Hntiauities. Gutio0ities^'v^'?'"T Cburcb, . . . IMIIIIIIIIII . ill I EDITED BY Timuitam BnM'ews. Antiquities and Curiosities OF THE Church. "WoxU 6g nrifftam ®.nbrew6 S.(5.i.^. Mr. Andrews' books are always interesting. — Church Bells. No student of Mr. Andrews' books can be a dull after-dinner speaker, for his writings are full of curious out-of-the-way information and good stories. -Birmingham Daily Gazette. Mr. Andrews' works are a rich mine of curious learning, displayed in an attractive iorm.—" Echoes of the IVeek," by Mr. G. A. Sala. I think your labours, writes the Right Hon. IV._ E. Gladstone to Mr. Andrews, of real interest and value in their illustration of Old English Life. Curiosities of the Church. We feel sure that many will feel grateful to Mr. Andrews for having produced such an interesting book. — The Antiquary. A volume of great research and striking interest. — y/ic Bookbuycr (New York). Contains in a popular and readable form, much that is curious and instructive.— Manchester Guardian. An interesting, handsomely got up volume. . . . Mr. Andrews is always chatty and e.vpert in making a paper on a dry subject exceedingly xe^A^SAe..— Newcastle Courant. An admirable hooV..She_ffield Independent. Old Church Lore. Ml . Andrews' book does not contain a dull page. . . . De.serves to meet with a very warm welcome. — Yorkshire Post. A worthy book on a deeply interesting subject. . . . We commend this book strongly. — European Mail. An interesting volume. — The Scotsman. The book is eminently readable, and may be taken up at any moment with the certainty that something sugge.stive or entertaining will present \t5ft\^.— Glasgow Citizen. Curious Church Customs. A thoroughly e.\cellent \io\\ime.— Publishers' Circular We are indebted to Mr. Andrews for an invaluable addition to our library of folk-lore, and we do not think that many who take it up will skip a single p^ge.— Dundee A dvertiser. Very interesting. — 'To-Day. Mr. Andrews is too practised an historian not to have made the most of his subject. — Review of Revietvs. A handsomely got up and interesting volume.— r/;f Fiteside. Curious Church Gleanings. The volume is full of quaint glimpses of the past, and it will repay the student who consults its pages which are on the whole pleasant reading.— J/(7;«/«^ Post. A volume of quaint and pleasing information.— CAf.r^(?>- Courant. The volume, which is beautifully printed and illustrated, will fascinate the reader by its diversity, its instructive e.\position, and its record of what is odd, mystical, and glorious in the Church's ?ca-c\2\s.— Birmingham Daily Gazette. A most entertaining work, and useful to antiquaries and socialogists as a book of reference. — Leeds Mercury. ^ fZTT^' kjlh^'^'J^"^"^ ^' EAST WINDOW, YORK MINSTER. (^nix<\uxtHs Cuvio6xtm . ♦ ♦ OF THE CpMtCp, ♦ ♦ • I'.DITKI) P,V ^ifftain (^nbret»6. LONDON : WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., 5, FARRINGDON AVENUE, E.G. 1897. 67^^2 IPrcfacc. T~^ NCOURAGED by the welcome given to my previous works prepared on similar lines to the present volume, I send forth this collection of new studies on old themes, hoping that it will entertain and instruct those interested in our National Church. William Andrews. The Hull Press, Holy Cross Day, i8g6. M7G0050 Contents. PAGE Church History and Historians. By Cuming Wallers. - i Supernatural Interference in Church Bun ding. By W. E. A. Axon, F.R.s.L. - 17 Ecclesiastical Sy.mbolism in Architecture. By Rev. J. Hudson Barker, b.a. ---.... 21 Acoustic Jars. By George C. Yaies, k.s.a. - . . . ^^ Cryi'Ts. By John T. Page. 44 Heathen Customs at Christian Feasts. By Rev. A. N. Cooper, M.A. --.-.... ^^ Fish and Fasting. By Rev. J. Hudson Barker, b.a. - - . 71 Shrove-tide and Lenten Customs. By Rev. J. Hudson Barker, B.a. 78 Wearing Hats IN Church. By William Andrews, f.r.h.s. - 88 The Stool of Repentance. By Cuming Wallers. . - . 94 Cursing by Bell, Book, and Candle. By Rev. Canon Benham, b.d., f.s.a. - - - - - - - m Pulpits. By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, b.a. .... 121 Church Windows. By Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, b.a. - - - 137 Alms-Boxes and Alms Dishes. By Thomas Frosi. - - 154 Old Collectinc; Boxes. By H. Syer Cuming, f.s.a., Scot. - 162 Gargoyles. By T. Tindall Wildridge. 168 Curious \'anes. By William .\ndre\vs, k.k.h.s. - - - 175 People and Steei'LE Rhymes. By William Andrews, f.r.h.s. 183 Sun-Dials. By Thomas Frosl. 189 Jack of THE Ci.ocK-HousE. By William .Andrews, f.r.h.s. - 200 Games in Churchyards. By England Howlett. - - - 215 Circular Churchyards. By Rev. Elias Owen, m.a., f.s.a. - 229 Church and Churchyard Charms and Cures. By Rev. R. Wilkins Rees. ........ 236 Yew Trees in Churchyards. By T. N. Brushfield, m.d. - 256 Index. 279 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES OF THE CHURCH. ->— ^-♦-•— <- Church Ibistor^ anb Ibi^torians. By Cuming Walters. IN one of his lectures on Literature, Thomas Carlyle tells us that we should altogether fail to discover the meaning of the Historical Period in the Middle Ages if we did not lay deeply to heart the meaning of Christianity. The story of the Church in early days ; of how it grew on in neglect and indifference ; of how from a passing allusion by Tacitus and another by Pliny, it came to have books of its own, whole libraries, and a department in literature — all this tends to show that Church history is largely the history of the nation's progress. The pioneers of early ecclesiasticism are the leaders of thought like Justin Martyr, Origen, Irenaius, TertulHan, and Cyprian, and their task was the diffusion of Christian truths, 1 2 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. and the spreading of Church work. " The Church and the loyalty of the time," Carlyle says, " were the two hinges of society ; and that society was in consequence distinguished from all societies which had preceded it, presenting an infinitely greater diversity of view, a better humanity, a largeness of capacity," The work of writing Church history extends over sixteen hundred years, beginning in its systematic form with the massive treatises of the learned and holy Eusebius of Caesarea. His " Demonstratio Evangelica" in twenty books, and "Ecclesiastical History" in ten books, mark the beoinninofs of that ever-swellingr stream of Church literature whose actual springs, however, must be sought in the more obscure writings of authors and scribes who lived in the earliest days of the Church's existence. From the time of the good Bishop of Caesarea to these days when ecclesiastical works form a library of their own, ever increasing in magnitude, nations have risen and fallen and many dynasties changed, but the history that Eusebius begfan has been unbroken and still continues. It is a far cry to his times, and far different to his are the methods which historians have since pursued, and still pursue. Eusebius CHURCH HISTORY AND HISTORIANS. 3 declined to record the divisions of the Christians, beHeving that the record would be injurious ; but now, every section has its chronicler, while the history of theolotrical controversy has become almost of appalling magnitude. Perhaps the most saddening feature of Church history in the main is that it is so largely the history of bickering and dissension, of changes and conflicts, of persecution and martyrdom. Yet in all this, too, some satis- faction is to be found that the Church should have produced such heroes and dialecticians, and should have been endued with such vital and triumphant power. In its unsystematic and its unconscious form Church history may be said to originate in the records and decrees of the councils, the official publications of bishops, popes, and clergy, the promulgated la,ws, the liturgies and service books, the inscriptions, calendaries, matyrologies, letters, and reports. These are the stray, casual, disjected sections of the first chapter in that history which has become so voluminous. We owe some of the annals to what would seem to be merely accidental circumstances, and their sur- vival from ancient times is not the least remark- able fact to be noted. That many are of dubious 4 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. origin is of course inevitable, and yet the primary sources of Church history are by no means so polluted as might have been supposed. In the course of generations, too, the true has been sifted from the false, and the genuine from the fabulous. It devolved upon the earliest historians to collate the assortment of facts presented in these documents, and by investigation to discover how the gaps should be filled, and the disjointed records dove-tailed and connected. The material for history slowly accumulated, but the historian was yet to arise who should marshal the facts in order and systematically undertake a work with one definite purpose and end. Two of the first names associated with such a labour are Eusebius of Csesarea and Julius Africanus, the fathers of Church history proper. They probably worked from models, but those models can only be vaguely guessed at, and are untraced. Their works formed a basis for the histories which followed in various languages during several succeeding centuries, though the names of the historians are (except to the expert) little more than a meaningless and uninteresting list. Thus we may set down in all its bareness the fact that the history of Eusebius, extending to 324 a.d., CHURCH HISTORY AND HISTORIANS. 5 was continued by Socrates to 439, by Sozomen to 423, by Theodoret to 428, by Philostorgius to 425, by Theodore to 527, and by Evag-rius to 594. An Arabic chronicle fills the gap to 937, and the Greek historians brought the record down to 1330. More important were the Latin writers, a series of whom, beginning with a translation of Eusebius, produced works which stood the test of many centuries and in some cases served as text- books to the time of the Reformation. The names of Cassiodorus and Jerome stand out most prominently in this brilliant category. Cassiodorus who, in the sixth century, after seventy years of labour for the State founded a monastery, and devoted himself to letters, gave that impetus to monkish literature which has never lost its force. His own library contained the accumulations of half-a-century, and it was under his guidance and influence that the transcription and multiplication of sacred and precious manuscripts began. His system made the monks the finest of scribes, and led to a diffusion of knowledge which, before the era of printing, was as much to be wondered at as commended. His own spare time he devoted to original compositions, and dying at the age of 6 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. one hundred he left the treasury of sacred Htera- ture richer than he found it. From this beiiJfin- ning arose the mass of beautifully transcribed manuscripts which for nearly ten centuries were the world's only books. The monks wrote and re-wrote the Lives of the Saints, the Creeds, the legends and traditions of good men, the favourite portions of the Church's history interwoven some- times with fragments of the nation's history, and moral disquisitions, such as St. Jerome's noble and elevated appeal to the rich to practice self- abnegation. In addition they copied the Scriptures with that loving care and embellish- ment which make the rare specimens as delightful as they are wondrous in the eyes of the present generation. The monastic libraries and scrip- toriums kept letters alive, developed learning, and made Church history possible. The products of these bygone times being difficult of access, the modern student has to trust chiefly to the researches and compilations of learned and zealous men who have drawn from the ancient repositories their wealth of lore. Thus the history of Latin Christianity, including that of the Popes to the Pontificate of Nicholas v., which was completed and published by Dr. CHURCH HISTORY AND HISTORIANS. 7 Milman, Dean of St. Paul's, in 1856, will satisfy most requirements. Dean Milman with care and insio-ht went over the voluminous authorities upon which we depend for our knowledge of the Church during the Middle Ages, and his results are set forth with fulness and freedom. In particular he was able to show how in rude times, the clergy by their almost exclusive possession of the advantages of education, by their gifts of reading and writing, by their control of schools and universities, secured a mastery of temporal affairs. "Not only from their sacred character, but from their intellectual superiority, they are in the courts, in the councils, of kings ; they are the negotiators, the ambassadors of sovereigns, they alone can read and draw up state papers, compacts, treaties, or frame laws. Writing is almost their special mystery ; the notaries, if not tonsured, as they mostly were, are directed and ordered by the clergy ; they are in general the servants and agents of ecclesiastics. In every kingdom in Europe the clergy form one of the estates, balance or blindly lead the nobles ; and this too, not merely as churchmen and enrolled in the higher services of God, but from their felt and acknowledged pre-eminence in the adminis- 8 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. tration of temporal affairs." Is it wonderful that these men should loom so largely in national history, and is it surprising that the history of the Church as written by the earlier chroniclers should be to so great an extent a history of the country ? It is just probable that a fabulous element enters into some of the stories of the monkish labours. Of Origen, one of the third century bishops, it is stated that not only did he perform tremendous labours devolving upon him as a head of the Church but that he supervised the pro- duction of no fewer than six thousand volumes, himself writing as much as seven notaries could copy every day. There is no doubt, however, that during a long period the brotherhoods were the preservers and the writers of histories, the masters of their crafts, and that to them we owe classic biographies, sermons, creeds, and the unexcelled commentaries of the Fathers. Patristic literature survived by their efforts. It seems the merest chance that some im- portant works have escaped the fate that befell so many others of the same class. The ancient works of Eusebius himself have come down to us almost unimpaired, whereas many of much later CHURCH HISTORY AND HISTORIANS. 9 date have irretrievably perished. By curious fortune we have left to us the " Chronicon ex Chronicis " of Florence, the Worcester monk, who gathered together the leading facts in Christian history down to the year of his death, 11 19. Sometimes there is a difficulty in distinguishing the theologian from the historian. St. Jerome who must be ranked as one of the latter was a great controversialist, and his writings abound in bitter attacks upon all who disagreed with his views and acted contrary to them. Yet it is remarkable also that these makers of literature, these preservers of material for a history of the Church and Christian progress, have also at times been the great destroyers of books, and the opponents of authors. Abbot Hartmut to satisfy his personal spleen mutilated the incomparable work of Notker, surnamed the Stammerer. The elder Disraeli in his chapter on the " Recovery of Manuscripts " relates how at the restoration of letters the monasteries were searched, and valuable works were discovered rotting in oblivion in dark unfrequented corners in cellars, under piles of rubbish, and in decayed coffers ; and after recordino- some of the instances with indignation and disgust, he observes: — "The lo ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. monks have been complimented as the preservers of Hterature, but by facts hke the present their real affection may be doubted." It must, how- ever be remembered that all the difference was made between sacred and " profane " literature, and while the former was treasured the latter was held as of no account, and even Viro-il and Horace were designated " dogs." But the wilful destruction of books by contending sects is one of the saddest chapters in the world's history, and we are the poorer to-day in consequence of the burning of the libraries at the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of the Eighth Henry. But for this sacrifice how much richer the history of the Church would now be, and what greater magnitude it would assume ! Rome, however, which had encouraged literature up to a certain limit, ended by dreading its expansion. Hallam records that "books were unsparingly burned" by order of the Popes, while the " Index Expurgatorius " proved, and still proves, to be as destructive in its effects as fire itself While destroying on the one hand, the Roman Catholic Church has so clone much on the other hand for literature that it would be unjust to condemn the one action without praising the other. The CHURCH HISTORY AND HISTORIANS. ii " Acta Sanctorum " of the Bollandists, begun in the seventeenth century and extending to over sixty volumes, must at least be put to the credit of the authors as an unmatched piece of Church history. Turning to comparatively modern times we find during the great development of letters that the master-works in Church History have been produced by the Germans, whose patient researches and whose exhaustive compilations, to say nothing of their profound arguments, have made their voluminous writings of the utmost value. The Germans have, indeed, exceeded English Divines in this mighty task, and while we can boast of a lustrous line of scholars such as Milman, Hook, Stanley, Newman, Robertson, Stubbs, Wordsworth, and Creighton, the fame of their writings is exceeded by Schrockh's five-and- thirty volumes, by the impartial and thorough treatises of Ernst Christian Schmidt, by the laborious investigations of Gieseler, and by the masterpieces of Ranke, Jacobi, Hagenbach, and Neander. Nevertheless, England can claim the second place for her Church historians, and it is a long and brilliant line of writers from the time of Bede which can be marshalled to support and to 12 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. justify the contention. Our prose literature begins with Bede's Ecclesiastical History, and his erudition is the more remarkable when we remember that a century later King Alfred said there was not one priest south of the Thames who could render his service-book into English. Thanks to the o-reat Kind's stimulatino- influence o o o learning revived ; Caedmon chanted his relio-ious lyrics, and in time the monasteries began to put forth original writings, paraphrases, and scripts. The early poets, if they did not act as historians, kept the ecclesiastical spirit alive, until at last Wyclif arose in the fourteenth century, and began that literary and religious revival which had a permanent influence upon the Church and the people. He ranks both as expositor and historian ; Ten Brink very aptly says that though he gave the nation no single work of art he gave it new ideas and a multitude of stimulating influences — influences which were seen immed- iately in the activity of his followers who helped on the Renaissance made glorious by Chaucer. The way was rapidly being prepared for poets, philosophers and theologians ; literary activity and the systematic chronicling of all great move- ments connected with the State and the Church CHURCH HISTORY AND HISTORIANS. 13 became recognised as customary, and to some extent regarded as requisite. Various move- ments in religious life called for notice, while age-long controversies ever have been, and continue to be, productive of much literature. We find the Benedictines and Oratorians keeping their faithful registers and catalogues, and the patristic writings at least inform us as to the ceremonies observed in early times. But all this was largely a sort of preparation for work of greater scope which was yet to be undertaken. The pioneers were clearing a way for men of a different stamp — for that cluster of writers whose volumes are monumental, for those true and sound historians whose work was planned upon a larger scale than any that had gone before, and who laboured towards a designed end. These were the men of pre- Reformation and post-Reformation times, men like Jewel, Hooker, Bingham, Usher, Fuller, Pearson, Beveridge, and Burnet. Then there was Foxe whose " Acts and Monuments of these latter and perilous dayes touching matters of the Church," otherwise the Book of Martyrs, was an eleven years' task and an instalment of Church History unparalleled for tragic gloom and horror. The treatise on the Laws of 14 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Ecclesiastical Polity to which the "judicious Hooker" devoted his life is a stalwart defence of the Church which seems destined never to be swept away or shaken. These men were writing of the Church out of pure love and zeal, and to know, and spread the knowledge of, its foundation were the surest methods of preserving it against the attacks of Puritans on the one side and of Papists on the other. A favourite form of Romanist attack was to ask, " Where was your Church before the Reformation ? " and perhaps no better reply in its way was discovered than that given by Sir Henry Wotton, who asked the inquirer — " Where was your face this morning before it was washed ? " It was necessary in those days of bitter conflict, of matyrdom, and pamphleteering " Marprelates," that the story of the Church's foundation should be familiar to the Church's defenders, and herein lay the significance and importance of those annals, chronologies, retro- spects, and chronicles by which the learned Usher, Archbishop of Armagh, quaint Thomas Fuller, and numerous others of the same school, with John Knox in Scotland, and Grotius and Calixtus on the Continent, achieved their fame. History for history's sake alone, however, has CHURCH HISTORY AND HISTORIANS. 15 seldom been written by theologians and eccles- iasts ; sooner or later it merges into controversy. It is amid many of the controversial works of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries that much good history is embedded, as is speedily evidenced by reference to the memorable volumes we owe to Gilbert Burnet, Tindal, Paley, Jeremy Collier, Warburton, Joseph Butler, and Stillingfleet. Some of the most massive and sustained pieces of literature which the world knows have been those which relate to the Church, and its development, its changes, and its members. Take, for instance, the " Liber Pontificalis," the work of many hands, containing the lives of the early Popes ; and the " Madgeburg Centuries," thirteen folio volumes, comprising the history of thirteen centuries, written by the Lutherans at Madgeburg. The latter comprehensive work evoked a '' reply " of almost equal magnitude, Caesar Baronius issuing his "Annals" in twelve folio volumes ; and this reply became in turn a challenge which was taken up by various sections of theologians. The leadinor desire in each case was to prove by means of history that the true Church existed on its original foundations. As i6 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. sects arose, books multiplied. The Lombards, the Puritans, the Lutherans, the Episcopalians, the Reformers, Eno-Hsh and Scotch, all had their historians, in turn, just as in later times there have been the historians of the Wesleyans and the Puseyites, Germany produced the Prag- matical school represented by Schrockh, and France's greatest historian has been the free- thinking Renan. But almost invariably polemics have been mingled extensively with history, and history with polemics, in the writings of the last century. Great and diverse as are the histories of the Church, how much that can be surmised still remains unwritten. The spirit of the early ages was not so much a speaking or a writing spirit, as a working spirit. The builders of the cathedrals were the chroniclers of their times as surely as the scribes in the monasteries. But whichever way we look we find a literature prolific and monuments magnificent, all alike bearing their testimony to the force which the Church has exerted upon the intellect of the race, the excellence she has drawn from men's gifts, and the devotion she has won from labourers in all fields. Supernatural Sntcrferencc in Cburcb BuilMng. Bv William E. A. Axox., f.r.s.l. I ^HERE are few things more curious in the J- folk-lore of architecture than the many traditions and legends as to the change of sites for churches in obedience to supernatural agency. At West Walton, near Wisbech, there is a detached tower standing near the churchyard gate. Originally, a local legend declares, it adjoined the church until the Devil, for some unexplained reason, took a special dislike to it, and decided to remove it. But instead of employing his own imps, he engaged a "number of people" of the human race to carry it off. They were strong, for they got the tower on their shoulders, but they were not intelligent, as they could not get it through the gate which was too narrow, or over the churchyard wall which was too high for them, and so after marchino- all round in search of an outlet, they dropped it where it now stands. It is said that a field, known as the Savyne i8 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Croft, was the site intended for the church of Alfriston, but each night the stones laid during the day were thrown by invisible agencies over the houses and into a field called " The Tye," where the church now stands. One of the village wiseacres saw four oxen lying asleep, rump to rump, and this suggested the cruciform shape of the building ! Waldron Church was originally to have been in a meadow on Horeham Farm, and the proof is that it is still called Church Field, At Udimore it is said that the church was in process of erection on the other side of the river Ree, but the stones were removed in the night, and a ghostly voice was heard calling, " O'er the mere, o'er the mere " — a phrase in which, as the rustics pronounce it, they recognise the origin of Udimore. When Mayfield Church was erected, St. Dunstan noticed that it did not stand accurately east and west, and putting his stalwart shoulder to the wall, he shoved the building into its proper orientation. This was the timber church. When it was re-placed by a stone church, the Devil was actively engaged in un- doing the work of the builders, and his footprint lono: remained visible in one of the neighbouring quarries. Etchingham Church was once sur- CHURCH BUILDING. 19 rounded by a moat, and, according- to the local tradition, at the bottom of the water there is a great bell. It will never be visible until six yoke of white oxen drag it again to the light of day. There is a somewhat similar legend at Istield. Wrexham Church would have been built at Bryn-y-ffynnon but for the fairies. In the night time they undid what the workmen had done in the day, and when a watch was set, a voice was heard crying, " Bryn-y-grog," and the owner of the land so called, was thus induced to give a site which he had previously refused. At Den- bigh may be seen the ruined chapel which Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, began to build on a magnificent scale, but his ostentation was grreater o o than his piety, and supernatural agency defeated his intention. The antagonistic agencies are variously des- cribed. Sometimes it is the Evil One himself; sometimes the "fairies" ; at Breedon the materials were removed by doves ; at Leyland by a cat ; and at Winwick by a pig. At Cashel the disturbing element was a bull, whose nostrils flashed fire, but one of St, Patrick's converts dropped on to its back from a convenient rock, 20 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. and tore it asunder. The impress of the bull's side may still be seen on the wall ! At Godreforth, near Llandew, the church walls fell down as fast as they were put up until the first site was abandoned and the present one adopted. Stones were brought from the Voelallt rock, and for this purpose two oxen were em- ployed. One died, and the other, after many demonstrations of sorrow, lowed three times, whereupon the rock was shattered, and there was no further difficulty in getting stones for the erection of the tower. Folk-lore contains much fossil mythology, and if we have not always the key that will fully unlock its mysteries, it seems clear that these traditions point to Pagan rather than Christian ideas. That they should survive even in their present attenuated form is a striking fact. i£cclc6iastical Symbolism in Brcbitccturc. Bv THE Rev. J, Hudson Barker, d.a. WHEREIN lies the beauty of poetry ? We believe it is in the appeal of the beautiful in outward form, and intellectual meaning" to the aesthetic sentiment of the soul. " As imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name."* But this art is not confined to the poet's pen. Poetry existed long before the age of letters, and was expressed in other ways than by carefully metred line and rhythmic stanza. There is a bold wealth of soul-speaking poetry in the most primitive of hieroglyphic word-painting and un- written popular mythology, no less than in the sweet lyrics of Herrick or Burns, or the melodious idylls of Tennyson. To tell to others '' those thoughts which do often lie too deep for tears," by whatever means, whether by pen, by chisel, or by brush, is poetry. " Shakespeare. 22 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Over and over again has architecture been called the poetry of the Middle Ages, In an age when printing was as yet unknown, the ideas of genius had to be embodied in lasting form legible to other minds, and of these forms one was architec- ture. The cathedrals, the minsters, and the abbeys of the Middle Ages were not only the places of worship for the people and the abodes of the monks and religious bodies, they were also the mode of expressing the deep thoughts and ideas of master minds. Religfious thoughts, instead of being thrown into hymns, and sermons, and sacred poems so widely as in later times (though this did take place, to some extent, in written manuscript), found scope for expression in the sublime edification and magnificent ornamentation of Gothic architecture. Goethe, the great German poet, has called Gothic architecture "a petrified religion." It is so. Religious thought is embodied in stonework. In our modern churches we re-copy the thoughts expressed in the past by those master builders. Just to take a few instances of symbolism in architecture. We will begin with the foundation. Have you ever noticed how the ground-plan of so many of our old churches forms the figure of a SYMBOLISM. 23 cross ? The nave forms the lower part of the cross, the chancel forms the upper part, and the transepts form the cross arms. Here is the groundwork of a poem in itself. But often we find in the building of the church that the chancel and south aisle have not been made straight, but with a curve towards the north. Such is the case with Peterborough Cathedral, and in the North Country with the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, Newcastle, and with the tiny old church of Whitburn. In such a case the chancel is called a " Weeping Chancel," and does not occur in any but very old churches. It is the presentation of a beautiful little poem. For the chancel slopes towards the north, because, so tradition says, the head of the dying Redeemer fell slowly over on his shoulder towards the north, as the light went from his eyes, and the last sound failed from his lips of the trustful cry, " Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." But the cruciform is not the only shape of the ground-plan. There are some few churches in England usually called Round Churches, like St. Sepulchre's at Cambridge, and the Temple Church, in its quiet corner just outside the din and bustle 24 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. of Fleet Street, which are round in shape, not Hke the Cohseum or the modern opera house for acoustical properties, but for the em- bodiment of a lengthy poem — a poem filled with the ambitious aspirations of the Crusades, an ambition culminating- in the attainment of the Holy Sepulchre, — blighted hopes, and longings, the only relics of which are seen in these few foundations of the Knights Templar, wherein they copy the figure of a sepulchre — the Holy Sepulchre, to which they aspired, but to us v/ho read, the sepulchre of their dead hopes. The church of Little Maplestead, Essex, is an interesting example of a round church. It is said to have been built towards the close of the twelfth century. Many of our churches are basilica-shaped, i.e., oblong-shaped, often with a semi-circular apse at the end. They are built after the pattern of the ancient Roman Civil Courts of Justice, and to us the very shape is a poem telling that here, whatever injustice may reign outside, here is the abode of justice, for this is the house of the Judge of all the earth. Proceeding from the foundation, we look at the building itself. The porch, the nave, and the SYMBOLISM. 27 chancel have been compared to the division of the world into Pagans, Jews, and Christians in an ascending scale. The nave itself embodies in its name and shape a pleasing poetic thought, it is a ship. Look up at the vaulted roof and you see the inverted hull. It symbolises the ark of Christ's Church, wherein the refugee finds shelter from the flood of sin and ignorance without. The arches resting on the massive pillars, some clustered, others solid in their own perfection, support the roof and raise it skyward. Even so the span of mortal life resting upon the pillars of virtue raise the soul heavenward. The pillars, that tower so far up in the interior, seem in the Perpendicular Style to pass on upward in the pinnacles of the exterior, as we gaze from the base, almost to an infinity, filling the soul with indescribable feelings, not of mere aestheticism, but of highest spiritual yearnings and aspirations — the true end of poetry is gained. There, again, is a great east window, con- sisting of three windows, but the three together only form the one great window of the east. It is a poem in stonework, telling the glorious mystery of the Trinity, the great Three in One. Magnificent are the poems written in the mere 28 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. numbers of architecture. Here is one window standing by itself. It denotes the Oneness of the Deity, in whose church we are. There are two side Hghts forming but one window ; we are reminded that Christ has two natures, the Godhead and the Manhood, yet forms but one person. Here, again, are three equal windows; they tell of the three persons of the Trinity. The pulpit has four steps, because it rests upon the four Gospels, and everything preached from that pulpit should breathe the spirit of those Gospels. We might print pages upon the mystic magic meaning of numbers in these poems of stone. How that four again represents the commandments of the first stone inscribed by the finger of God on Horeb, and also all thintrs created, com- prehended within the four corners of the earth. How that five represents Christ and the four evangelists who tell of Him. How that six symbolises the worship of God by the Cherubim, who in Isaiah's vision are clothed with six wings, and, moreover represents our duty to our neigh- bour, the six commandments on the second stone of Sinai. How that seven is the perfect number, representing the completion of all things human SYMBOLISM. 29 and Divine ; being made up of three the repre- sentation of the Deity, and four the representation of the universe, since, in old philosophy, all things are composed of the four elements. How that it often denotes the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit. Eight is the symbol of "many called but few- chosen," for after the warning of 120 years only eight persons were saved in the ark. Nine is the square of the Divine number three, and in archi- tecture has always had a prominent position, as in the Chapel of the Nine Altars at the east end of Durham Cathedral. " Three times three is a mystery, Which none but a mason can solve." Ten symbolises the commandments which must be kept by every worshipper there. Eleven re- presents the Apostles, minus Judas. Twelve represents the Apostles. Thirteen (in popular parlance the luckless number for this very reason), represents Christ and the Apostles. But when we look at the fiorures carved on capital and over arch, the storehouse of poetry is filled to overflowing. Here is a bunch of grapes — the emblem of the Vine of Heaven. Many a lily is found symbolising the purity of Him who says, " I am the Lily." " Ego flos vallium sum." 3o ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. The great rose window, of which magnificent specimens can be seen at the east of Durham Cathedral, and the west of Peterborough is the companion to it, speaking of the Rose of Sharon, It is a full-blown rose, because by the Holy Spirit the Saviour of Mankind is fully revealed under the Christian dispensation. Here is a sculptured sunflower, telling in mystic form of how the soul turns to God for lioht and warmth. In Roslyn Chapel the chrysanthemum appears ; for many years a puzzle to antiquaries till the knowledge of the architect's relation to Spain, and the mediaeval Spanish overland correspondence with China and Japan, proves it the flower of the East — the symbol of the Rising Sun of Rig-hteousness. To every race in every time flowers have been the symbol of poetic thought. When we come to carving of stalls and misericordes the scope of poetic skill is still further extended, though too often it is perhaps degraded, as in the sow-playing, pig-dancing scene of the misericorde of St. Mary's, Richmond, once in Easby Abbey. Lower still there is a spice of comic poetry in the pun upon the name SYMBOLISM. 31 of the old Abbot Bamton of Easby, made into the figure of a tun of wine, with a pastoral staff stuck through it, and the rather suggestive syllable Ba above it, somewhat after the spirit of Hood's comic pieces. The carved or sculptured reredos gives op- portunity for sublime and striking expression of religious poetic thought. In the charming little carved but simple reredos at All Saints, West Harton, we see copied much of the symbolic teaching of earlier times. The reredos is com- posed of seven panels in a lovely blending of colours — terra-cotta, and green, and gold. There are seven, for that is the perfect number. The centre panel is left unfilled, and forms the background for the great cross upon the gradine, which stands out golden in the afternoon's sun, streaming in by the western window until the last gleam of sunset dies out from the sky, In the alternate panels on either side are the figures of angels, four in all, bearing in their hands each a golden shield, on which are marked the signs of the Saviour's passion. These angels' wings are edged with gold, which gleam out under the same afternoon sun, conspicuous to the extreme end of the nave, two oruardian aneel 32 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. forms on either side the central cross. There are four angels, as it were the spirits of the four evangelists, who, in their Gospels, tell the story of the central cross and of the passion, the signs of which those angels bear upon their shields, and again it brings the thought that that passion was endured for all men gathered from the four winds of heaven, the tidings of which is borne to them "by the four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth." The first angel hath a shield of eold, and on the shield a crilded crown of thorns. The second angel hath a shield of gold, and on the shield a haiunier for the driving in of nails through hands and tender insteps, and a pair of pincers, also gilded, for the drawing of those nails when the Crucified One is dead. The third anoel hath a shield of o'old, and on the shield three dice, and in between three nails — the dice for casting of the lots on His vesture, and the nails for rending the flesh of the Crucified One, whose robes they would not rend. The fourth angel likewise hath a shield of gold, and thereon is a flagellum or whip for scourging, and crosswise with it a spear, like unto the spear wherewith one of the soldiers pierced His side, and forthwith from the broken heart SYMBOLISM. 