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Title: The Antiquarian Magazine & Bibliographer; Vol. 4, July-Dec 1884

Author: Various

Editor: Edward Walford

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THE GREAT YARMOUTH TOLHOUSE.

The
Antiquarian Magazine
& Bibliographer.

EDITED BY

Edward Walford, M.A.,

Formerly Scholar of Balliol College, Oxford, and late Editor of “The Gentleman’s Magazine,” &c.

VOLUME VI.

July-December, 1884.

London:
DAVID BOGUE, 27, KING WILLIAM STREET,
CHARING CROSS, W.C.

The Gresham Press.
——
UNWIN BROTHERS,
PRINTERS,
LONDON AND CHILWORTH.

List of Illustrations.

{2} 

{3}

The
Antiquarian Magazine
& Bibliographer.

The Great Yarmouth Tolhouse.

REAT YARMOUTH possesses a building of considerable antiquarian interest. This is known by the somewhat unsuggestive name of the Tolhouse. Its relation to the collection of tolls is referred to in many old documents; but since this was but one of many uses to which it was devoted, and far from a primary one, it is highly probable that, like the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, its name is derived from its use in a greater degree as the common prison of the town.

The building is spoken of by the old local historian, Manship, in 1619, who states that it was used in his time as the Borough Gaol, and had been so used from the time of the granting of the Charter by King John to the Burgesses. There are also records, which are referred to in Palmer’s “Perlustrations of Great Yarmouth,” of the very early use of the building as a gaol by the burgesses. A gaol for prisoners was also granted by Henry III. in 1261.

Apart from this, the building has been used for almost every municipal purpose, though it has never been actually a town-hall, for Great Yarmouth, like many other corporations, possessed a town-hall over or beside the entrance to the churchyard. Here various courts were held. The bailiffs were accustomed to receive their tolls or dues in the great chamber on the first floor. It was called the Host House, from a peculiar local custom. The accounts for the herrings, the staple article of commerce of the town in old days as now,{4} that were caught by foreign fishermen, and sold by their “hosts,” or salesmen of the town to whom they were consigned, had to be settled in the great chamber, and their “heightening money” paid. It was used also as their apartment of state by the local authorities; and there are many records of the quarrels over the questions of precedence with the deputies of the Cinque Ports when they paid official visits here.

It is for these most varying uses that the Tolhouse of Great Yarmouth is unique among our municipal antiquities, for England has not its counterpart elsewhere. Its history affords evidence of a most interesting nature of the growth and development of the authority of the town, no different it may be from what has taken place in other corporations, but illustrated here by the actual building.

The structure also is the original erection in all its essential features. Its walls are of early thirteenth century date, thus indicating its existence prior to 1261. It has a picturesque external staircase of open woodwork, giving access from the street to the level of the first floor, where the “Great Chamber” is situated, access being gained through a doorway of Early English moulded work; while the lobby of approach is lighted by a two-light open arcade, of somewhat later date. A very quaint figure of Justice, with sword and scales, stands on a projecting buttress; and the high-pitched roof, and the general features of the design, are both of considerable artistic interest. Internally, the Great Chamber has lost its open roof, which was replaced by a flat ceiling, probably in 1622, when it was “fitted up for assemblies.” The windows, too, are square-headed, with wood frames and mullions; but there are several features of the original work of great beauty, while others peep temptingly from the plastering and whitewash of more recent days.

Below the Hall is the “pit,” or common hold, wherein prisoners were thrust indiscriminately, and chained to a horizontal beam, which has long since disappeared. In this portion of the building the doors are iron-bound, and very solidly framed.

The recent history of the building deserves more than passing reference. On the completion of the handsome new town-hall the few recent uses even of the Tolhouse were no longer needed, and the demolition of the building was decided upon. The local antiquaries, however, being fully alive to the great interest of the building in relation to its forming a part, so to speak, of the history of the town, strove to prevent this loss occurring. Their persevering efforts have been eminently successful. Not only has the Town Council{5} reconsidered the proposal, but it has finally handed the building over to trustees, to be devoted to some useful purpose. Thus has an example been set to other lovers of our ancient buildings elsewhere.

The trustees have undertaken to repair the building, and they are now seeking to raise a fund for defraying the cost of this much-needed work. The building is in a sadly dilapidated state. It has been surveyed by Mr. E. P. Loftus Brock, F.S.A., architect, of London, and in his hands, and in those of a local firm of architects, it may be reasonably concluded that none but really necessary works will be carried out. The intention is, indeed, to repair the building only, and to retain all its ancient features.

The rough-cast, covering and hiding the ancient walling, will be taken off, the great hall will have its flat ceiling removed, and some approach made to the open appearance it formerly possessed; the walls will be strengthened where needed, the roofs made watertight, and general works of cleansing and repair done. No attempt whatever will be made to alter the structural appearance.

The trustees have undertaken their duties on public grounds, in the belief that, in these days when the removal of an ancient building is so greatly deplored, funds will not be wanting to uphold it for all time.

Subscriptions will be gladly received by C. S. Ade, Esq., Treasurer of the Fund (Messrs. Gurney & Co., Great Yarmouth); or by F. Danby-Palmer, Esq., Honorary Secretary, also at Great Yarmouth.

Misericordes in Ludlow Church.

THE following details of sundry carvings on the misericordes still remaining in the choir of the collegiate church of St. Lawrence at Ludlow, in Shropshire, may interest such of our readers as are students of church architecture:—

North Side. (Read from West to East.)

1. A (left) and B (right), a rose. C (centre), four roses.

2. A and B, a padlock (or stirrup?). C, an eagle with two cords entwined behind.

3. A and B, floriated ornament. C, an angel holding a trumpet.

4. A and B, floriated ornament. C, king’s head, whiskers and beard flowing.

5. A and B, an animal holding a band in its mouth. C, a stag kneeling, a band behind it.{6}

6. A, two figures opposite each other; the left one has pointed shoes, the right one has his right arm raised as if to strike the other figure, and an animal is arising from under him. B, a floriated ornament. C, a mitred bishop in a pulpit preaching to birds; the bishop has a donkey’s face.

7. A and B, three feathers. C, the same, larger.

8. A and B, mitres on many-pointed stars. C, mitred bishop’s head, labels flying.

9. A and B, a face, from whose mouth two oak sprigs, right and left, issue. C, a stag, with a crowned collar round its neck attached to a chain, sitting on its haunches biting a band or flat snake.

10. A, a pot with two handles, on a fire. B, floriated ornament. C, two figures fighting; a third figure on the right is trying to hold one of the other figures; the left figure is sitting on the ground, as if knocked down; his head is broken off.

11. A and B, a fish with its tail in its mouth. C, a mermaid holding a circular mirror in its right hand, looking at it; the left hand four fingers broken off.

12. A, devil seated, holding a scroll. B, figure of a woman coming out of a pair of gaping jaws, the hinder parts of a man disappearing head foremost into the jaws; there are seven teeth in the upper jaw and three in the lower jaw. C, a man, whose head is broken off, carrying a naked female slung over his shoulders, one leg on either side of his head; her head and body hang down behind; she has a head-dress, a necklace from which is a pendant, and a ribbed jug or scroll in her left hand, her right hand is open, showing the palm; opposite the man, on the right, is a figure evidently meant to personate the Devil; he has wings, and is playing the bagpipes.

13. A and B, a winged beast. C, the same, with head-piece and five bands round its waist, terminating in the wings; there are eight balls or buttons on, and between these bands in front of the figure.

14. A and B, figure of a man, probably dancing; he holds a round thing like a cymbal in the right hand, the other is holding a branch; one knee is on the ground; it has pointed boots; part of the head and left foot below the knee of A is broken off. C, a woman’s head with head-dress, scowling, showing open ugly mouth and four teeth; the body of the dress is low, cut square; some thinner article of dress is beneath, concealing bare skin.

South Side. (West to East.)

1. A, ring, formed by two circles entwined. B is gone. C, rose {7}on a ——?

2. A and B, a head in a cloth or shroud. C, a man seated in cap and gown, holding a band.

3. A and B, a four-legged table, a barrel, end upwards, in centre, showing the bung in the middle; on one side is a jug or flagon, on the other a cup or chalice with a cover. C, two figures, men, kneeling; both heads are gone; a barrel on a bracket-shelf appears to be supported on one knee of each; one knee of each is on the ground.

4. A and B, floriated ornament. C, a woman drawing liquor from a barrel into a jug which she is holding; on the left of the barrel another barrel, on the right a jug on a shelf below; the figure has a mallet attached to a girdle round his waist.

5. A and B, a cock’s head. C, animal with wings, on its haunches.

6. A and B, pretty floriated ornament. C, remains of the trunk of an animal surrounded with the remnants of birds, broken off.

7. A a pack-horse; three of its legs are gone. B, a bag with a rose on centre, from which are suspended two smaller roses; below bag is a cushion, tasselled. C, two pairs of wrestlers wrestling; on left a figure is looking on.

8. A, pot with three feet and two handles, through which is a loose cord, on some burning fagots. B, trunks of two animals slung on a pole. C, a woman seated in a chair, holding hands and feet to fire which is in front of her.

9. A and B, floriated ornament. C, a swan standing.

10. A and B, a sparrow. C, an owl.

11. A and B, a woman’s head with head-dress. C, the same, with additional loose piece of material on top of her head, hanging over her shoulders.

12. A and B, floriated ornament. C, a man with a pack on his back, strapped on over his shoulders; he is pulling up his right boot with his hands; the boots are pointed.

13. A,B and C, floriated ornament.

14. A, a figure with pointed shoes, seated on a four-legged stool; both arms are gone. B, a wrist and hand from a cloud, on which, under the wrist, is a hammer, holding a pestle and mortar; beneath the hammer is a thigh bone, a skull, a skull, and a thigh bone; beneath these is a perpendicular altar tomb, with a spade and shovel crossed; the shovel is standing on the ground in front of the tomb, and has a T handle, the spade having a circular one. C, a figure with a row of beads on top of coat from shoulder to shoulder, and{8} wears a belt; on the left is a barrel on a shelf; under this is a pair of pattens hung on wall, and below these a pair of bellows, also hung on the wall; a hammer lies by his right foot on the left; all on the left-hand side are gone.

R. C. Hope, F.S.A.

Characters of the Wars of the Roses.

By the Rev. H. H. Moore, M.A.

PART II.

(Continued from Vol. V. p. 282.)

THE characters of Warwick and of Edward IV. were so similar up to a certain point, and beyond that so opposite, their fortunes were so closely intertwined up to a certain time and afterwards were so fatally antagonistic, that they must be considered together awhile. The virtues of the one shine the brighter, and the defects of the other loom the darker by contrast; and the juxtaposition of the two figures in history makes the contrast all the more striking. In Warwick we see the nobler and more antique form of chivalry; in Edward we see chivalry modernised and debased by the additions of a voluptuousness more vicious than refined, and of a selfishness Italian in its intensity, and Machiavellian in its policy. Equally brave and distinguished for personal prowess in the field, Warwick joined to the courage the magnanimity of the lion, while Edward showed the cruelty as well as the fierceness of the tiger. But Edward greatly excelled Warwick, as well as all the other captains of his day, in generalship. His boldness, which cared for no odds however great, which shunned no danger however desperate, would have seemed mere foolhardiness, had not his marvellously quick perception, sagacious judgment, and tremendous energy, made prudence foolish and boldness prudent. His confidence in his own powers, which made them ten times more formidable, was fully justified by the results of nine pitched battles, in which victory never left his standard. But as soon as the opposition was overcome which had roused his energies into so fierce an activity, he abandoned himself to luxurious habits and indulgence in amorous and convivial pleasures. They who had seen him awhile ago delighting like a war-horse in the sound of the battle, would never expect such “a martial man to become soft fancy’s slave.” Yet so it was; terrible as Cæsar in war, in peace he was another Antony, and would risk{9} the loss of an empire for a woman’s smile. His generous affection for Elizabeth Woodville would be a bright spot in his character, had he not sullied it by his numerous amours and gross licentiousness. While Edward thus stained his character as much by his wantonness in peace as by his cruelty in war, Warwick, who despised such pleasures, won from both equally honourable laurels. The young King’s Court was no genial place for his severe manliness; and the disgraceful match-making and place-hunting by which the Queen’s relatives and friends were acquiring power, not only disgusted, but also alarmed him for the power of his family and of the old nobility. Edward and Warwick were equally proud, but Warwick’s was the pride of conscious worth, Edward’s the pride of an arbitrary will. More kingly than the King himself, Warwick overshadowed the throne with his greatness. To him Edward knew that he owed his crown, but he felt that he was strong enough to keep it without his help. His gratitude was swallowed up in the humiliation of his dependence, for he felt that he was not a king when Warwick was by. Accordingly, all his efforts were directed to abase that power which made him feel like a subject in his own realms. Warwick’s fall would, he knew, be the death-blow to his order; and, once determined on this policy, not even fear of Warwick moved this wonderful man, whose hand never hesitated to execute what his heart dared to design. He saw that the age was with him, while Warwick and the men of whom he was the type were behind the age. He knew also the advantage which his own character and talents gave him over Warwick. The latter was honest, unsuspecting, incapable of intrigue as he was indisposed to it; and though he joined to these soldier’s qualities a soldier’s sagacity also, yet he was no match for Edward, and fell an easy victim to his perfidious heart and scheming brain. And when outraged honour and insulted pride made him desert the Yorkist cause, which he had served and supported for years, and range himself with those whom he had most injured and who most hated him, he fell as easy a victim to the same man’s charmed sword. And Edward did prove himself strong enough to reign alone. No man was better fitted for his age and his circumstances; and this is shown by his popularity, vigorous even during Warwick’s life and while growing under his shade. Victor everywhere and at all times, Edward had won the heart of the nation even before he gained the throne. The painful tragedy of his father’s death, his own youth, beauty, princely bearing and accomplishments, excited the sympathy and admiration of the people on his earliest{10} appearance on the stage on which he was to play so great a part. His successful fortunes in war, and Warwick’s support, had commended young Edward to a people who had nothing to lose in losing Henry VI., and who hoped at least to gain peace and security under the protection of an arm which promised to be as strong to hold as it had been to acquire. Their minds, sickened by the gloom and horrors of war, were refreshed by the sight of their young King throwing himself with all the ardour of his nature into the light amusements and pleasures of peace; the citizens were charmed by his affability, their wives and daughters by his gaiety and gallantry. A new nobility, the mushroom growth of an hour, sprang up to sun itself in his smiles, to help him in the pursuit of pleasure, to increase the attractions of peace and of a Court. The commercial towns, and especially London, were pleased with a monarch who enriched them by his magnificent and sumptuous expenditure, and who gave a more liberal encouragement to commerce than they had known before. But two classes stood aloof and sullen: the old nobility, who felt that they were losing both their place and power in the Court and in the State; and those of the people who felt that, whether York or Lancaster were uppermost, they equally lost their rights, and failed to better their condition. The battlefields of Barnet and Tewkesbury rendered this dangerous element harmless for the future, and Edward, now able to breathe more freely than he had done heretofore, gave himself up without restraint to the impulses of his passions. His life henceforth became one voluptuous revel. The people were more ready to turn with him and his courtiers to pleasure than to criticise and condemn their vices; and so, in peace as in war, Edward’s sail was filled by the favouring breath of popularity. His love for his children and care for their education, his courteousness, his wisdom in weakening the power of the nobility, his encouragement of commerce, and his statesmanship, enlightened for those days, are all good points in Edward’s favour, and should be valued at their proper worth; but the possession of the ordinary virtues, and the performance of the ordinary duties of a prince and a parent, cannot fully redeem and make up for his extraordinary vice, perfidiousness, selfishness, and cruelty; and in the opinion of an age that is not dazzled by his fortune and ability, Edward’s hard, worldly, fleshly nature cannot be deemed worthy of admiration.

Richard III. and Henry VII. are but little concerned in the actual conduct of the civil war; not at all in its origin, but chiefly in furthering its effects, or reaping its fruits; but few words therefore need{11} be spent on them here, as it is their policy rather than their personal characters that is of chief interest. The same terribly precocious development of an unscrupulous will and of a heart steeled against mercy, marks the character of Richard III. as that we have seen in Edward IV. The school of civil war in which he had been trained taught him to despise the barriers which could be removed by the shedding of blood, and none ever showed greater aptness in improving on the lessons he had learned. He equalled Louis XI. in dissimulation, in cunning, in statesmanship; he equalled his brother Edward in fearlessness and inflexible purpose; he surpassed him in learning and mental culture. In the estimation of some minds the special pleading of Horace Walpole and others may have succeeded in clearing Richard’s name of the crimes imputed to him, but the majority in this age, as in Richard’s own, who do not demand positive proofs of everything, but judge by the laws of probability, cannot help feeling (rightly or not) a moral certainty of his guilt.

The character of Henry VII. was admirably adapted to heal the sores and bind the wounds caused by the long civil war. Sufficiently bold, if necessity demanded it, he was yet disinclined to war; cold and cautious in temperament, he was little tolerant of any disturbing element of passion, and greatly averse to violent and extreme measures which might derange the stability and order of his government. Eminently practical in his views of men and of affairs—in this ushering in the modern order of rulers and of statesmen—he preferred the reality to the show of power, peace to war, order to misrule, wealth to poverty, domestic security to foreign aggrandisement.

The unfortunate Richard, Duke of York, hesitating when he should have been bold, and bold when he should have hesitated, with a heart that could not keep pace with his ambition, without the wisdom to justify his pretensions by the Right which is derived from Might, not sufficiently scrupulous to resist temptation, and too scrupulous to win the prize that tempted, ensuring his son’s success by his own failure; the amiable, generous, unsuspecting Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; the wily, avaricious, scheming Suffolk; the bold, grasping, passionate Cardinal Beaufort; the accomplished courtier, boon companion, and skilful general, Montacute (brother to Warwick); George, Duke of Clarence, unstable as water, changeable as the wind, uniting a weak head to a bad heart; Earl Rivers, accomplished, brave, learned, and a patron of learning, the type of the modern nobleman; the high-spirited, unfortunate son of Margaret; Lord Hastings, the gay gallant, the daring knight, the sage in the council, the scholar in{12} the study; all these and many more helped to swell the list of the horrid deeds, or served to supply the victims of those bloodstained times.

The Legend of King Arthur in Somerset.

By Mrs. C. G. Boger.

(Continued from Vol. V. p. 228.)

PART II.—AT CAMELOT.

ARTHUR had arrived at man’s estate, and his people would fain that he should take a wife, so that, if, like his uncle, Aurelius Ambrosius, he were taken from them, he might, unlike him, leave an heir of his own blood. Among the petty kings of the West was Leodogran, King of Cameliard, a county represented at this day by Camelot or Cadbury-fort, and a cluster of other places in the east of Somerset, whose names are derived from the same root: North and South Cadbury, Queen’s Camel, West Camel, and Castle Cary. Leodogran’s kingdom had been beset by the invaders, and overrun with wild beasts: Arthur had come to his help and rescued his dominions. So it came to pass that when his people spake to him of marriage, Guinivere, the fair daughter of Leodogran, came to his mind, and he asked her of her father. The King of Cameliard was well pleased, and with his daughter’s hand he promised him his greatest treasure, the Table round, and made him his heir.

But Guinivere, in her pride of youth and beauty, had little noted her father’s deliverer, and scarce glanced at the young knight, who paid her none of the homage she thought her due, and who was ever engrossed in earnest consultations with her father on the state of the kingdom, on knights and wars, on castles and sieges; and so it came to pass that when Launcelot, Arthur’s best and most trusted knight, was sent by him to fetch her home, she, never doubting but that the King would have come himself, thought Launcelot was Arthur, and when she saw him her heart leapt to his. But when she came to see her pure and stainless lord, he seemed cold and passionless beside{13} Launcelot; and he, who had no thought of guile and loved when he trusted, and trusted when he loved, gave them unconsciously opportunities of meeting, and Guinivere’s heart passed more and more from Arthur, and attached itself more and more passionately to Launcelot. For Arthur was taken up with affairs of state, and with his beautiful dream of the Knights of the Round Table. In this order none was higher than other; and here, in his Palace of Camelot, built by Merlin’s magic power in a single night, he would assemble a hundred and fifty knights of noble birth, pure and stainless like himself, and the Knights bound themselves by solemn oaths to keep the rules of the order. They were as follows:—

1. That every knight should be well armed and furnished to undertake any enterprise wherein he was employed by sea or by land, on horseback, or on foot.

2. That he should be ever prest (ready) to assail all tyrants or oppressors of the people.

3. That he should protect widows and maids, restore children to their just rights, repossess such persons as without just cause were exiled, and with all his force maintain the Christian faith.

4. That he should be a champion for the public weal, and as a lion repulse the enemies of his country.

5. That he should advance the reputation of honour and suppress all vice, relieve the afflicted by adverse fortune, give aid to Holy Church, and protect pilgrims.

6. That he should bury soldiers that wanted sepulture, deliver prisoners, ransom captives, and cure men hurt in the services of their country.

7. That he should in all honourable actions adventure his person, yet with respect to justice and truth, and in all enterprises proceed sincerely, never failing to use the utmost force of body and labour of mind.

8. That after the attaining of an enterprise he should cause it to be recorded, to the end the fame of the fact might ever live to the eternal honour and renown of the noble order.

9. That if any complaint were made at the court of this mighty king, of perjury and oppression, then some knight of the order whom the King should appoint ought to revenge the same.

10. That if any knight of foreign nation did come into the Court, with desire to challenge or make any show of prowess (were he single or accompanied) those knights ought to be ready in arms to make answer.{14}

11. That if any lady, gentleman, or widow, or maid, or other oppressed person did present a petition declaring that they were or had been in this or other nations injured or offered dishonour, that they should be graciously heard, and without delay one or more knights should be sent to take revenge.

12. That every knight should be willing to inform young princes, lords, and gentlemen, in the orders and exercises of arms, thereby not only to avoid idleness, but also to increase the honour of knighthood and chivalry. Such were the rules which, combined with the disturbed state of the country, caused that—

It may, as I have before stated, have been probably the taking of Winchester by the Saxon Cerdic in 515 which caused Arthur to concentrate his forces in the Western Peninsula. Cameliard was now his, in right of his wife. He determined therefore to fortify his kingdom, and at the three extreme points to place strong castles, which he strengthened by every available means. These points were Caerleon on Usk, which guarded the Sabrina or estuary of the Severn, and St. Michael’s Mount at the extreme south-west; but the post of danger and therefore of honour was held by Camelot. He pitched with an experienced eye upon this great Belgic fortress, situated in one of the most fertile and picturesque parts of South Somerset, as the place where the great stand must be made. The shape of the mound is irregular, neither quite round nor square; part of it was hewed from the solid rock, its circumference is about a mile. Four deep ditches in concentric rings with as many ramparts of earth and stones form the primary defences: these are further strengthened by a series of zig-zag terraces on inclined planes, so constructed that the besieged, though he retreated from his assailants, could still make a desperate resistance. On the top of this fortified mount is a moated mount or Prætorium, enclosing a space of at least twenty acres; and here Merlin raised the enchanted Palace of Camelot. The spot must have been well-nigh impregnable in days when artillery was unknown.

Here, then, was Arthur’s great rallying point; hither the persecuted fled for protection, the wronged for redress, the patriotic to assist in the defence of their county. Every possibility of defence and adornment was lavished here; and here were held, specially at Whitsuntide, chapters of the order of the Knights of the Round Table. Here, in intervals of peace, were held the mimic games of{15} warfare, and from here, after a time of repose, they issued forth again and again against the heathen hordes. Within the Greater Triangle was a smaller and more sacred one; its three points were the Tor Hill at Glastonbury, the Mons Acutus or Montacute, and Camelot itself; lines drawn from point to point made an equilateral triangle, each side being twelve miles in length. This twice, trebly guarded territory was defended by saintly shield from invasion, and from any noxious or venomous creature.

It was the year 520 A.D. Exactly one hundred years had elapsed since the last Roman soldiers left Britain a prey to their enemies. But what a different Britain it was now. It is true the enemy were in the land, and held the greater part of it, but the Britons were no longer helpless or hopeless. From the towers of Camelot Arthur led forth an army full of confidence and eager for the fray; he led them beyond the bounds of Gladerhaf, for he would not that this beloved land should be soiled by the heathen’s tread. At Mount Badon, in Wiltshire, was fought the great battle in which Arthur was victorious, and the onward march of the Saxons was stayed for the time. At Camelot watch and ward was kept; from its summit could be seen the Mendip Hills, in the West of Somerset, the Blackdown summits in Devonshire, and the Bristol Channel on the south. Twelve great battles did Arthur fight; the eleventh is said by some to have been fought near Camelot, but I hold rather that the traces of a great conflict, which have been discovered there, took place in more recent times, when the Saxon dominion was extending itself still further to the West. For Gladerhaf remained British till after Arthur’s time, nor did Glastonbury pass under the Saxon sway till after they too had embraced Christianity, and conquerors and conquered knelt together at the same shrine.

The tale of King Ryence’s challenge belongs partly to Caerleon and partly to Camelot. It may be found in full in Mallory’s “King Arthur,” and also in a ballad preserved in “Percy’s Reliques of Ancient Poetry.” King Ryence, a potentate of North Wales, sent to Arthur at Caerleon to demand his beard, as he needed one more to make up the tale of twelve Royal beards, with which to “purfle his mantle.” If it were refused, he would slay him, and lay waste his country. Arthur, who was then young, answered that his beard would scarce answer for the purpose he required it, but threw back his threat upon himself. Shortly afterwards Ryence was brought as a prisoner to Camelot, and Arthur seems to have been content with this humiliation, and to have retaliated no further upon him.{16}

Amongst the treasures brought by Joseph of Arimathea to Britain were two of priceless worth; one, a thorn taken from our Lord’s brow, the other the cup from which the Lord drank at the last supper. The first was planted by Joseph, and slips from it planted in various places still remain, which, according to all contemporary folk-lore, flower invariably on old Christmas Eve (the Epiphany). But still more precious was the Sangreal, or cup, out of which our Lord drank at the last supper. It had been preserved for ages at Glastonbury, but on account of the grievous sins which prevailed, and the disordered state of the country, it had been caught away. But now a rumour arose, no one knew how or where, that the Sangreal had been seen again, and here seemed the salve for all their wounds, the cure for all their troubles, the talisman which was to preserve them from all ill; so men were waiting and wondering for what was to come to pass, they knew not what.

Pentecost had come, and a chapter of the order of the Knights of the Round Table was held as usual at Camelot. The knights were assembled in the great hall of the Castle. Anon a cracking and crying as of thunder was heard, and they thought the palace would break asunder. In the midst entered a sunbeam more clear by seven times than ever they saw day. Then the knights beheld each other fairer than they had ever seen them before, and no knight might speak a word for a great while, and each man looked on the other as they had been dumb. Then entered into the hall the holy grail, covered with white samite; but none might see it, nor who bare it, and all the hall was filled with sweet odours, and the holy vessel departed suddenly, and they wist not whence it came.[1]

Dumb were they all for a time; then spoke the light and foolish Sir Gawaine, and took an oath that he would go on a quest for the Sangreal, and would search for it, at least a year and a day, until he found it. Then the other knights swore to the same. It was with bitter grief that Arthur learned the vow, for well he knew that high and holy gifts are given by God to those who are in their ordinary way of duty, as the angels came to the shepherds whilst they kept their sheep, and that this wild quest would but disperse the knights throughout the land, while they neglected the work that God had set them, viz., the defence of their own land against the heathen. Then said the King: “I am sure at this quest of the Sangreal shall all of ye of the Round Table depart, and never shall I see you{17} whole together again, therefore will I see you all whole together in the meadow of Camelot, for to joust and tourney, that after your death men may speak of it, that such good knights were wholly together on such a day. So were they all assembled in the meadow, both more and less.”

Arthur’s last tournament was held, and the maiden-knight, Sir Galahad, won the honours of the day. Then, when the tourney was over, the whole assembly went to the Minster, and there, for the last time, joined all together in holy rites of prayer and praise. Then said the King to Sir Gawaine: “Alas! ye have well nigh slain me with the vow and promise that ye have made, for through you ye have bereft me of the fairest fellowship and the truest knighthood that ever were seen together in any realm of the world, for when they shall depart from hence I am sure that all shall never meet more in this world, for then shall many die in this quest, and so it forethinketh me a little, for I have loved them as well as my life.” The next morning the knights rode out of Camelot. But the story of their adventures does not belong to Somerset.[2]

Behind all this bravery and fair seeming, however, was rising a dark cloud, which did more to break up Arthur’s Table-round than even the quest of the Sangreal; for rumours had long been rife that Guinivere was unfaithful, and that his best-beloved knight, Sir Launcelot, was the partner of her sin. It was long ere they reached Arthur, who was so guileless that he could not believe in the guilt of those he loved; but at last it became too manifest, and Guinivere’s flight made the unfaithfulness of his wife and his friend patent to the King. Guinivere’s first flight was to Glastonbury; and in a life of Gildas, written by Caradoc of Lancarvon, we are told that whilst he (Gildas) was residing at Glastonbury, Arthur’s Queen was carried off and lodged there, that Arthur immediately besieged the place, but, through the mediation of the Abbot and of Gildas, consented at length to receive his wife again and to depart peaceably.[3] When this first flight took place we are not told; but after a time, and when the rebellion of his nephew, Mordred, took place, Guinivere fled again, this time to Amesbury, in Wiltshire. There she was professed{18} a nun. After her death her body was carried to rest at Glastonbury by Sir Launcelot himself, she having prayed that she might never see him again in life. And when she was put into the earth, Sir Launcelot swooned, and lay long upon the ground. A hermit came and awaked him, and said: “Ye are to blame, for ye displease God with such manner of sorrow-making.” “Truly,” said Sir Launcelot, “I trust I do not displease God, for He knoweth well mine intent, for it was not, nor is for any rejoicing of sin; but my sorrow may never have an end. For when I remember and call to mind her beauty, her bounty, and her nobleness, that was as well with her King, my lord Arthur, as with her; and also when I saw the corpse of that noble King and noble Queen so lie together in that cold grave, made of earth, that sometime were so highly set in most honourable places, truly mine heart would not serve me to sustain my wretched and careful body also. And when I remember me, how through my default, and through my presumption and pride, that they were both laid full low, the which were ever peerless that ever were living of Christian people. Wit ye well,” said Sir Launcelot, “this remembered of their kindness, and of mine unkindness, sunk and impressed so in my heart, that all my natural strength failed me, so that I might not sustain myself.”

The rebellion of his nephew Mordred brought strife and war into the hitherto carefully guarded peninsula. Mordred maintained that Arthur was no son of Uther Pendragon; and that he himself was the rightful heir, so Arthur had to turn his arms against his own people. It was at Camelford, near the north coast of Cornwall, that he fought his last fight; he was wounded to the death, for his skull was, as we shall see, pierced with ten wounds. Then, after the episode of the flinging away of the sword Excalibur, when Sir Bedivere saw “the water, wap, and waves waun,” a barge hoved to the bank; in it were ladies with black hoods, and one was Morgan la Fay, King Arthur’s sister. Then the barge floated to the shores of Gladerhaf, and there, to the vale of Avilion,[4] they took him to heal him of his grievous wound. And so men said that Arthur was not dead, but by the will of our Lord Jesus Christ was in another place; and men say that he will come again. I will not say that it shall be so, but rather I will say, that here in this world he changed his life. But many men say that there is written upon his tomb this verse:—{19}

And thus leave we him here, and Sir Bedivere with the hermit that dwelled in a chapel beside Glastonbury.[5]

(To be continued.)

Inquisition of the Honour of Wallingford.

A.D. 1212 AN. 13 John.[6]

BY M. T. PEARMAN.

THIS inquisition is subsequent to that printed by Hearne, in the “Liber Niger,” but some years earlier than any of the lists in the “Testa de Nevill.” The Inquisition itself is in italics.

“Port” and “Port-Reeve.”

By J. H. Round, M.A.

PART III

(Continued from Vol. V. page 287.)

BEFORE tracing the working of this process in the similar case of ceaster, it may be as well to dispose etymologically of port. I have avowedly restricted myself, in this paper, to port as it occurs in “port-reeve.” But Professor Skeat, in his “Etymological Dictionary” (p. 457), while wholly ignoring, it would seem, its meaning in this and the similar compounds, assigns to the Anglo-Saxon “port,” not merely the derivation direct from portus, but an identity of meaning with that word. And in support of that meaning, “a harbour, haven,” he aptly adduces Alfred’s translation of Bede, in which “to tham porte” means “to the haven.” Here, however, it might perhaps be urged that Alfred was influenced in his choice of the term by the “portus” in the original before him. It need not follow that when not so influenced, he would have spoken of a haven as a “port.” Moreover, it is possible, and indeed probable, that the original sense of “port” was replaced by that narrower one of a “haven” or “sea-port,” which it had certainly come to bear by Middle English days, in consequence of that recurrence to Latin models, in which Alfred had himself led the way, and which would lead to what might almost be termed a re-introduction of the word into the language, fresh from the Latin itself.

But again, Alfred might have been influenced in his style by the Welshman, “Asser, my bishop.”[9] For though the Welsh, as I have said, adopted “portman” in the sense of a “trader” from the A. S., they had in their own word porth the equivalent at once of porta and portus. Of its use in the former sense we have an illustration, as Mr. Barnes has pointed out (Arch. Jour. xxii. 232), in the Welsh version of Matthew vii. 13:—“ehang yw’r porth, a llydan yw’r fford,” (“wide is the gate, and broad is the way “), where in the A. S. version the word used is geat. Its use in the latter is familiar.

This brings us to a consideration of such terms as the “Westport” and “East-port” of Wareham, and the “Newport Gate” of Lincoln. The survival, at Wareham, of “port” in the sense of gate, is ingeniously attributed by the above writer to a direct derivation from the Welsh porth, rather than from the Latin porta. At{24} Lincoln, on testing Mr. Freeman’s statement that the gate was actually known simply as “The New Port” (Norm. Conq. iv. 212), I can find no evidence whatever for it.[10] If, therefore, as seems to be the case, “Newport Gate” has always been its name, within historic times, the inference is surely not that which has been drawn by Mr. Freeman in his paper on Lincoln,[11] but rather that the “barbarian” conquerors, ignoring the meaning of the “port” (porta), spoke of the Roman “porta” by their own word “geat,” distinguishing it from the other gates by the prefix “Newport,” and thus producing the, at first sight, unmeaning pleonasm, “Newport Gate,” just as Thorney Island, Mersea Island, &c., are pleonasms formed by the addition of “Island,” when the ea or ey (“Island”) no longer possesses a meaning.

We see, then, that the Latin porta failed to pass direct into our language in the form of port (“a gate”). It was, indeed, as Professor Skeat has shown, imported at a much later period, but then only through the French porte, and not direct from the Latin. But it could not, even so, succeed in establishing its position in the language. Found not unfrequently in the Elizabethan age, both in poetry and in classical prose, it lingered on, as a classical affectation, even so late as the Civil War, when we find it used of a city-gate, in a military sense, by such writers as Sprigge and Carter. A sure proof of its disuse is afforded shortly after this by the substitution of “port hole” for “port,” a pleonasm which, like those above quoted, implies that the original word no longer retained its meaning.

(To be continued.)

An Old Play-Bill—The following is a copy of the first play-bill issued from Drury-lane Theatre: “By His Majesty’s Company of Comedians, At the new Theatre in Drury-lane, This day, being Thursday, April 8th, 1663, Will be acted, a Comedy called THE HVMOVROVS LIEVTENANT. The King, Mr. Wintersel; Demétrivs, Mr. Hart; Selevcvs, Mr. Bvrt; Leontivs, Major Mohvn; Lievtenant, Mr. Clun; Celia, Mrs. Marshall. The play will begin at three o’clock exactly. Boxes 4s. Pitt 2s. 6d. Middle-Gallery 1s. 6d. Upper Gallery 1s.”{25}

The History of Gilds.

By Cornelius Walford, F.S.S., Barrister-at-Law.

PART IV.

Chapter XXXII.—The Gilds of Lincolnshire.

THE Gilds of this county were not only very numerous, but they were regarded as important in several respects. I shall give some account of them under the several towns wherein they flourished. There were also many village Gilds.

Boston.—In this ancient town were various Gilds of great note, but the materials for detailed history have only been preserved in exceptional cases.

Gild of the Blessed Mary.—This appears to have ranked first amongst the Boston Gilds, and is believed to have been the Gilda Mercatoria of Boston, although its constitution in considerable part was ecclesiastical. The earliest mention of this Gild appears to be in 1393. The Gild itself was probably founded earlier—certainly other Gilds of earlier date existed in the town. The first Patent was granted to it at the date just named. Another Patent is dated in 1445, and a third in 1447. In this last year, Henry VI. granted a licence to “Richard Benynton and others that they should give to the Aldermen of the Gild of the Fraternity of the Blessed Mary of Boston, in the County of Lincoln, five messuages, thirty-one acres of land, and ten acres of pasture in Boston and Skirbeck.” Another Patent grant was issued to this institution in 1483. This Gild had a Chapel, called the Chapel of our Lady, in the Parish Church.

In 1510, Pope Julius II. in a “Pardon” granted to the town, provided that whatsoever Christian people, of what estate or condition soever, whether spirituall or temporall, would aid and support the Chamberlain or substitute of the aforesaid Gilde, should have five hundred years of pardon!

Item, to all brothers and sisters of the same Gilde was granted free liberty to eate in the time of Lent, or other fast-days, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, and also flesh by the counsell of their ghostly father and physician, without any scruple of conscience.

Item, that all partakers of the same Gilde, and being supporters thereof, which once a quarter, or every Friday or Saturday, either in the said Chappell or any other Chappell of their devotion, shall say a Paternoster, Ave Maria, and creed, or shall say or cause to be{26} said masses for souls departed in pains of purgatory, shall not only have the full remission due to them which visite the Chappell of Scala Cæli, or of St. John Latern [in Rome]; but also the souls in purgatory shall enjoy full remission and be released of all their paines.

Item, that all the souls of the brothers and sisters of the said Gilde, also the souls of their fathers and mothers, shall be partakers of all the prayers, suffrages, alms, fastings, masses and mattens, pilgrimages, and all other good deedes of all the holy Church militant for ever.

This pardon—and many such pardons, indulgences, grants and relaxations, were issued by Popes Nicholas V., Pius II., Sixtus, as well as Julius II.—was through the request of King Henry VIII., 1526, confirmed by Pope Clement VII.

It appears that at the time Pope Julius granted his “Bull” the Gild maintained seven priests, twelve ministers, and thirteen beadsmen; and also seems to have supported a grammar school. “The seats or stalls (says Thompson in his “Collections,” &c., 1820) on the south side of the chancel of the church were no doubt erected for the use of the master and bretheren of this establishment.” At the dissolution (1538) this college, as it was then called, was valued at £24.

The Guildhall of this establishment is yet remaining, and is used by the Corporation for their corporate and judicial proceedings. Beadsman-lane, adjoining the Guildhall, was no doubt inhabited by the beadsmen belonging to this institution; and the ancient buildings in Spain-lane were, it is very probable, the warehouses of the merchants. The possessions of this Gild were given to the Corporation in 1554, first of Mary.

Gild of St. Botolph.—It is recorded that in 1349 (23rd Edward III.) a patent was granted for making a Gild in the town of St. Botolph—the ancient name of Boston. And also that in the same year Gilbert de Elilond gave to the Aldermen, &c., of the Gild of St. Botolph certain lands and tenements in that town. Another patent in behalf of this institution was granted in 1399.

In 1403, Henry IV. granted a licence to Thomas de Friseby and others, that they might give to the Aldermen and brethren of the Gild or fraternity in Boston one messuage, forty acres of land, and twenty acres of meadow with the appurtenances “which they held of the Lord of Bello-monto for services, &c.” In 1411, the King granted a licence to Richard Pynchebek and others, that they should{27} give to Richard Lister, master of the Gild or fraternity in the town of St. Botolph, certain lands, &c.

It is not known who founded this Gild; what was the extent of its possessions; or the particular object of its institution. “It is most probable, however (says Thompson), that it was founded by a Company of merchants, and that its objects were entirely of a mercantile nature.” There is no account of any hall or other buildings belonging to this Gild.

Gild of Corpus Christi.—The first mention of this Gild is in 1389, when a patent was issued for the “Guild or Fraternity of Corpus Christi in St. Botolph.” Another patent was granted in 1392 for an Alderman, &c., of this Gild; a third grant bears date 1403. King Henry V. granted a licence in 1413 to John Barker, chaplain, and John Wellesby, chaplain, that they should give to the Alderman and brothers and sisters of the Gild of Corpus Christi, in the town of St. Botolph, two messuages with certain lands, &c., in Boston and Skirbeck. In 1414 another patent was granted to this Gild.

Mr. Thompson considers that this was in all probability a religious Gild. At the dissolution it was called a “College,” and its valuation, as given both by Dugdale and Speed, was £32. The situation of the hall of this institution was contiguous to Corpus Christi-lane, in Wide Bargate. No remains of any buildings, &c., belonging to it were visible in 1820.

Gild of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul.—The earliest record of this Gild is in 1393, when a patent was issued “for the Gild or Fraternity of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, in the Church of St. Botolph in the Town of St. Botolph.” A second grant is dated 1448.

This appears to have been a religious establishment, and to have had a chapel, or at least an altar, in the parish church of St. Botolph. It was called a college at the dissolution, and was valued at £10 13s. 4d. It is supposed that St. Peter’s-lane, in Wide Bargate, had probably some connection with this Gild.

The charter of Philip and Mary, dated 1554, vested the possessions of this institution in the Corporation.

St. George’s Gild.—This was founded prior to 1403, for in that year a patent grant was issued in confirmation of a licence for the formation of this fraternity. In 1415 a patent was granted for the keeping or governing of the Gild of St. George in the town of St. Botolph.{28}

This appears to have been a trading company, no mention being made of it at the dissolution.

The hall of this Gild was standing in 1726 at the bottom of St. George’s-lane, on the west side of the river.

Gild of Holy Trinity.—Patent grants to this fraternity were issued in 1409 and 1411.

It appears from documents in the archives of the Corporation of Boston that Stephen Clerke, warden and keeper of the fraternity of the Holy Trinity, in the town of St. Botolph, together with the brethren and sisters thereof, did surrender to Nicholas Robertison, mayor, and the other burgesses of the new borough of Boston, all the estates, effects, and property of the said fraternity whatsoever, by deed under the common seal of their Gild, dated 22nd of July, in the 37th of Henry VIII. (1546). This surrender was formally made in a house then called the Trinity Chamber, which was most probably the hall or Gild of the fraternity. Its site is unknown. The possessions of this Gild were confirmed to the Corporation by Philip and Mary A.D. 1554; as were those of the St. Mary, St. Peter, and St. Paul Gilds, at the same time, “the better to support the Bridge and Port of Boston.”

It is more than probable that these Gilds played an important part in connection with the great fairs held in this town, but no evidence is at hand.

Craft Gilds.—During the sixteenth and early in the seventeenth century, various Craft Gilds were founded in the borough. Of these, particular mention is made of the following: 1555, the Company of Cordwainers and Curriers established; 1562, the Tailors’ Company; 1576, the Glovers’ Company; 1598, the Smiths’, Farriers’, Braziers’, and Cutlers’ Companies; 1606, the Butchers’ Company established.

These Craft Gilds were founded and conducted on the usual model of the period, as may be seen by the constitution of the Cordwainers’ Company. This Company was authorised, and its regulations sanctioned by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the borough in 1855, the following being the substance of its regulations:—

There should be elected on the Monday before the Feast of St. Martin, by the said Company, two wardens, who should choose a person as beadle, to be attendant on the said wardens.

The officers were to be presented before and sworn in by the Mayor for the time being, on the feast day of St. Andrew, to serve their respective offices for one whole year.

The said wardens should have authority over all manner of{29} persons using the occupation or mystery of cordwainer in the said borough of Boston.

That no person or persons should set up within the said borough as cordwainers until such time as they could sufficiently cut or make a boot or shoe, to be adjudged by the said wardens, and were made free by the Mayor, Aldermen, &c., of the said borough, upon pain of forfeiting £3 6s. 8d., to be paid to the use of the Company: or to suffer imprisonment; this fine or imprisonment to be levied as often as any person should attempt the same.

If any foreigner, or person who did not serve his apprenticeship in the said borough, should be admitted to his freedom by the Mayor, &c., that he shall then pay to the wardens £3 6s. 8d. before he should be admitted a fellow of the said Company.

That no fellow of this Company, his journeymen or servants, should work on the Sabbath-day, either in town or country.

That the wardens of the said Company should have power once a month at least, or oftener if required, to search throughout the whole Company of Cordwainers and Curriers for unlawful wares or leathers.

There is no reference here to any powers of searching the stalls at the fairs for “unlawful wares;” but it is not improbable that such a power was exercised by the wardens of these Craft Gilds.

(To be continued.)

Collectanea.

“Clapham Chronicle.”—J. M. Kemble edited as a boy at school a little newspaper, a sheet of about six inches square, printed by himself from a diminutive hand press, and aping the style of the daily journals. I [i.e., C. J. M.] have a file of them still, “Edited by John Mitchell Kemble, printer, No. 1, Desk-row.” (See C. Dickens’ “Life of Charles J. Matthews,” vol. i. p. 34.)

Civic Conviviality in 1759.—Mr. J. H. Round communicates the following: “The Mayor was also empowered [23 Nov. 1759] to give a grand Banquet at the ’Change to the Duke of Grafton and the officers of the Suffolk militia. The Suffolk militia then lay at Leicester, officered by the first characters in that county. It was then considered the most elegant and costly treat ever given by the corporation, and one the most inebriating. Mr. Mayor [Nicholas Throsby], at night, was assisted by the duke downstairs; and the duke soon after was assisted to his carriage by the town servants: there not being a soul left in the room capable of affording help to enfeebled limbs—Field Officers and Aldermen, Captains and Common Council, were perfectly at rest; all were levelled by the mighty power of wine.” (Throsby’s “History of Leicester” (1791), p. 162.){30}

Reviews.

History and Description of Corfe Castle. By Thomas Bond. E. Stanford. 1884.

We have here a book to which we can conscientiously pay a high tribute of praise. The noble ruins of mediæval castles in which England is so pre-eminently rich have rarely found competent historians, for the reason that while, on the one hand, their architecture is a special study, and understood by only a very few, who have made it their own subject; on the other hand, those who have thus acquired the necessary general knowledge are too often lacking in the special local knowledge, which is, in such cases, absolutely essential. Mr. Bond, however, has unquestionably succeeded in combining these two qualifications. In the present work he gives us, in an enlarged and final form, the results of those valuable researches on the castle, of which the outline has previously appeared in the third edition of Hutchins’ “Dorset,” and in his paper read before the Archæological Institute in 1866. The chief point which Mr. Bond has throughout sought to establish is the early date of the actual keep, which, as he shows, may with good reason be assigned to the days of the Conqueror. In this last controversy the most important point is the locality of the “Castellum de Warham,” mentioned in “Domesday.” Mr. Bond identifies it, beyond the shadow of a doubt, with Corfe Castle itself. Mr. Freeman’s unfortunate attempt to defend his own identification of it with the later and infinitely less important fortress of Wareham Castle is utterly shattered by Mr. Bond’s arguments, though he does not, strangely enough, allude to Mr. Freeman’s contention, which will be found under “Wareham,” in his work on “English Towns and Districts.”

We gladly call attention to the valuable searches made by Mr. Bond among original MS. authorities in the Public Records, especially the instructive “Fabric Rolls.” The careful excavations which he has been permitted to make have also led to important results, and, in short, we have in his book the fruits of long and patient study on the spot, combined with an unsparing and yet critical use of all available sources of original information.

We must not omit to notice the excellent plans and illustrations, with which the volume is liberally adorned, and which, by their great clearness, are admirably adapted to their purpose.

Mediæval Military Architecture in England. 2 vols. By G. T. Clark. Wyman. 1884.

It is with a feeling of real gratitude that we welcome this noble work. The prolonged labours of “Castle Clark” have long been familiar to antiquaries, and no archæological meeting at any spot that could boast a castle has seemed complete without the presence of “the great master of military architecture,” as Mr. Clark has been justly termed by Professor Freeman: to whom, by the way, these volumes are dedicated, as having been issued “at his suggestion.” It has long been a matter of natural regret that the valuable results of Mr. Clark’s researches should have been so widely scattered as to render them, for practical purposes, inaccessible to the student. In these volumes they have now been collected, gathered together from many quarters, such as the “Transactions” of the national and local Archæological societies, the Builder, and, not least, the scarce volume known as “Old London,” from which Mr. Clark has been allowed to reproduce his important monograph on the Tower.{31}

The work begins with twelve introductory chapters, of which we may select, as of special interest, that on “earthworks of the post-Roman and English periods,” an obscure subject, on which Mr. Clark has here collected much instructive information. Three chapters deal with “the Castles of England and Wales at the latter part of the twelfth century,” and we can only regret that a subsequent chapter has not been devoted to the period of the Charter (1213-1223), when these fortresses played so large and important a part in the struggle. These chapters are succeeded by more than one hundred papers on various castles and works, not confined to England alone, as could be gathered from the title, but including many in Wales, Borthwick Tower in Scotland, and, beyond the Channel, the typical strongholds of Arques and Coucy, together with the famous Château-Gaillard. The plans and diagrams, so all-essential in a work dealing with these subjects, are bestowed with no sparing hand, and there are not a few illustrations of a less severe character.

The drawback incident to such a work as this is the great area which it has to cover. Not only a very wide knowledge of history, but also much special local knowledge is needed to secure a satisfactory result. It must be confessed that Mr. Clark has been more successful in the structural than in the historical portion of his theme. Nor have his views on the former always escaped challenge. His statements as to Pevensey were questioned at the time, and his account of Colchester, both of the structure and of its history, has been very gravely impugned. It is somewhat strange that, in this case, Mr. Clark has repeated, without correction, his statements, as he has inserted, in his account of the Tower, the important discovery of two fireplaces on the second stage, since the paper was originally written. We may also note that, notwithstanding the admiration which Messrs. Freeman and Clark profess for one another, their views are often very contradictory, as, for instance, on Norwich Castle, on the character of pre-Conquest keeps, on the earthworks at Lincoln, and on Richard’s Castle.

But while it is necessary to sound a note of warning, it is almost ungrateful to criticise a work which will be recognised as indispensable to every student of English history in the middle ages. Few studies could throw more light on the social life of the two centuries succeeding the Norman Conquest. When we learn that, of the papers reprinted in these volumes, that on Caerphilly was originally issued no less than half a century ago, we may form some idea of the duration of Mr. Clark’s labours, and may congratulate him on being not only the worthy successor of the painstaking and indefatigable Mr. King, but the greatest authority we have ever had on Mediæval Military Architecture.

Cowdray: the History of a Great English House. By Mrs. Charles Roundell. Bickers & Son. 1884.

This handsome quarto volume possesses something more than local interest; it is the history of a house which was one of the most characteristic examples of Tudor architecture, and of a family which for several generations was conspicuous in the history of the times. Cowdray House stood close to Midhurst, in West Sussex; but it was burned down towards the end of the last century, and little now remains of the once magnificent pile but ivy-clad walls. With the mansion perished several invaluable historical treasures—among them the sword of William the Conqueror, his coronation robe, and the oft-disputed Roll of Battle Abbey. The house was full of rare and curious things, and contained a large number of family portraits of the Lords of Cowdray, whose fortunes{32} were founded by Sir Anthony Browne, the friend and confidant of Henry VIII., and whose son, on the marriage of Queen Mary with Philip of Spain, was created Viscount Montague, a title which became extinct on the death of the ninth Lord in 1797. According to tradition, it was at Battle Abbey, where Sir Anthony Browne and his family were established within three months of its surrender to the Crown, that the famous “curse of Cowdray” was invoked. The story runs that while Sir Anthony was holding his first great feast in the Abbots’ Hall, “a monk made his way through the crowd of guests, and, striding up to the daïs on which Sir Anthony sat, cursed him to his face. He concluded with the words, ‘By fire and water thy line shall come to an end, and it shall perish out of the land.’ ” Two hundred and fifty years afterwards the curse was fulfilled, for Cowdray was burned down, and the eighth Lord Montague and his two nephews were all drowned. Misfortune seems to have been the lot of Lord Montague’s family from the first to the last, and the climax came with the burning of Cowdray; the last Viscount was a monk, who obtained the Papal dispensation to marry and continue the line; but he, too, died childless, and the male line of the Brownes of Cowdray became extinct. Mrs. Roundell thus describes the present appearance of the ruins of Cowdray: “Above the great gateway the face of the clock still remains, with its hands still pointing to the hour at which it stopped; by the door is the old bell, and the original staples which held the doors to the gateway. The kitchen still contains the enormous dripping-pan, five feet long and four feet wide, and the great meat-screen and meat-block. Among these relics of old Cowdray are lying a fine mirror-frame, a chandelier, and Lady Montague’s harp, on which are the words, ‘H. Naderman, à Paris.’ ”

It only remains to add that Mrs. Roundell has treated her subject exhaustively, but in a plain, unvarnished manner, and that the book is illustrated with reproductions, by a photographic process, of some old views of Cowdray.

Life and Times of William IV. By Percy FitzGerald, M.A., F.S.A.

This is rather a sample of book-making by a gentleman who can do better work, and has done it. The account of King William’s early years is dull and heavy; and that of the first Reform Bill contains nothing that has not been told before. His accounts of Holland House and its “set” (where he has had Macaulay to draw upon), and of the French emigrés in London after the Revolution of 1830, and of the chief dandies and ladies of fashion who hung about Lady Blessington, are the most interesting parts of the book.

1. Luther and the Cardinal. Translated by Julie Sutter. 2. Homes and Haunts of Luther. By John Stoughton, D.D. 3. Luther Anecdotes. By Dr. Macaulay. Religious Tract Society. 1883.

Certainly the enterprising publishers who call themselves the Religious Tract Society were not behindhand in contributing to the Luther Festival last year. The story of one of the bravest men in history (let us not hesitate to call him so) has seldom been more worthily enshrined than in the books now lying on our table. The “anecdotes” are an unambitious attempt to unite in a connected form the various stories told of Luther at various periods of his life. “Homes and Haunts of Martin Luther” is evidently written in the true spirit of the loving and faithful chronicler. We follow the great Reformer from the mines of Eisènach to the princely castle of the Wartburg; from the quiet of the Wittenberg monastery to the fierce conflict of the Diet of Worms.{33} Everywhere Mr. Stoughton describes the life and doings of his hero with the tender reverence of an ardent admirer. A noticeable feature of the book is the elegance of the illustrations, which are artistically drawn and carefully engraved. The foregoing treat of the general story of Luther’s life; in the work entitled “Luther and the Cardinal,” we have a graphic historical picture of the memorable struggle between the Reformer and one of the greatest of the Papal adherents, Cardinal Albrecht, Elector and Archbishop of Mainz. It is written almost in the style of an historical novel, except that no imaginary personage or event is introduced. Pastor Metschmann thoroughly warms to his task when he describes in the latter part of the book the fierce retribution wreaked upon the Cardinal by Luther for the judicial murder of poor Hans von Schömtz, and he is appreciatively and carefully interpreted by his translator.

Hanley and the House of Lechmere, by the late Mr. E. P. Shirley (Pickering), is a book to which much interest attaches, as the last (and indeed posthumous) work of one of the most noble and worthy of scholars and gentlemen. It is partly topographical, as giving an account of the parish of Hanley Castle; it is also partly architectural, and partly genealogical; and in all these three qualifications Mr. Shirley shone pre-eminent. The old seat of the Lechmere family, now known as Severn End, is one of those fine old timbered mansions which are scattered so thickly up and down the western and north-western counties from Gloucester to Lancaster; and it appears that the mansion must have ranked a century ago high among the houses of its class. Its general structure, its tapestries, its pictures, its painted glass, all serve to show this. The greater part of the volume is taken up with the diary of Sir Nicholas Les Lechmere, recording the history of the family from the days of the first two Edwards down to the reign of William and Mary, in fact to within a year of his own death in 1701. The entries exhibit to us the domestic pursuits,—pleasures, as well as the public duties of a worthy man and upright judge. A manuscript of Dr. Thomas, quoted by Nash, in his “History of Worcestershire,” observes of the Lechmeres: “This family came out of the Low Countries, served under William the Conqueror, and obtained lands in Hanley, called from them Lechmere’s Place, and Lechmere’s Fields. Lech is a branch of the Rhine, which parts from it at Wyke, in the province of Utrecht, and running westward falls into the Maes before you come to Rotterdam.” “Some foundation for the supposed foreign origin of the name,” remarks Mr. Shirley, “is derived from the fact that all the earlier ancestors of the Lechmeres used the prefix de, which was afterwards dropped; and as, with the exception of Lechmere Heath in Hertfordshire, there is no place of that name in England, we may, perhaps, conclude that Dr. Thomas’s theory is the right one. There can be no reasonable doubt that the progenitor of the venerable House of Lechmere was seated in the parish of Hanley not long after the Conquest, and, after all, it may not be impossible that he was the Roger who held under Gislebert, at the time of the Domesday survey.” Mr. Shirley’s work, we may add, is illustrated with a view of the western front of Severn End, as it appeared in 1803, taken from a sketch by the late Sir Edmund Lechmere; whilst the pages of the volume are enriched with numerous carefully-executed coats of arms of the Lechmeres, and their several impalements through marriage. The arms of Lechmere, Gules, a fess, and in chief two pelicans vulning themselves, or—“may be taken as an early instance of what is called canting heraldry, Lech, in old{34} Breton, meaning love, and mere, of course, mother,—a play upon the name symbolised by the pelican wounding herself and feeding her young with her blood.”

The History of Newcastle and Gateshead in the 14th and 15th Centuries., by Mr. R. Welford (Scott, 14, Paternoster-square), introduces us to a district which in the course of the present summer will be visited by the Archæological Institute of Great Britain; its appearance, therefore, is well timed. Mr. Welford has brought together and has arranged with considerable skill a mass of extracts from the records of “the King’s Town of the New Castle upon the Tyne,” founded by a son of the Conqueror; and in his introductory chapter he has given a sketch of the early growth of the town, with its charters, its commerce, and its pageants. The only fault that we can find is that this chapter is far too brief; for we should have been pleased to see more of Mr. Welford’s own handiwork, and of his comments on the most interesting materials which he has brought together, and which extend from A.D. 1301 down to the close of A.D. 1500. For a record of local annals the book strikes us as coming very nearly up to the standard of perfection.

Gwilt’s Encyclopædia of Architecture (Longmans) is a work so thoroughly established as an authority that it needs no commendation of ours. If any proof of its value, and the public appreciation of that value be needed, it will be enough to say that it has reached its seventh edition. Thus, as to the two previous impressions, many amendments have been made, which the progress of time had rendered necessary. But for the present edition “The Tables of the English Cathedrals have been compiled; many chapters on public and private buildings have been re-written, and new ones have been inserted: the list of architects and their principal works has been removed from the glossary and re-compiled, the list of architectural publications has been enlarged, and formed into a separate list, while the glossary itself has received numerous additional terms and illustrations, together with such other amendments as appeared desirable.” Though the work is styled an “Encyclopædia,” the only portion of it which is alphabetically arranged is the “Glossary” at the end; the rest of the book is really an elaborate history of architecture, from the earliest period of a semi-barbaric age. In it Mr. Gwilt carries his readers through the annals of architecture, Druidical and Celtic, Pelasgic or Cyclopean, Babylonian, Persian, Jewish and Phœnician, Indian, Egyptian, Chinese, Mexican, Arabian, Moorish, or Saracenic, Grecian, Etruscan, Roman, Byzantine, and so on to the rise of that Pointed Style to which the name of Gothic has clung so strongly. He devotes sections also to a general view of the Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian styles; and then occupies the bulk of the work with the successive styles of architecture which have prevailed in this country, and the Pointed Architecture of France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and other continental countries. The second and third parts of the work treat in great detail of the theory and the practice of architecture respectively: the fourth part concerns mainly the working builder, and the land agent. The work is illustrated by woodcuts, giving views, elevations, and ground-plans of the principal public and private buildings both at home and abroad. The short memoir of Mr. Gwilt, himself, prefixed to the work, is the record of a man whose name the present race of Englishmen would not wish to die.{35}

Lincolnshire and the Danes. By the Rev. G. S. Streatfeild. Kegan Paul & Co. 1884.

The Great Fen District and the Danish occupation of this part of our country, together form an interesting episode in English History; and this Mr. Streatfeild has undertaken to illustrate. He is not without, at all events, one great qualification for his task, for he has long been a resident in the south of Lincolnshire; and besides that he has other merits, for he is a man of honest research, and he writes with the pen of a scholar and a gentleman. Perhaps the best chapter in the volume is the third, which treats of the Dane in his English home; though other readers will be inclined to bestow equal praise on the chapter on Danish Mythology, and on the influence which has been exerted by it upon our language and people. It should be added that the book is dedicated to the Princess of Wales, who can see almost from her windows at Sandringham the tower of Boston Church, which marks the district on which the Danes of old have left their stamp.

Historic Sites of Lancashire and Cheshire. By James Croston, Esq., F.S.A. Manchester: John Heywood. 1883.

The author of this work says, rather grandiloquently, in his preface, that, without any pretension to the dignity of history, his aim has been “to combine with topographical description, personal narrative and local legend, and to snatch from Oblivion’s spoils the shadowy fragments of tradition that have floated down through centuries of time.” Certainly a worthy and admirable aim, not wanting, despite the writer’s disclaimer, in ‘dignity.’ He has contrived to clothe his descriptions of persons and places in a mantle of poetical beauty, which renders them exceedingly charming to the general reader, as they are also of pre-eminent interest to the antiquary. One of the chapters, that devoted to Alderley and the Stanleys, will be especially attractive to admirers of perhaps the most universally admired Churchmen of the century. Mr. Croston has wisely summarised in a few words the later and best-known part of his history, and paid most attention to the early years of Arthur Stanley in the pretty home at Alderley.

We must give an especial meed of praise to the spirited style in which the story of Sir William Brereton, who was such an excellent type of the higher class of the Parliamentarian soldier, is told. As the author remarks, to tell the history of his life is to write the record of the Civil war in the north-west of England. This he has told impartially and excellently, and in a style of narrative which can scarcely be too highly commended for its clearness and freedom from inflation. The pages of the work are enlivened by apt poetical quotations, many of them from little known old English poets, which show that Mr. Croston’s reading has been various and extensive. The book should find favour with more than local readers; old Moreton Hall, for instance, is one of those “stately homes of England” in which a national interest is felt; and none who love the quaintly venerable, albeit decayed, mansions of our forefathers, can fail to be grateful to the writer for his graphic and appreciative chapter on one of the most ancient and interesting of them.

Moreton Hall[12] is almost peculiar for its wealth of rich carving and mouldings, from the entrance, with its two side-posts, each carved to{36} represent a soldier bearing a partisan, to the beautiful little chapel, now, alas! degraded to the service of a cattle-shed, lumber, storehouse, and such base uses. In the “long gallery,” which our author compares to the banquetting-room at Haddon Hall, are two draped figures of Fate and Fortune, admirably illustrating the difference between two terms frequently confounded with each other. Fate bears a sword, with which she pierces a globe above her head, and the inscription beneath is: “The speare of destinye whose ruler is knowledge;” while opposite to her is Fortune, blindfolded, pointing to her wheel, and her motto is: “The wheele of Fortune whose rule is ignorance.” This part of the mansion also gathers additional interest from the tradition that “Good Queen Bess” condescended to dance in the gallery, while on a visit to Moreton Hall during one of her royal progresses. If this be true, it is very possible that her visit may have contributed to the decline rather than to the exaltation of the family; for to have a Tudor sovereign as a guest was, in those days, much the same kind of undesirable honour as the gift of a sacred white elephant from the Burmese king to some subject whom he delights to honour—and to ruin. Witness the clean sweep which the royal Dame contrived to make of the riches of Kenilworth, when Leicester’s Earl paid so dearly for a glance from royal eyes.

“Between architecture and history there exists a closer connection than is commonly supposed,” remarks Mr. Croston, and this may almost be called the key-note of his book. When the author stands before a relic of the past, visions of past chivalry fill his imagination and, consequently, his narrative; and he is never happier than when following the fortunes of some old knight who lived by his sword.

says Coleridge; let us add that their names cannot be better commemorated than by books like the one before us.

English Etchings, Part 37 (D. Bogue, 3, St. Martin’s-place), contains three admirable examples of the etcher’s skill, namely “Dachsunds,” by Mr. A. M. Williams, representing three dogs of the badger-hound species; “In the Pursuit of Riches,” by Mr. Edwin Buckman, a spirited drawing of a couple of urchins endeavouring to catch a “copper” thrown to them from the roof of a passing vehicle; and a “Surrey Lime-Kiln,” by Mr. W. Holmes May.

Obituary Memoir.

Mr. William Bragg, F.S.A., died on June 6. His collection of MSS., made during his travels, and dispersed not long ago; his collection of tobacco pipes of all nations, many of which are in the British Museum; and his almost complete collection of the editions of Cervantes’s works, presented to the Birmingham Reference Library, bear witness to Mr. Bragge’s archæological and literary tastes.—Athenæum.{37}

Meetings of Learned Societies.

METROPOLITAN.

Society of Antiquaries.—May 29, Mr. H. S. Milman, Director, in the chair. The Rev. George Ward, F.S.A., exhibited a Saxon coin of St. Eadmund, a gold enamelled ring of the seventeenth century, and several Nuremberg tokens, found in Lincolnshire. Dr. Samuel Birch exhibited the framework of a sella prætoria of bronze, which had recently been brought from Cairo. “The Corporation Maces of the City of Rochester” formed the subject of a paper by Mr. W. H. St. John Hope. The regalia exhibited consisted of the great mace, a pair of silver maces, and a water bailiff’s silver oar.—June 12, Mr. E. Freshfield, LL.D., V.P., in the chair. This being a ballot evening, no papers were read.—June 19, Dr. C. S. Perceval, Treasurer, in the chair. “Clay Bars and Pottery from Bedfordshire” formed the subject of a paper by Major C. Cooper, F.S.A., Local Secretary of the Society for Bedfordshire. Dr. E. Freshfield, V.P., read a paper on “The Palace of the Greek Emperors of Nicæa at Nymphio.” Dr. J. Evans, F.R.S., V.P., exhibited a bronze medal of Sir Andrew Fountaine as Warden of the Mint. Mr. C. I. Elton, M.P., F.S.A., presented to the Society a contemporary corrected MS. of Sir John Eliot’s Speeches, and also a MS. of law notes of Sir J. Fortescue Aland, Solicitor-General in the second year of George I. (1715-16), containing several interesting particulars.

British Archæological Association.—May 7. Annual general meeting. The Bishop of St. David’s was elected President for the congress at Tenby, and for the ensuing year. The officers and almost the whole of the old council were re-elected. The Hon. Treasurer, Mr. T. Morgan, F.S.A., V.P., gave a review of the work of the Association during the past year, and declared a satisfactory balance-sheet. The members afterwards dined together.—May 21, Mr. T. Morgan, F.S.A., Vice-President, in the chair. Mr. W. Myers, F.S.A., exhibited several objects of antiquarian interest lately brought from Egypt. Mr. Cecil Brent, F.S.A., exhibited a collection of ancient pottery, mostly from Cyprus, showing many of the varied forms of the ceramic ware of that island. Some gold earrings of Greek date were also among the collection. The Rev. S. M. Mayhew produced many articles of interest, especially to collectors of London antiquities: there being among them a handsome inlaid marquetry box, once, probably, the alms-box of the old church of St. Olave, Tooley-street, since it was found close to the site of the present building, below the surface of the ground. It bears the inscription, “The gift of R. Makepiece, 1692,” and appeared but little the worse for its rough usage. A carved bone knife of Roman date and some fine examples of glass of the same period were also exhibited. Mr. Loftus Brock, F.S.A., also exhibited several antiquities found in London, the most curious being a spur of great length. Mr. E. Walford read a paper on the ancient city of Luni, in Etruria, being an extract from a letter which he had recently received from La Signora Campion. This paper will appear in extenso in the Antiquarian Magazine. Mr. W. de Gray Birch, F.S.A., read a paper descriptive of a fine stained-glass figure of a lady in Long Melford Church, Suffolk, which was shown in fac-simile by a drawing by Mr. Watling. The figure is that of Lady Anne Percy, then wife of Sir Lawrence Rainsforth, and probably the youngest daughter of Hotspur, and not the first or second, as has been believed.{38} The lady’s third husband was Sir R. Vaughan. She is represented in a kneeling posture, clad in a red heraldic robe, on which are the arms of the Dukes of Brabant and Lucy; while on her ermine-lined mantle are those of Rainsforth and Brokesborne. This is the earliest known portrait of any member of the Percy family.—June 4, Mr. T. Morgan, F.S.A., in the chair. The arrangements for the Congress at Tenby were detailed. The meeting will commence on September 2, and end on the 11th, the Bishop of St. David’s being President. The Rev. S. M. Mayhew exhibited a Roman mortar of bronze found recently in the City, its silver covering showing the marks of intense heat from burning, the silver being fused into granules over the surface. A bronze lizard from Palestine, probably a Gnostic emblem, was also described. Mr. Morgan produced some interesting relics from Cagliari, Sardinia, recently found there. Mr. Hughes exhibited a fac-simile of the Charter granted by Richard III. to the Wax Chandlers Company of London, which he has reproduced in colours. Mr. J. W. Grover read a description of a tumulus still existing in the grounds of a house in the Cedars-road, Clapham, which is shown on old maps prior to the district being built over. It is called Mount Nod; but there is no evidence to show its date. The old house of Sir D. Gordon, where Pepys died, stood close to the spot. A discussion ensued, in which Messrs. Compton, Kershaw, Brock, and others took part; reference was made to the old Huguenot cemetery, Mount Nod, at Wandsworth, being called by the same name, apparently from the field so called extending thither. The position commands a view over the Thames valley. Excavations will probably be made. Mr. R. Smith contributed a paper, read by Mr. W. De Gray Birch, on Old Winchester, in which he showed that the so-called Roman Camp is in reality an ancient British oppidum of considerable size. Mr. L. Brock read a paper on a chapel of thirteenth century date, which still exists at Dover, close to the Maison Dieu, hidden behind the modern houses of Biggin-street, and hitherto unnoticed. It is used as a blacksmith’s shop. The Rev. Prebendary Scarth forwarded a paper read by Mr. Birch, on an ancient harpsichord which formerly belonged to Tasso. It is at Sorrento, and is dated 1564. It is decorated with paintings of Apollo and the Muses, and is in fair condition.

Royal Archæological Institute.—June 5, Earl Percy, M.P., in the chair. Miss Farington exhibited a collection of Roman coins, found near Preston, in Lancashire, and also some curious wall tiles of ancient Chinese manufacture. Mr. J. G. Waller gave an interesting sketch of monumental brasses of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the leading features of which he traced in chronological sequence from the well-known examples from Cambridgeshire and Stoke d’Abernon, Surrey, in 1320-30, down to the specimens of elaborate coat-armour which mark the conclusion of the Wars of the Roses. Mr. J. T. Micklethwaite, F.S.A., described certain curious mediæval frescoes, which had been brought to light by the late Canon Wickenden, in Pinvin Chapel, near Pershore. Illustrations of these two papers were hung on the walls. Mr. A. H. Church described at considerable length some Roman potters’ marks on ancient pottery, examples of which had been found in the neighbourhood of Cirencester, in Gloucestershire.

Royal Society of Literature.—May 28, Sir P. de Colquhoun in the chair. Mr. W. H. Garrett read a paper “On Macbeth,” chiefly with the view of elucidating the intention of Shakespeare with respect to the central figure of the tragedy. At the outset, Mr. Garrett endeavoured to{39} fix the year when the play was first acted. After examining the source, Holinshed’s “Chronicle,” whence Shakspeare derived his first idea of the salient characteristics of the real Macbeth, and alluding to the introduction by the poet of the account given by the chronicler of the assassination of King Duffe, by Donewald, the author of the paper proceeded to analyse the character of Macbeth as created by the bard, contending that the prophecies of the witches had not the effect on the character and conduct of the Scottish chief which is usually claimed for them by commentators. Shakespeare’s text, it was argued, indicates not only that ambitious cravings existed in Macbeth before the action of the tragedy commenced, but that he had even consulted his wife respecting the means to be adopted to secure the throne for himself.—Athenæum.

Shorthand.—May 7, Mr. T. A. Reed, President, in the chair. Mr. M. Levy read a paper, entitled “Shakespeare and Shorthand,” giving a résumé of the opinions of Shakespearean students, critics and commentators, as to the probability of some of Shakespeare’s plays, and especially “Hamlet,” having been published from the notes of shorthand writers taken during the performances, thus accounting for the discrepancies between the various early editions of the plays. A long discussion followed.

St. Paul’s Ecclesiological Society.—April 22, Major Heales, F.S.A., in the chair. Mr. W. G. F. Phillimore, Q.C., D.C.L., read a paper on “The History of the Ecclesiastical Courts,” in which he described the origin and jurisdiction of the various Courts having cognizance of ecclesiastical causes, and how they became diverted from their primitive intention. He concluded by saying that these Courts were established by, and presided over by, the clergy, for the discipline of the laity, whereas now they were presided over by laymen for the discipline of the clergy.—April 26. The members paid a visit to the Priory of St. Dominic, Maitland-road, Haverstock-hill, and to the church of St. Augustine, Kilburn, under the guidance of the Prior and Vicar and churchwarden respectively.—May 8. Mr. Somers Clarke, Vice-President, F.S.A., in the chair. The Rev. W. Sparrow Simpson, D.D., F.S.A., read a paper on “St. Vedast.” The lecturer dealt with the Saint himself, and not the well-known church dedicated to him, and he traced the derivation of the name, described his miracles, emblems, works, &c., and concluded with a few words upon the affix, “alias Foster,” which is associated with the church in Foster-lane.

PROVINCIAL.

Royal Historical and Archæological Association of Ireland.—The Munster Conference of this Association commenced on Tuesday, May 13, at Killarney, Mr. Richard Langrishe, V.P., in the chair. The Secretary having read the minutes of the quarterly meeting, and submitted the audited statement of accounts for 1883, they were signed by the Chairman. In explaining the minutes to those present, he said that they chiefly had reference to the schedule of the Act of 1883, for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments. Some of our Irish antiquities were included in it, but not as many as there should be. Kerry was full of monuments, which ought to be placed under the Act. Only four or five monuments in the south of Ireland were included, but this was far less than ought to be. The Society, as would be seen, was making exertions to have something done in reference to the matter. It was not generally known that this Act for the Preservation of ancient monuments was in{40} existence, or greater efforts would be made in connection with it. The Chairman added that members ought to send a list of those monuments in their neighbourhood to the provincial secretaries, in order to have them placed under the Act. Mr. Arthur Hill, M.R.I.A.I., read a paper on “The Cathedral of Ardfert, and other remains there.” The President read a paper dealing with the subject of Bells in Ireland, and including, amongst others, a description of the six bells at St. Andoen’s, Dublin, with their inscriptions. Mr. Robert Day exhibited some curious specimens of stone and bronze implements, three copper celts, and an ancient silver pyx in good preservation. A visit was afterwards paid to Muckross Abbey, Inisfallen, and Aghadoe. On Wednesday the party, headed by the Rev. James Grant (Hon. General Secretary), proceeded to Tralee, whence excursions were made to Ardfert, where the ruins of the ancient churches, the cathedral, and the Franciscan abbey were duly examined; and to Barrow, where the great fort on the east side of the island called “Barrowaneanach,” was inspected. Thursday was devoted to an examination of Dunloe Gap, and the Ogham Cave, in the demesne of Dunloe Castle; and on Friday the party visited the caves at Shanavalla, Arbella, near Tralee.

Cambridge Antiquarian Society.—May 26, annual meeting, Mr. J. W. Clark, M.A., President, in the chair. The Council and other officers for the next year were elected. The annual report announced that the Society’s collections had been placed in the new Museum of Archæology, that eight meetings and two excursions had taken place during the past year, that forty-seven new members had been elected, and that the first of a series of loan-exhibitions of University and College portraits under the auspices of this Society was now on view in the Fitzwilliam Museum. Professor Hughes, in speaking of the so-called Via Devana running from the end of Wort’s Causeway towards Horseheath, pointed out that there was little, if any, evidence of its Roman origin, and insisted that it was rather an entrenchment, to be referred to the same later age which has given us Offa’s Dyke in the west, and the Devil’s Dyke, and as many other notable earthworks in East Anglia also. The Roman roads in the neighbourhood of the Castle Hill, too, he remarked, seemed to converge to Grantchester rather than to Cambridge, and the Roman pottery found here indicated rubbish-heaps rather than the site of a camp or permanent fortification; and from all available evidence he drew the conclusion that the mound and all the earthworks about it are of Norman origin. Mr. Browne exhibited outline rubbings of two stones recently presented to the British Museum by Mr. A. W. Franks, acquired some years ago from persons who described them as coming from the city: also of the remarkable rune-bearing stone from St. Paul’s Churchyard, in the Guildhall Library. Mr. Waldstein made some remarks descriptive of two stones from the Via Appia at Rome, lately given to the Fitzwilliam Museum, and also of a red jasper intaglio, from Smyrna, in the possession of the Rev. S. S. Lewis.{41}

Antiquarian News & Notes.

A statue of Martin Luther has been unveiled at Washington.

Chester Castle is no longer to be used as a prison for civil offences.

The Curfew Tower, one of the oldest portions of Windsor Castle, is being repaired.

“The Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys,” in ten volumes, is promised in édition de luxe form by Messrs. Dodd, Mead & Co.

A commemorative tablet is about to be placed at No. 46, Rue Richelieu, Paris, the house at which Molière died.

Corringham Church, which has been elaborately restored at a cost of £10,000, has been re-opened by the Bishop of Lincoln.

The Trustees of the British Museum have purchased an early impression of Jacobi’s last engraved work, the “School of Athens,” by Raphael, in the Vatican.

The “Libraries of Boston,” about to be published by Messrs. Cupples, Upham & Co., will treat of more than 100 collections, both public and private.

Messrs. Trubner & Co. have ready “Archæology in India,” with special reference to the works of Babu Rajendralala Mitra, by Mr. James Fergusson.

Shakespeare’s table was exhibited at the Shakespearean Show held on behalf of the Chelsea Hospital for Women, at the Albert Hall, on the last three days of May.

In cutting a trench in the Bois de Bologne, near Paris, the workmen have found a whole series of coins struck under Valois, from 1337 to 1342. Nearly all are in a good state of preservation.

On Monday, June 16, was commenced the sale of the collection of objects of art formed by Sir Andrew Fountaine in the early part of the last century. Details of the sale are unavoidably postponed to our next.

Mr. Charles B. Strutt, of 34, East-street, Red Lion-square, is preparing for publication a work entitled “Some Account of Historical Chairs, of all Periods and Countries.”

Mr. H. Chetwynd Stapylton, the author of the “Eton School Lists,” has nearly completed a new volume, uniform with its predecessor, bringing the list of old Etonians down to the Election of 1877.

The Italian Government, says The Times, has concluded, through Professor Villari, the negotiations for purchasing the Italian MSS. in the Ashburnham Library. The amount to be paid for them is £23,000.

A reprint of the 1825 edition of Mr. Robert Chambers’s “Illustrations of the Author of Waverley,” being notices and anecdotes of characters, scenes, and incidents described in his works, has been issued in Edinburgh.

The coming portion of Tischendorf’s Greek Testament promises to be of interest. It has been prepared by Dr. Caspar René Gregory, with the aid of the late Dr. Ezra Abbott, and will contain an account of Tischendorf’s life and writings.

Messrs. Sampson Low & Co. announce a new work by Mr. Charles F. Blackburn, entitled “Hints on Catalogue Titles, and on Index Entries.” The book includes a rough vocabulary of terms and abbreviations, chiefly from catalogues, and some passages from “Journeyings among Books.”

Great changes are to be carried out at Genoa; the fortifications to the east of the city, and the marble walk round the lower part of the{42} harbour are to be pulled down, to make room for a military parade ground and for purposes of trade, and the famous old “Bank of St. George,” now used as the Custom House, is to be turned into an Art Museum.

The second year’s issue of Mr. Henry Morley’s “Universal Library” will include Herrick’s “Hesperides,” Boccaccio’s “Decameron,” Sterne’s “Tristram Shandy,” George Chapman’s “Translation of Homer’s ‘Iliad,’ ” “Mediæval Tales,” “The Alchemist and other Plays,” by Ben Jonson, Hobbes’s “Leviathan,” Butler’s “Hudibras,” More’s “Utopia,” Bacon’s “New Atlantis,” &c.

An inventory has just been made of the National Library of France. It contains 2,500,000 volumes. The cabinet of manuscripts includes 92,000 volumes, as well as 144,000 medals of all periods, both French and foreign. The engravings comprise over two millions of plates, preserved in 14,500 vols. and 4,000 portfolios. The more precious volumes, amounting to 80,000, are kept in the reserved gallery. In 1868 24,000 readers attended the reading-room, and in 1883 the number was 70,000.

