the ground.

But first, see euery e foote be bare;

And euery knee.

HAG.

Yes, dame, they are.

4. CHARME.

DEepe, f O deepe, we lay thee to sleepe;

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.

DAME.

NEuer a starre yet shot?

Where be the ashes?

HAG.

Here i'the pot.

DAM.

g Cast them vp; and the flint stone

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.

hSTay. All our charmes doe nothing winne

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.

6. CHARME.

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 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, k that ne're bare leafe,

To strike the aire; and lAconite,

To hurle vpon this glaring light;

m 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.

nHoo!

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!

8. CHARME.

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,

o Till a musique sound,

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 apmagi-

call daunce, full of præposterous change, and gesticulation, but most

applying to their property: who at their meetings, doe call things contrary

to the custome of men, dauncing back to backe, and hip to hip, their hands

ioin'd, and making their circles backeward, to the left hand, with strange

phantastique motions of their heads, and bodies. All which were excellent-

ly imitated by the maker of the daunce, M. HIEROME HERNE, whose

right it is here to be named.

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 12. 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 expressinghe-

roique, and masculine vertue, began to speake.

HEROIQVE VERTVE.

SO should, at FAMES lowd sound, and VERTVES sight,

All darke, and enuious witchcraft flie the light.

*I did not borrow HERMES wings, nor aske

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

Men-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.

These, in their liues, as fortunes, crown'd the choice

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 worth yest 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, beingMachina versatilis, sodainly chang'd;
and in the place of it appear'dFama 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.

FAME.

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 other 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 per-

sons 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) O-

RITHYA; shee liu'd, and was present, at the warre of Troy on their part,

against the Greekes, and (as IVSTINE giues her testimonie) Inter fortissi-

mos viros, magna eius 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 a 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

b VIRGIL, then whose verses nothing can be imagin'd more exquisite, or

more honoring the person they describe. They are these, where hee rec-

kons vp those, that came on TVRNVS his part, against ÆNEAS.

Hos super aduenit Volsca de gente Camilla,

Agmen agens equitum, & florenteis æare 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 cursu læsisset æristas:

Vel mare per medium, fluctu suspensa tumenti,

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, with-

outnature, 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 CY-

RVS 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 on-

ly 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 mas-

sacre. She is remembred both by * HERODOTVS and a IVSTINE, to

the great renowne, and glorie of her kind: with this Elogie. Quod potentis-

simo Persarum Monarchæbello 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 b 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: cViri quidẽ extiterunt mihi fœminæ,

fœminæ autem viri. She is no lesse renowned for her chastitie, & loue to her

husband, MAVSOLVS, d 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 PHILA-

DELPHVS, by the elder ARSINOE; who, married to her brother PTOLO-

MAEVS, surnamed EVERGETES, was after Queene of Ægypt. I find her

written both BERONICE, and BERENICE. This lady, vpon an expediti-

on 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 house-

hold with PTOLOMEY, and knew well to flatter him, perswaded the king

that it was ta'ne vp to heauen, and made a constellation; shewing 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 e 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,

aCognor am à parua virgine magnanimam.

The sixth, that famous wife of MITHRIDATES, and Queene of Pon-

tus, 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 ha-

zards of the warre, in a masculine habite. For which cause (as bVALE-

RIVS MAXIMVS obserues) shee departed with a chiefe ornament of

her beauty. Tonsis enim capillis, equo se & armis assuefecit, quo facilius labo-

ribus & periculis eius interesset. And, afterward, in his flight from POM-

PEY, accompanied his misfortune, with a minde, and body equally vn-

wearied. She is solemnly registred, by that graue Authour, as a notable

President of marriage-loyaltie, and loue: vertues, that might raise a meane

person to equality 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 sin-

gular affection to her subiects. I finde her celebrated by c DION, and

d PLINIE, inuading Ægypt in the time of AVGVSTVS; who, though

she were enforc'd to a peace by his Lieutenant PETRONIVS, doeth not

the lesse worthily hold her place here; when, euery where, this Elogiere-

maines 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 com-

prehendedSuffolke, Norfolke, Cambridge, and Huntington shires. Since she

was borne here at home, we will first honour her with a home-borne testi-

mony; from the graue and diligent e SPENSER.