33 of the dead Crucified One came there out blood and water. The crown of thorns, the hammer and the pincers, the dice and nails, the whip of many cords, and the spear are gilded, for shame and suffering are at last transfigured into glory. Architecture has this advantatre over written poetry, that it can give to the soul in a single flash a perfect epic. To gaze up into the vast dome of St. Peter's at Rome, or at St. Paul's in London, fills the soul in one short moment with that feeling of sublimity which is gained by hours of patient reading of " Paradise Lost." To gaze up through the dim religious light into the fretted vaulting of a Gothic minster, fills the intellect with a mysterious hint of knowledge not yet acquired, the heart with an inexplicable emotion, the soul with an intense yearning, and we close our eyes with reverence and devotion ! There has been something more than merely met the eye. " It is the mind that sees : the outward eyes Present the object, but the mind descries." acoustic 3ar6. Bv Geo. C. Y.ates, f.s.a. THE old jars found in various churches are supposed to have been used for the purpose of improving the resonance of the sacred echfice, after the manner of the brazen " Echeia," noticed by Vitruvius,* as used in some ancient Roman Theatres. "It is certain," writes Sir E. Beckett,t " that the ancients had devices for improving the acoustics of large buildings, besides their better knowledge of the requisite proportions, which we have lost altogether ; for in the days of the vast ancient theatres, such as the Coliseum at Rome, ten times as many people could see and hear as in modern churches. And they had a peculiar contrivance of horizontal pots along the seats, which are understood to have augmented the sound in the same way as a short and wide tube presented to a hemispherical bell when struck, augments its sound." Hence the jars * Lib. V. c. s. Cf., Smith's Dictionary of Roman Antiquities; Art, " Theatrum." t Book on Building (1880) 281. ACOUSTIC JARS. 35 which have been occasionally discovered during the restoration of certain churches in different parts of the country, have generally been con- sidered survivals of this old custom. In Norwich the first discovery of these jars was Position of Acoustic Jars in St. Peter's, Mancroft Church. A. A. Site of Trench and Wall containing Acoustic Jars. made at the Church of St. Peter, of Mancroft, in 1850, where, immediately under that part of the church formerly occupied by the choir stalls, were found two trenches running eastward as far as the stalls probably extended, being returned towards 36 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. the west where the screen stood, and discontinued for four feet at the entrance of the choir ; in fact, lying- hke two letters L J placed face to face. Each trench measured thirty inches wide, about three feet deep, paved at the bottom with yellow glazed tiles about eight inches square, and A. Choir Stall. B. Book Board. C. Trench. D. Opening. E. Low Ruhhle Wall. F. Acoustic jar. St. Peter's, per Mountergate, Norwich. lined or bounded on either side by a low rubble wall one foot in thickness, into which wall were built numerous red earthen jars, having their mouths directed towards each other, within the trench, and presenting the appearance of guns ACOUSTIC JARS. 37 projecting from a ship's side. Ten years later a second discovery was made at St, Peter, per iMountergate, of a similar character. A probable conjecture of the system is furnished by the jars at St. Peter, Mancroft, having no ears nor handles. Those at St. Peter, per Mountergate had both. Mr. Gordon Hills* mentions two interestinor finds — one was at East Harling Church, Norfolk, where four jars were brought to light during repairs of the roof, arranged at about equal spaces along the north side of the chancel, and restino- upon the top of the wall above the wall-plate. The other discovery was at the church of Leeds, near Maidstone, Kent ; where forty-eight to fifty-two earthenware pots were found, in August, 1878, embedded in the top of the nave wall on both sides of the church, immediately under the wall-plate. Below the jars in the north side was discovered a very remarkable arrange- ment consisting of two soundholes, made apparently for the purpose of carrying the effect into the north aisle. These jars have been pronounced to be of Romano- British make. * Jl. of Arch-Associatiun, xxxv., 95. 38 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. In other parts of England, the archaeologist has had brought under his notice specimens of the same practice. At Fairwell, Staffordshire — found while the church was being pulled down, in 1747 ; at Denford Church, Northamptonshire ; at St. Peter's Upton Church, near Newark ; at St. Position of Acoustic Jars in St. Peter's, per Mountergate, Norwich. Olave's, Chichester ; and at St Clement's Church, Sandwich, high up in the chancel. .Two cases were discovered in Devonshire, one at Luppitt Church, and the other at Ashburton, where the jars were found on the inside of the chancel walls in 1838, when in the course of repairs the old plaster was removed. ACOUSTIC JARS. 39 The jars lay on their sides, their mouths directed to the inside of the church, covered over with a piece of slate to each, and that hid behind the plaster.* At Fountains Abbey, several earthenware vessels were discovered in removing the earth and stones from the floor in the basement of the now destroyed choir screen, at the entrance to the choir. These jars were laid in mortar on their sides, and then surrounded with the solid stonework, " their necks extending from the wall like cannons from the side of a ship." This was, in all probability, an acoustic contrivance similar to those already mentioned, but several explanations have been suggested for their existence, one being that these jars were used to burn incense, but their mouths must have been hidden when the stalls were standing. Another solution is that they were intended to receive the ashes of the heart, or some other portion of the body, in case a canon attached to the church should will that any part of his remains should be so deposited. Other suggestions are, that they were for wine, etc., to drink success to the commencing building ; ■■' J. A., A. xxxviii., 38, 219. T.R.I.B.A., May 29, 1S54. 40 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. for dove-cotes or columbaria ; for warming appar- atus; for ventilation; but most probably for acoustic purposes. The question first received the attention of French archeeologists upon the discovery at Aries ; and was a second time brouQfht under their notice, in 1861 by a Swedish architect and two Russian architects, who made inquiry of the Parisian savants as to whether "cornets" or pots of baken earth were found in the interior walls, or the vaults of French churches, as was frequently the case in the churches of Sweden and Denmark. The discovery at Aries was cited in answer, and a passage was quoted from MS. of fifteenth century, which throws so much light on the subject as to leave it no longer doubtful. The passage occurs in a Chronicle of the Celestins of Metz, under date 1432. It is as follows : — " It was ordered that jars should be put into the choir of the church of this place, because they made the singing better and resound more." Abbe Cochet, of Rouen, reports several occasions in which he has met with vases of this character. At Montivilliers, jars with conical base were found at the four angles of the vault of the choir. At Fry, canton Argueil, four jars with handles. At S. Laurent-en-Caux, a large earthen vessel ACOUSTIC JARS. 41 placed in one of the angles of the choir, and entirely enveloped in mortar ; its form well adapted for acoustic purposes, entirely unsuited for any other, being a cone closed at each end, and having no opening, but a neck issuing from the shoulders, and appearing in the face of the wall. An additional proof of this use is furnished from a diatribe of the seventeenth century, " L'Apocalypse de Meliton," written against the religious orders: — "Of fifty choristers that the public maintain, there are some- times not more than six present at the office : the choirs are so fitted with jars in the vaults, and in the Acoustic Jar from St. Laurent en walls, that six voices make cau.v, Normandy. as much noise as forty elsewhere." Acoustic jars were also found some years ago in the walls of St. Mary's Church, Youghal, Co. Cork, in the course of restoration. In the process of repairs the old plastering was hacked off the walls, and there was discovered at the western end of the north wall of the chancel. 42 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. and at about twenty-five feet from the g^round, a series of orifices, five in number, each formed in a piece of freestone, and varying from three to six inches in diameter, and which were found to be vents of an equal number of earthenware jars, placed immediately behind them, and imbedded in the masonry ; the vessels were placed at irregular distances from each other. On examination, the jars were found to be lying on their sides, perfectly empty, some being well glazed, others unglazed. Subsequently, five similar jars, but of a smaller size, were discovered in the same position at the opposite side of the chancel.* "These orifices are now open," writes Mr. Richard Rolt Brash, t "and the arrangement re- stored to its original purpose, and I can testify to the effect produced by these acoustic jars." I have frequently worshipped in the church, and have been many times struck with the fact that when kneeling at the extreme end of the north transept, I could hear most distinctly the Communion Service, though read by a person of very moderate power. The voice appeared to have a * p. and T. Kilkenny and S. E. Ireland A. Socy (1854-5), III., 303. t Gentleman's Mag., 1863, XV, N.S., 752. ACOUSTIC JARS. 43 peculiarly sonorous and ringing tone. The hearing in other parts of the church was equally satisfactory. Numerous instances of this practice have been found abroad, as in Strasbourg Cathedral. In 1842, in the church of St. Blaize, at Aries, a number of horn-shaped earthenware jars and pots were discovered built into the walls,* and in the vaulting of St. Martins, at Angers ; and in the walls of St. Jacques et les Innocents, at Paris, similar jars have been found, t Occasionally the skulls of horses have been found in sacred buildings, the popular idea being that, like earthenware jars, they were built in for acoustic purposes. * See Gent. Mag., Nov., 1863, and the Builder {1863-4), XXI, 820, 17. t Annale's Archeologique's, Vol. XXII. Crypts. By John T. Page. IN the early days of the Christian era, when persecution flourished and martyrdoms were of common occurrence, the worship of God was carried on in the Catacombs or Crypts, in which the dead had been hidden away and laid to rest. After the persecution ceased, the Christians built their churches on spots rendered sacred as the burial-places of holy persons, and as time wore on, it became the rule to construct mortuary chambers or Crypts, for the reception of the relics of saints and martyrs, beneath the high altar. The floor of the choir was generally raised higher than that of the nave, and the sides were then left open so that the worshippers could, from the choir aisles, observe the shrine beneath. The most usual method, however, was for pilgrims to descend into the vault in small bands to perform their devotions. The use of Crypts for the purpose indicated lapsed considerably after the thirteenth century. CRYPTS. 45 but many of them happily still remain intact, notwithstanding the fact that entirely new edifices have, in some instances, been built above them. Crypts exist in nearly every county of England, therefore it will be only necessary to mention here a few of the principal examples in order that a general idea may be gained concerning their structure. The earliest specimens date from the Saxon era, and several of these have been dis- covered in comparatively recent times. One of the most famous Crypts is to be seen at Hexham, Northumberland. After having been lost to sight for centuries it was discovered in the year 1725. The entrance is close to the south- west pier of the tower, and access is gained by means of a ladder. The central chamber or chapel is thirteen feet four inches long by eight feet wide. It is flanked by a passage on the north, south, and west sides, from which entrance is gained on the south and west sides only. The height of the Crypt varies from eight feet to nine feet, and the doorways are a little over six feet in height. There are several recesses in the walls, which may have been used for holding lamps. The vaulting is either semi-circular or trianofular throuo-hout. 46 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. A similar Crypt to the foregoing exists beneath the Cathedral at Ripon. Entrance is gained by a narrow passage leading from the south-east bay of the nave. The central cell is eleven feet three inches long by seven feet nine inches wide, and nine feet four inches hioh. It is surrounded by passages on three sides, and one of the entrances therefrom is extremely small, being thirteen inches wide and eighteen inches high, and splayed outwardly. This opening goes by the name of " S. Wilfrid's needle." and tradition says it is lucky for anyone to pass through it. Whatever may have been its original use, it is now made to play a prominent part as a show- place for the delectation of curious visitors to the Cathedral. At Lastingham Church, Yorkshire, is to be found another good specimen of a Saxon Crypt. By many people this is considered the finest in the country. Its dimensions are about forty feet in length by twenty-four feet in width. It really forms an underground church, and is almost the same size as the structure above it. Massive low piers, the capitals of which are richly carved, support the vaulted roof. It is lighted by several small circular-headed windows, and at the east Crypt, Canterbury Cathedral, CRYPTS. 49 end stands a rude stone altar. The arches which support the roof are circular in shape with fiat ribs.* '* From the east end the scene is interesting to astonishment. Here you perceive the massy arches ranged in perspective ; you behold the huge cylindrical pillars and their sculptured capitals, each one differing from the other, but all in the real Saxon style ; to this add the groined roof, and the stairs at the west end leading up to the church, enveloped in a luminous obscurity from the scanty light admitted by the window in the east." t Good examples of early Saxon Crypts also exist at Wing, Bucks, and Repton, Derbyshire. Among the Crypts dating from Norman times, that beneath Canterbury Cathedral takes the pre- eminence. It has been rightly said that "no Crypt in the world .... is so stupendous or so interesting, either structurally or historically."! Access is gained from the " Martyrdom," or lower north cross aisle, and it extends under all parts of the Cathedral eastward of the choir screen. It was probably constructed somewhere between the years 1096 and 1 107, and * See Process Engraving in Antiquary, Sept., 1 895. t Eastmead. ij: Van Rensselaer (Century Mag., April, 1S87). 4 50 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. apparently consists of an endless labyrinth of arches, which gradually grow higher towards the east end. The piers, also, which support them, advance from thick stumpy blocks of stone to graceful slender columns, the decorations on the capitals of which the sculptor has, in many cases, never finished. This Crypt has been the scene of several historical events of importance. Here it was that the remains of Thomas a Becket were first buried after his martyrdom in 1 1 70, and hither came afterwards King Henry H., the author of his death, in pilgrim garb and with bare and bleeding- feet, to do penance for his crime. The Royal pilgrim received flagellation — five strokes from each prelate and abbot, and three from each of the eighty monks, being administered to his prostrate form. He afterwards spent the whole nisht in the vault before his victim's shrine. The south aisle of the Crypt has been used for divine service, since the year 1568, by the Walloons and French Huguenot refugees. Their looms were originally set up here, and although the weaving has long ago been discontinued, the French service is still carried on to a small congregation. CRYPTS. 51 The Crypt beneath the eastern part of Gloucester Cathedral dates from 1089-1100, and was restored in 1847. It consists of a large central compartment, with an ambulatory opening into several smaller chapels. The main arches are supported by massive piers, and the central portion is sub-divided by rows of small columns, from which the groining springs. In the ambula- tory this is very fine, and is supported by clusters of semi-circular pillars, built round the piers. Here, too, may be seen a fine example of the zie-zae mouldino^. The walls are about eighteen feet thick, and were originally pierced with small splayed windows. Remains of altars and piscinae are also to be found in the various side chapels. There is a rude Norman Crypt under the eastern portion of the Cathedral at Winchester. Entrance is gained from the north transept. From it an accurate idea can be obtained of the original plan of the cathedral. A fine apsidal Crypt exists beneath the choir and aisles of Worcester Cathedral. It is considered to be the work of Bishop Wulfstan, and probably dates from about 1084. Its height is eight feet nine inches, and the vaulting is 52 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. supported by three rows of pillars. A small chapel still remains at the west end, and it is assumed that others of a like nature were contained in the original plan. In some cases Crypts are made to play the part of ossuaries or charnel-houses. The most noted instances are those at Hythe, Rothwell, and Ripon. The Crypt beneath the church of St. Leonard, Hythe, Kent, is one of the most famous of these. It contains an enormous quantity of human bones, which are said to be the remains of the Saxons and Britons who fell in a sanguinary conflict near the spot in the year 456. The bones are piled all round the vault in reg^ular order. First a row of grinning- skulls, and then a row of arm and leg joints — thus they are stacked from the floor up- wards, and certainly present a most gruesome appearance to any visitors who are curious enough to inspect this strange anatomical museum. In 1886, an accumulation of soil was removed from outside the north wall, and revealed a fine early English doorway. The vault is beautifully groined, and is lighted by lancet openings at the the east end. The ossuary at Rothwell Church, Northampton- The Lnpt »t .^ Hythe. CRYPTS. 55 shire, is beneath the south aisle. It was accident- ally discovered about the year 1650, by a sexton who was endeavouring to dig a grave in the aisle above. It contains many thousands of bones which, like those at Hythe, are stacked in orderly rows. Some of these bones are of great size, but it is quite a matter of conjecture as to how they came to be deposited here. No battle has been fought nearer than Naseby, but they are far too numerous to have been the result of this engage- ment. Nor can they have been the accumulated dead of the town of Rothwell itself, for it is much too small to admit of such a theory. Many have been the attempts to hazard a conjecture which would account for the presence here of these numberless bones, but so far the question has never been settled. Since the vault was opened, the stacks of bones have much diminished in size, owine to the action of the air, and one of them has fallen down, revealing a cavernous recess behind filled with these decaying relics of humanity. The charnel-house at Ripon is beneath the chapter-house, but the collection of bones it contained was removed to the cathedral yard in 1865. It is now used to house a collection of 56 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. interesting fragments of architecture, notably some thirteenth century sepulchral slabs dis- covered under the great east window in 1832, Crypts, or undercrofts, have several times been discovered in existence beneath the domestic architecture of our great cities. In London quite recently a fine specimen containing thirteenth cen- tury work was found beneath an old house in Britton's Court, White Friars."^ After the rubbish of centuries had been cleared from the interior, its dimensions were found to be about five feet from the crown of the arch to the floor, and about fourteen feet square. It is supposed to have formed part of a convent founded in White Friars for the Carmelites by Sir Robert Gray in 124.1. Other Crypts of a like nature have been dis- covered from time to time in London, notably at the junction of Leadenhall and Fenchurch Streets in Aldgate, and more recently under Laurence Pountney Hill, t Efforts were made to prevent the destruction of the latter, but they were of no avail, and it has now been effectually demolished. Thus far, all the Crypts which have passed * A very good sketch of this Crypt appeared in the Dai/j^ Chronide of November I2th, 1895. t See illustration in Daily Graphic, June 6th, 1894. CRYPTS. 57 under review have dated back txD the early days of ecclesiastical architecture. This paper would, however, be incomplete without a reference to the famous Crypt under S. Paul's Cathedral. It was constructed by the masterly hand of Wren, and is in exact proportion with the structure above. Here are the massive piers on which the edifice was founded, and here in one corner reposes the dus't of the orreat architect, who conceived the plan from which it was built. In the centre lie the bodies of England's heroes, Wellington and Nelson. Grouped in the recesses around are the graves of many of our most celebrated artists, soldiers, engineers, musicians, travellers, and divines, and within the communion rails at the east end may be seen some of the monumental relics of Old Saint Paul's, which escaped the great fire. In this little under-world thronged with memories of the mighty dead, service is performed at eight o'clock every morning. Here, therefore, we may fitly take leave of our subject, and pause awhile and listen to the words of praise and prayer as they echo and re-echo through these gloomy caverns formed in the great heart of London Town. Ibeatbcn Customs at Christian ifcasts. By the Rev. A. N. Cooper, m.a. IN the worship of Juno, dating back to times long previous to Israel setting foot in Egypt, the women were dressed in linen garments, holding a mirror in the left hand, and a sistrum (a rattle), in the right. The Israelites having fallen into the idolatries of the country, brought the mirrors which they had used in her worship, out of Egypt with them. What was to be done with them ? Certainly there was no harm in the mirrors themselves, and they were made of valuable material. Should they be destroyed ? Not so, Moses directs they should be put to profitable use, and formed into a laver of brass for the tabernacle : and the Bible evidently sanctions and approves the common sense of Moses. This will serve to remove from the mind any impression which may lurk there, that the heathen customs survivino- in relig-ious festivals are to be referred to in the same malevolent spirit with which Gibbon alludes to the same thing. It is HEATHEN CUSTOMS. 59 evidently with a sense of pleasure he traces out the similarity between Christianity and Paganism, implying there is little difference between them, instead of admiring the common sense of the Christians, able to turn old and sometimes base customs into profitable and godly uses. But it was not merely good policy and common sense to act as they did, it was impossible to have acted otherwise. Religion, like a language grows. "It grew and waxed a great tree." We speak of our language as Anglo Saxon, as ot our religion as Christian. And yet who wonders to find in it words like father, mother, and daughter, which were in existence before the Indo-European family separated, other words especially those connected with wealth and dignity, were given to us by our masters the Normans ; while being a maritine nation, we have imported a fresh word with every fresh article, and for such common words as tea, sugar, coffee, chocolate, cocoa, cassia, cinnamon, tobacco, myrrh, citrons, rice, potatoes, cotton, chintz, shawls, we borrow from the Chinese, Malay, Arabic, Mexican, Hebrew, Malabar, South American, Bengalee, and Persian lano-uao-e. Not only do we find from the analogy of languages, but also from the example 6o ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. of the old Jewish rehgion, that we should expect this borrowino- to have o-one on. Even Newman would allow that the Jewish Church received its doctrine of immortality from Egypt, and its doctrine of angels and demons from Babylon ; if that be so it is no great wonder if the heathen were also allowed to hand down certain customs as well as doctrine to the Christian community. But many people would jump to the conclusion that because a custom was heathen, it must necessarily be wrong. Not so. If we take the trouble to go to the facts of the case, and find out what the heathen festivals were in honour of, we find them intended to salute the New Year with vows of public and private felicity, to indulge the pious remembrance of the dead and the living, to ascertain the inviolable bounds of property, to hail, on the return of Spring, the genial powers of generation, to perpetuate the memory of the foundation of the city of Rome, and to restore, during the humane licence of the Saturnalia, the primitive equality of mankind. Not such very atrocious objects, are they ? And if we turn to the question whether the early Christians could have abandoned the festivals and the customs connected with them, had they wished to, it must HEATHEN CUSTOMS. 6i be admitted to be very doubtful. Superstitions survive long after they have been formally aban- doned. In nothinor did the Roman Catholic Church do better service than in its efforts to make people abandon the belief in ghosts. Nobody could be admitted to communion who did not publicly affirm they had no such belief Yet how has spiritualism survived everywhere. How comes it, may be asked, that so many of the Christian feasts synchronize with the old heathen festivals. The feast of the New Year with the Circumcision, the feast of the Satur- nalia with Christmas. The goddess Februa, worshipped on the 2nd February, has the same date as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Bona Dea with her mysteries on the ist May; Apollo on the 24th June, the Tutelary deity of Rome on 29th September, and Pomona on the ist November, each are repre- sented on red letter days in the Christian calender. How are we to account for these coincidences. The best rule we ever came across for settling- difficult passages of Scripture is Canon Mozley's. He says, " always take the simplest meaning of the words unless there be some obvious reason against it." Now the obvious explanation of the 62 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. matter is this. The ancient rehgious festivals of Rome were public holidays. On certain of them, the Saturnalia for example, the slaves were obliged to be at liberty, and every one had leisure. What more likely than that the authorities of the church should take their people when they could o-et them, and that in a church largely made up of slaves and freedmen, sellers of sulphur matches and old clothes, the opportunity made the day. The most orthodox of writers admit that the rise of these festivals is involved in the greatest obscurity. Not only the day, but even the year of the birth of Christ himself, is so doubtful that good reasons might be given for dating it eight years previous to the generally received time. Therefore what wonder if the actual day when St. Bartholomew was flayed alive in some obscure place on the Malabar coast of India, or when St. Matthew died in some unknown region of the Persian desert, were quite unknown and had to be settled by guess work, and that one day being as probable as another, the sensible christians of the early church chose days when they were at liberty to do their saints honour. With the days, the customs associated with the HEATHEN CUSTOMS. 63 days, followed almost as a matter of course. The most common and best known of these is the employment of holly and evergreens at Christmas time. The doors of the ancient Romans were under the special protection of their gods, and these were wreathed with laurels in honour thereof From wreathing the outside, it was a natural step to wreath the inside of the places where Christians assembled, as all will be aware that there were very obvious reasons for not wishing to call attention to them. The wreaths, which had a certain sio^nificance to the heathens, had another one to the Christians. They saw, especially in the holly which puts forth its red berries about Christmas time, an eftbrt on its part to show honour to the Lord. The use of mistletoe at Christmas is confined to those countries where once the Druidical religion was established. These had an extra- ordinary veneration for the number three, and the mistletoe was sacred to them because not only its berries, but its leaves also grow in clusters of three. To the Christian it had a very different meaning. They saw in it an illustration which nature gave them of the Christmas mystery. Here was an ordinary tree producing that which 64 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. was unlike all its kind and yet of it, a golden branch differing from everything the old stocks had ever seen before, and though taking fibre and substance from the womb of the parent tree, possessing a nature and essence different. It is to flowers however that man naturally seems to turn in order to give expression to the image of his emotions. Flowers have retained more of the fragrance of a world which dwelt around the gates of the terrestrial Paradise than anything else in creation. To have been placed on this earth "to dress and to keep it," was the divine intention, and as might be expected flowers have been found in all times, full of pure sympathy with the human heart, and were earliest enrolled in the service of decoration. In the Floralia of the ancient religion, people saw in flowers an acceptable offering to the gods, chaplets of flowers crowned every victim for the sacrifice, and the votaries themselves were wreathed with them. No wonder the christians saw in them the most simple and innocent method of adorning their altars. St. Jerome (4th century), praises his friend Nepotian for his pious care for the divine worship, in that he made flowers of many kinds contribute to the beauty HEATHEN CUSTOMS 65 and ornament of the church, and in the use of flowers in divine worship, the protestant churches of Germany agree with our own. At Easter they are more especially in evidence, as having been raised aofain from the earth. "The world is small," we are often saying, and as we get older we find how limited our means of enjoyment are, however great our wealth or opportunity. What can any one do on a festival but eat, drink, and be merry, so whether we live in one century or another, we are sure to find food and drink playing a great part at times of rejoicing. The particular fare eaten by christians at certain times, was enjoyed by the heathens long before the christian era. In point of antiquity, Easter eggs would be deserving of first mention. These were eaten, having first been coloured, in the very remotest antiquity during the festival of the spring. To this day they are a prominent feature in the festival of Noruz or New *Year, held throughout Central Asia about the 25th March. The hot cross buns of Good Friday are the sacred cakes of antiquity, stamped with the sign of our faith to hallow their use. The loving cup of Christmas is the old Scandinavian wassail bowl, in which, as they 66 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. passed it one from another, they were supposed to drown every animosity of the past year. The Romans being haunted by fear that the dead might return were constantly propitiating their manes, and among other methods by throwing out beans to pacify them, of course reserving portions for themselves, and so a repast of beans became common in Lent and other seasons of mortification. Accompanying the dancing, which formed so prominent a feature in the festival of old time, were small cakes made for the refresh- ment of the dancers, these was generally seasoned with herbs, and so at Easter time in memory of the bitter herbs eaten with the Passover Lamb, the custom grew up of eating tansy (German, tanze a dance) cakes. The hallowed cake of the Ancient Britons, which, whosoever ate, had a vision that night of the man or woman whom Heaven designed should be their wedded mate, has given place to the wedding cake itself, the innocent means of enjoyment to many, and which has attracted to itself the peculiar property of the earlier edible. So one might go on, and if local tradition were observed, it would be an endless task to describe the various foods and drinks HEATHEN CUSTOMS. 67 which originatuig in heathenism, have been merged in Christian observances. The paganaHa were feasts celebrated in honour of the gods, goddesses and heroes, when the people resorted to their temples or tombs. When the Britons were converted, Pope Gregory the Great ordered that the same customs might be kept up, only the days to be observed should be the birthdays of holy martyrs, or the anniversary of the dedication of the church. The ancient ways might still be observed so far as they were free from positive objection. Of course sacrifices to false gods and devils could not be allowed, nor inhuman rites practised, but all that made for innocent enjoy- ment mio-ht be continued. The villagfe feasts, once universal, now partly abandoned, and partly merged in the club day, will nearly always be found to coincide with the ancient dedication of the church. This is a rule to which there are very few exceptions, and the ancient dedication may often be discovered by the day of the village feast ; for at the Reformation many of the old dedications were given up, but the village fairs or feasts were not. It makes one think more kindly of the pagan times when we observe the care they took that all, 68 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. even the bond slave should enjoy a holiday occasionally as one especially remembers that in this nineteenth century of Christianity, good men have had to labour hard to obtain this occasional privilege for the poor and helpless. During the discussions on the Factory Acts, and Early Closing Acts, it has been stated in Parliament there are multitudes of people who do not know what a holiday, nor even a Sunday is. There was no such obligation on the christian slave owners of America to give their slaves a holiday, as there was upon the heathen slave owners of the old world. Virgil describes the husbandman in the Georgics, as a careful observer of feast days, on them he abstains from all active labour, only doing such light tasks as can offend no god. If we find then lingering in the village feast some pagan relic like the bearing of rushes or the wreathing of the sticks may we not well retain them in gratitude to those who have given to many their one holiday in the year. As might be expected the ancient and in- teresting ceremony of marriage has received the tribute of all nations and religions in the form with which we are familiar. It is absolutely impossible to trace up the origin of the wedding HEATHEN CUSTOxMS. 69 rirni, which is varioush^ ascribed to a link of the fetters which women wore in token of subjection ; to a portion of the price paid for them to their fathers and brothers, and to the endlessness of the love they were supposed to have inspired. The wedding cake has already been alluded to in its character of divining : it played an important part in Roman weddings, where confarreatio or eating together formed a binding ceremony. Aulus Gellius who wrote in the second century ot our era, tells us that the Romans wore the ring- on the third finger of the left hand, and alludes to the belief in the connection of a vein of that finger with the heart. The bridal favours are relics of the ribbons and garters of the bride which used to be contended for, and proudly worn by the lucky possessor, and an ancient custom of marrying at the church doors is derived from the Etruscans who were always married in the street, the door of the house being thrown open at the conclusion of the ceremony. The very name of the altar of Hymen warns us to what remote times we are to be carried back in tracing marriage customs, and in throwing of wheat (not rice), we have the symbol of a simple peasantry wishing the best blessings they could 70 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. imao-ine, while in the throwio'cT of the shoes or sandals by the happy pair, not at them, we have the parallel of the ancient general burning his bridpfes behind him, and refusino- to ^o back. In what we have borrowed from heathenism, it would be impossible to find anything to object to, and if the customs themselves in their primitive state were undesirable, and unsuitable for this refined age, we may credit those wise people who adapted the heathen customs for christian uses with the sense which has deprived them of all that was wrong, and have so blended them as to show that both christian and heathen can observe them and show they are both the children of one God and Father of us all. Ifi9b ant) jfasting. By the Rev. J. Hudson Barker, b.a. IN the very heart of the romantically picturesque and historically interesting region of Hex- hamshire, stands the little church of St. Helen's, commonly called Whitley Chapel. From the summit of the orave-covered eminence, which it crowns, it looks eastward and westward upon one of the fairest vales of all England, the Dale of Devilswater, one of the finest fishing streams in the North Country. A pretty litde dell on its banks, within twenty minutes' walk of the chapel, contains the Holy Well, a strong sulphur spa to which, in mediaeval times, the monks of Hexham Abbey made perio- dical visits, and where we may, in fancy, picture them with tonsured head and girdled gown, half concealed amongst the hazel bushes, trying to catch a dish of trout from the stream for Friday's meal. Over the litde tower, within which swings the bell of St. Helen's, telling the dalesmen of the 72 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. service for the day, or tolling their parting knell, is perched, not a weather-cock as is so usual in church symbolism, but the figure of a fish. How old this particular fish is the inhabitants cannot tell, it was on the old church before this one was built, and this is very old. That is all they know. Why it is there they cannot say, but one old man, a weather-beaten angler, thinks it must be because the Devilswater is so fine a fishing stream, and the " Chapel " overlooks it all ; and no doubt often by it he has judged which way the wind was blowing, and thereby gauged what sort of sport his would be, as he went out in the early morning. That is what the old fisherman knows of the fish. But that does not satisfy us. The fish is an ecclesiastical symbol, and we would fain know its history. Again, it is the food always used in '' Fasts," as though it were a more spiritualised food ; and that it is not such solid food as flesh meat, is not to us sufficient reason for fish having been the food for fast days for so many ages, and through such a diversity of countries. Let us look briefly into the history of the fish in relation to religion. In the New Testament, it is fish which, with bread, forms the miraculously FISH AND FASTING. 