The Times records the discovery of a Roman villa at Woolstone, in the Vale of the White Horse, Berkshire, where some fine tesselated pavements have been disclosed. Several interments have also been revealed, apparently of the Anglo-Saxon period. The seax or knife dagger is, strange to say, still attached to the girdle of two of the bodies, presumed to be those of Anglo-Saxon ladies. The excavations, which are closed to the general public, were inspected on May 23rd by the members of the Oxford Architectural and Historical Society, and the Newbury District Field Club.

The following articles, more or less of an antiquarian character, appear among the contents of the magazines for June: Art Journal, “The Western Riviera;” Cornhill, “Some Literary Recollections;” Literary Chronicle, “Researches for MSS. in the Levant,” and “Contents of the British Museum Library;” Blackwood, “New Views of Shakespeare’s Sonnets;” Army and Navy Magazine, “Pepys as an Official;” Eastward Ho! “Bethnal-green Museum;” Cassell’s Magazine, “The Folk-lore of Colours,” and “A Pilgrimage to Holy Island;” Magazine of Art, “Raphael and the Fornarina,” “The Keramics of Fiji,” and “Greek Myths in Greek Art.”

A Roman family burial-place has been lately discovered during some excavations at Lincoln. It contained a large number of urns, with a furnace or oven at the eastern end. “Unfortunately for the interests of archæology,” writes the Rev. Precentor Venables, “the discovery was made just when the excavators commenced their work, and from their ignorance of the value of the remains much of interest was destroyed before the foreman arrived. The whole of the oven had been demolished, only leaving one reddened wall, indicating the action of intense heat, and the blackened stones of the flue. The burial-place or ‘loculus’ was, however, perfect. It consisted of a stone-chamber, 5 ft. 10 in. in length, its breadth varying from 2 ft. ½ in. at the lower end to 3 ft. 1 in. in the middle.”

Catalogues of rare and curious books, all of which contain the names of works of antiquarian interest, have reached us from Messrs. Meehan, 32, Gay-street, Bath; Messrs. Reeves & Turner, 196, Strand, W.C.; Messrs. Fawn & Son, 18, Queen’s-road, Bristol; Mr. W. P. Bennett, 3, Bull-street, Birmingham; Mr. C. Hutt, Clement’s-inn-gateway, Strand, W.C.; Messrs. Robson & Kerslake, 43, Cranbourne-street, W.C.; Mr. W. H. Gee, 28, High-street, Oxford; Mr. W. Wesley, 28, Essex-street, Strand, W.C.; Messrs. Jarvis & Son, 28, King William-street, W.C. The last-named{43} is called the “Dickens’s Catalogue,” and may be regarded as complete a list as possible of the various editions of Dickens’s Works and “Dickensana.” The complete set, inclusive of works, extra illustrations, and portraits, is priced at £200; the price for the “Dickensana,” which is described as “very interesting and scarce,” is set down at another £60.

On May 22 was celebrated in London, at Lutterworth, where he died, and at other places in England, the Quincentenary of Wycliffe, the great English Reformer. Among the most noticeable features of the commemoration was the opening of a Wycliffe Exhibition at the British Museum. Contemporary printed books and engravings and commemorative medals formed the chief attractions in the Luther celebration last year. To illustrate the life and works of his English predecessor the resources of the manuscripts department have been chiefly drawn upon; and as Wycliffe’s name, before all others, is identified with the translation of the Bible into English, a great part of the collection displayed in the King’s Library consisted of a fine series of manuscripts of the two versions of the Wycliffe translation.

On Wednesday, May 28, Mr. J. T. Wood, F.S.A., lectured in the Ephesian Gallery of the British Museum on “The Marbles from the Great Temple of Diana.” The lecturer said it was needless for him to tell the story of his finding the temple of the great goddess of the Ephesians. It would take too much time, and it had been so often told before that he might take for granted that his audience knew all about it; but he might say that it was a very difficult thing to accomplish, and that it was six years before he succeeded in hitting upon the site. It was found one mile from the city of Ephesus, among corn fields, on level ground, where there was not the slightest sign of any ruins. Having found the site he discovered sufficient of the remains to enable him to make a true elevation of the temple, but there were some details still missing which he hoped would be obtained by further excavations. They had before them a rough diagram from which they would see that it had 100 columns externally, each 6 ft. in diameter, and nearly 60 ft. in height. Only a portion of the superstructure had been found, which was the lower part underneath the capitals, some of the lions’ heads, and some of the enrichment of the cornice. The coloured diagrams were meant to show that the whole of the temple was coloured. The remains which they saw before them had lost their colour since they were placed in the museum, with but few exceptions, but there was one specimen before them in which the colour was clearly demonstrated. Several of the coloured diagrams would, however, show the state in which he found the fragments. He should tell them that these remains were found between 20 ft. and 24 ft. underground, and their being at so great a depth beneath the surface accounted for the great expense of these excavations, the Government having spent £12,000 upon them during the five years which it took him to clear out the temple. He need scarcely tell them that the remains they now saw were from the last of the three successive temples. He found evidence that all the bases were of about the same size, and that the same marble was used. There were two stones at the end of the temple which, he believed, belonged to the frieze of the temple, and which were got out from the drums of the last temple. One, which was marked H 4, he believed would be proved to be, what he had always thought it was, a portion of the frieze. Upon it was a representation of Hercules struggling with a female figure, and he believed it was Hercules taking the girdle of the Queen of the Amazons. The stone was very much{44} hacked and disfigured. Mr. Fergusson thought that a column had been placed upon this; but there were reasons to the architectural mind which precluded the idea that this stone could have been part of the pedestal of a column. There was a second stone which he believed was a portion of the frieze of the temple. Upon one side of it was a representation of either Hercules lifting Antæus, or Hercules struggling with Cacus, probably the latter. On the other side they had the figure of a stag. These were the only stones which he claimed to be portions of the frieze. There was a third stone which was found in the aqueduct, and another which might or might not have been a fragment of the frieze, but it was at all events a corner-stone. All these blocks were supposed to have come from the same building, but whether they were portions of pedestals, on which columns had been placed, as contended by Mr. Fergusson, was a question which would probably be decided by further excavations. Alluding to a fragment of a sculptured column marked H 3, Mr. Wood said the question was whether Pliny would have called it a sculptured column if it had been of the height of this drum. Some people thought the columns in the diagram could not have been sculptured above the height of one drum, but he begged to differ from them. Passing on to another fragment of a sculptured column, the lecturer said he looked upon it as the most beautiful of all, and it was a pity it had been so much hacked about. This temple was built in the time of Alexander the Great, and when he visited Ephesus he wished to have his name inscribed upon it. The lecturer pointed out other specimens, one being a beautiful stone which had formed part of the base of a column, and another in which the delicate proportions of the fillet between the flutings were very noteworthy. He further remarked upon fragments of roof tiles, lions’ heads, and various fragmentary specimens of Ionic columns. There were also some splendid specimens of profiles of base mouldings, a representation of a medal of Gordianus found on the site, &c. Mr. Wood gave a continuation of his lecture on Wednesday, June 18.

Antiquarian Correspondence.

All communications must be accompanied by the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication.

“THE SENTENCE OF PONTIUS PILATE.”

(See vol. v. pp. 80, 217.)

Sir,—This document appeared in English in Galignani’s Messenger of March 23, 1859, copied from the Herald of about that date. D. K. T.

A BAKER BLESSED.

Sir,—Can you explain the origin of the blessing invoked on the baker in the following rhyme, sung by village children in Norfolk, and perhaps in other counties also, on St. Valentine’s Day?

Haileybury College, Hertford.

John Hussey.

WESLEYANISM IN LONDON.

Sir,—Can you tell me who was the popular preacher at the Wesleyan Chapel in Great Queen-street, Lincoln’s-inn-fields, about 1811? Macready when first in London became acquainted with him, and was fascinated by his manners and learning, but was warned against him as a reprobate of most dangerous character. I fancy that he finally came to be publicly disgraced. The London Directories are useless at that date, and the Wesleyan Mission Books equally so. Do you know anything about him, or can you indicate where to search?

C. A. Ward.

159, Haverstock Hill, N. W.

HISTORICAL CHAIRS.

Sir,—Will you kindly enable me to ask through your columns for descriptive particulars, with engravings, drawings, or photographs, of celebrated chairs in family residences, or in cathedrals, churches, colleges, town-halls, and public institutions at home or abroad? I am preparing an illustrated account of Historical Chairs from available literary sources; but as many interesting examples have escaped my search, and as I wish to make the proposed work as copious as possible, I thus beg your assistance.

C. B. Strutt.

34, East-street, Red Lion-square, London, W.C.

THE VISCOUNTY OF CULLEN.

Sir,—In reply to the inquiry of Heraldicus Mus, I beg to inform him that the limitation of this dignity is correctly given in Sir Bernard Burke’s new “Extinct Peerage,” and included, as he suggests, a remainder to the Berties, but that the original patent of creation being lost (and having, unfortunately, never been enrolled), the Earl of Lindsey cannot prove his right, unless the patent should yet be discovered. The second Viscount having taken his seat, no difficulty could arise so long as there remained male issue of his body; but when that became extinct, the special remainder would have to be established by proof. I speak, of course, of England or Ireland, for, in the anomalous chaos beyond the Tweed, it is possible to take a remainder for granted, as in the Ruthven case, at one’s own sweet will.

J. H. Round.

Brighton.

VISCOUNT HAMPDEN’S ANCESTRY.

(See vol. v. pp. 197, 331.)

Sir,—If your correspondent “Trombone” will re-peruse my letter on this subject, which appears at the first-named reference, he (or she) will see that whatever faults there may be of omission, there are none of commission, in regard to the families of Trevor and Hampden.

Nothing is certainly said concerning the bequest of the Glynde estates to the Honourable Richard Trevor, afterwards Bishop of Durham; but it is probable that he devised them on his decease to his brother Robert, then Baron Trevor, afterwards Viscount Hampden of Hampden. On the death of the last Viscount in 1824, the extensive estates were divided amongst co-heirs, from one of whom the present Viscount Hampden of Glynde is descended.

My first curacy was Bromham, in Bedfordshire, and I have, as the guest of George, Lord Dynevor, to whose daughters that estate belonged, sat at dinner under the portraits, in the dining-room at Bromham Hall, of the Lords Trevor and Hampden.

Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

John Pickford, M.A.

WAS MILTON A PAINTER?

(See vol. ii. p. 1.)

Sir,—The following passage from the pen of the greatest critic of modern times, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, seems rather to militate against the argument in a former number of the Antiquarian Magazine, that the portrait of Milton there spoken of might have been painted by the poet himself: “It is very remarkable that in no part of his writings does Milton take any notice of the great painters of Italy, nor, indeed, of painting as an art, whilst every other page breathes his love and taste for music. Yet it is curious that in one passage of the “Paradise Lost” Milton has certainly copied the fresco of the Creation in the Sistine Chapel at Rome. I mean those lines—

an image which the necessities of the painter justified, but which was wholly unworthy, in my judgment, of the enlarged powers of the poet. Adam bending over the sleeping Eve in the “Paradise Lost” (book vii. 463), and Delilah approaching Sampson in the “Agonistes” (book v. 8), are the only two proper pictures I remember in Milton.

F. H.

OLD BELLMEN’S BROADSIDES.

(See vol. v. p. 221.)

Sir,—It may be interesting to some of your readers to know that these quaint poetical productions continued to be issued by the bellmen of the city of Hereford down to the year 1835, and perhaps even later.

I have in my collection of Herefordian matters a series of six of them as follows:

(1) A copy of verses | for 1811 | Humbly presented to all my worthy Masters and Mistresses | in the City of Hereford | by James Lingham | Bellman and Crier of the said City. This has a quaint 17th century woodcut of the bellman, with bell in right hand, staff and lanthorn in left, accompanied by his dog. In background to left a house, with cock crowing on roof, to right a church, probably intended to represent St. Peter’s. The bellman wears a three-cornered hat, a long-skirted coat, confined at waist with belt, with a short coat underneath, embroidered down the front. Street shown as paved in chequers, as in the engraving in your Antiquarian Magazine. W. H. Parker, printer, Hereford.

(2) Another copy of verses for 1824, by same bellman, with a later woodcut of bellman, in cocked hat and cloak with cape, in the act of proclaiming in the High Town, with view of old town-hall and St. Peter’s Church. W. H. & J. Parker, printers, 4, High Town, Hereford.

(3) A copy of verses for 1826, by Richard Jones, with a woodcut of bellman, similarly equipped to last, but the town-hall is shown on larger scale, and the church does not appear. W. H. Vale, printer, 5, Eign-street, Hereford.

(4) Another similar copy of verses for 1827, by Thomas Hall, and the same woodcut as last.{47}

(5) Another for 1830, by James Davies, with woodcut as No. 2. John Parker, printer, High Town, Hereford.

(6) Another copy of verses for 1835, by James Davies, with same woodcut as last.

They all bear verses in same style as those quoted in the Antiquarian Magazine, viz., Prologues, Epilogues, and on the various Saints, Festivals, addresses to the King, Queen, Princes, Masters, Mistresses, Young Men and Maidens, &c., but no two are alike.

In the Hereford Permanent Library is a copy of verses for 1822, by James Langham (?), City Crier.

James W. Lloyd.

Kington, Herefordshire.

PORTS AND CHESTERS.

Sir,—Mr. Round (see vol. v. p. 282) claims “Port as an English word, in itself distinct from the Latin porta or portus;” later on (p. 283), “Port was in itself essentially an English word;” yet at p. 286 we read, “The English borrowed it ... after the settlement ... or before the settlement.” How can it be generically an English word, yet borrowed from Latin? There is lamentable confusion throughout this paper, truly distressing confusion, and the little bits of assertion and argument are so cut into slices and sandwiched between slips of quotation and extract, that it is like dissecting a Chinese puzzle to ramify its purport.

We have the words ‘castor,’ ‘port,’ ‘street,’ and ‘wall;’ now, if these words were English forms of some Teutonic roots, they will have analogues in the allied tongues: where are those analogues?

(1) Castor, Caster, Caister, Ceaster, Chester, are all from the Latin castrum, as muddled by alien tongues; yet, at p. 285, we are told that the “English would presumably have only met, not with the Latin castrum, but the Welsh caer or kair.” Why so? As a fact, the Welsh forms are not borrowed from Latin, but come from an independent Celtic root—as I think, direct from the Hindu gir, giri, and far older than Latin. We find Keir in Dumfriesshire; Cardiff in Glamorganshire; Carhaix, Kersanton, Kervrin, Kerentrec, Plessis-Kaer, all in Brittany; Caerleon and Caerwent, both famous places in Monmouthshire, pronounced, the former, Karleen, the latter, Kerwent, thus showing the affiliation with Armorican forms.

(2) Port: note that “port” is the equivalent of hithe or haven; thus we have Hythe in Kent, as a substitute for Portus Lemanis; at Oxford, the Port-meadow adjoins Hythe Bridge, and was evidently the town haven. The conditions are similar at Gloucester, where certain meadows, inundated at floods, are called the Portham; adjoining we find Dockham, and Dockham ditch, which is a reduplicated name. The port-walls of Chepstow are the harbour defences on the land side, it being the port or gate of Wye River. Newport, Mon., is in succession to Caerleon, the old port of River Usk. It follows, as a dead certainty, that the modern word port as used at London, where Port reeve was the precursor of our Lord Mayor, is in succession to the Latin portus, not introduced as a new English word, but preserved by Celto-Romans from Latin usage. Let Mr. Round study the course of those old English roadways throughout England, known as Portways, and called Roman; can the prefix be of English origin if it means “carry,” i.e., the portage of merchandise, from the Latin portare, to bear?

(3-4) Street and wall speak for themselves, and their plain facts will survive any amount of word-twisting.

A. H.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The Editor declines to pledge himself for the safety or return of MSS. voluntarily tendered to him by strangers.

Books Received.

1. History of the House of Arundel. By J. P. Yeatman. Mitchell & Hughes. 1883.

2. Nantwich. By James Hall. Privately printed. 1884.

3. New Light on Some Obscure Words in the Works of Shakespeare. By Charles Mackay, LL.D. Reeves & Turner. 1884.

4. Western Antiquary. May, 1884. Plymouth: Latimer & Son.

5. A Booke of Fishing. By L. M. 1599. (Reprinted.) Simpkin, Marshall & Co. 1884.

6. John Hopkins’ University Studies. Second Series. iv. Baltimore. April, 1884.

7. English Etchings. Part xxxvii. D. Bogue, 3, St. Martin’s Place, W.C.

8. Lord Beaconsfield on the Constitution. Edited by F. Hitchman. Field & Tuer. 1884.

9. Guildford and its Coinage. By G. C. Williamson. Privately printed.

10. Hanley and the House of Lechmere. By the late E. P. Shirley, M.P., F.S.A. Pickering. 1883.

11. The Congo Treaty. By T. Tomlinson, M.A. E. Stanford. 1884.

12. Clergyman’s Magazine. June. Hodder & Stoughton.

13. Charities Register and Digest. Longmans & Co. 1884.

14. Le Livre, No. 54. Paris, 7, Rue St. Benoit. June, 1884.

Books, etc., for Sale.

Guardian Newspaper, from commencement to 1864, bound; and 1865-70, in numbers. Offers to E. Walford, Hyde Park Mansions, Edgeware-road, N.W.

Books, etc., Wanted to Purchase.

Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer, several copies of No. 2 (February, 1882) are wanted, in order to complete sets. Copies of the current number will be given in exchange at the office.

Dodd’s Church History, 8vo., vols. i. ii. and v.; Waagen’s Art and Artists in England, vol. i.; East Anglian, vol. i., Nos. 26 and 29. The Family Topographer, by Samuel Tymms, vols. iii. and iv.; Notes and Queries, 5th series, vols. vi., vii. (1876-7); also the third Index. Johnson’s “Lives of the Poets” (Ingram and Cooke’s edition), vol. iii. A New Display of the Beauties of England, vol. i., 1774. Chambers’ Cyclopædia of English Literature, vol. i. Address, E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, Edgeware-road, N.W.{49}

Architectural Details from Southwell Minster.
From Livett’s “Southwell Minster.”

The
Antiquarian Magazine
& Bibliographer.

Southwell Minster.

ow that the Bishopric of Southwell has become an accomplished fact, and its ancient collegiate church has been elevated into the dignity of a cathedral, Mr. Livett’s recently-published work[13] on the history of that fabric will doubtless awaken additional interest. An Act of Parliament passed early in the present reign deprived Southwell Minster of its collegiate character, while another and later Act has made it the mother church of a new diocese, consisting of the counties of Nottingham and Derby, which had hitherto belonged to the dioceses of Lincoln and Lichfield respectively. The church of Southwell was despoiled of all its monuments and early records during the troubles of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the only MS. of any importance that has come down to us besides the Statutes of Queen Elizabeth is the “Registrum Album,” or “White Book of Southwell.” The former are printed both in Dugdale’s “Monasticon,” and in the appendix to Dickenson’s “History of the Antiquities of Southwell.” Mr. Dimock, the Editor of the “Magna Vita St. Hugonis,” in the Rolls Series, published some years ago a history of the fabric of Southwell Minster; and other local histories, one by Shilton, issued in 1818, and a third by Clarke & Killpack, in 1838, are, as Mr. Livett tells{50} us, little more than abridgments of Dickenson’s work. Hitherto a general history of the origin and development of the ancient secular college, and of the position which it held in the Middle Ages, seems never to have been taken in hand; and this want Mr. Livett has endeavoured to meet in the little volume now before us.

That Southwell held an important position in the diocese of York before the Norman Conquest is certain; but it is difficult to fix a date for the foundation of the church. Mr. Livett writes: “Tradition points to St. Paulinus as the founder of a church here—the founder alike of York and Lincoln, the friend and companion of St. Augustine, the great missionary of Northumbria under King Edwin, and the first Archbishop of York, A.D. 627-633. This tradition rests upon statements to this effect contained in certain private histories of the church, which are no longer extant. They are quoted, however, by Camden, in his ‘Magna Britannia,’ which first appeared in 1586, and were probably lost during the civil wars of the following century, when most of the church records were either destroyed, or, for safety, carried away. They tell us how St. Paulinus founded the church at Southwell when he was baptizing the people of this district in the Trent; and a careful consideration of the Venerable Bede’s account of the missionary work of St. Paulinus gives support to the statement. The ecclesiastical historian makes no direct reference to Southwell, but internal evidence in his account of Paulinus’ missionary work, more especially the evidence of the place-names mentioned, is strong in favour of the view that Paulinus extended his labours to the close neighbourhood of Southwell.”

No part of the present fabric, with the exception of one or two fragments, dates farther back than the 12th century; but there is abundant evidence that a stone church of considerable size existed here at any rate in the previous century. The Norman parts of the church, as it stands, remarks Mr. Livett, contain unmistakable evidence of an earlier building. “In the north transept, over the doorway leading to the newel by which one ascends the central tower there is a large sculptured stone which is worked into the building in such a way as to show at a glance that it is old material used up again. It is supposed by good judges to have formed the tympanum of an early Norman doorway.” The year 1110 is the date assigned to the nave and transepts. The choir is of the Early English period (1230-50), and appears to have been built during the episcopate of Walter Gray, for in Torre’s “Collectanea,” in the library at York, is preserved an indulgence, addressed by{51} Walter Gray to the bishops and archdeacons of his province, “granting a release of thirty days from penance enjoined to all who, being truly penitent, should contribute to the construction of the church of Southwell, since the means of the church were insufficient for the consummation of the fabric a while since begun.” Torre gives 1235 as the date of the indulgence, but the document itself says, “in the nineteenth year of our Pontificate,” which, according to Drake, would be 1233.

The architectural details of the north transept chapel give the chief clue to its date, 1260. The cloister is somewhat later; but the chapter-house and its vestibule date from the close of the 13th century, and the organ-screen from about 1340.

The minster, as it now stands, consists of a clerestoried nave, with aisles and north porch, and two massive towers flanking the western front, each surmounted by a spire; a lantern tower, with its parapet adorned with pinnacles, rises from the intersection of the nave, transept, and choir; and cloister and chapter-house on the north side of the choir. “ ‘What either Cologne Cathedral, or Ratisbon, or Wiesen Kirche are to Germany; Amiens Cathedral, or the Sainte Chapelle are to France; the Scalegere, in Verona, to Italy, are the choir of Westminster and the chapter-house at Southwell to England.’ So writes Mr. G. E. Street; and assuredly Southwell chapter-house is placed in the foremost rank of our geometrical buildings. In the refined and natural treatment of the foliage which adorns it, it anticipated the artistic perfection of works of many years later date, and is excelled by none. In its more general features it may be compared with the earlier parts of the cloisters at Norwich, and with the ruins of the banqueting-hall in the palace grounds at Wells. It strongly reminds us, too, of its contemporary, the chapter-house at Wells; in its octagonal shape it follows the plan adopted in almost all the chapter-houses of secular communities. The resemblance to York is still more complete, the date of which is uncertain, but it is the only chapter-house besides Southwell which has no central pillar to support the vault, and the arrangement is more striking there on account of its greater size.”

Mr. Livett gives a minute description of the various parts of the Minster, which we have not space to follow, and his work is illustrated with drawings of some of its chief architectural features, one plate of which, by the courtesy of the author, we are enabled to reproduce. This shows (1) a circular window in the clerestory of the nave; (2) the ancient tympanum in the north transept, mentioned above; and (3) window{52} tracery removed from the south-west tower. The ancient tympanum here referred to, which is in the form of a sculptured stone, now forms the lintel of the belfry door. “It must at one time have been the tympanum of an earlier doorway, and a part of it has unfortunately been cut away to make it fit into its present position. The sculpture embodies a double subject, rudely executed in low relief, the one representing probably David rescuing the lamb from the lion, the other very clearly representing St. Michael encountering the dragon.... The sculpture cannot be of later date than the middle of the eleventh century, when the church seems to have been considerably enlarged, perhaps altogether rebuilt, and it might be of earlier date still.”

The Congress Afield.

Forecastings of Nostradamus.

By C. A. Ward.

PART III.

(Continued from Vol. V. p. 293.)

NOSTRADAMUS was of a stature somewhat less than middle-size, rather thick-set, active and vigorous. He had a broad, open forehead, a straight, regular nose, grey eyes, of gentle appearance, but in anger flashing fire; the general expression was severe, but pleasant, so that through all the seriousness one could discern a benevolent disposition; his cheeks were rosy even in extreme age; he had a long thick beard, and his health was excellent, all his senses being alert and well-preserved. His spirits were good, and he comprehended readily whatever he gave his attention to. His judgment was penetrating, and his memory remarkably retentive. He was taciturn by nature, thought much and spoke little, was rather prompt, sudden, and irascible{54} in temper, but very patient when hard work had to be encountered. He slept four or five hours only out of the twenty-four. He practised freedom of speech himself and commended it in others. He was cheerful and facetious in conversation, though in jesting a little given to bitterness. He was attached, so says De Chavigny, to the Roman Church, and held fixedly the Catholic faith; out of its pale there was for him no salvation. Though pursuing a line of thought entirely his own, he had no sympathy with the Lutheran heretics of so-called Freethought. He was given to prayer, fasting, and charity. As far as outward observance was concerned, he might be classed with the highly respectable and decent. Le Pelletier says, “sa fin fut Chrétienne;” but he adds a little further on that his style is very much more like that of the Pagan oracles of Greece and Rome than of the canonical prophets of Hebrew Inspiration. He remarks that the first Century opens with a regular incantation fortified by the most celebrated rites of Paganism, so that some suspicion of his orthodoxy may well be entertained. Certain it is, for he avows as much in the dedicatory epistle to Henry II.—which, by the way, the King never saw—that it was his custom prudently to veil in obscurity of expression whatever was likely to displease his protectors and so to damage his private interest. This is not the way with the heroes of Hebrew prophecy, Isaiah, Elijah, Samuel, but though it is somewhat cowardly, it becomes, when well reckoned up, a sort of sub-assertion of sincerity; for why should a man record the unpleasant things at all if he did not believe in them, and desired only to make himself agreeable? If he believed his own utterances he was consciously a prophet: that he threw a veil over them, shows only that he declined to suffer martyrdom for his convictions. It is quite possible to be a seer, and yet not heroical, but it is the poorest of criticism not to distinguish between such frailty as this and imposture. Want of grandeur does not imply any intention to deceive. Modern Freethought effectually breaks down upon a point like this, it almost invariably classifies the weak spiritualist as an impostor. It reasons somewhat thus: “Astrologers are impostors—Nostradamus was an astrologer. Prophets and divines, owing to the spread of sound knowledge in modern times, are no longer to be reckoned as inspired, but as impostors; Nostradamus was a prophet and therefore an impostor. He arrived in the world a thousand years behind his time, and must lie down now under Scientific and Encyclopædic ridicule. At the close of the nineteenth century is it likely we can allow such claims to be made upon our credulity as the more rational part of{55} the community refused to admit three hundred years ago?” To all this and to all such processes of reasoning, I need merely say that there is a credulity of superstition that has been always esteemed as degrading to human nature; but there is also a superstition of incredulity that is quite as debasing to human nature and even more so, for it springs from the folly of pride and conceit, and not, as the other does, from a misplacement of faith.

By his second wife he left three sons and three daughters. The eldest was Cæsar, to whom he dedicated his first volume of the “Centuries.” Of these he wrote twelve in quatrains, and three of them are left imperfect, the seventh, the eleventh, and twelfth. But he also left some Forecasts written in prose, which Chavigny collected and arranged in twelve books. They are said to comprehend the history of France for about a century after his death—its wars, troubles, and whispered intrigues. The book is not mentioned by Brunet, 1839-45, and I do not find it in the British Museum; but the National Library is rather imperfectly supplied with the literature relating to this remarkable man; no doubt the authorities there look down upon him from the Olympus of Bloomsbury with a scientific disregard, as being a sort of gipsy fortune-teller of the sixteenth century, not worth completing. Do we expect a Messiah from that quarter? Can there any good thing come out of Aix in Provence? “Loco exiguo, obscuro, ignobili, barbaro, impio atque prophano?”

This prose history of a hundred years would be interesting, if only to compare with the rhymed “Centuries,” which have a much vaster range, and are supposed by many to cover all the time from Louis XIV. to the establishment of Antichrist.

Jean de Nostradamus, the brother of Michael, was Procureur to the Parliament of Aix, and wrote a work entitled “Les vies des plus célèbres et anciens poëtes provensaux, qui ont floury du tems des contes de Provence,” Lyon, 1575, a book still sought for, and rather rare. It has been seen above that Cæsar also wrote on the same subject. His work was entitled “Chronique de l’Histoire de Provence:” in this he introduced the lives of the poets, and the book was published in 1614 by his nephew, Cæsar de Nostradamus.

These are almost all the facts of any importance that are recorded in the life of Nostradamus. It now remains to us to give some account of the most remarkable of his forecasts. They may be pronounced obscure, partial, useless, or what not, according to the special views and disposition of mind in each reader. That they are very curious must be admitted by all, and that some of the things{56} foreseen with astounding particularity are inexplicable upon any hypothesis of reasoning, other than that which admits either a direct revelation in every case, or a general anticipatory faculty, forming part of the great scheme of the mental endowment of mankind. Call it divination, second sight, clairvoyance, magnetic affinity, or what you will. Everyone may in this decide, or, if you had rather, guess for himself. I prefer the second supposition, and think that there are certain organisations, somewhat rare and peculiarly wrought, that are endowed by nature with a subtle tact and anticipatory insight denied to the majorities. I further think that such exceptional instances occur more frequently in people of ancient and unmixed race, such as the Celt, the Basque, the Chaldean, Gipsy, and most frequently of all amongst those branches of them that inhabit mountain-ranges. These I imagine to retain the instincts of the birth of man more clearly than the mixed tribes that have busied and even degraded themselves in the social pursuits of money, power, and art, and have burnt down their souls to a kind of materialistic slag in the furnace of what is called civilisation.

If man is a creature born to immortality—and certainly no thought is so congenial to largeness and nobleness of heart as this is—I can see no reason why he should not have some vision given him of the minor things to happen on this theatre of the earth, which might serve as a sort of foretaste of that major light which is to clothe him as with a glorious garment when he steps forth from this his present condition of earthworm into that exalted bodily temple that he shall inhabit to all eternity. Science so-called is free to teach what it chooses: it may level man to the rank of a turnip by its insidious analysis and gradational processes. Its business is with the present, and with all its pretence of intellect it remains of the material earth, earthy. The future is out of its ken and reach. But the soul, which is the broad, many-sided reason of man in concrete, and the, so to speak, spiritually substantialised symbol of it, cannot be shut up to this. Chop logic by Aristotle’s chaff-cutter, whether handled by a Duncan, a Watts, an Aldrich, or a Whately, as you please, yet the soul, defies you with its absoluteness, pushes aside induction and the contingent with it, and laughing at your littlenesses and your petty syllogisms, leaps at one bound into the incommensurable freedom of the future of eternity.

It now remains for me to show, not that Nostradamus is a grand type of the order of prophets, not that all the Quatrains in all of the twelve books of the “Centuries” are intelligible and of definite{57} purpose, nor that everything he uttered and recorded is to be regarded as a prophecy either fulfilling or fulfilled. (This is not at all what I propose to do.) I intend simply to select, without over much attention to chronology or the sequence of events, such of the quatrains as by philological apparatus existing are capable of being translated into simple and intelligible language out of the occult prophetic, barbaric, and almost always pedantic phraseology (or old Franco-Provençal patois, if you like to call it so) in which it pleased or suited our prophet in his fureur poëtique[14] to record for us his “nocturnes et prophétiques supputations” (des astres). In doing this, if one case of unmistakable prevision can be established, the missing spiritual link is set up that connects the present with the future.

Christians generally grow almost rancorous against those who reject their Scripture miracles, as Hume did, on the ground that the laws of nature being inviolable miracles become impossible; but a miracle that contravenes a law of nature is far more incredible per se than such a spiritual link as the above. The miracle of bringing a man to life goes, so to speak, dead against nature and its laws customary. But a forecast, as such, is little more miraculous than a telescope that focuses and brings into range what lies out of the range of the ordinary human eye. It is really as feasible a thing to the seer, as for you and me to see that a kitten will become a cat nine months later on. He sees by imagination what you see by reasoning on association in the past. It is discovery by a different faculty, I admit. But if Christian belief accepts a future state and the immortality of the life (commonly called the soul) of man, then I say, that the Christian who denies the gift of prophecy to be inherent in mankind[15] is really as dead to spiritual life as if he were a materialistic member of a scientific society of the nineteenth century, or a Parisian enclycopædist of the eighteenth.

Again, if Christianity be a heaven-descended revelation, its foundations must be rooted deep in the spiritual world and should be full of correspondences. The material universe is full of them. There the meanest particle of dust is link by link connected at last with the grandest astral phenomena, and can we suppose that men are all possessed with an immortal spirit, and yet at the same time announce{58} that not one of them has any prescience, any foreknowledge of things coming on the earth, no sign rendered from the great unnameable Director, who, vast and invisible, also dwells in spiritual obscurity, and never gives an inkling to anyone born of woman that He cares more for an empire with its myriads of embryo angels (according to the doctrine of the Churches) than for an oak tree or a medlar? Yet we are willing to make it a point of virtue to believe that His only Son died for us, and that a whole line of prophets from Jacob to Caiaphas harped perpetually and in succession upon the Paganini string of the one great utterance of His advent. At the birth of Christ it is untruly said that the oracles stopped. So, according to the present Christian dogmatising, did the prophets. Would it not be a thousand times more fraught with hope, if we had not basely smothered such beliefs by materialistic science (or Atheism, for it is closer of kin to the blasphemy of unbelief), could we have said there is a spiritual living link of prophecy existing, and now and again found amongst us; a correspondency in man with the future; a power in him to forecast it a little, though darkly—as with a dark lanthorn moving through a dark season—and touching so, through film, the future of time as to interlink the whole series into one, and make to-day, perishing—with its bells, its bustle, and its breathing—into a continuous whole, one with the glories of eternity?

It will perhaps be well before proceeding to the Quatrains to meet an objection against Nostradamus put forward by the famous Gassendi,[16] who received it from Jean-Baptiste Suffren. Gassendi, it seems, was at Salon in 1638, when Jean-Baptiste Suffren, a judge in that town, communicated to him the horoscope drawn by Nostradamus for his father Antoine Suffren, and written in our prophet’s own hand, giving ten points, such as he should have a long curly beard, so bent in age, that in his 37th year he should be wounded by his half-brothers, and he had none, and much more of the same sort, but invariably wrong, till the horoscope fixes Suffren’s death in 1618, whereas he died in 1597. Now, in the first place, Gassendi was of a sceptical turn of mind, so that he would be glad to find Nostradamus{59} wrong. Then Nostradamus died in 1566, and only in 1638, seventy-two years after, do they produce this document and assert that it is in Nostradamus’s handwriting. We may assume that the MS. was eighty years old at least. Gassendi does not profess to know his handwriting, but took it to be so on Jean-Baptiste Suffren’s simple assertion. It is perfectly possible that Suffren had some desire to ridicule an astrologer, and might have invented the whole thing. At any rate, it is not likely that every one of ten or eleven guesses would be precisely the contrary of the fact.[17] One of the clauses ran that at twenty-five he should cultivate rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, theology, natural science, and the occult philosophy. Jean-Baptiste has the effrontery to say that he studied not one of these, but only the science of jurisprudence. It is not likely, I say, that Nostradamus would guess wrongly in all the sciences, and leave out the only one that the man pursued. This looks as if it had been manufactured for the express purpose of bringing the name of Nostradamus into ridicule and disrepute. It is quite certain that the late John Varley, the painter, could draw some most wonderful horoscopes; a cousin of my father’s, in whose family he taught, had seen his forecasts marvellously verified. So correct had he frequently been that at the time she knew him it was with the greatest difficulty he could be{60} induced to draw one. It is not likely that Nostradamus would fall so absurdly short of John Varley. Guessing at haphazard would correspond with the facts better than this upon the mere doctrine of probabilities. Jean-Baptiste in his haste has proved too much, and Gassendi, like a multitude of incredulous people, was quite ready to receive too much of the things for which his mouth was open and eager.

(To be continued.)

A Dead Flemish City.

NOTES OF A VISIT TO DAMME.

By the Rev. Joseph Maskell.

THERE are few cities in Europe of greater interest for the intelligent traveller than Bruges, the “cradle of opulent Flanders,” and the “Venice of the North.” The student in history, the connoisseur in art, the lover of antiquity, all find here ample instruction and enjoyment. Even the superficial traveller, hurrying on to more fashionable localities, but “doing” Bruges en route, as the correct thing, finds much to interest him in its quaint exteriors, silent canals, and old-world streets, to say nothing of its many treasures of pictures, sculptures, wood carvings, and other monuments of antiquity, to be seen only by penetrating into interiors, and looking deeper than the surface. “A decayed, dull place, where the grass grows in the streets,” was the verdict of a fellow-traveller, as the train from Ostend steamed into the modern Gothic unfinished station of Bruges on a wet day in last July. Not so. Bruges is neither decayed nor dull, nor does the “grass grow in its streets.” Gone is the day in which it could be written of the turbulent Flemish cities—

yet Bruges is still full of a steady kind of life and activity; and, as one of its intelligent citizens described it, “ce n’est pas ville morte; c’est une antiquité vivante,” retaining many tokens of the time when the proud Jeanne of Navarre, the Queen of Philippe le Bel, passing through streets lined with the palaces of its merchant{61} princes, and observing the rich clothing of their ladies, cried out, “Je croyais être seule Reine de France; je vois ici cent reines que valent autant de moi.”

But my visit was not so much to Bruges as to its neighbour and ancient seaport, Damme. The former, lying so directly in the way of the English traveller to Brussels and Cologne, is fairly well known; the latter is known only to a select few. Damme[19], which is now a mere village, with a commune of less than 1,000 inhabitants, was, four centuries ago, a busy and prosperous town. It stands on the canal between Bruges and l’Ecluse, about three miles from the former place. Its full name is Hondts-Damme, la digue du Chien, so called from a circumstance that attended its origin. Anciently it stood at the head of the Zwyn, an arm of the North Sea; a broad digue extending from Bruges to Cadsand, made after a terrible inundation in the twelfth century, kept the waters of the Zwyn in their proper channel, and upon this digue Damme was built. The place was originally confined to the huts of the workmen from Zealand and Holland employed in the construction of the digue; by degrees it grew into a populous trading town, the convenient spot for a harbour, seaport, and depôt for merchandise. Its name of Honsdamme is thus explained. During the construction of the digue the workmen for a long time could not keep out the sea; as fast as their work proceeded the returning tides swept it away, till one of them advised that a great dog, who mysteriously appeared every day on the scene, without any apparent owner, should be thrown into the water. This done, the sea became calm, a solid foundation was soon secured for the digue, and the work rapidly accomplished. Hence the name Hondts-Damme, and the figure of a dog on the town’s escutcheon. The town dates from the completion of the digue in 1168; it grew immediately into influence and prosperity. In 1180 it was important enough to secure from Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders, a charter of incorporation as an independent commune, under the government of two burgomasters and four echevins. The Zwyn was then a broad and deep gulf, protected from sea storms, and affording safe anchorage for vessels of all kinds. Even down to the seventeenth century, till the formation of the canal to Ostend, this was the only channel of communication between Bruges and the sea. In 1213, a fleet of 1,700 ships, equipped by Philippe Augustus of France for{62} the invasion of England, entered the harbour. The craven fear of King John, and the intervention of the Count of Flanders having thwarted the designs of Philippe, the latter, in his rage and disappointment, resolved to carry the war into Flanders. The fine harbour of Damme, and the wealth of the town, excited the wonder of the French, who landed and made themselves masters of the place, and of a rich booty. “Les vins de France et d’Espagne, les bières anglaises, les laines d’Écosse, les soieries italiennes et orientales, les toiles, les filés, les attelages de chariots, les merceries, les épices de toute sorte, les peleteries de Hongrie, l’etain anglais, le cuivre rouge de Pologne”—these were some of the riches stored in Damme. Intoxicated with their prey, the French were easily surprised by an English fleet, under the command of Longsword, Earl of Salisbury, when 300 of the principal French ships were captured, and the rest scattered or destroyed. The captured vessels, laden to the deck with the rich booty, sailed with the conquerors to carry the joyful news to England. At the same time a Flemish army from the land side attacked the town, but without success. The French King, in revenge, set fire to the houses, and Damme was nearly destroyed. It was, however, quickly rebuilt, and recovered its prosperity. In 1240 it was admitted into the Hanseatic League, and the Lombards established banks here. Next year it received fresh privileges from Count John of Constantinople, and the extension of the canal to Ghent still further increased its importance. In 1270 its fortifications were renewed and enlarged. In 1297, during the brief war between England and France, and in consequence of the alliance between Edward I. and Guy de Dampierre, Count of Flanders, Damme was again temporarily in the hands of the French. A combined army of English and Flemish attempted to re-take the town: but the allies quarrelled over their respective shares of the plunder, and Edward, withdrawing his forces to Ghent, left to the Flemings the honour of success. In 1300 it was again assaulted and captured by the French; but the patriotic Flemings, led by the Brugois, quickly defeated their enemies and delivered their country. In 1384, during a war with the French, arising out of the insurrection of Flanders against the oppression of its Count, Louis le Mâle, the powerful walls of Damme withstood the attack of a French army, under Charles VI. It was garrisoned by only 1,500 of the men of Ghent, commanded by the patriotic Francis Ackerman, and for six weeks held out against 80,000 of the enemy. The capture of the town was as remarkable as its subsequent defence. Having received{63} information that the Governor of Damme and his chief officers were absent at Bruges, Ackerman marched from Ghent with his little army, scaled the walls by night, and took the place without difficulty. In the citadel he found seven ladies of high degree, who had come to visit the Governor’s wife. Ackerman invited them to a banquet, and paid them every mark of courtesy. “I do not make war upon women,” he said, “notwithstanding that many of your nobles have treated the families of the burgesses in a very different manner.” After a brave defence, scarcity of drinking water and the non-arrival of the English allies, compelled the brave garrison to return under cover of the night to Ghent, which they reached in perfect order and safety.

But another enemy than the French was now silently plotting the destruction of Damme. The sea had shown signs of retreating from the Zwyn as early as the fourteenth century, navigation to Sluys became more and more difficult, and in 1475 the harbour was almost lost in the sand.[20] Still Damme long retained its outward signs of prosperity. Its entrepot of wines, founded by Louis de Crescy in 1357, continued till 1565, and its situation rendered it so important as a frontier fortress and outpost of the Southern Netherlands that possession of it was frequently disputed. The dissolution of the Hanseatic League in the sixteenth century and the partition of the Netherlands by the consolidation of the Northern provinces into the Dutch Republic, which strengthened the power and developed the commercial importance of Holland to the prejudice of Belgium, all helped to hasten the decay of Damme as a commercial town. In 1637 the Dutch occupied the place during the war of Holland with Spain arising out of the fruitless treaty between Richelieu and the United Provinces for the partition of the Spanish Netherlands. By the Treaty of Westphalia it was restored to Flanders, and the boundaries between the two Netherlands were left unaltered. In 1706 it was taken by Marlborough without a struggle, for the Flemings everywhere welcomed the allies and submitted to the authority of the English, although it was not very judiciously exercised. The Barrier Treaty, signed at Antwerp in 1715, finally secured that Damme{64} should be included within the Austrian Netherlands, but, except from its situation close to the frontier, the town had now lost all its importance. Thus the decay of Damme was not less rapid than its rise, and its fall as remarkable and complete as was its opulence and greatness. From being a flourishing maritime town it has become only an inland village. The ancient harbour, where 1,500 ships could ride safely at anchor, is now a corn-field; its broad quays, stately warehouses, and fortified walls cannot be traced even in outline; its streets, once crowded with merchants and their goods, are now deserted: indeed it is difficult to realise that this slumbering village was ever awake. Jam seges est ubi Troja fuit. But there are not wanting signs of a departed greatness. The Hotel de Ville still occupies a prominent position in the Place, and though much neglected and injudiciously restored it is yet an object of beauty. It was founded in 1242, but the present building is of the fourteenth century. It is constructed in white stone, rectangular in shape, with small turrets at each corner. A double stair conducts to an elegant porch, much disfigured, but still quaint and interesting. On entering the building the first room that we see to the left is an estaminet, quite humble in character. Behind this is the Salle de Justice, still used by the communal authorities, and the remaining room is now a kitchen. On the oaken and cedar roof there are carvings of the Blessed Virgin and other saints, King David, and Van Maerlandt, “the Flemish Chaucer.” There are also some curious fire-tongs and fire-dogs, an enormous chimney corner, and some faded pictures and inscriptions. The crypt, partly a store-room and partly a stable, is striking, but very dirty and neglected. In the quaint central tower there are two ancient bells.

The church, dedicated to Notre Dame, is built throughout of grey bricks, and is a noble monument in ruins. It was begun in 1180, but the chief part of the present structure belongs to the fourteenth century. The work of destruction was begun by the Dutch Calvinists, who set fire to the church in 1578; the growing poverty of the town prevented repairs, till the transepts and part of the nave were destroyed in 1725. The walls of the ruined nave are left standing, leaving the massive and lofty tower nearly isolated from the main body of the church. The choir only is used for service. It is a fine relic, but sadly spoiled by whitewash. The west door is in the modern brick wall which shuts in the choir, beneath what was once the roof-screen, but now serves as the organ gallery. The monuments of the dead are few; several matrices of brasses remain,{65} and a few modern tombs. A very fine memorial of Jacques van Maerlandt, “the father of Flemish poetry,” and a native of Damme, was destroyed by an ignorant curé about half a century ago. The poet died in 1300, and is buried at the base of the tower. His memorial was very curious. He was seated on a chair with an owl by his side, wearing spectacles and reading from a book supported on an eagle lectern. To atone somewhat for the destruction of the monument there is a poor statue of the poet in front of the Hotel de Ville.

In this church, in 1429, was celebrated the marriage of Philip le Bon with Isabella of Portugal, and on the 9th July, 1468, that of the unfortunate Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, with Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV. Her brother brought her hither with a considerable fleet, and many of the English nobility in her train, from Margate. They landed at Sluys, where the Duke met her and went through the ceremony of betrothal. The town of Damme received her with many tokens of welcome. As she passed through the streets every householder stood at his door carrying a blazing torch, and from this town the bride and bridegroom made their festive entrance into Bruges on the day following the wedding.

There is still in Damme a small hospital dedicated to St. John, founded by Margaret of Constantinople in the twelfth century.

I visited Damme towards the end of July last year. The road lies through the town of Bruges, past the Episcopal Seminary, and out of the Porte de Damme, along the canal, a perfectly straight line, bordered with poplars and with corn-fields on each side. In scenery of this kind there is a certain sense of repose and of general, though not brilliant, prosperity, but the eye of an artist is needed to extract beauty out of so many straight lines and such formal regularity. Many of the fields are planted with colza, which is said to look very gay when in flower. It was the annual horse fair of Bruges, and the scene was busy, but it could hardly be called picturesque or lively, with the multitude of peasants accompanied by young colts as “stolid, stubborn, and sturdy” as themselves. Harvesting operations were proceeding with the sickle in a very leisurely manner, and the mode of tying up the sheaves, till they looked as if they were only bundles of straw with the corn cut off the top, seemed very primitive. Altogether it was a scene not to be forgotten. The world here, instead of advancing, seems to have gone back several centuries, and there are fewer signs of progressive civilisation than when Bruges was, in fact, the “Venice of the North,” and Damme its busy sea-port.{66}

The importance of Damme in the middle ages is shown by the fact that the Judgments or Customs of Oleron, out of which the maritime laws of the nations of Europe are derived, and which were said to have been brought by our Richard I. on his return from the Crusades, were generally called “Le droit maritime de Damme.” But the Flemish laws were merely a translation of the original customs.

Visitors to Damme should extend their excursion to the cathedral-like and judiciously restored church of Lisseweghe, with its noble thirteenth century tower. This village is within an easy walk of the watering-place of Blankenberghe, where once more the modern world may be studied in some of its brightest and most amusing aspects.

The Dignity of a Mayor: or, Municipal Insignia of Office.[21]

By R. S. Ferguson, F.S.A., Mayor of Carlisle 1881-2 and 1882-3.

PART I.

THOSE members of the Archæological Institute who attended the Congress held at Carlisle in 1882, will recollect that, though the mayor of Carlisle did not exactly blow his own trumpet, yet he was rarely seen without his trumpeter in immediate attendance. They may possibly, therefore, have set down to his credit a disposition to magnify the dignity of an office to which he, however unworthy, has been a second time elected. Indeed, they would not be far wrong; and he must admit that his recreations during office took the form of a research into Municipal Pageantry and Municipal Heraldry.

These are very large subjects indeed, and I cannot now undertake to grapple with them. I am glad to say that my valued friend, Mr. Lewellinn Jewitt, has seisin of them both; and that he is preparing for publication an exhaustive treatise on “The Corporation Plate and Insignia of Office of all the Cities and Corporate Towns of Great Britain.”

I propose merely to gossip a bit about Municipal Insignia of Office; to make a few remarks as to what they mean, under{67} what authority they are, or have been assumed; and to bring under your notice a few examples.

Under the term Municipal Insignia I include Rods or Wands of office; Maces, both great and small; Swords of Honour or State; Caps of Estate or Maintenance; Chains and Badges, both of Mayors’ and of other officials; Rings and Robes; Halberts, Horns, and Constables’ Staves.

The neglect with which these treasures have been treated is astounding. The reformed corporations of 1837 despised Municipal Pageantry; many actually sold their insignia for the best prices they would fetch, as “relics of the barbarous ages,” to use the words of a mayor of the town of Maidenhead. Others discarded the use of their insignia, and their existence was almost forgotten. A reaction, however, set slowly in. The Great Exhibition of 1851 caused some places, Nottingham for one, to provide their mayors with chains, in order to attend at the opening. Other places were induced to buy new, or furbish up old insignia on the occasions of Royal visits. During the International Exhibition of 1862 a loan collection, but on a small scale, was formed, to which several corporations contributed their maces and other objects.

In the year 1874, the Royal Archæological Institute presented to the mayor of Exeter a chain of office, in commemoration of the Congress held at Exeter in the previous year. This excited so much interest that the Council of the Institute, in 1875, entertained the idea of holding in London an exhibition of chains of office and other municipal insignia. A committee was formed, and circulars were sent to nearly 600 municipal bodies, asking for information as to their insignia, and as to the possibility of their being exhibited in London. About 300 replies were received; but in those about one-half neglected to describe their insignia, or contented themselves by saying they were “old and OF NO VALUE.” In fact, the municipalities still lacked proper education on the subject, for some of those that replied in the above terms possess most valuable insignia, as also do some that did not answer at all. Difficulties arose, many municipalities “did not see their way” to the loan of{68} their insignia, and so the proposed exhibition was, temporarily as I hope, abandoned. But the attention thus drawn to the subject had good results; it awakened an intelligent interest in the treasures possessed by various corporations, and Mr. Llewellinn Jewitt seems to have had less difficulty in getting information than the Institute found. In the years 1880, 1881, and 1882, he published in the Art Journal a series of most interesting and beautifully illustrated articles, on Corporation Plate and Insignia of Office, shortly to be developed into the book which I have already mentioned.

Now it must not be supposed that a municipality can of its own free will adopt any insignia it pleases. On the contrary, the right to use certain insignia, such as maces, swords of state, &c., requires to have been conferred by special charter or royal donation, or else to be based upon prescription of such duration that a lost special charter or a forgotten royal donation may be presumed. Thus at Carlisle, where we possess a great mace, several sergeants’ maces, and a sword of state, our governing charter—of the time of Charles I.—authorises us to have three sergeants-at-mace, who are—

This was merely the confirmation of an older custom, for we have a set of sergeants’ maces of older date than this charter, as well as a set of about this date. The charter also authorises us to have a sword-bearer, “Portator gladii nostri coram Mayore,” a bearer of our sword (the King’s sword) before the Mayor. Thus, we have special authority by charter for our sword of honour, and our sergeants’ maces, but none of our charters mention our great mace or authorise us to have an official to bear it. But our great mace was given us by Colonel James Graham, Privy Purse to King James II., and I presume that no one will now object to our using it, and to our having an official to carry it. For robes and a chain I fancy no special authority at all is necessary; they are part of the idea of a mayor, and he may assume them or not as his corporation or he please to do. And, further, he may appear in them outside of his jurisdiction, as at the Mansion House. But his maces and sword (if he has one) he cannot with propriety display outside of his jurisdiction, and I should, as Mayor of Carlisle, resent bitterly the intrusion into that ancient city of a strange mayor with mace and sword, even of my Lord Mayor of London, unless he should prove his right from charter to carry them in Carlisle. The{69} Templars never allowed the Lord Mayor to appear in state within their precincts.

Different views have been held as to the origin of the mace. Some have supposed that the regal sceptre, the ecclesiastical virgo or verge, and the civic mace, all had their origin in the simple emblem of straightness and integrity of rule, consisting of a plain slender rod anciently borne before kings and high public functionaries, and retained to the present day as an official badge by sheriffs and attendants in courts of justice. The other, and I venture to think the better idea, is that the civic mace is derived from the military weapon of that name, which itself is derived from a simple club or stick. The civic mace is nothing but the military one turned upside down. At one end of an early mace you have the flanged blades of the military weapon, at the other on a small bowl-like head the royal arms, the emblem of authority. In a mace of later date the military part, the flanges, survive only as a small button, while the bowl, on which are the royal arms, swells, until the peaceful end is itself capable of dealing a heavy blow.

In support, however, of the rod idea, I may mention that the Mayor of Carlisle always on state occasions carries a white rod, an ordinary white stick of deal. This is a very ancient custom. A Captain, a Lieutenant, and an Ancient, all of Norwich, who visited Carlisle in 1634, say of that place:—

The blue bonnets would be the ordinary head-gear of the local gentry, and of the Aldermen thus dressed more than one was of knightly rank and of high degree. The Mayor of Berwick had also a staff, and when James I. came to the English throne he sent the Abbot of Holyrood to secure the allegiance of the Mayor of Berwick, by which town he travelled into England. The Mayor’s staff and the keys of the gates were delivered to the Abbot, and immediately returned to the Mayor.

At Newark the Mayor carries a black rod with a gold head. At Marazion and at Wigan he carries a staff with a silver head; at Guildford ebony with silver top. Other instances probably exist, while various bailiffs’, head boroughs’, and other staffs are only varieties of the same idea. In the City of London this staff is represented by the Lord Mayor’s jewelled sceptre.

The mace with the royal arms thereon (and no civic mace is a{70} proper civic mace unless it has the royal arms thereon) is the symbol of the power of the central government in municipal matters, and when borne before the mayor denotes that to him and to his colleagues is entrusted the government of their community. It is, in fact, the symbol of that which all Englishmen are proud of—local self-government.

The committee of the Royal Archæological Institute, who indexed the returns obtained in 1875, divided maces into two classes, great and small, but the proper and better division is into mayors’ maces and sergeants’ maces, though the two nearly correspond. I define as a great mace, or mayor’s mace, one whose raison d’être is to be carried before the mayor in procession, and to be displayed beside him in church or in court. The great mace is the insignia of the mayor. The sergeants’ maces are the insignia of the sergeants-at-mace; these maces are also carried before the mayor, but that is because it is part of the sergeants’ duty to precede and attend him in civic processions.

The maces belonging to sergeants-at-mace are generally small, from six to eighteen inches long, and the reason of their being of this small size comes from the use they were put to. The sergeants-at-mace were the officers of the mayor’s court; they served the processes of the court, which were not in the form of written summonses, but were actually delivered verbally, and by a sergeant-at-mace, who produced the mace and showed it as his authority. For convenience, he carried it in his pocket, and at Carlisle, prior to 1837, the gowns of the sergeants-at-mace had pockets in them for this purpose. At Scarborough, the sergeants-at-mace wore their maces in their official gowns, and at Stafford they carried them in their girdles. Hence convenience necessitated that the sergeants’ maces should be of small size; for the same reason they are generally without the open crowns, surmounted by orb and cross, which were added to most great maces after the Restoration. It would be difficult to pocket and unpocket a mace with a crowned head. Of course, there are exceptions to all rules. Yarmouth has a mayor’s mace of very small size, but the reason applies: it is called the pocket mace, and is intended to be carried in the mayor’s pocket, so that he always may have evidence of his authority about him. There was no such reason for making the other maces of small size; nay, the bigger they are, the grander, and the great mace of the City of London is 5 ft. 3 in. long. My own great mace at Carlisle is 4 ft. 2 in., while the maces carried by my sergeants are only about 9 in.{71}

It is quite certain that a municipality cannot have sergeants-at-mace (and therefore cannot have their maces) without a special authorisation by charter. The sergeants-at-mace were originally the peculiar body-guard of the king, and the granting permission to a municipality to have sergeants-at-mace is a high mark of honour. In the case of old corporations, the right to a great mace will originally have been acquired in the same way, or else by a royal present of a mace, but a great mace has now come to be an essential which every place that has a mayor can with propriety adopt.

Even during the Commonwealth much importance was attached to maces; in 1649, Parliament ordered the royal arms to be taken off them, and those of the Commonwealth substituted. This was not done at Carlisle; but, in 1650, three new maces were bought for the sergeants at a charge of £12. After the Restoration the royal arms were again restored, and the Carlisle maces were sent to Newcastle to be altered.

(To be continued.)

The History of Gilds.

By Cornelius Walford, F.S.S., Barrister-at-Law.

PART IV.

Chapter XXXIII.—The Gilds of Lincolnshire—(Continued).

LINCOLN.—The Gilds of this ancient ecclesiastical city are of much interest: some of them present a combination of the Social and the Craft Gilds.

Gild of the Fullers of Lincoln.—“This Gild was founded on the Sunday before the feast of the Apostles Philip and James, A.D. 1297, by all the bretheren and sisteren of the Fullers in Lincoln.” A wax light to be burnt before the cross on procession days. Directions as to who shall work at certain operations. Half-holidays on Saturdays; and no work on festivals. Outsiders may work at the trade on making small payments. A payment to be made before learning the trade. No thief shall stay in the Gild. On death of any member, bread to be given to the poor. “If any brother or sister is going on a pilgrimage to Sts. Peter and Paul [Rome], if it is a Sunday or other festival day, all the bretheren and sisteren shall go in company with{72} him outside the city as far as the Queen’s Cross, and each shall give him a halfpenny or more; and when he comes back, if, as before said, it is a Sunday or other festival day, and he has let them know of his coming, all the bretheren and sisteren shall meet at the same cross, and go with him to the monastery.” Penalty for not keeping Ordinances. Help shall be given to those in want; but the money must be repaid before death or after. Lights and offerings on death. There were some new Ordinances added later, viz., allowances to officers; allowance for collecting moneys. Officers not serving to be fined. New members to pay to the Dean a penny.

Gild of the Tailors of Lincoln, founded 1328.—A procession shall be had every year. Payment on entrance, a quarter of barley, and xijd. “to the ale.” Help to the poor—7d. per week. Burials for poor members, “according to the rank of him who is dead.” Pilgrims to the Holy Land or to Rome to receive a halfpenny from each member, and processions to be formed. Services for those dying outside the city. Bequests to be made to Gild according to means, “vs. or xld., or what he will.” Fee to chaplain. Four general meetings every year. Payment to the Gild when any master tailor takes an apprentice. Quarrels to be arranged; whoever will not abide judgment of Gild to be put out. On feast days ale to be given to the poor. Burial rites. If any master knowingly takes a sewer who has wrongfully left another master, he shall be fined. Payment of vjd. to the Guild for every sewer employed by master. A dole to be given yearly by every brother and sister for distribution in charity. Fines for not serving offices.

Gild of the Tylers [Poyntours] of Lincoln, founded 1346.—New members to make themselves known to “Graceman,” and pay a quarter of barley, ijd. to the ale, and id. to the Dean. Four “soul-candles” shall be found and used in services. Feasts and prayers, and ale for the poor. Help to the pilgrims. Burials provided. One brother shall not unfairly meddle with the craft-work of another. All men of this craft in Lincoln shall join the Gild.

Gild of St. Michael on the Hill, founded on Easter Eve, 1350.—On the death of a brother “soul-candles” shall be burned and the banner of the Gild shall be taken to his house, and borne thence to church. There shall be a Gild feast. At the end the Ordinances shall be read and expounded; and flagons of ale shall be given to the poor. Absentees may rejoin the Gild on making payments. “And whereas this Gild was founded by folks of common and middling rank, it is ordained that no one of the rank of Mayor or{73} Bailiff shall become a brother of the Gild, unless he is found to be of humble, good, and honest conversation, and is admitted by the choice and common consent of the bretheren and sisteren of the Gild. And none such shall meddle in any matter, unless specially summoned; nor shall such a one take on himself any office in the Gild. He shall, on his admission, be sworn before the bretheren and sisteren, to maintain and keep the Ordinances of the Gild. And no one shall have any claim to office in this Gild on account of the honour and dignity of his personal rank.” Help to poor bretheren shall be daily given, in turn, by the Gild bretheren.

The Ordinances of this Gild were very lengthy; the main features only are here noticed.

Gild of the Resurrection of our Lord, founded at Easter, 1374.—Every brother and sister at entrance shall pay ivd. to the ale and 1d. to the wax; and also every year xiijd. by four separate payments in the year. Those in arrear to pay a pound of wax. Lights to be kept burning from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. A hearse-frame, with lights, angels, and banners, shall be put over the body of every dead brother; and other services be done. Help to poor bretheren, “if not through his own fault, by wasting his goods in unlawful uses,”—every member paying 2d. in the year to all impoverished. Fine on officers not serving. Holders of loans to bring them before the “Gracemen” every year. Mass and offerings for the dead. At the annual feast the Ordinances to be read. After dinner, grace, the Lord’s Prayer, &c., names of all dead bretheren and sisteren shall be read over, and the De Profundis said for their souls. Pilgrims to Rome, St. James of Galacia, or the Holy Land, to give notice, and receive contributions of one halfpenny from each member, with escort to city gate. Burials of poor bretheren. Surety for goods of Gild. Punishment to those who rebel against the Gild.

Gild of St. Benedict, “founded [date not stated] in honour of God Almighty, and of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of our Lord Jhesu Christ, in the parish of St. Benedict.” As many poor shall be fed as there are members of the Gild. Pilgrims to the Holy Land, St. James’s, or to Rome, provided for. Services on deaths within the city, and bread given to the poor; and services on deaths outside the city. Help to poor bretheren. At the feast, when ale is poured out, prayer shall be said, and tankards of ale shall be given to the poor. New members on entering the Gild to pay 6s. 8d., in two instalments. “Morn-speeches” shall be held; and accounts then given by all who have any goods of the Gild on loan. On the{74} Sunday after the feast another morn-speech to be made. Officers chosen and not serving to pay fine. Penalty if one member wrongs another, and for not coming to meetings.

There was also a Gild of Minstrels and Players in this city, concerning which we have no exact details.

Sleaford.—This ancient town had a Gild—the Holy Trinity Gild—of great renown. The date of its establishment is unknown; but many circumstances point to its having been founded soon after the Conquest. It must have been in existence before the commencement of the Patent Rolls in the reign of King John, or mention of the conveyance of its property to the brothers in mortmain would be found, as in the case of Boston and other Gilds. It was a rich Gild, having an income of £80 per annum in 1477, when the mention of it occurs. This would be equivalent to £800 at the present day. The Gild was under the management of the principal people in the place; and was famous for its miracle plays, mysteries, and sacred shows. Perhaps these were next in repute to those of York. There does not appear to have been anything sufficiently distinctive about these to call for detailed note, except as will be immediately stated.

In 1837 there was published: “History of the Holy Trinity Guild at Sleaford, with an Account of its Miracle Plays, Religious Mysteries, and Shows, as practised in the Fifteenth Century; and an Introduction delineating the changes that have taken place in the Localities of Heath and Fen, Castle and Mansion, Convent and Hall, within the District about Sleaford since that period. To which is added an Appendix, detailing the Traditions which still prevail, and a description of the Lincoln Pageants exhibited during the visit of King James to that City. The whole illustrated by copious notes, critical, historical, and explanatory.” By the Rev. G. Oliver, D.D., M.A.S.E., Vicar of Scopwick, &c., Lincoln. 8vo., pp. 135.

The author refers to the fact (p. 61) that all the public amusements of the times were interwoven with religion, and placed under the superintendence of Gilds, by which they were conducted and brought to perfection. “From the most remote period of time the inhabitants of Sleaford and the vicinity practised under that high sanction the diversions which were common to every period of the English monarchy, from the minstrels or joculators in the reign of Athelston, through the routine of tournaments, the lord of misrule, church ales, Corpus Christi plays, and the frolics of the boy-bishop{75} in the ages of chivalry, the bull and bear baitings, the holk, and the mummeries of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, down to the bulls and other diversions of the present day.”

Concerning the “frolics of the boy-bishop,” we may take the following account from the same author: “There exists presumptive evidence that the ceremony of the Episcopus Puerorum was celebrated at Sleaford; although it was somewhat unusual out of the limits of a cathedral or collegiate church; for in digging a grave in Leasingham Churchyard, a diminutive coffin stone was found in the year 1826, only 2½ feet long by 12 inches broad. It was prismatic, and adorned with a beautiful cross fleury in relief; and undoubtedly formed a covering to the sarcophagus of a boy-bishop, who died during the continuance of his ephemeral authority. And in the church of Quarrington, at the east end of the north aisle, is an unusually small chapel not more than four feet square, which one cannot but think was intended for the ministration of this juvenile functionary. The solemnity of the episcopus puerorum, though it may appear trifling in these days, was conducted with great pomp. A boy was elected on St. Nicholas’s Day, who was remarkable for personal beauty, to sustain the high office of a bishop until the 28th day of the same month. He made a solemn procession to the church, attended by many other boys, arrayed in priestly habiliments; and there, dressed in splendid robes, decorated with costly ornaments, and covered with his mitre, he presided with all the solemnity of an actual bishop, during the performance of divine worship. After which he made a collection from house to house, which was boldly demanded as the bishop’s subsidy; and he is said to have possessed such unlimited power that all the prebends which fell vacant during his presidency were at his disposal. If he chanced to die in that period he was entitled to all the honours of episcopal interment, and a monument was assigned to convey the remembrance of his honours to posterity.”

Strype expresses the opinion that this ceremony was sometimes adopted even in small parish churches; he does not say whether with or without Gild observances.

It has been supposed that a Gild of Minstrels existed at Sleaford, but no evidence of the fact is available.

Stamford.—There is the record of one Gild in this ancient town, viz.:

Gild of St. Katherine.—The Ordinances before us bear date 1494; but they are only a re-affirmation of those of a much greater antiquity.{76} The Gild is to abide for ever. Services to be attended by all the bretheren on St. Katherine’s Eve and St. Katherine’s Day. All shall meet in the hall of the Gild, and the Alderman shall ask new-comers as to their willingness; and they shall take oath of fealty to God, Sts. Mary and Katherine, and the Gild; and shall also swear to pay scot and bear lot, and to keep the Ordinances of the Gild. They shall be lovingly received, and drink a bout, and so go home. Meetings to be held at 1 o’clock on St. Leonard’s Day, or the next Sunday, to deal with the affairs of the Gild. There shall be a grand dinner in the Gild-hall once a year. After dinner an account to be given by every officer. Officers chosen and not serving to be fined. Gildmen must be of good repute, and pay vis. and viijd. on entering, spread over four years, and afterwards ijd. a year for “Waxshote.” Peals of bells to be rung at and after prayers for the souls of the dead; and the ringers to have bread, cheese, and ale. Services and ringings on death of Gildsmen.

There were four other Gild-returns from this town. The Gild of St. Martin has every year a bull; hunts it; sells it; and then feasts. The old custom was kept up in the eighteenth century. See Strutt’s “Sports and Pastimes.”

Village Gilds.—There were many Gilds in the villages of this county. One example will suffice to show the nature of their regulations.

Gild of Kyllyngholm, founded before 1310.—When a brother or a sister dies, four bretheren shall offer a penny, and each sister shall give a halfpenny loaf. “If a brother or sister is unlucky enough to lose a beast worth half a mark, every brother and every sister shall give a halfpenny towards getting another beast.” “If the house of any brother or sister is burnt by mishap, every brother and sister shall give a halfpenny towards a new house.” “Moreover, if the house of any brother or sister is broken into by robbers, and goods carried off worth half a mark, every brother and every sister shall give a halfpenny to help him.” If one has a guest, and he cannot buy ale, he shall have a gallon of the Gild’s best brewing. But the Gild will not allow any tricks in this direction. Whoever is chosen Provost must serve, or must pay.{77}

The Fountaine Collection.

THE months of June and July saw the dispersal, by Messrs. Christie, of the celebrated collection of art treasures formed by Sir Andrew Fountaine in the early part of the last century, and added to by his descendant, Mr. Andrew Fountaine, who died in 1873. In connection with this dispersion, a step was taken which is perhaps without precedent in the history of English art sales. A number of amateurs, joined by a few dealers, had subscribed to a guarantee fund, out of which many purchases were made. The object of this proceeding was chiefly to allow some of the most precious objects to pass eventually into our public museums. It would, indeed, be lamentable if nothing of what was finest in the Fountaine collection found a resting-place in our national museums. The occasions are extremely rare on which a Syndicate can be invited to relieve our public authorities of the task of speedy decision. There was a warm expression of hearty support whenever it was thought that the Syndicate had been successful, and the higher the price realised the louder was the applause.

The first lot which attracted spirited bidding was a magnificent Faenza plate, with grotesque masks, cupids, trophies of arms, and musical instruments, a satyr on the left playing on a pipe, dated 1508. The first bid for this plate, which was only 10¾ in. diameter, was £100. After some spirited bidding it was secured by M. Lowengard, of Paris, for £920, amid applause. A Faenza dish, with the entombment of Christ, from Albert Durer, dated 1519, sold for 135 guineas, being bought by Mr. Robinson, presumedly for the Syndicate. An Urbino plate in a sunk centre—two cupids supporting a coat of arms and other figures—by Nicola da Urbino, was sold for 375 guineas; a Faenza dish, with sunk centre, surrounded with a wreath of fruit and foliage—subject, a bear hunt, from a very early Italian print, by an unknown master—210 guineas; a Pesaro lustred dish, £270; another Pesaro lustred dish, 250 guineas; an Urbino dish, 300 guineas; a large dish with sunk centre, probably Castel Durante ware, 360 guineas (the Syndicate); an Urbino pilgrim’s bottle, 240 guineas; an Urbino dish, 330 guineas (Mannheim); a dish, subject the “Last Supper,” 115 guineas; a Faenza dish from the Bernal collection, 620 guineas (Martin); an Urbino oval dish, the centre subject the Children of Israel gathering Manna, 240 guineas (Tuck); another Urbino oval dish, 240 guineas (Lowengard{78}); an Urbino dish, Marcus Curtius on a white horse, 307 guineas (Hainauer); a large deep dish “The Taking of Troy,” 310 guineas (Hainauer); an Urbino ewer, Venus, Vulcan, and two cupids, 550 guineas. A splendid Urbino dish, beautifully painted with the Children of Israel gathering manna, was secured by the Syndicate at 1,270 guineas. A pair of Urbino pilgrims’ bottles fetched 450 guineas. 430 guineas was paid for a pair of salt-cellars in coloured enamels, and 800 guineas for a Limoges fountain, 9 inches high. Of the Henri Deux ware, there were but three pieces. The first of these, a small flambeau of architectural design, and somewhat severe in ornament, was put up at 1,000 guineas, and it eventually fell to the bid of 3,500 guineas. The next piece, a Mortier à Cire, fell for 1,500 guineas, and the last, a small Biberon, formed as a vase with handles on each side and across the cover, sold for 1,010 guineas. An antique ewer, by Jean Courtois, realised 2,300 guineas; a large deep sunk oval dish, of Limoges work, also attributed to Jean Courtois, fetched 2,800 guineas; whilst another oval dish, signed with the initials of the same artist, was sold for 760 guineas. Some of the ivory carvings realised exceptionally high prices, notably a horn, of Italian (or more probably French) work, carved most beautifully in cinque cento style, which fell into the hands of M. Egger for 4,240 guineas. Large sums were also realised for the armour and arms, of which there were several fine examples.

The greatest lot of the sale, however, was the splendid enamel of Leonard Limousin, of which much has been said and written in eulogy, and to witness the sale of which, as the Times remarked, all the world came to Christie’s. This is thus described in the catalogue: A large oval dish, with sunk centre. Raphael’s “Supper of the Gods,” in coloured enamels on a dark-blue ground, is used to introduce the portraits of Henry II. King of France in the centre, Catherine de Medicis on one side of him, and Diana of Poictiers, with yellow hair, black cap and feather, on the other side. The portrait of Anne de Montmorency, Constable of France, is introduced as Hercules, the female and Cupid by his side are probably his wife and child, the figure to the left in an ermine mantle may be the Emperor; in the background are three winged females bringing fruit, all the other figures are probably portraits, and are finished with the care of miniature painting; on the top are the arms of Anne de Montmorency, with his coronet and order of St. Michael; the border is surrounded with boys at play entwined with wreaths of fruit and flowers, the back is richly covered with masks, fruit, and flowers,{79} arabesque figures in grisaille and scroll-work in gold; signed “Leonard Limousin, 1555. 19¼ in. by 16⅜ in.” The piece is specially described as in this Fountaine collection by Count Laborde in his great work on enamels in the Louvre collection. It was put up at 2,000 guineas, and at once the biddings went on by 500 up to 5,100 guineas, at which there was a pause among the four or five bidders, who were, as far as we could observe, MM. Gauchez, Wertheimer, Coureau, Thibaudeau, and Boore. M. Wertheimer then led the contest again, and soon distanced all his competitors with his final bid of 7,000 guineas, at which the hammer fell.

The sum total realised by the four days’ sale of the miscellaneous articles was £91,112 17s., a sum which is nearly double that which is said to have been offered for the collection en bloc by the dealers. In the great Bernal sale 4,098 lots yielded £62,690 18s.; in this 565 lots gave half as much again. In the Strawberry-hill sale (1842) of twenty-four days, only £30,000 was realised, omitting the Cellini Bell and the Raphael Missal, which were “bought in.” So that George Robins’s grandiloquent description of that collection as “the most distinguished gem that has ever adorned the annals of auctions” must be taken with some reserve for the future.

The sale of the prints and drawings belonging to the Fountaine collection occupied four days. Among the more important lots were Albert Dürer’s “Knight and Death,” 50 guineas (Colnaghi), and the “Judgment of Paris,” £45 (Thibaudeau); “Christ on the Cross, with Saints,” £91 (Meder); “The Incense Burner,” £151 (Meder); “The Virgin,” £46 (Meder); two studies—a female head and an infant Christ—in silver point, £125 (Thibaudeau); a small highly-finished study of woman holding a piece of linen, £210 (Salting); two heads of women asleep, in silver point, £180 (Thibaudeau). This portion of the sale realised £5,166 1s., which swelled the grand total up to £96,278 18s.

Collectanea.

Water Supply of London in the Middle Ages.—The first enterprising Londoner who introduced conduit water to his premises was a tradesman of Fleet-street. In a record of 1478, it is mentioned that “a wax-chandler in Flete-strete had by crafte perced a pipe of the condit withynne the ground, and so conveied the water into his selar: wherefore he was judged to ride through the citie with a condit uppon his hedde,” and the City Crier was to walk before him proclaiming his offence.—Builder.{80}

Reviews.

This little work is an ingenious attempt to tell in lively verse several popular Wiltshire traditions of considerable antiquarian interest. The writer seems to have taken pains to present the traditions in as accurate a form as possible, and assures us that “all available manuscripts and other authorities have been carefully consulted.” There is much in the versification to remind us of the “Ingoldsby Legends.”

The study of archæology has lately made signal progress in France as well as in England. A great many works have been published bearing upon the subject, and the volumes issued annually by Messrs. Perrot and Chipiez deserve to be especially mentioned as excellent specimens of what that class of literature ought to be. They are not intended for savants properly so called, and therefore they do not bristle with erudite quotations, or hieroglyphic figures and cuneiform texts; neither are they, on the other hand, elementary manuals or abridgments for the use of beginners; the two authors have started their joint undertaking for the express purpose of giving a somewhat detailed account of the progress of art amongst the different nations of antiquity, calling to their assistance the resources furnished by wood and steel engraving, chromo-lithography, &c.; and the improvements which during the last half-century have been introduced into the several departments of pictorial illustration have rendered their work, in that respect, comparatively easy.

The publication we are now reviewing will be terminated in five or six volumes. Messrs. Perrot and Chipiez had, last year, introduced us to Egypt; their second instalment is devoted to Chaldæa and Assyria; it marks, therefore, a signal development in æsthetic culture, and in the various expressions of architecture, painting, and sculpture. From the civilisation which Messrs. Champollion, Mariette, Maspéro, Young, and de Rougé have unfolded before us, we are now invited to pass on to that with which the names of Sir A. Layard, Sir H. Rawlinson, Messrs. Jules Oppert, and Fr. Lenormant have made us tolerably familiar.

The first chapter of this volume treats of the general characteristics of Chaldæo-Assyrian society, and naturally opens with geographical and ethnological details. M. Perrot, we are happy to see, pays a well-deserved tribute of praise to Professor Rawlinson’s celebrated work, “The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World,” making, at the same time, long quotations from it, as well as from the researches of Sir A. Layard, M. Hormuzd Rassam, &c. Whilst enumerating the various elements which have contributed to make up the population of Assyria and Chaldæa, our author notices the hypothesis recently put forth by some antiquarians who would number amongst those elements the Aryan one. He maintains that if it did exist it was only in a very small proportion—so small, indeed, that it is scarcely worth taking it into account; on the other hand, if we admit the theories of Messrs. J. Oppert and Fr. Lenormant, we have to register a fact of the most interesting and unlooked for nature. It was hitherto believed that we could not go beyond the{81} families of Sem and of Kusch, which occupied Chaldæa at the time when history is supposed to commence. From certain inscriptions, however, it seems perfectly clear that the oldest idiom spoken, or at any rate written, there, belonged neither to the Aryan nor to the Semitic families, nor yet to any of the groups of languages which are considered as including the old Egyptian. It was essentially an agglutinative idiom, and by its grammatical system, as well as by some of the elements of its vocabulary, it may be assimilated to the Finnish, the Turkish, and other cognate languages. M. Perrot then goes on to discuss the questions connected with writing, religion, and government, and to describe the form of government which prevailed on the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris. The reader will remark that this first chapter is a kind of introduction to the book; for art, which is the outcome of civilisation, cannot be well understood till we are acquainted with the elements from which it originated. Architecture, sculpture, painting, and the industrial arts constitute the subjects of the next seven chapters; and here, again, the eschatological ideas of the Chaldæo-Assyrians give us a clue to the character of the monuments which they raised to the dead. When we say raised to the dead we are guilty of a slight error; for all the researches of Sir A. Layard, Messrs. Hormuzd Rassam, de Sarzec, Botta, and Place have failed to bring to light a single débris, whether inscription or sculpture, from which we might know what the Assyrians believed about the destiny of man after this life. In Lower Chaldæa a few monuments have indeed been discovered, but they are extremely simple, and the contrast between Egyptian and Chaldæo-Assyrian art in this respect is wonderfully striking. As M. Perrot remarks, we know a great deal more about the sepulchral rites, the tombs and the funereal remains of the Egyptians than about the palaces of their princes. It is just the reverse in Assyria: “We have never seen represented the fall, the death, or the burial of an Assyrian warrior; one might almost suppose that a feeling of national pride has prevented the artist from admitting that an Assyrian warrior could die; all the corpses we see portrayed on the battlefield are those of enemies; we recognise them because they are frequently mutilated and decapitated.” If, however, Chaldæa has only a few sepulchral monuments to boast of, it abounds in burial-grounds, and between Niffar and Mougheir, more particularly, every mound is a necropolis. Combining this fact with the no less striking one that there are no cemeteries in Assyria, M. Loftus has put forth the opinion that the inhabitants of this last-named country, being Chaldæan by origin, regarded Chaldæa as a kind of holy land where they systematically buried their dead, and all persons rich enough to pay the somewhat heavy expenses connected with the removal of the body, the religious ceremonies, &c., &c., made a point of committing their departed relations and friends to their eternal rest in the national campo-santo from which they had in the first place emigrated. As for the poor and the slaves, those who were reckoned as nothing when alive, they were cast unceremoniously after their death into the first hole or ditch available for the purpose.

We must say a word or two on the concluding chapter before bringing this notice to an end: it consists of an ingenious parallel between the civilisations of Egypt and of Chaldæa, thus recapitulating the principal facts given in the first volume as well as those contained in the one which has formed the subject of the present article.

The illustrations, amounting to nearly five hundred, are of two different kinds; some occupy a whole page (temples, palaces, statues, &c.), others{82} are inserted in the text; nor must we forget an excellent alphabetical index, and an appendix of additions and corrections.

