PART III

THE LORETTO CHAPEL

The interest of this section is greatly enhanced by the fact that the

foundations of the Loretto Chapel were discovered last summer in the

place indicated by the script. The work of excavation will not be

completed until next season, but already more than half of the plan of

the chapel has been laid bare, and a full report with illustrations

has been contributed by the author to the Somerset Archæological

Society, and will appear in their Proceedings for 1919, now being

published early in 1920. The report will be accessible to all

archæological students at the principal libraries. The footings of the

chapel show that it was 20 feet wide, as the script indicates, but the

author's interpretation was at fault in assuming this width to be an

internal one, whereas it is the external dimension. The length may be

found to follow suit. The chapel lies about 5 feet within the bank as

stated, and the west wall-footing is the best preserved, thus bearing

out the accuracy of the writings.

[Illustration: PLATE IV. CONEY'S VIEW OF THE ABBEY (1817).

Frontispiece to Part III.]

THE LORETTO CHAPEL

Among the lost features of Glastonbury Abbey recorded by Leland[45] is

a chapel built by Abbot Bere on the north side of the nave. Leland says

of this:

[45] _Itinerary_, vol. iii., p. 103.

"Bere cumming from his Embassadrie out of Italie[46] made a Chapelle

of our Lady de Loretta, joining to the north side of the body of the

Church."

[46] Undertaken in 1503, on the election of Pius III.

But apart from his record, which has preserved the bare memory of

the work and its approximate location, we have no surviving facts,

either historical or descriptive, to guide us in the search for its

vestiges, save one or two trifles which the orthodox archæologist would

probably despise, but on which the imagination might build an airy

and tenuous fabric, a mere gossamer which the rude touch of practical

argument would dispel, and which would find its place more fittingly

in the pages of romance than in the chronicles of the labours of

serious-minded antiquaries.

Here, then, was a chance for the subliminal mind to exercise its

powers, just the opportunity most desirable for an experiment in the

psychology of inductive and deductive processes, and a test of the

possibility of drawing by the thread of slenderest and most imperfect

knowledge, some kindred knowledge from the great reservoir of the

memory of nature. This experiment was made, and the result of it I am

going to give my readers without any sort of reticence or reserve,

making no claim, but asking that they will regard it with an open mind,

and accepting it for analysis as an illustration of the working of the

latent powers of the mind under the same conditions that we in the

onset laid down for our work.

The material from which our sublimated essence was distilled was as

follows:

1. Leland's note, as above.

2. A fragment of walling shown in Coney's view of the Abbey, 1817. This

appears in the sketch just on the spot where the wall of the north

aisle of the nave would have joined that of the transept at its eastern

extremity, but it is diminutive in height--only about a third of the

height proper to the nave wall, as is clearly evident by comparison

with the surrounding features. It is like a little screen-wall, and

such as might have filled at one time an archway at this point opening

from the last or most eastward division of the north aisle wall towards

a chapel just without, in the angle between the aisle and the north

transept. But in Coney's sketch it does not look like a Gothic work,

but is more like a building of the modern times, since it has four

little dumpy windows with round heads and the projecting cills which we

associate with our everyday experience of domestic building. No one

but Coney, so far as I am aware, has indicated any sort of remnant of

building at this point, and there are several older views of the Abbey,

which would be expected to show it if anything had been there. Look,

for example, at Stukeley's panoramic view of the ruins, published in

1723. (See Fig. 10, p. 115.) Nothing visible there--the whole of the

north side of the nave an open field, as it had been for at least half

a century previous (_vide_ Hollar's view).

3. In the Cannon MS., a diary referring to Glastonbury about the time

of George II., is a sketch plan of the Abbey, very crude, in which the

writer shows a mound of rubbish and rough stones with suggestions of a

broken wall on the ground at or near this point, and he makes a note to

the effect that it is the remains of "The Chapter House."

But, of course, the Chapter House was on the south side of the Choir,

and could not have been elsewhere in the case of Glastonbury, as

its site was never in doubt, and it has now been recovered and its

dimensions tested and proved.

4. Marsh, the old gardener at the Abbey for over forty years, used to

say to me that in the grass bank which runs along the north side of the

nave area, under the trees, there was a fine bit of freestone walling,

some of which Mr. Austin, his earlier employer, used up for building. I

dug in, but could find nothing of this at the point he indicated.

Now, at the risk of being a little tedious, I propose to quote a short

paragraph from my _Architectural Handbook_, because it shows what I was

thinking about this matter in 1910, and such evidence is needed for any

useful analysis of the psychology of the whole subsequent matter.

I would add that, so far as I can remember, my friend J.A. had formed

no theory as to the nature of the chapel or its real position other

than my own, and what I here quote represents the utmost that could at

the time be said (_Architectural Handbook of Glastonbury Abbey_, second

edition, pp. 32, 33, 1910):

"Some fragments of building on the north side of the nave were

surviving as recently as 1817, when Coney's drawings were published.

In one of these we see a wall with a row of windows having a rather

unusual detail in their heads (Fig. 10). This would be near the site

of the Loretto Chapel, built by Abbot Bere. Carter, writing some few

years later, tells us that the Loretto Chapel was then standing, and

if he be correct, it must have been a substantial piece of masonry

exterior to the church, and not a light internal structure within it,

as has been conjectured. But he may have been referring to the Chapel

of Saint Thomas the Martyr in the north transept, which has sometimes

been miscalled the 'Loretto Chapel.'

[Illustration: FIG. 10.--VIEW OF THE RUINS IN 1723. (From Stukeley's

Itinerary.)]

[Illustration: FIG. 11.--GLASTONBURY ABBEY IN 1655 _circa_: ENLARGEMENT

OF HOLLAR'S VIEW.]

[Illustration: Fig. 12.--MS. PLAN OF JOHN CANNON, 1740 _circa_.

_A_, Chaple; _B_, quire; _C_, the great arch; _D_, the nave or body;

_E_, the chapter house; _F_, gate to ye kitchen; _G_, St. Joseph's

Chaple.]

"A sketch plan in the Cannon MS. shows a group of ruins in an

apparently similar position, and he records the tradition of a very

magnificent building at this point, which he terms the 'Chapter House.'

However erroneous this designation, we may at least accept his record

as corroborative of the existence of a richly ornamented building of

some special nature (as distinct from the body of the Church at the

junction of the Nave aisle and North Transept)."

It seems, then, that we had formed the impression of a fine building

just outside the nave wall and in the angle of aisle and transept; but

to be strictly accurate, I do not think that Coney's sketch had much

weight as regards the character of the work it might have contained,

and so far as one's normal impressions were concerned, it was dismissed

as "modern."

RECORD OF EXCAVATION IN 1911.

In the early part of June, 1911, the footing trench of the north aisle

wall of the nave was opened up at its eastward end, and the junction

of the same with the west wall of the north transept was found. The

area just outside the angle of the two walls was cleared with the

object of discovering traces of a chapel at this point, but beyond a

few very beautiful sections of window mullions of the style of the

late fifteenth or early sixteenth century--good Tudor work--nothing

material came to light in the way of detail. But about 13 feet west of

the transept wall, and running parallel to it, meeting the line of the

aisle wall at right angles and going north from it, was found another

broad foundation, and this we assumed at the time to be the footing

of the west wall of the Loretto Chapel. The inference was clear that

there must at least have been some building of a permanent nature,

and rather substantial, attached to the west face of the transept

wall just outside its junction with the aisle, and perhaps it was not

unreasonable at the time to suppose that this was the Loretto Chapel.

The architectural detail discovered pointed to a Gothic chapel, and was

entirely inconsistent with such a building as Coney showed. Neither was

it of like character with the work in the Nave. Such was the position

when, on 13th June, 1911, we obtained the following automatic script:

SITTING XLVII. 13th June, 1911.

"I made that building. All that I didde anywhere is fannes. Ne barrel

vault. And under them, three faire windowes of foure lights with

transomes and littel castel-work on the ramps thereof. And if ye digge

in the wall of the navis, there is much fell in. Serche the great

pier of the nave opposite the cutte: yt is full ... but they threw

therein the fragments of my capella, a canopy at the west, and all

the central ones--faire canopy work, and in the midst a littel one

for Our Ladye, sylver guilt and very faire. Somewhat remaineth of ye

outer walls and ye walle by ye crossinge, but they have taken hym

mostly away long syne. Very deepe fannes ... and each fanne had twelve

ribs, and they were ycoloured red and gold, like my chapel of Edgar.

There yet remaineth somewhat of Our Ladye. Yt lieth in front of the

west walle three feet or thereabouts. Seek ye well out the bank to the

Est: something remaineth of ye transept (?) wall whereon we placed the

tabernacles, but most is ygone. Ye doore unto hym is at the west,[47]

nigh unto the pillar of the navis, one doore only, on nave.

[47] This must be a mistake. The south is the Nave side.--F.B.B.

"R. B. scripsit, pro instructionem tuam. Ye roundels of ye volte were

golden, and also ye bosses, and ye hollows were bright redde; likewise

ye tabernacle of Oure Ladye in the est wall golde and redde; and ye

windowes were of glasse yellow in canopies with redde and blewe in ye

little lights thereof. Ye floore was of tileis red, with shields, and

ornaments in yellow likewise, and it was very faire and magnifical,

like unto my chappel of Edgar, but more faire, for I builded hym

later, for I hadde a vowe of mine owne which I performed."

_Q. "What was your vow?"_

_A._ "Know ye not that wee were borne downe by rude men in foreign

parts and the mule which bore me fell, for I was a grete and heavy

man. And being like to fall down a steepe place or be trampled by

ye mule, I called on Oure Lady and shee heard me, soe that my cloke

catching on a thorne I was prevented, and then said I: 'Lo! When I

returne I will build a chapel to Our Lady of the Loretto, and soe

instant was I inn (my vowe) that the brethren were grieved, for yt

was arranged in Chapitre that wee shold build a Chapel to oure Edgare

before I wennt in ye shyppe. Therefore builded I hym first, for it was

a public vowe: but mine owne vowe I fulfilled afterer, and soe all was

well--Yt is given."

_Q. "What was the occasion of your journey?"_

_A._ "Know ye not of my Ambassadrie, when ye Kinge wold know what the

Bis^P of Roume would doe? Even soe journeying fromm Padua whither came

the shippes, we felle among evil menne who would hold us to ransome.

