THE LOST CHAPEL
Since the last issue of this work, the foundations of the Chapel
of the Loretto at Glastonbury have been partly excavated, and are
found to accord, so far, with the statements received in automatic
writing. This discovery sets the seal upon the veridical nature of the
writings, and emphasizes the importance of the method employed by the
author for the recovery of latent knowledge.
THE GATE OF REMEMBRANCE
THE LOST CHAPEL
The green isle of Glaston, severed as it was from the outer world by
its girdle of marsh and mere, was from old time a haunt of peace.
Its history as a religious foundation goes back into the mists of
antiquity, and is lost in legend and fable. To this quiet retreat, this
secluded stronghold of a more ancient faith, the footsteps of the first
Christian missioners were guided, and the company of Eastern pilgrims
found rest in its green recesses and a well-guarded focus for the great
work of evangelising the isle of Britain.
Successive waves of pagan immigration flooded the land, yet never was
the lamp of truth extinguished here; and, stranger still, those who
came, though of alien race and custom, cherished the older landmarks
and sought not to destroy; for the heritage of Glaston was not the
heritage of any individual race, but of all--a trust for Christendom.
Within the sacred precincts the dust of many holy men was preserved,
and the church enshrined their relics. She grew great through the
pious benefactions of kings and nobles whose memory she kept green.
Among these the gifts of the great Saxon King, Edgar, "yclept The
Peaceable,"[2] were always gratefully remembered. In the great Abbey
Church there was a chapel to his honour, well endowed, and, we doubt
not, sumptuously furnished. But it was not esteemed sufficient, and
in the day of Richard Bere, the last great building Abbot, it was
decided that a new and more glorious monument should be erected to
his memory. So we learn from Leland, who saw the chapel as it stood,
a completed work, but a few years before the dissolution and ruin of
the monastery. Then came, in 1539, the forced surrender, the barbarous
execution of the last Abbot, Whiting, the violation of the shrines, and
the dispersal of all the treasures of art and learning stored within
the Abbey walls. But of the Edgar Chapel nothing more is heard, save
that we can infer from a document we quote that it was standing in
the days of Elizabeth. Yet it is doubtful whether it can have lasted
through half her reign. And perhaps it was one of the first of the
buildings to be utterly destroyed, since even its memory had perished
and its form and grandeur were alike forgotten. Those who have seen the
delicate and beautiful work at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle,
or that masterpiece of stonecraft, the Chapel of King Henry VII. at
Westminster, may form some idea of the general character of this Chapel
of Edgar in its finished state.
[2] Vide Capgrave's _Chronicle_. Local memory and tradition generally
preserve some traces, however dim or distorted, of an architectural
work of great magnitude and beauty, but it is a strange fact that
this one had utterly faded out of knowledge save for some scattered
and obscure notes in the pages of the old county antiquaries, which
contained no hint of its identity.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--PLAN FROM PHELPS'S "SOMERSET," REPRODUCED IN
WARNER'S "GLASTONBURY."
Shewing in dotted lines the reminiscence of an eastward Lady's, or
Retro-Chapel, thought to have been built by Abbot Adam de Sodbury in
the early part of the fourteenth century.
Two different states are shewn, both lettered 'F' by these authors,
and here numbered 1 and 2. No. 1 shews by scale a projection from
the retro-choir of 30 feet; whilst No. 2 gives a total length of 95
feet. This is called by Warner, "the chapel according to its original
proportions." The two measurements are approximately harmonised by
Leland's record of the lengthening of the choir by Abbot Monington to
the extent of two bays, and the throwing out of his new retro-choir to
the east, which would absorb about two-thirds of the length of this
chapel.]
DISCOVERY OF THE EDGAR CHAPEL, GLASTONBURY ABBEY:
AN ACCOUNT OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT
The following is the story of the discovery which, in 1908, caused a
good deal of public interest, and provided the archæological world with
an object of attention.
Although known to a small circle of friends of the writer and his
colleague in the research, and to the Secretary of the Society for
Psychical Research, who was intimately acquainted with both, and in
touch with them at the time, no publication of the circumstances has
yet been made, and this was withheld largely for reasons more or less
personal to the writer, though the intention had always been to make
known the facts whenever the time should seem ripe for the disclosure.
The entire record has been preserved, and the testimony of both the
writer and his friend being available, as well as the contemporary
evidence of the Secretary of the S.P.R., it will be seen that the
matter stands on a fairly good basis in respect of documentary witness.
For reasons of convenience, initials will be used in the ensuing
account. F.B.B. will denote the writer, and J.A. his friend, John
Alleyne.
In anticipation of an appointment to the position of Director
of Excavations at Glastonbury Abbey on behalf of the Somerset
Archæological Society, of which he was a member, F.B.B. had, during
1907, devoted considerable time to the study of the ruins and their
history, and to that of the older religious foundations, and in this
J.A. assisted him. Most of the surviving accounts of the Abbey were
gone through, both the works of the mediæval writers and those of the
seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, with the fragments
collected by them from older sources. Among the first, the works of
William of Malmesbury, Adam de Domerham, William Wyrcestre, and John
of Glaston, were examined, whilst Leland was not overlooked, and the
later antiquaries, Hearne, Dugdale, Hollar, and Stukeley, had their
share of attention. Following these, Browne-Willis, Britton, Carter,
Collinson, Phelps, Kerrich, and Warner, were consulted, and finally
some careful attention was bestowed on the modern antiquaries, Parker,
Freeman, and last, but not least in importance, Professor Willis, whose
_Architectural History_ was the standard book of reference on the
subject during the latter half of the nineteenth century, and still
remains of the greatest usefulness to students.
Glastonbury Abbey having passed out of private hands into the custody
of a body of Trustees, acting on behalf of the National Church,
it was hoped that a greatly increased opportunity for research and
excavation would ensue. All published plans of the Great Church had
been necessarily very incomplete, in the absence of visible remains
and the lack of trustworthy evidence from documents. In particular the
following features were in doubt:
1. The form of the retro-quire, and eastward termination of the Abbey
Church.
2. The question of a north porch to the nave, and its probable
position, if it existed.
RETRO-QUIRE AND CHAPELS.
In 1866 Professor R. Willis published his invaluable _Architectural
History_, being the substance of a communication he had made to the
Archæological Institute in the year previous. He devotes two pages
(40, 41) to a discussion of the number and arrangement of the chapels
east of the processional path in the retro-quire, and arrives at the
conclusion that they were five in number. And in his plan (Fig. 2),
which appears as a frontispiece to his work, he shows these five, the
central one projecting about 12 feet. On p. 43 he says:
"As Bere is also said to have built Edgar's Chapel at the east end
of the church, it is probable that this chapel was one of those that
we are considering, and that Bere fitted it up and completed it. The
complete eradication of the east wall of the church in the centre
may be accounted for by supposing that the central chapel projected
eastward, as I have shown in the plan, and that this chapel was
Edgar's; for if it had been only one of the ordinary chapels it would
not have been worth mentioning as a distinct building."[3]
[3] _Cf._ Leland's _Itinerary_. "Abbate Beere buildid Edgares Chapel at
the Est End of the Chirch, but Abbate Whiting performed sum part of it."
