oftentimes wrangle about their seats in church, two or more claiming the
same seat, whence arises great scandal to the Church, and the divine
officers are sore set and hindered; wherefore we decree that none shall
henceforth call any seat in the church his own, save noblemen and
patrons: but he who shall first enter shall take his place where he
will."--Quivil, Bishop of Exeter, A.D. 1287.
116: In the vestry of the church of East Moulsey is suspended a map of
considerable size, showing the land that has been left to the parish for
the sustentation of the church. The land ought to produce 120_l._ but
some years since the parishioners engaged in a law-suit respecting a pew
in the church, and lost the suit, and the income from the charity land
was year by year absorbed in the payment of the debt then incurred. One
evidence brought forward to prove the faculty was the following
inscription, which is still (or was till lately) _over the altar_,
painted at the foot of a _daub_, having the Ten Commandments surrounded
by drapery, &c.:--
"In lieu of the Commandments formerly written on the wall (when by
consent of the parish he made his pew) these tables were placed here
by--Mr. Benson, MDCCXII."
117: _Gentleman's Magazine_, A.D. 1780, p. 364.
118: We are so used to speak of the _seats_ in church, that we commonly
forget the more proper appellation of _kneeling_. This, however, was not
always so. An old metal plate formerly on a pew in a church in the
diocese of Oxford, has this inscription:--
"No 83. Vicar and Churchwardens, two kneelings. Trustees of Poor House
three kneelings."
119: See _History of Pues_, p. 37.
120: "Item. Paid to good wyfe Wells for salt to destroy the fleas _d._
in the _Churchwardens' Pew_ vi.
_St. Margaret's Accounts._ _Dublin Review_, xiii.
121: So called, as some suppose, because it could be _folded_ and
removed when necessary.
122: Joel ii. 17.
123: Injunctions of Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth.
124: See _Wheatly on the Common Prayer_, p. 161.
125: "The earliest examples remaining are of wood, many of them
beautifully carved, as at Bury and Ramsay, Huntingdonshire;
Swancombe, Debtling, and Lenham, Kent; Newport, Essex; Hawstead,
Suffolk."--Parker's _Glossary_.
There are beautiful examples of brass lecterns at Magdalene and Merton
Colleges, Oxford, in most of our cathedrals, and many parish churches.
126: Derived from the French _aile_, a wing. It is no uncommon thing to
hear persons who ought to know better talk about _side_ aisles, as if
there were any other than side aisles.
127: Derived from the Greek, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} [hagios], holy, and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}
[skopeo], to view. There are very good specimens at St. Clement's,
Sandwich, and at St. Mary's, Gloucester. The latter has three
compartments.
128: In some few churches--as at Rottingdean, Sussex--the chancel, by
the deviation of its north or south wall from the line of the nave,
represent the inclined head of our Lord upon the cross.
129: The German word for piscina is Wasserhaelter, _water-holder_.
130: Derived from the Italian _credenzare_, to test by tasting
beforehand; which refers to an ancient custom for the governor of a
feast to taste the wines before presenting them to his guests. The
application of the word to this piece of Church furniture is supposed to
have its origin in an attempt once made to mix poison with the
eucharistic elements.
131: The rubric at the commencement of the Prayer Book concerning "the
Ornaments of the Church, and of the ministers thereof," still directs a
credence-table to be placed in every church.
132: In Flamborough Church, Yorkshire, a few years since, a white glove
was hanging over the centre arch of the very beautiful chancel
screen,--perhaps is hanging there still. Sometimes a bridal wreath was
hung up with the glove.
133: When the rood screens were pulled down by the Puritans and the
chancels were alienated from their proper use, it became necessary, in
order to protect the immediate precinct of the altar from general
intrusion, to erect around it some barrier; hence the origin of
altar-rails, which were first ordered to be put up by Archbishop Laud.
There are a few instances of ancient screens of considerable height
immediately surrounding the altar.
134: As in Bottisham Church, Cambridge; Westwell, Kent; and most of our
cathedrals.
135: Such galleries existed in the parish churches of Whitby, Yorkshire,
and of Sandon, Staffordshire, a few years ago, but these have probably
been since removed.