Here fell ye mule, and ye reste ye knowe."

NOTES ON BEERE'S EMBASSY.

Abbot Richard Bere was deputed by Henry VII. to visit Rome in 1503,

in order, it is said, to congratulate the new Pope, Pius III., on

his election. Whether there was any political object intended to be

served by his embassy does not appear, but it is strongly suggested by

subsequent events. The new Pope did not live to establish his policy.

He survived his election only twenty-six days, and was succeeded during

the same year by Julius II., a "political" Pope, who formed the "League

of Cambrai," which was followed by the "Holy League" of powers against

Louis XII. of France, including England, Spain, and Venice in the bond,

which Henry VIII. afterwards joined, until the peace with France in

1514 ended it. As to the story of the journey, the mention of Padua as

his port of call seemed odd, and a little hard to understand. The usual

route to Rome for English travellers of that period was via Antwerp,

Augsbourg, and Venice. From Venice he might have taken boat to the

wharves of Padua, and would thence proceed southward along the Adriatic

side, till near Ancona, and here he would strike Loreto, which would be

the start of an overland journey, the Apennines being crossed possibly

on mule-back.

_Q. "What were the dimensions of the work about which you have been

telling us?"_

_A._ "Yn feete twenty and two, and foure paces in width thereof, and

ye walle of ye nave was strengthened thereby, for ye towre hadde

pressed ye walls through the volt of the navis, and hee was crackt all

ye way to the bottom thereof. Therefore my chapel was high, in height

twenty and three feet, and very strong in the volt, soe that it tied

the wall of ye nave and ye wall of ye crossing where it was weake.

They who builded ye towre should have made arches in ye walle to help

ye higher windowes, carrying them along ye crossing in ye walle to

helpe ye towre at ye angle, but they did not. Therefore helped I yt by

my chappell and by an arche I builded from ye toppe of ye aisle to

the roofe of ye chappell to bond ye whole at ye angle. Also builded I

ye grete arches in ye towre. It wasne ye volte that did caste out, but

ye towre gave inne as against ye volte by reason of its weight,[48]

and soe it even gave away from[49] the crossing in its lowre part and

gave out in its upper.--R. B."

[48] This seems perfectly true. The great piers buckled under the

weight of the tower, and bowed inwards, probably pushing the vault,

and cracking it by compression.--F.B.B.

[49] _Gave in towards_ the crossing would be more expressive of the

fact.--F.B.B.

_Q. "Can you give us an idea of the state of opinion in the religious

establishments of your day--of the views and ideals current?"_

_A._ "Ne helde I wyth superstitions. Ever I was for ye people and ye

better understanding of ye mysteries. It was meet that it be soe, and

notte kept in the hearts of the religious only. More wold ye? What

more I didde as seemed best, for the old tymes were changing and menne

loved the glory of our ceremonial. They were angered at the deceits

which hadde kept their fathers humble and meek. Through the eye the

glory of our services might make them wish for noble things, but I

knew, and hee my friend knew[50] they were no longer to be fooled with

trickery. All was changing in my day and the wars made for greater

knowledge. The Englyshe were (a)sleepe no more, ne ever to be. Dixi."

[50] Bere was the friend of Erasmus.

The dimensions given for this little chapel could be applied to the

foundations discovered only if the longer measure (22 feet) were taken

north and south, and the shorter (four paces) east and west. This would

make the building cover one bay of the transept, and extend to the

outer footing wall exposed by the excavation. But this footing did not

stop at 22 feet, but ran on north, and was found to be co-extensive

with the northerly projection of the transept, so that the chapel

described would only have occupied one-half of the length, and it

looked as if there had been an aisle to the transept such as F.B.B.

showed in his drawing of the reconstructed interior. The description

of the strongly built little chapel in the angle, buttressing up the

weak tower and transept wall, was a plausible one, but the description,

and especially the dimensions, would not throw any light on Coney's

sketch, and left the wall in the bank, spoken of by the gardener, still

unexplained. The dimensions were small--unsatisfying for a special

work of this nature, and one which had merited individual mention by

Leland. And the proportion was so unusual, in that the east and west

measurement was the lesser and would be insufficient for its purpose,

one would think, unless the altar were placed at the north end, which

would not be an English custom. Was this little building, after

all, the real Chapel of the Loretto, or was it only an antechamber,

through which access would be had from the nave to a more important

work farther out? The long aisle-like footing looked like an adit or

approach. It could hardly have been part of the transept because of the

sharp difference in level between the two floors, that of the transept

being 4 feet or so above the nave. But only further digging could bring

light, and this was at the time impossible, so there the matter was

bound to remain until a more favourable opportunity should occur for

further research. So it rested for five years.

In December, 1916, F.B.B. and J.A. found themselves near neighbours,

and it had been mutually agreed, in view of the greatly revived

interest in the subject of spiritual phenomena, that the experiments

in writing should be resumed, but no definite day had been fixed.

Some days before F.B.B. had given J.A. some MS. notes to transcribe,

being extracts he had made some years before from the Cannon MS.

It had been proposed to publish these in the _Proceedings of the

Somerset Archæological Society_, and with them was the sketch of the

ruins already referred to, at which both had casually glanced; but

this had not been the subject of attention. and J.A.'s transcript had

not arrived at that point when the first sitting was held. This was

on 4th December. Glastonbury matters were not to the fore in recent

conversation, which had been given to the subject of the Greek Cabala

and the geometry connected with it. J.A. says his mind was still full

of this on 4th December, to the exclusion of Glastonbury, and that the

reference in the Cannon MS. had not been in his thoughts. F.B.B.'s

experience was similar. He had been busy with letters until the moment

of J.A.'s arrival, and his last envelope having been sealed, he, on

the spur of the moment, proposed a sitting, to which J.A. agreed.

F.B.B. had an idea that if any writing were obtained it might be on the

subject of the war and current events; and J.A. anticipated something

on geometrical symbolism. No suggestion was made as to the subject of

the proposed communication. The following is the record:

SITTING. 4th December, 1916.

The first page of writing is cramped and well-nigh illegible. The

following can be made out:

"Cosmic facts are everywhere, but not easily attained....

"... by assembling yourselves together and obtaining the inspiration

ye seek consciously or unconsciously. The result obtained is the same,

but the word endures....

"... The material world is the screen between--the complex fabric of

the simple weaving. The essential facts are eternal which (? move)

in a circle, and to them that know the circle, somewhat will pass

into all times, only ye see but little at a time. The centre is the

point on which all revolves, and ye, revolving, are conscious of the

influence, but cannot know the radius...."

"Obliviscor. So long we have slept near Capella Loretta under the bank

full thirty paces from the Navis. Ye did not go farre enow beyond the

(bank) they cast up there. It was full five feet in, and buried in

the place where he didd drawe the Chapitre Howse.[51] and the end of

the pilgrimmes (way) is ... through ye porche, thro ye wicket gate in

ye corner, and by ye steppes over against ye lower graveyard. There

shewed wee the relics and ye pilgrimmes passed by this way to the

Chapell of St. Mary, by ye steppes, and to Navis majoure."

[51] This appears to be in allusion to the note in the Cannon MS. which

J.A. says he had not then noticed.

Then in a different hand:

"Abbot Bere ybuilded ye Loretto Chapel faire and large to the north

(side of the) navis. We said that itt ... was not ye Chapitre Howse....

"... The syde of it was distant from ye navis thirty-one feet and a

half, and from ye aisle of ye transept he was fulle tenn feet with

a covered way unto, and four steppes up unto ye aisle aforesaid. Yt

... was ybuilded by Bere most faire and wonderfull in ye newe style

brought from Ytaly when he didd goe there upon ambassadrie.

"Ye have heard of yt. Ye Chapell was full forty feet, and width

between twenty and ... twenty-one feet, and hee had an entrance unto

(hym) from the roade which ledde from St. John his gait unto ye navis,

and thus might ye B^p and the Kinges majestic (enter).

"Bere used to approach by entering into the Claustre, and soe he didde

close it oftentimes."

The foregoing script at first sight seemed impossible to decipher,

and a repetition was asked for. This was clearly written, and by its

aid the sense of the foregoing was mastered, and word by word picked

out, but there are yet some seemingly hopeless blanks. These, however,

may not be material, and will probably refer to the ruinous state

of the Chapter House and its repair, as re-stated in the following

communication:

"We have said he was of the Ytalian style new and very faire, and Bere

ybuilded coming from embassadrie in Ytaly. Hee was not ye Chapitre,

but Bere did use hym so because ye Chaptre House was dammp and ruinous

and was being repaired. We have said so. Hee met ye King and ye B^p

who sojourned (with him). The same was forty feet (long) by twenty

(or) thereabouts and his grylled doore was to the west and a pavement

joyned him to the Road from St. John's gate to ye churche.

"He wasne like anything else (but was of the) newe style. There were

four steppes--nay, six--to the aisle of ye transeppt, and a covered

way vaulted in a rounde vaulte to ye Chappell....--THESIGER."

Q. "By 'steps' do you mean ascending steps, or paces?"

A. "Ten feet, and four or six steppes up to hym."

The signature "THESIGER" is of peculiar interest. At the beginning of

this communication will be seen the words "Obliviscor." "So long we

have slept near Capella Loretta," etc. Only once before, at Sitting

XLII., on the 7th September, 1910, has the same signature been

observed. This was at the close of a communication dealing with the

shrine of St. Dunstan, and was given as follows:

"Sub marmore dormio, quod taedet me--obliviscor.--CAMILLUS THESIGER."

The identity of this person was at the time a matter of speculation,

but F.B.B. concluded that it must be meant for Camel, the Purse-bearer

to Abbot Bere, whose marble tomb with coffered panels is a feature in

St. John's Church. Camel had a house in the upper part of the town, in

the High Street, on the south side, some little way above St. John's

Gate, and to the east.

The architectural details which we here reproduce were then given, some

explanatory notes appended.

THE LORETTO CHAPEL

ARCHITECTURAL PLANS

DESCRIPTION OF PLAN A.

I. _a_, Drawing of a gable with "stepped" coping, probably meant for

the west gable.