Under the above quaint title Messrs. Field & Tuer have issued from “Ye Leadenhalle Presse” a little volume—or rather, two volumes in one—which is likely in future ages to rank high amongst the treasures of the book collector. The work consists of an amusing collection of stories and bon mots relating to authors, editors, and “devils,” which we suppose is another name for the men of Paternoster-row; and there is an innocent raciness about them—the jokes, not the publishers—which cannot fail to entertain the reader. For the benefit of the uninitiated the editor, in his introductory remarks, states that “quads” are “little metal blanks used by the printer for filling up gaps,” and that they “are not of much account, although he cannot get along without them; hence the application of the word to printers’ jokes.” The book is baulked out at the end with extra leaves of paper fastened together and hollowed out in the centre, and in the little nest so formed reposes a copy of the miniature or midget-folio “Quad,” another equally quaint volume, containing some 160 pages, and measuring but one inch in width by one and a half inches in length.

The Archæological Journal for July contains papers on “The Gallo-Roman Monuments of Reims,” by Mr. Bunnell Lewis; “On the Methods Used by the Romans for Extinguishing Conflagrations,” by the Rev. Joseph Hirst; “Jewish Seal found at Woodbridge,” by C. W. King, M.A.; “Roman Pottery found at Worthing,” by Mr. A. J. Fenton; “Roman Inscriptions discovered in Britain in 1883,” by Mr. W. Thompson Watkin; “The Battle of Lewes,” by Rev. W. R. W. Stephens, M.A.; and “Some Remarks on the Pfahlgraben and Swalburg Camp in Germany, in Relation to the Roman Wall and Camps in Northumberland,” by Mr. James Hilton, F.S.A.

Meetings of Learned Societies.

METROPOLITAN.

Society of Antiquaries.—June 26, Dr. E. Freshfield, V.P., in the chair. Mr. W. H. Richardson exhibited some fragments of heraldic tiles which had been found under the floor of Fenny Compton Church, Warwickshire, and a drawing of a tile bearing the same inscription from Wormleighton Church. The arms on the tiles appear to be those of Butler and Beauchamp respectively. Mr. R. S. Ferguson communicated some notes on the tomb of Margaret, Countess Dowager of Cumberland, which had recently been moved from its original position in the church of St. Lawrence, Appleby, to a spot more convenient for the performance of divine service. He also reported on recent discoveries in Cumberland, and exhibited some of the early Rolls of the City Court of Carlisle. In connection with this paper Mr. Leveson-Gower exhibited an interesting portrait of his ancestress, the Countess of Cumberland. The Rev. W. F. Creeney exhibited a third instalment of rubbings of foreign brasses, thirty-four in number, which he had executed during a summer trip last year, in which he had traversed over five thousand miles.{83}

Royal Archæological Institute.—July 3, the Rev. F. Spurrell in the chair. The Secretary read a communication from the Rev. Precentor Venables, describing the discovery of an intramural Roman family burial-place in Lincoln, and of a Roman well in the same city. Professor B. Lewis read a paper on “Roman Antiquities in Switzerland.” A number of Roman gems and coins, together with copies of inscriptions, engravings of mosaics, and other objects, collected by Professor Lewis and the Rev. S. S. Lewis, were exhibited in illustration of this paper. Mr. F. Helmore then read some remarks on stone coffins lately found in Hertfordshire. The paper was illustrated by diagrams and drawings of two fine examples, probably of the thirteenth century, discovered at Tring and at Berkhampstead.

London and Middlesex Archæological Society.—June 16, Mr. J. G. Waller in the chair. Mr. F. C. Sachs read a paper written by his brother, Mr. John Sachs, on “Arms and Armour,” in which he described those worn by the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians. Greek, Roman, and Saxon armour was also described, with the assistance of sketches and engravings which were exhibited. While speaking of shields, Mr. Sachs described that used in the trophy of Henry V. in Westminster Abbey as made of oak, over the front of which was first a covering of coarse flax, over which are stretched four layers of stout linen, on which traces of painted colouring are still visible. The inside of the shield has been covered with white silk, embroidered with needlework, a portion of which remains. The Chairman offered a few remarks on armour generally, including chain armour, plate armour, and “banded mail.” Mr. Thomas Millbourne made some observations on Mediæval London at the Health Exhibition.—June 26, excursion to Rochester and Stroud. The proceedings commenced with a meeting in the Town Hall, Rochester, where, in the absence of the President, General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S., the chair was taken by Mr. Charles Roach Smith, F.S.A., V.P., who delivered an address on the antiquities of Rochester, with special reference to the Roman wall, fragments of which are still visible. Mr. W. H. St. John Hope, F.S.A., gave a lecture on the maces and other regalia of the City of Rochester, and Mr. R. S. Ferguson, F.S.A., of Carlisle, followed with a few remarks on maces generally. The party afterwards paid a visit to the Castle and the Cathedral, the chief architectural features of each building being described by Mr. Hope, who traced the history of the Cathedral from its foundation in the time of Ethelbert, and, with the aid of diagrams, pointed out the work of successive architects from the time of Bishop Gundulph. Eastgate House, an interesting Elizabethan building in the High-street, now used as the Rochester Workmen’s Club, and Restoration House, the residence of Mr. Stephen Aveling, opposite the Vines, were next examined. The latter building, which dates from about 1580, was formerly called the Mansion or the Manor house, but its name was changed to Restoration House from having been the resting-place of Charles II., on his way from Dover to London on the eve of his restoration to the throne. The members next visited the museum belonging to Mr. Humphrey Wickham, at Stroud, among the contents of which are a large number of Anglo-Saxon objects which had been discovered in the neighbourhood. Several of these objects were described by Mr. Roach Smith, who also pointed out the site of the ancient cemetery where many of the articles had been found, and spoke of the frequent destruction at Strood caused by the Medway overflowing its banks.{84}

Royal Society of Literature.—June 25, Sir P. Colquhoun in the chair. Dr. W. Knighton read a paper on the results of late excavations in Rome, considered in reference to the truth of its so-called legendary history. Some notes from Mr. W. S. W. Vaux on the subject were also read, and a discussion followed.

New Shakspere.—May 30, Mr. F. J. Furnivall in the chair. Mr. T. Tyler, M.A., read the first of two papers on “Shakspere’s Sonnets.” With regard to the date, Mr. Tyler came to the conclusion that the Sonnets 1 to 126 were written in 1598-1601. Taking the Sonnets 100 to 126 as forming a single poem, he found several allusions therein to the rebellion of Essex. This was alluded to in the “eclipse of the mortal moon” (107), an expression which could not, as alleged by Massey, refer to the death of Queen Elizabeth, since the point is that “the mortal moon” had “endured” her eclipse, in accordance with the general drift of the sonnet. Sonnet 55, Mr. Tyler maintained, was written after the publication of Meres’s “Palladis Tamia” in 1598. “Mr. W. H.,” mentioned in the dedication of the 4to. edition of 1609, was, in his opinion, William Herbert, who in 1601 became Lord Pembroke. In support of this view some new evidence was adduced from documents in the Record Office, the British Museum, and in the Marquis of Salisbury’s collection at Hatfield, relating especially to an amour of Lord Pembroke with Mrs. Fytton, a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth, an amour for which Lord Pembroke was imprisoned in the Fleet, in March, 1601. On his release from prison, Sonnets 100 to 126 were addressed to him. Three years backwards from this time, according to Sonnet 104, give the initial date of 1598.—June 13, Mr. F. J. Furnivall, Director, in the chair. The Rev. W. A. Harrison read copies of letters from the Earl and Countess of Pembroke and the Earl of Oxford to Lord Burghley, showing that in 1579, when William Herbert was only seventeen, his parents had in hand a scheme for his marriage forthwith to Bridget, granddaughter to Lord Burghley. Mr. Tyler read his second paper “On Shakspere’s Sonnets.” After alluding to the theory, recently put forth, that the rival poet of the sonnets was Dante, Mr. Tyler maintained that the poet intended was George Chapman. The dark lady of Sonnets 127 to 152 was probably Mrs. Fytton, maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth. The relations of this lady with William Herbert would not unreasonably, in view of several of the sonnets, as 40 and 144, suggest the identification. So far as there were materials for comparison, the character of Mrs. Fytton showed a remarkable agreement with that of the dark lady. A difficulty had been felt as to Shakspere’s writing of himself at thirty-five as though in declining age. But this difficulty was removed by comparing Sonnet 73, its “yellow leaves,” “bare boughs,” &c., with Byron’s poem written when he attained his thirty-sixth year, where the imagery was remarkably similar.

Folk-lore.—June 14, annual meeting. Earl Beauchamp in the chair. In the annual report for the past year a strong plea was made for more aid to carry on the work already in hand. The Bishop of St. John’s, Kaffraria, has presented to the Society several copies of his “Zulu Nursery Literature,” and of his “Religious System of the Amazulu.” The work selected for the 1884 issue is a collection of Magyar folk-tales, by the Rev. W. H. Jones and Mr. L. Kropf.

Asiatic.—May 19, anniversary meeting. Sir H. C. Rawlinson in the chair. The following were elected as the officers of next year: President,{85} Sir W. Muir; Director, Sir H. C. Rawlinson; Vice-Presidents, Sir T. E. Colebrooke, Sir B. H. Ellis, J. Fergusson, and A. Grote; Council, E. Arnold, C. Bendall, E. L. Brandreth, Dr. O. Codrington, F. V. Dickins, Major-General Sir F. Goldsmid, Major-General M. R. Haig, H. C. Kay, Major-General Keatinge, Lieut.-General Sir L. Pelly, Major-General Sir A. Phayre, Sir W. R. Robinson, T. H. Thornton, M. J. Walhouse, and Col. Yule; Treasurer, E. Thomas; Secretaries, W. S. W. Vaux and H. F. W. Holt; Hon. Secretary, R. N. Cust. Prof. Monier Williams gave an account of his recent visit to India and to the Jain and Buddhist temples there, and added that the Supreme Government at Calcutta had assented to his proposal to found six scholarships for deserving natives in the Indian Institute at Oxford.—June 16, Sir W. Muir, President, in the chair. Professor de Lacouperie read a paper “On Three Embassies from Indo-China to the Middle Kingdom, and on the Trade Routes thither 3,000 Years Ago.” During the reign of Tch’ing, the second king of the Tchen dynasty (about B.C. 1100), three embassies came to him from Indo-China, before his power was firmly established to the south of the Yangtze Kiang. These were really travelling parties of merchants, who had heard of the wealth of the new dynasty from the tribes of West and South China, who had helped the Tchen to overthrow the preceding dynasty. Only a few fragments of information about them have survived, and these in a much altered state. At the close of his paper the Professor passed in review six annual trade-routes between India, Cochin-China, and China, previously to the Christian era. Of these two are important, viz., the one through Assam to India, and the other to Tung-King by the Red River. It was by the latter that the sea-traders of Kattigara (Hanoi) heard of the important trading state of Tsen (in Yunnan), this name being, in fact, the antecedent of that of China. Dr. T. Tuka exhibited forty pieces of Tibetan printed books and MSS. which the late A. C. de Koros gave in 1839 to the Rev. Dr. S. C. Malan, then secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and which this gentleman has presented to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences at Buda-Pesth.

Statistical.—May 20, Mr. R. Lawson, V.P., in the chair. Mr. C. Walford read a paper entitled “A Statistical Review of Canada.”

Numismatic.—May 15, Dr. J. Evans, President, in the chair. Mr. H. Montagu exhibited a half-halfpenny or farthing of Eadred, the original coin having been bisected for the purpose of creating two farthings, in the same way as pennies were frequently halved and quartered. Mr. J. G. Hall exhibited a hammered sovereign of Charles II.’s first coinage with the numerals XX behind the head of the king; weight, 138 grains. Mr. B. V. Head read a paper, by Mr. C. F. Keary, on a hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins found in Rome during some recent excavations on the site of the House of the Vestals at the foot of the Palatine. The “find” consisted of 830 Anglo-Saxon pennies, ranging from A.D. 871 to 947. It represented an instalment of the tribute money popularly known as Peter’s pence, a devotional gift instituted in the 8th or 9th century, consisting of a denarius a year, payable by the head of every family possessed of a certain quantity of land, at St. Peter’s mass, on pain of excommunication. Mr. Keary said that the hoard of coins was of considerable numismatic importance, as it yielded the names of many new moneyers and of some new towns. Mr. N. Heywood communicated a notice of the discovery of Anglo-Saxon coins beneath the foundations of Waterloo Bridge. Mr. Toplis sent a list of forty varieties of 17th century tradesmen’s tokens of Nottinghamshire not described in Boyne’s work.{86}

Philological.—May 16, anniversary meeting. Dr. J. A. H. Murray President, in the chair. The President delivered his annual address. After noticing the members who had died since last anniversary, and reviewing the work of the Society during the last two years, he read reports by Mr. W. R. Morfill, on the Slavonic languages; by M. Paul Hunfalvy and Mr. Patterson on Hungarian since 1873; by Mr. E. G. Brown on Turkish; and by Mr. R. M. Cust, on the Hamitic languages of North Africa. Mr. H. Sweet read his own report “On the Practical Study of Language.” The President then gave an account of the progress of the Society’s Dictionary, and dwelt on the difficulty of settling the etymology of Middle English words and of making out the logical development of important words of long standing. The following Members were elected the Society’s officers for the ensuing year: President, Rev. Prof. W. W. Skeat; Vice-Presidents, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. W. Stokes, A. J. Ellis, Rev. R. Morris, H. Sweet, Dr. J. A. H. Murray, and Prince Lucien Bonaparte; Ordinary Members of Council, Prof. A. G. Bell, H. Bradshaw, E. L. Brandreth, W. R. Browne, Prof. C. Cassal, R. N. Cust, Sir J. F. Davis, F. T. Elworthy, H. H. Gibbs, H. Jenner, Dr. E. L. Lushington, Prof. R. Martineau, A. J. Patterson, J. Peile, Prof. J. P. Postgate, Prof. C. Rieu, Rev. A. H. Sayce, Dr. E. B. Tylor, H. Wedgwood, and R. F. Weymouth; Treasurer, B. Dawson; Hon. Sec., F. J. Furnivall. A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Gladstone for his grant of a pension of £250 a year to the editor of the Society’s Dictionary.

Anthropological.—May 13, Prof. Flower, President, in the chair. Dr. J. Stephens sent a drawing of a large pointed palæolithic implement, found near Reading. Mr. W. G. Smith exhibited two palæolithic implements lately found in North London: one was made of quartzite, and is the first example of this material met with in the London gravels; the other was a white implement from the “trail and warp.” He also exhibited two white porcellaneous palæolithic flakes replaced on their original blocks. A paper on “The Ethnology of the Andaman Islands,” by Mr. E. H. Man, was read. Prof. Flower read some “Additional Observations on the Osteology of the Natives of the Andaman Islands.” Since reading a paper before the Institute on the same subject in 1879 the author had had the opportunity of examining ten skeletons, two of which are in the University of Oxford, and eight in the Barnard Davis collection at the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.—May 27, Prof. Flower, President, in the chair. Mr. H. O. Forbes read a paper “On the Kubus of Sumatra.” Dr. Garson read a paper “On the Osteology of the Kubus.” Mr. T. Bent read some “Notes on Prehistoric Remains in Antiparos,” and exhibited several specimens of pottery, some rudely carved marble figures, and a skull from cemeteries in that island.

PROVINCIAL.

Berkshire Archæological and Architectural Society.—On Tuesday, July 1, visits were paid to St. Helen’s Church, Abingdon, Cumnor Church, Appleton Church and Manor House, and also Fyfield Church and Manor, where they were entertained at luncheon by Mr. and Mrs. James Parker. At Cumnor the party inspected the site of Old Cumnor Hall, where Mr. Parker narrated its history since the sixteenth century, and examined the story of Amy Robsart’s life and supposed murder, as narrated by Sir Walter Scott in his novel of “Kenilworth.” At Fyfield Manor Mr. Parker conducted the party through the various{87} rooms, showing them, among other things of interest, a recently-discovered stone mantelpiece, with initials and date of the early part of the seventeenth century. At Abingdon, after inspecting St. Helen’s Church, the party examined the ancient deeds and charters in the Hall of Christ’s Hospital, the Corporation plate and pictures, the remains of the Abbey, and other objects of interest.

Brighton and Sussex Natural History Society.—June 19, Dr. Hollis, President, in the chair. Mr. F. E. Sawyer read a paper on “Sussex Dialect and Speech,” in which he referred to a branch of the subject which had not hitherto received sufficient attention, namely, the connection of dialect with the early spellings of place-names. Derivations of names, Mr. Sawyer observed, are too often based on modern forms of spelling, when a careful examination would show the older forms to be attempts of strange or foreign scribes to represent phonetically dialectal pronunciation of place-names. “The termination ‘ing,’ ” he continued, “is generally considered to be patronymic, and as it is a peculiarity of the Sussex dialect to drop the final ‘g,’ as Cockneys do, we may consider that many old names not mentioned by Kemble are patronymic, i.e., of tribal origin, and deriving their names from some tribal ancestor.” There is a close connection, Mr. Sawyer remarked in conclusion, between place-names and surnames, and in Sussex the Saxon element will be found very strongly marked amongst the surnames.

Essex Field Club.—June 21, the members and friends paid a visit to Epping Forest. On arriving at the ancient earthwork called Ambresbury Bank, Mr. J. E. Harting, F.L.S., delivered a discourse on “The Deer of Epping Forest,” in which he treated firstly of the antiquity of the forest as a hunting-ground of the Kings and Queens of England; and, secondly, of the nature of the deer which were hunted, and the present condition of the two kinds of deer which may be found there. The forest was in early times called the Forest of Essex, as being the only forest within that county, nearly the whole of which was anciently comprehended within it. As its extent became abridged it was called the Forest of Waltham, from the first village of importance which sprung up within its purlieus. According to Camden, the first mention occurs about the latter times of the Saxons, when Tovi, standard-bearer to King Canute, “induced by the abundance of deer, built a number of houses here, and peopled them with sixty-six inhabitants.” After his death, his son Athelstan squandered the estate, whereupon Edward the Confessor, into whose hands it had come, bestowed the village on his brother-in-law, Harold, son of Earl Godwin, who built Waltham Abbey. The Abbot was one of the few residents in the neighbourhood who, besides the King, was privileged to kill deer in this forest, although mediæval records contain notices of royal permission given at times to the citizens of London to use the Forest of Epping as a hunting-ground for their recreation. Henry III., in 1226, granted to the citizens the privilege of hunting once a year, at Easter, within a circuit of twenty miles of the city, and until within comparatively recent times the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Corporation continued annually to avail themselves of this privilege. At the conclusion of Mr. Hastings’ lecture the party moved on towards Loughton, passing on the way through the ancient earthwork known as Cowper’s Camp, which was explored by the Club in 1883.

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.—June 9, Sir William F. Douglas, P.R.S.A. (Scot.), in the chair. Mr. J. Romilly Allen, F.S.A. (Scot.), read a paper entitled “Notes on Early Christian Symbolism.”{88} The author in dealing with that special branch of the subject which includes the representations sculptured on the fonts, tympana of doorways, and other carved stonework of the Norman period, showed what ample material there is to form a museum of Christian archæology, by having casts taken of these sculptured fonts, tympana, &c., so that they might be placed together in one gallery, and thus be made to yield whatever scientific results are attainable from them. Mr. Allen gave a list classified by subjects and localities of upwards of 120 tympana, 80 fonts, and 30 pieces of miscellaneous sculpture. The paper was illustrated by a series of drawings and photographs of the principal types of the symbolic representations on Norman fonts and tympana. The second paper was a notice by Mr. Charles Stewart of Tigh’n Duin, Killin, of several sepulchral mounds and cup-marked stones in the district of Fortingall, Glenylon, Perthshire; and the Rev. Hugh Macmillan, D.D., of Greenock, followed with a description of two boulders having rain-filled cavities on the shores of Loch Tay, formerly associated with the cure of disease. Mr. George Sim, Curator of Coins, gave an account of recent “finds” of coins in Scotland. Only two discoveries have occurred during the session—one of 177 silver pennies, chiefly of the Edwards, at Arkleton, Dumfriesshire; and one of 53 silver coins, chiefly of Mary and Elizabeth, at Woodend, in the Isle of Skye. The last paper was a descriptive notice of the stone circles of Strathnairn and neighbourhood of Inverness, by Mr. James Fraser, C.E. Twenty-five of the circles were described, and accurate plans of them, made to a uniform scale of ten feet to the inch, were exhibited, forming a body of materials for the comparative study of stone circles of unprecedented extent and value. Five old Communion flagons and a chalice and paten of pewter, from Old St. Paul’s Church, were exhibited by Rev. R. Mitchell-Innes. Two of the flagons show the Edinburgh Pewterers’ stamp, and one has the maker’s name—John Durand, 1688.

Haileybury Antiquarian Society.—May 19. The Secretary gave a short account of the village of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, famous chiefly as the birthplace of Admiral Nelson. Mr. C. F. Gisborne spoke of Wichnor Church, Derbyshire, as Anglo-Saxon, but with a Norman tower. He also spoke of the parish of Langley Marish, near Slough, which is a corruption of Langley Maries, the church there being dedicated to the Three Maries; he mentioned that there were some old half-timbered almshouses in the parish. W. Kennedy, Esq., gave a description of Morton Villa, near Brading, where extensive excavations have recently taken place. This villa is the largest in England. Most of the walls seem to have been built of wood filled up with rubble, and are consequently very strong. There is a great deal of very fine Roman glass in the house. The villa was probably burnt down when the Romans left England, A.D. 410. The speaker then went on to describe Carisbrook Castle, which was built by William of Osborne, in 1066 A.D., and is chiefly famous for the recollections of Charles I. The President then spoke very briefly of Tantallon Castle and the Collegiate Church of Haddington.—June 2, Mr. C. F. Gisborne read a short paper on Christ Church, Bournemouth, Hants, and the President gave a short account of the most interesting features of St. Albans Abbey.—On Saturday, June 14, an excursion was made to Greenwich Hospital.—June 16, Mr. W. Kennedy gave a short lecture on Rome, in which he spoke of the ruins of the gigantic houses built by the Emperors for themselves on the Palatine, and of the palace of Augustus, of which but few traces remain. The lecturer{89} described the private house of the father of Tiberius, on the Palatine, and then passed on to speak of the palace of Vespasian. Mr. Kennedy also mentioned the discovery of a Pedagogium, or school for the slaves of the Imperial household; and spoke of the curious caricatures and paintings on the walls, done apparently by the students.—July 1, Mr. E. Walford gave a lecture on the “Watering Places of Old,” in which he treated of Brighton, Bath, Seaford, Hythe, &c. His account of Seaford may probably appear in the pages of this Magazine.

Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society.—June 28, about 50 members, accompanied by a few ladies, visited Lancaster. The party first inspected the castle, where they were shown the ancient dungeons, the gateway tower built by Henry V., &c., and afterwards ascended to the top of the Norman keep, or “John O’Gaunt’s chair,” whence a splendid view of the Lake Mountains was obtained. The parish church of St. Mary, a fine specimen of the Perpendicular period, was next visited, and its details described by Mr. Paley, F.R.I.B.A. After luncheon the excursion was continued to Heysham, where the rector, the Rev. C. T. Royds, showed the party over the ancient Norman church at that place. On returning to Lancaster in the evening, an adjournment was made to the Amicable Library, where several old charters of the town, the municipal regalia, and a few Roman antiquities found in the neighbourhood, were displayed.

Antiquarian News & Notes.

Mr. D. Bogue will issue shortly an etching, by Percy Thomas, of the old London street at the Health Exhibition.

Mr. Murray announces a translation by Professor A. S. Wilkins and Mr. E. B. England of the “Principles of Greek Etymology,” by Professor Curtius.

The Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck has discovered among the Corporation records of Andover some interesting early Guild-rolls, which will probably be published in extenso.

The Berks Archæological and Architectural Society is offering prizes for historical essays on subjects having reference to Berkshire, and for architectural drawings, illustrating ancient buildings in the county.

An antiquarian column is about to be started in the Essex Standard and West Suffolk Gazette, published at Colchester. It will contain notes and queries on local antiquities, and a special series of gleanings from old local newspapers.

Mr. Murray’s latest list of recent publications contains, inter alia, Professor Brewer’s “Reign of Henry VIII., from his accession till the death of Wolsey;” Dr. Schliemann’s works, “Troja,” “Ilios,” and “Mycenæ and Argos;” Mr. A. S. Murray’s “History of Greek Sculpture.”

The Schools of the Christian Brothers of France have sent to the Health Exhibition at South Kensington, a collection of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew inscriptions, with representations of the Provençal people and buildings of the fifteenth century, modelled and arranged by the pupils.

Mr. Cornelius Walford, F.S.S., Barrister-at-Law, has been awarded the first “Samuel Brown Prize” of Fifty Guineas, offered by the Institute of Actuaries for the best Essay on the “History of Life Insurance.” The essay will be published.

Mr. J. Taylor, of Northampton, has announced for sale the unique{90} collection of historical MSS., &c., of John Cole, of Northampton, (1792-1840), embracing brief notices of his family and literary contemporaries, together with the history and antiquities of several parishes in Northamptonshire, &c.

The following articles, more or less of an antiquarian character, appear among the contents of the magazines for July: Cornhill, “Embalmers;” Cassell’s Magazine, “Derby China;” Blackwood, “Venice;” Century Magazine, “A Greek Play at Cambridge;” Atlantic Monthly, “The Haunts of Galileo,” and “Peter the Great;” Magazine of Art, “Walks in Surrey,” and “The Austrian Museum;” Home Chimes, “Old Gold;” Clergyman’s Magazine, “Biblical Notices of Egypt, illustrated from Profane Sources.”

Plans and drawings for the reconstruction of the west side of Westminster Hall, and the preservation of the Norman work lately laid bare by the pulling down of the Law Courts, have been prepared by Mr. Pearson, R.A., and the estimated cost of the work is about £37,000. During the restoration of the north front, some years ago, considerable portions of the ancient work of the Hall were for a short time visible, and again at a later period the whole of the Norman walls were laid bare, to be re-cased by Sir Robert Smirke. It has remained for the removal of the Law Courts to uncover permanently the earlier Norman walls, fortunately in a fairly perfect state of preservation.

Catalogues of rare and curious books, all of which contain the names of works of antiquarian interest, have reached us from Messrs. Farrar & Fenton, 8, John-street, Adelphi, W.C.; Messrs. Reeves & Turner, 196, Strand, W.C.; Mr. J. Hitchman, 51, Cherry-street, Birmingham; Messrs. Quaritch, 15, Piccadilly (including the major portion of the Hamilton Palace Library); Mr. W. J. Withers, Leicester; Mr. F. Edwards, 83, High-street, Marylebone; Mr. Edward Howell, 28, Church-street, Liverpool; Mr. G. P. Johnston, 33, George-street, Edinburgh; Mr. W. P. Bennett, 3, Bull-street, Birmingham; Messrs. Sutton & Son, 91, Oxford-street, Manchester; Mr. J. Coleman, Tottenham, N. (consisting entirely of royal and noble deeds and documents, and containing upwards of 500 articles, alphabetically arranged under the titles of the respective families); Mr. Albert Cohn, 53, Mohrenstrasse, Berlin; Messrs. Robson & Kerslake, 43, Cranbourne-street, W.C. (includes a fine copy of the Nuremberg Bible of 1477, and Albert Durer’s “Life of the Virgin, &c.); Mr. U. Maggs, 159, Church-street, Paddington-green, W.; Mr. H. Edwardes, 20, Drury-court, W.C.

Some doubts having arisen as to whether authorities which act under the Public Libraries Act have powers to fulfil the conditions required for a Parliamentary grant in aid of the establishment of a school of science and art, the Lord President has brought in a Bill, which declares that where an authority accepts a grant of this kind from the Education Committee of the Privy Council, it shall have power to do so on the conditions prescribed by the Committee, and it is to be, as also are its successors, bound to fulfil them. An interpretation is also placed on the 8th section of the Public Libraries Act of 1855, which enables the Council of a borough and the Board of a district to erect buildings for the purposes of the Act. It is declared that under this and the corresponding Scotch and Irish provisions buildings may be erected in any of the three Kingdoms “for public libraries, public museums, schools for science, art galleries, and schools for art, or for any one or more of those objects.” Where one of these institutions is established under the Public Libraries Acts,{91} any other may (it is here provided) be established at any time in connection therewith without further proceedings being taken under the Acts.—The Times.

In the first week of July the City of Winchester commemorated the 700th anniversary of its incorporation by a series of festivities, in which the Bishop of the Diocese, the Lord Mayor of London, and a number of provincial chief magistrates took part. The proceedings included a procession to the Cathedral, where the Dean delivered an address, in which he traced the gradual growth of freedom under municipal institutions. A public luncheon afterwards took place in the restored banqueting-hall of the Palace, and in the evening there was a torchlight procession, together with a series of tableaux vivants, which were witnessed by crowds of persons. The persons who appeared as actors in events affecting the fortunes of Winchester were habited in dresses designed from authentic records of the period. First came a representation of the granting of the charter of incorporation to the city by Henry II.; the second picture represented Richard II. giving the charter to William of Wykeham; the third, Henry VI. and Church dignitaries before the shrine of St. Swithin in Winchester Cathedral; the fourth, Charles I. brought a prisoner to the city on December 21, 1648; the fifth representing some Roundheads searching for Royalists, and looking in at the window of a forge, where a Royalist, disguised as a blacksmith, was talking to the owner of the forge; the sixth, Sir Christopher Wren presenting plans for a Royal Palace at Winchester to Charles II. The anniversary will be further perpetuated by the publication of a volume entitled “Memorials of the City of Winchester: a Collection of Charters and other Records Illustrating its Municipal History,” edited by Mr. F. J. Baigent, F.S.A.

An antiquary writes to the Athenæum as follows regarding the lamentable destruction of documents belonging to the see of Durham and lodged in a building within the precincts of the episcopal palace at Bishop Auckland: “In a building adjoining the gateway of the episcopal palace of the Bishop of Durham a large number of documents—how valuable it is impossible to say—were preserved until a short time ago. It seems that this building was required for the holding of clerical meetings and other purposes; and, in order to make it more convenient for these, the documents, which had hitherto found a safe repository there, were removed, and without, apparently, any proper examination having been made, were destroyed. A few of them were, happily, rescued, and judging from these some reasonable conjecture may be arrived at with regard to the nature of the mass of the documents. Among those which have been preserved are a survey of Allertonshire—an ancient possession of the Church of Durham—made in the middle of the seventeenth century; an inventory of the contents of the episcopal castle at Durham in the middle of the eighteenth century; a complete list of Roman Catholics resident within the city of Durham in the year 1700; a report to the Bishop from Sir William Williamson, Sheriff of the County of Durham, and certain justices of the peace, about proceedings against Papists in 1743; and a list of the rolls and other muniments formerly kept in the auditor’s office at Durham, but now removed and placed somewhere among the enormous mass of valuable material, locked up and practically inaccessible, within the offices of the Ecclesiastical Commission or of some of its officials. Who is the person responsible for the unwarranted destruction I do not know, but it is most desirable that the public should be made acquainted with what has taken place, and that it should be{92} made known by whose authority these valuable records have been destroyed.”

Through the courtesy of Mr. Bosworth Smith, the Athenæum has been enabled to print an interesting letter by Mr. H. A. Brown, regarding some explorations which he has been making in Minorca. He has visited a remarkable cave city which has not been properly explored:—“The locality is a wild-looking inlet between high cliffs. In these cliffs are a vast number of rock-hewn caves—possibly 300. Such tradition as there is concerning this most curious spot ascribes it to the Phœnicians; but we concur in thinking that it is the work of a much earlier people.... In some of the larger ones there are evidences of considerable development; for instance, in one of the largest are three recesses in the wall, some two feet from the ground, a sort of rock divan, while several have ante-chambers communicating with the main room; but, on the other hand, the smaller are mere holes in the rock, having, however, in some cases, a sill, or threshold, distinctly raised above the level of the floor. It seems to us that this disparity may be accounted for in three ways: either the people during a long occupation advanced in the construction of their dwellings, or the smaller caves are merely the tombs of the inhabitants of the larger, or possibly the chiefs inhabited the large and the people the small caves.... The small caves are all in a more or less inaccessible position, but having entered one near the ground we commenced to dig. At about nine or twelve inches down we came upon the bones of animals and two most remarkable skulls. Being compelled by pressure of time to move on, we went round the inlet and entered a cave on the other side, higher up the cliff than the former. Immediately after removing the loose sand, we came to thick, black earth, and the first stroke of the hatchet brought up some human bones, and by the time we were obliged to leave, the best part of a skeleton was unearthed, including several pieces of the skull. The majority of the bones were of a reddish colour, but all in one corner were perfectly black, either from extreme age or the action of fire.”

The Temps gives an account of the collection of objects found by Monsieur Nicaise in the tombs of the ancient Gauls, Département de la Marne, which he laid before the Academie des Inscriptions de Paris at their meeting, April 18. The collection is of great interest, and in some respects unique. It includes a great variety of implements of warfare, jewellery, enamels, and finely wrought bronze ornaments, and some articles of toilet throwing a light on the mode of shaving 2,000 years ago. The razors found are shaped like a sickle. With them was found a vessel supposed by Monsieur Bertholot, who was present at the meeting, to have contained soap, which he states was by no means unknown to the ancient Gaul. A coral necklace, bleached by its couple of thousand years’ sepulture, is remarkable. Between the beads of coral are various amulets or charms, such as a wild boar’s tooth, a shell, and a peculiar thin circular plate or disc of bone, ascertained beyond doubt to be part of the human vertebræ. There are also numerous bronze torques finely worked, and a fragment of a jewel similar in workmanship to the finest granulated or filigree jewellery so well known at Genoa and Venice at the present day. A skeleton of a female was found adorned with necklace, bracelets, and anklets. A bracelet, from its diminutive size, must have been retained on the arm during its growth from childhood to womanhood. Not the least curious is an ornament composed of a material which gave rise to many conjectures, but which careful{93} analysis shows to consist of some argillaceous or ceramic compound, finely pulverised, then agglutinised and compressed until it formed a solid agglomerated substance of a texture capable of receiving the highest polish. The revelations of these ancient sepultures, and the high artistic merit of the articles they contain, justify the inference that the “barbarism” with which Julius Cæsar was so impressed in Gaul, was a barbarism strongly impregnated with civilisation.

The annual summer congress of the Royal Archæological Institute will be held this year at Newcastle-on-Tyne, during the week from Tuesday, August 5, to Wednesday, August 13 inclusive, under the Presidentship of the Duke of Northumberland. Tuesday, the 5th, will be devoted to an inspection of the castle and cathedral of Newcastle, after the public reception of the Society by the Mayor and Corporation at the inaugural meeting. On Wednesday the Archæologists will visit Warkworth and Alnwick Castle, which will be described by Mr. Clark. On Thursday they will go by train to Beal, from which place Lindisfarne and Holy Island with its church and castle will be visited. Friday will be devoted to a visit by rail to Belford and to Bamburgh Castle. On Saturday the annual meeting of the Society will be held. At its conclusion the members will proceed to Jarrow, Monkwearmouth, and, by steamer down the river, to Tynemouth. On Sunday a special service will be held in the cathedral, when it is expected that the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr. Wilberforce, will preach. Monday will be devoted to an inspection of sundry parts of the Roman wall, and to a visit to Chesters, where the Roman remains will be explained by the Rev. J. C. Bruce. On Tuesday the Archæologists will go by train to Corbridge, from which they will visit Aydon Castle, Bywell, and Prudhoe Castle. Wednesday will be occupied by a visit to Durham, where the cathedral and castle, and probably Finchall Priory, will be inspected. There will be a meeting on the evening of Tuesday, at which papers will be read, and probably, also, at least one conversazione. A temporary local museum, under Mr. R. Blair, F.S.A., will be open during the week in the Black Gate, where also the sectional meetings will be held. Among those who have sent their names as patrons of the congress are the Duke of Portland, Lords Ravensworth and Scarbrough, the Bishops of Durham, Carlisle, Newcastle, and Hexham; Sir Charles Trevelyan, Sir Joseph Pease, Sir Edward Blackett, Sir Matthew White Ridley, and Sir Walter James, &c.

“In the early part of last winter,” writes a correspondent of The Times, “operations were begun in the bed of the Rhone, at Geneva, in connection with a scheme for utilising the power of the stream for mechanical purposes. During the work a part of the river bed, near the island on which stands Julius Cæsar’s Tower, and where Philibert Berthelier, the Genevan patriot, suffered death, was laid bare, and in view of the great antiquity of Geneva, and the fact that it was an Allobrogian town before it became a Roman station, sanguine expectations were entertained as to the likelihood of making important archæologic finds.” These hopes have not been disappointed; for there has been lately found, buried in gravel among a range of piles, relics of the lacustrine age, a block of white Jurassic rock, evidently dressed by the hand of man, and having in the centre a circular depression surrounded by a sort of crown. Further examination showed it to be the upper part of a Roman altar. It is in the ordinary form of a pilaster with capitals and a corresponding base terminating in a crown, in relief, cut in the stone. The height of the relic is 80 centimetres, the width 33. There is no other trace of ornamentation{94} than the mouldings and cornices of the upper and lower parts, but on the principal face there appears an inscription, in superb letters and an admirable state of preservation. It runs thus: DEO NEPTVN C. VITALINIV VICTORINVS MILES LEGI. XXII. ACVRIS V. S. L. M. Only two letters are lacking. At the end of the second word the engraver had not room for the final O, and at the end of the fourth word an S has been effaced by time or worn away by water. The word legionis has been shortened into LEGI, but the truncation of the I may be due to an accidental erasure. The inscription, which is easily read, is to the following effect:—Deo Neptuno, C. Vitalinius Victorinus, miles legionis XXII., a curis, votum solvit libens merito. The author, therefore, was a soldier of the twenty-second legion, Caius Vitalinius Victorinus, who, having without doubt escaped shipwreck on the lake, had vowed to raise an altar to Neptune, the god of the waves, and by a singular chance the whole stone of the Jura which testifies to the fulfilment of his vow has been preserved by falling into the very waters from which he was saved. Besides this altar stone, several other objects have lately been found in the bed of the river; among them are the upper part of a tin vase representing, in relief, Diana and Endymion, and a transparent stone cut in facets; the latter, if not false, will be highly interesting and valuable.

Antiquarian Correspondence.

All communications must be accompanied by the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication.

HERALDIC QUERY.

Sir,—Can any of your readers kindly inform me what family bears or bore the arms “Ermine, on a bend azure three lions rampant or”?

T. J. H.

ISLE D’ECOSSE.

Sir,—In Aytoun’s “Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers,” there is a ballad entitled the “Island of the Scots,” setting forth that in 1697, France and Germany being at war, an island in the Rhine, strongly garrisoned by German troops under General Stirke, was attacked and taken in a most gallant manner by a company of Scotsmen, exiles from their own country, and in the service of the King of France; and that this island has ever since been known by the name of Isle d’Ecosse. Can you inform me where this isle is situated, and where I can see a detailed account of the above passage of arms? The isle, I may add, is not mentioned by Murray.

R. M. B.

MINING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

Sir,—In the Lansdowne MSS. (57, fol. 146) in the British Museum, may be seen a copy of a licence granted in December, 1588, by Queen Elizabeth, to one John Nicholls, for a term of six months, to dig for “mynes or myneralls of golde, silver, tynne, or leade, hidden within the earth, in the counties of Middlesex, Hertford, Buckingham, and Kent.”{95} What success may have attended his searches in the other counties I know not; but as I searched in vain for any notice to the effect of a renewal of the grant so far as concerns Hertfordshire, it is more than probable that Master John Nicholls did not find “myning” a very profitable occupation in that county. Can any of your readers throw light upon the subject?

Fossor.

THE NAME OF FOSTAL.

Sir,—Can you, or any of your readers, kindly assist me in throwing light on the derivation of Fostal, a commonplace name in Kent? I believe there are some dozen places bearing the name, but variously spelled as Fostal, Fostalls, Forstals, and Forstalls. In Herne parish, not far from Herne Bay, there is a Fostall and Fostall Farm, and in Ospringe parish, near Faversham, a place called Painter’s Forstal. Prof. Skeat, I believe, explains it as “Fore” and “Stall” (= Stead), a place in front of a farm (?). There are generally trees near at hand, and the people in this locality connect the word with forest-alling and regrating—most absurdly as I think.

H. F. Woolrych.

Oare Vicarage, Faversham.

RICHARD, ARCHBISHOP OF MESSINA.

Sir,—Can any of your readers give me some account of the Archbishop of Messina, an Englishman, the subject of the accompanying paragraph, which I have translated from an Italian paper, the Italia, of May 31:—

“At the Villa Guzzi, near Messina, the interesting discovery has been made of the sarcophagus of Richard, English Archbishop of Messina, who died A.D. 1195. The sarcophagus is decorated with a bas-relief in the Byzantine style, having for its subject, the Saviour seated; on His right is shown the Virgin Mary standing, whilst on His left is the Archbishop, likewise in a standing position. There is also an inscription on each corner.”

This account is meagre as far as it goes; and I should feel interested in learning something more about this English Archbishop of Messina.

M. H. C.

Spezia, Italy.

“THE SENTENCE OF PONTIUS PILATE.”

(See vol. v. pp. 80, 217.)

Sir,—Since writing the note at the second reference, I have ascertained that the alleged death-warrant of Jesus Christ appeared in the National Magazine (published in Liverpool) for Oct. 1877. In this version only three names are appended to the sentence, and the phraseology is somewhat different.

But what I wish to point out at present is the glaring contradictions occurring in the three copies before me as to the date of the finding of this curiosity. According to the above-named magazine it was discovered “in the year 1825,” the Catholic Fireside account says 1820, while your version has “A.D. 1280.” May not the latter date be a misprint for 1820? If not, were excavations in search of Roman antiquities made in Naples in the thirteenth century?

P. J. Mullin.

HELSTON FURRY DANCE.

Sir,—As the very interesting subject of the Helston Furry Day has been opened by Canon Boger (see vol. v. p. 251), may I add a few remarks on it?

1. As to the term Floralia or Flora Day, except from a descriptive standpoint I should demur to the theory that the Helston festival of May 8 is a continuation or survival of the Roman Floralia, although some persons may favour that view. It is probably in origin purely Celtic, and is connected with the Roman Floral festival only in that it also expresses the joy of May.

2. The origin of the custom may be held to be “lost in remote antiquity” solely in the sense that we cannot actually date its institution. The local legend relates that it was instituted in the middle ages as a rejoicing for the deliverance of Helston from the plague: a not improbable solution of the Helston myth that here St. Michael overcame Satan, and forced him to drop the “Hell stone,” still seen in the “Angel yard.” The parish church is dedicated to St. Michael, and May 8 is, I believe, the feast of the apparition of St. Michael on St. Michael’s Mount. It is not improbable that the deliverance of Helston from the plague was attributed to the patron of the town, i.e., St. Michael, who overcame the demon of the plague.

3. The Helston furry dance is a definite institution, unlike any other dance that I know. I do not know to what “various dances” Canon Boger refers; probably to the ball in the evening, which, I believe, is conducted in the modern fashion.

4. The ceremony is somewhat this: The party assemble at the Market House, the local aristocracy at 1 p.m. In 1883 there were thirty-one couples of the gentry, this year there were thirty-two couples. The tradesmen’s dance at 4 p.m. was not quite so numerously supported as the upper class one. The volunteer band marches to the gate with three javelin men with lances crowned with flowers. At the appointed time the band strikes up the Celtic Furry tune. The dancers then proceed, two and two, pirouetting and changing partners at certain places. They go into the houses, passing out of the back doors through the gardens, and then re-enter the houses from the back. As they leave the houses in some places they ring the bells. The effect is very singular, but to anyone fond of ancient customs is full of interest as a survival from mediæval times, and such a survival as could hardly have continued except in a remote part of England. Most of the Helston May customs belong to mediæval customs of Merrie England, e.g., the boughs outside the houses, the procession dance (though most of our English May dances were held round the May-pole), but the going in and out of the houses and also the music of the Furry tune are distinctively Cornish.

W. S. Lach-Szyrma.

PORTS AND CHESTERS.

(See ante, p. 47.)

Sir,—I should not have thought it necessary to notice “A. H.’s” singular effusion in your last number (see p. 47), but for the welcome illustration it affords of what Mr. Allen has so happily termed that “easy off-hand theory,” which “shirks all the real difficulties of the question” (ante, v. 286). In trying to pursue his own more searching and scholarly{97} method of dealing with these “interesting philological fossils,” I am only too glad that those who despise this method as “word-twisting,” and prefer to leap at conclusions, should expound, as a contrast, their views.

As to “A. H.’s” first point, it is based simply on mis-statements. I never used the word “borrowed” myself. My expression was: “incorporated before the settlement” (ante, v. 286). Nor did I ever claim any of these words as “generically an English word,” or as “English forms of some Teutonic roots.” On the contrary, I gave “the Latin words” (v. 285) from which they were each etymologically derived. My contention was that they had become “distinctly English words” by being

It is necessary to put this as strongly as possible in order to accentuate the distinction. Thus, when “A. H.” speaks of “lamentable confusion” (so well illustrated in his own letter), he is using “distinctly English words,” though they are derived from Latin originals. If I, on the other hand, should say “Naviget Anticyram,” I should be using distinctly Latin words. And, lastly, when “A. H.” seeks to “ramify” the “purport” of a paper (ante, p. 47), he is using an expression unknown, I believe, to any language, living or dead.

As to the Welsh caer or kair, I never said, or could have supposed, that it was derived from the Latin castrum. I merely quoted Mr. Allen’s reminder that, on the departure of the Romans, this native form supplanted theirs in place names, before the arrival of the English. Ergo, the erudition of “A. H.” is obviously nihil ad rem.

As to port, what we have to account for is not, as “A. H.” crudely imagines, “the modern word Port,” but the Anglo-Saxon port, which can be conclusively shown to have been used not in the sense of either portus or porta, but of a market (or trading) town. Leicester and Oxford were obviously not “ports” in our modern sense of the word, but they were “ports” in the Anglo-Saxon sense of it, and, as such, had a “portmanmote” for their governing body. We know, as I have shown, from Domesday, that Port Meadow, so-called from belonging to the town (or “port”) of Oxford, was in existence then as the town meadow. “Port Meadow at Oxford,” says Mr. Olifant (“Old and Middle English,” p. 78), “speaks of ... port, used by our pagan forefathers as a name for town; indeed, port and upland stood for town and country.” To “Port Meadow” I may now add “Portmanseyt” (the eyot of the Portmen or Burgesses), which stood near it in the river (“Calendar of Bodleian Charters,” p. 312), and also “two pieces of land and marsh-land sometime called Portemarshe [cf. Portmeadow] and now being divided, called by the several names of the Easter Portemarche and the Wester Portemarche,” at Barnstaple, in 1610 (9th Rep. Hist. MSS. I. 214a).

“A. H.” defiantly inquires, how “can the prefix [in Portway] be of English origin, if it means ‘carry?’ ” But I never said it did, or indeed mentioned it at all. A far simpler explanation of the word would be the “way” that led from one “port” to another.

The solution of “A. H.’s” irritation is of course to be found in his eagerness to contend that “port” (in “port-reeve”) was “not introduced as a new English word, but preserved by Celto-Romans from Latin usage,” and that, consequently, “our Lord Mayor” can be traced{98} through the Port-reeve to Roman times. This is the longed-for conclusion at which “A. H.” and Dr. Pring, though starting from opposite premisses, would arrive with equal confidence, the “dead certainty” on which “A. H.” so naturally dreads and so impatiently resents that discussion which it cannot stand.

J. H. Round.

A BIBLIOGRAPHIC CURIOSITY.

Sir,—In the N. B. Advertiser and Ladies’ Journal for Jan. 12 is published a long but interesting letter from a Dundee correspondent, signing himself C. R. R., in which the writer makes known his discovery of the long-lost “lewd sang,” which was appended to an early edition of the psalm-book known as the “Guid and Godlie Ballattes.” To those of your readers south of the Tweed who take an interest in Scottish bibliography the following somewhat lengthy quotation from the letter mentioned can scarcely fail to be acceptable. I may remark further that Dr. Laing’s reprint, therein referred to, was issued in 1868:—

About thirty-five years ago the late Mr. Alexander Langlands, clerk in the Dundee Bank, purchased at the sale of the lares et penates of a deceased teacher, for the sum of eightpence, a lot of literary scraps, among which the article about to be described was found, and which proved to be an imperfect copy of the “Guid and Godlie Ballattes.”

When Dr. Laing was engaged in the publication of his reprint, this was lent him, the price offered for its purchase being far below the rather extravagant value attached to it by its owner. It is evident the Doctor never examined it very carefully; he states in a biographical note attached to his reprint that he had once had a fragment of a smaller copy, but the leaves had fallen aside. The fact is, I think, pretty obvious that these leaves and the present copy were one and the same, as great difficulty was experienced by Mr. Langlands before it was returned, and it was only restored by the intervention of a personal friend of the Doctor’s after the lapse of many months; the gentleman’s name I do not feel at liberty to make public, but may say he has done good work in connection with Wedderburn’s memory, and holds a high position in a seat of learning. Mr. Langlands eventually parted with his valuable leaves to their present possessor for a sum which was considered an extremely liberal one. Mr. Langlands soon after passed from the scene, full of years, leaving many attached friends behind.

Herbert, in his edition of “Ames Typographical Antiquities,” part iii. p. 1491, states “that a ‘Psalm Buik’ was printed at Edinburgh by Thomas Bassendyne in 1568, at the end of which was printed ‘ane lewd sang,’ entitled ‘Welcum Fortoun.’ ” The book was ordered by the General Assembly to be called in, the title to be altered, that the “lewd sang be delete,” and the printer be subjected to penalties. No copy of the book or of the lewd song is now known to exist. (See also “Buik of the Universall Kirk.”) Dr. Laing adds his testimony to Herbert’s assertions.

The fragment referred to is printed in the black letter, the letterpress measures 4½ inches by 2½ inches. It commences on folio 4, the leaves, not the pages, being numbered, and by a printer’s error folio 112 is numbered 113. The signs run from A to O in eights, sign P having four leaves which are not numbered. The first three leaves of sign A are lost, and folio 4 commences with some short prayers. These missing leaves were doubtless occupied by the title, probably a short address to the{99} reader, and the first portion of the above-mentioned prayers. Sign P 1 to 3 are occupied by a table, and on the obverse of P 4 is printed—“With The Haill hundredth and Fyftie Psalmis of David,” Sternhold and Hopkins’s Version. And beneath is the imprint thus—“Improntit at Edinburgh, be John Scot. Anno Do. 1567.” The reverse contains some doxologies, and, having no catch-word, has a finished appearance. Whether the above is to be considered as the title-page for the Psalms to follow, or as an advertisement for a separate book, I will not presume to decide, but at that time such advertisements were not common. On the reverse of O 8 the long-lost song, entitled “Welcum Fortoun,” is found, and is printed below. If ever the Scripture words, “Unto the pure all things are pure,” were applicable, it is in the present case, for it could only be by a far-fetched innuendo or a specious construing of words that the Assembly could have arrived at their decision and verdict. But I am rather inclined to think that the sin of the printer must have consisted more in the fact of his placing a secular song in conjunction with sacred hymns, and the more especially with the productions of the Divine Psalmist:—

WELCUM FORTOUN.

This unique edition, and certainly the earliest known, although I do not by any means consider it the first, in its contents other than the above, agrees with Dr. Laing’s reprint, and I only regret that he should have been removed by the grim tyrant demanding his heriot before the discovery was made. The fortunate owner of the precious brochure is Patrick Anderson, Esq., merchant, Dundee, who, by a curious coincidence, resides in the ancient home of Alexander Wedderburn, Town Clerk of Dundee, and who entertained his sapient Majesty James VI., of tobacco-defaming notoriety, on his visit to Dundee in 1617.

Leith, N.B.

P. J. MULLIN.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The Editor declines to pledge himself for the safety or return of MSS. voluntarily tendered to him by strangers.

Books Received.

1. Quads within Quads. Field & Tuer, Ye Leadenhalle Presse. 1884.

2. Johns Hopkins’ University Studies. Second Series, v.-vi. Baltimore. June, 1884.

3. English Etchings. Part xxxviii. D. Bogue, 3, St. Martin’s-place, W.C.

4. The Genealogist. No. 3. Bell & Sons. July, 1884.

5. Vico. By Robert Flint. Blackwood & Sons. 1884.

6. Palatine Note-book. July. Manchester: J. E. Cornish.

7. Western Antiquary. June. Plymouth: W. B. Luke.

8. Mr. William Shakespeare’s Tragedie of Hamlet. Reprint of 1623 folio. Simpkin, Marshall & Co. 1884.

9. Le Livre, No. 55. Paris, 7, Rue St. Benoit. July, 1884.

10. Archæological Journal, No. 162.

11. Old Nottinghamshire. Edited by J. P. Briscoe, F.R.H.S. Second Series. Hamilton, Adams & Co. 1884.

Books, &c., for Sale.

Works of Hogarth (set of original Engravings, elephant folio, without text), bound. Apply by letter to W. D., 56, Paragon-road, Hackney, N.E.

Original water colour portrait of Jeremy Bentham, price 2 guineas. Apply to the Editor of this Magazine.

A large collection of Franks, Peers, and Commoners. Apply to E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, N.W.

Books, &c., Wanted to purchase.

Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer, several copies of No. 2 (February, 1882) are wanted, in order to complete sets. Copies of the current number will be given in exchange at the office.

Dodd’s Church History, 8vo., vols. i. ii. and v.; Waagen’s Art and Artists in England, vol. i.; East Anglian, vol. i., Nos. 26 and 29. The Family Topographer, by Samuel Tymms, vols. iii. and iv.; Notes and Queries, 5th series, vols. vi., vii. (1876-7); also the third Index. Johnson’s “Lives of the Poets” (Ingram and Cooke’s edition), vol. iii. A New Display of the Beauties of England, vol. i., 1774. Chambers’ Cyclopædia of English Literature, vol. i. Address, E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, Edgeware-road, N.W. {101} {102}

GLOVES OF SHAKESPEARE, IN THE POSSESSION OF MISS BENSON.
(From “Gloves: their Annals and Associations.”)

{103}

The
Antiquarian Magazine
& Bibliographer.

Shakespeare’s Gloves

By S. William Beck, F.R.H.S.

NOUGH has been written of the calamities of authors, the mishaps which have befallen precious MSS., their unfortunate mistakes, their afflictions in many and various degrees of misery, but of their consolations, of their happy stumbling on the clue to some historical puzzle, the accidental discovery of some fresh information on a treasured subject, their reward in at last finding some long-sought facts—of all this we have heard little or nothing. But something of such pleasure comes to most students; not so often as could be wished, perhaps, but possibly quite as frequently as is good for study. And such good hap did I hold to have fallen to my lot, when, in the autumn of 1882, I casually came across the announcement in a newspaper that a pair of gloves, once the property of Shakespeare, were on loan to the Worcester Industrial Exhibition then open, to illustrate the oldest-established and yet the most considerable industry of the Fair City. Gloves, and their connection with ceremonials now obsolete, and customs only blindly followed, had long before been a favourite subject of mine; and as I found how it led farther and farther afield into history, and how closely it touched our national life, it became altogether fascinating, and I was even then preparing for publication a book upon it. If I held myself fortunate in chancing upon a reference to so interesting a{104} relic, as these gloves promised to prove, still more cause did there seem for congratulation when a request to their owner for further information led to their being most courteously entrusted to my care to be photographed, and to my being furnished with the several facts relating to their identity narrated on p. 122 of my “Gloves: their Annals and Associations.” I “enthoozed” over these gloves not a little, with no small reverence and half a hope that some reflected inspiration might follow on what many people would regard as little short of sacrilege, I ventured to put them on my hands, holding myself in great measure excused by a very fair descent of them from the keeping of Garrick to their present possessor, and by the undoubted fact that they were at least attributable to the period from which they were said to date. They are, at any rate, relics of undoubted age and value, apart from any other considerations; not like those with which Mr. Black invests “Judith Shakespeare,” in the novel with that title, now appearing in Harper’s Magazine. Here the young lady at one time wears, correctly and properly, a fine pair of gloves, scented and embroidered, that her father had brought her from London, but when (on p. 541) one of her lovers has departed from her in dudgeon, she very prettily—for she is a charming young lady—looks “after him for a moment or two, as she fastened a glove button that had got loose.” This is very unfortunate, for people did not wear buttoned gloves then, nor for a long time after, until it was desired to make them fit closely and display, rather than merely cover, the hand, whereas it was the glove, and not the proportions of the hand, that was made most conspicuous in Shakespeare’s day.

In January of this year I received from Mr. Horace Howard Furness, of Philadelphia, the eminent Shakespearian scholar, the following letter:—

Before proceeding further, let us bring in evidence the extracts adduced to establish the authenticity of these gloves.

(Private Correspondence of David Garrick, vol. i. p. 352.)

Mr. John Ward[22] to Mr. Garrick.

Leominster, May 31st, 1769.

Dear Sir,—On reading the newspapers, I find you are preparing a grand jubilee, to be kept at Stratford-upon-Avon, to the memory of the immortal Shakespeare. I have sent you a pair of gloves which have often covered his hands. They were made me a present by a descendant of the family, when myself and company went over there from Warwick in the year 1746, to perform the play of “Othello” as a benefit, for repairing his monument in the great church, which we did gratis, the whole of the receipts being expended upon that alone.

The person who gave them to me, William Shakespeare by name, assured me his father had often declared to him they were the identical gloves of our great poet, and when he delivered them to me, said, “Sir, these are the only property that remains of our famous relation; my father possessed, and sold the estate he left behind him, and these are all the recompense I can make you for this night’s performance.”

The donor was a glazier by trade, very old, and, to the best of my memory, lived in the street leading from the Townhall down to the river. On my coming to play in Stratford about three years after, he was dead. The father of him and our poet were brothers’ children.

The veneration I bear to the memory of our great author and player makes me wish to have these relics preserved to his immortal memory, and I am led to think I cannot deposit them for that purpose in the hands of any person so proper as our modern Roscius.

I am, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
John Ward.[23]

P.S.—I shall be glad to hear you receive them safe, by a line directed for me in the Bargate, Leominster, Herefordshire. {106}

(Campbell’s Life of Mrs. Siddons, vol. ii. pp. 369-370.)

“The widow of Garrick died in 1822, at a venerable age. She made the following bequest to the great actress, in a codicil to her will, dated August 15, 1822:—

“I give to Mrs. Siddons a pair of gloves which were Shakespeare’s, and were presented by one of his family to my late dear husband during the jubilee at Stratford-upon-Avon.”

Information of the above reached Mrs. Siddons, with this note from Mrs. Garrick’s executors:—

“5, Adelphi Terrace, Oct. 30, 1822.

“Madam,—We beg leave to transmit to you the above extract from a codicil to Mrs. Garrick’s will, and to acquaint you that we will have the honour of waiting on you, for the purpose of delivering the relic therein mentioned, whenever you may be so good as to inform us that it may be convenient to you to receive our visit.

“We remain, with much respect, Madam,
“Your most obedient humble servants,
“Thos. Rackett, } Executors.”
“G. F. Beltz, }

It is unfortunate that we have not the knowledge which led the editor of Garrick’s “Correspondence” to underwrite Ward’s letter with such a pithy postscript, and very regrettable that he should not have been brought to book for his pains, particularly as his name is not given on the title-page. The gloves, which may reasonably be referred to, bear, so far as I can judge from the photograph with which Mr. Furness has since favoured me, every mark of belonging to Shakespeare’s day, and were at any rate of some value, worth too much intrinsically to be lightly given away by an ordinary glazier; for, quoting the description of Mr. Furness, the embroidery upon them, “as well as the fringe is all in gold thread, still untarnished, the edging is of pink silk, which is continued in the inside, an inch and a half in width. They are about fourteen inches long, and six inches wide at the base of the gauntlet.”

There is no conflict of identity between these gloves and those pictured in my pages, for the latter are declared to have been given to Garrick by the Corporation of Stratford at the time of the Jubilee, in a finely carved box of the mulberry tree planted by Shakespeare, and to have been presented by the widow of Garrick to the direct relative of Miss Benson, who now holds them. It is very tantalising that I cannot find a precise testimony to this gift in any account of the Jubilee, although a friend of mine has searched diligently in all the contemporary accounts and county histories that can be thought of. There was, however, undoubtedly such a presentation, for Foote, when Garrick produced “The Jubilee” as an attraction at Drury-lane, determined to burlesque that and his rival together.{107} In this very practical jest, an actor intended to personate Garrick—bearing on his breast a pair of white gloves and other articles presented at the Jubilee—was to be addressed in the very words of the panegyric pronounced on Garrick at Stratford—

when Garrick’s counterfeit presentment was to flap his arms as though they were wings, and crow—

It is pleasurable to write that this burlesque was never placed upon the stage, although Foote plainly had to be coerced into suppressing it, and was not to be hindered from writing “A Satirical Account of the Jubilee,” which may be found in the 39th vol. of the Gentleman’s Magazine, p. 458. There is also no doubt of the freedom of Stratford having been presented to Garrick in a box made from the famous mulberry tree, for the resolution of the Common Council of the borough conferring this honour upon him particularly directs that it should be so conveyed (“Staffordshire and Warwickshire Past and Present,” vol. iii. p. 116).

The friend to whom I have already acknowledged my deep indebtedness in this quest, sends me from West’s “History of Warwickshire” trace of yet another pair of gloves associated, at least traditionally, with the Prince of Poets, and long kept on view in Anne Hathaway’s cottage at Shottery. There were several such articles there, and among them “a chair, termed ‘Shakespeare’s courting chair,’ a purse about four inches square, wrought with white and black bugles and beads; a small inkstand, and a pair of fringed gloves. These articles were said to have been handed down from Shakespeare to his grand-daughter Lady Barnard, and from her through the Hathaway family to those of the present day. Influenced by the currency of this tradition, Mr. Ireland purchased the former two articles, and Mr. George Garrick the latter.” Here again, however, we find a discordant doubt expressed, for the writer continues, “but these reliques will not bear examination. It will be uniformly found, by those who make enquiries, without an effort at self-deception, that there is not a single article of any nature extant that has been proved to have belonged to Shakespeare. There is at present a bedstead with massive pillars, shewn as having belonged to Anne Hathaway, but we consider it in character with the articles attributed to Shakespeare.”

This scepticism and disbelief is doubtless honest enough, but it is{108} certainly too sweeping. These latter gloves are not now, within my knowledge, in existence; as for the other two pairs I leave your readers to judge whether these remarks apply to them, or whether one, or both, may not be fairly considered to be hallowed by the associations claimed for them.

The Dignity of a Mayor; or, Municipal Insignia of Office.

By R. S. Ferguson, F.S.A., Mayor of Carlisle 1881-2 and 1882-3.

PART II.

(Continued from p. 71.)

THE ordinary shape of a great mace is well known, and needs little description. A shaft and a bell-like head; on the base of the bell are the royal arms, and the bell is ornamented by an open-arched crown with orb and cross on the top. The sides of the bell are divided into four compartments by demi-female figures; and the rose, thistle, harp, and fleur-de-lis, each occupies a compartment, and is crowned. The shaft is divided into stages, and flying supports occur beneath the bell, and the shaft and base are covered with foliage. The heads frequently unscrew, and form loving cups. At Beaumaris the bells of the two maces contain drinking cups, and at Pwllheli the mace is nothing else but a two-handled drinking cup, with an oak pole stuck up its hollow foot.

The sergeants’ maces are simpler in form, and the crown is a mere open circle of fleur-de-lis and crosses.

At Nottingham the sheriff has a mace, and at one or two places there are maces for the mayoress.

When the Crown visits a town, the mayor should give up his staff of office to the king, or queen, and himself bear the mace before his sovereign. At Coventry, when William III. visited that city, the mayor carried the mace and an alderman the sword. To a royal personage other than his sovereign, the staff should not be given up, unless that personage be there to represent the sovereign, but the mayor should carry the mace. In 1503 the Lord Mayor of York himself carried the mace before the Princess Margaret. On the occasion of royal visits to the City of London, the Lord Mayor tenders to the sovereign his jewelled sceptre. Sometimes the mace{109} itself is given up to the sovereign, as at Stafford, where the mayor kissed the mace and handed it to James I., who admired it greatly, and then returned it. At Cambridge the mayor delivered his mace to Queen Anne, who did the like.

Many corporations, in addition to their maces, possess swords of state or honour. According to the best authorities, the oldest symbols of municipal powers were the sword and the dragon, both of Roman origin, the one being the cohortal ensign of the Romans, the other the insignia of Supreme Justice.

The sword, then, is the symbol of criminal jurisdiction, as the mace is of civil. The County Palatinate of Chester had a state sword, which is figured in the Visitation of that county in 1580, published by the Harleian Society; while the Bishop of Durham, so long as he was a temporal power and had criminal jurisdiction, was presented with a sword on taking possession of his see.

The right to have a sword borne before a mayor was originally conferred either by charter, which may often have merely confirmed a previous practice, or by a royal present of a sword. Thus James I. gave the City of Canterbury a sword to be borne before the mayor. Hull has two swords, one given by Henry VIII., the other by Charles I. The authorities of Carlisle purchased a “Sword of Honour” in 1635-6 for £4 13s. The blade at least was second-hand, for it bears the date of 1509, and was made at Milan. The authority to bear it was given by royal charter in 1637, but it was probably purchased in London by a deputation who went there to arrange about procuring the charter. On the locket of the sheath is cut the letter S in great size, and I have never found a satisfactory account of what it means, unless it stands for sword. Our governing charter at Carlisle gives us the right to have a sword by authorising us to have an official “qui erit et vocabitur Portator Gladii nostri coram Mayore Civitatis prædictæ.”

The grant by charter of a sword differs in various places: at King’s Lynn the sword is to be sheathed, at Chester it is to be borne before the mayor “in our absence,” and point upright. I take it that the sword should always be point upright, and that the Corporations of London and York are wrong in putting it on their achievements of arms with the point down. I take it, it should never be lowered but{110} in the presence of the Crown. The swords are generally sheathed, but the sword at Great Yarmouth is carried unsheathed in time of a European war. At Lichfield a sword is kept permanently fixed over the mayor’s pew, and sheathed, but the sheath is withdrawn when the mayor attends church. At Carmarthen the sword, by charter of Henry VIII., is ordered to be “freely and lawfully” borne before the “said mayor in manner as is accustomed to be done in our City of London.” A curious story comes from Coventry, that in 1384 the sword was carried behind the mayor because he had not done justice. The Corporation of Chester and the dean and chapter of that place fell out about the sword; the ecclesiastics objected to the mayor bringing his sword to church, but it was decided that

The information I have before me only furnishes the names of five places as having Caps of Estate or Maintenance, namely, London, York, Coventry, Exeter, and Waterford. They are generally worn by the swordbearer, and I imagine that many more places than I have mentioned provide their swordbearers with fur coverings for their heads; but it is not to be taken for granted that every fancy hat, whether of fur or not, worn by a swordbearer is a Cap of Maintenance. Gwillim defines a cap of maintenance as a cap of dignity, worn by dukes in token of good government and freedom. Planché makes it the same as the “Abacot,” a cap worn during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and commencement of the sixteenth centuries by royal and noble personages, varying in form, and ultimately taking a shape not unlike a Glengarry cap, made of crimson velvet and lined with ermine, and occasionally placed by heralds beneath crests instead of the ordinary wreath. It appears of that shape as a crest to the arms of the City of York, but at London, both in the armorial bearings and on the swordbearer’s head, it is of fur, of the shape of an inverted flower-pot. At Coventry it is also of fur, and round, while at Exeter I believe it is of red velvet. The history of this is known: it was presented to the City of Exeter by Henry VII., and was worn by the swordbearer until lately, when, on the suggestion of Mr. Tucker (Somerset Herald), it was ordered to be carried before the mayor on a cushion. I do not know the history of the other fur caps of maintenance I have enumerated. If I did I might be able to throw some light on the matter, but I own to being a little in the dark as to caps of maintenance. If, as Gwillim says, the cap of maintenance{111} is a mark of freedom, its association with the swordbearer (the sword denoting criminal jurisdiction) may mean freedom from all extraneous criminal jurisdiction.

If this is so, I would suggest to the powers that be to lay down the following rules:—

The Corporations of Colchester, Dover, Southampton, Norwich, Beaumaris, Preston, Great Yarmouth, Poole, Rochester, Boston, Waterford, &c., possess Silver Oars, the symbol of the maritime jurisdiction once enjoyed by those places, but abolished by the Act of 1840, placing all creeks and rivers in Great Britain under the High Court of Admiralty. The origin of this symbol is not known, but it is a natural one, and is, or was [for the Court is merged, I suppose, into the High Court of Justice] the badge or mace of the High Court of Admiralty, and was laid before the Judge, as the great mace used to be laid before the Chancellor, when he presided in Chancery. The one belonging to the High Court of Admiralty is said to be 130 years old, but an older one with the arms of Queen Elizabeth thereon was once in existence. That belonging to the Admiralty of the Cinque Ports is older still. One belongs to the Governor of Bermuda, who has Admiralty jurisdiction. These civic oars, like the maces, divide into two classes: large ones, like that formerly at Boston, or that now at Great Yarmouth, meant to be carried as maces before the mayor; small ones, as at Colchester and Dover, the badges of authority of the water-bailiffs, who showed them, when executing process, as the sergeants-at-mace did their maces. That at Dover is 6 in. long, and is contained in a brass cylindrical box. The Colchester one is 10 in. The one which was sold by Boston in 1832 is 3 ft. 3 in. long, and was carried as a mace; it is of the date of Queen Elizabeth, and is now in the possession of Lord Brownlow. That at Yarmouth is 4 ft. long, and has the Royal arms and those of the borough on the blade. It was presented in 1745, and is of silver gilt. It is carried before the mayor and behind the maces. Rochester possesses both a great and small silver oar.

Much information as to silver oars will be found in the 30th and 31st volumes of the Institute’s Journal.

By far the greatest part of the chains and badges worn by mayors{112} are modern, of various degrees of ugliness, and I certainly hope the antiquaries of a future age will not judge of the art of the nineteenth century from a collection of mayors’ chains. There are exceptions, such as the chain presented to Exeter by the Institute in 1874, which consists of sixteen main links, conjoined by small ones. Of the former, eight are castles, an idea taken from the arms of the city; seven are composed of the letter X, surmounted by a crown; the sixteenth is a cinquefoil, containing a representation of the hat presented to the mayor by Henry VII., and from the cinquefoil depends the badge on which is, in enamel, the arms of the city.

I do not know that a mayor’s chain and badge has any particular symbolism; I do not think that it is in the nature of a “collar.” It merely marks out its wearer as a man of importance, and requires no special authority to authorise its assumption. It is part of the idea of a mayor, inherent in him. But I must protest against some municipalities which have, without any right whatever, provided their mayors with collars of SS. The Lord Mayor of Dublin wears one, but the collar was given to the city by Charles II., so there is no doubt as to his right to wear it; but I think the Lord Mayor of London would find great difficulty in satisfying the College of Arms as to his right to a collar of SS, which was given him (temp. Henry VIII.), not by the Crown, but by a subject, Sir John Alleyne. The town council of Cork coolly ordered a fac-simile of the Dublin one to be provided for their mayor. The council of Derby purchased Lord Denman’s collar of SS, and their mayor wears it. Coventry, Nottingham, Stamford, Kingston-on-Thames, and other places possess modern chains of the “SS pattern,” as the jewellers call it, and their mayors wear them. They might with equal propriety assume the insignia of the Order of the Garter.

The use of chains is not confined to mayors; several other civic dignitaries wear them—sheriffs, and aldermen in some instances. York provides a gold chain for its Lady Mayoress, and is ungallant enough to weigh the chain when it is handed to a new Lady Mayoress, and again when she gives it up; an old scandal asserts that a former Lady Mayoress appropriated some of the links. Hull, which, by the way, possesses a mayor’s chain of the date of 1564, sold its Mayoress’s chain. At many towns the waits, or town musicians, had badges with chains for suspension: these are generally of silver, and the badges bear the arms of the place. Several curious examples exist. Lincoln has a mayor’s ring, but whether it is ancient or not I do not know, nor do I know of any other place.{113}

As to civic robes, I can give no information and lay down no rules. The mayor of Carlisle is one of the few mayors who possess no robe, and I rather congratulate myself thereon. I was utterly unprepared for the gorgeous spectacle presented by my brother mayors at the Mansion House in 1882. Every variety of material, of colour, and of pattern was to be seen that the wildest imagination of the tailor could devise.

Although the mayor of Carlisle has no gown, the unreformed corporation of Carlisle had them in the seventeenth century, as shown by the records of a Court Leet, held on Monday, October 22, 1649:—

The lateness of the hour warns me to stop. I daresay many of you think I have been but wasting the evening in gossip over trivial matters. “But,” as Mr. Thompson writes, in his “English Municipal History,”—

The Name and Office of Port-Reeve.

By James Hurly Pring, M.D.

PART II.

(Continued from Vol. IV. p. 266.)

THE transference of the significance of words beyond the scope to which it was originally applied, is so obvious and generally recognised a fact, that I did not consider it necessary to insist more particularly upon it in my former paper.

Many of your readers would doubtless be able to call to mind numerous examples of the kind, and, indeed, I did not credit any of them with being unacquainted with so common and notorious a fact, and one which suggests itself so readily in the instance of the word port which was the word here specially under discussion.{114}

It may, however, under the circumstances, be well to call attention to that very remarkable instance of the kind which has been made familiar to us by Mr. Isaac Taylor, in his “Words and Places.” He states (p. 309) that “on the Mons Palatinus—a name the etymology of which carries us back to the time when the sheep were bleating on the slope—was the residence of the Roman emperors, which, from the site, was called Palati(n)um, or Palatium. Hence the word PALACE has come to be applied to all royal and imperial residences.” And he goes on to observe, that “it is one of the curiosities of language that a petty hill-slope in Italy should have thus transferred its name to a hero of romance, to a German State, to three English counties, to a glass-house at Sydenham, and to all the royal residences in Europe.” The example thus cited is doubtless very marked and extreme of its kind, very different in this respect to the easy and obvious transference of the word port to a city enclosed within gates, the contracted word port itself being derived from the Latin porta, a city-gate.

When indeed it is considered that, like other Roman towns, each of the numerous cities or towns of Roman Britain which subsequently became a Saxon burh or borough was empowered not only to collect tolls in respect of the objects actually sold at its gates, but also (as at present in Continental towns) to levy octroi (ansaria) on all provisions and wares brought within the gates for subsequent sale at the markets (the Fora venalia) inside, it is easy to understand not only how such towns speedily came to acquire a mercantile character, but also how the word port, originally restricted to the gates where such extensive transactions were carried on, would at no distant period become applied also to the town itself.

When, therefore, the learned Professor Stubbs, now Bishop of Chester, derives the word port from porta, as referring to “a mart or city of merchants,” it is only reasonable to suppose that the recognition of this change was present to his mind, and that he had in view that advanced period in Saxon times when the word port had already become transferred from the gates themselves to the town which was enclosed within them, and was apparently applied indifferently to either. But however this may be, we may at least be absolutely assured that he never intended to imply that porta, which carries us back to the original derivation, a portando aratrum, did not primarily and originally mean a city-gate.

It is not my intention to follow Mr. Round through all his erratic criticisms of my paper. The greater part of them may safely be{115} left to the discretion of your readers; at the same time, the want of candour by which some of his remarks are characterised, will not fail to be noted. Thus, for example, when he dilates upon the occurrence of the word “underlying,” instead of “unlying,” in my reference to the Laws of Athelstan, everyone will at once perceive that this accidental error of transcription (for which I cannot account) is at least quite immaterial to the point at issue, which turns entirely upon and is wholly centred in the question of the signification of the word port. It is to an examination, therefore, of Mr. Round’s strictures on my use of this word port that I shall now advert.

Mr. Round objects to the use of the word port as synonymous with gate where it occurs in the words “out of port,” or as I have rendered it “outside the port,” in the Laws of Athelstan; he rejects the identification with or derivation from porta, of the word “port,” as insisted on by Professor Stubbs, and he limits the word port to mean only “a market or trading town,” totally discarding the notion of its having anything whatever to do with “a gate.”

And first, as Mr. Round asserts that my rendering “outside the port or gate” “is a mere gloss of my own on the word port,” perhaps he will be good enough to tell us in what light he regards the instance which he himself adduces of “Newport gate in Lincoln”? Would he in this case, according to his own rule, have the word port rendered New market-town gate? Again, in the case of the “Port of East-gate,” (portam de East Gatâ,) to which reference is made in the Charter of Henry I. to Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, it is quite manifest that here, as indeed in Newport gate, the Anglo-Saxon “geat,” on which Mr. Round dwells so fondly, is nothing more than the frequently observed reduplication of synonyms,[24] caused in this instance by the Saxons affixing this additional name of their own to the object, which under the Roman name of port or porta conveyed to them no intelligible signification. When, therefore, Mr. Round stigmatises my “rendering outside the port or gate” as “a mere ‘gloss’ of my own on the word port,” he must surely have overlooked these and similar instances in which the word port is used synonymously with gate, and more especially the fact that precisely the same{116} rendering of the word port was given nearly three hundred years ago by no less an authority than Camden. Referring to the great Roman wall, Camden states that the “two forts called Castle steeds are to be seen in the wall, and then a place called Port-gate[25] where (as the word in both languages fairly evinces) there was formerly a Gate (or sally-port) through it.[26]”

And here if we take the word sally-port thus presented to us, and I may add to this also the word port-cullis, there are few, I apprehend, except Mr. Round, who would contend that in these instances the word port means a “market town,” and has no reference to “a gate.” Even in the case of the actual word port-reeve itself, Sharon Turner is found giving the word “port” its true meaning when he explicitly states that “the port-gerefa, or the gerefa of the gate, was witness to all purchases without the gate”[27] thus in fact showing how this eminent Saxon historian and scholar read and understood the passage in the Laws of Athelstan. Numerous examples of the same kind might easily be adduced, and I might refer to those given in my former paper, which, like the common occurrence of the term extra portam, and similar illustrations of the use of porta, Mr. Round seems to have found it convenient to ignore. It is needless, however, to multiply further instances to the same effect.

Mr. Round next proceeds to point out that “the markets were held in the forum,” “that we should consequently expect the name of a market town to be derived from forum rather than from porta,” and that the “forum so far from being at the gate (porta) was unquestionably in the very centre of the settlement,” and that “as the markets were in no sense held at the porta, we are precluded from deriving port from porta”! This unique and somewhat anomalous specimen of argument, together with the unnecessary piece of information as regards the relative situation of the forum and the porta, which Mr. Round feels “compelled” to point out in order to correct the error of Professor Stubbs “in identifying ‘port’ with the Latin porta,” may all be confidently remitted to the just discrimination of your readers. I would, however, observe with respect to Mr. Round’s remarks on the position of the forum, that it was scarcely necessary for him to go to Silchester and to Cilurnum in exemplification of the well-known fact that the forum was situated in the centre of a{117} Roman town or city. This fact, indeed, is even now amply attested by the lines of conformation discoverable in many of our old borough towns, of which Taunton itself, the town from which I write, affords a very apt and striking illustration.

I think it well here to state that the foregoing observations were written in reply to Mr. Round’s first paper, but it was deemed advisable to defer their publication until after the appearance of a second promised paper, in which Mr. Round undertook to prove that port in Port-reeve was derived from portus, and not from porta, and stated that he would offer “a most satisfactory explanation,” which would “completely justify us in accepting the portus derivation.” Now, however, that the second paper has appeared, it would seem that he must have found the handling of this “portus derivation” a more awkward business than he had anticipated, for the result is that he abandons it altogether, and arrives at the conclusion that the Romans could never “have called an inland town a portus,” nor in his opinion “a porta” either!

Having thus made a summary despatch of this “most satisfactory derivation,” Mr. Round next shifts his ground in toto, and calls on us in his second paper to accept a new theory of his own, which he is about to propound, and by which he “claims port as an English word, in itself distinct from the Latin words Porta and Portus.” Whether he will be more successful with this new “theory” than he has been with his unfortunate “portus derivation” we are to be left in uncertainty until the appearance of his third paper. In the meantime, if in claiming port as an English word Mr. Round means an Anglo-Saxon word, I would observe I am aware of its occurrence in Lye’s “Anglo-Saxon Dictionary” (fol., vol. ii.), where we find “Port, a port. Portus. To tham porte, ad portum, Bed. 4. I. Civitas. Oppidum. Into tham porte. In civitatem; Ælfr. Gr. c. 5. Potius tamen, Porta civitatis vel oppidi.” Thus, then, we see port even here referred back to porta, a city-gate, as the source of its original and most accurate derivation or meaning.

It seems somewhat strange, amid the great uncertainty attending his own views, as shown by the variety of derivations which he has proposed, that Mr. Round should have failed to avail himself of the opportunity afforded him by the Celtic. In the excellent dictionary, the “Antiquæ Linguæ Britannicæ Thesaurus,” by the Rev. T. Richards, we find “Porth, a door, a porch, a haven,” and we learn that the same word exists in the Armoric. I am quite aware of the great similarity, or as it has been termed “the cognate character,” of many{118} Celtic and Latin words, but notwithstanding this knowledge, and all that Mr. Round has also advanced on the subject, I would still maintain, in the instance of port-reeve, the usually adopted derivation of port from the Latin porta.