—BVNDVCA Britonesse,

BVNDVCA, that victorious conqueresse,

That lifting vp her braue Heroique thought

'Boue womans weakenesse, with the Romans fought;

Fought, and in field against them thrice preuail'd, &c.

To which, see her orations in story, made by f TACITVS, and g DION:

wherein is expressed all magnitude of a spirit, breathing to the liberty and

redemption of her Countrey. The latter of whom, doth honest her be-

side, with a particular desciption. BVNDVICA, Britanica fœmina, orta stirpe

Regia, quæ non solum eis cum magna dignitate præfuit, sed etiam bellum omne ad-

ministrauit; cuius animus 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 chaste ZENOBIA queene of the Palmerynes, who, after the death of

her husband ODENATVS, had the name to be reckoned among the XXX.

that vsurped the Romane Empire, from GALIENVS. She continued a long

and braue warre, against seuerall Chiefes; and was at length triumphed on

by AVRELIAN: but, ea specie, vt nihil pompabilius. P. Rom. videretur. Her

chastitie was such, Vt ne virum suum quidem sciret, nisitentatis conceptionibus.

Shee liu'd in a most royall manner, and was ador'd to the custome of the

Persians. When shee made Orations to her souldiers, shee had alwaies her

caske on. A woman of a most diuine spirit; and incredible beautie. In

h TREBELLIVS POLLIO, reade the most noble description of a queene,

and her; that can be vtter'd, with the dignitie of an Historian.

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. Shee draue the Burgundians,

and Almaines out of Liguria, and appear'd in her gouernment rather an ex-

ample, 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.

i It is recorded of her, that, sine veneratione eam viderit nemo, pro miraculo

fuerit ipsam audire loquentem. Tantaque illi in decernendo grauitas, vt criminis

conuicti, 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 tyrannie 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 hor-

ses, armes, treasure, and places of strength, not onely ruled the rest, but li-

ued many yeares after, with the libertie, and fortitude of A__mazons. Cele-

brated by k RAPHAEL VOLATERRANVS, and in an elegant tract of an

Italiansl 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 dignity 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 testimonie of

others iterated, with more delight, then her owne praise. Shee being plac'd

aboue the need of such ceremonie, and safe in her princely vertue, against

the good, or ill, of any witness. The name of BEL-

hers proper by; as adding to it, the attribute of faire: And is kept by mee,

in all my Poemes, wherein I mention her Maiestie with any shaddow, or fi-

gure. 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 graci-

ous, and ripening fauour.

But, heere, 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 pro-

perly 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,

in their fame: and so I present them. Besides, if I would flye to the all-

daring power of Poetrie, where could I not take sanctuarie? or in whose

Poeme? For other obiections, let the lookes and noses of Iudges houer

thicke; so they bring the braines: or if they doe not, I care not. When I

suffer'd it to goe abroad, I departed with my right: And now, so secure

an Interpreter I am of my chance, that neither prayse, nor disprayse shall

affect me.

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 substan-

tiall 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. A-

boue 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, Sa-

phyres, 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, plan-

ted 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 in-

to 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 Maie-

stie 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.

SONG.

HElpe, helpe all tongues, to celebrate this wonder:

The voyce of Fame should be as lowd as thunder.

Her house is all of echo made,

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, immediatcly 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 varie-

tie: when, to giue them rest, from the M__usique which attended the Cha-

riots, by that most excellent tenor voice, and exact singer (her Maiesties ser-

uant M. IO. ALLIN) this Dittie was sung.

SONG.

VVHen 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 Q__ueene, in whom all they doe liue!

After it, succeeded their third dance; then which, a more numerouscom-

position could not be seene: Graphically disposed into Letters, & honouring

the name of the most sweet and ingenious Prince CHARLES

Duke of Yorke. Wherein, beside that principall grace of perspicuitie, the

euen and apt, and their expression so iust; as if Mathematicians had lost Pro-

portion, they might there haue found it. The Author was M. 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)

whose notes (as the former) were the work, and honour of my excellent

SONG.

VVHo, 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 cele-

bration of who were the Celebraters.

