CHAPTER XXXVI.--_Gilds of Norfolk_--(_Continued_).

NORWICH.--The Gilds existing in this important city in 1388-9 were:--

_Fraternity of St. Katerine_, commenced in 1307.--All the members of the Gild were to go in procession on the day of St. Katherine, and make offerings; penalty on absent members. On the day following, mass, &c. Burial services to be attended and offerings made--the duties of the lettered and of the unlettered bretheren and sisteren specifically defined. Bretheren dying within eight miles of the city to be brought in for burial, or at least the usual services done. Poor bretheren to be helped; and causes of quarrel to be laid before the Gild. Fine on refusal to take office. A liveryhood to be worn, and all the members to dine together on the Gild-day. Admission of new members only by common consent. Goods of the Gild enumerated.

_The Tailors’ Gild_, founded 1350.--The Gild to meet together, and the next day a mass of requiem. The bretheren to obey summons of Alderman to audit accounts; fine if absent. Meeting after Easter to choose officers, &c. Payments to be made to sexton and clerk; help to the poor and maimed. Burial services and offerings, to extend to those dying within seven miles of the city. Service for those dying abroad. Oath to be taken by Gild-members. Alderman to be chosen. At meetings a candle to be kept alight, and a prayer said. A summoner to be chosen, and requited by quittance of the usual payments. A fee of 1d. to be paid to the Bedel on entrance to the Gild. The Gild had no land, but was maintained by the charges levied under the Ordinances.

_Gild of St. Mary_, commenced in 1360.--It was of the Religious type. The bretheren and sisteren of the Gild, as long as there should be twelve of them living, were to provide a candle and torches, to be used on certain festivals named “in wyrschipe of crist and his moder.” There is a note of the masters of the Gild and of the property in hand.

_Fraternity of St. Trinity, in the Cathedral_, begun in 1364.--A solemn service to be held on the eve of the Feast of the Trinity. A mass of requiem shall be had, and offerings made. Burial services and offerings. Help to poor bretheren. Fines for absence from meetings of Gild. Goods of the Gild.

_The Carpenters’ Gild_ (founded 1375), in honour of the Holy Trinity.--A yearly meeting to be held, which shall begin with prayers. A yearly procession and offerings; burial services and offerings, to extend to all bretheren dying within seven miles of the town; service for those dying abroad. Help to those fallen into poverty or mishap, if not brought about through folly or riotous living. Fine for non-fulfilment of Ordinances unless there be good excuse. Neither the King’s right nor the law to be encroached upon. The Gild appears to have been entitled to gifts by certain masons--probably of another Gild.

_Gild of the Peltyers_ [Furriers], founded 1376.--Two candles, dressed with flowers, were to be yearly offered at St. William’s tomb, by a procession of a boy and two good men. Only three excuses were to be allowed for non-attendance at mass, viz., being in “ye kyngges seruise, er for stronge sekenesse, or twenty myle duellynge fro yis syte,” unless it were otherwise willed. No Ordinance to prejudice the King’s right, or the law. On the morrow of the Gild-day the Gild to hear a mass in requiem; after the mass to go to an inn, audit accounts and choose officers. The officers to be chosen by picked men. Bretheren or sisteren fallen into trouble or misease, to have weekly help; but not so if brought on by their own folly. Fine on refusal to take office. Burial services and offerings, extending to deaths within seven miles of the city. An annual feast to be held. Fine for not attending meetings. Admission of new-comers to be regulated by “ye Alderman and xij bretheryn.” The common bellman to summon the bretheren to meet on the morrow of the Gild-day. The Gild (it was declared) had no land, but was maintained by charges levied, and by legacies, and other gifts.

_The Poor Men’s Gild_, founded 1380, “in honor of oure lord Jhesu crist, and of oure lady seinte marie, and in wursship of seyn Austyn.”--A light to be found in honour of St. Austin; mass and offerings at the same time. Help to those fallen poor, sick, or in other mischance. All dying within seven miles of the city to have burial services.

_Gild of St. Botulph_, founded 1384.--The meeting of the fraternity to be held on the Sunday next after the Epiphany; next day they were to have a mass of requiem. Burials to be attended by the bretheren, and offerings made. Help to the poor bretheren and sisteren was to be made by the members at the rate of “a ferthyng in ye woke.” The goods of the Gild are enumerated.

_Fraternity of St. Christopher_, founded 1384.--Prayer to be said at every meeting for the Church, peace, Pope, Cardinals, “ye patriak of Jerhusalem,” “for ye holy londe and ye holy crosse, yat godd for his myght and his mercy bryng it oute of hethen power into reule of holy chirche,” archbishops, bishops, parsons, king, queen, dukes, earls, barons, bachelors, knights, squires, citizens, burgesses, franklins, tillers, craftsmen, widows, maidens, wives, commonalities, ship-men, pilgrims, unbelievers, our fathers’ and mothers’ souls, and for all of this Gild. The Gild-day was to be on the Sunday before the Feast of St. Christopher. No Ordinance shall be against the common law. There was to be a yearly mass of requiem, and offerings; also offerings at burials; and two poor men to carry torches. Poor bretheren were to be helped. This was evidently a Gild of a higher order than many in this city.

_Gild of St. George_, founded 1385.--The day of St. George was always to be kept, and offerings made on that day; next day a mass of requiem. Burial services to be attended by the bretheren, and offerings made. Weekly help to poor bretheren. Goods of the Gild enumerated.

_The Saddlers’ and Spurriers’ Gild_, founded 1385.--The Ordinances to be kept so long as twelve of the Gild lived. Two torches to be kept burning at the elevation of the host at high mass. The Gild meeting to be held on the first Sunday after Trinity, and the members to have a livery. All to meet the evening before to pray for their own souls. Next morning mass shall be heard, and offerings made, and all shall go in procession to the Nunnery of Carrow. On death within the city all shall be at the dirge, and two poor men with them. The same at interment; and offerings and gifts to be made. Service with the bretheren on death within three miles of the city; and service on death of one dwelling beyond, at Carrow.

_Brotherhood of Barbers._--Torches and other lights, &c., shall be offered on Midsummer-day. Torches were to be kept burning during high mass. The Gild appears to have been dedicated to “seynt John the Babtis.”

=Oxenburghe= (_Oxburgh; Oxborough_).--There were eight Gilds in this town (now village) at the same date, of which the following may be taken as a type:--

_Gild of St. John Baptist_, founded 1307.--The officers, bretheren, and sisteren shall come to evensong on the day of St. John the Baptist, and make offerings. Help to those “in trouble” was to be given at the rate of one farthing a day; one halfpenny on Sunday. Prayers for the dead.

_Gild of St. Peter_, founded 1378.--The members of the Gild to assemble at evensong on St. Peter’s Day, and make offerings. Help to those in trouble--rate not distinctly specified. Fine for betraying the affairs of the Gild.

=Wygnale= (_Wyggenale_, now _Wiggenshall_).--The Gilds existing in this town or village, which was located near King’s Lynn and appears to have been of some importance, were:

_Gild of the Assumption_, founded 1384.--Latin prayers to be said out of the Church offices. English prayer of the Gild for the Church; for the King, Queen, and Baronage; for the Pope and the Patriarch; for the Holy Land; for the fruit of the earth; for ship-men and travellers; for the founders of the Gild; and for the souls of the dead and living. Search to be made for anyone dying suddenly, by water or by land: and he shall have burial services. Any one belying another shall be fined.

_Gild of the Holy Trinity._--Latin prayers shall be said out of church offices. Burials at the cost of the Gild. Drowned men shall be searched for.

_Gild de Cranbone_, founded 1387.--Latin prayers to be said out of Church offices. English prayer of the Gild for the Church, Pope, Cardinals, Patriarch, Archbishop of Canterbury, and other Bishops; King and Queen, and the commoners of the realm. Burials at cost of Gild. Every quarrel to be brought before two bretheren. Two meetings shall be held every year.

_Gild of St. Trinity_, founded 1387.--Four meetings shall be held every year, at which payments to be made for lights.

_Gild of St. Peter._--Two meetings shall be held every year. All shall go to church with a garland of oak leaves. Service for the dead, and offerings. Bread to be given, and masses sung for the souls of the dead. Men dying by water or land to be searched for and buried. Meat and drink to be given at yearly meeting. The funds of the Gild then (1388) consisted of 11s.

=Great Yarmouth.=--King John in his Charter to this borough, granted 1209, gave the privilege of a Merchant Gild to be held in this town. We have not met with any very early records of it. But in the 6th Elizabeth (1563) there are notices, which, however, only go to show the nature of the annual entertainment given. A few items will prove instructive:

February 28.--“Order’d that the merchant’s dinner, or feast of late called the Trinity Brotherhood, shall be rected and heyned this present year to come, and so forth to continue until further orders be taken.” Certain persons were named to order the feast and estimate the cost, &c.

March 18.--“Imprimis, every brother to pay for hym and hys wyffe, whether they came or not, 2s. 8d. Every brother and syster extraordinary, 1s. If they wyl be bretherene, to pay bretherene lyke.”

“The order of the drynkyn and dynner in the evening prayer, viz., spice cake, good bere.”

“Sunday dynner:-- Fromety } Capon } Rost bysse } the first Pyggs } the second Grene gese } course. Lambe } course.” Weale } Costard }

“Sunday soper.--Good brothe with boyled mete. Rostyd mutton, capon, lambe tarte.”

“Monday dynner.--Fromety, rosted bysse, grene gese, lamb.”

“Note, that six persons to every mese; two grene gese to every mese, and a capon to mese. The person appointed to heyn the feast refusing, to pay £10 to his successor to buy things necessary.”

Manship in his “History of Yarmouth” says that this regulation continued till the year 1569, when, by reason of the excessive charge, but more especially the great disorders of the common people, &c., it was agreed by an Act of the Assembly in the 11th Elizabeth, that from henceforth the heynors who shall yearly be appointed to heyn the feast called Trinity Brotherhood, shall be at their choice to heyn the said feast in reasonable order, or else to pay 4 nobles (26s. 8d.) apiece for the use of the town; which sum was paid yearly for many years afterwards, but at last entirely dropt.

Swinden (“History of Yarmouth”) says that in 33 Henry VIII. (1542) at an assembly holden in the common hall, on the Tuesday next after the feast of St. Faith, the following order was made: “That every as well of the four and twenties as of the eight and forties should pay yearly towards the finding of the Trinity mass priest at the Guild-day, 4d.”

Manship gives the following additional particulars regarding the old Guild-hall in Yarmouth: “There is a very fair building commonly called the Guild-hall, near unto the church, containing in length from east to west within the walls 76 feet, and in breadth 22 feet, which being much ruinated, was in the year of our Lord God 1544 (in the 33 Henry VIII.) by the town very substantially repaired and amended, and the walls new buttressed and supported, and the roof, which is a very fair one, sometime belonging to Mettingham College [near Bungay], upon the suppression thereof, was brought to Yarmouth, and placed upon the said Hall, and covered with lead very neatly. In this hall in times past, viz., within my remembrance [he wrote probably about the end of the reign of Elizabeth], was yearly holden on Trinity Sunday a Solemn Feast for the whole Brotherhood and Fellowship of the Society, called the Blessed Trinity, which by our Charter of King John in the year 1207, was granted unto us by the name of the Merchants Guild, whereunto every one of this Common Council, at his first admission and oath taken, doth still acknowledge himself a brother of that Society. Which said feast was for the most part yearly holden at the costs of four of that Brotherhood successively according to their course of incoming, maintained; over whom the senior bailiff for the year presiding was and is nominated Alderman. The Hall aforesaid being at that time richly hanged and adorned with cloth of arras, tapestry, and other costly furniture, not sparing any dainty fare which might be had for money.”

“At which Feast all private quarrels and emulations were heard and ended in the glory of God and mutual love amongst neighbours: for which cause, in the primitive time of the Church, such Gilds or Fraternities were by the laws Ecclesiastical ordained, and by the laws civil, among all Christian common-weals, used, practised, and confirmed.”

(_To be continued._)

IT is proposed to enlarge or reconstruct the ancient Church of Portskewet, Monmouthshire. The building is in sound condition, and with its remarkable old churchyard cross is a most venerable and picturesque object. Harold had a palace at Portskewet, and Mr. Freeman is inclined to believe not only that he was the founder of a church there, but that the existing structure is substantially his erection (see “Journal of British Archæological Association,” vol. x.). The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings will do well to watch the proceedings.

Ham.

_THE SUFFIX “HAM” NOT EXCLUSIVELY DERIVED FROM A TEUTONIC SOURCE, BUT OCCASIONALLY ALSO FROM THE CELTIC._

BY JAMES HURLY PRING, M.D.

In a former volume of THE ANTIQUARIAN MAGAZINE (vol. iii. p. 127) I pointed out that the place-name _Hampton_ did not necessarily represent the Saxon “_home-town_,” as has so generally, yet erroneously, been assumed, but that the name is frequently derived also from _Avon_ or rather _Afon_, the Celtic word for water or a river, and that it ought, therefore, strictly to be _Afonton_.

It was shown that this latter view was maintained by Camden, in evidence of which he cites Leland to prove that Hampton Court was anciently called Avon, as it appears in quoting from him the following lines:--

“Est locus insolito rerum splendore superbus Alluiturque vagâ Tamisini fluminis undâ; Nomine ab antiquo jam tempore dictus Avona.” “Where Father Thames his gentle stream rolls on, Avona called, an ancient name it bears.” GOUGH’S _Camden_, vol. ii. p. 78.

Here, then, and throughout the paper referred to, it will be seen that _Ham_ is presented to us chiefly, if not solely, in its aspect as a prefix.

It is now my intention to proceed to consider it more especially as a suffix, in which use the instances of it are far more numerous than those in which it is employed as a prefix.