All notice has likewise been omitted by Mr. Round of the word port way, and the customarily accepted Roman significance attaching to it, and also of the common words porter (a door-keeper), and portal, the derivation of which is, I believe, universally referred to the Latin porta.

The July number of The Antiquarian Magazine has now brought us Mr. Round’s third paper. Instead, however, of its containing, as we had been led to expect, some more fully developed account of his “natural and intelligible process by which the English word port was formed,” and some evidence in proof of his strange and as yet unsupported assertion that the word port was originally “coined by the English,” we find that he merely reverts to a further consideration of the word port, touching on the question of Newport gate, and barely alluding to the Welsh porth, two points to which it will be observed that I have here just adverted somewhat more fully.

I now apprehend that I have been mistaken, but must confess that it never occurred to me that Mr. Round’s conjecture in his second paper as to the manner in which the minds of “the English pirates” would be likely to be affected by the word portus, was all he meant to tell us respecting “the natural and intelligible process by which the English word port was formed,” or that he could seriously propose to put forward this crude assumption of his own for general acceptance on a question of this kind.

Mr. Round’s observations in his third paper are not of a character to make it necessary for me in any way to alter or modify anything that I have already said. Indeed, so far as his introduction of the authority of Mr. Freeman is concerned, he has contributed only to strengthen my position, for the passage which he quotes from Mr. Freeman’s “English Towns and Districts,” (a work which I have not enjoyed the advantage of seeing,) may, mutatis mutandis, be equally well applied to the word port-reeve.

If we merely substitute the word port for “name of the gate,” and in Port-reeve for “Nova Porta,” the sentence will read thus: “The abiding Latin port, in port-reeve, of itself goes far to show that there could have been no long gap between Roman or British and English occupation.” With this slight and quite legitimate alteration, (for the whole force of Mr. Freeman’s statement hangs on the presence{119} of the word porta,) it would be difficult to express the point for which I have been contending in more apposite terms, and the circumstance that Mr. Round sees fit to question Mr. Freeman’s statement because he can “find no evidence for it,” is a matter regarding which I do not feel myself called upon to enter.

As Mr. Round now informs us that his paper is “to be continued,” and it appears to be uncertain when it will be brought to a conclusion, I deem it best no longer to defer forwarding this reply, more especially as he proposes to make some other words, with which I do not find myself in any way concerned, the subject of his future criticisms.

In conclusion, I would observe that the result of my former paper was to bring me many interesting communications on the subject of which it treats.

From the general tenor of these communications, as well as from other sources, I gather that the ancient office of port-reeve is rapidly falling into desuetude, though in some comparatively rare instances the Port-reeve still remains the chief officer of the borough, and is invested with considerable power and privileges. Thus, in an obliging communication which I received from the Port-Reeve of Tavistock, that gentleman is good enough to inform me that he not only still remains the returning officer of the borough, but that he also enjoys a seat on the County Bench, as J.P. for Devon, solely by right and in virtue of his office as Port-reeve, a fact which I conceive is sufficiently rare and interesting to merit being placed on record.

The Salic Law.

By Charles Mackay, LL.D., Author of “The Gaelic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe.”

THE Salic law, which still prevails in some parts of Europe, is supposed to have been instituted in the sixth century by Clovis, or Pharamond, King of the Franks. In Shakespeare’s play of “King Henry V.,” Act i. Scene 2, King Henry, addressing the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely, thus asks them to expound the Salic Law:—

{120}

The Archbishop of Canterbury in his reply mentions the ancient tradition that this law was instituted by Pharamond, and continues:—

The very prosy speech of the Archbishop, from which this is an extract, bears no trace of the fine hand of Shakespeare, and was copied almost verbatim from Holinshed.

President Henault, borrowing from previous writers—who wrote from tradition, without adequate proof or authority for the statements they made or adopted—says that it was Clovis who instituted and signed the Salic Law in A.D. 511, the year of his death. Voltaire says that Clovis could neither read nor write, and that it is uncertain whether his name was Clovis, Clodvic, or Hildovic. Voltaire states also that there are two versions of the text of this Salic Law, each of which differs from the other.

Though the word Salic is by no means uncertain in its meaning, its etymology is so very obscure and undecided as to have puzzled all the French, German, and English philologists who have flourished since the invention of printing. According to Worcester’s Dictionary the word was applied to a body of laws framed by the Salians or Salian Franks, about the beginning of the fifth century, but who the Salians were, no one has yet been able to explain. The derivation from the River Saal, which Holinshed calls Sala, is wholly untenable, as well as the imputation on the virtue of the German ladies of the district through which that river runs. The Salic law never prevailed in any part of Germany, but was peculiar to such Keltic nations as France and Spain. It continued to prevail in France until the abolition of the monarchy under Louis Philippe in 1848, and was never a question so much as debated in the Imperial monarchy under the first or the third Napoleons. In Spain it was abrogated only by Ferdinand VII., within living memory, in favour of his daughter, the infant Isabella, whose accession to the throne led to a civil war, which cannot yet be said to have ended, as long as Don Carlos or his family exist and keep their pretensions alive. On this subject Voltaire, in his “Philosophical Dictionary,” has some pithy remarks. According to Froissart he says, “The kingdom of France is of such{121} great nobleness that it never can allow the succession to go to a female,” and adds, “but one must confess that this decision is very unpolite for England, for Naples, for Hungary, and for Russia, in which latter country four reigning Empresses have sat upon the throne.”

In the French “Etymological Dictionary” of Messrs. Noel and Carpentier, are cited various surmises as to the origin of the word, among others that salique is a corruption of gallique, that it comes from Salle—the great hall of a palace, from an imaginary tribe of Germans called in Latin salice, from si aliquis, the first words of the Latin document in which the Salic law was promulgated; from sal, salt, and from Salogart, the name of one of Pharamond’s jurisconsults, or counsellors. Who shall decide when so many doctors disagree? Yet as the law was a Keltic law, passed by a Gaelic speaking people some centuries before the formation of the actual French language, search ought to be made for the derivation of the word in Keltic sources. We there find So lagh, the “excellent or befitting law.” This was a name very likely to have been given to such an ordinance by barbarians, who thought that none but men and warriors were fit to govern them, or lead their armies to the conflicts in which they were perpetually engaged. The name of Pharamond himself was purely Keltic, and signified a Highlander or mountaineer, from fear, a man, and monadh a mountain. The four jurisconsults who are reported to have drawn up the ungallant law at the request of Pharamond are given by Voltaire as Visogast, Harogast, Salogast, and Vindogast. In these names the final syllable, gast, appears to have been a title given to learned men of the Keltic tribes of the period, from gasda, or gasta, expert, or skilful. Brachet’s “French Etymological Dictionary,” printed at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, in 1882, and advertised to have been revised by the French Academy, does not contain the word salique or salic, which looks as if M. Brachet was not satisfied that it is really of French origin.

Lord Brabourne, after many years’ collecting, has brought together a unique series of papers relating to the early history of Australia. These have just been purchased by the New South Wales Government. The batch consists mainly of letters formerly in the possession of Sir Joseph Banks, long president of the Royal Society, and deeply interested in New South Wales, since he accompanied Captain Cook in the discovery of that country. The letters cover a period between 1772-1815. Among them are letters of Captain Cook, his companion Captain Clark, and many from later discoverers and visitors to the new lands.{122}

Lines on Opening an Ancient Barrow.[28]

By the Rev. W. Lisle Bowles.

DURING the examination of one of these ancient burial-places by Sir Richard C. Hoare, a storm of thunder and lightning surprised the antiquaries. “Our only place of refuge,” says Sir Richard, “was the barrow, which had been excavated to a considerable depth. The lightning flashed upon our spades and iron instruments, and the large flints poured down upon us from the summit of the barrow, so abundantly and so forcibly, that we were obliged to quit our hiding-place, and abide the pelting of the pitiless storm upon the bleak and unsheltered down.” Mr. Bowles, being of the party, sent the following beautiful poem the next morning to Sir R. C. Hoare:—

The Ancient Etruscan City of Luni.

By La Signora Campion.

JUST outside the walls of Sarzana, in Liguria, and scattered over about five or six acres of the partly cultivated plain, may be found portions of the remains of the once important and thriving Etruscan city of Luni. Though it is accessible from La Spezia within half an hour by railway, yet it lies sufficiently off the beaten track of travellers to this part of Italy to be scarcely mentioned in the guide-books, and therefore it has escaped the notice which it{124} deserves. Some account of the spot and of its early history, so far as I have been able to trace it, may therefore be acceptable. The place was at one time a trading town upon the Gulf of Spezia, and is said to have been founded by the Etrurian Tarchon.[33] (See Strabo, lib. v.; Cato, Origines xxv.)

Luni—“La Superba,” as she was proudly called of old—was situated at the head of a bay, or rather arm, of the Mediterranean, forming a commodious and deep natural harbour, and backed by that spur of the Apennines which forms the Carrara Mountains, so famous for their exquisite marble. But for the numerous fragments of ancient anchors, chains, masts of vessels, and other objects which are now and again being brought to light, and for the vast blocks of stone forming the ancient quay of the town, some of which may still be seen in situ, it would be difficult to realise that here was the identical port so admiringly mentioned by Ennius and by Strabo, and so famous as having sent forth armed vessels three thousand years ago to assist the Greeks in the siege of Troy, and from which so many thousands of tons of the Carrara marbles were exported to Italy and other countries in more recent times.

It is on record that Titus Manlius here embarked the army with which in B.C. 537 he started to quell the rebellion of the Sardi. From this port, also, the Emperor Claudius sailed on his attempt to conquer Britain.

Luni continued to rank as one of the most prosperous cities of Etruria, till it was harassed and invaded by the indomitable Ligurians, who made themselves masters of it. Wrested from them by the Romans, and subjected to the Republic, the power of Luni rapidly declined; and, as though to hasten her ruin, successive inundations of the River Magra choked up her harbour with their deposits, while the sea, as if in concert with its tributary, receded from her shore. In 1015 A.D. Luni was taken and partially destroyed by the Saracens, and in 1185 Frederick Barbarossa handed her over to the authorities of the Christian Church, who made the town an Episcopal See.

In connection with the early history of the neighbouring city of La Spezia will be found the names of various bishops of Luni; but{125} the latter see extended over a period of little more than a century, for we find that in consequence of the malarious and deadly exhalations arising from the stagnant pools left by the Magra’s floods and the retirement of the sea from the bay, Luni had to be completely abandoned about 1300 A.D.

The site has been hitherto but little explored, but considerable quantities of pottery, articles in bronze, coins, mosaics, &c., are from time to time turned up by the peasants when cultivating their little plots of land. These treasures have mostly found their way into the hands of private collectors, I believe, and until steps are taken to organise a thorough exploration of the spot, much that would be in the highest degree interesting to the antiquary and the public will remain buried in oblivion. At present all that can be seen of ancient Luni may be summed up briefly thus: (1) Portions of a temple dedicated to Plantilla, wife of the Emperor Caracalla. (2) The amphitheatre, much despoiled and overgrown. (3) A circular building, 9 metres in height, and containing rows of niches. (4) A large building supposed to have been used as a granary or depôt for military stores. (5) Portions of an aqueduct. (6) Some prostrate columns, friezes, and capitals. (7) The ancient well, still furnishing the clearest and coolest water in the neighbourhood.

For some of the information herein contained I am indebted to Signor S. Cerini, whose access to various archives and manuscripts has supplied me with data, and who is the author of a pamphlet on the subject published two years ago. For the rest I have had to glean the meagre information contained in this paper as best I could; but my visit to the spot has increased my desire to know more about it, and my hope is that a day may soon come when the hidden archæological treasures of the buried Luni will be unearthed for the instruction and admiration of the public. I may add that the spot is most picturesque, and well worthy the attention of artist and antiquary alike. For myself, so long as I live here, I will do my best not to let the subject drop.

From a paper contributed by the veteran scholar, Dr. Edkins, to a recent number of the Chinese Recorder, it appears that about B.C. 2200 the Chinese possessed a knowledge of the art of writing, a year of 366 days with an intercalary month, the astrolabe, the zodiac, the cycle of sixty, of twelve musical reeds forming a gamut, which also constituted the basis of a denary metrology for measures of length, weight, and capacity, divination, and a feudal system.{126}

Reviews.

The founder of the Wray family, i.e., the first member of it who brought the name into honourable notice, and who received a “grant of arms”—that necessary appendage to gentility—was Sir Christopher Wray, who “raised himself from nothing” to become Lord Chief Justice of England. This was in the middle of the sixteenth century. Since that time some of his descendants have received the “honour” of knighthood, some have had the baronetcy conferred upon them, whilst others have distinguished themselves either in the senate or the field, or in some other public capacity. Although the work before us is of a genealogical character, Mr. Dalton has endeavoured to amalgamate in it “many different subjects, woven together into history.” Scattered through these pages are numberless anecdotes—more or less associated with the Wrays or with the families allied to them by marriage. The first of these volumes was published by Messrs. Chapman & Hall as far back as 1880; the second volume, issued in 1881, was “privately printed.” The author’s reason for not making his second volume public he explains as follows: “I find there are so few of the many descendants of the Wrays who take any interest in their progenitors, that it would be labour lost to cast my work into the great public trough, where it could have no chance of competing with any three-volume novel, even though that same three-volume novel had no better claims to the notice of the reader than the skilfulness with which the author had managed to clothe impurity with a seeming garb of innocence.” “The Wrays of Glentworth” is far removed from the ordinary run of dry-as-dust genealogies, and will be found to contain much interesting matter. It may be added that the surplus stock has been bought over by Mr. H. W. Ball, of Barton-on-Humber, by whom they are now announced for sale.

Under the above quaint but appropriate title, Serjeant Pulling has compiled a most interesting memoir of that grade in the legal profession of which he will probably prove to be one of the last survivors. The “coif” is, according to Bailey’s dictionary, “a sort of hood or cap for the head,” and serjeants-at-law (servientes ad legem) were called “Serjeants of the Coif, from the coif of Lawn which they formerly wore on their heads under their caps, but now (1763) upon the hinder part of their wigs.” The author remarks most justly, as an excuse for undertaking this work, that “in this country we have a history of neither the Bench or [nor] of the Bar,” and that “the order of the coif was the first phase of both.” And it is known to all that till quite a recent date it contained nearly every legal celebrity both of the Bench and the Bar. The work is largely based on Serjeant Wynne’s tract, published in 1765, entitled, “Observasions touching the Antiquity and Dignity of the Degree of Serjeant-at-Law;” and it is an expansion of an article in the Edinburgh Review for October, 1878, on the same subject, in which much of the matter of the book now before us is foreshadowed. The introductory chapter and that which follows it are together a study in English constitutional history. The following chapters treat of very many subjects, which will be interesting{127} alike in Westminster Hall and in the new Law Courts; and the seventh chapter, devoted as it is to the ancient habits and observances of the Order, their robes, their rings, and “posies,” their solemn processions, their feasts, masques, revels, &c., is a storehouse of antiquarian learning, and as such most highly to be commended. The last chapter treats of the later history of the Order down to its recent abolition—one which is on many accounts deeply to be regretted. It is always bad to abolish old landmarks unless they have come to stand in the way of progress and improvement; and this charge we never heard brought against “The Order of the Coif.” The illustrations, eight in all, are admirable, and light up a book which is never dark or dull.

The County Palatine of Chester abounds in quaint and curious county towns, but few of them have a more interesting history than Nantwich. Some account of the town is to be found in Ormerod and in Lysons, and smaller notices of it have been published more recently in a local journal, in whose files these are now buried. Mr. J. Hall has therefore supplied a decided want, and by his researches in the Record Office and in the family papers of Messrs. Wilbraham and Tollemache, he has added largely to our knowledge of its earlier history. These results he has now placed before the world in a handsome quarto volume, the subscription list at the beginning of which is a proof that an author, unlike a prophet, may succeed in getting “honour even in his own country.” The work treats in successive chapters of the foundation of Nantwich, the history of the barony of which it formed a part, its church, hospital, grammar-school, and other ancient buildings, its early charters, and other privileges, its guilds, fairs, and bridges, its mention in the Subsidy Rolls, its visitations from battle, plague, and fire, and its share in the struggles of the Civil war. The latter part of the volume is devoted to an account of its commercial importance, its banks, its manufactories and industries, and especially that of salt, while full value is given to the contents of its parish registers, its charities, and the histories of the several families connected with the town, the Cholmondeleys, Wilbrahams, Tollemaches, Kingsleys, &c. The volume is illustrated by several views, well engraved on stone, and some woodcuts, showing the details of its street architecture. We would draw particular attention to the view of “Old Houses in High Street,” given on p. 415.

This little brochure, of some sixty octavo pages, formed the subject of a lecture delivered by Mr. Sweeting before the members of the Church Institute in March last, and has been published by request. Among the entries quoted are several of a quaint and curious character, and some which contain glimpses into the life and habits of our predecessors, thereby imparting to them an amount of interest which will probably be found wanting in the registers of the present day when they come to be examined some 300 years hence. The clergy are now supplied by authority with books, with spaces marked out and ruled for dates and names, and the insertion of anything beyond the mere fact registered seems to be in every way discouraged.

Old Aunt Elspa’s A B C, “imagined and adorned” by Joseph Crawhall (Field & Tuer), is a quaint book for children, printed on rough{128} hand-made paper, and illustrated with curious woodcuts after the manner of the old chap-books. It is one of the “chepe and curious bookes” “imprynted atte ye signe of ye Leadenhalle Presse, in ye Old London Streete, in ye Health Exhibition, South Kensyngton, London towne, in ye yeare of Grace, 1884.”

Under the above title Mr. Hake has set forth in a neatly-printed brochure, embellished with eleven illustrations—or “gravinges” as they are here called—the principal features in the now well-known Old London Street in the International Health Exhibition at South Kensington. As he tells us in his introductory remarks, it would be difficult for a historian, a romance writer, or even a poet, to select a subject calculated to awaken more interest than Old London. “In secluded nooks and corners where an echo of the footstep can often be heard, may be found some monument or landmark—a temple, tombstone, or tavern—which speaks eloquently of the past. The ‘writing upon the wall’ may be worn out; the stone once smooth may be wrinkled like an old face; still such are the ‘things of fame,’ to inspire the minds of men, and to lead to reflection and research.” The illustrations embrace full-page etchings of the north and south sides of the “street,” and smaller engravings of Bishopsgate, the Rose Inn, the Three Squirrels, Isaac Walton’s house, the tower of All Hallows Steyning, &c.

English Etchings for July and August (D. Bogue, 3, St. Martin’s-place, W.C.) contain several admirable examples of this popular art, among them being “Westminster-bridge with the Houses of Parliament,” by Mr. Ned Swain; and “Middle row, Holborn,” by Mr. A. W. Bayes. The clearing away of the block of buildings represented in the latter plate, a few years ago, made it possible to see fairly and well the Holborn front of Staple Inn, one of the oldest existing specimens of our street architecture, dating from the time of James I. It is seen on the right-hand side of the plate. Dr. Johnson lived in Staple Inn in 1739, and there wrote his “Idler,” “seated on a three-legged chair, so scantily were his chambers furnished.” This publication, which has now reached its thirty-ninth monthly part, continues to maintain the high character which it has hitherto enjoyed.

The Journal of the British Archæological Association (Vol. xl., Pt. ii.), which is now before us, contains a large number of most interesting papers, as will be seen by the mere announcement of the following titles: “Dover Records in the British Museum,” “Historical Sketch of the Castle of Devizes,” “The Development of the Fortifications of Dover Castle,” “The Crosses at Ilkley,” “The Castles of Sandown and Sandgate,” “Samphire,” “Recently-discovered Fresco at Patcham Church, Sussex,” “Roman Embanking and Sanitary Precautions,” “Remarks on Recent Archæological Relics of London,” “Some Relics of the Past recovered from London Sites,” &c. Many of these papers were read by their authors at the Archæological Congress at Dover last year.{129}

Obituary Memoirs.

Mr. Alfred Benjamin Wyon, F.R.G.S., died in June, aged 46. Mr. Wyon was admitted a student of the Royal Academy in 1855, and after studying in the School of Painting for some years, turned his attention to metallic work, and in 1865 he united with his brother, Mr. Joseph S. Wyon, in the appointment of chief engraver of Her Majesty’s seals, in the execution of medals, and the important seals of State. This appointment was held jointly by the two brothers until the death of Mr. Joseph S. Wyon in 1873, since which time it was held singly by the subject of this notice. Since 1873, Mr. Alfred Wyon was entrusted with the preparation of the Great Seal of England which is at present in use, the seal of the colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, Fiji, and other Crown dependencies. During the last few years Mr. Wyon had collected a vast amount of information respecting the history of the Great Seals of England, and of seals attached to charters and other municipal documents. Papers upon questions arising in connection with these subjects Mr. Wyon from time to time read at the meetings of the Archæological Association.

The Rev. Mark Pattison, B.D., Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, died at Harrogate on July 30, at the age of 71. He was born at Hornby, Yorkshire, was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, and became a Fellow of Lincoln College. He was elected rector in 1861. He was the author, inter alia, of “Isaac Casaubon, 1559-1604: a Biography,” and a “Life of Milton.” He edited Pope’s “Essay on Man, with Notes,” Pope’s “Satires and Epistles, with Notes,” and Milton’s “Sonnets, with Notes.” Mr. Pattison, who was a trustee of the Crewe Charities, married, in 1862, Emilia Frances, youngest daughter of the late Colonel Strong, of the Madras Army, a lady who is well known as the author of the “French Renaissance,” and generally as an art-critic.

M. Albert Dumont, the distinguished author on Greek archæology, has died at Paris. He was 43 years of age, was a member of the Institute, and a high official at the Ministry of Education.

John Gustavus Droysen, Professor of History at the University of Berlin, died on July 19, in his 84th year. Among his best-known works are a “History of Alexander the Great,” which was published in 1837; a “History of Hellenism,” two volumes, 1836-43; “Lectures on the History of the War of Freedom,” two volumes, 1840; “History of Danish Politics from Acts and Documents,” conjointly with Samwer, 1850, and a “History of Prussian Politics,” vols. i.-x., 1855-70.

Sir Erasmus Wilson, LL.D., the somewhat distinguished Egyptologist, has died, at the age of 75. In 1831 he was elected a member of the College of Surgeons, and he became president of that body in 1881. He was a vice-president of the Society of Biblical Archæology and President of the Egypt Exploration Fund, the success of which has been largely due to his munificence. He gave £500 towards Mr. Naville’s excavations at Pithom, and £1,000 to Mr. Petrie’s work at Tanis, and the Society has in many besides financial ways been deeply indebted to his unflagging interest. Among his published works, his “Egypt of the Past,” and “Notes on Egypt and Egyptian Obelisks,” hold a foremost place. It was at his expense that the Egyptian obelisk, commonly{130} known as “Cleopatra’s Needle,” now on the Victoria Embankment, was brought to this country. It is said to have cost him more than £10,000.

Herr Maurice Thausing, Professor of Art History at the Vienna University, and author of a work on Albert Durer, has been drowned in the Elbe, at Leitmeritz.

Mr. William Dobson, formerly of Preston, a well-known Lancashire archæologist and local littérateur, has died, at the age of 64. He was the author of “Rambles by the Ribble,” “A History of the Parliamentary Representation of Preston,” “Preston in the Olden Time,” and other works. He was for many years proprietor and editor of the Preston Chronicle. The third series of “Rambles by the Ribble” was published in 1883, and a continuation of the work was in hand at the time of Mr. Dobson’s decease.

Meetings of Learned Societies.

METROPOLITAN.

Royal Archæological Institute.—The forty-first annual meeting, or congress, of the Royal Archæological Institute was opened on Tuesday, August 5, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, this being the second occasion on which the Institute has held its annual gathering in that city. Newcastle was almost rebuilt half a century ago by one of its sons, Richard Grainger, so that it now presents but few attractions to lovers of the past, with the exception of sundry old wynds or “chares” on the steep sides of the Tyne, which still remain, and two or three churches, and the old Norman castle which once was “new,” and from that circumstance gave its name to the ancient city of Munc-ceaster, or the ancient city of the Monks, which it superseded. The part of this castle which is still standing has been of late years put into good condition, thanks to the energies of sundry local antiquarians and archæologists, and is now fitted up as a museum. One of the rooms, too, served as the headquarters of the congress. At twelve o’clock the members of the institute, headed by the Duke of Northumberland and Lord Percy, were received in the Town-hall by the Mayor (Mr. F. Newton), the Sheriff (Mr. T. Nelson, F.S.A.), and the other members of the corporation. The Mayor’s address was brief and to the purpose. After welcoming the Archæological Institute on behalf of the town, and paying a well-timed tribute to the noble president of the present meeting and his son, he recapitulated the history of Newcastle from the era when it was the Pons Ælii of Imperial Rome, through the Saxon and Danish days to the time of the Conquest, soon after which it became a Norman stronghold. He then traced its career through the Scottish wars and in the days of the Great Rebellion, and said that in the Scottish Rebellions of 1715 and 1745 it was the headquarters of military operations in the north. Of late years it had devoted itself, as a town, to the arts of peace; and it is justly proud of the place which it holds in modern progress and commerce. But its devotion to commerce did not lead its inhabitants to forget or to undervalue its connection with the past. The Sheriff added a few words in the double capacity of a Newcastle man and a member of the Society of Antiquaries.

The Duke of Northumberland, as president of the meeting, delivered a short address, in which he drew a picture of the history of the border{131} coasts of Northumberland at various dates, its connection with the records of early Christianity in the north of England, the frays and border forays by which it was so marked in the days of the Plantagenets and Tudors, and even down to the Stuart era, and the strange way in which old local customs had survived within it down to a very recent date. Among the objects of archæological interest to which the members of the Institute would have their attention drawn during their stay in Newcastle, his Grace observed, were the Roman wall, built by the Emperor Hadrian, the Norman keep in Newcastle, and the holy edifices at Lindisfarne, Tynemouth, and Jarrow—the last the birthplace of the first of English historians, the Venerable Bede. In the antiquities of the north of England could be traced the history of the country from the period of the ancient Britons down through the Roman occupation to the time of the conflicts of Saxons, Danes, and Normans. For the elucidation of these subjects much credit was due to the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries, and also to Dr. Bruce, the historian of the Roman wall, and Mr. John Clayton and gentlemen who have devoted their lives to the study of the archæology of the North.

A vote of thanks to the Duke of Northumberland was moved by Lord Aberdare, and seconded by the Bishop of Newcastle, who drew the attention of his hearers to the great benefits which the England of to-day owed to their Norman and their Saxon ancestors, reminding them that the study of the past, if followed up in a kindly and appreciative spirit, must teach the present and the future generations many important lessons of gratitude. The Duke of Northumberland, in a few short sentences, acknowledged the compliment, and the meeting was at an end.

The company were subsequently received in the lecture-room of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle by the members of the local Society of Antiquarians, whose president, the Earl of Ravensworth, addressed to them a brief speech, greeting their arrival, and promising them a wide field of interesting research on either side of the Tyne. Whether they went along the Roman wall westwards, to Holy Island and Lindisfarne northwards, or southwards to Durham, or eastward to Tynemouth—in every direction they would see traces of late Rome during Christianity. He ended by saying that he admired the study of archæology, for it made an old man young again, and made a young man old by increasing his field of observation and experience. In the afternoon the members of the two societies met together at the Black Gate of the Castle, from whence they proceeded, under the guidance of Mr. W. H. Longstaffe, to inspect the remains of the castle, the new cathedral (St. Nicholas Church), the remains of the old city walls, the Trinity House, the Old Exchange, in which the Company of Merchant Venturers had its home; and, finally, the churches of All Saints’, St. John’s, and St. Andrew’s. The leading features of the castle were commented upon by Dr. Bruce and Mr. Longstaffe, who placed its date at about 1172-7, and held that it was absurd to ascribe it to the previous century or to a son of the Conqueror. Dr. Bruce pointed out the king’s chamber, with its curious Norman chimney-piece, the whole of the chamber being cut out of the solid wall; the queen’s chamber, a corresponding apartment on the other side of the building; the donjon or dungeon keep in the basement, and the Norman chapel, with its rows of round-headed arches, with curious and costly mouldings. At All Saints’ Church the visitors were shown the fine brass of Roger Thornton—one of the finest in the Kingdom; and in the mayor’s room at the Old Exchange a series of{132} mural paintings, representing scenes and sketches from old Newcastle.

In the evening the antiquarian and historical sections respectively of this Congress were opened at the rooms of the Literary and Philosophical Institute by Dr. Bruce, the historian of the Roman wall, and the Rev. Canon Creighton, who has just been appointed to a chair of history at Cambridge. The lecture of the former gentleman treated mainly of the subjects with which his pen is so familiar, and especially with the early introduction of Christianity into Northern England, quite apart from the emissaries of Rome and St. Augustine; whilst Canon Creighton drew an interesting picture of the history of Northumberland, Cumberland, and the adjacent counties, as the border district between England and Scotland, and therefore in many ways the sufferer from the wars between those two countries, and from the frays which continued to be carried on between their inhabitants long after the two countries had been united under one Crown.

On Wednesday, by invitation of the Duke of Northumberland, the members paid a visit to the Castle of Alnwick. Mr. G. Clark, the great authority on castellated architecture, explained every portion of the outer works and of the extensive fabric in succession. He showed reasons for believing that even in Saxon times the high ground on which the Castle stands was the site of a “burgh” then, and that it was afterwards seized upon and strengthened by the Normans. Much of the lower portion of the walls, as they still stand, is Norman, though portions of it, such as the barbican and some of the towers which crown the walls, are the work of the De Vescis and the Percys. He showed the value of its strong position, supported as it was by a host of smaller fortresses by which it was surrounded, and illustrated the way in which, even if a part were captured, the rest of the Castle could hold out and annoy its assailants. The interior of the Castle, which is modern, and fitted and furnished in the Italian style, was much admired. The furniture, ornamentation, and fine gallery of paintings were made the subject of comment by Dr. Bruce, who acted as cicerone over the interior, as Mr. Clark had done over the exterior of the building. At three o’clock all the visitors lunched in the banqueting-hall of the Castle.

On their way to Alnwick, the company visited Warkworth Castle, on the Coquet, a magnificent building, but still little more than a ruin. It is very much like Alnwick, though the points of difference between them are very great and numerous. Standing on a projecting headland and swept on three sides by the Coquet, it occupies a very strong and indeed formidable position, and must have at one time dominated over the whole surrounding country, whilst it guarded the mouth of the river against the incursions of the Danish and Scandinavian pirates. Here, too, Mr. Clark acted as interpreter, and he explained in succession every separate feature of the castle, including its central keep and the adjoining chapel, of which only a few traces remain. At the conclusion of Mr. Clark’s lecture most of the party walked up the meadows along the banks of the Coquet and crossed the river in boats to inspect the old hermitage cut in the side of the solid cliff, which forms the subject of more than one poem, and lives in Goldsmith and in Percy’s Reliques. The hermitage consists of two rough-hewn chambers, one of which was used by the anchorite as a chapel, and the other served him as a bedchamber. Between them is a small window of the Gothic type, which it was thought was used by him {133}as a confessional, as he sat within. It was not possible for all the members of the congress to inspect this interesting spot, as the river had to be crossed, and the ferry boat was not constructed to carry more than a dozen passengers.

After luncheon some of the party went to Alnwick Abbey, in the valley of the Alne, about a mile off, where some interesting tombs have lately been discovered, and the plan of some monastic buildings laid bare; others drove to Hulne Abbey to see the grounds and park; and the return journey to Newcastle was made by special train.

In the evening papers were read in the architectural and archæological sections as follows: Mr. J. Bain on “The Ancient Percys of Scotland;” the Rev. J. Hirst on “The Ancient Mining Operations in Britain;” Dr. Hodgkin, “A Translation of Hübner’s Eine Römische Annexion”; and Canon Raine, of Durham, read a paper on “The Ecclesiology and Architecture, Secular and Religious, of Northumberland,” in which he condemned the mischievous practice of what was termed “restoration.” The so-called restoration of a church now too often meant the destruction of all that gave it its value as an ancient piece of architecture. This paper was followed by a discussion, in which Messrs. Longstaffe, Walford, and others took part, and in which Sir Edmund Beckett’s rebuilding of the west front of St. Albans Abbey was condemned in strong terms.

Thursday was devoted to a visit to Lindisfarne and Holy Island, a place associated, as every reader of “Marmion” knows, with the history of St. Cuthbert. Arriving at Lindisfarne, the party made their way to the ruins of the abbey, which stand in a meadow, not far from the water’s edge, a cliff rising between it and the sea and protecting it on the south. The Dean of Chester (Dr. Howson), in obedience to a very general request, gave a short biographical account of St. Aidan and a sketch of his apostolic labours in the propagation of the Gospel throughout the north. After the Norman Conquest, he said, Lindisfarne was again colonised by the faithful, and a Benedictine abbey founded in it, which lasted till the Reformation, when it was granted by the King to the Earl of Dunbar, and the work of its spoliation began; the lead being first stripped from its roof, it soon fell into decay, and is now roofless. As a ruin it is carefully preserved from further decay and injury by its present owner, Sir William Crossman. A tribute having been paid by the Rev. Mr. Lowe to the character of St. Cuthbert, the details of the existing fabric were explained seriatim by Mr. J. T. Micklethwait. Mr. Hodgson, a local antiquary, also commented briefly on the views of the last speaker. After luncheon, the parish church was visited; this adjoins the west front of the Abbey, and has some Norman and early English features, which were duly explained by the Vicar. The company afterwards walked to the castle at the eastern extremity of the island, and from this they had good views of Bamborough Castle and the range of the Cheviot Hills. Shortly before sunset the visitors returned to Newcastle.

On Friday the party set out upon a visit to Bamborough Castle and the adjoining Church. The former rises from the sea on a bluff and bold headland in a princely way, quite worthy of its ancient history, from the days when it was erected by the first Saxon King of Northumbria in the middle of the sixth century; and it is worthy of note that Anglo-Saxon chroniclers style it the royal mansion. Though not so magnificent in its interior, and covering less ground, it is scarcely, if at all, inferior to Alnwick, while its weird situation by the sea imparts to it a character all its own. Some persons compare it to Dover, but the comparison will{134} scarcely hold good, except as to its keep. The castle owes much of its celebrity and of its comparatively perfect condition to Nathaniel Lord Crewe, the munificent benefactor of Oxford, who purchased the fabric, and left it in the hands of trustees to be devoted to charitable purposes, both local and general. It contains a fine library and gallery, schools for the middle classes, and appliances of all kinds for the relief of shipwrecked persons. The fabric of the castle was explained at considerable length by Mr. G. T. Clark, F.S.A., each successive portion being separately discussed, and the whole chronologically illustrated. After the keep had been examined attention was drawn to the outer bailey and other outworks of the castle, which, though of inferior masonry to the central portion, are curious in their structure, and possibly even earlier in date. The members of the congress afterwards visited the parish church of Bamborough, which is dedicated to St. Aidan, and made a pilgrimage to the grave of Grace Darling, whose heroism of nearly half a century ago in rescuing the passengers of the Forfarshire steamer is still remembered. In the evening the various sections resumed the reading of papers promised according to the programme. Mr. Charles J. Bates read the first half of an exhaustive paper on “The Peel Castles of Northumberland.” These were illustrated by photographs of the castles, their keeps, gateways, windows, buttresses, ramparts, battlements, and in many cases their heraldic bearings also, being shown by the help of magic lantern slides. The Rev. G. F. Brown also read an interesting paper on the fragments of sculptured stones which are to be seen at Monkwearmouth and Jarrow. Those members of the Congress who did not go to Bamborough Castle spent the day in examining the contents of the museum at the castle, the treasures of the Literary and Philosophical Society, the Free Public Library, &c.; but what attracted them most was the local museum, partly permanent and partly on loan, which had been set out for their benefit in the rooms above the Black Gate at the castle. Here the Mayors and Corporations of Morpeth, Newcastle, and Carlisle exhibited their regalia, and besides these there was displayed a collection of stone and bronze implements, lent by Canon Greenwell, a collection of ecclesiastical plate, mediæval lacework, illustrated missals, and other manuscripts, prints, &c.

Saturday was one of the most interesting days of the congress, it being devoted by a greater part of the members to a pilgrimage to Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, places well known as the abodes of the Venerable Bede, the earliest of our English Church historians. Before starting, however, the Institute held, as is its established custom, its annual meeting, over which Lord Percy presided in virtue of his office. The balance-sheet and other accounts, which happily showed an excess of income over expenditure, were read and passed, and so also was the annual report, which recorded the fact that during the past twelvemonth, thanks to a committee appointed for that purpose, the Institute had been regularly incorporated—that is, placed under the Incorporated Societies Act—whilst another committee had been engaged on reporting on its books, prints, papers, &c., with a view to their re-arrangement. The rest of the report was taken up with a record of the resignation of the much-respected secretary, Mr. Albert Hartshorne, and the appointment of Mr. Hellier Gosselin in his place; and this was followed by a short obituary notice of some of the members of the Institute who have died since the Lewes congress, including Mr. John Henry Parker, C.B., author of the “Glossary of Architecture,” and the best explorer and interpreter of Ancient Rome;{135} the Rev. Henry Addington, the most learned of Bedfordshire antiquaries; the Rev. James Fuller Russell; and the Hon. William Owen Stanley, M.P. A few alterations in the rules of the Institute were proposed by the Rev. Mr. Spurrell, but were negatived, it being felt by the meeting that such matters had better be left in the hands of the council. It was agreed that next year’s congress should be held at Derby. At twelve o’clock a special train took the members of the congress to Monkwearmouth, where the ancient parish church was the object of a pilgrimage. The tower is by far the most interesting portion of the church, being not only undoubtedly Anglo-Saxon, but of very early Saxon date. It was built towards the end of the seventh century by Benedict Biscop, who employed French workmen on its details, and caused them to insert windows of glass, a luxury till then unknown in churches. Bede gives a long account of this church, and of the monastery adjoining it, which contained, it is said, 600 monks prior to its destruction by the Danes. Like Jarrow, the monastery, on its revival and restoration, became a cell subordinate to St. Cuthbert’s great church at Durham. The details of the structure of Monkwearmouth Church were described at considerable length by the Rev. Mr. Boyle, who pointed out some very curious dwarf figures on either side of the western doorway of the tower, which were repeated in the interior, and remarked on the quaint manner in which the square stones of the early Saxon churches had been worked into the upper part of the tower walls, which he thought might be as late as the Norman Conquest or a little after, though their leading features were distinctly Saxon. Mr. Johnson, a local architect under whom the recent restoration of the church has been effected, added a few remarks on other portions of the sacred fabric. It was proposed by Mr. Micklethwait that the stones should be protected by a lean-to building of wood placed round the lower portion of the tower, and this proposal seemed to gain general acceptance. Mr. Micklethwait also pointed out that, in all probability, adjoining the west front of the tower there was once a baptistery, of which he showed some traces still remaining. From Monkwearmouth the members of the congress made their way by special train to Jarrow, a place which has even still richer memories of the Venerable Bede, for here that historian spent the greater part of his life, in the monastery built by Benedict Biscop in A.D. 680—a few years after Monkwearmouth. The small hill on which the church of Jarrow stands was not surrounded then as it is now by tall smoky chimneys and by odoriferous chemical “works,” but was then, as we are told, green and lonely. It was, and is still, placed on a peninsula formed by a tributary of the Wear, and from the fact of Roman vessels and monuments being found here in plenty, it probably occupies the site of a Roman station. On the death of Benedict, Bede left Monkwearmouth and settled at Jarrow, where he became a monk, and here he passed the rest of his life in study and devotion. He wrote many other books, the “Life of St. Cuthbert,” for instance, but his opus magnum was that Ecclesiastical History which he undertook at the suggestion and request of Ceolwolph, King of Northumbria, a monarch who also ended his days as a monk in the Abbey of Jarrow. Bede died here in May, A.D. 735, and was buried in the church that he loved so well. The inscription on his tomb is recorded by William of Malmesbury. The church itself is very like that of Monkwearmouth in its general features, though its tower is central, and not placed at the western extremity, as is the case there. The chancel here is the oldest portion of the fabric, and the three tiny windows in the south wall, one of them circular are curious{136} from their extreme simplicity and the depth of their “splay.” In the vestry here, as at Monkwearmouth, are very many incised slabs of early Saxon date, if not more primitive still. Inside the communion rails, on the southern side, stands an old oaken chair with a tall straight back, of very rude manufacture. This passes current in the neighbourhood as St. Bede’s Chair; but the tradition was shown to be baseless by the reverend lecturer, Mr. Boyle. The remains of the abbey on the south side of the church were next inspected; these, being of Norman design, were clearly not the buildings once tenanted by Bede, though they stand on the same site. One Norman chimney-piece was very much admired. The members of the congress then walked down to the river and took advantage of a steamer placed at their disposal by the Tyne River Commissioners to make a voyage down the river to Tynemouth, whence the party made their way to the ruins of the priory, on a bluff headland within the castle. A large portion of the western towers, some of the central tower, and the whole of the east end of the chancel are still standing, magnificent specimens of the Early English style, just as it began to pass into the Decorated, but all bare and roofless. The small “Lady-chapel” was repaired and decorated some quarter of a century ago by the late Duke of Northumberland. The time at their disposal was very short, so Mr. Johnson, who had undertaken to read a paper on the Priory within its walls, was obliged to confine himself to a very few historical and architectural remarks. Those of the party who eschewed the voyage down the Tyne went by invitation to Ravensworth Castle, where they were entertained by Lord Ravensworth, who showed them his family portraits and other treasures, and conducted them round the outer walls and towers of the older castle, which has given way to the present modern structure. In the evening there were meetings in the antiquarian and historical sections in the great room at the Castle, when a paper was read by Mr. Park Harrison, and another by Mr. H. S. Skipton, on “Streatlam Castle and its Heroes.” But the chief interest of the evening was centred in a lecture by Dr. Bruce on “The Northumberland Small Pipes and Scottish Bagpipes,” accompanied by musical illustrations. He was assisted by a choir of young ladies and gentlemen, who sang parts of “Chevy Chase” and other local ballads, and by two Northumberland pipers and a Scottish piper, who in turn treated the audience to various specimens of their national airs and marches.

On Sunday there were special musical services at the cathedral of St. Nicholas, where two appropriate sermons were preached, that in the morning by Canon Dixon, and that in the evening by the Rev. E. Venables, preceptor of Lincoln Cathedral. The visit of the archæologists to Newcastle was made the subject of a sermon also at High Mass at the Roman Catholic cathedral, by the Rev. Father Dunn, and the Rev. J. Hirst discoursed on “The Church and Archæology,” at St. Dominic’s Priory Church.

Monday was devoted to an examination of the Roman Wall and the Roman station of Cilurnum at Chollerford. Dr. Bruce, the venerable topographer and historiographer of the Roman Wall, acted as guide. The party proceeded on foot, about 120 strong, to Brunton House, in the grounds of which they inspected a turret of the wall which has been newly brought to light, and which doubtless was one of those which occurred at every mile along the line. Its peculiar construction was made the subject of some remarks by Dr. Bruce, who also explained the course which the wall took along the adjoining hillside down to the River Tyne. Following{137} the course of the wall they came to the river, where they were gratified by the sight of one of the finest pieces of Roman masonry now to be seen in England, the foundations and piers of the bridge thrown by Hadrian or Agricola across the river. The stones are large and square, carefully fastened together with lead and iron, and morticed in a manner which would have done credit to the best builder of to-day. Dr. Bruce also pointed out some round stones which he considered to have been set upright, with chains or wooden bars between them, as guards on either side of the passage. Traces of the bases of the other piers are to be seen in the bed of the river and on the opposite bank. After luncheon the party continued to follow the course of the wall to the Limestone bank, where Dr. Bruce again explained the peculiarities of the masonry. From this they took in their way back Chesters, the seat of Mr. J. Clayton, which stands on the site of the old Cilurnum, and minutely inspected the excavations, which are so well known to antiquaries, and which have been so often described. They were shown the ground-plan of an entire Roman camp, four-sided and square, with its four gates, each protected with a double guard-house; even the doorways through which the Roman soldiers passed in and out could be discerned on a careful inspection. Not far off was the forum or market place; in it also every part could be traced, and so could the general’s residence adjoining the camp outside, and of course on the south side of the wall. Even the bath-house and the bake-house, with the hypocaust and the ovens in situ could be made out. The party were here directed to Mr. Clayton’s magnificent collection of Roman altars and other very ancient treasures which have been dug up under his orders at various times during the last half-century, and are arranged under the entrance portico of the house. Among these are several votive offerings to the Emperors, to the Deæ Matres, &c., and very many touching memorial tablets, implements of war and of agriculture, urns, amphoræ, and bones of men and animals. A similar collection in one of the summer-houses in the garden was also inspected. Here were seen two beautifully carved life-size figures representing respectively Cybele and Victory. A finely carved Corinthian capital and several small works were also explained by Dr. Bruce. Among the altars, Dr. Bruce drew particular attention to one which bore the inscription, “To the ancient gods.” To this altar Dr. Bruce referred in his address in opening the Antiquarian Section, and this, with others of a similar character, he believes is evidence that Christianity prevailed in the North of England during the Roman occupation. Several of the Romans, he believes, embraced the new religion, while others who refused to accept the new faith, raised altars to the “ancient,” or “old,” gods. Returning to Newcastle, the company in the evening divided themselves, part going to the room at the Castle, where the Rev. G. R. Hall discoursed on the “British Remains in Northumberland,” and Mr. R. Pullan on “Some Recent Discoveries at Lanuvium;” whilst the rest repaired to the rooms of the Literary and Philosophical Institute, where Mr. E. Walford took the chair in the Architectural section. Here Mr. C. J. Bates read the second and concluding part of his paper on “The Peel Castles of Northumberland,” which he illustrated by photographs thrown on a sheet by the help of a magic lantern. This was followed by an account by Mr. W. St. John Hope of the recent excavations which he has made at Alnwick Abbey, under the auspices of the Duke of Northumberland and Lord Percy, and by which he has succeeded in bringing to light the entire outline and ground-plan of a religious house, of which, with the exception{138} of one single entrance gateway, every trace above ground had disappeared.

The first halting-place in Tuesday’s excursion was Prudhoe Castle, where the archæologists were met by Lord Percy and by Mr. G. Clark, by the latter of whom the fabric was described in detail. Mr. Clark pointed out seriatim the barbican and the entrance gate, of late Norman work, with the chapel over the latter. This was carefully inspected by all the party, though its access, being at the top of a steep staircase, was not of the easiest. Passing on, the party were shown the remains of the keep, the line of ramparts, with staircases in the walls, the inner and outer baily, and the castle ditch or moat, once full of water, but now nearly dry. Mr. Clark also explained the points in which the strength of the castle as a military fortress consisted, and spoke at considerable length about the De Vescis, the Umfravilles, and former lords. Many of the members present remarked on the obvious resemblance between the north front of Prudhoe Castle and the north terrace at Windsor Castle, with the level fields lying at its foot and reaching to the Tyne, just as the Home Park at Windsor reaches to the Thames. Upon leaving Prudhoe the party went on foot to the parish church of Ovingham, where the Norman architecture was examined. The other places which they visited were the church of St. Peter and St. Andrew, at Bywell, and the still more interesting church and peel tower at Corbridge, and, lastly, the border fortress of Aydon, a most remarkable and picturesque building, now used as a farmhouse. It was built at the close of the thirteenth century, and is an excellent specimen of a building which, like so many on the Scottish border, was at once a mansion and a fortified stronghold. The building is surrounded by an outer wall, pierced with arrow-holes, and enclosing three courtyards. The wall is surrounded on three sides by a shallow ditch, while on the fourth it is protected by a deep ravine. The building in former days was entered by an external staircase, which was covered from above. Over the chimneys in one of the rooms are the arms of the Carnabies, its former owners. From the walls of Aydon the party were able to obtain a fine view over the valley of Hexham; and they left the place with expressions of great regret that both Hexham Abbey and Dilston Castle had been obliged to be left out of the society’s programme. Corbridge, an old town, once large and flourishing, but now reduced to much smaller dimensions, and having only one church instead of four, was the last on the programme of the day. The small square peel tower in the market-place, formerly used as a gaol; the market cross, erected on the site of an older one by the Duke of Northumberland in 1814; and the fine old stone bridge across the Tyne, with its span of seven arches—the only bridge which resisted the great flood of 1771—were in turn inspected by the party, who then returned to Newcastle. In the evening the general concluding meeting was held in the Literary and Philosophical Institute.

On Wednesday the proceedings were brought to a close by visits to Brancepeth Castle and Durham, two as magnificent specimens of mediæval architecture as they had seen throughout the week. The former, the seat of Lord Boyne, is a fine example of a baronial castle of the Middle Ages, fitted up internally in tolerable harmony with its ancient character. It stands on a piece of flat land looking down upon a shallow but picturesque ravine, well wooded and watered, and surrounded by a pleasant and extensive deer park. It shares along with Raby the distinction of having been the ancient home of the Nevilles, though it originally{139} belonged to a Saxon family named Bulmer, whose heiress married one of the companions of the Conqueror. The church, which stands in the park, was first visited, under the guidance of the Vicar of Brancepeth, the Rev. H. J. Swallow, who in describing the building drew special attention to the fine wooden monumental effigies of Ralph, first Earl of Westmoreland, and Margaret, his wife, which adorn the chancel. The Early English tower, the remains of an elaborately carved roodloft or chancel screen, and a chantry chapel now used as a vestry, were duly inspected. In the vestry the party were shown some autograph signatures of Dr. Cosin, sometime vicar of this parish and afterwards Bishop of Durham, whose name is identified with ecclesiastical ritual and post-Reformation vestments. The church is dedicated to an Irish saint, St. Brandon, which renders it highly probable that the commonly accepted derivation of the place from the path of the wild boar or “brawn,” who used to lay waste the country hereabouts, is apocryphal. At the conclusion of the Vicar’s brief address, Mr. Beresford-Hope made a short speech recapitulating the services of Dr. Cosin to the English Church, he being the chief supporter, after Laud, of the Anglo-Catholic tradition which has paved the way for the Oxford movement and for the work of the Cambridge Camden Society. On arriving within the precincts of the castle, Mr. Swallow proceeded to explain the chief features of the structure, which, he said, was built on the site of an earlier Saxon edifice by the Nevilles. It was from this castle that the Nevilles and the rebel army set out to join the fatal rising of the north in the time of Mary Queen of Scots, which led to the deprivation of that great family of both Raby and Brancepeth. For some years after this date Brancepeth was vested with the Crown, but it was sold by Charles I., and after passing through various hands was bought by the late Mr. Matthew Russell, one of the richest Commoners early in the present century, whose granddaughter carried it in marriage to Lord Boyne, an Irish peer, whose son a few years since was created Baron Brancepeth. The exterior of the castle was very expensively and substantially, though perhaps not very tastefully “restored” about half a century ago, when many of its ancient features were swept away and others obscured. The enceinte of the walls remains; but the entrance tower and the outer baily have been sadly altered, and even the baron’s hall, where there is to be seen a large stand of arms, has been renovated. So also has the chapel, though the old walls still remain. The dining-room and drawing-room, with their sumptuous furniture and fittings, were admired; but all agreed that the chief attraction of the castle lay in its underground cellars and dungeons, which the company were allowed to inspect. Proceeding by special train to Durham, and having partaken of a hasty lunch, the archæologists met at the castle, now used as the headquarters of the University of Durham. Here again Mr. Clark acted as their cicerone, and explained all the features of the structure, its central keep, its great hall, its wide black staircase (the work of Bishop Cosin), its common-room, and its gateway. The pictures on the walls and the noble tapestry which lines its walls were examined. The castle was the abode of the Bishop of Durham till 1833, when Bishop Van Mildert gave it up to found a university for the Northern counties. On the conclusion of the inspection of the castle, the Dean of Durham, Dr. Lake, gave, in the nave of the cathedral, a short résumé of its history and a glance at its chief associations. This he did with great skill and taste, touching on the successive eras through which the monastery had passed before it was crowned by the present majestic structure—one which no less an authority{140} than Dr. Freeman had declared to be the finest church in Christendom, except the cathedral of Pisa, and scarcely inferior even to that. He was followed by Mr. Micklethwait, F.R.S., who very briefly described the architectural details of the fabric. The vergers afterwards guided the company round the site of St. Cuthbert’s shrine, the Western Galilee, still rich in frescos and paint, the tomb of the “Venerable” Bede, the library, formerly the monks’ dormitory, with its noble undercroft, and then led them through the crypt (the most ancient part of the entire edifice) into the cloisters. Here they were shown the newly discovered prison or cell for refractory monks, which has been brought to light during the last month. The party then, having inspected the dining-room at the deanery, once the abbot’s chief parlour, passed out into the dean’s private garden, where tea and coffee and other refreshments were served upon the lawn. The main party then returned by train to Newcastle, while the rest travelled southward to York, and the Archæological Congress of 1884 was at an end.

National Society for Preserving the Memorials of the Dead.—On July 30 a meeting of the Council was held at the rooms of the Archæological Institute, in Oxford-mansions, Oxford-street, Mr. Richardson, F.S.A., in the chair, when the project of having the monumental inscriptions in the churches of Norwich copied and printed in extenso was considered. Various reports were laid down before the council on the present condition of monuments at Waltham Abbey, at Milford, Hants, at Kensington, Paddington, Croydon, West Wittering, and North Mundham, Sussex. It was stated that through the agency of friends of the society, some fine brasses had been restored to the parish church of Cheam, Surrey, and a handsome incised stone slab had been saved at Fownhope, Herefordshire. It was also proposed to re-engrave the inscription over the tomb of Captain John Smith, the eccentric voyager, which has always been an object of pilgrimage to Americans, in St. Sepulchre’s Church, London.

Shorthand.—June 4, Mr. T. A. Reed, President, in the chair. This meeting was devoted to the exhibition of stenographic curiosities, of which a large number, chiefly literary, were exhibited. Manuscript and printed Bibles, Psalms, &c., in the systems of Rich and Addy, were shown by Mr. C. Walford, Mr. Reed, Mr. Rundell, and Mr. Pocknell. A collection of the works of ancient authors of shorthand was sent by Mr. Barnett. Mr. Walford exhibited the systems of Ramsay in Latin and French, and of Noah Bridges, and a MS. copy, made by Mr. Pocknell, of Timothy Bright’s book in the Bodleian Library.

PROVINCIAL.

Essex Archæological Society.—The annual meeting of this Society was held at Halstead, on July 29. In the report, which was read, mention was made of the elaborate catalogue of the museum at Colchester, which had been compiled by Mr. J. E. Price, F.S.A. The President (Mr. G. Alan Lowndes), in moving the adoption of the report, spoke at some length on the desirability of making a catalogue of the church plate of the county. On the conclusion of the ordinary business, the Rev. Cecil Deedes read a paper on “The Church Bells of Halstead and its Neighbourhood;” and the Secretary (Mr. W. H. King), on behalf of Mr. Clarke, F.S.A., read a paper on “North Essex Bells,” giving the dimensions, inscriptions, and other particulars of a large number of bells{141} in the northern part of the county. The paper stated that the Saffron Walden peal, cast in 1798, was considered the best in Essex. Visits were afterwards paid to the churches of Great and Little Maplestead; the old Norman castle at Castle Hedingham; Dynes Hall, the seat of Mr. C. B. Sperling; and Attwoods, the residence of Mr. Vaizey. At the last-named place some old tapestry was inspected.

Essex Field Club.—There was a strong muster of this club on August 4 for a special visit to Colchester and Mersea Island. On the arrival of the members at Colchester they were conducted over the castle by Mr. Horace Round, who explained the chief features of the building. After lunch the members drove to Mersea Island, and at West Mersea were addressed by Dr. Laver on the antiquities of the island, including the mysterious “red-earth mounds.” Dr. Laver insisted on the identity of St. Peter’s, Bradwell, with the site of the Roman “Othonæ,” an on the existence of a ferry to it from West Mersea, where an unusually extensive tesselated pavement was discovered in the last century, and to which a Roman road led, across “the strood,” from Colchester. On the return journey, visits were paid to the ruins of Langenhoe Church, shattered by the earthquake, and to those of St. Botolph’s Priory. A conversazione at the Cups Hotel closed a most successful meeting.

Kent Archæological Society.—The annual congress of this association was held at Sevenoaks, on July 30 and 31. The annual meeting was held at the Sennoke Hotel, and, in the absence of Lord Amherst, the chair was taken by Sir Walter Stirling, Bart. From the twenty-seventh annual report, which was read, it appears that during the last twelve months, forty-six new members have joined the Society. The fifteenth volume of the “Archæologia Cantiana” was sent out in February last. It is the seventh volume, issued in ten years, 1874-84, during which the present Secretary (Canon Scott-Robertson) has been sole editor. These volumes (9 to 15) contain 3,580 pages, or an average of 358 pages for each year’s subscription of 10s. During the past twelve months, in response to renewed applications, descriptions of nearly 200 additional sets of parish church plate have been obtained, making about 400 in all. The thanks of the Council are due to the Rev. J. A. Boodle and to Mr. J. F. Wadmore, for much help in this matter. Engravings, from some of the Elizabethan plate, have already been prepared by the Society’s engraver, and others are in progress. It was hoped that the book on “Kentish Plate” may be issued next year. The report was adopted, and Lord Sydney was unanimously elected President, in the room of Lord Amherst, resigned. At the conclusion of the meeting, the members and friends proceeded to Sundridge Church, where Canon Scott-Robertson read a paper, dealing with the most interesting features of the building. A visit was afterwards paid to Squerryes Court, Westerham, and to Westerham Church, where a paper was read by Mr. Granville Leveson-Gower, F.S.A. The church dates from the thirteenth century, and contains several interesting monuments and brasses. Chevening Park, the seat of Lord Stanhope, and Chevening Church, were next inspected. The second day’s proceedings included visits to the old Archiepiscopal Manor House and Church of Otford—the chief architectural features of which were described by Canon Scott-Robertson and Mr. Loftus Brock—Eynesford Church, Lullingstone Castle and Church, and Shoreham Church.

Surrey Archæological Society.—An excursion of this Society was recently made to Leatherhead, Mickleham, Effingham, and Fetcham. The first meeting was at Leatherhead Church, where a paper, written by{142} Mr. R. H. Carpenter, was, in the absence of the author, read by Mr. Thomas Milbourn. Mr. Carpenter, in his paper, said there was evidence that the English church had originally a central tower at the intersection of the arms of the cross. In 1344 Queen Isabella obtained the living of Leatherhead for the convent of Leeds about the time when the tower collapsed. The church had recently been restored, yet there was much to be done. The plinth of the church could now be seen, and gave evidence of what the rest was before it was covered with plaster in 1766. The company then proceeded to Mickleham, where Mr. Ralph Nevill, F.S.A., read a paper, in which he stated that in 1823 the church was restored by Mr. Robinson, who showed unusual enlightenment as a restorer, considering the period. The church was erected in the reign of Edward I. on the site of an old one. The font was very ancient. At Effingham, the next place visited, Major Heales, F.S.A., read a paper on the church and its history. He said this was one of the few old churches of Surrey not mentioned in Domesday. The oldest document he could find mentioned the oldest parts of the church as being of the twelfth century. Mr. Granville Leveson-Gower, F.S.A., next read a paper on the “Howards of Effingham,” after which the excursionists proceeded to Fetcham Church, the architecture of which was described by Mr. Chas. Forster Hayward, F.S.A. Mr. Hayward said the church was of very early date; there were Roman bricks used in the walls, and the columns were good examples of Norman work. The original form of the church was, like that of most Norman churches, cruciform. Another paper was afterwards read by the Rev. W. H. F. Edge, M.A., on the “Parochial Records.” The company was next invited to inspect the mansion of Mr. Hankey, J.P., and here some paintings, particularly one in the centre of the drawing-room ceiling by Sir James Thornhill, were much admired.—The annual general meeting of the Society took place on July 23. Major Heales, F.S.A., presided, and the report of the council and balance-sheet were adopted. The retiring members of the council were re-elected, as also were the auditors, Messrs. J. T. Lacey and W. F. Potter, and the hon. secretary, Mr. T. Milbourn.

Antiquarian News & Notes.

A chambered mound, containing four skeletons, has been lately unearthed near the Bridge of Waith, Kirkwall.

The Athenæum states that the Earl of Ducie is collecting materials for a history of the Spanish Armada of 1588.

Lord Sydney has been elected President of the Kent Archæological Society in the place of Lord Amherst, resigned.

M. Leon Lhermitte has completed an etching of Rouen Cathedral. A finished proof is now to be seen at Messrs. Tooths’ gallery, in the Haymarket.

The pictures by Hogarth lately bought from the Leigh Court collection for the National Gallery have been hung over “The Marriage à la Mode.”

An outcry has been raised over the threatened destruction of the house in which Poe lived at Fordham during the most interesting period of his life.{143}

According to the report of the British Museum just submitted to Parliament, the number of visits to the reading-room and other departments for study or research in 1883 was 859,836.

The annual meeting of the Somerset Archæological and Natural History Society was held at Shepton Mallet, on August 26 and two following days. A report of the proceedings will be given in our next.

Mr. R. G. Haliburton, Q.C., of Canada, eldest son of the author of “Sam Slick,” intends to visit Borneo, Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia, to complete sundry ethnological inquiries.

The annual meeting of the Library Association will be held on Sept. 30, and three following days, at Trinity College, Dublin. The chair will be taken by Dr. J. H. Ingram, President.

The International Conference of Librarians, which was to have been held at Toronto about the beginning of September, has been postponed, with a view to a gathering at New York or Boston in the autumn of 1885.

The first edition of Braun and Hogenberg’s plan of London, from the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum” (1572), has been reproduced for the Topographical Society of London.

Mr. F. S. Drake, the historian of New England, has discovered the names of one hundred persons who took part in the destruction of the British tea in Boston Harbour. He has published the names in a volume called “Tea Leaves.”

Mr. Anderson, of Kirkwall, has in the press a new Guide to the Orkney Islands, in which special attention will be paid to antiquarian remains and traditional lore. Sir Henry Dryden has revised his notes for this work.

Among the treasures in the late Prince of Orange’s collections are numerous paintings, miniatures, historical documents, and ancient relics of high value, in addition to the jewels of his mother, the late Queen Sophia.

In January next will be commenced a new journal called “The Manx Note-book,” to be devoted to the history, antiquities, and legendary lore of the Isle of Man. The work, which has been undertaken by Mr. A. W. Moore, of Cronbourne, Isle of Man, will be published quarterly.

Mr. T. Locke Worthington has in preparation an historical account and description of the cathedral church of Manchester. The work will be published by subscription through Mr. J. E. Cornish, of Manchester, and will form a quarto volume, the impression being limited to 250 copies.

The new volume of the “Encyclopædia Britannica” contains an article on “Palmyra,” by Professor Robertson Smith, in which the story of Zenobia is re-written by the light of the Aramæan and Greek inscriptions, and of the coins that have recently come to light.

The Committee of the Octagon Chapel, Bath, where Sir William Herschel was organist from 1766 to 1782, invite subscriptions towards a memorial window of “the most distinguished citizen who ever lived in Bath.”

Feggeklit, on the Island of Mors, Denmark, the reputed birthplace of Hamlet, is for sale by private treaty. On a hillside that forms part of the estate will be found the grave of King Fegge, who was the identical person slain by the young Prince to avenge the “most foul murder” of his father.

For thirty-two years Captain Burton has been working more or less at his translation of the “Arabian Nights.” The book now nears completion. Captain Burton will reproduce in English as closely as possible{144} the original text, and for this reason in particular the work will be issued to subscribers only.

Messrs. Bickers & Son have purchased the copyright of Lord Hervey’s “Memoirs of the Reign of George II.,” and are about to issue a new edition in three volumes, uniform with their new edition of “Wraxall’s Memoirs.” The original edition, published by Mr. Murray in 1848, has long been very scarce.

The valuable collection of ancient coins formed by the late James Whittall, of Smyrna, was sold by Messrs. Sotheby in July. The number of lots was 1,668, the sale lasted nine days, and the total amount realised was £3,951 6s. Many of the coins are extremely rare, and some are believed to be unpublished.

The current number of the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society contains the first portion of a sketch of South African history from the pen of the late Sir Bartle Frere, who read the paper now published at a meeting of the Society in 1883. The first section deals chiefly with the first ten years of the Dutch settlement, which are chronicled in some detail.

Dr. A. Harkavy, of the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg, has completed his examination of the newly found Hebrew manuscripts of several books of the Old Testament, and at the request of the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences he has communicated to that body the results of his labours in a report in German, entitled “Bericht an die Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu St. Petersburg.”

The Queen, it is said, is taking no little interest in a new book compiled by Mr. Harold Boulton, Mr. Malcolm Lawson, and Miss Annie Macleod, which will bear the title of “Songs of the North.” The book will be fully illustrated by the leading Scottish artists. A Gaelic translation is in hand, and the Queen has graciously given express permission that the book should be dedicated to herself.

Mr. F. Danby Palmer has just published, in a thin quarto volume, “The History of the Tolhouse at Great Yarmouth,” of which some account, together with an illustration, has been given in these pages (see ante, pp. 1-5). The work has been written by Mr. Palmer in the hope of assisting the effort now being made to preserve an ancient building, for many ages connected with the history of his native town, of events connected with this municipal structure from the thirteenth century to the present time.

The August number of the Century contains the first of a series of three papers by Mr. W. J. Stillman, recording the experiences of a classical expedition undertaken for that magazine. Mr. Stillman’s object was to trace the wanderings of Ulysses, as described in the “Odyssey,” and to identify, as far as it is possible to-day, the localities visited by the Ithacan king. The articles will be illustrated by Mr. Fenn, from photographs and sketches made by Mr. Stillman.

The annual festivities in honour of St. James were on the point of terminating on Sunday, July 27, at Santiago, in Spain, when a telegram was received from Rome by the Archbishop, announcing that the Sacred Congregation had declared the bones found about four years ago under the high altar of Santiago Cathedral to be truly those of the Apostle, Spain’s patron saint, ineffectually sought for hitherto since they were concealed, from fear of Moorish raids, in the foundations of the cathedral in the year 1100, by Gilmirez, the first Archbishop.

The complete renewal of the leaden envelope of the dome of St. Peter’s{145} Church, in Rome, has just been completed. It has occupied twelve years, and has cost over 200,000 lire (£8,000). The original covering was applied to the dome in an imperfect fashion, which made continuous repairs a necessity. The total weight of the new cover is given at 354,305 kilogrammes; and if it were spread out flat it would occupy an area of 6,152 square metres, or about an acre and a half. In stripping off the old plates, three of them were found to be of gilded copper.

Some interesting items of theatrical history are contained in the rings which Mr. Irving wears as Malvolio. One is engraved, “Formerly the signet-ring of David Garrick. Henry Irving, from Edwin Booth, 1881.” Another is the celebrated enamel ring, with head of Shakespeare, which Garrick used to wear, and which he bequeathed to his butler, and which was afterwards presented to Mr. Irving by Lady Burdett-Coutts. And still another signet is thus inscribed—“Tyrone Power, to his friend Harley, 1830.”

An embellished copy of Baskett’s edition of the Bible, printed at his press at Oxford in 1817, and known as “The Vinegar Bible,” was included among the rarities sold last month at Messrs. Sotheby’s rooms. The volume had inserted in it some 750 additional plates relating to architecture, natural history, &c. In the same batch of books was a copy of Buck and Daniel’s Cambridge Bible, 1638, in which the curious misprint in Acts vi. 3, “Ye [for we] may appoint” was for the first time printed.

The following articles, more or less of an antiquarian character, appear among the contents of the magazines for August: Edinburgh Review, “The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon,” and “The Chiefs of Grant;” Church Quarterly, “The Church in Old London;” Quarterly Review, “Peter the Great,” and “Greek Archæology;” Art Journal, “Castelfranco and its Altar-piece, by Giorgione,” “The Western Riviera, Nice,” and “The Isle of Walcheren;” Cornhill, “Some Literary Recollections;” English Illustrated Magazine, “Winchester,” and “Cutlery and Cutlers at Sheffield;” Temple Bar, “Westminster School.”

Catalogues of rare and curious books, all of which contain the names of works of antiquarian interest, have reached us from Mr. C. Golding, Colchester (chiefly topographical of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries); Mr. H. Lowe, 89, New-street, Birmingham; Messrs. Reeves & Turner, 196, Strand; Mr. W. Withers, Leicester; Mr. W. P. Bennett, 3, Bull-street, Birmingham; Messrs. Wyllie & Son, Union-street, Aberdeen; Mr. J. Salkeld, 314, Clapham-road, S.W. (including a large number of books from the libraries of the late Sir G. Bowyer, Mr. Joseph Payne, and others); Messrs. Jarvis & Son, 28, King William-street, Strand, W.C.; Mr. Loescher, Turin.

At a recent meeting of the Society for Preserving the Memorials of the Dead, a letter from a correspondent was read in which it was stated that, whilst on an architectural tour, he found a register book open in the church and the leaves blown on the floor, or at least, such of them as dampness and the mice had not obliterated. Although the living had been held by one family for nearly 300 years, and is a very rich one, the writer adds: “I venture to affirm that a family could not prove its descent for three generations from its parish register.” It is also stated that parchment registers, having one side vacant, were sometimes cut up for directions for game!

A report has been received from the committee appointed with reference to the preservation of the ancient records of the county of{146} Middlesex. The index of these valuable historical documents is very nearly completed, and they have all been properly classified and housed, so that they will be preserved from any damage in the future. The documents altogether number 16,000 separate records. The money allotted for the purpose of classifying them not being found sufficient, it has been decided, on the motion of Mr. Basil Woodd Smith, that a further sum of £200 be granted for the completion of the fittings of the new record room and the sorting and calendaring of the records.

Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods lately disposed of the collection of old Sèvres and Chelsea porcelain, old French decorative furniture, snuff-boxes, and other decorative objects, the property of the late Mr. W. King. Among the best prices obtained were: A statuette of a nymph, by Falconet, in statuary marble, 400 gs.; a Louis XVI. clock, in case of gros-bleu Sèvres porcelain, surmounted by a mask of Apollo, 215 gs.; a pair of Louis XVI. ormolu candelabra, with large Dresden figures of a shepherd and shepherdess, 165 gs.; an oblong bloodstone box, carved with hunting subjects, the lid studded with diamonds, £270; a fine oblong double box, formed of slabs of agate, set with diamonds, £205. The sale realised over £4,600.

On Saturday, June 28, Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods sold at their rooms the splendid collection of paintings by the old masters, the property of Sir Philip Miles, M.P., known as the Leigh Court Gallery. Five pictures were purchased for the National Gallery—the grand upright landscape by Gaspar Poussin, “The Calling of Abraham,” “The Adoration of the Magi,” by Bellini; the two Hogarths, portrait of Miss Fenton, afterwards Duchess of Bolton, as “Polly Peachum,” and “The Shrimp Girl;” and Stothard’s “Canterbury Pilgrims.” The total paid for these pictures was under £4,000. The two Alfieri Claudes were purchased by Messrs. Agnew—the “Apollo Sacrifice” for 5,800 guineas, and the “Landing of Æneas” for 3,800 guineas—while the little picture of the “Herdsman at the Ford” was bought by the same firm for 1,950 guineas, and the Murillo “Holy Family” for 3,000 guineas. The little predella panel by Raphael, “Christ bearing His Cross to Calvary,” was also purchased by Messrs. Agnew for 560 guineas, and has passed into the collection of Lord Windsor. Several important pictures were bought in. The sale realised nearly £44,300.

Among the later additions to that most interesting corner in the Health Exhibition where Old London is reproduced is a collection of views and etchings of Old Southwark, shown by Mr. S. Drewet (F. S. Nichols & Co.) in the Guard Chamber over the Bishop’s Gate. Old London Bridge as it appeared in the time of Henry VIII. and at several periods since until its demolition may here be seen, as well as some of the historic buildings of Southwark—Winchester Palace, &c., and its famous hostels, the old Tabarde and the White Hart, of which the picturesque characteristics have been preserved in etchings by Mr. Percy Thomas. Some reproductions of old maps and a small collection of pottery, weapons, and coins found in the borough of Southwark, and most of them during the progress of excavations on the site of the old Tabarde Inn, should not be passed unnoticed. The rooms over the workshops on the north side of the Old London street at the Exhibition have been filled with furniture of antique form, and the walls hung with tapestries from the Royal Tapestry Works at Windsor. Along the south side a very fine collection of armour, arms, and ancient and mediæval ironwork has been arranged by Messrs. Stark & Gardner, among the contributors being Lady Dorothy Nevill,{147} Sir Coutts Lindsay, the Rev. Canon Harford, Mr. J. G. Litchfield, and Mr. J. E. Gardner, F.S.A.

The sale of the first portion of the extensive library of the late Mr. James Crossley, President of the Chetham Society, took place at the rooms of Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, on Monday, July 21, and six following days. Many of the books were in an imperfect and stained condition, which considerably affected the prices realised. Ainsworth’s Memorials, described by the owner as “by far the rarest book connected with Halifax,” being stained, sold for only £3 3s.; and Brown’s Religio Medici, the 1642 surreptitious impression, £6 10s. Byron’s Hours of Idleness, first published edition, brought £4 6s. Milton’s Paradise Lost, first edition, with first title-page, £25; and other copies, with second, third, fourth, seventh, and eighth title-pages, £16 18s.; Paradise Regained, first edition, £3 17s. 6d. The Philobiblon Society’s Publications, £25. Miscellanies, 20 vols., £21. Miscellanies, in one stout volume, £51. Shelley’s Queen Mab, first edition, wanting title, £4 6s. Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions, £49. Camden Society’s Publications, £10 10s. Chetham Society’s Publications, £25 10s. Abbotsford Club Publications, £15 10s. Spenser’s Fairie Queene, first edition, £12 10s.; second edition, £10 10s.; and 1617 edition, with autograph of Ben Jonson, £10 10s. Shakespeare’s Plays, Second Folio, £17; Third Folio, imperfect, £12; Fourth Folio, £9 10s. Tracts and Pamphlets, £16, £60, £39. Watson’s Halifax, £9 9s.; and a copy with Canon Raines’s MS. notes, £37. The 2,824 lots realised nearly £3,600.

Dr. Schliemann has been in London for a week or two. He has in preparation a book on his discoveries at Tiryns. The Academy communicates the following details with regard to these discoveries: “The walls of the prehistoric palace which Dr. Schliemann has disinterred at Tiryns are formed of limestone and clay; the latter has been turned into brick by the action of fire, while the stone has been burnt into lime. In some places the surface of the walls had been coated with stucco, on which traces of painting can still be observed. The colours used in these paintings are black, red, blue, yellow, and white; and Professor Virchow has pointed out that the blue is composed of pulverised glass mixed with copper, but without cobalt. One of the paintings represents the same pattern as that found on the roof of the thalamos attached to the Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenos. Another depicts a man riding on an ox, whose tail he holds. The artist has made three attempts to draw the tail, and has forgotten to obliterate the two unsuccessful ones. The paintings have been carefully removed and sent to Athens. Among the ruins of the palace twenty-seven bases of limestone columns have been discovered, but no drums, besides a sandstone capital in the old Doric style. The chambers of the building were full of objects of all kinds, including pottery, obsidian knives, rude hammers of diorite, and grape-stones. No iron has been met with, and but little metal of any sort, though lead is relatively plentiful. All traces of writing are equally absent. The pottery resembles that of Mycenæ, but the presence of obsidian and the scarcity of metal imply that Tiryns was the older city of the two.”

The name of John Payne Collier has been so long known to all those persons who take an interest in literature, that the recent sale of the first portion of the books and manuscripts which had belonged to the editor of “Shakespeare” by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, was certain to excite much attention. The second portion of the library is reserved{148} for a future sale. Of those just sold, the more interesting lots were: Ballads, &c., an interesting manuscript of the seventeenth century, including a period of about sixty years, a most curious collection of ballads, quotations from Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Sir W. Raleigh, and summary of its contents by J. P. Collier, who gave Hoope £25 for the volume—£52 (Quaritch); Cartwright (W.), Comedies, &c., portrait by Lombart, manuscript note by J. P. Collier, with the rare cancelled leaves “On the Queen’s Return from the Low Countries,” and the uncancelled leaves on the same, £5 15s. (Quaritch); Cibber (C.), “Tony Aston’s Brief Supplement to C. Cibber, his lives, &c., notes by Collier, extremely rare—£2 15s. (Westell); Collier, J. P., Punch and Judy coloured etchings by G. Cruikshank, notes by author among others—“The plates in this volume were coloured by Cruikshank; he gave it to me”—£5 10s.; Collier, J. P., “Notes and Emendations to the Text of Shakespeare’s Plays,” with a great mass of manuscripts, notes by Collier, 1853—£40 15s. (A. R. Smith); Cruikshank, 24 illustrations of “Punch and Judy,” India proofs, with a portrait of the artist himself etched at the bottom of one of the plates, and a view on another, &c., S. Prowett, 1828—£19 5s. (Richardson); Baxter (N.), Sir P. Sydney’s “Ourania,” autograph signature, and manuscript corrections by author, 1606—£9. (Stevens); Collier, J. P., “History of English Dramatic Poetry,” profusely illustrated by rare portraits, autograph letters, and manuscript notes by Collier, 1879—£59 (Stevens); Collier, J. P., “An Old Man’s Diary Forty Years Ago,” 1832-33, only 25 copies printed, illustrated like the last named, 1871-72—£150. (B. F. Stevens); Cooperi, T., “Thesaurus Linguæ Romanæ et Britannicæ,” “This book before it was rebound belonged to John Milton, as is testified in his own handwriting in more than 1,500 places,” manuscript note by Collier—£3 11s. (Quaritch); “Miltoni pro Populo Anglicano Defensio,” with autograph of O. Cromwell—£8 15s. (Quaritch); Shakespeare’s works, 1844-53, Mr. Collier’s working copy, manuscript notes, and letters from his friend—£10 (Ellis); Peckham, Sir G., “A True Reporte of the late Discoveries, &c., of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Kt.,” very curious and rare, John Charlewood for John Hinde, 1583, and many other rare tracts, in one volume, with manuscript notes by Collier—£210 (Quaritch). The entire proceeds of the sale were a little over £2,100.

Antiquarian Correspondence.

All communications must be accompanied by the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication.

DR. FRANCIS MALLETT.

Sir,—Dr. Francis Mallett, Vicar of Rothwell, near Leeds, instituted 7 January, 1533, is styled in the church register, “Magister Franciscus Malett: Sacre Theologie Doctor.” He resigned this living before 1547. In the catalogue of vicars, he is designated “Mr. Francis Malett, cap.” (capellanus or chaplain).

In a sketch of the life of Arthur Yeldard, one of the first Fellows of{149} Trinity College, Oxford, founded by Sir Thomas Pope, it is stated that Mr. Yeldard, while at Cambridge (in 1553) for his better support in study, received an annual exhibition from the Princess, afterwards Queen, Mary, by the hands of Dr. Francis Mallet, her chaplain and confessor, the last master of Michael House in Cambridge, and dean of Lincoln.

Again, I find that a Dr. Francis Mallett, as master of St. Katherine’s Hospital,[34] offered to resign the mastership in 1559.

On December 18, 1573, a “Dr. Mallett” was buried at Normanton, and it is remarked in the parish register that there remained unpaid for his burial in the church, 3s. 4d.

I wish to ascertain, if possible, whether the instances given refer to one and the same man or no; and if so, whether he was a member of the ancient family of the Mallets of Normanton, in Yorkshire.

John Batty.

East Ardsley, near Wakefield.

ARMS OF JOSUAH BARNES.

Sir,—I send you a description of the armorial plate, dated 1700, of Josuah Barnes, who was appointed Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge in 1695, and of whom Bentley said that he knew as much Greek as an Athenian cobbler. (1) For Greek Professor—Argent and sable, party per chevron: in first, the letters Alpha and Omega sable; in second, a grasshopper argent. On a chief gules a lion passant guardant or, impaling (2) Barnes—Argent, a lion rampant gules, crowned; in dexter chief a mullet; a chief or. The crown and mullet have no tincture marked.

The crest over a healm (an owl argent on a wreath argent and sable) and the mantelling (gules doubled argent) are those of the Greek Professor. Below is the motto—

and under this—

According to grant of arms to the five Regius Professors, the lion passant guardant is marked in his side with the letter G sable, and the owl has its legs, ears, and beak or.

J. Hamblin Smith.

Woodbridge, Suffolk.

PORTS AND CHESTERS.

(See ante, pp. 47, 96.)

Sir,—Mr. Round adds nothing of value to what has gone before.

(1) As to the alleged “borrowing,” the word port must, on Mr. Round’s own showing, have been taken up, adopted, or borrowed by the so-called English pirates, before they incorporated it into their language; the question is, when?

Bosworth says that A.S. port means town in English, but that scholar has now fallen into discredit, for others doubt or deny his accuracy; further, we find it used as a compound, thus: portreeve, portsoken, portman. Portreeve is, I affirm, by transition from the Latin portus. The port of London extends from Yanlett Creek to Staines, so that the “city”{150} itself is dwarfed by the larger jurisdiction appended to it; we can readily explain the anomaly, but the usage appears to have extended to other places where the hythe or haven, i.e., boat-shelter, is not so clearly marked and then the word is thrust back upon us in a sense that we repudiate.

