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fay what wager you are quilling Depono tu dic, mecum quo pignore certes 1 sa lay-14 MEN. De grege non aufim quicquam deponere

MEN I dare not lay any part of the flock for a wager tecumatoid fue

with you. For Leave a father Eft mihi namque domi pater, eft injufta noverca at bome, and a fewere fieps.

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mother who both count the Bifque die numerant ambo pecus, alter et hoedos. fbeep twice every day, and one Verum, id quod multo tute ipfe fatebere majas, 35 of them the goats. But, fince Infanire libet quoniam tibi, pocula ponam you bave a mind to be mad, I

will lay what you yourself will Fagina, caclatum divini opus Alcimedontis: allow to be much better, two beechen cups, the carved work of the divine Alcimedon.

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NOOT E S.

32. De grege non aufim, &c. I Menalcas anfwers, that he does not dare to take any part of the flock, because of the ftrictness of his father, and feverity of his ftep-mother; but offers a

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barely I will not lay, Virgil, adds "an ornament, I dare not lay. "Theocritus fays My father is dif "ficult, whereas fathers are ufu"ally very indulgent to their chil

andair of fine cups, which he dren. But Virgil mentions only

defcribes after a beautiful manner.

This is an imitation of the Βουκολιασταί of Theocritus ;

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"there being a father at home, "which is a fufficient reftraint to a "dutiful fon. Theocritus men ❝tions only a mother; but Virgil a "Step-mother, and a fevere one too."

tells us, that beechen cups were an36. Pocula ponam fagina.] Pliny ciently elteemed. Therefore we may fuppofe, thefe were fine oldfafhioned cups, which, though admired in the country, would have been defpifed at Rome in Virgil's time. The Commentators will have thefe beechen cups to be intended to exprefs the poverty of the fhepherds, which I think could not be the meaning of the Poet, Da moetas had offered to lay a good Cow; and now Menalcas propofes rather a beechen cup, which he fays is of far greater value. It was no great mark of poverty in a fhepherd to be able to part with a cup, which was of much greater value than good cow.

37. Divini opus Alcimedontis.] It feems probable, by this expreffion,

that

Lenta quibus torno facili fuperaddita, vitis

A bending wine is wreathed round them by bis delicate artys

NOTES.

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κατ' αυτον

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Καρπω έλιξ εἰλεῖται ἀγαλλομένα κρο

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"Befides a cup, with fweeteft wax o'erlay'd,

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that there had been a famous cars Κισσός ἐλιχρύσω κεκονισμένος ο δὲ ver, named Alcimedon. But I have not found the mention of him in any other author. Perhaps he was a friend of our Poet, who was willing therefore to tranfmit his name to pofterity. By his name, it appears, that he must have been a Greek, and confequently a man of fome quality; for Pliny informs us, that in Greece, none but gentlemen were permitted to learn that art, and paintings which law was first procured by Eupompus, the mafter of Apelles; Et hujus aur

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toritate effectum eft, Sicyone pris mum deinde et in tota Graecia "ut pueri ingenui ante omnia diagraphicen, hoc eft, picturam in "buxo docerentur, recipereturque ars ea in primum gradum libe"ralium. Semper quidem honos "ei fuit, ut ingenui eam exercemox ut honefti, perpetuo "interdicto ne fervitia docerentur. "Ideo neque in hac, neque in to"reutice, ullius qui fervierit opera σε celebrantur."

irent,

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A fine two-handled pot, and Still of the tool it smells, it "newly made;

neatly fhines,'

"And round the brim a creeping "ivy twines, to

"With Crocus mix'd, where feem "the kids to brouze,

The berries crop, and wanton in "the boughs."

CREECH.

It is hardly poffible for a tranflation
to be more erroneous, than these
two laft lines. Καρπῶ κροκόεντι
fignifies a fruit of a yellow or faf-
fron colour, which Creech has ren-
dered Crocus. But Crocus or Saf-
fron is a flower, not a fruit. I muft
confefs, it was fome time before I
could difcover where Creech found
the kids in this paffage of Theocri-
tus. I fuppofe it must be from mif-
taking the fenfe of the word
It fignifies thofe clafpers or tendrils,
which the vine and other fcandent
plants ufe to fuftain themfelves in
climbing. The Romans call it cla-
tranfator finding έλιξ to be capreolus
vicula or capreolus. Hence the
in Latin, which alfo fignifies a kid,
took it in the latter fenfe. But he
ought to have known, that though

"

capreolus

and overspreads the feattered Diffufos hedera veftit pallente corymbos. clufters with pale ivy.