  • The QVEENES MAIESTY.
  • The Co. of ARVNDEL.
  • 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.
*Hor. in Art. | Poetic.
a In the Masque | at my L. Had- | ding. wedding.
b Vid. Læuin. | Tor. Comment. | in Hor. Epod. | lib. Ode. 5.
* See the Kings | Maiesties book, | (our Soueraign) | of Dæmonologie, | Bodin. Remig. | Delrio. Mal. Ma- | lefi. And a world of others, in the generall: But let vs follow particulars.
* Amongst our vulgar wit- | ches, the honor of Dame (for | so I translate it) is giuen with | a kinde of preeminence to | some speciall one at their | meetings: which Delrioinsi- | nuates, Disquis. Mag. l. 2. quæst .9. quoting that of Apuleius, lib. de Asin. 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, | quest. 10. doth also remember.
a When they are to be transported from place to place, they vse to anoynt them- | selues, 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. 16. Bodin. Dæmonoman. l. 2. c. 4. Barthol. de Spina. quæst. de Strigib. Philippo. Lud- | wigus Elich. quæst. 10. Paracelsus in magn. & occul. Philosophia, teacheth the confection. Vnguentum ex carne recens na- | torum infantium, in pulmenti forma coctum, & cum herbis somniferis, quales sunt Papauer, Solanum, Cienta, &c. And | Ioa. Bapti. Porta. lib. 2. Mag. Natur. cap. 26.
* These places in their owne | nature dire, and dismall, are | reckon'd vp, as the fittest | from whence such persons | should come: and were nota- | bly obserued by that excel- | lentLucan, 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. spea- | king of the like, and in lib. 4. about the end, Aptissima sunt loca plurimum experientia visionum, nocturnarumque incursio- | num & consimilium phantasmatum, vt cœmiteria, & in quibus fieri solent executio & criminalis iudicij, in quibus recentibus | annis publicæ strages factæ sunt, vel vbi occisorum cadauera, nec dũ expiata, nec ritè sepulta, recentioribus annis subbumata sunt.
*Delr'o Disq. Mag. l. 2. quæst. 6. | has a storie out of Triezius of | this horse of wood: but that | which our witches call so, is | sometimes a broome-staffe, | sometime a reede, sometime | a distaffe. See Remig Dæmonol. | l. I. c.14. Bodin. l. 2. cap. 4. &c.
a The goat is the deuill him- | selfe, vpon whom they ride of- | tento their solemnities, as | appeares by their confessions in Rem. and Bodin. ibid. His Maiestie also remembers the storie of the deuills ap- | pearance to those of Calicut, in that forme, Dæmonol. l. 2. c. 3.
b 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 Mag. | lib. 2. quæst. 6. of one Zijti, a Bohemian, that, among other his dexterities, aliquoties equis rhedarijs vectum, gallis gal- | linaceis ad Epirrbedium suum alligatis, subsequebatur.
* 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 anti- | quitie, was the chiefe: and be- | side the testimonie of Theocri- | tus, in Pharmaceutria (who on- | ly 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. 12. | Epig. 57. Cum secta Couho Luna | vapulat rhombo.
a This rite also of making a | ditch with their nailes, isfre- | quent with our witches; wher- | of see Bodin. Remig. Delr. Mal- | leus, Mal. Godelman, l. 2. de lamijs, as also the antiquitie of it most viuely exprest by Hor. Satir. 8. l. 1. 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, Βόθρον ὀρύξαι, &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 miserum 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 re- | lation 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.
b 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.16. 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 Dænsonem, 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 equi- | tabat, & applicare solebat fortiter manus ad crineis, & statim hircus ille adscendebat per aerem, & breuissimo tempore defere- | bat ipsam, &c.
