Where dwells the Omnipotent!
Whom the broad world cannot contain,
Nor Heaven's high firmament.
"Here, where the unearthly Guest descends
To hearts of Innocence,
And sacred love her wing extends
Of holiest influence;
"Let no unhallow'd thought be here,
Within that sacred door;
Let nought polluted dare draw near,
Nor tread the awful floor;
Or, lo! the Avenger is at hand,
And at the door doth stand."
_The Child's Christian Year._
Illustration: Heywood Church
THE PAVEMENT
Illustration: Brass of Henry Sever, at Merton College, Oxford
As soon as the short pause was over, all ears were open
to learn something more on a subject which had been hitherto entirely
without interest to most of the Vicar's little audience.
"We find sometimes upon the pavement of our churches," said Mr. Ambrose,
"memorials just like those I have spoken to you about, except that they
are made of _iron_ or _lead_ instead of brass, but they are
comparatively very rare, and, except in the metal of which they are
composed, differ nothing from the _brasses_.
"Sepulchral brasses must have been a great ornament to our churches
before they were despoiled of their beauty by the hand of Time, and the
still less sparing hand of man. The vivid colours of the enamel with
which they were inlaid, and the silvery brightness of the yet
untarnished lead which was employed to represent the ermine and other
parts of official costume, must have added greatly to the splendour of
these monuments. At first they were no doubt very costly, for there
appear to have been but few places where they were made in this
country, and, in addition to the cost of the brasses themselves, the
expense of their carriage in those times must have been considerable. A
great many of these monuments, however, are of foreign manufacture, and
were chiefly imported from Flanders. It is easy to distinguish between
the English and the Flemish brasses, for whereas the former are composed
of separate pieces of metal laid in different parts of the stone, and
giving the distinct outline of the figure, canopy, inscription, &c., the
latter are composed of several plates of brass placed closely together
and engraved all over with figures, canopies, and other designs. The
later English brasses are, however, very similar to the Flemish. You see
that little copy of a brass about three feet long by one foot deep which
Ernest has somehow obtained from the church at Walton-on-Thames? Now
that is a square piece of metal just like those they made in Flanders,
but it was evidently engraved in England. It is dated 1587, and is in
memory of John Selwyn, keeper of Queen Elizabeth's park at Oatlands,
near Walton. It represents, as you see, a stag hunt, and is said to
refer to this incident:--'The old keeper, in the heat of the chase,
suddenly leaped from his horse upon the back of the stag (both running
at that time with their utmost speed), and not only kept his seat
gracefully, in spite of every effort of the affrighted beast, but,
drawing his sword, with it guided him to wards the Queen, and coming
near her presence, plunged it in his throat, so that the animal fell
dead at her feet[44].'"
"But, my friend," said Mr. Acres, "it seems to me that the record of
such an event, even if it ever happened--which I must take the liberty
to doubt--is quite as objectionable as any of those epitaphs in our
churchyard which you once so strongly and justly condemned."
"I quite agree with you. But this was made at a time when sepulchral
monuments were frequently of a very debased character. At this period
the brasses underwent a great change. They began to rise from their
humble position on the pavement, and the figures were occasionally made
without their devotional posture, which up to this date had been almost
universal. They were then placed on the church walls, on tablets, or on
the top and at the back of altar-tombs, and this led the way for the
erection of a large number of monuments in stone of similar design, but
more cumbrous and inconvenient. Inferior workmen also were evidently
employed at this time to engrave the brasses, and they became more and
more debased, till they reached the lowest point of all, a hundred years
ago, and soon after their manufacture altogether ceased. It was near the
time when this brass was put up to the old park-keeper, that that ugly
monument in memory of Sir John York, with its four heathen obelisks, and
its four disconsolate Cupids, was put up in our chancel, covering so
much of the floor as to deprive at least twenty persons of their right
to a place in God's House. About this time, too, that uncomfortable
looking effigy of Lady Lancaster was put upon its massive altar-tomb. To
judge from the position of her Ladyship, and hundreds of other similar
monuments, represented as reclining and resting the face upon the hand,
we might imagine that a large proportion of the population in those days
died of the toothache. However, the attitude of prayer was that most
commonly adopted, as well in stone as brass effigies, till long after
this period.