I. _b_, Plan of the Chapel, showing four bays in length, with

buttresses having a pointed profile, labelled "Cappella Loretta."

I. _c_, Elevation of a circular-headed recess, with ornament in head,

labelled "Cava."

I. _d_, Plan (enlarged) of the Chapel, showing an entrance ("portus")

apparently in the south-west bay.

DESCRIPTION OF PLAN B.

I. _e_, Plan of the east end of Chapel, showing the convex "Cava

Virginis," and the door ("portus") leading to the church.

I. _f_, Another and clearer plan of the Chapel, confirming the

four-bay division.

I. _g_, Elevation of the east wall of Chapel, as seen internally, the

"Cava Virginis," or semicircular recess, being in the centre and the

door to the transept on the right or south side.

[Illustration: PLAN A.]

[Illustration: PLAN B.]

DESCRIPTION OF PLAN C.

I. _h_, This appears to be another effort to show the east wall, but

the "Cava" is so small that the alternative suggests itself of an

elevation of the west wall, with a central doorway.

I. _j_, _k_, Head of the "Cava," with attempt to represent a shell

ornament filling the hollow of same.

II. _a_, Elevation, probably of exterior of west wall, with

round-headed door, and "Virgo" over--_i.e._, a statue of the Virgin

here. There is a suggestion of undulating parapets, with a sitting

lion at the corner.

II. _b_, _c_, Divisions of the copings, with lions at intervals.

[Illustration: PLAN C.]

DESCRIPTION OF PLAN D.

II. _d_, Another drawing of the east end of the plan, with the

position of the east door, written "portus ad ecclesiam et voltus

quadripartus." Note "portus" for "porta," and "voltus" for" volta,"

always occurring in these writings.

II. _e_, _f_, Repetition of the undulating contours of the parapet,

labelled "parapetus." The lions at intervals as before.

[Illustration: PLAN D.]

DESCRIPTION OF PLAN E.

II. _g_, Undulating outline of a parapet, with foliage ornament

applied, and the word "leo."

II. _h_, Sketch of a small pier or baluster form. This is labelled

"patella and pillar." The word "patella" has the same intention as

the word "patera," well known as an architectural term and implying

a plate or panel, often of rectangular form. This may be let into

the surface of a pilaster. The plan clearly indicates a flat pier or

pilaster; or it may imply an abacus for the support of the lion.

[Illustration: PLAN E.]

DESCRIPTION OF PLAN F.

III. _a_, Two sketches of the lions. They are sitting lions, holding

shields, as we see them in many Tudor buildings, but the ornament is

more customary in domestic work than in ecclesiastical.

III. _b_, More parapets, this time partly of a Florentine pattern.

Whether these are meant for a more detailed study of the undulations

previously shown, or are some in a special position, does not yet

appear. The little "angels" seem to be connected with them.

III. _c_, Probably meant for one of the heads of the side-windows in

the Chapel. There is clearly a semicircle at head, and there appears

some sort of filling like open scroll-work. No English precedent of

this date is known to the writer.

[Illustration: PLAN F.]

DESCRIPTION OF PLAN G.

III. _d_, Another sketch of the "Cava," with the description of the

treatment of its recess: "Golden stars on azure, at the back of the

Virgin's Hollow"; and it proceeds: "Ad orientem, in cava Virginis

Mari(a)e Lorettae quod ... ad ecclesiam ... via claustra ad eccl^m

... ad orientem ... ad ecclesiam" (To the east, a covered way, or

cloister, leading to the church).

III. _e_, Again a plan of the east end of the Chapel, with the door

marked "portus," and a line going east.

III. _f_, The "via claustra" shown from the Chapel to the "ecclesia."

[Illustration: PLAN G.]

DESCRIPTION OF PLAN H.

IV. _a_, "Chapel is forty (in) feet by twenty." Then follows an

elevation of one side showing the round heads of the windows connected

by a string-course, and the writing "forty feet, four parts."

IV. _b_, Sketch of a rounded vault, its groin carved along the whole

length. Described thus: "Volt of fruit and flowers painted very

cunningly. Ye ribs of volts ycarven so."

IV. _c_, Small sketch of one of the sitting lions at the angle of the

Chapel, with one crenelle of the parapet adjoining. Described thus:

"Ye Leones cornerwise, and thre(e) between. The partitions were 10

feet, forty in length and twenty wide," with round vaults: ribs carven

with fruit and many colours.

[Illustration: PLAN H.]

[Illustration: PLAN I.

IV. _d_, Another sketch of a sitting lion.]

REVIEW.

It was with a sense of astonishment that, after so great a lapse of

time, this interesting communication, so voluminous in detail, and,

so apparently explanatory of doubts and difficulties in connection

with the obscure problem of the Loretto Chapel, should have presented

itself unsought, unexpected, and inclusive of strange new elements

which suggested the existence at Glastonbury in Bere's day of an

architectural model which would be unique for the period in these

islands, and probably without parallel in Northern Europe.

Several questions arise in the mind. Could the little windows in

Coney's sketch have stimulated a subconscious dream of an Italian

chapel? But where are we to look for the original model of these

undulating parapets, Lions sejeant with shields, patellæ, fruit and

flower enrichment, the conchoidal "Cava Virginis," and the precision

of the general proportions? Was there, in the subconscious memory of

either of the sitters, some forgotten impression of a building in

Padua or elsewhere in Northern Italy, which in its main features, or

subsidiary detail, might tally with what was here given? That we cannot

say, for nothing of the sort could or can be recalled by the conscious

mind.

Should the day come when the bank of rubble on the north side of the

nave of Glastonbury Abbey can be thoroughly explored, it may be that

beyond some traces of the freestone wall spoken of by the old gardener

there may be found _nothing_; but if, on the other hand, it should

appear that by the same obscure mental process which has already, in

the case of the Edgar Chapel, predicated the existence, with practical

truth in form and detail, of a building whose very memory was lost

(and the evidence for which had been ignored, nay even scouted, by

the most competent antiquaries), another architectural treasure, long

buried and forgotten, might once again be brought to light, and its

wealth of Italian detail verified; then, indeed, would come into sight

new vistas, new possibilities of exploration and research into the

secrets of old time, and we should stand at the threshold of the Gate

of Remembrance.

SITTING. 16th August, 1917 (at Gloucester).

_Note._--The objects sought in this communication were formulated by

F.B.B. in advance. They chiefly concerned the discrepancies between the

two descriptions of Bere's buildings given at previous sittings, 13th

June, 1911, and 4th December, 1916, the first of which referred to some

work unidentified. F.B.B. suggested that the discovery of the footings

of the transept "aisle" immediately before the former of these two

sittings had created a mental bias in favour of a "chapel" there, and

thus confused the script.

"Maestro ... Francesco de Padua qui me instruxit et capella(m)

cognoscit in Italia. Ille etiam scripsit cum me et ille ... (struebat)

in modo Italiano, et mecum in nave navigavit ad Brit(tanniam). Ille

aedificavit et ornavit."

"Deepe, by ye Bank, is ye walle where ye fathers didde sit in their

old age; and they had not the use[52] of the younger brethren, but

were free--and who wished to spend hys dayes in ease and luxury? But

capella wasne in muro in Boreali parte. I have told ye. It was soe,

and in the banke deepe down ye shall find hym full perfect as I do

think. There was a deepe place where they destroyed and they covered

him and made a banke full six feet high, and soe saved the wall at the

west end for all tyme.

[52] _I.e._, did not keep the canonical hours, etc.--F.B.B.

"Ask ye, what was the chapel under the Tower beyond the Porche? He was

for the reliquaries, and ye did enter hym from the garth on the syde

of St. Mary's and uppe four steppes to him, and soe through to the

upper garth and ye road to the John's Gate."

* * * * *

"Wysdom--it was best soe. The Land was ycovered with the houses of

God, and the grass he could not grow, and it was in the providence of

God that the houses were destroyed, for they held no life. Men desired

fuller life in ye world, and to travel far; and the old faith[53] was

no longer needed, for the minds of men were no longer as ye beasts

that perish, but each man was a light unto himself and did need no

father to control him--so it was best, though much loveliness was

destroyed in the undoing. The Spirit liveth still, and what we lived

for, in new guise we give to you. Grow in the Spirit. We are a symbol

of great truths, and ye read the symbol aright. That which we did

dream lives on, and in the Spirit we pass it on to you, from symbol to

symbol--ever higher, ever wider.

[53] _I.e._, the old system.

"As great books were we, and our work was in stone--a language handed

down for you to read, which we had forgotten, and so fell.

"What wold ye?"

At this point there was a pause in the writing. Neither F.B.B. nor J.A.

were aware of anything that had been written. The sheets were replaced

and laid aside as they were filled, and nothing was suggested during

the writing by either sitter. There was a little conversation on other

subjects. At this point it occurred to F.B.B. (though in ignorance of

the question "What wold ye?") to ask the following, and he wrote it

down on the paper.

_Q._ "_Do you confirm all that was told us of the Italian design of

the chapel of the Loretto? Please say what building in Italy was the

model chosen by Abbot Richard Bere for this work._"

_A._ "Francesco de Padua aedificavit. Two would speak of it--he who

made it and I who moved for my fannes and English. We both made

hym--I, and he, my friend."

"Capella di Marco[54] at Padua--hym by the Key.[55]

[54] Not mentioned in Cesare Foligno's _Story of Padua_, but there

is a chapel of St. Mark figured in a mediæval map of the town. The

mention of this saint tends to explain the lions mentioned in the 1916

script, which had hitherto seemed an incongruous feature, if not quite

out of place on a chapel of Our Lady.--F.B.B.

[55] The Chapel of St. Mark occupies, in the map, a place not far from

the river, and near the mediæval bridge of St. Mathio. As the River

Bacchiglione was navigable, it seems quite probable that there would

be quays along its banks within the city.

"Dominic di Vallera Castiglione[56] aedificavit anno 1497--via St.

Ursula."

[56] This name is quite unknown to either of us.--F.B.B.

At this point the sitting was broken off and resumed on the evening

following--17th August, 1917.

_Q. by F.B.B._ "_Please tell us plainly, what was the building 22

feet long and 4 paces wide spoken of on 13th June, 1911? What was

its use and what was its dedication? This is the building with the

fan-vaulting. Tell us exactly where it stood._"

"Vincula ecclesiae disrupta sunt. Claustra aperta sunt.