* This Dame I | make to beare | the person of | Ate, or mis- | chiefe (for so I | interpret it) | out of Homers | description of | her, Iliad. 1. | wher he makes | her swift to | hurt mankind, | strong, and | sound of her | feet, and Iliad. | T. walking vp- | on metildes heads, | in both places vsing one, and the same phrase to signifie her power, Βλαπτȣς᾽ ἀνθρώπȣς. 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. 1. | 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 Erictbo's attyre. Discolor, & vario Furialis culius amictu Induitur, vultusque aperitur crine remeto, | Ht coma vipereis substringitur horrida sertis. For her torch, See Remig. lib. 2. cap. 3.
* In the chay- | ning of these | vices, I make, | as if one linke | produc'd ano- | ther, and the | Dame were | borne out of | them all. so, as | they might say | to her, Solate- | nes scelerum, | quicquid possedi- | mus omnes. Nor | will it appeare | much violenc'd, if their Series be considered, when the opposition to all vertue begins out of ignorance. That Igno- | rance 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 Murmurepresent- | ly growes Malice, which begets Jmpudence: and that Impudence Slander: that Slander Execration: Execration Bitter- | nesse: 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 produ- | ceth such persons, but almost to a like purpose, in Ruf. lib 1. whereAlecto, enuious of the times, infernas adlimina | 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, Liucrque secundis Anxius & soisso mœrens | velamine Luctus, Et Timor, & cæco præceps Audacia vultu: with many others, fit to disturbe the world, as ours | the night.
a Here againe, by way of ir- | ritation, 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 artifi- | cer, to whose worke is requi- | red so much exactnesse, as in- | differencie is not tolerable.
b These powers of troubling | Nature, are frequently as- | scrib'd to Witches, and cha- | leng'd by themselues, where | euer they are induc'd, by Ho- | mer, Ouid, Tibullus, Pet. Arbiter, | Seneca, Lucan, Claudian. to | whose authorities I shall re- | ferre more anone. For the | present, heare Socrat. in Apul. | de Asin. aureo, lib. 1. describing | Meroë the witch. Saga, & Di- | uinipotens cœlum deponere, terram suspendere, fontes durare, monteis diluere, Manes sublimare, Deos infimare, Sydera extin- | guere, Tartarum ipsum illuminare: and lib. 2. Byrrhena to Lucius, of Pamphile. Maga primi nominis, & omnis carminis se- | pulcralis Magistra creditur, quæ surculis & lapillis, & id genus friuolis inhalatis omnem istam lucem mundi syderalis, imis Tar- | tari, & in vetustum Chaos mergit: as also this later of Remigius, in his most elegant arguments, before his Dæmenola- | tria. Quà possint euertere funditùs orbem, Et Maneis superis miscere, hac vnica cura est. And Lucan. Quarum, quicquid non | creditur, ars est.
c 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. Philippe | Ludwigus Elich. Dæmonomagiæ, lib. Quæst.10. But Remigius, in the very forme, lib. 1. Dæmonolat, cap. 22. Quemadmo- | dum 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 conuentu nullo se | scelcre 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 fami- | liar with our popular witchcraft.
1. For the gathering pieces | of dead flesh, Cor. Agrip. de oc- | cul. Philosop. lib. 3. cap. 42. and | lib. 4. cap. vlt. obserues, that the | vse was to call vp ghosts & spi- | rits, with a fumigation made | of that (and bones of car- | kasses) which I make my witch, here, not to cut her selfe, but to watch the Rauen, as Lucan's Erichtho. lib. 6. Et quod- | cunque 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.
2. Spuma canum, Lupi crines, no- | dus Hyenæ, oculi Draconum, Ser- | pentis membrana, Aspidis aures, are all mention'd by the An- | cients, in witchcraft. And Lu- | can particularly, lib. 6. Huc | quicquid fœtu genuit Natura si- | nistro Miscetur, non spuma canum, quibus vnda timori est, Viscera 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 Effo- | disse or beis, & sicca pallida rodit Excrementa manus.