136: Rood is analogous to our common word _rod_. It is a Saxon word, and
means a cross.
137: It is a question whether the order in the canons for placing the
Commandments in churches was intended to be other than temporary. At the
time few comparatively had Bibles or Prayer Books, so there was then a
reason for the order, which no longer exists. One of many churches in
which the Commandments were painted at an early date over the chancel
arch, is Fordwich, Kent; the date is 1688. At Dimchurch, in Kent, there
is an old painting of the Commandments over the chancel arch, and a
modern one over the altar.
138: As at C.... Church, Kent.
139: "_Cancellae_ are lattice-work, by which the chancels being formerly
parted from the body of the church they took their names from thence.
Hence, too, the Court of _Chancery_ and the Lord _Chancellor_ borrowed
their names, that court being enclosed with open-work of that kind. And
so to _cancel_ a writing is to cross it out with the pen, which
naturally makes something like the figure of a lattice."--Pegge's
_Anonymiana_.
140: Some of our chancels, however, were originally made considerably
_lower_ than the nave. When the church has been built on a slope it has
sometimes followed the fall of the ground from west to east.
141: So called from the Latin word _sedes_, a seat. This position, on
the south side of the altar, is in all respects the most convenient for
the clergy when not officiating. To sit _facing_ the people is a most
painful position for the priest, as the eyes of all the congregation
naturally rest upon him; it has, too, the _appearance_ of irreverence.
142: See p. 223.
143: See p. 223.
144: This word is tautological, derived from our common word _rere_,
back, and the French _dos_, back, from its position at the back of the
altar. Many of these altar-screens have in recent years been restored at
immense cost, as at Ely Cathedral.
145: In Braburn Church, Kent, an altar-tomb, with armorial bearings
around and above it, occupies the very place of the altar itself. In the
church of Prendergast, South Wales, large marble slabs with elaborate
epitaphs occupy the _entire_ east end of the chancel. The most prominent
of these--immediately over the altar--records that the departed "had
learned by heart the whole Book of Psalms, and all the Collects of the
Book of Common Prayer, with twenty-four chapters of the Old and New
Testaments, before she was thirteen years old, and several more after"
However praiseworthy and marvellous these accomplishments, this is
surely no fitting place for proclaiming them!
146: It is probable that the prayers and the sermon were formerly read
from the same lectern. The first authoritative document of which we have
record in which mention is made of the _prayer desk_, is the Visitation
Articles of the Bishop of Norwich (Parker), in A.D. 1569.
In the parish accounts of St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, is an item in 1577 for
"colouring the Curate's desk." But prayer desks were used at a much
earlier time.
147: So called from the Latin word _almarium_, a closet or locker. The
almery had many uses, and is to be found in all parts of the church, but
chiefly in the chancel. Sometimes it was used to hold the priest's
vestments; and in conventual churches, to hold the gold and silver
vessels belonging to the monastery.
148: Gen. viii. 20; xii 7; xxxv. 1.
149: Exod. xxvii. 1.
150: The Council of Epaone in France (A.D. 509) ordered that none but
_altars of stone_ should be _consecrated with chrism_. The custom of
consecrating the altar with chrism is supposed to symbolize the
anointing of our Lord's Body for the burial.--See _The Stone Altar_, by
Rev. J. Blackburn, p. 46.
151: Rev. vi. 9-11.
152: "A type both of the womb and of the tomb."--_The Stone Altar_, p.
41.
153: 1 Cor. x. 4.
154: See "Prayer for the Church Militant."
155: Queen Elizabeth's _Advertisements_, A.D. 1564, require "that the
Parish provide a decent TABLE, _standing on a frame_, for the Communion
Table." Hence it appears that by the word _table_ at the era of the
English Reformation, the _slab_ only was meant.--Parker's _Glossary_.
156: Matt xxvii. 66.
157: "The seal of the altar--that is, the little stone by which the
sepulchre or cavity in which the relics be deposited, is closed or
sealed."--_Durandus_, p. 128.