"Claustra quae vocantur, vento Boreali aperta est (_sic_)[57] in

vestibulo sub turre--English volts--and Capella Lorettae (in) Ytaliano

modo.

[57] Evidently a play upon words, the first "Claustra" apparently

signifying that the barred gates are opened; and the second, "that

which we should describe as 'cloisters' were open at this point to the

North Wind."

"Capella Loretta was on ye lower level, with four or six steppys up to

the pavement. One steppe to hym from the way from John's Gate to the

North Porche.

"Seek my chapple as I told ye in ye Banck. He was entered from ye

West, and had a door into the littel cloister by ye transept of ye

grete Church, and four stepps up to the pavement.

"Ye door was in ye transept wall at ye end thereof.

"Wold ye have many things? The Vineyard was by the Ponds behind the

Priests' Houses that I ybuilded, over against the (road?), and beyond

ye gallery at the Maudlin Gate by the water. On ye side of ye grete

Courte was ye brick yarde--beyond ye fishponds. Seek ye foundations at

ye east of ye great Court where ye pryor's chapel was, and I ybuilded

in front of hym. Digge also near by the Kitchens, which were near

together.

"That which the brethren of old handed down to us, we followed, ever

building on their plann. As we have said, our Abbey was a message

in ye stones. In ye foundations and ye distances be a mystery--the

mystery of our Faith, which ye have forgotten and we also in ye latter

days.

"All ye measures were marked plaine on ye slabbes in Mary's

Chappel,[58] and ye have destroyed them. So it was recorded, as they

who builded and they who came after knew aforehand where they should

build. But these things are overpast and of no value now. The spirit

was lost and with the loss of the spirit the body decayed and was of

no further use to (us).

[58] William of Malmesbury's _Glastonbury_, quoted below.

"There was the Body of Christ, and round him would have been the Four

Ways. Two were ybuilded and no more. In ye floor of ye Mary Chappel

was ye Zodiac, that all might see and understand the mystery. In ye

midst of ye Chapel he was laid; and the Cross of Hym who was our

Example and Exemplar.

"Braineton, he didde much, for he was Geomancer to ye Abbey of old

tyme."

These curious statements appear to have a bearing on certain facts

recorded of the Lady Chapel and upon others which have come to light

as a result of the study of the whole plan of the Abbey Church and

Monastic buildings. The latter were found to be laid out on a series of

commensurate squares of 37 × 2 (or 74) feet, and it has been observed

that there is no divergence from the symmetry of these squares in the

works of the successive centuries right up to the time of the last

Abbot, for the Edgar Chapel falls into line with the rest. Thus the

outer measure of the total length of the Great Church with St. Mary's

Chapel is 592 feet, or eight commensurate and consecutive squares of

74 feet each, and the width of the Nave and Quire are each one such

square. The plan has been already most useful in locating the position

of walls destroyed and lost. There is much yet to be done in order to

complete the plan, but it is, in the main, recovered, and has been

published in the _Proceedings of the Somerset Archæological Society_,

from which it is here reproduced (Fig. 12).

As to the engraved geometric lines on the floor of St. Mary's Chapel,

it may be well to quote William of Malmesbury, whose record of this

dates from the twelfth century. This old chronicler says, speaking of

this chapel, which was on the site of the oldest Christian church:

"This church, then, is certainly the oldest I know in England, and

from this circumstance derives its name (_vetusta ecclesia_)....

In the pavement may be seen on every side stones designedly inlaid

in triangles and squares, and figured with lead, under which, if I

believe some sacred enigma to be contained, I do no injustice to

religion."

[Illustration: FIG. 13.

NOTE.--This plan shows the state of knowledge in 1912. A western aisle

to the north transept is shown on the site of the foundations which had

been discovered. _To fold between pp. 148, 149._]

The plan of the Chapel is itself a perfect instance of the Vesica

Piscis, the proportions of the double equilateral triangle and the most

sacred and cherished mystery of the Christian temple builders (see

_Proceedings of the Somerset Archæological Society_, vol. lxii., 1916,

pp. xxxviii-xl). For the "Four Ways" see such early instances of the

Rood as the example at Lucca Cathedral, where the arms of the Cross are

held in a circle, suggestive of the zodiac, and point to the position

of the four fixed signs Aquarius, Leo, Taurus, and Aquila or Scorpio,

corresponding to SS. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, figured in the

Christian symbology by the Angel, the Lion, the Bull, and the Eagle

respectively. What is implied in the foregoing communication, when it

is stated that of the four ways, they only builded two, is not known to

the writer.

* * * * *

F.B.B., not being yet quite satisfied on the subject of the script of

13th June, 1911, repeated a part of his former question, as follows:

_Q._ "_But where was that building 22 feet long and 4 paces wide, with

three four-light windows and fans. I cannot see how the measure of 22

feet is obtained. Was this an east-and-west measure, or to be taken

north-and-south?_"

_A._ "Ye door into ye transept in ye north, which I, Camel, used; he

was in ye west porche and under the three high windowes.

"What wold ye? The newe Chappell, he was in ye Bank far oute, in

line with ye Transept as I remember yt. He wasne finished or ever.

Chappells a many! Everywhere! Why cumbered they the ground when faith

was dead, and there was no longer any need for hym? The purse[59] was

full, it must be spent, and so, when nor barn nor byre nor pent called

for it, it was yspent. Why should roysterers and evil men have it to

spend? So we builded much.

[59] John Camel was "Purse-bearer" to Abbot Bere.

"Chapels everywhere--ne need of them.

"Small chance it is preserved (_passage doubtful_), but it was well

ycovered, I wot, for them who would pull downe.

[Illustration:

FIG. 14.--GLASTONBURY ABBEY: PLAN OF THE CHAPEL OF OUR LADY, BUILT

A.D. 1184, ON THE SITE OF THE CHURCH OF JOSEPH OF ARIMATHÆA.

The plan lies in a hexagon. Its measures are based upon the standard

British foot of 12 inches. The breadth between the faces of the

central buttresses is 37 feet, in harmony with the general scheme of

measures found in the Abbey. The length of the vesica is approximately

64 feet, and its points touch the outer faces of the end walls.

External to this is another vesica embracing the plinth-course (see

plan). The interior shows a third, marking three-quarters of its

length. Each vesica contains a rhombus of two equilateral triangles.

Their measures are symbolic and explanatory of the sacred geometry of

which the "Gematria" of the Greek scriptures is illustrative. Thus,

the solid rectangular area of this building is 37 by 64, or 2,368

square feet, by Gematria the equivalent of ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ (Jesus

Christ) or Ὁ ἉΓΙΟΣ ΤΩΝ ἉΓΙΩΝ (The Holy One of Holy Ones). The rhombus

contained has the area 1,184 square feet, very possibly designed to

record the date (A.D. 1184) of the erection of the Chapel. It will

be noted that William of Malmesbury alludes to the "sacred enigma"

believed to be concealed in the triangular and other figures on

the floor of the Chapel.]

"Stones carven and yguilded--ne spirit, I wot. How could these things

stand in the day of wrath? Pride! Ostentation! Much glory and much

tinsel; but ne worship, ne humbleness, ne object for us to continue

more.... So passe old tymes away."

_Q._ "_But how was that 22 feet length arrived at?_"

_A._ "A cloyster from ye Nave to ye Lobby, and four steppes unto ye

Transept floor, and from ye lobby, on ye west, ye Chappell.

"Ne Chappell but ye Cloyster in ye corner of ye grete Church. Claustrum

to ye Chappel along ye aisle--then ye lobby and ye Chappel west of hym."

This statement is now sufficiently explicit. It is possible to form a

plan (see Figs. 15 and 16). The little cloister alongside the wall of

the transept forms a western aisle to the same, covering one bay, whose

width is known to have been 22 feet nearly. At this point it merges

into a lobby or vestibule, at or near the foot of a fair-sized turret

which stands at the north-west angle of the transept. This lobby has

doors on all sides--(1) south, from the cloister communicating with the

nave; (2) north, to the upper garth, and the path used by Camel the

Purser, who lived in High Street; (3) east, and up the steps through

the transept wall, into the transept itself; and (4) west, into the

short corridor of 10 feet leading to the Loretto Chapel.

[Illustration: FIG. 15.--THE NORTH TRANSEPT, SHOWING THE "CLAUSTRA"

ALONG THE AISLE, THEN THE LOBBY, WITH ITS FOUR DOORS, AND THE LORETTO

CHAPEL TO THE WEST.]

[Illustration: FIG. 16.--GLASTONBURY ABBEY: COMPLETE PLAN, SHOWING ALL

THE PRINCIPAL FEATURES MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPT.]

A final question was asked, and the result is interesting, as

the question was a mental one, asked by F.B.B., not written nor

communicated to J.A. by any ostensible means. F.B.B. formulated

the question in his mind thus: "What was the surname of the Paduan

architect Francesco?" Answer: "_Vecchi._--_Francesco di Vecchi._"[60]

[60] A name unknown to us in this connection.--F.B.B. A letter received

by F.B.B. from an Englishman living in Venice (dated April 19) gives

the following extract from the "Curiosita Veneziane" (Giuseppe Tassini,

Venezia, 1887):

"_Vecchia_ ... Stefano della Vecchia. Il cui padre Venturino era stato

approvato cittadino originario il 29 Octobre 1629 apparteneva alla

famiglia Della Vecchia, la quali venne dal territorio di Bergamo, ed

era detto da principio, Cornovi.

"... Un Antonio di questa famiglia il cui figlio Zaccaria fu _Vescovo

di Torcello_, comperi in 1565 un nobile palazzo sulla Fundamenta della

Madonna dell'Orto."

This not being quite as clear as was wished, the question was repeated,

and the reply came as follows: "VECCHI _di Torcello in Italia_."

[Illustration: PLATE V.

CONJECTURAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE NORTH TRANSEPT, WITH THE "CLAUSTRUM"

ATTACHED

On the left, under the turret, is the open vestibule, leading to the

Chapel of the Loretto (on extreme left). _To face page 154._]

CONCLUSION

So ends the "Loretto Chapel" script, with a series of precise and

categorical statements, offering no means of escape from the final

alternative of truth or falsehood, fact or fiction. This situation will

be clear to the reader, as it is to the writer of this narrative, who,

for the reasons now about to be given, entertains no misgivings as to

the course he has taken in publishing it.

