Wymeswold.
* * * * *
Minor Queries.
_Dog-whippers: Frankincense._--Can any reader throw light upon the
following entries in the churchwardens' account-book for the parish of
Forest Hill, near Oxford?
"1694. P^d to Tho. Mills for whipping dogs out of church, 1 shilling.
"1702. P^d for frankincense for the church, 6 pence."
The only passage which occurs to me as at all bearing upon so late a use of
incense in parish churches in this country, is the following extract from
Herbert:
"The country parson hath a care that his church be swept and kept
clean; and at great festivals, strewed and stuck with boughs, and
perfumed with incense."
This hardly brings the custom later than 1630.
As regards the former entry, I am told by a friend that the office of
dog-whipper existed about fifty years ago for the church of Heversham in
Westmoreland.