It would seem, then, as a suffix to be almost universally regarded as representing the Saxon “home,” and even Isaac Taylor himself gives no other than a Teutonic derivation for it.

True it is that in this derivation he makes a distinction, dividing it into the two forms of hăm and hām, maintaining that the former signifies an enclosure, whilst the latter is “the Home.” Without venturing to question the accuracy of this distinction, it is to be regretted that (except, indeed, so far as may be guessed at from its associations) it leaves us without any rule whereby we may be enabled to distinguish the hām, the _geheim_ or home, from hăm an enclosure; whilst, as just stated, Taylor altogether omits to notice that there is yet another distinct source from which “ham” is derived, which is indeed in no respect Teutonic, but is clearly to be referred to the Celtic, as insisted upon both by Camden and by Leland.

The instances in which the termination-_ham_ must be thus referred to the Celtic (as a Saxon corruption of the word _Afon_) are well marked and are by no means rare, and it is possible that some of those which have been regarded as examples of hăm, an enclosure, may be found to belong rather to the Celtic derivation from Afon. As an illustration of _ham_ in the latter aspect, I will at once refer to the class of examples of the word which is furnished by those large tracts of country which are or formerly were liable to inundation from the occasional overflow of some adjacent river (afon), and which have accordingly received the appellation of “hams”--that is, rich low-lying lands in the vicinity of rivers.

These extensive tracts of marsh-land cannot be supposed, especially at the very early period when the name of _ham_ was imposed upon them, to have represented “an enclosure,” whilst their general character, and their liability to be frequently flooded, alike forbid the notion that the name of ham in this case was originally associated with a “home or dwelling.”

Each of these “hams,” then, I apprehend must be held to furnish a marked example of the derivation of its name from the Celtic Avon, as it will be found that the distinctive feature of _a river_ is present in each of them, and in one case the river even still retains the original Celtic name of _Avon_.

As examples of some instances of the name occurring on the banks of the rivers in Somerset, we have the Loxton _Hams_, the Berrow _Hams_, the Paulet _Hams_ with Otter_ham_pton, which latter name, assuming its derivation to be Teutonic, should be the “_Otter’s home-town_”! Biddis_ham_, Burn_ham_, and Lymps_ham_, the latter being the ancient Lyn-pils-ham, the rich pasture land by the creek of the Lyn or the River Axe, with many others.

Passing now into Devonshire we come upon the North _Hams_, and the South _Hams_--names which in this case cannot be held to represent either homes or enclosures, whilst _water_ or _rivers_ will be found to be conspicuously present in both instances.

In his review of “Risdon’s Survey of Devon,” 1785, Chapple refers to the North and South Hams as being “ancient names,” and states that the county of Devon had originally a _threefold_ division, anciently known by the names of _East_, _South_, and _North Hams_ (p. 116). This, however, is the only notice I have seen of the _East Hams_.

As one of the places comprehended in the district of the _North Hams_, we have Little_ham_, which Risdon regards as “Little Home,” assuming-_ham_ in this case “to signify the same with home or habitation.”

But there is no reason to regard either this or Park_ham_ or any of the other instances of the terminal-_ham_ which are found here, as being referable to a Teutonic source, any more than is the case with the hams in Somerset, and as regards the instance of Nort_ham_ itself, it is interesting to note that (except the omitted _ton_) we have here the actual name of Northam[p]ton, in which Camden expressly insists that the _ham_ is _afon_.

If we now proceed to the South Hams, we reach an extensive tract of land presenting the same characteristic features as those generally observed in connection with the name of _Ham_, where it occurs in the situations already alluded to, and which do not correspond either to an enclosure or a home.

We find it, for example, stated in Chapple that “about Teignmouth, Dartmouth, Totness, Modbury, Plymouth, Ashburton, and all those parts of the country which are called the South Hams, the lands are generally of a different kind from any of the former,” &c. (p. 20). Now it is manifest that such an extensive tract of country as that to which the term “South Hams” is here applied cannot possibly claim to be regarded in the light of a home, or an enclosure.

On investigating more closely the district known as the _South Hams_, it will be found to possess many points of special interest.

Here the name _Ham_, as associated with the presence of _rivers_, receives abundant illustration; a considerable portion of the South Hams lying between the rivers Dart and Erme, and through the centre of this runs the River _Avon_, which by its name lends confirmation to the view here maintained as to the occasional derivation of the name of Ham from the Celtic. Along the course of this river it will be seen that the names of _ham_ and _avon_ seem almost to alternate, or are at least promiscuously intermingled, thus affording additional evidence of their being cognate to each other, and of their common origin.

We have, for example, the name of _Ham_ alone, and of _Aveton_ (_Avon-ton_) alone, of _Aveton_ (_Avon-ton_) Gifford, of Bickham, _Topsham_ Bridge, Hend_ham_, and further on of _Avon_neigh, and lastly of Bant_ham_, occurring at the very mouth of the _Avon_.

Another feature of considerable interest in connection with the South Hams of Devon, and pointing in a direction confirmatory of the views here advanced, is the fact that the Cornu-British language continued in use in this district long after it had ceased to be spoken in the other parts of the surrounding country. This fact is noticed by Polwhele both in his “Historical Views of Devonshire,” 1791, and in his “History of Cornwall,” whilst Drew affirms that the Cornu-British was spoken here in the time of Edward I. (1272-1307). It is deserving of notice also that an interesting note by F. W. P. Jago in reference to this question has lately appeared in the second volume of the “Western Antiquary” (pp. 202, 203).

Without intending by any means to question the fact that in numerous instances the terminal-_ham_ is derived from the Teutonic, and rightly bears the meaning of “home,” “habitation,” or “enclosure,” I deem it desirable, whilst on this subject, to draw attention to an interesting remark in reference to it which has been made by so high an authority as Mr. Benjamin Thorpe. In commenting on the fact that the Kentish kingdom was founded by adventurers from _Jutland_ (if not actually by Hengist and Horsa), Mr. Thorpe proceeds to observe: “The termination-_ham_, so common in Kent and elsewhere in England, corresponding to the German _heim_, does _not appear in Jutland_, so far as my means enable me to ascertain.”[82]

The very general, indeed the almost universal reference of “ham” to a Teutonic origin, seems to invest this observation by Thorpe with peculiar interest, and I would venture accordingly to commend its consideration to all those who can discover in “ham” nothing else than the Saxon “heim,” “home,” or “dwelling.”

On the other hand, it must at once be admitted that the derivation of “ham” from the Celtic _Afon_ has received little or no recognition from the days of Camden down to the present time. In regarding it, however, from this point of view, enough it is presumed has now been said to rescue it for the future from this neglect, and to establish its title, in many cases at least, to be rightly and legitimately referred to the Celtic, as here contended for.

AMONG the “South Kensington Art Handbooks” now in course of preparation is one on the “Saracenic Art of Egypt,” by Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole.

IT is reported that there are only five genuine signatures of Shakespeare in existence. “From this it is inferred,” writes the _San Francisco News Letter_, “that the Bard of Avon did not make a practice of endorsing his friends’ notes--another evidence of his good sense.”

Collectanea.

CHRISTMAS-EVE IN DEVONSHIRE.--In Devonshire is still observed on Christmas-Eve an ancient custom, which is supposed to ensure a good crop of apples. The farm-servants procure an ash-fagot, round which they carefully put as many binds as possible, because they are rewarded with cups of cider equivalent in number to the binds which encircle the fagot. The fagot is then placed on the fire, and as each bind bursts they claim a cup of cider; they have also a bowl of toast and cider which they take into the orchard, and, putting a piece of toast on the king or principal apple-tree, repeat the following lines:--

“Apple-tree, we wassail thee, To bear and to blow apples enow, Hats full, caps full, Three bushel bags full, Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!”

It appears that exactly the same words are not always used on this occasion, a different version being given in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ for 1791.

TANTIVY.--According to Harrod’s _History of Stamford_, the origin of this sporting cry is to be sought in the name of St. Tibba, who lived as an anchoritess at Ryhall, near Stamford, and died and was buried there. According to Camden, she was the patroness of hawking, fowling, and other sports, like the Roman Diana. She was a relative of Penda, King of Mercia, and lived a holy life at Godmanchester, in Hunts, before she went to Ryhall. Stukely says that her cell was at the north-west corner of the outside of Ryhall Church. She is thus commemorated by Drayton in his _Polyolbion_:--

“And to _these_ St. Tibba let us call, In solitude to Christ that pass’d her whole delight, In Godmanchester made her an anchorite, Among which of that house for saints that reckon’d be, Yet never anymore gracèd the same than she.”

CURIOUS INVENTORY.--The following, from the original in my hands, may interest some of your City readers: “An inventary of the goodes creditte and debtes of Thomas Potter, late of the parishe of St. Nicholas Acon, of the Citie of London, salter, deceased. Made and praysed the one and twentith daie of Aprill, by Richard Smithe, grocer, Thomas Withers, habberdasher, and William Casson, grocer, in the year of Our Lord one thowsand six hundred and nyne, as followeth: Imprimis, one fether bed and a boulster, iiili; item, two cloakes, xxviiis; item, one gowne, xvs; item, two paire of breeches, xiii iiid; item, two ould dubletts, vs; item, one suite of black rathe, xxs; item, two jerkins, viiis; item, two paire of stockinges and a paire of mittens, viiid; item, two wasecotes and a hatt, iii xd; item, eleven fallinge bandes and a paire of cuffes, iis iiii; item, five shirtes and fower handkerchers, viis iid; item, two handtowells and a cloth (?) capp, xs; item, a bible and a prayer-booke, iiis iid; item, a brasse candlesticke and one seale, xviiid; item, one chamberpott, xiid; item, a brushe, iid; item, a leatherne trunke, vis; item, a cashe chest, viiis; item, one half of two cannas amornifi (?), xiiiili iiid.” The last two words are very illegibly written. The document is imperfect.

E.

Reviews.

_Greater London._ (Vol. ii.) By EDWARD WALFORD, M.A. Cassell & Co. 1884.

THE above-mentioned firm must be congratulated on the very able manner in which they have performed their part in the production of the volume before us; for obvious reasons, it is not for us to speak of the editor’s share in the work, further than to state that he has conscientiously tried to perform the task which he had undertaken. This volume, which completes the work of “Greater London,” comprises the whole of that portion of the metropolitan police area, outside the limits of the Board of Works, which is on the south side of the Thames, extending from Erith in the east to Kingston and Esher in the west, and embracing within its scope the important towns of Woolwich, Chislehurst, Bromley, Croydon, Epsom, Richmond, Kew, and Wimbledon, together with the several smaller parishes, villages and hamlets, that lie within its area. This area, almost every nook and corner of which--thanks to our railway system--may be visited on the Saturday afternoon holidays in summer, and most of them even in winter, contains, as we need hardly add, much that may interest the ordinary visitor, should he care for quiet and peaceful rural scenery, or the artist who may be in search of choice “bits.” Mansions and other buildings will be found possessing historical associations: such, for instance, as Chislehurst, with its memories of the antiquary Camden, and the Emperor Louis Napoleon; Hayes and Keston, the favourite haunts of Pitt and Wilberforce; Beddington, where we find the Carews and Sir Walter Raleigh; Croydon, where there is much to read about in the long roll of primates who have occupied the palace there till Addington became their home; Epsom, where we see “the quality” drinking the waters, and Lord Derby and his friends inaugurating those races whose name is not only national, but world-wide. In the chapters devoted to Richmond and its neighbourhood the reader is placed in contact with bygone English sovereigns and princes and princesses; here, too, he is surrounded by Kitty Clive, Gay, Thomson, and a host of children of the Muses. Indeed, from end to end of the volume the reader is brought face to face with great men and women who have added a light to the pages of English history. It only remains to add that the work possesses a copious index, and that it is profusely illustrated, engravings being given, not only of places as they exist in the present day, but also of historical buildings which have long since been swept away. Of these we may mention Nonsuch Palace, near Cheam, and the Old Palace at Richmond, which latter, through the kindness of Messrs. Cassell, we are enabled to reproduce.

_Calendar of State Papers: Colonial, East Indies, 1625-1629._ (Rolls Series.) Longman & Co. 1884.

MR. SAINSBURY has brought out a fourth volume of the “Calendar of East India State Papers,” which, in point of intrinsic interest and editorial treatment, will suffer by comparison with none of its predecessors. Any authoritative compilation, dealing with the vast collection of materials available for the history of British Colonies in their official relations with the parent State, is sure to command the widest interest; and such a work, when treating of the early and truly wayward fortune of the mighty national stake contained in our Indian Empire, should be peculiarly attractive to the countrymen of Clive and Warren Hastings.

The original documents calendered in the present volume consist, as before, chiefly of the Court minutes of the East India Company, domestic State papers and correspondence, original correspondence, East India State papers, and Holland correspondence. The light which these combine to throw upon the contemporary history of our greatest trading community is sometimes almost painfully intense.

The Company in 1625 was in truth placed in both a dangerous and a helpless position. The Amboyne massacre of three years before was as yet not only unpunished, but almost unreproved, except by the voice of popular indignation in England. We may, in fact, estimate the inaction of the Government to a certain extent in proportion to the violence of this outcry against “that most bloody and treacherous villainy.” It was in the spring of this year (1625), we read here, that the crisis provoked by official supineness was reached, a popular outbreak against Dutch residents being apprehended on the approaching Shrove Tuesday. This movement had been fanned by certain incendiary pamphlets; by a picture, and by a play, each reflecting strongly upon the inhumanity of the Dutch towards English traders. The picture, in especial, appears to have been a masterpiece of animosity, for therein was “lively, largely, and artificially” set forth the interior of the supposed Torture Chamber at Amboyne. Now that a tardy justice was about to be dealt to the judicial murderers of their fellows, the Company was content to permit the picture itself to be suppressed. Yet that the members were secretly proud of their manifesto is apparent from their naïve regret that “His Majesty and their Lordships” had not been “presented with a view of this horrid spectacle.” Owing to the precautions of the Council, the fateful day passed without an outbreak, but none the less, as the editor justly observes, the sore rankled long in the hearts of true-born Englishmen. At length reprisals were instituted, and three Dutch ships were arrested at Portsmouth, only to be released, in return, as the popular rumour went, for a secret bribe of three tons of gold. Finally, the dispute was allowed to drag out its slow length in diplomatic correspondence, and a party-trial in Holland.