"If any thing more than the figure, canopy, inscription, and shield is
represented on a brass, it is commonly a sacred symbol, a trade mark, or
some badge of rank or profession. To this there are but a few
exceptions, besides the brass of John Selwyn. At Lynn, in Norfolk, on
one brass is a hunting scene, on another a harvest-home, such as it was
in the year 1349, and on another a peacock feast, the date of which is
1364. Founders of churches frequently hold in their hands the model of a
church. The emblem of undying love we find in the heart, either alone or
held by both hands of the effigy. A long epitaph was often avoided by
the simple representation of a chalice, a sword, an ink-horn, a
wool-sack, a barrel, shears, or some such trade or professional emblem.
Some--comparatively few--of the inscriptions on brasses are, however,
profusely long, and sometimes, but very rarely, ridiculous.
In very early times the epitaphs were always written in Latin or Norman
French; and if that practice had continued, it would not much matter to
persons generally even if they were absurd, as few could read them: but
about the year 1400 they began to be written in English, and then of
course these foolish inscriptions must have been distracting to the
thoughts of those who attended the church. But it very often happened
that persons had their brasses put down some time before their decease,
as is evident from the circumstance that in many cases the dates have
never been filled in. This custom would much tend to prevent foolish and
flattering inscriptions.
"I have noticed that there is in nearly all brasses a solemn or serious
expression in the countenance suitable to their presence in God's House.
They were frequently _portraits_ of the persons commemorated[45]. This
was no doubt the case in later brasses, and I think in the earlier also.
Latterly the faces were sometimes coloured, no doubt to represent the
originals more exactly. It seldom happens that the age of the person is
otherwise than pretty faithfully portrayed.
"I must next tell you something of the dresses of the clergy, the
soldiers, and the civilians, as we see them engraved upon the pavements
of our churches."
_CHAPTER IX_
THE PAVEMENT
"It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it."
John xi. 38.
"On the floor beneath
Sepulchral stones appear'd, with emblems graven
And footworn epitaphs, and some with small
And shining effigies of brass inlaid."
Wordsworth's _Excursion_.
"The warrior from his armed tent,
The seaman from the tide--
Far as the Sabbath chimes are sent,
In Christian nations wide,--
Thousands and tens of thousands bring
Their sorrows to His shrine,
And taste the never-failing spring
Of Jesus' love Divine.
"If at the earthly chime, the tread
Of million million feet
Approach whene'er the Gospel's read
In God's own temple-seat;
How blest the sight, from death's dark sleep
To see God's saints arise,
And countless hosts of angels keep
The Sabbath of the skies!"
_Lyra Sacra._
Illustration: Chancel of Whippingham Church
THE PAVEMENT
Illustration: Brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington
"That costumes are pretty accurately represented on
brasses," continued Mr. Ambrose, "we are sure, from the fact that many
different artists have made the dresses of each particular period so
much alike; and this circumstance adds much interest and importance to
these monuments. I will now describe some of these dresses, and you must
try to find out, as I go on, the several parts of the dress I am
describing on Ernest's rubbing's which hang upon the wall. But I shall
only be able to say a little about each. First there come the persons
holding sacred office in the Church. The priests are usually, you see,
dressed in the robes worn at Holy Communion, and they commonly hold the
chalice and wafer in their hands. The robe which is most conspicuous is
the _chasuble_. It is usually richly embroidered in gold and silk. This
robe is one of the ornaments of the minister referred to in the rubric
at the commencement of the Prayer Book. At the top of it you see the
_amice_. This too is worked in various colours and patterns. The
academic _hood_, some suppose, now represents this part of the priest's
dress. You must remember we are looking at the dresses worn five hundred
years ago, and which had been in use long before that time, and we
cannot be surprised if some of them, as now worn, are a little changed
in shape and appearance. The narrow band which hangs from the shoulders
nearly to the feet, embroidered at the ends, is called the _stole_.
