803.]

* * * * *

The Bishop that burneth.

I do not think Major Moor is correct in his application of Tusser's
words, "the bishop that burneth," to the lady-bird. Whether lady-birds
are unwelcome guests in a dairy I know not, but certainly I never heard
of their being accustomed to haunt such places. The true interpretation
of Tusser's words must, I think, be obtained by comparison with the
following lines from his _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_, quoted
in Ellis's _Brand_, iii. 207.:--

"Blesse Cisley (good mistress) that bishop doth ban
For burning the milk of her cheese to the pan."

The reference here, as well as in the words quoted by Major Moor, is
evidently to the proverb relating to burnt milk, broth, &c.--"the bishop
has put his foot in it;" which is considered by Ellis to have had its
origin in those times when bishops were much in the habit of burning
heretics. He confirms this interpretation by the following curious
passage from Tyndale's _Obedyence of a Crysten Man_:--

"If the podech be burned to, or the meate ouer rosted, we saye
the Byshope hath put his fote in the potte, or the Byshope hath
playd the coke, because the Bishopes burn who they lust, and
whosoeuer displeaseth them."

I fear the origin of the appellation "Bishop Barnaby," applied to the