Ten Thousand Wonderful Things: Comprising whatever is marvellous and rare, curious, eccentric and extraordinary in all ages and nations
History
Ten Thousand Wonderful Things: Comprising whatever is marvellous and rare, curious, eccentric and extraordinary in all ages and nations
Curiosities and wonders; Encyclopedias and dictionaries; Folklore
Fig. 1 is a necklace of beads, each bead being cut so as to represent
a group of several, and give the effect of many small round beads to
what are in reality long and narrow ones. Fig. 2 is a necklace of
simpler construction, consisting of a row of rudely-shaped beads, its
centre being remarkable for containing a rude attempt at representing a
human face, the only thing of the kind Hoare discovered of so ancient
a date in Britain. Fig. 3 is another necklace, consisting of a series
of curious little shells, like the hirlas horn used by the Britons,
which are perforated lengthways, and thus strung together. Fig. 4 is a
pin of iron, supposed to have been used as a fastening for a mantle; it
is ornamented with two movable rings. Fig. 5 is a small gold ornament,
checkered like a chessboard, and suspended from a chain of beautiful
workmanship, which, in taste and execution, bears a striking similarity
to our modern curb-chains. Fig. 6 is an ear-ring, a bead suspended
from a twisted wire of gold. Fig. 7 is a brass ornament, and Fig. 8 a
similar one of gold: such ornaments are usually found upon the breasts
of the exhumed skeletons of our barrows, and were probably fastened on
their clothes as ornaments. Their cruciform character might lead to a
doubt of their high antiquity, if we were not aware of the fact, that
the symbol of the cross was worn, as an amulet or ornament, ages before
the Christian era.
LARGE EEL.
Lately, near Malden, an eel was taken, measuring _five feet six inches
in length, seventeen in girth_, and weighing _26 pounds_, the largest
of the species ever caught, or described in natural history.
PERSEVERING DOG.
A boast being made of the obedience of a Newfoundland dog in fetching
and carrying, the master put a marked shilling under a large square
stone by the road side, and, having ridden on three miles, ordered
the dog to go back and fetch it. The dog set off, but did not return
the whole day. He had gone to the place, and being unable to turn the
stone, sat howling by it. Two horsemen came by and saw his distress,
and one of them alighting removed the stone, and finding the shilling,
put it in his pocket, not supposing that the dog could possibly be
looking for that. The dog followed the horses for upwards of twenty
miles, stayed in the room where they supped, got into the bed-room, got
the breeches in which the fatal shilling had been put, made his escape
with them, and dragged them through mud and mire, hedge and ditch, to
his master's house.
CURE FOR CORPULENCE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account