The remaining features of interest in this volume are connected with the private details of the Company’s financial ventures, and these reveal a state of affairs most melancholy to contemplate. To such a depth of poverty had the once flourishing Company sunk, that in 1629, with a debt of £300,000 already incurred, the Governor was compelled to confess their inability to advance £10,000 to the Crown towards the expenses of the French War. At the same time, too, every investment in the Far East turned out disastrously. The Dutch not only pillaged English factories with impunity, but openly thwarted any chance of carrying on a lucrative trade, by forcing their own spices upon English factors at ruinous prices. Moreover, the constitutions of our countrymen too often succumbed to the pestilential swamps and jungles of New Holland. Then the natives, as usual an unreliable element, both broke their contracts and ill-treated the Company’s factors, in spite of their “accursed oaths to the contrary.” Yet in the end British constancy and enterprise prevailed. Fresh subscriptions poured in, new ships were fitted out, and returned laden with ample wealth. The English merchantmen stoutly held their own against the Dutch pirates, and beat them off--one ship (the _Lion_) against ten--in an action that recalled the glories of Grenville and his _Revenge_. Therefore it will be seen that this volume closes with a happier augury of renewed peace and prosperity.

_Doctor Johnson: His Life, Works and Table Talk._ (Centenary edition.) T. Fisher Unwin. 1884.

IT was inevitable that the Centenary of Dr. Johnson’s death should recall into existence some at least of his contributions to English literature, and Mr. Unwin has done well in publishing at this moment a choice selection from the “burly Doctor’s” works, under the above title. The little _brochure_ on our table by no means exhausts that mine of wealth which is to be found in the writings of Dr. Johnson; but, so far as it goes, it is carefully and conscientiously selected, and ought to be most welcome to his many admirers.

_Johnsoniana._ Arranged by R. W. Montagu. Boot & Son. 1884.

A MOST appropriate and well-timed collection of the best of Dr. Johnson’s sayings and opinions, gleaned not only from Boswell but from other sources. These are arranged in chapters under separate headings. Is it by accident, or by set purpose, we wonder, that one chapter is devoted to “Love, Friendship, and Affection,” and another to “Marriage”? The life of Johnson prefixed to this little volume is a happy model of condensation. Published at a shilling, it ought to command just now a very large sale.

_Pottery and Porcelaìn._ By F. LITCHFIELD. Bickers. 1884.

THIS is a most useful manual for the collector of old china and articles of _vertu_, a guide based on long and large practical experience. The book is partly historic, and the chapters on “Ancient Pottery” and “The Mediæval and Renaissance Periods” will be perhaps the most interesting to our readers. But those whose tastes are more modern than antiquarian will derive more pleasure from the chapters relating the story of the introduction of porcelain into Europe; while nobody, however large his or her own experience may be, can afford to despise or to dispense with the lists of the marks and monograms adopted by the Wedgwoods, the Spodes, the Copelands, and other manufacturers of pottery, or with the “hints and cautions to collectors” to be found on pp. 191-199. The illustrations are numerous and excellent; and the little work can boast the merit of a very careful index.

_Phallicism._ By HARGRAVE JENNINGS. G. Redway. 1884.

This book is written _ad clerum_, and appeals to the scholar only, and not to the multitude. It is a masterly and exhaustive account of that worship of the creative powers of nature which, under various names, has prevailed among all the nations of antiquity and of mediæval times, alike in Egypt and India, in Italy and Gaul, among the Israelites of old, and among the primitive inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland. Mr. Jennings treats of his subject in its celestial and terrestrial, its heathen and Christian aspects; and he traces its connection with the Gnostics, the Buddhists, and the Rosicrucians. He sees Phallicism in the obelisks and pyramids of the Nile, in the monolithic circles of Stonehenge and of Avebury, and in the Round Towers of Ireland. A worship or cult so ancient and so widely spread, it is clear, must have a history, and a curious one; and this Mr. Jennings has traced in a way so scholarly as to leave little or nothing to be said by others. He has carried his inquiry much further back, and also in many more countries, than all previous writers, including Mr. R. P. Knight, who drew his pictures of Phallic worship chiefly from what he had himself witnessed in Italy and the South of France. It will surprise very many of our readers to learn that the erection of the Tower of Babel was probably an early outburst of this worship, and that its hidden and mystic meaning was the same as that of the Round Towers in “the sister island,” which were nothing more or less than fire towers, expressive of the ancient faith of the Parsees. How far these speculations are true in fact, must be left to the learned to decide. But certainly the work before us will be found a most valuable auxiliary to all who care to pursue such a subject of inquiry, a subject for which Mr. Jennings is the better fitted on account of his long and intimate acquaintance with the Rosicrucians, their tenets, and their practices. The issue of the work is limited to 400 copies for English subscribers.

_Benvenuto Cellini. Nouvel Appendice, aux recherches sur son Œuvre et sur les Pièces qui lui sont attribuées._ Par E. PLON. 4to. Paris: Plon, Nourrit et Cie.

OUR readers may perhaps remember that some time ago we reviewed M. Eugène Plon’s magnificent volume on Benvenuto Cellini.[83] From the extreme care with which the work was done, it was quite evident that we had before us the result of enthusiastic sympathy with the artist whose biography we were invited to study, and whose genius was so thoroughly appreciated. M. Plon would not take a final leave of his hero, and every fresh discovery referring to him would be duly recorded and given to the public. Nor have we been disappointed of our expectation, for the quarto _brochure_ of which we have just transcribed the title-page, is an interesting contribution to the history of art in general, and of Benvenuto Cellini in particular. It consists of two parts, which we shall briefly notice in succession.

“Following the example of Orsino, surnamed Il Cervaicolo, and of so many masters belonging to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it might be supposed that Benvenuto Cellini, also, had left behind him portraits in coloured wax, such as we often meet now in public museums and private collections. Comparing an entry forming part of the inventory drawn up after the artist’s death (‘due scatolini di ritratti del Serenissimo Principe Abbozzati,’) with a memorandum of works executed for the Cardinal di Ravenna (‘e per uno suo ritratto grande di cera’), we had conjectured this to be the case, and our hypothesis derived a certain kind of countenance from the fact that Lastri notices (Osservatore Fiorentino, Firenza, 1758) a portrait in wax of Alessandro di Medici, hung up as a votive offering in the Church della Nunziata, and which was ascribed to Benvenuto. Our presumption has now become a reality, thanks to the discovery of a portrait of Francesco di Medici, which we reproduce. It is in coloured wax, and rather high relief on a dark back-ground.”

This description is M. Eugène Plon’s. He further informs us in a footnote that the portrait in question, originally preserved at Prato, is now at Florence, and belongs to the collection of the Commendatore Luigi Vai; its existence was pointed out to our author by the Director of the State Paper Office of Tuscany, Commendatore Cesare Guasti; it was intended for the celebrated Bianca Capello, to whom Francesco di Medici forwarded it, together with this short note:--

“AMATA BIANCA,--

“Fino da Pisa il mio ritratto u’ invio che ’l nostro maestro Cellini m’a fatto in cera. Il mio chore prendete.

D. FRANCISCO.”

There is no doubt whatever, therefore, on the authenticity of this portrait. M. Plon has had it photographed in the original size, and it is impossible to imagine anything more exquisite as a work of art. With reference to the date, it must be assigned between 1568 and 1570, for we know that Benvenuto Cellini died in the beginning of 1571, and about the close of the preceding year he complained of suffering from a severe bronchial attack, which had obliged him to discontinue work for the space of several weeks.

M. Plon has taken the opportunity afforded by the portrait to give us a short sketch of the life of Bianca Capello, her first marriage with Pietro Bonaventuri, the romantic adventures which followed upon it, and her subsequent relations with Francesco di Medici. He has added to his interesting memoir two portraits of Bianca: one by Angiolo Bronzino, preserved in the Uffizi Gallery; the other likewise by Angiolo Bronzino, exhibited in that of the Palazzo Pitti.

The second part of M. Plon’s supplement or appendix is devoted to an account of several works of art ascribed to Benvenuto Cellini. We first meet with a statue of the god Pluto, belonging to a London _virtuoso_, and which was exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1879. It is supposed to have been cast in the Petit-Nesle foundry, and to have been originally one of the twelve _Dii Majores_ ordered by Francis I., and which were to have been worked in silver as decorations for his festivals. There is nothing to prove that we have here a production of Benvenuto Cellini, but it certainly belongs to the school of Michael Angelo, and if the artist is not Cellini he must be Giovanni di Bologna.

The next thing to notice is a large basin of silver-gilt workmanship, belonging to Lord Cowper, and the ewer corresponding to which is described and reproduced in M. Plon’s first volume; it represents a series of scenes from the Old Testament. “The richness and elegance of the compositions,” says our author, “betray the hand of a first-rate artist.” Let us add that both the statue of Pluto previously mentioned and the present basin have found a place amongst the illustrations of the work we are now reviewing.

Two other articles of _vertu_ (two cups, or rather their mountings) are also ascribed as probably Cellini’s work, on the authority of M. Alfred Darcel (letter to M. Edmond Bonnaffé, in the _Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité_, April 14, 1883). We have further to mention two gold jewels intended to be worn on a man’s cap (_nella berretta_), and which were engraved by Cellini’s rival, Caradosso. This naturally leads M. Plon to insert a letter addressed by our artist to Isabella d’Este, Duchess of Mantua, a letter in which he adds further details to those he had already given (see _Benvenuto Cellini_) on Caradosso.

The last description we have to allude to here is that of a salt-cellar, which appears to have been made for Frederigo II., Duke of Mantua, and which was a work of high art. M. Plon gives us the correspondence relating to it, correspondence preserved in the archives of the Gonzaga family, and which has been copied there by M. Armand Baschet, who has so often and in so remarkable a manner contributed to our knowledge of the social, political, and intellectual history of Italy during the sixteenth century.

In conclusion, this elegant _brochure_ is an important and necessary appendix to the volume we reviewed last year; it may be regarded as not only a supplement to M. Plon’s _catalogue raisonné_ of Benvenuto Cellini’s work, but a memoir of Bianca Capella, and a graphic though far from edifying sketch of Italian life at the time of the Reformation.

_English Etchings_, Parts xli. and xlii. (D. Bogue, 27, King William-street, W.C.), which are now before us, are fully up to the standard of the parts previously published. Among the plates calling for special mention in these pages is an interesting addition to the series of etchings of Old London, “Covent Garden Market,” by Mr. A. W. Williams. Orleton Church, Herefordshire, a spirited etching by Mr. Oliver Baker, shows the fine Jacobean pulpit of oak, covered with elaborate carving, and part of the chancel arch with the head of a bishop in mitre and amice as a drip-stone termination.

Obituary Memoirs.

“Emori nolo; sed me esse mortuum nihil æstimo.”--_Epicharmus._

THE REV. HUGH PIGOT, Rector of Stretham, author of “Suffolk Superstitions” and “The History of Hadleigh,” died in October.

MR. WILLIAM PETTIT GRIFFITH, architect, died in October. The son of an architect of repute, he was born in 1815, and, adopting his father’s profession, followed it for more than half a century. Devoting much of his leisure to archæology, he became a member of several societies of antiquaries, and wrote “Grecian Architecture,” “A Natural System of Architecture,” “Mediæval Architecture,” “Ancient and Gothic Churches,” besides many papers published in archæological journals and magazines, especially the serial of the Surrey Archæological Society. He designed various schools and other minor public buildings, and restored St. John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, and parts of the church of St. Sepulchre, Holborn.

MR. OCTAVIAN BLEWITT, K.L., F.R.G.S., many years secretary of the Royal Literary Fund, died recently, aged 81. In early life Mr. Blewitt travelled much in Italy, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, and other countries, and on his return to England was, in 1839, elected to the post of secretary to the Royal Literary Fund. In this capacity Mr. Blewitt spent many years in arranging the papers, literary, financial, and historical, which constituted the records of the association. Mr. Blewitt was the author of several well-known works, including “The Panorama of Torquay,” published in 1828, and afterwards reprinted in an enlarged edition as “A Descriptive and Historical Sketch of the District comprised between the Dart and Teign,” also the “Handbook for Central Italy and Rome,” and the “Handbook for Southern Italy and Naples,” being two of the series of Murray’s Hand-books.

SIGNOR LUIGI BONFATTI, the archivist and librarian of Gubbio, in Umbria, died suddenly at the end of October. “Every seeker into the strange and eventful history of what is now but the time-worn relic of a mediæval city,” writes Mr. W. Mercer, “has lost in him a guide, philosopher, and friend. Only a week before his death he climbed with me the picturesque tower of the Palazzo Pubblico, that often served as a prison-house for captives taken in battle. His pen, fertile with a knowledge of the local antiquities, may be traced in numerous brochures and collected records of recent date. He strove to pierce the shadows that cluster round the memory of Maestro Giorgio and others who made Gubbio famous for his porcelain manufacture, marvels truly of the potter’s art that are scattered far and wide. One small plate only is left to witness in the Municipio to the brilliant _reverberi_ that distinguished the work of artists whose successors from time to time have vainly imagined that they also have caught the secret of the changing colours under flashes of instantaneous light. I left him busily arranging rare books, with a promise that he would send me an early copy of a history of Gubbio, now nearly ready for the press in the able hands of a learned notary, Signor Lucarelli. Those who have known Signor Bonfatti will join me in lamenting the loss of a scholar whose name may sound strange outside Umbria, and unfamiliar to most Italian ears, but which is, nevertheless, an enduring name, notwithstanding its closest connection is with a half-forgotten, ruinous city that itself lies out of the beaten track of wayfarers.”

