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:
(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.
(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 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 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 xx_d_., 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 xx_d_. 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 after that he hath lien
vij. dayes xx_d_. 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 iiij_d_. _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 iiijxx 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.
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.
[This letter was addressed to Mr. Shakerley, a connection of the
Wyan family, on the destruction of his mansion, Gwersylt,
Denbighshire, in 1738.]
Reviews.
_Early Church History, to the Death of Constantine._ Compiled by
the late EDWARD BACKHOUSE. Edited and enlarged by CHARLES TAYLOR.
Hamilton, Adams & Co. 1884.
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.
_Les écrits de Leonardo da Vinci._ Par Ch. RAVAISSON-MOLLIEN. 8vo.
Paris: Quantin.
_Les Manuscrits de Leonardo da Vinci._ Publiés par CHARLES
RAVAISSON-MOLLIEN. Folio. Vols. i. and ii. Paris: Quantin.
_Conjecturers à propos d’un buste en marbre de Béatrix d’Este,
etc._ Par LOUIS COURAJOD et CHARLES RAVAISSON-MOLLIEN. 8vo. Paris:
Rapilly.
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
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 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.
[Illustration: text decoration]
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, 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 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 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. 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. 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, 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
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
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 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 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
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 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 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 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.
[Illustration: text decoration]
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.
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.