3. Plinie writing of the Man- | drake, Nat. Hist. lib. 25. cap. 13. | and of the digging it vp, hath | this ceremonie, Cauens effos- | sori contrarium ventum, & tri- | bus circulis antè gladio circum- | scribunt, postea fodiunt ad occa- | sum 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. Dæmono | lat. lib. 1. cap. 4. where he quotes that of Appollonius, de vmbra Achillis, Philostr. lib. 4. cap. 5. And Euseb. Cæsariens. | in confutat. contra Hierocl. 4. de Gallicinio.
4. I haue touch'd at this be- | fore, in my note vpõ the first, | of the vse of gathering flesh, | bones, and sculs: to which I | now bring that piece of Apu- | leius, lib. 3. de Asino aureo, of | Pamphile. Priusque apparatu solito | instruxit feralem officinam, omne genus aromatis, & ignorabiliter laminis literatis, & infœlicium nauium durantibus slauis de- | fletorum, sepultorum etiam, cadauerum expositis multis admodum membris, hic nares, & digiti, illic carnosi claui pendentium, | alibi trucidatorum seruatus cruor, & extorta dentibus ferarum trunca caluaria. And, for such places, Lucan makes his | witch to inhabit them, lib. 6. Desertaque busta Incolit, & tumulos expulsis obtinet vmbris.
5. For this rite, see Barthol. de | spina. Quæst. de Strigibus, cap. 8. | Mall. Mallefica. Tom. 2. where | he disputes at large the trans- | formation 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 rapta suis: Carpere di- | cuntur lactentia viscera rostris, Et plenum poto sanguine guttur habent.
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 be- | fore out of Paracelsus & Por- | ta) 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 a- | boue 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 san- | guine vino Est opus, crumpat iugulo qui primus aperto. Nec refugit cædes, viuum si sacra cruorem Extaque funercæ poscunt trepi- | dantia mensæ. Vulnere si ventris, non qua Natura vocabat Extrabitur partus calidos ponendus in aris; Et quoties sæuis opus | est, & fortibus vmbr is Ipsa facit Maneis. Hominum mors omnis in vsu est.
7. The abuse of dead bodies | in their witch-craft, both Por- | phyrio and Psellus are graue | Authors of. The one lib. de sa- | crif. cap. de vero cultu. The o- | therlib. de dæmo. which Apu- | leius toucheth too, lib. 2. de A- | sin aureo. But Remigius, who deales with later persons, and out of their owne mouths,Dæmonola, lib. 2. cap. 3. af- | firmes, Hæc & nostræ ætatis maleficis hominibus moris est facere, præsertim si cuius supplicio affecti cadauer exemplo datum | est, & in crucem sublatum. Nam non solum inde sortilegijs suis materiam mutuantur: Sed & ab ipsis carnificinæ instrumen- | tis, reste, vinculis, palo, ferramentis. Siquidem ijs vulgi etiam opinione inesse ad incantationes magicas vim quandam & pote- | statem. 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 Su- | stulit, & neruo morsus retinente perpendit.
8. These are Canidia'sfurni- | ture, in Hora. Epod. lib. Ode. 5. | Et vncta turpis oua ranæ san- | guine, Plumamque nocturnæ stri- | gis. And part of Medeascon- | fection, 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.
9. Cicuta, Hyoscyomus, Ophio- | glosson, Solanum, Martagon, Do- | ronicum, Aconitum, are the | common veneficallingredi- | ents, remembred by Paracel- | sus, Porta, Agrippa, and others; | which I make her to haue ga- | ther'd, as about a castle, church, or some vast building (kept by dogges) among ruines, and wild heapes.
10. Ossa ab ore rapta ieiunæ ca- | nis, 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.
11. These also, both by the | confessions of Witches, and | testimonie of Writers, are of | principall vse in their witch- | craft. The Toad mention'd | in Virg. Geo. lib. 1. 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, with- | in my memorie, Satir. 1. & 6. And of the Owles eyes, see Corn. Agrip. de occult. Philos. lib. 1. cap. 15. As of the Bats | bloud, and wings there: and in the 25. chapter, with Bapt. Porta, lib. 2. cap. 26.
12. After all their boasted la- | bors, 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 confe- | ction) as Sepulchris caprificos | erutas, & cupressos sunebreis, 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 Bast- | lisci, quem & Saturni sanguinem vocant venefici, tantasque vires habere ferunt. Cor. Agrip. de occult. Philos. 40. 1. cap. 42. With | the Viper, remembred by Lucan. lib. 6. and the skins of Serpents. Innataque ubris Æquoribus custos pretiosæ viperæ con- | chæ, Aut viuentis adhuc Lybicæ membrana cerastæ. And Ouid, lib. 7. Nec defuit illis Squamea Ciniphei tenuis membrana | chelidri.