158: As at St. Mary's Hospital, Ripon. These ancient stone altars may
always be known by the _five crosses_ on the table, emblematic of the
five wounds of Jesus. Not infrequently, alas! this slab is to be found
as part of the church flooring. The altar table of Norwich Cathedral is
(or was lately) to be seen in the floor of the nave.
159: "Have you a Communion Table with a handsome carpet or covering of
silk stuff, or such like?"--_Visitation Articles_, Bishop Bridges, 1634.
"Have you a carpet of silk, satin, damask, or some more than ordinary
stuff to cover the Table with at all times?"--_Visitation Articles_,
Bishop Montague, 1639.
160: The pall is an archiepiscopal vestment, forming at the back a
figure like the letter Y, as seen on the armorial bearings of our
archbishops.
161: "All Deans, Archdeacons, Parsons, Vicars, and other Ecclesiastical
persons shall suffer from henceforth no torches nor candles, tapers, or
images of wax to be set before any image or picture. But only two lights
upon the high altar (the only altar now retained in our Church) before
the Sacrament, which, for the signification that Christ is the true
Light of the World, they shall suffer to remain still."--_Injunctions of
King Edward VI._
"And here it is to be noted, that such ornaments of the Church and of
the ministers thereof, at all times of their ministration, shall be
retained and be in use, as were in this Church of England by the
authority of Parliament in the second year of the reign of _King Edward
the Sixth_."--_Rubric before morning Prayer._
162: Durandus, who wrote about A.D. 1290, says, "At the horns of the
altar _two_ candlesticks are placed to signify the joy of Jews and
Gentiles at the Nativity of Christ."
In the Sassetti Chapel at Florence is a beautiful fresco painting, by
Ghirlandaio (A.D. 1485), representing the death of St. Francis. The
painting, which has been copied by the Arundel Society, has all the
character of a really historical work, and is particularly interesting
as representing an altar with the _two_ candlesticks upon it.
163: Ps. cviii, 1.
164: 2 Chron. v. 11-14.
165: Organs appear to have been used at a very early period, and some
have thought that allusions to them are to be found in the Psalms of
David; but till the commencement of the last century they were probably
used in very few country churches. In cathedrals the organ was sometimes
placed in the clerestory; its position over the choir screen is in every
respect most objectionable.
166: _Vestry_, so called because it is the place where the vestments of
the priests and their assistants are kept. It is also called the
_sacristy_, because the _sacred_ vessels and other furniture for use at
the altar are kept there. The keeper of the vestry is properly called
the _sacristan_. This word has now degenerated to _sexton_.
167: Some of the subterranean and other small chambers in churches,
supposed to be chantries or mortuary chapels, have probably been used as
vestries. The following is extracted from Neal and Webb's edition of
_Durandus_:--"On eache side of this chancelle peradventure (for so
fitteth it beste) should stand a turret; as it were for two ears, and in
these the belles to be hanged, to calle the people to service, by daie
and by night. Undre one of these turrets is there commonly a vaulte,
whose doore openeth into the quiere, and in this are laid up the
hallowed vesselles, and ornamentes, and other utensils of the churche.
We call it a vestrie."--_Fardle of Facions_. Printed 1555.
168: Early examples of these chests for containing the parish records
may be found in most old churches. Frequently they are of very rude
design, and the box is formed of a single block of wood strongly bound
with iron hoops. Sometimes, however, they are richly carved, as in the
churches of Clymping, Sussex; Luton, Bedfordshire; and Faversham, Kent.
The proper place for the parish chest is the vestry, but it is not
unfrequently to be found in some other part of the church. We often meet
with several large chests of common deal in various parts of the church
containing useless papers and other rubbish. The sooner these are swept
away the better.
169: See pages 85 and 86 for a description of some of these vestments.
170: It is _always lawful_, and almost always desirable, to hold
"vestry" meetings in some hall or room in the parish, and _not in the
church vestry_.
171: Eph. ii. 20.
172: Pugin's _True Principles of Architecture_.
173: _Durandus._
174: 1 Pet. ii. 5.
175: Col. iii. 14.
176: John x. 9.
177: Jer. xxii. 18.