His motto here would be, "Prove all things, and hold fast that which

is good." These writings, whose value is at present unproven, and in

respect of the detailed statement of names, dates, and places, highly

problematical, are put forward as an illustration of the working of his

method.

They are not to be accepted with credulity, but are subjects for

critical analysis, and must be weighed and examined, with all the

rest, in the light of reason, assisted by every useful means of normal

research and exploration.

If we are resolved to accept nothing which is not first fully endorsed

by reason and common sense, and afterwards fortified by deductions

fairly made from data, however slender, we stand but little risk of

being deceived. Let us, therefore, apply to this case the same rule

which the writer has already successfully applied in the case of the

Edgar Chapel.

Intuition has played her part. From the depths of the subconscious

mind her power has evoked these images. Now let Reason and Logic take

the reins and drive the argument. Let us analyse the facts, such as

they are, which bear upon the case, and in the light of the intuitive

results see whether an argument may be built up which will be capable

of supporting weight.

In this lies the true utility of the method we have chosen. It

claims a double value--(1) in its ability to remember and to review

subconsciously an infinitude of minor things, slightly or casually

impressed upon the mind and unnoticed or unremembered by the working

brain; and (2) the faculty of balancing, assessing, and combining

these in such manner as the brain itself is rarely if ever able to

do, and hence to evolve from slenderest data a scheme in which all

probabilities which can lawfully be inferred from these minutiæ are

welded into a complete whole.

For a moment, let us go farther and assume that some of the statements

made in the script are not merely incapable of proof, but are found

actually inconsistent with facts. Where then do we stand with our

theory?

As I have said, until the statements are accepted, no one is deceived

unless by his own rashness. All that has happened is that two people

having a perfectly honest purpose have attempted to record by

automatic process knowledge arrived at by the trained exercise of the

subconscious mind, and have obtained--let us say--fiction or romance

instead of the fact they sought.

The logical inference from this failure will obviously be that the

particular method employed, whilst it may have the value claimed for it

of supplementing the ordinary reasoning powers, has proved unreliable

where applied for the purpose of procuring statements whose truth does

not (as in the case of the Edgar Chapel) depend upon the deductive or

inductive probabilities, but upon isolated facts unrelated to others,

such as the names of places and people unknown; and that therefore,

as a general conclusion, the method is unsuited for the purpose of

obtaining such information, and we have used it for an end for which it

is not adapted.

Thus may the legitimate bounds of the automatic method be prescribed;

Intuition must bring all her results to the bar of Reason for

provisional acceptance, and when this test is passed then the matter

becomes ripe for further research.

Above all, let us not be superstitious. There is no need to invoke

the action of supernatural agencies of a malevolent sort to explain

the outcome of our own fallibility. If a man or woman sits down and

produces automatically a story which turns out to be fiction, why, I

ask, should that fiction be regarded as anything inherently worse in

origin than the mass of fiction, good, bad, and indifferent, which

writers produce consciously?

Where is the essential difference? The only answer I can find to this

question is that the difference lies in the folly of the credulous, who

are at all times willing to attach greater importance and credit to a

statement made from an unknown source than to one which has a definite

human and personal origin. "Omne ignotum pro magnifico."

For the imaginative function, whether working consciously or

unconsciously, is the same in either case. Give it truth to feed upon

and it will evolve truth. And through the door of truth may enter that

which will guide us to a wider knowledge.

APPENDIX

THE LORETTO CHAPEL

SYNTHETIC OR CONSTRUCTIVE ARGUMENT

BASED ON CONCLUSIONS OFFERED BY THE AUTOMATIC SCRIPT, AND THE WEIGHING

OF ALL AVAILABLE DATA IN THE LIGHT OF SAME.

A.--AS TO THE POSITION OF THE LORETTO CHAPEL.

SCRIPT.

August 16, 1917. "=Deepe, by ye Bank, is ye walle," etc. "But capella

wasne in muro in Boreali parte ... and in ye Banke deepe downe ye shall

find him," etc. There was a deep place where they destroyed, and they

covered him, and made a banke full six feet high, and soe saved the

wall at the west end for all tyme.="

December 4, 1916. "=Abbot Bere ybuilded ye Loretto Chapel faire and

large to the north side of the Navis. Itt was not ye Chapitre House....

Bere's Chapel was distant from ye Navis thirty-one feet and a half, and

from ye aisle of ye transept he was fulle tenn feet.... The same was

forty feet by twenty or thereabouts, and his chief doore was to the

west, and a pavement joyned him to the road from St John's Gate to ye

Churche.="

August 17, 1917. "=Capella Loretta was on ye lower level, with four or

six steppys up to the pavement.="

"=Seek my chapple, as I told ye, in ye Banck.="

"=He was entered from ye west, and had a door into the littel cloister

by ye transept of ye grete Church, and four stepps up to the pavement.="

"=All ye measures were marked plaine on ye slabbes of St. Mary's

Chappel ... so it was recorded, as they who builded and they who came

after knew aforehand where they should build.="

"=The newe chappell he was in ye bank far oute in line with ye transept

as I remember it.="

September 1, 1910. "=On ye north syde of ye grete church, at ye ende,

near to ye newe chappel which Bere (builded).="

EXISTING DATA.

_The Deep Place._--The mention of a "deep place" calls attention for

the first time to a number of facts which group themselves in a manner

suggestive of such a probability. They are as follows:

(_a_) Stukeley's view (1723) (see Fig. 9) seems to indicate a drop on

the north side of the nave and transept, to a lower level.

Coney's view (see Plate IV.) certainly shows the small building on the

north side of the nave with a break in the ground just in front of it,

marking a lower level for the wall.

(_b_) The configuration of the ground is in favour of this. Above and

eastward of the Abbey enclosure is a narrow valley running west, and

filled up in its lower part, over which lies the northern section of

the Abbey enclosure. The High Street runs down the north side of this

valley, and parallel to it, and closely adjoining the Abbey wall is

Silver Street, a name said by some antiquaries to indicate a ford.

(_c_) The drainage of the Abbey church is down the north side, as would

appear by the direction of the drainage channel in the foundations of

the Edgar Chapel, and the larger water-channel whose course was traced

diagonally beneath the floor of the quire.

(_d_) In excavating the north porch, a very deep pit was found right

against the north-west angle of the footings. It went down nearly 10

feet below the floor-level of the church. This may have extended east

and west, and the north porch may in that case be supposed to have been

approached by a paved way over a bridge.

_The Bank._--The foot of the bank, as nearly as may be estimated, lies

about 27 feet north of the position of the nave wall (outer face). This

would bring the 31 and a half feet distance indicated by the script for

the wall of the chapel, about 4 and a half feet within the bank, and

this would seem to accord with the old gardener's recollection.

The bank runs westwards as far as the north porch, or about 108 feet

west of the transept, so that the west end of the chapel as described

would be well covered, being some 40 feet east of the termination of

the bank.

The extreme projection of the transept, beyond the line of the inner

face of the nave wall, would be about 60 feet, and not less than 54.

The thirty-one and a half feet measure from the outside of the nave

wall, if added to the probable thickness of the latter, will give a

total of 39 or 40 feet, and if this measure is assumed to be to the

inner face of the chapel wall (south) the position of its outer face

would accord with the 37 feet general line, following the symmetric

scheme on which the whole abbey is found to be built (see Fig. 12), and

the north side of the chapel will then come very nearly into line with

the transept.

WORKING HYPOTHESIS.

_That the ground on the north side of the Church sloped down formerly

to the bed of the brook coming from the hill behind the town. This

would make a depression about 10 feet deep alongside the Church, at

a distance, roughly, of about 40 feet north of the outer face of the

nave aisle wall, and immediately north of the projection of the north

transept and porch. The bed would have been partly filled when the

Abbey was standing, and there would be a system of drains beneath

the soil, which would have been levelled to form a garth or garden a

few feet below the nave floor, terminated on the west by a path or

pavement from the porch to St. John's Gate (running due north), and

beyond this, again to the west, would be another garth at a still lower

level, to the north of St. Mary's Chapel and the Galilee, following the

general trend of the grounds, which slope to the westward. This part

was the cemetery of the laity._

_It is inferred that Bere's Chapel of the Loretto may have stood on

the upper garth, its floor a few feet below the nave, and at about the

distance mentioned in the script._

_That the present aspect of the ground, which shows a uniform rise to

the north of the Abbey, is thus totally misleading, and the bank and

the higher level beyond on the town side must be altogether artificial,

and nothing but a huge accumulation of débris from the destruction of

the Abbey. The bulk of the ancient work now destroyed was so enormous

that there is no difficulty at all in supposing this, notwithstanding

the fact that a great quantity of the masonry went, as is known, to

make a foundation for the new road to Wells._

_The further inference is made that under this bank will most likely

be hidden a great deal of fragmentary work, and that its removal will

bring to light many things of archæological interest._

_That the Loretto Chapel, if its position be correctly given in the

script as 31 feet 6 inches from nave, would appear nearly in line with

the transept (north end), when viewed from the north, but, if anything,

rather further out_ (see Fig. 14).

B.--AS TO THE WESTERN AISLE TO THE TRANSEPT, AND THE SUGGESTION OF A

CLOISTER OR PASSAGE IN SAME, AND THE CHARACTER OF THE BUILDING.

SCRIPT

June 13, 1911.... "=Somewhat remaineth of ye outer walls, and ye walle

by ye crossinge.... Ye doore unto hym is at the west (see note), nigh

unto the pillar of the Navis; one doore only, on Nave.=

="Yn feete twenty and two, and foure paces in the width thereof, and ye

walle of ye Nave was strengthened thereby," etc.=

December 4, 1916. "=Bere's Chapel was distant from ye Navis thirty-one

feet and a half, and from= _ye aisle of ye transept_ =he was fulle tenn

feet with a covered way unto, and four steppes up unto= _ye aisle_

=aforesaid=.

"=There were four steppes--nay, six--to the= _aisle of ye transeppt_,

=and a covered way vaulted in a round vault to ye chappel=."