a These Inuocations are so- | lemne with them, whereof we | may see the formes, in Ouid. | Metam. lib. 7. in Sen. Trag. Med. | in Luc. lib. 6. which of all is | the boldest and most horrid: | beginning, Eumenides, Stigi- | umque nefas, panæque nocentũ, &c.
b The vntying of their knots | is, when they are going to some fatall businesse: as Sagana is presented by Horace. Expedita, per totam domum Spar- | gens Auernaleis aquas, Horret capillis, vt marinus asperis, Echinus, aut currens Aper.
c Hecate, who is called Triuia, | and Triformis, of whom Virgil. | Æneid. lib. 4. Tergeminamque He- | caten, tria virgnis ora Dianæ. | She was beleeu'd to gouerne | in witchcraft; and is remem- | bred in all their inuocations: | See Theoc. in Pharmaceut. χαῖρ᾿ | Ἑοάτα. δασϖλητι, & Medea | in Senec. Meis vocata sacris no- | ctium sidus veni, Pessimos induta | vultus: Fronte non vna minax. | And Ericht. in Luc. Persephone. | nostræque Hecatis pars vltima, &c.
d This Rite, of burying their | Materials, is often confest in | Remig. and describ'd amply in | Hor. Sat. 8. lib. 1. Vtque Lupibar- | bam variæ cum dente colubræ | Abdide rint furtim terris, &c.
e The Ceremony also, of ba- | ring their feet, is expressed by | Ouid. Metamorph. lib. 7. as of | their haire. Egreditur tectis | vestes induta recinctas, Nuda pe- | dem, nudos humeris infusa capil- | los. And Horac ibid. Pedibus nu- | dis passoque capillo. And Senec. in | Tragæd. Med. Tibi more Gentis, | vinculo soluens comam Secreta | nudo nemora lustraui pede.
f Heere they speake as if they | were creating some new fea- | ture, which the deuillper- | swades them to be able to do, | often, by the pronouncing of | words, and powring out of li- | quors, on the earth. Heare | what Agrip. saies De occul. Phil. | lib. 4. neer the end. In euocatio- | nibus vmbrarum fumigamus cum | sanguine recenti, cum ossibus mor- | tuorum, & carne, cum ouis, lacte, | melle, oleo, & similibus, quæ aptũ | mediũ tribuunt animabus, ad su- | menda corpora; and a little be- | fore. Namque animæ cognitis me- | dijs, 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. publi- | sheth the same. Tunc decantatis spirantibus fibris litat vario latice; nunc rore fontano, nunc lacte vaccino, nunc melle mon- | tano, libat & mulsâ Sic illos capillos in mutuos nexus obditos, atque nodatos, cum multis odoribus dat viuis carbonibus adolen- | dos Tunc protinus inexpugnabili Magicæ Disciplinæ potestate, & cæcanuminum coactorum violentia, illa corpora quorum fu- | mabant 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.
g This throwing of ashes, | and sand, with the flint stone, | crosse stickes, and burying of | sage &c. are all vs'd (and be- | leeu'd by them) to the raysing | of storme, and tempest. See | Remig. li. 1. dæmon. cap. 25. Nider. | Formicari. cap. 4. Bodin. Dæmon. | lib. 2. cap. 8. And heare Godelman: lib. 2. cap. 6. Nam quando dæmoni grandines ciendi potestatem facit Deus, tum Malifi- | cas instruit, vt quandoque silicet post tergum in occidentem versus proijciant, aliquando vt arenam aquæ torrentis in aërem con- | ijciant, plerumque scopas in aquam intingant, cœlumque versus spargant, vel fossulâ factâ & lotio infuso, vel aquâ digitum mo- | ueant: subindè in ollâ porcorum pilosbulliant, nonnunquam trabes vel ligna in ripâ transuersè collocent, & alia id genus de- | liramenta efficiant. And when they see the successe, they are more confirm'd, as if the euent followed their wor- | king. The like illusion is of their phantasie, in sayling in egge-shels, creeping through augur-holes, and such like, | so vulgar in their confessions.
h 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 Erich- | tho Has fatis licuifse moras; ira- | taque 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 lingue. | 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. 1.cap. 19.