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--PROFESSOR WILLIS'S PLAN.]
Professor Willis's conjecture represents the largest or most liberal
interpretation yet placed by any antiquary upon the passage from
Leland--which, it may be said, is the only known contemporary evidence
of this work of the last two Abbots.
Parker,[4] who reviewed the whole subject of the plan in his work
for the Somerset Archæological Society (see his article in their
_Proceedings_ for 1880), does not support Willis's conclusions,
inclining rather to the view that the Edgar Chapel was in the south
transept, to the east of the _nave_, but it is within the writer's
knowledge that Professor Freeman believed that the original quire,
which, before Monington's addition of a fifth and sixth bay, must
have been shorter by some 39 feet, was furnished with a large eastern
chapel, probably a Lady-chapel, and that this may have been of quite
considerable dimensions and even co-extensive in total length with the
plan as given by Willis. But this view does not appear to have gone
farther than a mere expression of opinion verbally given at a meeting
in the Abbey, and the writer only heard it quoted as a reminiscence
some time after the discovery of the Edgar Chapel.
[4] See paper by James Parker, M.A., in 1880 volume of _Som. Arch.
Proc._, p. 101, where he says, speaking of the Edgar Chapel: "The
question is, What did Leland mean by the 'est end of the chirch'? Does
he mean the choir? Of course, I cannot say that he does not. But there
are two considerations. The first is the view preserved by Stukely,
taken by his friend Mr. Strachey before the Abbot's House was pulled
down, and, as I understand it, some few years before 1723. In this a
larger portion of the second chapel in the south transept remains than
now, and it is lettered 'Edgar Chapel.' He seems to have obtained his
name from hearsay, and possibly no importance ought to be attached
to the tradition by itself. The other consideration seems to me more
worthy of attention, and may perhaps support the tradition, where it
is said in the next paragraph which Leland gives in reference to Abbot
Bere, that he 'arched' on both sides, the east part of the church."
Parker proceeds to argue that this arching probably refers to the east
end _of the nave_, not of the choir, and that if so, then Edgar's
Chapel belongs to the same work, and would thus be connected with the
transept also. "And there," says Parker, "it is placed in the only
engraving which gives the name." "On the whole," he concludes, "I think
it must be left an open question as to what Abbot Bere built; at least,
that the evidence is not sufficient to justify putting Edgar's Chapel
_at the east end of the choir_."
It appears to have been put forward as an explanation of the curious
diagram given in Phelps's _Somerset_, where a plan of the church is
published, showing in dotted lines a short projection at the point
where Willis shows his chapel, and this is given a semicircular or
apsidal end.[5] Phelps calls this the "Lady's Chapel." And in the
corner of the same sheet this author gives another long rectangular
diagram, again with a semicircular end, which Warner, who reproduces
the plan, calls the "Chapel according to its original dimensions." The
apse being the constant feature, these additional dimensions would be
to the west, and would answer to the difference in the former and the
latter dimensions of the quire which Monington lengthened in 1344-5.
And it will be clear that some such reasoning may have guided Parker or
Freeman to the tentative conclusion mentioned, and have assisted Willis
to form his definite theory of a slight prominence in the central
chapel of the later retro-quire.
[5] See Fig. 1, p. 5.
Among the documents which have been recovered whose period is that of
the immediate post-Reformation, is one which would have been readily
accessible to Willis and others, and which is preserved by Phelps and
copied by Warner in his _Glastonbury_, published in the twenties of the
last century. This is a transcript of a report made to Queen Elizabeth
by a Commissioner, who was sent to make an inventory of the Abbey
buildings, and he gives a series of measurements of the principal parts
of the monastery, including the Abbey Church, as to which he says:
"The great church in the Aby was in length 594 as followeth:
The Chapter House, in length, 90 foot.
The Quier, in length, 159 foot; in breadth, 75 foot.
The bodie of the Church, in length, 228 foot.
The Joseph's chapell, in length, 117 foot."
In the seventeenth century we have the bare statements of Hollar and of
Hearne, that the total length of the Abbey Church was 580 feet.
All the measures given by the Elizabethan Commissioner are very
excessive, and perhaps for that reason, as well as for the confusion
of idea suggested by the association of the Chapter-House measure with
those of the Church, they have been rejected, or not regarded, by
modern antiquaries. In like manner the bare statement of Hollar and
Hearne, being without any description of what buildings were to be
included in their measure, has not been taken into account.
Professor Willis's review of the probabilities of the plan of the
east end seemed conclusive as regards the existence of five chapels
in a row on the east wall of the retro-quire, for the construction
he places upon William Wyrcestre's description must be admitted to
be most reasonable, fortified as it is by the record of Wild's plan
(1813), in which the bases of two piers with fragments of wall attached
and running eastward are shown in precisely the position required as
partitions for the forming of the three central chapels of the five.
These piers had evidently been recently discovered, and are figured in
Britton's _Architectural Antiquaries_, vol. iv., p. 195. But all trace
of them has been cleared away, and, as Willis himself says (_op. cit._,
p. 42):
"Unfortunately, the practice in respect to these ruins until the
beginning of this century and later was always to remove not merely
the wrought stones, but also to eradicate the foundations. And
although the remains have been for many years protected from this kind
of destruction, THERE IS NO HOPE LEFT OF RECOVERING ANY DETAILS OF
PLAN BY EXCAVATIONS." (_Capitals mine.--F.B.B._)
So the matter remained until, in 1903-4, the Archæological Institute
decided to make Glastonbury the scene of its labours, and Mr. (now Sir
William) St. John Hope was deputed to prepare a paper for their annual
meeting.
Mr. Hope, having in mind such plans as Abbey Dore, where four chapels
appear against the east wall of the retro-quire, reviews William
Wyrcestre's statement in this light, and places on his words an
alternative construction such as would be correct if that writer had
been habitually precise in his descriptions. But he is not precise,
and a general inspection of his writings will sufficiently show that
he has a peculiar method of representing facts where number, series,
locality, or dimension are involved. In the present instance he says:
"IN ORIENTALI PARTE ALTARIS GLASTONIE.
"Spacium de le reredes ex parte orientali magne altaris sunt 5
columpnæ seriatim et inter quamlibet columpnam est capella cum altare."