It is further complicated with “gate” or “doorway”; portsoken, for, instance, means a liberty outside the gate or port of Aldgate, and in many northern towns where the Danes settled in force, we find the word port used for gate, as thus: Westport, Eastport, but it is not to be read as west or east-town; so the portman might mean a burgess told off to keep watch and ward over any particular gate of his own town; just as we have “wards,” i.e. guards, in London, originally confined to gates but extended to intermediate parts of the entire wall, for that was the primitive arrangement.

The Viking invaders used boats that could be pushed up comparatively narrow streams, and it might be contended that any inland place thus reached would be a port of debarkation.

(2) My word “ramify” expresses a real difficulty; I did try to spread out or extend Mr. Round’s argument under its different heads and branches, i.e., to follow up the various ramifications of his literary matter, with a view to the extraction of a tangible meaning; and I still contend that his words do imply that caer was put for castrum; but it is certain that this “native form” was unknown on the south-eastern coast, for the transliteration shows that the Romans met with dune or dinas, not caer or ker.

A. Hall.

A BAKER BLESSED.

(See ante, p. 44.)

Sir,—Will Mr. Hussey take a suggestion for a half-answer to his query? It may possibly put him on the track of the origin of the lines that he quotes:—

In “Hamlet,” Ophelia says: “The owl was a baker’s daughter.” The ideas floating through her mind are connected with St. Valentine’s Day.

Grimm gives a story that “the cuckoo was a baker’s (or miller’s) man, and that is why he wears a dingy meal-sprinkled coat. In a dear season he robbed the poor of their flour, and when God was blessing the dough in the oven, he would take it out, and pull lumps out of it, crying every time, ‘Guk-guk,’ look, look; therefore the Lord punished him by changing him into a bird of prey, which incessantly repeats that cry.” This story, Grimm says, is doubtless very ancient, and was once told very differently. “That ‘dear season’ may have to do with the belief that when the Cuckoo’s call continues to be heard after midsummer, it betokens dearth.”

Again Grimm alludes to one of the many superstitions concerning the cuckoo in spring, and says that in some districts a rhyme runs thus:

Here the idea of the baker is brought in.

Grimm gives a story of the woodpecker, which has also to do with the baking element. A combination of the Scandinavian with the saint-legendary element.

In Norway the red-hooded blackpecker is called Gertrude’s fowl, and {151}the origin is thus explained. The story will be found in Mr. Stallybrass’ translation of Grimm’s “Teutonic Mythology” (see vol. ii. p. 673), together with much curious information concerning rhymes and charms, which may possibly be of some help to Mr. Hussey in his researches for origins of curious old rhymes and verses.

J. G.

AN ARCHÆOLOGICAL DISCOVERY.

Sir,—A find of some archæological interest was made a few days ago in the churchyard of Hitcham, Bucks. In digging a grave on the south side of the (Norman) nave, a stone cist, or sarcophagus, was discovered 4 ft. 6 in. from the present surface. Fourteen years ago a similar cist was found; with the remains were a quantity of iron rings, 1¼ in. diameter, and iron nails, but no other indication of there having been a coffin. The head of the present cist was then brought to view, but not disturbed. The inside dimensions of the present cist were 6 ft. in length, 12 in. wide at the head, and 8 in. at the foot; 19 in. at its greatest width. The south side was composed of 5 slabs, the north side of 6; the covering slabs were 5 in number; also 1 at the head and foot—18 stones in all, 13 in. deep at the head and 12 in. at the foot; the side stones averaging 4 in. and the covering stones 5½ in. in thickness. The chalk or claunch stones of which the cist is composed were rudely squared and hewn or axed on all sides with a tool 1 in. wide, and rounded on the edge; one other tool 3 in. in width, the axe marks being sharp and clearly defined. A large and perfect skeleton was enclosed, but no trace of a coffin, wood or metal. The bed or floor of the grave was composed of fine gravel-pit sand. The bones were considerably crystallised; probably the body was covered with carbonate of lime. The skull bore traces of having lain in a liquid; it was very friable, and crumbled at the touch; the femur measured 18½ in. in length. Llewellyn Jewitt says: “The mode of burial seems this: when the body was placed in the stone cist, or sarcophagus, it was fully draped in its usual dress. It was laid flat upon its back, at full length, at the bottom of the cist; any relics intended to be buried with it were placed by its side. Liquid lime or gypsum was then poured in, upon, and around it, the face alone being left uncovered by the liquid. The body was thus completely (with the exception of the face) encased in liquid lime, which, when it became set, formed a solid mass. When these are brought to light and opened, a perfect impression or mould of the figure of the deceased appears on the bed of plaster or lime in which it had been enclosed, and, in some instances, the texture, and even the colours of the dress is clearly defined. Some years ago a cist was opened at York, in which the body of a woman clothed in rich purple, with a small child laid upon her lap, was clearly discernible in the plaster.”

Whether this was an interment of the Roman-British or Anglo-Saxon period the orientation was very decided in this case, as in the five others I have seen in this spot, they all lying due east and west. Two-thirds in length of this very interesting relic had to be removed to obtain the depth required for the new grave. I collected the bones and placed them in the remaining third portion left undisturbed.

JAMES RUTLAND,

Hon. Sec. Berks Archæological and Architectural
Society, and Maidenhead Field
Club and Thames Valley Antiquarian
Society.

The Gables, Taplow,
August, 1884.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The Editor declines to pledge himself for the safety or return of MSS. voluntarily tendered to him by strangers.

The continuation of Mr. J. H. Round’s paper on “Port and Port-Reeve” is unavoidably postponed to our next.

Books Received.

1. History of the Parish of Ruardyn. By Sir John Maclean, F.S.A.

2. History of the Wrays of Glentworth. By Charles Dalton.

3. Northamptonshire Notes and Queries. Part iii. Northampton: Taylor & Son. July, 1884.

4. English Etchings. Part xxxix. D. Bogue, 3, St. Martin’s-place, W.C.

5. Johns Hopkins University Studies. Second Series, vii. Baltimore. July, 1884.

6. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. No. cli. Boston, July, 1884.

7. Western Antiquary. Part ii. Plymouth. July, 1884.

8. Journal of the British Archæological Association. Vol. xl. Part ii. June, 1884.

9. Poems. By Lewis Gidley. (2nd Edition). Parker & Co. 1884.

10. Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Notes. Part iv. Chronicle Office, Leigh.

11. The Hull Quarterly and East Riding Portfolio. No. iii. Hall, Brown & Sons.

12. Ye Historical Sketch of ye Olde London Streete. By T. St. Edmund Hake. Waterlow & Sons. 1884.

13. “Aberdeen Printers.” By J. P. Edmond. Parts i. & ii. Aberdeen: Edmond & Spark. 1884.

Books, etc., for Sale.

Works of Hogarth (set of original Engravings, elephant folio, without text), bound. Apply by letter to W. D., 56, Paragon-road, Hackney, N.E.

Original water-colour portrait of Jeremy Bentham, price 2 guineas. Apply to the Editor of this Magazine.

A large collection of Franks, Peers, and Commoners. Apply to E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, N.W.

Books, etc., Wanted to Purchase.

Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer, several copies of No. 2 (February, 1882) are wanted, in order to complete sets. Copies of the current number will be given in exchange at the office.

Dodd’s Church History, 8vo., vols. i. ii. and v.; Waagen’s Art and Artists in England, vol. i.; East Anglian, vol. i., Nos. 26 and 29. The Family Topographer, by Samuel Tymms, vols. iii. and iv.; Notes and Queries, the third Index. Johnson’s “Lives of the Poets” (Ingram and Cooke’s edition), vol. iii. A New Display of the Beauties of England, vol. i., 1774. Chambers’ Cyclopædia of English Literature, vol. i. Address, E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, Edgeware-road, N.W. {153} {154}

SEAL OF THE BOROUGH OF SEAFORD.
W. Dampier, del.

{155}

The
Antiquarian Magazine
& Bibliographer.

Our Old County Towns.

NO. II.—SEAFORD, SUSSEX.

N the Sussex coast, between Newhaven and Eastbourne, stands the “ancient town and port” of Seaford, a place which was formerly of some importance—seeing that it could boast of returning two Members to Parliament, and that it contained no less than seven churches; but, having been disfranchised under the Reform Act of 1832, it degenerated into an obscure fishing village, from which condition, like many other places on the southern coast, having felt the impulse of fashion, it is now rising to the dignity of a watering-place.

In very early times the site of the present town was doubtless chosen as advantageous to the dwellers on the coast, and many traces of Roman occupation have been discovered hereabouts, particularly near the cliff overlooking the eastern part of the town, where is an extensive earthwork, locally known as the Roman Camp. About the year 1820 evidences of a Roman cemetery were disclosed at Green-street, in this neighbourhood: these included sepulchral urns and coins, among the latter being one of Antonia, daughter of Marc Antony.

Somner has fixed upon Pevensey as the Anderida of the Romans; and a great battle between the Saxons and Britons in 485, at Mereredesburn, is thought to have been fought in this locality.

Seaford suffered considerably from the ravages of the French in{156} their “descents” on the English coast; and it was probably in the invasion in 1545 that the place was burnt, and its several churches and other public buildings destroyed.

There is a tradition that the privileges of the borough were first granted by Edward I., in consequence of its inhabitants having supplied the king with the gift or loan of “five ships and eighty mariners;” the said “privileges” comprised exemptions from toll and custom, namely, “lastage, tollage, passage, rivage, appensage, wreck,” &c., and with rights of “soc and sac and toll,” and freedom from “justices itinerant.” The town received its charter of incorporation from Henry VIII. At that time Hastings was in a pitiful state, as recited in the charter.

In the reign of Charles I. the town was made a member of the Cinque Ports, which comprised Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Romney, Hythe, Rye, Winchilsea, Seaford, Pevensey, Fordwich, Folkestone, Feversham, Lydd, and Tenterden; now, however, it is but a “member” of the first-named port, though with “separate local jurisdiction.”

The government of the town is a municipal corporation, consisting of a bailiff or mayor, jurats, and an indefinite number of freemen. The bailiff is also (ex officio) coroner for the liberty; and the jurats, who are local magistrates and may be twelve in number, are chosen by the freemen, who were formerly styled “barons.” These “barons” of the Cinque Ports possessed extensive and peculiar privileges under their charters, and attended the Brotherhood and Guestling of the Cinque Ports Parliament, the last of which was held at New Romney, in July, 1828. The first bailiff, elected in 1541, was one John Ockenden.

The bailiff is annually elected on Michaelmas Day, with quaint formalities, which are thus set forth by Mr. M. A. Lower in his “Memorials of Seaford:” “At the summons of the church bell the assembly of freemen takes place in the town-hall, and after the pro formâ business has been gone through, the freemen—leaving the jurats behind them on the bench—retire in a body to a certain gatepost near West House, and there elect their chief officer for the year ensuing. The motive for this singular proceeding seems to have been the prevention of unfair influence on the part of the magisterial body. The townsmen are attended on this occasion by the serjeant-at-mace in his proper costume, bearing the ensign of the bailiff’s authority in the shape of a small mace of silver, which is ornamented with the arms of Queen Elizabeth. The procession commences at{157} a place called the Old Tree, where it appears the town pillory anciently stood, as it is called in old documents ‘the Pillory Tree.’ The place of execution, or rather the perquisite of the ‘finisher of the law,’ is still pointed to by the name of a piece of land called ‘Hangman’s Acre.’ ” The Pillory Tree was standing in 1578. The site is now marked by the “Old Tree” Inn.

In the 37th year of Elizabeth, the cucking-stool, the pillory, and the butts are mentioned in a “presentment” by the jury as in a state of decay. The pillory was an instrument of punishment to be met with in former times in most old county towns; but the cucking or ducking-stool was not so common, on account of its peculiar construction and use. It could, of course, be used only in such places as had a convenient pond or piece of water at hand wherein to “duck” its unfortunate occupant. The cucking-stool is referred to by some of the older poets. Thus Gay writes:—

Down to the sixteenth century, Seaford had a harbour of its own. The river Ouse flowed between the town and the shingly beach to find an outlet at Seaford Head, or Cliff End, and ships floated up to the houses, in much the same fashion as they do at Shoreham even to this day; but by the accumulation of shingle through the action of the tides its outlet was diverted, and the harbour destroyed. A grant of Queen Elizabeth, dated 1592, speaks of the “decayed haven of Seaforth, called Beame lands,” &c. This land, now used for the purposes of recreation, but still retaining the corrupted name of the Bemblands, exhibits but few traces of the river-bed which of old conferred upon the town the distinction of a Cinque port. The haven in the end became a duck-pool.

Seaford is a borough by prescription, and from the end of the thirteenth century, as stated above, returned two members to Parliament, and it was at one time represented by the celebrated statesmen, the elder Pitt and George Canning; this borough was long remarkable for the obstinate election contests between the partisans of the two noble houses of Lennox and Pelham, and also for the open display of “bribery and corruption,” which formed perhaps the chief political interest of its worthy burgesses.

Seaford gives the title of “Baron” to the family of Ellis, Lords Howard de Walden; and it may be added that the custom of “Borough English” prevails here, whereby property descends to the youngest son.{158}

The arms of Seaford are (like those of the other Cinque Ports) the dimidiated lions of England, with the three ships’ sterns. The town, however, has an ensign peculiar to itself: “Or, an Eagle displayed azure;” while the seal of Seaford, of which we give a representation, bears on the obverse an eagle, and on the reverse an antique ship.

The lordship of the manor of Seaford has belonged successively to families of historic fame, notably the Warrens, the Poynings, the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk, the Monteagles (to whom it was granted as a reward for valour), and the Pelhams. One member, at least, of this last-named family exhibited bravery in the defence of the town, if we may judge from the following verses which appear on the monument of Sir N. Pelham at Lewes:—

There are still to be met with in Seaford one or two old buildings which would delight the antiquarian visitor. The Plough Inn possesses a fine old chimney-piece; and the “Crypt House,” and the Court House with its jail beneath—somewhat similar to the Tolhouse at Great Yarmouth, already described in these pages[35]—will not prove uninteresting. Among the old records of the town is one referring to a curious trial which took place here in the reign of Elizabeth, in which the prisoner claimed the “benefit of clergy.” The entry, which we quote from the “Memorials of Seaford,” runs as follows:—

“Nich. Gabriell, a shepherd, was found guilty of stealing six shep, (sheep) at Chintinge. On being asked by the bailiff if he had anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon him, he claimed the benefit of the clergy, which was granted by the Court. Robert Hyde, Vicar of Seaford, and another clergyman, handed him a book to make proof of his learning, whereupon he read it off like a clerk (legebat ut clericus), and thus the heavier penalty was commuted for branding on the hand.”

The parish church, dedicated to St. Leonard, exhibits marks of considerable antiquity, being mostly of the Decorated period; the tower dating back to the Norman era. It has been recently enlarged and repaired, not in the best of taste; prior to that time the body of the fabric had been “a vile piece of patchwork, to which painted{159} shutters on the outside of all the lower windows gave a truly grotesque appearance.” The original chancel is supposed to have been burned down in the general conflagration of the town already mentioned. In the nave, opposite the south porch, is a curious piece of sculpture. A tablet in the belfry records the recasting of the bells in 1807.

The bay of Seaford is one of the most dangerous parts along the coast, in consequence of its numerous shoals and rocks, and consequently the spot has become noted for its wrecks and “wreckers.” The latter are referred to by Congreve in his epilogue to the “Mourning Bride:”—

“Port” and “Port-Reeve.”

By J. H. Round, M.A.

PART IV.

(Completed from p. 24.)

TURNING now to ceaster, I claim it, as I claim port, as a distinctively English word. Just as, ever on the same principle, I see in the use of weal (wall)—a word etymologically derived from vallum—for a stone wall (murus), an indication that the Teutonic rovers, struck by a phenomenon to them so strange as a fortification even of earth, formed for themselves, out of vallum, a word denoting a barrier irrespective of its material, so I contend that they formed for themselves, from a phenomenon so strange as that castrum which faced them on the border of “the Saxon shore,” the word ceaster by which to denote a walled enclosure, irrespective of its size. Is it not a striking thought that, in these English rovers, we have the forefathers of those to whom, as they gazed on the Norman donjon,—

Thus, to return, as when they made the acquaintance of a stone wall (murus), they would apply their word weal to it, so, when they reached the large Roman towns of the interior they would apply to them, as being walled enclosures, their own word “ceaster,” totally independent of the proper name by which they were known to Roman or Briton.

Now here we have an instance of the striking results that may follow from minute analysis of “these interesting philological fossils.” For it follows, as a corollary from the above proposition, that the point of view from which all historians, whatever their school of thought may be, have hitherto agreed to look at “-ceaster,” is entirely erroneous and misleading. So far from being essentially a Roman, I shall prove it to be essentially an English termination. Thus, though in no way a follower of Mr. Freeman’s sweeping theories, I go, it will be seen, in this matter of fact, even beyond the exponent of the extreme “Teutonic” view.

Let us ask ourselves, in the first place, what we mean when we talk of towns with the -ceaster termination having retained their “Roman names.” Mr. Pearson, for instance, who is a follower of Mr. Coote, asserts that—

Even Mr. Allen, though an independent thinker, contends that—

And he goes, indeed, so far as to assert that—

Take, then, the case of Gloucester. Mr. Freeman and Prebendary Scarth undoubtedly represent, on these questions, the opposite extremes of thought. The former would minimise, and the latter would make the most of the survival of “Roman names,” yet on this point they are at one. “A few great cities,” says Mr. Freeman,

“London and Lincoln,” says Prebendary Scarth,

And yet, as Mr. Allen most truly observes—

It is the advantage of an unflinching analysis such as this that we are immediately confronted in black and white with a form of which the existence is necessarily involved, though hitherto surely overlooked. That form is “Glevum castrum.” This then is the question that we have to ask: was “Glevum castrum” ever the name of Gloucester? “Glevum” we know, and “Gleawan ceaster;” but if we cannot demonstrate the existence of a form “Glevum castrum,” the continuity of the chain is severed; there is between them a missing link.

Now for this form, although, as I have said, it is a necessary postulate to the accepted theory, there is absolutely, we may at once assert, no evidence whatever. Indeed, as in this same article Mr. Allen has himself observed,—

Thus, then, as the Roman name was “Glevum,” and not “Glevum castrum,” we see that “Gloucester,” the English name, is not the “Roman name” preserved—is not even, though Mr. Freeman would admit it, “older than the English Conquest.”

But as yet we have only ascertained that “Gloucester” (that is to say, “Gleawan Ceaster”) was a new, an English, name. We have still to learn how it was evolved, and what the name really meant in the mouths of “the English conquerors.”

To solve this further problem, there are two points that must be borne in mind. The first of these points is that “ceaster,” though now only found in place names, and therefore, naturally, to our ears,{162} a component of proper names, was, in the mouths of the earliest English, not a proper but a common name. We are reminded, for instance, by Mr. Grant Allen, that in Beowulf the city-folk are described as the “dwellers in ceasters;” and even so late as the days of Alfred, Chester, as Mr. Freeman loves to remind us, is spoken of as “a waste ceaster,” that is a deserted city. How, then, did this English word ceaster, a word formed to denote an object for which, being new to English eyes, a new word had been added to their speech, pass out of use as a general term, and become a component of certain proper names, embalmed in which it has descended even to our own day? Mr. Allen contends (though the suggestion surely is irreconcilable with his previous hypothesis of Glevum castrum having existed as a Latin form) that

Now this brings me to the second of the two points of which I spoke; this is, that in the names we are considering, such as Gloucester and Doncaster, we have to deal with two component parts, and that the nomen ipsum, the real English name, is always to be sought in the second part, and not, as has hitherto, it would seem, thoughtlessly been assumed, in the first. That is to say, that in Gleawan ceaster, as an instance of the original form, we are to seek the true English name in the ceaster, and not in the Gleawan. So far from seeing in this form “the Romanised title alone, with the addition of ceaster,” we ought to see the English word ceaster imposed by the conquerors upon the city of Glevum, a prefix to ceaster being only added where necessary to distinguish it from other ceasters. This is illustrated by the parallel case of the three Romanised forms, Venta Icenorum, Venta Belgarum, and Venta Silurum. In each of these three forms the true place-name was Venta (Gwent), and the tribal names are mere suffixes, added for the sake of distinction. This parallel will also illustrate the contrast between the Roman and the English Conquests. For whereas the Romans were contented to Latinise “Gwent” as Venta, the English, settlers rather than conquerors, acting as their descendants have done in America, not as they have done in Hindostan, ignored the Roman or, more accurately, the Latinised British name,{163} and, in their own tongue, called Glevum “Ceaster.” Here I must again quote from Mr. Allen’s able paper, as clearly establishing this proposition, although the inferences we draw from it are not the same:—

I must explain very carefully the difference between Mr. Allen’s point of view and my own. While I see the true English name in the English word “Ceaster,” and look upon its prefixes as merely added to distinguish one “Ceaster” from another—just as in “East Bergholt” (Suffolk) and “West Bergholt” (Essex), or in the widely separated “East Grinstead” and “West Grinstead” of Sussex, we recognise the original name of each village as “Bergholt” and “Grinstead” respectively—Mr. Allen, by the absolutely converse process, would see the true English name in the full compound, such as “Glewanceaster,” whether formed by simply Anglicising a Latin “Glevum castrum” (see p. 423), or, as he elsewhere holds (p. 434), by using the “Romanised title alone, with the addition of ‘Ceaster.’ ” He consequently sees, in the simple “Ceaster,” not the original form, but a corruption, a “colloquial usage:”—

Let me take, as an illustration, a well-known passage, in which the “Chronicle” tells how the West Saxons, in 577, “took three ceasters, Gleawan ceaster and Ciren ceaster, and Bathan ceaster.” Now, each of these cities would be severally known as a “ceaster,” and, in due course, as the “ceaster”—just as “forum” was developed by the Romans, and as “market” has been by ourselves{164} (vide ante, v. 250)—but when, as here, mentioned together, they would have to be distinguished from one another. The hams and tuns which covered the land were so distinguished by prefixing to them the names of their English owners. This could not be done with the ceasters, which did not become the homesteads of English owners. The distinctive prefix was, therefore, sought in some existing (although, to the invaders), meaningless name, either that of the river on which it stood, as “Exan ceaster” (the Chester on the Exe), or that of the place itself, “Glewan ceaster,” a form which may be paralleled in the “Fort Chipewyan,” “Fort Winebago,” &c., of their descendants in North America.[47] It is often, of course, most difficult to say whether the prefix is derived directly from the river, or indirectly, through the original place-name. But, in any case, we must dismiss the hypothesis that the prefix was “the Romanised title” of the town, for the termination “an” (“Exan,” “Gleawan”) is found in cases where the Roman forms differed so widely as “Isca” and “Glevum.” We must guard against the idea that such prefix was ever the “Roman name” itself, used in apposition to “ceaster.”

To resume, then, we have seen that there is no ground for supposing “castrum” to have ever formed part of the “Roman names” of those cities whose modern names end in “Chester,” &c. From this it has followed that the terminal in question is the result and badge of the English invasion, representing the English word “ceaster,” the invaders’ term for a walled town, and not the equivalent of a mere castrum, though etymologically derived from it in the first instance. We have also seen that the terminal in question was not a mere “addition” to the “Roman name,” but was itself the new name imposed by the conquering English, to which, when and where necessary, a prefix was in time permanently added, for the sake of distinction. It is not, surely, too much to say that if these conclusions were satisfactorily established, they must gravely modify, if not revolutionise, the view which has hitherto universally prevailed, and which is based, I think, on a too hasty induction from the resemblance between the English and the Latin words.

I shall not here pursue further the vicissitudes and the fate of “port” and “chester,” but shall content myself with noticing the instructive fact, that, while these words have come down to us, similarly, in{165} compound forms alone, “chester” is a component in the names of places, and “port” in the names of things (including, thereby, offices). Now, if “a walled town” was the meaning of ceaster, and “a trading town” the meaning of port, why should we find this marked difference in the use of words which, in sense, appear to have differed so slightly? Why does “chester” end words, and “port” begin them? Why is a town called a “chester,” when its governor is a “port-reeve,” and its court a “port-manmote?” The answer is to be found in this distinction: the ceaster was the town objectively, that is, viewed as a natural object, a walled enclosure; the port was the town subjectively, that is, relatively to trade, “in its character of a mart or city of merchants.”[48]

Thus it was that while ceaster retained its sturdy objectivity, and was merely qualified, as a place-name, by the addition of a distinctive prefix, port, on the other hand, referring as it did to the town viewed in a particular aspect, was only strong enough to become itself a prefix, used, for the purpose of distinction, in a quasi-adjectival sense. In port-mote it served to distinguish the moot held in the “port” from the scir-mote and tun-mote; in port-reeve it served to distinguish the reeve of the “port,” or trading town, from the scir-reeve, the wic-reeve, and reeves other innumerable.[49]

Messrs. Burns & Oates have announced the intended publication of a series of reprints of scarce ascetical books, many of which exist in the possession of private collectors, as heirlooms of old Catholic families, and in the libraries of religious houses. Among them are “Three Ways of Perfection,” (1663); “Sweet Thoughts of Jesus and Mary,” (1658); “Memorial of a Christian Life,” (1688), &c. The works will be edited by Mr. Orby Shipley, M.A.{166}

The “Titurel” of Wolfram von Eschenbach.

Translated by Julia Goddard.

(Continued from p. 134.)

Conclusion of Part I.—Siguna and Schionatulander.

{172}

Johnson and Garrick.[50]

AN UNPUBLISHED JEU D’ESPRIT.

By Sir Joshua Reynolds.

PART I.

JOHNSON AGAINST GARRICK.

Johnson and Sir J. Reynolds.

REYNOLDS.—Let me alone, I’ll draw him out (aside). I have been thinking this morning, Dr. Johnson, on a matter which has puzzled me very much; it is a subject that I daresay has often passed in your thoughts, and though I cannot, I daresay you have made up your mind upon it.

Johnson.—Tilly fally, what is all this preparation? what is all this weighty matter?

R.—Why, it is a weighty matter; this subject I have been thinking upon, is Predestination, and Free will, two things, which I cannot reconcile together, for the life of me. In my opinion, Dr. Johnson, free will and fore knowledge cannot be reconciled.

J.—Sir, it is not of very great importance, what your opinion is upon such a question.

R.—But I meant only, Dr. J., to know your opinion.

J.—No, sir, you meant no such thing; you meant only to show these gentlemen that you are not the man they took you to be, but that you think of high matters sometimes, and that you may have the credit of having it said, that you held an argument with Sam Johnson, on predestination, and free will; a subject of that magnitude, to have engaged the attention of the world, to have perplexed the wisdom of man, for these 2,000 years; a subject on which the fallen angels who had not yet lost all their original brightness find themselves in wandering mazes lost. That such a subject could be discussed in the levity of convivial conversation, is a degree of absurdity beyond what is easily conceivable.{173}

R.—It is so, as you say, to be sure; I talked once to our friend Garrick on this subject, but I remember we could make nothing of it.

J.—Oh noble pair!

R.—Garrick was a clever fellow, Dr. J.; Garrick, take him altogether, was certainly a very great man.

J.—Garrick, sir, may be a great man in your opinion, as far as I know, but he was not so in mine; little things are great to little men.

R.—I have heard you say, Dr. Johnson——

J.—Sir, you never heard me say, David Garrick was a great man. You may have heard me say that Garrick was a good repeater of other men’s words,—words put into his mouth by other men; this makes but a faint approach towards being a great man.

R.—But take Garrick upon the whole; now in regard to conversation——

J.—Well, sir, in regard to conversation I never discovered in the conversation of D. Garrick any intellectual energy, any wide grasp of thought, any extensive comprehension of mind; or that he possessed any of those powers to which great could, with any degree of propriety, be applied.

R.—But still——

J.—Hold, sir, I have not done—there are to be sure, in the laxity of colloquial speech, various kinds of greatness. A man may be a great tobacconist, a man may be a great painter, he may be likewise a great mimick: now you may be the one, and Garrick the other, and yet neither of you be great men.

R.—But, Dr. Johnson——

J.—Hold, sir. I have often lamented how dangerous it is to investigate, and to discriminate character, to men who have no discriminative powers.

R.—Garrick as a companion, I heard you say—no longer ago than last Wednesday, at Mr. Thrale’s table——

J.—You tease me, sir. Whatever you may have heard me say, no longer ago than last Wednesday, at Mr. Thrale’s table, I tell you, I do not say so now; besides, as I said before, you may not have understood me, you may not have heard me.

R.—I am very sure, I heard you.

J.—Besides, sir, besides, besides—do not you know—are you so ignorant as not to know that it is the highest degree of rudeness to quote a man against himself?{174}

R.—But if you differ from yourself, and give one opinion to-day——

J.—Have done, sir, the company are tired, you see, as well as myself.

T’OTHER SIDE.

Dr. Johnson and Mr. Gibbon.

Johnson.—No, sir, Garrick’s fame was prodigious, not only in England but over all Europe, even in Russia. I have been told he was a proverb; when anybody had repeated well he was called a second Garrick.

Gibbon.—I think he had full as much reputation as he deserved.

J.—I do not pretend to know, sir, what your meaning may be by saying he had as much reputation as he deserved; he deserved much, and he had much.

G.—Why, surely, Dr. Johnson, his merit was in small things only; he had none of those qualities that make a real great man.

J.—Sir, I as little understand what your meaning may be when you speak of the qualities that make a great man: it is a vague term. Garrick was no common man: a man above the common size of men, may surely, without any great impropriety, be called a great man. In my opinion, he has very reasonably fulfilled the prophecy which he once reminded me of having made to his mother, when she asked me how little David got on at school, that I should say to her, that he would come to be hanged, or come to be a great man. No, sir, it is undoubtedly true that the same qualities, united with virtue, or with vice, make a hero or a rogue, a great general or a highwayman. Now Garrick, we are sure, was never hanged, and in regard to his being a great man, you must take the whole man together. It must be considered in how many things Garrick excelled in which every man desires to excel, setting aside his excellence as an actor, in which he is acknowledged to be unrivalled; as a man, as a poet, as a convivial companion, you will find but few his equals, and none his superior. As a man he was kind, friendly, benevolent, and generous.

G.—Of Garrick’s generosity I never heard; I understood his character to be totally the reverse, and that he was reckoned to have loved money.

J.—That he loved money nobody will dispute; who does not? But if you mean by loving money he was parsimonious to a fault, sir, you have been misinformed. To Foote and such scoundrels, who circulated those reports, to such profligate spendthrifts, prudence is meanness,{175} and economy is avarice. That Garrick, in early youth, was brought up in strict habits of economy, I believe, and that they were necessary, I have heard from himself; to suppose that Garrick might inadvertently act from this habit, and be saving in small things, can be no wonder, but let it be remembered at the same time, that if he was frugal by habit, he was liberal from principle; that when he acted from reflection, he did what his fortune enabled him to do, and what was expected from such a fortune. I remember no instance of David’s parsimony, but once, when he stopped Mrs. Woffington from replenishing the teapot; it was already, he said, as red as blood; and this is doubtful, and happened many years ago. In the latter part of his life, I observed no blameable parsimony in David; his table was elegant, and even splendid; his house both in town and country, his equipage, and I think all his habits of life were such as might be expected from a man who had acquired great riches. In regard to his generosity, which you seem to question, I shall only say there is no man to whom I would apply with more confidence of success, for the loan of £200 to assist a common friend, than to David, and this too with very little, if any, probability of its being repaid.

G.—You were going to say something about him as a writer. You don’t rate him very high as a poet?

J.—Sir, a man maybe a respectable poet without being an Homer, as a man may be a good player without being a Garrick. In the lighter kind of poetry, in the appendages of the drama, he was, if not the first, in the very first class. He had a readiness, and a facility, a dexterity of mind that appeared extraordinary even to men of experience, and who are not apt to wonder from ignorance. Writing prologues, epilogues, and epigrams, he said he considered as his trade, and he was what a man should be, always, and at all times, ready at his trade. He required two hours for a prologue or an epilogue, and five minutes for an epigram. Once at Burke’s table, the company proposed a subject, and Garrick finished his epigram within the time: the same experiment was repeated in the garden, and with the same success.

(To be continued.)

{176}

The History of Gilds.

By Cornelius Walford, F.S.S., Barrister-at-Law.

PART IV.

(Continued from p. 76.)

Chapter XXXIV.—Gilds of Middlesex.

THE Gilds of this county were chiefly, but not entirely, centred in the capital.

London.—In Chapter xiv. I have given an account of a Gild which existed in this City during the Anglo-Saxon period (A.D. 827-1013). It probably had many predecessors during the Roman occupation, but of these no sufficient details have come down to us.

I now propose to give some account of other Gilds in the City, naming them generally in the order of their supposed establishment. I do not here include the 89 gilds, which took the shape of City Companies for the regulation of trades, &c., of which 12 were known as the Great Companies, and 77 as the Minor Companies; while of these latter many have altogether died out. Concerning such of these as now remain ample details are available: as to the great Companies, in Herbert’s well-known History; and as to the others, in the newly-issued Report of the Royal Commission into the Livery Companies of the City of London.

Gild of Parish Clerks.—Amongst the Minor Companies was the Gild of St. Nicholas, founded in the reign of Henry III. (13th century), which afterwards rendered important services to the City, by preparing the “Bills of Mortality,” from which the appearance of the Plague became manifest, and its progress in fatality recorded. These parish clerks (who were anciently poor real clerks, i.e., clergy) formed a Gild, or fraternity, and so excelled in church music that ladies and men of quality on this account became members, and on certain days they had public feasts, celebrated with singing and music. Upon working days they attended the schools. Their ancient duty at church was to assist the priest at the altar, sing with him, and read the Epistles.

Gild of the Glovers, founded 1354.—This was a purely secular Gild. The Ordinances now before us purport to be made by the masters and keepers [or wardens] of the Craft of Glovers in the City of London, and the bretheren. The following is a brief abstract only, for the Ordinances themselves are very full and extended:{177}

(1) Every brother shall pay sixteen pence a year, by quarterly payments, towards providing two wax tapers to burn at the high altar of the Chapel of our Lady, in the new Church-haw beside London, and also to the poor of the fraternity who well and truly have paid their quarterage as long as they could.

(2) If any brother be behind of payment of his quarterage by a month after the end of any quarter he shall pay 16 pence, that is to say, 8d. to the old work of the Church of St. Paul of London, and the other 8d. to the box of the fraternitie. Also, as often as any brother be not obedient to the summons of the wardens, or be not present in the “heveyns that folk be dead,” and in offering at the funeral of a brother, and in attendance at church with the fraternitie on the feasts of the Annunciation and Assumption, and others, he shall pay 16 pence in like manner.

(3) Every brother shall come to Placebo and Dirige in the “hevenys of dead folk” in suit or livery of the fraternitie of the year past, and on the morrow to mass, and there offer, in his new livery or suit, upon pain of 16 pence.

(4) If a brother be behind in his quarterage for a year and a day, and though it be in his power to pay it, he maliciously refuse, he shall be summoned before the official of the Consistory Court of London. [See chapter xx.]

(5) If any brother or sister be dead within the City, and have not of his (or her) goods him (or her) to bury, he (or she) shall have burning about his (or her) body five tapers and four torches, at the cost of the bretheren, provided the deceased have continued seven years in the fraternity, &c.

(6) All the bretheren be clothed in one suit, &c.

(7) The Masters, Wardens, and bretheren shall attend and hear mass on the feast of the Assumption, &c.

(8) Every brother shall keep his livery for four years, &c.

(9) The fee for entrance into the fraternity; also the form of oath.

(10) On the day of the feast, when the bretheren have eaten, they shall go together to the Chapel of our Lady before mentioned, and there continue the time of Placebo and Dirige, and on the morrow shall attend mass of Requiem, and from thence come together to their Hall, on pain of 16d.

(11) If any brother revile another, he shall be fined 6d. or 8d., &c.

(12) All the bretheren, with their wives, shall go together to their meat the Sunday next after Trinity Sunday, &c., &c.{178}

(13) Concerning the admission of apprentices.

(14) Fines for “contrarying” against the rules.

(15) Penalties for disobedience of rules and regulations as to apprentices.

These rules had been signed by twenty-nine brethren, who at the same time were sworn faithfully to keep and fulfil them.

Gild of the Holy Trinity (Aldersgate).—This is one of three Gilds which were founded in connection with St. Botolph without Aldersgate, concerning which much information of interest will be found in Mr. Alderman Staples’ pleasant little book, “Notes on St. Botolph without Aldersgate:” London, 1881. Regarding this particular Gild, the duty or obligation of its members was to pay devout honour to the “five wounds of Jesus Christ; the five joys of the Virgin Mary, and the Three Persons in the Glorious Trinity.” A charity founded by this Gild exists at the present day, and is administered by the Lord Mayor and Recorder of the City.

Gild of St. Katherine (Aldersgate).—Oath to be taken on entry, and a kiss of love, charity, and peace. Weekly help in poverty, old age, or loss by fire and water. The members’ payments were quarterly, 3d., women paying at the same rate as men. Members to go to church on St. Katherine’s Day, and afterwards choose officers [no feast mentioned, or apparently contemplated]. Burials were to be at the charge of the Gild, and to be attended by the bretheren. Any brother dying within ten miles of London was to have worshipful burial; all costs being made good by the Gild. Loans were to be made to bretheren out of the Gild stock, on pledge or security. Wax lights were to be found and used on certain festivals; and further services after death. New members only to be admitted by assent on the day of the assembly. Four men were to keep the goods of the Gild and render an account. Assent of all the brotherhood required to any new Gild ordinances. Each of the brotherhood was to have “a vestement, a chalys, and a massebok,” at the price of x. marks.

Gild of Sts. Fabian and Sebastian (Aldersgate).—Same general features as the preceding; with the additional feature that the young were to be helped to get work.

Gild of Garlekhith, founded 1375.—This Gild was established for the worship of God, and to nourish good fellowship. All bretheren must be of good repute. Each was to pay 6s. 8d. on entry. There were to be wardens who should gather in the payments, and yield an account thereof yearly. A livery-suit was to be worn; and the{179} bretheren and sisteren were to hold a feast yearly. Each member was to pay 2s. yearly. There were to be four meetings touching the Gild’s welfare to be held in each year. There were to be free gifts to the Gild by the bretheren of “what hym lyketh.” Ill-behaved bretheren were to be put out of the Gild. On the death of any, all the others were to join in the burial service, and make offerings under penalty. In cases of dispute the matter was to be laid before the wardens. Any member disobeying their award should be put out of the Gild. Weekly help was to be afforded to all members of the Gild of seven years’ standing, in old age and in sickness; also, aid to those wrongfully imprisoned. New members were to make oath to keep the Gild ordinances. Every brother chosen warden must serve, or pay 40s.

Gild of the Blacksmiths.—The Ordinances before us do not bear date until 1434. They are made by the Masters and Wardens of the whole Company of the Craft “in the worship” of St. Loy. In all material respects they resemble those of the Glovers.

Gild of the Shearmen [Clothworkers].—This is an ancient Company arising out of interests connected with the woollen manufacture. The Ordinances before us bear date 1452, and recite that “the wardens and freemen of the Craft for the more encrease and continuation of brotherly love and good example unto the honour of God, our Lady St. Mary, and all Saints, by licence of the Mayor and Commonalty the City of London form a religious brotherhood amongst themselves for the sustentation of a perpetual light of thirteen tapers to burn in the church of the Augustinian Friars in London before the image of our Lady.” This, however, seems to have been a fraternity inside the general Gild, the Ordinances of the latter being very minute in detail, but to the same general purport as the Glovers.

The Gild of the Water-bearers.—This was formerly an important body in the City of London (as its counterparts still are in some of the Continental cities of Europe, especially Lisbon); but it dates back probably to a time anterior to that at which Peter Moris (the Dutchman) erected his water-works at Old London Bridge; and certainly before Sir Hugh Myddleton brought his New River water into the City, which was in 1620. The Ordinances before us purport to be made in 1496 by the Wardens of the whole fellowship of the brotherhood of St. Christopher of the Water-bearers founded within the Augustine Friars. There is nothing in them requiring special comment.

German Gilds in London.—But the most extraordinary{180} feature was the existence in London, at a very early period, of three Gilds of Germans residing and trading in London. Speaking generally, their objects were good fellowship, and where need might arise, the succour of the poor members of the Gilds. These were:—

(1) The Brotherhood of the Holy Blood of Wilsnak in Saxony. The date of the formation of this Gild is not known, but its Ordinances were enrolled in the Commissary Court of London, April 1, 1459:

In the name of God that is Almyghti and of our Lady Seynt Mary his moder, and for the blessid blode of his sone Jesus Christ which is by all Cristen people wurshipped at Wilsnak, and opynly called the Holy Blode of Wylsnak, and of all the Seyntes of Hevyne, the xiiijth day of Aprill the yere of our Lord God Ml.cccc.lix. and the yere of King Henry the Sixt. xxxvij. A fraternitie in the special honour of the seid Holy Blode of Wylsnak and of all the Holy Seynts of Hevyn is ordayned founded and devised in the Chirche of the Crossid Freres [Crutched Friars] of London for to norish encrece and engender love and peas amonge gode Christen people in the fourme sewyng, that is to weten.

Then is set forth that the entrance fee was to be xxd., with other Ordinances after the manner of English Gilds of the period, and the following concerning the benefits receivable:—

Also, if any brother or suster of the same Bretherhede by fortune shall [fall] yn naturall sikenesse by visitacion of God so that he nor she mought labore and travel to helpe them selfe, the same foke by warnyng to the maysters for the tyme beyng the same day of the sekenesse comyng, or on the morow at forthest, shall have xxd. every wike sewing [ensuing] unto the same seke be recovered of the sekenesse and that trewly be payed at every wikes withoute any longer delay.

(2) The Brotherhood of the Holy Blood of Wilsnak in Saxony, held in Austin Friars. Date of foundation not recorded; Ordinance enrolled in Commissary Court of London, Dec. 8, 1490. It is recited in the Ordinances that the Fraternity with “oon aasent and comen accorde for the helthe and salvacion of our synfull sowles and for pease loue and charite to be kept with our even cresten, have proposed to holde maynten and to kepe a Fraternyte within the chirch and cloyster of the Freres Austyn within the Cite of London in the worship and honor of the foresaid holy blode,” &c. The Ordinances as to benefits to be granted to the brothers is as follows:—

And also whan eny of our brethern happith to fall sike of som sikenesse that comith of Gods hande, and not by no fawte of good governaunce and good gydyng, he shall have for his sustenacion{181} after that he hath lien vij. dayes xxd. every weke as long as he lieth sike, and his benefacte and charite shall perseyve as moche the moost as the lesse, to thend this charite and almosse be not mynysshed be no wise, and whatever brother of the same brotherhod that shall owe to the same as moche as cometh to more money than iiijd. ob. he shall not have nor perceyve the forseyd benefacte and charite of the said Brotherhod.

The other Ordinances of this Gild are particularly interesting.

(3) The Fraternity of Saint Katheryn, which is stated to have been “founded and ordeyned by Duchemenne iiij^xx yeres passed in the Crosse Fryers in the Cite of London.” This was enrolled in the Commissary Court of London Oct. 25, 1495 (10 Hen. VII.); and if it had only been founded by the Dutchmen eighty years previously, as its preamble recites, then it belongs to a later period than that of which we are writing. Another Ordinance, reciting that its earlier Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Rules had been “specyfyed and declared in Duych tong,” points, however, to a probably earlier origin. The names enrolled look remarkably English-like for even the fifteenth century.

Staines.—In 1456 a licence was granted to John Lord Berners, Sir John Wenlock, and other parishioners of Staines, to found a Gild or Fraternity in honour of God and the Virgin Mary, in the Chapel of the Holy Cross, in the Church of Staines; which Gild should consist of two Wardens and a certain number of brethren and sisters, who were incorporated by the King’s Letters Patent of that date. (Vide Pat. 34 Hen. VI. m. 12.)

In 1548 the lands belonging to this Gild were valued at £11 17s. 6d. per annum, including 6s. 8d. for a Chamber called the Chantry Priests’ Chamber. (Vide Chantry Roll in the Augmentation Office.)

These lands paid quit-rents to the manors of Grovebarns and Iveney Court.

(To be continued.)

The new parish church of Chiswick was consecrated by the Bishop of London on Saturday, August 2. The building, which occupies the site of the old church, has been erected mainly at the cost of one of the church-wardens, Mr. Henry Smith. The old tower remains as it was. In the reconstruction of the church, the architect, Mr. J. L. Pearson, has endeavoured to indicate the leading characteristics of the old church, which dated from the early part of the fifteenth century.{182}

Autograph Letters.

No. IV.—BISHOP SHERLOCK TO G. SHAKERLEY, ESQ.

Dear Sir,—I have often had a mind to write to you, since I heard of the great Calamity which happened to you and your family; but I always felt myself so affected with the circumstances of that sad Case, which came fresh into my mind on every occasion, that I thought it would be showing but little tenderness to renew your grief by expressing my own.

There is, in the misfortunes of life, a mixture of good providence, if attended to. In your Case, the escape which some of your family had was as wonderfull and providential as the Calamity was great and terrible.

Whenever such accidents happen the trial is very great, but it cannot but afford great comfort to a serious mind, to observe the hand of providence interposing to ward off that part of the distress, which of all others would have been the most insupportable. Tho’ exposed to danger you was not without help; though greatly afflicted, yet not forsaken; a consideration which will support the spirit of a Man, not only when his goods leave him, but, when the time comes that he must leave them.

I have inquired after you and your good Lady from everybody, who was able to give me any account; and it has been a great Comfort to me to hear that you support yourselves under this great affliction by reflecting on God’s great goodness in preserving the lives of yourselves and your Children. To be insensible of such Calamitys is stupidity; but to bear them and not sink under them is the spirit of a Man. To submit to them patiently is the spirit of the Gospel. I trust the God who has saved your lives, will also make them comfortable to you, by supporting you under this trial; That he may do so is my constant prayer for you.

I desire you would give my service to your good Lady. I know this trial did not find her unprepared, And I hope the many hours She has spent in serious and religious reflections will be a comfort and a support to her now. My service attends the young Ladies. I heartily rejoice in their deliverance. Poor Miss Fanny! how often have I thought of her.

My Wife desires her service to you and Lady and the young Ladies. She has truly been a partaker of the grief of her good friends.

I am, Dear Sir,
your most obedient humble servant,
T. Sarum.

To G. Shakerley, Esq.

Reviews.

Mr. Edward Backhouse, the original compiler of the work now before us, and of whom a biographical sketch is given, was a native of Darlington, and a member of the Society of Friends. He died in 1879. His object in commencing the compilation of this work is best told in his own words: “In second month, 1874, or about that period, I was standing painting in my own room, when an impression was made upon my mind, which I believed to be from the Lord, that I ought to devote my leisure in my latter days to writing a portion of Church history; especially with a view of exhibiting to the Christian world, in a popular manner, the principles and practices of the Society of Friends. So I forthwith began to explore Church history generally, because the history of Friends was quite familiar to me; and, ultimately, as I saw that I greatly differed from many excellent historians in the inferences I drew from many events in the history of the Church, I was induced to attempt myself to write a history of Christianity, which I thought might prove useful to some as exhibiting the principles and practices of the Churches, viewed from a Quaker standpoint, and compared as nearly as I could with apostolic precedent.” With this view he studied the Anti-Nicene Christian Library, and read the ecclesiastical histories of Eusebius, Socrates, Scholasticus, Sozomen, and Theodoret; and among modern compilations made use of Du Pin, Mosheim, Neander, Burton’s Church History, and some others. The work is illustrated by several photographs of Roman antiquities, &c., including the Arch of Titus, the corridor and staircase in the Catacomb of Pontianus, and fragments of sculpture of the fourth and fifth centuries.

We have received from Paris two most interesting works in connection with the great Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci; they are the production of M. Ravaisson-Mollien, who has devoted all his time, his energies, and his learning to the editing of the Vinci MSS. preserved at the library of the French “Institut” in Paris.

It is unnecessary to go here over the ground occupied by our author in his preliminary brochure, and to give the history of the MSS. in question. Suffice it to say that at an early time they were scattered throughout the principal collections in Europe, and that the fears entertained by Leonardo da Vinci himself respecting the non-publication of his numerous treatises on art and on science seemed likely to be fulfilled. No sooner had death removed Francisco Melzi, Leonardo’s favourite pupil and friend, than the invaluable codices entrusted to his care were dispersed and mutilated; as even one single page would fetch a considerable sum of money, the MSS. were broken up into small{184} fragments, so as to satisfy the curiosity of the greatest possible number of amateurs; and in order to obtain any given work in its complete form, it would be necessary to seek the elements of that work at Milan, Windsor, and Kensington. Numerous treatises have thus been lost or are perhaps buried under the dust of public and private libraries, and the materials now at our disposal represent only a small part of the whole collection, such as Francisco Melzi originally possessed it, and such as in all probability the artistic world will not see it again.

By a piece of singular good luck the “Institut de France” possesses twelve volumes of Leonardo da Vinci’s writings; they were indexed towards the end of the last century by an Italian savant, named Venturi, who had examined them carefully, and had even published some extracts from them; these volumes are lettered A—M, and have the great merit of giving the consecutive views of the author on the subjects which he had studied. This point is of the highest importance in the case of a man such as Leonardo da Vinci, who lost no opportunity of showing the interdependence of the several branches of science, and the light they all throw upon one another. M. Ravaisson-Mollien has accordingly undertaken the arduous task of editing the entire works of Leonardo da Vinci, so far at least as they are known to exist, and we earnestly trust that he may be able to accomplish his rather ambitious design.

The first two volumes of the entire collection are now before the public, and thus we are to a certain extent in a position to appreciate M. Ravaisson-Mollien’s qualities as an editor; we feel no hesitation in saying honestly that they are all that one could wish, and we do so the more readily because he has been attacked in the most unjust manner by M. J. P. Richter, whose English edition of the Windsor MSS. was brought out some little time ago. Errare humanum est is a motto the application of which is especially true in the case of the Vinci MSS.; M. Ravaisson-Mollien himself acknowledges frankly that he may have, and that he has probably, been guilty of a few mistakes; but that the principles by which he is guided in his task are perfectly sound we do not entertain the slightest doubt, and without prolonging the discussion any further we shall merely refer the reader to the articles in the Times newspaper for January last, the Italian Nuova Antologia for October, 1883, and the Journal des Savants for July, 1882.

Our business is more especially with the second volume of the collection, but it will not be amiss to remind our friends of what are the contents of the first. In addition to several passages already published but given more correctly here, and bearing upon drawing, painting, sculpture, and hydraulics, we have the commencement of a treatise on perspective, together with essays on movement, weight, percussion, projectiles, heat, light, sound, astronomy, cosmology, and geography. The Italian text, reproduced in fac-simile by photography, is printed on parallel pages with a literal French translation, and an excellent bibliographical preface describes, not only the twelve codices of the French Institute, but all the other MSS., either complete or fragmentary, which are dispersed throughout Europe.

The second volume is the reproduction of Codices B and D; the former of these is generally regarded as the gem of the whole collection, on account of the beauty, energy, elegance, and variety of the sketches which illustrate it, whilst the latter seems to be a corrected or revised copy of one of the chapters in Leonardo da Vinci’s treatise on painting, a treatise in which some curious and valuable remarks on optics serve as an{185} introduction to the author’s lecture (if we may so say) on perspective. Nothing but the actual inspection of this magnificent folio can give the slightest idea of the artistic finish which characterises it, and of the extreme variety of its contents. From considerations on morality, on the soul, and on the spiritual world, Leonardo da Vinci goes on to examine questions on architecture, sculpture, agriculture, roads, draining, &c. &c., he discusses the possibility of aerial locomotion, describes the systems of warfare adopted by the ancients, dwells at some length on the properties of steam, and explains the theory of the camera-obscura. The fac-similes are 188 in number; a very complete alphabetical index, preceded by the errata of the two first volumes, terminates this second instalment.

Before bringing to a close this very imperfect notice we must mention a brochure recently published containing, first, an article by M. Courajod on a marble bust of Beatrice d’Este, preserved at the museum of the Louvre, and which, if not the work of Leonardo da Vinci, was certainly executed by one of his pupils; secondly, an essay by M. Ravaisson-Mollien on the great artist’s botanical knowledge, together with a letter of M. Fillon treating of the same subject.

Let us, in conclusion, pay a just tribute of praise to the liberality with which M. Quantin, the publisher, has facilitated the production of this splendid monument raised to the memory of Leonardo da Vinci.

In English Etchings, Part xl. (D. Bogue, 3, St. Martin’s-place), we have another of those beautifully executed “bits” of “Old London” which are worth preserving, before they are swept away to make room for “improvements.” The spot represented is that portion of Lower Thames-street opposite Billingsgate. The church of St. Magnus, close by London-bridge, forms the centre of the picture. This is one of Wren’s churches, and was built in 1676, the old church, which was founded at the beginning of the fourteenth century, having been destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. The etching is the work of Mr. Frank J. Short, and is most effective in its treatment.

Obituary Memoirs.

“Emori nolo; sed me esse mortuum nihil æstimo.”—Epicharmus.

Mr. Thomas W. Lidderdale, for over thirty years an officer of the British Museum, and latterly a first-class assistant in the Printed Book Department, died suddenly in the Strand, on September 4, when returning home from his ordinary duties. Mr. Lidderdale was a scholar of rare attainments in Scandinavian literature, and particularly in the more contracted sphere of Icelandic bibliography.

The death is recorded of M. Stanislas Guyard, a distinguished Semitic scholar. At the end of last year he was appointed Professor of Arabic at the Collége de France, in succession to the late M. Defrémery. His publications on the language and literature of the Arabs have been numerous; but to English readers it will be enough to point out his great article on “The Eastern Caliphate,” in the sixteenth volume of the new edition of the “Encyclopædia Britannica.” His interests, says the Academy, were by no means confined to Arabic. He had recently taken up with ardour the study of Assyrian. He shares with Professor Sayce the credit of finding the interpretation of the mysterious inscriptions of Van; and,{186} to the astonishment of English students, he declared himself a convert to the theory of M. Halévy—that the so-called “Accadian” of the cuneiform tablets is no language at all, but only a secret mode of writing Assyrian. M. Guyard was assistant secretary and librarian of the Société Asiatique, and one of the four editors of the Revue Critique. He died by his own hand at Paris, in his forty-first year.

Mr. E. A. Roy, Assistant-Keeper of the Printed Books in the Library of the British Museum, died on August 14, aged 64. Mr. Roy had been employed at the British Museum since 1841, and was appointed by Mr. Winter Jones, the Principal Librarian, in 1871, to the post of Assistant-Keeper of Printed Books, a post then specially created for an officer charged with the superintendence and acceleration of the progress of the catalogue of books and final revision of the titles.

Mr. Henry G. Bohn, F.S.A., the oldest bookseller and publisher, and himself the author of sundry “Handbooks” of London, of Games, &c., died at the age of 88, at Twickenham, on the 22nd August. He first brought his name into notice by his “Guinea Catalogue of old English Books,” which he printed in 1841; to our readers he will be best known by his “Historical” and “Antiquarian” Libraries.

The death is announced of Mr. James Napier, of Stonehaven, author of two local historical works, entitled “Stonehaven and its Historical Associations,” and “The Honours of Scotland,” the latter being an account of the preservation of the Scottish regalia when Dunottar Castle was besieged by the army of the Commonwealth in 1651.

Meetings of Learned Societies.

METROPOLITAN.

The British Archæological Association.

The forty-first annual congress of this Association commenced at Tenby, on Tuesday, September 2, the Bishop of St. David’s presiding. The reception of the members, by the Mayor and Corporation of Tenby, took place at the Town-hall, where the maces and regalia of Tenby, Pembroke, and Haverfordwest, which were exhibited, were made the subject of some observations by Mr. George Lambert, F.S.A., who said that the last two were of the reign of Charles I., while those of Tenby were later. All three, he said, were in poor condition. The Bishop then delivered his inaugural address, in the course of which he expressed his belief that since he took part in a meeting of the Cambrian Archæological Society at Tenby some twenty years ago antiquarian research had begun to take rank as a science, having ceased to content itself with collecting dry facts and having begun to systematise them in an orderly manner. He drew attention to the character of the county which they were about to visit, which, though it might be somewhat poor in its churches, was so rich in castles that it might almost be styled their paradise. These castles were well worthy of attention, for even in their ruins they served to illustrate history, showing, as they did, that the feudal nobles who inhabited them were almost princes in their independence, like those of the northern borderland, and for the same reason—namely, their great distance from{187} the central seat of royal authority. He ended his address by some excellent remarks on the five leading eras to which the antiquities of Pembrokeshire might be referred—the pre-historic, the Roman, the Anglo-Saxon, the mediæval, and the post-Reformation periods respectively; adding, at the same time, some remarks upon his own cathedral of St. David and its surroundings, its peculiar grandeur and charm of grace, instancing it and Bishop Gower’s Palace close by as the finest specimens of mediæval architecture, ecclesiastical and domestic, to be seen in the Principality.

The rest of the afternoon was spent by the members of the congress in the inspection of the various objects of antiquarian interest in which the town abounds, notably its ancient walls, which, if they are not so strong or so ancient as those of York, are of a good and original type. They are fairly perfect on the western and northern sides of the town, and probably were never built on the east and south sides, where the cliffs, rising abruptly out of the sea, were a sufficient protection. The leading features of these fortifications were explained by Mr. Edward Laws, a local antiquary, who has acted as local secretary to the present congress, and has the antiquities of Tenby at his fingers’ ends. The company also inspected several arched vaults, Gothic windows, ornamental chimneys, and other architectural details in various houses in the town. They also visited the local museum, where the civic charters of Tenby and other curious specimens of antiquarian lore were on view. These found an expounder in Mr. Walter De Gray Birch, of the British Museum, who pronounced them far above the average in interest, though not in good preservation. At the church the party were met by the rector, the Rev. G. Huntington, who pointed out to them a number of fine effigies and other monuments, especially the curiously sculptured alabaster memorial to John and Thomas White, enterprising and opulent merchants of the town, one of whom was of great service to Henry VII., when he was only Earl of Richmond, in enabling him to make his escape by sea to France—a service for which he was afterwards rewarded by a Royal grant of land. Amongst the other tombs that were inspected was that of William Risam (A.D. 1633), in the attitude of prayer; that of Walter Vaughan, of Dunraven, a noted wrecker; and, perhaps the most interesting of all, a marble effigy of a skeleton in a recess in the wall near the north door—probably erected by a priest as a memento mori. The curious figures supporting the roof of the chancel, the ogee arch over the western doorway, the old aumbries, the fine wooden roof, and entrance to the rood-screen, were all much admired, as were also the remains of a Carmelite priory adjacent to the west end of the fabric. These were commented on by the Rector and by Mr. Loftus Brock, who gave good reasons for believing that the church was erected in detail at various dates, as the necessity for enlargement arose, and stated that St. Mary’s, Tenby, was not only one of the finest of Pembrokeshire churches, but also a very excellent example of what a town church ought to be. Before leaving the church the Bishop moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Brock for his valuable and most suggestive paper. The day’s proceedings were brought to a close by a dinner at the Temperance Hall, at which nearly a hundred sat down.

On Wednesday, at Brownslade, their first halting-place, through the kindness of the Hon. Colonel Lambton, a raised tumulus, which had long been suspected to be a barrow, was opened, and at a distance of little more than 2 ft. below the turf a variety of human bones were brought to light, and, amongst others, the skeleton of a very tall man, which was laid{188} bare before the eyes of the assembled congress, the rough stones which had covered the bones being carefully removed. As the body lay exactly east and west, it was surmised that it must be that of a Christian; and, if so, then it clearly must be of post-Roman date. This supposition was confirmed by the discovery of some crosses and other emblems of Christianity being found among the bones in the neighbouring graves, which were grouped thickly around. In some of these the bones were thrown in apparently at random, and others were found in a crawling posture, so that in all probability the cemetery had been used for heathen interments before the Christians made use of it. At a short distance to the north were seen the débris of what was thought, from its orientation, to have been a chapel or church, though the masonry showed marks of Roman mortar and handiwork. Between the church and the above-mentioned tumulus the surface of the ground is very uneven, rising every here and there into hillocks, and it was thought probable that further excavations, if carried out, would probably reveal here the existence of an early British village. At Brownslade Mr. E. Laws and Mr. Loftus Brock and the Dean of St. David’s acted as interpreters and guides. The dean also accompanied the party to the next halting-place, the church of Castle Martin, a miniature reproduction in some respects of St. David’s Cathedral. Here the dean drew the attention of the congress to the south porch, in which were the remains of what certainly looks like a rood-loft, though why a rood-loft should be introduced into a porch it is not easy to determine. The Norman font, the tall slim tower, and other features of the church were much admired. The visitors also inspected the old vicarage, adjoining the church, now inhabited as a cottage. In it they saw a pillar of apparently Norman date, and having on its capital grotesque sculptures.

Afterwards the party drove on, under the guidance of Mr. E. Scott, to Angle, or Nangle, a village prettily situated on an arm of Milford Haven, and famous as having been once the home of Giraldus Cambrensis. Here they were shown the remains of a curiously fortified rectory-house (not unlike one of the smaller “Peel” castles of the northern border counties), consisting of a tower with Gothic windows, and elegantly adorned with carvings. Close by it is a round dovecote, probably coeval with the rectory, and dating from the Edwardian era. They also inspected a little detached mortuary chapel, with a crypt below, which stands in the churchyard a little to the north of the sacred edifice. On their way thence to Ross-Crowther the party visited a curious cromlech on Newton Burrows. At Ross-Crowther itself they were received by the rector, the Rev. Mr. Scott, who entertained the whole party at tea in his garden. He also showed them a curiously engraved stone (possibly of Roman origin) which is worked into the wall at the entrance of the churchyard, and a fine stone cross in the churchyard, remarkable as still having a perfect cavity in which money was dropped as offerings to the preacher. The altar slab, the low-browed arches, the font, and other portions of the church were much admired, as also was the “sanctus” bell, which still hangs outside the roof at the eastern end of the nave.

The party walked across the fields from the rectory in order to visit the fortified manor-house of Jestington, or Eastington, one of the most singular structures in this part of Wales. It is remarkable for its external staircase of stone, and for the curious patterns in which its stone floor is laid down. From Eastington the drive was made on the return journey to Pembroke, whence the members of the Congress were conveyed by train to Tenby.{189} Owing to the late hour of their return only one paper was read at the evening meeting—namely, by Mr. Arthur Cope, upon the subject of “Little England beyond Wales.” The reading of this paper was followed by an animated discussion, in which Mr. G. Lambert, Mr. E. Loftus Brock, and other gentlemen took part.

Thursday was devoted to a long drive by carriages to Manorbeer Castle and Lamphey Palace. On their way to the former they paid a visit to Lydsted, a quaint little place on the coast, where their attention was attracted by some curious ancient specimens of domestic architecture. At Manorbeer Mr. E. Loftus Brock explained all the details of this most interesting structure, more remarkable for its picturesque position at the head of an inland bay than for its strength, as it is commanded on almost every side by hills which would place it at the mercy of heavy cannon. The castle is approached by a drawbridge, which spans a moat now dry. Crossing this and passing through the fortified entrance gateway, the visitor finds himself in the outer bailey, with the windows of the chapel, the hall, the kitchen, and the other domestic offices facing him. His attention cannot fail to be arrested by the external stone staircases which lead up to these rooms. Between the hall and the chapel is a large apartment, which probably was used as a drawing-room. Here, as in the chapel, the vaulting of the roof remains, as also do the chimneys in the hall; the dais also can be traced, and the stairs leading up from the kitchen are nearly perfect. Much has been done of late years to show the proportions of the chapel by removing the bricks and plaster with which its chancel windows were blocked up. The walls are almost entire, and so are the ramparts which run round them internally, thus placing both ends of the castle in immediate communication with each other, and both with the centre—an arrangement very useful in the time of constant wars and forays. Mr. Brock was able to show that the walls were of different date, the original Norman walls having been raised, apparently twice, in order to secure additional defence. Some controversy arose at the end of Mr. Brock’s remarks as to the meaning of the latter portion of the word “manorbeer,” and Sir James Picton, suggested that as the castle was under the Edwards the property of the family of Barry, or Berry, of which Giraldus Cambrensis was a member, it might mean the manor house of the Berrys; but this was negatived by the Vicar, the Rev. A. H. Wratislaw, who stated that in old college documents there was no reference to the Barry family, and that there is still in the parish a farm termed Beer, to which possibly the lands now covered by the castle belonged. On leaving the castle the party proceeded to the church, which stands on a lofty eminence looking down upon the castle and the sea. The many singular points in its structure, its utter irregularity of plan, the strange, heavy arches on either side of its nave, the large rood-loft in the north aisle, and the equally large “hagioscope” in the south aisle, and the knightly figure in armour on the north side of the communion rails, were all in turn commented upon by the Rev. Mr. Wratislaw in an address which he delivered in the nave. The party next hastily inspected the ruins of the old priory and the old rectory house adjoining the church on the south, and then proceeded on foot along the edge of the cliffs to see a cromlech, which is famous throughout the neighbourhood. It much resembles those seen in Cornwall, consisting of two short upright stones, supporting another flat stone of larger size. This was probably used for the purposes of sepulture in prehistoric times. Returning to the village the party took their luncheon in the schoolroom, which was placed at their disposal by the Vicar.{190} After this they drove on in their brakes and waggonettes to Hodgeston, where they inspected the church, and duly admired the richly-carved sedilia, piscina, and decorated chancel, for which it is famous among Pembrokeshire churches. From Hodgeston their route led them to Lamphey, one of several palaces once belonging to the see of St. David’s, though separated from it by Henry VIII. at the Reformation, and since allowed to go to ruin by the Devereuxes, to whom it was first granted, and by subsequent owners down to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, to whom it now belongs. The old hall, with its long and fine arcade of windows—an emulation, or rather a reproduction on a smaller scale, of Bishop Gower’s Palace of St. David’s—and the chapel, with its elegant east window, were both much admired, and great regret was expressed at the ruin caused by courtiers to sacred buildings which the ancient Church did its best to preserve. From Lamphey the return journey was made along the ridgway to Tenby, but in their way back the archæologists paid a short and hasty visit to Penally Abbey, only a small portion of which—namely, St. David’s Chapel—now remains. It stands in private grounds, and the chapel is now a fernery, of which the gardener is very proud. The church, which is small, and has lately been renovated and adorned with painted windows, was much admired, and so were the crosses in the churchyard. The party reached Tenby between seven and eight o’clock, and at the evening meeting papers were read by Sir James Picton on “Place Names and their Teachings, especially with reference to Pembrokeshire,” and by Mr. Edward Laws on “The Local Ethnology of the District.” The former paper gave rise to a long and interesting discussion.

On Friday the archæologists had a long and pleasant day. Reaching Pembroke by special train soon after ten o’clock, they found their carriages ready to convey them to the Stack Rocks and to Stackpole Court, Lord Cawdor’s noble seat, near the southern coast of Pembrokeshire. They reached the cliffs in good time, and saw them in their entire stretch from Linney Head to St. Govan’s Head, and were shown in turn the Caldrons, Bullslaughter Bay, the Hunter’s Leap, and the other points which are so familiar to tourists in these parts. The sea was quite calm, and the sky was bright, so that the party were specially favoured in point of weather. They were most pleased, however, with St. Govan’s Chapel, which is situated about half-way down the cliffs in a narrow gorge, which it almost entirely blocked up. Here it is said that St. Govan was miraculously brought, and still more miraculously preserved from his enemies, and here he spent many years in fasting and prayer. The rooms which served as his dwelling and his oratory are partly hewn out of the solid rock, and partly built into it and on it. The window is primitive in its simplicity, and the roof with its little bell turret above is all that shows us now that it was a chapel once. Close by it and almost forming part of it is a rock, in which there is a hollow cavity just large enough for a person to stand in it; and there is a firm and fixed belief in the neighbourhood that whoever, whilst inside of it, makes a wish, turning himself or herself, as the case may be, round three times, will see that wish gratified within the next twelvemonth. From St. Govan’s Head the party passed along the cliff, inspecting very briefly a Danish encampment which occupies one of the bold headlands close by. In their way from St. Govan’s to Stackpole the archæologists paid a visit to Bosherston Church, where the tall tapering tower and the interior monuments, including two recumbent figures, a knight and a lady in stone, under noble canopies,{191} were much admired. The church in other respects scarcely differs from the ordinary type so common all over the southern portion of Pembrokeshire. From Bosherston they drove on to Stackpole Court, the seat of Lord Cawdor, where they were not sorry to find luncheon awaiting them. Some of the party were content to inspect the state rooms of this lordly mansion, and to admire the family portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Romney, and Sir Thomas Lawrence, and the stands of arms which were used by the late Lord Cawdor’s regiment of militia in repelling the descent of the French troops at Fishguard, or taken from their prisoners. Meantime the more adventurous portion of the party walked across the park, under the guidance of Colonel and Lady Victoria Lambton, to inspect the site of a supposed pre-historic British village on the high ground about half-way between the Court and the sea cliffs. The remains are very irregular in plan, and from what is seen above ground it is difficult to make out their use, for they are scarcely strong enough to support roofs, and so could hardly serve for the purpose of domestic life. It was thought by some of those present that they were intended as places of safety for their oxen and flocks, and that the sites of their dwellings were a little further towards the sea. The subject, however, is reserved for future discussion, as soon as some further excavations can be made by Lord Cawdor, Colonel Lambton, and Mr. E. Laws. The large quantities of bones, burnt and calcined, of flints cut for arrow-heads, &c., found just under the turf led the archæologists to believe that further excavations would probably be found productive of satisfactory results; and one thing was regarded as certain—namely, that in very distant ages these bleak and barren sea-cliffs bristled with a native population. In returning through the park the party were shown some specimens of a breed of white cattle which are said to have been here from the Danish and British times, not unlike those at Chillingham Castle, in Northumberland, but smaller and not so fierce. The return drive was accomplished in good time to Pembroke, the party being able en route just to take a hasty glance at Cheriton Church, which has been lately restored by Lord Cawdor, and is remarkable for the noble monuments, under sculptured canopies, which it contains. They much admired the monument of Sir Elias de Stackpole, who took the cross and went off to Palestine, being led thereto by the preaching of Archbishop Baldwin; and also an ivy-crowned stone cross, which stands in the churchyard, apparently unmutilated. The papers read at the evening meeting in the Town-hall, Tenby, were two—the first by Mr. Thomas Morgan on “The Plantagenets,” and the other on “The Flemings in England and their Architecture,” by the Rev. Osborn Allen. The latter was followed by a long and interesting discussion.

On Saturday morning, in spite of the wetness of the day, about sixty of the members of the Congress started in carriages for Gumfreston and St. Florence, en route for Carew and Upton Castles. Arrived at Gumfreston, they were received at the church by the Rector and by Mr. Edward Laws, who had acted throughout as local secretary and cicerone. Here Mr. Charles Lynam read a paper upon the structural peculiarities and historical associations of the church, for which he received a special vote of thanks. The sanctus bell, the piscina, and the baptistery were much admired. From Gumfreston the party drove through drenching showers of rain to St. Florence, where they minutely inspected the church, which, like its neighbour they had just left, is an excellent specimen of the usual Pembrokeshire church, with heavy walls and stone roof, and{192} low depressed arches of early date in the chancel and transepts. The vicar, the Rev. Eric Rudd, here showed to the party the remains of a holy water stoup and of a stone cross which had not long since been unearthed in the immediate neighbourhood. Mr. Brock also made some remarks upon the fabric, and the parties inspected the remains of an old Flemish house close by. From St. Florence they drove on to Carew Castle, which was the principal attraction in the day’s programme. Less in size than, and not equal in situation to, Manorbeer, Carew Castle—which, by the way, is generally styled Carey in Pembrokeshire—is not inferior to it in historic interest. It was the original fortress of the ancient Princes of Wales when they were independent of the British Crown, and, as the home of the earlier of the Tudors, it holds a high rank among the historic castles of the Principality. It passed, by the marriage of an heiress, to one of the Geralds or FitzGeralds, who was castellan of Pembroke Castle, and it is famed in comparatively recent times as having been the place where one of the Welsh lords, Sir Rhys ap Thomas, received Henry of Richmond when he landed in these parts on his way to win the battle of Bosworth Field. Here, therefore, the party were glad to lunch, being hospitably entertained, by the courtesy of Mr. Charles Allen, in the ruined and windowless, but, happily, not roofless chapel. The outlines of Carew Castle are so familiar to the Cambrian traveller that we need not attempt to describe them in detail; sufficient to say that it stands at the extreme end of one of the many “tentacles” of Milford Haven, which washes the bases of its northern and western towers. The great “Edwardian” banqueting hall, with its fine flight of stone steps externally, still frowns down upon the visitor in the quadrangle, reminding him of many details of Ludlow and Berry Pomeroy. On his right are the remains, roofless, of the state apartments, very magnificent in their decay, not unlike those of Kenilworth. Of the chapel but little is to be seen externally, though it is interesting enough in its interior details. “The inner face of the western side of the Castle Court,” writes Murray, “is the most modern of the whole, and is said to have been built by Sir Rhys ap Thomas, in a rich form of late Perpendicular architecture; it proclaims by its style that it was erected during the reign of one of the Tudors. It must have been a structure of great magnificence, though now reduced to a mere shell.” This wing was evidently built without any view to defence, though placed in connection with the towers at either end rising out of the water. On the whole, it is not in so good a condition as Manorbeer, and is not so well looked after or so tenderly “preserved.” The party inspected also, under the guidance of the Vicar, Carew Church, and were shown the remains of a small disused chapel, near at hand. Mr. Loftus Brock here offered a few remarks on the details of both these interesting structures, the church having, unlike the rest of those the party had lately visited, a Perpendicular tower. Near the Carew Arms Hotel the party were shown an old wayside cross, the inscription on which, in Runic characters, has long defied the efforts of scientific inquirers. Mr. E. Laws, however, announced that it had been lately found to be a brief record of the name of the person who erected it, and that it belonged to a date when the Welsh were in close contact with the Irish. He stated that the ornamentation of the cross, which is a megalith upwards of 12 ft. in height, is generally like that to be seen on the crosses in the Isle of Man and in Ireland, in spite of some local differences of detail. In the course of the afternoon the party, having been refreshed by their luncheon, went on to Upton Castle, where they{193} were received by an Oxford professor of modern history, Mr. Henry Halford Vaughan, formerly fellow of Oriel College. This gentleman explained to them the details of the structure, and showed them his library. He also accompanied them to a disused church or chapel in his grounds not far from the castle, where Colonel Bramble showed and commented upon the effigy, in stone, of a member of the great Pembrokeshire family of Malefort or Mallefort. At the conclusion of their inspection of the antiquities and curiosities of Upton, the party drove across the country, along deep shady lanes, to Pembroke, where the train was waiting to take them back to Tenby in time for the evening meeting. On this evening the Mayor took the chair, and a paper was read by Mr. E. Loftus Brock, F.S.A., upon “The Historical Evidences of the Extent of the Ancient British Church in Wales.” Mr. E. Laws said that it would be more correct to call this Church Cwmric than British, and the discussion was continued until a late hour.

On Sunday the members of the Congress attended Divine service at the parish church at Tenby, where the rector, the Rev. G. Huntington, preached before them an eloquent sermon, most appropriate to the occasion, from the words of Jeremiah (vi. 16), “Stand ye in the old paths ... and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”[51]

In spite of a very wet morning on Monday, the members of the congress, to the number of nearly forty, proceeded, according to their programme, by special train to Pembroke, where Mr. E. Laws and Mr. Loftus Brock had promised to conduct them over the ruined fabric of the castle. Its site and exterior appearance need scarcely be described, so well are they known to tourists; but it may be well to say that as at Manorbeer there is no history, because there were no events in the existence of the castle, here the castle has a long and varied history, figuring in the early wars which ended in the reduction of Wales under the English yoke, and also in the Great Rebellion, when it was held for the King, and was captured by the Parliamentary leaders, Oliver Cromwell himself having a hand in its reduction. The castle stands on a rocky peninsula, which is formed by two creeks of Milford Haven, which wash it on the north and west. It thus occupies a very strong position, and though there is no actual proof of its having been occupied as a fortress by the Romans, yet there is every probability that such was the case. Soon after the Norman Conquest, however, it appears to have been fortified by Walter de Montgomery, and from that time down to the early part of the fifteenth century, when Henry VII. was born within its walls, it had a large share in the making of Welsh history. The castle, it is needless to add, though well fortified by nature, was still more strongly fortified by art, and, indeed, was at one time regarded as almost impregnable. The outer defence consisted of a double entrance, the inner one at right angles to the former, in front of which was a drawbridge and a moat, now no longer in existence. The first, or outer court, by far the larger of the two, was divided from the inner court or “bailey” by a wall, which can still be traced. Near the juncture of the two stands the Norman keep, which, unlike that of most similar structures, is circular instead of square. It is upwards of 70 ft. in height, and its walls at the base are nearly 17 ft. thick; it has a stone roof or covering of a conical or dome-like shape, reminding the visitor of the tower at the north-west angle of Windsor Castle. It is{194} of five stages, and a stone staircase in the wall led up to the “first floor apartments;” but, alas! the floors are all gone. Some fine, semi-Norman windows still remain in situ. In the lower “bailey” is the old castle well, and near it a sally-port, which would stand the besieged in good stead in case of being reduced to their last shift within the walls. Near the central keep are the remains of the walls of other large apartments, but their actual use is uncertain, and the archæologists could throw little or no light upon them. Not far to the east are the walls of what once was a magnificent banqueting-hall, but there the devastation wrought by the hand of time is so extensive that it is almost impossible to decide which was the upper end of it, and where were the servants’ seats and the entrance to the buttery and the kitchen. As for the chapel, two chambers were shown to the members of the congress, but so many objections were found to each that they were inclined to believe that it could never be found except by farther excavations. The company, in spite of the drenching rain, were able to “walk round the battlements and tell the towers thereof,” and to inspect the entrances of the dungeons and of the large cavity in the northern wall known as “The Wogan”—a place which, it is thought, may have served as a second sally-port, though others think that it was the receptacle of a second well. Before leaving the party were shown by Mr. E. Laws some of Oliver Cromwell’s cannon-balls of stone, which he was forced to have made on the spot in great haste in order to carry on the siege, as his store of ammunition which he had intended to use against the castle had been sunk by a storm in the depths of the Bristol Channel. They were also shown the chamber in which, if the local tradition is to be believed, Henry of Richmond, afterwards King Henry VII., was born. Returning to the principal entrance, the party assembled in the room above the gateway to hear from Mr. Loftus Brock a short description of the fabric, its history and archæology; and Mr. Brock, on behalf of the members, tendered his best thanks to Mr. Cobb and to the local committee for the care which they have bestowed on the preservation of the fabric from further decay. Leaving the castle the party then walked round the outer walls by the side of the river, and so made their way across the bridge to Monkton. Here they had before them a great treat, for they saw together, under a single roof, the strange commixture of a parish church with a monastic priory chapel, the latter having been added to the former by the Benedictine monks when they were removed thither from the castle scarcely a century after the Norman Conquest. It appears that they divided the two structures, which appeared respectively as a nave and a chancel, by a wall, which still remains in situ, at once separating and connecting them. The monastic church is of the Decorated style, with an east window not unlike one of the windows at Tintern Abbey. Close by it, and running parallel to it on the north, is the Lady-chapel, of about the same date. These are both now roofless, but it is hoped that the former may, ere long, be turned to good account, and be restored so as to form a chancel to the nave, which alone now serves as the parochial church. The chief obstacle to this is the wall built across them at their juncture, and which is said to be “too good to destroy and yet too bad to keep.” Possibly, as suggested by Mr. Brock, the upper part of it might be removed, and the lower part pierced, so as to form a sort of light screen which shall offer no impediment to the voice. On leaving the church and chapels the party were conducted over the scanty remains of the old monastic buildings, which are still distinctly traceable in the field to the{195} north. They afterwards paid a hasty visit to the vicarage-house, which was once, they were told, the prior’s residence, and which has every appearance of having once been fortified. In its basement is a lofty, vaulted chamber, above which is a fine dining-hall, with its buttery-hatch as complete as it was four centuries ago.

As soon as luncheon, of which they partook at an inn in the town, was over, the whole party returned by special train to Tenby in time for the concluding meeting, which was held in the Town-hall, and was presided over by the Mayor. Here Mr. De Gray Birch read an interesting historical paper upon the Charters of Tenby, which he showed was variously spelt from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. He said that, as compared with those of other towns, the Charters of Tenby were both early and curious, and, though they were not in so bad a state as many others, they had suffered severely from neglect and from injudicious repairs, by exposure to damp, and by the absence of light and fresh air. Their value to the Town, he added, was incalculable, and their loss or further decay would be equally to be regretted. Votes of thanks were passed to the Mayor, to Mr. Edward Laws, to the Rector of Tenby, to the readers of papers, and to the various other gentlemen who had assisted in forwarding the interests and success of the congress, which then broke up, so far as Tenby was concerned; the archæologists intending to leave early on Tuesday for Haverfordwest and St. David’s, where they would examine the cathedral and the old episcopal palace, under the guidance of the Bishop and the Dean. An account of this portion of the proceedings will appear in our next number.

