_Theocritus, by Fawkes._
Alcyone, or Halcyone, we are informed, was the daughter of Aeolus (king
of storms and winds), and married to Ceyx, who was drowned in going to
consult an oracle. The gods, it is said, apprized Alcyone, in a dream,
of her husband's fate; and when she discovered, on the morrow, his body
washed on shore, she precipitated herself into the watery element, and
was, with her husband, metamorphosed into birds of a similar name, who,
as before observed, keep the waters serene, while they build and sit on
their nests.
_Romford._
H.B.A.
* * * * *
RANSOMS.
(_To the Editor._)
In a late number, you gave among the "County Collections," with which a
correspondent had furnished you, the old Cornish proverb--
"Hinckston Down well wrought,
Is worth London dearly bought."
Possibly your correspondent was not aware that the true reading of this
proverb is the following:--
"Hinckston Down well wrought,
Is worth a monarch's ransom dearly bought."
The lines are thus quoted by Mr. Barrington, in his elaborate work on
the middle ages, and refer to the prevailing belief, that Hinckston Down
is a mass of copper, and in value, therefore, an equivalent for the price
set on the head of a captive sovereign.
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