NOTES.

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wood or metal is cut and hollowed. They will have quibus, "in this paffage, to be the ablative "cafe, and torno the dative, ren"dering it thus, in quibus lenta vi

"that these were Sculptors and "Statuaries, as well as Turners, is "manifeft. Wherefore I believe, "that though the tornus is really an

inftrument diftinct from the caelum and fealprum, cuftom has obtained to ufe them promifcuoufly." RUAEUS.

Vitis.] "Many understand a vine and an ivy to be interwoven, I agree with Nannius, that the ivy "alone is meant; and take vitis for a branch of ivy, vimen he "derae, which Pliny calls viticuld

and hedera for the leaves of ivy, "in this fenfe; a branch of ivy "intermingles it's own clusters with "pale leaves." RUAEUS.

How can a vine cover ivy"berries, or any thing elfe, with ivy-leaves or can vitis fignify ivy? Or if it fignifies a vine, can "hedera be put for pampini; or "corymbos for racemos? Servius and "De La Cerda are filent upon this

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great difficulty: and fo are all the reft, except Ruaeus, who fays "that Pliny (I wish he had told us where) ufes viticula for vimen he"derae. This, if it be true, goes

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tis per caelaturam addita eft torno, "five materiae jam tornatae, that is, "in which a bending vine is added "by graving to the lath, or turner's inftrument, or to the wood that has "already been turned. In the firft "place, I am of opinion that to "ufe tornus for the turned wood is "not Latin. 2. I find, that toreumata, which, in the old glof faries, are expounded opera torno rafa, are promifcuously taken by the most approved writers, for carved work: fuch as cups and "bowls, that have the figures of "men and beafts emboffed. Thus "Martial, 1. 4. 39. Solus Phidiaci 66 toreuma caeli. Thus alfo Cicero, << against Verres, frequently in the fame fenfe. 3. Pliny, I. 34. 8. "" mentions Phidias, as the inventor "of the art of Turning, and Poly"cletus, as the perfecter of it; and

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a great way. For if vitis may "here fignify ivy, all is plain. "The reft understand ivy and 'a "vine intermingled: but then they

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tell us not how to account for the manner of expreffing, which is "the only point to be cleared "They fay, This is meant but the

66

queftion is, How can fuch words "mean fuch a thing! For my part, "I think Ruaeus's opinion may be 66 right;

In medio duo figna, Conon; et quis fuit alter, 40 In the middle are two images,

NOTES.

right; if his quotation from Pliny be true: efpecially confidering how nearly ivy and a vine are a-kin to each other in the property here expreffed by " lenta, i. e. flexilis, and in creep

ing up, or round fome other "body and moreover that vitis, and vimen fpring from the fame "root, vieo, Dr TRAPP.

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I am glad, that it is in my power, to fatisfy this learned gentleman, in his greateft difficulty, and at the fame time to justify Ruaeus from the fufpicion of quoting falfly. Pliny does really ufe viticula for a branch of ivy, in the eleventh chapter of the twenty-fourth book, where he thus defcribes the apocynum ; " Frutex eft, folio ederae, molliore tamen, દ et minus longis viticulis, femine acuto, divifo, lanuginofo, gravi * odore." It must however be obferved, that viticula does not peculiarly fignify the branch of ivy; for it is ufed for that of a vine by Palladius ; « Item vituli marini pellis “ in medio vinearum loco uni fu« perjecta viticulae creditur contra imminens malum totius vineae "membra veftiffe." It does not feem improbable, that Virgil might ufe vitis in this place, not for a vine properly fo called, but for a branch climbing with tendrils, or viticula. Our gardeners call this fort of branches, as in melons and cucumbers, vines. Thus Mr Miller, in his Gardener's Dictionary, speaking of cucumbers, fays, "Then lay out the runners of the vines in

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Conon; and who was that other,

exact order, and be careful in "this work not to disturb the vines "too much, nor to bruise or break "the leaves. This digging of the ground will loofen it, and thereby, render it eafy for the roots of the "plants to ftrike into it, as alfo render the furface of the earth more agreeable to the vines that run upon it." This, I think, is certain, that corymbus fignifies the cluster of berries of an ivy, and not of a vine. To conclude, I believe, that vitis lenta really fignifies, not a vine bearing grapes, but a vine, or bending branch.