This, you know, is still worn by us just as it was then. It is one of
the most ancient vestments of the Church, and is intended to represent
the _yoke of Christ_. The small embroidered strip hanging on the left
arm is the _maniple_. It is used for cleaning the sacred vessels.
Beneath the chasuble is the _albe_, a white robe which--changed somewhat
in form--we still wear. It is derived from the linen ephod of the Jews.
Sometimes on brasses, as on that beautiful one to the memory of Henry
Sever[46], the _cope_ is represented. This is a very rich and costly
robe, and is still always worn at the coronations of our Kings and
Queens; it is also ordered to be worn on other occasions. Then the
bishops wore, you see, other robes besides those I have mentioned:--the
_mitre_, like the albe, handed down from the time of the Jews to our own
period; the _tunic_, a close-fitting linen vestment; the _dalmatic_, so
called because it was once the regal dress of Dalmatia; the gloves,
often jewelled. They hold the _crozier_, or _cross staff_, or else the
_crooked_, or _pastoral staff_, in their hand. As bishops and priests
were then, as now, very often buried in their ecclesiastical vestments,
the brass probably in such cases represented, as near as could be, the
robed body of the person beneath. The earliest brasses of ecclesiastics
are at Oulton, Suffolk, and Merton College, Oxford. The date of both is
about 1310.
"We must next come to the monumental brasses of _knights_ and warriors;
and that curious brass to Sir Peter Legh, which is taken from Winwick
Church, will do well for a connecting link between the clergy and the
warriors. He is, you see, in armour, but over the upper part of it is a
chasuble, on the front of which is his shield of arms. And this tells
his history. He was formerly a soldier, but at the decease of his wife
he relinquished his former occupation, and became a priest of the
Church. You see before you soldiers in all kinds of armour, and you can
easily trace the gradual change from the _chain mail_ to the _plated
armour_, till you find the former almost entirely abandoned, and the
latter adopted, in the early part of the fifteenth century. Now I should
soon tire you if I were to describe all the curious sorts of armour
these soldiers wear, so I must just take one of them, and that will go
far to wards explaining others. There hangs Sir Roger de
Trumpington[47], of Trumpington, Cambridgeshire; his date is 1289. You
see he is cross-legged, and so you would put him down for a Knight
Templar, and a warrior in the Holy Land. And so he was; but nevertheless
you must remember all cross-legged figures are not necessarily Knights
Templar. He rests his head upon a _bascinet_ (A), or helmet. His head
and neck are protected by chain mail (B), to which is attached his
_hauberk_ (D), or shirt of mail. On his shoulders are placed _ailettes_
(C), or little wings, and these are ornamented with the same arms as
those borne on his shield. They were worn both for defence and ornament,
as soldiers' epaulettes are now. The defence for the knees (G) was made
of leather, and sometimes much ornamented. At a later time it was made
of plated metal. The legs and feet are covered with chain mail, called
the _chausse_ (F), and he wears _goads_, or 'pryck spurs,' on his heels
(H). Over the hauberk he has a _surcoat_ (E) probably of wool or linen.
Here you see it is quite plain; but it is frequently decorated with
heraldic devices; and such devices on the surcoat or armour are often
the only clue left to the name and history of the wearer.
"On the brasses of _civilians_ we find nothing like the present
ungraceful and unsightly mode of dress; indeed we can scarcely imagine
any thing more ridiculous than the representation of the modern
fashionable dress on a monumental brass. But on these memorials, you
see, the robes are, with rare exceptions, flowing and graceful. In the
sixteenth century there was but slight difference between the male and
female attire of persons in private life. Of course the dresses of
professional men have always been characteristic. Civilians were, with
hardly an exception, always represented on brasses _bare-headed_.
Happily for the good people in those times they did not know the hideous
and inconvenient _hat_ which continues to torture those who live in
towns, but from which we in the country have presumed to free ourselves.