PROVINCIAL.

Bucks Archæological Society.—On August 11, the members of the above Society visited Buckingham, Maid’s Moreton, and Stowe House, making the Buckingham district the point for the annual excursion. The Vicar of Buckingham read a paper on the history of the Parish Church. Castle House was then inspected, the residence of Major Hearn, who gave a description of the place. The company then proceeded to Maid’s Moreton, where the church was the object of the visit, and at which place the pages of the parish register were searched with much interest. On the arrival at Stowe House the Duke of Buckingham received the company, amounting to 150 visitors. After luncheon, his Grace read a paper on the history of the place. Some interesting points in Stowe Gardens were visited, but time would not permit of a lengthened survey of the place. The annual meeting of the Society was afterwards held. The Society promises more animation in future.

Cambrian Archæological Association.—The thirty-ninth annual Congress of this Association began on Monday, August 18, at Bala, under the presidency of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn. The report was adopted. On Tuesday an excursion was made to Castell Carndochan, Caergai, and Llannwchllyn Church. At the first-named place the Rev. W. Hughes, the local secretary, read a paper in which he referred to the leading objects of the day’s excursion. “Llannwchllyn,” he remarked, “was derived from its position above Bala Lake: Llan-nwch-y-Llyn, ‘the church above the lake.’ ” In early times, he said, the word “Llan” was not only applied to churches, but it also signified the spot surrounding the church. The existence to these days of so many Llans bearing the names of Welsh saints, such as Llandudno, Llandewi, Llandaff, and Llandrinio, showed the independence of the early British Church of the{196} Church of Rome, and that she had a noble army of saints and martyrs to boast of long before Augustine came over from Rome, A.D. 596, to preach the Gospel to the pagan Saxon. The parish of Llannwchllyn was one of much archæological interest, not the least point in which was that the historical River Dee rose in it under the hill called Duallt, and not at Pantgwn, as was sometimes supposed. Llannwchllyn Church was dedicated to St. Duniol, and besides the cathedral of Bangor and the parish church of Hawarden, is the only church in North Wales that bears the name of the first Bishop of Bangor. The old church was taken down in 1872, and was “restored” at a cost of about £17,000. Plas Rhiwaedog, an old restored palace of Owen Tudor, the head of the six tribes of North Wales, was visited on the way back to Bala. It is now the property of Mr. Price of Rhiwlas, who has retained in it the old oak furniture and some of the oak mantelpieces, on one of which is the date 1699. On the porch is an inscription, with the date 1664. At the evening meeting, held in the County-hall, Bala, the Rev. Canon Thomas gave a résumé of the investigations of the day, and read a paper descriptive of Merionethshire 600 years ago. Mr. R. Pryce Jones (Ruthin) read portions of a paper giving a history of Rhiwaedog, the palace of Owen Tudor as it has been called, in which he traced the pedigree of the resident family from 60 B.C., when the head was called Beli Mawr, King of the Britons, and from whom Billingsgate was named, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, down to Colonel Edward Evans-Lloyd of Moel-y-Garhedd, the present descendant of the family.—Wednesday’s excursion was through the Vale of Llangollen, where the party inspected another Roman mound, Tommen-y-Mur, near Maentwrog-road, and then other objects between Maentwrog-road Railway-station and Dolgelly, the route between these two places being by road. The church at Llanelltyd, with its inscribed stone, Cymmer Abbey, and Dolgelly Church were also visited.—The excursion on Thursday was eastward among the Berwyn mountains, and the antiquities in the district around Llangollen were also examined. After visiting Llantysilio Church, the travellers reached Valle Crucis Abbey. The stone fragments have been carefully collected and placed as nearly in their original positions as practicable on the carefully-shaven turf which now takes the place of the paved floor of the abbey. In the restoration of the chapter-house a curious plan was adopted for preserving a memorial which is believed to have no proper connection with the abbey itself. This a monumental slab on which the vine, Maltese cross, &c., are carved, which is built into the south wall over the central one of three recesses, and bears the following inscription: HIC IACET TARVRVET. The rest of the inscription appears to have been broken off with a portion of the stone in order to make it fit into the recess. This stone had been used as a mantelpiece in a neighbouring house, but why it was removed to its present position is unexplained. As to the foundation of the abbey, doubt is still entertained among archæologists. Dugdale, on the authority of Leland, ascribes it to Madoc ap Griffith Maylor, Prince of Powys, assumably about 1200. Looking from the west front towards the north is to be seen, a few hundred yards away in a clump of trees on a slight mound, a broken pillar, which has been the source of much controversy. This is Elisey’s pillar, and is evidently of the remotest antiquity, though bearing at present a modern inscription. The wear and tear of many centuries has almost obliterated the original inscription, but traces of letters are still to be detected. There is evidence that the cross was{197} certainly in existence before the foundation of the abbey, which is spoken of as being “near the cross.” Castell Dinas Bran, which is locally known as “Crow Castle,” was next visited. It stands on the summit of a conical hill 600 ft. high, and its broken walls and jagged turrets, as seen from below, form a striking feature in the landscape. It must have been impregnable against any attack when fortified in the days of rude warfare. Its early history is somewhat obscure. It was in 1200 the residence of Madoc ap Griffith, the founder of Valle Crucis, from which it is distant only two or three miles. Madoc, it appears, became a traitor to his king, and when he afterwards gave in his submission it was readily accepted, for the probable reason that the Sovereign was aware of the impregnability of his castle, to which he had retired. Llangollen Church has recently been “restored.”—The excursion on Friday was in the direction of Corwen. Commencing at Llangar Church, a short drive from Bala, an inscribed stone in the town was noticed. It bore the inscription Cavoseniagii, but its interpretation is a matter of controversy. Next came Tomen-y-Castell, another of those mounds common in the district; in this case it appears to have been placed as a means of defence and observation on an important part of the Roman road leading from Caergai towards Deva (Chester). Caer Creini was next visited—a fine stone-breasted outwork. At Rhug Chapel attention was called to some good carving in the roof. Caer Drewyn is a large fort with stone ramparts. Corwen Church was then reached. This is another restored church, but here a fine effigy of a former priest is untouched. Llangan Church, also restored, has a good screen and a portion of a pastoral staff, ascribed to the founder, Dorfel Gadarn. Caerbont was next visited. This is mentioned by Mr. Hartshorne as belonging to the type of forts of the dry stone-walling period. In the evening the concluding meeting was held at the County-hall, Bala, when the Rev. Canon Thomas read a paper on the “Ecclesiastical History of Merionethshire.”—A small local museum of antiquities was formed during the week at the Calvinistic Methodists’ College, Bala. It contained some numismatic specimens and a few rare books, among them poems of Phillipe and Catherine ap Howell. A curious almsbox was shown, so contrived that an arrangement of teeth prevents the abstraction of coins placed therein. Some painted iron crosses, said to be from Cymmer Abbey, were also shown, the date said to be Henry VIII., but bearing the appearance of more modern origin.

Somerset Archæological Society.—The annual meeting of this society took place on August 26 and two following days, in the neighbourhood of Shepton Mallet, Lord Carlingford, as president-elect, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and Mr. E. A. Freeman taking part in the proceedings. Lord Carlingford, in his inaugural address, said it was most interesting to work their way through ages to the time when the oolite of Doulting was converted into the Abbey of Glastonbury and the Cathedral of Wells, and also into those humbler and charming sacred edifices which stood around them. He greatly sympathised with an eminent architect who at a meeting of the Archæological Institute last year said in regard to church restoration that the good which had been done had been mixed up with an amount of evil and destruction. The effort to bring about restoration to some architectural style or pattern selected by the restorer had led to much useless and mischievous change and destruction. The true word was not restoration, but preservation, and that idea ought to be present to the mind of everyone dealing with an ancient building. As a preventive there should be created and fostered an historic sense, an historic feeling{198} in these matters. He knew no other safeguard, except that of the sense of respect and reverence and tenderness for the work of their forefathers—the desire that not only the years of their own lives, but the generations of men should be bound each to each by natural ties. The members afterwards examined the parish church of Shepton Mallet, and then proceeded to Doulting, where they inspected the quarries, the old tithe-barn and church, and St. Aldhelm’s Well, and on the return journey made a halt at Beacon Hill, where a mound on the summit, crowned by a rough upright stone, was the object of considerable curiosity. The Rev. H. M. Scarth said that such mounds were frequently found near Roman roads. At the evening meeting the following papers were read: “The Malet Family,” by Mr. Arthur Malet; “The Prebendary of Dinder,” by Canon Church; and “Extracts from Wills Relating to the County of Somerset,” by Mr. A. J. Monday.—On the second day an excursion was made to Leigh-on-Mendip, Mells, and Kilsmersdon, the churches and other objects of interest at each place being duly examined and commented upon. In the evening Mr. Scarth read a paper on “Roman Cookery;” among the other papers read were: “The Romans in Bath,” “Ham Hill,” and “The Penn Pits.”—The concluding day was devoted to Radstock. Mr. E. Green, the hon. secretary, read some notes which had been prepared by Mr. McMurtrie, on the Roman road through Somerset, which in its course from Bath to Ilchester passed through the parish of Radstock. The church, with its Norman font and early porch, was afterwards visited; the party also inspected the Fosse-road, here seen exactly as used and left by the Romans, a section having been cut through, and the surface cleared.—A museum of local antiquities, lent for the occasion, and arranged by Mr. W. Bidgood, the honorary secretary of the society, was open during the Congress.

Wiltshire Archæological and Natural History Society.—The members of the above Society held their annual meeting at Shaftesbury on August 6, 7, and 8. At the afternoon meeting on the 6th, the President, Mr. Nevil Story-Maskelyne, M.P., presented to the Hon. Secretary, Rev. A. C. Smith, an album, enclosed in a case of woods from Syria and Egypt, in recognition of his long-continued services to the Society; and especially in the matter of his recent great work, “An Archæological Map of the Hundred Square Miles around Abury.” Some historical notes on the River Thames were followed by a paper on “Shaftesbury, or Shaston,” written some years ago by a former rector, and now read by Rev. J. B. Wilkinson. The foundation of the fortified abbey by Alfred; the final burial in state of Edward the Martyr; the death of Cnut; the imprisonment of Elizabeth, wife of Robert Bruce, here were mentioned, as also the ancient custom of the Mayor annually visiting the wells below the town with a decked broom, a calf’s head, loaves, &c. After the annual dinner, a conversazione was held in the Town-hall. Canon Jackson, F.S.A., read a paper on “Cranbourne Chace.” Its boundaries extended from Shaftesbury to Salisbury, and to Ringwood, the forest being divided into certain “walks.” The history of the Chace, and the various law-suits occurring from the time of John to its disestablishment, were mentioned, and the habits of the deer-stealers, both of high and low birth, described minutely and illustrated by contemporary accounts, sketches, weapons, &c., from Rushmore. On Thursday the Society visited the circular encampment called Castle Rings, on the edge of the high land, overlooking the vale of Wardour, and close by a half-excavated barrow, of large size, was inspected. Tisbury Church was next{199} visited. Here the curious low western porch, the fine roof of the nave, and the later (restored) roofs of the aisles, the marks of the originally very low roof of the south aisle, and the one remaining window, and the east window, with inserted tracery, attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, were all carefully inspected. At the rectory were exhibited several objects of interest, notably one of the few folios of Shakespeare of 1625, and a large and beautiful cup of silver gilt, given to Lord Boteler by Elizabeth, for his kindness to her in her retirement. The beautiful site of (the so-called) Fonthill Abbey—that ephemeral erection of the last century, and the splendid collection of enamels, &c., in the mansion of Mr. A. Morrison, were enjoyed on the way to East Knoyle, where Mr. A. Seymour had provided luncheon for the party, and Mrs. Seymour had laid out many pieces of rare and valuable embroideries. At Pytt House, Mr. V. F. Benett-Stanford exhibited several autograph letters from Charles I. to his “Dear Nephew” (Rupert), found amongst papers in the lumber room, probably preserved by Prince Rupert’s secretary. The party then passed on to Hatch House, which has been lately repaired. Wardour Castle was thrown open by Lord Arundel, who in person conducted his guests round the rooms, pointing out such objects of interest as the peculiar “Hagar and Ishmael,” by Barteli; the “Tobit,” by Gerhard Douw; and the two full-length Reynolds’; the portrait of the lady who defended the castle against the Parliamentary army; the so-called Glastonbury cup—a wooden-covered flagon, carved with the twelve apostles under round arches, probably no older than the Renaissance. A hasty inspection of the fine ruin of the original castle brought this expedition to a close. In the evening “Local Geology” was expounded by the Rev. T. Perkins, who also threw open his observatory; and a paper on “Gnostic Amulets” was read by Rev. W. F. Short, who exhibited a considerable variety of antique seals, gems, &c. The last expedition of the Society took them to Tollard-Royal Church. Here the ownership of arms upon the shield of a knight was the subject of much controversy. General Pitt-Rivers led the way to the Larmer Tree, a spot of much historic importance as the “mere” of three parishes and two counties, and a place of assembly from prehistoric times down to the disafforesting of Cranbourne Chace. The museum at Farnham, made by General Pitt-Rivers for the instruction of his agricultural neighbours, is a model of what such collections should be in clearness of arrangement and labelling. The General met the party at a group of barrows in Handley Wood, and explained his excavations there; he then entertained the Society at Rushmore Lodge; gave an interesting and well-illustrated lecture on the various excavations of barrows, pits, and camps, which he has carried out; and, finally, pointed out the remarkable features of the great Winklebury Camp, with the square pit-dwelling and the neighbouring Saxon Cemetery that he had discovered and excavated. With this the meeting closed.

Mr. Bohn has left a very complete batch of MSS. relating to the world of letters, which will shortly see the light.

Lord Hervey’s “Memoirs of George II.,” which have become very scarce, are about to be reprinted by Messrs. Bickers, who have purchased the copyright. The new edition will be in three volumes.{200}

Antiquarian News & Notes.

The Earl of Ducie is collecting materials for a history of the Spanish Armada of 1588.

The daughters of the Dean of Westminster are engaged in writing a handbook to the Abbey.

Mr. Austin Dobson’s new work, “Thomas Bewick and his Pupils,” based upon his articles in the Century Magazine, is announced.

Messrs. F. Hilton Price and J. E. Price have just published the tenth edition of their Guide to the Roman Villa near Brading, in the Isle of Wight.

The two-hundredth anniversary of Watteau’s birth will be celebrated at Valenciennes on October 10, when a monument by Hiolle and a statue by Carpeaux will be inaugurated.

A Fund is being raised to preserve the Saxon tower of Earl’s Barton Church, near Northampton, under the direction of Mr. T. L. Pearson, R.A.

Mr. E. A. Freeman intends to inaugurate his professorship at Oxford next term with a course of lectures on “The Method of Historical Study.” He will also lecture on “Gregory of Tours.”

Dr. Phenè, F.S.A., is engaged in investigating the museums and private collections of antiquities in Scandinavia, and also the Mounds of Norway, and the stone monuments of Denmark and Sweden, in continuation of his researches in Iceland and the North American continent.

The Abbot Pietro Pressutti has completed the first volume of the “Regesta” (i.e., the letter-books) of Pope Honorius III., dating from 1216 to 1227, compiled by order of the Pope from the Codices in the Vatican archives.

The “History of the Church of Manchester,” compiled from ancient documents and authentic records, by the Rev. Ernest F. Letts, M.A., Precentor and Minor Canon, is announced for publication, by Mr. Henry Gray, of Cathedral-yard, Manchester.

The suggestion of the Mayor of Lichfield that Dr. Johnson’s centenary should be celebrated in December next, was anticipated by a letter from Mr. Walford, the editor of this magazine, which was published in the Athenæum several months ago.

An order has been made by Mr. Justice Chitty, authorising the Trustees of the Marlborough Estates and Heirlooms to sell to the Trustees of the National Gallery the Madonna Ansidei, by Raphael, for £70,000; and the equestrian picture of Charles I., by Van Dyck, for £17,500. The Trustees were also authorised to sell two pictures in the Blenheim Collection by Rubens, namely, one of that artist and his second wife and another of that lady and her page, for £50,000.

The extensive collection of coins and medals, and also of antiquities, belonging to the family of the late Dr. Jacob Amiet, ex-Attorney-General of the Swiss Confederation at Solothurn, Switzerland, is announced for sale. The coins and medals include Greek, Roman, Swiss, French, English, and Italian; and among the antiquities are Egyptian idols and Babylonian cylinders; also weapons, tools, ornaments, &c., of the stone, bronze, and iron ages; potteries and implements of earthenware, stone, and glass, &c. Full particulars of the collection can be obtained from Mr. F. Schulthess, 16, Cantlowes-road, Camden-square, N.W.

Lord Granville is about to erect a monument at Ebb’s Fleet, near Pegwell Bay, in commemoration of the landing there of St. Augustine on{201} his mission to England in the sixth century. The memorial will consist of a reproduction of one of the famous Saxon crosses at Sandbach, near Crewe, and stands twelve feet in height. On the west front will be carved a representation of the landing of Augustine, the annunciation, crucifixion, the transfiguration, saints, early Christian martyrs, &c.

General Pitt-Rivers, as Inspector of Ancient Monuments in Great Britain, has printed, by permission of Her Majesty’s Commissioners of Works, his official report to them on excavations in the Pen pits, near Penselwood, Somerset, made for the purpose of ascertaining whether any portion of these ancient pits should be placed under the protection of the Ancient Monuments Act. The excavations took place in October, 1883.

Catalogues of rare and curious books, all of which contain the names of works of antiquarian interest, have reached us from Mr. William Downing, 74, New-street, Birmingham; Mr. Frank Murray, 26, Strand, Derby (includes purchases from the Gosford Library); Mr. Andrew Iredale, 3, Cary-place, Torquay; Messrs. Jefferies & Sons, Redcliff-street, Bristol; Mr. William Withers, Loseby-lane, Leicester; Mr. A. B. Osborne, 11, Red Lion-passage, W.C.; Mr. W. P. Bennett, 3, Bull-street, Birmingham; Mr. James Aston, 49B, Lincoln’s Inn-fields; Messrs. Fawn & Son, 18, Queen’s-road, Bristol; Mr. J. Whiteley, 2, Princess-street, Halifax, Yorkshire.

The following articles, more or less of an antiquarian character, appear among the contents of the magazines for September: Macmillan, “The Northumbrian Border,” and “A Genealogical Search;” English Illustrated Magazine, “Covent Garden;” Contemporary Review, “The Purgatorio of Dante;” Art Journal, “Preservation of the Monuments of Cairo,” “The Port of Leith,” and “Delft Ware;” Fortnightly Review, “Sport and Travel in Norway; “ Magazine of Art, “A Cartoon by Leonardo,” “Strand and Mall,” “Head-gear in the Fifteenth Century,” “Menzel and Frederick the Great;” “The Inns of Chancery,” by Rev. W. J. Loftie, and “Old Church Plate,” by Rev. H. Whitehead; Century Magazine, “From Coventry to Chester;” St. Nicholas Magazine, “The Queen’s Museum.”

Mr. J. T. Wood, writing from Blenheim House, Brighton, draws attention to the marbles from the Temple of Diana at Ephesus which are now arranged in what is designated “The Ephesian Gallery” at the British Museum. He does so with the hope that the sight of these interesting relics of the temple will induce some of those who can well afford it to subscribe to the fund for the completion of the excavations on the site of the temple, which his committee wish to renew in the course of the month of October under his direction. By completing these excavations Mr. Wood hopes to secure for the British Museum treasures of Greek art equal in value and interest to those which are already in our possession.

The works in connection with Peterborough Cathedral are progressing rapidly. An oblong underground chamber—not a tomb—has recently been discovered. It has sides of stone and lime, a floor of stone flags, and a roof formed of the floor of the cathedral itself. This chamber measures 6 ft. 3 in. in length, by 4 ft. in width, and has a depth of 6 ft. A curved range of steps of about two yards in extent, and hitherto quite concealed, leads down to an entrance on the flank side of the cavity. The chamber was filled with lumber of all descriptions, including fragments of the famous choir screen which fell a prey to Cromwell’s zealots, scraps of leathern work, iron, steel, half charred wood, and a quantity of bones. Its original use is uncertain.{202}

Antiquarian Correspondence.

All communications must be accompanied by the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication.

THE JOHNSON CENTENARY.

Sir,—I desire to place before the public generally, and my fellow-citizens in particular, the question of the forthcoming Centenary of the death of Dr. Johnson. I feel that I am not called upon to enter into the details of the life of the great lexicographer, nor need I refer to the influence he exercised in so many and various ways over the literature of his country. The question with which I, as Mayor, have to deal is—Whether the Centenary of his death, which happens in December next, shall be observed; and, if so, what shall be the character of such demonstration? From time to time various schemes have been advocated, but it seems to me that, after the numerous appeals for funds lately made in every direction, it is not advisable to undertake any responsibility calculated to entail a large financial risk. At the same time, without in any way attempting to indicate the direction of such a celebration, and, indeed, without expressing a personal opinion in the matter, I deem it a duty to thus publicly invite expressions of opinion. We have somewhat over two months before us—sufficient time, I think, if desired, to arrange a moderate programme. I therefore invite all who feel interested to communicate by letter with me on the following points:—

1. Is it desirable to observe the Centenary of Dr. Johnson’s death?

2. If so, what form shall such observance take?

3. If arrangements are made for some observance of it, in what way are they likely or willing to aid it?

I must ask that all replies and offers of assistance shall be sent to me as early as possible, marked outside “Dr. Johnson’s Centenary.” If they are of such a nature as to indicate the prospect of a thoroughly successful observance, I will at once convene a meeting of those favourable to the project, and do what I can, privately and officially, to secure its success. If, on the other hand, the replies indicate a reasonable doubt as to the success or desirability of the undertaking, I shall (after consultation with others interested in the matter) feel myself at liberty to abandon the proposed movement. I therefore wish it to be understood that the celebration, if any, will be set on foot at the desire of those who by replying to this communication express themselves in favour of it. I think this is the better way to deal with the subject; at all events it will relieve me, as Mayor, of personal responsibility should the attempt to secure some notice of the death of our chief citizen fail for want of the requisite enthusiasm. I would press on everyone really interested to give me the assistance of their opinion and advice by the date indicated.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Thomas H. Hunt, Mayor of Lichfield.

Lichfield Close, September 17.

PORTS AND CHESTERS.

Sir,—Your readers may have observed, and with some amusement, that the simultaneous assault on my position by Dr. Pring and Mr. Hall,{203} in your last issue, has ended in the somewhat untoward result of their discovering that they are themselves hopelessly at issue on the fundamental point of all! Dr. Pring persists that the “port” in “port-reeve” is derived from the Latin porta, a city gate (p. 114): Mr. Hall asserts with equal confidence that it comes “by transition from the Latin portus,” a haven (p. 149). Dr. Pring appeals to “the learned Professor Stubbs” (p. 114), but “seems” (to adopt his own expression) “to have found it convenient to ignore” that I have shown Dr. Stubbs’ rendering of the passage from the Laws of Athelstan to be simply destructive of his own. I repeat, that when Dr. Pring renders it “outside the port or gate” (p. 115), the words “or gate” are, and should be distinguished as, a mere gloss of his own, and must not, therefore, be appealed to by him as evidence. My own quotation: “Newport Gate,” in Lincoln (p. 115), is no gloss of my own at all, but a verbatim copy. Dr. Pring must indeed be hard up if he falls back on the Latinisation of East Gate as portam de East Gatâ (temp. Henry I.), since by the mediæval scribe, as by the modern schoolboy, a gate would be rightly styled in Latin a porta (“East gate” being suffixed as a proper name for the sake of distinction). What conceivable bearing has this on the use of the term “port” (for a market town) in Anglo-Saxon times? Yet such is the disingenuous argument of my critic, who proclaims that I “must surely have overlooked these and similar instances”! And if he had done me the honour to read my paper with common care, he would have seen that I carefully distinguish the “port” of proper names, such as “Newport Gate,” from the “port” in “port-reeve.” This destroys his criticism.

When Dr. Pring appealed to Dr. Stubbs, as laying down that “port” was derived from “porta,” because the gate was the place where the markets were held, I proved by demonstration that the markets were not held at the gate, but in the heart of the town, and that consequently the argument breaks down. What does Dr. Pring do? He ridicules this disproof of the very argument he had appealed to as “scarcely necessary” (p. 116), and as based on “a well-known fact”! Verily, we have here, to quote his own words, a “unique and somewhat anomalous specimen of argument.”

Dr. Pring’s arguments could similarly be rebutted at every point, but lest I weary the patience of your readers, it will probably be sufficient if I invite them to observe that on the one hand, Dr. Pring, deriving “port” from porta, declares the process by which a town came to be called a gate, so “easy and obvious” (p. 114), that he need not (i.e., cannot) explain it; while, on the other, Mr. Hall, deriving port from portus, is equally confident that an inland town would, in the natural course of things, be known as a sea-port (portus)! When Dr. Pring has converted Mr. Hall, or Mr. Hall has converted Dr. Pring, it will then, and not before, be time for them to think of uniting their forces in a combined attack on my own theory, which sees in the Anglo-Saxon “port,” as found in “port-reeve,” &c., a word with a denotation different from that either of portus or of porta. At present it remains, unimpugned, as the only rational and consistent theory. It will, doubtless, like all original theories, be viewed at first with suspicion and dislike, but I hope, in time, to have it cast at me, more Pringensi, by those who do so, that it is “scarcely necessary” to prove it, as it is to all “a well-known fact.”

J. H. Round.

Colchester.{204}

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The Editor declines to pledge himself for the safety or return of MSS. voluntarily tendered to him by strangers.

Books Received.

1. The Old Registers of St. John Baptist, Peterborough. By Rev. W. D. Sweeting, M.A. Peterborough: G. C. Caster. 1884.

2. The Hull Quarterly. Parts i.—iii. Hull: A. Brown & Sons. 1884.

3. A Guide to the Roman Villa near Brading. By J. E. Price, F.S.A., and F. G. Hilton Price, F.S.A. Tenth Edition. Ventnor: Briddon Brothers. 1884.

4. The Earldom of Mar. By P. H. McKerlie, F.S.A. Scot. Privately printed. 1884.

5. Annus Sanctus. Hymns of the Church for the Ecclesiastical Year. Selected and arranged by Orby Shipley, M.A. Burns & Oates. 1884.

6. Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare. By J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps, F.R.S. Longmans & Co. 1884.

7. Our Parish Books, and What they Tell us. By J. M. Cowper, F.R.H.S. Canterbury: Cross & Jackman. 1884.

8. Buckfast Abbey. By the Rev. S. Hamilton, O.S.B. Ramsgate: Kent Coast Times Office. 1884.

9. Wilton Castle. By the Vicar of the Parish. London: E. Stamford. 1884.

10. Calendar of State Papers. Colonial Series: East Indies, China, and Persia (1625-1629). Edited by W. Noel Sainsbury. Longman & Co. 1884.

11. English Scholar’s Library. Capt. John Smith’s Works (1608-1631). By Edward Arber, 1, Montague-road, Birmingham. 1884.

12. Plant Lore and Garden Craft of Shakespeare. By the Rev. Henry N. Ellacombe, M.A. Second edition. Simpkin, Marshall & Co. 1884.

Books, &c., for Sale.

Works of Hogarth (set of original Engravings, elephant folio, without text), bound. Apply by letter to W. D., 56, Paragon-road, Hackney, N.E.

Original water-colour portrait of Jeremy Bentham, price 2 guineas. Apply to the Editor of this Magazine.

A large collection of Franks, Peers’ and Commoners’. Apply to E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, N.W.

Books, &c., Wanted to Purchase.

Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer, several copies of No. 2 (February, 1882) are wanted, in order to complete sets. Copies of the current number will be given in exchange at the office.

Dodd’s Church History, 8vo., vols. i. ii. and v.; Waagen’s Art and Artists in England, vol. i.; East Anglian, vol. i., Nos. 26 and 29. The Family Topographer, by Samuel Tymms, vols. iii. and iv.; Notes and Queries, the third Index. Johnson’s “Lives of the Poets” (Ingram and Cooke’s edition), vol. iii. A New Display of the Beauties of England, vol. i., 1774. Chambers’ Cyclopædia of English Literature, vol. i. Address, E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, Edgeware-road, N.W. {205} {206}

TESSELLATED PAVEMENT DISCOVERED AT THE ROMAN VILLA NEAR BRADING (see p. 237, post).
(From Messrs. Price’s Guide to the Roman Villa at Morton, near Brading.)

{207}

The
Antiquarian Magazine
& Bibliographer.

Forecastings of Nostradamus.

By C. A. Ward.

PART IV.

(Continued from p. 60.)

N the preface, addressed to his son Cæsar, he shows himself perfectly alive to the poor reception his book is likely to meet with from many; he says: “Qu’elle fera retirer le front en arrière à plus d’un qui la lira, sans y rien comprendre.” He does not write for babes and the illiterate, and has no sympathy with the words in Mark x. 14: “Sinite parvulos venire ad me.” On the contrary, he cites from Matthew vii. 6 with approval the antithetical sentence uttered by the Saviour: “ ‘Nolite sanctum dare canibus, ne conculcent pedibus et conversi disrumpant vos:’ which hath been the cause that I have withdrawn my tongue from the vulgar, and my pen from paper.”

“But,” he runs on, “afterwards I was writing for the common good, to enlarge myself in dark and abstruse sentences, declaring the future events, chiefly the most urgent, and those which I foresaw (whatever human mutation happened) would not offend the hearers.”[52]

Here the words marked in italics give us the limitation he set to his own office and position. His function is purely that of a seer; he foresees, and sometimes for the “common good” he records his{208} experiences,[53] but he does not take upon himself the mission of the Baptist to “prepare a way” for great events, nor like Jeremiah to raise a cry of national lamentation, nor like Isaiah will he denounce evil nor evil-doers.

His idea of prophecy is nothing but the passivity of foresight. He says:—

It should be noticed by every candid critic that there is strong internal evidence in this passage of genuine truthfulness in the writer. First he defines his own position to be merely that of a seer. He then gives his idea of a prophet, and describes him as one who has received a spirit of vaticination by foresight. He then says that this prophetical heat is unattainable by any natural knowledge of man, but comes like that of the sun, direct from the Giver of all good gifts to man. This is very much as Samuel How, the inspired cobbler, Bunyan, or any old Puritan in the seventeenth century would have described it: “The sufficiency of the Spirit’s teaching without human learning.” But in addition to this perfect simplicity of spirit, he ventures to quote the Saviour’s words: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons,” which, with Matthew xxiv. 36, is the strongest passage in the New Testament against a gift of prophecy in man. Would a man who had any doubt at all about his possession of the faculty of prevision cite a passage which seemed to withhold the prophetic gift from all mankind under the new covenant of the Christian dispensation?

Grotius and Heinsius show that these words χρόνους ἧ καιροὺς should be understood of the time, times, and an half, of Daniel (xii. 7), when Christ, of the stem of Jesse, should begin under Constantine to direct the executive government of kings on earth as King of kings, which took place 300 years later. If this were to be hidden from Apostles, how should a layman, and idiot (so to speak), look for{209} inspiration? To me this consideration entirely and finally disposes of any doubt as to imposition intentional. Be Nostradamus prophet and seer, or not, it is next to impossible for anyone of fair and impartial mind hereafter to hold that he was an impostor. To suppose it even, is impossible to a rational judge, if we grant that we are, in a degree ever so little, capable by nature of estimating the motives of a fellow-creature.

In another part of the preface he says:—

He speaks also of the mode of enlightenment, “by a long melancholy inspiration revealed,” and says it takes “its original from above, and such light and small flame is of all efficacy and sublimity, no less than the natural light makes the philosophers so secure.” All this justifies fully the distich, so far as motive goes:—

He opens the first “Century” with an announcement (by some called an incantation) of the methods by which he prepared himself for the reception of the knowledge of future things:

“Sitting by night, in secret study alone, resting on a brazen seat, a slight flame arising out of the solitude makes me utter things not vain to be believed.”

“With wand in hand placed amidst the branches, I wet with water the limb and foot, and write in fear, trembling in my sleeves; “Splendour divine! the Divinity sits at hand.’ ”

A tranquillised mind is requisite to prophecy. We find Elisha (2 Kings iii. 15) requiring a minstrel to play, that the hand of the Lord may come upon him. External objects disturb the senses, so that night is best for contemplation, as Malebranche is said to have shut himself up in a dark room to study and think out his “Recherche de la Vérité.” Solitude is essential to prophecy. A man cannot commune with heaven in the busy haunts of men. Nature is{210} the presence-chamber of the Deity. Every man of sensibility knows this; and the prophet most of all men feels the pith and central depth of Pope’s fine line, and that he must reach prophecy “Looking through Nature up to Nature’s God.” Society demands that you sacrifice your convictions constantly to good manners. Social convention contaminates noble originality and high principle. Truth never dwells in the court of kings, and the drawing-rooms of the well-to-do are no fitter for its shrine, for the men and women there are royalties divested of respect and state-trappings; they are over-pampered humanities for the most part: to be much in their company you must compromise the divinest part of you—your convictions—and it is by pursuing conviction that the soul flies heavenward. One might write an essay on the Brazen Stool with its proverb ex tripode loqui, but anyhow these opening verses convey to the mind with wonderful brevity a vivid picture of a mediæval magician at his work.

Garencières allegorises here so widely as to show what havoc ingenuity can play with analogy, which is a key to the occult things of the universe in good hands—those of the prophet, poet, or genius of any sort. The rod, he says, is the pen, placed in the middle of the branches means the fingers of the hand, the water he dips it in is the ink he writes with, wetting limb and foot is the paper covered from top to bottom. Was manuscript ever, since the world began, more mystically shadowed forth?

The interest of English readers will perhaps be most readily drawn to Nostradamus, by dealing first with some of the most remarkable prophecies concerning England; and with the invaluable aid of M. Anatole le Pelletier’s admirable work on Nostradamus, this can at any rate for a few of the quatrains be most readily accomplished. He gives six examples from the various “Centuries.” The first relates to the supremacy of England at sea: “L’Angleterre le Panpotent des mers.” The word Panpotent is a barbarous Græco-Latin word for πᾶν-potens, all-powerful. The periods M. le Pelletier would assign to these changes or revolutions in England extend from 1501, the birth of Lutheranism, to 1791, the commencement of the French Revolution.

He selects Century iii., quatrain 57:—

{211}

Here we have to notice that 1501 plus 290 equals 1791, which may if you like be taken as the date of the commencement of the French Revolution, though commonly it is reckoned from 1789, the taking of the Bastille. The Germanic kings are the descendants of Hugh Capet. Bastarnia stands for Poland as its ancient name. The first dismemberment of Poland took place in 1772. Then Russia grew into power, Peter ascended the throne 1682, and Lutheranism triumphed in Germany. Such changes might well startle the Ram from all recognition of the northern world.

1501 is the date of the Renaissance, and from that to 1792 England is to undergo seven revolutions.

1. In England Henry VIII. breaks free from Rome, and the Church of England is set up in 1532.

2. 1553 Mary restores the Papal religion.

3. 1558 Elizabeth re-establishes Anglican independence.

4. In 1649 Charles I. is beheaded, and the Republic established under Cromwell’s Protectorate.

5. In 1660 Charles II. is restored.

6. In 1689 James II. abdicating, is displaced by William III., his son-in-law.

7. In 1714 George I., of the House of Hanover, is called to the throne.

The brevity with which all this is inferred is as remarkable as the curious precision with which it was fulfilled.

The accession of James I. to the death of Charles I. (1603-1649) is set forth in

{212}

Le Pelletier thinks it is quite clear that Lonole Ολλὑων stands for Cromwell, but a further coincidence arises, namely, that Lonole is an all but correct anagram of Ole Nol or Old Noll, the Protector’s nickname. Garencières prints Londre for Lonole, and so renders what at best is obscure entirely unintelligible, and fancies that he clearly discerns it to be a prophecy concerning Charles II., because he was commended to the care of his subjects by Charles I. on the scaffold.

That is to say, Charles I. will be deprived of power after having yielded up Strafford to the popular fury, in the hope of escaping himself. The Scotch (old adherents) will be so base as to sell him for two millions to the Cromwellites, who put him to death, and Cromwell becoming Protector, and not quite king, therefore will obtain an almost royal bastard, i.e., a half reception (à demy receu).

This is an announcement of such unparalleled and terrific import that Nostradamus exhibits more feeling over it than he does usually over his prognostications. The butcher-like face of Cromwell, with its fleshy conch and hideous warts, seems to have been visually present to him, and to have struck him with such a sense of terror and vividness that he imagines the time must be very near at hand. Though a full century had to elapse, he sighs with a present shudder, and the blood creeps. One of the remarkable features throughout the work of Nostradamus is the general absence of any sense of time apart from the mere enumeration of years as an algebraic or arithmetical sign; on this momentous occasion he departs from his usual practice, and stands horror-stricken as in a fearful vision.

This seems to foreshadow that the naval power of England will be suppressed by sea-borne armies overwhelming her on her own shores, and the Lusitanians, or Portuguese, the oldest allies of England, will not be content, because, probably, Portugal at the same instant will be overwhelmed by Spain simultaneously.

This is as far as we can go in English history under the guidance{214} of Le Pelletier. But, nevertheless, I shall adduce several more quatrains, bringing the sequence down at least to the establishment of the House of Hanover on the English throne in the person of George I.

(To be continued.)

Down a Yorkshire River.

PART I.

HAD any one been able to sail down the River Calder, say a hundred years ago, long before the present little manufacturing towns had arisen on its banks, he would have passed through some of the most lovely scenery and through one of the loveliest mountain valleys in the county of York. Even to-day, when ugly mills and numberless prosaic tenements of trade disfigure, from an artistic point of view, the once grassy glades and the once gloriously wooded slopes, the prospect in many spots retains much of its virginal sweetness and romantic beauty. There are yet long tracts which commerce has not irremediably mutilated—pleasant meadowlands as fair with wilding flowers as of old; sylvan haunts of birch and elm whose dusky quietude is well-nigh as unbroken and solemn as of yore; bonnie tributary brooklets flashing and hurrying, like silver-footed naiads, through clough and dell and dene. As the eye takes a loftier and farther sweep the rugged contour and massive forms of forest-clad and moorland-capped mountains may be seen to wear much the same aspect they wore in the primal historic days of Roman and Celt. The conquests of commerce over both material and mental difficulties are apparent almost everywhere on the lowlands, for which all sensible and right-thinking minds are grateful, plain and anti-poetical as the outward signs may be in the jumble of viaduct and railway station, of factory and shop. But the old world of chivalry and romance is not altogether pushed aside: there are the ruins of stately and curiously carved gateways whence issued squire and yeoman to join the Pilgrimage of Grace, or later, gallant cavaliers, eager to mingle in the fray on the far-away field of Marston Moor; there are a few old Elizabethan halls with mullioned window and grey stone porch, in whose cool recesses the inmates waited anxiously and breathlessly for tidings about the great Armada; and here and there, built by pious hands that have been still for centuries, there are relics of quiet, quaint chapelle, where repose the ashes of Crusader{215} knight, and of knights who fought so fiercely in the bloody wars of the Red and White Rose; and now and then we come across a grand antique church, crowded by worshippers where the ritual and the language of the worship have undergone many changes, and around whose hallowed precincts have gathered historic traditions and saintly legends, hoarier and older than the lichens that crust the mouldering towers. The tall chimneys are rising in the busy centres of trade, but occasionally we shelter under an oak or a yew-tree whose youth was fanned by less smutty winds; railway whistles have scared the nightingale, but the lark still carols anear human dwellings; graylings no longer leap the river-weir, but the waters sing and gleam as they glide seaward down the hushed moonlit glens.

The Calder, one of the most picturesque of northern rivers, rises near Cliviger Dene, in Lancashire, and enters the county of York through a wild gorge at Todmorden. As to the origin of the word there have been many conjectures, some plausible, but none to my mind satisfactory. An able writer in a provincial publication gives the derivation from two Celtic words, coll, the hazel-tree, and dur, water. The fatal objection to this is that hazel-trees never grew in such abundance in this valley as to be a distinguishing feature. Place-names with the Celtic coll and the Saxon hæsel are very rarely found. Had copses or shaws of the hazel flourished to such an extent as to give a name to the river, their former existence would still be traceable in the abiding nomenclature of the country through which the Calder runs its course. The Rev. Thomas Wright, who published a work on the antiquities of the parish of Halifax, where he was curate for more than seventeen years, noticing the Calder states that the spring is called Cal or Col, and is joined by the River Dar. This is a purely fanciful supposition, and, I believe, not borne out by facts. Dr. Whitaker urges a Danish derivation. The Danes unquestionably won and maintained a lasting hold on the hills overlooking the Calder. As soon as this mountain-born stream assumes the dignity and proportions of a river at Todmorden, it washes on the one hand Langfield, the Long Range of hills, and on the other Stansfield, the Stony Range, whilst a few miles lower down it flows at the foot of Norland, the North-land—all Danish, or more correctly Scandinavian, terms. Then, on the slopes rising from the south banks, we have Sowerby and Fixby, two ancient “by’s,” where families of predatory Danes took up their abode. Other nomenclature traces of the same nation, of the great Canute himself possibly, might be mentioned in favour of the argument on this side of the{216} question; though (I write from memory) I believe Dr. Whitaker does not point out the surrounding Danish indications I have here advanced. Another historian surmised that the original Celtic name was Dur, and that the Saxons on settling in this neighbourhood added the adjective ceald or cold. But this is very improbable, the river in question being no cooler than any other.

I venture to urge a derivation different from any of the above, viz., from the Celtic caoill (wood) and dur (water). That Celts, the Brigantian clan, lived in this locality is an historic fact, the proofs of which need not be here adduced. The Calder beck as soon as it issues from the spring in Cliviger Dene flows by a long stretching sweep of woodland, and farther on among the hills of Yorkshire, a broader and a nobler stream, pursues its course for miles through dense primeval forests, among which may be mentioned the once famous forest of Hardwick. Its precipitous banks were clothed with no mere hazel coppice, but with vast masses of the more majestic oak and ash and birch, woodland in its wilder and more imposing form. Even to-day, though most of the primeval forest has been cut down, and manufacturing villages have sprung up on the ancient sylvan sites, the tourist starting above Todmorden would not, in a walk of thirty miles by the river side, be able to lose sight of the picturesque and far-stretching belts of woodland scenery. It is yet emphatically the Caoill-dur, the water winding through the woods. Of course, in this case the Saxons took up the word as they found it in use among the conquered Celts. Then, to strengthen this conjecture, the very first tributary brook on the north—of size and importance, at least, to give a name to the valley—joining the parent stream is the Colden or Caldene, which probably is the Caoill-dene, the woodland valley. The reader will judge how accurately the word describes this lonely mountain glen when he is told that at a distance the eye can scarcely catch a flash of the waters of this stream as they hurry down this wild sylvan region, so thickly is it overshadowed by a forest of ash and birch. A topographical word derived from two languages is rare in this part, and when we come across one it is generally a Saxon grafted on the more primitive Celtic name of mountain or river. Colden or Caldene is probably an instance to the point.

That caoill was contracted to, or commonly pronounced, cal may be pretty safely supposed, when we know that in the Latinised form or transformation it became cal, as in Caledonii, that is, Caoill-daoin, the people inhabiting the woods. The reader will perceive{217} that caoill is closely akin to the Greek κᾶλον, also signifying a wood.

The Calder, which is a very sinuous stream, runs a most irregular but charmingly diversified course as it winds under scout and scar, now gliding smoothly past belts of woodland or by long stretches of fair pastoral field, or again in narrower channel foaming more rapidly through wild ravine or over rocky weir, only again to slip into more tranquil waters, pleasantly gladdening as with quiet familiarity village and thorpe. Leaving Todmorden the tourist passes on the right the precipitous woods of Erringden, the dene or valley of the Irringas, where of yore probably dwelt a branch of the family of the Aruns; and on the other hand, towering far away on the heights to the north may be seen the bleak, solitary, altar-like mass of rock known as Llads-Law, conjectured by some to be a Druidical ruin. The Celt lived here beyond all doubt, though but few are the traces he has left behind in cromlech or cairn, in speech or blood. The Roman, we know, cut his way through the primeval forests, and on these very mountains laid down his military roads, the long lines of which we can map out, and oft-times does the plough turn up fragments of rusted sword and broken spear which tell how the pierced hand had to drop them for ever. On and near these roads, after the iron legions had ceased to tramp them, sprung up many a Saxon “ton” or town and Danish “by.” There, on the one hand, upon the heights still difficult to scale except to born mountaineers, is perched Saxon Heptonstall, with its grand old tower of Saint Thomas à Becket and antique homesteads clustering around; and yonder, on the far opposite slope to the south-east, is Danish Sowerby, taking us back in thought to the times when the Vikings settled down and fortified their “by” in the forest fastnesses of the hill. Here, too, to this Sowerby came later the Earl of Warren and built himself a castle, and took to his own possession vast tracts of mountain slope and wooded glen, which long retained the name of the Forest of Hardwick, and therein he hunted in right baronial style the boar and the wild deer. Sowerby with its Danish and Norman memories has a not uninteresting story in later ages, and is not a little proud in having given birth to John Tillotson, one of England’s most illustrious primates. Haugh-End, the quaint old house where he was born, is on the southern slope of the hill, and many the pilgrims who turn aside to have a look at the grey old roof sheltered behind the trees and the ivied high wall. Not a bow-shot from the riverside, and nearly opposite Sowerby, is Eawood{218} Hall, the birthplace of Bishop Ferrar, the martyr. Eawood, snugly and picturesquely nestled under the greenwood scars of Midgley, has a conspicuous place in the ecclesiastical history of the county. Here John Wesley preached on several occasions, on one of which he remarked, “I preached to near an hour after sunset. The calmness of the evening agreed well with the seriousness of the people; every one of whom seemed to drink in the Word of God as a thirsty land the refreshing showers.” William Grimshaw, curate of Todmorden and afterwards incumbent of Haworth, a not unworthy coadjutor of Whitefield and the Wesleys, married his first wife from this place, and often preached and stayed here on his home-missionary tours. Not more than a couple of miles away is the birthplace of John Foster, whose Essays at one time had a considerable reputation. Close to Eawood there is many a neighbouring hall of more than local interest, one especially, Brearley Hall, beautifully embosomed in the trees on a gentle eminence on the north side of the river, and formerly the seat of a younger branch of the Lacy family. About half an hour’s walk down the valley brings the pedestrian to Daisy Bank Wood, and Chaucer’s favourite flower still grows on the daisied bank, and there stands yet the old-fashioned house below the wood where was born, in the reign of Elizabeth, Henry Briggs, of logarithm renown, and the first Savilian professor of geometry at the University of Oxford.

(To be continued.)

Archaeology a Confirmation of Historic and Religious Truth.[68]

By the Rev. George Huntington, M.A., Rector of Tenby.

JEREMIAH’S lot was cast in the darkest period of his country’s history. He was called on to declare the Divine will to the exiles in Babylon and the remnant in Palestine. In the context he is warning his countrymen against false prophets and false priests who were deceiving the people by proclaiming peace when{219} there was no peace. He urges them to inquire after the ancient faith revealed to the patriarchs and prophets of old. Thus, and thus only, would they find “rest for their souls.”

The metaphor is a striking one; it is that of a traveller who comes to a place where several roads meet. He hesitates till he discerns the most beaten track, or till he hails another traveller from whom he can ask his way. Those were days of doubt and difficulty, when the royal counsellors were urging conformity to the idolatrous rites of the powerful nations around them as a policy of wisdom and conciliation. But Jeremiah regarded it as nothing less than apostasy. Those idolatries were abomination in the sight of Jehovah. Hence the people must return to the worship of the one true God—the God “who made heaven and earth,” to be true to the covenant which “He made with Abraham, the oath which He swore unto Isaac, and confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.”

But the text applies to ourselves. The days in which our lot is cast are days of doubt and difficulty—days when ancient landmarks are being removed, and the beaten tracks so effaced as almost to be indiscernible. So that we may well stand, like the traveller in the metaphor, to see and ask for the old paths, for the good way, amid the clouds of scepticism and unbelief which gather athwart our pathways; amid the Babel of voices saying “Who will show us the good?” we may say, with the Psalmist, “Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us.”

For what are those ways, those old paths, that good way, but the original revelation of God as our Father in heaven—subsequently manifested in the Person of His Incarnate Son as the Revealer of the Divine will, in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, acting through the Church as His agent for making His “ways known to the sons of men.”

“The history of the race of Adam before the Advent,” says a great statesman,[69] “is the history of a long and varied, but incessant preparation for the Advent;” and the history of the human race since the Advent, it may be added, is but a record of the gradual but sure progress of that kingdom which Christ came to establish upon earth, an earnest of the time when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of God and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever as King of kings and Lord of lords.

And to this, as it seems to me, all historical research as well as{220} scientific discovery points. There are those who to exalt Christianity would represent the world as in total darkness before the Advent. The truer estimate of the Gospels shows us that Christ was in fact the “true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” The investigation of the records of the past assures us of this fact, confirms us in this belief, proves to us that God never “left Himself without witness,” teaches us that Christ drew as it were into a focus all the truths that men had previously held, only freeing them from error and bringing them into clearer light. “The words,” says a great scholar,[70] “by which God was known in the far-off ages are but mere words; but they bring before us with all the vividness of an event which we witnessed ourselves but yesterday, the ancestors of the whole Aryan race, thousands of years, it may be, before Homer and the Vedas, worshipping an unseen Being under the self-same name, the best, the most exalted name they could find in their vocabulary.” Plutarch wrote ages ago: “If you travel through the whole world, well, you may find cities without walls, without literature, without kings, moneyless, and such as desire no coin; which know not what theatres or public halls or bodily exercise mean; but never was there, nor ever shall be, any one city seen without temple, church, or chapel, without some God or other, which useth no prayers, nor oaths, no prophecies and divinations, no sacrifices either to obtain good blessings, or to avert heavy curses and calamities. Nay, methinks a man should sooner find a city built in the air without any plot of ground whereon it is seated than any commonwealth altogether void of religion.... This is that containeth and holdeth together all human society, this is the foundation prop and stay of all.”[71]

Brethren of the Archæological Association, I venture to think that you will not fail to see the application of these remarks to your own researches, and to the consequences which are happily arising from these researches. Of course I speak of archæology in its widest sense. Your investigations of the records of antiquity, your examination of ancient remains, your discovery of the sites and foundations of temples, tombs, altars, and cromlechs, confirm the testimony of philologists, historians, and philosophers, nay the witness of the human heart; they all speak with more or less clearness of a belief in the Supreme Being, of a longing for a clearer revelation of His will,{221} of a hope of immortality, of a sense of sin and desire for reconciliation with Him, obscured it may be, often perverted, debased by superstitious, cruel, and unholy rites, sometimes feebly held, but never totally lost.

And the same observations apply to the attestation by archæology to the scriptural records. Nothing is more remarkable than the recovery of ancient monuments, unless it be the deductions of science which are marking the intellectual activity of the age. What a revelation was that finding of the famous Rosetta stone[72] which by its triple inscription in the Sacred, the popular Egyptian, and the Greek languages, gave the key to unlock the mysteries of figure writing, so that thanks to Egyptologists, who are but archæologists under a local name, we may picture to ourselves the Egypt of the Pyramids, of Abraham, of Joseph, and the Exodus, and see the Pharaohs in their colossal palaces, and learn something of that wisdom of the Egyptians in which we are told “Moses was learned.” Think, too, how the unshapely mounds on the banks of the Euphrates have given up their treasures, so that we may now know the history of those mighty empires which each in its day exercised its influence on the chosen people, and through that chosen people on the destinies of the Church. Think of the excavations of a Layard, the researches of a Rawlinson in Babylon and Assyria, and of the Palestine explorers, which bring before us not only the land of the Judges and the Kings, but the scenes of the earthly ministry of the Son of God Himself.

And what is it but archæology that led to the exhuming of those long-lost cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii which have thrown such a lurid glare on the morals of the Græco-Roman world, confirming as it does the keen satires not only of a Juvenal or a Persius, but the mournful testimony of a Paul, showing as nothing else could show the world’s need of a divine Saviour, and a newer and fuller revelation of the Divine will.

Or think of the identification of the sites of classic Troy and Mycenæ by Dr. Schliemann, and of the discoveries of Mr. Wood at Ephesus, and of Mr. Ramsay in Phrygia. These investigations might seem to have only an indirect reference to Christianity, but they may help to attest the accuracy of the Scripture record and of the history of the isapostolic Church. Asia Minor, be it remembered, was, next to Palestine, the theatre of the earliest apostolic labours; Ephesus was the city wherein St. Paul encountered the worshippers of the Temple of the world-renowned Artemis. To the Ephesians he addressed one of his most remarkable epistles, to Ephesus he sent{222} his son in the faith, Timothy; over the Ephesian Church St. John presided as the survivor of the Twelve; in Ephesus was held the third of the Œcumenical Councils. Who knows, then, what the archæology of the future may not discover in these interesting regions? What treasures may not yet be buried under those shapeless masses, the accumulations of ages of neglect? Who knows what light they may not shed on the annals of a hoary antiquity in which we of this busy nineteenth century may be vitally interested?—interested as we “ask for the old paths.”

The same may be said of the Catacombs of Rome, with their simple and unstudied testimony to the faith of the early Christian martyrs, so strangely contrasting with the sad records of the pagan world, so that, as has well been said, “if you cross the Appian Way, from the Columbaria to the Catacombs, and place side by side the heathen and the Christian epitaphs, you may read, in those authentic registers, how, without Christ, death meant despair; with Christ, peace.”

Think again of the recovery of MSS. I need name but one, the Codex Sinaiticus, found seemingly by a lucky accident, but one which has enabled New Testament scholars to establish the truest readings of the Gospels and the Epistles. Nor is the discovery of an authentic copy of that ancient treatise which goes by the name of the “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles” without its influence on Christian archæology. It confirms what the examination of the ancient liturgies of ancient altars and altar vessels—a distinct branch of your science—teaches us, the testimony of a Pliny and a Justin as to what primitive Christian worship really was; it assures the Churchman of the nineteenth century that in all essentials of faith and worship he is one with the Church of the first century, the Church of the Apostles, the Church of Pentecost, the Church of Christ from the beginning.

But you are British archæologists; if it pleases you to visit my native county of York, you will doubtless direct your steps to Goodmanham, or Godmundenham, as its ancient name betokened—the Protection of the Gods. There in that little East Riding village archæology verified the identity of the font in which Paulinus baptized the heathen priest Coifi, with a trough out of which for years farmers had fed their swine. What a commentary on the spread of Christianity, and the need of Christianity, so early as the seventh century in the northern parts of our island is the beautiful story told by the Venerable Bede.[73] “The present life of man,” said the aged counsellor{223} Coifi to his sovereign, “O king, seems to me in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like the swift flight of the sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad; the sparrow, I say, flying in at one door and immediately out at another, whilst he is within is safe from the wintry storm, but after a short space of fair weather he immediately vanishes out of your sight into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before or what is to follow we are utterly ignorant. If, therefore, the new doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed.” In contempt of his former superstition, the king and his counsellors assenting, we are told, the arch-priest mounted the royal war-horse, armed himself with a spear, things otherwise unlawful, and profaned the temple by casting at the idol his spear; and then both king and counsellor were baptized and professed the faith of Christ.[74]

Authorities have been divided as to the diffusion of Christianity in Britain, and as to the independence of the ancient British Church. Archæology, on the other hand, by its identification of sacred sites by the nomenclature of native saints, by the designation of parishes and churches, has done much to settle these questions. The science of archæology has discovered Christian symbols, traced British bishops to far-distant Councils;[75] as at Carleon, and Bangor, and elsewhere, it has unfolded the records of a community acting under its own prelates and arch-prelates, enjoying its own native customs, adhering to its own independent rites.

Archæology is, in its widest sense, no mere question of curious antiquities, it is a confirmation of historic and religious truth. It aids the devout in the inquiry after the old ways in which the saints of God have trod. It is a teaching and a walking in that good way in which patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, found rest to their souls. To the Jews of Jeremiah’s days God promised rest from their enemies in their own land of promise, rest in the assured favour of Jehovah. To us Christ promises rest, rest from disquieting doubts and fears, rest in the sense of sins forgiven, rest in communion and union with God and Christ, in the mystical fellowship of His Body, the Church, rest hereafter in our heavenly home.

Brethren, the appeal of Christ is to the individual heart, the witness to the Saviour is in the testimony of conscience, the heart and life, the{224} presence of His Spirit within the soul. May I beg you, then, to ask for the old paths of repentance and faith, for the good way that leadeth to life, to walk therein; to consecrate your researches to the highest and noblest of purposes, the furtherance of truth and the glory of God; and so, to use again the words of the prophet in the text, “ye shall find rest for your souls.”

Johnson and Garrick.

A JEU D’ESPRIT[76] BY SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.

PART II.

(Continued from p. 175.)

CONTINUING the dialogue between Dr. Johnson and Mr. Gibbon from the point where we broke off in our last, the jeu d’esprit proceeds:—

Gibbon.—Garrick had some flippancy of parts, to be sure, and was brisk and lively in company, and by the help of mimickry and story-telling made himself a pleasant companion; but here, the whole world gave the superiority to Foote, and Garrick himself appears to have felt as if his genius was rebuked by the superior powers of Foote. It has been often observed, that Garrick never dared to enter into competition with him, but was content to act an under part to bring Foote out.

Johnson.—That this conduct of Garrick’s might be interpreted by the gross minds of Foote and his friends as if he was afraid to encounter him, I can easily imagine. Of the natural superiority of Garrick over Foote, this conduct is an instance; he disdained entering into competition with such a fellow, and made him the buffoon of the company, or, as you may say, brought him out, and what was at last brought out but coarse jests and vulgar merriment, indecency, and impiety, a relation of events which, upon the face of them, could never have happened, characters grossly conceived and as coarsely represented. Foote was even no mimick; he went out of himself, it is true, but without going into another man; he was excelled by Garrick even in this, which is considered as Foote’s greatest excellence. Garrick, besides his exact imitation of the voice and gestures of his original, to a degree of refinement of which Foote had no conception,{225} exhibited the mind and mode of thinking of the person imitated. Besides, Garrick confined his powers within the limits of decency: he had a character to preserve, Foote had none. By Foote’s buffoonery and broadfaced merriment, private friendship, public decency, and everything estimable amongst men, were trod under foot. We all know the difference of their reception in the world. No man, however high in rank or literature, but was proud to know Garrick, and was glad to have him at his table; no man ever considered or treated Garrick as a player; he may be said to have stepped out of his own rank into an higher, and by raising himself he raised the rank of his profession. At a convivial table his exhilarating powers were unrivalled; he was lively, entertaining, quick in discerning the ridicule of life, and as ready in representing it, and on graver subjects there were few topics on which he could not bear a part. It is injurious to the character of Garrick to be named in the same breath with Foote. That Foote was admitted sometimes into good company (to do the man what credit I can) I will allow, but then it was merely to play tricks; Foote’s merriment was that of a buffoon, and Garrick’s that of a gentleman.

G.—I have been told, on the contrary, that Garrick in company had not the easy manners of a gentleman.

J.—Sir, I do not know what you may have been told, or what your ideas may be of the manners of gentlemen. Garrick had no vulgarity in his manners; it is true, he had not the airiness of a fop, nor did he assume an affected indifference to what was passing; he did not lounge from the table to the window, and from thence to the fire, or whilst you were addressing your discourse to him, turn from you, and talk to his next neighbour, or give any indication that he was tired of your company. If such manners form your ideas of a fine gentleman, Garrick certainly had them not.

G.—I mean that Garrick was more overawed by the presence of the great, and more obsequious to rank than Foote, who considered himself as their equal, and treated them with the same familiarity as they treated each other.

J.—He did so, and what did the fellow get by it? The grossness of his mind prevented him from seeing that this familiarity was merely suffered as they would play with a dog. He got no ground by affecting to call peers by their surnames. The foolish fellow fancied, that lowering them was raising himself to their level. This affectation of familiarity with the great, this childish ambition of momentary exaltation, obtained by the neglect of those ceremonies which custom has established{226} as the barriers between one order of society and another, only showed his folly and meanness; he did not see that by encroaching on others’ dignity, he puts himself in their power, either to be repelled with helpless indignity, or endured by clemency and condescension. Garrick by paying due regard to rank respected himself; what he gave was returned, and what was returned he kept for ever. His advancement was on firm ground; he was recognised in public as well as respected in private, and as no man was ever more courted or better received by the public, so no man was ever less spoiled by its flattery. Garrick continued advancing to the last, till he had acquired every advantage that high birth could bestow, except the precedence of going into the room, but when he was there he was treated with as much attention as the first man at the table. It is to the credit of Garrick that he never laid any claim to this distinction; it was as voluntarily allowed as if it had been his birthright. In this, I confess, I looked on David with some degree of envy, not so much for the respect he received as for the manner of its being acquired: what fell into his lap unsought, I have been forced to claim. I began the world by fighting my way. There was something about me that invited insult, or at least a disposition to neglect, and I was equally disposed to repel insult, and to claim attention, and, I fear, continue too much in this disposition now it is no longer necessary; I receive at present as much favour as I have a right to expect. I am not one of the complainers of the neglect of merit.

G.—Your pretensions, Dr. Johnson, nobody will dispute; I cannot place Garrick on the same footing: your reputation will continue increasing after your death. When Garrick will be totally forgot, you will be for ever considered as a classic.

J.—Enough, sir, enough; the company will be better pleased to see us quarrel than bandying compliments.

G.—But you must allow, Dr. Johnson, that Garrick was too much a slave to fame, or rather to the mean ambition of living with the great, terribly afraid of making himself cheap with them; by which he debarred himself from much pleasant society. Employing so much attention and so much management upon such little things, implies, I think, a little mind. It was observed by his friend Coleman that he never went into company but with a plot how to get out of it; he was every minute called out, and went off or returned as there was, or was not, a probability of his shining.

J.—In regard to his mean ambition, as you call it, of living with the great, what was the boast of Pope, and is every man’s wish,{227} can be no reproach to Garrick; he who says he despises it, knows he lies. That Garrick husbanded his fame, the fame which he had justly acquired, both at the theatre and at the table, is not denied; but where is the blame either in the one or the other of leaving as little as possible to chance? Besides, sir, consider what you have said; you first deny Garrick’s pretensions to fame, and then accuse him of too great an attention to preserve what he never possessed.

G.—I don’t understand.

J.—I can’t help that, sir.

G.—Well but, Dr. Johnson, you will not vindicate him in his over and above attention to his fame, his inordinate desire to exhibit himself to new men, like a coquet ever seeking after new conquests, to the total neglect of old friends and admirers:

always looking out for new game.

J.—When you have quoted the line from Goldsmith, you ought, in fairness to have given what followed,

which implies at least that he possessed a power over other men’s minds approaching to fascination. But consider, sir, what is to be done. Here is a man, whom every other man desired to know. Garrick could not receive and cultivate all, according to each man’s conception of his own value: we are all apt enough to consider ourselves as possessing a right to be exempted from the common crowd. Besides, sir, I do not see why that should be imputed to him as a crime which we all so irresistibly feel and practise; we all make a greater exertion in the presence of new men than old acquaintance; it is undoubtedly true that Garrick divided his attention among so many, that but little remained to the share of an individual: like the extension and dissipation of water into dew, there was not quantity united sufficiently to quench any man’s thirst; but this is the inevitable state of things; Garrick no more than any other man could unite what was in their nature incompatible.

G.—But Garrick was by this means not only excluded from real friendship, but also accused of treating those whom he called friends with insincerity and double dealings.

J.—Sir, it is not true; his character in that respect is misunderstood: Garrick was, to be sure, very ready in promising, but he intended at that time to fulfil his promise; he intended no deceit; his politeness, or his good nature, call it which you will, made him unwilling{228} to deny, he wanted the courage to say No, even to unreasonable demands. This was the great error of his life; by raising expectations which he did not, perhaps could not, gratify, he made enemies; at the same time it must be remembered that this error proceeded from the same cause which produced many of his virtues. Friendships from warmth of temper too suddenly taken up, and too violent to continue, ended, as they were like to do, in disappointment; enmity succeeded disappointment, his friends became his enemies, and those having been fostered in his bosom, knew well his sensibility to reproach, and they took care that he should be amply supplied with such bitter potions as they were capable of administering. Their impotent efforts he ought to have despised, but he felt them; nor did he affect insensibility.

G.—And that sensibility probably shortened his life.

J.—No, sir, he died of a disorder of which you or any other man may die without being killed by too much sensibility.

G.—But you will allow, however, that this sensibility, those fine feelings, made him the great actor he was.

J.—This is all cant, fit only for kitchen wenches and chamber maids; Garrick’s trade was to represent passion, not to feel it. Ask Reynolds, whether he felt the distress of Count Ugolino, when he drew it.

G.—But surely he feels the passion at the moment he is representing it.

J.—About as much as Punch feels. That Garrick himself gave in to this foppery of feelings, I can easily believe; but he knew at the time that he lied. He might think it right, as far as I know, to have what fools imagined he ought to have; but it is amazing that anyone should be so ignorant as to think that an actor will risk his reputation by depending upon the feelings, that may be excited in the presence of 200 people, on the repetition of certain words which he has repeated 200 times before in what actors call their study. No, sir, Garrick left nothing to chance; every gesture, every expression of countenance, and variation of voice, was settled in his closet, before he set his foot upon the stage.

The History of Gilds.

By Cornelius Walford, F.S.S., Barrister-at-Law.

PART IV.

(Continued from p. 181.)

Chapter XXXV.—Gilds of Norfolk.

THIS county was remarkable for the number of its Gilds, every principal town having many, and most of the villages one or more. The following is believed to be a complete return of the Gilds existing in 1388-9. All the towns are easy of identification.

East Wynch.—In this town (or village) there was the following:—

Gild of Est Wynch, founded 1377.—Four meetings shall be held every year. Officers to be chosen by picked men. Services for dead, and offerings. Masses for the souls of the dead. Allowances to members in sickness, viz., “a lof, and a potel of ale, and mes of kechen [stuff].”

Lynn.—The Gilds existing in this then famous seaport (at the date above named) were the following—the chief features of each being noted.

Gild of the Nativity of St. John Baptist, founded 1316.—Three meetings shall be held every year, to which every brother and sister must come under penalty. Officers shall be chosen by picked men; those not serving to pay a fine. The stewards shall find sureties for the goods of the Gild, and render an account at the yearly general meeting. Every feast shall be begun with a prayer; the Gild-candle shall burn the while; and all that are there shall be noiseless. Services for the dead, and offerings. New members shall undertake to keep the ordinances, and shall pay the usual house-fees and entrance-money. Masses for the souls of the dead. Allowances to officers on feast days. The Dean shall be fined if he fail to summon any of the bretheren. The Gild shall go to church in procession on the day of their yearly meeting, and hear mass, and make offerings. Help to poor bretheren and sisteren. The funds of the Gild at this date appear to have amounted to £4 1s.—this indeed representing a large amount of our present coinage—held by its four principal officers. Another Gild with the same name is mentioned later.

Gild of St. Peter (at Lenne), founded 1329 [or 1339].—Four meetings shall be held every year, at each of which every brother and{230} sister shall pay a halfpenny towards maintaining a light burning during divine service. Penalty for not coming to any meeting. The Dean shall be fined if he fail to summon any. Officers shall be chosen by picked men; those chosen and not serving shall be fined. Services for the dead, and offerings; and bretheren not coming, if able, shall be fined. Masses for the soul. The Alderman shall deliver the goods to the Stewards, upon surety given to render account thereof at the yearly general meeting. Allowances to the officers on feast days. New-comers shall undertake to keep these statutes; and shall at once pay the usual entrance-money or find sureties. The Dean’s salary vjd. in the year. Any brother or sister wronging another shall be fined. Help to be given to poor bretheren.

Gild of St. Nicholas in Lenne Petri (West Lynn), founded 1359.—Four meetings in the year; whoever grumbles shall be fined. No one shall enter the buttery where the ale lies.

Gild of the Purification, in Bishop’s Lynn, founded 1367.—This was a social Gild “in ye honuraunce of ihesu crist of heuene, And of his moder seinte marie, and of alle halowene, and speciallike of ye Purificacioun of oure lady seint marie.” Its features were like other of the Religio-Social Gilds of the town.

The Shipmanes Gild, founded 1368.—Three meetings shall be held every year, on days named, or as the Alderman shall appoint. Every brother must come to every meeting, if able. The Dean shall be fined if he fail to summon any. Officers chosen and not serving shall be fined. New-comers [members] shall pay the usual house fees and entrance-money. Services for the dead, and offerings. The bellman shall summon all. Masses for souls of the dead. Unruly brothers shall be fined. One wronging another shall be fined, and shall make peace. Penalty for disclosing the affairs of the Gild. The Stewards shall render an account of the goods of the Gild, and of the year’s profits, at the yearly general meeting, under penalty to be paid by themselves or their sureties. No Gild-brother shall give pledge or become surety for another, in any plea or suit, without leave of the Alderman and others. The Alderman, &c., shall do their best to adjust the quarrel; but if unable, shall give leave to make suit at law. Fine for disobedience. Allowances to the officers on feast days. Help to poor bretheren. Payments shall be made for every voyage; and a yearly payment if no voyage made. The ale-chamber not to be entered. New-comers shall swear to maintain the Ordinances of the Gild. New-comers must undertake to come to the yearly meetings, if at home, and must make their payments. The liveryhood{231} shall be kept for two years. On death of a brother, all the rest shall be summoned, and shall come to the service in their livery-hoods, and make offerings. None shall leave until the service is done; fine for default.

A new Ordinance was made for this Gild in 1381, viz., burial service in the case of any brother dying out of town. In 1382 another new Ordinance, viz., burial service for those dying in West Lynn and South Lynn.

It is clear that this was a Gild of a superior order, more after the nature of a Merchant-Gild.

Gild of St. John Baptist, in Bishop’s Lynn, founded 1372.—This partook of the general character of the Social Gilds of the town, except that there seemed to be no special provision for the poor members in sickness, &c. The ordinances provided that there should be no quarrelling during any feast-time or meeting. Moneys were to be contributed towards the Gild-stock, and the ale.

Gild of St. John Baptist, in West Lynn, founded in 1374.—Services for dead, and offerings. The Dean shall buy waste bread with these offerings, and give it [to the poor]. Penalty on anyone disputing any of these Ordinances.

Gild of St. George the Martyr, founded in 1376.—A priest shall be found to serve at the altar of St. George. Candles and torches shall be found to burn during the service, and at burials. Services for the dead, and offerings. Services shall be held, though the brother or sister shall have died outside the town. Masses for souls of the dead. Help to poor bretheren and sisteren. Four meetings to be held every year, to which every brother and sister shall come under penalty. Officers shall be chosen by picked men; those chosen and not serving to be fined. Allowance to officers on feast days. The Gild shall go to church on the day of yearly meeting, and hear mass and make offerings. The affairs of the Gild not to be disclosed. The Stewards to find sureties for the goods, and to render account at the yearly general meeting. Every feast shall be begun with a prayer, the Gild-light burning the while; and they that are there making no noise nor jangling. New members admitted only at the yearly general meeting, and with the assent of all; save good men from the country. New members shall undertake to keep the Ordinances, and shall pay the usual house-fees as well as entrance-money. If any quarrel arise, it shall be told to the Alderman, who shall do his best to settle it. Livery-hoods to be worn at the meetings, and at every burial service. Breakers of the Ordinances, after{232} three fines shall be put out of the Gild. Salary of the Clerk iiis. ivd., and of the Dean ijs. the year. The funds of the Gild consisted of £3 3s.

Gild of St. Thomas of Canterbury (in Lenne), founded 1376.—The Gild, all fairly arrayed, shall meet on St. Thomas’s Day, and hear mass, and make offerings. There shall be four other general meetings in the course of each year. An Alderman shall be chosen, and four Stewards, and a Dean and Clerk. A large wax candle shall be kept burning. The order of burial services defined. Wrongdoers shall be put out. New-comers shall pay 5s. each. If any become poor, or have loss by sea, or by fire, or otherwise, help shall be given. Assent given to these Ordinances. Wages of Clerk to be iijs., and of Dean xviijd. for the year.

The Gild of Young Scholars, founded 1383.—Gifts were received in support of the Gild. Burial services defined. Help in case of poverty, loss at sea, or other mishap. Three speakings together [assemblies] of the Gild shall be held every year; accounts shall be then rendered. All the brethren shall go to church on one day in the year, and hear mass and make offerings. Misdoers shall be put out. Officers shall be chosen. It was stated that all the goods of the Gild had been spent, but more were hoped for.

Gild of St. Thomas of Canterbury (at Lenne).—Four meetings to be held every year, to which all must come under penalty. New-comers shall pay the usual house-fees. Attendance at meetings must be punctual. Services for the dead, and offerings. Masses for the soul. Sureties and entrance-money for new-comers. Allowances to the officers on feast days. Help to the poor. Allowances to the sick. No noise to be made during the feast time. The remaining ordinances resembled those of the other Gilds of the town.

Gild of St. James, in North Lynn.—Four meetings in the year. Three candles to be kept burning during divine service. Help to needy bretheren and sisteren. Unruly speech shall be punished by a fine. Other features general.

Gild of St. Edmund, in North Lynn.—A Religio-Social Gild with special features.

Gild of Candlemass, in North Lynn.—No special features.

Gild of St. Lawrence, in Bishop’s Lynn.—It had no special features differing from the Social Gilds of the town.

Gild of St. Edmund, in Bishop’s Lynn.—This again had no special features. The entrance-money iiiijs.

Gild of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (another).—Three{233} meetings shall be held every year, to which every brother and sister must come under penalty. The Dean shall be fined if he fail to summon any. New-comers shall pay the usual house-fees. Services for the dead, and offerings. Penalty for betraying the affairs of the Gild. Officers chosen and not serving shall be fined. Masses for souls of the dead. The ale chamber not to be entered. Salaries of the Dean and the Clerk provided for. The Stewards to find sureties for the goods of the Gild, and render an account at the yearly general meeting. No man shall stay in the Gild-house after the Alderman has left. Allowances to the officers on Gild-days, and to sick bretheren and sisteren. Help to poor bretheren and sisteren. Entrance fee ijs., “and find ij. borowes for ye catelle.”

Gild of St. Thomas of Canterbury, in Bishop’s Lynn.—This was on the same basis as the other Social Gilds of the town. A few special Ordinances obtained. If one brother belie another, he shall be fined. If anyone is foul-mouthed to the Alderman at any meeting, he shall be fined. If anyone wrong another, he shall be fined. None shall come to the feast in a tabard, nor in a cloak, nor with legs bare, nor barefoot. If anyone make a noise during the feast, he shall do penance by holding the rod, else pay a fine. No one shall sleep, nor keep the ale-cup to himself. Help to poor bretheren and sisteren [record incomplete].

Gild of the Holy Cross, in Bishop’s Lynn.—The chief distinctive feature of this Gild was that allowances were made to the bretheren and sisteren during sickness, but also while on pilgrimage. No brother was to go to law with another without leave of the Alderman.

Gild of St. Anthony (in Lenne).—Founded (date uncertain) “in the Worchep of God of heuen, and of his modir seynt Mari, and alle the holy Company of heuen, and souerengly of the Noble confessour seynt Antony.” The Gild shall meet in church and hear mass and make offerings. There shall be four other general meetings of the Gild in each year. New-comers (members) shall pay 5s. each. A wise Alderman shall be chosen, and 4 trusty Stewards, and a summoning Dean, and a Clerk. Burial services on death of members, and offerings. In cases of loss of cattle, or personal sickness, help to be given. Wages of the Clerk and Dean to be xijd. each “for his trauaile in the yere.”

Gild of St. Leonard.—There shall be four general meetings every year; at the first there shall be chosen an Alderman and four Stewards, a Dean, and a Clerk. New-comers shall pay 3s. each.{234} Burial services defined. In case of loss by sea, or other mishap, help shall be given. If death outside the town, the body shall be fetched at cost of the Gild. Prisoners shall be visited and comforted. Rebels against canon law shall be put out.

Gild of the Purification.—The Gild shall meet on Candlemas-day, and have besides three meetings every year. No special features. Help to those in trouble.

Gild of St. Mary.—Services for the dead and offerings. Masses for the souls of the dead. No special features.

Gild of St. Katherine.—A candle shall be kept burning in the church of St. Margaret; and on the Feast of St. Katherine offerings shall be made. New members to pay 5s. entrance-fee. Masses for the souls of the dead. No special features.

Gild of St. James.—Help to poor bretheren and sisteren. No special features.

Gild of the Conception, in Bishop’s Lynn.—There were to be four meetings in the year; every brother and sister was to pay 1d. towards finding a light on festival days; and any member summoned and not attending was to be fined; remainder of the features in common with other Gilds of the town.

Most of the preceding are seen to be religious Gilds—perhaps all except the “Shipmanes” [i.e. Shipmasters] of 1368. The following were of the mercantile class:—

Gild of the Holy Trinity [Merchants Gild].—This was the great mercantile Gild of the town, and had very considerable possessions in land, houses, and other property. It was reputed to have taken its rise in the reign of King John, in the sixth year of whose reign the Gild received Letters Patents authorising one of its body to be mayor of the town. The Gild itself was unquestionably of older date. At the date of the Reformation the Gild was sustaining thirteen chaplains, “daily and yearly to pray, as well for the King, his ancestors, and for the peace and welfare of his kingdom, as for the souls of the Aldermen, bretheren, and benefactors of the said Gild, also for the souls of the faithful deceased.”

The Gild of Shoemakers.—No details available.

The Red Gild.—The particular objects of this Gild, or even the circumstances which led to the adoption of its name, have hitherto defied all inquiry.

The Gild of St. William, trading to North Bern. This was probably a gild of merchants trading to North Bergen (Norway). Lynn had carried on a considerable trade with the North of Europe from{235} a very early period, and many Lynn merchants resided in those parts. There is in the Corporation records a letter in Latin, bearing date 1305, from Bartholomew, the King of Norway’s Chancellor, to the Mayor of Lynn, in behalf of Thurkill and other merchants residing there. It was customary for the merchants of Lynn to have a consul of their own—an Alderman—appointed for Norway. To this end a royal warrant was necessary. Here is a copy of such a document issued by Henry V. (first half of fifteenth century):—

“Henry, by the grace of God, King of England and of France, and
Lord of Ireland.

To our trusty and well-beloved the Mayor, Aldermen, and other merchants inhabiting within our town of Lynn, shewed unto us, that by the old privilege among you, used in exercising the sale of your merchandises in the lands and countries of Denmark and Norway, ye have an ancient custom to have an Alderman chosen by election among you, to be ruler and governor of your Company in the said countries, and to see good rule and order kept amongst you there, which we woll be content to help and see to be holden for the increasing and augmentation of the common weal and prosperity of you and all other our true subjects; we having the same in our good remembrance, be content and woll, that ye godre and assemble toguider, and among you chuse such oon to be your said Alderman, as ye shall think convenient, good, honest, and sufficient for the premisses: and to use, have, enjoy, and occupy the liberties and franchises in this cause heretofore accustomed. Yeven under our Signet at our manor of Greenwich, the 18th day of July, the fifth year of our reign.”

It will be remembered in this connection that Lynn was one of the trading stations of the Hanseatic League.

There seem to have been several Gild-halls in the town, viz., those of the Gilds of the Trinity and of St. George respectively, and it is supposed of various others. In vol. i. of Richards’ “History of Lynn” will be found many additional details of interest regarding the Gilds of this town.

(To be continued.)

Autograph Letters.

No. V.—THE REV. P. MORANT TO A. FARLEY, ESQ.

South Lambeth, Oct. 17, 1769.

Sir,—In one of the Petitions which I am preparing for the press, there is an extract out of Domesday-book, written so badly that I cannot possibly make out a word in it near the end. I inclose a transcript of it, and, if it is not too much trouble, humbly (sic) the Favor of You to fill in up that word, and send this Letter back to Mr. Astle at the Paper Office. I am obliged to print that Extract as it is in the Petition, and therefore you will be so good as not to give yourself the Trouble to write out the whole Extract.

Begging of You to excuse this Trouble, I remain,
Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant,
Phil. Morant.

To

Abraham Farley, Esq.

[This letter was written by the Rev. P. Morant, the historian of Essex, while residing at Lambeth, whither he had removed early in this year, as being appointed to succeed Mr. Blyke in the work of preparing for the press a copy of the “Rolls of Parliament.” The “Mr. Astle” to whom it refers was Thomas Astle, Esq., Keeper of the Records, who married Morant’s daughter. It was in crossing over from Lambeth to his work that Morant caught the chill from which he died.[77]—J. H. Round.]

Reviews.