73 multiplied food of fasting multitudes. Other mention of fish in the New Testament we need not refer to. But this use of the fish in the feeding of the four and the five thousands, especially in connection with the discourse of our Lord on the Bread of Life, furnished special reason for its use in early Christian art. hi the crude but instructive frescoes of the cata- combs at Rome, we learn much in relation to such primitive art. Much knowledge may be gained through the devotional energy, if not the aesthetic taste, of the early Christians. Among these early specimens, we come upon illustrations of the Lord's Supper, very different indeed from the later fresco of Leonardo da Vinci, yet in reality possessed of greater truth than his. In these pictures we see, not alone the Cup and the Bread, but on a dish beside them, fish, some- times one, at other times more. This was drawing a much closer relation between Jesus and the fish. In later times, other legends gathered round this relationship, as the alleged thumb and finger marks of Jesus on the haddock. However that may be, the gradual greater reverence paid to the fish as a favoured creature of the Creator takes a sudden startling step further forward. It 74 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. is found that the initials of the Saviour's principal titles form the very name of Fish in Greek : — I u^cror? = Jesus X Xpto-Tos = Christ d deov = of God V vlos = Son s croiTi'jp = Saviour So that the word /'x^i's i.e. fish, becomes simply a shorthand expression of the titles "Jesus Christ the Son of God and Saviour," We need not linger to see how much of the nature and qualities of the second Person of the Trinity is summed up in these brief titles ; how the first brings out the thought of His manhood, the second His threefold office, regal, sacerdotal, and prophetical, how the third shows His divinity, and the last His redemptive work. It is an exceptionally instructive symbol, but it is with its history rather than its meaning that we are dealing. At what time the word was first used with this significance we cannot exactly say, but at Vienne, in southern France, an inscription of about the tenth persecution is found so using the word. Two parents have lost their litde one. It almost breaks their heart, but their pathetic epitaph over FISH AND FASTING. 75 their child ends with hopefuhiess. Their child has gone " to be with the great ''x6'i'?." Later still, and in place of the word, we find the fiorure of the fish used in architecture. On some old fonts, figures of fish are found sculptured. Ignorance has made some imagine that these are simply ornamental designs, or at most betoken the water in the font. But the meaning is, that through the font the baptised infant becomes a member of 'Ix^tn. Sometimes, in place of being on the font, it takes the form of a little fish-shaped window in the wall behind the font, called the "Fish Window." At the quaint, little, fourteenth cen- tury church of Whitburn, on the Durham coast, a mile or two north of Sunderland — a .church whose antiquity is further vouched by the fact that it possesses a low-sided window and a weeping chancel — there is such a window in the west wall. From this we see what reverent significance was attached to the fish as a symbol. The fact that so early as the catacombs, possibly about the second century, the fish is depicted as used for sacred food, and was probably so used continuously in the agapae, shows that it is distinctively regarded as a religious food, a food to be eaten when other 76 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. food is less allowable. This alone would stamp it as the fitting food for days of fast. Now we find that throughout the middle ages the monastic system required abstinence from flesh meat, especially on Fridays and in Lent, but at such times fish is used instead. It is a divine food. And while the Church still enjoins the observance of these solemn fasts, she still allows the use of fish upon all but the most rigorous of them. Even to-day the fishmongers of our towns find it difficult to supply all the demand for fish for Good Friday, but in the North Country in the days when monastic institutions were very plentiful in every large valley, Holy Week would necessarily be occupied by all the neighbouring anelers in catching- fish for the Fast. The old custom is still retained, though its origin is for- o-otten, for in Northumberland it is still the custom for anglers to make a special effort in that week to catch fish. On Good Friday itself, the Vale of Coquet is filled with anglers. It is the greatest fishing day of all the year. The fact that the unecclesiastical mind regards the day as a general holiday, does not account for it, because on Easter Monday and Tuesday there is not one- FISH AND FASTING. 77 tenth • the number of fishers. No, not even though there be a better " curl upon the water." ' It is Good Friday, we must o-o a-fishinu- to- day. We have always done so, and our fathers did before us." Good Friday is somehow connected with fish. They know not why, and so, from rosy morn to dewy eve, they whip the streams that fiow by the remains of Holy-stone Nunnery, the old church of Rothbury with its Saxon relics, the Augustinian Priory of Brinkburn, the fourteenth century church of Warkworth and its hermit's cell. !5brovcs'tl^e anb Xentcn Customs. By Rev. J. Hudson Barker, r,..\. THE husk is oft-times kept when the kernel is thrown away. There are many old customs in connection with Shrove-tide and Lent which are still observed, though the essential parts of them are lost. The penitential confessional of Shrove Tues- day, and the strewing of ashes crosswise on the heads of penitents at the chancel step by the priest on Ash Wednesday, with the words. " Remember dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," which two customs gave these days their names, are lost, but still Shrove Tuesday is universally observed as the last day of Carnival, the feast of pancakes ; and Ash Wednesday is still the first day of the Lenten Fast. At Chester-le-Street, in the County of Durham, there is a strange custom in vogue on Shrove Tuesday. All the tradesmen close their premises, a football is thrown into the streets, sides are taken, and the whole afternoon the ball is kicked SHROVE TIDE AND LENTEN CUSTOMS. 79 with no little horseplay, and with no apparent object in view. It is not scientific football. It is merely the relic of the times when full vent had to be given to the "feelings" on the day before settling down to the solemnity of the Lenten Fast. A similar custom prevails also at Sedgefield and Alnwick, and w^as formerly common at Roth- bury and VVooler. At Durham Cathedral on this day there is a yet quainter and more grotesquely explained custom. Little children from the city, where all the schools have holiday, come and play within the precincts of the Cathedral. They run, and try in vain to raise the fixed knocker of the dragon's head on the north door, and they say they expect their pancakes to fall from its open- ing mouth. How comes this thought ? Very simply. In early days, doles of pancakes, and perhaps other food, were given by the Bene- dictine Monks of Durham on this day to the poor who came and knocked for them on this selfsame knocker. The knocking is still kept up, though the pancakes are no longer given. This Shrove- tide custom of the children is a standing witness to the kind-hearted generosity of the much- beslandered monks of the Middle Ages. 8o ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. There is an old rhyme in the North Country which forms a popular mnemonic for the last Sundays in Lent and Easter Sunday. It runs thus : — " Tid, Mid Miser— a, Carling, Palm, and Paste Egg Day. Every Sunday has a name Tid, Mid come again." It is a quatrain well worth explaining. "Tid" is undoubtedly the old Anglo-Saxon " teo/a," tenth, from which comes tithe, and as the first ten days of Lent are just over on the second Sunday in Lent, it is called Tid Sunday. Counting from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Tid Sunday, are just ten days. We must omit the first Sunday in Lent from count, since in the forty days of Lent Sundays are not reckoned. "Mid" is the shortened form of Mid-Lent, Refection or Refreshment Sunday, concerning which Aelfric has a very interesting homily in Anglo-Saxon on the Gospel for the day taken from the account of the feeding of the Five Thousand — hence "Refreshment." The French call it Mi-careme, and hold a carnival on it. It is also called "Mothering" Sunday, for which several reasons are assigned. The Epistle SHROVE-TIDE AND LENTEN CUSTOMS. 8i for the day speaks of us as being the children of OLir mother, the free woman, Jerusalem above, which is the mother of us all. Another reason is found in the custom, once prevalent among people belonging to outlying churches and chapels of ease, of paying a visit to the " mother" church on this day. A third reason is found in one of those simple and affectionately -filial customs which shed such sunbeam rays upon the stern harshness of olden times. When the parents' roof had been left, and the children had formed homes for themselves, it became in olden times a custom of natural piety to visit their parents, and especially to see their mother, who, in days when women went abroad but little, would have no opportunity of going to see them. This was called " Going a-mothering," and was the practice on Mid-Lent Sunday. Of course in these annual visits to their mother, the grown-up children would naturally take some little present, such as a cake of better quality than usual. These cakes were called " simnel " cakes, a name of German oricrin, thoucrh the derivation has been given from Latin simi/a, that is, fine flour, from this fact that the presented cakes were of richer materials than usual. 82 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Much of the beauty as well as the antiquity of this custom may be indirectly gathered from Herrick's allusion to it in his g-raceful little poem to Dianeme : — " I'll to thee a simnel bring 'Gainst thou go a-mothering ; So that when she blesses thee Half that blessing thou'lt give me." After all, we believe that these two last customs of visiting the mother church and the parents' roof are closely connected, and probably the suitability of this day for both was suggested primarily by the teaching- of the Epistle. The simnel cake is still made in various parts of the North Country, but its religious signifi- cance, as well as filial purpose, was attested to in earlier times by the fact that it was marked with a figure of Christ or the Virgin Mary. These simnel cakes may after all belong to some still older custom of pagan origin, for our Anglo-Saxon ancestors were particularly fond of eatino- consecrated cakes at their religious festivals. This naturallv brinos our thouofhts to the still more universally kept custom of eating hot cross buns on Good Friday. "Hot cross buns '" are simply the cakes which SHROVE-TIDE AND LENTEN CUSTOMS. 83 the pagan Saxons used to eat in honour of Eostre the Goddess, who has bequeathed a name to our o-reatest festival. There is a orreat deal of truth in what Macaulav says in his Essay on Milton : — "The multitude is more easily interested for the most unmeaning badge, or the most insignificant name, than for the most important principle." Hence he implies the tendency of Christianity to assume much that was originally pagan, and give it the stamp of consecration. " Patron saints assumed the offices of household gods. St. George took the place of Mars ; St. Elmo consoled the mariner for the loss of Castor and Pollux." For the self-same reason the clerofv, no doubt, considered it more politic to Christianise a custom, and make it an instructive object lesson, than to abolish it with much difficulty and much wounding of their people's feelings. So Eostre's cakes became marked with a cross. However, to return to the couplet : — " Tid, Mid Miser— a, Carling, Palm, and Paste Egg day." Here we are now presented with the difiiculty of Misera. Ordinarily it is explained as being a corruption of " Miserere," and so a term 84 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. for the whole season of Lent. The " — a" is probably attached in order to rhyme with "day." This was an expedient very frequently resorted to in the dogg-erel verses of mediaeval times. Shakespeare himself uses it ; for example, in the " Winter's Tale " we have — " Jog on, jog on, the foot path way And merrily hent the stile — a A merry heart goes all the day Your sad tires in a mile — a." So then we may accept " Miser — a" as denoting the season wherein these Sundays come. " Carling" Sunday is the fifth Sunday in Lent, when " carlings " are eaten. This seems a custom extant only in the North Country, and most genuinely kept up in Tyneside. Carlings are ordinary brown peas fried and eaten with sugar, and some kind of alcoholic liquor. There are several traditional stories given to explain the custom. One is that long ago some vessel belonging to the Tyne was becalmed. The sailors had used all their provisions, and were on the verge of starvation, when suddenly they remembered that their cargo consisted of peas, and on these they subsisted until they reached their anxious, and already despairing, friends, SHROVE-TIDE AND LENTEN CUSTOMS. 85 Another story runs that some town in the North Country — ^what town is not exactly stated — was besieged long ago, and the inhabitants were almost starved out, when a vessel forced its way into the harbour with a cargo of peas on Carling Sunday, and this enabled the citizens to hold out until help arrived. These are the commonly-given versions, but doubtless some deeper reason underlies the custom. There must have been something extraordinary to originate a custom that has taken such a hold upon the people. But even allowing that either of the stories is perfectly true, this will account only for the custom of the eating of the peas, and not for the name " Carling." Looking at the other names in the quatrain for Sundays, we notice the majority are drawn from the teaching of the day, and that they are Anglo- Saxon in origin. F'rom this analogy we come to the conclusion that this name also is derived from the teaching of the dav, and that it is of Ano-lo- Saxon origin. Carefully examining the word, we see that it comes from Anglo-Saxon " caru," grief, pain. But what has this to do with the fifth Sunday in Lent? Why, it is on this Sunday that the teaching is given concerning Christ's first 86 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. intimations to His disciples of His coming- Passion. The diminutive form is used because they are only the first intimations. So then "Carling" Sunday is simply the equivalent for " Passion " Sunday, its common name throughout Christendom. The name of the Sunday has been given to the peas, and not vice-vcrsd. Palm Sunday, as commemorating the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, has always been a marked day in the Christian year. The antiquity of its popular observation is referred to in Sir W. Scott's "Castle Dangerous," where we see a deadly feud laid aside for awhile, the combatants meanwhile attending the Palm Sunday service at the neighbouring " border" chapel. The palmers of the Crusade period with their real palms would give the popular demonstrations on the day a fresh fillip. It has been sometimes called " Willow Sunday,'" because the willow catkins are then in their spring glory, and are used as decorations, insomuch that to country people they become the "palms." The exceedingly quaint Palm Sunday custom at Caistor, in Lincolnshire, discontinued about fifty years ago. of the representative of the Broughton estate present- SHROVETIDE AND LENTEN CUSTOMS. 87 iiii^" thirty pieces of silv-er on the end of a gad-whip alter the reading of the second lesson, has reference to the betrayal by Judas for that sum, as narrated in the lesson. Of " Paste Eoro- Dav," we need but observe that paste is a natural enough corruption in common parlance of " pasch," that is Paschal or Easter. One other important day in Lent must not be forgotten, for it originated several quaint customs. Maundy Thursday, so called from the first Antiphon, " Mandatum novum do vobis," was celebrated in monasteries by the washing of feet and the giving of food and money to paupers. Of this there is still a vestige survivino- in the distribution of Maundy Money by the Queen's Almoner. Mearina Ibats in Church. By William Andrews, f.r.h.s. T T ATS are worn by male worshippers in the synagogues of the Jews, but in the churches and chapels of Christendom it is con- sidered irreverent to wear the hat during Divine service. Every now and again, however, we hear of an eccentric descendant of George Fox wearing his hat in church, in defiance of ecclesiastical custom and authority. On several occasions Samuel Fox has been ejected from places of worship for refusing to remove his hat ; but in Cornwall recently a conciliatory vicar contented himself with addressing a mild remonstrance to him, and then, as Fox declined to remove his headgear, the service was proceeded with. Here is a picture of George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, wearing his hat in church. This old fighter for the Faith wore his hat in church for a far different reason from that of his eccentric descendant to-day. When George Fox attended the services of the Church of England, he put on WEARING HATS IN CHURCH. 89 his hat to mark disapproval of anything that was said by the officiating clergyman, and kept it there until his approval was gained. If, however, the sermon of the unfortunate clergyman did not please him he would slowly rise and walk out of church. George Fox wearing h\> Hat in Church. In the olden time much irreverence prevailed in church. In the latter part of the sixteenth and the commencement of the seventeenth century it was the general custom to wear hats in church during Divine service. A section of the church- go ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. goers strongly disapproved ot the practice, and for many years an incessant warfare was waged against it. Old pictures show us clergymen preaching with their hats on, and in Foxe's " Acts and Monu- ments " there is a representation of Dr. Cole preaching at St. Mary's, Oxford, with an outdoor cap on, whilst several of the clergy are similarly bonnetted. Queen Elizabeth was not apparently very strict in this respect, for we hav^e it that on a visit to Cambridge in the year 1564 she sent one of her attendants to the preacher— who had not worn his hat out of respect to the Queen — to inform him that he might wear his hat. This he did till the end of the sermon. The Rev. James Rowlanson, b.d., a noted preacher in his day, denounces wearing the hat in church in a sermon preached in 1620 at the con- secration of Pear-tree church, Southampton. "How unmannerly," said the preacher, "are a many that carry themselves with more lowlinesse in a Gentleman's Hall (for there they will uncouer) then in the House of God ? A French fashion, indeed, but very ill-fauored, though it be naturalized amongst the most, and growne WEARING HATS IN CHURCH. 91 English euen in our greatest congregations, where the apprentice that stands bare-headed all the weeke long in his master's shop, must need have his hat on in the church. Grant it an indulgence to the aged and the weake, who yet to testifie reuerence might put off hats, and to con- fesse a weaknesse, might keep heads warme enough with some other fit and graue covering. But what priuiledge, but pride and wantonesse can be alledged for the strong and healthfull in times and places of no extremity of cold ? I may say of it, as Tacitus speaks of astrologie, ' semper vetabitur, semper retinebitur '; there is little hope redresse, yet still it desueres (mee thinkes) to be rebuked." As showing how feeling amongst the clerics was growing against the custom, the vicar of vSt. Giles-in- the- Fields reproved two earls who wore their hats in church. Indignant and annoyed, the nobles lodged a complaint with the Archbishop. The reply of the leading ecclesiastic was a cor- roboration of the original reproof, for he said : — •' The preacher has been very diligent for a long time to bring his parishioners to a decency of behaviour in the church." ■ In 1662 Bisho}) Cosin, after \i siting Durham 92 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Cathedral, wrote : — " Some come into the quire in their furre and night-gowns, and sit with their hats on their heads at the reading of the lessons." The " Roundheads " or " Puritans " kept up the custom in the middle of the seventeenth century. In the "Calendar of State Papers" (Domestic) there appears one written for the Episcopal Palace, Gloucester, in 1639. Referring to Alder- man Pury, who desired to represent the city in Parliament, it stated : " Old Pury, some time a weaver, and now an attorney, shows his irreverence in God's house, sitting covered when all the rest sit bare." William of Orange (William III,) caused great offence by wearing his hat in church in 1689. He would sometimes uncover durino- the reading of the Liturgy, but on the commencement of the sermon he put on his hat. At Scarborough and other places in the North of Plngland a curious funeral custom prevailed. During the service the male relatives present sat close around the coffin with their hats on. The Rev. J. C. Atkinson, in his "Forty Years in a Moorland Parish" (London, 1891), tells us that the custom was stopped many years ago by a new vicar, whose high-handed manner gave much WEARING HATS IN CHURCH. 93 offence. Mr. Atkinson also gives some interesting notes about Quakers wearing hats at funerals. "Sometimes," he says, "I have seen them, as I went out in advance of the coffin into the grave- yard, sitting in the church porch. But not once or twice only have I seen them come inside the church and sit the service through — hatted, as a matter of course." The reverend gentleman also states that he was never intolerant enough to order the Quakers to remove their hats, as he was glad to see them paying their tribute of regard, and would do anything rather than lessen "good feeling, either general or particular." ^hc Stool ot IRcpentancc. By Cuming Walters. DR. JOHNSON, in the course of a long areument on relioious matters with Boswell, let fall a few words in favour of penance ; and his biographer in recording this fact rather shrewdly observes that had the dispute been with a defender of the custom no doubt the worthy Doctor would have opposed it. On this subject an impartial student may feel disposed to sympathise with Johnson ; the balance for and against penance seems pretty equally adjusted, and it is as easy to argue on one side as on the other. In its extreme forms, penance is, no doubt, quite repugnant to modern ideas ; but it may be urged contrariwise, that in discontinuing penance the Church has lost one of her readiest and most effectual means of discipline. In the early Greek Church, there were four recognised classes of penitents — the Weepers, the Hearers, the Prostraters, and the Standers. The names almost supply an explanation of the manner THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE. 95 of the mortifications. Each grade wore a dis- tinctive dress, and there is no question that the punishment was made a very real and impressive ceremony, both for those who underwent it, and for those who observed it in operation. The Weepers were compelled to plead for propitiation in the churchyard, but were not allowed to enter the church to engage in prayer or worship. The Hearers were isolated in the church and publicly exhorted, but were forbidden to take part in the service. The Prostraters prayed with the con- gregation, but instead of kneeling were compelled to grovel on the ground. The Standers were kept apart, and though they might be within the church, they must remain in standing posture the whole time. The Western Church adopted these customs in part or whole. " In the Primitive Church there was a godly discipline," — so runs the passage in the Prayer Book — "that at the beginning of Lent such people as stood convicted of notorious sin were put to open penance, and punished in this world, that their souls mieht be saved in the day of the Lord, and that others, admonished by their example, might be the m.ore afraid to offend." That open penance was for a time a wholesome deterrent may be readily granted. 96 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. and that the Church should take cognizance of some of those sins which the civil law could not or would not touch, such as slander, defamation, and immorality, was proper enough. The liability to abuse, however, was oreat ; and in course of time, when the civil laws were enlarged, the need of the Church to act as a corrector became less needful. It was too often found, also, that penance lost its impressiveness, and that by the payment of money a rich man could either avoid the un- pleasantness of undergoing personal shame in public, or could engage a substitute. Sir Walter Phillimore in his book on Ecclesiastical Law, records that fees for the commutation of penance were so regularly taken at last, that in 1832 a regular "table of fees " was prepared. The penance was by no means brief in many cases. For breach of the seventh commandment, offenders, clad in sackcloth, stood in the place of repentance on successive Sundays, sometimes for half the year, and Jane Shore's tour of shame further manifests the rigour which was resorted to on special occasions. Among the most notorious persons who have done penance was Oliver Cromwell. He was publicly rebuked in 1621, and in 1626, it was recorded — " Hoc anno Oliverus THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE. 97 Cromwell fecitponitentiam corum totam ecclesiam." This deserves to rank at least with the famous example of King Henry II. It must be remembered that in the seventeenth century both the Puritans and the members of the Church of Scotland upheld the custom of " making satisfaction publicly on the Stool of Repentance," Repentance Stool, from Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh. (Now in Scottish Antiquarian Museum). and in some of the Lowland counties sackcloth was provided at the Kirk-Sessions for the use of ecclesiastical offenders. This practice was aban- doned, however, about the beginning of the last century. But we find in 1748 that a Quaker and Quakeress, for their misconduct, were compelled to walk through the streets of Oxford, Gloucester, 98 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. and Bristol "clad in hair sackcloth," and pro- bably research would furnish like examples for that period. The Church properly punished both men and women for lax morals, but next to this sin ranked brawling and defamation of character. The examples of the infliction of penance for these misdeeds are very numerous, and what is more, they come down to recent dates, for, it is advisable to know, penance has never been abolished by the Church, though it has now practically fallen into disuse. In 1846, public penance was enforced upon several persons who had been guilty of slander, the scene being a rural Gloucestershire church, and three years later a woman who had brought a false charge against the rector atoned for her fault attired in a white sheet, in a church in Cambridoeshire. From the fifth to the seventh centuries, public penance was in full force ; but by the end of the twelfth century it had almost disappeared, and private penance had taken its place. Private penance became morbidly mischievous. We learn of the monk Liguori, in the eighteenth century, who "scourged himself bloodily," and punished himself every morning before the hour of rising. THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE. 99 and every evening before repose. " On Saturdays he scourged himself till the blood flowed, and these scourofing-s were so violent, and caused so much blood to gush from his limbs, that not only was his linen always covered with it, but you might even see the walls of his room stained, and even books which he kept in it were sprinkled." He macerated his body by wearing haircloth with sharp points in it, he carried chains on his legs, and wore a coat of mail with iron points protruding to tear the flesh every time he moved. Even more dreadful is the story of Saint Rosa, whose private penance consisted of lashing herself with iron chains, loading herself with stones, putting hand- fuls of nettles and thorns next to her flesh, piercing her haircloth vest with needles, wearing a tin crown with nails pressing downward into her head, and lying upon broken earthenware and glass. These horrible stories might be indefinitely multiplied, but the two examples will suflice to show the awful extremes to which zealous and fanatical men and women were willing to go when constant penance was deemed laudable, and its secrecy prevented a check upon its pains. Nor were these horrible punishments always those self-imposed and borne willingly by the loo ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. saints. Some of the punishments ordained by- harsh leaders were equally severe. The nuns of St. Bridget's Convent were made to undero-o a particularly barbarous penance in old time for the most trifling- of peccadilloes. A steep high rock projects over the sea at the Howe of Douglas, and can only be climbed with much difficulty. Half- way up is a hollow, and near the top a chair-like cavity. The offending nuns were brought to the foot of the rock when the tide was out, and com- pelled to climb the rock, and sit in either the lower or higher chair until the tide ebbed and flowed twice. It was a terrible predicament. The climber was always in danger of falling into the sea, and the exposure to the elements, especially when the incoming waters were roaring through the cavities, was enough to stagger the firmest resolution. The penance of recalcitrant monks often took a form we need not regret. They were ordered to do that which others most often did for pleasure, multiply copies of the classics and the Scriptures. Cassiodorus had an implicit belief in the potence of this work. " As many words as a transcriber writes," he said, "so many wounds the demon receives," and therefore no penalty, in his opinion, THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE. loi could be more effectual or advantageous. But we may take it for granted here that such penance was but nominal, and no doubt most of the early ecclesiastics aoreed with Lonoffellow's abbot : — "As a penance mark each prayer With the scourge upon your shoulders bare ; Nothing atones for such a sin But the blood that follows the discipline." Mr. Sparvel- Bayly, b.a., in an article on " Pews of the Past,"* tells a story of public penance too quaint to be omitted from this chapter. It runs thus : — " A pore man had founde ye priest over famyliar with hys wyfe, and because he spake of yt abrode and could not prove yt, the priest sued hym before ye byshoppes offyciale for dyffamatyon, where the pore man upon pain of cursynge (excommunication) was commanded that in hys paryshe chyrche he should upon ye Sundaye at high masse time stand up and sai : — ' Mouth, thou lyest.' Whereupon, for fulfilling of hys penance up was the pore soul set in a pew that the people might wonder on hym and hear what he sayd. And there all aloud (when he had rehersyed what he had reported by the priest) then he sett hys handys on hys mouthe and saide, * " Curious Church Gleanings," edited by William Antlrews. I02 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. ' Mouth, mouth, thou lyest ;' and by-and-by there- upon he set hys hand upon his eyen and saide, * But eyen, eyen,' quod he, ' by ye mass ye He not a whittle.'" Penance often took the form of a mere retraction of words uttered, or of a simple recital of a fault committed. The Parish Clerk of Middleham, in Yorkshire, was guilty of brawling, and his punishment was to stand forth towards the conclusion of the service and admit to the con- gregation that he had given "just cause of offence," and that he had been " led to this misconduct by resentment, and not being perfectly sober at the time." He was further penalised by having his wao-es stopped for several weeks. Penance also could be made typical of the extreme punishment which could have been exacted. The Vicar of North Cave, Hull, was convicted of heresy in 1534, his offence being the study and recommendation of the works of the Reformers. He was ordered by way of penance to walk round the church bare- footed and wearing only a shirt, and to carry in his hand a burning faggot to signify that his just penalty would have been the stake. The clergy could not be subjected to penance until they had been reduced to the ranks of laymen, and presumably this formed part of the punishment of THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE. 103 this " heretic " also. There are very few instances of the clergy having been subjected to a like degradation, though there is the unique example of a bishop having been punished by excommunication for his flaofitious conduct. This was Paul of Samosata, made Bishop of Antioch in 260, who by his extortions and licentiousness brought his holy office into disrepute. Many attempts were made to punish him for his vices, but all failed until the discovery was made that his doctrine as to the Trinity was erroneous. Thereupon eighty other bishops combined to remove him, but their ban had no effect for four years. Then, with the consent of the Emperor Aurelius, they expelled Paul from his see. The writers of that weighty volume, " The English Church in the Eighteenth Century," the Rev. C. J. Abbey and Canon Overton, have some- thing important to say of the last records of penance. A hundred years ago, they relate, excommunication was not uncommon, and neither was open penance an excessive rarity. But changes were at hand, and none more seriously exercised the minds of the clergy than the question of commutation of penance. "It was obvious," we read, " that laxity on such a point might fairly I04 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. lay the Church open to a reproach, which Dissenters did not fail to make, of ' indulgences for sale.'" In 1695, William III. had issued the injunction that no commutation of penance was to be made but by the express order of the Bishop, and that the commutation should be applied only to pious and charitable purposes. Early in Queen Anne's reign, in consequence of abuses which existed, the subject was debated in Convocation, and some stringent resolutions passed by which it was hoped that commutations, where allowed, might be rendered perfectly unexceptionable, but at that very time some of the lay chancellors were anxious to abolish penance entirely, and to sub- stitute a system of fines. Wordsworth, the poet, said that one of his earliest remembrances was his going to church one week-day to see a woman doing penance in a white sheet, and he was much disappointed at not getting a penny, which he believed to be his due as a spectator. The Rev C. J. Abbey thinks such an event as this must have been extremely rare at that date. Thus, in Mr. Augustus Hare's ' Memorials of a Quiet Life,' we have a brief account of the penance performed by two persons at Hurstmonceaux. They stood each in a white sheet in the churchyard among a THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE. 105 mocking crowd ; but these were the last persons who performed penance in that place, and the date was between 1799 and 1803. Early in the eight- teenth century, Mr. Abbey records, "this sort of ecclesiastical pillory was somewhat more common. But it was evidently quite infrequent even then. Pope's parish clerk is made to speak of it as distinctly an event. This, which was called 'solemn penance,' as contrasted with that lesser form which might consist only of confession and satisfaction, was an ordeal which sounds like a strange anachronism in times so near our own." Bishop Hildesley thus describes it in the Isle of Man: — "The manner of doing penance is primitive and edifying. The penitent, clothed in a white sheet, is brought into the church immediately before the Litany, and there continues till the sermon is ended, after which, and a proper exhortation, the congregation are desired to pray for him in a form prescribed for the purpose. This having been done, so soon as it could be certified to the Bishop that his repentance was believed to be sincere, he might be received back again by a very solemn form into the peace of the Church." In England no regular form existed for the re-admission of penitents, and this defect was io6 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. not unreasonably forced on public consideration in course of time. In 1805, we find a woman doing public penance in a sheet, the scene being Little- ham churchyard, near Exmouth. The somewhat too-notorious church at East Clevedon in Somer- set was, however, the scene of a public penance so recently as in 1882, and in various parts of the country isolated records may also be found, especially in the decade, 1840- 1850. Sir Walter Phillimore gives an example in 1856, in which a public penance was demanded, but owing to the increasing feeling against the system, refused. There is a suspicion that at one time Dr. Pusey meditated reviving the ancient practice of discipline. He wanted information of an instrument which had been described to him as consisting of five cords, " each with five knots, in memory of the five wounds of our Saviour," One of the most remarkable cases of penance, amusing in its way and yet a little disgusting, is that recorded of a Pershore gentleman in 1766. He was about to marry "an agreeable young lady with a handsome fortune," but on the morning of the ceremony was discovered in flagrante delicto with his housekeeper. For this he was ordered to do penance immediately. He was clothed in a THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE. 107 white sheet and made pubHcly to confess his sin and repentance. The expectant bride waited in the church until this ceremony was concluded, and then was joined in matrimony to her delectable lover! Saint Augustine's self-intlicted penance of whipping- himself with thongs until the blood ran, in order to keep himself in subjection, shows that a mighty change in ideas had been brought about in the long interval. Excommunication was closely connected with penance, if indeed it cannot be accounted a part of the actual sacrament. Penance, as we have seen, involved temporary if not permanent exclusion