August 17, 1917. "=Claustra quae vocantur, vento Boreale aperta est--in

vestibule sub turre--English volts=."

"=Seek my chapple as I told ye in ye Banck. He was entered from ye

west, and had a door into the= _littel cloister by ye transept_ =of ye

grete church, and four stepps up to the pavement. Ye door was in ye

transept wall at ye end thereof.="

"=Ye door into ye transept in ye north, which I, Camel, used, he was in

ye west porche and under the three high windows.=

"_A Cloyster from ye Nave to ye Lobby_, =and four steppes unto ye

Transept floor, and from ye Lobby, on ye west, ye Chappell=.

"_Ne Chappel but ye Cloyster_ =in ye corner of ye grete church=.

_Claustrum to ye Chappel along ye aisle, then ye lobby_ =and ye Chappel

west of hym=."

(Italics mine.--F.B.B.)

EXISTING DATA

(_a_) The wall-footing discovered in 1911 shows a possible breadth of

12 feet or so for this aisle. The thickness of the footing is evidence

of a strong construction. There were some marks of a cross-foundation

at a point over 20 feet out north, and near the face of the bank.

(_b_) The indications were in favour of a lower level for this work.

The drop from the transept level to that of the nave is about 4 feet,

and this aisle or passage would appear to be on the nave level.

(_c_) Benedictine houses did not usually have western aisles to the

transepts, as is the case with cathedral churches. But Glastonbury

followed Wells in some things, and at Wells there are western aisles

to the transepts, and that on the north side has screens on two sides,

within arches to nave and to transept.

(_d_) The detail found on this site was of very fine late perpendicular

window-tracery, showing the existence of windows with heavy central

mullions, and most likely of four lights.

(_e_) Camel's house was in the High Street at a point which would be

readily approached by a path towards this part of the Abbey Church.

WORKING HYPOTHESIS.

_That the foundation discovered in 1911 is not that of a chapel, nor

yet of an aisle to the transept, properly so called, although it might

be thus described since it would have that appearance from without._

_The inference is that this adjunct would have been on the nave level,

and its use connected with the nave. It would have been primarily a

passage-way from the nave to a court or to buildings on the north side,

and it would be properly described as a cloister alley._

_In this position it would, if substantially built, most readily serve

the useful purpose of contributing support to the central tower and

to the walls near the crossing, adding stability to the transept if

affected by the weakness of the tower, and furnishing support for

flying buttresses to the north-west angle of the crossing and tower

itself._

_There would be little object in carrying it out further north than

would be requisite to cover one bay of the transept wall. This would

make it a possible 22 feet in internal measure. There would be normally

a double square on plan, and if fan-vaulted this would give two bays,

and two windows to the west and one to the north--three in all._

C.--AS TO THE ITALIAN STYLE OF THE CHAPEL.

SCRIPT

December 4, 1916. "=Abbot Bere ybuilded ye Loretto Chapel faire

and large, to the north (side of the) Navis.... Yt was ybuilded by Bere

most faire and wonderful in ye newe style brought from Ytaly when he

didd go there....="

"=We have said, he was of the Ytalian style, new and very faire, and

Bere ybuilded coming from embassadrie in Ytaly.... He wasne like

anything else, (but was of the) newe style.="

_Here followed the detailed sketches showing--_

1. =A rectangular chapel of four bays, with a small apse to the east,

as a "Cava Virginis."=

2. =Parapets of undulating outline, and others suggestive of the

fleur-de-lys, with indications of fruit and flower enrichment.=

3. =Sitting lions, bearing shields, over each division of the bays,

mounted on small pillars with "patellae" or plaques, dividing the

parapets.=

4. =Heads of angels or cherubs, probably in the cornices.=

5. =Round-headed windows, and vaults with bands of carved fruit and

flowers on the groin-ribs.=

August 16, 1917. "=Maestro Francesco de Padua qui me instruxit et

capellam cognoscit in Italia ... struebat in modo Italiano.=

"=Francesco de Padua aedificavit. Two would speak of it--he who made

it, and I who moved for my fannes and English. We both made him.="

(_Name of the model for this work_)--

"=Capella di Marco at Padua--hym by the Key.="

"=Domenic di Vallera Castiglione aedificavit anno 1497--via St Ursula.="

(_Name of Bere's architect_)--

"=Vecchi--Francesco De Vecchi.="

"=VECCHI di Torcello in Italia.="

EXISTING DATA

(_a_) The Chapel was built just after Bere's embassage to Italy. He

was a cultivated and learned man with a knowledge of architecture, as

is evident from the quality of his building works. He must have been

supported by capable, if not eminent, master-builders and craftsmen.

(_b_) Bere was impregnated with the new ideas, and was the friend of

Erasmus. A letter of his to Erasmus is extant. His sympathy with new

and more liberal views would be reflected in a wider culture, and the

influence of the Italian Renaissance, already affecting English art in

minor ways, may well have moved him to become a pioneer in introducing

the style which, a half-century later, usurped the place of our native

"Tudor" forms. These he used as a master, and had developed them to

their highest pitch.

(_c_) The duration of his visit to Italy is at present unknown to us,

but the circumstance of the death of Pius III.--if he overstayed that

event--would make for delay and give him time to devote to the study of

Italian architectural models.

(_d_) The circumstances of his vow are also, so far as we know, not a

matter of history; but the vow itself or the intention which clearly

implies it is our reading of Leland's note.

The Chapel is undoubtedly a thank-offering. It is built to the honour

of Our Lady in the particular aspect of an "Italian" saint of local

repute, possessed of the attribute of protection to life and health.

The choice of a style and character for the monument designed by Bere

would very naturally be consonant with that prevailing locally--_i.e._,

Italian.

(_e_) A few fragments of plain moulded work, of Italian character,

have been noted amongst the débris of the Abbey. These were hitherto

supposed to have belonged to some Elizabethan building, now destroyed,

whose remains had somehow found their way into the general mass of

Abbey fragments.

WORKING HYPOTHESIS.

_That a Chapel dedicated to an "Italian" Madonna, erected by an

Abbot of liberal views, impressed by the newer learning and culture,

immediately on his return from a visit to Italy, at a time when the

forms of Italian Renaissance were in process of adaptation to Gothic

buildings, might well have been influenced in its design by Italian

ideas, even to a wholesale extent, and that if an Italian master were

employed, as appears by no means an unreasonable idea, an entirely

Italian model may have been followed._

_That the type that would evoke most readily the Abbot's artistic

sympathies would be a North Italian type, not too far removed from

the principles of architectural form to which he had been habituated.

An entirely Roman model, on purely classic lines, is for this reason

less likely. But the selection of an Italian master for the purpose of

carrying out Bere's scheme almost necessarily follows if the intention

to employ an Italian style be conceded. Bere could not do this unaided,

as an Abbot would not be his own architect._

D.--AS TO THE STYLE OF THE BUILDING AT THE ANGLE OF THE TRANSEPT AND

NORTH AISLE OF NAVE.

SCRIPT

Script, June 13, 1911. "=I made that building. All that I didde

anywhere is fannes. Ne barrel vault. And under them, three faire

windowes of foure lights, with transomes and littel castel-work on

the ramps thereof ... and each fanne had twelve ribs, and they were

ycoloured red and gold, like my chapel of Edgar....=

"=... Ye roundels of ye volte were golden, and also ye bosses, and ye

hollows were bright redde, likewise ye tabernacle of Oure Ladye in the

est wall golde and redde; and ye windowes were of glasse yellow in

canopies with redde and blewe in ye little lights thereof. Ye floore

was of tileis red, with shields and ornaments in yellow likewise."...=

EXISTING DATA

(_a_) As an integral part of the Church the probabilities lie in the

direction of the use of Bere's own master-masons for this work, and the

choice of the customary English style seems to follow. This would be

all the more consistent with probabilities if the work were involved

with the strengthening of the older masonry at the crossing of the

Church--a work known to have been necessary, since Leland records the

fact that Bere strengthened the central tower by the addition of the

"St. Andrew's" arches beneath it (see Plate III).

(_b_) The fragments of window-tracery already referred to as having

been found on the site are English in character.

WORKING HYPOTHESIS.

_That the building in the angle of the nave and transept was formed

with the double object of a support to the weak walls of the crossing,

and as a covered approach to the Chapel of the Loretto, erected by

Abbot Bere on a site adjoining the north side of the nave, but not

attached directly to same, and that this cloister was built in the

later English style in which his own masons were expert._

ENVOI

THE LAMPLIGHTER

One by one, along the crowded street

The footsteps falter, and the stillness grows

Oppressive as the sudden hush that falls

In shaded chambers whence a life has flown.

One by one, the ruddy windows fade

To utter darkness, while behind closed doors

The voices cease, and all the shadowy night

Broods o'er a city of the seeming dead;

Save only that amid the shadows gleam

Dim lights that trace the form of street and square

And guide the wanderer in his mazy quest

Through ways all unfamiliar. He that lit

The starry welcome now is seen no more.

His light extinguished and his duty done,

He peaceful sleeps within his silent home.

We see him not; and yet perchance he hears

In dreams our echoing voices as we pass

Athwart his shuttered windows--hears us bless

The light he lighted, gleaming through the night

A welcome to the lost and weary; wakes perchance

To murmur, "All is well," then sleeps again.

So may he sleep in peace until the Sun

From which his flame was borrowed wakes the East

To crimson glory, and his glimmering lights

Merge in the splendour of the breaking Day.

JOHN ALLEYNE.

INDEX AND SYNOPSIS

A

Abbey Church, plans, Figs. 1, 3, 12, 15

its total length, 12, 62, 65, 68, 69

Abbots (see Bere, Breynton, Whiting, etc.)

House, 10 ref. and Fig. 9

head (carved), 99 (Fig. 8)

Aisle to north transept (a cloister-alley), 125, 126

Ale, Johannes and the vat of, 89

Aller, John de, 66

Almoner, J. Bryan (lived over the King's Gate), 95

Altar, the High, 45, 56

screen, etc., 51, 56, 58, 77;

its back, with ancient image of B. V. M., 57

sepulchre under, 65

Altars, side, 43

Ambrosius the Cellarer, 66

Andrew, St., Chapel of, 51

Guild of, 100

arches (under tower), 122, 167, and Plate III.