From time to time during the past century, excavations made intentionally or unintentionally, have revealed to modern eyes how large a store of remains still attest the presence of the Eagles of Imperial Rome in this country, though fifteen or sixteen centuries have passed since their departure from these shores. At Woodchester, on the Gloucestershire Hills; at Chesters near Hexham, on the Roman Wall; at Bignor near Petworth, on the Sussex Downs; at Carleon-upon-Usk in Monmouthshire; in north, south, and central London, at Colchester, at Lincoln, and in a dozen other places, we have seen exhumed from time to time, baths, ovens, kitchens, and temples with walls and floors inlaid with Roman mosaics, dating from the days of the Antonines and Hadrian.

But few of these places are of greater interest than Brading in the Isle of Wight, near which Messrs. Price brought to light, in 1880, the ground-plan of one Roman villa, almost complete. The explorations originated in the discovery of such indications of Roman buildings as offered encouragement for further investigation. Here a short time previously to our authors’ assisting in the matter, Captain Thorp, of Yarbridge, had discovered fragments of walls, roof tiles, and traces of pavements, and had devoted a considerable amount of energy and zeal to the complete examination of the ground. Before many months had passed by, it was found necessary, on account of the number of pilgrims who flocked thither, to publish a guide, giving a description of the discoveries. This has now reached the honours of an eleventh edition. In this Guide the dimensions of the several chambers of which the building consisted are duly set forth, and the fragments of pottery, mosaics, and tessellated pavements fully described and illustrated. By the kindness of the authors we are enabled to reproduce one of the illustrations,[78] which represents a group in the south-west compartment of the lower portion of the pavement of one of the larger chambers, admirably worked in small tesseræ of varied colours. There is a female figure partially draped after the manner of the saltatrix or dancing girl of Greece or Italy, playing upon a tambourine; her companion is a male figure of more than ordinary interest, on account of the peculiarities presented by the costume worn—a Phrygian cap, a skirted tunic with a small cloak or pallium fastened on the right shoulder, and braccæ or “trousers.” “The peculiarity of this dress,” writes Messrs. Price, “leads to the opinion that it may be that in fashion at the time the mosaic was laid down, because the form given to the braccæ is different to that usually met with in the costume attributed to the ‘barbarians’ or provincial nations in Roman sculpture.”

By the publication of this valuable and handsome volume Mr. Greenstreet has done good service to the cause of historical research, and has earned the gratitude of all those who are lovers of exact scholarship. The Lincolnshire Survey enjoys the reputation of being probably the earliest after Domesday, which had only preceded it by some thirty years, and which, in form, it closely resembles. In the autotype plates by which{238} this ancient survey is here reproduced in fac-simile, the writing is as clear almost throughout, as when the parchment first received it 770 years ago. It was fitting that a record which can only appeal to antiquarian connoisseurs should be issued in the choicest form, and Mr. Greenstreet’s subscribers have good reason to be satisfied with the appearance of the work. The title-page is appropriately adorned with the arms of eight of the leading families whose names occur in the survey, grouped round those of the See of Lincoln. Our readers need not be reminded of Mr. Greenstreet’s eminence as a herald, possessing as they do, in these pages, from his pen, more than one valuable Roll of Arms. We trust that the enterprise he has shown in bringing out this important work may serve to arouse a wider interest in the obscure period with which it deals, and, consequently, in the work of the Pipe-Roll Society, of which Mr. Greenstreet is the honorary secretary, and one of the most zealous promoters.

This is the title of a work which will be found to fill an important blank in the history of the American Revolution. It is the work of one of Governor Hutchinson’s great-grandsons. It supplies many personal memoranda of the leaders on both sides in that struggle, including several notices of the Copleys, Pepperells, and other Royalists, who settled in England when the breach between the old country and her colonies was complete. There is from first to last about it no attempt at fine or sensational writing, or at “stating the case” on behalf of the Royalist cause; it consists of plain matters of fact, extracts from diaries, letters, &c., and these are such as give the reader the clearest insight into the transactions which it records, and the conduct of the chief movers in them. As a painstaking effort to place on permanent record a portion of history of which but little is known, and which as yet has found no adequate historian, the book is deserving of all praise.

It is not to be wondered at, considering the part which the veteran Mr. Bloxam has played in the revival of the study of Gothic architecture, that this book should have reached its eleventh edition, or that from a small 12mo. volume, couched in a catechetical form, it should have attained the honour of a library edition—for that is what is now the case. Along with the late Mr. J. H. Parker, of Oxford, Mr. Bloxam was one of the chief pioneers of that movement which has found its outcome in the many flourishing county and diocesan architectural and archæological societies which are scattered up and down England, and in those pleasant annual congresses which Mr. Bloxam himself attended and instructed till the weight of eighty years forced him to abandon them. Most of the older men of the present generation can say that it was from Mr. Bloxam’s little work that they imbibed their earliest taste in the above direction, and they will be not the less glad to possess the three volumes into which that work has been gradually expanded on account of the portrait of its author prefixed to it. The treatise really is one which needs no recommendation at our hands; but it is as well to add that the third volume is devoted to an account of the costumes of monumental effigies—a branch of the subject to which Mr. Bloxam of late years has paid especial attention. The illustrations are exquisitely done; and three good indexes add a special value to the work as a book of reference.{239}

Obituary Memoirs.

“Emori nolo; sed me esse mortuum nihil æstimo.”—Epicharmus.

The Rev. Hugh Pigot, Rector of Stretham, Cambridgeshire, and author of “The History of Hadleigh,” died on September 22, aged sixty-five years. Mr. Pigot graduated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and besides the above-mentioned work, he was the author of “A Guide to the Town of Hadleigh,” “Suffolk Superstitions,” and other antiquarian works.

The Rev. John Allen Giles, D.C.L., Rector of Sutton, Surrey, formerly headmaster of Camberwell Collegiate School, and afterwards of the City of London School, died on September 24. His name is known as a scholar in various branches of learning. He edited or translated the works of Lanfranc and of the Venerable Bede, “Letters of St. Thomas of Canterbury,” the “Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti,” “Sculptores Græci Minores,” “Terentii Comœdiæ,” “Severi Sancti Carmen,” and “The Works of King Alfred the Great.” He was also the author of the “Life and Times of Alfred the Great,” “Life and Letters of Thomas à Becket,” “The History of Bampton,” “The History of Witney,” and a “History of the Ancient Britons,” &c.

text decoration

Meetings of Learned Societies.

METROPOLITAN.

British Archæological Association.

(Continued from p. 195.)

The Council of the Archæological Association added this year three “extra days” to their Tenby congress, to be devoted to Haverfordwest and St. David’s. Accordingly on Tuesday, September 9, they went to Narberth, to visit the castle of that town. This was made the subject of comment by Mr. Loftus Brock, who explained its leading features, drawing attention to its strong position and its great extent, and stating a few facts about its history, from which it appeared that it was founded by a Norman baron named Perrott, and passed by royal gift into the hands of Sir Rees or Rhys Ap Thomas, who was its owner in the days of Leland; and the latter mentions it in his “Itinerary” as a “praty” place. Like the other castles of this country, it suffered sadly during the civil wars, and though afterwards repaired and inhabited, it soon fell again into decay. From Narberth their journey lay to Llawwhydden, a castellated mansion of the Bishops of St. David’s, who here figured almost as barons, and lived in baronial splendour. Of this once noble structure only some octagonal towers remain, and these and some fine lancet windows were much admired. The next visit was to Picton Castle, a place which has never ceased to be inhabited, and which, therefore, shows more completely than any other similar structure in Pembrokeshire what was the condition of a feudal castle four or five centuries ago. It was built by a Norman knight named William de Picton, in the reign of William Rufus. The building is oblong in plan, with three large bastions projecting on each side, and at the eastern end, between{240} two smaller bastions, was the principal gateway with a double portcullis. Until a comparatively recent period it retained its original form, and even the alterations made by the late Lord Milford and his predecessors have not much affected or changed its original character as a baronial fortress, castellated and embattled. The castle itself and its historical associations were explained by the present owner, Mr. Charles Philipps, who entertained the whole party present at luncheon. It was late in the afternoon when the party drove on to Haverfordwest, where they explored the noble castle, which frowns down upon the town, the river, and its bridges, but which is far more interesting externally than internally, as its four square walls are really almost a shell, such buildings as there were inside of them having been long since removed in order to utilise it as a prison, a purpose which it has served until very lately. It is now empty and vacant, and has been made the property of the town, who keep it in repair. They also inspected St. Mary’s Church, one of the very finest ecclesiastical structures in South Wales, and remarkable as having nearly the only clerestory (except that of St. David’s Cathedral) to be found within the whole county. Here the archæologists found very much to admire in the Early English arches of the nave and church, the recumbent monument of a knight near the porch door, the elegantly carved roofs, and the graceful arcading and capitals of the pillars throughout.

On Wednesday, the archæologists were favoured with very fine weather for their drive to St. David’s. It is observed of this sixteen-mile journey that it has as many hills as miles. Leland writes: “This tract was inhabited by the Flemings out of the Low Countries, who by permission of King Henry I. were planted here. These are distinctly known still from the Welsh, and so near joined are they in society of the same language with Englishmen, who come nighest of any nation to the Low Dutch tongue, that this their country is called by the Britons, ‘Little England beyond Wales.’ ” On their way to St. David’s the carriages halted at Roche Castle, a fine old fortress, of which little now remains except a single tower, which forms a conspicuous landmark. Its site was evidently chosen for its strength. It was built early in the thirteenth century by one Adam de Roche or de Rocke, who founded here one of the most powerful of Norman families. The name, it may be interesting to know, still remains in Pembrokeshire. The castle was to a great extent ruined in the wars against the Welsh, and what remained became still further dilapidated through the rough treatment which it received from the soldiers of the Parliament when it was held by its captain, Francis Edwards, on behalf of King Charles I. Roche Castle was briefly commented upon by Mr. Loftus Brock. From this point the party proceeded by way of Newgall Sands, and the tumulus which is still called Poyntz Castle, to Solva, and so on to St. David’s, where they arrived in time to partake of the Bishop’s hospitality at a luncheon, which they found ready spread for them in the grounds of the ruined episcopal palace of Bishop Gower. Luncheon over, the Bishop proposed “The Health of the Queen,” and then in a brief speech welcomed the archæologists to this the first banquet given by a bishop in these grounds for many centuries; after which he explained the peculiarities of the structure, which, he said, is really a double palace, joined in the ground-plan into a sort of letter “L” by a common kitchen at the angle. He then enlarged upon the great beauties of the arcade which runs all round the palace above, the curious structure of its once magnificent roof, now destroyed, its exquisite “wheel” or “rose” window, its chapel, and its{241} grand dining-hall; the whole forming together by far the finest specimen of domestic architecture in South Wales, or, perhaps, in the entire principality. It is needless to say that this matchless structure was very much admired. At four o’clock the entire party, nearly one hundred strong, attended service in the cathedral, after which the Dean took them in hand, and conducted them round the building, explaining every part in detail, and showing the extent to which the restorations of the last quarter of a century had altered and improved its condition. He pointed out the semi-Norman arches of the nave, purified from coats of whitewash, the roof cleaned, the side aisles repaved, and the windows restored. Then he led them into the south transept, which not long since was little better than a barn, and assigned as the place for a Welsh service, to which a new roof and new windows had been added by benefactors now deceased. He then took them through a series of ruined side chapels to the Lady-chapel, now bare and roofless, though full of the purest architectural details. Thence the party were conducted to Bishop Vaughan’s chapel, behind the high altar, rich with a roof of fan tracery, which is scarcely to be matched except at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. He also pointed out the front and the back of the marble slab on which rested the shrine of St. David, once an object of pilgrimage inferior in interest and in the number of its devotees only to that of St. Thomas of Canterbury, reminding them that in the old days two pilgrimages to St. David’s were always regarded, in canonical penance, as equivalent to one journey to Rome—according to the old monkish rhyme, “Roma semel quantum bis dat Menevia tantum.” The Dean next showed the progress of the works in the north transept, and then led the party into the cathedral vestry or chapter-house, formerly St. Thomas’s Chapel, where he showed them a small collection of ecclesiastical relics, including the tops of two episcopal croziers, the top of a processional cross, two episcopal rings, and some chalices which had been buried along with some of the older bishops. He also displayed here the cathedral plate, the communion service, platen, and chalice, on which Messrs. Lambert and Loftus Brock offered some descriptive remarks. The Dean having completed his peregrinations and description of the fabric, a vote of thanks to him for his kindness was proposed by Mr. Thomas Morgan, F.S.A, and seconded by Mr. E. Walford, M.A., who, in a few words, contrasted the present state of the cathedral, after its recent repairs, with its new roofs, decorated interior, and rebuilt west front, with what he remembered of it forty years ago, when it was little more than a large barn-like structure, covered with a mixture of whitewash and whitey-brown paint from end to end; he also congratulated the Dean and Chapter on the conservative way in which the work of restoration had been carried out. In the evening the Dean entertained at dinner at his house, in the Close, the leading members of the congress, whom he kindly invited to meet the Bishop.

Fortunately for the congress and its members the fine weather which they had enjoyed upon the whole continued to the last. Although carriages cannot be driven up actually to St. David’s Head, the extreme object of their pilgrimage, yet they were enabled to draw up about a mile short of it, and Mr. Edward Laws acted as their guide over the rest of the way on foot. Arrived at the Head, they saw a magnificent seaview, and rocks such as not to be found elsewhere except at the Land’s End in Cornwall. Mr. Laws explained to them the remains of a large stone circle, not unlike those at Stonehenge and Avebury, in{242} Wiltshire, with portions of its avenue of large stones still remaining in situ. They were also able to see the traces of a fine fortification, probably British, close by St. Justinian’s Chapel. A ruined edifice near the sea-shore was also inspected, and Mr. Laws pointed out to the party the place where local tradition declares that the old Roman city of Menevia lies buried many feet deep below the sand-drifts. Before returning to St. David’s, they were also shown the traces of a quadrangular fort, probably Roman, nearer to the city. The return to Haverfordwest was effected in good time. This enabled the members to inspect portions of the old castle, the council chamber, the churches of St. Mary and St. Martin, and a variety of private houses in which vaulted cellars, carved and painted mantelpieces, and the tracery of mediæval windows still exist, and also to extend their walk to the ruins of the Priory in the riverside fields below the bridge over the Cleddaw. Here, under the guidance of Colonel Bramble, they were able to make out the ground-plan of this once noble ecclesiastical structure, including its cruciform church, the refectory, cloister, &c. The party then returned to the Castle Hotel, and the congress finally broke up, much to the regret of its members, who agreed that it had been one of the pleasantest and most successful of such annual gatherings. This result was largely due, it should be added, to the courtesy of the authorities of the Great Western and the Pembroke and Tenby Railway Companies, whose officials lent them all the aid in their power.

The Library Association.—The annual meeting of the above Association was held at Trinity College, Dublin, Dr. Ingram, F.T.C.D., Librarian of the College, presiding. The proceedings commenced on Tuesday, September 30, and among those present were Mr. Justice O’Hagan, the Lord Mayor, M.P., Lord Charles Bruce, the Provost of Trinity College, Dublin; Rev. Dr. Haughton, F.T.C.D, F.R.S.; Dr. Moffat, President of Queen’s College, Galway; Mr. George Bullen, of the British Museum, and others. Dr. Ingram having offered the Association a hearty welcome, gave an account of the library in Trinity College. It was well stored with ancient and modern literature, containing more than 200,000 volumes of printed books, and about 2,000 manuscripts. It contained certain peculiar and precious things, some of them deserving to be called national heirlooms, which gave to it a special character and dignity of its own. Trinity College having been founded in 1591, was opened for the admission of students on January 9, 1594. He explained the difficulties under which the library was formed, and gave an account of its contents, which had outgrown the accommodation provided for them. The first group of manuscripts worthy of notice consisted of three Biblical manuscripts, which possessed special interest. The first was the palimpsest known as “Codex rescriptus Dublinensis,” in which an uncial text of portions of St. Matthew’s Gospel had been partially covered with more recent writings, containing extracts from ecclesiastical authors. Dr. Barrett, a Fellow of the College, who discovered and edited the palimpsest, assigned it to the sixth century at latest, having believed it to be of the fifth. In the same volume were also palimpsest fragments of Isaiah, probably of an earlier date than the text of St. Matthew. The second Greek text in their possession was the “Codex Montfortianus,” a late manuscript and of little critical value. The third text was in cursive characters, with a commentary of the tenth century. There was formerly a fourth Greek text of the New Testament, but it was lost between the{243} years 1688 and 1742, and after several changes of ownership is now in the library of the Marquis of Bute. The library contained several copies executed in Ireland of the Gospels in Latin, according to the Vulgate version. Among them the place of honour belonged to the world-renowned Book of Kells. The marvellous illuminations give the volume its great interest, being thoroughly Irish in their type, the characteristic spiral ornamentation constantly recurring. The manuscript is of the seventh or eighth century. It was preserved in the Columbian Monastery of Kells, in Meath, whence its name was derived, and came to Trinity College in the Ussher Library. The library also contained the Book of Durrow. Other Irish copies of the Vulgate version of the Four Gospels are the Book of Dimma and the Book of Moling, both probably of the seventh century. These manuscripts are in silver cases, ornamented with crystals. That of the Book of Dimma states that the case was gilt by O’Carroll, Lord of Ely, in the twelfth century. It also boasts the Book of Armagh, compiled about A.D. 750, with the celebrated confession of the Saint, and documents on the rights of the See of Armagh. Coming to English typography, they could boast only a single Caxton. It is a copy of the second edition of the Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, printed about 1480, though not the first printed in English. On the motion of the Lord Mayor, seconded by the Provost, and supported by Mr. Bullen, a vote of thanks was passed to Dr. Ingram for his address. The report of the Association was taken as read. Mr. George Bullen, Keeper of the Printed Books, British Museum, then read a paper entitled “Early Notices of Guttenburg.” He held that it had not been conclusively proved that Guttenberg was the inventor of the art of printing. After a few remarks from Dr. Garnett, Mr. Bullen mentioned that in Japan and China the art of printing from moveable type was known long before it was known in Europe. Some books had been brought from Japan which were printed in the year 1417. They were now in the British Museum. Mr. Harrison (London) said the irony of fate was shown in the fact that Ticket, who writes of the art of printing as perpetuating the memory of man, did not get his own letter made public until 400 years after it was written. Subsequently the members visited the library of Trinity College, and the Record Office, Four-courts.—The business of Wednesday began with the adoption of a report on the proposed examination of library assistants in the month of September next. Certificates will be awarded to successful candidates according to their various degrees of merit. Mr. Dix Hutton read a paper entitled “Impressions of Twelve Years’ Cataloguing in a Great Library” (that of Trinity College, Dublin), which was listened to with marked attention. It was not ended when the arrival of the Lord-Lieutenant was announced. After Mr. Hutton came Lord Charles Bruce, who read an epitome of the history of his relative’s renowned library at Althorp, and described some of the rarer specimens of its contents. Lord Spencer admitted that Lord Charles had told him much which he had not known before. His Excellency concluded his speech with a frank and hearty invitation to the public, and especially to those present, to make use of the stores of his library. A pleasant interlude followed in the shape of “Twenty Years’ Recollections of Panizzi,” by Mr. Henry Stevens, of Vermont, which was “capped” by amusing recollections of Panizzi by the Rev. Dr. Haughton.—On Thursday Dr. Garnett, of the British Museum, read a paper “On the Use of Photography in Libraries,” in which he advocated the establishment of a photographing department in the British Museum at the cost of the State. The cost of photographing,{244} if the work were left in private hands, must, he thought, be far more expensive than if it were done by a public institution, inasmuch as under the latter condition the main elements of expense, that of photographers’ personal charges and the cost of material, would entirely disappear. At present these charges were sufficient to seriously impede the British Museum in its earnest desire to circulate its treasures by means of photography, while to private persons they were, in general, absolutely prohibitive. The recent case of the transfer of the Irish portion of the Ashburnham manuscripts to Dublin was a case in point. Whether placed in Dublin or in London they must be equally inaccessible to a large number of scholars, but if a national institution had existed in which fac-similes could be made of the national property free of expense, it would be indifferent where the originals were deposited. By a further application of the same principle Ireland might have fac-similes of every manuscript illustrative of her ancient language or literature within her own shores, and vice versâ. Photography as a public institution would be beneficial not merely to individual customers, but to the community at large, for it afforded the best means of meeting the legitimate demands of provincial institutions and museums. Provincial residents contributing out of the taxes to the support of the British Museum and similar institutions had a right to expect that their stores should be made as accessible as possible. To meet this wish by cheapening photographic reproductions would be not to create a luxury, but to redress a grievance. Dr. Garnett gave numerous instances within his own knowledge of the expense and inconvenience occasioned by the absence of facilities for photographing literary and artistic objects. Such an institution as that suggested should be located at the British Museum. Its management would require much prudence to avoid undue competition with private photographers, and to make some pecuniary return to the State without defeating its own object by high prices. If successful, it might form the germ of undertakings of the highest national, and even international, importance. The vexed question of the custody of parish registers would be solved by photography, and if other nations combined, each might possess within its own borders the materials for its own history now scattered through every country in Europe. The President considered the paper one of the most important yet placed before the meeting. The Royal Irish Academy had undertaken to transcribe some of the most important Celtic manuscripts, and then have them lithographed. To do this the services of an old Irish scholar, Mr. O’Longan, were obtained. He was a genuine Irish scholar, and he transcribed the “Leabhar-na-Huidhre,” “Leabhar Breao,” and “The Book of Leinster.” Having transcribed these, with the assistance of Professor O’Loony, of the Catholic University, the works were lithographed. Mr. O’Longan commenced the fourth book—“The Book of Ballymote,” but he died before it was transcribed, and the work was brought to a termination. Mr. O’Longan had most conscientiously performed his duty, and this was borne testimony to by Dr. Atkinson, who was at present having some important records photographed. Professor Hennessy thought that the works carried out in the Royal Irish Academy, and referred to by the President, were not correct productions of the originals. He hoped that if the “Book of Ballymote” was to be copied it would be reproduced by photography. Visits were paid to the National Library, the Royal Irish Academy, and to Marsh’s Library. This consists of three libraries, Dr. Stillingfleet’s, Archbishop Marsh’s, and Bishop Stearne’s, besides a collection of foreign books. One of the curiosities of{245} the collection is a copy of Clarendon’s “History,” annotated by Dean Swift. This last day of the meeting was filled up mainly with routine business, modification of rules, election of officers, and votes of thanks: Mr. Tedder, however, reading his instructive paper “On the Study of Bibliography,” and the Rev. W. D. Macray another “On the Libraries of South Australia,” written by Mr. C. Holgate. There was also a desultory conversation on free libraries. It was agreed that the next annual meeting should be held at Plymouth. A reception of the members of the Association by the Provost of Trinity College and Mrs. Jellett brought the meeting to a close.

PROVINCIAL.

Haileybury College Antiquarian Society, July 1.—Mr. E. Walford read a paper on “Old Watering Places.” Beginning with some remarks on watering places in general, and the amusements resorted to by those who visited them, he first spoke of Bath, the oldest watering place in England. There are many old Roman remains here, but the walls and gates of the city, which were of the portentous length of 400 yards by 380 yards, have long ago disappeared. Of the ancient history of Bath little is known. It formed at one time the quarters of the Sixth legion. The town was laid waste by the Saxons in the seventh century, and, after being taken and retaken by Saxons and Danes, was in the eighth century taken by Offa, King of Mercia, from the Prince of Wessex. The town was destroyed by fire in A.D. 1137. The most interesting part of the history of modern Bath is the period of Beau Nash’s reign, who, despite his profligacy, became very popular at Bath, where he was elected “king;” and it was during his reign that Bath reached the height of its prosperity. He died in 1761, and received a public funeral. Mr. Walford also explained the extent and interest of recent excavations at Bath. The next place spoken of was Brighton. The old name of this town was Brighthelmstone, probably derived from an old word “Brit,” signifying “divided,” as the town was in former times divided by a narrow brook flowing through it. It was bounded by three streets, North-street, East-street, and West-street, outside of which were five large tracts of land, known as the Tenantry “Laines,” a word probably connected with “lay,” and signifying, as shown by Mr. F. Sawyer, the “laying-out” or disposing of the land. An old map of Brighton, which was passed round, served to illustrate the lecturer’s remarks. The town was originally built under the cliff, but in 1703 a storm occurred, which, followed by another in 1705, completely destroyed the old town. Mr. Walford promised to give a lecture, on a future occasion, upon Hythe, Seaford, and the other Cinque Ports.

Royal Historical and Archæological Association of Ireland.—The Ulster quarterly meeting of this body was held on Aug. 7, at Armagh, Lord Charlemont in the chair. The minutes of the last meeting, held at Killarney, having been read by the hon. secretary, the Rev. J. Graves, and several new members elected, Mr. J. P. Prendergast, barrister-at-law, read a paper on “Charlemont Fort,” a place intimately connected with Lord Charlemont’s family. Mr. W. F. Wakeman read a paper “On Some Recent Discoveries at Lisnacrogher, near Broughshane, County Antrim.” Two interesting papers were read by Mr. J. J. Phillips, Belfast. The first was, “Notes on some old Wrought-iron Grille Work in the Vicinity of Armagh;” the second, on “The Ancient Abbey of Armagh.” Rev. G. R. Buick, M.A., read a paper on “An Earthenware{246} Vessel found on a Pre-Historic Site at Port Stuart.” A visit was afterwards paid to the library and the ruins of the Franciscan Abbey in the Palace grounds at Armagh, which had been kindly thrown open by his Grace the Lord Primate. On the following day the members and friends visited a number of historic sites in the neighbourhood. They assembled at 10 o’clock, and drove in brakes to the site of the ancient lime-kiln at Emania. This lime-kiln is mentioned in the “Four Masters,” and is said to have been erected by Gillamacliag, successor of Patrick. The great earthwork now called Emania was the chief regal seat of the Irians, which was the generic name borne by the inhabitants of the province of Ulster. This was the resort of the renowned knights of Craebh Ruadh, or Royal Branch, and the palace of the Kings of Ulster for upwards of seven hundred years, until finally destroyed by the three Collas. The excursionists next visited the King’s Stables and Ballybrawly Stone Circle, and then proceeded to Tynan Abbey, the residence of Sir James Stronge, where the beautiful crosses and grounds were inspected.

ANTIQUARIAN NEWS & NOTES.

The next annual meeting of the Kent Archæological Society will be held at Sandwich.

Lord Ducie contradicts the report that he “is collecting materials for a history of the Spanish Armada of 1588.”

A collection of old Wedgwood ware has been lent by Mr. Felix Joseph for exhibition at the museum in Nottingham Castle.

Lord Tennyson’s new poem will be entitled “St. Thomas à Becket: a Drama.” The play, it is stated, is “not intended for acting.”

Our December number will contain an article by the Editor on Dr. Johnson, with reference to the 100th anniversary of his death.

Sir P. Cunliffe Owen purposes to raise in America a sufficient sum of money to “restore” the parish church of Stratford-on-Avon from end to end.

The Duke of Norfolk, as we learn from the Weekly Register, has visited Holywell, where the little Earl of Arundel was bathed in the waters of St. Winifrede’s Well.

“Tree Gossip,” a little volume on the byways of tree lore, by Mr. Francis George Heath, will be published shortly by Messrs. Field & Tuer, at the Leadenhall Press.

The memorial of the liberation of Vienna in 1683 in the Cathedral of St. Stephen’s, on which the sculptor, Herr Hellmer, is engaged, will, it is expected, be completed by Christmas.

The monument which is to commemorate the landing of St. Augustine in the Isle of Thanet, is being erected by Lord Granville himself, and not by the English Catholics, as stated by the Journal de Rome.

The number of historic documents in the possession of the corporation of Hull, which is very large, and of great antiquarian interest, is to be set in order and calendared by Mr. T. T. Wildridge.

The Rev. F. W. Weaver announces as nearly ready his “Visitations of Somerset in 1531 and 1573.” The work will be published, by subscription, by Mr. Wm. Pollard, of North-street, Exeter.

It is stated that the two portrait pictures of the second wife of Rubens from the Blenheim collection were purchased by a member of the Rothschild family. They will go to the Continent.{247}

The Royal Castle of Christianborg, Copenhagen, has been burnt down, and several important works of art, including some by Thorwaldsen, as well as the archives of the Rigsdag, have been destroyed. The castle chapel and Thorwaldsen Museum have been saved.

The Clarendon Press is about to publish a volume of York Mystery Plays, printed for the first time from a MS. in the Ashburnham collection. The book, which will contain notes and a glossary, is edited by Mr. Toulmin Smith.

The Emperor of Austria has presented to the Royal Library at Vienna a collection of ancient Arabic literature, comprising 1,600 works in 1,052 volumes. The oldest of these MSS. dates from 1058 A.D., or earlier, and is called the “Kitab Elfelahe,” or book of agriculture.

The new apse of the Basilica of St. John Lateran at Rome and the prolongation of the portico of Sixtus IV. are approaching completion; and the decorations of the Hall of the Candelabra in the Vatican sculpture gallery are finished.

Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co., are on the point of publishing an exhaustive treatise on the Violin, by Mr. Ed. Heron-Allen, author of “The Ancestry of the Violin,” “Violin-making, as it was, and is,” &c. The work will be profusely illustrated.

A “History of England under Henry IV.,” by Mr. James Hamilton Wylie, Inspector of Schools, will shortly be published by Messrs. Longmans; and “A Study of Anne Boleyn,” by Herr Paul Friedmann, is announced for publication by Messrs. Macmillan.

Dr. Humann has been appointed Abtheilungs-Director at the Royal Museum in Berlin, which he has done so much to enrich. The excavator of Pergamus is working at Nemruddagh, and his official position has no conditions of residence attached to it.

The front of the Curfew Tower, the most ancient portion of Windsor Castle, is being refaced with the “Neath stone.” The new masonry is being carefully built up under the supervision of Mr. R. Howe, Clerk of the Works at the Castle.

The literary property in letters—that is, the right to publish copies of them—remains in all cases in the writer. This was decided as long ago as 1741, in “Pope v. Curll, 2 Atk. 342,” when the poet obtained at the hands of Lord Hardwick an injunction against the publisher who proposed to print some of Pope’s letters.—Law Times.

The bicentenary of Corneille was celebrated with great éclat on Saturday, October 11, by the town of Rouen, where he was born in 1606, and died in 1684. The Academy was represented on the occasion by MM. Dumas and Sully-Prudhomme, the former of whom delivered an oration in honour of the dramatist and poet.

A call has just been made for the purpose of forming an American Historical Association to deal with both the story of the past and with that of the immediate present. Professor C. K. Adams, of Michigan, Professor M. C. Tyler, of Cornell, and Professor Adams, of Johns Hopkins Universities, are the chief movers in the matter.

The Clarendon Press will publish in November a work entitled “The Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt,” by Mr. A. J. Butler, Fellow of Brasenose College. The work will consist of two octavo volumes, the first being mainly architectural, the second dealing with church furniture, vestments, rites, and ceremonies. It will contain numerous plans and illustrations.{248}

By the generosity of three of the subscribers, copies of Mr. Greenstreet’s autotype fac-simile of the Lincolnshire Survey, temp. Henry I., have been deposited in the Public Free Libraries at Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, and Sheffield, and in the Advocate’s Library, Edinburgh, the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, and the National Library of Ireland, Dublin.

Early next year Mr. Quaritch will issue to subscribers Messrs. Herbert Jones’ work, entitled “The Princess Charlotte of Wales,” an illustrated monograph, which will contain reproductions in monochrome of a series of miniatures of the Princess from her cradle to her grave, painted from life by Charlotte Jones. The book will also comprise a memoir of the Princess, and selections from her correspondence. The edition will be limited to 250 copies.

Three pictures which are claimed to be works of J. W. M. Turner, have been brought to light at Exeter. They represent views of the interior of Exeter Cathedral, and have been stowed away for nearly fifty years as lumber. An Exeter hairdresser lately purchased the pictures from a furniture broker for a sovereign each. A judge of works of art has offered £1,500 for the three, but the owner has communicated with London experts, so as to place the authorship of the works beyond question.

The following articles, more or less of an antiquarian character, appear among the contents of the magazines for October:—Contemporary Review, “Goethe;” Art Journal, “Landscapes in London: The Inns of Court,” “The Fountaine Collection,” and “Delft Ware;” Century Magazine, “The ‘Odyssey’ and its Epoch;” Gentleman’s Magazine, “A French Curé in the Sixteenth Century;” Harpers Magazine, “The Great Hall of William Rufus;” Le Livre, “Canterbury, its Cathedral, its Library,” &c.

With a view to perpetuating the memory of the French Walloon refugees who settled in Canterbury three centuries ago, the directors of the French Protestant Hospice in London have commissioned a well-known Kentish archæologist to transcribe the inscriptions on the tombstones in Canterbury and the neighbourhood, where many of the refugees lie buried. Of the Huguenot and other French exiles who found a home beneath the shadow of Canterbury Cathedral, and established in its crypt a church which exists to the present day, there are now but few descendants living.

The Mercers’ Chapel, Cheapside, has been reopened, after extensive repairs and alterations; the latter comprise new flooring, new and very handsome carved oak stalls and seats throughout, new choir stalls, prayer desk and pulpit. The fine old screen has been retained, as also all the oak panelling round the walls. The organ, one of Father Smith’s, has been entirely rebuilt and enlarged. The altar piece is not yet finished, but the three large frescoes are in position, the centre and largest panel representing the Ascension of our Lord. The whole of the roof has also been re-decorated, and a sun-light introduced into the lanthorn.

The second volume of “Topography and Natural History of Lofthouse, near Wakefield,” by Mr. George Roberts, of that place, is in the press. In addition to the continuation of the “Natural History and Rural Notes,” it will contain an account of past and present customs, notices of places of worship, further notes on the old Lofthouse families—Hipron, Watson, and Lyley; a revised list of church sun-dials; and a short memoir of Charles Forrest, the discoverer of the Rock sculptures on{249} Rombalds Moor, near Ilkley. The volume will be privately issued to subscribers only.

At a recent meeting of the Academie des Inscriptions, M. Maspero read a report on his archæological work in Egypt during the past year. He dwells especially upon the new system by which the fellahs are encouraged to excavate on their own account by the guarantee that they may keep for themselves one-half of the objects they find. In this way the Boolak Museum has obtained during the past twelvemonths, with no expense beyond that of conveyance, about 2,000 objects of various interest.

The foundation-stone of a new hall for the Butchers’ Company was laid on September 1, in St. Bartholomew-close; and at the dinner which followed the ceremony, the Master, Mr. Ernest Hart, gave some historical details relating to the halls of the Company from the reign of Henry II. The Company of Butchers, he said, dated as far back as 1180, and had had no fewer than three halls. The first, in Butcher’s-lane, was destroyed by fire, as was also the second, in Eastcheap; whilst the third, and last, had been demolished in the extension works of the District Railway.

In the last days of August was celebrated in the old capital of Flanders an historical pageant of no ordinary interest. In honour of her patron and former sovereign, Bruges has placed before the world, in the form of a mediæval procession, the chief incidents in the life of St. Charles the Good. The committee of management, which comprised several archæologists of note, spared no pains to reproduce with the utmost exactitude the actual dresses and appurtenances of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Many of the highest ladies in the land took part in the procession, and wearing the costume of their ancestresses, assumed their parts as ladies in attendance at the Court of their ancient Count.

Following the precedent of the Luther Exhibition held last year at the British Museum, which proved so great an attraction to the building, a Wycliffe Exhibition has been displayed by Mr. E. M. Thompson, keeper of the manuscripts, who has also compiled a catalogue descriptive of its contents. These consist of a series of manuscripts and printed books, comprising translations and service books in English, all intended to illustrate the efforts made to translate the Bible into English in early times. Then follow Wycliffe’s original works in manuscript and print; and lastly, the Reformer’s life and actions are illustrated by manuscripts and engravings.

At Beckhampton, near Avebury, Wilts, a very interesting discovery has lately been made of an ancient British dwelling pit. The dwelling consists of two circular holes, sunk in the clean chalk, adjoining and intersecting one another. They are about five feet six inches deep, and five feet in diameter. On the floor of the pit were found the fragments of an earthen cooking vessel resting on three stones, and under it the ashes of the fire that had been used in boiling the pot. There were also found a well-shaped “spindle-whorle,” a “loom-weight,” bone ornament, and several so-called “pot boilers,” also bones of the ox, sheep, rabbit, &c. The whole of the goods and chattels, &c., found in this interesting dwelling are now in the County Museum.

Catalogues of rare and curious books, most of which contain the names of works of antiquarian interest, have reached us from Mr. F. Edwards, 83, High-street, Marylebone; Mr. U. Maggs, 159, Church-street, Paddington-green; Mr. G. P. Johnston, 33, George-street, Edinburgh; Mr. W. Scott, 7, Bristol-place, Edinburgh; Mr. G. Harding, 19, St. John-street, Westminster; Mr. A. B. Osborne, 11, Red Lion-passage,{250} Holborn; Mr. J. E. Cornish, 33, Piccadilly, Manchester; Messrs. Jarvis & Son, 28, King William-street, Strand; Messrs. Robson & Kerslake, 43, Cranbourn-street, Leicester-square; Mr. W. Wilkins, Merthyr Tydvil; Mr. E. Parsons, 45, Brompton-road, S.W.; Messrs. Reeves & Turner, 196, Strand; Messrs. Farrar & Fenton, 8, John-street, Adelphi.

A proposal for the foundation of a museum devoted to the antiquities of Palestine, has recently been attracting attention in Paris. A room in the Louvre is now devoted to the display of objects of this class, which, however, in 1879 did not exceed 83 in number; to these about 100 more have recently been added, including between 50 and 60 vases and lamps in terra-cotta. In the British Museum exist between 50 and 60 similar objects; and a much larger collection, belonging to the Palestine Exploration Fund, is partly in possession of that association, either in London or in Jerusalem, and partly at the South Kensington Museum. The whole collection, in these several detachments, does not, perhaps, exceed 1,000 objects.

Mr. Frederick Hawkins’s “Annals of the French Stage,” which Messrs. Chapman & Hall are to publish in two volumes, extend from its origin to the death of Racine. Notwithstanding the light recently thrown in France upon the development of her old literature, no English writer has thought fit to illustrate, at least upon anything like a comprehensive scale, the rise and progress of the theatre in Paris. The author has tried to verify carefully his statements, and study at first hand the important plays which he has ventured to criticise. For the rest, these annals, unlike most books relating to the stage, give quite as much prominence to dramatists and dramatic literature as to players and their work.

In the carrying out of some street repairs at Bonn, a portion of a Roman drain or watercourse was lately laid bare at a depth of about 5 ft. below the present surface. It seems to have come from a neighbouring encampment, is about 20 in. wide, and 30 in. deep, and is constructed and covered with heavy tufa blocks, well capable of sustaining the wear of centuries. Many of those blocks were nearly 5 ft. long by 29 in. thick. An original charter of the German Emperor Henry II., dated 25th February, 1015, which has long been given up as lost, has just been discovered during an examination of archives of the collegiate church at Bonn, which was formerly attached to a convent of nuns. The charter is on a single sheet of parchment, very well preserved, measuring 50 by 62½ centimetres (20 in. by 24½ in.), and contains a grant to the church of an estate near Königswinter, belonging to the Emperor.

The tercentary of the death of William the Silent was celebrated in July at Delft, in Holland, by a solemn service in the church. The Prince’s tomb was magnificently decorated with funeral wreaths, including one in silver offered by a deputation of Freemasons. The church was filled by a numerous congregation, all the Ministers and the principal civil and military authorities being present. Professor Van Vries, of Leyden, delivered an address, reviewing in eloquent terms the memorable work accomplished by the founder of Dutch independence. The whole ceremony made a profound impression upon the assembly. At its conclusion the exhibition was opened, at Prinsenhof, the house in which William was assassinated by Balthasar Gerard, of relics of the Prince and a number of objects illustrating his life and works.

The Athenæum says that the death of Mr. Archibald Fraser, of Abertarff, is bringing memories of Jacobite times before the public.{251} Only the other day the history of the Lovat family was to some extent before the Court of Session in connection with the succession to the estate of Abertarff, which was bequeathed to the late Mr. Fraser by his grandfather, a son of the notorious Lord Lovat, with an ultimate entail “in favour of the person who shall be able to prove himself to be the chief of the clan Fraser by legitimate descent from Hugh, first Lord Lovat, and his heirs male.” At the beginning of next month, the Abertarff collection of antiques, pictures, arms, &c., comprising many relics of the rebel lord and of the old family of Lovat, will be sold in Inverness by public auction.

Some discoveries of great interest to antiquaries have been made on the Yorkshire Wolds by the Rev. E. M. Cole, M.A., vicar of Wetwang, Yorkshire—viz., a large number of entrenchments, which are supposed to have been the work of the ancient Britons. The dale “heads,” it has been ascertained, are all covered with entrenchments, and a village called Fimber appears to be completely surrounded by them, as if it had been an enormous camp. In one of these entrenchments, near the monument to the late Sir Tatton Sykes, at Garton, a large number of dead bodies were found, but the idea is not entertained that the entrenchments were used for purposes of burial. According to Mr. J. R. Mortimer, a well-known Yorkshire archæologist, they are mostly V-shaped. They appear to have been much used, and are trodden hard and firm.

A large Indian mound near the town of Gasterville, North America, has recently been opened and examined by a committee sent out from the Smithsonian Institute. At some depth from the surface a kind of vault was found, in which was discovered the skeleton of a giant measuring 7 ft. 2 in. His hair was coarse and jet black, and hung down to the waist, the brow being ornamented with a copper crown. The skeleton was remarkably well preserved. Near it were also found the bodies of several children of various sizes, the remains being covered with beads made of bone of some kind. Upon removing these the bodies were seen to be enclosed in a network of straw or reeds, and beneath this was a covering of the skin of some animal. On the stones which covered the vault were carved inscriptions, and these when deciphered will doubtless lift the veil that now shrouds the history of a race of giants that at one time undoubtedly inhabited the American continent. The relics have been forwarded to the Smithsonian Institute, and they are said to be the most interesting collection ever found in the United States. The explorers explored another mound in Bartow county, Pennsylvania.

The excavations of General Cesnola have not exhausted the possibilities of Cyprus, and surely if Englishmen are to excavate anywhere, this island is the natural field for their labours. A committee, consisting of Englishmen and Cypriotes, was formed in 1882 by Sir Robert Biddulph, with the object of establishing a local museum at Leukosia. Under the auspices of the committee, excavations on a small scale and supported by private subscriptions have been carried on in the years 1883-1884. It is a little surprising that these excavations have had to be conducted by a German, Herr Max Ohnefalsch Richter, and that the report appears this month in a German periodical, the Mittheilungen, of the German archæological institute at Athens. The site chosen was the village of Voni, the ancient Chytrai, and the find has been a large one. It speedily became evident from a multitude of inscriptions that the excavators had lighted on a sanctuary of Apollo. The architectural remains are insignificant, but there is evidence that on the remains of the old pagan shrine a Christian{252} church had been raised, into the walls of which a mass of fragments of ancient sculpture was built. The sculptural find was a very rich one; as many as 133 statues are already catalogued.—Builder.

The Athenæum announces that a strong committee, upon which the Society of Antiquaries is represented by Lord Carnarvon, Dr. Perceval, Mr. Milman, Mr. Franks, Dr. John Evans, Dr. Freshfield, the Hon. Harold Dillon, Mr. Hilton Price, Mr. Roach Smith, and other Fellows; the Institute of Architects by Mr. Whichcord; the City of London by the Lord Mayor, Sir Reginald Hanson, Alderman Staples, Sir John Monckton, Ex-Sheriff Burt, Mr. Deputy Saunders, Mr. William Rome, and others; the Metropolitan Board of Works by its chairman, Sir J. M‘Garel Hogg; and London archæology generally by Mr. Hyde Clarke, Mr. Anderson Rose, Mr. Herbert Fry, Mr. Henry W. King, and others, has been formed to raise a fund for taking immediate steps to protect and record monuments of antiquity in London and its vicinity at the moment of discovery. The executive committee consists of Mr. Alfred White, Mr. Overall (the City Librarian), Mr. John E. Price (secretary), and Mr. Brabrook. Sir John Lubbock has consented to act as treasurer. The committee is already taking steps, through Mr. J. E. Price, to preserve and place in a public museum some remarkable remains of the Roman occupation of London which have just been found used as building material in a bastion of the wall at Bevis Marks.

Up to the present time the form of the Rigveda, that curious collection of ancient Indian poems which has long engaged the attention of scholars in India and Europe, has remained an inscrutable mystery. The 1,017 hymns follow one another in ten books or sections, but no one has hitherto detected any system in their arrangement. Mr. Frederic Pincott, however, has, the Manchester Guardian’s London correspondent says, just discovered the hidden method, and his discovery promises to give a new impetus and direction to Vedic studies. He has found that the first book of the Rigveda is a selection of hymns arranged in the order of their recitation at the offering of an oblation to the sacred Soma Juice. The next six books are family collections, containing the poems of particular poets and their relatives; whilst the eighth book contains hymns omitted from previous books. The ninth book is filled with hymns celebrating the praises of the Soma Juice, and the last book contains hymns ascribed to mythological authors. When the poet, the deity, the length, and the metre are known, the hymns are found to have a methodical arrangement. A full exposition of Mr. Pincott’s curious discovery is about to be given in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

A Bible which contains two signatures that profess to be written by Shakespeare has turned up at Manchester. It was bought about thirty years ago by the late Mr. William Sharp, a somewhat eccentric collector, who was firmly convinced of the authenticity of the signatures, but rarely showed the book. Its present custodian exhibited it the other day to a number of gentlemen at the Manchester Free Library, including Prof. A. Ward, Mr. Alexander Ireland, Mr. C. W. Sutton, Mr. J. H. Nodal, and Mr. W. E. A. Axon. One signature is on the inside of the end cover, and reads “William Shakspere off S × o × A his Bible 1613.” The other is on the reversed title of the New Testament, and reads “William Shakspere 1614.” The volume contains the Old Testament, Apocrypha, New Testament, and Psalms of the “breeches” edition of 1611, but some of the earlier leaves are gone. There are many names of other possessors from about 1633 downwards, and one entry appears to indicate that the{253} volume has been rebound and a Prayer-Book taken from it. In this case the signature now on the end leaf may have been transferred to the new binding. As to the authenticity of the signatures it would be impossible to speak with confidence without the application of more searching tests. They do not resemble any of the five undoubted signatures, but they are both marvellously like that on the title-page of Florio’s Montaigne now in the British Museum. The present custodian of the “Shakspere Bible” purposes, we understand, to accept the advice tendered to him of submitting it to a critical examination at the British Museum.—Public Opinion.

Antiquarian Correspondence.

All communications must be accompanied by the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication.

A BISHOP ON ARCHÆOLOGY.

Sir,—At the reopening of a church in Northamptonshire recently, the Bishop of Peterborough is reported to have observed that churches were not architectural museums merely designed for the recreation and instruction of persons of an architectural turn of mind, but places designed for worship and the comfort of those who attended them, and that whatever interfered with such objects should be removed. I wonder what the members of the Archæological Institute and Association, to say nothing of fellows of the Society of Antiquaries, will think of such a remark.

W. E.

GUERIN, COUNT OF MONTGLAVE.

Sir,—In the preface of Mr. Charles Tomlin’s “Chess Manual,” particulars are given of a game of chess, said to have been played between Charlemagne and Guérin, a powerful noble of Aquitaine, the stakes to be Guérin’s possessions against the kingdom of France. The Emperor lost, but it was at last arranged that, in lieu of France, Guérin was to receive the Countship of Montglave, or Lyons, if he could wrest the place from the Saracens, who then held it. This, with the aid of his knights and followers, he is said to have done, taking prisoners Gasier, the Sultan, and his only daughter, Mabiletta, whom he afterwards married on her becoming a Christian. They had four sons. A romance recounting the adventures and victories of these four sons was printed by M. Michel le Noir, 1515, under the title of “L’Histoire de Guérin de Montglave,” since which date, and under the same title, the story has been reproduced in prose and verse by several authors, but in none are any details respecting their father, Guérin, given, although frequent mention of both Mabiletta and the Count are made, representing him as the great friend, as well as one of the chief captains of Charlemagne. Can any of your readers inform me where particulars respecting this Guérin, the game of chess, and his victory over the Saracens, &c., are to be found?—Yours faithfully,

Wm. C. Lukis de Guerin.

98, Sandgate-road, Folkestone.{254}

EXTINCT MAGAZINES.

(See vol. v. p. 273.)

Sir,—In accordance with the promise appended to my query at the preceding reference, I send you, as a first instalment, a few hurriedly written particulars of a magazine which, if I am not misinformed, died at its initial number. Like many another publication, doomed to an ephemeral existence, it deserved other and better treatment.

The Border Miscellany, or, as it is printed on the illustrated cover, Thompson’s Border Miscellany, was published at Berwick-on-Tweed, March, 1852, price sixpence, and though consisting of only forty-eight pages, octavo, it contains several exceedingly interesting items, among which I would reckon an “Unpublished Letter of Sir Walter Scott,” “Atoms of Information,” and the article of rather more than eight pages, entitled “The Tweed and its Tributaries,” by a disciple of Isaak Walton. The extracts from the Books of Council and Session, under the heading, “Memoranda Scotica,” are also interesting, especially to those who may have the genealogy of the Oliphants and other Scottish families at heart.

The story with which the Miscellany opens, “Florrette; or, Henri Quatre’s First Love,” adapted from the German of Zschokke, by Bon Gualtier, is, in my humble estimation, a piece of dull, uninteresting reading. The poetry, literary notices, and some other odds and ends, do not call for special recognition.

Here is the motto of this short-lived magazine:—

On the back cover the following note of warning appeared:—

Who the editor of this venture was I know not, though I am aware that it was published by W. Thompson, at the time and place already mentioned. Perhaps some of your readers can throw light on the matter.

P. J. Mullin.

Leith, N.B.

PORTREEVE.

Sir,—Should any of your readers feel further interest in this subject, I would beg to refer them to your September number for my defence against Mr. Round’s repeated attacks, and contrast my paper with the misrepresentations which are now made of it in his note for this month. I would fain assume that these misrepresentations are not intentional, and that they may rather be attributed to that “lamentable confusion—truly distressing confusion,” which another contributor to your pages has described as characteristic of a former paper by Mr. Round, and which, indeed, seems to pervade all his papers. That these misrepresentations, however, exist will not for a moment be doubted by anyone who may make the comparison above suggested, and their existence, from whatever cause arising, must for the future preclude my bestowing any further notice of anything emanating from Mr. Round.{255}

It seems almost unnecessary to specify any of the misrepresentations in question, but as something of the kind may be expected, and for the satisfaction of those who may not have seen my paper, or have an opportunity of easily referring to it, I will just cite one or two examples out of the numerous ones with which Mr. Round’s note abounds.

First, then, as regards the term “port or gate.” In employing the term port or gate as I did in my first paper, it was in the full assurance that these words are here absolutely synonymous, and that I was strictly correct in thus using the word port where it occurs in the Laws of Athelstan. On this point, however, Mr. Round thought fit to assail me, asserting that my “rendering outside the port or gate” was a mere “gloss” of my own on the word “port.” In consequence of this strange and somewhat unintelligible charge I was led to look into the question more closely, and found, though previously unaware of the fact, that I was entirely supported in my view and use of the words both by Camden and by Sharon Turner. In my next paper I accordingly quoted from Camden that at “Portgate,” on the Roman Wall, there was formerly a gate, as “the word in both languages” (Roman and Saxon) “fairly evinces.” On this passage, which it will be seen completely establishes my case, Mr. Round “evinces” his sense of fairness by suppressing all allusion to it. Again, it was pointed out that Sharon Turner distinctly uses the words as synonymous where he speaks of “the port-gerefa or the gerefa of the gate.” Nothing can be clearer or stronger than this, yet all notice of this is also suppressed, and Mr. Round, even after this has been pointed out to him, does not scruple to misrepresent me by repeating his assertion, and still arguing that in thus rendering the words “port or gate,” the words “or gate” are a mere “gloss” of my own. What opprobrium he intends to convey by the word “gloss” it is difficult to say, but, whatever it may be, your readers will now see that it applies quite as strongly to such high authorities as Camden and Sharon Turner as it does to me.

Further on, Mr. Round states that he has proved by demonstration that the markets were not held at the gates. I remarked in my paper that he might have spared himself the pains of proving what no one ever doubted, “the well-known fact that the forum was situated in the centre of a Roman town or city”; but I also pointed out what Mr. Round appears still to be ignorant of, that large transactions were conducted at the gates, the levying of tolls and the sale and purchase of merchandise, and thus “the word port, originally restricted to the gates where such extensive transactions were carried on, would at no distant period become applied,” in the way described, “to the town itself” (p. 114).

This latter passage, and all allusion to it, Mr. Round also suppresses, satisfying his sense of fair and reasonable argument in this case by merely harping again on the statement that “I proved by demonstration that the markets were never held at the gate,” which, in fact, no one at all conversant with the subject ever thought they were.

Apart, then, from what has here been thus briefly exposed, the character of Mr. Round’s papers is otherwise such as would deter me from giving any further time to their discussion.

A profuse rush of words—“verba et voces prætereaque nihil”—which seem to shun all approach to logical sequence, will not in the present day be accepted in place of the legitimate rules of reasoning, neither will they justify a writer who indulges in them in dispensing with the ordinary rules of courtesy.

James Hurly Pring, M.D.

Taunton, October, 1884.{256}

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The Editor declines to pledge himself for the safety or return of MSS. voluntarily tendered to him by strangers.

Mus Rusticus.—You will find a good description of a Lord Mayor’s Show in the reign of James I. in F. W. Fairholt’s “History of Lord Mayors’ Pageants,” privately printed by the Percy Society in 1843.

Books Received.

1. The Lay of St. Aloys. By Thomas Ingoldsby. Eyre & Spottiswoode. 1884.

2. The Aberdeen Printers. (1620-1736.) By J. P. Edmond. Aberdeen: Edmond & Spark. 1884.

3. The Lauderdale Papers. Vol. i. Edited by Osmund Airy. Camden Society. 1884.

4. Some Observations upon the Law of Ancient Demesne. By Pym Yeatman, Barrister-at-Law. Mitchel & Hughes. 1884.

5. Some Account of a Roman Garrison at Greta Bridge. By the Rev. J. Hirst. Reprinted from the Journal of the Yorkshire Archæological Association. 1884.

6. Birmingham, Aston, and Edgbaston, as seen in Domesday Book; and the Saxons in Warwickshire. By J. A. Langford, LL.D. (Privately printed.)

7. Pottery and Porcelain. By F. Litchfield. Bickers & Son. 1884.

8. Doctor Johnson: His Life, Works, and Table Talk. (Centenary Edition.) T. Fisher Unwin. 1884.

9. Records of Chesterfield. By Pym Yeatman, Esq. Chesterfield: Wilfred Edmunds. 1884.

10. Phallicism: Celestial and Terrestrial. By Hargrave Jennings. Geo. Redway. 1884.

Books, &c., for Sale.

Works of Hogarth (set of original Engravings, elephant folio, without text), bound. Apply by letter to W. D., 56, Paragon-road, Hackney, N.E.

Original water-colour portrait of Jeremy Bentham, price 2 guineas. Apply to the Editor of this Magazine.

A large collection of Franks, Peers’ and Commoners’. Apply to E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, N.W.

Books &c., Wanted to Purchase.

Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer, several copies of No. 2 (February, 1882) are wanted, in order to complete sets. Copies of the current number will be given in exchange at the office.

Dodd’s Church History, 8vo., vols. i. ii. and v.; Waagen’s Art and Artists in England, vol. i.; East Anglian, vol. i., Nos. 26 and 29. The Family Topographer, by Samuel Tymms, vols. iii. and iv.; Notes and Queries, the third Index. Johnson’s “Lives of the Poets” (Ingram and Cooke’s edition), vol. iii. A New Display of the Beauties of England, vol. i., 1774. Chambers’ Cyclopædia of English Literature, vol. i. Address, E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, Edgeware-road, N.W. {257} {258}

THE OLD PALACE, RICHMOND.
From “Greater London.” (See post. p. 281.)

{259}

The
Antiquarian Magazine
& Bibliographer.

Dr. Johnson.

By the Editor.

F there be truth in the old saying, Inter arma silent leges, it is not less true that inter arma silent Musæ. When the attention of the public is taken up with “wars and rumours of wars,” abroad or at home, and when at home political parties have broken out into open strife, there is no chance for the Muses or their votaries to get a hearing. To no other cause can I ascribe the fact that my countrymen and countrywomen made no response, or next to none, when they were lately asked by the Mayor of Lichfield, Dr. Johnson’s native city, whether the centenary of his death should be celebrated, and if so, then how?

For the last three months and more the English world has been so occupied with the pros and cons of Mr. Gladstone’s Franchise Bill, that to the above appeal society has turned a deaf ear. I regret it, but I am scarcely surprised. We have not forgotten to observe the centenary of Robert Raikes, as the reputed founder of Sunday-schools; it is not so very long since the centenary of Robert Burns was celebrated, not by the Scottish people only, but by Englishmen, at the Crystal Palace and elsewhere; but, shame to write and to say it, there is no response when Englishmen are asked to commemorate the author of the first really good English Dictionary, the author of the best collection of Lives of our English Poets, the man who almost in defiance of the law, and at the risk of a prosecution, first really called into existence the practice of reporting the Debates of Parliament;{260} the greatest practical philosopher and teacher of the last century; the man who first raised and ennobled the profession of the pen; and the man who twice at least stood up, as few have stood up, on behalf of that profession, firstly, when he flung back with contempt the tardily offered favour and “patronage” of Lord Chesterfield, and, secondly, when he knocked down the insolent publisher, Thomas Osborne, in his own shop, with one of his own folio volumes. Is not such a man, I ask, deserving of a Centenary celebration from his brethren of the pen, or, let me say, rather from his sons and disciples?

But to be serious. There can be little doubt that if all that he said, and wrote, and did, be fairly considered, few men can claim credit for having lived more useful lives than Dr. Johnson. Long before the end of that life arrived, King George III. had spontaneously borne testimony to his merits by the gift, rare at that time, of a literary pension, adding a graceful compliment: “I should perhaps have thought that you had written enough, if you had not written so well.” Born in humble, though not needy circumstances, unable to complete his education and to obtain an Oxford degree by the res angusta domi, he came to London to fight the battle of life, his only weapon being his pen, and he won the day against all difficulties, the cold indifference of the rich, the jealousies of his equals and contemporaries, and the heart-breaking and niggardly doles of the London publishers. Undaunted by these and other difficulties, he showed Edmund Cave how his new venture, the Gentleman’s Magazine, might come to deserve its name on other grounds than that alleged at first, viz., that it was not fit for any lady to read it. He raised, by his essays and biographical sketches, the whole style and character of that which in the middle of the last century was one of the leading organs of the time, when the daily papers as yet were not, and the country gentleman’s household had to depend for the news of the day on the “news-letter” written specially for their amusement and information. Till Johnson took the matter in hand, and set himself to supply the want by a new method which his native wit suggested, the country knew not one iota of the speeches delivered in the Houses of Parliament; the legislation of the country was carried on in the dark, so far as concerned the people at large. If he had done nothing else than this, Dr. Johnson would deserve, at the very least, the honour of a statue on the Thames Embankment, or of a scholarship bearing his name at Pembroke College, Oxford, the scene of his early struggles.{261}

I am not intending to write a life of Dr. Johnson. That has been done with wondrous fidelity and graphic skill by his fidus Achates, James Boswell; and Sir John Hawkins and Mrs. Thrale-Piozzi, in their supplemental Memoirs and Recollections of him, have thrown most interesting and valuable side-lights on his character. Boswell’s “Life of Dr. Johnson,” as every reader of English literature knows, was largely amplified, and most cruelly distorted, by John Wilson Croker, who, though himself a Tory of Tories, seems to have been unable to comprehend the character of the man who hated a Whig almost as much as he hated a Scotchman; and Mr. Croker was almost as cruelly punished for his offence by Macaulay, who cut his book into shreds in the Edinburgh Review. Still, in spite of its glaring sins, not certainly of omission, but of commission, Croker’s edition of Boswell will always be a work of value, for he entered on his task before the last of Dr. Johnson’s friends and acquaintances had passed away. Amongst these were Lord Stowell, who figures in Boswell as “Dr. Scott of Doctors’ Commons;” Mr. John Sidney Hawkins, and Miss Letitia Hawkins, the son and daughter of Sir John Hawkins; Mr. Fitzherbert (afterwards Lord St. Helen’s); Miss Monckton, the Lady Cork of the Regency, a “Queen of Society” under George IV. and William IV., and who lived into the reign of Victoria. He knew also Mrs. Thrale’s daughter, the venerable Lady Keith; and last, not least, the still more venerable Dr. Routh, President of Magdalen College, who had seen Dr. Johnson in the flesh at Oxford, and who lived to December, 1854. From these and from other sources he gathered much material which had not been available to Boswell, and had he been content with facts instead of probabilities and possibilities, he would doubtless have been proof and unassailable to Macaulay’s pen. For instance, there is not the shadow of a ground for supposing (as he does) that Dr. Johnson was “out in ’45” with the adherents of Charles Edward, except the fact that in that year his pen was idle; and he is still less justified in supposing that Dr. Johnson was a Roman Catholic because he advocated the principle of pilgrimages, and prayers for the dead, and confession, as natural and right in themselves, and as distinct from their abuses; because there is not a single Roman Catholic tenet, except that of the divinely-appointed Primacy of the See of St. Peter, which has not at one time or another been supported and defended by some Protestant writer.

Dr. Johnson, it must be owned even by his adversaries, has left his mark upon the literature of his country. Gibbon’s style is most{262} ornate, but it is cumbrous and unnatural, and the author of the “Decline and Fall” has found no one to copy him. It was otherwise with Johnson. He was fond of Ciceronian Latin, and his English smacked as strongly of the Ciceronian flavour as did Dr. Pusey’s style of the Augustinian. For myself, I infinitely prefer the short and simple words which come from the Anglo-Saxon mint to what is now sneeringly called “Johnsonese.” But I cannot shut my eyes to that “union of perspicuity and splendour,” that nervous vigour, that “expansion and harmony” which mark the stately flow of Johnson when he is at his best. Towards the end of every unmutilated edition of Boswell’s “Life” is given a list of those who in earnest or in jest have set themselves to imitate the burly Doctor’s style. Foremost amongst these are the historians Robertson and Gibbon, the Rev. Dr. Nares, George Colman, Professor Young, of Glasgow, the Rev. Dr. Knox, the popularity of whose writings is ascribed to this very feature, and some of the best contributors to the old Edinburgh Mirror. There is no doubt also that Dr. Johnson’s style was very largely but almost insensibly copied and reproduced in the sermons, charges, and essays of most Bishops and dignitaries of the Established Church for some sixty or seventy years after his death. In fact, Dr. Johnson may be said in a very great degree to have “tuned their pulpits.” It is only of later years, concurrently with the study of German and of Anglo-Saxon literature in this country, that a simpler and less stilted style has prevailed. And this is no small testimony to the great powers of the “learned lexicographer.”

The value of his Dictionary has, of course, declined since the study of Etymology has been raised to the dignity of a science; for Dr. Johnson knew little or nothing of those primitive languages from which all the European languages are derived, and of which they are at the root only variations and dialects. His Dictionary, therefore, must be judged by the standard of a century ago, not by that of the Victorian Era. Were Dr. Johnson now alive, he would be among the first to say to Professor Skeat, to Max Müller, and our other lexicographers, “agnosco procerem,” and to own that since his own day in this branch of learning, at least, we have made giant strides.

As the last and only surviving Editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine in its former shape, when it dealt with the intelligence and the literature of the age, and was a recognised organ of the educated world, I feel that it is my duty at this moment to put in a few words on behalf of{263} a man whose literary merits have never been sufficiently acknowledged. With all his ruggedness and even “bearishness” of manner, what a contrast does he present to us, as he lives in Boswell, to the cross, crabbed, snappish, and selfish “philosopher of Chelsea,” who equalled him in nothing but in plodding industry, and surpassed him, me judice, in bearishness alone! And how few of the present generation are there who might not learn lessons of improvement, both moral and intellectual, by a careful and patient study of the “wit and wisdom” of Samuel Johnson!

E. Walford.

Down a Yorkshire River.

PART II.

(Continued from p. 218.)

A FEW miles lower down, passing through Sowerby Bridge, commercially thriving but poetically poor, we come again to green fields and remnants of ancient forest, and notice on the left hand Wood Hall, where the boy Laurence Sterne, of “Tristram Shandy” fame, spent his early years. The Heath Grammar School, where he was educated, is half an hour’s walk beyond the ridge of the hill in the direction of Halifax. Formerly a rustic bridge, little better than a plank, spanned the river near Wood Hall, and it was along this plank, there is little doubt, that Lucy Gray’s footprints were tracked after she had slipped into the water. We have now reached a point where the scenery, if less wild than the glens and gorges near the border hills of Lancashire and Yorkshire, is scarcely less beautiful, and what it loses in ruggedness of natural contour it gains in historic associations and legendary romance. Copley Hall, in the eleventh century the residence of the knightly family of Copley, has long ago been turned into cottages, but the name survives in the pretty modern village and prettier church, and antiquaries love to dwell on the old stories connected with the spot, and tell how Adam de Copley fell fighting for William the Conqueror at the siege of York; how his grandson, another Adam de Copley, became rector of his parish church at Halifax; and how a third Sir Adam, for this was a favourite name, carried away a sister from Kirklees Nunnery, and afterwards joined the Crusaders and died in Palestine. This fair nun, alas! was immured in a tower seven stories high, and mysterious lights were long seen to burn in the ladye’s chamber, the ruins of which are said to have been visible{264} some years ago. Elland, anciently and more correctly Ealand, with its fine old fane and relics of mediæval times, where the Ealands and the Saviles lived in barbaric splendour, was the scene of many a thrilling legend and bloody fray, notably the tragedy, or rather chain of tragedies, which ended in the murder of Sir John Ealand and his little boy as they were crossing the weir-stones on Palm Sunday on their way to matins at Saint Mary’s. By this deed, which took place in the fourteenth century, a feud that had lasted two generations was brought to an end, as was likewise the family name of Ealand, the male line of which became extinct on the death of Sir John’s only boy, the child who shared his father’s fate on the weir-stones. A few miles beyond Ealand, on the hill slope above the Calder, stand the stately groves of Kirklees Priory, so well known, as we have seen, to the gay Sir Adam de Copley. At Kirklees, as many readers are aware, died the most chivalrous of bandits, Robin Hood. His grave, overshadowed by majestic beeches, is not far from the ruins of the Nunnery, but in unconsecrated ground, though it is said there used to be a cross to mark the spot. Calder dale was a favourite haunt of the merry men, and many the fat buck they have run down in this valley. Robin Hood has left his name in several places hereabouts, and the peasantry still love to repeat the traditionary stories of his gallantry and daring. Pinder Green, near Wakefield, as we read in ballad line, was the scene of an encounter between Robin and the Jolly Pinder. But we have not left the ruins of the Priory. I suppose that all lovers of Brontëan literature know that the scene of “Shirley” is laid close to Kirklees, which place figures indeed in the novel as Nunnely. Any one acquainted with the locality will recognise Kirklees very thinly disguised under this name: “The village of Nunnely has been alluded to: its old church, its forest, its monastic ruins. It had also its Hall, called the Priory—an older, a larger, a more lordly abode than any Briarfield or Whinbury owned; and, what is more, it had its man of title—its baronet, which neither Briarfield nor Whinbury could boast.” In another chapter Kirklees is thus spoken of: “Kind gentleman as the baronet is, he asked the tutor too; but the tutor would much sooner have made an appointment with the ghost of the Earl of Huntingdon to meet him, and a shadowy ring of his merry men, under the canopy of the thickest, blackest, oldest oak in Nunnely Forest. Yes, he would rather have appointed tryst with a phantom abbess, or mist-pale nun, among the wet and weedy relics of that ruined sanctuary of theirs, mouldering in the core of the wood.”{265}

The scenery now begins to lose those romantic features down to this point so noticeable in this valley. Larger towns and numerous manufacturing villages disturb the once pastoral quietude. Keeping to the bank of the river we pass Mirfield, and shortly reach Dewsbury, where Paulinus, the first Archbishop of York, preached in the early part of the seventh century—“Paulinus hic prædicavit et celebravit, A.D. 627.” Some years ago there was an old cross commemorating this event. And here in the Calder, I doubt not, the great Apostle of the North baptized hundreds of converts. The ancient Saxon parish of Dewsbury contained an area of 400 square miles. Travel we on and we come to Wakefield, in the meadows close to which was fought one of the most sanguinary battles in the Wars of the Roses. On Wakefield bridge, which spans the Calder, there is a lovely little chapelle, recently restored, thought to have been originally erected in the reign of Edward III., and said to have been rebuilt by Edward IV. to commemorate the death of his father, the Duke of York, and the young Earl of Rutland, the beautiful boy so ruthlessly slain there by Lord Clifford. The Calder, flowing on past the villages of Heath and Stanley, eventually loses itself in the Aire at Castleford. Hence the distich:

Near the border hills, some of the tributary brooks that join the Calder are streams of rare beauty, and flow through regions of sylvan wildness, than which there are none finer in Derbyshire or Devon. If the traveller had to turn aside and wander up one of these glens he would soon leave behind him the din of trade, and find himself in ravine-like woodland solitudes. One of the loveliest and loneliest of these brooks is Turvin, born on the bleak summit of Blackstone Edge, and which precipitates itself in narrow winding channels through many a clough and forest dell. When the shadows of the gloaming steal over the world, it is an eerie sight to watch the mists of autumn as they creep up the gorge and curl round the rocks, and the spectator may almost realise that he is gazing upon some weird and enchanted land. About the middle of last century this glen was the haunt of a gang of coiners who for many years succeeded in eluding and defying the officers of the law. That these daring men carried on their nefarious practices was a fact well known to everybody in the locality, and it is to be feared they were secretly encouraged, as they were assuredly screened, by their neighbours and{266} relatives. Something like a feeling of awe, tradition says, was felt by the cottagers on the distant hills, when they heard in the stillness of night the stroke of the sledge-hammer as the coiners plied, almost defiantly plied, their desperate work. At last some of the ringleaders were captured, tried, and hung. The rest of the gang still at large took their revenge by murdering the excise officer who had been instrumental in bringing the culprits to justice. Other captures were made and more murder followed. But in the end, after a twenty years’ lease of successful defiance, this band of reckless coiners was broken up.

Speaking of Blackstone Edge and the glens leading therefrom down to Calder dale, we are reminded of the impression this mountain with its wild passes and rugged roads had on Taylor, the Water Poet, who crossed over in 1639, and this is what he says: “When I left Halifax I rode over such ways as were past comparison or amendment, for when I went down the lofty mountain called Blackstone Edge, I thought myself in the land of break-necke, it was so steep and tedious.” Over this mountain, but in the opposite direction, wearily paced De Foe when on his way to take refuge in Halifax, perhaps resting a little while by the riverside before he climbed the steep ascent of Skircote. Whilst staying in Halifax he is said to have written part of “Robinson Crusoe.”

Fair features in woman are not irremediably spoiled by accident of cut and scar, or through waste of fever and pain: the lovely lines survive, and the soul beneath breathes unspeakable subtle beauty in smile of the eye and play of emotion on the eloquent face. Such is it with fair Calder dale—a region of poetry and romance, of legendary rock and historic hall, of mountain and glen, of shaw and burn, of daisied meadow and ferny dell. From the spot where I write, looking out at the antique lattice, I see the long sweep of the valley with its wide openings and gorge-like ravines stretching through the heart and the solitude of the everlasting hills, and though smoke blackens and mill mars the landscape, there is a loveliness about the contour of high heath-clad cliff, about the green waving woods musical with bird carol and summer breeze, about the sun-bright waters winding and narrowing miles away to a silver streak, which the accidents of trade and material civilisation have very far from irretrievably ruined.

F.

The Legend of King Arthur in Somerset.

By Mrs. C. G. Boger.

PART III.—HIS BURIAL-PLACE AT GLASTONBURY.

(Concluded from p. 19.)

WITH Arthur perished the bright gleam of hope for the British race, but the Saxons did not as yet advance farther westward, and it was not till the seventh century that Gladerhaf became Somerset. That he was buried at Glastonbury men knew, but the exact spot remained a secret from all, and so the record of Arthur’s life and labours became a myth on which the earliest and latest British poets alike have loved to dwell and idealise, till men scarce believed that he had any existence save in the realms of romance. Long years passed away. “The old order had changed and yielded place to new” more than once. The Britons had been avenged, for the Saxons had passed under the power of the Dane, and then rose again only to submit to the Norman. Yet the Saxons were never so crushed as the Britons had been, for the Teutons have a staying power and a power of combination that seem to have been denied to the Kelts. Only in Wales did the ancient race preserve their individuality. But a weird and troubled rule was that of the Norman father fighting against son, and brother against brother; and now it was in the year 1177 that Henry II., when on his journey to Ireland, to receive the submission of the princes of that country, passed through Pembroke, and was there entertained by some of the Welsh chieftains. Whilst there, “it chanced to him to heare sung to the harpe certaine ditties of the worthy exploits and actes of this Arthur by one of the Welsh bards, as they were termed, whose custom was to record and sing at their feasts the noble deeds of their ancestors, wherein mention was made of his death and place of buriall, designing it to be in the monks’ burial ground at Glastonbury, and that betwixt two pyramids there standing.”[79]

King Henry made this known to his cousin Henry of Blois, who was at once Abbot of Glastonbury and Bishop of Winchester, but no{268} steps seem to have been taken in his time to ascertain its truth; and it was not till after his death that, in the reign of Richard, Henry de Soliaco, nephew of the late king and Abbot of Glastonbury, instituted a search, the result of which has been described by Giraldus Cambrensis, the historian of his time, who was present when the grave was opened.

“At the depth of seven feet was a huge broad stone, whereon a leaden cross was fastened: on that part that lay downward, in rude and barbarous letters (as rudely set and contrived) this inscription was written upon that side of the lead that was towards the stone:

And digging nine foot deeper his body was discovered in the trunk of a tree, the bones of great bignesse, and in his scull perceived ten wounds, the last very great and plainly seene. His Queen Guinivere, that had been neare kinswoman to Cador, Duke of Cornwall, a lady of passing beauty, likewise lay by him, whose tresses of hair finely platted, and in colour like the gold, seemed perfect and whole untill it was touched, but then, bewraying what all beauties are, shewed itself to be duste.”

The cross of lead with the inscription, as it was found and taken off the stone, was kept in the Treasury, or Revester, of Glastonbury Church till the suppression thereof in the reign of Henry VIII.

The bones of King Arthur and Queen Guinivere his wife were translated into the great church, and “there in a faire Tombe of Marble his body was laid, and his Queen’s at his feete, which noble monument among the fatall overthrowes of infinite more were altogether raced” [razed].[80]

I scarcely know anything more pathetic than the old chronicler’s account of that tress of golden hair, the sole remains of the beauty that had captivated the heart of the great king and made his noblest knight to fall, and then the seeing it at a touch fall into dust. She who had mourned her sin at Amesbury, at last, by the loving hands of those who had witnessed her penitence, was borne to rest beside her rightful lord; and the golden tresses which, when she had last seen him in life, swept the dust at his feet, now, after more than six hundred years had passed away, faded into dust again when they had{269} fulfilled their mission of testifying to the main facts of the Legend of Arthur.

Nearly a hundred years again had passed, when in the year 1276 King Edward I. and his Queen Eleanor kept the Festival of Easter at Glastonbury. It was during the abbacy of John of Taunton, a great benefactor to the Church in buildings, books for the library, and vestments, that this visit took place. So great were the privileges of this place that even the king himself was laid under some restraint while abiding in it. His deputy high marshal was not allowed to exercise his office; the king’s judges were held to have no authority; and even a man who had incurred the penalty of læsa majestas was not allowed to be punished. The mausoleum of black marble was opened for their inspection; the king’s bones were seen of gigantic proportion, the thigh bone the width of three fingers longer than that of the tallest monk present. The tomb was ordered to be placed in front of the high altar; the skulls of the king and queen to remain outside for the adoration of the people.

Leland, who saw the tomb, says: “At the head of Arthur’s tombe lay Henricus Abbas (Henry of Blois?)[81] and a crucifix; at the feet lay a figure of Arthur; a cross on the tomb, and two lions at the head and two at the feet.”

And here the hero’s bones rested till the Tyrant King scattered all such precious relics to the winds. His body has not been allowed to rest in peace, but his “name liveth for evermore.” Nor is Arthur’s fame confined to England alone, for amongst the figures that keep watch and ward round Maximilian’s tomb at Innspruck is one of the patriot king, and an exquisite photograph of him in armour, as he is there portrayed, faces the writer as this attempt to show the connection of Arthur’s most heroic deeds with her own native county is being penned.

It only remains to add that the authorities for the above remarks are, Gildas, Geoffry of Monmouth, William of Malmesbury, Giraldus Cambrensis, Mallory’s “King Arthur,” Leland, Drayton’s “Polyolbion,” Speed, and Camden, “The Greatest of the Plantagenets,” and “Our Ancient Monuments and the Land around Them,” by C. P. Haines-Jackson, and lastly oral legend.{270}

The History of Gilds.

By Cornelius Walford, F.S.S., Barrister-at-Law.

PART IV.

(Continued from p. 235.)

Chapter XXXVI.—Gilds of Norfolk—(Continued).

NORWICH.—The Gilds existing in this important city in 1388-9 were:—

Fraternity of St. Katerine, commenced in 1307.—All the members of the Gild were to go in procession on the day of St. Katherine, and make offerings; penalty on absent members. On the day following, mass, &c. Burial services to be attended and offerings made—the duties of the lettered and of the unlettered bretheren and sisteren specifically defined. Bretheren dying within eight miles of the city to be brought in for burial, or at least the usual services done. Poor bretheren to be helped; and causes of quarrel to be laid before the Gild. Fine on refusal to take office. A liveryhood to be worn, and all the members to dine together on the Gild-day. Admission of new members only by common consent. Goods of the Gild enumerated.

The Tailors’ Gild, founded 1350.—The Gild to meet together, and the next day a mass of requiem. The bretheren to obey summons of Alderman to audit accounts; fine if absent. Meeting after Easter to choose officers, &c. Payments to be made to sexton and clerk; help to the poor and maimed. Burial services and offerings, to extend to those dying within seven miles of the city. Service for those dying abroad. Oath to be taken by Gild-members. Alderman to be chosen. At meetings a candle to be kept alight, and a prayer said. A summoner to be chosen, and requited by quittance of the usual payments. A fee of 1d. to be paid to the Bedel on entrance to the Gild. The Gild had no land, but was maintained by the charges levied under the Ordinances.

Gild of St. Mary, commenced in 1360.—It was of the Religious type. The bretheren and sisteren of the Gild, as long as there should be twelve of them living, were to provide a candle and torches, to be used on certain festivals named “in wyrschipe of crist and his moder.” There is a note of the masters of the Gild and of the property in hand.{271}

Fraternity of St. Trinity, in the Cathedral, begun in 1364.—A solemn service to be held on the eve of the Feast of the Trinity. A mass of requiem shall be had, and offerings made. Burial services and offerings. Help to poor bretheren. Fines for absence from meetings of Gild. Goods of the Gild.

The Carpenters’ Gild (founded 1375), in honour of the Holy Trinity.—A yearly meeting to be held, which shall begin with prayers. A yearly procession and offerings; burial services and offerings, to extend to all bretheren dying within seven miles of the town; service for those dying abroad. Help to those fallen into poverty or mishap, if not brought about through folly or riotous living. Fine for non-fulfilment of Ordinances unless there be good excuse. Neither the King’s right nor the law to be encroached upon. The Gild appears to have been entitled to gifts by certain masons—probably of another Gild.

Gild of the Peltyers [Furriers], founded 1376.—Two candles, dressed with flowers, were to be yearly offered at St. William’s tomb, by a procession of a boy and two good men. Only three excuses were to be allowed for non-attendance at mass, viz., being in “ye kyngges seruise, er for stronge sekenesse, or twenty myle duellynge fro yis syte,” unless it were otherwise willed. No Ordinance to prejudice the King’s right, or the law. On the morrow of the Gild-day the Gild to hear a mass in requiem; after the mass to go to an inn, audit accounts and choose officers. The officers to be chosen by picked men. Bretheren or sisteren fallen into trouble or misease, to have weekly help; but not so if brought on by their own folly. Fine on refusal to take office. Burial services and offerings, extending to deaths within seven miles of the city. An annual feast to be held. Fine for not attending meetings. Admission of new-comers to be regulated by “ye Alderman and xij bretheryn.” The common bellman to summon the bretheren to meet on the morrow of the Gild-day. The Gild (it was declared) had no land, but was maintained by charges levied, and by legacies, and other gifts.

The Poor Men’s Gild, founded 1380, “in honor of oure lord Jhesu crist, and of oure lady seinte marie, and in wursship of seyn Austyn.”—A light to be found in honour of St. Austin; mass and offerings at the same time. Help to those fallen poor, sick, or in other mischance. All dying within seven miles of the city to have burial services.