i This is one of their common | menaces, when their magicke | receiues the least stop. Heare | Erichtho againe, ibid. tibi pessi- | memundi Arbiter immittam | ruptis Titana cauernis Et subito | feriere die. And a little before | to Proserpina. Eloquar immenso | terræ sub pondere quæ te conti- | neant, Ennæa dapes, &c.
k That wither's streight, as it | shot out, which is called Ra- | mus feralis, by some, and tristis, by Senec. Trag. Med.
l 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 puluere quidem nutriente. | Howsoeuer the iuice of it is | like that liquor which the de- | uill giues witches to sprinkle | abroad, & do hurt in the opi- | nion of all themagick masters.
m A rusty knife I rather giue her, then any other, as fittest for such a deuilish Ceremony, which Seneca might | meane by sacro culto in the Tragedy, where he armes Medea, to the like rite, (for any thing I know) Tibi nudato pecto- | re Mœnas, sacro feriam Brachia cultro: Manet noster sanguis ad aras.
n 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 re- | ports it, thus. Tota turba collu- | uiesque pessima fescanninos in hono- | rem Dæmonum cantat obsœnissi- | mos: Hæc canit Har. Har. Illa | Diabolo, Diabole, salta huc, salta illuc; Altera, lude hic, lude illic; Alia, Sabaath, Sabaath. &c. Imò clamoribus, sibilis, vlu- | latibus, popysmis, furit, ac debaccbatur: pulueribus, velvenenis acceptu qui hominibus pedibusque spergant.
o Nor doe they want musique, | and in strange manner giuen | them by the deuill, if we credit | their confessions in Remig. | Dæm. lib. 1. cap. 19. Such as the | Syrbenæan Quires were, which | Athenæus remembers out of | Clearchus, Deipnos. lib. 15. where | euery one sung what he would | without harkening to his fel- | low; like the noise of diuers | oares, falling in the water. But | be patient of Remigiusrelati- | on. Miris modis illîc miscentur, | ac turbantur omnia, nec vllâ ora- | tione satis exprimi queat, quàm | strepant sonis inconditis, absurdis, | ac discrepantibus. Canit hic Dæmon ad tibiam, vel veriùs ad contum, aut baculum aliquod, quod fortè bumi repertum bucca | ceu tibiam admouet. Ille pro lyra equi caluariam pulsat, ac digitis concrepat. Alius fuste velclauâ grauiore quercum tundit, vn- | de exauditur sonus, ac boatus veluti tymp norum vehementiùs pulsatorum. Intercinunt rancidè, & composito ad litui morem | clangore Dæmones; ipsumque cœlum fïagosa aridaque voce feriunt.
p The manner | also of their | dauncing is | confest in Bo- | din lib. 2. cap. 4. | And Remig li. 1. | cap. 17. and 18. | The summe of | which M. Phili. | LHd. Elich. re- | lates thus, in | his Dæmonom. Quæst. 1O. Tripudijs interdum intersunt facie liberâ & apertâ, interdum obducta laruâ, linteo, cortice, reticu- | lo, peplo, velalio velamine, aut farrinarie excerniculo inuoluia. And a little after, Omnia fiunt ritu absurdissimo, & ab omni | consuetudine hominum alienissimo, dorsis inuicem obuersis, & in orbem iunctis manibus, saltando circumeant, perinde sua iactan- | tes capita, vt qui œstro agitantur. Remigius addes out of the confession of Sibilla Morelia, Gyrum semper in lauam 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.
* The ancients | expressed a | braue & mas- | culineVertue | in three figures | (of Hercules, | Perseus, and | Bellerophon.) | Of which wee | choose that of | Perseus, arm'd | as we haue de- | scrib'd him, | out of Hesiod. | Scuto. Herc. See | Apollodor, the | Grammarian , | l. 2. de Perseo.
Æne id. 4.
* Hist. lib. 2.
a Lib. 3. Eleg. 10.
b Æneid. lib. 7.
* In Clio.
a Epit. lib. 1.
b Jn Polymn.
c Herod. in | Vrania.
d Val. Max. l. 4. | cap. 6. and A. | Gel. l. 10. c. 18.
e Astronom. | lib. 2. in Leo.
a Catul. de Co- | ma Beronis.
b Lib. 4. ca. 6. de | Amor. coniug.
c Hist. Rom. l. 54
d Nat. hist. lib 6. | cap. 29.
e Ruines of | Time.
f Annal. lib. 14.
g Epit. Ioan. Xi- | philon. in Ner.
h In trigin. Ty- | rann.
i M. Anton. | Cocci. Sabel. | (out of Cassiod) | Ennead. 7. lib. 2.
k In Geograph. | lib. 2.
l Forcia. Quæst.