Meetings of Learned Societies.

METROPOLITAN.

ROYAL ARCHÆOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.--_Nov. 6_, Mr. J. Micklethwaite, F.S.A., in the chair. The Rev. H. M. Scarth, Rector of Wrington, read a paper on the “Recent Discoveries of Roman Remains at Bath,” in which he explained the various additions to the ancient Thermæ which have lately been brought into the open air, including the large central bath, with its ambulatory, &c. The discovery of antiquities at Zoan, in Egypt, formed the subject of a discourse by Mr. Flinders Petrie, who exhibited some of the objects which had been found. Many of these were taken from the residence of a man of consequence in Egypt, and included articles of domestic use and personal ornamentation,--statues, combs. The last paper read was by Mr. E. Peacock, F.S.A., and comprised some interesting notes on the curious custom of swan marking, or “swan-upping.”

LONDON AND MIDDLESEX ARCHÆOLOGICAL SOCIETY.--A crowded conversazione was held at Skinners’ Hall on Wednesday evening, Nov. 12; Mr. Alfred White, F.S.A., presided. Mr. G. Laurence Gomme read a paper on “The Early Municipal History of London,” touching upon its charters and institutions, its corporations and public bodies. Mr. J. D. Mathews followed with some “Reminiscences of the Church and Parish of St. John the Baptist upon Walbrook.” Mr. John E. Price then read a paper “On the Recent Discoveries made on the Line of the Inner Circle Railway and at Bevis Marks.” He said the antiquarian treasures turned up in the course of tunnelling for the new railway were numerous and interesting. There were, first of all, Roman sculpture and masonry in position, and the same disjointed and used for other purposes by builders of more recent periods. The fragments of Roman statuary were numerous, and for the most part well preserved along the route taken by the excavations; scrolls and inscriptions being also found. Roman art now and then came to light. The remains of pottery discovered were slight, and not of exceptional interest. At the close of his address the lecturer suggested that a fund should be started and subscriptions invited, in order to purchase or protect the numerous relics constantly being brought to light in London and elsewhere. Among the most interesting articles exhibited was Mr. Walford’s portrait of Dr. Johnson by Sir J. Reynolds, which was engraved in our July number for 1883; there was also a collection of plans, maps, and archæological fragments relating mainly to the city.

SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHÆOLOGY.--_Nov. 4_, Dr. S. Birch, President, in the chair. Mr. P. Le Page Renouf read a paper “On some Religious Texts of the Early Egyptian Period preserved in Hieratic Papyri of the British Museum.” The President described four fragments of papyrus belonging to the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, and exhibited by the Secretary of the Science and Art Department. Mr. E. A. Budge read some notes on Egyptian stelæ, principally of the eighteenth dynasty.

ST. PAUL’S ECCLESIOLOGICAL SOCIETY.--_Oct. 28_, Mr. J. P. Seddon in the chair. Mr. Hugh Stannus read a paper on “The decoration of St. Paul’s Cathedral,” in which he described the principles of treatment which he regarded as correct, including the “articulation” of the dome design with the architectural substructure. A short discussion followed, in which Mr. Micklethwaite, Mr. G. H. Birch, and Mr. Statham took part. Mr. Micklethwaite urged the desirability of first settling the future arrangement of the cathedral for worship, and its complete furniture (in the widest sense) for that purpose, before deciding on the treatment of the culminating point in the decoration. Mr. Statham recommended a treatment of the dome in eight partitions, such a treatment being rather suited to an octagon dome, such as that at Florence, and being, in fact, a contradiction of the actual architectural structure of a hemispherical dome, and tending to weaken its effect of space and mystery, and reduce the dome from poetry to prose. Mr. Seddon summed up in favour of this latter view.

NEW SHAKSPERE.--_Oct. 24_, Mr. F. J. Furnivall, Director, in the chair. The Chairman congratulated the society on reaching its one hundredth meeting. In speaking of work done during the past year, he called attention to Mr. S. L. Lee’s work on “As You Like It,” and that of the Rev. W. A. Harrison on “Richard III.,” as examples of critical work; he also spoke of the success of the Society’s performance of Shakespearian music in chronological order; and took the blame on himself for the delay in the appearance of the “old spelling” edition, mentioning some points in which the editors are endeavouring to make the edition as complete as possible. The following papers were read: by Miss Leigh-Noel “On Shakespeare’s Garden of Girls: I. Hothouse Flowers--Juliet, Imogen, Ophelia,” and by Mr. E. Flügel, giving some early German criticisms on Shakespeare by an ancestor of his own (1699), noticing Shakespeare as not a learned man, not worth much attention, and greatly inferior to Dryden.

NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR PRESERVING THE MEMORIALS OF THE DEAD.--_Oct. 28_ and 30, twenty-four new members, including Lords Dartmouth and Wharncliffe, and the Bishop of Chester, were elected. Reports as to the work of the Society in the following cases were approved: The replacing of four brasses in Cheam Church; enclosure of the De Ros effigy, near York; restoration of the Barnewall altar-tomb at Lusk, Ireland; replacement of memorial slabs in Milford Church, and in the church of St. Michael in Coslany, Norwich; headstone in Chetwynd churchyard. Reports from the Executive Committee on the following cases were placed before the Council: The replacement of the “Pedlar’s Window” in Lambeth Church; restoration of the monument of Sir Laurence Washington, in Garsdon Church; preservation of the De Vere effigies at Earl’s Colne; removal of memorial slabs from Bishops Stortford Church; and of the Blackhall monument from Totnes Church; the replacement of memorial slabs in Bishops Cannings Church; publication of registers and inscriptions in Banstead Church. It was stated that the work of the Society could be greatly enlarged if larger funds were forthcoming.

HELLENIC.--_Oct. 23_, Professor C. T. Newton, C.B., in the chair. The Rev. Edmond Warre, Head Master of Eton, read a paper on “The Raft of Ulysses,” as described in the fifth book of the Odyssey. By personal research and observation of modern processes of shipbuilding, the writer had arrived at a clear idea of the construction of the raft in question, and set forth his conclusions in detail, illustrating them by two models of a raft and of an ancient axe and adze, which had been made under his direction in the School of Mechanics at Eton. Mr. Warre alluded to a confirmation of his theory which he had lately seen in the construction of certain flat vessels which are used at Portsmouth for raising heavy weights from the water. Mr. Newton, after thanking Mr. Warre for his paper, reminded the audience that there existed in the British Museum two genuine fragments of ancient vessels--(1) a bronze figure-head from the Bay of Actium, and (2) a cross-beam from the floor of an ancient galley, dredged up from the bottom of the Lake of Nemi. Professor Jebb considered that Mr. Warre’s paper not only for the first time made quite clear the passage in the Odyssey, but also explained the poetical use of the term σχἑδια for ships in general in a passage in the “Hecuba” of Euripides, because it snowed that such a raft seen from land would really resemble a ship. Mr. E. A. Gardner read a paper on some armour and ornaments from Kertch, which were now in the new Museum at Oxford. After a description of the several articles, Mr. Gardner showed that the importance of these finds in the Crimea lay in the fact that, if not of Athenian handiwork, they were certainly of Athenian design, and so might be added to the comparatively scanty remnants of genuine Hellenic metalwork. In connection with the representation of a camel upon one of the ornaments, Mr. Newton pointed out that in a bronze found at Kameiros and now in the British Museum, a man with an Assyrian cut of beard was seated upon a kneeling camel. This bronze, though possibly of Phœnician design, was found in association with other objects belonging to archaic Greek art. Professor P. Gardner, alluding to the complete and sumptuous way in which the results of these Russian discoveries were published, said that in this respect despotic Russia set a good example to free England.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.--_Nov. 3_, Mr. Ewan Christian, President, in his opening address alluded to the immense strides which architecture had made during the last fifty years under Barry, Pugin, Scott, Street, Burgess, Ruskin, and others. He compared the great advantages which students of the present day enjoyed with those which had to be sought for and only acquired after long years of study, at the time when the Institute was founded, and said that the good old charter under which they were incorporated had been carried out to the letter, for they had promoted, as far as possible, the general advancement of architecture, and the various arts and sciences connected with it. Mr. G. Shaw-Lefevre, M.P., the First Commissioner of Works, in seconding a vote of thanks to the president, said it had been his duty to clear away the old Law Courts, and to consider how the west front of Westminster Hall could be best restored. He had taken the advice of Mr. Pearson, one of the most eminent architects in works of that kind, and he had suggested that it should be restored to the condition in which it existed during the reign of Richard II., the period when the Law Courts were added to it. That would involve the building of a double-storied cloister against the wall of the Hall, so that all the beautiful Norman work would be preserved, and, whilst not concealed, it would be kept from the effects of the atmosphere by which it was surrounded. As there were different opinions, however, as to the expediency of this work, he had decided to refer the question to a Select Committee of the House of Commons, when evidence could be heard for or against it. Another great improvement would be found in the works at the Tower--a mass of old warehouses had been removed, the inner ballium wall and the Lanthorn Tower had been rebuilt, and this was a work which the public would greatly appreciate when it was complete. No grander field in the world for architectural display was to be found than in the Metropolis. An unbroken series of great buildings, showing every phase of architecture during the last 800 years, was to be seen in it, specially in the Tower, in Westminster Abbey, and in the works of Inigo Jones, Wren, and Barry. He believed, however, that they had arrived at the end of the Gothic revival, so far as secular buildings were concerned, although it might flourish in other respects for many years. Public opinion and the employment of experts were doing a great work in the selection of styles for buildings of all kinds, and he hoped that the present race of architects would be able to leave us buildings as beautiful as did those who lived in the past.

PROVINCIAL.

CAMBRIDGE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY.--_October 20_, Mr. J. W. Clark, M.A., President, in the chair. Mr. A. G. Wright exhibited five denarii of Posthumus, with the legends FELICITAS · AVG: IOVI · STATORI · NEPTVNO · REDVCI: SAECVLI · FELICITAS: SARAPI · COMITI · AVG · from the Beaconsthorpe hoard (1878): also a Roman bronze ear-ring and a mediæval bronze signet-ring, both found at Stony Hill, Lakenheath, early in this present year; also a photograph of a rare palæolithic implement found at March, in 1877. The Rev. S. S. Lewis exhibited a first brass of Marcus Aurelius,_rev._ HONOS with portrait of the Emperor erect, olive-branch and cornucopiæ (141 A.D.), found in 1883 at Litlington. The Rev. G. F. Browne exhibited an outlined rubbing of the Wilne font, a very intricate and elaborate piece of early work, with twelve bold characters round the base, supposed to be runic or Oriental, and, in the latter case, probably Palmyrene. Mr. Browne showed next a rubbing of the cross at Hawkswell, near Catterick, with the inscription on a small panel, _Hæc est crux sancti jacobi_: “This is the Cross of the holy James.” The letters have now almost entirely perished. Bede says that James the Deacon, who was with Paulinus when he Christianised Northumbria and baptized so many thousands (A.D. 627), lived to a very advanced age near Catterick, and that the place where he lived was called by his name. Gale, in his Itineraries, said this was Akeburg. The only place now known by any such name is a single farmhouse called on the ordnance map Akebar, near Hawkswell Church. Mr. Browne found that _jacobi_ was spelt _gacobi_ on the cross, and therefore supposed that it was pronounced in Anglian times with a strong initial _y_, and with a short _o_, and asked the people whether there was any place near beginning with Yak. He was told that Akebar was pronounced locally Yakbur. This and the cross together made it practically certain that James the Deacon lived at Akebar, _i.e._, Jacob-burh, or Yakŏbur, and was buried at Hawkswell. The close resemblance of the panel and the inscription to Welsh crosses made Mr. Browne suspect a British influence, and he thought this gave the key to a great puzzle in the early Church history of Northumbria. Nennius said that Rum (or Rumin), son of Urien, baptized Edwin and the Northumbrians, when it is known that Paulinus was the baptizer, and there is nothing to show that Paulinus was Rum. James had an ally in Romanus, the chaplain of Queen Eanfleda, who was the first infant baptized in Northumbria. This Romanus may account for the British character of James’s monument, and may be the Rum or Rumin who has puzzled historians. The Jarrow inscription, _In hoc singulari anno vita redditur mundo_, had always been taken as a hopeless puzzle. Mr. Browne showed that the stone on which it is cut had formed part of the wall of the original building, in which also was a stone setting forth that the church was dedicated in the fifteenth year of King Ecfrid (A.D. 684) and the fourth year of Abbat Ceolfrid. This would give a year to which the inscription might refer, if it could be shown that any very remarkable restoration took place in that year. Mr. Browne showed from passages in Bede that it was the year in which the Abbot of Monkwearmouth and many of his monks died of a pestilence which ravaged the district, and especially Jarrow, which is not heard of after that year. Hence the reference was to the cessation of the plague in the year 684. Mr. O. C. Pell, after stating the strong grounds for supposing that there were many “libere tenentes” in existence at the time of Domesday Survey, and that they appear in the “Inquisitio Eliensis” as _villani_ holding acres of demesne land, argued--from (among other examples) an entry in the “Inquisitio Eliensis” respecting Chatteris Manor--that the _carucæ_ of the “lords” and the associated _carucæ_ of the “homines” were of one and the same uniform standard for rating purposes and for measuring areas of _terræ ad carucam_, and showed thereby that this standard was the capacity of a plough drawn by eight oxen. The necessary consequence appeared to be that there must have been at least 324 “homines” holding virgates in villenage in the Isle of Ely alone. This theory was proved to be correct by a comparison of Domesday Survey with the surveys of certain manors contained in old MSS. of 1221 and 1277.