Gild of St. Botulph, founded 1384.—The meeting of the fraternity to be held on the Sunday next after the Epiphany; next day they{272} were to have a mass of requiem. Burials to be attended by the bretheren, and offerings made. Help to the poor bretheren and sisteren was to be made by the members at the rate of “a ferthyng in ye woke.” The goods of the Gild are enumerated.

Fraternity of St. Christopher, founded 1384.—Prayer to be said at every meeting for the Church, peace, Pope, Cardinals, “ye patriak of Jerhusalem,” “for ye holy londe and ye holy crosse, yat godd for his myght and his mercy bryng it oute of hethen power into reule of holy chirche,” archbishops, bishops, parsons, king, queen, dukes, earls, barons, bachelors, knights, squires, citizens, burgesses, franklins, tillers, craftsmen, widows, maidens, wives, commonalities, ship-men, pilgrims, unbelievers, our fathers’ and mothers’ souls, and for all of this Gild. The Gild-day was to be on the Sunday before the Feast of St. Christopher. No Ordinance shall be against the common law. There was to be a yearly mass of requiem, and offerings; also offerings at burials; and two poor men to carry torches. Poor bretheren were to be helped. This was evidently a Gild of a higher order than many in this city.

Gild of St. George, founded 1385.—The day of St. George was always to be kept, and offerings made on that day; next day a mass of requiem. Burial services to be attended by the bretheren, and offerings made. Weekly help to poor bretheren. Goods of the Gild enumerated.

The Saddlers’ and Spurriers’ Gild, founded 1385.—The Ordinances to be kept so long as twelve of the Gild lived. Two torches to be kept burning at the elevation of the host at high mass. The Gild meeting to be held on the first Sunday after Trinity, and the members to have a livery. All to meet the evening before to pray for their own souls. Next morning mass shall be heard, and offerings made, and all shall go in procession to the Nunnery of Carrow. On death within the city all shall be at the dirge, and two poor men with them. The same at interment; and offerings and gifts to be made. Service with the bretheren on death within three miles of the city; and service on death of one dwelling beyond, at Carrow.

Brotherhood of Barbers.—Torches and other lights, &c., shall be offered on Midsummer-day. Torches were to be kept burning during high mass. The Gild appears to have been dedicated to “seynt John the Babtis.”

Oxenburghe (Oxburgh; Oxborough).—There were eight Gilds in this town (now village) at the same date, of which the following may be taken as a type:—{273}

Gild of St. John Baptist, founded 1307.—The officers, bretheren, and sisteren shall come to evensong on the day of St. John the Baptist, and make offerings. Help to those “in trouble” was to be given at the rate of one farthing a day; one halfpenny on Sunday. Prayers for the dead.

Gild of St. Peter, founded 1378.—The members of the Gild to assemble at evensong on St. Peter’s Day, and make offerings. Help to those in trouble—rate not distinctly specified. Fine for betraying the affairs of the Gild.

Wygnale (Wyggenale, now Wiggenshall).—The Gilds existing in this town or village, which was located near King’s Lynn and appears to have been of some importance, were:

Gild of the Assumption, founded 1384.—Latin prayers to be said out of the Church offices. English prayer of the Gild for the Church; for the King, Queen, and Baronage; for the Pope and the Patriarch; for the Holy Land; for the fruit of the earth; for ship-men and travellers; for the founders of the Gild; and for the souls of the dead and living. Search to be made for anyone dying suddenly, by water or by land: and he shall have burial services. Any one belying another shall be fined.

Gild of the Holy Trinity.—Latin prayers shall be said out of church offices. Burials at the cost of the Gild. Drowned men shall be searched for.

Gild de Cranbone, founded 1387.—Latin prayers to be said out of Church offices. English prayer of the Gild for the Church, Pope, Cardinals, Patriarch, Archbishop of Canterbury, and other Bishops; King and Queen, and the commoners of the realm. Burials at cost of Gild. Every quarrel to be brought before two bretheren. Two meetings shall be held every year.

Gild of St. Trinity, founded 1387.—Four meetings shall be held every year, at which payments to be made for lights.

Gild of St. Peter.—Two meetings shall be held every year. All shall go to church with a garland of oak leaves. Service for the dead, and offerings. Bread to be given, and masses sung for the souls of the dead. Men dying by water or land to be searched for and buried. Meat and drink to be given at yearly meeting. The funds of the Gild then (1388) consisted of 11s.

Great Yarmouth.—King John in his Charter to this borough, granted 1209, gave the privilege of a Merchant Gild to be held in this town. We have not met with any very early records of it. But in the 6th Elizabeth (1563) there are notices, which, however, only{274} go to show the nature of the annual entertainment given. A few items will prove instructive:

February 28.—“Order’d that the merchant’s dinner, or feast of late called the Trinity Brotherhood, shall be rected and heyned this present year to come, and so forth to continue until further orders be taken.” Certain persons were named to order the feast and estimate the cost, &c.

March 18.—“Imprimis, every brother to pay for hym and hys wyffe, whether they came or not, 2s. 8d. Every brother and syster extraordinary, 1s. If they wyl be bretherene, to pay bretherene lyke.”

“The order of the drynkyn and dynner in the evening prayer, viz., spice cake, good bere.”

“Sunday soper.—Good brothe with boyled mete. Rostyd mutton, capon, lambe tarte.”

“Monday dynner.—Fromety, rosted bysse, grene gese, lamb.”

“Note, that six persons to every mese; two grene gese to every mese, and a capon to mese. The person appointed to heyn the feast refusing, to pay £10 to his successor to buy things necessary.”

Manship in his “History of Yarmouth” says that this regulation continued till the year 1569, when, by reason of the excessive charge, but more especially the great disorders of the common people, &c., it was agreed by an Act of the Assembly in the 11th Elizabeth, that from henceforth the heynors who shall yearly be appointed to heyn the feast called Trinity Brotherhood, shall be at their choice to heyn the said feast in reasonable order, or else to pay 4 nobles (26s. 8d.) apiece for the use of the town; which sum was paid yearly for many years afterwards, but at last entirely dropt.

Swinden (“History of Yarmouth”) says that in 33 Henry VIII. (1542) at an assembly holden in the common hall, on the Tuesday next after the feast of St. Faith, the following order was made: “That every as well of the four and twenties as of the eight and forties should pay yearly towards the finding of the Trinity mass priest at the Guild-day, 4d.”

Manship gives the following additional particulars regarding the old Guild-hall in Yarmouth: “There is a very fair building commonly{275} called the Guild-hall, near unto the church, containing in length from east to west within the walls 76 feet, and in breadth 22 feet, which being much ruinated, was in the year of our Lord God 1544 (in the 33 Henry VIII.) by the town very substantially repaired and amended, and the walls new buttressed and supported, and the roof, which is a very fair one, sometime belonging to Mettingham College [near Bungay], upon the suppression thereof, was brought to Yarmouth, and placed upon the said Hall, and covered with lead very neatly. In this hall in times past, viz., within my remembrance [he wrote probably about the end of the reign of Elizabeth], was yearly holden on Trinity Sunday a Solemn Feast for the whole Brotherhood and Fellowship of the Society, called the Blessed Trinity, which by our Charter of King John in the year 1207, was granted unto us by the name of the Merchants Guild, whereunto every one of this Common Council, at his first admission and oath taken, doth still acknowledge himself a brother of that Society. Which said feast was for the most part yearly holden at the costs of four of that Brotherhood successively according to their course of incoming, maintained; over whom the senior bailiff for the year presiding was and is nominated Alderman. The Hall aforesaid being at that time richly hanged and adorned with cloth of arras, tapestry, and other costly furniture, not sparing any dainty fare which might be had for money.”

“At which Feast all private quarrels and emulations were heard and ended in the glory of God and mutual love amongst neighbours: for which cause, in the primitive time of the Church, such Gilds or Fraternities were by the laws Ecclesiastical ordained, and by the laws civil, among all Christian common-weals, used, practised, and confirmed.”

(To be continued.)

Ham.

THE SUFFIX “HAM” NOT EXCLUSIVELY DERIVED FROM A TEUTONIC SOURCE, BUT OCCASIONALLY ALSO FROM THE CELTIC.

By James Hurly Pring, M.D.

IN a former volume of The Antiquarian Magazine (vol. iii. p. 127) I pointed out that the place-name Hampton did not necessarily represent the Saxon “home-town,” as has so generally, yet erroneously, been assumed, but that the name is frequently derived also from Avon or rather Afon, the Celtic word for water or a river, and that it ought, therefore, strictly to be Afonton.

It was shown that this latter view was maintained by Camden, in evidence of which he cites Leland to prove that Hampton Court was anciently called Avon, as it appears in quoting from him the following lines:—

Here, then, and throughout the paper referred to, it will be seen that Ham is presented to us chiefly, if not solely, in its aspect as a prefix.

It is now my intention to proceed to consider it more especially as a suffix, in which use the instances of it are far more numerous than those in which it is employed as a prefix.

It would seem, then, as a suffix to be almost universally regarded as representing the Saxon “home,” and even Isaac Taylor himself gives no other than a Teutonic derivation for it.

True it is that in this derivation he makes a distinction, dividing it into the two forms of hăm and hām, maintaining that the former signifies an enclosure, whilst the latter is “the Home.” Without venturing to question the accuracy of this distinction, it is to be regretted that (except, indeed, so far as may be guessed at from its associations) it leaves us without any rule whereby we may be enabled to distinguish the hām, the geheim or home, from hăm an enclosure; whilst, as just stated, Taylor altogether omits to notice that there is yet another distinct source from which “ham” is derived, which is{277} indeed in no respect Teutonic, but is clearly to be referred to the Celtic, as insisted upon both by Camden and by Leland.

The instances in which the termination-ham must be thus referred to the Celtic (as a Saxon corruption of the word Afon) are well marked and are by no means rare, and it is possible that some of those which have been regarded as examples of hăm, an enclosure, may be found to belong rather to the Celtic derivation from Afon. As an illustration of ham in the latter aspect, I will at once refer to the class of examples of the word which is furnished by those large tracts of country which are or formerly were liable to inundation from the occasional overflow of some adjacent river (afon), and which have accordingly received the appellation of “hams”—that is, rich low-lying lands in the vicinity of rivers.

These extensive tracts of marsh-land cannot be supposed, especially at the very early period when the name of ham was imposed upon them, to have represented “an enclosure,” whilst their general character, and their liability to be frequently flooded, alike forbid the notion that the name of ham in this case was originally associated with a “home or dwelling.”

Each of these “hams,” then, I apprehend must be held to furnish a marked example of the derivation of its name from the Celtic Avon, as it will be found that the distinctive feature of a river is present in each of them, and in one case the river even still retains the original Celtic name of Avon.

As examples of some instances of the name occurring on the banks of the rivers in Somerset, we have the Loxton Hams, the Berrow Hams, the Paulet Hams with Otterhampton, which latter name, assuming its derivation to be Teutonic, should be the “Otter’s home-town”! Biddisham, Burnham, and Lympsham, the latter being the ancient Lyn-pils-ham, the rich pasture land by the creek of the Lyn or the River Axe, with many others.

Passing now into Devonshire we come upon the North Hams, and the South Hams—names which in this case cannot be held to represent either homes or enclosures, whilst water or rivers will be found to be conspicuously present in both instances.

In his review of “Risdon’s Survey of Devon,” 1785, Chapple refers to the North and South Hams as being “ancient names,” and states that the county of Devon had originally a threefold division, anciently known by the names of East, South, and North Hams (p. 116). This, however, is the only notice I have seen of the East Hams.{278}

As one of the places comprehended in the district of the North Hams, we have Littleham, which Risdon regards as “Little Home,” assuming-ham in this case “to signify the same with home or habitation.”

But there is no reason to regard either this or Parkham or any of the other instances of the terminal-ham which are found here, as being referable to a Teutonic source, any more than is the case with the hams in Somerset, and as regards the instance of Northam itself, it is interesting to note that (except the omitted ton) we have here the actual name of Northam[p]ton, in which Camden expressly insists that the ham is afon.

If we now proceed to the South Hams, we reach an extensive tract of land presenting the same characteristic features as those generally observed in connection with the name of Ham, where it occurs in the situations already alluded to, and which do not correspond either to an enclosure or a home.

We find it, for example, stated in Chapple that “about Teignmouth, Dartmouth, Totness, Modbury, Plymouth, Ashburton, and all those parts of the country which are called the South Hams, the lands are generally of a different kind from any of the former,” &c. (p. 20). Now it is manifest that such an extensive tract of country as that to which the term “South Hams” is here applied cannot possibly claim to be regarded in the light of a home, or an enclosure.

On investigating more closely the district known as the South Hams, it will be found to possess many points of special interest.

Here the name Ham, as associated with the presence of rivers, receives abundant illustration; a considerable portion of the South Hams lying between the rivers Dart and Erme, and through the centre of this runs the River Avon, which by its name lends confirmation to the view here maintained as to the occasional derivation of the name of Ham from the Celtic. Along the course of this river it will be seen that the names of ham and avon seem almost to alternate, or are at least promiscuously intermingled, thus affording additional evidence of their being cognate to each other, and of their common origin.

We have, for example, the name of Ham alone, and of Aveton (Avon-ton) alone, of Aveton (Avon-ton) Gifford, of Bickham, Topsham Bridge, Hendham, and further on of Avonneigh, and lastly of Bantham, occurring at the very mouth of the Avon.

Another feature of considerable interest in connection with the South Hams of Devon, and pointing in a direction confirmatory of the views here advanced, is the fact that the Cornu-British language{279} continued in use in this district long after it had ceased to be spoken in the other parts of the surrounding country. This fact is noticed by Polwhele both in his “Historical Views of Devonshire,” 1791, and in his “History of Cornwall,” whilst Drew affirms that the Cornu-British was spoken here in the time of Edward I. (1272-1307). It is deserving of notice also that an interesting note by F. W. P. Jago in reference to this question has lately appeared in the second volume of the “Western Antiquary” (pp. 202, 203).

Without intending by any means to question the fact that in numerous instances the terminal-ham is derived from the Teutonic, and rightly bears the meaning of “home,” “habitation,” or “enclosure,” I deem it desirable, whilst on this subject, to draw attention to an interesting remark in reference to it which has been made by so high an authority as Mr. Benjamin Thorpe. In commenting on the fact that the Kentish kingdom was founded by adventurers from Jutland (if not actually by Hengist and Horsa), Mr. Thorpe proceeds to observe: “The termination-ham, so common in Kent and elsewhere in England, corresponding to the German heim, does not appear in Jutland, so far as my means enable me to ascertain.”[82]

The very general, indeed the almost universal reference of “ham” to a Teutonic origin, seems to invest this observation by Thorpe with peculiar interest, and I would venture accordingly to commend its consideration to all those who can discover in “ham” nothing else than the Saxon “heim,” “home,” or “dwelling.”

On the other hand, it must at once be admitted that the derivation of “ham” from the Celtic Afon has received little or no recognition from the days of Camden down to the present time. In regarding it, however, from this point of view, enough it is presumed has now been said to rescue it for the future from this neglect, and to establish its title, in many cases at least, to be rightly and legitimately referred to the Celtic, as here contended for.

Collectanea.

Christmas-Eve in Devonshire.—In Devonshire is still observed on Christmas-Eve an ancient custom, which is supposed to ensure a good crop of apples. The farm-servants procure an ash-fagot, round which they carefully put as many binds as possible, because they are rewarded with cups of cider equivalent in number to the binds which encircle the fagot. The fagot is then placed on the fire, and as each bind bursts they claim a cup of cider; they have also a bowl of toast and cider which they take into the orchard, and, putting a piece of toast on the king or principal apple-tree, repeat the following lines:—

It appears that exactly the same words are not always used on this occasion, a different version being given in the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1791.

Tantivy.—According to Harrod’s History of Stamford, the origin of this sporting cry is to be sought in the name of St. Tibba, who lived as an anchoritess at Ryhall, near Stamford, and died and was buried there. According to Camden, she was the patroness of hawking, fowling, and other sports, like the Roman Diana. She was a relative of Penda, King of Mercia, and lived a holy life at Godmanchester, in Hunts, before she went to Ryhall. Stukely says that her cell was at the north-west corner of the outside of Ryhall Church. She is thus commemorated by Drayton in his Polyolbion:—

Curious Inventory.—The following, from the original in my hands, may interest some of your City readers: “An inventary of the goodes creditte and debtes of Thomas Potter, late of the parishe of St. Nicholas Acon, of the Citie of London, salter, deceased. Made and praysed the one and twentith daie of Aprill, by Richard Smithe, grocer, Thomas Withers, habberdasher, and William Casson, grocer, in the year of Our Lord one thowsand six hundred and nyne, as followeth: Imprimis, one fether bed and a boulster, iii^li; item, two cloakes, xxviii^s; item, one gowne, xv^s; item, two paire of breeches, xiii iii^d; item, two ould dubletts, v^s; item, one suite of black rathe, xx^s; item, two jerkins, viii^s; item, two paire of stockinges and a paire of mittens, viii^d; item, two wasecotes and a hatt, iii x^d; item, eleven fallinge bandes and a paire of cuffes, ii^s iiii; item, five shirtes and fower handkerchers, vii^s ii^d; item, two handtowells and a cloth (?) capp, x^s; item, a bible and a prayer-booke, iii^s ii^d; item, a brasse candlesticke and one seale, xviii^d; item, one chamberpott, xii^d; item, a brushe, ii^d; item, a leatherne trunke, vi^s; item, a cashe chest, viii^s; item, one half of two cannas amornifi (?), xiiii^li iii^d.” The last two words are very illegibly written. The document is imperfect.

E.

Reviews.

The above-mentioned firm must be congratulated on the very able manner in which they have performed their part in the production of the volume before us; for obvious reasons, it is not for us to speak of the editor’s share in the work, further than to state that he has conscientiously tried to perform the task which he had undertaken. This volume, which completes the work of “Greater London,” comprises the whole of that portion of the metropolitan police area, outside the limits of the Board of Works, which is on the south side of the Thames, extending from Erith in the east to Kingston and Esher in the west, and embracing within its scope the important towns of Woolwich, Chislehurst, Bromley, Croydon, Epsom, Richmond, Kew, and Wimbledon, together with the several smaller parishes, villages and hamlets, that lie within its area. This area, almost every nook and corner of which—thanks to our railway system—may be visited on the Saturday afternoon holidays in summer, and most of them even in winter, contains, as we need hardly add, much that may interest the ordinary visitor, should he care for quiet and peaceful rural scenery, or the artist who may be in search of choice “bits.” Mansions and other buildings will be found possessing historical associations: such, for instance, as Chislehurst, with its memories of the antiquary Camden, and the Emperor Louis Napoleon; Hayes and Keston, the favourite haunts of Pitt and Wilberforce; Beddington, where we find the Carews and Sir Walter Raleigh; Croydon, where there is much to read about in the long roll of primates who have occupied the palace there till Addington became their home; Epsom, where we see “the quality” drinking the waters, and Lord Derby and his friends inaugurating those races whose name is not only national, but world-wide. In the chapters devoted to Richmond and its neighbourhood the reader is placed in contact with bygone English sovereigns and princes and princesses; here, too, he is surrounded by Kitty Clive, Gay, Thomson, and a host of children of the Muses. Indeed, from end to end of the volume the reader is brought face to face with great men and women who have added a light to the pages of English history. It only remains to add that the work possesses a copious index, and that it is profusely illustrated, engravings being given, not only of places as they exist in the present day, but also of historical buildings which have long since been swept away. Of these we may mention Nonsuch Palace, near Cheam, and the Old Palace at Richmond, which latter, through the kindness of Messrs. Cassell, we are enabled to reproduce.

Mr. Sainsbury has brought out a fourth volume of the “Calendar of East India State Papers,” which, in point of intrinsic interest and editorial treatment, will suffer by comparison with none of its predecessors. Any authoritative compilation, dealing with the vast collection of materials available for the history of British Colonies in their official relations with the parent State, is sure to command the widest interest; and such a work, when treating of the early and truly wayward fortune of the mighty national stake contained in our Indian Empire, should be peculiarly attractive to the countrymen of Clive and Warren Hastings.{282}

The original documents calendered in the present volume consist, as before, chiefly of the Court minutes of the East India Company, domestic State papers and correspondence, original correspondence, East India State papers, and Holland correspondence. The light which these combine to throw upon the contemporary history of our greatest trading community is sometimes almost painfully intense.

The Company in 1625 was in truth placed in both a dangerous and a helpless position. The Amboyne massacre of three years before was as yet not only unpunished, but almost unreproved, except by the voice of popular indignation in England. We may, in fact, estimate the inaction of the Government to a certain extent in proportion to the violence of this outcry against “that most bloody and treacherous villainy.” It was in the spring of this year (1625), we read here, that the crisis provoked by official supineness was reached, a popular outbreak against Dutch residents being apprehended on the approaching Shrove Tuesday. This movement had been fanned by certain incendiary pamphlets; by a picture, and by a play, each reflecting strongly upon the inhumanity of the Dutch towards English traders. The picture, in especial, appears to have been a masterpiece of animosity, for therein was “lively, largely, and artificially” set forth the interior of the supposed Torture Chamber at Amboyne. Now that a tardy justice was about to be dealt to the judicial murderers of their fellows, the Company was content to permit the picture itself to be suppressed. Yet that the members were secretly proud of their manifesto is apparent from their naïve regret that “His Majesty and their Lordships” had not been “presented with a view of this horrid spectacle.” Owing to the precautions of the Council, the fateful day passed without an outbreak, but none the less, as the editor justly observes, the sore rankled long in the hearts of true-born Englishmen. At length reprisals were instituted, and three Dutch ships were arrested at Portsmouth, only to be released, in return, as the popular rumour went, for a secret bribe of three tons of gold. Finally, the dispute was allowed to drag out its slow length in diplomatic correspondence, and a party-trial in Holland.

The remaining features of interest in this volume are connected with the private details of the Company’s financial ventures, and these reveal a state of affairs most melancholy to contemplate. To such a depth of poverty had the once flourishing Company sunk, that in 1629, with a debt of £300,000 already incurred, the Governor was compelled to confess their inability to advance £10,000 to the Crown towards the expenses of the French War. At the same time, too, every investment in the Far East turned out disastrously. The Dutch not only pillaged English factories with impunity, but openly thwarted any chance of carrying on a lucrative trade, by forcing their own spices upon English factors at ruinous prices. Moreover, the constitutions of our countrymen too often succumbed to the pestilential swamps and jungles of New Holland. Then the natives, as usual an unreliable element, both broke their contracts and ill-treated the Company’s factors, in spite of their “accursed oaths to the contrary.” Yet in the end British constancy and enterprise prevailed. Fresh subscriptions poured in, new ships were fitted out, and returned laden with ample wealth. The English merchantmen stoutly held their own against the Dutch pirates, and beat them off—one ship (the Lion) against ten—in an action that recalled the glories of Grenville and his Revenge. Therefore it will be seen that this volume closes with a happier augury of renewed peace and prosperity.{283}

It was inevitable that the Centenary of Dr. Johnson’s death should recall into existence some at least of his contributions to English literature, and Mr. Unwin has done well in publishing at this moment a choice selection from the “burly Doctor’s” works, under the above title. The little brochure on our table by no means exhausts that mine of wealth which is to be found in the writings of Dr. Johnson; but, so far as it goes, it is carefully and conscientiously selected, and ought to be most welcome to his many admirers.

Johnsoniana. Arranged by R. W. Montagu. Boot & Son. 1884.

A most appropriate and well-timed collection of the best of Dr. Johnson’s sayings and opinions, gleaned not only from Boswell but from other sources. These are arranged in chapters under separate headings. Is it by accident, or by set purpose, we wonder, that one chapter is devoted to “Love, Friendship, and Affection,” and another to “Marriage”? The life of Johnson prefixed to this little volume is a happy model of condensation. Published at a shilling, it ought to command just now a very large sale.

Pottery and Porcelaìn. By F. Litchfield. Bickers. 1884.

This is a most useful manual for the collector of old china and articles of vertu, a guide based on long and large practical experience. The book is partly historic, and the chapters on “Ancient Pottery” and “The Mediæval and Renaissance Periods” will be perhaps the most interesting to our readers. But those whose tastes are more modern than antiquarian will derive more pleasure from the chapters relating the story of the introduction of porcelain into Europe; while nobody, however large his or her own experience may be, can afford to despise or to dispense with the lists of the marks and monograms adopted by the Wedgwoods, the Spodes, the Copelands, and other manufacturers of pottery, or with the “hints and cautions to collectors” to be found on pp. 191-199. The illustrations are numerous and excellent; and the little work can boast the merit of a very careful index.

Phallicism. By Hargrave Jennings. G. Redway. 1884.

This book is written ad clerum, and appeals to the scholar only, and not to the multitude. It is a masterly and exhaustive account of that worship of the creative powers of nature which, under various names, has prevailed among all the nations of antiquity and of mediæval times, alike in Egypt and India, in Italy and Gaul, among the Israelites of old, and among the primitive inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland. Mr. Jennings treats of his subject in its celestial and terrestrial, its heathen and Christian aspects; and he traces its connection with the Gnostics, the Buddhists, and the Rosicrucians. He sees Phallicism in the obelisks and pyramids of the Nile, in the monolithic circles of Stonehenge and of Avebury, and in the Round Towers of Ireland. A worship or cult so ancient and so widely spread, it is clear, must have a history, and a curious one; and this Mr. Jennings has traced in a way so scholarly as to leave little or nothing to be said by others. He has carried his inquiry much further back, and also in many more countries, than all previous writers, including Mr. R. P. Knight, who drew his pictures of Phallic worship chiefly from what he had himself witnessed in Italy and the South of France. It will surprise very many of our readers to learn that the erection of the Tower of Babel was probably an early outburst of{284} this worship, and that its hidden and mystic meaning was the same as that of the Round Towers in “the sister island,” which were nothing more or less than fire towers, expressive of the ancient faith of the Parsees. How far these speculations are true in fact, must be left to the learned to decide. But certainly the work before us will be found a most valuable auxiliary to all who care to pursue such a subject of inquiry, a subject for which Mr. Jennings is the better fitted on account of his long and intimate acquaintance with the Rosicrucians, their tenets, and their practices. The issue of the work is limited to 400 copies for English subscribers.

Our readers may perhaps remember that some time ago we reviewed M. Eugène Plon’s magnificent volume on Benvenuto Cellini.[83] From the extreme care with which the work was done, it was quite evident that we had before us the result of enthusiastic sympathy with the artist whose biography we were invited to study, and whose genius was so thoroughly appreciated. M. Plon would not take a final leave of his hero, and every fresh discovery referring to him would be duly recorded and given to the public. Nor have we been disappointed of our expectation, for the quarto brochure of which we have just transcribed the title-page, is an interesting contribution to the history of art in general, and of Benvenuto Cellini in particular. It consists of two parts, which we shall briefly notice in succession.

This description is M. Eugène Plon’s. He further informs us in a footnote that the portrait in question, originally preserved at Prato, is now at Florence, and belongs to the collection of the Commendatore Luigi Vai; its existence was pointed out to our author by the Director of the State Paper Office of Tuscany, Commendatore Cesare Guasti; it was intended for the celebrated Bianca Capello, to whom Francesco di Medici forwarded it, together with this short note:—

There is no doubt whatever, therefore, on the authenticity of this portrait. M. Plon has had it photographed in the original size, and it is impossible to imagine anything more exquisite as a work of art. With{285} reference to the date, it must be assigned between 1568 and 1570, for we know that Benvenuto Cellini died in the beginning of 1571, and about the close of the preceding year he complained of suffering from a severe bronchial attack, which had obliged him to discontinue work for the space of several weeks.

M. Plon has taken the opportunity afforded by the portrait to give us a short sketch of the life of Bianca Capello, her first marriage with Pietro Bonaventuri, the romantic adventures which followed upon it, and her subsequent relations with Francesco di Medici. He has added to his interesting memoir two portraits of Bianca: one by Angiolo Bronzino, preserved in the Uffizi Gallery; the other likewise by Angiolo Bronzino, exhibited in that of the Palazzo Pitti.

The second part of M. Plon’s supplement or appendix is devoted to an account of several works of art ascribed to Benvenuto Cellini. We first meet with a statue of the god Pluto, belonging to a London virtuoso, and which was exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1879. It is supposed to have been cast in the Petit-Nesle foundry, and to have been originally one of the twelve Dii Majores ordered by Francis I., and which were to have been worked in silver as decorations for his festivals. There is nothing to prove that we have here a production of Benvenuto Cellini, but it certainly belongs to the school of Michael Angelo, and if the artist is not Cellini he must be Giovanni di Bologna.

The next thing to notice is a large basin of silver-gilt workmanship, belonging to Lord Cowper, and the ewer corresponding to which is described and reproduced in M. Plon’s first volume; it represents a series of scenes from the Old Testament. “The richness and elegance of the compositions,” says our author, “betray the hand of a first-rate artist.” Let us add that both the statue of Pluto previously mentioned and the present basin have found a place amongst the illustrations of the work we are now reviewing.

Two other articles of vertu (two cups, or rather their mountings) are also ascribed as probably Cellini’s work, on the authority of M. Alfred Darcel (letter to M. Edmond Bonnaffé, in the Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité, April 14, 1883). We have further to mention two gold jewels intended to be worn on a man’s cap (nella berretta), and which were engraved by Cellini’s rival, Caradosso. This naturally leads M. Plon to insert a letter addressed by our artist to Isabella d’Este, Duchess of Mantua, a letter in which he adds further details to those he had already given (see Benvenuto Cellini) on Caradosso.

The last description we have to allude to here is that of a salt-cellar, which appears to have been made for Frederigo II., Duke of Mantua, and which was a work of high art. M. Plon gives us the correspondence relating to it, correspondence preserved in the archives of the Gonzaga family, and which has been copied there by M. Armand Baschet, who has so often and in so remarkable a manner contributed to our knowledge of the social, political, and intellectual history of Italy during the sixteenth century.

In conclusion, this elegant brochure is an important and necessary appendix to the volume we reviewed last year; it may be regarded as not only a supplement to M. Plon’s catalogue raisonné of Benvenuto Cellini’s work, but a memoir of Bianca Capella, and a graphic though far from edifying sketch of Italian life at the time of the Reformation.

English Etchings, Parts xli. and xlii. (D. Bogue, 27, King William-street, W.C.), which are now before us, are fully up to the standard of the{286} parts previously published. Among the plates calling for special mention in these pages is an interesting addition to the series of etchings of Old London, “Covent Garden Market,” by Mr. A. W. Williams. Orleton Church, Herefordshire, a spirited etching by Mr. Oliver Baker, shows the fine Jacobean pulpit of oak, covered with elaborate carving, and part of the chancel arch with the head of a bishop in mitre and amice as a drip-stone termination.

Obituary Memoirs.

The Rev. Hugh Pigot, Rector of Stretham, author of “Suffolk Superstitions” and “The History of Hadleigh,” died in October.

Mr. William Pettit Griffith, architect, died in October. The son of an architect of repute, he was born in 1815, and, adopting his father’s profession, followed it for more than half a century. Devoting much of his leisure to archæology, he became a member of several societies of antiquaries, and wrote “Grecian Architecture,” “A Natural System of Architecture,” “Mediæval Architecture,” “Ancient and Gothic Churches,” besides many papers published in archæological journals and magazines, especially the serial of the Surrey Archæological Society. He designed various schools and other minor public buildings, and restored St. John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, and parts of the church of St. Sepulchre, Holborn.

Mr. Octavian Blewitt, K.L., F.R.G.S., many years secretary of the Royal Literary Fund, died recently, aged 81. In early life Mr. Blewitt travelled much in Italy, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, and other countries, and on his return to England was, in 1839, elected to the post of secretary to the Royal Literary Fund. In this capacity Mr. Blewitt spent many years in arranging the papers, literary, financial, and historical, which constituted the records of the association. Mr. Blewitt was the author of several well-known works, including “The Panorama of Torquay,” published in 1828, and afterwards reprinted in an enlarged edition as “A Descriptive and Historical Sketch of the District comprised between the Dart and Teign,” also the “Handbook for Central Italy and Rome,” and the “Handbook for Southern Italy and Naples,” being two of the series of Murray’s Hand-books.

Signor Luigi Bonfatti, the archivist and librarian of Gubbio, in Umbria, died suddenly at the end of October. “Every seeker into the strange and eventful history of what is now but the time-worn relic of a mediæval city,” writes Mr. W. Mercer, “has lost in him a guide, philosopher, and friend. Only a week before his death he climbed with me the picturesque tower of the Palazzo Pubblico, that often served as a prison-house for captives taken in battle. His pen, fertile with a knowledge of the local antiquities, may be traced in numerous brochures and collected records of recent date. He strove to pierce the shadows that cluster round the memory of Maestro Giorgio and others who made Gubbio famous for his porcelain manufacture, marvels truly of the potter’s art that are scattered far and wide. One small plate only is left to witness in the Municipio to the brilliant reverberi that distinguished the work of artists whose successors from time to time have vainly imagined that they also have caught the secret of the changing colours under flashes{287} of instantaneous light. I left him busily arranging rare books, with a promise that he would send me an early copy of a history of Gubbio, now nearly ready for the press in the able hands of a learned notary, Signor Lucarelli. Those who have known Signor Bonfatti will join me in lamenting the loss of a scholar whose name may sound strange outside Umbria, and unfamiliar to most Italian ears, but which is, nevertheless, an enduring name, notwithstanding its closest connection is with a half-forgotten, ruinous city that itself lies out of the beaten track of wayfarers.”

Meetings of Learned Societies.

METROPOLITAN.

Royal Archæological Institute.—Nov. 6, Mr. J. Micklethwaite, F.S.A., in the chair. The Rev. H. M. Scarth, Rector of Wrington, read a paper on the “Recent Discoveries of Roman Remains at Bath,” in which he explained the various additions to the ancient Thermæ which have lately been brought into the open air, including the large central bath, with its ambulatory, &c. The discovery of antiquities at Zoan, in Egypt, formed the subject of a discourse by Mr. Flinders Petrie, who exhibited some of the objects which had been found. Many of these were taken from the residence of a man of consequence in Egypt, and included articles of domestic use and personal ornamentation,—statues, combs. The last paper read was by Mr. E. Peacock, F.S.A., and comprised some interesting notes on the curious custom of swan marking, or “swan-upping.”

London and Middlesex Archæological Society.—A crowded conversazione was held at Skinners’ Hall on Wednesday evening, Nov. 12; Mr. Alfred White, F.S.A., presided. Mr. G. Laurence Gomme read a paper on “The Early Municipal History of London,” touching upon its charters and institutions, its corporations and public bodies. Mr. J. D. Mathews followed with some “Reminiscences of the Church and Parish of St. John the Baptist upon Walbrook.” Mr. John E. Price then read a paper “On the Recent Discoveries made on the Line of the Inner Circle Railway and at Bevis Marks.” He said the antiquarian treasures turned up in the course of tunnelling for the new railway were numerous and interesting. There were, first of all, Roman sculpture and masonry in position, and the same disjointed and used for other purposes by builders of more recent periods. The fragments of Roman statuary were numerous, and for the most part well preserved along the route taken by the excavations; scrolls and inscriptions being also found. Roman art now and then came to light. The remains of pottery discovered were slight, and not of exceptional interest. At the close of his address the lecturer suggested that a fund should be started and subscriptions invited, in order to purchase or protect the numerous relics constantly being brought to light in London and elsewhere. Among the most interesting articles exhibited was Mr. Walford’s portrait of Dr. Johnson by Sir J. Reynolds, which was engraved in our July number for 1883; there was also a collection of plans, maps, and archæological fragments relating mainly to the city.

Society of Biblical Archæology.—Nov. 4, Dr. S. Birch, President, in the chair. Mr. P. Le Page Renouf read a paper “On some Religious Texts of the Early Egyptian Period preserved in Hieratic Papyri of the{288} British Museum.” The President described four fragments of papyrus belonging to the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, and exhibited by the Secretary of the Science and Art Department. Mr. E. A. Budge read some notes on Egyptian stelæ, principally of the eighteenth dynasty.

St. Paul’s Ecclesiological Society.—Oct. 28, Mr. J. P. Seddon in the chair. Mr. Hugh Stannus read a paper on “The decoration of St. Paul’s Cathedral,” in which he described the principles of treatment which he regarded as correct, including the “articulation” of the dome design with the architectural substructure. A short discussion followed, in which Mr. Micklethwaite, Mr. G. H. Birch, and Mr. Statham took part. Mr. Micklethwaite urged the desirability of first settling the future arrangement of the cathedral for worship, and its complete furniture (in the widest sense) for that purpose, before deciding on the treatment of the culminating point in the decoration. Mr. Statham recommended a treatment of the dome in eight partitions, such a treatment being rather suited to an octagon dome, such as that at Florence, and being, in fact, a contradiction of the actual architectural structure of a hemispherical dome, and tending to weaken its effect of space and mystery, and reduce the dome from poetry to prose. Mr. Seddon summed up in favour of this latter view.

New Shakspere.—Oct. 24, Mr. F. J. Furnivall, Director, in the chair. The Chairman congratulated the society on reaching its one hundredth meeting. In speaking of work done during the past year, he called attention to Mr. S. L. Lee’s work on “As You Like It,” and that of the Rev. W. A. Harrison on “Richard III.,” as examples of critical work; he also spoke of the success of the Society’s performance of Shakespearian music in chronological order; and took the blame on himself for the delay in the appearance of the “old spelling” edition, mentioning some points in which the editors are endeavouring to make the edition as complete as possible. The following papers were read: by Miss Leigh-Noel “On Shakespeare’s Garden of Girls: I. Hothouse Flowers—Juliet, Imogen, Ophelia,” and by Mr. E. Flügel, giving some early German criticisms on Shakespeare by an ancestor of his own (1699), noticing Shakespeare as not a learned man, not worth much attention, and greatly inferior to Dryden.

National Society for Preserving the Memorials of the Dead.—Oct. 28 and 30, twenty-four new members, including Lords Dartmouth and Wharncliffe, and the Bishop of Chester, were elected. Reports as to the work of the Society in the following cases were approved: The replacing of four brasses in Cheam Church; enclosure of the De Ros effigy, near York; restoration of the Barnewall altar-tomb at Lusk, Ireland; replacement of memorial slabs in Milford Church, and in the church of St. Michael in Coslany, Norwich; headstone in Chetwynd churchyard. Reports from the Executive Committee on the following cases were placed before the Council: The replacement of the “Pedlar’s Window” in Lambeth Church; restoration of the monument of Sir Laurence Washington, in Garsdon Church; preservation of the De Vere effigies at Earl’s Colne; removal of memorial slabs from Bishops Stortford Church; and of the Blackhall monument from Totnes Church; the replacement of memorial slabs in Bishops Cannings Church; publication of registers and inscriptions in Banstead Church. It was stated that the work of the Society could be greatly enlarged if larger funds were forthcoming.

Hellenic.—Oct. 23, Professor C. T. Newton, C.B., in the chair. The{289} Rev. Edmond Warre, Head Master of Eton, read a paper on “The Raft of Ulysses,” as described in the fifth book of the Odyssey. By personal research and observation of modern processes of shipbuilding, the writer had arrived at a clear idea of the construction of the raft in question, and set forth his conclusions in detail, illustrating them by two models of a raft and of an ancient axe and adze, which had been made under his direction in the School of Mechanics at Eton. Mr. Warre alluded to a confirmation of his theory which he had lately seen in the construction of certain flat vessels which are used at Portsmouth for raising heavy weights from the water. Mr. Newton, after thanking Mr. Warre for his paper, reminded the audience that there existed in the British Museum two genuine fragments of ancient vessels—(1) a bronze figure-head from the Bay of Actium, and (2) a cross-beam from the floor of an ancient galley, dredged up from the bottom of the Lake of Nemi. Professor Jebb considered that Mr. Warre’s paper not only for the first time made quite clear the passage in the Odyssey, but also explained the poetical use of the term σχἑδια for ships in general in a passage in the “Hecuba” of Euripides, because it snowed that such a raft seen from land would really resemble a ship. Mr. E. A. Gardner read a paper on some armour and ornaments from Kertch, which were now in the new Museum at Oxford. After a description of the several articles, Mr. Gardner showed that the importance of these finds in the Crimea lay in the fact that, if not of Athenian handiwork, they were certainly of Athenian design, and so might be added to the comparatively scanty remnants of genuine Hellenic metalwork. In connection with the representation of a camel upon one of the ornaments, Mr. Newton pointed out that in a bronze found at Kameiros and now in the British Museum, a man with an Assyrian cut of beard was seated upon a kneeling camel. This bronze, though possibly of Phœnician design, was found in association with other objects belonging to archaic Greek art. Professor P. Gardner, alluding to the complete and sumptuous way in which the results of these Russian discoveries were published, said that in this respect despotic Russia set a good example to free England.

Royal Institute of British Architects.—Nov. 3, Mr. Ewan Christian, President, in his opening address alluded to the immense strides which architecture had made during the last fifty years under Barry, Pugin, Scott, Street, Burgess, Ruskin, and others. He compared the great advantages which students of the present day enjoyed with those which had to be sought for and only acquired after long years of study, at the time when the Institute was founded, and said that the good old charter under which they were incorporated had been carried out to the letter, for they had promoted, as far as possible, the general advancement of architecture, and the various arts and sciences connected with it. Mr. G. Shaw-Lefevre, M.P., the First Commissioner of Works, in seconding a vote of thanks to the president, said it had been his duty to clear away the old Law Courts, and to consider how the west front of Westminster Hall could be best restored. He had taken the advice of Mr. Pearson, one of the most eminent architects in works of that kind, and he had suggested that it should be restored to the condition in which it existed during the reign of Richard II., the period when the Law Courts were added to it. That would involve the building of a double-storied cloister against the wall of the Hall, so that all the beautiful Norman work would be preserved, and, whilst not concealed, it would be kept from the effects of the atmosphere by which it was surrounded. As there{290} were different opinions, however, as to the expediency of this work, he had decided to refer the question to a Select Committee of the House of Commons, when evidence could be heard for or against it. Another great improvement would be found in the works at the Tower—a mass of old warehouses had been removed, the inner ballium wall and the Lanthorn Tower had been rebuilt, and this was a work which the public would greatly appreciate when it was complete. No grander field in the world for architectural display was to be found than in the Metropolis. An unbroken series of great buildings, showing every phase of architecture during the last 800 years, was to be seen in it, specially in the Tower, in Westminster Abbey, and in the works of Inigo Jones, Wren, and Barry. He believed, however, that they had arrived at the end of the Gothic revival, so far as secular buildings were concerned, although it might flourish in other respects for many years. Public opinion and the employment of experts were doing a great work in the selection of styles for buildings of all kinds, and he hoped that the present race of architects would be able to leave us buildings as beautiful as did those who lived in the past.

PROVINCIAL.

Cambridge Antiquarian Society.—October 20, Mr. J. W. Clark, M.A., President, in the chair. Mr. A. G. Wright exhibited five denarii of Posthumus, with the legends FELICITAS · AVG: IOVI · STATORI · NEPTVNO · REDVCI: SAECVLI · FELICITAS: SARAPI · COMITI · AVG · from the Beaconsthorpe hoard (1878): also a Roman bronze ear-ring and a mediæval bronze signet-ring, both found at Stony Hill, Lakenheath, early in this present year; also a photograph of a rare palæolithic implement found at March, in 1877. The Rev. S. S. Lewis exhibited a first brass of Marcus Aurelius,rev. HONOS with portrait of the Emperor erect, olive-branch and cornucopiæ (141 A.D.), found in 1883 at Litlington. The Rev. G. F. Browne exhibited an outlined rubbing of the Wilne font, a very intricate and elaborate piece of early work, with twelve bold characters round the base, supposed to be runic or Oriental, and, in the latter case, probably Palmyrene. Mr. Browne showed next a rubbing of the cross at Hawkswell, near Catterick, with the inscription on a small panel, Hæc est crux sancti jacobi: “This is the Cross of the holy James.” The letters have now almost entirely perished. Bede says that James the Deacon, who was with Paulinus when he Christianised Northumbria and baptized so many thousands (A.D. 627), lived to a very advanced age near Catterick, and that the place where he lived was called by his name. Gale, in his Itineraries, said this was Akeburg. The only place now known by any such name is a single farmhouse called on the ordnance map Akebar, near Hawkswell Church. Mr. Browne found that jacobi was spelt gacobi on the cross, and therefore supposed that it was pronounced in Anglian times with a strong initial y, and with a short o, and asked the people whether there was any place near beginning with Yak. He was told that Akebar was pronounced locally Yakbur. This and the cross together made it practically certain that James the Deacon lived at Akebar, i.e., Jacob-burh, or Yakŏbur, and was buried at Hawkswell. The close resemblance of the panel and the inscription to Welsh crosses made Mr. Browne suspect a British influence, and he thought this gave the key to a great puzzle in the early Church history of Northumbria. Nennius said that Rum (or Rumin), son of Urien, baptized Edwin and the Northumbrians, when it is known that Paulinus was the baptizer, and there is{291} nothing to show that Paulinus was Rum. James had an ally in Romanus, the chaplain of Queen Eanfleda, who was the first infant baptized in Northumbria. This Romanus may account for the British character of James’s monument, and may be the Rum or Rumin who has puzzled historians. The Jarrow inscription, In hoc singulari anno vita redditur mundo, had always been taken as a hopeless puzzle. Mr. Browne showed that the stone on which it is cut had formed part of the wall of the original building, in which also was a stone setting forth that the church was dedicated in the fifteenth year of King Ecfrid (A.D. 684) and the fourth year of Abbat Ceolfrid. This would give a year to which the inscription might refer, if it could be shown that any very remarkable restoration took place in that year. Mr. Browne showed from passages in Bede that it was the year in which the Abbot of Monkwearmouth and many of his monks died of a pestilence which ravaged the district, and especially Jarrow, which is not heard of after that year. Hence the reference was to the cessation of the plague in the year 684. Mr. O. C. Pell, after stating the strong grounds for supposing that there were many “libere tenentes” in existence at the time of Domesday Survey, and that they appear in the “Inquisitio Eliensis” as villani holding acres of demesne land, argued—from (among other examples) an entry in the “Inquisitio Eliensis” respecting Chatteris Manor—that the carucæ of the “lords” and the associated carucæ of the “homines” were of one and the same uniform standard for rating purposes and for measuring areas of terræ ad carucam, and showed thereby that this standard was the capacity of a plough drawn by eight oxen. The necessary consequence appeared to be that there must have been at least 324 “homines” holding virgates in villenage in the Isle of Ely alone. This theory was proved to be correct by a comparison of Domesday Survey with the surveys of certain manors contained in old MSS. of 1221 and 1277.

Haileybury College Antiquarian Society.—Sept. 29. The Rev. H. C. Wright gave an account of a holiday spent in Norway. After a few remarks on the beauty of Norwegian cathedrals in general, and on the wooden church at Borgund, he proceeded to describe a Viking’s ship which he had seen. The mound in which the Viking was supposed to be buried was very much dilapidated. The ship was built entirely of oak, and apparently had neither deck nor seats, so that the rowers had to stand upright to row it. The word Viking, he added, is probably derived from the Vicks or Fiords, and is in no way akin to the word sea-king. Mr. F. W. Headley pointed out, with reference to the Viking’s ship, that the planks were fastened on to the ribs of the ship by withies. Speaking of Trondhjem Cathedral, he mentioned the transepts as in good repair. The nave, now almost gone, has contained some very fine Norman work, and the apse at the end of it, which is divided from the choir by a light screen, contains several styles of architecture, ranging from Early English to Flamboyant. Several photographs were passed round in illustration of the speaker’s remarks. Mr. A. W. T. Perowne spoke of Knaresborough Castle, in one of the dungeons of which may be seen a pillar with twelve arches springing from it. He also spoke of Fountains Abbey, which contains both Early English and Norman work—the cloisters and refectory being specimens of the latter. He also gave short accounts of Ripley, Bolton Abbey, Fountains Abbey, and St. Mary’s Abbey, at York. Mr. H. F. Fisher described Wimborne Minster, a cruciform building having two towers—the central and the western. Between the central tower and the{292} east end is a Norman arch. Under the chancel is a crypt, and there is a church library over the vestry. The church contains also a lunar orrery, of which there are only two other specimens in England—at Wells and at York. Mr. H. Swainson next spoke of Bosham, near Chichester. The setting out of Harold from Bosham Harbour on a voyage to Normandy is recorded in the Bayeux tapestry. The church is built on the site of an old Roman basilica. In the vestry may be seen the corbels of the floor of the room once occupied by the man who kept the light in the tower. The church has a wooden spire. The chronicler spoke of St. Nicholas Church, Leicester, where are some Roman bricks in the tower, and of the Town-hall, which is of wood. He next spoke of Warwick Hospital, founded by the Earl of Essex for twelve old men and a minister, each of whom has a strip of garden; they all move up in turn whenever one dies, the minister always retaining the first strip. Passing on into Shropshire, he spoke of Wenlock Priory, which contains two very large ambulatories; also of the Town-hall, where are a set of stocks, which are not fixed, but stand on wheels. In speaking of Lichfield Cathedral, he mentioned the three spires, and seven huge decorated windows in the Lady-chapel, and also the watching gallery, a feature which exists also in St. Alban’s Abbey. The Close at Lichfield was formerly defended by a moat, of which the present Minster pool is a survival. He also censured the recent removal of the “Pedlar’s Window” from the parish church at Lambeth. Mr. E. P. Ash, a visitor, spoke of Eisenach and the Wartburg, which is said to derive its name from the following incident of Lewis the Springer, who in one of his hunting expeditions, happening to come on the hill on which the Wartburg now stands, exclaimed “Wart Berg du sollst meine Burgsein” Having given some account of the connection of St. Elizabeth with the Wartburg, from which she was ultimately expelled, and took refuge in a convent, he proceeded to speak of Luther, who is said to have spent ten months therein translating the Bible. Several relics of Luther and his family may be seen there still. In the chapel are some swords that are supposed to have belonged to Gustavus Adolphus.

Surrey Archæological Society.—At a special general meeting held Oct. 15, Mr. Granville Leveson-Gower, F.S.A., in the chair, it was resolved that the annual general meeting be hereafter held in January or February, instead of in June or July as at present.

Antiquarian News & Notes.

Professor Sayce left England in November to spend the winter in Egypt.

The mode of treatment of the west front of Westminster Hall is under the consideration of Parliament.

The musical library of Mr. Julian Marshall was lately sold by auction at the rooms of Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge.

The four-light east window of Akely Church, near Buckingham, has been filled with stained glass by Messrs. Meyer & Co., of Munich.

It is reported, on what we believe to be good authority, that Lord Carnarvon is about to resign the Presidency of the Society of Antiquaries.

The Bishop of Peterborough having disapproved of the action of the Committee for the restoration of the Cathedral, the work has been stopped.{293}

A memorial painted window to Richard Hooker, the “judicious” divine of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, has just been unveiled in his old church, Bishopsbourne, near Canterbury.

The library belonging to Sir John H. Thorold, at Syston, very rich in ancient and curious books, will be sold by Messrs. Sotheby & Wilkinson on the 12th of December and following days.

The intended collection of Turner’s works at the Winter Exhibition of the Academy will not be made this season, owing to the dampness of the walls of the new rooms at Burlington House.

The ancient civic maces belonging to the borough of Tenby have been lately repaired and restored by Mr. G Lambert, F.S.A., and at his cost. This is one result of the recent Archæological Congress in South Wales.

Mr. W. Black’s last novel, “Judith Shakespeare,” is worthy of notice for the vast amount of antiquarian interest with which the author has contrived to invest not only Stratford-on-Avon, and Shakespeare’s house, but the interior of his home.

“Nossett’s Mythology,” Greek and Roman, has been now translated into English by Mrs. Angus W. Hall. The book, which is illustrated with drawings by the translator, will be published by Messrs. Kirby & Endean.

The Hardwicke historical manuscripts, which chiefly consist of correspondence with foreign Courts during the reigns of George I. and II., were lately sold to Mr. Astor, who has presented them to the Astor public library in New York.

Mr. R. Garnett, the kind and courteous Superintendent of the Reading Room of the British Museum, has given up his position, having accepted the post of Assistant Keeper. Mr. Fortescue, who is well known to habitués of the Museum, succeeds Mr. Garnett.

The East Anglian is about to be revived under the title of The Suffolk Antiquary and East Anglian Archæological Notes and Queries. It will be edited by the Rev. C. H. E. White, of Ipswich, Hon. Secretary of the Suffolk Archæological Institute. We wish the newly revived venture all possible success.

The Hon. Lewis Wingfield has been engaged in mounting four new productions—“Cymbeline,” which will be played at the Lyceum in March next, for Miss Anderson; “The School for Scandal,” for Mrs. Langtry, to be produced at the Prince’s Theatre; “As You Like It,” for the St. James’s; and an important revival of “The Comedy of Errors,” for the American Dromios, Messrs. Robson & Crane.

Mr. Thackeray Turner, as Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, writes to the Times from 9, Buckingham-street, Strand, very strongly remonstrating against a proposal which has been made, and which has been sanctioned by the architect, Mr. Pearson, gradually to re-face the exterior stonework of Westminster Abbey. He says that by so doing we shall only be forestalling the action of time.

Mr. Murray’s list of forthcoming works includes the following: “Bolingbroke, an historical study,” by J. Churton Collins. “London; its history, antiquarian and modern,” by James Thorne, F.S.A., and H. B. Wheatley, F.S.A. “Works of Alexander Pope,” with notes, &c., by W. J. Courthope. “History of the Roman Empire, from the establishment of the Empire to the accession of Commodus, A.D. 180.”

Catalogues of rare and curious books, most of which contain the names of works of antiquarian interest, have reached us from Messrs. Jarvis and Son, 28, King William-street, W.C. (comprising a copy of{294} “Othello,” 4to. edition, 1655); Messrs. Fawn and Son, Queen’s-road, Bristol; Mr. Geo. Redway, York-street, Covent-garden; Mr. Henry Gray, Cathedral-yard, Manchester; Messrs. Robson and Kerslake, 23, Coventry-street, Haymarket, W.; Von Kühl, Jägerstrasse, Berlin; Von Albert Cohn, Mohrenstrasse, Berlin.

The descriptive and historical account of the Cathedral Churches of England and Wales, which has been for some time past in preparation, will be published forthwith by Messrs. Cassell & Co. The contributors will include Canon Tristram, Dean Kitchin, Rev. Dr. Jessopp, Canon Venables, Prebendary Havergal, Prebendary Gregory Smith, Rev. R. St. John Tyrwhitt, Canon Swainson, Dean Howson, Archdeacon Norris, Canon Creighton, Professor T. M‘Kenny Hughes, Rev. Professor Coolidge, and the Bishop of Sodor and Man. The work will contain an introduction by the Rev. Professor Bonney.

Mr. Frederick Hawkins’s “Annals of the French Stage from its Origin to the Death of Racine,” have been published by Messrs. Chapman & Hall. Mr. Hawkins, says the Times, is the first English writer who has undertaken to deal with this subject on a scale larger than that of a magazine article. It is understood that he has endeavoured to give his work some value as one of literary history and criticism, and has devoted much care to an elucidation of the relations between the Church and the stage in olden times. For his information as to the material situation of the Comédie Française he is indebted to the unpublished registers of that theatre.

The following articles, more or less of an antiquarian character, appear among the contents of the magazines for November:—Quarterly Review, “France under Richelieu.” Art Journal, “Collection of Casts at South Kensington;” “The Western Riviera, La Mortola, and Ventimiglia;” “Marble and Marble Mosaic.” English Illustrated Magazine, “Play, a Scene from the Life of the Last Century;” “Eton.” Edinburgh Review, “The Irish Massacres of 1641;” “Boulger’s History of China.” Temple Bar, “Recollections of Canning and Brougham;” “A Visit to Rothenburg.” Century Magazine, “The Old Sedan Chair;” “Sculptors of the Early Italian Renaissance.” Contemporary Review, “Wurzburg and Vienna;” “Goethe;” “Greek Cities under Roman Rule.” Monthly Packet, “Cameos from English History.” Journal of Education, “The Teaching of History.”

The civic procession to the Royal Courts of Justice on “Lord Mayor’s Day” (November 10) contained several picturesque and interesting pageants, representing different historic incidents and personages connected with the early history of the City of London. These included William the Conqueror, Richard Cœur de Lion, Henricus Fitz-Alwyne, the first Mayor of London, Richard II., and Queen Elizabeth. The immortal “Dick” Whittington was represented sitting by the Highgate mile-post, accompanied by his cat, and in the act of listening to the bells of Bow Church, a model of which, as it was in A.D. 1400, came next in the procession; and this was followed by a counterfeit presentment of Sir Richard Whittington in all his civic dignity. The representative of Lord Mayor Walworth, standing over the slain Wat Tyler, was received with groans and hisses as the procession passed along.

The Progrès de l’Aisne gives the following particulars with regard to some discoveries which have lately been made by M. Moreau, a wellknown antiquarian, at Chouy, near St. Quentin. The village, though situated upon a height, is well provided with water, and M. Moreau has{295} discovered traces of ancient Roman baths, though the small number of arms found induces the belief that it was never a military post during the Roman occupation. The cemetery was used as a place of interment from a period preceding the conquest of Gaul by Cæsar until the eighth century without interruption, and a large number of Gallic and Gallo-Roman graves have been discovered. Among other articles found were a Gallic boot sole, studded with nails, 27 buckles, clasps and plates in bronze and iron, 38 bracelets, rings, and other articles of personal adornment, mostly in bronze, though a few are silver-gilt, six bronze pieces of money of the time of Licinius, Crisus, Constantine II., Valens, and Valentianus I., two bronze dishes, 89 earthen dishes and 14 in glass, nine iron swords, 15 hatchets, daggers, and javelins, 108 flints of all shapes, thousands of coffin nails, and a signet ring with nine facets, upon which are engraved the greeting vivas, the dove and olive branch, the palm, the lamb, the stag, and the hare, symbols in use among the early Christians.

Among the various properties advertised for sale is Etall Castle, one of the Northumbrian “Peel Castles,” as they are styled. It is situated in the parish of Ford, about six miles from Coldstream, in the valley of the Till, a tributary of the Tweed. The present mansion is modern, of stone, with a heavy roof, and large square windows. It is approached by an avenue of finely-grown trees, the gardens are laid out in the Italian style, and the entire estate comprises about 3,440 acres. Near the mansion is the parish church, built by Butterfield in 1850, in memory of the late Lord Frederick Fitzclarence and his only daughter. On the west of the village, on the banks of the river, and about a quarter of a mile from the mansion, are the picturesque ruins of the ancient castle, once the abode of the noble family of Manners. This castle was taken by the army of James IV. of Scotland on his invasion of England in the year 1513, shortly before the battle of Flodden Field, and is mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in the Fifth canto of “Marmion,” as well as the other border fortresses in the neighbourhood—Wark, Ford, and Norham. Over the entrance of the castle are sculptured the arms of Manners, it having been embattled by Sir Robert de Manners, who was knighted on the field of battle by Edward III. In the grounds is a handsome chapel, built of stone in the style of the Edwardian period; and near the river are to be seen the foundations of St. Mary’s Chapel and Well.—Times.

The dispersion of collections of art work is being apparently followed up by the sale of properties remarkable for historic or antiquarian features. The sales of the Island of Herm and of Boscastle, in Cornwall (both of which were abortive), have been, or are to be, succeeded by two others of a still more remarkable character. The one is the extensive ruins of Middleham Castle, in Yorkshire, celebrated for its splendid Norman keep, built by Robert Fitz Ranulph, and famous as the stronghold of Warwick, the king-maker, and as the favourite residence of his son-in-law, Richard III. The fine appearance of the keep has, however, been considerably interfered with by the Decorated buildings which surround it, and which were erected in the fifteenth century by Robert Neville, “the peacock of the North.” In later times, many of the scenes in “The Last of the Barons” were laid at Middleham. The second sale is that of Goodrich Court and Castle, which, for picturesque effect, is one of the most beautiful and attractive localities in the scenery of the Wye. Goodrich Court was, in Sir Samuel Meyrick’s time, noted for its unrivalled collection of mediæval armoury. The mansion itself is a restoration by{296} the late Mr. Blore. The castle, of which the principal remaining features are the gateway, a three-storied Norman keep, and an Edwardian banquetting-hall, was successively the residences of the Earls of Pembroke and the Talbots, and, later on, stood a gallant siege under Sir Henry Lingen, who held it for the King against the Parliamentary army.

During the visit of a party of local archæologists to Wirksworth, in Derbyshire, a paper was read by Dr. Webb, proving that lead mining had been carried on there from time immemorial. The following circumstances suggest that the Wirksworth mines were known to the Saxons: 1. A mine near to Castleton was called Odin, after one of their gods. 2. Eadburga, Abbess of Repton (to which monastic institution the lead mines at Wirksworth appear to have belonged at this time), sent from Wirksworth, A.D. 714, a leaden coffin, in which to bury St. Guthlac, Prior of Crowland Abbey, and formerly a monk at Repton. 3. Kenewara, also Abbess of Repton, gave the estate at Wirksworth, A.D. 835, to Humbert, the Alderman, on the condition that he gave lead to the value of three hundred shillings to Archbishop Colenoth, for the use of Christ’s Church, Canterbury. That the mines were worked after the Norman Conquest is proved by a survey, in the possession of the Duchy of Lancaster, of Peveril Castle, made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who greatly encouraged mining operations by inviting skilled workmen from abroad; and this survey describes the castle as being covered with lead. As it was built in the reign of the Conqueror, the lead used in its construction was probably obtained from Derbyshire mines; in fact, Domesday Book mentions the working of three lead mines at Wirksworth, one at Crich, one at Ashford, one at Bakewell, and one at Metesford, a manor in the neighbourhood of Matlock.—Weekly Register.

Among the most interesting properties which of late have come into the market is that of Boxley Abbey, near Maidstone, which was sold by auction in October last by Messrs. Walton & Lee, of Mount-street, Grosvenor-square. It is described as situated about two miles from Maidstone, and as consisting of about 900 acres of first-class meadow, hop and fruit plantations, arable and woodlands. It comprises the remains of the old Cistercian Abbey of Boxley, with its more modern Elizabethan residence, gardener’s cottage, stabling and offices, gardens, lawns, fish-stews, and terraced walks, surrounded by the abbey-gate or home farm lands, partly enclosed within the abbey walls. The estate, we are told, “lies within a ring fence, is well watered by an abundance of springs, is intersected by good roads, and abounds in historical traditions.” The Pilgrim’s-road, trodden by the feet of so many persons on their way to and from the shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury, and the walls of the Abbey, which is said to have been the first abode of Cistercian monks in England, dating from the beginning of the eleventh century, a splendid specimen of an old tithe barn in excellent preservation, and a monastic chapel, now converted into a dwelling-house, are objects of especial interest to the antiquary and archæologist. The abbey itself was founded about the middle of the twelfth century by William d’Ipres, Earl of Kent. In the reign of Edward I. the Abbot was summoned to Parliament on several occasions; and Edward II. took up his residence at this abbey during the siege of Leeds Castle in October, 1221, from the refusal of its governor to provide lodgings for Queen Isabella and her suite when going on pilgrimage to Canterbury. It is said there was here a curious crucifix upon the rood-screen, which came to be called the “Rood of Grace,” and of which the mechanism{297} would seem to have been extremely ingenious. To this rood or crucifix the abbey was indebted for many offerings, its curious movements being reported as miraculous, and, under that impression, great numbers of people were continually resorting thither. At the time of the Reformation, the rood was publicly exposed at St. Paul’s-cross, in London, by the Bishop of Rochester, and soon afterwards broken to pieces and burnt.—Times.

The Marquis of Bute has given £500 to the fund for establishing a British School of Archæology at Athens. The executive committee contemplate building a suitable house on Mount Lycabettus, in the immediate vicinity of Athens, where a site has been placed at their disposal by the Greek Government. It is intended that the house should afford a residence for the director, and should contain a library of reference. The aim of the school will be to promote the study of Greek art and architecture in their remains of every period; the study of inscriptions; the exploration of ancient sites; and especially all branches of research which can illustrate Hellenic life and literature, from the earliest age. Membership of the school will be open to all students accredited by any university or college of Great Britain, by the authorities of the British Museum, or of the Royal Academy, or by any other institution qualified to give credentials. The director will guide the studies of the members, and exercise a general supervision over the researches undertaken by them; report on the work of the school, and on any discoveries which may come to his knowledge; and also afford information and advice to properly accredited British travellers in Greece. It is believed that, through the agency of the school, valuable notes might be collected from visitors to the Hellenic countries, who, without being specialists, are competent scholars and observers; and such notes might conveniently be registered in the annual report of the school. The increasing interest in archæological studies which is being manifested in the universities and schools of the country warrants the hope that, when the school has been established at Athens, facilities will be afforded to students desirous of proceeding thither for the purpose of supplementing the knowledge derived from books by a direct acquaintance with the scenes and monuments of Greek life. A general feeling exists that England ought not to remain behind France, Germany, and the United States in possessing a centre in Greece for the furtherance of intellectual studies. The general committee, of which the Prince of Wales is president, already includes representatives of the Universities and public schools, of the Royal Academy, of the British Museum, of the Society of Antiquaries, of the Society of Dilettanti, and of the London Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. While it is believed that the funds already subscribed will probably be adequate for the provision of a house and library, further contributions are still needed for the purpose of endowing the office of director with a proper salary, and of creating a printing fund for the publications of the school. Any subscriptions towards these objects will be gratefully received and acknowledged by the treasurer, Mr. Walter Leaf, Old Change, E.C.; by the bankers, Messrs. Grindlay & Co., 55, Parliament-street, S.W.; or by the secretaries, Mr. T. H. S. Escott, 38, Brompton-crescent, S.W.; Mr. James Gow, 13, Old-square, Lincoln’s-inn; and Professor Jebb, the University, Glasgow.{298}

Antiquarian Correspondence.

All communications must be accompanied by the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication.

“SWORD-SLIPPER.”

Sir,—In the registers of St. Nicholas’ Church (now the Cathedral) at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1576, I find mention made of “William Browne, Sword-Slipper;” as also of “Robert Peacock, Sword-Slipper;” and again in March, 1586, of “Robert Heslop, Sword-Slipper.” Brand, in his “History of Newcastle,” places the “sword-slippers” among the ancient but extinct Companies of that town. As I can find no other record of such a fraternity, may I venture to ask whether any of your readers can throw light upon its object and history.

Mus.

SOMERSET FOLK LORE.

Sir,—I cut the following paragraph the other day out of a local Calendar for 1882:—

“On the eve of Twelfth Day, in Somersetshire, at evening, the farmers, their friends, servants, &c., all assemble, and near six o’clock all walk together to a field where wheat is growing. Twelve small fires and one large one are lighted. The attendants, headed by the master of the family, pledge the company in old cider. A circle is formed round the large fire, when a general shout and hallooing takes place, which you hear answered from all the villages and fields near. This being finished, the company all return to the house, where the good wife and her maids are preparing supper. A large cake is always provided, with a hole in the middle. After supper the company all attend the head herdsman to the wainhouse. The man, at the head of his friends, fills a cup with ale, and stands opposite the first or finest oxen; he then pledges him in a curious toast, and the company follow his example with all the other oxen, addressing each by his name. This being over, the large cake is produced with much ceremony, and put on the horn of the first ox, through the hole in the cake; he is then tickled, to make him toss his head. If he throws the cake behind, it is the mistress’s perquisite; if before, the herdsman claims it. They then all return to the house, and spend the rest of the day in festivity.”

May I ask whether this custom is really still kept up, or whether it is among the old customs that have passed away?

Curiosus.

THE ISLAND OF THE SCOTS.

Sir,—The following jottings may be of interest to your correspondent, “R. M. B.” The incident on which Professor Aytoun founded his wellknown Lay is narrated in a tract, the full title of which is as follows: Memoirs | of the | Lord Viscount Dundee, | the | Highland Clans, | and | The Massacre of Glenco: | with | an Account | of | Dundee’s Officers after they went to | France. | By an Officer of the Army. | Non ille pro caris amicis | Aut Patria timidus mori (sic). Hor. Carm. Lib. 4, Ode 9 |.

Quis Cladem illius Noctis, quis funera fando | Explicet.—Virg. Æneid. Lib. 2. |

| Series longissima Rerum | Per tot ducta Viros.—Ibid. Lib. I. |{299}

London: Printed for Jonas Brown, at the Black Swan, 1714.

The tract itself is somewhat rare, but a reprint will be found in vol. iii. of the “Miscellanea Scotica:” Glasgow, 1818. Sufficiently copious extracts from it have been given by Professor Aytoun in the introductory remarks to his Lay. Here is Lord Macaulay’s opinion on the matter. In a note to the 13th chapter of his History he observes: “I have seldom made use of the ‘Memoirs of Dundee,’ printed in 1714, and never without some misgiving. The writer was certainly not, as he pretends, one of Dundee’s officers, but a stupid and ignorant Grub-street garreteer. He is utterly wrong both as to the place and as to the time of the most important of all the events which he relates, the battle of Killiecrankie. He says that it was fought on the banks of the Tummell, and on the 13th of June. It was fought on the banks of the Garry, and on the 27th of July. After giving such a specimen of inaccuracy as this, it would be idle to point out minor blunders.”

It is by no means unlikely, therefore, that the Island of the Scots is situated in one of the rivers of Utopia.

W. Wilson.

Berwick-on-Tweed, September 5.

PORTREEVE.

Sir,—“You may put up the shutters, Thomas, it’s all over now!” exclaimed the famous bootmaker to his shop-boy, on being solemnly informed by a youthful customer, in words of awful admonition, that he was under the painful necessity of withdrawing his custom. With similar solemnity Dr. Pring has informed us that “the character of Mr. Round’s papers is otherwise such as would deter me from giving any further time to their discussion,” and “must for the future preclude my bestowing any further notice on anything emanating from Mr. Round” (ante, p. 254-5). Fortunately, this awful blow has not proved so crushing as might have been feared. Indeed, though it is not for me to suggest that Dr. Pring may possibly be well advised in shrinking from further criticism of my papers, I may express my regret that he should have found no better plea for his withdrawal than that of “misrepresentation”—a serious charge, which I emphatically deny. It will be seen, on referring to Dr. Pring’s original paper (ante, iv. 264), that his argument runs thus:—

It would indeed place the identity of port and gate “beyond all question” if such an expression as “the port or gate” occurred “in the laws of Athelstan.” But it does not. The expression is simply “that no man buy any property out of port” (Stubbs’ “Select Charters,” p. 65). Here it will be seen there is nothing whatever to prove the identity of “port” and “gate.” The words “or gate” are a deliberate addition, and as it is on them alone that Dr. Pring’s argument, as will be seen, is based, without them it falls to the ground. No reference to the views of Camden, Sharon Turner, or any other writer can justify the insertion into “the laws of Athelstan” of words which are not in them. In saying this much, I am guilty of no “misrepresentation.” I am simply stating facts and exposing misquotation.

May I, in addition, express my hope that Dr. Pring will devote the time saved from discussing my papers to the task, as I suggested, of converting{300} Mr. Hall to his own porta derivation? And may I also assure him that the time which his solemn decision will save me shall be devoted on my part to the further prosecution of those researches which, however undeservedly, have attracted, strange as it may appear to him, the welcome appreciation of scholars?

J. H. Round.

Brighton.

WITCHCRAFT IN ROSS-SHIRE.

Sir,—No doubt most of your readers are familiar with the curious details concerning witch doctors and their doings in Mauritius, which were published in The Times in August last. The following interesting account of similar superstitions in the Highlands, by a correspondent of the Glasgow Herald, caused considerable sensation on its appearance, which would be about a week or two before the article in the former paper. Unquestionably, the belief in witchcraft is still deplorably widespread, the boasted “resources of civilisation” notwithstanding:—

P. J. Mullin.

THE DE VERE MONUMENTS AT EARLS COLNE.

The following correspondence occurs in the Standard, Oct. 3:—

2.—Sir,—With reference to a letter in the Standard of October 3, signed by R. H. H., I venture to think that the writer is not altogether correct in his facts, or, consequently, in his conclusions, concerning the effigies of the De Veres.

Twenty years ago I made measured drawings of these valuable memorials, and they were then adequately protected and properly cared for by the late Mr. Carwardine at Earls Colne Priory, a modern house occupying the site, or, at least, taking the place, of the ancient Priory. I believe I am right in saying that the Parish Church was not, and never has been, the resting-place of the De Vere Monuments, but that they originally stood in the Priory Church, where the De Veres were buried, and that they remained there after the Dissolution, and until they were removed for protection from the weather to the spot they now occupy by a former owner of the modern Priory. Had it not been for such timely care the Monuments would probably not have been in existence at all at the present{302} day, for it is well known that, early in this century, the Church was not careful to extend any special protection to objects of this kind within or without its walls; they took their chance—usually a very rough one.

It is notorious, and a melancholy fact, that in our own day the recklessness and ignorance of church “restoration”—with its illegal, not to say wicked, destruction of monuments of all kinds—have not brought about much feeling of security with regard to those that remain within the walls of churches; and while it has been a question of protection rather than of “spoliation” at Earls Colne Priory, I for one am Philistine enough to be grateful to the Carwardine family for the respect they paid to the De Vere Monuments in their hour of need, and when we may assume the Church held out no helping hand.

It is no peculiar thing that monumental effigies should be in private hands—witness the examples in Furness Abbey, in the ruins of numerous Yorkshire abbeys, and elsewhere—and I would ask, Are there many instances of the care that has preserved for us, almost intact, effigies and “weepers” like those at Earls Colne?

A. H.

October 4.

ANCIENT AND MODERN BRITONS: A QUESTION FOR ANTIQUARIES.

Sir,—In the St. James’s Gazette of July 10, there is a review of a recently published book named “Ancient and Modern Britons.” Not having even seen the book, I can only say of it that, on the showing of its critic, the author’s opinions seem little to accord with mine. But let that pass; my present object is to ask you whether the reviewer has done well in writing the following sentences: “In Aberdeenshire there is a stone—the ‘Newton Stone’—on which there are two inscriptions; one in Ogham digits and another (according to the best authorities) in debased Roman minuscular letters. Lord Southesk has lately propounded a theory to the effect that these inscriptions ‘form a compound of Oriental and Western ideas, beliefs, and languages.’ This explanation probably amused the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, to whom it was originally submitted; but to the author of ‘Ancient and Modern Britons’ it seems a brilliant suggestion.”

Had the reviewer read the paper (extending over some twenty-five pages) which the society referred to has done me the honour to publish in its last volume of “Proceedings,” he could hardly have spoken of it so discourteously; he would have recognised in it, I venture to think, a result of careful study, far enough removed from wild and hasty theorising. Allow me the favour of sufficient space in your columns to explain and vindicate my position in this matter. First, as regards the Ogham Inscription. The attempts to read this have been few and unsatisfactory. My own reading—independently gained, and different from previous versions—being known to Professor Rhys, he has authorised me to say that he agrees with it as to every digit, except the three marked doubtful in my own diagram. This concurrence only applies to the literal arrangement (a matter of some difficulty), the question of interpretation being reserved; but it is nevertheless an important and much valued aid. Secondly: as regards the main inscription, it is going rather far to say that the “best authorities” pronounce it to be in “debased Roman minuscular letters,” considering the great differences of opinion as to its nature that continue to exist; some fifteen attempts at decipherment having been made, many of them by distinguished scholars still (or lately){303} living. The Latin version by Dr. Whitley Stokes is probably that referred to by the reviewer, being one of the latest. But there is nothing to show that it is, or ought to be, accepted as final. Besides other possible defects, it confessedly assigns no recognisable meaning to five of the letters. Moreover, it differs from any conceivable rendering of the Ogham legend. This is not fatal to it, but it gives the advantage to a rival version which reconciles the two inscriptions. It should also be noted that no perfectly accurate copy of either inscription has been hitherto published.

My own conclusions, after months passed in the comparison of alphabets and other study, were as follows: (1) That the characters are Greek, resembling those in the Irish-Latin MSS. of the fifth to the seventh century A.D., described by Mr. Westwood as “singular formed Irish-Greek letters, in which capitals and minuscules are strangely mingled together” (Pal. Sac. Pict.; see there Greek Pater Noster in Book of Armagh); also, in some cases, resembling the letters of the alphabet on the Kilmalkedar stone, in Ireland—characters described by Dr. Petrie as “Græco-Roman or Byzantine characters of the fourth or fifth century A.D.” (Ec. Arc. of Ir., p. 134). This assignment of the letters may be accepted without necessarily adopting my version of the inscription, as some of the characters severally resemble more than one letter. (2) That the first half of the inscription is Celtic, sepulchral, and nearly identical with the Ogham legend on the same stone. (3) That the second half (and therein lies the ridicule, if ridicule there be) is religious or mythological, and embodies sacred names belonging to the Mithraic worship. Mithraism, as developed under the Roman emperors, was eminently a compound creed—one which undoubtedly sought to unite “Oriental and Western ideas and beliefs” (to cite your reviewer’s quotation from “Ancient and Modern Britons”—ostensibly from me, but not so), though not, of course, aiming to unite “languages.” It is only as regards certain mythological names or titles that the Newton inscriptions are not (on my view of them) entirely Celtic. Mithraic remains have been largely found in England, especially in the north; there are apparent references to its mysteries in the poems of the Welsh bards; and in Scotland some of the, as yet unexplained, symbols on the sculptured stones appear to belong to the same system.

I claim no right to dogmatise on these subjects; but I do claim to have bestowed real work on them, and it is unseemly that the results of my labour should be ridiculed by one who has not taken the trouble to find out in what they consist. Is it more improbable that remains of Mithraism should exist in Scotland than in other parts of Britain accessible to Roman influences? The improbability lies the contrary way. Why should there be more folly in seeking for traces of Paganism than in seeking for traces of Christianity among the earlier antiquities of Britain? The reproach surely rests with those who in such cases formulate extreme opinions as to the universal presence or absence of one of these religious elements, and refuse to see anything that antagonises their enthusiasms or prejudices. In conclusion, allow me add that, even if they disapproved of my paper on the Newton Stone (which I have no reason to suppose), the Scottish Society of Antiquaries have not only printed it in full, with my own illustrative diagrams, but are now printing another paper of mine, of at least equal length, on the whole of the Ogham inscriptions of Scotland—one which I sincerely hope may prove not altogether unworthy of the honour thus conferred on it.

Southesk.

Kinnaird Castle, Brechin, N.B.{304}

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The Editor declines to pledge himself for the safety or return of MSS. voluntarily tendered to him by strangers.

Books Received.

1. Old and New London. Vol. ii. By E. Walford, M.A. Cassells. 1884.

2. Transactions of the Essex Field Club. Vol. iii. 1884.

3. Transactions of Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. Vol. i.

4. First Middle English Primer. By Henry Sweet, M.A., Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1884.

5. Johnsoniana. Arranged and collected by R. W. Montagu. A. Boot & Son. 1884.

6. Registers of the Parish of Thorington. Edited by T. H. Hill, B.C.L. Mitchell & Hughes. 1884.

7. Journal of British Archæological Association. Vol. xl. Part 3. Trübner & Co. September, 1884.

8. Northamptonshire Notes and Queries. Part iv. Northampton: Taylor & Son. October, 1884.

9. English Etchings. Parts xli. and xlii. D. Bogue, 27, King William-street, W.C.

10. The Assignment of Arms to Shakespeare and Arden. By Stephen Tucker, Somerset Herald. Mitchell & Hughes. 1884.

11. Hull Quarterly. No. 4. Hull: Brown & Sons. October, 1884.

12. The Genealogist. N. S. Vol. i. No. 4. October, 1884.

13. Johns Hopkins University Studies. X. Baltimore. October, 1884.

14. History of Aylesbury. Part xi. By R. Gibbs. Aylesbury. 1884.

15. The Essex Notebook and Suffolk Gleaner. No. 1. Colchester: Benham & Co. October, 1884.

16. A Smaller Biblia Pauperum. A Reprint of the Text of John Wicliff, with Preface by the late Dean Stanley. Unwin Brothers. 1884.

17. Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica. Vol. i. Nos. i. and ii. Mitchell & Hughes. 1884.

18. Irish Landed Gentry when Cromwell came to Ireland. By John O’Hart. Dublin: Gill & Son. 1884.

19. The Record Society for the Publication of Original Documents relating to Lancashire and Cheshire. Vol. x. 1884.

20. Ye Earlie Englyshe Almanack. 1885. Pettitt & Co., Frith-street, Soho.

21. The Algonquin Legends of New England. By C. G. Leland, Sampson Low & Co. 1884.

22. The Chartulary of the Monastery of Lyminge. By the Rev. R. C. Jenkins, M.A. Folkestone: R. Goulden. 1884.

23. Life, Times, and Writings of Thomas Fuller, D.D. Two vols. By the Rev. M. Fuller, M.A. John Hodges. 1884.

Books, &c., for Sale.

Works of Hogarth (set of original Engravings, elephant folio, without text), bound. Apply by letter to W. D., 56, Paragon-road, Hackney, N.E.

Original water-colour portrait of Jeremy Bentham, price 2 guineas. Apply to the Editor of this Magazine.

A large collection of Franks, Peers’ and Commoners’. Apply to E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, N.W.

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