Apse, semicircular, on Phelps' and Warner's plans, 11, 51, 52, 74

polygonal, 57, 61, 73, 74; Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 12; also Plate II.

Arch to Edgar Chapel (antechapel), 43

to end of Quire, 59

relieving, to the north-west angle of central tower, 121

Arches, like St. Andrew's Cross, under tower, 122, 167; Plate III.

Architect of Edgar Chapel (Richard de Tantonia), 67

of Loretto Chapel (Francesco Vecchi), 144, 145, 154

of St. Mark's, Padua (Domenico di Vallera Castiglione), 146

Arimathea, Joseph of, 33 ref.

Convent of (near Guest Hall), 68

Arthur, King: tomb of, 45, 56, 65

Automatism, discussion of, 22

Awfwold the Saxon, 63, 68

Azure glass (vitrea azurea): in script, 37, 72

discovered, 62, 72

B

Bailey, the Inner and Outer, 91 ref.

Bank, on site of the Loretto Chapel, north side of nave, 113, 144,

146, 160, 161, 162

Bards, writings, 87

Barrel vault, in south chantry, 57

Bell-tower, over north-east angle of cloister, burnt, repaired, and

pulled down owing to bad foundation, 88

Benedict (for Benignus), St.: Church of, 98, 100;

gargoyle of, 99 (Fig. 8)

Bere or Beere, Abbot Richard, 4, 35, 44, 45, 47, 54, 59, etc.

arms of, 98;

carved head of, 99 (Fig. 8)

embassy, 111;

notes on, 120

built St. Benignus' Church, 100

Edgar Chapel, 53

Loretto Chapel, 111, 120, 125, 126, 145, 146

claustrum in angle of transept, leading to Loretto, 119, 121

his signature in script, 53

his influence on those coming after, 47-48

Body of Christ (in symbolic lines on floor of St. Mary's), 147

Bones, the stirring of the dry, 21

of Abbot Whiting (collected and buried), 65

of St. Dunstan (held by Glastonbury), 91

Braineton, or Breynton, John of, Abbot, 48

geomancer to the Abbey, 147

Bryan, John, Almoner, 95

Bryant, Johannes, monk, curator of Edgar Chapel, sculptor, mason,

37, 38, 40, 41, 45, 47, 57, 59, 66

child of Nature, 85-97 _passim_

C

Camel, or Camillus, Thesiger--_i.e._, treasurer to Abbot Bere, 125,

127, 149, 151, 166

house of, 164

path used by, 154

tomb in St. John's, 127

Cancellarius (see Chancellor)

Cannon, MS. of John, 113, 114, 117 (Fig. 11), 124

Cannon, sketch of ruins by, 117

Canterbury, pilgrims from, to shrine of St. Dunstan, 91

Capella St. Edgar (see Chapel)

St. Maria (see Chapel)

Cardinal Wolsey: friend of the Abbey, 91

made Whiting Abbot at Oxford, 101

Castiglione, Domenico, 146

Cava Virginis (the apse of the Loretto Chapel), 129, _c_, _e_, _g_;

130, _h_, _j_, _k_; 139, _d_; text, 143

Cellarer: Ambrosius, 66

Cellars of Refectory, 66

of Guest Hall, 67

Chalice Hill, 69

chapel on path to, 69

Chamber, the Great, 94

over King's Gate, 95

to the east of Edgar Chapel, 63

Chancellorium, _in_ (as a Chancery: the purpose of Christ Church Hall,

as built by Wolsey), 101

Changing-room for the choristers, 68

Chantry (south of Quire), 51

south side of Edgar Chapel, 27 ref.

57 (script), 63;

plan, 64 (Fig. 6)

Chapel of Dunstan, St.: in the west (built by Edgar, and rebuilt by

Radulphus), 91

plans, Figs. 12 and 15

in the north (the corner chapel in Fig. 14), 68

Chapel of Edgar, 35, 43, 44, 47, 51, 53, 55, 63, 70-77 (table), 119, 120

plans of, 34, 36, 64 (Fig. 6), 148_a_ (Fig. 12), 153 (Fig. 15);

Plate II. (p. 56_a_)

elevation of, 81

length determined, 63

Chapel of Our Lady of Loretto (site lost): built by Bere,

111;

described in script as being in Italian style, its _locus_ indicated,

and details given, 125, 126, 129-142, 146;

plans, 152, 153 (Figs. 14 and 15); Plate V. (154_a_)

used as a Chapter House by Bere, during repairs, 126

Chapel of St. Mary, 35, 41, 47, 58, 125 (see Retro-Chapel,

Lady Chapel, etc.)

the older Lady Chapel, 47, 50, 78

minor, in retro-quire, 43, 51

present, on site of the primitive church, at west end: plans,

148_a_ (Fig. 12), 150, 153 (Figs. 13, 15)

sketches of, Figs. 9, 10, 11

sacred geometry on floor of chapel, 147, 148

geometric principles of the plan, 150, 151, Fig. 13 and ref.

Chapel of St. Michael in the graveyard (burial-place of Johannes), 97

Chapel of St. Thomas of Canterbury, 114, and Fig. 14 (this is the

inner chapel shown in Fig. 14, the outer being St. Dunstan)

Chapter House: Edgar Chapel so called in Elizabethan record, 12

Loretto Chapel, so called in Cannon MS., 114, 125, 126

Loretto Chapel used as, by Bere, during repair of, 126

Christ Church Hall, a Chancellorium, 101

Church, Saxon (on site of Edgar Chapel within a fort), 63

Church of Ina, 56

of Turstin, 107

the Great (_temp._ Jocelyn), 87,88

Clock (horloge) of Peter Lightfoot, 87

Cloister, the Great, 68, 96

Little, 67, 68

to north transept, 126 and Plate V.

of the North Wind, 146, 151; Plate V.

Community of 347 monks (thirteenth century), 88

Company, the, 21, 87, 88 (brotherhood, 94)

Coney, drawing by, Plate IV.; ref. to, 112, 114, 123

Convent of Arimathea (the little convent), 68

Court, the Great, 147

by the graveyard, 94

Covered walk (Abbot's), 96

ways (see Passages)

Cross in the Zodiac, 147

Crypt under stairs of Edgar Chapel, 40, 50, 53

under New Hall, 68

under nave, 41

Curator capellae (J. Bryant), 38

D

Deep Place, the, 144, 166

Distances, Mystery of the, 147

Di Vallera: Domenico, 146

Door (in east wall), 53 (see Portus)

Drain, the Great, 66

Drawings of Edgar Chapel, 67

of Loretto Chapel, 128-142

geometrical, on floor of St. Mary's Chapel, 147

Ducange, dict. of mediæval and low Latin quoted, 33 ref.

Dunstan, St.: bones of, 91

chapel in the west, 91;

chapel in the north, 68;

chapel at Edgarley, 106 ref.

E

Eawulf, or Eanwulf, Saxon Earl of Somerton (Yarl of Edgarley) 29,

105, 108

Edgar, King (Saint), 4, 44

Chapel of, 4, 8, 9, 28, etc., Plate II. (see Chapel)

for "Edmund," 56, 59

Edgarley, 106

Elizabeth, Queen, 4, 12, 66

Enigmas, Sacred, on floor of chapel, 148

Erasmus (friend of Bere), 122

Ell (measure), 43 (In the script still unpublished occurs an

authoritative statement that the builder's ell used by the monks was

just over 2 feet 4 inches. This makes it identical with the "pace" as

indicated in the statement of length on p. 68, where 733 feet = 311

"passus.")

Excavation of Bere's chapel, 53, 54;

completed, 55, 59

of apse, 62

plan, 64

F

Fannes (fan-vaulting) in Edgar Chapel, 38, 43, 57

in claustrum of the Loretto, 119, 145

in Quire, 59

Glo'ster, 38, 58

Fishponds, the Abbey, 147

Flat fan-vault in apse, 57

Fort or enclosure (Saxon), 63

Foundations of apse, 43, Fig. 6

of Bere's Chapel, 51, 59;

also Fig. 6 and Plate II.

mystery in the, 147

Four Ways, the, 147

Francesco de Padua (Vecchi), 145, 154

Freeman, Professor, quoted, 11

G

Galfrith, Frater, 87

Gallery over entrance to Edgar Chapel, 43

Gallery under great west window, 88

under the great east window of Quire, 57

under west window of Refectory, 96

Gargoyle, the, 99

Garth, upper and lower on north side of church, 144

Gate, to Chalice Hill, 63

King's, 95

Maudlin, 146-147

of Remembrance, 144

St. John's, 127-144

Water, 147

Gatehouse keeper's lodging (in dismantled Chapel of Dunstan), 91

Gematria of the Holy Name in the Greek, 151 ref.

Geometry, sacred, 147, 148, 150

Gifts, spiritual, 22-25 and flyleaf

Glastonbury as a centre of spiritual life, 20

Abbey (see Abbey)

Gloucester Cathedral cited, 27 ref.

Glo'ster fannes, in Edgar Chapel, 38

Gold and crimson roof in Edgar Chapel, 53, 77

Grave, a martyr's, 65

Graveyard, monks', 94, 96, 97

chapel in the, 97

Groin (see Vaulting)

Guest Hall, 35, 67, 90, 96

Gulielmus, Monachus, 33 (signature), 34, 38, 45, 58, 86

H

Hærewith the Dane, 94

Hall, the Great, 90, 91, 94, 96

built by Wolsey in Oxford, 101

Handrail, double, 43, 75

Hearne, Thomas (eighteenth-century antiquary), quoted, 12, 62

Herlewin, Abbot, 107 ref.

Hollar (ditto) quoted, 12, 62

View of ruins in 1655,

enlarged, 116 (Fig. 10)

I

Ibericus, journey of, 102

Imperator (Cæsar), 108

Ina (King), Church built by, 56

J

Jocelyn (Trotman), Bishop of Wells, thirteenth century, 67, 88

Johannes (see Bryant)

Joseph of Arimathea (or of Marmore), 33 ref.