HAILEYBURY COLLEGE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY.--_Sept. 29._ The Rev. H. C. Wright gave an account of a holiday spent in Norway. After a few remarks on the beauty of Norwegian cathedrals in general, and on the wooden church at Borgund, he proceeded to describe a Viking’s ship which he had seen. The mound in which the Viking was supposed to be buried was very much dilapidated. The ship was built entirely of oak, and apparently had neither deck nor seats, so that the rowers had to stand upright to row it. The word Viking, he added, is probably derived from the Vicks or Fiords, and is in no way akin to the word sea-king. Mr. F. W. Headley pointed out, with reference to the Viking’s ship, that the planks were fastened on to the ribs of the ship by withies. Speaking of Trondhjem Cathedral, he mentioned the transepts as in good repair. The nave, now almost gone, has contained some very fine Norman work, and the apse at the end of it, which is divided from the choir by a light screen, contains several styles of architecture, ranging from Early English to Flamboyant. Several photographs were passed round in illustration of the speaker’s remarks. Mr. A. W. T. Perowne spoke of Knaresborough Castle, in one of the dungeons of which may be seen a pillar with twelve arches springing from it. He also spoke of Fountains Abbey, which contains both Early English and Norman work--the cloisters and refectory being specimens of the latter. He also gave short accounts of Ripley, Bolton Abbey, Fountains Abbey, and St. Mary’s Abbey, at York. Mr. H. F. Fisher described Wimborne Minster, a cruciform building having two towers--the central and the western. Between the central tower and the east end is a Norman arch. Under the chancel is a crypt, and there is a church library over the vestry. The church contains also a lunar orrery, of which there are only two other specimens in England--at Wells and at York. Mr. H. Swainson next spoke of Bosham, near Chichester. The setting out of Harold from Bosham Harbour on a voyage to Normandy is recorded in the Bayeux tapestry. The church is built on the site of an old Roman basilica. In the vestry may be seen the corbels of the floor of the room once occupied by the man who kept the light in the tower. The church has a wooden spire. The chronicler spoke of St. Nicholas Church, Leicester, where are some Roman bricks in the tower, and of the Town-hall, which is of wood. He next spoke of Warwick Hospital, founded by the Earl of Essex for twelve old men and a minister, each of whom has a strip of garden; they all move up in turn whenever one dies, the minister always retaining the first strip. Passing on into Shropshire, he spoke of Wenlock Priory, which contains two very large ambulatories; also of the Town-hall, where are a set of stocks, which are not fixed, but stand on wheels. In speaking of Lichfield Cathedral, he mentioned the three spires, and seven huge decorated windows in the Lady-chapel, and also the watching gallery, a feature which exists also in St. Alban’s Abbey. The Close at Lichfield was formerly defended by a moat, of which the present Minster pool is a survival. He also censured the recent removal of the “Pedlar’s Window” from the parish church at Lambeth. Mr. E. P. Ash, a visitor, spoke of Eisenach and the Wartburg, which is said to derive its name from the following incident of Lewis the Springer, who in one of his hunting expeditions, happening to come on the hill on which the Wartburg now stands, exclaimed “_Wart Berg_ du sollst meine _Burg_sein” Having given some account of the connection of St. Elizabeth with the Wartburg, from which she was ultimately expelled, and took refuge in a convent, he proceeded to speak of Luther, who is said to have spent ten months therein translating the Bible. Several relics of Luther and his family may be seen there still. In the chapel are some swords that are supposed to have belonged to Gustavus Adolphus.

SURREY ARCHÆOLOGICAL SOCIETY.--At a special general meeting held Oct. 15, Mr. Granville Leveson-Gower, F.S.A., in the chair, it was resolved that the annual general meeting be hereafter held in January or February, instead of in June or July as at present.

Antiquarian News & Notes.

PROFESSOR SAYCE left England in November to spend the winter in Egypt.

THE mode of treatment of the west front of Westminster Hall is under the consideration of Parliament.

THE musical library of Mr. Julian Marshall was lately sold by auction at the rooms of Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge.

THE four-light east window of Akely Church, near Buckingham, has been filled with stained glass by Messrs. Meyer & Co., of Munich.

IT is reported, on what we believe to be good authority, that Lord Carnarvon is about to resign the Presidency of the Society of Antiquaries.

THE Bishop of Peterborough having disapproved of the action of the Committee for the restoration of the Cathedral, the work has been stopped.

A MEMORIAL painted window to Richard Hooker, the “judicious” divine of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, has just been unveiled in his old church, Bishopsbourne, near Canterbury.

THE library belonging to Sir John H. Thorold, at Syston, very rich in ancient and curious books, will be sold by Messrs. Sotheby & Wilkinson on the 12th of December and following days.

THE intended collection of Turner’s works at the Winter Exhibition of the Academy will not be made this season, owing to the dampness of the walls of the new rooms at Burlington House.

THE ancient civic maces belonging to the borough of Tenby have been lately repaired and restored by Mr. G Lambert, F.S.A., and at his cost. This is one result of the recent Archæological Congress in South Wales.

Mr. W. BLACK’S last novel, “Judith Shakespeare,” is worthy of notice for the vast amount of antiquarian interest with which the author has contrived to invest not only Stratford-on-Avon, and Shakespeare’s house, but the interior of his home.

“NOSSETT’S MYTHOLOGY,” Greek and Roman, has been now translated into English by Mrs. Angus W. Hall. The book, which is illustrated with drawings by the translator, will be published by Messrs. Kirby & Endean.

THE Hardwicke historical manuscripts, which chiefly consist of correspondence with foreign Courts during the reigns of George I. and II., were lately sold to Mr. Astor, who has presented them to the Astor public library in New York.

MR. R. GARNETT, the kind and courteous Superintendent of the Reading Room of the British Museum, has given up his position, having accepted the post of Assistant Keeper. Mr. Fortescue, who is well known to _habitués_ of the Museum, succeeds Mr. Garnett.

THE _East Anglian_ is about to be revived under the title of _The Suffolk Antiquary and East Anglian Archæological Notes and Queries_. It will be edited by the Rev. C. H. E. White, of Ipswich, Hon. Secretary of the Suffolk Archæological Institute. We wish the newly revived venture all possible success.

THE Hon. Lewis Wingfield has been engaged in mounting four new productions--“Cymbeline,” which will be played at the Lyceum in March next, for Miss Anderson; “The School for Scandal,” for Mrs. Langtry, to be produced at the Prince’s Theatre; “As You Like It,” for the St. James’s; and an important revival of “The Comedy of Errors,” for the American Dromios, Messrs. Robson & Crane.

MR. THACKERAY TURNER, as Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, writes to the _Times_ from 9, Buckingham-street, Strand, very strongly remonstrating against a proposal which has been made, and which has been sanctioned by the architect, Mr. Pearson, gradually to re-face the exterior stonework of Westminster Abbey. He says that by so doing we shall only be forestalling the action of time.

MR. MURRAY’S list of forthcoming works includes the following: “Bolingbroke, an historical study,” by J. Churton Collins. “London; its history, antiquarian and modern,” by James Thorne, F.S.A., and H. B. Wheatley, F.S.A. “Works of Alexander Pope,” with notes, &c., by W. J. Courthope. “History of the Roman Empire, from the establishment of the Empire to the accession of Commodus, A.D. 180.”

CATALOGUES of rare and curious books, most of which contain the names of works of antiquarian interest, have reached us from Messrs. Jarvis and Son, 28, King William-street, W.C. (comprising a copy of “Othello,” 4to. edition, 1655); Messrs. Fawn and Son, Queen’s-road, Bristol; Mr. Geo. Redway, York-street, Covent-garden; Mr. Henry Gray, Cathedral-yard, Manchester; Messrs. Robson and Kerslake, 23, Coventry-street, Haymarket, W.; Von Kühl, Jägerstrasse, Berlin; Von Albert Cohn, Mohrenstrasse, Berlin.

THE descriptive and historical account of the Cathedral Churches of England and Wales, which has been for some time past in preparation, will be published forthwith by Messrs. Cassell & Co. The contributors will include Canon Tristram, Dean Kitchin, Rev. Dr. Jessopp, Canon Venables, Prebendary Havergal, Prebendary Gregory Smith, Rev. R. St. John Tyrwhitt, Canon Swainson, Dean Howson, Archdeacon Norris, Canon Creighton, Professor T. M‘Kenny Hughes, Rev. Professor Coolidge, and the Bishop of Sodor and Man. The work will contain an introduction by the Rev. Professor Bonney.

MR. FREDERICK HAWKINS’S “Annals of the French Stage from its Origin to the Death of Racine,” have been published by Messrs. Chapman & Hall. Mr. Hawkins, says the _Times_, is the first English writer who has undertaken to deal with this subject on a scale larger than that of a magazine article. It is understood that he has endeavoured to give his work some value as one of literary history and criticism, and has devoted much care to an elucidation of the relations between the Church and the stage in olden times. For his information as to the material situation of the Comédie Française he is indebted to the unpublished registers of that theatre.

THE following articles, more or less of an antiquarian character, appear among the contents of the magazines for November:--_Quarterly Review_, “France under Richelieu.” _Art Journal_, “Collection of Casts at South Kensington;” “The Western Riviera, La Mortola, and Ventimiglia;” “Marble and Marble Mosaic.” _English Illustrated Magazine_, “Play, a Scene from the Life of the Last Century;” “Eton.” _Edinburgh Review_, “The Irish Massacres of 1641;” “Boulger’s History of China.” _Temple Bar_, “Recollections of Canning and Brougham;” “A Visit to Rothenburg.” _Century Magazine_, “The Old Sedan Chair;” “Sculptors of the Early Italian Renaissance.” _Contemporary Review_, “Wurzburg and Vienna;” “Goethe;” “Greek Cities under Roman Rule.” _Monthly Packet_, “Cameos from English History.” _Journal of Education_, “The Teaching of History.”

THE civic procession to the Royal Courts of Justice on “Lord Mayor’s Day” (November 10) contained several picturesque and interesting pageants, representing different historic incidents and personages connected with the early history of the City of London. These included William the Conqueror, Richard Cœur de Lion, Henricus Fitz-Alwyne, the first Mayor of London, Richard II., and Queen Elizabeth. The immortal “Dick” Whittington was represented sitting by the Highgate mile-post, accompanied by his cat, and in the act of listening to the bells of Bow Church, a model of which, as it was in A.D. 1400, came next in the procession; and this was followed by a counterfeit presentment of Sir Richard Whittington in all his civic dignity. The representative of Lord Mayor Walworth, standing over the slain Wat Tyler, was received with groans and hisses as the procession passed along.

THE _Progrès de l’Aisne_ gives the following particulars with regard to some discoveries which have lately been made by M. Moreau, a wellknown antiquarian, at Chouy, near St. Quentin. The village, though situated upon a height, is well provided with water, and M. Moreau has discovered traces of ancient Roman baths, though the small number of arms found induces the belief that it was never a military post during the Roman occupation. The cemetery was used as a place of interment from a period preceding the conquest of Gaul by Cæsar until the eighth century without interruption, and a large number of Gallic and Gallo-Roman graves have been discovered. Among other articles found were a Gallic boot sole, studded with nails, 27 buckles, clasps and plates in bronze and iron, 38 bracelets, rings, and other articles of personal adornment, mostly in bronze, though a few are silver-gilt, six bronze pieces of money of the time of Licinius, Crisus, Constantine II., Valens, and Valentianus I., two bronze dishes, 89 earthen dishes and 14 in glass, nine iron swords, 15 hatchets, daggers, and javelins, 108 flints of all shapes, thousands of coffin nails, and a signet ring with nine facets, upon which are engraved the greeting _vivas_, the dove and olive branch, the palm, the lamb, the stag, and the hare, symbols in use among the early Christians.

AMONG the various properties advertised for sale is Etall Castle, one of the Northumbrian “Peel Castles,” as they are styled. It is situated in the parish of Ford, about six miles from Coldstream, in the valley of the Till, a tributary of the Tweed. The present mansion is modern, of stone, with a heavy roof, and large square windows. It is approached by an avenue of finely-grown trees, the gardens are laid out in the Italian style, and the entire estate comprises about 3,440 acres. Near the mansion is the parish church, built by Butterfield in 1850, in memory of the late Lord Frederick Fitzclarence and his only daughter. On the west of the village, on the banks of the river, and about a quarter of a mile from the mansion, are the picturesque ruins of the ancient castle, once the abode of the noble family of Manners. This castle was taken by the army of James IV. of Scotland on his invasion of England in the year 1513, shortly before the battle of Flodden Field, and is mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in the Fifth canto of “Marmion,” as well as the other border fortresses in the neighbourhood--Wark, Ford, and Norham. Over the entrance of the castle are sculptured the arms of Manners, it having been embattled by Sir Robert de Manners, who was knighted on the field of battle by Edward III. In the grounds is a handsome chapel, built of stone in the style of the Edwardian period; and near the river are to be seen the foundations of St. Mary’s Chapel and Well.--_Times._

THE dispersion of collections of art work is being apparently followed up by the sale of properties remarkable for historic or antiquarian features. The sales of the Island of Herm and of Boscastle, in Cornwall (both of which were abortive), have been, or are to be, succeeded by two others of a still more remarkable character. The one is the extensive ruins of Middleham Castle, in Yorkshire, celebrated for its splendid Norman keep, built by Robert Fitz Ranulph, and famous as the stronghold of Warwick, the king-maker, and as the favourite residence of his son-in-law, Richard III. The fine appearance of the keep has, however, been considerably interfered with by the Decorated buildings which surround it, and which were erected in the fifteenth century by Robert Neville, “the peacock of the North.” In later times, many of the scenes in “The Last of the Barons” were laid at Middleham. The second sale is that of Goodrich Court and Castle, which, for picturesque effect, is one of the most beautiful and attractive localities in the scenery of the Wye. Goodrich Court was, in Sir Samuel Meyrick’s time, noted for its unrivalled collection of mediæval armoury. The mansion itself is a restoration by the late Mr. Blore. The castle, of which the principal remaining features are the gateway, a three-storied Norman keep, and an Edwardian banquetting-hall, was successively the residences of the Earls of Pembroke and the Talbots, and, later on, stood a gallant siege under Sir Henry Lingen, who held it for the King against the Parliamentary army.

