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 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 vj_d._ 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 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 three fines shall be
put out of the Gild. Salary of the Clerk iii_s._ iv_d._, and of the Dean
ij_s._ 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 iij_s_., and of Dean xviij_d._ 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 iiiij_s._
_Gild of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist_ (another).--Three
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 ij_s._, “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 xij_d._ 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. 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 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._)
[Illustration: text decoration]
AN ancient stained glass panel representing a pedlar and his dog
has lately been removed from a window of Lambeth Church, to give
place to a new memorial window. It commemorated “some person
unknown” who is supposed to have left to the parish a piece of land
long known as “Pedlar’s Acre.” Its removal has caused some
excitement in the parish.
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.
HANG
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.]
[Illustration: text decoration]
“MILTON’S BIBLE,” which the trustees of the British Museum have
purchased, is, strictly speaking, the first Mrs. Milton’s Bible. “I
am the book of Mary Milton,”--so runs the inscription in the lady’s
own handwriting. The poet, himself, however, has entered the dates
of the birth of his children, which are given with commendable
precision. Thus--“Anne, my daughter, was born July 29, the day of
the monthly Fast, between six and seven, or about half an hour
after six in the morning, 1646.” Another entry records a fact not
often remembered: “My son John was born on Sunday, March 16, at
half-past nine at night, 1650.” This child, Milton’s only son, died
an infant--“through the ill-usage or bad constitution of an
ill-chosen nurse,” says Phillips. The fates and fortunes of
Milton’s remaining children, and even of his grandchildren, are
well-known; we read also of great-grandchildren who lived, but (it
is to be feared) did not flourish, at Madras down to the
commencement of George II.’s reign. Then one loses sight of them
altogether. Possibly the heir of the poet’s body is a Eurasian, and
a writer of Baboo English. Perhaps he is identical with the
judicious author who boasted that “he had studied the Shakespeare
and the Milton, and had avoided the imperfections of either.”--_St.
James’s Gazette._
Reviews.
_A Guide to the Roman Villa recently discovered at Morton, between
Sandown and Brading, Isle of Wight._ By JOHN E. PRICE, F.S.A., and
F. G. HILTON PRICE, F.G.S. Ventnor: Briddon Brothers, 1884.
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.”
_The Lincolnshire Survey._ Edited by JAMES GREENSTREET. Privately
printed. 1884.
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 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.
_Diary and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson, Esq._ By P. O. HUTCHINSON,
Sampson Low & Co.
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.
_The Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture._ By M. H.
BLOXAM. Three vols. G. Bell & Sons.
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.
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.
[Illustration: 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 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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.
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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.
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.
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
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,
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.
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 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 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._
[Illustration: text decoration]
Antiquarian Correspondence.
Sin scire labores,
Quære, age: quærenti pagina nostra patet.
_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_.
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:--
“L’ENVOY.
For us and our Miscellany,
Here, stooping to your clemency,
We beg your hearing patiently.
SHAKESPEARE (New Edition).”
On the back cover the following note of warning appeared:--
“Publishers are warned that the articles in this Miscellany are
copyright. When short extracts from any of the papers are quoted,
it will be obliging if the name of the Miscellany be prefixed.”
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.
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._
_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.
[Illustration: THE OLD PALACE, RICHMOND.
_From “Greater London.”_ (_See post. p. 281._)]
[Illustration: decorative border]
_The Antiquarian Magazine & Bibliographer._
[Illustration]
Dr. Johnson.
BY THE EDITOR.
IF 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; 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.
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 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 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 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.”
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:
“Castleford lasses must needs be fair,
Since they wash themselves both in Calder and Aire.”
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
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._)
“Not great Arthur’s tomb, nor holy Joseph’s grave
From sacrilege had power their sacred bones to save;
He who that God in man to his sepulchre brought,
Or he which for the faith twelve famous battles fought.”
DRAYTON’S _Polyolbion_.
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 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:
‘Hic jacet sepultus Rex Arturius in Insula Avalonia.’
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 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.
The History of Gilds.
BY CORNELIUS WALFORD, F.S.S., _Barrister-at-Law_.
_PART IV._
(_Continued from p. 235._)