Mr. Hope thought that Wyrcestre counted each respond as a whole column,
which would mean three whole columns and two responds or piers engaged
with the walls north and south, suggesting, of course, four chapels
only. He caused trenches to be cut east and west along the site of his
supposed central dividing wall, and one north and south immediately
outside the east wall of the retro-quire and across the gap where the
central chapel of Willis ought to have been. But nothing turned up
which to his mind was indicative of an extension of building beyond the
line of the two remaining fragments of walling marking the eastward
end of the retro-quire, and his conclusion is definite--that there was
not, and could never have been, any such extension of a central chapel.
And he claimed to have found support for his view of a mid-partition
giving a total of four, and not five, chapels, through the confirmatory
results of his excavation. Such was the position in 1907 when the
writer commenced his studies, and it will readily be seen that no
prospect of success could reasonably be expected to attend further
research by excavation beyond this point.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
All the evidence was sifted and discussed by F.B.B. and J.A. F.B.B.
attached perhaps as little weight to the conflicting records of a
longer measure as had those who went before him. But he distinctly
preferred Willis's solution to others, as there was no gainsaying the
significance of Wild's plan with its two intermediate column-bases.
And instinctively he felt, as his friend also felt, that the question
was not solved, the last word not said. More than once, the feeling
returned that a chapel which was thought worthy of special mention
by Leland, and which, according to his account, was the work of two
Abbots, must have been a work of some importance.
Still, nothing came uppermost in the mind which would tend to modify
the writer's respect for Willis's view, nor, indeed, to challenge its
probability. It was rather with the object of defending this view,
as against the contradictory one more recently put forward, that the
intention was formed to examine, as soon as circumstances might permit,
the site of Wild's twin piers, and to dig deep around the spot in the
hope of finding yet some trace of footings characteristic of a crypt;
for Wild noted these as being "probably part of the crypt," and it did
not appear that anyone had taken the trouble to investigate this matter.
Wild's plan, incorporated in Britton's "Antiquities," may be regarded
as a standard work. In this respect it claims greater weight than
others such as Phelps's or Stukeley's, which are vague and inaccurate.
Warner copies Phelps, and claims a fourteenth-century Lady-Chapel at
the east, but neither Britton nor Stukeley, whose plan is two hundred
years old, supports his view. Warner's note is quoted by Professor
Willis (ref. to p. 31 of his _Architectural History_).
PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED TO ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH
It has been said that the great distinction between East and West
in the matter of learning has been that whilst Western science
deals with phenomena and builds upon deductions from observation of
external things, Eastern wisdom looks always inwardly, seeking to find
the answer to all enigmas of creation in the mind of man. The one
develops the logical faculty, often, perhaps, at the sacrifice of the
imaginative functions; whilst the other follows the intuitive powers,
not regarding logical rules. But, as a matter of fact, neither method
can be employed to the exclusion of the other, and any great discovery
of Western science will be found the outcome of interaction between the
two principles. It had always been clear, however, to the writer that
the part played by the intuitive or, as Myers would say, subliminal
powers of the mind is habitually set aside by the orthodox naturalist,
who is apt to see little beyond his specimens and what can logically
be inferred from them. And archæological research has been in such a
manner hidebound, and, it must be admitted, with some reason; for, as a
comparatively young science, it has had to protect itself against many
a foolish fantasy launched by a half-instructed or over-enthusiastic
devotee. To describe these as "vain imaginations" would be correct, as
the word "vain" is a sufficient qualification, but the writer at all
times deprecates the use of the noble word "imagination" in the debased
sense of a mere fantasy. Imagination is a great gift, a Divine power
of the mind, and may be trained and educated to receive and to create
only that which is true. And this, maybe, is the secret of much of the
spiritual understanding and wisdom of the East.
But we Western folks think it unpractical to cultivate this gift.
We have no system for training it, and our bourgeois habit of mind
despises it. In our slipshod way, we say of anything not founded on
fact, "It is all imagination," and similarly we are wont to misuse the
term "illusion" by employing it to characterise positive delusion.
The training of the imaginative faculty upon scientific lines and its
application to archæological research had long been a favourite notion
of the writer's, and he and J.A. had many a talk on the subject; but
the difficulty was as to the method most likely to secure the results
at which they aimed.
What was clear enough, however, was the need of somehow switching off
the mere logical machinery of the brain which is for ever at work
combining the more superficial and obvious things written on the
pages of memory, and by its dominant activity excluding that which a
more contemplative element in the mind would seek to revive from the
half-obliterated traces below.
And it occurred to F.B.B. that in the faculty of automatism which
his friend was believed to possess, but which he had never used
deliberately (it had operated once or twice in his life spontaneously),
there might be found the key to success in this direction. F.B.B. was
a member of the Society for Psychical Research. Both he and J.A. were
intimate with Mr. Everard Feilding, Secretary of the Society, who had
been greatly interested in J.A.'s account of certain phenomena of
automatism which he had experienced. And E.F. had been present at one
or two experiments in the calling of these powers into play.
Before entering upon the actual narrative of the discovery in
connection with Glastonbury, it must be further premised that neither
F.B.B. nor J.A. favoured the ordinary spiritualistic hypothesis which
would see in these phenomena _the action of discarnate intelligences
from the outside upon the physical or nervous organisation of the
sitters_. They would regard such a view as something like a reversal or
turning inside-out of the truth. But that the embodied consciousness
of every individual is but a part, and a fragmentary part, of a
transcendent whole, and that within the mind of each there is a door
through which Reality may enter as Idea--Idea presupposing a greater,
even a cosmic Memory, conscious or unconscious, active or latent, and
embracing not only all individual experience and revivifying forgotten
pages of life, but also Idea involving yet wider fields, transcending
the ordinary limits of time, space, and personality--this would be a
better description of the mental attitude of the two friends.
The following may be quoted as indicating F.B.B's temper of mind and
feeling at a time closely following the date of the experiments he made
with J.A. It may be found as a passage in the Illuminated Address which
he prepared for, and which was accepted by, the Queen on her visit as
Princess of Wales to the Abbey in 1909, and was conceived as a part
of the "lovynge Greetinge of y^e monkes of Glaston to theyre Prince
and Princesse. xxii Jun: A^o Mcmix." This extract runs as follows.
It was not automatic, but was doubtless influenced to some extent by
a strong feeling in more than one quarter that Glastonbury would be
renewed as a centre of spiritual realisation and reconciliation between
the various racial elements in these islands and their distinctive
religious expressions, not yet co-ordinated (see the writer's article
on "Glastonbury" in the Christmas number of the _Treasury_ for 1908,
also an address by Canon Masterman given in London in the same year).