"The dresses _actually worn_ by the deceased are probably sometimes
represented on the brasses of _ladies_. You have before you every
variety of costume, from the simple robe of the time of Edward II. and
III., down to the extravagant dresses of Elizabeth's reign. On the early
brasses the _wimple_ under the chin marked the rank of the wearer. Till
about the year 1550 ladies are not infrequently represented with
heraldic devices covering their kirtles and mantles; but I should think
such ornamentation was never really worn by them. The different fashions
of wearing the hair here represented are most fantastic. St. Paul tells
us that 'if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her;' but these
English matrons too often forgot that _simplicity_ which gives to this
beauty of nature its chief charm. See, here is the _butterfly
head-dress_, of the fifteenth century, extending two feet at the back of
the head; and there is the _horn head-dress_, spreading a foot on either
side of the head. The fashions among women then appear to have been as
grotesque as they have been in our own day.
"_Children_ on these tombs are represented either behind or beneath
their parents; sometimes they wear the _tabard_, a short coat, with
heraldic figures upon it--as on this brass to John Ansty; you see there
are twelve sons below the father, and four daughters below the
mother--sometimes they wear a dress which marks their occupation; and in
a few instances the name of each child is placed below it. _Skeletons_
and emaciated figures, sometimes in shrouds, were represented on brasses
after the fifteenth century. _Crosses_, with or without figures of the
deceased, are very frequently to be met with, and their form is often
exceedingly elegant[48]. You will not fail to notice the _canopies_ of
many of these brasses; the beauty of some of these designs it would be
impossible to surpass. But I fear you must be tired of my long lecture,
so I must hasten to bring it to a close. These memorials I like better
than any others for churches; for, first, they are by far the most
_durable_ of all; then they are the most _convenient_, for they take up
little space, and are a great ornament to the _pavement of the church_;
moreover they teach their own _moral_, they occupy a _lowly_ place in
God's House, and are all on one _common level_. I am, therefore, very
glad to see them introduced again into many of our cathedrals and parish
churches. And, my dear Constance, I must end with a word to you. I fancy
by this time you have learnt that _monumental brasses_ are not dull and
stupid. To the student of antiquity, history, genealogy, heraldry, and
architecture, these _pavement monuments_ are, I assure you, of the
greatest interest and value. They help to fix dates to ancient
documents, to illustrate various periods of ecclesiastical architecture,
and throw much light on the manners and customs of other times. They
are, too, a constant protest against that excess in 'wearing of gold and
putting on of apparel,' against which St. Paul wrote, and which is one
of the great sins of our day; for though we find elaborate and costly
robes represented on the brasses of the great and the wealthy, you
always see the figures of the humbler classes clothed in neat and simple
attire. If people would only follow the good advice of old Polonius to
his son,
'Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy[49],'
there would be less sin, and less want, and less misery in the world."
_CHAPTER X_
THE PAVEMENT
"Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours."
Isa. liv. 11.
"How all things glow with life and thought,
Where'er our faithful fathers trod!
The very ground with speech is fraught,
The air is eloquent of God.
In vain would doubt or mockery hide
The buried echoes of the past;
A voice of strength--a voice of pride--
Here dwells amid the stones and blast!
"Still points the tower, and pleads the bell,
The solemn arches breathe in stone,
Window and wall have lips to tell
The mighty faith of days unknown;--
Yea! flood, and breeze, and battle shock
Shall beat upon this Church in vain,
She stands a daughter of the rock--
The changeless God's eternal fane!"
R. S. HAWKER.
Illustration: Church of St. John the Baptist, Kidmore End
THE PAVEMENT
Illustration: Encaustic Tile, Brooke Church
Mr. Acres and his family attended Morning Prayer at St.
Catherine's the day following the Vicar's lecture; and after service
they examined with greater interest than ever they had done before the
floor of the church--indeed Mr. Acres confessed that till that morning
he had never had the curiosity to walk up either of the aisles of the
church with the view of finding any object of interest on the pavement.
In the course of their search they now discovered a large flat stone,
hitherto unknown even to the Vicar; the stone, when cleansed from the
dust which had accumulated upon it (for it was placed in a remote corner
of the church), was very white; it was engraved with the figure of a
priest, and the incised lines were filled with a black resinous
substance, so that it almost looked like a large engraving on paper, or
still more like one of the copies of brasses which Ernest had exhibited
the night before[50]. But what most attracted their attention was the
curious old _pavement tiles_, of various patterns, which they found in
different parts of the floor of the church. Their admiration of these
ancient works of art was soon so deeply engaged, and their desire to
know more about them so excited, that Ernest was speedily despatched to
the vestry to request the Vicar to come and satisfy their inquiries.