DURING the visit of a party of local archæologists to Wirksworth, in Derbyshire, a paper was read by Dr. Webb, proving that lead mining had been carried on there from time immemorial. The following circumstances suggest that the Wirksworth mines were known to the Saxons: 1. A mine near to Castleton was called Odin, after one of their gods. 2. Eadburga, Abbess of Repton (to which monastic institution the lead mines at Wirksworth appear to have belonged at this time), sent from Wirksworth, A.D. 714, a leaden coffin, in which to bury St. Guthlac, Prior of Crowland Abbey, and formerly a monk at Repton. 3. Kenewara, also Abbess of Repton, gave the estate at Wirksworth, A.D. 835, to Humbert, the Alderman, on the condition that he gave lead to the value of three hundred shillings to Archbishop Colenoth, for the use of Christ’s Church, Canterbury. That the mines were worked after the Norman Conquest is proved by a survey, in the possession of the Duchy of Lancaster, of Peveril Castle, made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who greatly encouraged mining operations by inviting skilled workmen from abroad; and this survey describes the castle as being covered with lead. As it was built in the reign of the Conqueror, the lead used in its construction was probably obtained from Derbyshire mines; in fact, Domesday Book mentions the working of three lead mines at Wirksworth, one at Crich, one at Ashford, one at Bakewell, and one at Metesford, a manor in the neighbourhood of Matlock.--_Weekly Register._

AMONG the most interesting properties which of late have come into the market is that of Boxley Abbey, near Maidstone, which was sold by auction in October last by Messrs. Walton & Lee, of Mount-street, Grosvenor-square. It is described as situated about two miles from Maidstone, and as consisting of about 900 acres of first-class meadow, hop and fruit plantations, arable and woodlands. It comprises the remains of the old Cistercian Abbey of Boxley, with its more modern Elizabethan residence, gardener’s cottage, stabling and offices, gardens, lawns, fish-stews, and terraced walks, surrounded by the abbey-gate or home farm lands, partly enclosed within the abbey walls. The estate, we are told, “lies within a ring fence, is well watered by an abundance of springs, is intersected by good roads, and abounds in historical traditions.” The Pilgrim’s-road, trodden by the feet of so many persons on their way to and from the shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury, and the walls of the Abbey, which is said to have been the first abode of Cistercian monks in England, dating from the beginning of the eleventh century, a splendid specimen of an old tithe barn in excellent preservation, and a monastic chapel, now converted into a dwelling-house, are objects of especial interest to the antiquary and archæologist. The abbey itself was founded about the middle of the twelfth century by William d’Ipres, Earl of Kent. In the reign of Edward I. the Abbot was summoned to Parliament on several occasions; and Edward II. took up his residence at this abbey during the siege of Leeds Castle in October, 1221, from the refusal of its governor to provide lodgings for Queen Isabella and her suite when going on pilgrimage to Canterbury. It is said there was here a curious crucifix upon the rood-screen, which came to be called the “Rood of Grace,” and of which the mechanism would seem to have been extremely ingenious. To this rood or crucifix the abbey was indebted for many offerings, its curious movements being reported as miraculous, and, under that impression, great numbers of people were continually resorting thither. At the time of the Reformation, the rood was publicly exposed at St. Paul’s-cross, in London, by the Bishop of Rochester, and soon afterwards broken to pieces and burnt.--_Times._

THE Marquis of Bute has given £500 to the fund for establishing a British School of Archæology at Athens. The executive committee contemplate building a suitable house on Mount Lycabettus, in the immediate vicinity of Athens, where a site has been placed at their disposal by the Greek Government. It is intended that the house should afford a residence for the director, and should contain a library of reference. The aim of the school will be to promote the study of Greek art and architecture in their remains of every period; the study of inscriptions; the exploration of ancient sites; and especially all branches of research which can illustrate Hellenic life and literature, from the earliest age. Membership of the school will be open to all students accredited by any university or college of Great Britain, by the authorities of the British Museum, or of the Royal Academy, or by any other institution qualified to give credentials. The director will guide the studies of the members, and exercise a general supervision over the researches undertaken by them; report on the work of the school, and on any discoveries which may come to his knowledge; and also afford information and advice to properly accredited British travellers in Greece. It is believed that, through the agency of the school, valuable notes might be collected from visitors to the Hellenic countries, who, without being specialists, are competent scholars and observers; and such notes might conveniently be registered in the annual report of the school. The increasing interest in archæological studies which is being manifested in the universities and schools of the country warrants the hope that, when the school has been established at Athens, facilities will be afforded to students desirous of proceeding thither for the purpose of supplementing the knowledge derived from books by a direct acquaintance with the scenes and monuments of Greek life. A general feeling exists that England ought not to remain behind France, Germany, and the United States in possessing a centre in Greece for the furtherance of intellectual studies. The general committee, of which the Prince of Wales is president, already includes representatives of the Universities and public schools, of the Royal Academy, of the British Museum, of the Society of Antiquaries, of the Society of Dilettanti, and of the London Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. While it is believed that the funds already subscribed will probably be adequate for the provision of a house and library, further contributions are still needed for the purpose of endowing the office of director with a proper salary, and of creating a printing fund for the publications of the school. Any subscriptions towards these objects will be gratefully received and acknowledged by the treasurer, Mr. Walter Leaf, Old Change, E.C.; by the bankers, Messrs. Grindlay & Co., 55, Parliament-street, S.W.; or by the secretaries, Mr. T. H. S. Escott, 38, Brompton-crescent, S.W.; Mr. James Gow, 13, Old-square, Lincoln’s-inn; and Professor Jebb, the University, Glasgow.

Antiquarian Correspondence.

Sin scire labores, Quære, age: quærenti pagina nostra patet.

_All communications must be accompanied by the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication._

“SWORD-SLIPPER.”

SIR,--In the registers of St. Nicholas’ Church (now the Cathedral) at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1576, I find mention made of “William Browne, Sword-Slipper;” as also of “Robert Peacock, Sword-Slipper;” and again in March, 1586, of “Robert Heslop, Sword-Slipper.” Brand, in his “History of Newcastle,” places the “sword-slippers” among the ancient but extinct Companies of that town. As I can find no other record of such a fraternity, may I venture to ask whether any of your readers can throw light upon its object and history.

MUS.

SOMERSET FOLK LORE.

SIR,--I cut the following paragraph the other day out of a local Calendar for 1882:--

“On the eve of Twelfth Day, in Somersetshire, at evening, the farmers, their friends, servants, &c., all assemble, and near six o’clock all walk together to a field where wheat is growing. Twelve small fires and one large one are lighted. The attendants, headed by the master of the family, pledge the company in old cider. A circle is formed round the large fire, when a general shout and hallooing takes place, which you hear answered from all the villages and fields near. This being finished, the company all return to the house, where the good wife and her maids are preparing supper. A large cake is always provided, with a hole in the middle. After supper the company all attend the head herdsman to the wainhouse. The man, at the head of his friends, fills a cup with ale, and stands opposite the first or finest oxen; he then pledges him in a curious toast, and the company follow his example with all the other oxen, addressing each by his name. This being over, the large cake is produced with much ceremony, and put on the horn of the first ox, through the hole in the cake; he is then tickled, to make him toss his head. If he throws the cake behind, it is the mistress’s perquisite; if before, the herdsman claims it. They then all return to the house, and spend the rest of the day in festivity.”

May I ask whether this custom is really still kept up, or whether it is among the old customs that have passed away?

CURIOSUS.

THE ISLAND OF THE SCOTS.

SIR,--The following jottings may be of interest to your correspondent, “R. M. B.” The incident on which Professor Aytoun founded his wellknown Lay is narrated in a tract, the full title of which is as follows: Memoirs | of the | Lord Viscount Dundee, | the | Highland Clans, | and | The Massacre of Glenco: | with | an Account | of | Dundee’s Officers after they went to | France. | By an Officer of the Army. | Non ille pro caris amicis | Aut Patria timidus mori (_sic_). Hor. Carm. Lib. 4, Ode 9 |.

Quis Cladem illius Noctis, quis funera fando | Explicet.--Virg. Æneid. Lib. 2. |

| Series longissima Rerum | Per tot ducta Viros.--Ibid. Lib. I. |

London: Printed for Jonas Brown, at the Black Swan, 1714.

The tract itself is somewhat rare, but a reprint will be found in vol. iii. of the “Miscellanea Scotica:” Glasgow, 1818. Sufficiently copious extracts from it have been given by Professor Aytoun in the introductory remarks to his Lay. Here is Lord Macaulay’s opinion on the matter. In a note to the 13th chapter of his History he observes: “I have seldom made use of the ‘Memoirs of Dundee,’ printed in 1714, and never without some misgiving. The writer was certainly not, as he pretends, one of Dundee’s officers, but a stupid and ignorant Grub-street garreteer. He is utterly wrong both as to the place and as to the time of the most important of all the events which he relates, the battle of Killiecrankie. He says that it was fought on the banks of the Tummell, and on the 13th of June. It was fought on the banks of the Garry, and on the 27th of July. After giving such a specimen of inaccuracy as this, it would be idle to point out minor blunders.”

It is by no means unlikely, therefore, that the Island of the Scots is situated in one of the rivers of Utopia.

W. WILSON.

_Berwick-on-Tweed, September 5._

PORTREEVE.

SIR,--“You may put up the shutters, Thomas, it’s all over now!” exclaimed the famous bootmaker to his shop-boy, on being solemnly informed by a youthful customer, in words of awful admonition, that he was under the painful necessity of withdrawing his custom. With similar solemnity Dr. Pring has informed us that “the character of Mr. Round’s papers is otherwise such as would deter me from giving any further time to their discussion,” and “must for the future preclude my bestowing any further notice on anything emanating from Mr. Round” (_ante_, p. 254-5). Fortunately, this awful blow has not proved so crushing as might have been feared. Indeed, though it is not for me to suggest that Dr. Pring may possibly be well advised in shrinking from further criticism of my papers, I may express my regret that he should have found no better plea for his withdrawal than that of “misrepresentation”--a serious charge, which I emphatically deny. It will be seen, on referring to Dr. Pring’s original paper (_ante_, iv. 264), that his argument runs thus:--

“That the distinction thus insisted upon is correct, and at once settles the true significance of the word _port_ in Port-reeve, is placed beyond all question by passages still extant in the laws of Athelstan, which ordain that no man shall buy any property outside _the port or gate_” (the italics are his own), &c. &c.

It would indeed place the identity of _port_ and _gate_ “beyond all question” if such an expression as “the port or gate” occurred “in the laws of Athelstan.” _But it does not._ The expression is simply “that no man buy any property _out of port_” (Stubbs’ “Select Charters,” p. 65). Here it will be seen there is _nothing whatever_ to prove the identity of “port” and “gate.” The words “or gate” are a deliberate addition, and as it is on them alone that Dr. Pring’s argument, as will be seen, is based, without them it falls to the ground. No reference to the views of Camden, Sharon Turner, or any other writer can justify the insertion into “the laws of Athelstan” of words _which are not in them_. In saying this much, I am guilty of no “misrepresentation.” I am simply stating facts and exposing misquotation.

May I, in addition, express my hope that Dr. Pring will devote the time saved from discussing my papers to the task, as I suggested, of converting Mr. Hall to his own _porta_ derivation? And may I also assure him that the time which his solemn decision will save me shall be devoted on my part to the further prosecution of those researches which, however undeservedly, have attracted, strange as it may appear to him, the welcome appreciation of scholars?

J. H. ROUND.

_Brighton._

WITCHCRAFT IN ROSS-SHIRE.