Glastonbury, as is well known, was a centre of pilgrimage from all
parts of the world. In most ancient times it was compared with Rome and
Jerusalem:
"For y^e past dyeth not but slepeth, nay ffor perchaunce hit wakyth
and hit ys they of y^e present who doe slepe and dreme. Hit ys euen as
a ffar countrie ffrom y^e which they heare tydynges: Yet men will fare
vnto londes ffarr distant and y^e weelth hath bene theyr guerdon euen
soe wayteth euer ffor man y^e treasure of y^e wisdom of past tymes and
yeeldeth her vnto y^e loue whych seekyth and ys ne wearyed; soe schal
y^e memorie of oldetyme thinges be reuealyd and of Glaston hit ys sayd
y^t when y^e tymes ben ripe y^e glorye schal return: May hit bee euen
soe Gracious Prince and Princess yn youre tyme."
Then y^e grasse schal bee as glasse
And y^e schal see y^e mysterie
Deepe downe hit lyes ffrom pryinge eies
And safelie slepes, while vigil kepes
Y^e company.
(Howe doe) y^e dry bonys stir and shake
And eche to eche hys fellowe seekes
Soone comes agayne what once hath bene
And Glastonys glory shal be seene.
These verses were evolved one day in automatic writing. What their
origin neither F.B.B. nor J.A. know--neither can recall having read
them. Owing to their beauty and suggestiveness, they were incorporated
in the Address in a form slightly modified from the original.
ON AUTOMATISM
The essential objection to the methods and practices of the
spiritualists, and the ground of that instinctive repugnance which is
normally felt towards these methods, is undoubtedly that they imply a
surrender of the will and powers of self-control to activities which,
for good or evil, are outside the personal sphere of the medium.
The higher spiritual gifts are those in which the recipient acts as
a conscious participator in the act of transmission. Between these
two extremes is a class intermediate in nature, which is apparently
recognised by St. Paul in the first Epistle to the Corinthians,[6]
the typical instance quoted being that of the "gift of tongues" whose
exercise, whilst not discouraged by him, was nevertheless noted as
of inferior value, since it did not tend always to the edification
of the Church. But it was one phase of a form of inspiration then
known, probably as a common phenomenon, and there can be little or
no doubt that it was accompanied by others of a similar sort, and
that inspirational writing was possibly one of the most ordinary of
these. The one necessarily follows from the other. There is even a
possible element of the kind to be weighed in any satisfying theory of
Biblical inspiration, and the prophetic utterances connected therewith,
and it will have to be considered fairly and apart from theological
preconceptions.
[6] See flyleaf.
It is clear from the chapter in Corinthians (1 Cor. xiv.) that in the
exercise of the gift of tongues the speaker generally knew little
or nothing of the meaning of what he was saying, though it is not
necessary to assume that the utterance was beyond his control. But it
implies the action of what, in modern language, has been spoken of
as a supraliminal part of the mind, when, to quote the Apostle, "the
understanding is unfruitful."
The exercise of automatism--a controlled automatism--in the production
of writing seems to the author a reasonable parallel, and, where the
result is capable of ready interpretation, there, according to the
Apostolic dictum, is the hope of "edification" by its means. And for
those prepared and ready for its exercise the gift of prophecy in those
days awaited manifestation through them. And it is not necessary to
suppose that the gifts then bestowed were unique, in the sense that
they were afterwards to be withdrawn for all time. On the contrary, it
is quite clear from Scripture itself that a great revival of them was
to be expected in later days, as Peter says in Acts ii. 17, quoting the
prophet Joel:
"_And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour
out My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams._"
Are we not led to believe that there is no limitation to the "liberal
gifts" of the spirit nor to the variety in the nature of the spiritual
gifts which may be exercised? They may be concerned with any possible
branch of mental activity, and all new ideas, whether in art, science,
philosophy, politics, religion, or what not, must be held to be
included. Nor need the manner or method of such inspiration concern us
as of primary importance, however unusual such may chance to appear.
The one test is the quality of its message, whether it be truthful
or otherwise, edifying or lacking in helpful qualities. If a message
of this nature be found true, it cannot be dictated by a spirit of
falsehood; if sane, then not by insanity; if wholesome and moral, then
not by a vicious or depraved intelligence. Men do not gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles.
The germination of new and profitable ideas in the mind may in this
respect be brought about, firstly, by a suitable system of mental
exercise and culture; secondly, by a willingness to hold back all
mental preferences and preconceptions, and to restrain also the
surface activities of the brain, so that the channel of pure "idea"
which resides in the subconscious mind may be maintained, and the
finer activities allowed to percolate. Then surely may be hoped for
the reaction of those energies sent forth by previous effort of the
mind and will, and ideas will flow back, not singly and alone, but
accompanied by a spiritual reinforcement which may include elements new
and of great value, from sources beyond the ken of the individual mind.
These new elements may be of all conceivable kinds, moving instinct,
intuition, imagination, affection, or will. They may be vague and
abstract, or tinged, as in dreams, with a vivid sense of personality;
dispassionate or pulsing with new enthusiasms; lighting the
intelligence, or moving in the dark region of the subliminal mind--in
this case perhaps incapable of being evoked save by automatism or the
telepathy of other minds. From some inward and mysterious fount they
come, borne in upon us by dynamic impulse carrying with it the fruition
of memories and experiences long dormant and inaccessible to us, though
within the range of the spiritual intelligence which is the Directive
power. Man is a very complex being, and although, spiritually speaking,
he lives and acts in relation with his fellow-men in, and by virtue
of, his memories, personal and ancestral--for what are character and
conscience but the fruition of all those memories and experiences which
are his own or those of every pre-natal element in him?--yet, may it
not be that when released from physical conditions, as at death, there
will take place some dissociation of the strata of his personality, the
mere brain-record, the husk, the mechanism of his memories of common
things, being scattered as the chaff, or shaken off as a discarded
coat, whilst their fruit is garnered as new spiritual power and
knowledge in the soul's æonial treasury?
SOME NOTES ON THE SCRIPT AND ITS PUBLICATION
The decision to publish these writings was formed after much careful
weighing of all reasons for and against, and their issue at the present
juncture was largely influenced by the feeling that public interest in
such matters had greatly ripened since the war, and that the fruits of
the author's experiment should not be withheld, since they might serve
to direct that interest into a new and perhaps profitable channel.
The script produced during the fairly long period of time (from the
end of 1907 to 1911, and again in 1912 and more recently) was obtained
under varying conditions, and was of very varied quality. A large
proportion had reference to Glastonbury and to monastic affairs and
history, and of this only a part would claim to possess any sort of
evidential value. Some was of private interest only, and would be
useless for publication. Occasionally the attempted communication
was a failure. In a few cases there were noted some very obvious
misstatements. The most serious of these was in the measures first
given for the Edgar Chapel, "Et Capella extensit 30 virgas ad orientem
et viginti virgas in latitudine(m)." A "virga" is a yard. The script
was very obscure, and the measure was asked for again, with the result
that "quinquaginta virgas" was written. A third time the confirmation
was sought, and this time the "30 virgas" was repeated. "Quinquaginta"
(50) was obviously a mistake, but the repetition of the 30 virgas,
though indicating a length vastly in excess of anything we had ever
thought possible for this chapel, made one less inclined to dismiss
it without further attention. The "viginti virgas" given once for
the width seemed quite out of the question. And as the event proved,
no measure approaching 20 yards for the extreme width of the chapel
could then be shown to have existed. It appeared absurd, and was then
and there ruled out, together with the inconsistent and excessive
"quinquaginta virgas" of length.[7] This occurred at the close of the
first sitting, which had been a long one. The writing was becoming less
clear; the power was failing, and the sitters beginning to feel weary.