from the precincts of the Church, and separation from the conorreofation ; but a formal sentence of excommunication was much more terrible in its effects than that which was incidental to being placed upon the "Stool of Repentance." Into this cognate, but much larger and more contro- versial subject, we cannot enter, though one example may be adduced from somewhat late history as to how the interdiction operated. There is a record, dated 1667, that an excommuni- cated person named Francis Drury "came into church in time of divine service in the morning, and being admonished to begone he obstinately io8 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. refused. Whereupon the whole congregation departed, and after the same manner in the after- noon he came again, and refusing again to go out, the whole congregation again went home, so that little or no service was performed. They pre- vented his further coming in that manner as he threatened, by order from the justice upon the statute concerning the molestation of public preachers." A declaratory sentence of excommunication was the extreme punishment the heads of the Church, or, strictly speaking, the Pope, could inflict ; penance, in its more common forms, was the via media in favour of which much could be said. The public confession of guilt, the subjection of the faulty person to the Church and its laws, the enforced prayers for forgiveness, the outward signs of contrition — all these were of good effect, and calculated to have a desirable result upon those who underwent the penalty, and those who observed the operation of the Church's disciplinary laws. The white sheet, the sackcloth, and the ashes strewn upon the head, were symbols under- stood by the people ; and the restraints imposed upon the offender, enforced abstinence, and separation from the general community, were not THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE. 109 only a punishment but a healthy ordinance. It was the abuse of penance which destroyed its efficacy, and brought it into that disrepute from which it is not likely to recover. The period of reconciliation for penitents was Holy week, when the Bishop publicly received the contrite offenders back into the Church. But in the third century a sect had arisen under the anti-Pope, Novatian, whose leading tenet it was that the Church had no power to absolve the penitent, and that the sinner, in addition to under- going his prescribed punishment, must tor ever lie under the ban of excommunication. The Church, said Novatian, was a community of saints, the eternal happiness of whom was imperilled by the presence of one sinner, however repentant. This severe belief found so many adherents that Novatian was able to found churches, and the churches were strong enough to set up bishops in opposition to those of Rome. The Stool of Repentance in this case was not an aid to re- admission to the Christian community, but a stone which blocked the way. It may here be observed, by way of conclusion, that too literal a meaning must not be attached to the term " Stool of Repentance." That an actual no ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. wooden stool of primitive design with three or four short legs was to be found in many of the churches is not denied, but the word came to be figurative, and the "Stool" was just as likely to be a pew, the top of a flight of stairs, a gallery, or a conspicuous place before the altar. The main object was to have the offender well in view of the cono-reaation. He was to be a mark of scorn, and if he were called upon to make public confession or recantation he required vantage-ground from which to do so. But in some country churches may still be seen the original " cutty-stool " where- on sinners stood, the cynosure of all eyes, exposed to open shame, and compelled to listen to the admonishing words of pastors who, from such records as we have, seem to have erred on these occasions in saying too much rather than too little. Cursino b^ Bell, Book, an^ (TanMe. By the Rev. Canon Benham, b.d., f.s.a. THE origin of the custom of "cursing by bell, book, and candle," is altogether obscure. There seems to be no ground for believing that it was officially recognised by the Roman Church, and Roman Catholics have gone so far as to say that the tradition is a Protestant fabrication. Others, while admitting its authen- ticity, say that the practice belongs only to local rituals, and that it was forbidden by the Pope whenever a case was brought before him. How- ever this may be, we have sufficient testimony from mediaeval writers to show that it was no mere old wives' tale, but a very real terror to transgressors ; and in a few cases we have accounts still extant of the time, place, and manner of the ceremony. The late Mr. T. P. Earwaker f.s.a. (one of the most accomplished and trustworthy archaiologists of the time), published in the Manchester Courier (1878) "A curious Lancashire Record" of this 112 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. rite. Mr. J. Paul Rylands, f.s.a., followed this up by a paper in which he cited many learned authorities bearing on the question ; and to his article I am largely indebted for the information I have been able to gather. Two passages from the " Ingoldsby Legends" will occur to every reader, (i) the occasion on which Pope Gregory was only restrained from calling down a curse on the head of Sir Ingoldsby Bray by the timely atonement of the sinner in the form of substantial gifts to the Church ; (2) the Cardinal's curse, all too thoroughly carried out, on the Jackdaw of Rheims. These can scarcely be looked upon as documentary evidence ; but there is thus much of historical interest attaching to the latter leg-end, that the first known instance in which such sentence was pronounced occurred at Rheims about the year 900* The culprits were murderers ; but it is possible that the incident may have suggested to Barham the locale for his story. In Shakespeare's King John (Act 3 Scene iii), Faulconbridge is commanded to hasten to England to collect money for the wars, and responds : — " Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back, When gold and silver becks me to come on." * Encycloptedia of Antiquities (Fosbrooke), Vol. II, p. 687. CURSING BY BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE. 113 Referring to this, Knight* quotes from Bishop Bale's Kynge Jokan : — " Fandulph, For as moche as Kyng Johan doth Holy Church so handle Here I do curse hym wyth crosse, boke, bell, and candle. Lyke as this same roode turneth now from me his face. So God I requyre to sequester hym of his grace. As this boke doth speare by my worke manuall, I wyll God to close uppe from hym his benefyttes all. As his burnyng flame goeth from this candle in syght, I wyll God to put hym from his eternall lyght. I take hym from Cryst, and after the sound of this bell, Both body and soule I geve hym to the devyll of hell." And in HalHwell's Shakespeare (Vol. VIII., p. 432), the full sentence of excommunication against those who defrauded the church of her dues is quoted from Nares, from the "Canterbury Book." "The prelate stood in his pulpit in his albe, the cross was lifted up, and the candles lighted, when he proceeded thus : — ' Thorow authoritie of Lord God Almighty, and our Lady S. Mary, and all the saints of heaven, of angels and archangels, patriarches and prophets, evangelists, apostles, martyrs, confessors, and virgins ; also by the power of all holy church, that our Lord Jesu Christ gave to S. Peter, we denounce all those accursed that we have thus reckned to you : and * Pictorial Shalrespeare, Histories, Vol. I., p. 45. 114 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. all those that maintaine hem' in her' sins, or given hem hereto either helpe or councell, so that they be departed from God, and all holy church, and that they have noe part of the passion of our Lord Jesu Christ, ne of noe sacraments that been in holy church, ne noe part of the prayers among christen folke, but that they be accursed of God and of holy church, from the sool of their foot unto the crown of their head, sleaping and waking, sitting and standing, in all her words, and in all her workes, and but if they have grace of God for to amend hem here in this life, for to dwell in the pain of hell, for ever withouten Gnd,^al, fiat. Doe to the book, quench the candle, ring the bell. Amen, Amen.' " Staveley says the curse " was solemnly thundered out once in every quarter ; the Fyrst Sonday of Advent at comyng of our Lord Jhesu Cryst ; the fyrst Sonday of Lenteen ; the Sonday in the Feste of the Trynyte ; and Sonday within the Utas (octave) of the blessed Vyrgin our Lady S. Mary." Two records are before us of special occasions on which the sentence was pronounced. Of the first of these we have three separate accounts I them. 2 their. CURSING BY BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE. 115 which evidently describe the same ceremony. (1) In Duordale's Baronage (1675) it is said that Humphrey, Earl of Essex, was present in the 37th year of Henry HI., "when that formal curse was denounced in Westminster Hall against the violation of Magna Charta, with bell, book, and candle."' (2) Holinshed (Vol. H., pp. 428-9) describes how, at the date above mentioned, the Archbishop and thirteen bishops were " re-vested and apparelled in Pontificalibus, with tapers according to the manner ; the sentence of ex- communication was pronounced against all trans- gressors of the liberties of the Church and of the ancient liberties and customs of the realm. . . . In the end they threw away their extinct and smoking tapers, saying, ' So let them be ex- tinguished and sink into the pit of hell which run into the dangers of this Sentence.'" (3) In Dickenson's " Antiquities of Southwell and of Newark " is reprinted the following extract from a " Forest Book," or collection of the forest laws of Henry HI. : — "In the year of our Lord God mccliii, the third idees of May, in the great hall of Westm' of our Lord the Kynge, in consente and by the I Notes and Queries, 2ncl series, Vol. III., p. 439. ii6 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. assente of noble Lord Kynge Henry, and of Lordes, etc.. etc and by the sufferance of God, the Archbushop of Canterbury, . . . bushop of London, etc., . . . arrayed with our pontificalls, with candles burning in our hands, solempnly declare the sentence of curseinge in all tresspassors and breakers of the liberties of the Church, . . . and in especiall of the liberties of our Lord the Kynge of his great chatre of the fforeste, in form the followeth, viz. : — " By the authoritie of the Father and the Sonne and Holy Ghost and of the blessed Virgin S. Mary, and of etc., etc., ... we accurse, and from the liberties of holie church we sequester and depart all those that from henceforth wittingly and maliciously holie church depriven or spoilen of her riofhts ; also all those that the liberties of the church, and of the chatre of the fforeste conteyned granted by our Lord the Kinge to all Archbushops, and to all other prelates, etc by any matter, craft, or engin, defile or breake, diminishe or change, privy or assert, in deede or in worde, or in counsell against them, in any pointe. . . . And all those that ignorandy be fallen or do anything, or hurte, in the said premises, and therefore be admonished ; but yet CURSING BY BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE. 117 thereby with fifteen days after the time of the monition to them had themselfe and correcte, and by the arbitremente of the ordinary of the tres- passes done make satisfaccord, from henceforth in this sentence they be involved. Also wee bind knitt in the same sentence, all them that the year of our Lorde the Kynge and of the realme, presume to trouble. . . ."^ The second record is that mentioned above as being copied and published by Mr. Earwaker. The MS. from which he took it had been compiled about 1650, at which date the original document had been in the possession of the Shakerley family. It tells that a certain Nicholas del Ryland, aged 78, was in possession of lands in Westhoughton ; and that his son William had, without his know- ledge, made a deed of feoffment to Thomas Stanley Peris of Leigh and Roger of Hulton, and had forged his father's hand and seal. On Sunday, December 4th, 1474, the said Nicholas came to the parish church of Leigh to disclaim all knowledge of the transaction in the presence of the Vicar of Leigh, many of the principal gentry of the neighbourhood, and the general con- * Notes and Queries, 5th series. Vol. III., p. 501. ii8 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. oreeation. And after swearino- that he had criven no authority to his son to part with any of his ancestral lands, he " kneiled downe under the hand of the seid Viker, . . . and there the seid Viker cursed the seid Nicholas if ever he was gilte in the poyntts before reherset w'*' bokke bell and Candle and there opon the Candel done out. And then the seid Viker p'nounset as acurset all those and ichon be themselfe that were of assent reid and consell w'*" the seid Willm Rylonds of forging and making the seid forgett deide before rehersett." Archbishop Winchelsea's Sentences of Ex- communication (1298) is directed to be "ex- plained in order in English, with bells tolling and candles lighted, that it may cause the greater dread." And in the Abbey Church at Shrews- bury the figure of a priest is represented on his stone coffin lid with the bell, book, and candle as emblems of his priestly office. In Fox's account of the ceremony of ex- communication we are told that three candles were carried before the clergy, and that as each candle was extinguished, prayer was made that the souls of malefactors and schismatics might be "given over utterly to the power of the fiend as CURSING BY BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE. 119 this candle is now quenched and put out," The General Curse was abolished by Henry VIII. in ^533- In "Tristram Shandy" Sterne reprints the sentence of excommunication drawn up by the Sorbonne, a copy of which he asserts to be in the possession of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester. It begins, as do the above, with the names of God and of the saints, throuo-h whose authority the sentence is pronounced. The sinner is condemned to eternal separation from the Church, "to be tormented, despised, and delivered over with Dathan and Abiram." He is cursed " in the house or the stables, the garden or the field, ... in living, in dying, in eating and drinking, in fasting, in sleeping, in standing, working, resting." He is cursed " in all the faculties of his body, inwardly and out- wardly, . . . unless he repent and make satisfaction." "Our armies swore terribly in Flanders," cried my Uncle Toby, "but nothing to this!" The late Sir George Bowyer, a zealous Roman Catholic, when I mentioned the question, declared that " the Church never cursed anybody," and declared that all the popular prejudice came not I20 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. ' from history, but from "Tristram Shandy," and that Sterne had invented it all himself I do not think such a view can be maintained in the face of the authorities the law quoted, and the Rochester Manuscript seems to be a genuine document. pulpite. By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, b.a. TO the modern Englishman the pulpit is almost synonymous with preaching ; yet the earliest preachers did not use a pulpit, and the earliest pulpits were not necessarily for preaching. It is rather remarkable that a pulpit is only mentioned once in Holy Scripture, and once in the English Prayer Book ; and in neither case in connection with a sermon. The former reference is in the Book of Nehemiah (ch. viii., v. 4), where we are told that " Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood," in order to read to the people the words of the Divine law. The other allusion is in the rubric introductory to the Commination Service ; the direction being that that office shall be said by the priest " in the Reading-Pew or Pulpit." On the other hand there can be little question that in the early and the mediaeval church the sermons were usually delivered from the altar steps. It is true that the primitive churches were pro- 122 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES vided with elevated platforms, ascended by steps and provided with book-rests, but these were not stands for preachers, but for readers. From these ambons, as they were called, the Gospels and lessons were read, as well as the acts of martyrs and the names of those who were to be com- memorated. The ambo was also called the bema, and by St. Cyprian, the pulpitum, but when he speaks of being " placed in the pulpit," or " coming to the pulpit," he refers to his ordination to the minor order of readers only. Nevertheless, ser- mons were occasionally delivered from these erections ; St. Chrysostom preached from the ambo at Constantinople, though both Socrates and Sozomen, in speaking of it, imply that it was an unusual thing to do so. St. Augustine also seems to have done the same at Hippo, in North Africa. The ambo was sometimes adorned with a carved eagle in the front, and from it have been developed three separate articles of church furniture. Standing as it did at the entrance to the choir, in close connection with the chancel screen, it was given increased light and dignity, until it became the rood-loft, or elevated platform on the top of the screen itself. The simple PULPITS. 123 eagle-lectern is another form in which the ambo survives, and, lastly, it has given to us the raised tower-like pulpit of modern times. Down to the Reformation period, the use of the term pulpit seems to have been somewhat indis- criminate in England. Grindal, in his injunctions to the archdeacons of the diocese of York, orders " that every parson, vicar, curate, and other minister within the said Archdeaconry, as well in places exempt as not exempt, when he readeth Morning and Evening Prayer, or any part thereof, shall stand in a pulpit to be erected for that purpose." Again, in injunctions issued in 1547 under Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, we read, "In the time of High Mass, within every church, he that saith or singeth the same shall read, or cause to be read, the epistle and gospel of that Mass in English, and not in Latin, in the pulpit, or in such convenient place as the people may hear the same." Latimer, however, in a sermon preached before King Edward VL on April 1 2th, 1549, uses the term in its modern sense, when he compares a pulpit without a preacher to a bell lacking its clapper. In the Mediaeval Church, preaching was not nearly so commonly employed as it is to-day ; 124 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. people were content then to offer their prayers and praises to God, without the addition of a sermon on every possible occasion ; and it is significant that the pulpit is not included in any inventory of church furniture during the Middle Ages. Yet every priest was bound by the Con- stitutions of Archbishop Peckham, issued in 1281, to "publicly expound to his people four times a year, without any fantastical sublety, the fourteen Articles of the Faith, the Ten Commandments of the decalogue, the two precepts of the Gospel, the seven works of mercy, the seven deadly sins, the seven principal virtues, and the seven sacra- ments of grace." Among the Reformers the influences of preaching were greatly exalted ; and we are not therefore surprised to find Henry Bullinger, "Minister of the Church at Zurich," insisting on the absolute necessity of the pulpit, while the English divines, such as Whitgift and Latimer, speak of it as useful indeed, but not essential. It was not ordered as a requisite part of the furniture of the church, to be provided at the cost, if needful, of the parishioners, until the Canons of 1603, the eighty-third of which insists on the churchwardens or questmen provid- ing "a comely and decent pulpit," which is "to PULPITS, 125 be seemly kept for the preaching of God's Word." It is not therefore surprising that pulpits of any great antiquity are far from common. Many ancient churches probably had none until the John Knox's Pulpit. (From St. Giles's Church, Edinburgh.) sixteenth or seventeenth century, and in other cases the pulpit was a light movable structure, like one still preserved at Hereford, which was only placed in the body of the church when 126 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. required, and which was Httle calculated to resist the wear and tear of time. It was only about the end of the thirteenth century that pulpits in their present form were introduced at all into the West, although in the East, the name pyrgus (tower) sufficiently in- dicates the shape they had assumed in the ninth century. The oldest wooden pulpit in England is said to be that at Fulbourne, a village not far from- Cambridge; it dates from 1350. Another of about the same date is found at Lutterworth ; it is a good example of the oak carving of its day, and claims additional notice from the fact that it was in all probability the pulpit used by the most famous of the rectors of Lutterworth, William Wiclif, whose incumbency extended from 1375 to 1384- Three other pulpits recall the memory of two preachers, both famous, yet of very different types. The first is a heavy oak one in the curious church of Berwick-on-Tweed, which is alleeed to have been removed from an older church in which John Knox officiated for some two years. A second pulpit associated with the Scottish reformer is now in the Museum of the PULPITS. 127 Society of Antiquaries of Scotland ; this is the old pulpit of St. Giles's, Edinburgh, and in its rugged solidity is very characteristic of the stern and unbendino- Calvinist who thundered from it The Three-decker. his anathemas at the head of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots,* The other is a specimen of some of the best carving of Grinling Gibbons * The excellent illustration which we give of this pulpit is from " Bygone Scotland," by David Maxwell, C.E., published by William Andrews & Co. 128 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. {1648- 1 721), and is in St. Andrew's, Holborn, a church to which Dr. Sacheverell was presented in 1713- The earhest Jacobean pulpit is at Sopley, in Hampshire, dating from 1606. Earl's Barton has a good example of the same period, and Alford, Lincolnshire, another. Ancient pulpits of various dates are to be found, in wood, at Sud- bury, Southwold, Hereford, and Winchester, and, in stone, at Worcester, Ripon, Combe, Nantwich, and Wolverhampton. An iron pulpit formerly stood in the Galilee at Durham Cathedral, from which a sermon was preached to the women on Sundays. When the sermon came to occupy a more prominent place in public estimation, the pulpit naturally grew in importance. Monstrous galleries were reared around the church, the nave was cut up like a modern cattle market, into so many closed pens or pews, and the whole place was arranged for comfortable bearing rather than for devout worshipping. The people ceased to take much part in the service, except as listeners, and prayer and praise were left to the parson and the clerk, and the " Three decker " came into being. In the lowest of the three pulpits sat the clerk. PULPITS. 129 monotonously mouthing the responses to the prayers read by the parson in the second pulpit just above his head. And at the close of the duet, the latter, donning black gown and bands, ascended to the " upper deck " to deliver his sermon of an hour or more. This hideous abomination in the way of ecclesiastical arrange- ments generally stood in the centre of the church, 9 I30 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. towerin_o- like Babel up to heaven, and completely shutting out the altar from sight, proclaiming itself the only feature of importance in the House of God. Happily it is now as thoroughly a thing of the past as the antiquated warships from which, in derision, it was named ; if examples of either now exist, they are curiosities only. The destruction of the acoustic properties of an old church by the introduction of galleries and high-backed pews, and the ignorance of many of the later architects of the rules governing those acoustic properties, resulted in the invention of the soundine-board as an assistance to the preacher's voice. These are seldom introduced now, but not a few instances remain. At St. John's, Leeds — a church full of fine old oak carving — is a handsome one, and others may be seen at All Hallows, Barking ; at Thaxted, in Essex ; at Burgh-le-Marsh, Lincolnshire, and elsewhere. In churches of unusual size, as in St. Paul's Cathedral, no doubt they are almost, if not quite, a necessity ; and when in themselves handsomely designed, they are far from being an undignified addition to the pulpit. Another adjunct to the pulpit, now extinct, but very needful during the Puritan era, was the PULPITS. 131 hour-glass. That was indeed the preaching age, when the preachers seemed determined, by the frequency and the length of their sermons, to atone for the deficiency of centuries. The Puritan divine, in the systematic treatment of his theme, divided his discourse into almost innumer- able "heads ;" and when the waning sands in his glass warned him that already an hour had been spent in oratory, it is on record that he sometimes did not scruple to turn the glass and enter on a second hour. The open-air pulpit at St. Paul's Cross had, at the end of its career, a niche for an hour-glass. The Jacobean pulpit in St. Michael's, at St. Alban's, or Verulam, has an iron bracket for holding one, and at Belton Church, in North Lincolnshire, there is a similar bracket fixed to a pillar opposite the pulpit. St Alban's, Wood Street, London, has preserved its hour-glass intact. An arrangement frequently found on the Con- tinent is the attachment of the pulpit to a pillar in the nave, as, to quote one out of many examples, at the church of St. Maria in Trastavere, at Rome, where the pulpit, with its canopy or soundinor-board, is bracketed out from the fourth column on the north side of the nave. An 132 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. English instance of this is suppHed by the hand- some pulpit of Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, which is attached to the north-east pier of the tower. Some of the most remarkable pulpits in exist- ence are to be found in Belgium. At Antwerp, Mechlin, Brussels, and elsewhere, are huge erections most beautifully carved, but not in the least suggestive of the purpose for which they were intended. In fact, a stranger might be pardoned for imagining that the splendid mass of sculpture was in each instance the original object aimed at, and that the place for the preacher was provided in the midst as an afterthought. At St. Gudule's, in Brussels, is a wooden pulpit forming a group representing the expulsion of our first parents from Eden. Foliage is introduced, and birds and animals of various kinds are seen amid the branches, while, crowning the whole, is the Madonna with the Holy Child crushing the serpent's head. At Mechlin the conversion of St. Paul is the subject chosen for representation, and we have a group of soldiers, and the Apostle fallen from a rearing horse. The call to the Apostleship of St. Peter and St. Andrew is shown us at St. Andrew's, Antwerp ; and the PULPITS. 133 Cathedral pulpit of that city is formed of alleeorical figures of the four continents, accom- panied by birds and "creeping things," sporting amid spreading branches of trees. Louvain, Liege, and other towns have pulpits of a similar style. When it is remembered that the figures in these groups are for the most part life-sized, the incongruity will be realized of an arrangement which makes the preacher appear an impertinent intruder in the sculptured scene. " Whatever ornaments we admit," says Ruskin, speaking of pulpits, " ought clearly to be of a chaste, grave, and noble kind ; and what furniture we employ, evidently more for the honouring of God's Word than for the ease of the preacher." These Belgian pulpits certainly were not designed to minister to " the ease of the preacher," but in no other particular do they comply with the canon of the great critic. At Wilton, near Salisbury, is a marble pulpit of handsome design, somewhat in the style of the better Continental ones ; it is raised upon nine Corinthian columns, and reached by a winding stone stair. The great Parish Church of Yarmouth has a pulpit remarkable for its size ; it has been described as " a great platform 134 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. enclosed with richly carved front, back, and sides." For several reasons wooden pulpits have crenerally been preferred to stone, and in our northern climate there can be no question that carved oak has a warmer and more satisfying look than the most beautiful work in marble, or other stone. At Exeter, Durham, and other cathedrals, at Clifton (All Saints), and in many other churches we have fine examples, mostly modern, of carved stone pulpits. But the oak, time-darkened, of some of the instances mentioned above, or of such a pulpit as that in St. Clement Danes in the Strand, has a richer effect. Amongst our older stone pulpits may be named those at Molton, Bovey Tracey, and Chitde- hampton ; and to the wooden ones already cited should be added those at Stow, in Lincolnshire, and at Madeley. The open-air pulpits, or preaching crosses, once not uncommon in England, scarcely come within the scope of an article devoted to pulpits in the usual modern meaning. Suffice it to refer to St. Paul's Cross as the most famous of them all, which after centuries of usefulness was destroyed in 1643 by the Long Parliament ; and to name as PULPITS. 135 further examples the preaching crosses at Norwich, Hereford, Worcester, and Iron Acton, now all ruined or demolished. Let a reference to a pulpit of Nature's handi- ^1 ii^.y' Stone Pulpit. St. Thom;is a Uetkt;t, Covey Tracey. work close our paper. Amidst the Derbyshire dales, not far from the village of Eyam, is a ravine known as Cucklet Church, which is overlooked by a lime-stone crag called Pulpit Rock. Here, 136 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. when the village was devastated by the Plague in 1665, the people assembled, sitting far asunder from each other on the grass, while from the rock above their faithful and devoted parish priest, William Mompesson, addressed to them words, whose earnest and faithful teaching must have been filled and thrilled with power from the ever- present death that overshadowed them. Few, if any, are the pulpits, whether in stately cathedral, or in the barest mission-church at home or abroad, that have witnessed more heroic zeal than the Pulpit Rock at Eyam. Churcb Mint)0W5. By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, b.a. FEW points in architecture are more strikingly illustrativ^e, than are church windows, of the power of the mediaeval artists to convert necessary details into ornaments. The crreat merit, in fact, of the art of the middle ages was not so much the introduction of decoration, as the rendering of everything decorative. The open window-spaces lent themselves to artistic treatment first of all in the matter of form ; and their outlines and the tracery with which they are filled are amongst the most characteristic marks of development in church architecture. The draughtsman and the colourist afterwards grasped the opportunity which the introduction of stained glass afforded, to make the windows glow with rich tints, and eloquent with pictured story. While the Norman style of building held sway in England, the windows were simply narrow openings with semi-circular heads, usually very widely splayed. This last feature probably points 138 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. to the fact that glass was little used in those early days, and the narrow opening with the wide splay was an attempt to get the maximum of light with the minimum of wind and weather. These rounded windows are sometimes found in pairs divided only by a shaft, thus giving us the first step in the development of the elaborate windows of later times. In the so-called Early English period, the pointed arch was introduced under French influence, and the windows took the long and sharply pointed form, known as the lancet. It is alleged that this style of architecture was first tried, at any rate on any large plan, in England at the re-building of Canterbury Cathedral after the fire of 1 174, William of Sens being the architect. During this period we advance considerably nearer to the construction of the broad window of several lights. The lancets are frequently grouped in threes, fives, or sevens, usually gradu- ated in size, and often over-arched by a single dripstone. A fine example of this combination of windows is supplied by the well-known " Five Sisters " in the north transept of York Minster. There we have five tall lancets of equal length, while at no great interval above them the wall is CHURCH WINDOWS. 139 pierced with a second row of shorter ones, cor- responding with those below, and rising in height from the extremes to the centre. The whole group thus becomes suggestive of one large window in live long;' lights. The separating wall between lancets of this kind was reduced at last to a mere column of slicjht dimensions ; and at last, about the end of the thirteenth century, the decorated style of architecture was evolved, in which the windows became more imposing in size, and more elaborate in design. Not only do the grouped lancets now appear as lights of one window, but the space above is arched over, and pierced with more or less involved tracery. This tracery was at first in geometrical patterns, and good examples of it are to be found in the Angel Choir, at Lincoln, (built 1270-1282), in the nave of York (i 291-1330), and at Tintern Abbey. Its first systematic use in England was in the re-building of the choir of Westminster Abbey by Henry II., from 1245 to 1269; one of the earliest instances is in the circular window in the north transept of Lincoln. From these geometrical forms was evolved later the intricate tracery, whose flowing designs, almost like delicate intertwining branches, have been I40 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. named Flamboyant. The circular window in the south transept of Lincoln Minster is an example of this style, which was probably developed first in England, and spread to France after its con- quest by the English during the Hundred Year's War. In the latter country it llourished and ripened, till it almost perished of its own luxuri- ance, the carving becoming so delicate and the stone-work itself so attenuated, as to be unfit to resist the wear and tear of time. Hence it is that the tracery of many windows in otherwise splendid French churches has disappeared altogether. From this result England has been, to a great extent, saved by the rise of yet another form of tracery in the end of the fourteenth century. This was the perpendicular style, less beautiful indeed than the flamboyant, yet better art than that flamboyant style carried to an extreme, if it be a part of art not to sacrifice strength or durability to decoration. In this style the windows are equally ornate, but more solidly constructed ; perpendicular mullions being carried through from top to bottom. William of Wykeham, the great bishop of Winchester, has by some been credited with the invention of this tracery ; he, at any rate, gave it vogue by using it largely in the erection, CHURCH WINDOWS. 141 during the years 1366 to 1404, of his cathedral. A very excellent example of a perpendicular window is the west window of Boston Parish Church, References have been made above to circular church windows ; these are more frequentb' found on the Continent than among ourselves, although we are not without some good examples. The filling in of the circle partakes of the characteristics of the style of the period, as in the case of upright windows. When they are filled with flamboyant tracery, as many beautiful French examples are, they are called rose-windows. In the perpen- dicular period, the tracery was carried in diverging lines from the centre to the circumference, like the ornamental spokes to a wheel, whence the name wheel-windows. A oood illustration exists at the east end of Durham Cathedral. Before leaving these notes on the various styles of architecture exhibited in church windows, it may not be altogether out of place to add one word of caution, for the benefit of novices in such thino's. Characteristic as the windows are of their respective periods, they are not a safe guide to the dates of the buildings in which they are found. The re-modelling of a window is a comparatively 142 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. easy achievement, and our ancestors consequently altered their windows with a disregard for the works of their predecessors that would drive an antiquary mad, if displayed as commonly to-day. It is therefore quite a usual thing to find windows of a much later type than the churches which they adorn ; a perpendicular, or an early English window, for instance, may be found piercing a Norman wall. A feature of English mediaeval churches was the great east window. Occasionally we find, especially in Norman churches, a row, or perhaps a double row, of comparatively small windows, but a solid east wall, against which stands the altar beneath a high canopy or baldachino, is characteristic of continental rather than of English architecture ; the custom with us ran rather to the opposite extreme of making the east window of the fullest size possible. The largest example in the country, which is in fact unsurpassed in magnitude in the world, is at Carlisle. This consists of no less than nine lights, surmounted by a head, filled with exquisite tracery. The glass of the upper portion dates back to the end of the fourteenth century, that of the lower part is modern. A window at Perugia is said to CHURCH WINDOWS. i43 equal it in size, but not in design, while the east window at Selby, by some thought equally fine in its tracery, is smaller. Two other famous east windows are at York and Gloucester. The one at York is seventy-five feet high and thirty-two wide, divided, like that at Carlisle, into nine lights ; and is the largest window in England which yet contains its original o-lass. There are about one hundred separate compartments in it, setting forth the leading scenes of the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation. John Thornton, of Coventry, was the artist, who began the work in 1405, on the understanding that he was to receive four shillings a day, and an additional five pounds a year, with a bonus of ten pounds if all proved satisfactory when completed ; the work to be finished in three years. The window at Gloucester is two feet less in heio-ht than its rival at York, and six feet more in width. It was constructed about 1350, and con- tains for the most part its old glass, which was carefully taken out, cleaned, repaired, and re- inserted in 1862. The east window of the fine parish church of Louth, Lincolnshire, is noteworthy, the mullions being so constructed as to form a huge cross, the 144 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. whole length and breadth of the window. The tracery of a window on the north side of the choir of Dorchester Abbey is also curious. The design is a Jesse window of the fourteenth century, the pedigree of the Saviour being represented by a series of carved figures placed in the tracery, which rises like a tree from the body of Jesse. The glass in this, as in other windows of the Abbey, is ancient. Let us turn now from the form of the windows to the mode of filling them in. As late as the thirteenth century, the windows of Peterborough Cathedral were closed only with reeds and straw, and in many places, at even a later date, the clerestory was unglazed and only protected by wooden shutters. Yet glass is mentioned by St. Chrysostom and Lactantius, and by Fortunatus in the fifth century ; while the church of St. Benignus at Dijon contained some stained glass as early as the year 1052. It was only in that century that painting on glass became known, and the designs were at first of a very simple character, consisting of figures on a ground of geometrical design with a border of leaves, the outlines being marked by the leading. In the place of the mosaic back- ground, canopies above the figures were introduced CHURCH WINDOWS. 