K

King's Gate and Way, 66

Kirkyard, 96, 97

Kitchen, Abbot's (the "grete" kitchen), 67, 94

little (between the Refectory and Guest Hall), 67

Kitchen Court, 95

L

Lady Chapel at east end (older), 11

with angular end, 47

Monington's, 50, 51 (see Phelps and Warner)

Lady of Loretto, 119

Lapidator (= stonemason) (J. Bryant), 38

Lay-brothers' House, 96

Lay-Chamber, 96

Lead roof on Edgar Chapel, 55

Leland's _Itinerary_ quoted, 4, 9, 111, 123

Life, Universal (mention in script), 97

Lightfoot, Peter (maker of the clock), 88

Linea bifurcata (Joseph of Arimathea's sepulture), 33 ref.

Lions of Arthur's Tomb, 57

of Loretto Chapel, 131, II. _b_; 133, II. _g_; 137, III. _a_;

141, IV. _c_; 142; text, 143, 146 ref. 1

Lobby to Loretto Chapel (with round vaults), 151

Lobinell Hist. quoted, 35 ref.

Lodge over the Chalice Gate, 63

Loretto, Chapel of, 111, 125

documents, 111-118

script, _re_, 119 _seq._

dimensions (40 × 21 feet), 125

excavation of cloister footings (1911), 118

Lory, John (carver of gargoyle), 100

M

Malmesbury, William of, on sacred symbols, 148

Mark, Chapel of St. (in Padua), 146 ref.

Marmore, Joseph of, 33 ref.

Martyr's grave (Whiting's), 65

Martyri, 35. (Not known to whom this refers, unless to one of the two

Edmunds, both of whom were assassinated. King Edgar died a natural

death.)

Maudlin Gate, 146-147

Measures (sacred), 147, 148, 150, 151 ref.

Melchin, Book of, 33 ref.

Memory, cosmic, 20

universal (in script), 97

Merlins, the British, 87

Michael, Chapel of St. (since discovered), 97

Monington, Abbot: lengthened Quire about 1334, 58

modified retro-quire and chapel, 50

Multipartite vaulting (Whiting's work), 35, 38

N

New Hall, 68

North porch, 125, 146

passage through, 125

O

Organs on screen and in chapels, 88, 89

P

Padstow (Cornwall), 103

Padua, Bere's journey to, 120, 121, 143

Francesco de, 145, 154, 166

Chapel of St. Mark in, 146, 166

Panellae (panels), 43

in east window, 57

in Quire, 59

Parapets of Loretto Chapel, 133, II. _e_, _f_; 135, II. _g_; 137, _b_

Parker, James, quoted, 10

Parlour, Monks', 68

Passages, secret, 53, 63, 66

Passage, timber, to Saxon Church, 56

paved, in inner court, 95

Passus (paces), 68, 69

(_a_) Mediæval, of 1 foot 7·44 inches (or 1·62 feet)

(_b_) Romano-British, of 2 feet 4-1/4 inches _circa_

NOTE.--The Greek and Roman foot, on which the last is founded,

appears in these islands in early monuments such as Stonehenge, as

well as in mediæval work. It varies from about 11·52 to 11·74

inches (see Flinders Petrie's _Inductive Metrology_, p. 109 for

English mediæval units; p. 118, Stonehenge (11·54 inches); p. 138,

Rome and Mediæval England (11·52 to 11·74 inches); also synoptic

table, p. 142_a_; England 11·6, England, Italy, and Roman Colonies,

11·525 to 11·68 inches).

Patellae (plaques), in Loretto Chapel, 135, II. _h_

Phædrus (Phocis), voyage of, 103

Pilgrims' processions, 88, 91 Way, 125

Pillars over buttresses (Loretto Chapel), 135, _h_

Polygonal apse, plan published before discovery, 61

foundations discovered, 62, 64 (Fig. 6)

Ponds of abbey, 146

Portus introitus (door in east wall of Edgar Chapel), 35, 53

(door to Loretto Chapel), 126 (west door); 129, I. _e_, _g_;

133, II. _d_; 139, III. _e_, _f_

Priests' houses, 146

Prior's Chapel, 147

Lodgings, 66, 67

Processional path and doors, 56, 58, 65

R

Radulphus (Ralph), FitzStephen, chancellor, and builder of the Abbey

Church, 91, 106, 108

FitzHamon (Norman knight, _temp._ Turstin, 1089 _circa_), 108

Rebus of Abbot Bere, 100

Refectorium, 67, 68

cellars of, 66

misericorde, 96

Reginaldus (_ob._ 1214), 46, 58

Bishop of Wells (twelfth century), 46

Relics, where kept, 144

Ribs of vault to Loretto, carved with fruit and flowers, 141, _b_; 142

Richard de Tantonia (architect of Edgar Chapel), 67

Robert (_anno_ 1334), 48

Rolf, Monachus, 35, 38

S

Saint Andrew, Chapel of, 51

guild of, 100

Bridget, 46

Benedict (or Benignus), 98

Church of, 100

Edgar (King), 35, 44

John's Gate, 127, 144

Mary, Chapel of (see Chapel), 41, 51, 56, etc.

Michael in the graveyard (burial place of Johannes), 97

Patrick, 46

Thomas of Canterbury (site of his Chapel), 114

Schola, the (the Abbey School), 68

Screen, the great (on which was the Quire Organ), 89

behind altar and reredos, 65

Screens in Guest Hall, 90, 91

Script, notes on, 26

errors in, 26-30, 68, 69

"Latin" in, 31

Scriptorium of Abbey, 68

Somerset, Lord, 66

Somerton, Eanwulf, Earl of, 106

Squares (symbolic) in sacred geometry on floor of Lady Chapel, 148, 150

general system of in plan of monastery, 148_a_ (Fig. 12)

Stables of Abbey (near Guest Hall), 67

Stairway to Edgar Chapel, 43

Steps in marble to Edgar Chapel, 43

four or six from Loretto to the transept aisle, 126

four from St. Mary's Garth to the Relics Chapel, 144

four from aisle up to transept, 146, 151

from "vetusta ecclesia" to Ina's Church, 56

Steps from great cloister in south-east corner, XII. down, and IX. up,

to back parts of monastery, 68

Stillington's Chapel at Wells, 44

Stukeley's panorama of ruins, 115 (Fig. 9), 160

T

Taunton, Abbot's bones secretly brought from, 65

Richard de (architect), 67, 69

Thesiger, Camillus, 126, 127

Tintagella settlement, 103

Towers, western, 46

Tower, central, 41, 87

bell, 87, 88

Triangles (symbolic) in floor of Lady Chapel, 148

double, in plan of Lady Chapel, 148

Turstin, Abbot, 106, 108

church built by, 105, 107

V

Vallera di, Domenico, 146

Vault, sepulchral, under High Altar, 65

under halls, 66, 67, 68

under central tower and nave, 41

under stairs of St. Mary's (Galilee), 41

Vaulting (volt), quadripartite, 35

multipartite, 35, 38

fans (old style) at east end of Quire, 38

panelled, in Edgar Chapel (fans), 43, 57

fans in claustrum north side of nave, 119

with gilt roundels, 120

barrel section (to chantry chapel), 57

cracked, under central tower, 121, 122

Italian pattern, to Loretto Chapel, 126, 141, 146

Vecchi, Francesco (di Torcello), 154

Vesica Piscis (sacred symbol, containing the double equilateral

triangle, found in plan of St. Mary's Chapel), 150 (Fig. 13), 151 ref.

Vestibule (Italian), to Loretto Chapel (the cloister open to the north

wind), 146, 151

Vineyards, the Abbey, 146

Virga (a yard), 36, 37

Virgin, ancient statue of (at back of altar-screen), 57

and Child in canopied niche over High Altar, 65

Virginis, Cava (apse, or recess of circular form in the east wall of

the Loretto Chapel, as indicated by script), 128-140, 143

W

Walls at an angle, 40, 41, 44, 51, 59, 64 (Figs. 5, 6, and Plate II.)

Warner quoted, 7, 11, 74

plan of older Lady Chapel, 51, 52

Watchers, the, 93

Watergate, 146-147

Wattlework (Saxon), 63, 65

Ways, the Four, 147

Well of Abbey, filled, 95

chamber in court, 94

Wells, Bishop of, 46, 87

chapel at, 44

Cathedral cited, 44, 88

Wells Lady Chapel, 73

Whiting (Whyttinge), Abbot, 4, 35, 37, 55 (signature), 57, 65, 70,

72, 101

Wild, plan by, 13, 16, 40

Willis, Professor, quoted, 7-12, 15, 16

plan by, 9 (Fig. 1)

of retro-chapel, 51, 53

Window, great east; 57;

originally straight, 47;

with balcony under, 65;

lengthened and rebuilt, 58

great west, with gallery under, 88

Window, transomed, in Edgar Chapel, 37

six, in Great Hall, 90, 91

Window, marked with cross (old shrine of Edgar), 44

Windows, three, in apse of Edgar Chapel, 57

three, in claustrum chapel, north side nave

Wolsey, Cardinal, 91, 101

Wyrcestre, William, quoted, 14, 69

reviewed, 13, 14

Y

Yseuguilt (Yseult), Princess, 103

Z

Zodiac (in the floor of St. Mary's Chapel), 147

BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD, ENGLAND

THE GATE OF REMEMBRANCE

A series of Seven Musical Impressions for

the Pianoforte, by the English composer

CARLYON DE LYLE,

based upon episodes in the life of Johannes,

the monk of Glastonbury, as given in the

well-known book of the same name, being

"MAGNUS ALBUM," No. 37

Published by SWAN & CO., 312, REGENT STREET,

LONDON, W.

_May be had of all Music-sellers_

Price 2s. net

_First edition, February, 1918_

_Second edition, July, 1918_

_Third edition, March, 1920_

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes.

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.

Hyphenation has been standardised, but other variations in spelling,

punctuation and accents remain as in the original

For the sake of clarity, the advert for The (musical) Gate of

Remembrance has been has been moved from the beginning to the end.

The "Table of Veridical Passages" and "Table of Data and Constructive

Argument" are three column double page spreads in the original, linking

Script, Existing Data and Working Hypothesis. These sections are now

sequential to conform with width restrictions.

Footnote 6 refers to a non-existent flyleaf.

Italics are represented thus _italics_ and bold thus =bold=.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Gate of Remembrance, by Frederick Bligh Bond