A Cursory History of Swearing Part 9

[2] The laws of Hoel the Good.

[3] Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester.

[4] Ducange.

[5] Mezeray, ii. 121.

[6] Sloane MS. No. 2530, xxvi. D.; a ma.n.u.script giving details of the grades of students and masters of fence, and of the ceremonial attending taking their degrees. The oath runs, "First you shall swear, so help you G.o.d and halidome, and by all the christendome which G.o.d gave you at the fount stone, and by the cross of this sword which doth represent unto you the cross which our Saviour suffered his most painful deathe upon,"

&c.

[7] Socrates' oath, _by the cabbage_, [Greek: ma ten kramben] is given in Athenaeus, ib. ix. p. 370.

[8] Aristophanes, 'The Birds.'

[9] Plutarch, Quaestion. Rom., p. 271.

[10] 'Mariage de Figaro,' iii. 5.

[11] MS. Bibliotheque nationale. 'Collection Complete des Memoires,'

vol. viii.

[12]

"_Williams._ Ah, d.a.m.nation! G.o.ddam!

_Blondel._ G.o.ddam! Monsieur est Anglais apparemment."

'_Coeur de Lion_,' 1789.

[13] 'Notes on Ancient Poetry,' ed. 1770.

[14] One of the last cases where the use of the word produced some coolness on the part of the persons concerned, occurred when a certain bishop in a northern diocese was reported by the local newspaper to have said in a sermon, "that he would not preach in that d.a.m.ned old church any more." The bishop wrote to the paper that he had said "damp old church." The editor, however, declined to question the accuracy of his reporter.

[15] See pa.s.sage from Roger de Collerye, given by Littre.

[16] 'L'agreable conference de Piarot et Janin.' Paris, 1651.

[17] "[Greek: SO] Ne ton kuna, amphignoo mentoi o Pole]"

&c.--'_Gorgias._'

[18] "On Tuesday, March 31, he and I dined at General Paoli's.... We talked of the strange custom of swearing in conversation. The general said that all barbarous nations swore from a certain violence of temper that could not be confined to earth, but was always reaching at the powers above. He said, too, that there was a greater variety of swearing in proportion as there was a greater variety of religious ceremonies."--Boswell's '_Life of Johnson_,' p. 235.

[19] Letter from Lynceus at Rhodes to Diagoras at Athens, in 'Journal des Savants,' 1839, p. 37.

[20] Aldus Gellius, xi. 6. We find these oaths so distributed in Terence and Plautus, the women swearing by Castor and the men by Hercules.

[21] Herodotus, bk. iv. 67. It was the _hearth_ of kings of Scythia that was dealt with in this way.

[22] For an able article on the Five Wounds as represented in Art, see Journal of Brit. Arch. a.s.sociation for Dec. 1874, by the Rev. W. Sparrow Simpson.

[23] 'Roba di Roma,' by W. W. Story, 1863. The writer adds, "A curious feature in the oaths of the Italians may be remarked. _Dio mio_ is usually an exclamation of sudden surprise or wonder; _Madonna mia_, of pity and sorrow, and _per Christo_ of hatred and revenge. It is in the name of Christ, and not of G.o.d as with us, that imprecations, curses, and maledictions are invoked. The reason is very simple. Christ is to him the judge and avenger of all, and so represented in every picture he sees, from Orcagua's and Michael Angelo's Last Judgment down, while the Eternal Father is a peaceful old figure bending over him."

[24] 'The Conversyon of Swerers,' 1540.

[25] The ident.i.ty of ideas that we have referred to as invariably occurring in mediaeval writings, whenever they happen to turn upon a similar theme, may be shown by comparison of the following extracts.

They are taken from writers of different times and countries, and who are not directly plagiarising one another. Dan Michael, in the 'Ayenbite of Inwyt' (modernised), has:--

"These (Christians) are worse than the Jews that did crucify him. They broke none of his bones. But these break him to pieces smaller than one doth swine in butchery."

Robert of Brunne, in the 'Handlyng Sinne,' writes:--

"Thy oaths do him more grievousness, Than all the Jews' wickedness; They pained him once and pa.s.sed away, But thou painest him every day."

Again, in the 'Moralite des Blasphemateurs' (circa 1530):--

"Tu luy fais plus dure bataille Que les juifz sans nulla faille Qui pour toy le crucifierent."

[26] A certain delight in arranging the favourite oaths of his contemporaries and of other historical personages is plainly to be seen in Brantome. In the 'Vies des Grands Capitaines' he throws off a whole string of these cherished devices. "On appeloit ce grand capitaine, Monsr. de la Trimouille, 'La vraye Corps Dieu' d'autant que c'estoit son serment ordinaire, ainsin que ces vieux et anciens grands capitaines en ont sceu choisir et avoir aucuns particuliers a eux; comme Monsr. de Bayard juroit, 'Feste Dieu, Bayard!' Monsr. de Bourbon, 'Saincte Barbe!'

le prince d'Orange, 'Saincte Nicolas!' le bonne homme M. de la Roche du Maine juroit 'Teste de Dieu pleine de reliques!' (ou diable alla il chercher celuy la) et autres que je nommerois, plus sangreneux que ceux la."

[27] Ch. Rozan, 'Pet.i.tes Ignorances de la Conversation.'

[28] "A shocking practice seems to have been rendered fas.h.i.+onable by the very reprehensible habit of the Queen, whose oaths were neither diminutive or rare, for it is said that she never spared an oath in public speech or private conversation when she thought it added energy to either,"--_Drake_, '_Shakspeare and his Times_,' ii. 160.

[29] J. G. Nicholls, 'Literary Remains of Edward VI.'

[30] 'Every Man out of his Humour,' i. 1.

[31] 1 Henry IV., iii. 7.

[32] See Capt. Basil Hall's 'Fragments of Voyages and Travels,' chap.

xvi. p. 89.

[33] Leigh Hunt's Journal, No. 6, for Jan. 11, 1851.

[34] 'The Colonies,' by Col. C. J. Napier, 1833.

[35] If any person or persons shall ... profanely swear or curse ... for every such offence the party so offending shall forfeit and pay to the use of the poor of the parish where such offence or offences shall be committed the respective sums hereinafter mentioned; that is to say, every servant, day-labourer, common soldier, or common seaman, one s.h.i.+lling; and every other person two s.h.i.+llings; and in case any of the persons aforesaid shall, after conviction, offend a second time, such person shall forfeit and pay double, and if a third time treble the sum respectively.--6 & 7 _William and Mary_, c. 11.

[36] Coll. of State Papers, Domestic, 1595, p. 12.

[37] Borough records of the City of Glasgow, 1573-1581.

[38] Aberdeen Presbytery Records, printed by the Spalding Club.

[39] Within the precincts of royal palaces regulations seem to have been made from time to time to clear the atmosphere of all impious particles.

According to a work by Alexander Howell, the Dean of St. Paul's, printed in 1611, King Henry I. prescribed a scale of fines according to a table as follows:--

{a Duke 40 s.h.i.+llings.

{a Lord 20 do.