145 in the fourteenth century, and in the following centuries details were more freely attempted, hangings behind the figures appear, and the set borders are less common ; and in the latter half of the fifteenth century we find landscapes intro- duced. Le Mans boasts of possessing the oldest speci- mens of glass windows now existing, dating from the eleventh century. Canterbury has some which has survived since the twelfth century, for which Gondomar, the Spanish Ambassador, once offered to give its weight in gold. The fourteenth century is represented by some glass at Exeter, and the sixteenth by some at Lichfield. When St. Bedidict Biscop was building his abbey at Wearmouth, somewhere about the year 675, he could find no glass-makers in England, and consequently brought over some from France, whose work was probably the first of the kind seen in the country, at any rate in the north. We have seen that in the fifteenth century, Coventry had a maker of painted glass, by name John Thornton ; but the continental artists, and especially those of Venice, long since famous for all works in glass, were still the acknowledged masters of the art. Under James I. the privilege 10 146 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES of making glass with pit coal was granted ex- clusively to a company of noblemen, for whom Sir Robert Mansell acted as a kind of manager. They had a house in Broad Street, where several Venetians were employed, and their agent, James Howel, a Welshman, constantly visited the con- tinent to secure additional artists, and to procure the most approved materials. Howel has left some interestino letters describino- his visits to Venice, Murano, then the home of the manu- facture of "crystal glass," and elsewhere. Two glaziers, named Price, living in Hatton Garden some fifty years later, undertook the making of stained windows, and some of their work remains at, among other places, Denton, Norfolk, in a chapel at Copthall, near Epping, and in St. Andrew's, Holborn. Foremost among English churches in the matter of stained glass stands the parish church of Fairford, in Gloucestershire, whose twenty-eight windows are unrivalled. Another most interesting series is found at St. Neot's, in Cornwall. One window gives us, in a number of exceedingly quaint scenes, the story of the patron saint ; a second, the history of St. George ; and the third illustrates the earlier chapters of the Book of CHURCH WINDOWS. 147 Genesis. In this last we see the Great Archi- tect of the Universe designing His work by the help of a pair of compasses ; and in other com- partments the history of Cain and Abel is set forth, down to the shootiniiJf of Cain by an arrow from Lamech's bow. An exceedingly curious "book" of an ancient mystery, or miracle play, once in vogue in Cornwall, and still extant in the extinct Cornish language, has a scene exactly corresponding with this. Cain, all shaggy with unkempt hair, enters and hides himself in a bush, and is thus mistaken for " a very great bullock " by the servant of Lamech, who persuades his master to shoot at it ; after which devils enter and carry off the whole party. In the window at St. Neot's we see Lamech attended by a lad, and Cain with an arrow in his side standing beneath a tree. The effigies of the saints in old stained glass are often exceedingly quaint, and, except that our eyes have become accustomed to the convention- alities by which they are distinguished, very incongruous. Martyrs carry the implements of their death and torture ; thus St. Stephen carries stones in his deacon's tunic, St. Laurence a grid- iron, St. Catherine a wheel. Others are dis- 148 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. tinguished by some allusion to an incident in their lives ; St. Hugh has his pet swan, St. Hubert a stag with a crucifix between its antlers. A pig is the curious emblem of the anchorite St. Anthony, and as such it is depicted in the east window of the curious little village church at Cartmel Fell in Westmore- land. Ruskin, in his " Seven Lamps of Architecture," pronounces a sweeping condemnation upon memorial windows, when he declares that "the peculiar manner of selfish or impious ostentation, provoked by glass- makers for a stimulus to trade, of putting up painted windows to be records of private affection instead of universal religion, is one of the worst, because most plausible and proud, instead of St. Anthony and the Pig, uulversal hypocrlsics of our day." Cartmel Fell Church, Westmoreland. gyf ^^g feeling whlch prottipts such gifts, whether it be a right one or a wrong, has not been confined to " our day." The famous CHURCH WINDOWS. 149 " Pedlar's Window," in St. Mary's Church, Lam- beth, dates back to the seventeenth century, and commemorates the charity of a pedlar who bequeathed a sum of money to the parish for the benefit of the poor. The window, which is a small one, has a portrait of the pedlar, with pack on back and staff in hand, his doL^' running by his side. A quaint method of commemorating the donors of a window, not un- common in past times, was the introduction of their portraits, with a total disregard to historical or artistic accuracy. At Gouda, in Holland, is an old window representing ' The Pedlar and his Dog, St. Mary's the Last Supper, in which church, Lambeth. the Spanish monarch, by whom it was given to the church, and his queen are seen kneeling in the foreg-round. A Flemish window of the middle of I50 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. the sixteeth century, now in South Kensington Museum, depicts the Annunciation, and shows a sturdy citizen and his wife as two diminutive figures kneehng in prayer between St. Gabriel and the Blessed Virgin. A similar incongruity is found in the east window of St. Maro'aret's, Westminster, the glass of which is said to have been a gift from Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to Henry VII. of England, on the marriage of Prince Arthur to Katharine of Arragon. It depicts the Crucifixion, but introduces the kneelingr fio-ures of the bride and bridegroom with their patron saints, St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. George. This window has had a curious history. Intended for Westminster Abbey, it was not finished until the prince, whose marriage it commemorated, was dead, and it was therefore sent to Waltham Abbey, that it might not so constantly meet the King's eyes. At the dissolution of the monasteries the last abbot removed it to a private chapel at New Hall, Boreham. It was buried to keep it from the Puritans, and when the chapel was at last destroyed it was sold for fifty guineas, and again in 1758 to St. Margaret's for four hundred guineas. Common tradition invariably credits the soldiers CHURCH WINDOWS. 151 of the Commonwealth with the destruction of all the painted glass which has vanished in such quantities from our churches ; and there can be little question that a great deal was wantonly broken by the Puritan fanatics of that time. The wear and tear of time and weather should, how- ever, in all fairness, be allowed for to some extent, in considering so perishable a material as glass. A good deal of exquisite old glass has nevertheless come ciown to our own time. York has much, both in the Minster and in its parish churches ; and Canterbury, Bristol, Lincoln, Gloucester, Malvern, and the older Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge all have glass worth note, as well as many other places scattered up and down the country. The ancient crlass at Llanrhaiadr, in Denbicrh- shire, was preserved during the Civil War by being packed away in a chest and buried, until the return of quieter times. A few fragments of glass of the rich old colours may sometimes be found in the tracery of windows. In several instances, as in the south aisle of the choir at Durham, a window has been filled with the remains of other shattered windows, producino- a curious, but not unpleasing effect. In Chiswick 152 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Church is a window, gorgeous in colouring, which was once in the clerestory of the old Cathedral of Cologne. A popular subject for stained glass at one time was the genealogy of our Blessed Lord ; the design usually being a tree growing from the body of Jesse, with figures of the chief personages in the line of his descendants at intervals on its branches, and ending with St. Mary the Virgin and the Holy Child on the topmost bough. Mention has been made of one of these '' Jesse Windows," as they are called, at Dorchester ; the buried window, just referred to, at Llanrhaiadr is another example. The great east window of Wells is a " Jesse " ; Bunbury, Cheshire, had one given to it by David de Bonebury, the rector, in 1345 ; and Bodmin, Cornwall, sold one to its neighbour St. Kew's in 1469, for the sum of 26s. yd., and other ancient cases might be cited. In modern times a " Jesse " has been inserted at Beverley Minster, and in the west of Durham Cathedral. One point which makes the old painted glass both curious and interesting, is the entire absence of any attempt at historical accuracy in details. To find Flemish ladies at the foot of the Cross, CHURCH WINDOWS. 153 or mecliaiVcil knights guarding the Holy Sepulchre, produces certainly an incongruous effect to our eyes, who ha\'e learned to look for greater realism in our art. Yet the multitude of details of dress, furniture, manners, and customs which have thus been preserved to us, is invaluable. By Thomas Frost. THE earliest mention of the use of boxes in places of worship for the reception of the offerings of the worshippers occurs in the second book of the Kings of Israel, in which we are told that "Jehoiada, the priest, took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar," from which it may be inferred that it was intended for the collection of offerings for the maintenance of the temple. The provision of similar boxes probably became usual in churches at an early period in the history of the Christian Church, the giving of alms for the poor being so ancient a practice that it would soon become convenient to have a receptacle for them. Two of the oldest examples in English churches were set up at least as early as the middle of the four- teenth century in the little church on Holy Island. They were called respectively St. Columba's box and St. Cuthbert's box, and there are several entries relating to them in the records ALMS-BOXES AND ALMS-DISHES. 155 preserved in the library of the Dean and Chapter of Durham. Many of the alms-boxes still in existence are probably nearly as old, and many entries concerning them may be found in the churchwardens' accounts of a number of old parishes. They are, in most cases, made of oak, and are generally furnished with ornamental hinges and locks. In the ancient abbev church at Hexham, there was for centuries an oaken alms-box, with two locks, and decorated with brass fleurs-de-lys. Some years ago it was removed from the pillar to which it had till then been attached, and placed in the vestry. Another good example may still be seen in the church of St. Peter-in-the-East, Oxford. It is raised on a carved pedestal fixed against the side of a pew, and is chiefly remarkable for the beauty of the iron-work with which it is decorated. There is an oak alms- box in Meare Church, Somerset- shire, raised on a square shaft, ornamented with twisted columns and cusped panels. One of more elaborate design may be seen in Outwell Church, Norfolk. The Alms-box, Meare, Somerset. 156 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. box, which is raised on a handsomely-carved stem, has sHts for money to be dropped through in Hons' heads, carved on the four sides, the corners of which are surmounted by carved knobs, a larger one rising from the centre of the lid. In St. George's Chapel, Windsor, is an alms-box of the Tudor period, of an octagonal form, raised on four slender supports, and having the royal initial H on each panel. A large proportion of these Alms-box, outweii, Norfolk. qM alms-boxes bcar inscrip- tions ; "Remember the poor" being one very frequently met with by those who, like the writer, never pass a country church without entering it, provided the doors are not locked. The box in the pretty little church at Bramford, in Suffolk, has, under the date 1591 : — " Remember the poor : the Scripture doth record What to them is given is lent unto the Lord." The ordinary simple exhortation to remember the poor is inscribed on the box in the ancient parish church of Alnwick; on that, dated 1637, attached ALMS-BOXES AND ALMS-DISHES. 157 to one of the sears in the nave of the church of North Mims, Hertfordshire ; and on the carved oak box in BilHngham Church, in the county of Durham, against a pillar in the south aisle, with the date 1673. There was a curious custom connected with the triple-locked box in the church of St. Beuno, in North Wales. It was formerly used as the depository of the money acquired by the sale of such of the calves and lambs of the farmer of the parish as were born with a peculiar mark upon their ears, locally known as " St. Beuno's mark," in virtue of which they were claimed by the churchwardens for the Alms-box, St. Georges Ch.pel, WuKlsur. church. As there were three locks, it seems probable that the priest and the churchwardens each held a key. 15S ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Some interestino- references to alms and alms- boxes may be found in old account-books of churchwardens and other ancient records. In the accounts of the parish of Cheddar, in Somerset- shire, there are entries under date 1666 as follows : — " P'd for a Latten box to collect money in, 8d.," and, " P'd ye Apparitor for bringinge notice of ye money collected for London, 6d.," from which it has been surmised that the church- wardens had a new box made on account of the offerings expected to be given for the relief of the sufferers by the great fire by which the City of London was in that year laid in ruins. In the records of Tyningham, under date 1644, there is an entry stating that George Hay sent seven shillings for the poor's box, because he had not been able to attend on the Sunday, when his wife was buried, on account of the shortness of the days, and because ''the pepill did not conveine so tymeouslie as he expectit." Thouoh the custom of collectintr alms from the congregation is even more ancient than the pro- vision of boxes to receive them, very few examples of the dishes used for that purpose in old times are now in existence, probably owing to the facility with which those made of metal could ALMS-BOXES AND ALMS-DISHES. 159 be melted and replaced by new ones when they became damaged or old-fashioned. Some still remain, however, and entries relating to others may be found in old inventories. Some are silver, more plated, and others of brass or pewter. They vary in shape, the majority being round, while others are oval, and a few examples are square. Many bear inscriptions, a very common one being, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Another frequently met with merely records the name of the donor, as in the example at Stockton-on-Tees, on which is engraved, " The gift of Catherine Jackson, 1744." In the church of Casde Eden, in the county of Durham, a saucer-shaped dish has the donor's name, pre- ceded by a quotation, thus : "To do good and to distribute forget not, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. The gift of R. Burdon Junr. to the Parochial Chappell of St. James at Casde Eden, Anno 1765." A longer quotation appears on an alms-dish in St. Oswald's Church, Durham, the inscription being: — "The gift of John Sedg- wicke Esqr., a.d. 1699. If thou hast much give plenteously. If thou hast litde, do thy diligence gladly to give of that little. To do good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices i6o ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. God is pleased. Give to the Poor, and Thou shalt have Treasure in Heaven. Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teaches in all o-ood things. If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." A pewter plate in Grindon Church bears the inscription : " Bought for ye use of Grindon Church, 1724. R. C. and J. R. Chuh. W.," the initials probably being those of the church- wardens of that year. In Eglingham Church there is an alms-dish inscribed : '' Given to the Church of Eglingham. Lancet Allgood Esqr. and Mrs. Sarah Ogle of Eglingham, 1751." Sunderland Parish Church possesses a silver dish with the equally simple inscription : " The gift of Jane Gibson to Sunder- land Church, Ao. 1726." There are two curious examples which, from their comparatively small size, may be supposed to have been used for collectino- Aims-box, Havwedown. ^^^ offeHno-s of the con- eregation, while the fact of their beino- furnished ALMS-BOXES AND ALMS-DISHES. i6i with locks has caused them to be regarded by some as alms-boxes. One of these belongs to the hospital of St. Nicholas, at Harbledown, the- pleasant eminence from which the traveller throuo-h Kent bv road looks down upon the ancient city of Canter- bury. The other was formerly kept in a chest in the church of Neen Solars. in ^- Shropshire, but has been allowed to pass into private owner- ship. The two ex- Aims-box, Neen Solars. amples are very similar, both being of oak, cylindrical in shape, and rather clumsily strength- ened by iron bands. They are only about four inches in diameter, and appear to have been made by hollowing out the wood. The Neen Solars example, in addition to a lock with a hasp, was secured by two padlocks. Both this and the Harbledown example have chains attached to them, but whether for the purpose of securing them to a wall, or of suspending them from the girdle of the collector, is unknown. 11 ®l^ Collcctina ^Soyes. By H. Syer Cuming, f.s.a., Scot. THE period is as yet undetermined when offerings for sacred and charitable purposes began to be collected from the people whilst assembled within the walls of the church, nor is the mode by which such collections were first effected at all clear and well defined. Pope Innocent III. (1198-1216) ordered a trunk to be placed in every church, to receive alms for the remission of the sins of the donors ; and Fosbroke says that poor-boxes in churches ' are often mentioned in the twelfth century. But these money chests were for the reception of free gifts made without personal application, and were altogether as distinct in purpose as they were in form from the collecting bags, dishes, and boxes, which in our time, and long before our time, have been handed from pew to pew for the benevolent to drop their coins into. When did these erratic ecclesiastical receptacles come into vogue is a question easier asked than replied to ; and so OLD COLLECTING BOXES. i6- little do we really know respecting these matters, that it is best at present to simply -describe the examples which may chance to come within our ken, and thus assist in accumulating facts which may ultimately lead to a full understanding of the subject. We propose to notice a few interesting specimens of collecting boxes of wood, but none of which can lay claim to remote antiquity, nor much eleo-ance of desiofn. The first we have to refer to has long been employed at Becken- ham Church, Kent. It consists of an oblong rectangular case, about half of the top of which is open, the other portion being closed and flat. The bottom of the case extends a trifle beyond the sides and one end; the opposite end spreading out into a broad pyriformed handle, decorated with a large Jiezir-de-lys, and having a disc at the apex perforated with a round hole to enable the utensil to be hung up when not required for use. There is little about this collecting box besides the Jleitr-de-lys to Beckenham, Kent. i64 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. indicate its age ; but the fashion of the hly points strongly to the sixteenth century, and to this era we seem justified in assigning it. The next collecting box to describe is certainly of equal if not of superior antiquity to the example at Beckenham, and is one of the most ornate things of the kind I have yet met with. Our illustration is from a drawing by Mr. Watling, made in 1840, at which time the curious relic was kept in the ancient parish chest at Blythborough Church, Suffolk. The utensil Blythborough, Suffolk. measurcs from its flat end to the extremity of its haft, fully twelve-and-a-half inches. The receptacle has rather more than a third of its top closed ; and this portion as well as the sides of the case are carved in an architectural style, with circles enclosing trefoils, etc., placed between spondrels. The Kelsale collecting box is one of the most unpretending character, being a simple rectangular receptacle wiih nearly half of its top closed over, and with a flat handle on a line with the bottom, terminating in a pierced disc. Kelsale/.Suffolk. OLD COLLECTING BOXES. 165 Norfolk as well as Suffolk furnishes us with a few examples of old wooden collecting boxes adorned with paint. That at East Harling bears a marked re- semblance to the one at Kelsale in general desig-n ; but the flat end opposite the handle rises above the top of the utensil so as to enable it to be stood firmly in an upright position. It is also worthy ofmention that within the case is a sloping board, down which the money slides as it is dropped in, and effectually screens it from view. This red box has a straight haft with a handle, terminates in a trefoil, and is perforated for suspension. The whole surface of this specimen has been painted red, which is also the case with the three followino- examples, of which Mr. Watling has furnised me with the drawings. Two of these collecting boxes belong to Suffolk churches, viz.. Earl Stonham and Kelsale. The East Harling, Norfolk. i66 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Stonham box, which has a rather antique aspect about it, is of the usual rectangular shape ; but either end of its top is closed, so that a broad aperature is left in the middle for the admission of money. At one end on the same plane as the bottom isa flat handle, terminating in a fieiir- de-lys. It may be added that the Stonham, Kel- Eari Stonham, Suffolk. Sale, and East Hading boxes are each about eight inches in length by three-and-a-half in breadth, and therefore a trifle larger than the one at Blythborough. The old collecting box belonging to Blickling Church, Norfolk, differs altogether in contour from those we have been considering ; and if the late John Adey Repton be correct in his conjec- ture, is of the time of Elizabeth, It has a cordiformed body ten inches in length, secured at the broad end to a hexangular handle upwards of five inches long. The upper edge of the flat cover of the box is cut out in a double scollop to admit the money, and on it is inscribed in golden letters on a blue field, " Pray remember THE PORE, 92," Mr. Repton remarks in the OLD COLLECTING BOXES. 167 Gentleman s Magazine, March, 1837, p. 262, that "the lower tiorures of the date alone remain. It was probably 1592." A sug- gestion coming from so shrewd and careful an antiquarian is worthy of all respect ; but the form of the box and its inscription are of a character more in keeping with the seventeenth than the sixteenth century, and I honestly believe that the utensil is of the time of Charles II., and the "92" of still later date. The old church money-boxes were not always beautified with paint, for that still at Berrington, near Shrewsbury, is ot varnished oak. It is of an oblong form, with the half of the top furthest from the straight handle left open, and thus differs in more than one respect from the example previously described. This, like the great majority of such ecclesiastical articles, is of about the middle of the seventeenth centurv. Blickling, Norfolk. (5arG0\>lc9. By T. Tindall Wildridge. IT is difficult to thoroughly enter into the spirit actuating the Gothic builders, so full is it of inventive originality and innate artistic merit. The work of the mediaeval architect, like that of the bee, is more easy to describe than to under- stand. It cannot be considered unconscious, yet is not coldly thought out. The designs are never merely attempted ; whatever was conceived was achieved, and we moderns must stand, like men of another race, and admire the work of our forefathers. We do not find it easy to explain how every difficulty which might — as it generally does in modern practice — make Use glaringly apparent to the utter loss of artistic effect, was by the old builders made, each as it arose, a further triumph of art. Use is retained as the main principle, but so lovingly regarded and helped out in the choice of means, that it might well seem in some cases that the use was simply an after- thought to excuse a beauty of construction. The GARGOYLES. 169 grace and grandeur of columns the Gothic has in common with the classic, but how it amplified the idea, and rung a thousand changes on it. It is alone in its use of the buttress, which in its principle and intent might be deemed hideous and temporary, but which the Gothic renders a thing of beauty and a joy for ever. The nearest church can be depended upon to charmingly demonstrate what can be made out of a window. And what has it not been found possible to produce out of a mere gutter-spout. Behold the gargoyle ! Glimate has all to do with architecture. In a moist climate the choice lay between eaves or a substitute. The Gothic — and now we speak of gargoyles we mean the first real Gothic, Early English, architecture — was against eaves, hence were required water-spouts to carry the rain well out from the walls ; hence in every variety of fanciful monster we have the gargoyle, made rich with carved conceits, and helping to crust over the edifice with its share of detailed circumstance, of lieht and shade. It is apparent upon slight exaniination of the gargoyles of almost any church that the function of the water-spout was to some extent considered lyo ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. contemptible, for nearly all gargoyle designs are representations of fiends or monsters. The old fancy was that the ringing of bells and the hang- ing of evergreens in the church had the effect of driving away the demons, who were supposed to be watching opportunity to enter the sacred fane : that driven to the exterior, they found themselves fixed in stone to the roof, there to perform such useful purpose as might be, compelled as water- spouts to protect the building they would gladly destroy. It is certainly a sur- prising thing that so large a portion of the Gargoyle Stony Stratford, omaments of churchcs should be representations of the Enemy of Mankind and lesser embodiments of evil. Take away the dragon forms from ecclesiology, and nearly half the ornaments would be missing. Partly symbolism, but more largely a sort of fashion, and a " cornery " adaptation to Gothic, made the dragon a common subject. We may find the dragon anywhere in the church ; we are certain to find it among the gargoyles. GARGOYLES. 171 In ascertaining the meaning of the term gargoyle, we are met by two derivations, which, however, are reconcilable. The first is Gar- gouille, met as the proper name of a dragon who dwelt in the waters of the Seine, and who, ravaging the town of Rouen, was forthwith slain by St. Romanus, the bishop of that place. An explanation of this legend leads us to the true meaning of the word. Probably the banks of the Seine burst (as in early days the banks of most rivers frequently did), and the bishop had them permanently made good. Most great dangers were styled dragons in the poetic imagery of legend, and it is quite in accordance with numerous other instances to find the great fiood termed the Dragon Gargouille, and to find that the terni spread as a proper name. The best known of the mediaeval dragons was the heresy-figure of the dragon of the Rogation processions (an adaptation of a Pagan rite), and this dragon was in Provence called Gargouille. In Poictiers he is met as Grand-guete, "great spout." This explains the dragon form of the water-spout, though, as before suggested, fashion and a certain convenience of form had much to do with it. 172 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. The word gargoyle (gargoile, gurgoile, and gurgoyle) is simply the French word for a gutter- spout, oargouil/e, allied with gargouiller, to dabble ; and with the English words gargle, gurgle, gullet, etc. Gar appears to be equivalent to cur (to run), and gouille is a mouth or open- ing ; goueule is the mouth of a beast, an oven, a sack, a pitcher ; goiilot, the spout of a jug. The word gurgoile is, in fact, the Latin curciilus, the gullet, and in tracing it through several languages, the form and meaning of the word remain practically the same. As well as gargoyles, these dragon-spouts are called Magots. VValcot derives this word from the Hebrew Magog, "on the roof," but it is undoubtedly merely a corrupt form of imago, an imao^e. The dragon-form of the gargoyle being so universally adopt- ed, prevents the ornament from pos- sessing any wide range of subjects. ''The Gargoyle, North Transept, Westminster -^^ ., ■, , . Abbey. Uevil ; lookmg over Lincoln " is the designation of a gargoyle on GARGOYLES. i73 Lincoln Minster, and is evidence of the popular recognition of the sculptor's success in pourtraying the diabolical personage. There are, however, some notable exceptions to this portraiture. The best in existence is, perhaps, at Patrington, East Yorkshire. In this the body of the carving is a boat projecting from the parapet ; at the side of the vessel, as though floating on the surface of water, is the* body of a woman, her hands tied and her hair loosely flowing. In the boat, looking over the side, and evidently barking, is a dog. " In the boat whence the martyr has been cast Barks a cur, type of the devilish hate Prompting ancient murder, ancient martyrdom." The allusion to the death of St. Verena is obvious. This carving, like the rest of the Patrington gargoyles, unfortunately much water- worn, is a unique example. Projecting figures of dragons, or other monsters, are often used as mere dripping points, without piercing for water passage. Though useful in that respect, their chief function is to break up continuous lines, and barren places at the angles of gables, towers, etc. These are scarcely gar- goyles, though their general appearance is precisely the same. On St. Saviour's, South- 174 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. wark, and on St. Mary's, Lambeth, we see figures of this kind. The idea, widely adopted as an allowable ornament, has been followed on the towers of the Houses of Parliament. The example, here engraved, from Stony Stratford, shows this kind, while that from Westminster Abbey exemplifies the true gargouille or water- spout. Curious Dance. By William Andrews, f.r.h.s. THE period when the vane was invented is not known, but it is quite certain it belongs to remote times. Triton was the desisfnation used by Virtuvius, most likely on account of its triton- like form. On the stately towers of castles and other buildings of the titled and the great, vanes are usually fashioned in the shape of banners, and on churches the male of the barn-door fowl is the most popular form, and from this we get the familiar title of the vane, the weather-cock. The cock, it is believed, was first employed as a representation of vigilance to be emulated by the clergy. In various parts of the country may be seen vanes curious in form, particulars of the more interesting of which we propose to bring under the notice of the reader. Emblems of the saints, we think, form the most fitting adornment of the church vanes, and might be more generally adopted. The vane of St. Peter's, Cornhill, /^i 176 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. London, is in the form of a golden key, in allusion to the old belief that St. Peter keeps the key of heaven. St. Laurence was by birth a Spaniard, and at the time of his martyrdom was treasurer of the Roman Church. His bishop was killed by the soldiers of the Emperor Vaterian, and because St. Laurence refused to deliver up the cornhiu. treasures of the church, he was laid on a gridiron and broiled to death over a fire. At the church of St. Laurence, Norwich, the vane is in the form of a gridiron with the holy martyr on its bars. The vane of St. Laurence's Jewry, London, is in the form of a gridiron. At Bishopstone, in Herefordshire, is a church dedicat- ed to St. Laurence, and bearing on its spire the familiar emblem of the cruel fate of its patron saint. The dragon on the spire of Bow Church, Cheapside, London, is perhaps the most noted of English vanes. It indicates the direction of the wind at an altitude of 221 feet 9 inches, and is the city emblem. This vane is eight feet ten inches in length, and on each wing carries an ornate St. Laurence, Bishopstone. CURIOUS VANES. 177 cross of o-ilt copper. Some strange stories are told respecting it. According to one of Mother Shipton's prophecies, when the dragon of Bow Church, and the grasshopper of the Royal Exchange should meet, London streets would be deluged with blood ! In 1820, both these vanes were lying together in a builder's yard, during repairs to the respective buildings on which they are fixed, but happily the prophecy proved false. The Dragon, St. Mary-le-P.ow. Washington Irving, in one of his pleasant passages, refers to the story, and of his seeing the vanes lying cheek by jowl. We are told when the dragon was taken down in 1820, a young Irishman got on its back and descended from the spire-point, and pushed it from the corners and scaffolds with his feet. Many thousand persons witnessed this performance, and the daring feat was much praised. 12 lyS ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Mention has been made of the grasshopper of the Royal Exchange, and it may not be deemed out of place to give a few particulars respecting it. Accordincr to an old tradition, Sir Thomas Gresham adopted this heraldic symbol from the following circumstance. He was in a helpless and famished condition, when the sounds of a grasshopper attracted to the spot where he lay, a gentleman who rendered him help and saved his life. It has been shewn that the story is not supported by fact, for the letters of Sir Thomas Gresham's father, which are in the Paston collection, bear the seal of a grasshopper.* A grasshopper, as a sign, was placed over Gresham's banking-house and goldsmith's shop, in Lombard Street. When he founded the Exchange, a large vane in the form of a grasshopper was erected, and it is said that it was saved from the Great Fire when the building was consumed. It was preserved in 1838, when the Exchange was burnt down a second time. This vane is copper gilt, and eleven feet long. There is a vane on each of the four pinnacles of the tower of St. Sepulchre's Church, Skinner Street, London. " Unreasonable people," said * Chambers's " Book of Days," vol. I., p. 157. CURIOUS VANES. 179 Howell, "are as hard to reconcile as the vanes of St. Sepulchre's tower, which never looked all four upon one point of the heavens." At Filey, the vane takes the form of a fish. A small structure on the old bridge at Bradford-on- Avon, in bygone times was, it is believed, a chapel, and later it was used as a lock-up. On its dome- like roof is a vane, the model of a gudgeon, the emblem of St. Nicholas. The Bradford-on-Avon folk are familiarly spoken of as " Bradford o-udo^eons." Those who had been imprisoned on the bridge were said to have been " under fish and over water." The fish was a \ery common symbol in early Christian art. In the catacombs at Rome, which contain our earliest Christian monuments, representations of fish are frequently figured. Some singular ship-shaped vanes may still be seen, the best example is perhaps the one at the church of St. Thomas a Becket, Portsmouth. It is a model of an old warship, under full sail. Its dimensions are, six feet in length, and four feet two inches in height. It was erected in 1 7 10, and since it was put up it has been regilded i8o ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. St. Thomas a Becket, Portsmouth. at least three times. Prior to demolition, St. Mildred's Church, in Lon- don, had a vane in the form of a ship in full sail. Another London model ship vane is at St. Michael's, Oueenwhithe, and it is said the hull will hold a bushel of grain, an allusion to the former traffic of corn at the Hithe. An arrow-shaped vane at Ludlow, has given rise to some strange stories. " The north transept of the church," says Wright, the local historian, "is called the Fletcher's Chancel, and on the gable is an arrow, the ensign of the craft. It is a probable conjecture that this part was appropriated for the use of the archers, who might possibly hold their meetinos here." A local leoend is to the effect that the arrow was placed in its position "in commemoration of a shot made by Robin Hood from the Old Field — a lono- mile distant — which hit the steeple." A vane representing a jockey racing on horseback is out of place on a church, yet one exists, the only one that has come CURIOUS VANES. i8i under our notice, at the church of St. Jude's, South Exeter. We are told in many places, in the olden time, it was not an uncommon practice to ring church bells in honour of horses winning races. In the church- warden's accounts of St. Edmund's, Salisbury, is the followinfj entry : — St. Jude's, South Exeter. 