"Welcome, John Sanderson," &c.

Then, he taking up the cushion, they take hands, and dance round,
singing as before: and this they do till the whole company is taken into
the ring. Then the cushion is laid down before the first man, the woman
singing, "This dance," &c. (as before), only instead of "Come to," they
sing "Go fro," and instead of "Welcome, John Sanderson," &c., they sing,
"Farewell, John Sanderson, farewell," &c.: and so they go out, one by
one, as they came in. This dance was at one time highly popular, both at
court and in the cottage, in the latter of which, in some remote country
villages, it is still danced. Selden, in his _Table Talk_, thus refers
to it:

"The court of England is much altered. At a solemn dancing, first
you have the grave measures, then the _Corvantoes_ and the
_Galliards_, and this is kept up with ceremony, at length to
Trenchmore and the Cushion dance; and then all the company dance,
lord and groom, lady and kitchen-maid, no distinction. (Would our
fair Belgravians of 1850 condescend to dance with their
kitchen-maids?) So in our court in Queen Elizabeth's time, gravity
and state were kept up. In King James's time, things were pretty
well. But in King Charles's time there has been nothing but
Trenchmore and the Cushion dance," &c.

I shall also feel obliged for the date of _Bab at the Bowster_, or _Bab
in the Bowster_, as it is called in Scotland. Jamieson, in his
_Dictionary_, describes it as a very old Scottish dance, and generally
the last danced at weddings and merry-makings. It is now danced with a
handkerchief in place of a cushion; and no words are used. That a rhyme
was formerly used, there is little doubt. Query, What were the words of
this rhyme?

MAC.

Charminster.

* * * * *

DID BUNYAN KNOW HOBBES?

I observe a querist wishes to know the artist of the portrait of Bunyan
prefixed to his works. I can only myself conjecture Cooper, the
miniature painter, but I am also curious about the great author of _The
Pilgrim's Progress_.

First, is Bunyan really the author of "Heart's Ease in Heart's Trouble,"
and the "Visions of Heaven and Hell," published in his works, and
perhaps, excepting "Grace Abounding," the most popular of his received
miscellanies? I think not. My reasons are these. The style is very
different, and much poorer than his best works. In the "Progress," when
he quotes L