[7] At a later date the excavations revealed a small chantry adjoining
the south side, as at Gloucester Cathedral (Lady Chapel). This extends
the width to 48 or 49 feet. If a similar chantry were appended to the
north side (again following Gloucester) the extreme width might be
close on 60 feet ("viginti virgas"). But of this nothing is known.
Colonel Long's MS. plan, found in 1910, gives the 49 feet width.
No further attempt was therefore made at the time to elucidate the
measures, but it was resolved to try again on a subsequent occasion.
There was a very cold spell in the early winter of 1907-8, and the
attempts during this period were mostly failures. On the 13th December
the sitting was abandoned for this reason. Another on the 21st produced
nothing satisfactory. Again, on the 3rd January, 1908, when the cold
was at its height, only a few cramped and uncertain words could be
obtained, in which these were traced:
"Frigidus sum ... memoria oportet nullum ... nescio quid aut quo[8]
fecimus scriptum...."
[8] For "quomodo."
Another and much more important cause of failure must now be noted.
About the beginning of 1908 certain circumstances of a rather anxious
and trying nature were affecting one of the sitters. This produced
a preoccupation of mind unfavourable to the production of automatic
writing; and it seems a well-established rule that the sitters' minds
must be placid and their mood quiescent to obtain the best results. On
the 30th January, 1908, a further attempt was made to obtain writing,
but with entire lack of success from this cause, and all that was worth
recording was a few words, ending with the following: "Eschew self.
Something clogs the tones. Search yourselves straitly."
It was not until the 19th of February that any further really
satisfactory results were attained, and at this sitting the unspoken
desire of the sitters was met and a detailed description of the Edgar
Chapel given, including its outside measure of width--namely, 34 feet.
But it was not until Sitting XXXII. on the 16th June that the final
confirmation came. This was in answer to a question, and it was given
as follows:
"The width ye shall find is twenty and seven, and outside, thirty and
four, so we remember.--BEERE ABBAS."
At the date of this sitting, the west wall of the chapel had been
located, but its length not yet ascertained, so that there was nothing
to guide opinion as to this save what could be inferred from the
position of the small section opened, which showed it to be probably
about 20 feet in the clear of the footings, if placed centrally with
the quire. Then, in response to the further question, What was the
clear internal length of the chapel? came the reply,
"Wee laid downe seventy and two, but they builded longer."
And the veridical nature of these figures was shown by later knowledge.
(See Table, p. 76.)
But to return to the subject of errors. At Sitting XXXVI., on the 19th
September, 1908, there was given the story of a Saxon Earl, one Eawulf,
or Eanwulf, who was slain by a certain Radulphus, Norman knight of the
time of Turstin, first Norman Abbot. The story is quite a good one and
contains what appears to be veridical matter, but it is marred by a
peculiarity. Halfway through the script a strange mistake is noted.
The name of Turstin is substituted for Radulphus, and the script says,
"Eawulf and _Turstinus_ did fight, and the Norman did slay the Saxon."
Now such an error is tiresome, as it spoils the clearness of the
story. Yet, in another way, it is interesting, for the light that it
throws on the mechanical action of the brain as the probable source of
error in automatic writing or speaking.
It is a fact well known to those who are called upon to speak in
public, or who are engaged in literary work, that unless the attention
be fixed and concentrated on the subject in hand, the brain will
act mechanically, causing repetition of any word recently impressed
on the mental tympanum, and such word may easily be substituted for
another. Where there is fatigue, this may happen very easily. In the
case of automatic writing, the mind is relaxed, and there is probably
a predisposition to such errors. The example given seems a proof of
it. It seems, indeed, a matter for surprise that such mistakes are not
more numerous in the script obtained by us. On the contrary, another
phenomenon has been frequently observed in connection with it. This
is, that at the commencement of a sitting the thread of a former
communication, broken by the termination of a previous séance, would be
resumed almost as though no interval of time had elapsed.
It had been intended in the present work that only the veridical matter
concerning the Edgar Chapel should appear in print; but the scope
was enlarged by the inclusion of Johannes, whose personality seemed
attractive. Later, it was decided to allow the remarkable reminiscence
of the "Loretto" Chapel also to see the light of day, in anticipation
of further knowledge. But readers will understand that nothing like a
wholesale reproduction of the script in the author's possession would
be possible. At the same time it may be clearly stated that in what
is reserved there is nothing which contradicts or negatives the value
of what is given, and of this the fact that the author has been able
with success to follow out the indications given may be held sufficient
warrant.
No apology seems needed for the quality of the "Latin" in the script,
which is very much what one might imagine to be the colloquial jargon
of illiterate members of the community, whose knowledge of the tongue
would be chiefly confined to the service-books, or what they understood
of them.
The author would here record his indebtedness to his friend J.A., not
only for that cordial interest and co-operation without which the new
line of research could not have been undertaken, nor this work have
seen the light of day; but also for the verses he has written on the
subject of Plate III., and on the final Envoi. His thanks are also due
to Miss A. M. Buckton for her sonnet (Plate I.) and for many valued
suggestions; to Mr. T. H. Felton for his permission to use material
from the Cannon MS.; to the Council of the Somerset Archæological
Society for loan of several blocks (including Plate II.); and to Mr.
Edward Everard for the loan of Coney's and Stukeley's plates; also to
Mr. Everard Feilding for his constant interest in the work and many
helpful suggestions.
NARRATIVE OF THE WRITINGS
It was on the 7th of November that F.B.B. and J.A. had their first
sitting for the purpose of furthering the Glastonbury research. This
took place at 4.30 p.m. in F.B.B.'s office. J.A. held a pencil, F.B.B.
provided foolscap paper, which he steadied with his left hand, whilst
placing his right lightly on the back of J.A.'s, so that his fingers
lay evenly across its surface.
F.B.B. started by asking the question, as though addressed to some
other person:
"_Can you tell us anything about Glastonbury?_"
J.A.'s fingers began to move, and one or two lines of small irregular
writing were traced on the paper. He did not see what was written, nor
did F.B.B. decipher it until complete. The agreed method was to remain
passive, avoid concentration of the mind on the subject of the writing,
and to talk casually of other and indifferent matters, and this was
done. The writing turned out to be a sort of abstract dictum--viz.:
"All knowledge is eternal and is available to mental sympathy."