1646. "Ringing the Race day, that the Earl of Pembroke his horse won the Cuppe • - - - v*- " The device of the House of York, the falcon enclosed in a fetterlock, may be seen in various parts of Fotheringay Church, Northamptonshire, and on the point of a flagstaff on the tower a vane formed representing the badge of the noble family. Many years ago lived at Great Ponton, near Grantham, a poor labour- ing man, who increased his scanty earnings by playing his fiddle at fairs Fotheringay. and feasts and other places. He was a most I»2 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. careful man, saving every penny he could, after paying the bare necessities of life, to enable him to emigrate to America. After much pinching, sufficient money was obtained to pay his passage to the land of promise. Hard work and sound judgment soon enabled him to become a rich man. In the period of his prosperity, he did not forget his old home in Lincolnshire, and he was anxious to show in a worthy manner his gratitute for good ^IJmlJf^lr^ fortune. He provided money ^^T? Sj^ ^^'^l. m Great Ponton. for the erection of a handsome church at Great Ponton, and in doing this he made one con- dition, that a model, in copper, of his favourite fiddle be placed on the summit of the sacred pile. There it is, a reminder of the founder's humbler days when he made money with the musical instrument to carry him to a distant land, where he won wealth. people ant) Steeple IRh^ines. By William Andrews, f.r.h.s. AT different times and in various places we have collected many examples of People and Steeple Rhymes, which, though not very poetical, are, at all events in most cases, extremely curious. Amongst them are the following. Some, it will be noticed, are far from being complimentary to places or to people. Thus it is unkindly said of Ugley in Essex : — " Ugley church, Ugley steeple, Ugley parson, Ugley people." And of a place near Carlisle : — " Low church, high steeple, Drunken priest, and wicked people." A rhyme respecting the parish of Kinkell, Stathearn, runs as follows : — " Was there e'er sic a parish, a parish, a parish, Was there e'er sic a parish as that o' Kinkell? They've hangit the minister, drowned the precentor, Dang down the steeple, and drucken the bell." We are told the circumstances which gave rise i84 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. to the lines were that the minister had been hanged, the precentor drowned in attempting to cross the Earn from the adjoining parish of Trinity Gask, the steeple had been taken down, and the bell had been sold to the parish of Cockpen, near Edinburgh. The following are evidently varieties of the same rhyme altered to suit different localities: — " Lockerbie's a dirty place, A kirk without a steeple : A midden-hole in ilka door, But a canty set o' people." A Whithorn version tells us : — " Whithorn is a filthy place, Like a church without a steeple ; A wee dunghill at every door. And full of Irish people." Of Dromore it is said : — " High church, low steeple, Dirty town, and proud people." While of Newry and Carlow the rhymes are : — " High church and low steeple, Dirty streets, and proud people." " Low town and high steeple. Proud folk, beggarly people, Carlow sptirs and TuUow garters." In the last line the reference is made to two branches of local trade that have long disappeared. PEOPLE AND STEEPLE RHYMES. 185 Respecting Boston, in Lincolnshire, the question is put and answered thus : — " Boston ! Boston ! What has thou to boast on ? High steeple, proud people, And shoals that souls are lost on." Another Lincolnshire couplet tells us : — '* Gainsbro' proud people. Built a new church to an old steeple." In the same shire we are told : — " Luddington poor people, Built a brick church to a stone steeple." A rhyme on four churches in the same county states : — " Gosberton church is very high, Surfleet church is all awry. Pinchbeck church is in a hole. And Spalding church is big with foal." The eood folk of Preston, Lancashire, have the reputation of being proud, we are told : — " Proud Preston, poor people. High Church and low steeple." The next refers to Bowness-on-Windermere : — " New church and old steeple. Poor town and proud people." And that on Rockingham, in Rutlandshire : — i86 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. " Rockingham ! poor people ! Nasty town, castle down ! One bell, wooden steeple." The castle is said to have been built by William the Conqueror, to protect the ironworks in the neighbourhood of it. Only the keep remains. The wooden steeple, it is stated by Dugdale, replaced a fine one battered down by Cromwell. The Yorkshire village of Raskelfe is usually called Rascall, and an old rhyme says : — " A wooden church, a wooden steeple, Rascally church, rascally people " Two other Yorkshire examples come next. The low square tower of Hornsea church once bore a tall spire, which fell in a gale in the year 1773. There is an absurd superstition which is very popular in the town and neighbourhood, that a stone was found when the spire fell with an inscription to this effect : — " Hornsea broch when I built the, Thou wast ten miles from Beverley, Ten miles from Bridlington, And ten miles from the sea." In the same district is the villao^e of Paull, with a church situated on a commanding eminence, PEOPLE AND STEEPLE RHYMES. 187 and stcinding by itself nearly a quarter-of-a-mile from the village, which gave rise to the following distich : — " High Paull, and Low Paull, and Paull Holme, There was never a fair maid married at Paull Town." The next rhyme relates to Newington, London : — " Pious Parson, pious people, Sold the bells to buy a steeple, A very fine trick for the Newington people, To sell the bells to buy a steeple, Surely the devil will have the Newington people. The rector and church without any steeple." This scurrilous jett cCesprit was scribbled on the wall of the church in the year 1793, after the re-erection of the sacred edifice withoiU the steeple. It is only fair to state the Rev. Samuel Horsley, the rector, had no more to do with the sale of the bells than he had with the authorship of the doggrel verse in which the event is recorded. As a fitting conclusion to these rhymes we give the following odd lines which refer to the statue of King George the First, which overlooks Bloomsbury from the apex of the pyramid piled 1 88 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. on the top of the tower of St. George's Church, Hart Street, London : — " When Henry the eighth left the Pope in the lurch, Parliament made him the head of the Church ; And when George the first reigned over the people, The architect made him the head of the steeple." Sun^'S)ial5. By Thomas Frost. THE use of sun-dials, as a means of ascertaining the time of day, dates from a very remote period in the history of man. Reference to it is thought to be made in the words of Job: "As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow ;" but the date of that book is uncertain, and the earliest historical mention of the sun-dial is found in the second book of the Kings, in the passage stating that " Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz," who ascended the throne of Judah about 742 B.C. The construction of the dial was probably learned from the Baby- lonians, from whom also the Greeks, according to Herodotus, derived their knowledge of the inven- tion. Anaximander is said to have introduced it into Greece in 560 b.c, and there is one in the British Museum which may have served to show the hour in one of the cross-ways of Athens. I90 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. The Romans were slow in availing themselves of this means of computing" time, for the first dial set up in Rome was erected in the court of the temple of Ouirinus in 293 B.C. From Rome the invention was brought to our own country, A small stone sun-dial, supposed to date from the period of the Roman occupation of England, having been discovered in 1862 on the site of a disused church. It is now in the museum at Dover. The number of sun-dials still in existence, or known to have formerly existed, in this country, shows that they must have been very numerous in the middle ages. Probably every parish church had its sun-dial until it was superseded by a clock. One of the oldest is on a stone cross at Bewcastle, the date assigned to which is 670 ; and one, probably of equal antiquity, may be seen over the south door of Kirkdale Church, in Yorkshire. Another is still visible over the porch of Bishop- stone Church, in Sussex. There are more old sun-dials in Yorkshire, however, than in any other county in England ; Durham and Cumberland ranking next in this respect. Scotland is also rich in these relics of media^valism, and it was beside an old sun-dial in the lonely grave-yard at SUN-DIALS. 191 Conanside, in Cromarty, that Hugh Miller wrote these lines : — " Grey dial-stone, I fain would know What motive placed thee here. Where sadness heaves the frequent sigh, And drops the frequent tear? Like thy carved plain grey dial-stone, Grief's weary mourners be ; Dark sorrow metes out time to them. Dark shade metes time to thee. Grey dial-stone, while yet thy shade Points out those hours are mine. While yet at every morn I rise. And rest at day's decline. Would that the sun that formed thine His bright rays beamed on me. That I, wise for the final day, Might measure time like thee !" From the time when the sun-dial was first introduced into England, it was the custom to inscribe mottoes under them, reminding the passer-by of the flight of time and the brevity of human life. These form an interesting chapter of church lore, and it is proposed, therefore, to eive a selection of the most remarkable from the churches of this country. The dial on Thornby Church, in Northamptonshire, conveys the follow- ing lesson : — 192 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. " Mark well my shade and seriously attend The common lesson of a silent friend, For time and life speed rapidly away, Neither can you recall the former day. You are not able to recall the past, But live thou this day as if it were the last." The sug'gestive question, "Now or When?" appears on the dial on the south-west tower of Beverley Minster. Mox nox, " Night cometh soon," the dial on the porch of Elsworth Church, in Cambridgeshire, reminds the worshipper who enters and the rambler who passes. On a pillar- dial in the church-yard of Shenstone, near Lichfield, we find the prevailing sentiment of these time measurers rendered more poetically than in the majority of instances, thus : — " If o'er the dial glides a shade, redeem The time ; for lo, it passes like a dream. But if 'tis all a blank, then mark the loss Of hours unblest by shadows from the cross." Hadleigh Church, in Suffolk, formerly bore a dial with the following inscription : — " Where now you stand the time to spye, Who knows how soon you there may lye. Both time and place are monitory, That thou and they are transitory. Heaven is our temple, Death's the porch, Christ is the way. His Word our torch ; SUN-DIALS. 193 Here let us walk while we have light, Too late begins our work at night." But it has disappeared, like many more sun-dials in all parts of the kingdom. The inscription on the sun-dial on the old parish church at Whitby is, " Our days pass like a shadow," and was the inspiration of the following lines by Patty Honey- wood : — "The summer breeze is sighing, 'midst the grass upon the graves. In the storm-swept churchyard crowning the cliff above the sea ; The city of the sleeping, flecked with sunlight and with shade. Speaks in holy whispers softly of the dead that yet shall be. ' Our days pass like a shadow,' saith the dial quaint and old ; Many suns have kissed in passing its wan face, and left it stern, — Many nights have gone untokened by its finger still and cold. But the coming dawn-light beckoned the grey shadows to return. Stretch the meadows and the moorland, stretch the waves beyond our ken. And the graves are deep and silent where the infant laughs and plays, — Birth, the mystery of living, — Death, the mystery of time, — Shadows on the dial fleeting, — seconds, moments, hours, days." 13 194 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. A large proportion of the sun-dials on churches bear inscriptions derived from the Bible, and almost as many convey moral warnings, more or less practical in their character, in terse and suggestive language. On one on the parish church of Hartlepool are the words, " The last hour to many, possibly to you." The dial on Market Harborough Church admonishes those who look upon it to improve the passing hour, which is more poetically expressed on the one at Churnside Church, in Berwickshire, in the motto : " Be diligent while the light abides." The same lesson is taught, in the words of Young : " Time wasted is existence, used is life," on the dial over the porch of the church of Hutton Buscell, in Yorkshire. On a pillar-dial in the churchyard at Conway, in North Wales, is the inscription : " Learn to live and die well." The admonition, "Pray and work," appears on the dial on the parish church at Northallerton. On one in the churchyard at Leyland, in Lancashire, are the words: "We are dust and shadow;" and on the porch of Aberford Church, in Yorkshire, the same admonition was conveyed in the warning motto: "Man's life is short." A good example SUN-DIALS. 195 of the same kind is given on a dial at Hesketh, in Lancashire : — " Ah, what is human Hfe ! How like the dial's tardy morning shade : Day after day glides by us unperceived, Yet soon man's life is up, and we are gone." The sun-dial at Standish Vicarage, in Glou- cestershire, bears the inscription : " The light of the Church knows no setting," which we are told by Mrs. Gatty, in her " Book of Sun-Dials," "has a hidden meaning, due to its having been chosen by Bishop Frampton, who was deprived of the See of Gloucester as a non-juror, but was permitted to hold the Vicarage of Standish, and died there in 1708. He erected the dial, and in addition to the allusion to his career, which he put into the motto, he had the gnomon shaped like the sword of the see, reversed, and pointing upwards, as an emblem of martyrdom." In the churchyard at Helston, in Cornwall, is a sun-dial with a curious device representing an angel, supposed to be intended for St. Michael, standing between two towers, and piercing with a spear a dragon lying at his feet. One over the porch at St. Ives Church, in the same county, bearing the date 1695, is ornamented with a coiled serpent at 196 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. the top and a rose at the bottom. On the church at Isleworth is a dial on which Time is repre- sented in the conventional manner as a bearded old man with wings, reclining on his back, with a scythe by his side, the point of which is directed to a scroll at his feet, on which may be read the words : " Watch and pray," A sun-dial on the south porch of Eyam Church, in Derbyshire, bears the inscription : " Take to thyself a wise mind." On Winkleigh Church, in Devonshire, is a curious dial, with the following quaint inscription : — " Life's but a shadow, Man's but dust. This dyall sayes I)y all we must." One in the churchyard at Trefnant, in North Wales, has an inscription which enforces the same moral in the following quaint lines : — " Suns rise and set Till men forget The day is at the door. When they shall rise no more. O everlasting sun, Whose race is never run, Be thou my endless light, Then shall I fear no night," SUN-DIALS. 197 The singular injunction, " Go about your business," which is inscribed on a buttress of St. James' Church, Bury St. Edmund's, and on more than one sun-dial elsewhere, has the following story told about it by Mrs. Gatty : — " It is said that the witty Dean Cotton, of Bangor, had a very cross old gardener, who protected his master from troublesome visitors by saying to everyone he saw near the place, 'Go about your business.' When the gardener died, the Dean had his servant's favourite formula engraved round the sun-dial in his garden in this wise, ' Goa bou tyo urb us in ess,' — the result being that the motto was usually supposed to be Welsh." The story may be taken cum grano salts \ it reminds us of the inscription which Mr. Pickwick discovered at Cobham, and that which Scott's antiquary, Jonathan Oldbuck, was positive had a Roman origin, but which was so differently interpreted by Edie Ochiltree. A more feasible story is told concerning a similar motto which miofht have been seen some years ago on an old house in the Inner Temple. When the dial was put up, the painter asked if he should, as was customary, write a motto under it. He was told to call at a certain hour, when a suitable motto would have been chosen. On 198 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. calling, however, he encountered a testy old gentleman, who knew nothing about the matter, and, angry at being disturbed in an absorbing study, exclaimed, " Begone about your business ! " The man, either resentfully or in mistake, took this for the answer, and painted the words on the dial." An amusino- anecdote is told concerninof the sun-dial on Elmsted Church, in Kent. The vicar, entering the church one morning, accompanied by the clerk, inquired what the time was by the dial. "Well, sir," replied the clerk, "the dial is half- past ten, but I think it must be fast, as my watch is only ten minutes past ten." The clerk had presumably never heard of the motto on a sun- dial formerly on Ebberston Church, near Scar- borough : — " It is impossible for me to lie." Within the present century, many sun-dials have been removed from churches while under repair, or in process of restoration, — a process responsible for so many other acts of Vandalism — and either altogether lost, or set up in other places. A dial which once stood on a pedestal in the churchyard of Kirk Arbory, in the Isle of Man, disappeared mysteriously, the plate being discovered some years afterwards in a neighbour- SUN-DIALS. 199 inor cottaoe, the tenant of which could a-ive no information as to how it came there. In Alex- andra Park, Oldham, a sun-dial may be seen, which formerly ornamented a local church, but it was removed during alterations and repairs ; and similar instances may be found all over the country. 3ack of tbc Clocl^^lbousc. By William Andrews, f.r.h.s. THE works of Shakespeare and the older dramatists contain allusions to automaton figures called "Jack of the Clock-house," which were popular in bygone times. In Richard II., (Act v., sc. 5.), Shakespeare makes the king say :— " my time Runs posting on in Bolingbroke's proud jay. While I stand fooling here, his Jack o' the clock." The following occurs in Richard III., (Act iv., sc. 2.) : — " Buckingham. — Why let it strike ? Kifig Richard. — Because that like a Jack, thou keeps't the stroke Betwixt thy begging and my meditation." In a comedy called The Flei7^e, produced in 1 61 5, by Edward Sharpman, it is stated of certain parties that "their tongues are, like a Jack o' the clock, still in labour." The old cathedral of St. Paul was burnt down in 1666, and with it perished the ancient clock JACK OF THE CLOCK-HOUSE. 201 with striking Jacks. Decker, in his GuW s Horn- book (1609), referrino- to the cathedral says: " The great dial is your last monument, where bestow some half of the three score minutes to observe the sauceness of the Jacks that are above the Man in the Moon there ; the strancreness of their motion will quit your labour." And further it is stated : " But howsoever, if Paul's Jacks be once up with their elbows, and quarrelling to strike eleven, as soon as ever the clock has parted them, and ended the fray with his hammer, let not the Duke's Gallery contain you any longer." The building of the present cathedral was com- menced in 1675, and twenty-five years later it was stated in a paper entitled " The Affairs of the World," that " Mr. Tompion, the famous watch- maker in Fleet Street, is making a clock for St. Paul's Cathedral, which it is said will a-Q one hundred years without winding up ; will cost 3,000/, or 4,000/, and be a far finer than the famous clock at Strasburg." F"or some unexplain- ed cause the project was not carried out, and in the place of one costing 3,000/, a very good one was procured for 300/, from Lang Bradley. It is described as the best example of an old clock in London. There are two dial plates, one facing 202 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. south, and the other west. Each dial is between fifty and sixty feet in circumference. The hour fiu[ures on the dial are a little over two feet in height. The hands are very large, the minute hand being eight feet long, weighing seventy-five lbs., and the hour hand five feet five inches long, and weighing forty-four lbs.* In the last century, T. Reid, a writer on watchmaking, placed on record some interesting- details respecting this clock. " Height or length of fall of the clock weights," says Reid, "and soundinor-boards for the bells were much attended to when building of ancient churches, an instance of this is seen in Sir Christopher Wren's architecture of the cathedral church of St. Paul's, where the fall of the clock-weights is of such a force, as by a stroke of a hammer, it can make a bell of 11,474 lbs. be heard at a distance of two-and- twenty miles. We heard it at Windsor in the month of June, 1773. The day was still and calm ; and attending to try if the clock could be heard when striking the twelve o'clock hour at noon (which we did hear), the sound which came throuofh the air was not like that of a bell, but had a low, dull, and feeble tone, barely perceivable." " Curiosities of Clocks and Watches. Wood. JACK OF THE CLOCK-HOUSE. 203 The story of a soldier hearing St. Paul's clock strike thirteen when it was alleafed he was sleeping on duty saved his life. Several have told the tale, but perhaps the following version is the best, and is drawn from the Public Advertiser of Friday, June 22nd, 1770: "Mr. John Hatfield, who died last Monday at his house in Glasshouse Yard, Aldersgate, aged 102 years, was a soldier in the reign of William and Mary, and the person who was tried, and condemned by a court-martial for falling asleep on his duty upon the terrace at Windsor. He absolutely denied the charge against him, and solemnly declared that he heard St. Paul's clock strike thirteen, the truth of which was much doubted by the court, because of the great distance. But whilst he was under sentence of death, an affidavit was made by several persons that the clock actually did strike thirteen instead of twelve ; whereupon he received his Majesty's pardon. The above his friends caused to be engraved upon his plate, to satisfy the world of the truth of a story which has been much doubted, though he had often confirmed it to many gentle- men, and a few days before his death told it to several of his neighbours. He enjoyed sight and memory to the day of his death," 204 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. For one hundred and sixty years the giants of St. Dunstan's Church were one of the siofhts of the city. Leigh, in his " New Picture of London," speaks of them as "the pets of cockneys and countrymen :" — Many a stranger as he passed that way Made it once a design there to stay And see those two hammer the hours away In Fleet Street. Hatton, the historian, says the giants were more admired by many of the populace on Sundays than the most eloquent preacher from the pulpit within. This famous clock was con- structed in 1 67 1 by Thomas Hany, for the sum of 35/, and the old church clock, but later, in 1738, it cost for repairs 1 10/. The chief attraction of this time-teller consisted of two giants striking the hours and the quarters on a couple of bells suspended above them. Cowper, in his " Table Talk," alludes to the figures : — " When labour and when dullnes, club in hand Like the two figures at St. Uunstan's stand Beating alternately, in measured time, The clock-work tintinnabulum of rhyme, Exact and regular sounds will be ; But such mere quarter strokes are not for men." Readers of Scott will remember that in his Giants at Old St. Dunstan's Church, London. JACK OF THE CLOCK-HOUSE. 207 "Fortunes of Nigel" he refers to the savages, and places them in a period before they were known to the public of London. The mechanism of the figures is described as being rough and clumsy, and the metal and cord might be seen inserted in the club, to which the motion was due. They were, nevertheless, extremely attractive to country-folk, and while they were lost in wonder, the pick-pocket was busily engaged, and reaped a rich harvest. When the old church was pulled down in 1830, Lord Hertford purchased the clock, bells, and fiofures, for 210/, and had them erected in his villa in Regents Park. Figures similar to those at St. Dunstan were to be seen at the old church of Holy Trinity, Bristol, before it was pulled clown in 1787. We are told that the clock was guarded by gigantic " quarter-boys," represented in two large figures, with every-ready hammers to note the flight of time. They were placed under a semi-circular canopy on each side of the face of the clock. They wore brass helmets, and were partly habited in armour ; each grasped a battle-axe, with which it struck the bell suspended over its head. It would appear that they were coloured and gilt 2o8 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. with great care, according to the taste of the ao-e. * In 1624 a pair of Jacks were erected at the east end of St. Martin's Church, Carfax, Oxon ; at Horsham, Sussex, there was a Jack Clock- house, until about 1825, There are at the present time in Norwich Cathedral two figures, which, in bygone times, attracted much attention. Mr. M. Knights, a recognised local authority on antiquarian subjects, kindly favours us with some interesting particulars respecting these figures. "They are," says Mr. Knights, "in the south entrance, on the top of the oaken vestibule. They have no connection with the existing clock in the wall of the south transept, a few feet behind and above the spot where the figures stand. Dr. Bensly, the Registrar of the Diocese, states that the original clock, mentioned in the sacrist's roll, was con- structed at an enormous cost, for there are interesting accounts, not yet analysed, connected with the expenditure thereon, The two figures, each nineteen inches high, are Jacobean. They struck the quarters, turning on pivots so to do. On the arms of an iron ornamental cross, with * " Curiosities of Clocks and Watches." Wood, JACK OF THE CLOCK-HOUSE. 209 gilded arrow-headed ends, hang- the bowl-shaped bells struck by the hammers, each of a shape like the ends of the cross, and fixed on a handle From a plioto by A. E. Coe.] Jacks at Norwich Cathedral. [A'o} wich. twisting outwards and then towards the bell. Both figures have helmeted head-pieces, big moustaches, deep ruffs about the neck, tight-fitting 14 2IO ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. red jerkins, expansive buckram bkie and white horizontally-banded breeches, flesh-coloured hose, and clouted high fore-parted shoes. On the orioinal clock, the materials of which were disposed of in the early part of the century, were figured the Sun and Moon, and on one side, " Me Boni hodie?" and on the other. "Ah! diem perdidi," rendered by Weever, "What's the day gone, and no good done?" "Alas! if so it be, the day is truly lost to thee." There was also painted on the clock, likewise in old English characters, — Horas significo cunctas quas Phcebe Diebus, Quas solet atque tua pallida nocte soror : Nee magis errarem, Rector niihi si foret idem, Vos qui, et quceque regit motibus astra suis. Tempora nam recte designo, si mihi doctus. Gustos assiduam conferat artis opem. Mr. Spencer, the verger at the cathedral, states that an aged gentleman, visiting the cathedral, told him that he remembered the old clock and the Jacks working. People then went to the church on purpose to see them, so that they were considered to be a nuisance. They were disposed of with the old clock, and, says Dr. Bensly, recovered for the cathedral some years ago by the late Mr. Henry Hansell, one of the proctors of the From a photo by J . ;Martyii.\ {SoutlnooU. Jack at Southwold. JACK OF THE CLOCK-HOUSE. 213 Consistorial Court, and Registrar of the Arch- deaconry of Norfolk. Dr. Bensly has put on the stand below the figures written copies of the old lines, with Weever's translations. The translation of the Latin lines above g-iven is as follows : — " Phoebus, I tell all th' hours, and all as right As thou, or thy pale sister, day and night. Nor I, no more than you, in ought should err, If he rul'd me, who guides you, and each star, For times I rightly tell, if, of his art. My learned keeper will his help impart." The illustration of the Jacks at Norwich is from a photograph taken by Mr. Albert E. Coe, of Norwich, expressly for this work. An interesting example of a Jack of the Clock- House at Southwold, Suffolk, is engraved in the "Journal of the British Archaeological Society," vol. XXV. {1869), to illustrate a carefully prepared paper by Mr. H. Syer Cuming, f.s.a, Scot. This Jack formerly proclaimed the hours from the old church tower, and in his palmy days he must have cut a fine figure, He is described by Mr. Cuming as a carved and painted effigy of wood, standing on a hillock within a semicircular topped recess, harnessed from head to heel in russet and gold armour, of the fashion of the commencement of the sixteenth century. The 214 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. lower part of the bassinet is surrounded by gilded knots ; the tassels fall a little below the hips, and the genouillieres are of a somewhat rhombic contour. In his left hand is a scimitar; in the right a battle-axe, with the butt or hammer of which the bell was sounded ; the bell depending from a branch which curves forward on the right of the figure. Some years ago the figure was removed from the tower to the vestry window open to the church, and the parish clerk made Jack toll the bell as the clergyman emerged from the vestry, as a signal that Divine Service had commenced. Our illustration is from a recent photograph kindly placed at our service by Mr. J. Martyn, of Southwold. A Jack similar to the one at Southwold used to do duty at Blythburgh Church, in the same county. A flowing beard gave it a venerable appearance. During a visit to Notre Dame des Victoires, Brussels, in 1896, we saw inside the church a smartly painted little figure wearing a hat with feathers strike the time on a bell. A study of the efifigies at Strasburg and other places on the continent do not come within the scope of the present chapter. 6amc6 in Cburcb^arbs. By England Howlett. IN bygone ages it was a common practice for games of various kinds to be regularly played in churchyards. Strange as it may appear in these days, it was then looked upon as a regular and natural course of events. Just as the church was used for certain secular purposes, such as the holdinof of manorial courts, the storaa"e of wool and other valuables, so the churchyard came to be looked on by the people from a secular, as well as from an ecclesiastical point of view. The use was a gradual one, so gradual indeed that no one's feelings appeared to be shocked by the desecration until great and grave abuses had crept in. Public opinion was very different in those days from what it is now, and the exigencies of the times, and the lack of public recreation grounds and parks, gave, it is supposed, some sort of an excuse for the practice of playing numerous kinds of games, and even dancing and holding fairs in our churchyards. These practices were 2i6 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. not confined to our own country, for many similar customs were at one time firmly established on the continent. In "Articles to be inquired of in the ordinary visitation of the Right Worshipfull Mr. Dr. Pearson, Archdeacon of Suffolke," a.d. 1638. under the head of churchyards, we read : — " Have any playes, feasts, banquets, suppers, church ales, drink ings, temporal courts, or leets, lay juries, exercise of dancing, stoole-ball, football, or the like, or any other profane usuage been suffered o be kept in your Church, Chappell, or Churchyard ? " * It is interesting- to notice from the above that even so early as 1638 church ales, at one time so fully recognised as a legitimate and regular course for raising money for church purposes, had already lost their semi-religious character, and are to be found classed in a list of articles to be inquired of amongst other "profane usuages." This, perhaps, is not so much to be surprised at, considering that church ales must very early have degenerated into drinking bouts. The game of stool-ball referred to, was an ancient game at ball played by both sexes. According to Dr. Johnson, it is a play where balls are driven from stool to stool. * Brand's " Popular Antiquities," 1841, Vol. II, page 179. GAMES IN CHURCHYARDS. 217 There is a little church or chapel dedicated to St. Oswald under the ruins of Bolton Castle, in Wensleydale, unenvironed by any enclosure or churchyard. In former years the villagers used to play at ball against its walls, the windows being protected from being broken by shutters. Fives used to be played between the buttresses on the north wall of Eton College Chapel, and the pepper-box peculiar to the Eton Fives Court took its origin from a natural angle in one of these buttresses.* A correspondent to Notes and Queries ^ writes that he remembers being told by an old man many years ago that, as a boy, he used to play ball in a churchyard in some town in Stafford- shire, where there was a very broad church tower. The vicar tried to put the practice down, but was baffled by the perseverance of the boys. He gave orders that when he died he should be buried in the place where the boys played, and that an altar tombstone should be placed on his grave ; saying, that though he had failed to stop the ball playing in his lifetime, he would stop it after his death. And he did so. * Notes and Queries, Sth Series, Vol. VIII, page 355. t Noles and Queries, Sth Series, Vol. VIII, page 217. 2iS ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. In days gone by, fairs were commonly held in churchyards, indeed up to the early part of the present century such have been held in the churchyard at St. James', Bristol. At Barford- on-Avon, Wiltshire, the booths at the time of the annual fair were brought close to the church, and the south wall of the tower formerly showed unmistakable evidences of having been used by tennis players. At Pershore, in Worcestershire, the fair was held for years in the abbey churchyard, indeed it was only abolished in 1838, and then with such opposition that the gentlemen of the town were sworn in as special constables for the occasion. This fair being held in the churchyard is com- memorated in a stained glass window in the church, which gives a history of the abbey from its foundation. The fact that the orentlemen of the town had to be sworn in as special constables, on the suppression of the fair in the churchyard, proves how the people even at this period were unwilling to give up their supposed rights, and how firmly they clung to the old custom. The practice of dancing in the churchyard at feasts appears to have been almost universal in Wales. The people did not dance on the graves, GAMES IN CHURCHYARDS. 219 but on the north side, where there were no graves. Probably this part of the churchyard, being even ground, would be more convenient for the dancers, and possibly, too, the superstition so common in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire that it is unlucky to tread on graves, may have had some influence on the revellers. Brand, in his " Popular Antiquities," says that it was formerly a custom in some parts of Normandy, when a wedding took place, for the bride to throw a ball over the church, which both the bachelors and married men scrambled for and then played with, but it does not seem that this custom was ever general in this country. In the north of England, among the colliers, it was usual for a party to watch the bridegroom coming out of church after the wedding ceremony, and to demand money from him with which to buy a football ; a claim which admitted of no refusal on the part of the bridegroom, who was expected to pay the money there and then in the church- yard. The colliers in the north, being pro- verbially fond of football, the custom seems to have been practically confined to the colliery district, and would not be at all general south of Yorkshire. 220 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES Games and secular business were forbidden in churchyards by the Synod of Exeter, a.d., 1287. By 12 Richard II., chapter VI., servants were ordered to amuse themselves with bows and arrows on Sundays, and to give up football, quoits, casting the stone, " keyles," and other such inopportune games. In consequence of this statute, the jury of the manor of Kirton-in-Lindsey, 4th April, I Henry VIII. made a presentment that " Willielmus Welton se male Q-essit in ludendo ad pilam pedalem et alia joca illicita." A curious and interesting old poem by John Myre, a Canon of Lilleshall, in Shropshire, and written probably about the year 1450, was printed some few years ago by the Early English Text Society. It is entitled " Instructions to Parish Priests," wherein their various duties, and certain laws and rules of the Church, are set forth in verse. This poem goes to show that although the playing of games in churchyards had been forbidden by the Synod of Exeter, in 1287, still, nearly two hundred years later, it was necessary for the priests to be instructed in the matter of putting down such games. Also wyth ynne chyrche and seyntwary Do ry3t thus as I the say, GAMES IN CHURCHYARDS. 221 Songe and cry and suche fare, For to stynte J^ow schalt not spare ; Castynge of axtre and eke of ston, Sofere hem ]iere to vse non ; Bal and bares and suche play, Out of Chyrcheyorde put a-way ; Courte holdynge and such maner chost. Out of seyntwary put ]>ow most ; For cryst hym self techeth vs ])at holy chyrche ys hys hows, ])at ys made for no ]iynge^lles But for to praye in, as ]^e booke telles. pere l^e pepulle schale geder with inne To prayen and to wepen for here synne. There is a note in the original manuscript in the Bodleian Library in a hand a few years later than the text : — " Danseyng, Cotteyng, bollyng, tenessyng, hand-ball, fott-ball, & all manner other games out cherchyard I ye pra &: reyng ]'at lent no be ther As it were in market or fair." In spite of Synods and Acts of Parliament, games continued to be regularly played in our churchyards down to the early part of this century ; indeed, up to this time, cock-fighting was a frequent pastime indulged in, and this even on Sundays, immediately after service. In the west of England, single stick, or as it was there called, " cudgell playing," was nearly always done in the 222 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. churchyard; and in Devonshire, wrestHng matches were a very favourite amusement. At West- minster School, the boys played a game called nine holes in the cloisters, and many of these holes are still to be seen, although some have been obliterated by the work of restoration. On yon grey stone that fronts the chancel door Worn smooth by busy feet, now seen no more. Each eve we shot the marble throuojh the ring. Rogers' " Pleasures of Memory." At Durham, the choir boys still play marbles and other games in the cloisters, however, it should be remembered that the cloisters at Durham have never been used as a churchyard like the West- minster cloisters have. It appeared when an account was taken of bequests made for charitable purposes in the parish of Barford St. Michael's, Oxfordshire, before the commissioners appointed to investigate such donations at Banbury, that the rent of a certain piece of land, called White-bread, close in that parish, was formerly appropriated to the purchase of bread, which was thrown among the people to be scrambled for in the churchyard ; a circumstance which naturally occasioned such scenes of indecent riot and outrage, and even GAMES IN CHURCHYARDS. 