"I rejoice to see you, Mr. Vicar," said the Squire, as Mr. Ambrose
approached; "pray come and save me from any further confessions of
ignorance: the children have been persecuting me with a hundred
questions about these ancient tiles, and I really am not able to answer
one of them. We must again be dependent upon your kindness for some
information on the subject."
"Then, if you please, we will walk and talk, as I must go this morning
to see old Wood, at the Warren Lodge; the poor man is very ill."
"Oh, we shall enjoy that," exclaimed Constance, "and do, Mr. Ambrose,
give us a nice lecture like you did last night."
"Well, my dear, if it is to be a real lecture, we will suppose this
gravel path to be my platform, and your father and yourselves to be my
highly respectable and most intelligent audience; and so, making my bow
to the company, I will begin.--There is considerable uncertainty as to
the origin of these tiles. Most people suppose that the old Roman
tessellated pavement suggested the idea of representing figures on
tiles. But we may imagine them to be merely the result of successive
improvements. First, there was the rude tile or brick; then, in very
early times, the makers impressed their own particular marks upon them;
and from this simple practice we can easily imagine the gradual
introduction of the elaborate patterns you were looking at in the
church."
"If you please, Mr. Ambrose," said Constance, "will you tell us what was
the Roman tessellated pavement?"
"It was composed of a number of square pieces of hard-burnt clay, like
dice, of different colours; these were arranged to form a pattern, and
then firmly fixed in very strong cement. They were exceedingly durable,
and often of most elegant design. When found in the ruins of Roman
villas, which they frequently are, they generally appear almost as fresh
as when they were put down. Tessellated or mosaic pavements are to be
found in a few old churches; the most beautiful now existing in England,
are in Westminster Abbey, and in Canterbury Cathedral, near the tomb of
Thomas a Becket."
"But don't you think it probable," inquired Mr. Acres, "if these tiles
date pretty nearly back to the time when the mosaic pavement was used,
that the pavement suggested the tiles? there seems to be some similarity
of pattern, and I noticed that in one part of the church there are
_plain_ tiles of different colours arranged so as to form a pattern[51],
which seems, on a larger scale, a close imitation of the mosaic
pavement."
"It may be so; and this view seems confirmed by the circumstance that in
some foreign churches the tiles are mixed in the same pavement with
mosaic work. It certainly seems a natural transition from the one to the
other.
Illustration: Encaustic Tile, Brooke Church
Encaustic tiles exist in abundance and great beauty in Normandy; and
though, as I have said, we cannot fix a precise date to their
introduction, it seems not improbable that we are indebted to that
country for the first idea of using them in the pavement of our
churches, since in some instances they appear to be coeval with the
erection of the Norman churches in which they are found. Some have upon
them the _semi-circular headed arch_, which is characteristic of Norman
times; and as no doubt the later tiles frequently indicate by their
patterns the period of ecclesiastical architecture to which they may be
referred, most likely these may be equally relied upon as marking the
Norman period. In Ireland, tiles of this date are more common than in
this country. Their _general_ use, however, has prevailed among us from
about A.D. 1250 to A.D. 1550, and the finest and most interesting
specimens we have remaining are at Gloucester and Malvern.
There are several different kinds of ornamental pavement of which
specimens remain. In the ruins of Fountains Abbey are specimens having
the pattern pierced through the entire tile, and afterwards filled in
with clay of another colour. At Canterbury there are circles of stone
pavement with patterns cut in relief, the spaces being filled in with
dark cement. In the early stages of the art the pattern of the tiles was
sometimes left in relief, the tile being of one colour only, but the
uneven surface was found to be very inconvenient for walking upon.
Encaustic tiles--so called because the patterns are _burnt into_
them--are by far the most common sort of tile pavement in our English
churches, especially in the southern and western counties."
"I suppose, Mr. Ambrose," said Constance, "that the tiles in our church
are of that sort?"