ve more land than their masters.
_P._ He runnes far that never turnes.
_C._ Not so, he may breake his necke in a short course.
_P._ No man can call againe yesterday.
_C._ Yes, hee may call till his heart ake, though it never come.
_P._ Had I wist was a foole.
_C._ No, he was a foole that said so."

And so it proceeds, not without humour and point, here and there
borrowing from known sources, as in the following:--

"_Proverb._ The world is a long journey.
_Cros._ Not so, the sunne goes it every day.
_P._ It is a great way to the bottom of the sea.
_C._ Not so, it is but a stone's cast."

However, my object is not to give specimens of the production further
than are necessary for its identification. My queries are, 1st, Who
bought Mr. Heber's fragment, and where is it now to be found? 2nd, Are
any of your correspondents aware of the existence of a perfect copy of
the work?

I naturally take a peculiar interest about Nicholas Breton, because
I have in my possession an unknown collection of amatory and pastoral
poems by him, printed in quarto in 1604, in matter and measure obvious
imitations of productions in "The Passionate Pilgrim," 1599, imputed
to Shakespeare, and some of which are unquestionably by Richard
Barnfield.

Any new information regarding Breton and his works will be most
acceptable to me. I am already in possession of undoubted proof that
he was the Nicholas Breton whose epitaph is on the chancel-wall of the
church of Norton, in Northamptonshire, a point Ritson seems to have
questioned.

J. Payne Collier.

March 30. 1850.

* * * * *

THE SWORD CALLED CURTANA.

In the wardrobe account for the year 1483, are "iij swerdes, whereof
oon with a flat poynte, {365} called _curtana_, and ij other swords,
all iij swords covered in a yerde di of crymysym tisshue cloth of
gold."

The name of _curtana_ for many ages continued to be given to the first
royal sword in England. It existed as long ago as the reign of Henry
III., at whose coronation (A.D. 1236) it was carried by the Earl of
Chester. We find it at the coronations of Edward II. and Richard II.;
also in the time of Henry IV., Richard III., and Henry VII.; and among
the royal arms of Edward VI. we read of "a swerde called _curtana_."

Can any of your readers explain the origin of the name _curtana_,
a sword so famous that it carries us back to the days of ancient
chivalry, when it was wielded b