223 fiehtinof in the church itself, that at last there was very properly effected the suppression of a practice productive of such gross abuse. The rent of this close of land is now bestowed in a much more rational and dignified manner, being distributed to the poor in coal at Christmas. The boys, it seems, in a former period, assembled from the neighbouring parishes, as well as the people of Barford, on the anniversary of this extraordinary, but to them highly interesting, exhibition. At Haxey, in Lincolnshire, there is an annual festival called " Haxey Hood," surviving to the present day, held on the 6th of January, or on the following Monday if that day fall on a Sunday. The game as now played is of a rather disreput- able character. On the 6th of January, at about 2 p.m., twelve men called " Boggans," dressed in scarlet jackets, headed by another, also in a scarlet jacket, but further decorated with rags and ribbons, and who is called " King of the Boggans," march up the village to the base of an ancient cross near the church. The King of the Boggans bears the " Hood," which is a roll of leather about two feet long, and as thick as a man's arm. The King is then hoisted up on to the top of the ancient stone, and there in a rigmarole speech 224 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. invites the mob to follow him to the top of the hill and enjoy the sport of chasing the Hood, The Kino- of the Boa-aans takes his stand on the appointed spot, and the twelve Boggans are posted at intervals five or six hundred yards away. The King then throws up the Hood, which is caught by one of the mob, who makes off with it at the top of his speed ; he throws it on ahead of him, it is caught by another and so on, the Boggans all the time intercepting, if possible, the Hood, and when a BosfSfan orets hold of it he carries it back to the King, who throws it again amongst the people. The next day the Boggans and their Kinof o-Q round solicitino- contributions, which they spend in drink. There is a general holiday in the parish on " Hood Day," and the inhabitants are visited by their relatives and friends from all parts of the country.* Brand, in his "Popular Antiquities," tells us that in ancient times among Christians, upon any extraordinary solemnity, particularly the anniver- sary dedication of a church, tradesmen used to bring and sell their wares in the churchyards, especially upon the festival of the dedication, as at Westminster on St. Peter's day, in London on * " Church Bells of Lincolnshire." North, p. 244, GAMES IN CHURCHYARDS. 225 St. Bartholomew's, and at Durham on St. Cuth- bert's day. Much fighting" and quarrelHng- some- times attended the monastic fairs held in the churchyards, and it was not uncommon, when a fair was held within the precincts of a cathedral or monastery, to oblige every man to take an oath at the orate, before he was admitted, that he would neither lie, steal, nor cheat while he continued in the fair. At Scawby, in Lincolnshire, up to the early part of the present century, a game was played in the churchyard by girls only, called Bonn Ball. The church did not come into the game at all, and it was played nearer the porch than the tower. This is an interesting instance of a churchyard game surviving to within, comparatively speaking, recent times, and it would almost seem as thouoh the game, or at least the name of it, must have been a local one, for Bonn Ball is not mentioned by Strutt under games of ball. A correspondent to N'otes and Queries, has transcribed a minute, passed at a Warrington vestry meeting, April loth, 1732. " That here- after no money be spent on ye 5th Nov., nor on any other state day, on the parish account, either at the church-stile, or any other place." The 15 226 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. following extract from the parish books shows that the custom was in vigour and fully recognised in the year 1688, Payd the 5th of November, to the ringers, in money and drink 2s. od. For drink at the Church-steele . . . 13s. od. Miracle plays continued to be represented in the churchyards for as long a period as they were played in the churches, but they were never so popular in the open air as in the church. This is easy to understand, for the subjects of the miracle plays did not lend themselves so well to an open- air performance, and primitive as these plays necessarily were, still, they required a certain amount of convenience for the actors. Formerly on Easter Monday the Birmingham school children used to hurry to the older Parish Church, place their backs against it as they ranged round the building hand-in-hand, till the hand of the last comer touched that of the first, then there was a song, a shout, and a race to the other church where the same ceremony was jubilantly performed. This was called "Clipping the Churches," and this clipping, or embracing, and supporting, was prettily typical of what was due and paid to the church by her children. As the GAMES IN CHURCHYARDS. 227 churches in the town increased, the custom gradually died out, lingering, however, down to the early part of the present century.* Perhaps this is one of the highest types of games in a churchyard to be found, and in the days when the custom was instituted, it must have been both a pretty and interesting sight to see the children hand-in-hand each Easter Monday surrounding and supporting the Church. We hnd the word "clipping," meaning to embrace or to clasp, frequently used in old literature. "When Robin Hood his Marion did see, Good Lord, what chpping was there ! " Robin Hood, " Ballads and Songs." " Our King being ready to leap out of himself for joy of his found daughter, .... then embraces his son-in-law; then again worries he his daughter with clipping her." Shakespeare. " Winter's Tale " Act V, Scene 2. Fox-and-geese boards are to be found cut on the cloister benches at Gloucester Cathedral and elsewhere. There are several of these on the 1 2th century tomb at Salisbury, Lord Stourton's, so called, and which is now in the nave of the cathedral. There is cut on a bench on the garth side of the East Cloister walk at Salisbury a * See Doran's " Memories of ovir Great Towns," 228 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. chequer board of sixteen squares ; it is carefully done, and the alternate squares are slightly sunk, showing that the squares were played upon and not the points of intersection. The form would appear to suggest something like draughts. On the bench, in the second bay from the eastern church door, in the cloister of Norwich Cathedral are eight small holes in a right line, which were probably used in some game, although the nature of it is not known. Centuries have passed since many of the churchyard games were first introduced. There is no doubt but that they were exceedingly popular for a long period, lingering even to within seventy or eighty years ago. Many of these, suited as they were to the tastes and feelings of the times, naturally, perhaps, in some cases became much debased. With the renewal of a sense of what was right and proper, both in the church and its precincts, these games finally ceased to be played, and at the present day we find it hard to realize that at any time the church- yard could have been so regularly recognised as a public play-ground. (Tircular (Ihurcbv>art)s. By the Rev. Elias Owen, m.a., f.s.a. THERE are in Wales a considerable number of circular, or ovoidal churchyards. The churches within the sacred enclosure are at present quadrangular, and simple in structure, and most of them contain features of Norman archi- tecture. These buildings succeeded more ancient edifices. The many remains of ancient abodes which are, even in our days, to be found in the uncul- tivated uplands generally not far distant from the sea, are also circular. Hill fortifications are also of this form. The many stone circles which have been allowed to stand intact, the uses of which are not known, on the level ground on both sides of the Welsh mountains, show how prevalent in former days were circular structures. It was the practice in days that were more Celtic than the present, for the Welsh to hold their Gorseddau in a conspicious place, "in the face of the sun, and in the eye of light," it being 230 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. considered unlawful to transact any business of a public nature under cover of darkness. The Gorsedd was a circle of erect stones, and within this sacred circle religious and other functions were possibly always performed. In our days, the Gorsedd, connected with the National Eistedd- fod, is a circle of rude stones, temporally placed in an open space, where the Archdruid and Bards meet to open the Eisteddfod, and to transact other business, or ceremonies, associated with the Eisteddfod. There is probably some connection between the circular churchyards and the ancient custom of the Welsh to erect circles for the discharge of public matters. Probably, too, the ancient sites wherein religious ceremonies were performed by the Druids were appropriated by the early Christ- ians as places of worship, and thus the reverence of the people for those particular spots was not violated, but transferred to the Christian faith on the establishment of Christianity in our country. Mr. Brash, in his "Ogam Inscribed Stones" (p. 109), speaking of Irish churches, says : — "It is well known that many of our early churches were erected on sites professedly Pagan." This may have been the case in Wales, and CIRCULAR CHURCHYARDS. 231 thus the many circular churchyards are doubly interesting, as intimating that they were sacred places in Pagan days, or if not sacred places, that that form was adopted to conciliate the Celtic reverence for that form of enclosure. Against this theory it may be advanced that there were many orders passed in early councils to destroy Pagan temples. But these very in- junctions imply the preservation of those temples. The conversion of those temples into Christian churches would overcome these injunctions. The many circular churchyards in Wales must have been thus formed designedly, and it is difficult not to associate these round churchyards with the remains of pre-historic times of similar form. The peculiarity of shape, in so many instances, could not have been accidental. Let us take the churchyards in and about the Vale of Clwyd, and we find the following churches possess this characteristic feature : — Derwen, Llanelidan, Efenechtyd, Llandyrnog, Tremeir- chion. In the vicinity of the Vale, in the upland parishes, we have : — Cilcen, Llanarmon, Cerrig-y- drudion, and Bettws-Gwerfil-Goch, all of which have churchyards more or less circular, or ovoidal, in form. In other counties the same kind of 232 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. thing is seen. In Montgomeryshire, two church- yards retain the circular shape in almost perfect condition. They are Kerry and Llanfechain. Even if these circular churchyards are not the identical spots on which the ancient inhabitants celebrated their pagan rites, they are, at least, a connecting link between the paganism of their forefathers and the Christian religion which supplanted it. I am inclined to believe that they are the very spots of ground, dedicated in pre- historic times to religious purposes, and appro- priated by the early Christians in consequence of their previous use and re-dedication, and devoted to the celebration of the Christian religion. I will now describe two of the most perfect circular churchyards which I have visited. One is Efenechtyd, a small parish about two miles from Ruthin. I was rector of this parish for ten years. The church is a very small one, perhaps the very smallest in the diocese of St. Asaph. The parish is agricultural, and the churchyard apparently has never been enlarged ; in fact, it has been encroached upon by the Rectory grounds and buildings. God's Acre — but it is in size not an acre — is sufficiently large for the wants of the parish for ages to come. CIRCULAR CHURCHYARDS. 233 The church is dedicated to St. Michael, but the people do not recognise this dedication in their vocabulary. They call the church Efenechtyd Church. If they had acknowledged in their speech its dedication to St Michael, the church would have become Llanfihangel, or St. Michael's Church, however, they formerly observed the feast of St. Michael, and kept their wakes for a whole week. Probably the church had two dedications, the latter beino; to St. Michael, and the former, and more ancient, is lost. In fact, the meaning of the name Efenechtyd is so obscure that all the guesses that have been made as to its derivation are unsatisfactory. This seems to point to the great antiquity of the church. The churchyard is perfectly circular, excepting where it has been encroached upon. Three- fourths of its whole extent retains its original shape, and very likely it was when first formed perfectly round. The aged parish clerk, who was my servant man, told me that the churchyard extended into the rectory grounds. Right around the churchyard is a road, a parish road, and this formerly used to be often in rainy weather covered with water. A raised causeway, a few 234 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. feet broad, abutting upon the churchyard, proves this. This rivulet has been diverted, and so, in modern times it has not had this road for a channel, but when storms prevail it returns to its ancient bed. It is very likely that formerly this churchyard was surrounded by water, and that the road occupies the place of its bed. This surrounding" water would be looked upon as a sacred barrier, and protection from all intruders of everykind whatsoever, and possibly there was formerly some superstition connected with having a churchyard surrounded by water, and as in this case with running or living water. The next churchyard that I shall describe is Llanfechain Churchyard, Montgomeryshire. It is about twelve miles from Oswestry, on the west side of the railway which goes through the parish to Llanfyllin. Here, too, the population is agricul- tural. As in the case with Efenechtyd, the patron saint is unnamed by the parishoners. The church is dedicated to St. Garmon, and therefore, ought to be called Llanarmon, but it is named Llan- fechain. Here, too, we see traces of a two-fold dedication, and it is remarkable that the people have clung to the more ancient name of their CIRCULAR CHURCHYARDS. 235 church. This points to the great antiquity of the original building, and the hold that its name has upon the inhabitants, and it would carry us back even to the Celtic days, when circular buildings housed the people, and circular enclosures were set apart for the transaction of local or national purposes ; and, here again, and in many other instances, where these circular churchyards exist inWaleSjWeseehowtenacious in retainingtheir ancient place-names the Welsh have always been. The churchyard is for more than three-fourths its whole length, at the present time, quite circular ; but it was my good fortune, when I was inspecting the church, to meet with an aged inhabitant, a native of the villaoe, who had seen seventy-seven years, and he told me that the churchyard was formerly surrounded by a wooden railing, and that it was perfectly round, and that in 1853, when the present stone wall took the place of the paling, an encroachment was made on the west side ; and that before the wall was built there was a road runnino- outside the rails all round the churchyard. Here, too, therefore, a ditch filled with water might, in olden times, have surrounded " God's acre," for such a road was quiet unnecessary for traffic. (Thiuxb an& Cburcbpart) Charms anD Cures. By Rev. R. Wilkins Rees. ^"\ THEN Charles Dudley Warner issued his » » delightful essays, " My Summer in a Garden," it was found that at least one reader took them seriously, and was doomed to dire disappointment in consequent gardening operations. It is to be hoped that no one will accept these " Church and Churchyard Charms and Cures " in like good faith, even though the writer could append to each the words so frequently used by John Wesley in his treatise on physic, " This hath been tried." The fact that sickness and disease of every kind have been attributed to evil agency, or to the presence of some bad spirit which needed to be expelled from the patient's person, may account to some extent, at least, for the solicitation of help within the precincts of a church ; but, however that may be, there is not the slightest doubt that such "spiritual" help has been earnestly sought again and again. CHARMS AND CURES. 237 Epilepsy, with which for long ages the idea of demoniacal possession was associated, has been a favourite ailment for this kind of nostrum. One of the charms prescribed for it, which requires a person of strong nerves to carry through, directs the patient to walk thrice round the church at midnight, then to enter the building and stand before the altar. On one occasion at Crowan, a villao-e in West Cornwall near Clowance, an old o mansion of the St. Aubyn family, an epileptic subject entered the church at midnight. As he was slowly groping his way through the intense darkness, his hand touched something which thrilled him with fear. Scream after scream of terror rang through the church as it Hashed across the man's mind that he had grasped the head of the famous Sir John St. Aubyn. The poor fellow was removed in a dead faint through fright, and never recovered from the shock, but died in a lunatic asylum. He had really seized the head of the sexton who had stolen in to watch that no trick was played upon the man by which he might be startled in his quest of cure. Sometimes a sexton has been bribed to allow an epileptic patient to enter the church at " the witching hour," in order that he or she might creep three 238 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. times under the communion-table to gain relief. Mrs. Bray, in " The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy," quotes a letter which her husband, the Vicar of Tavistock, once received : — "Feb 2, 1835. Rev. Sir, — I should take it as a great favour if your Honour would be good enough to let me have the key of the churchyard to-night, to go in at twelve o'clock, to cut off three bits of lead about the size of a half- farthing, each from three different shuts {i.e., spouts) for the cure of fits. Sir, I remain, Your obliged, humble servant, J. M." A local paper tells us how on Christmas Day, 1874, a labourer's wife in Wiltshire came to a clergyman of the parish and asked for a "Sacra- ment Shilling " — that is, one out of the alms collected at the Holy Communion— in exchange for one which she tendered. On inquiries being made, it appeared that her son was subject to fits, and that the only certain remedy was to hang a sacrament shilling about the patient's neck. But, it would seem, this so-called sacrament shilling is not obtained without some trouble, the mode of procedure being as follows : — The person must first collect a penny apiece from twelve maidens, then exchange the pence for aa ordinary shilling. CHARMS AND CURES. 239 and finally exchange the shilling for a sacrament one. Such a charm has been in vogue in Here- fordshire also, and is declared to have been invariably successful when thoroughly carried out. For the same purpose, in certain localities in the West Country, single women wear a silver ring on the wedding-ring finger, made out of sixpences which have been begged from six young bachelors. Another variation of this strange belief was recorded in the Times some years ago. A young woman, living in the neighbourhood of Halsworthy, Devon, having been subject for some time to periodical fits, endeavoured to effect a cure by attendance at the afternoon service at the parish church, accompanied by thirty young men, her near neighbours. Service over, she sat in the porch of the church, and each of the young men, as they passed out in succession, dropped a penny into her lap ; but the last, instead of a penny, gave her a half-crown, taking from her the twenty- nine pennies. With this half-crown in her hand, she walked three times round the communion- table, and afterwards had it made into a ring, by the wearing of which she fully expected to recover her health. For the person afflicted with epilepsy 240 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. to collect thirty pence at the church door from those of the opposite sex, to change the pence for sacrament money (silver), and to have the latter made into a ring to be worn day and night, was a general practice in parts of Cornwall and Devon, and the writer is not persuaded that the custom has by any means died out ; not long ago, indeed, a case of this kind was reported from St. Just-in-Penwith. In the North of England a "sacramental piece," as it is frequently called, is the royal remedy for this terrible disorder of epilepsy, but the manner of acquiring the coin differs slightly from that in vogue in the Delect- able Duchy. Thirty pence are to be begged of thirty poor widows and then carried to the church minister who, in exchange for them, gives the applicant a half-crown piece from the communion alms. After being "walked with nine times up and down the church aisle," the piece has a hole made in it in order that it may be hung on a ribbon and worn about the neck. There may be somethino- in the suoo-estion that these widows' pence have a reference to the widow's mite, which won the unqualified approval of Christ. In some parts of the West Country the super- stition prevails that the ring to be worn by an CHARMS AND CURES. 241 epileptic subject should be made of three nails or screws which have been used to fasten a cofhn, and which must therefore be dug out of a churchyard. Harland and Wilkinson, the authorities on North Country folk-lore, state that formerly in Lanca- shire and adjoining counties silver rings made from the hinges of coffins were worn as charms for the cure of such fits, or for the prevention of cramp, or even of rheumatism, and that the super- stition continues, though the metal is of necessity chanored, few coffins now having hinofes of like precious material. Amongst any considerable number of the humbler classes in town or country J in Lancashire, rings made of two hoops, one of zinc and one of copper, soldered together, have been frequently seen, on the fingers of women, chiefly, but occasionally, also, of men. Another practice, which was declared to exist more or less all over the country, is mentioned in the following cutting, under date October 8th, 1858: — "A collier's wife recently applied to the sexton of Ruabon Church for ever so small a portion of a human skull for the purpose of grating it similar to ginger, to be afterwards added to some mixture, which she intended giving to her daughter as a remedy against fits, to which she was subject." 16 242 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. As it was often supposed that persons afflicted with epileptic fits were bewitched, a reference to the method which, it is said, should be adopted by a person wickedly inclined who wishes to become a master of " the evil eye," must not be omitted. A Cornishman once told Mr. R. S. Hawker, the brilliant Vicar of Morwen- stow, what should be done, and I now quote from the latter, " Let him go to the chancel, said he, to sacrament, and let him hide and bring away the bread from the hands of the priest ; then next midnight let him take and carry it round the church widdershins (that is from south to north), crossing by the east three times.; the third time there will meet him a big, ugly, venomous toad, o-aping and gasping with his mouth opened wide ; let him put the bread between the lips of the ghastly creature, and as soon as it is swallowed down his throat, he will breathe three times upon the man, and he will be made a strong witch for evermore." To resist the baleful influence of the evil eye, and of witchcraft generally, some are provided with little bags of earth, teeth, or bones, taken from a grave. Many requests have been received for water from a font after a christening to undo some spell, and formerly the fonts in the CHARMS AND CURES. 243 country were locked to prevent people from stealing the " holy water," as they called it. Such water was, in fact, employed for various disorders ; in Scotland it was regarded as a preservative aoainst witchcraft ; and eyes bathed in it were rendered for life incapable of seeing ghosts. Mr. Robert Hunt, the learned West Country folk-lorist, instances another use of sacramental money — in this case for paralysis — so interesting that it may be quoted at length: — "Margery Penwarne. a paralysed woman, about fifty years of ao-e, thouoh from her affliction looking some ten years older, sat in the church porch of St. , and presented her outstretched withered arm and open palm to the congregation as they left the house of God after the morning service. Penny after penny fell into her hand, though Margery never opened her lips. All appeared to know the purpose, and thirty pennies were speedily collected. Presently the parson came with his family, and then she spoke for the first time, soliciting the priest to change the copper coins into one silver one. This wish was readily acceded to, and the paralytic woman hobbled into the church and up to the altar rails. A few words passed between her and the clerk ; she was admitted within the 244 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. rails, and the clerk moved the communion-table from against the wall that she might walk round it, which she did three times. ' Now,' said Margery, ' with God's blessing I shall be cured ; my blessed bit of silver must be made into a ring,' (this was addressed to the clerk, half aside) ; ' and within three weeks after it is on my finger I shall g'et the use of my limbs again.' This charm is common throughout the three western counties for the cure of rheumatism — the Devonshire halt — or for any contraction of the limbs." In this connection it may be mentioned that long years ago the kings of this country were wont to hallow certain rings on Good Friday, the wearing of which was believed to prevent illness. This strange custom is supposed to have been suggested by a ring' long cared for and regarded with utmost veneration in Westminster Abbey, which was stated to have been presented to King Edward (the Confessor.'^) by sorpe pilgrim from Jerusalem, The rings hallowed by the sovereign were called "cramp rings," and there was a special service for their consecration. In his " Breviary of Health," Andrew Boorde, speaking of cramp, says: — "The kynge's majestie hath a great helpe in this matter in CHARMS AND CURES. 245 hcilowyng crampe rings, and so geven without money or petition." That enthusiastic Cornish antiquary of the last century, Dr. Borlase, gives, in his " Natural History of Cornwall," a strange method of curing madness — a method referred to also by Carew as adopted in the parish of Altarnum — which directed that the disordered in mind should be placed "on the brink of a square pool filled with water from St. Nun's Well. The patient, having no intima- tion of what was intended, was, by a sudden blow on the breast, tumbled intp the pool, where he was tossed up and down by some persons of superior strength, till, being quite debilitated, his fury forsook him ; he was then carried to church, and certain masses were sung over him. The Cornish call this immersion boossenning, from beuzi or bidhyzi, in the Cornu- British and Armoric, signifying to dip or drown " An- other, writing in 1848, says, "So strong a hold has the genius of superstition among the peasantry of South Wales, that a woman recently bitten by a mad donkey was sent to the churchyard of St. Edrin's to eat the grass, which, it is believed, has the peculiar property of being an antidote to hydrophobia." 246 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. In Launceston and the surrounding" district, the poor people say that a swelHng in the neck (the goitre or bronchocele as it is variously termed) may be cured by the patient going before sunrise on the first of May to the grave of the last young man, if the patient be a woman, or, if a man, to that of the last young woman, who had been buried in the churchyard, and applying the dew, gathered by passing the hand three times from the head to the foot of the grave, to the part affected by the ailment. The following appeared in the Tiuies during 1855: — "At an early hour on the morning of the 1st of May, a woman, respectably attired, and accompanied by an elderly- gentleman, applied for admittance to the cemetery at Plymouth. On being allowed to enter, they proceeded to the grave of the last man interred ; and the woman, who had a large wen in her throat, rubbed her neck three times each way on each side of the grave, departing before sunrise. By this process it was expected the malady would be cured." In the " Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association" for 1867, a new recipe, with which the writer had been favoured, was given for boils. '"Go into a churchyard on a CHARMS AND CURES. 247 dark night, and to the grave of a person who has been interred the day previous ; walk six times round the arave, and crawl across it three times. If the sufferer from boils is a man, this ceremony must be performed by a woman, and the contrary. The charm will not work unless the night is quite dark.' There is an appended note : ' This remedy was tried by a young woman in George- ham Churchyard,' but with what result is not told ; the inference was that it succeeded." This is not, however, the only such charm for the com- plaint ; another prescribes that the boil shall be poulticed for three days and nights continuously, and the poultices with their cloths then placed in the coffin of anyone lying dead and about to be interred. In the neighbourhood of Penzance it has been thought that if a person afflicted with any cu- taneous disease were taken secretly to a corpse, and the dead hand passed over the the parts affected, and a piece of linen the patient had worn to cover such parts were afterwards dropped upon the coffin during the reading of the burial service, a perfect cure would result. In Notes and Queries for De- cember, 1859, it is recorded that a lady who was staying at Penzance and was present at a funeral 248 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES there, observed that when the clergyman came to the words " Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," a woman forced her way to the edge of the grave, dropped a white cloth upon the coffin, closed her eyes, and apparently said a prayer. On the lady making enquiries as to the reason of this peculiar proceeding, she was informed of the superstition just recorded. The woman had a child with a bad leg, and she had followed this course of action with a firm belief in its efficacy. The remedies for warts are very numerous, and here again the churchyard has been called into requisition. A cure will be certainly effected if each wart is touched with a new pin, every pin enclosed in one bottle, and the bottle buried in the newly-made grave of a person of opposite sex to that of the sufferer. As the pins rust, the warts will disappear. On one occasion the Vicar of Bodwin found a bottle full of pins laid in a recently-opened grave. To touch each wart with a pebble, put the stones in a bag, and throw them away, when the finder would get the warts, and they would quit their former possessor, was a very favourite if selfish remedy. Or, in coming out of church the sufferer miaht wish his warts on some part of another person's body or on a tree, and the CHARMS AND CURES. 249 warts would soon disappear, and be tound again on the person or the spot so selected. People have declared that when they were children, they have, out of curiosity and in ignorance, picked up and examined a bag containing pebbles such as those just alluded to, and, as a result, have had in a short time as many warts as there happened to be stones in the bao;. For whooping-cough it was customary, in one of the chief towns of Yorkshire, for parents to take their children when so afflicted to a neigh- bouring convent, where the priest allowed them to drink a small quantity of holy water out of a silver chalice, which the little sufferers were strictly forbidden to touch. It is said that by Protestant, as well as by Roman Catholic parents, this was esteemed as a most effective remedy. In Devonshire the people have maintained that a child would be speedily relieved of the whooping- cough if he were carried fasting into three parishes on a Sundav mornino-. For toothache, a dead person's tooth carried in the pocket is held to be a cure in Staffordshire ; while, in Devonshire, to carry an old tooth in the pocket, bitten from a skull found in the churchyard, is deemed a preventive against such pain. In 2SO ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. some parts of the country, moss growing- u])on a human skull that is turned up in the churchyard, if dried and powdered, and taken as snuff, is deemed an efficacious cure for headache of every description. A charm for the removal of yellow jaundice is indicated in the following incident, which was recently related. A man was once walking in a village churchyard near St. Austell, when he saw a woman approach an open grave. She stood by the side of it, and seemed for the moment to be mutterino- some words. When the mutterino- ceased, she produced from beneath her cloak a large-sized baked meal-cake, threw it into the grave, and then quitted the place. Upon inquiry, the observer ascertained that the cake was com- posed of oatmeal, mixed with some objectionable matter, baked, and thrown into the grave as a charm for the yellow jaundice. On further inquiry, the man was informed that such a remedy was commonly believed in by the peasantry of the neighbourhood. Urgent application has been made to the rector of a Norfolk parish for the loan of the church plate to lay on the stomach of a child, which was much distended by some mesenteric disease, this CHARMS AND CURES. 251 beincr accijunted an excellent cure for such cases. It may be also stated that church dust, brought to the bed of a dying person, is supposed in some places to shorten and ease a lingering and paintul death. A few superstitions, connected in some way with the subject of this chapter, shall be instanced be- fore the close. On x\ll Souls' Eve— the night after Allhallows'— and on the Eves of St. Mark and St. John, the practice has been observed far and wide, especially amongst young people, of watch- ing in the church porch at midnight for death omens. It was supposed that the forms of those persons destined to die in the neighbourhood during the succeeding twelve months would pass along and enter the church. This superstition was so readily and fully believed, that if any who were ill chanced to hear that it was thought they had been seen in this manner, they at once relin- quished all hope of recovery, and in some cases even died through the influence of their fears. In Gloucestershire, the belief has been cherished that after an open grave on a Sunday a death would certainly ensue within a month. A con- tributor to that well-packed storehouse, Chambers' " Book of Days," points out that as Sunday is 252 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. frequently a favourite day for funerals amongst the poor, this must be a purely local superstition. But he admits, " I have met with it in one parish, where Sunday funerals are the exception, as I re- collect one instance in particular. A woman coming clown from church, and observing an open grave, remarked, ' Ah, there will be someone else wanting a grave before the week is out ! ' Strangely enough (the population of the place was then under a thousand) her words came true, and the grave was dug for her." In Cornwall, it is said that a corpse should never be carried to church by a new road, and should a hearse stop on its way to the churchyard, there will soon be another death in the house. Flowers and shrubs planted in Cornish church- yards are never plucked, from the fear that the spirits of the departed will at night visit the desecrator and carry with them the curse of ill- luck. In connection with baptism, there are several queer beliefs to be noted. There are parts of Cornwall where it is considered a sure sign of beine sweethearts if a young man and woman "stand witness together," that is, become godfather and godmother of the same child. But this is not so CHARMS AND CURES. 253 everywhere, as in the extreme west of the county, couples have been known to refuse to do so, because it was unluckv — " First at the font, never at the altar." And in the same county to be baptised with water from the well of St. Ludgvan brings with it the peculiar property of being safe from hano^ino-. In many districts of E norland it is thought to be a misfortune if the child should refrain from crying at its baptism, for, as the people declare, when the child kicks and screams, the evil spirit is quitting it. Silence does not, however, indicate that the evil spirit retains its hold, but that the infant is too good for an earthly life. Mrs. Latham once related the following incident in the "Folk-lore Record": — "I was lately present at a christening in Sussex, when a lady of the party, who was grandmother of the child, whispered in a voice of anxiety, ' The child never cried ; why did not the nurse rouse it up.''' After we had left the church, she said to her, ' O, nurse, why did you not pinch baby?' And when the baby's good behaviour was afterwards com- mented upon, she observed, with a very serious air, ' I wish that he had cried.' " In Sussex it is also considered unlucky to reveal a child's name before its baptism ; and the water sprinkled on its 254 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. forehead by the clergyman must on no account be wiped away. Confirmation also has its attendant superstitions, to which, for example, the Rev. Thiselton Dyer makes some interesting references. In Devon- shire and Norfolk, to name two widely separated counties, the bishop's right hand is deemed the giver of luck, and if any of the young people are touched by the left, they are deeply disappointed, and almost inclined to think that a ban, instead of a blessing, thereby rests upon them. In certain districts of the North of England, it has been said that to be touched by the bishop's left hand meant an inevitable unmarried life. Notwith- standing that they had already been confirmed people have again presented themselves in after years, convinced that the prelate's blessing would cure some bodily ailment, just as it was thought that the monarch's hand would cure the king's-evil. The story goes that at one of Bishop Bathurst's confirmations, an old woman was observed eagerly pressing forward to the church at which it was to take place. An onlooker, rather aston- ished at her strange conduct, and struck by her aged appearance, asked if she was going to be confirmed, and, being answered in the affirmative, CHARMS AND CURES. 255 admonished her for having postponed it to such a late period in life. But the old woman smartly resented the reproof, saying it was not so; "that she had already been bishopped seven times, and intended to be ao-ain, it was so orood for her rheumatism !" In Cornwall, Sunday is reckoned to be the clay for leaving off any article of clothing, as then those who so divest themselves will have the prayers of every congregation in their behalf, and are sure not to catch cold. In some parts of Kent, It used to be the custom to strew the pathway to the church in which the marriage ceremony was to be performed, not with flowers, but with emblems of the bridegroom's trade. A blacksmith, for in- stance, walked on scraps of old iron ; a paper- hanger on strips of paper, and a carpenter on shavings. It has not been said, however, that a doctor walked on medicine, bones, and pills, or a clergyman on sermons. But, at any rate, the shavings, iron, and the like, were so employed, and it was thought that such a practice would work a charm that would bring good-luck to the happy couple. ^c\v Zvcce in Cburcb\>art)6. Bv T. N. Brushfield, m.d. " The yew tree's shade Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap." — CIkay. WE are so accustomed to the presence of a yew tree in a churchyard, " looking Hke a sentinel keeping watch over the graves of our forefathers," that we are apt to regard it as a necessary occupant. Its position in consecrated ground is due neither to statutory enactment or to canon law. Whatever may have been the original circumstances that led to its being planted there, and for which, as we shall presently see, many varied reasons have been assigned, the law of custom has sanctioned and perpetuated. Although so common in rural burying grounds, yews are generally absent from those in large towns and cities, where, if ever they found a place at an early period, they soon had to give way, partly owing to the rapid elevation of the ground owinof to the crreat number of burials and partly to the burying area being limited in extent, YEW TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. 