Then followed:
"I was not in sympathy with monks--I cannot find a monk yet."
F.B.B. suggested that one of their living monk-friends might be a
sympathetic link, and the writing was resumed. After a short interval
J.A.'s hand moved and began to trace a line, ultimately making a
drawing which on inspection looked like a recumbent cross, but which
when examined proved to be a fairly correct outline of the main
features of the Abbey Church traced by a single continuous line, but at
the east was a long rectangular addition, nearly as long again as the
quire, and this was given in a double line as though to emphasise it.
Down the middle of the plan were written the words--
"=Gulielmus Monachus.=" (See Fig. 4.)
Next followed what appeared to be an elaborate plan of the great
enclosure of the Abbey Church, with a sketch of a central tower, with
square pinnacled top, a west front or gabled façade, with two peaked
turrets and a large arched light between. Across the middle of the
surrounding enclosure a line was drawn, and at one point something like
an ornamental turret with two curved diverging lines below appeared,
and the words, "linea bifurcata"[9] were written. Then something
looking like a gabled building was sketched, from which a line was
traced to two rows of arches, perhaps representing a cloister, and
thence another straight line to a drawing recognised as being intended
for St. Mary's Chapel, and approaching it from the south. The plan of
the chapel showed a large square projection (? turret) on the south,
and two doors on the north side.
[9] The ancient "Book of Melchin" (now lost), quoted by John of
Glaston, says of Joseph of Arimathea: "Amongst them Joseph of Marmore,
named of Arimathea, receives perpetual sleep; and he lies in _linea
bifurcata_ near the south corner of the Oratory which is built of
hurdles." "Linea," according to Ducange, means "an under-garment,"
and "bifurcata" would denote one slit at the sides like a shirt or
dalmatic. But our script seems to suggest rather "a fork in the paths"
as the place where Joseph lay.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--THE PLAN OF THE ABBEY CHURCH WITH THE EDGAR
CHAPEL TO THE EAST (LEFT HAND).
NOTE.--The drawing has all the marks of a blindfold tracing. The
line is continuous, commencing at A, and the north transept is first
drawn, very small. Next the line runs east, and the north-east angle
of the retro-quire is traced, and, following this, the Edgar Chapel,
extending east for about half the length of the quire. Here the line
is drawn three times over, as though to emphasise the feature, and
it then returns over the old ground, the north transept being again
drawn, but larger and further removed, and the whole outline of the
church is completed, to the junction south-west of the Edgar Chapel,
ending with the signature GULIELMUS MONACHUS (William the Monk).]
_Q._ (_by F.B.B._). "_What does this drawing represent?_"
_A._ "Guest Hall ... St. Maria Capella ... Rolf monachus."
The first drawing was now examined, and both F.B.B. and J.A. expressed
a view unfavourable to the possibility of so large a chapel at the east
of the church. It was resolved to try again.
F.B.B. "_Please give us a more careful drawing of the chapel sketched
just now at the east end of the great church._"
In reply, a new sketch of the rectangular chapel was given (see Fig.
5), with an attempt to indicate the position of two smaller chapels on
the north. Again the line was drawn double, and below was written the
following, in cramped characters not easy to decipher:
"Capella St. Edgar. Abbas Beere fecit hanc capellam Beati Edgari ...
martyri et hic edificavit vel fecit voltam ... fecit voltam petriam
quod vocatur quadripartus sed Abbas Whitting ... destruxit ... et
restoravit eam cum nov ... multipart ... nescimus eam quod vocatur.
"Portus[10] introitus post reredos post altarium quinque passuum
et capella extensit 30 virgas ad orientem et (? viginti)[11] in
latitudine cum fen (?) ... (?)."
[10] For mediæval use of the masculine form "portus" for "porta" see
Lobinell, _Hist. Brit._, ii. 872. "Ante suum introitum fecit idem
novus dux primum juramentum in introitu variere portus illius urbis
vocati vulgariter Portus de Morzellos." Also in O.E. (Anglo-Saxon
Psalter) "on portum" = "in porta."
[11] A doubtful measure (see pp. 27 and 63). The writing was very weak
and unsatisfactory, as though the force were waning.
F.B.B. "_Please repeat; we cannot read this._"
(_Repeated._) "Quinquaginta[12] virgas et fenestrae transomatae."
[12] "Quinquaginta" is sheer nonsense, and moreover inconsistent with
the measure already given. The writing was getting weaker and the
difficulty increasing, and it seemed that the sitting had probably been
unduly lengthened, to the physical exhaustion of the sitters.
[Illustration:
FIG. 5.--SECOND PLAN OF THE EDGAR CHAPEL AS BUILT BY BEERE, SHOWING
ITS RELATIVE GREATNESS AS COMPARED WITH THE LITTLE CHAPELS OF THE
RETRO-QUIRE.
The line starts at the east, and again it is repeated for emphasis.
The chapel is shown at first, clear of the east wall, but there is a
subsequent loss of position which brings the little chapels beyond
their prescribed limit and makes the plan appear confused. Below is
written "Capella St. Edgar, Abbas Beere fecit hanc capellam" (Chapel
of Saint Edgar, Abbot Beere built this chapel).]
F.B.B. "_Please give length again._"
_A._ "30 virgas ... et fenestrae (cum) lapide horizontali quod vocatur
transome et vitrea azurea; et fecit altarium ornat(um) cum auro et
argento et ... et tumba ante altarium gloriosa aedificavit ad memoriam
Sanct ... Edgar...."
F.B.B. "_Which Abbot did this?_"
_A._ "Ricar(d)us Whitting.... Ego Johannes Bryant monachus et
lapidator."
This concluded the sitting.
SITTING II. 11th November, 1907, 1 p.m.
"The material influences were at fault when last ... I think active
influences were overpowering my will. Those monks were anxious to
communicate.... They want you to know about the Abbey. They say the
times are now ripe for the glory to return and the curse is departing.
I do not know about these things. They have been wishing to influence
you for a long time, and they have been (endeavouring to?) reproduce
things in your minds."
Here the influence changes.
"Benedicite. Go unto Glaston soon. Gloria reddenda antiqua. Laus Deo
in saecula seculorum. Nubes evaserunt ... memoria rerum manet et
red ... Ecclesia catholica extensit et comprehensit latera (_sic,?
latentia_) vera et res occultas sapientibus.
"JOHANNES."
SITTING III. 13th November, 1907.
Writing commenced without any direction by sitters.
"I think I am wrong in some things. Other influences cross my
own.... Those monks are trying to make themselves felt by you both.
Why do they want to talk Latin?... Why can't they talk English?...
Benedicite. Johannes.... It is difficult to talk in Latin tongue
(_repeated, being illegible_). Seems just as difficult to talk in
Latin language."