178: Most persons know--at least from engravings--the famous "Apprentice
Column" in Roslin Chapel. That was perhaps the first church pillar that
ever was wreathed with flowers, and those stone flowers are as fresh and
beautiful now as when they were carved five hundred years ago.
179: This old custom of copying in stone or marble the surrounding
objects of nature has been imitated on the capitals of pillars in the
church of St. Mary, Devon, which has recently been so beautifully
restored in memory of the late Bishop of Exeter.
180: Acts xiv. 13. Virgil, _AEneid_, i. 417; ii. 249.
181: 1 Cor. xv. 42.
182: Isa. lx. 13.
183: Mark xiv. 4.
184: This word, formerly spelt _clear story_, plainly expresses its own
meaning--a clear or separate story or flight of windows. They are placed
between the roof and the nave arches of a church.
185: The word corbel, French _corbeille_, means literally a large flat
basket. It is curious to note how the word obtains its present use in
architecture. After the destruction of the city of Caryae in Arcadia by
the Greeks, Praxiteles, and other Athenian artists, employed female
figures, instead of columns, in architecture, to commemorate the
disgrace of the Caryatides, or women of Caryae (see Dr. Smith's Dict. of
Greek and Roman Antiquities, _Caryatis_). These figures were always
represented with corbels or baskets on their heads. The basket, being
thus placed between the head of the figure and the roof, was that which
_immediately_ supported the roof. Hence those projecting pieces of stone
or wood which support the roofs of our churches, as well as other
buildings, have received the name of corbels. _Caryatides_ may be seen
on the north and south sides of New St. Pancras Church, London--a church
which externally possesses all the appearances of a heathen temple, and
few of a Christian church.
186: Although the carved roofs of this period cannot compare in point of
elegance and beauty with those of an earlier date, yet, for the
abundance of rich and elaborate detail in wood-carving (oak and walnut),
no period equalled this. The bench-ends, screens, rood-screens, tombs of
wood at this time were exquisitely beautiful. The roofs, however, were
too flat, and externally they were concealed altogether by parapets.
187: In some chancels the idea of the keel of a ship is fully carried
out, the walls widening as they ascend.
188: The flat roofs well suited the heathen worship of ancient Greece
and Rome, where the object of worship was shut up within the walls of
the temple itself. It is far different with us, who worship a Deity who,
though specially present there, is "not _confined_ to temples made with
hands."
189: Wordsworth.
190: See the _Builder_, Jan. 29, 1865, "The Roof and the Spire."
191: So called from the _triple form_ of the arches it most commonly
has.
192: See Parker's _Glossary_, "Triforium;" and Hook's _Church
Dictionary_.
193: It is probable that all Norman towers originally had low-pointed
roofs covered with tiles (as at Sompting, Essex); tower roofs of this
period with gable-ends are also sometimes to be found.
194: Chiefly in Norfolk and Suffolk. Of these the round towers of Little
Saxham and Brixham are perhaps the most interesting.
195: There are several instances, however, in England of bell-towers
standing detached from the church, as the beautiful tower at Evesham,
Worcestershire, and the curious belfry at Brookland in Kent.
196: Evidences of these priests' chambers exist throughout England:
there are instances at Challock, Sheldwich, and Brook in Kent. In the
last mentioned are the remains of an altar, with a portion of the
original rude painting above it still remaining.
197: Bells are said to have been introduced into the Christian Church by
Paulinus; Bishop of Nola, at the end of the fourth century. The first
peal of bells in England was put up in Croyland Abbey, about A.D. 870.
198: "When they heard the bell of the chapel of Isabella sounding through
the forests as it rung for mass, and beheld the Spaniards hastening
to wards the chapel, they imagined that it _talked_."--Irving's
_Life of Columbus_, ch. iv.
The office of the church bell in summoning the people to prayer and holy
worship was regarded in olden times with such respect that the bell was
very solemnly set apart by a special religious service for this sacred
use.
In the churchwarden's accounts of St. Lawrence, Reading, is the
following curious entry:--
"1449. It payed for halowing of the bell named Harry, vj_s_. viij_d_.,
and over that, Sir William Symys, Richard Cleck, and Maistres Smyth,
being Godfaders and Godmoder at the consecraycyon of the same bell, and
beryng all oth' costs to the suffrygan."