257 necessitating their removal to provide space for additional interments. Again, it was remarked by the celebrated Rev. Gilbert White, "that while in the south of England every churchyard almost has its tree ; in the north, we understand, few are to be found." There is generally only one specimen in a churchyard, occasionally two, but in some of Somersetshire this is exceeded, e.g., at Portbury there are four, and at West Harptree ten. The customary position of a single tree is adjacent to the principal entrance to the church, and as that is on the south side, the tree is placed on the west of the pathway leading to it, the open-air cross being eastwards, so that the worshipper passed between the two on his way to the edifice. At Axminster, where there is one of the finest and oldest yew trees in Devonshire, it is placed on the north side of the church, where the principal entrance is situated. There is a smaller one on the south side, planted in 1792, and is thus noticed in the parish accounts : — "Paid for a yew tree and carriage from Blandford los. 6d. For planting and liquor 3s. 6d." Although there can be no doubt of the great age of the larger number of yews still preserved 17 258 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. within the precincts of the church, any statement as to the time that has elapsed since they were planted must be received with the greatest caution. Apart from any historical facts (or even tradition) on record, the dimensions of the eirth of the whole will, to a certain extent, o-uide us in forming an opinion, as the greater it is, the older the tree should be. But a comparison of two trees possessing similar measurements may be fallacious, as the rate of growth varies con- siderably in different places, according to the nature and depth of the soil, protection from winds, etc. Moreover a cultivated specimen grows at a more rapid rate than a wild one. Even "accurate comparative measurements made on a uniform plan," as suggested by the author of the article on the Yew, in the last edition of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," would scarcely tide over the difficulty. Although the annual rings of growth in all Exogenous trees should point out the age, in a slow-growing tree like the yew, the rings are apt to be confused and to run into each other. The chance of testing the age of a perfect and full-grown tree by this method is, however, for obvious reasons, a very remote one. One of the oldest trees known, of which some YEW TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. 259 remains still exist, was described by Pennant in 1776, as "a wonderful yew tree in the churchyard of Fortingal (Perthshire), whose ruins measure fifty-six feet in circumference ;" of this an illustra- tion is given in J. G. Strutt's " Sylva Britannica." De Candolle reckoned this specimen to be 2,500 years old, but a correspondent of Notes and Queries (5th series, v., Zl^)'^ ixom the examination of a much younger tree at Guilsfield, Mont- gomeryshire, " the age of which is known," concluded it made "an average growth of four feet in one hundred years," and from this he inferred the age of the Fortingal one to be about 1,400 years. In the same periodical Mr. J. R. Jackson, of the Museum, Kew, states that " perhaps the largest on record is that which once stood at Hensor (Hedsor), in Buckingham- shire, the circumference of which has been given at eighty-one feet." This is probably an error, or the measurement may have been made at the expanded base of the tree (and this applies also to the P'ortingal example). According to Lyson's " Buckinghamshire," 578, the one in Hedsor churchyard in 1806, had a circumference of 27 ft. Dr. Hunter (Notes to Evelyn's " Silva " [18 12], I., 264) describes six remarkable yews growing 26o ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. on the hill above Fountains Abbey, near Ripon. whose girth measurements in 1770, ranged from 13I- ft. to 26j^ ft. "Under these very trees a number of monks resided until they built the monastery of Fountains in 1133." He does not give any authority for this statement, but if correct, the trees must have been at that state many years old to ha\'e afforded the required shelter. This tree frequently adorned the courts of religious houses. Whitaker mentions that "the stump of a vast yew tree " formerly occupied the centre of the cloister quadrangle of Bolton Abbey ("History of Craven" [1805], 357). Occupying a similar position in Mucross Abbey, Ireland, is " a maonificent vew tree, which covers, as a roof, the whole area" (Hall's "Ireland," I., 220). About the year i 540, Leland records the following at Stratfleur Abbey, Cardiganshire : " The Coemiteri wherein the Cunteri about doth buri is veri large, and meanely waullid with Stoone. In it be xxxix. great Hue trees. The celebrated yew in Darley churchyard, Derbyshire, is claimed by Dr. Cox, "not only as by far the finest specimen extant in England, but even in the United Kingdom." Its girth at four YEW TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. 261 feet from the ground was, in 1876, 31 ft. 8 in. While common report asserts it to be 1,000 years old, Mr. Jackson states " its age is estimated at about 2,oco years;" another authority (Mr. Bowman), at about 2,500 years ; while Mr. Greaves on comparing it with the growth of others whose aee was known, believes it does not exceed 700 years. The latter may be under-estimated, owing to the fallacy of ntjticing a comparison between the growth of trees of very different ages ; while the former, based on the calculations of De Candolle, is probably over-estimated. The age assigned by common report may be the nearest to the truth after all. (The whole subject is treated at length in Cox's "Derbyshire Churches," II., 170-2 ; and "Trans. Derby Archeeol. Soc," II., 101-124). The picture of the yew tree in Darley churchyard is from a photograph taken July i ith, 1896, by Mr. G. Hingley, of Cullercoats, North- umberland, and kindly presented to us for this volume. The followincr are some of the more remark- able trees recently existing or yet remaining in England, but the measurements given, in several instances, are those of the greatest girth of any 262 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. one portion of the trunk, the most trustworthy beinor those recordino- the height from the ground. One at Tisbury, Wiltshire, is stated to be 'X»'l ft., and another at Llanfoist, 32 ft. At Kenne, Devonshire, a specimen is reported to be 33ft. 2 in. in girth at one and a half feet from the bottom. The circumference of one at Leeds, Kent, is set down as 31 ft. 2 in. ; but at 7 ft. from the ground, away from the portion where the root branches are given off, the measurement is 28 ft. 8 in. One at Ankerwyke, Buckinghamshire, of interest for being near the place where Magna Charta is said to have been signed ; the girth at 6 ft. from the ground was, in 1818, 30 ft. 5 in. A yew at Crowhurst, Sussex, still in existence, is mentioned by Evelyn as being 30 ft. in circumference ; while the hollow trunk of one at Hardham, in the same county, with a girth, in 1839, of 23 ft., was " capable of containing twenty- seven people." On the south side of Cudham Church, Kent, "are two very large old yew trees, of about 30 ft. in circumference ; one of them with a door would form a good gypsy's cabin " [Geiifs. Mag. [1804], 832). At the latter end of last century, the Rev. G. White reported the Selborne Fioni a /•iiolu by k,. iitni^Uy. [Cullciroats. Yew Tree, Darley Churchyard. YFAV TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. 265 tree to be "23 ft. in the girth;" while in his Memoir, written about one hundred years later, it was reported to have increased to 25 ft. In a paper by Mr. Pettigrew " On the prevalence of Yew Trees in the Churchyards of Somersetshire " ("Trans. Brit. Arch. Assoc," XIII., 146-7), he cited a large number of examples in that county. The larger of two at West Monckton, measured nearly 24 ft. in circumference, within a foot of the ground. " At Staple Fitz Paine, a very fine yew tree has a pair of stocks placed under it." Of several at West Harptree "the diameter [sir] of the largest is at the bottom thirty-six feet." It is probable that in former times they were often the recognised place for meetings to be held, and " tradition asserts that the famous old yew tree in Totteridge churchyard, now a mere shell, was the gathering place of the gemot for the northern division of the hundred of Goare " (Lloyd's "History of Highgate," 21). Formerly, when churchyards were more frequented, especially for recreation, seats were fixed round the trunk of the tree. Thus at East Budleisfh, Devonshire, there is an item in the churchwardens' accounts of 1686, for "putting up y*" seat about y'' you tree," and another in 1726, 266 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. "paid fore seeats round the V tree." Other available trees were also fitted with them ; thus at Youlgreave, Derbyshire, in 1741, sixpence was paid " for fitting y'^ bench about y^ Elm tree." At Drayton, Somerset, stone seats surround the two yews; and- in 1781, one of similar material adjoined the tree in Gawsworth Churchyard, Cheshire. The yew is dioecious, the male and female flowers occupying" separate trees. The Rev, G. White observed, that the male trees grew to a larger size than the female ones, and that " most of the yew-trees in the churchyards " in the neiofhbourhood of Selborne, " are males . this (he adds) must have been a matter of mere accident," Of the wonderful vitality of this tree, under adverse circumstances, we have a notable example in the one in Buckland Churchyard, near Dover, About the year 1770, it had been split and shatter- ed by lightning, which had, at the same time, demolished the church steeple near it. At a later date, large boughs were lopped off, and it was much mutilated by boys; nevertheless, in 1880, in order to permit of the church being enlarged, it was removed bodily fifty-six feet westwards. YEW TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. 267 Several years later, the vicar reported it to have taken a new lease of life, and never to have "made longer shoots or looked better." An excellent woodcut and description of the tree will be found in Loudon's Magazine of Natural History, VI. (1833) 47-5^- Another example has been made the subject of a poem entitled, "The Decayed but Reviving Churchyard Yew," by the Rev. J. G. Copleston, of Offwell, Devon (1832, pp. 19, with three illustrations), who had been instrumental in preserving it during some church extensions, and through whose unremitting attention it took a new lease of life. The yew is indigenous in Britain, and is yet to be found growing wild in some parts, e.g., in the New Forest, Hants, in Westmoreland, and on the chalk downs of Surrey. Under date 1621, J. Goodyer (in Gerard's "Herbal" [1636]. 1370), reported, "in Hampshire there is a good plentie of them growing wilde on the chalkie hills." At one time it must have been a very common occupant of woodlands and moors. " The roots of the yew, frequently of great proportions, are grubbed up while clearing the woods of Hornsey." (Lloyd's "Highgate" 72). According to Mr. Pettitrrew, at Mark, Somerset, manv " of consider- 268 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. able magnitude have been dug up in the moors, at a depth of about six feet." Formerly they adorned large parks to a much greater extent than is the case at present. Some yet exist in Norbury Park, Surrey. One, termed "beautiful and extraordinary," as "it does not appear to have ever been lopped or pollorded," was (perhaps is still) flourishing in the grounds of Arngomery House, Stirlingshire. (There is a woodcut and description of this tree in Gcnt.'s Mag. [1850], p. 395). One of the rooms in Hatfield House, Herts, has a wainscotting of yew from a tree grown on the estate. The well-known yews on the upper terrace at H addon Hall, Derbyshire, are some of the finest in England. It was a orreat favourite in English grardens a few centuries ago, where, on a plan introduced from Holland, it was planted singly as trees, or as shrubs in a hedgerow, and cut and clipped into various shapes, many of whimsical form, the apices of some of the trees being trimmed into the forms of birds. Specimens of this Topiary work, as it is termed, still exist in some parts of England. Even churchyard yews are not unfrequently subjected to this kind of treatment. Ten in West YEW TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. 269 Harptree Churchyard, Somerset, " have been clipped into cones " ; and some at Gawsworth, Cheshire, have been trimmed in a similar manner. But the most wonderful example of one " cut in topiary work," is in the churchyard of Harlington, Middlesex. Of this a print was published in 1729, with some verses by the parish clerk, entitled " Poet John Saxy upon his Yew- Tree, Nov., 1729." The lowest portion, ten feet from the ground, is trimmed to the shape of a large circular canopy, over- hanging a seat round the trunk. Of its size, the ' poet ' gives the following indication : — " So thick, so fine, so full, so wide, A troop of guards might under it ride." The apex is cut into the form of a weather- cock standing on a globe. "A weather-cock, who gaped to crow it. This world is mine, and all below it.' Romaikable Yew. tree. 270 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Its general appearance is shown in the accom- panying illustration.* Why yews were originally planted in church- yards, is a question more easily asked than answered. But when so planted, and after they had attained a fair size, they undoubtedly served several purposes, some useful, others more or less fanciful, and these, in the opinion of many, were the cause of their being placed in the immediate vicinity of churches. It is commonly asserted they were intended to act " as a screen to churches, by their thick foliage, from the violence of winds" (Rev. G. White), and is apparently based on a passage in a statute of Edward I., alluding to the planting of trees for this purpose, without, however, any specific mention of the yew, prohibiting any tree being cut down for any other purpose, excepting for the repairs of the church itself. Dr. Pegge remarked that timber trees would first be removed, leaving the yew standing ; but as it would require a century for the latter to be valuable either for timber purposes or to act as a screen, it is fairly evident that neither had to do * (Vide Lysons' " Environs of London," V, 130, and " The Mirror," 1837, 136). YEW TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. 271 with the initial reason for planting it. Moreover, if even intended to act as a shelter from wind- storms, a number would have been planted either on the side of prevailing winds, or a belt of them would have surrounded the edifice. Doubtless, on arriving at maturity, they, as Dr. Pegge remarked, "proved subservient to that end." As it is, except in a very few cases, the number is generally one, and occasionally two, one of the latter having been planted at a much later date. Similar remarks are equally applicable to the suggestion, that "they might also be placed as a shelter to the congregation assembling before the church doors were opened" (Rev. G. White). This could scarcely be deemed necessary during the period before the Reformation, as the churches were always open for worshippers. On Palm Sunday, "palms and other boughs were formally blessed, and delivered to the faith- ful who took part in the annual procession" (Dr. Lee's "Glossary"). When palm branches were unobtainable, boughs of other trees were sub- stituted, for example, B. Googe, in his " Popish Kingdom," has this line : — " Wil/oiv branches hallow, that they palmes do use to call." Again, " Sprigs of Boxwood are still used as a 272 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. substitute for Palms in Roman Catholic countries " (Brand "Pop. Antiq.," I., ii8), and according to Addis and Arnold's " Catholic Dictionary," " Palms or olive branches " are employed. The majority of authorities agree that in England, branches of yew were generally employed ; and some express the opinion, that the principal object of the tree being planted in churchyards, was to supply branches of it for this purpose. Eminent antiquaries like Fosbroke and Dr. Pegge have doubted all this, the latter asserting that the yew was ''too much of a funeral nature to be made a substitute for the joyful palm." Nevertheless, there is sufficient evidence to show that it was so used. In the Notes to Evelyn's " Silva," it is stated " in confirmation " of the assertion that branches of it "were often carried in procession on Palm Sunday instead of the Palm. The Yew-trees in the churchyards of East Kent are at this day called Palms." In one of the parish books of Woodbury, Devonshire, is an entry in the year 1775, relative to "a Yew or Palm Tree " growing in a singular position in the church tower, and which was subsequently "dug out and planted in y^ Churchyeard." Branches of the yew are still used in Ireland for "palms," YEW TREES IX CHURCHYARDS. 273 by which name the trees are yet known. The following paragraph, taken from Caxton's Liber /^?i'/zz/^//5 ('■ Emprynted at Westmynster, 14S3'') corroborates many of the foregoing remarks : — " For encheson [reason] that we have none olyue that berith green leef therfore we take Ewe in stede of pahne and olyue and beren aboute in procefsion and so is thys day callyd palme sonday." That with rosemary, ivy, bay, etc., the yew was also employed for church decoration, the following extracts from the parish accounts of St. Lawrence, Reading, will show : — " 1644. p*^- for Holly and Ivy, Rosmery and Bayes att Christmass - - - o i 10 p'^- for Ewe for the church against Easter and for sticking of itt upp - o i 8." There appears to be a general consensus of opinion, that the main object of planting the yew. was for obtaining material for bows ; and, to use the words of one writer, as these were the "national weapons of defence, the churchyards were the places where they were most likely to be preserved" ("Trans. Brit. Arch. x\ssoc., xxiv, 196'"). This, at first sight, seems to be cor- roborated by a remark of the Rev. G. White : — " we do not hear that they are planted in the 18 274 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. churchyards of other parts of Europe, where long bows were not so much in use."* In some remarks on "two gigantic yew trees at Megginch Castle, Perthshire," it is affirmed they were "originally planted there for making cross-bows," but this is more than doubtful. Shakespeare's allusion in Richard II., (III. 2) to the " double- fatal yew," is usually explained by its employment for death-dealing bows, and for its poisonous qualities. One authority derives the word ' Yoemen ' from 'Yewmen,' the men who used the yew-bow, (Pulman's " Book of the Axe," 655.) Of its employment for making bows, the following extract, from the Churchwardens Accounts of i\shburton, Devonshire, will point out : — " 155S-9 [Receipt.] iij^- iiij'^- from lopping the yew tree. [Payments.] viij to the Bowyer. iij^- iiijd- to the Bowyer for cutting out of the ' polme' tree, iljs. iiijd. for rotting, spolyng, and carryage of the same tree 1559-60 xiji'- to the Bowyer for makyng of bowes." The slowness of growth of yew trees, and the * It is also favoured by Evelyn in his " Silva," where he remarks that " since the use of bows is laid aside among us, the propagation of this tree is forborne." YEW TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. 275 smallness of their number in churchyards, demonstrate that only a small proportion of the bows required for English archers could have been yielded by them ; whereas, had this been their original purpose we should naturally have expected that many more would have been planted there. The remarkable fact that the English yew did not yield the best bows, may be noted here. Strino-ent reofulations were laid down in several statutes, to require merchants to import bow staves from foreign parts simultaneously with other merchandise. In the time of Elizabeth, the price of "each bow of the best foreign yew" was 6s. 8d., while that of an English one was 2s. Spanish bows were then considered by far the best, but history shows that they were required to be used by English archers to make them fully effective as weapons of war. Steevens, in his edition of Shakespeare, expressed the opinion that as yews were required for making bows, "their poisonous quality was kept from doing mischief to cattle," by "being secured in enclosed places," like churchyards ; and this appears to derive some support from the statement of Pennant, that the yew in England in its native, or 276 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. wild state, "is now in most parts eradicated, on account of its noxious qualities" ("Tour in Scotland," II., 26). True it is that to cattle and horses the foliage of the tree is extremely poisonous, but it was not for this reason that churchyards were protected by fencing. More- over, they were unfenced in parks, and where they grew wild, to which cattle, etc., had free access. From the tenor of the preceding remarks, it is fairly evident, that the various uses, details of which are given, and to which the yew has been applied, must be considered as secondary only, and in no way to affect the question as to what circumstances led primarily to its implantation in churchyards, a question that several authors have deemed difficult to answer. Amongst the ancients the yew, like the cypress, was regarded as the emblem of death, and on this account was planted on barrows. Garlands of it, states Evelyn, " were usually worn at funerals." It is the modern "substitute for the Invisa Cupressus," according to Pennant, imparting, according to another writer, '' a solemn and funeral character " to the burial-ground. Fos- broke goes a step further, and terms it " a symbol YEW TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. 277 of death." The "dismal yew" of Shakespeare appears to accord with this view, but its culminat- ing point of gloom finds expression in the lines of Blair :— " Cheerless, unsocial plant ! that loves to dwell Midst skulls and coffins, epitaphs and worms." The eminent ecclesiastical antiquary, Dr. Rock, was of opinion, that its cultivation in burial grounds was coincident with the early erection of churches in the Anglo-Saxon period. It has even been suofcrested that in some instances the presence of a wild or native tree led to the erection of a church near it. As, to the early Christian, death was the harbinger of life ; he could not aofree with his classic forefathers in employing the yew or the Cyprus, "as an emblem of their dying for ever." It was the very antithesis of this, and as an emblem of immortality, and to show his belief in the life beyond the grave, that led to his cultivation of the yew in all the burying grounds of those who died in the new faith, and this must be regarded as the primary idea of its presence there. In his "Hydriotophia" (20), Sir T. Brown appears to waver between the two : — " whether the planting of Yewe in Church- yards hold not its original from ancient Funeral 2 78 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES. Rites, or as an Embleme of Resurrection from its perpetual verdure, may also admit Conjecture." But Evelyn's opinion is more decisive : — " that we find it so universally planted in our church- yards, was doubtless, from its being thought a symbol of immortality, the tree being so lasting and always green." In some parts of England, a branch of an ever- green is still thrown into the grave "as a type of hope and eternity ;" and in this sense we must accept Shakespeare's line : — " My shroud of white, stuck all with yew." At Ashill, branches of it were formerly carried by the mourners to the grave "to deposit therein under the bodies of their departed friends ;" and the remarks by Collinson (" Hist, of Somerset- shire," I., iij., 13) upon this practice may fitly bring this article to a close : " The branches thus cut off from their native stock, which was to shoot forth again at the returning spring, were beautifully emblematical of the resurrection of the body, as, by reason of their perpetual verdure, they were of the immortality of the soul." 3nbcy. Abeifonl, Sun-dial at, 194 Acoustic Jars, 34-43 Acoustic properties destroyed, 130 Age of yew trees, 258-260 Ales, Church, 216 Alfred, king, stimulating learning, Alfriston, 18 12 Alms-boxes and alms-dishes, 154- 161 Alnwick, Alms-box at, 156 Altars adorned with flowers, 64 Altar steps. Preaching from the, 121 Andrews, William, Wearing Hats in Church, 88-93 '< Curious Vanes, 175-182 ; People and Steeple Kymes, 183-188 ; Jack of the Clock-house, 200-214 Ankerwyke, 262 Arabic chronicle, 5 Archery, 220, 273 276 Architecture, symbolism, 22 Ashl)urton, Jars found at, 38 Ash Wednesday, 78 Axminster, yew at, 257 Axon, W. E. A., Supernatural In- terference in Church Building, 17-20 Baptism beliefs, 252-254 Barford, Custom at, 222 Barker, Rev. J. fludson, B.A., Ecclesiastical Symbolism in Architecture, 21-33; Fish and Fasting, 71-77 ; Shrovetide and Lenten Customs, 78-87 Basilica-shaped churches, 24 Beckenham, Collecting-box at, 163 Bede, 12 Beginnings of church literature, 2 Benham, Canon, Cursing by Bell, Book, and Candle, 111-120 Berwick-on-Tweed, Pulpit at, 126 Beverley, Sundial at, 192 Bickering in church history, 3 Birmingham, Custom at, 226 Bishopstone, Vane at, 176 Blickling, Collecting-box at, 166-167 Blythborough, Collecting-box at, 164 : Jack at, 214 Bolton Abbey, 260 Bonn Ball at Scawby, 225 Boston, Rhyme on, 185 Bovey Tracey, Pulpit at, 134, 135 Bow Church, Vane at, 1 76- 177 Bowness-on-Windermere, Rhyme on, 185 Bows, 273-276 Boxes for offerings. Earliest, 154 Bradford-on-Avon, 179 Bramford, Alms-box at, 156 Branches of yew at burials, 278 Brawling, Punishment for, 102 Breedon, 19 Bridal favours, 69 Bristol, Jacks at, 207 Brushfield, Dr. T. N., Yew Trees in Churchyards, 256-278 Brussels, Jack at, 214 Buckland, Yew tree at, 266-267 Burning books, 10 Bury St. Edmund's, Sun-dial at, 197 Burying windows, 150, 15 1 " Bygone Scotland," Picture from, 125 Caedmun, 12 Canterbury Crypt, 47, 49-50 ; Windows at, 145 Carfax, Oxon, Jacks at, 208 Carling Sunday, 84-85 Carlisle Cathedral, Window at, 142 Carlow, Rhyme on, 184 Carlyle, Thomas, on Middle Ages, 1 Cartmel Fell, Window at, 148 Cashel, 19 Cassiodorus, 5 Caxton, 273 28o INDEX. Cheddar, Alms-box at, 158 Chester-le-Stieet, 78 Chichester, Jars found at, 38 Christmas customs, 63 Chrysanthemum, 30 Church in early days, i Church and Churchyard Charms and Cures, 236-255 Church History and Historians, i- 16 Church Windows, 137-153 Churchyard superstitions, 246-247 Churnside, Sun-dial at, 194 Circular Churchyards, 229-235 Climate and architecture, 169 Clipping the churches, 226227 Clock at St. Paul's, 201-203 Clothing lore, 255 Cock-fighting in churchyards, 221 Coffin, Charms connected with, 241, 247 Collecting Boxes, 162-167 Commonwealth, destruction of stained glass, 151 Confirmation superstitions, 254 Continental pulpits, 132-133 Conway, Sun-dial at, 194 Cooper, Rev. A. N., Heathen Customs at Christian Feasts, 58-70 Coventry, Holy Trinity Church pulpit at, 132 Cox, Dr., on Darley yew tree, 260 Cranmer on pulpits, 123 Cromwell, Oliver, publicly rebuked, 96 Cross, 23 Crowhurst, 262 Crusades, 24 Crypts, 44-57 Cudgell-playing in churchyards, 221 Cud ham, 262 Cuming, H. Syer, Old Collecting Boxes, 162-167; Jack at South- wold, 213-214 '■ Curious Church Gleanings " quoted, 10 i Curious history of a window, 150 Curious Vanes. 175-182 Cursing by Bell, Book, and Candle, 1 1 1 - 1 20 Dancing, 66 ; on graves. 218 Darley, Yew tree at, 260-261, 263 Dead, Superstitions respecting, 66 Decorations at Christmas, 273 Denbigh, Ruined chapel at, 19 Denford, Jars found at, 38 Denmark, churches in. Jars found at, 40 Destruction of books, 10 Devil-lore, 17, 18 Dishes for Alms, 158- 160 Dissension, 3 Disraeli, 9 Dorchester Abbey, Windows at, 144 Durham Cathedral, Pancakes at, 79 ; Football, 79 ; Wearing hats in, 92; Windows, 141; Alms-Dish at, 159; Playing in the cloisters, 222 ; Dragons, 171 Dragon at St. Mary-le-Bow, 176-177 Dromore, 184 Druidical religion, 63 Dugdale's " Baronage " quoted, 115 Eagle-lecturn, 123 Earl Stonham, Collecting-box at, 165-166 East Budleigh, 265 East Clevedon, Penance at, 106 East flarling. Jars found at, ^y ; Collecting-box at, 165 East windows, 142 Easter eggs, 65 Ebberston, Sun-dial at, 198 Ecclesiastical Symbolism in Archi- tecture, 21-33 Edward I. on planting yew trees, 270 Efenechtyd, 232 Eggs, 65 Eglingham, Alms-dish at, 160 Eisteddfod, 230 Elizabeth, Queen, at Cambridge, 90 Elmsted, Sun-dial at, 198 Elsworth, ,Sun-dial at, 192 Emblems of death. Yews, 276 English church historians, Modern, II Epilepsy, Charms for, 237, 239, 240 Etchingham Church, 18 Eusel)ius, 2, 4, 5, 8 Evagrius, 5 Excommunication common, 103 Pope's power of, 108 Expelling a bishop, 103 INDEX. Eyam, Natural pulpit, 135 ; Plague, 136 ; Sundial, 196 Fabulous element in monkish labours, 8 Fairford, Windows at, 146 Fairies, Church built bv, 19 Fairs in churchyards, 21S Fairwell, Jars found at, jg Fathers of church history, 4 Feasts, Village, 67 Fighting at fairs, 225 Filey, Vane at, 179 Fire at St. Paul's, 200 Fish and Fasting, 71-77 Fish in Lent, 76 Fish as vanes, 72 Fish window, 75 Five Sisters' window, York Minster, 138 Fives, 217 Flowers as an offering to the gods, 64 Flowers on graves, 252 Fotheringay, Vane at, 181 Fortingal, 259 Foundation, Symbolism of, 26-27 Fountains Al;bey, 39, 260 Football at weddings, 219 Football on Shrove Tuesday, 78 Fox-and-Geese boards in churches, 227 Fox, George, wearing his hat in church, 88, 89 Foxe, Works by, 13 France, churches in, jars found at, 40, 43 Frost, Thomas, Alms-boxes and Alms dishes, 154-161 ; Sun- dials, 189-199 Fulbourne, Old pulpit at, 126 Gainsborough, Rhyme on, 185 Games in Churchyards, 215-228 Gargoyle, Meaning of, 171 Gargoyles, 168-174 Gawsworlh, 266, 269 Germans producing church history, II Ghosts, Belief in, 61 Giants at St. Dunstan's Church, 204-207 Glass made with pit coal, 146 Glass makers, 146 Gloucester Cathedral, Crypt at, 51 ; Windows at, 143 ; Games at, 227 Godreforlh, 20 Going a-mothering, 81 82 Good Friday, P^ishing on, 76 Gorsedd, 230 Gosberton, Rhyme on, 185 Gothic architecture, 22 Ciothic builders, 168 Grasshopper, 178 Great Ponton, Vane at, 181-182 Greek historians, 5 Greek Church, Penance in, 94 Gresham, Sir Thomas, 17S Grindon, Alms-dish at, 160 Guilsford, 259 Pladdock, Marks in the, 73 Pladdon Hall, 268 Hadleigh, Sun-dial at, 192 Ilalsworthy, 239 Ilarbledown, Alms-box at, 160 Harlington, Curious yew tree at, 269 Hartlepool, Sun-dial at, 194 Hartmut, Abbot, 9 Blatfield House, 268 Hats worn during Divine service, 89-91 Hats worn in synagogues, 88 Haxey Hood, 223-224 Heathen Customs at Christian Feasts, 58-70 Helston, Sun-dial at, 195 Henry H. doing penance, 50 Hensor, 259 Hereford, Movable pulpit at, 125 Hesheth, Sun-dial at, 195 Hexham, Crypt at, 45 ; Alms-box at, 155 Hingley, G., picture of Darley yew tree, 261, 263 Holly and evergreens, 6^ Holy Water, Stealing, 242-243 Honeywood, Patty, Poem by, 193 Hooker's works, 14 Hornsea, Rhyme on, 186 Horse racing, 181 Hot cross buns, 65, 82 Hour-glass, 131 Howlett, England, Games in Churchyards, 215-228 Hull, Strange penance at, 102 INDEX. Ilurstmonceaux, 104 Hutton-Buscell, Sun-dial at, 194 Hythe, Crypt at, 52-55 Ingoldsby Legends referred to, 112 Iron pulpit, 12S Isfield, 19 Isle of Man, Penance in the, 105 Isleworth, Sun-dial at, 196 Jack of the Clock-house, 200-214 Jaundice. Charm for, 250 Jerome, St., 5, 9 Jesse windows, 144, 152 Jewish Church, 60 Julius Africanus, 4 Juno, Worship of, 58 Keenne, 262 Kelsale, Collecting-box at, 164, 165 Kirkell, Rhyme on, 183 Kirk Arljory, Sun dial at, 198 Knights, M., on Norwich Jacks, 208-213 Knights Templar, 24 Knox, John, Pulpit of, 1 26- 1 28 Lambeth, Window at, 149 ; Gar- goyles at, 174 Language, growth of, 59 Lastingham Crypt, 46 I>atimer on pulpits, 123 Latin Christianity, History of, 6 Leeds, Pulpit at St. John's Church, 129, 130 Leeds, Kent. 37, 262 Leigh, Cursing at, 117 Lenten customs, 78-87 Leyland, Sun-dial at, 194 Lincoln Cathedral, Windows at, 139-140; Gargoyle at, 172 Little Maplestead, 24, 25 Llanfechain, 234 Llanfoist, 262 Llanrhaiadr, 151 Lockerbie, Rhyme on, 184 London, Crypts discovered in, 56-57 Long bows, 274 Looms set up in a crypt, 50 Louth, Windows at, 143 Loving cup, 65 Luddington, Rhyme on, 185 Ludlow, Vane at, 180 Luppett, Jars found at, 38 Madness, Curing, 245 Magna Charta, 262 Marbles, Playing in cloisters, 222 Marble pulpit, 133 Market Harborough, Sun-dial at, 194 Marriage ceremonies, 69 Martyrs, 147 Maundy money, 87 Mayfield Church, 18 May morning superstition, 246 Meare, Alms-box at, 155 Mediaeval church, preaching in the, 123 Miller, Hugh, on Sun-dials, 191 Milman, Dr., 7, 11 Miracle plays, 147, 226 Mirrors used in worship, 58 Moat round Etchingham Church, 18 Molestation of preacher, 108 Monastery founded by Cassiodorus, 5 Monkish literature, 5 Monks, Penance of, 100 Mothering Sunday, 80-81 Movable pulpits, 125 Mucross Abbey, 260 Multiplication of manuscripts by monks, 5 Nave, Symbolism of, 27 Needle, St. Wilfrid's, 46 Neen Solars, Alms-box at, 161 Newcastle Cathedral, 23 Newington, Rhyme on, 187 Newry, Rhyme on, 184 Norbury Park, 268 Northallerton, Sun-dial at, 194 Normandy, Custom in, 219 North side of churches, 219 North Mims, Alms-box at, 157 Norwich, Jars found at, 35-37 ; Jacks at, 208-213 Notker, 9 November fifth, 225-226 Numbers, Symbolism of, 28 Nuns, Penance of, 100 Offwell, 267 Old Collecting-Boxes, 162-167 INDEX. 283 OIile!-t wooden pulpu in England, 126 Old glass, 151 Oldham, Sun-dial at, 199 Origen, Labours of, 8 Outwell. Alms-box at, 155-156 Owen, Rev. Elias, m.a. , F. s.a.. Circular Churchyards, 229-235 Oxford, Alms-box at, 155 Pagan temples, 231 Page, John T., Crypts, 44-57 Palmers, 86 Palm Sunday, 86, 271 Passion Sunday, 86 Paste Egg Day, 87 Patrington, Gargoyle at, 173 Patristic literature, 8 Paull, Rhyme on, 186-187 Pear-tree Church, Southampton, 90-91 Pedlar and his dog, 149 Penance, 94 I'enitents received back into the church, 109 People and Steeple Rhymes, 183- 188 Pershore, Penance at, 106 ; Fair at, 218 I'eterborough Cathedral, 23 ; Win- dows at, 144 Philostorgius, 5 Pillars, Sombolism of, 27 Pinchbeck, Rhyme on, 185 Pioneers of ecclesiasticism, i Poetry, Beauty of, 21 Porch. Watching in the, 251 Portbury, 257 Portsmouth. Vane at, 179-180 Preaching crosses, 134 Preston, Rhyme on, 185 Priests, Instruction for, 220 221 Private penance, 98-100 Pulpits, 121 -136 Puritans and Papists, 14 Puritans wearing hats in church, 92 Pusey, Dr., 106 Quakers at funerals, 93 Quaker's penance, 97 Raskelfe, Rhyme on, 186 Reading, 273 Reeds and straw in windows, 144 Rees, Rev. R. Wilkins, Church and Churchyard Charms and Cures, 236-255 Reformation, Text books at, 5 Refreshment Sunday, 80 Refugees worshipping in a crypt, 50 Religion, Growth of, 59 Reredos, 31-33 Restoration of letters, 9 Rhymes, Popular, 80, 83 Rings, Kings hallowing, 244 Ring, Wedding, 69 Ripon, Crypt at, 46, 55 Robin Hood, Legend of, 180 Rockingham, Rhyme on, 185 Roman Courts, 24 Roman festivals, 61-63 Roman sun-dials, 190 Rothwell Crypt, 52-55 Round churches, 23 Ruskin on Pulpits, 133 Sacramental money, 243 Sacrament shilling, 238 Saints, Writing lives of, 6 Sandwich, Jars found at, 38 Scarborough, Funeral customs at, 92 Scrambling bread, 222 .Scriptures copied by monks, 100- loi .Seats in churchyards, 265-266 Selbourne, 262, 266 Sell)y, Window at, 143 Self-abnegation, 6 Sel'ing goods in churchyards, 224 Selling windows, 150, 152 Shakespeare on Cursing by Bell, Book, and Candle, 112-113; on yew tree, 277 Shenstone, Sundial at, 192 Shrewsbury, Curious grave-stone at, 118 -Shrovetide and Lenten Customs, 78-87 .Silver rings, 239 Simnel Cakes, 81, 82 Skulls of horses found in churches, 43 Skull superstition, 241 Socrates, 5 .Soldier, Strange story of, 203 Solemn penance, 105 Sopley, Pulpit at, 128 INDEX Sounding-board, 130, 131 Southwark, Gargoyles at, 173 Southwell, Antiquities of, quoted, I15-I16 Southwold, Jacks at, 213 Spalding, Rhyme on, 185 Stained glass, Early, 144 Stalls, Carving on, 30 Standish, Sun-dial at, 195 Staple-Fitz-Paine, 265 State and Church, 12 Strange story of penance, loi Stocks, 265 Stockton-on-Tees, Alms-dish at, 159 Stone pulpits, 134 Stony Stratford, Gargoyle at, 170 Stool-hall, 216 Stool of Repentance, 94-110 St. Anthony and the pig, 148 St. Beuno, Alms-bo.x at, 157 St. Columba's box, 154 St. Cuthbert's box, 154 St. Dunstan's, Giants at, 204-207 St. George's Church, London, Rhyme on, 188 St. George's, Windsor, Alnisl)Ox at, 156, 157 St. Giles's, Edinburgh, Pulpit from, 127 St. Ives', Sundial at, 195 St. Jude's, South Exeter, Vane at, 181 St. Laurence, 176 St. Laurenten Caux, Jars at, 40-41 St. Neot's, Windows at, 146 St. Paul's, Crypt under, 57 ; Cross, 131, 134; Jacks at, 201-203 St. Peter's, Cornhill, 175-176 Stratfleur Abbey, 260 St. Sepulchre's Church, Cambridge, 23 ; Vanes at, 178 Sunday funerals, 251-252 Sunday, Holiday on, 68 Sunday, Paying money for not attending church, 158 .Sunderland, Alms-dish at, 160 Sun-Dials, 189-199 Supernatural Interference in Church Building, 17-20 Surfieet. Rhyme on, 185 Sweden, churches in, Jars found at, 40 Tansy cakes, 66 Temple Church, 23 Temple, the, Sun-dial at, 197 Theodore, 5 Thirteen, St. Paul's clock striking, 203 Thomas a Becket buried in a crypt, 50 Thornby, Sun-dial at, 191 Thornton, John, of Coventry, 143, 145 Three-decker pulpit, 127, 128 Throwing shoes, 70 Tisbury. 262 Tombs, Games on, 227 Toothache, Charm for, 249 Topiaty work, 268 Totteridge, 265 Trefnant, Sun-dial at, 196 Tristan Shandy quoted, 1 19-120 Triton, 175 Tullow garters, 184 Tyack, Rev. G. S., Pulpits, 121- 136 ; Church Windows, 137- 153 Udimore, 18 Ugley, Rhyme on, 183 Upton, Jars found at, 38 Vale of Clwyd, Circular churchyard in the, 231 Vanes, 175-182 Vitality of yew trees, 266-267 Waldron Church, 18 Walters, Cuming, Church History and Historians, 1-16 ; The Stool of Repentance, 94-110 Warrington, Parish accounts, 225- 226 Wart charms, 248 Washing of feet, 87 Wassail bowl, 65 Wearing Hats in Church, 88-93 Wearmouth, 145 Wedding cake, 66 Weeping Chancels, 23 West Harptree, 257, 265, 269 West Harton, Reredos at, 31-33 Westminster Abbey, Gargoyle at, 172, 174 ; Window, 150 West Monckton, 265 INDEX. 285 West Walton, 17 Whitburn Church, 23 ; Whill)urn. 75 Whitby, Sun-dial at, 193 White, Rev. Gilbert, 257, 262, 266, 270, 271 White sheet, Penance in, 98, 104, 107 Whithorn, Rhyme on, 184, Whitley Chapel, 71 Whooping-cough charms, 249 Wildridge, T. 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