SIR,--No doubt most of your readers are familiar with the curious details concerning witch doctors and their doings in Mauritius, which were published in _The Times_ in August last. The following interesting account of similar superstitions in the Highlands, by a correspondent of the _Glasgow Herald_, caused considerable sensation on its appearance, which would be about a week or two before the article in the former paper. Unquestionably, the belief in witchcraft is still deplorably widespread, the boasted “resources of civilisation” notwithstanding:--

“The belief in witchcraft, which has never become quite extinct in the more remote parts of the Highlands, has recently been revived in a certain parish on the west coast of Ross-shire. Considering the strong disposition that exists in the Highlands to set down to supernatural agency every trifling little incident that cannot be otherwise readily accounted for, it is not surprising that cases of supposed witchcraft should crop up from time to time. These cases have generally only a local interest, form the subject of conversation for a few days, and are then quite forgotten. Apart from the serious loss sustained by the parties concerned, the circumstances attending the present revival of the belief in occult powers of darkness are of such a nature as to have confirmed not a few in the belief in witchcraft who formerly were sceptical on the subject. Some time ago a party of gipsies, who had been encamped in the locality in question, took the liberty of grazing their horses on pasture belonging to a township of small tenants in the immediate neighbourhood of their camp. This unwarranted encroachment on their rights the tenants resented, and drove away the obnoxious intruders, bag and baggage, from the place. On taking their departure, some of the gipsies were heard to remark that the tenants might not be quite so conservative of their pasture, which, ere long, they would have no cattle to consume. At the time no notice was taken of this implied threat. Soon after, however, three valuable cows belonging to one of the tenants died one after the other in quick succession, suddenly, and under mysterious circumstances, while two of the other tenants lost a cow each under similar circumstances. The illness of which these animals died was of very short duration, and was unknown to the nosology of the local veterinarians, who were completely baffled, and such of the carcases as were examined presented no morbid appearance whatever, the various organs and tissues being, apparently, in a healthy condition. A respectable farmer, noted in the district for uprightness and integrity of character, and who is considered an authority in veterinary matters, had been called to see one of the animals shortly before it died, and, having carefully examined the beast, at once pronounced it to have been “witched,” as the symptoms were those of no known disease. On the strength of this statement on the part of one who is looked on as an authority in such matters, coupled with the ominous language made use of by the gipsies, a considerable section of the community unhesitatingly attribute the death of the cattle to the agency of witchcraft. As a charm against the evil influences at work, one of the tenants, acting on the advice of the initiated, had the door of his byre changed from one side of the house to the other, but with what result remains to be seen. Pending the efficacy of this charm, a young man has proceeded to the Western Isles, with the view of consulting a famous witch doctor, said to be in practice there. As an indication of the prevalence of the belief in witchcraft it may be stated that in the district in question there are two witch doctors residing within a distance of twenty miles of each other. One of these, who has been discredited for some time, on account of professional bungling, is generally regarded as an impostor, and has suffered in his practice accordingly. The other, who evidently has played his cards better, still retains the unbounded confidence of the credulous in these matters, and his services are much sought after in cases of suspected witchcraft. Sometimes the services of the witch doctor are anticipated by timorous people, who propitiate reputed witches by means of presents. While many believe that witchcraft is still as prevalent as ever, there are others who believe that, though it did undoubtedly exist at one time, there is no such thing now, and that witches are extinct. Others there are who believe that, though not nearly so prevalent as formerly, a veritable witch is still occasionally to be met with in the flesh. Probably this diversity of opinion on the subject may be taken as an indication that even in the Highlands belief in witchcraft is in process of dying out, though slowly.”

P. J. MULLIN.

THE DE VERE MONUMENTS AT EARLS COLNE.

The following correspondence occurs in the _Standard_, Oct. 3:--

I.--SIR,--In the interests of archæology, and as a protest against the alienation of our Historic Monuments, I ask to be allowed to place before the public a statement in the hope that publicity may prove the means of causing to be restored to their proper resting-place in the Parish Church of Earls Colne, Essex, four effigies of that once all-powerful family--the De Veres, Earls of Oxford. I add a description of the monuments, taken from Murray’s Handbook of the Eastern Counties: “Three of the effigies are carved in alabaster and one in stone. They are supposed to commemorate Robert, the fifth Earl, who died in 1295; Thomas, the eighth earl, died 1371; Robert, the ninth earl, Marquess of Dublin and Duke of Ireland, died 1392; and his second wife, Lancerona Serjeaulx the joiner’s daughter (she wears the piked horn, or high head-dress, introduced by Anne of Bohemia, Queen of Richard the Second, to whom she had been Maid of Honour). This great Duke died at Louvain, and Richard the Second, by whom he had been banished, caused his body to be brought over, insisted that the coffin should be opened, so that he might once more see his favourite, and attended it himself in high procession to Earls Colne. John, the fourteenth earl, died 1426. At the dissolution of the Priory these effigies were removed to the Parish Church, where they remained undisturbed until a few years back, when for some reason (for which good cause should be shown) they were transferred to, and now help to decorate, the grounds of an adjacent landowner. Meetings of the Essex Archæological Society have been held in this parish. It would be interesting to learn whether any member was bold enough to enter a protest against this spoliation; it would be doubly so to know whether this transfer was done by power of a Faculty, the only legal mode of transfer.”

R. H. H.

2.--SIR,--With reference to a letter in the _Standard_ of October 3, signed by R. H. H., I venture to think that the writer is not altogether correct in his facts, or, consequently, in his conclusions, concerning the effigies of the De Veres.

Twenty years ago I made measured drawings of these valuable memorials, and they were then adequately protected and properly cared for by the late Mr. Carwardine at Earls Colne Priory, a modern house occupying the site, or, at least, taking the place, of the ancient Priory. I believe I am right in saying that the Parish Church was not, and never has been, the resting-place of the De Vere Monuments, but that they originally stood in the Priory Church, where the De Veres were buried, and that they remained there after the Dissolution, and until they were removed for protection from the weather to the spot they now occupy by a former owner of the modern Priory. Had it not been for such timely care the Monuments would probably not have been in existence at all at the present day, for it is well known that, early in this century, the Church was not careful to extend any special protection to objects of this kind within or without its walls; they took their chance--usually a very rough one.

It is notorious, and a melancholy fact, that in our own day the recklessness and ignorance of church “restoration”--with its illegal, not to say wicked, destruction of monuments of all kinds--have not brought about much feeling of security with regard to those that remain within the walls of churches; and while it has been a question of protection rather than of “spoliation” at Earls Colne Priory, I for one am Philistine enough to be grateful to the Carwardine family for the respect they paid to the De Vere Monuments in their hour of need, and when we may assume the Church held out no helping hand.

It is no peculiar thing that monumental effigies should be in private hands--witness the examples in Furness Abbey, in the ruins of numerous Yorkshire abbeys, and elsewhere--and I would ask, Are there many instances of the care that has preserved for us, almost intact, effigies and “weepers” like those at Earls Colne?

A. H.

_October 4._

ANCIENT AND MODERN BRITONS: A QUESTION FOR ANTIQUARIES.

SIR,--In the _St. James’s Gazette_ of July 10, there is a review of a recently published book named “Ancient and Modern Britons.” Not having even seen the book, I can only say of it that, _on the showing of its critic_, the author’s opinions seem little to accord with mine. But let that pass; my present object is to ask you whether the reviewer has done well in writing the following sentences: “In Aberdeenshire there is a stone--the ‘Newton Stone’--on which there are two inscriptions; one in Ogham digits and another (according to the best authorities) in debased Roman minuscular letters. Lord Southesk has lately propounded a theory to the effect that these inscriptions ‘form a compound of Oriental and Western ideas, beliefs, and languages.’ This explanation probably amused the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, to whom it was originally submitted; but to the author of ‘Ancient and Modern Britons’ it seems a brilliant suggestion.”

Had the reviewer read the paper (extending over some twenty-five pages) which the society referred to has done me the honour to publish in its last volume of “Proceedings,” he could hardly have spoken of it so discourteously; he would have recognised in it, I venture to think, a result of careful study, far enough removed from wild and hasty theorising. Allow me the favour of sufficient space in your columns to explain and vindicate my position in this matter. First, as regards the Ogham Inscription. The attempts to read this have been few and unsatisfactory. My own reading--independently gained, and different from previous versions--being known to Professor Rhys, he has authorised me to say that he agrees with it as to every digit, except the three marked doubtful in my own diagram. This concurrence only applies to the literal arrangement (a matter of some difficulty), the question of interpretation being reserved; but it is nevertheless an important and much valued aid. Secondly: as regards the main inscription, it is going rather far to say that the “best authorities” pronounce it to be in “debased Roman minuscular letters,” considering the great differences of opinion as to its nature that continue to exist; some fifteen attempts at decipherment having been made, many of them by distinguished scholars still (or lately) living. The Latin version by Dr. Whitley Stokes is probably that referred to by the reviewer, being one of the latest. But there is nothing to show that it is, or ought to be, accepted as final. Besides other possible defects, it confessedly assigns no recognisable meaning to five of the letters. Moreover, it differs from any conceivable rendering of the Ogham legend. This is not fatal to it, but it gives the advantage to a rival version which reconciles the two inscriptions. It should also be noted that no perfectly accurate copy of either inscription has been hitherto published.

My own conclusions, after months passed in the comparison of alphabets and other study, were as follows: (1) That the characters are Greek, resembling those in the Irish-Latin MSS. of the fifth to the seventh century A.D., described by Mr. Westwood as “singular formed Irish-Greek letters, in which capitals and minuscules are strangely mingled together” (Pal. Sac. Pict.; see there Greek Pater Noster in Book of Armagh); also, in some cases, resembling the letters of the alphabet on the Kilmalkedar stone, in Ireland--characters described by Dr. Petrie as “Græco-Roman or Byzantine characters of the fourth or fifth century A.D.” (Ec. Arc. of Ir., p. 134). This assignment of the letters may be accepted without necessarily adopting my version of the inscription, as some of the characters severally resemble more than one letter. (2) That the first half of the inscription is Celtic, sepulchral, and nearly identical with the Ogham legend on the same stone. (3) That the second half (and therein lies the ridicule, if ridicule there be) is religious or mythological, and embodies sacred names belonging to the Mithraic worship. Mithraism, as developed under the Roman emperors, was eminently a compound creed--one which undoubtedly sought to unite “Oriental and Western ideas and beliefs” (to cite your reviewer’s quotation from “Ancient and Modern Britons”--ostensibly from me, but not so), though not, of course, aiming to unite “languages.” It is only as regards certain mythological names or titles that the Newton inscriptions are not (on my view of them) entirely Celtic. Mithraic remains have been largely found in England, especially in the north; there are apparent references to its mysteries in the poems of the Welsh bards; and in Scotland some of the, as yet unexplained, symbols on the sculptured stones appear to belong to the same system.

I claim no right to dogmatise on these subjects; but I do claim to have bestowed real work on them, and it is unseemly that the results of my labour should be ridiculed by one who has not taken the trouble to find out in what they consist. Is it more improbable that remains of Mithraism should exist in Scotland than in other parts of Britain accessible to Roman influences? The improbability lies the contrary way. Why should there be more folly in seeking for traces of Paganism than in seeking for traces of Christianity among the earlier antiquities of Britain? The reproach surely rests with those who in such cases formulate extreme opinions as to the universal presence or absence of one of these religious elements, and refuse to see anything that antagonises their enthusiasms or prejudices. In conclusion, allow me add that, even if they disapproved of my paper on the Newton Stone (which I have no reason to suppose), the Scottish Society of Antiquaries have not only printed it in full, with my own illustrative diagrams, but are now printing another paper of mine, of at least equal length, on the whole of the Ogham inscriptions of Scotland--one which I sincerely hope may prove not altogether unworthy of the honour thus conferred on it.

SOUTHESK.

_Kinnaird Castle, Brechin, N.B._

_TO CORRESPONDENTS._

THE Editor declines to pledge himself for the safety or return of MSS. voluntarily tendered to him by strangers.

* * * * *

Books Received.

1. Old and New London. Vol. ii. By E. Walford, M.A. Cassells. 1884.

2. Transactions of the Essex Field Club. Vol. iii. 1884.

3. Transactions of Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. Vol. i.

4. First Middle English Primer. By Henry Sweet, M.A., Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1884.

5. Johnsoniana. Arranged and collected by R. W. Montagu. A. Boot & Son. 1884.

6. Registers of the Parish of Thorington. Edited by T. H. Hill, B.C.L. Mitchell & Hughes. 1884.

7. Journal of British Archæological Association. Vol. xl. Part 3. Trübner & Co. September, 1884.

8. Northamptonshire Notes and Queries. Part iv. Northampton: Taylor & Son. October, 1884.

9. English Etchings. Parts xli. and xlii. D. Bogue, 27, King William-street, W.C.

10. The Assignment of Arms to Shakespeare and Arden. By Stephen Tucker, _Somerset Herald_. Mitchell & Hughes. 1884.

11. Hull Quarterly. No. 4. Hull: Brown & Sons. October, 1884.

12. The Genealogist. N. S. Vol. i. No. 4. October, 1884.

13. Johns Hopkins University Studies. X. Baltimore. October, 1884.

14. History of Aylesbury. Part xi. By R. Gibbs. Aylesbury. 1884.

15. The Essex Notebook and Suffolk Gleaner. No. 1. Colchester: Benham & Co. October, 1884.

16. A Smaller Biblia Pauperum. A Reprint of the Text of John Wicliff, with Preface by the late Dean Stanley. Unwin Brothers. 1884.

17. Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica. Vol. i. Nos. i. and ii. Mitchell & Hughes. 1884.

18. Irish Landed Gentry when Cromwell came to Ireland. By John O’Hart. Dublin: Gill & Son. 1884.

19. The Record Society for the Publication of Original Documents relating to Lancashire and Cheshire. Vol. x. 1884.

20. Ye Earlie Englyshe Almanack. 1885. Pettitt & Co., Frith-street, Soho.

21. The Algonquin Legends of New England. By C. G. Leland, Sampson Low & Co. 1884.

22. The Chartulary of the Monastery of Lyminge. By the Rev. R. C. Jenkins, M.A. Folkestone: R. Goulden. 1884.

23. Life, Times, and Writings of Thomas Fuller, D.D. Two vols. By the Rev. M. Fuller, M.A. John Hodges. 1884.

* * * * *

Books, &c., for Sale.

Works of Hogarth (set of original Engravings, elephant folio, without text), bound. Apply by letter to W. D., 56, Paragon-road, Hackney, N.E.

Original water-colour portrait of Jeremy Bentham, price 2 guineas. Apply to the Editor of this Magazine.

A large collection of Franks, Peers’ and Commoners’. Apply to E. Walford, 2, Hyde Park Mansions, N.W.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Caxton’s Edition of Mallory’s King Arthur.

[2] It seems necessary to say that Caxton gratuitously explains Camelot to be Winchester; but Caxton was a Kentish man, and, moreover, lived many years abroad, in Burgundy and the Netherlands. He probably knew something, though little, of Winchester, and nothing whatever of Somerset. However, dates simply make it impossible, seeing that Winchester was conquered by the Saxons in 515.