199: Kirke White.
200: In the last century it was a favourite custom with village
bellringers to set forth their rules in verse. They were generally
painted on a board and fixed in the belfry. In all cases the rhyme
appears to be the production of native talent. The rules are themselves
unexceptionable. The following are examples:--
In the belfry, Charlwood,--
"Ye men of action, strength, and skill,
Observe these rules which I do will:
First,--Let none presume to swear,
Nor e'er profane the house of Prayer.
Next,--He that doth a bell o'erthrow
A groat shall forfeit where'er he go;
And if he do refuse to pay,
Be scorn'd, and simply go his way,
Like one who will for ever wrangle
As touching of a rope to jangle."
In the belfry, Bredgar,--
"My friendly ringers, I do declare
You must pay one penny each oath you do swear.
To turn a bell over
It is the same fare;
To ring with your hats on you must not dare.
"MDCCLI."
In the belfry, All Saints', Hastings,--
"This is a belfry that is free
For all those that civil be;
And if you please to chime or ring,
It is a very pleasant thing.
There is no music play'd or sung
Like unto bells when they're well rung;
Then ring your bells well if you can;
Silence is best for every man.
But if you ring in spur or hat
Sixpence you pay, be sure of that;
And if a bell you overthrow
Pray pay a groat before you go.
"1756."
201: In the preface to the Prayer Book the curate is directed to "cause
a bell to be tolled" for morning and evening prayer; but Durandus says
that this ringing of the bell was itself once part of the minister's own
duty.
202: At Cairnwent, in Wales, the parish clerk "used often to knock a bit
or two from one of the bells when any one wanted a bit of metal." In a
neighbouring church two bells were taken down and sold to pay for the
_ceiling of the roof_. Many church bells in England have, alas! met with
as sad a fate. The same parsimony which has sacrificed the bells has, in
many cases, not spared the belfry. It seems hardly credible--but it is
true--that some years ago, at St. Bride's, Monmouthshire, there being no
ladder in the village long enough to reach the top of the tower, _the
tower was lowered to meet the length of the ladder_.
203: The following are a few examples taken from village church bells in
Wales. At Nevern,--
"I to the church the living call,
And to the grav do summon al.--1763."
At Llandyssil,--
"Come at my call,
Serve God, all.--1777."
"Fear God, honour the king.--1777."
At Llangattock,--
"Be peaceful and good neighbours."
204: Such as:--on six bells at Northfield Church,--
1st. "We now are six, tho' once but five,"
2nd. "But against our casting some did strive;"
3rd. "But when a day for meeting they did fix,"
4th. "There appear'd but nine against twenty-six:"
5th. "Thomas Kettle and William Jervis did contrive"
6th. "To make us six that were but five."
At Tamworth,--
"Be it known to all that doth me see,
That Newcombe, of Leicester, made mee.--1607."
At Nevern,--
'Thomas Rudall
Cast us all.--1763.'
205: Durandus, "Of Bells."
206: Ps. xcii. 13.
207: 2 Cor. v. 1.
208: Heb. ix. 23.
209: Eph. ii. 20-22.
210: Isa. xxviii. 16. 1 Pet. ii. 6.
211: Ps. cxviii. 22. Matt. xxi. 42.
212: Eph. ii. 21.
213: 1 Pet. ii. 5.
214: 2 Cor. vi. 16.
215: S. James ii. 17.
216: Col. iii. 14.
217: Ezek. xiii. 10.
218: Ps. cxxvii. 1.
219: Rom. ii. 7.
220: Rev. iv. 8; v. 13.
221: In the parish registry of Dymock, in Gloucestershire, is the
following entry:--"Buried: John Murrel, aged 89 years. Thomas Bannister,
aged 13 years." To which is appended the following note: "John Murrel
and Thomas Bannister died nearly at the same moment, though the latter
was in apparent good health. He had always attended upon Murrel, who was
much given to prayer, and being by his bed at the time, Murrel, in his
last struggle, extended his hand to him, when both instantly expired."