"Ye names of builded things are very hard in Latin tongue--transome,
fanne tracery, and the like. My son, thou canst not understande.
Wee wold speak in the Englyshe tongue. Wee saide that ye volte was
multipartite yt was fannes olde style in ye este ende of ye choire and
ye newe volt in Edgares chappel.... Glosterfannes (_repeated_). Fannes
... (_again_) yclept fanne ... Johannes lap ... mason."
_Q._ "_What is meant by 'lap mason'?_"
_A._ "Lapidator ... stonemason."
Having this signature "Johannes" now again repeated, F.B.B. felt
curious to know how far this dramatisation or memory of a personality
might be developed.
_Q. by F.F.B._ "_Tell us more about yourself._"
_A._ "I ... died in 1533." (_Repeated because almost illegible._) "Yn
1533 obitus ... curator capellae et laborans in mea ecclesia pro amore
ecclesiae Dei ... sculptans et supervisor ... yn Henricum septem[13]
... anno 1497 et defunctus anno 1533."
[13] _I.e._, in the reign of Henry VII.
NOTE ON THE FIRST THREE SITTINGS.
We observe in these communications an individual tone, as of a
directing influence, at first manifesting without intermediate
links, but almost immediately yielding place to the monkish elements
introducing themselves as "Gulielmus Monachus," "Rolf Monachus," and
"Johannes Bryant." There appears something like a clash of intention,
a strain which reacts on the physical condition of the sitters, and
which seems to account for the rapid exhaustion of power towards the
end of the first sitting, and the consequent lack of clearness and
consistency in the results.
In the second sitting the directive agency speaks of the monks as
"active influences"--an expression to be noted. And it is explained
that "the material influences were at fault." Then in the third sitting
we get, "I think I am wrong in some things. Other influences cross my
own."
It seems very much like a man trying to make a trunk call on a
telephone, who is worried because the local office will either persist
in switching him off at critical moments, or else because the wires
are out of order and imperfectly isolated, so that fragments of other
conversation are interjected.
When we come to consider the matter of the monkish communications,
under the name Johannes, we are at once confronted by the question, "Is
this a piece of actual experience transmitted by a real personality,
or are we in contact with a larger field of memory, a cosmic record
latent, yet living (the "eternal knowledge" of the first writing we
record), and able to find expression in human terms related to the
subject before us, by the aid of something furnished by the culture of
our own minds, and by the aid of a certain power of mental sympathy
which allows such records to be sensed and articulated?
As to this, it is too early to dogmatise, but in either case room
must be left for the presence of a Directive Power accessible to man,
capable of stimulating and energising dormant consciousness, and
directing it into such channels as man has developed for its reception
and expression.
SITTING IV. 19th November, 1907.
The result was interesting, but contained nothing important as regards
the Abbey.
SITTING V. 22nd November, 1907.
A further plan was produced of the general range of Abbey buildings,
signed "Johannes." This was followed by a short script as here given:
"When you dig, excavate the pillars of the crypt, six feet below the
grass--they will give you a clue. The direction of the walls ...
eastwards (_this word might almost as easily have been 'westwards,'
or even 'outwards,' and it was so ill written that nothing could be
decided from it_) ... was at an angle ... clothyards twenty seven
long, nineteen wide."
It would have been just as easy to read the last as "thirteen." The
pencilled original of the plan is preserved, but not the script, as it
was not regarded as of value at the time, but the mention of the "walls
at an angle," referring, as it would appear, to some part of the chapel
whose dimensions are in the context, is an interesting point.
The mention of the crypt seemed simply the mentality of the sitters--a
reflex of their study of Wild's plan. It is again referred to, however,
in later writings.
SITTING VI. 26th November, 1907.
F.B.B. "_Perhaps Johannes will tell us something more?_"
_A._ "Johannes Bryant is striving for the glory of Glaston. There
is much under the grass deep down and unrifled. The east of St.
Mary's has a vault under the stairs and under the nave there are
vaults[14]--the destroyers feared, and the ruin of the walls hid the
entrance in. Under the tower the volt is perfect, and many names of
those buried therein very deep down."
[14] It is most improbable that any are remaining at this day. The
eighteenth century probably saw the last of them, but this may not be
in the sphere of cognisance which we are here touching.
_Q._ "_Where should we commence to dig?_"
_A._ "The east end. Seek for the pillars, and the wall(s) at an angle.
The foundations are deep."
SITTING IX. 30th December, 1907.
Commencement of writing quite illegible.
"... (the) end of the time approaches. The year is big with issues and
Glastonbury will engage much of your attention....
"JOHANNES, MONACHUS."
"Wait, and the course will open in the spring. You will learn as you
proceed. We have much to do this season...."
"... The chapel of Our Lady of Glaston--type of spiritual things
which are not manifest to you. The changes need not alarm you. The
reconstructions will be more perfect. Let the State fall in ruins and
the outward garments of Faith perish--fear not!"
"... For greater things will rise into being--great nations and great
ideals. We work for it. Be willing, and strive not against the tide.
Up on the crest and prosper. All will work for the best.... The spark
will live thro' the rains and re-light dead fires, fire which is still
fire but with purer flame. We cannot hasten the time, but it is sure
and is not delayed. You are between two influences. Earth and spirit
mingle not. Losing earthly grasp leaves you without earthly support.
Hold fast to earth's duties. Work as men for man's meat. Keep open
ears for spiritual help and whisperings. Assimilate and combine both
forces. Stand in the market-place and cry your wares, but listen for
the still small voice in the silence of your chamber. Work in the sun.
Listen in the starlight...."
Both F.B.B. and J.A. expressed a good deal of surprise at the nature
of the first part of this communication, as any idea of impending
revolution in Church or State had been utterly remote from our minds
and not in any way the subject of conversation. The passage was an
intrusion and a puzzle. But we did not regard it as of any special
interest; more as a curiosity for which a psychological explanation was
lacking.
Later there occurred more such intrusions, pointing with increasing
definiteness to the nature of that which we were warned to anticipate,
but they belong to another story and have no connection with the
discovery of the Edgar Chapel. Hence the record of many sittings
will be omitted, and we pass to the nineteenth, held 19th February,
1908, after a visit to the Abbey. F.B.B. had not yet received his
appointment, but was steadily preparing, and at the moment was engaged
in working out the probable appearance of the approaches to the central
chapel of the retro-quire, and the work of Bere's time had been
discussed.
N.B.--All the 1907 sittings were at Bristol. The next to be recorded
(Sitting XIX.) was held at Glastonbury.
SITTING XIX. 19th February, 1908. At Glaston
"The arche is flatte--three ells from side to side--ten feet high--all
panellae. All ye midst of ye est ende was panellae and the grete
chappell was[15] ...