[3] William of Malmesbury.

[4] Avilion or Avalon is the ancient name for Glastonbury.

[5] Mallory’s King Arthur, edited by Caxton.

[6] MS. Dodsw. 47, f. 151.

[7] R. de Camvill.

[8] f.m.=feudum militis, a knight’s fee, same in meaning as 1 m., one knight.

[9] Preface to “Pastoral Book.”

[10] See also, for Mr. Freeman’s view, “English Towns and Districts,” p. 230: “Chester has no Roman remains _in situ_ to be compared to the _New Port_ of Lincoln;” and p. 394, “There is [at Colchester] nothing to set even against the New Port of Lincoln.” So, too, Mr. G. T. Clark states that it “still bears a name which must have descended from the time when it was first erected, ... and is called the New-port” (“Military Architecture,” ii. 191).

[11] “The abiding Latin name of the gate, the _Nova Porta_, of itself goes far to show that there could have been no long gap between Roman or British and English occupation.” (English Towns and Districts, p. 200.)

[12] See Mr. J. Pickford’s article on this old mansion, vol. v. p. 190.

[13] “Southwell Minster: an Account of the Collegiate and Cathedral Church of Southwell, Architectural, Archæological, and Historical.” By Grevile Mairis Livett, M.A. Southwell: John Whittingham, 1883.

[14] Though his inspirations were, it is said, first noted in prose.

[15] I do not mean by this that _every_ human being is possessed of the faculty, but that _some_ men are, though it may be in a proportion of perhaps less than one in 100 millions.

[16] The passage is cited by the Encyclopædists to bring Nostradamus into discredit, and is said to occur in the first volume of Gassendi’s “Physics.” I have no doubt it is there, but I have not thought it worth while to hunt through the six volumes folio of his collected works to ascertain the fact. Bouys in his “Nouvelles Considerations” says justly enough that the learned writers of the Encyclopædia would take the testimony of Jean-Baptiste Suffren without any hesitation as a thing not to be doubted; it would only be works that should be of the most sacred authority to everyone else that they would think of calling in question.

[17] To show the probability that they would not all prove erroneous, it may amuse the reader to learn that Sir Thomas Brown did once in sport attempt a prophecy in reply to an ancient metrical one that had been sent him by a friend:--

“When new England shall trouble new Spain, When Jamaica shall be Lady of the Isles and the main; When Spain shall be in America hid, And Mexico prove another Madrid; When Mahomet’s ships on the Baltic shall ride, And Turks shall labour to have ports on that side; When Africa shall no more sell out her blacks, To make slaves and drudges to the American tracts; When Batavia the old shall be subdued by the new; When a new drove of Tartars shall China subdue; When America shall cease to send out its treasure, But employ it at home for American pleasure; When the new world shall the old invade, Nor count them their lords but their fellows in trade; When shall almost pass to Venice by land, Not in deep water, but from sand to sand; When Nova Zembla shall be no stay Unto them that pass to or from Cathay; Then think strange things are come to light, Whereof but few have had a foresight.”

Now the most unlikely part of the above to be realised was the ships of Mahomet appearing in the Baltic, but, nevertheless, it happened. “Mahomet’s ships” did actually ride in the Baltic, manned by the corsairs of Algiers, in 1819, so the line was verified, though not as Brown intended. (_Quarterly Review_, xxvi. 191.)

[18] Van Hasselt.

[19] The name is Flemish: each consonant, therefore, must be sounded, but the second vowel is short, Dam-Dam-mĕ.

[20] The Zwyn has entirely disappeared from the map of Europe. Guide-books say that “mention is made of the harbour of the Zwyn in the laws of the Saxon Ethelred.” I cannot endorse this statement, having failed to confirm it on examination. The Zwyn was the scene of the great maritime victory won by Edward III. over the French fleet in 1340, the harbinger of the naval supremacy of England.

[21] paper read at the Congress of the Archæological Institute at Lewes, July, 1883.

[22] Mrs. Siddons’ maternal grandfather. For the gloves and the story I leave them upon the conscience of the glazier, hereby declaring myself ready to prove the utter falsehood of the whole narrative.--ED.

[23] Of this John Ward I read that he was a well-known performer in the time of Betterton, and was in 1723 the original Hazeroth in the tragedy of “Mariamne,” by Elijah Fenton, the friend of Pope. It was for his benefit that Mrs. Woffington at Dublin, in 1760, played Sir Harry Wildair for the first time, and he was the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Siddons, his daughter having married Mr. Roger Kemble, and the great Kembles being the issue of that union. In considering the probabilities of this story, we may therefore conclude that John Ward was not likely to play a huge practical joke upon Garrick. We may further assume that he was a man of the world, not over credulous, or to be imposed upon with ease.--S. W. B.

[24] In his interesting remarks on the reduplication of synonyms, Mr. Isaac Taylor gives us a marked example in the instance of Brindon Hill, in Somerset, where “we have first the Cymric _bryn_, a hill. To this was added _dun_, a Saxonised Celtic word, nearly synonymous with _bryn_; and the English word _hill_ was added when neither _bryn_ nor _dun_ were any longer significant words.” Thus, in fact, we are presented with a threefold instance of the kind in question. (See “Words and Places,” p. 141.)

[25] This is actually represented in an accompanying map by a small drawing clearly showing the usual form of the arched Roman gate.

[26] Camden’s “Britannia,” by Gibson, 1695, p. 855.

[27] “History of the Anglo-Saxons,” by Sharon Turner, 1823, vol. iii. p. 224.

[28] From the _Entertaining Magazine_, March, 1814.

[29] The heads of the arrows are formed of flint.

[30] A large knife, of a metal resembling brass, was the only implement of a metallic nature discovered in the barrow; it might, therefore, be supposed to have been a present to the British chief from the ‘princely merchants’ of Phœnicia.

[31] The Roman road, raised on flints, goes close to the barrow, and deviates from the straight line on purpose to avoid it: a proof of the antiquity of the barrow and the veneration of the Romans for the dead.

[32] _Hesus_ and _Taranis_, Celtic Deities, of the same character as Woden and Thor in the Saxon mythology.

“Horrensque suis altaribus Hesus Et Taranis, Scythicæ non mitior ara Dianæ.”--LUCAN.

[33] Even in the time of Lucan it was deserted, for he speaks of “desertæ mœnia Lunæ.” (See Lucan, Phars. i. 586.) Bulwer, in his “King Arthur” (Book iv. stanza 14), writes:--

“That old friendly soil Whose ports, perchance, yet glitter with the prows Of Punic ships, when resting from their toil In Luna’s gulf, the seabeat crews carouse.”

[34] Calendar of State Papers, Report on the foundation, history, and present state of St. Katherine’s Hospital.

[35] See _ante_, pp. 3-5.

[36] Freeman, Norm. Conq. (2nd ed.) ii. 237.

[37] England in the Early and Middle Ages, i. 103.

[38] Casters and Chesters (_Cornhill Magazine_, xlv. 434).

[39] Anglo-Saxon Britain (S.P.C.K.), p. 65.

[40] Norman Conquest (2nd ed.), i. 18. It is, however, but right to state that Mr. Freeman may here not have meant what his words would imply. He was probably thinking not of the whole “name” but of the “Glou-,” for elsewhere he observes, “Here and there a place keeps a Welsh name ... like _Gloucester_ and Winchester” (English Towns and Districts, p. 35), and even goes so far as to proclaim, exactly as I am myself doing, that “Our endless _chesters_ everywhere proclaim the fact of their former Roman occupation. But they proclaim it by the name given to it by foreign conquerors, not by any title which the place bore while the rule of Rome lasted.” (_Ibid._ p. 192.)

[41] Roman Britain (S.P.C.K.), p. 180.

[42] Casters and Chesters, p. 423.

[43] _Ibid._ p. 419.

[44] Casters and Chesters, p. 434.

[45] Casters and Chesters, p. 422.

[46] _Ibid._, p. 421. So Mr. Freeman, in the case of Chester, claims that “the name is historically a contraction” (English Towns and Districts, p. 231).

[47] This is the case of “Newport Gate,” from my point of view, over again (_ante_, p. 24).

[48] Stubbs, Const. Hist. i. 104.

[49] P.S.--As it would seem, from the letter of “A. H.” (_ante_, p. 47) that there are people who believe that the Anglo-Saxon “port” was the “equivalent of haven,” or sea-port (_portus_), it may be worth referring to the English Chronicle, where, so late as 1088, Worcester, the town most distant from the sea, is spoken of distinctively as a “port.” The passage is thus rendered by Mr. Freeman: “They came to the port itself, and would then the port burn.” (W. Rufus, i. 47, 48.) In Earle’s “Philology of the English Tongue” (3rd Ed.) it is explained that by _port_ was “signified, in Saxon times, just ‘a town, a market-town.’ This is the sense of it in such compounds as Newport Pagnell” (p. 19). It is, however, erroneously there too “derived from the Latin _porta_, a gate.” It is also worth noting that in the _Quarterly Review_, No. 315 (July, 1884), p. 9, it is asserted that “a port-reeve is the equivalent of a shire-reeve (!): and has nothing to do with _portus_, but much with _porta_”--the very error of which, I hope, I have now effectually disposed.

[50] This _jeu d’esprit_ was written by Sir Joshua Reynolds to illustrate a remark which he had made--“That Dr. Johnson considered Garrick as his property, and would never suffer anyone to praise or abuse him but himself.” In the first of these supposed dialogues, Sir Joshua himself, by high encomiums upon Garrick, is represented as drawing down upon him Johnson’s censure; in the second, Gibbon, by taking the opposite side, calls forth his praise.

It should be added that the _jeu d’esprit_ was printed privately in 1816, given by Lady Thomond to Mrs. Gwynne, who gave it to a lady connected with the family of Wynn of Wynnstay.

[51] The substance of this sermon, in consequence of a strongly expressed wish, will form the subject of a paper in our next number.

[52] In all these quotations I give the words in the old-fashioned version of Garencières, for the French would scarcely be understood by the general reader.

[53] Sometimes, even as at iii. 87, he particularly says that the warning he gives will be utterly useless to prevent the evil announced: “Sang nagera, _captif ne me croiras_.”

[54] Compare this with the demon of Socrates.

[55] In these quatrains I quit Garencières, and translate the rendering and Scholia of Le Pelletier.

[56] This reading of _Lonole_ is from the _Editio princeps_ of Pierre Rigaud (Lyon. 1558. Avec les varientes de Benoist Rigaud. Lyon. 1568). Others read: “_Doudlé_ donra topique.” Garencières reads _Londre_.

[57] _Donra_ is for _donnera_.

[58] _Topique_ simply stands for the common-places of writing, and _Lonole_ is said by Le Pelletier to be the anagram of _Olleon_, or Ολλὑων = Destroyer.

[59] After the death of Elizabeth he became James I.

[60] _Dechassé_ is a Latin form, and stands for _chassé_ simply.

[61] _Par ire_ equals _per iram_, by reason of (popular) fury.

[62] _Tracer_ is an old word equivalent to _faire chemin_, or as we still say in English, to _trace a path_.

[63] _Contre_ equals “aupres a côté de.”

[64] Holland was detached from the Low Countries in 1579. Antwerp stood on Spanish territory on the very confines of Holland. Philip IV. made every possible effort to subdue Holland, and did not give over till the Treaty of Westphalia, which established its independence in 1648, one year before the decapitation of Charles I.

[65] This expression occurs again, Century x. quatrain 7: “L’Isle Britanne par vin sel en soucy.” Wine figuratively standing for heat and courage, or force; whilst salt may represent wisdom, for its incorruptibility as well as wit for its pungency.

[66] _Macelin_; Latin, _marcellum_; Italian, _marcellaio_, butcher.

[67] 1588 is the date of the destruction of Philip II.’s _Invincible Armada_ by storms and by Drake in Cadiz Bay. From that time the maritime supremacy of England dates, and, according to Nostradamus, it is to last more than three centuries, but not four. It culminated with the death of Nelson at Trafalgar, and the tale of that event still stirs the soul to heroism, and to that still more sacred thing, a sense profound of duty. But all that has happened since seems like a slow toning down to gradual nothingness. In four years the bare three centuries will stand completed. An Englishman may ask, I think, with some emotion, how much the _plus_ stands for.

[68] This paper is the substance of a sermon preached in the parish church of St. Mary, Tenby, on Sunday, September 6, 1884, before the Congress of the British Archæological Association, from the text Jeremiah vi. 16: “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”

[69] Mr. Gladstone.

[70] Max Müller, “Science of Religion.”

[71] “Plutarch: His Life, his Lives, and his Morals,” by Archbishop Trench, p. 95.

[72] Discovered in 1779, now in the British Museum.

[73] A.D. 627.

[74] Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, by Dr. Giles, pp. 95, 96.

[75] Arles, 314 A.D.; Sardiæ 347; Ariminum 363.

[76] The Editor has learnt at the last moment that this Jeu d’Esprit is to be found in a work by Miss L. Hawkins. It came to the Editor’s hands in MS., in a private note-book formerly belonging to a member of the family of Wynn, of Wynnstay.

[77] See ANTIQUARIAN MAGAZINE, vol. i. p. 78.

[78] See the frontispiece to the present number.

[79] These pyramids are minutely described by William of Malmesbury.

[80] Speed. I have followed Speed’s description taken from Giraldus, save where Speed, in defiance of all chronology, makes the finding of Arthur to have been during Henry II.’s reign, under Abbot Henry of Blois. The dates show that it was during Richard I.’s reign, under Henry de Soliaco.

[81] Almost certainly Henry de Soliaco, in whose abbey the remains were discovered. Henry of Blois was buried at Winchester.

[82] Journal of the Archæological Institute, vol. xx. p. 395.

[83] See vol. iii. p. 144.