Sir Walter Scott took the title of his novel, as well as of its hero, from the name of the village of Ivinghoe. The name of Ivanhoe, he says in his Introduction, was suggested by an old rhyme. All novelists have had occasion at some time or other to wish, with Falstalf, that they knew where a commodity of good names was to be had. On such an occasion the author chanced to call to memory a rhyme recording three names of the manors forfeited by the ancestor of the celebrated Hampden for striking the Black Prince a blow with his racket when they quarrelled at tennis :- Tring, Wing and Ivanhoe, For striking of a blow, Hampden did forego, And glad he could escape so. It is somewhat curious to note that Scott apparently had forgotten the true name of the place, as he quotes it incorrectly. The tradition, too, on which the rhyme was founded, has been disproved, as the Hampdens were never in possession of these manors, and the lines have recently been considered as a remnant of a cavalier song.
Posted on: Wed, 07 May 2014 10:30:50 +0000
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