[15] At this point the sitting was interrupted, and was not resumed
until eight hours later, when the broken thread was immediately taken
up.
"... we have told you long tyme sins--panellae everywhere ... thin
walls and poore foundations in the new work.
"Two capellae north and south and between them a greate space with
a tall doore in the midst, of four centres, all panelled under ye
fann-tracery over ye lintel. And there were two altares on either
side and much carven woode very blacke which was took away for the
panellae. And the holes in ye walls were covered with the panellae so
that they shewed not, and yt was all of stone very white and faire
and in ye doore was a greate stairway with two windowes on either
hand that did rise one above the other of equal height above ye
stairway.... And ye stairway was divided in ye midst by a grete rail
of stone so that they who went upp might not meet with they who came
down ye said stair.
"And beyond rose a Capella of Edgar ye sainte, faire and high with
grete windowes with transomes and between ye windowes were pillars
as panellae the whych did holde ye roofe of stone vaultid very faire
in panellae which were fanwise very fine much like carven yvorie and
carvings ypainted in ye bosses and in ye spandrels and there was a
grete windowe in ye est parte of eight lights all ye arches and ye
roofe being flatte as of the period and the chamber was yflagged
with tiles of many colours and in ye midst was a tumbe of silver and
precious stones and pictures in the panellae over against ye est
window. And ye chamber was in length seventy feet in four bayes and in
width it was thirty and foure[16] ... and the walls were thin and all
of faire squared stone and newe carven soe that they who did destroy
this ... first, even before the great church.
[16] _I.e._, the exterior width.
"And soe hyt was not. There were faire steppes of marble and ye fannes
over ye doore did hold a lyttel galerie the whych did open close
on ye stairway looking down on them that passed there and a lytell
windowe was above for to lyte ye chapell in ye church at back of ye
two altares for hyt was darke.
"Forty and two feete was the hight of ye newe chapelle and yt was
ybuttressed with faire buttresses and walls slantwise at ye cornere."
There appears throughout this communication a tendency to older forms
of spelling never quite achieved, and constantly slipping back into the
normal. The phrasing seems more consistently old-fashioned.
Note the further reference to "walls slantwise at ye cornere,"
recalling the "walls at an angle" mentioned in an earlier script.
SITTING XXIV. 5th March, 1908.
"... Wold I could tell you of the great Est window in the gabell. It
is hard to say its many parts but ye shall see it a noon. (_This is of
the quire._--F.B.B.)
"The buildings on the south side of the east end were two. One was a
chapell, the other for the priest to robe in.
"Saint Edgar was buried in the window where ye see the cross.
Afterwards Beer moved him to the new chapell that he builded. Chapell
was like unto Wells but more faire."
This obviously alludes to Bishop Stillington's Chapel, a fan-vaulted
structure of rich sixteenth-century work, now destroyed.
SITTING XXV. 10th March, 1908.
F.B.B. obtained the appointment as representative of the Somerset
Archæological Society, with licence to excavate, in the month of May,
1908.
SITTING XXVII. 17th March, 1908. At Bristol.
"The time is ripe for the stones to be studied. Go ye soone."
"The corbel-stones are full large." (_This refers to a sketch
reconstruction of the transept wall by F.B.B._) "Put ye ten between
each buttress."
_Q._ "_Is the parapet right?_"
_A._ "The parapet is right."
_Q._ "_What about the quire vaulting shown?_"
_A._ "Ye volte is welnigh righte for what ye see, but over Arthur's
tombe to the Est window it was fayrer and much ygilt soe that the
lightes of the Altar shold shine thereon and make a glory."
"Looke for ye ribs of the choir, plain ones and carven, and ye bosses.
Some be at the East End. Enow has been left from the destroyer, just
enow and no more: it was so ordained lest they should destroy for
ever. Make ye yourselves a scheme--enow left everywhere."
"Why destroyed they not the walls that came to hande? They cared not,
but indeed they left it and digged deepe for stones.
"They could not an they would."
"Why left they the altar stones when they might have digged up? say,
why?"
_Q._ "_You say, 'Saxon, Norman, and Native, all strive together for
the glory of Glaston.' Can you put us in touch with any of these early
influences?_"
_A._ "What wold they tell ye? Their works were rude, and have
departed. The Abbey is not of them--nothing save certain books--and we
wold that the books were againe, only the Church as it was wont to be.
We who speke are of its different orders: Gulielmus of old tyme, and
Johannes later, and he who builded last--our Abbot Beere. What more
is needed? Wee point the way; to you it is to follow, and all that is
needed is given you. Worke wyth brain and handes, and all is there.
So it is ordained, for what ye desire, that is good that ye shall
strive for. Wee worked in our day: ye must work in yours. Ne work, ne
wages,--ne what you call honour."
_Q._ "_It is St. Patrick's Day to-day. Can you tell us anything of his
time and of his work, and St. Brigit's? No doubt there was much in the
great Library of the Abbey._"
_A._ "Olde legends, meet for the people--but what value? They were,
and didde, much among the heathen. We know not more, save that their
workes were old and very dry to rede." (_This passage is signed with a
cross in a circle, and a capital letter, not clearly identified._)
_Q._ "_Please write your name._"
_A._ "Reginaldus, qui obiit 1214--one thousand, two hundred and 14."
The identity of this Reginald is not clear. Bishop Reginald of Wells,
who consecrated the Chapel of St. Mary at Glastonbury, died in 1191
according to the chronicles. The Chapel is said to have been completed
in 1216.
The script has been retraced, as it was done in soft pencil and could
not be preserved.
SITTING XXIX. 20th April, 1908.
"Gloria in excelsis tibi Deo. Pax vobiscum, filii.
"The time is near. Dig well and those things which ye seek shall be
given you but serche carefully lest ye eradicate those things that be
left for your guidance....
"... the est end will be the first, and then ye shall find proof of ye
goodly towers at ye west end.[17] Serche the ruins for the way they
were finished. There is much left to guide you...."
[17] These were proved later.--F.B.B.
"... Influence man, and that which was before decreed shall aid you
and they who are around you shall feel your influence and ours.
"In very truth it was a goodly church and it is said that ye of your
time shall know what works we did pro gloria Dei.
"We were mistaken in some things--all men are--but the thought that
made the great church of Glaston was not bounded by ye mind and that
thought must live and prevail.
"Move, work, and unceasingly persist, and in time there will be a
place for what once was and ye shall know its buildings yet again as
they were wont to be. The lesser works first: and then cometh one who
will build the great church--a son of Glaston from beyond the sea.
Even now he waits and watches. We wait and watch and hope with the
knowledge that comes to men on the other side. The church is always
the church, and in the great schema of the world we come soon and our
instrument Glaston shall find a mighty place.... Thus Johannes saith."
At this point the sequence of the writing is broken by the story of
Johannes going a-fishing, and lingering in the lanes. This we give in