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39. Hedera. pallente. Many forts of Ivy are mentioned by the Ancients; moft of which feem to be rather varieties than diftinct fpecies. Theophraftus fays the three principal forts are the white, the black, and that which is called Helix; Пoxveidn's de & KITTOS, & MED ἐπίγειος, ὁ δὲ εις ὕψος αιρόμενος· καὶ τῶν ἐν ὕψει πλείω γένη τρία δ' ουν Φαίνεται τα μέγιστα· ὅ τε λευκὸς, καὶ ὁ μέλας, καὶ τρίτον ἡ ἔλιξ. The black is our common Ivy, and the Helix feems to be only the fame plant, before it is arrived to the perfection of bearing fruit. For at firft the leaves are angular, and the whole plant clings clofe to the wall or tree that fupports it: but when it comes to flower, a new fhoot is 'detached from the fupport, bearing roundish leaves without angles. That the Helix is the Ivy in it's barren ftate, is plain from the account Ꮐ

which

who defcribed with his staff the Defcripfit radio totum qui gentibus orbem ? nã

whole world to the nations?

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NOTES

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which Theophraftus gives of it. He lays the leaves are angular, and more neat than thofe of Ivy, which has them more round and fimple. He adds alfo, that it is barren; Ἡ δὲ δὴ ἔλιξ ἐν μεγίσταις διαφοραῖς καὶ γὰρ τοῖς φύλλοις πλεῖστον διαφέρει, by gap TOIS QUAλOIS WRENGTON diapépe, τῇ τε μικρότητι, καὶ τῷ γωνιοειδή κ ευθυμότερα εἶναι· τα δὲ τοῦ κιτλοῦ· πες ριφερέστερα καὶ ἁπλῶ· καὶ τῷ μήκει τῶν κλημάτων· καὶ ἔτι τῷ ἄκαρπος εἶναι. As for the white Ivy, it feems to be unknown to us. Some indeed imagine it to be that variety, of which the leaves are variegated with white. But Theophraftus exprefsly mentions the whiteness of the fruit. For he fays fome have only the fruit white, and others the leaves alfo ; Aeuxos gago μev T xap πῷ μόνῳ, ὁ δὲ καὶ τοῖς φύλλοις ἐστί. Diofcorides alfo mentions three principal forts of Ivy, the white, the black, and the Helix. The white bears a white fruit; the black has either a black, or faffron-coloured fruit, which is called by the vulgar Dionyfia, the Helix bears no fruit at all; but has white twigs, and fmall, angular, reddifh leaves; Κισσὸς πολλὰς ἔχει διαφοράς τας · κατ ̓ εἶδος, τὰς δὲ γεννικώτατας τρεῖς· λέγεται γὰρ ὁ μέν της λευκός, ὁ δὲ μέλας, ὁ δὲ ἔλιξ· ὁ μὲν οὖν λευκὸς φέβει τὸν καρπὸν λευκόν, ὁ δὲ μέλας μέσ λανα ἤ κροκίζοντα· ὅν δὲ καὶ ἰδιῶται Διονύσιον καλοῦσιν· ὁ δὲ ἕλιξ ἄκαρπός τε ἐστί, καὶ λευκὰ ἔχει τὰ κλήματα, · καὶ τά φύλλα λεπτα και γωνιώδη καὶ

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spupa. Pliny has confounded the Ivy with the Giftus, being deceived by the fimilitude of the Greek names; that of Ivy being xrTOS OF xtoos, and that of the Ciftus xolos. κισσός, The following words plainly belong to the Ciftus," Due genera ejus

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prima, ut reliquarum, mas et "foemina. Major traditur mas corpóré, et folio duriore ac pinguiore, et flore ad purpuram accedente. Utriufque autem flos "fimilis eft Rofae fylveftri, nifi "quod caret odore." The flower femblance to that of the wild Rofe of the Ciftus does indeed bear a res but it would be difficult to find any relates to the Ivy is for the most part fuch fimilitude in the Ivy. What relates to the Ivy is for the most part is now faid to grow in Afia. taken from Theophraftus. Theophraftus denied it, and fard it did not grow in India, except

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Ivy

"on the mountain Merus: that

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Harpalus did all that was in his in vain: that Alexander howpower to plant it in Media, but ever, on account of it's fearcenefs crowned his army with it, when he returned from the conqueft of India, after the example of Liber Pater, the thyrf of which deity, and the helmets and fields are now adorned with it by the people of Thrace in their folemn rites. It is an enemy to all trees and plants; it breaks down walls and fepul"chres; and is very grateful to the coldnefs of ferpents ; whence it

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